The Inferno (The Divine Comedy series Book 1)

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The Inferno (The Divine Comedy series Book 1) Page 15

by Dante


  allow no lie to falsify the truth.’

  And I: ‘Master, to me your explanation

  is so convincing and so takes my trust

  102

  that any other tale would seem spent embers.

  ‘But tell me, among these people who are passing,

  if you see any worthy of my notice,

  105

  for my thoughts keep going back to them alone.’

  Then he replied: ‘The one whose beard →

  falls from his jowls onto his swarthy shoulders

  108

  was—when Greece was so deprived of males

  ‘that the only ones still there were in their cradles—

  a soothsayer. At Aulis, along with Calchas,

  111

  he told the favoring time for setting sail.

  ‘Eurypylus was his name, and thus he is sung

  in certain verses of my lofty tragedy,

  114

  as you know very well, who know it all.

  ‘That other, with the skinny shanks, →

  was Michael Scot, who truly understood

  117

  the way to play the game of magic tricks.

  ’See Guido Bonatti. See Asdente, who now regrets → →

  not having worked his leather and his thread—

  120

  but he repents too late.

  ‘See the wretched women who gave up needle, →

  spool, and spindle to take up fortune-telling,

  123

  casting spells with images and herbs.

  ‘But come now, for Cain, with his thorns, →

  already stands above the border of both hemispheres

  126

  and touches the waves below Seville.

  ‘and recall two nights ago →

  the moon, already full, did you no harm,

  at any time in the deep wood.’

  130

  These were his words while we were moving on. →

  OUTLINE: INFERNO XXI

  1–3

  continuation of the conversation that ends Canto XX

  4–6

  weeping and darkness in the fifth bolgia

  7–21

  simile: the pitch and that in the arsenal at Venice

  22–28

  Virgil’s first warning to Dante and Dante’s reaction

  29–36

  a nameless devil laden with an anonymous sinner

  37–42

  the devil will return to Lucca for more like him

  43–45

  the devil departs

  46–54

  the new victim pronged by the sporting devils

  55–57

  simile: cooks prodding meat down in their cauldrons

  58–63

  Virgil’s second warning and claim of expertise

  64–66

  Virgil advances to meet the foe

  67–71

  simile: Virgil as beggar, devils as watchdogs

  72–75

  Virgil’s command to the “dogs”

  76–78

  Malacoda summoned and arriving

  79–87

  Virgil’s vaunt and Malacoda’s apparent servility

  88–91

  Virgil summons Dante from his hiding-place

  92–96

  simile: the truce at Caprona

  97–99

  these “troops” do not look peaceful to Dante

  100–105

  Malacoda restrains Scarmiglione

  106–117

  Malacoda lies about the condition of the bridges

  118–123

  Malacoda assembles his squad of ten

  124–126

  Malacoda lies about the purpose of their mission

  127–132

  Dante, terrified, longs for other guides than these

  133–135

  Virgil’s reassurance

  136–139

  the decuria readies itself; the diabolic signal

  INFERNO XXI

  Thus from one bridge to the next we came →

  until we reached its highest point, speaking

  3

  of things my Comedy does not care to sing.

  We stopped to look into the next crevasse

  of Malebolge and heard more useless weeping.

  6

  All I could see was an astounding darkness.

  As in the arsenal of the Venetians →

  in wintertime they boil the viscous pitch

  9

  to caulk their unsound ships

  because they cannot sail—one rebuilds

  his ship, while still another plugs

  12

  the seams of his, weathered by many a voyage:

  one hammers at the stem, another at the stern,

  this one makes the oars, that one twists the ropes

  15

  for rigging, another patches jib and mainsail—

  so, not with fire, but by the art of God,

  a thick pitch boiled there,

  18

  sticking to the banks on either side.

  I saw the pitch but still saw nothing in it

  except the bubbles raised up by the boiling,

  21

  the whole mass swelling and then settling back.

  While I stared fixedly upon the seething pitch,

  my leader cried: ‘Look out, look out!’

  24

  and drew me to him, away from where I stood.

  Then I turned like a man, intent

  on making out what he must run from,

  27

  undone by sudden fear,

  who does not slow his flight for all his looking back:

  just so I caught a glimpse of some dark devil →

  30

  running toward us up the ledge.

  Ah, how ferocious were his looks

  and fierce his gesturing,

  33

  with wings spread wide and nimble feet!

  One of his shoulders, which were high and pointed, →

  was laden with the haunches of a sinner

  36

  he held hooked by the tendons of his heels.

  From our bridge he said: ‘O Malebranche, →

  here is one of Santa Zita’s Elders. →

  39

  Thrust him under, while I head back for more →

  ‘to that city, where there’s such a fine supply.

  Every man there—except Bonturo—is a swindler. →

  42

  There money turns a No into a Yeah.’

  He flung him down and turned back up

  the stony ridge. Never did a mastiff

  45

  set loose to chase a thief make greater haste.

  The sinner sank, then rose again, his face all pitch. →

  The demons, under cover of the bridge, cried out:

  48

  ‘This is no place for the Holy Visage!

  ‘Here you swim a different stroke than in the Serchio! →

  Unless you’d like to feel our hooks,

  51

  don’t let yourself stick out above the pitch.’

  Then, with a hundred hooks and more,

  they ripped him, crying: ‘Here you must do your dance

  54

  in secret and pilfer—can you?—in the dark.’

  In just the same way cooks command their scullions

  to take their skewers and prod the meat down

  57

  in the cauldron, lest it float back up.

  Then my good master said: ‘Squat down →

  behind that rock and find some cover

  60

  so that they do not see that you are here.

  ‘As for any outrage they may do me,

  have no fear. I know this place and had

  63

  exactly such a scuffle here before.’ →

  After he had crossed the bridge

  and reached the o
ther bank,

  66

  he had to show how resolute he was:

  With all the rage and uproar →

  of dogs that rush upon a beggar—

  69

  who quickly starts to beg where he has stopped—

  they swarmed on him from underneath the bridge

  with threatening hooks. But he cried out:

  72

  ‘Wait! Let none of you do harm!

  ‘Before you grapple at me with your hooks

  let one of you come forth to hear me out.

  75

  Then take counsel, whether to use your claws.’

  All cried: ‘Let Malacoda go.’ One moved— →

  the rest stood still—and he came forward,

  78

  grumbling: ‘This won’t do him any good.’

  ‘Consider, Malacoda,’ said my master, →

  ‘whether you would see me come this far

  81

  unstopped by all your hindering

  ‘without the will of God and favoring fate?

  Let us proceed, for it is willed in Heaven

  84

  that I guide another down this savage way.’

  Then his pride was so abashed that he let drop →

  the billhook to his feet, saying to the others:

  87

  ‘Enough, let no one touch him.’

  And my leader said to me: ‘You there, cowering →

  among the broken boulders of the bridge,

  90

  now you may come back to me in safety.’

  At that I stirred and hastened to him.

  Then the devils all came surging forward

  93

  so that I feared they might not keep the truce.

  Just so do I recall the troops

  afraid to leave Caprona with safe-conduct, →

  96

  finding themselves among so many enemies.

  I drew my body up against my leader

  but kept my eyes fixed on their faces,

  99

  which were far from friendly.

  They aimed their hooks, and one said to another: →

  ‘How about I nick him on the rump?’

  102

  And the other answered: ‘Sure, let him have one.’

  But the demon who was speaking with my leader

  turned round at once and said:

  105

  ‘Easy does it, Scarmiglione!’

  And then to us: ‘You can’t continue farther →

  down this ridge, for the sixth arch

  108

  lies broken into pieces at the bottom.

  ‘If you desire to continue on,

  then make your way along this rocky ledge.

  111

  Nearby’s another crag that yields a passage.

  ‘Yesterday, at a time five hours from now, →

  it was a thousand two hundred sixty-six years

  114

  since the road down here was broken.

  ‘I’m sending some men of mine along that way →

  to see if anyone is out to take the air.

  117

  Go with them—they won’t hurt you.’

  ‘Step forward, Alichino, Calcabrina,’ →

  he continued, ’and you Cagnazzo,

  120

  and let Barbariccia lead the squad.

  ‘Let Libicocco come too, and Draghignazzo,

  Cirïatto with his tusks, and Graffiacane,

  123

  Farfarello, and madcap Rubicante.

  ‘Have a good look around the boiling glue.

  Keep these two safe as far as the next crag →

  126

  that runs all of a piece above the dens.’

  ‘Oh, master,’ I said, ‘I don’t like what I see. →

  Please, let us find our way without an escort,

  129

  if you know how. As for me, I do not want one.

  ‘If you are as vigilant as ever,

  don’t you see they grind their teeth

  132

  while with their furrowed brows they threaten harm?’

  And he to me: ‘Don’t be afraid. →

  Let them grind on to their hearts’ content—

  135

  they do it for the stewing wretches.’

  Off they set along the left-hand bank, →

  but first each pressed his tongue between his teeth

  to blow a signal to their leader,

  139

  and he had made a trumpet of his asshole.

  OUTLINE: INFERNO XXII

  1–12

  opening simile: the signal for a departure

  13–18

  the unlikely companions start their march

  19–30

  two similes: sinners as dolphins and as frogs

  31–36

  Graffiacane hooks a sinner

  37–39

  Dante explains how he came to know the devils’ names

  40–42

  the other devils urge Rubicante to flay the sinner

  43–45

  Dante asks Virgil to determine the sinner’s identity

  46–48

  Virgil asks him; the sinner says he is from Navarre

  49–54

  Ciampolo’s autobiography

  55–63

  Cirïatto gores Ciampolo; Barbariccia protects him

  64–65

  Virgil wants to know of any Italians in the pitch

  66–69

  Ciampolo mentions a Sardinian neighbor

  70–73

  Libicocco attacks; Draghignazzo threatens

  74–75

  Barbariccia again controls the situation

  76–80

  Virgil insists on having the information he seeks

  81–90

  Ciampolo’s “neighbors”: Fra Gomita and Michel Zanche

  91–93

  Ciampolo observes Farfarello’s evil intent

  94–96

  the “provost,” Barbariccia, restrains Farfarello

  97–105

  Ciampolo’s stratagem, asking space to summon others

  106–117

  dispute between Cagnazzo and Alichino

  118

  the fifth address to the reader in this cantica

  119–132

  Ciampolo’s escape, Alichino’s pursuit: simile of wild duck and falcon

  133–144

  Calcabrina and Alichino grapple, fall into the pitch

  145–150

  Barbariccia organizes his two rescue parties

  151

  Virgil and Dante make good their escape

  INFERNO XXII

  I have seen the cavalry break camp, →

  prepare for an attack, make their muster

  3

  and at times fall back to save themselves.

  I have seen outriders in your land,

  O Aretines. I have seen raiding-parties,

  6

  tournaments of teams, hand-to-hand jousts

  begun with bells, trumpets, or drums,

  with signals from the castle,

  9

  with summons of our own and those from foreign lands,

  but never to such outlandish fanfare

  have I seen horsemen move, or infantry,

  12

  or ship set sail at sign from land or star.

  On we went, escorted by ten demons. →

  What savage company! But, as they say,

  15

  ‘in church with saints, with guzzlers in the tavern.’

  My attention was fixed upon the pitch

  to note each detail of this gulch

  18

  and of the people poaching in it.

  Like dolphins, when they arch their backs →

  above the water, giving sailors warning

  21

  to prepare to save their ship,

  so from time to time, to ease his pa
in,

  one of the sinners would show his back

  24

  and, quick as lightning, hide it once again.

  And just as in a ditch at water’s edge

  frogs squat with but their snouts in sight,

  27

  their bodies and their legs all hidden,

  so were the sinners scattered everywhere.

  But they, at the approach of Barbariccia,

  30

  withdrew back down beneath the boiling.

  There I saw—and my heart still shudders at it—

  one who lingered, as it can happen

  33

  that one frog stays while yet another plunges,

  and Graffiacane, who was nearest him,

  caught a billhook in his pitchy locks

  36

  and hauled him out, looking like an otter.

  By now I knew their names, →

  since I had noted these when they were chosen

  39

  and when they called to one another.

  ‘Set your claws to work, Rubicante,

  see you rip his skin off,’

  42

  shouted all the accursèd crew together.

  And I: ‘Master, if you can do it,

  find out the name of this poor wretch

  45

  caught in the clutches of his enemies.’

  My leader got up close beside him

  and asked him where he came from. He replied:

  48

  ‘I was born in the kingdom of Navarre. →

  ‘My mother, who had conceived me by a wastrel—

  destroyer of himself and all his goods—

  51

  put me in service with a man of rank.

  ‘Then I joined the retinue of worthy Thibaut:

  there first I set myself to taking bribes,

  54

  for which I pay the reckoning in this heat.’

  And Ciriatto, from whose jaw curved up

  on either side a tusk, like the wild boar’s,

 

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