THE VISION

OF

HELL, PURGATORY, AND PARADISE

BY

DANTE ALIGHIERI

TRANSLATED BY

THE REV. H. F. CARY, M. A. 

HELL

OR THE INFERNO

Part 9

Cantos 29 - 31

CANTO XXIX

SO were mine eyes inebriate with viewOf the vast multitude, whom various woundsDisfigur'd, that they long'd to stay and weep. 

But Virgil rous'd me: "What yet gazest on?Wherefore doth fasten yet thy sight belowAmong the maim'd and miserable shades?Thou hast not shewn in any chasm besideThis weakness. Know, if thou wouldst number themThat two and twenty miles the valley windsIts circuit, and already is the moonBeneath our feet: the time permitted nowIs short, and more not seen remains to see. "

"If thou, " I straight replied, "hadst weigh'd the causeFor which I look'd, thou hadst perchance excus'dThe tarrying still. " My leader part pursu'dHis way, the while I follow'd, answering him, And adding thus: "Within that cave I deem, Whereon so fixedly I held my ken, There is a spirit dwells, one of my blood, Wailing the crime that costs him now so dear. "

Then spake my master: "Let thy soul no moreAfflict itself for him. Direct elsewhereIts thought, and leave him. At the bridge's footI mark'd how he did point with menacing lookAt thee, and heard him by the others nam'dGeri of Bello. Thou so wholly thenWert busied with his spirit, who once rul'dThe towers of Hautefort, that thou lookedst notThat way, ere he was gone. "--"O guide belov'd!His violent death yet unaveng'd, " said I, "By any, who are partners in his shame, Made him contemptuous: therefore, as I think, He pass'd me speechless by; and doing soHath made me more compassionate his fate. "

So we discours'd to where the rock first show'dThe other valley, had more light been there, E'en to the lowest depth. Soon as we cameO'er the last cloister in the dismal roundsOf Malebolge, and the brotherhoodWere to our view expos'd, then many a dartOf sore lament assail'd me, headed allWith points of thrilling pity, that I clos'dBoth ears against the volley with mine hands. 

As were the torment, if each lazar-houseOf Valdichiana, in the sultry time'Twixt July and September, with the isleSardinia and Maremma's pestilent fen, Had heap'd their maladies all in one fossTogether; such was here the torment: direThe stench, as issuing steams from fester'd limbs. 

We on the utmost shore of the long rockDescended still to leftward. Then my sightWas livelier to explore the depth, whereinThe minister of the most mighty Lord, All-searching Justice, dooms to punishmentThe forgers noted on her dread record. 

More rueful was it not methinks to seeThe nation in Aegina droop, what timeEach living thing, e'en to the little worm, All fell, so full of malice was the air(And afterward, as bards of yore have told, The ancient people were restor'd anewFrom seed of emmets) than was here to seeThe spirits, that languish'd through the murky valeUp-pil'd on many a stack. Confus'd they lay, One o'er the belly, o'er the shoulders oneRoll'd of another; sideling crawl'd a thirdAlong the dismal pathway. Step by stepWe journey'd on, in silence looking roundAnd list'ning those diseas'd, who strove in vainTo lift their forms. Then two I mark'd, that satPropp'd 'gainst each other, as two brazen pansSet to retain the heat. From head to foot, A tetter bark'd them round. Nor saw I e'erGroom currying so fast, for whom his lordImpatient waited, or himself perchanceTir'd with long watching, as of these each onePlied quickly his keen nails, through furiousnessOf ne'er abated pruriency. The crustCame drawn from underneath in flakes, like scalesScrap'd from the bream or fish of broader mail. 

"O thou, who with thy fingers rendest offThy coat of proof, " thus spake my guide to one, "And sometimes makest tearing pincers of them, Tell me if any born of Latian landBe among these within: so may thy nailsServe thee for everlasting to this toil. "

"Both are of Latium, " weeping he replied, "Whom tortur'd thus thou seest: but who art thouThat hast inquir'd of us?" To whom my guide:"One that descend with this man, who yet lives, From rock to rock, and show him hell's abyss. "

Then started they asunder, and each turn'dTrembling toward us, with the rest, whose earThose words redounding struck. To me my liegeAddress'd him: "Speak to them whate'er thou list. "

And I therewith began: "So may no timeFilch your remembrance from the thoughts of menIn th' upper world, but after many sunsSurvive it, as ye tell me, who ye are, And of what race ye come. Your punishment, Unseemly and disgustful in its kind, Deter you not from opening thus much to me. "

"Arezzo was my dwelling, " answer'd one, "And me Albero of Sienna broughtTo die by fire; but that, for which I died, Leads me not here. True is in sport I told him, That I had learn'd to wing my flight in air. And he admiring much, as he was voidOf wisdom, will'd me to declare to himThe secret of mine art: and only hence, Because I made him not a Daedalus, Prevail'd on one suppos'd his sire to burn me. But Minos to this chasm last of the ten, For that I practis'd alchemy on earth, Has doom'd me. Him no subterfuge eludes. "

Then to the bard I spake: "Was ever raceLight as Sienna's? Sure not France herselfCan show a tribe so frivolous and vain. "

The other leprous spirit heard my words, And thus return'd: "Be Stricca from this chargeExempted, he who knew so temp'ratelyTo lay out fortune's gifts; and NiccoloWho first the spice's costly luxuryDiscover'd in that garden, where such seedRoots deepest in the soil: and be that troopExempted, with whom Caccia of AscianoLavish'd his vineyards and wide-spreading woods, And his rare wisdom Abbagliato show'dA spectacle for all. That thou mayst knowWho seconds thee against the SienneseThus gladly, bend this way thy sharpen'd sight, That well my face may answer to thy ken;So shalt thou see I am Capocchio's ghost, Who forg'd transmuted metals by the powerOf alchemy; and if I scan thee right, Thus needs must well remember how I apedCreative nature by my subtle art. "

CANTO XXX

WHAT time resentment burn'd in Juno's breastFor Semele against the Theban blood, As more than once in dire mischance was rued, Such fatal frenzy seiz'd on Athamas, That he his spouse beholding with a babeLaden on either arm, "Spread out, " he cried, "The meshes, that I take the lionessAnd the young lions at the pass:" then forthStretch'd he his merciless talons, grasping one, One helpless innocent, Learchus nam'd, Whom swinging down he dash'd upon a rock, And with her other burden self-destroy'dThe hapless mother plung'd: and when the prideOf all-presuming Troy fell from its height, By fortune overwhelm'd, and the old kingWith his realm perish'd, then did Hecuba, A wretch forlorn and captive, when she sawPolyxena first slaughter'd, and her son, Her Polydorus, on the wild sea-beachNext met the mourner's view, then reft of senseDid she run barking even as a dog;Such mighty power had grief to wrench her soul. Bet ne'er the Furies or of Thebes or TroyWith such fell cruelty were seen, their goadsInfixing in the limbs of man or beast, As now two pale and naked ghost I sawThat gnarling wildly scamper'd, like the swineExcluded from his stye. One reach'd Capocchio, And in the neck-joint sticking deep his fangs, Dragg'd him, that o'er the solid pavement rubb'dHis belly stretch'd out prone. The other shape, He of Arezzo, there left trembling, spake;"That sprite of air is Schicchi; in like moodOf random mischief vent he still his spite. "

To whom I answ'ring: "Oh! as thou dost hope, The other may not flesh its jaws on thee, Be patient to inform us, who it is, Ere it speed hence. "--"That is the ancient soulOf wretched Myrrha, " he replied, "who burn'dWith most unholy flame for her own sire, "And a false shape assuming, so perform'dThe deed of sin; e'en as the other there, That onward passes, dar'd to counterfeitDonati's features, to feign'd testamentThe seal affixing, that himself might gain, For his own share, the lady of the herd. "

When vanish'd the two furious shades, on whomMine eye was held, I turn'd it back to viewThe other cursed spirits. One I sawIn fashion like a lute, had but the groinBeen sever'd, where it meets the forked part. Swoln dropsy, disproportioning the limbsWith ill-converted moisture, that the paunchSuits not the visage, open'd wide his lipsGasping as in the hectic man for drought, One towards the chin, the other upward curl'd. 

"O ye, who in this world of misery, Wherefore I know not, are exempt from pain, "Thus he began, "attentively regardAdamo's woe. When living, full supplyNe'er lack'd me of what most I coveted;One drop of water now, alas! I crave. The rills, that glitter down the grassy slopesOf Casentino, making fresh and softThe banks whereby they glide to Arno's stream, Stand ever in my view; and not in vain;For more the pictur'd semblance dries me up, Much more than the disease, which makes the fleshDesert these shrivel'd cheeks. So from the place, Where I transgress'd, stern justice urging me, Takes means to quicken more my lab'ring sighs. There is Romena, where I falsifiedThe metal with the Baptist's form imprest, For which on earth I left my body burnt. But if I here might see the sorrowing soulOf Guido, Alessandro, or their brother, For Branda's limpid spring I would not changeThe welcome sight. One is e'en now within, If truly the mad spirits tell, that roundAre wand'ring. But wherein besteads me that?My limbs are fetter'd. Were I but so light, That I each hundred years might move one inch, I had set forth already on this path, Seeking him out amidst the shapeless crew, Although eleven miles it wind, not moreThan half of one across. They brought me downAmong this tribe; induc'd by them I stamp'dThe florens with three carats of alloy. "

"Who are that abject pair, " I next inquir'd, "That closely bounding thee upon thy rightLie smoking, like a band in winter steep'dIn the chill stream?"--"When to this gulf I dropt, "He answer'd, "here I found them; since that hourThey have not turn'd, nor ever shall, I ween, Till time hath run his course. One is that dameThe false accuser of the Hebrew youth;Sinon the other, that false Greek from Troy. Sharp fever drains the reeky moistness out, In such a cloud upsteam'd. " When that he heard, One, gall'd perchance to be so darkly nam'd, With clench'd hand smote him on the braced paunch, That like a drum resounded: but forthwithAdamo smote him on the face, the blowReturning with his arm, that seem'd as hard. 

"Though my o'erweighty limbs have ta'en from meThe power to move, " said he, "I have an armAt liberty for such employ. " To whomWas answer'd: "When thou wentest to the fire, Thou hadst it not so ready at command, Then readier when it coin'd th' impostor gold. "

And thus the dropsied: "Ay, now speak'st thou true. But there thou gav'st not such true testimony, When thou wast question'd of the truth, at Troy. "

"If I spake false, thou falsely stamp'dst the coin, "Said Sinon; "I am here but for one fault, And thou for more than any imp beside. "

"Remember, " he replied, "O perjur'd one, The horse remember, that did teem with death, And all the world be witness to thy guilt. "

"To thine, " return'd the Greek, "witness the thirstWhence thy tongue cracks, witness the fluid mound, Rear'd by thy belly up before thine eyes, A mass corrupt. " To whom the coiner thus:"Thy mouth gapes wide as ever to let passIts evil saying. Me if thirst assails, Yet I am stuff'd with moisture. Thou art parch'd, Pains rack thy head, no urging would'st thou needTo make thee lap Narcissus' mirror up. "

I was all fix'd to listen, when my guideAdmonish'd: "Now beware: a little more. And I do quarrel with thee. " I perceiv'dHow angrily he spake, and towards him turn'dWith shame so poignant, as remember'd yetConfounds me. As a man that dreams of harmBefall'n him, dreaming wishes it a dream, And that which is, desires as if it were not, Such then was I, who wanting power to speakWish'd to excuse myself, and all the whileExcus'd me, though unweeting that I did. 

"More grievous fault than thine has been, less shame, "My master cried, "might expiate. Therefore castAll sorrow from thy soul; and if againChance bring thee, where like conference is held, Think I am ever at thy side. To hearSuch wrangling is a joy for vulgar minds. "

CANTO XXXI

THE very tongue, whose keen reproof beforeHad wounded me, that either cheek was stain'd, Now minister'd my cure. So have I heard, Achilles and his father's javelin caus'dPain first, and then the boon of health restor'd. 

Turning our back upon the vale of woe, W cross'd th' encircled mound in silence. ThereWas twilight dim, that far long the gloomMine eye advanc'd not: but I heard a hornSounded aloud. The peal it blew had madeThe thunder feeble. Following its courseThe adverse way, my strained eyes were bentOn that one spot. So terrible a blastOrlando blew not, when that dismal routO'erthrew the host of Charlemagne, and quench'dHis saintly warfare. Thitherward not longMy head was rais'd, when many lofty towersMethought I spied. "Master, " said I, "what landIs this?" He answer'd straight: "Too long a spaceOf intervening darkness has thine eyeTo traverse: thou hast therefore widely err'dIn thy imagining. Thither arriv'dThou well shalt see, how distance can deludeThe sense. A little therefore urge thee on. "

Then tenderly he caught me by the hand;"Yet know, " said he, "ere farther we advance, That it less strange may seem, these are not towers, But giants. In the pit they stand immers'd, Each from his navel downward, round the bank. "

As when a fog disperseth gradually, Our vision traces what the mist involvesCondens'd in air; so piercing through the grossAnd gloomy atmosphere, as more and moreWe near'd toward the brink, mine error fled, And fear came o'er me. As with circling roundOf turrets, Montereggion crowns his walls, E'en thus the shore, encompassing th' abyss, Was turreted with giants, half their lengthUprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heav'nYet threatens, when his mutt'ring thunder rolls. 

Of one already I descried the face, Shoulders, and breast, and of the belly hugeGreat part, and both arms down along his ribs. 

All-teeming nature, when her plastic handLeft framing of these monsters, did displayPast doubt her wisdom, taking from mad WarSuch slaves to do his bidding; and if sheRepent her not of th' elephant and whale, Who ponders well confesses her thereinWiser and more discreet; for when brute forceAnd evil will are back'd with subtlety, Resistance none avails. His visage seem'dIn length and bulk, as doth the pine, that topsSaint Peter's Roman fane; and th' other bonesOf like proportion, so that from aboveThe bank, which girdled him below, such heightArose his stature, that three FriezelandersHad striv'n in vain to reach but to his hair. Full thirty ample palms was he expos'dDownward from whence a man his garments loops. "Raphel bai ameth sabi almi, "So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymnsBecame not; and my guide address'd him thus:

"O senseless spirit! let thy horn for theeInterpret: therewith vent thy rage, if rageOr other passion wring thee. Search thy neck, There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on. Wild spirit! lo, upon thy mighty breastWhere hangs the baldrick!" Then to me he spake:"He doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this, Through whose ill counsel in the world no moreOne tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor wasteOur words; for so each language is to him, As his to others, understood by none. "

Then to the leftward turning sped we forth, And at a sling's throw found another shadeFar fiercer and more huge. I cannot sayWhat master hand had girt him; but he heldBehind the right arm fetter'd, and beforeThe other with a chain, that fasten'd himFrom the neck down, and five times round his formApparent met the wreathed links. "This proud oneWould of his strength against almighty JoveMake trial, " said my guide; "whence he is thusRequited: Ephialtes him they call. 

"Great was his prowess, when the giants broughtFear on the gods: those arms, which then he piled, Now moves he never. " Forthwith I return'd:"Fain would I, if 't were possible, mine eyesOf Briareus immeasurable gain'dExperience next. " He answer'd: "Thou shalt seeNot far from hence Antaeus, who both speaksAnd is unfetter'd, who shall place us thereWhere guilt is at its depth. Far onward standsWhom thou wouldst fain behold, in chains, and madeLike to this spirit, save that in his looksMore fell he seems. " By violent earthquake rock'dNe'er shook a tow'r, so reeling to its base, As Ephialtes. More than ever thenI dreaded death, nor than the terror moreHad needed, if I had not seen the cordsThat held him fast. We, straightway journeying on, Came to Antaeus, who five ells completeWithout the head, forth issued from the cave. 

"O thou, who in the fortunate vale, that madeGreat Scipio heir of glory, when his swordDrove back the troop of Hannibal in flight, Who thence of old didst carry for thy spoilAn hundred lions; and if thou hadst foughtIn the high conflict on thy brethren's side, Seems as men yet believ'd, that through thine armThe sons of earth had conquer'd, now vouchsafeTo place us down beneath, where numbing coldLocks up Cocytus. Force not that we craveOr Tityus' help or Typhon's. Here is oneCan give what in this realm ye covet. StoopTherefore, nor scornfully distort thy lip. He in the upper world can yet bestowRenown on thee, for he doth live, and looksFor life yet longer, if before the timeGrace call him not unto herself. " Thus spakeThe teacher. He in haste forth stretch'd his hands, And caught my guide. Alcides whilom feltThat grapple straighten'd score. Soon as my guideHad felt it, he bespake me thus: "This wayThat I may clasp thee;" then so caught me up, That we were both one burden. As appearsThe tower of Carisenda, from beneathWhere it doth lean, if chance a passing cloudSo sail across, that opposite it hangs, Such then Antaeus seem'd, as at mine easeI mark'd him stooping. I were fain at timesT' have pass'd another way. Yet in th' abyss, That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs, Lightly he plac'd us; nor there leaning stay'd, But rose as in a bark the stately mast.