by Dante
106–114
Dante’s fear: Phaeton and Icarus
115–126
the descent and Dante’s perceptions of it
127–134
simile: sullen falcon (for Geryon’s arrival)
135–136
Geryon, disburdened, flies up and away
INFERNO XVII
‘Behold the beast with pointed tail, that leaps →
past mountains, shatters walls and weapons!
3
Behold the one whose stench afflicts the world!’
was how my guide began.
Then he signaled to the beast to come ashore
6
close to the border of our stony pathway.
And that foul effigy of fraud came forward,
beached its head and chest
9
but did not draw its tail up on the bank.
It had the features of a righteous man, →
benevolent in countenance,
12
but all the rest of it was serpent.
It had forepaws, hairy to the armpits,
and back and chest and both its flanks →
15
were painted and inscribed with rings and curlicues.
So many vivid colors Turk or Tartar never wove
in warp and woof or in embroidery on top,
18
nor were such colors patterned on Arachne’s loom.
As sometimes barges lie ashore, →
partly in water, partly on the land,
21
and as among the guzzling Germans
the beaver sets itself to catch its prey,
so lay this worst of brutes upon the stony rim
24
that makes a boundary for the sandy soil.
Its length of tail lashed in the void,
twisting up its forked, envenomed tip,
27
armed like a scorpion’s tail.
My leader said: ‘Now we must change →
direction for a moment till we reach
30
that evil beast stretched out down there.’
We descended, therefore, to our right,
and took ten steps along the edge to keep
33
our distance from the sand and flames.
And, when we reached the beast,
I see some people sitting on the sand
36
a short way off, near where it falls away.
Then the master said to me: ‘So that nothing →
in this circle escape your understanding,
39
go over and examine their condition.
‘Let your talk be brief.
While you are gone, I’ll ask the beast
42
to lend us its strong shoulders.’
Thus, on the seventh circle’s edge,
still farther out, I went alone
45
to where the downcast souls were seated. →
Their grief came bursting from their eyes.
With restless hands they sought relief,
48
now from the flame and now from burning sand.
Not otherwise do dogs in summer gnaw and scratch,
now with muzzle, now with paw,
51
when flies or fleas or horseflies bite them.
Although I searched some of the faces
of those on whom the painful fire descends,
54
I knew not one, but I could see
the pouches hanging from their necks →
were different in color, each with its coat of arms.
57
On these they seemed to feast their eyes.
And when I came among them and looked closer,
on a yellow purse I could make out →
60
a lion’s countenance and form in blue.
Then, farther on, my wandering gaze
made out another crest, blood-red, →
63
marked by a goose more white than butter.
And one, who had a pregnant sow, in azure, →
embossed on his white wallet, said to me:
66
‘What are you doing down here in this ditch?
‘Now go—but wait, since you’re still alive, →
know that my neighbor Vitaliano
69
shall soon be seated to my left.
‘Among these Florentines, I come from Padua.
Many a time they deafen me with shouting:
72
“May the sovereign knight come soon, →
‘ “who brings the pouch with three goats on it!” ’
Then he twisted his mouth and stuck out his tongue →
75
like an ox that licks its nose.
And I, fearing my delay might anger him
who had warned me to make my stay brief,
78
turned back and left those weary souls.
I found my leader mounted
on the shoulders of the savage beast.
81
He said to me: ‘Now be strong and resolute.
‘From here on we descend such stairs as these. →
You mount in front and I will take the middle
84
so that the tail may do no harm.’
As a man in a shivering-fit of quartan fever,
so ill his nails have lost all color,
87
trembles all over at the sight of shade,
so was I stricken at his words.
Rebuked by shame, which, in the presence
90
of a worthy master, makes a servant bold,
I mounted on those huge and ugly shoulders.
I wanted to say—though my voice did not come out
93
as I intended—‘Make sure you hold me fast!’
But he who had helped me many times before,
in other perils, clasped me in his arms
96
and steadied me as soon as I was mounted,
then said: ‘Geryon, move on now. Let your circles →
be wide and your descending slow.
99
Keep in mind your unaccustomed burden.’
As a bark backs slowly from its mooring,
so the beast backed off the ledge,
102
and when it felt itself adrift,
turned its tail to where its chest had been and,
extending it, made it wriggle like an eel’s,
105
while with its paws it gathered in the air.
Phaeton, I think, felt no greater fear →
when he released the reins and the whole sky
108
was scorched, as we still see,
nor wretched Icarus when he felt the melting wax →
unfeathering the wings along his back
111
and heard his father shout: ‘Not that way!’
than was my terror when I saw
air everywhere around
114
and all things gone from sight except the beast.
On it goes, swimming slowly, slowly →
wheeling, descending, but I feel only
117
the wind in my face and blowing from below.
Now on our right I heard the torrent’s hideous roar
below us, so that I thrust my head forward
120
and dared to look down the abyss.
Then I was even more afraid of being dropped,
for I saw fire and heard wailing,
123
and so, trembling, I hold on tighter with my legs.
And for the first time I became aware
of our descent and wheeling when I saw
126
the torments drawing closer all around me.
As the falcon that has long been on the wing— →
>
and, without sight of lure or bird
129
makes the falconer cry out: ‘Oh, you’re coming down!’—
descends, weary, with many a wheeling,
to where it set out swiftly, and alights,
132
angry and sullen, far from its master,
so Geryon set us down at the bottom,
at the very foot of the jagged cliff,
and, disburdened of our persons,
136
vanished like an arrow from the string.
OUTLINE: INFERNO XVIII
1–9
Malebolge as castle: wall, moats, bridges, pit
10–18
similes: moats around castles and overarching bridges
19–21
leftward movement after Geryon has departed
22–25
first ditch: double file of sinners
26–33
simile: bridge in Rome over Tiber during Jubilee Year
34–39
the punishing demons with their whips
40–51
Dante recognizes Venedico Caccianemico
52–63
Venedico’s pandering and that of other Bolognesi
64–66
a demon smites him and sends him off
67–74
Dante and Virgil mount to the crown of the ridge
75–78
Virgil: now Dante can watch the other group of sinners
79–99
view of the seducers: Jason
100–108
the second ditch: sound of whining, stench
109–114
to see within, they mount to the ridge’s crown
115–126
flattery: Alessio Interminei of Lucca
127–136
flattery: Thaïs the whore; abrupt ending of canto
INFERNO XVIII
There is a place in Hell called Malebolge, →
fashioned entirely of iron-colored rock,
3
as is the escarpment that encircles it.
At the very center of this malignant space
there yawns a pit, extremely wide and deep.
6
I will describe its plan all in due time.
A path that circles like a belt around the base
of that high rock runs round the pit,
9
its sides descending in ten ditches.
As where concentric moats surround a castle
to guard its walls, their patterns clear
12
and governed by a meaningful design,
in such a pattern were these ditches shaped.
And, just as narrow bridges issue from the gates
15
of fortresses to reach the farthest bank,
so ridges stretched from the escarpment
down across the banks and ditches
18
into the pit at which they end and join.
Dropped from Geryon’s back, this was the place →
in which we found ourselves. The poet kept
21
to the left and I came on behind him.
To our right I saw a suffering new to me, →
new torments, and new scourgers,
24
with whom the first ditch was replete.
The sinners in its depth were naked,
those on our side of the center coming toward us,
27
the others moving with us, but with longer strides,
just as, because the throngs were vast the year →
of Jubilee, the Romans had to find a way
30
to let the people pass across the bridge,
so that all those on one side face the castle,
heading over to Saint Peter’s,
33
these, on the other, heading toward the mount.
Here and there on the dark rock above them
I watched horned demons armed with heavy scourges →
36
lashing them cruelly from behind.
Ah, how they made them pick their heels up
at the first stroke! You may be certain
39
no one waited for a second or a third.
While I went on my eye was caught
by one of them, and quickly I brought out:
42
‘It seems to me I’ve seen that man before.’
And so I paused to make him out.
My gentle leader stopped with me,
45
and then allowed me to retrace my steps.
The scourged soul thought that he could hide
by lowering his face—to no avail.
48
I said: ‘You there, with your eyes cast down,
‘if I’m not mistaken in your features,
you’re Venèdico Caccianemico. →
51
What has brought you to such stinging torture?’
And he replied: ‘Unwillingly I tell it,
moved only by the truth of what you’ve said,
54
which brings to mind the world that once I knew.
‘It was I who urged Ghisolabella
to do the will of that marquis,
57
no matter how the foul tale goes around.
‘I’m not the only Bolognese here lamenting. →
This place is so crammed with them
60
that not so many tongues have learned to say
‘ “sipa” between the Sàvena and the Reno.
And if you’d like some confirmation,
63
bring our greedy dispositions back to mind.’
While he was speaking a demon struck him
with his lash and said: ‘Away, pimp!
66
there are no women here to trick.’ →
Then I rejoined my escort. A few steps farther
and we came upon a place
69
where a ridge jutted from the bank.
This we ascended easily and,
turning to the right upon its jagged ledge,
72
we left behind their endless circling. →
When we came to the point above the hollow →
that makes a passage for the scourged,
75
my leader said: ‘Stop, let them look at you,
‘those other ill-born souls whose faces
you have not yet seen, since we have all
78
been moving in the same direction.’
From the ancient bridge we eyed the band
advancing toward us on the other side,
81
driven with whips just like the first.
And the good master, without my asking, said:
‘See that imposing figure drawing near. →
84
He seems to shed no tears despite his pain.
‘What regal aspect he still bears!
He is Jason, who by courage and by craft →
87
deprived the men of Colchis of the ram.
‘Then he ventured to the isle of Lemnos,
after those pitiless, bold women
90
put all the males among them to their death.
‘There with signs of love and polished words
he deceived the young Hypsipyle,
93
who had herself deceived the other women.
‘There he left her, pregnant and forlorn.
Such guilt condemns him to this torment,
96
and Medea too is thus avenged.
‘With him go all who practice such deceit.
Let that be all we know of this first ditch
99
and of the ones it clenches in its jaws.’
Now we had come to where the narrow causeway →
intersects the second ridge to form
a buttress for another arch.
From here we heard the whimpering of people
one ditch away, snuffling with their snouts
105
and beating on themselves with their own palms.
The banks, made slimy by a sticky vapor
from below, were coated with a mould
108
offending eyes and nose.
The bottom is so deep we could see nothing
unless we climbed to the crown of the arch,
111
just where the ridge is highest.
We went up, and from there I could see,
in a ditch below, people plunged in excrement
114
that could have come from human privies.
Searching the bottom with my eyes I saw
a man, his head so smeared with shit
117
one could not tell if he were priest or layman.
He railed: ‘What whets your appetite to stare at me
more than all the others in their filth?’
120
And I answered: ‘The fact, if I remember right,
‘that once I saw you when your hair was dry—
and you are Alessio Interminei of Lucca. →
123
That’s why I eye you more than all the rest.’
Then he, beating on his pate:
‘I am immersed down here for the flattery
126
with which my tongue was never cloyed.’
And then my leader said to me: ‘Try to thrust
your face a little farther forward,
129
to get a better picture of the features
‘of that foul, disheveled wench down there,
scratching herself with her filthy nails.
