The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri (good e books to read txt) đ
- Author: Dante Alighieri
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His violent death yet unavengâd,â said I, âBy any, who are partners in his shame, Made him contemptuous: therefore, as I think, He passâd me speechless by; and doing so Hath made me more compassionate his fate.â
So we discoursâd to where the rock first showâd The other valley, had more light been there, Eâen to the lowest depth. Soon as we came Oâer the last cloister in the dismal rounds Of Malebolge, and the brotherhood
Were to our view exposâd, then many a dart Of sore lament assailâd me, headed all With points of thrilling pity, that I closâd Both ears against the volley with mine hands.
As were the torment, if each lazar-house Of Valdichiana, in the sultry time âTwixt July and September, with the isle Sardinia and Maremmaâs pestilent fen, Had heapâd their maladies all in one foss Together; such was here the torment: dire The stench, as issuing steams from festerâd limbs.
We on the utmost shore of the long rock Descended still to leftward. Then my sight Was livelier to explore the depth, wherein The minister of the most mighty Lord, All-searching Justice, dooms to punishment The forgers noted on her dread record.
More rueful was it not methinks to see The nation in Aegina droop, what time Each living thing, eâen 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 restorâd anew From seed of emmets) than was here to see The spirits, that languishâd through the murky vale Up-pilâd on many a stack. Confusâd they lay, One oâer the belly, oâer the shoulders one Rollâd of another; sideling crawlâd a third Along the dismal pathway. Step by step We journeyâd on, in silence looking round And listâning those diseasâd, who strove in vain To lift their forms. Then two I markâd, that sat Proppâd âgainst each other, as two brazen pans Set to retain the heat. From head to foot, A tetter barkâd them round. Nor saw I eâer Groom currying so fast, for whom his lord Impatient waited, or himself perchance Tirâd with long watching, as of these each one Plied quickly his keen nails, through furiousness Of neâer abated pruriency. The crust Came drawn from underneath in flakes, like scales Scrapâd from the bream or fish of broader mail.
âO thou, who with thy fingers rendest off Thy coat of proof,â thus spake my guide to one, âAnd sometimes makest tearing pincers of them, Tell me if any born of Latian land Be among these within: so may thy nails Serve thee for everlasting to this toil.â
âBoth are of Latium,â weeping he replied, âWhom torturâd thus thou seest: but who art thou That hast inquirâd of us?â To whom my guide: âOne that descend with this man, who yet lives, From rock to rock, and show him hellâs abyss.â
Then started they asunder, and each turnâd Trembling toward us, with the rest, whose ear Those words redounding struck. To me my liege Addressâd him: âSpeak to them whateâer thou list.â
And I therewith began: âSo may no time Filch your remembrance from the thoughts of men In thâ upper world, but after many suns Survive 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.â
âArezzo was my dwelling,â answerâd one, âAnd me Albero of Sienna brought
To die by fire; but that, for which I died, Leads me not here. True is in sport I told him, That I had learnâd to wing my flight in air.
And he admiring much, as he was void Of wisdom, willâd me to declare to him The secret of mine art: and only hence, Because I made him not a Daedalus, Prevailâd on one supposâd his sire to burn me.
But Minos to this chasm last of the ten, For that I practisâd alchemy on earth, Has doomâd me. Him no subterfuge eludes.â
Then to the bard I spake: âWas ever race Light as Siennaâs? Sure not France herself Can show a tribe so frivolous and vain.â
The other leprous spirit heard my words, And thus returnâd: âBe Stricca from this charge Exempted, he who knew so tempârately To lay out fortuneâs gifts; and Niccolo Who first the spiceâs costly luxury Discoverâd in that garden, where such seed Roots deepest in the soil: and be that troop Exempted, with whom Caccia of Asciano Lavishâd his vineyards and wide-spreading woods, And his rare wisdom Abbagliato showâd A spectacle for all. That thou mayst know Who seconds thee against the Siennese Thus gladly, bend this way thy sharpenâd sight, That well my face may answer to thy ken; So shalt thou see I am Capocchioâs ghost, Who forgâd transmuted metals by the power Of alchemy; and if I scan thee right, Thus needs must well remember how I aped Creative nature by my subtle art.â
CANTO XXX
WHAT time resentment burnâd in Junoâs breast For Semele against the Theban blood, As more than once in dire mischance was rued, Such fatal frenzy seizâd on Athamas, That he his spouse beholding with a babe Laden on either arm, âSpread out,â he cried, âThe meshes, that I take the lioness And the young lions at the pass: âthen forth Stretchâd he his merciless talons, grasping one, One helpless innocent, Learchus namâd, Whom swinging down he dashâd upon a rock, And with her other burden self-destroyâd The hapless mother plungâd: and when the pride Of all-presuming Troy fell from its height, By fortune overwhelmâd, and the old king With his realm perishâd, then did Hecuba, A wretch forlorn and captive, when she saw Polyxena first slaughterâd, and her son, Her Polydorus, on the wild sea-beach Next met the mournerâs view, then reft of sense Did she run barking even as a dog; Such mighty power had grief to wrench her soul.
Bet neâer the Furies or of Thebes or Troy With such fell cruelty were seen, their goads Infixing in the limbs of man or beast, As now two pale and naked ghost I saw That gnarling wildly scamperâd, like the swine Excluded from his stye. One reachâd Capocchio, And in the neck-joint sticking deep his fangs, Draggâd him, that oâer the solid pavement rubbâd His belly stretchâd out prone. The other shape, He of Arezzo, there left trembling, spake; âThat sprite of air is Schicchi; in like mood Of random mischief vent he still his spite.â
To whom I answâring: âOh! 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.âââ That is the ancient soul Of wretched Myrrha,â he replied, âwho burnâd With most unholy flame for her own sire, And a false shape assuming, so performâd The deed of sin; eâen as the other there, That onward passes, darâd to counterfeit Donatiâs features, to feignâd testament The seal affixing, that himself might gain, For his own share, the lady of the herd.â
When vanishâd the two furious shades, on whom Mine eye was held, I turnâd it back to view The other cursed spirits. One I saw In fashion like a lute, had but the groin Been severâd, where it meets the forked part.
Swoln dropsy, disproportioning the limbs With ill-converted moisture, that the paunch Suits not the visage, openâd wide his lips Gasping as in the hectic man for drought, One towards the chin, the other upward curlâd.
âO ye, who in this world of misery, Wherefore I know not, are exempt from pain,â
Thus he began, âattentively regard Adamoâs woe. When living, full supply Neâer lackâd me of what most I coveted; One drop of water now, alas! I crave.
The rills, that glitter down the grassy slopes Of Casentino, making fresh and soft The banks whereby they glide to Arnoâs stream, Stand ever in my view; and not in vain; For more the picturâd semblance dries me up, Much more than the disease, which makes the flesh Desert these shrivelâd cheeks. So from the place, Where I transgressâd, stern justice urging me, Takes means to quicken more my labâring sighs.
There is Romena, where I falsified The metal with the Baptistâs form imprest, For which on earth I left my body burnt.
But if I here might see the sorrowing soul Of Guido, Alessandro, or their brother, For Brandaâs limpid spring I would not change The welcome sight. One is eâen now within, If truly the mad spirits tell, that round Are wandâring. But wherein besteads me that?
My limbs are fetterâd. 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 more Than half of one across. They brought me down Among this tribe; inducâd by them I stampâd The florens with three carats of alloy.â
âWho are that abject pair,â I next inquirâd, âThat closely bounding thee upon thy right Lie smoking, like a band in winter steepâd In the chill stream?âââWhen to this gulf I dropt,â
He answerâd, âhere I found them; since that hour They have not turnâd, nor ever shall, I ween, Till time hath run his course. One is that dame The 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 upsteamâd.â When that he heard, One, gallâd perchance to be so darkly namâd, With clenchâd hand smote him on the braced paunch, That like a drum resounded: but forthwith Adamo smote him on the face, the blow Returning with his arm, that seemâd as hard.
âThough my oâerweighty limbs have taâen from me The power to move,â said he, âI have an arm At liberty for such employ.â To whom Was answerâd: âWhen thou wentest to the fire, Thou hadst it not so ready at command, Then readier when it coinâd thâ impostor gold.â
And thus the dropsied: âAy, now speakâst thou true.
But there thou gavâst not such true testimony, When thou wast questionâd of the truth, at Troy.â
âIf I spake false, thou falsely stampâdst the coin,â
Said Sinon; âI am here but for one fault, And thou for more than any imp beside.â
âRemember,â he replied, âO perjurâd one, The horse remember, that did teem with death, And all the world be witness to thy guilt.â
âTo thine,â returnâd the Greek, âwitness the thirst Whence thy tongue cracks, witness the fluid mound, Rearâd by thy belly up before thine eyes, A mass corrupt.â To whom the coiner thus: âThy mouth gapes wide as ever to let pass Its evil saying. Me if thirst assails, Yet I am stuffâd with moisture. Thou art parchâd, Pains rack thy head, no urging wouldâst thou need To make thee lap Narcissusâ mirror up.â
I was all fixâd to listen, when my guide Admonishâd: âNow beware: a little more.
And I do quarrel with thee.â I perceivâd How angrily he spake, and towards him turnâd With shame so poignant, as rememberâd yet Confounds me. As a man that dreams of harm Befallân him, dreaming wishes it a dream, And that which is, desires as if it were not, Such then was I, who wanting power to speak Wishâd to excuse myself, and all the while Excusâd me, though unweeting that I did.
âMore grievous
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