Unto the misery of Master Adam; I had while living much of what I wished, And now, alas! a drop of water crave.
The rivulets, that form the verdant hills Of Cassentin descend down into Arno, Making their channel-courses cool and soft,
Ever before me stand, and not in vain; For far more doth their image dry me up Than the disease which strips my face of flesh.
The rigid justice that chastises me Draweth occasion from the place in which I sinned, to put the more my sighs in flight.
There is Romena, where I counterfeited The currency imprinted with the Baptist, For which I left my body burned above.7
But if I here could see the tristful soul Of Guido, or Alessandro, or their brother, For Branda’s fount I would not give the sight.
One is within already,8 if the raving Shades that are going round about speak truth; But what avails it me, whose limbs are tied?
If I were only still so light, that in A hundred years I could advance one inch, I had already started on the way,
Seeking him out among this squalid folk, Although the circuit be eleven miles, And be not less than half a mile across.9
For them am I in such a family; They did induce me into coining florins, Which had three carats of impurity.“
And I to him: “Who are the two poor wretches That smoke like unto a wet hand in winter, Lying there close upon thy right-hand confines?”
“I found them here,” replied he, “when I rained Into this chasm, and since they have not turned, Nor do I think they will for evermore.
One the false woman is who accused Joseph, The other the false Sinon, Greek of T roy;10 From acute fever they send forth such reek.“
And one of them, who felt himself annoyed At being, peradventure, named so darkly, Smote with the fist upon his hardened paunch.
It gave a sound, as if it were a drum; And Master Adam smote him with his arm Upon the face, that did not seem less hard,
Saying to him: “Although be taken from me All motion, for my members that are heavy, I have an arm unfettered for such need.”
Whereat he answer made: “When thou didst go Unto the fire, thou hadst it not so ready;II But hadst it so and more when thou wast coining.”
The dropsical: “Thou sayest true in that; But thou wast not so true a witness there, Where thou wast questioned of the truth at Troy.”
“If I spake false, thou falsifiedst the coin,” Said Sinon; “and for one fault I am here, And thou for more than any other demon.” 12
“Remember, perjurer, about the horse,” He made reply who had the swollen belly, “And rueful be it thee the whole world knows it.”
“Rueful to thee the thirst be wherewith cracks Thy tongue,” the Greek said, “and the putrid water That hedges so thy paunch before thine eyes.”
Then the false-coiner: “So is gaping wide Thy mouth for speaking evil, as ‘tis wont; Because if I have thirst, and humor stuff me,13
Thou hast the burning and the head that aches, And to lick up the mirror of Narcissus14 Thou wouldst not want words many to invite thee.“
In listening to them was I wholly fixed, When said the Master to me: “Now just look, For little wants it that I quarrel with thee.”
When him I heard in anger speak to me, I turned me round towards him with such shame That still it eddies through my memory.
And as he is who dreams of his own harm, Who dreaming wishes it may be a dream, So that he craves what is, as if it were not;
Such I became, not having power to speak, For to excuse myself I wished, and still Excused myself, and did not think I did it.
“Less shame doth wash away a greater fault,” The Master said, “than this of thine has been; Therefore thyself disburden of all sadness,
And make account that I am ayedf beside thee, If e‘er it come to pass that fortune bring thee Where there are people in a like dispute;
For a base wish it is to wish to hear it.“15
CANTO XXXI
ONE and the self-same tongue first wounded me, So that it tinged the one cheek and the other, And then held out to me the medicine;
Thus do I hear that once Achilles’ spear, I His and his father‘s, used to be the cause First of a sad and then a gracious guerdon.dg
We turned our backs upon the wretched valley, Upon the bank that girds it round about, Going across it without any speech.
There it was less than night, and less than day, So that my sight went little in advance; But I could hear the blare of a loud horn,
So loud it would have made each thunder faint, Which, counter to it following its way, Mine eyes directed wholly to one place.
After the dolorous discomfiture When Charlemagne the holy emprisedh lost, So terribly Orlando sounded not.2
Short while my head turned thitherwarddi I held When many lofty towers I seemed to see, Whereat I: “Master, say, what town is this?”
And he to me: “Because thou peerest forth Athwartdj the darkness at too great a distance,
Canto XXXI: Ibr, Giant Antaeus lowntio Dante and Virgil
It happens that thou errest in thy fancy.
Well shalt thou see, if thou arrivest there. How much the sense deceives itself by distance; Therefore a little faster spur thee on.“
Then tenderly he took me by the hand, And said: “Before wc farther have advanced, That the reality may seem to thee
Less strange, know that these are not towers, but giants,3 And they are in the well, around the bank, From navel downward, one and all of them.“
As, when the fog is vanishing away, Little by little doth the sight refigure Whate‘er the mist that crowds the air conceals,
So, piercing through the dense and darksome air, More and more near approaching tow‘rd the verge, My error fled, and fear came over me;
Because as on its circular parapets Montereggione crowns itself with towers, E‘en thus the margin which surrounds the well
With one half of their bodies turreted4 The horrible giants, whom Jove menaces5 E‘en now from out the heavens when he thunders.
And I of one already saw the face, Shoulders, and breast, and great part of the belly, And down along his sides both of the arms.
Certainly Nature, when she left the making Of animals like these, did well indeed, By taking such executors from Mars;
And if of elephants and whales she doth not Repent her, whosoever looketh subtly More just and more discreet will hold her for it;
For where the argument of intellect Is added unto evil will and power, No rampart can the people make against it.6
His face appeared to me as long and large As is at Rome the pine-cone of Saint Peter‘s7 And in proportion were the other bones;
So that the margin, which an apron was Down from the middle,8 showed so much of him Above it, that to reach up to his hair
Three Frieslanders9 in vain had vaunted them; For I beheld thirty great palms of him Down from the place where man his mantle buckles.10
“Raphel mai amech izabi almi,” 11 Began to clamor the ferocious mouth, To which were not befitting sweeter psalms.
And unto him my Guide: “Soul idiotic, Keep to thy horn, and vent thyself with that, When wrath or other passion touches thee.
Search round thy neck, and thou wilt find the belt Which keeps it fastened, O bewildered soul, And see it, where it bars thy mighty breast.“
Then said to me: “He doth himself accuse; This one is Nimrod, by whose evil thought One language in the world is not still used.
Here let us leave him and not speak in vain; For even such to him is every language As his to others, which to none is known.“12
Therefore a longer journey did we make, Turned to the left, and a crossbow-shot off We found another far more fierce and large.
In binding him, who might the master be I cannot say; but he had pinioned close Behind the right arm, and in front the other,
With chains, that held him so begirt about From the neck down, that on the part uncovered It wound itself as far as the fifth gyre.13
“This proud one wished to make experiment Of his own power against the Supreme Jove,” My Leader said, “whence he hath such deserts.
Ephialtes14 is his name; he showed great prowess, What time the giants terrified the Gods; The arms he wielded never more he moves.“
And I to him: “If possible, I should wish That of the measureless Briareus15 These eyes of mine might have experience.”
Whence he replied: “Thou shalt behold Antæus16 Close by here, who can speak and is unbound, Who at the bottom of all crime shall place us.
Much farther yon is he whom thou wouldst see, And he is bound, and fashioned like to this one, Save that he seems in aspect more ferocious.“
There never was an earthquake of such might That it could shake a tower so violently, As Ephialtes suddenly shook himself.
Then was I more afraid of death than ever, For nothing more was needful than the fear, If I had not beheld the manacles.
Then we proceeded farther in advance, And to Antæus came, who, full five ells17 Without the head, forth issued from the cavern.
“O thou, who in the valley fortunate, Which Scipio the heir of glory made, When Hannibal turned back with all his hosts,
Once brought‘st a thousand lions for thy prey,18 And who, hadst thou been at the mighty war Among thy brothers, some it seems still think
The sons of Earth the victory would have gained; Place us below, nor be disdainful of it, There where the cold doth lock Cocytus19 up.
Make us not go to Tityus nor Typhœus;20 This one can give of that which here is longed for; Therefore stoop down, and do not curl thy lip.
Still in the world can he restore thy fame; Because he lives, and still expects long life, If to itself Grace call him not untimely.“
So said the Master; and in haste the other His hands extended and took up my Guide,—Hands whose great pressure Hercules once felt.
Virgilius, when he felt himself embraced, Said unto me: “Draw nigh, that I may take thee”; Then of himself and me one bundle made.
As seems the Carisenda, to behold Beneath the leaning side, when goes a cloud Above it so that opposite it hangs;21
Such did Antæus seem to me, who stood Watching to see him stoop, and then it was I could have wished to go some other way.
But lightly in the abyss, which swallows up Judas with Lucifer, he put us down;22 Nor thus bowed downward made he there delay,
But, as a mast doth in a ship, uprose.
CANTO XXXII
IF I had rhymes both rough and stridulous, As were appropriate to the dismal hole Down upon which thrust all the other rocks,
I would press out the juice of my conception More fully; but because I have them not, Not without fear I bring myself to speak;
For ‘tis no enterprise to take in jest, To sketch the bottom of all the universe, Nor for a tongue that cries Mamma and Babbo.1
But may those Ladies2 help this verse of mine, Who helped Amphion in enclosing Thebes, That from the fact the word be not diverse.
O rabble ill-begotten above all, Who’re in the place to speak of which is hard, ‘Twere better ye had here been sheep or goats!
When we were down within the darksome well, Beneath the giant’s feet, but lower far, And I was scanning still the lofty wall,3
I heard it said to me4: “Look how thou steppest! Take heed thou do not trample with thy feet The heads of the tired, miserable brothers!”
Whereat I turned me round, and saw before me And underfoot a lake, that from the frost The semblance had of glass, and not of water.
So thick a veil ne‘er made upon its current In winter-time Danube in Austria, Nor there beneath the frigid sky the Don,
As there was here; so that if Tambernich Had fallen upon it, or Pietrapana,5 E‘en at the edge ’twould not have given a creak.
And as to croak the frog doth place himself With muzzle out of water,—when is dreaming Of gleaning oftentimes the peasant-girl,—
Livid, as far down as where shame appears,6 Were the disconsolate shades within the ice, Setting their teeth unto the note of storks.7
Each one his countenance held downward bent; From mouth the cold, from eyes the doleful heart Among them witness of itself procures.
When round about me somewhat I had looked, I downward turned me, and saw two so close, The hair upon their heads together mingled.
“Ye who so strain your breasts together, tell me,” I said, “who are you”; and they bent their necks, And when to me their faces they had lifted,
Their eyes, which first were only moist within, Gushed o‘er the eyelids, and the frost congealed The tears between, and locked them up again.
Clamp never bound together wood with wood So strongly; whereat they, like two he-goats, Butted together, so much wrath o‘ercame them.
And one, who had by reason of the cold Lost both his ears, still with his visage downward, Said: “Why dost thou so mirror thyself in us?
If thou desire to know who these two are, The valley whence Bisenzio descends Belonged to them and to their father Albert.
They from one body came, and all Caïna Thou shalt search through, and shalt not find a shade More worthy to be fixed in gelatine;
Not he in whom were broken breast and shadow At one and the same blow by Arthur’s hand; Focaccia not; not he who me encumbers
So with his head I see no farther forward, And bore the name of Sassol Mascheroni;8 Well knowest thou who he was, if thou art Tuscan.
Canto XXXII Ugolino gnawing the Head of Ruggrert
And that thou put me not to further speech, Know that I Camicion de’ Pazzi was, And wait Carlino to exonerate me.“9
Then I beheld a thousand faces,10 made Purple with cold; whence o‘er me comes a shudder, And evermore will come, at frozen ponds.
And while we were advancing tow‘rds the middle, Where everything of weight unites together, And I was shivering in the eternal shade,
Whether ‘twere will, or destiny, or chance, I know not; but in walking ’mong the heads I struck my foot hard in the face of one.
Weeping he growled: “Why dost thou trample me? Unless thou comest to increase the vengeance Of Montaperti,11 why dost thou molest me?”
And I: “My Master, now wait here for me, That I through him may issue from a doubt; Then thou mayst hurry me, as thou shalt wish.”
The Leader stopped; and to that one I said Who was blaspheming vehemently still: “Who art thou, that thus reprehendest others?”
“Now who art thou, that goest through Antenora Smiting,” replied he, “other people’s cheeks, So that, if thou wert living, ‘twere too much?”
“Living I am, and dear to thee it may be,” Was my response, “if thou demandest fame, That ‘mid the other notes thy name I place.”
And he to me; “For the reverse I long; Take thyself hence, and give me no more trouble; For ill thou knowest to flatter in this hollow.”
Then by the scalp behind I seized upon him, And said: “It must needs be thou name thyself, Or not a hair remain upon thee here.”
Whence he to me: “Though thou strip off my hair, I will not tell thee who I am, nor show thee, If on my head a thousand times thou fall.”
I had his hair in hand already twisted, And more than one shock of it had pulled out, He barking, with his eyes held firmly down,
When cried another: “What doth ail thee, Bocca?12 Is’t not enough to clatter with thy jaws, But thou must bark? what devil touches thee?”
“Now,” said I, “I care not to have thee speak, Accursed traitor; for unto thy shame I will report of thee veracious news.”
“Begone,” he answered, “and tell what thou wilt, But be not silent, if thou issue hence, Of him who had just now his tongue so prompt;
He weepeth here the silver of the French; ‘I saw,’ thus canst thou phrase it, ‘him of Duera13 There where the sinners stand out in the cold.’
If thou shouldst question be who else was there, Thou hast beside thee him of Beccaria, Of whom the gorgetdk Florence slit asunder;
Gianni del Soldanier, I think, may be Yonder with Ganellon, and Tebaldello Who opeddl Faenza14 when the people slept.“
Already we had gone away from him, When I beheld two frozen in one hole,15 So that one head a hood was to the other;
And even as bread through hunger is devoured, The uppermost on the other set his teeth, There where the brain is to the nape united.
Not in another fashion Tydeus gnawed The temples of Menalippus in disdain,16 Than that one did the skull and the other things.
“O thou, who showest by such bestial sign Thy hatred against him whom thou art eating, Tell me the wherefore,” said I, “with this compact,
That if thou rightfully of him complain, In knowing who ye are, and his transgression, I in the world above repay thee for it,
If that wherewith I speak be not dried up.“17
CANTO XXXIII
His mouth uplifted from his grim repast, That sinner, wiping it upon the hair Of the same head that he behind had wasted.
Then he began: “Thou wilt that I renew The desperate grief, which wrings my heart already To think of only, ere I speak of it;
But if my words be seed that may bear fruit Of infamy to the traitor whom I gnaw, Speaking and weeping shalt thou see together.
I know not who thou art, nor by what mode Thou hast come down here; but a Florentine Thou seemest to me truly, when I hear thee.
Thou hast to know I was Count Ugolino,1 And this one was Ruggieri the Archbishop; Now I will tell thee why I am such a neighbor.
That, by effect of his malicious thoughts, Trusting in him I was made prisoner, And after put to death, I need not say;
But ne‘ertheless what thou canst not have heard, That is to say, how cruel was my death, Hear shalt thou, and shalt know if he has wronged me.
A narrow perforation in the mew,dm Which bears because of me the title of Famine, And in which others still must be locked up,
Had shown me through its opening many moons2 Already, when I dreamed the evil dream Which of the future rent for me the veil.
The Inferno (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Page 16