Despite the advice he had received, Menocchio immediately proved quite ready to talk, although he tried to put himself in a more favorable light than suggested by the testimony of the witnesses. While admitting that two or three years earlier he had had some doubts on the virginity of Mary and had expressed these doubts to several individuals, including a priest at Barcis, he observed: "It is true that I said these things to various people, but I was not telling them they should believe all this. On the contrary, I urged many of them: 'Would you like me to teach you the true way? Try to do good and walk in the path of my ancestors and follow what Holy Mother Church commands.' But I uttered those other words because I was tempted to believe them and teach them to others. It was the evil spirit who made me believe those things and who also persuaded me to say them to others." With these very words, Menocchio unwittingly confirmed the suspicion that in the town he had taken upon himself the role of teacher of doctrine and behavior ("Would you like me to teach you the true way?"). It was impossible to doubt the heretical nature of this kind of preaching-especially when Menocchio explained his singular cosmogony. A confused echo of it had reached the Holy Office: "I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air,