The Inferno (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Dante Alighieri

  Even thus by the great sages ‘tis confessed The phoenix dies, and then is born again, When it approaches its five-hundredth year;10

  On herb or grain it feeds not in its life, But only on tears of incense and amomum, And nard and myrrhcnare its last winding-sheet.co

  And as he is who falls, and knows not how, By force of demons who to earth down drag him, Or other oppilation11 that binds man,

  When he arises and around him looks, Wholly bewildered by the mighty anguish Which he has suffered, and in looking sighs;

  Such was that sinner after he had risen. Justice of God! O how severe it is, That blows like these in vengeance poureth down!

  The Guide thereafter asked him who he was; Whence he replied: “I rained from Tuscany A short time since I came into this cruel gorge.

  A bestial life, and not a human, pleased me, Even as the mule I was; I’m Vanni Fucci,12 Beast, and Pistoia was my worthy den.“

  And I unto the Guide: “Tell him to stir not, And ask what crime has thrust him here below, For once a man of blood and wrath I saw him.”

  And the sinner, who had heard, dissembled not, But unto me directed mind and face, And with a melancholy shame was painted.

  Then said: “It pains me more that thou hast caught me Amid this misery where thou seest me, Than when I from the other life was taken.

  What thou demandest I cannot deny; So low am I put down because I robbed The sacristy of the fair ornaments,

  And falsely once ‘twas laid upon another;13 But that thou mayst not such a sight enjoy, If thou shalt e’er be out of the dark places,

  Thine ears to my announcement ope and hear: Pistoia first of Neri groweth meagre; Then Florence doth renew her men and manners;

  Mars draws a vapor up from Val di Magra, Which is with turbid clouds enveloped round, And with impetuous and bitter tempest

  Over Campo Picen shall be the battle; When it shall suddenly rend the mist asunder, So that each Bianco shall thereby be smitten.

  And this I’ve said that it may give thee pain.“14

  CANTO XXV

  AT the conclusion of his words, the thief Lifted his hands aloft with both the figs, Crying: “Take that, God, for at thee I aim them.”

  From that time forth the serpents were my friends; For one entwined itself about his neck As if it said: “I will not thou speak more”;

  And round his arms another, and rebound him, Clinching itself together so in front, That with them he could not a motion make. 1

  Pistoia, ah, Pistoia!2 why resolve not To burn thyself to ashes and so perish, Since in ill-doing thou thy seed excellest?

  Through all the sombre circles of this Hell, Spirit I saw not against God so proud, Not he who fell at Thebes down from the walls!3

  He fled away, and spake no further word; And I beheld a Centaur full of rage Come crying out: “Where is, where is the scoffer?”

  I do not think Maremma has so many Serpents as he had all along his back,4 As far as where our countenance begins.

  Upon the shoulders, just behind the nape, With wings wide open was a dragon lying, And he sets fire to all that he encounters.

  My Master said: “That one is Cacus, who Beneath the rock upon Mount Aventine Created oftentimes a lake of blood.

  He goes not on the same road with his brothers, By reason of the fraudulent theft he made Of the great herd,5 which he had near to him;

  Whereat his tortuous actions ceased beneath The mace of Hercules, who peradventure Gave him a hundred, and he felt not ten.“

  While he was speaking thus, he had passed by, And spirits three had underneath us come, Of which nor I aware was, nor my Leader,

  Until what time they shouted: “Who are you?” On which account our story made a halt, And then we were intent on them alone.

  I did not know them; but it came to pass, As it is wont to happen by some chance, That one to name the other was compelled,

  Exclaiming: “Where can Cianfa6 have remained?” Whence I, so that the Leader might attend, Upward from chin to nose my finger laid.7

  If thou art, Reader, slow now to believe What I shall say, it will no marvel be, For I who saw it hardly can admit it.

  As I was holding raised on them my brows, Behold! a serpent with six feet darts forth In front of one, and fastens wholly on him.8

  With middle feet it bound him round the paunch, And with the forward ones his arms it seized; Then thrust its teeth through one cheek and the other;

  The hindermost it stretched upon his thighs, And put its tail through in between the two, And up behind along the reins9 outspread it.

  Ivy was never fastened by its barbs Unto a tree so, as this horrible reptile Upon the other’s limbs entwined its own.

  Then they stuck close, as if of heated wax They had been made, and intermixed their color; Nor one nor other seemed now what he was;

  E‘en as proceedeth on before the flame Upward along the paper a brown color, Which is not black as yet, and the white dies.

  Canto XXV: Agnello changing into a Serpent

  The other two looked on, and each of them Cried out: “O me, Agnello, how thou changest! Behold, thou now art neither two nor one.”

  Already the two heads had one become, When there appeared to us two figures mingled Into one face, wherein the two were lost.

  Of the four lists were fashioned the two arms, The thighs and legs, the belly and the chest Members became that never yet were seen.

  Every original aspect there was cancelled; Two and yet none did the perverted image Appear, and such departed with slow pace.

  Even as a lizard,10 under the great scourge Of days canicular, exchanging hedge, Lightning appeareth if the road it cross;

  Thus did appear, coming towards the bellies Of the two others, a small fiery serpent, Livid and black as is a peppercorn.

  And in that part whereat is first received Our ailment,11 it one of them transfixed; Then downward fell in front of him extended.

  The one transfixed looked at it, but said naught; Nay, rather with feet motionless he yawned, Just as if sleep or fever had assailed him.

  He at the serpent gazed, and it at him; One through the wound, the other through the mouth Smoked violently, and the smoke commingled.

  Henceforth be silent Lucan, where he mentions Wretched Sabellus and Nassidius, And wait to hear what now shall be shot forth.

  Be silent Ovid,12 of Cadmus and Arethusa; For if him to a snake, her to a fountain, Converts he fabling, that I grudge him not;

  Because two natures never front to front Has he transmuted, so that both the forms To interchange their matter ready were.

  Together they responded in such wise, That to a fork the serpent cleft his tail, And ekecp the wounded drew his feet together.

  The legs together with the thighs themselves Adhered so, that in little time the juncture No sign whatever made that was apparent.

  He with the cloven tail assumed the figure The other one was losing, and his skin Became elastic, and the other’s hard.

  I saw the arms draw inward at the armpits, And both feet of the reptile, that were short, Lengthen as much as those contracted were.

  Thereafter the hind feet, together twisted, Became the member that a man concealscq,And of his owncr the wretch had two created.

  While both of them the exhalation veils With a new color, and engenders hair On one of them and depilates the other,

  The one uprose and down the other fell, Though turning not away their impious lamps,13 Underneath which each one his muzzle changed.

  He who was standing drew it tow‘rds the temples, And from excess of matter, which came thither, Issued the ears from out the hollow cheeks;

  What did not backward run and was retained Of that excess made to the face a nose, And the lips thickened far as was befitting.

  He who lay prostrate thrusts his muzzle forward, And backward draws the ears into his head, In the same manner as the snail its horns;

  And so the tongue, which was entire and apt For speech before, is c
left, and the bi-forked In the other closes up, and the smoke ceases.

  The soul, which to a reptile had been changed, Along the valley hissing takes to flight, And after him the other speaking sputters.

  Then did he turn upon him his new shoulders, And said to the other: “I’ll have Buoso run, Crawling as I have done,14 along this road.”

  In this way I beheld the seventh ballast15 Shift and reshift, and here be my excuse The novelty, if aught my pen transgress.16

  And notwithstanding that mine eyes might be Somewhat bewildered, and my mind dismayed, They could not flee away so secretly

  But that I plainly saw Puccio Sciancato;17 And he it was who sole of three companions, Which came in the beginning, was not changed;

  The other was he whom thou, Gaville, weepest.18

  CANTO XXVI

  REJOICE, O Florence, since thou art so great, That over sea and land thou beatest thy wings, 1 And throughout Hell thy name is spread abroad!

  Among the thieves five citizens of thine Like these I found, whence shame comes unto me, And thou thereby to no great honor risest.

  But if when morn is near our dreams are true,2 Feel shalt thou in a little time from now What Prato, if none other, craves for thee.

  And if it now were, it were not too soon; Would that it were, seeing it needs must be, For ‘twill aggrieve me more the more I age.3

  We went our way, and up along the stairs The bourns4 had made us to descend before, Remounted my Conductor and drew me.

  And following the solitary path Among the rocks and ridges of the crag, The foot without the hand sped not at all.

  Then sorrowed I, and sorrow now again, When I direct my mind to what I saw, And more my genius curb than I am wont,

  That it may run not unless virtue guide it; So that if some good star, or better thing, Have given me good, I may myself not grudge it.

  As many as the hindcs(who on the hill Rests at the time when he who lights the world His countenance keeps least concealed from us,

  Canto XXVI The Flaming Spirits of the evil Counsellors

  Whileas the fly gives place unto the gnat)ct Seeth the glow-wormscudown along the valley, Perchance there where he ploughs and makes his vintage;

  With flames as manifold resplendent all Was the eighth Bolgia, as I grew aware As soon as I was where the depth appeared.

  And such as he who with the bears avenged him Beheld Elijah’s chariot at departing,5 What time the steeds to heaven erect uprose,

  For with his eye he could not follow it So as to see aught else than flame alone, Even as a little cloud ascending upward,

  Thus each along the gorge of the intrenchment Was moving; for not one reveals the theft, And every flame a sinner steals away.6

  I stood upon the bridge uprisen to see, So that, if I had seized not on a rock, Down had I fallen without being pushed.

  And the Leader, who beheld me so attent, Exclaimed: “Within the fires the spirits are; Each swathes himself with that wherewith he burns.”

  “My Master,” I replied, “by hearing thee I am more sure; but I surmised already It might be so, and already wished to ask thee

  Who is within that fire, which comes so cleft At top, it seems uprising from the pyre Where was Eteocles with his brother placed.“7

  He answered me: “Within there are tormented Ulysses and Diomed,8 and thus together They unto vengeance run as unto wrath.

  And there within their flame do they lament The ambush of the horse, which made the door Whence issued forth the Romans’ gentle seed;

  Therein is wept the craft, for which being dead Deidamia still deplores Achilles, And pain for the Palladium there is borne.“9

  “If they within those sparks possess the power To speak,” I said, “thee, Master, much I pray, And re-pray, that the prayer be worth a thousand,

  That thou make no denial of awaiting Until the hornëd flame shall hither come; Thou seest that with desire I lean towards it.“

  And he to me: “Worthy is thy entreaty Of much applause, and therefore I accept it; But take heed that thy tongue restrain itself.

  Leave me to speak, because I have conceived That which thou wishest; for they might disdain Perchance, since they were Greeks, discourse of thine.“10

  When now the flame had come unto that point, Where to my Leader it seemed time and place, After this fashion did I hear him speak:

  “O ye, who are twofold within one fire, If I deserved of you, while I was living, If I deserved of you or much or little

  When in the world I wrote the lofty verses,11 Do not move on, but one of you declare Whither, being lost, he went away to die.“

  Then of the antique flame the greater horn,12 Murmuring, began to wave itself about Even as a flame doth which the wind fatigues.

  Thereafterward, the summit to and fro Moving as if it were the tongue that spake, It uttered forth a voice, and said: “When I

  From Circe had departed,13 who concealed me More than a year there near unto Gaëta, Or ever yet Æneas named it so,

  Nor fondness for my son, nor reverence For my old father, nor the due affection Which joyous should have made Penelope,

  Could overcome within me the desire I had to be experienced of the world, And of the vice and virtue of mankind;

  But I put forth on the high open sea With one sole ship, and that small company By which I never had deserted been.

  Both of the shores I saw as far as Spain, Far as Morocco, and the isle of Sardes, And the others which that sea bathes round about.

  I and my company were old and slow When at that narrow passage we arrived Where Hercules his landmarks set as signals,

  That man no farther onward should adventure. On the right hand behind me left I Seville, And on the other already had left Ceuta.

  ‘O brothers, who amid a hundred thousand Perils,’ I said, ‘have come unto the West, To this so inconsiderable vigil

  Which is remaining of your senses still, Be ye unwilling to deny the knowledge, Following the sun, of the unpeopled world.

  Consider ye the seed from which ye sprang; Ye were not made to live like unto brutes, But for pursuit of virtue and of knowledge.‘14

  So eager did I render my companions, With this brief exhortation, for the voyage, That then I hardly could have held them back.

  And having turned our stern unto the morning, We of the oars made wings for our mad flight, Evermore gaining on the larboard side.

  Already all the stars of the other pole The night beheld, and ours so very low It did not rise above the ocean floor.

  Five times rekindled and as many quenched15 Had been the splendor underneath the moon, Since we had entered into the deep pass,

  When there appeared to us a mountain,16 dim From distance, and it seemed to me so high As I had never any one beheld.

  Joyful were we, and soon it turned to weeping; For out of the new land a whirlwind rose, And smote upon the fore part of the ship.

  Three times it made it whirl with all the waters, At the fourth time it made the stern uplift, And the prow downward go, as pleased Another,

  Until the sea above us closed again.“

  CANTO XXVII

  ALREADY was the flame erect and quiet, To speak no more, and now departed from us With the permission of the gentle Poet;

  When yet another, which behind it came, Caused us to turn our eyes upon its top By a confusëd sound that issued from it.

  As the Sicilian bull (that bellowed first With the lament of him, and that was right, Who with his file had modulated it1)

  Bellowed so with the voice of the afflicted, That, notwithstanding it was made of brass, Still it appeared with agony transfixed;

  Thus, by not having any way or issue At first from out the fire, to its own language Converted were the melancholy words.

  But afterwards, when they had gathered way Up through the point, giving it that vibration The tongue had given them in their passage out,

  We heard it said: “O thou, at whom I aim My voice, and who but now wast sp
eaking Lombard,2 Saying, ‘Now go thy way, no more I urge thee,’

  Because I come perchance a little late, To stay and speak with me let it not irk thee; Thou seest it irks me not, and I am burning.

  If thou but lately into this blind world Hast fallen down from that sweet Latiancvland, Wherefrom I bring the whole of my transgression,

  Say, have the Romagnuolicw peace or war, For I was from the mountains there between Urbino and the yoke whence Tiber bursts.“3

  I still was downward bent and listening, When my Conductor touched me on the side, Saying: “Speak thou: this one a Latian is.”

  And I, who had beforehand my reply In readiness, forthwith began to speak: “O soul, that down below there art concealed,

  Romagna thine is not and never has been Without war in the bosom of its tyrants; But open war I none have left there now.

  Ravenna stands as it long years hath stood; The Eagle of Polenta there is brooding, So that she covers Cervia with her vans.

  The city which once made the long resistance, And of the French a sanguinary heap, Beneath the Green Paws finds itself again;

  Verrucchio’s ancient Mastiff and the new, Who made such bad disposal of Montagna, Where they are wont make wimblescx of their teeth.

  The cities of Lamone and Santerno Governs the Lioncel of the white lair, Who changes sides ‘twixt summer-time and winter;

  And that of which the Savio bathes the flank, Even as it lies between the plain and mountain, Lives between tyranny and a free state.4

  Now I entreat thee tell us who thou art; Be not more stubborn than the rest have been, So may thy name hold front there in the world.“5

  After the fire a little more had roared In its own fashion, the sharp point it moved This way and that, and then gave forth such breath:

  Canto XXVII: The Mutilated Shade of Mahomet

  “If I believed that my reply were made To one who to the world would e‘er return, This flame without more flickering should stand still;

  But inasmuch as never from this depth Did any one return, if I hear true, Without the fear of infamy I answer,6