Chapters 17 and 18 Summary

Goldmund notices that the priest wears an abbot's insignia, and then he holds up a candle the man has placed on a table and is startled to recognize Narcissus. The abbot tells him that since he took the vows, his name has been John. Goldmund feels like crying, but remembers with shame how he cried as a boy in front of Narcissus, and he controls himself. Narcissus says Goldmund has been pardoned. Goldmund says he had intended to murder the priest who came to confess him, and Narcissus replies that he can have confession later. They talk about the statue of John that Goldmund carved, and his horse Bless, now dead, that Narcissus remembers despite being far removed from such worldly cares. Narcissus says Abbot Daniel died eight years earlier, and he has been an abbot for just one year. Goldmund...