The Inferno (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Page 11

  CANTO XVI

  Now was I where was heard the reverberation Of water falling into the next round,1 Like to that humming which the beehives make,

  When shadows three together2 started forth, Running, from out a company that passed Beneath the rain of the sharp martyrdom.

  Towards us came they, and each one cried out: “Stop, thou; for by thy garb to us thou seemest To be some one of our depraved city.”

  Ah me! what wounds I saw upon their limbs, Recent and ancient by the flames burnt in! It pains me still but to remember it.

  Unto their cries my Teacher paused attentive; He turned his face towards me, and “Now wait,” He said; “to these we should be courteous.

  And if it were not for the fire that darts The nature of this region, I should say That haste were more becoming thee than them.“

  As soon as we stood still, they recommenced The old refrain, and when they overtook us, Formed of themselves a wheel, all three of them.

  As champions stripped and oiled are wont to do, Watching for their advantage and their hold, Before they come to blows and thrusts between them,

  Thus, wheeling round, did every one his visage Direct to me, so that in opposite wise His neck and feet continual journey made.

  And, “If the misery of this soft place Bring in disdain ourselves and our entreaties,” Began one, “and our aspect black and blistered,

  Let the renown of us thy mind incline To tell us who thou art, who thus securely Thy living feet dost move along through Hell.

  He in whose footprints thou dost see me treading, Naked and skinless though he now may go, Was of a greater rank than thou dost think;

  He was the grandson of the good Gualdrada;3 His name was Guidoguerra, and in life Much did he with his wisdom and his sword.

  The other, who close by me treads the sand, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi is, whose fame Above there in the world should welcome be.

  And I, who with them on the cross am placed, Jacopo Rusticucci was; and truly My savage wife, more than aught else, doth harm me.“4

  Could I have been protected from the fire, Below I should have thrown myself among them, And think the Teacher would have suffered it;

  But as I should have burned and baked myself, My terror overmastered my good will, Which made me greedy of embracing them.

  Then I began: “Sorrow and not disdain Did your condition fix within me so, That tardily it wholly is stripped off,

  As soon as this my Lord said unto me Words, on account of which I thought within me That people such as you are were approaching.

  I of your city am; and evermore Your labors and your honorable names I with affection have retraced and heard.5

  I leave the gall, and go for the sweet fruits Promised to me by the veracious Leader; But to the centre6 first I needs must plunge.“

  “So may the soul for a long while conduct Those limbs of thine,” did he make answer then, “And so may thy renown shine after thee,

  Valor and courtesy, say if they dwell Within our city, as they used to do, Or if they wholly have gone out of it;

  For Guglielmo Borsier,7 who is in torment With us of late, and goes there with his comrades, Doth greatly mortify us with his words.“

  “The new inhabitants and the sudden gains, Pride and extravagance have in thee engendered, Florence, so that thou weep‘st thereat already!”

  In this wise I exclaimed with face uplifted; And the three, taking that for my reply, Looked at each other, as one looks at truth.

  “If other times so little it doth cost thee,” Replied they all, “to satisfy another, Happy art thou, thus speaking at thy will!

  Therefore, if thou escape from these dark places, And come to rebehold the beauteous stars, When it shall pleasure thee to say, ‘I was,’

  See that thou speak of us unto the people.“ Then they broke up the wheel, and in their flight It seemed as if their agile legs were wings.

  Not an Amen could possibly be said So rapidly as they had disappeared; Wherefore the Master deemed best to depart.

  I followed him, and little had we gone, Before the sound of water8 was so near us, That speaking we should hardly have been heard.

  Even as that stream which holdeth its own course The first from Monte Veso tow‘rds the East, Upon the left-hand slope of Apennine,

  Which is above called Acquacheta, ere It down descendeth into its low bed, And at Forlì is vacant of that name,

  Reverberates there above San Benedetto From Alps, by falling at a single leap, Where for a thousand there were room enough;

  Thus downward from a bank precipitate, We found resounding that dark-tinted water, So that it soon the ear would have offended.

  I had a cord around about me girt, And therewithal I whilombr had designed To take the panther with the painted skin.9

  After I this had all from me unloosed, As my Conductor had commanded me, I reached it to him, gathered up and coiled,

  Whereat he turned himself to the right side, And at a little distance from the verge, He cast it down into that deep abyss.

  “It must needs be some novelty respond,” I said within myself, “to the new signal The Master with his eye is following so.”

  Ah me! how very cautious men should be With those who not alone behold the act, But with their wisdom look into the thoughts!

  He said to me: “Soon there will upward come What I await; and what thy thought is dreaming Must soon reveal itself unto thy sight.”

  Aye to that truth which has the face of falsehood, A man should close his lips as far as may be, Because without his fault it causes shame;

  But here I can not; and, Reader, by the notes Of this my Comedy10 to thee I swear, So may they not be void of lasting favor,

  Athwart that dense and darksome atmosphere I saw a figure swimming upward come, Marvellous unto every steadfast heart,

  Even as he returns who goeth down Sometimes to clear an anchor, which has grappled Reef, or aught else that in the sea is hidden,

  Who upward stretches, and draws in his feet.

  CANTO XVII

  BEHOLD the monster1 with the pointed tail, Who cleaves the hills, and breaketh walls and weapons, Behold him who infecteth all the world.“

  Thus unto me my Guide began to say, And beckoned him that he should come to shore, Near to the confine of the trodden marble;

  And that uncleanly image of deceit Came up and thrust ashore its head and bust, But on the border did not drag its tail.

  The face was as the face of a just man, Its semblance outwardly was so benign, And of a serpent all the trunk beside.

  Two paws it had, hairy unto the armpits; The back, and breast, and both sides it had Depicted o‘er with nooses and with shields.

  With colors more, groundwork or broidery Never in cloth did Tartars make nor Turks, Nor were such tissues by Arachne laid.2

  As sometimes wherriesbs lie upon the shore, That part are in the water, part on land; And as among the guzzling Germans there,

  The beaver plants himself to wage his war;3 So that vile monster lay upon the border, Which is of stone, and shuts the sand-waste in.

  His tail was wholly quivering in the void, Contorting upwards the envenomed fork, That in the guise of scorpion armed its point.

  Canto XVII: The Descent of the Abyss on Geryon’s Back

  The Guide said: “Now perforce must turn aside Our way a little, even to that beast Malevolent, that yonder coucheth him.”

  We therefore on the right-hand side4 descended, And made ten steps upon the outer verge, Completely to avoid the sand and flame;

  And after we are come to him, I see A little farther off upon the sand A people sitting near the hollow place.

  Then said to me the Master: “So that full Experience of this round thou bear away, Now go and see what their condition is.

  There let thy conversation be concise; Till thou returnest I will speak with him, That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders.“

  Thus farther still upon the outermost Head of that seventh
circle all alone I went, where sat the melancholy folk.5

  Out of their eyes was gushing forth their woe; This way, that way, they helped them with their hands Now from the flames and now from the hot soil.

  Not otherwise in summer do the dogs, Now with the foot, now with the muzzle, when By fleas, or flies, or gadflies, they are bitten.

  When I had turned mine eyes upon the faces Of some, on whom the dolorous fire is falling, Not one of them I knew; but I perceived

  That from the neck of each there hung a pouch, Which certain color had, and certain blazon;bt And thereupon it seems their eyes are feeding.

  And as I gazing round me come among them, Upon a yellow pouch I azure saw That had the face and posture of a lion.

  Proceeding then the current of my sight, Another of them saw I, red as blood, Display a goose more white than butter is.

  And one, who with an azure sow and gravidbu Emblazoned had his little pouch of white, Said unto me: “What dost thou in this moat?

  Now get thee gone; and since thou‘rt still alive, Know that a neighbor of mine, Vitaliano, Will have his seat here on my left-hand side.

  A Paduan am I with these Florentines;6 Full many a time they plunder in mine ears, Exclaiming, ‘Come the sovereign cavalier,7

  He who shall bring the satchel with three goats’ “; Then twisted he his mouth, and forth he thrust His tongue, like to an ox that licks its nose.

  And fearing lest my longer stay might vex Him who had warned me not to tarry long, Backward I turned me from those weary souls.

  I found my Guide, who had already mounted Upon the back of that wild animal, And said to me: “Now be both strong and bold.

  Now we descend by stairways such as these;8 Mount thou in front, for I will be midway, So that the tail may have no power to harm thee.“

  Such as he is who has so near the aguebv Of quartan9 that his nails are blue already, And trembles all, but looking at the shade;

  Even such became I at those proffered words; But shame in me his menaces produced, Which maketh servant strong before good master.

  I seated me upon those monstrous shoulders; I wished to say, and yet the voice came not As I believed, “Take heed that thou embrace me.”

  But he, who other times had rescued me In other peril, soon as I had mounted, Within his arms encircled and sustained me,

  And said: “Now, Geryon, bestir thyself; The circles large, and the descent be little;10 Think of the novel burden which thou hast.”

  Even as the little vessel shoves from shore, Backward, still backward, so he thence withdrew; And when he wholly felt himself afloat,

  There where his breast had been he turned his tail, And that extended like an eel he moved, And with his paws drew to himself the air.

  A greater fear I do not think there was What time abandoned Phaeton the reins, Whereby the heavens, as still appears, were scorched;

  Nor when the wretched Icarus11 his flanks Felt stripped of feathers by the melting wax, His father crying, “An ill way thou takest!”

  Than was my own, when I perceived myself On all sides in the air, and saw extinguished The sight of everything but of the monster.

  Onward he goeth, swimming slowly, slowly; Wheels and descends, but I perceive it only By wind upon my face and from below.

  I heard already on the right the whirlpool Making a horrible crashing under us; Whence I thrust out my head with eyes cast downward.

  Then was I still more fearful of the abyss; Because I fires beheld, and heard laments, Whereat I, trembling, all the closer cling.

  I saw then, for before I had not seen it, The turning and descending, by great horrors12 That were approaching upon divers sides.

  As falcon who has long been on the wing, Who, without seeing either lure or bird, Maketh the falconer say, “Ah me, thou stoopest,”

  Descendeth weary, whence he started swiftly, Thorough a hundred circles, and alights Far from his master, sullen and disdainful;

  Even thus did Geryon place us on the bottom, Close to the bases of the rough-hewn rock, And being disencumbered of our persons,

  He sped away as arrow from the string.13

  CANTO XVIII

  THERE is a place in Hell called Malebolge,1 Wholly of stone and of an iron color, As is the circle that around it turns.

  Right in the middle of the field malign There yawns a well exceeding wide and deep, Of which its place the structure will recount.

  Round, then, is that enclosure which remains Between the well and foot of the high, hard bank, And has distinct in valleys ten its bottom.

  As where for the protection of the walls Many and many moats surround the castles, The part in which they are a figure forms,

  Just such an image those presented there; And as about such strongholds from their gates Unto the outer bank are little bridges,

  So from the precipice’s base did crags Project, which intersected dikes and moats, Unto the well that truncates and collects them.

  Within this place, down shaken from the back Of Geryon, we found us; and the Poet Held to the left, and I moved on behind.

  Upon my right hand I beheld new anguish, New torments, and new wielders of the lash, Wherewith the foremost Bolgia was replete.

  Down at the bottom were the sinners naked; This side the middle came they facing us, Beyond it, with us, but with greater steps;

  Even as the Romans, for the mighty host, The year of Jubilee, upon the bridge, Have chosen a mode to pass the people over;

  Canto XVIII: Virgil shows Dante the Shade of Thaïs

  For all upon one side towards the Castle Their faces have, and go unto Saint Peter’s; On the other side they go towards the Mountain.2

  This side and that, along the livid stone Beheld I hornëd demons with great scourges, Who cruelly were beating them behind.

  Ah me! how they did make them lift their legs At the first blows! and sooth not any one The second waited for, nor for the third.

  While I was going on, mine eyes by one Encountered were; and straight I said: “Already With sight of this one I am not unfed.”bw

  Therefore I stayed my feet to make him out, And with me the sweet Guide came to a stand, And to my going somewhat back assented;

  And he, the scourged one, thought to hide himself, Lowering his face, but little it availed him; For said I: “Thou that castest down thine eyes,

  If false are not the features which thou bearest, Thou art Venedico Caccianimico; But what doth bring thee to such pungent sauces?“

  And he to me: “Unwillingly I tell it; But forces me thine utterance distinct, Which makes me recollect the ancient world.

  I was the one who the fair Ghisola Induced to grant the wishes of the Marquis,3 Howe‘er the shameless story may be told.

  Not the sole Bolognese am I who weeps here; Nay, rather is this place so full of them, That not so many tongues to-day are taught

  ‘Twixt Reno and Savena to say sipa;4 And if thereof thou wishest pledge or proof, Bring to thy mind our avaricious heart.“

  While speaking in this manner, with his scourge A demon smote him, and said: “Get thee gone, Pander, there are no women here for coin.”5

  I joined myself again unto mine Escort; Thereafterward with footsteps few we came To where a crag projected from the bank.

  This very easily did we ascend, And turning to the right along its ridge, From those eternal circles we departed.

  When we were there, where it is hollowed out Beneath, to give a passage to the scourged, The Guide said: “Wait, and see that on thee strike

  The vision of those others evil-born, Of whom thou hast not yet beheld the faces, Because together with us they have gone.“6

  From the old bridge we looked upon the train Which tow‘rds us came upon the other border, And which the scourges in like manner smite,

  And the good Master, without my inquiring, Said to me: “See that tall one who is coming And for his pain seems not to shed a tear;

  Still what a royal aspect he retains! That Jason is, wh
o by his heart and cunning The Colchians of the Ram made destitute.

  He by the isle of Lemnos passed along After the daring women pitiless Had unto death devoted all their males.

  There with his tokens and with ornate words Did he deceive Hypsipyle, the maiden Who first, herself, had all the rest deceived.7

  There did he leave her pregnant and forlorn; Such sin unto such punishment condemns him, And also for Medea is vengeance done.

  With him go those who in such wise deceive; And this sufficient be of the first valley To know, and those that in its jaws it holds.“

  We were already where the narrow path Crosses athwart the second dike, and forms Of that a buttress for another arch.

  Thence we heard people, who are making moan In the next Bolgia, snorting with their muzzles, And with their palms beating upon themselves.

  The margins were encrusted with a mould By exhalation from below, that sticks there, And with the eyes and nostrils wages war.

  The bottom is so deep, no place suffices To give us sight of it, without ascending The arch’s back, where most the crag impends.

  Thither we came, and thence down in the moat I saw a people smothered in a filth That out of human privies seemed to flow;

  And whilst below there with mine eye I search, I saw one with his head so foul with ordure,bx It was not clear if he were clerk or layman.8

  He screamed at me: “Wherefore art thou so eager To look at me more than the other foul ones?” And I to him: “Because, if I remember,

  I have already seen thee with dry hair, And thou‘rt Alessio Interminei of Lucca;9 Therefore I eye thee more than all the others.“

  And he thereon, belaboring his pumpkin:by “The flatteries have submerged me here below, Wherewith my tongue was never surfeited.”

  Then said to me the Guide: “See that thou thrust Thy visage somewhat farther in advance, That with thine eyes thou well the face attain

  Of that uncleanly and dishevelled drab, Who there doth scratch herself with filthy nails, And crouches now, and now on foot is standing.