[Alcuin nods in agreement.] Yes, the music and art and religion were unfamiliar to me and I feel as though I lost the opportunity for a great deal of understanding, since I could not place the references.

[He pauses to take a sip of wine, his face grave as he thinks.] But it seems to me that it was a very sad book- I did not find myself repulsed by him, nor did I envy the freedom he had to conduct himself... no, I was saddened by him the most, I think.