(7) Save that at this 'tis broken, and does not bridge it; You will be able to mount up the ruin, That sidelong slopes and at the bottom rises." The Leader stood awhile with head bowed down; Then said: "The business badly he recounted Who grapples with his hook the sinners yonder." And the Friar: "Many of the Devil's vices Once heard I at Bologna, and among them, That he's a liar and the father of lies." Thereat my Leader with great strides went on, Somewhat disturbed with anger in his looks; Whence from the heavy-laden I departed After the prints of his beloved feet.

(33) And again, it is written a second time : " Cursed he be who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his father's shame"; and all the holy ones of the Lord said " So be it ; so be it."

(1) The place where to descend the bank we came Was alpine, and from what was there, moreover, Of such a kind that every eye would shun it. Such as that ruin is which in the flank Smote, on this side of Trent, the Adige, Either by earthquake or by failing stay, For from the mountain's top, from which it moved, Unto the plain the cliff is shattered so, Some path 'twould give to him who was above; Even such was the descent of that ravine, And on the border of the broken chasm The infamy of Crete was stretched along, Who was conceived in the fictitious cow; And when he us beheld, he bit himself, Even as one whom anger racks within. My Sage towards him shouted: "Peradventure Thou think'st that here may be the Duke of Athens, Who in the world above brought death to thee? Get thee gone, beast, for this one cometh not Instructed by thy sister, but he comes In order to behold your punishments." As is that bull who breaks loose at the moment In which he has received the mortal blow, Who cannot walk, but staggers here and there,

(5) One the false woman is who accused Joseph, The other the false Sinon, Greek of Troy; 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 in the face, With arm that did not seem to be less hard, Saying to him: "Although be taken from me All motion, for my limbs that heavy are, 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: 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." "Remember, perjurer, about the horse," He made reply who had the swollen belly, "And rueful be it thee the whole world knows it."

(3) If false are not the features which thou bearest, Thou art Venedico Caccianimico; But what doth bring thee to such pungent sauces?" And he to me: "Unwillingly I tell it; But forces me thine utterance distinct, Which makes me recollect the ancient world. I was the one who the fair Ghisola Induced to grant the wishes of the Marquis, Howe'er the shameless story may be told. Not the sole Bolognese am I who weeps here; Nay, rather is this place so full of them, That not so many tongues to-day are taught 'Twixt Reno and Savena to say 'sipa;' And if thereof thou wishest pledge or proof, Bring to thy mind our avaricious heart." While speaking in this manner, with his scourge A demon smote him, and said: "Get thee gone Pander, there are no women here for coin." I joined myself again unto mine Escort; Thereafterward with footsteps few we came To where a crag projected from the bank. This very easily did we ascend, And turning to the right along its ridge, From those eternal circles we departed.

(6) I have already seen thee with dry hair, And thou'rt Alessio Interminei of Lucca; Therefore I eye thee more than all the others." And he thereon, belabouring his pumpkin: "The flatteries have submerged me here below, Wherewith my tongue was never surfeited." Then said to me the Guide: "See that thou thrust Thy visage somewhat farther in advance, That with thine eyes thou well the face attain Of that uncleanly and dishevelled drab, Who there doth scratch herself with filthy nails, And crouches now, and now on foot is standing. Thais the harlot is it, who replied Unto her paramour, when he said, 'Have I Great gratitude from thee?'—'Nay, marvellous;' And herewith let our sight be satisfied."

(3) I stood even as the friar who is confessing The false assassin, who, when he is fixed, Recalls him, so that death may be delayed. And he cried out: "Dost thou stand there already, Dost thou stand there already, Boniface? By many years the record lied to me. Art thou so early satiate with that wealth, For which thou didst not fear to take by fraud The beautiful Lady, and then work her woe?" Such I became, as people are who stand, Not comprehending what is answered them, As if bemocked, and know not how to answer. Then said Virgilius: "Say to him straightway, 'I am not he, I am not he thou thinkest.'" And I replied as was imposed on me. Whereat the spirit writhed with both his feet, Then, sighing, with a voice of lamentation Said to me: "Then what wantest thou of me? If who I am thou carest so much to know, That thou on that account hast crossed the bank, Know that I vested was with the great mantle; And truly was I son of the She-bear, So eager to advance the cubs, that wealth Above, and here myself, I pocketed.

(5) What I was saying of that only bride Of the Holy Ghost, and which occasioned thee To turn towards me for some commentary, So long has been ordained to all our prayers As the day lasts; but when the night comes on, Contrary sound we take instead thereof. At that time we repeat Pygmalion, Of whom a traitor, thief, and parricide Made his insatiable desire of gold; And the misery of avaricious Midas, That followed his inordinate demand, At which forevermore one needs but laugh. The foolish Achan each one then records, And how he stole the spoils; so that the wrath Of Joshua still appears to sting him here. Then we accuse Sapphira with her husband, We laud the hoof-beats Heliodorus had, And the whole mount in infamy encircles Polymnestor who murdered Polydorus. Here finally is cried: 'O Crassus, tell us, For thou dost know, what is the taste of gold?' Sometimes we speak, one loud, another low, According to desire of speech, that spurs us To greater now and now to lesser pace.

(5) Full soon they were upon us, because running Moved onward all that mighty multitude, And two in the advance cried out, lamenting, "Mary in haste unto the mountain ran, And Caesar, that he might subdue Ilerda, Thrust at Marseilles, and then ran into Spain." "Quick! quick! so that the time may not be lost By little love!" forthwith the others cried, "For ardour in well-doing freshens grace!" "O folk, in whom an eager fervour now Supplies perhaps delay and negligence, Put by you in well-doing, through lukewarmness, This one who lives, and truly I lie not, Would fain go up, if but the sun relight us; So tell us where the passage nearest is." These were the words of him who was my Guide; And some one of those spirits said: "Come on Behind us, and the opening shalt thou find; So full of longing are we to move onward, That stay we cannot; therefore pardon us, If thou for churlishness our justice take.

(6) To clamour more than truth they turn their faces, And in this way establish their opinion, Ere art or reason has by them been heard. Thus many ancients with Guittone did, From cry to cry still giving him applause, Until the truth has conquered with most persons. Now, if thou hast such ample privilege 'Tis granted thee to go unto the cloister Wherein is Christ the abbot of the college, To him repeat for me a Paternoster, So far as needful to us of this world, Where power of sinning is no longer ours." Then, to give place perchance to one behind, Whom he had near, he vanished in the fire As fish in water going to the bottom. I moved a little tow'rds him pointed out, And said that to his name my own desire An honourable place was making ready.

(4) "Blessed be thou, who of our border-lands," He recommenced who first had questioned us, "Experience freightest for a better life. The folk that comes not with us have offended In that for which once Caesar, triumphing, Heard himself called in contumely, 'Queen.' Therefore they separate, exclaiming, 'Sodom!' Themselves reproving, even as thou hast heard, And add unto their burning by their shame. Our own transgression was hermaphrodite; But because we observed not human law, Following like unto beasts our appetite, In our opprobrium by us is read, When we part company, the name of her Who bestialized herself in bestial wood. Now knowest thou our acts, and what our crime was; Wouldst thou perchance by name know who we are, There is not time to tell, nor could I do it. Thy wish to know me shall in sooth be granted; I'm Guido Guinicelli, and now purge me, Having repented ere the hour extreme." The same that in the sadness of Lycurgus Two sons became, their mother re-beholding, Such I became, but rise not to such height,

(1) Ill strives the will against a better will; Therefore, to pleasure him, against my pleasure I drew the sponge not saturate from the water. Onward I moved, and onward moved my Leader, Through vacant places, skirting still the rock, As on a wall close to the battlements; For they that through their eyes pour drop by drop The malady which all the world pervades, On the other side too near the verge approach. Accursed mayst thou be, thou old she-wolf, That more than all the other beasts hast prey, Because of hunger infinitely hollow! O heaven, in whose gyrations some appear To think conditions here below are changed, When will he come through whom she shall depart? Onward we went with footsteps slow and scarce, And I attentive to the shades I heard Piteously weeping and bemoaning them; And I by peradventure heard "Sweet Mary!" Uttered in front of us amid the weeping Even as a woman does who is in child-birth; And in continuance: "How poor thou wast Is manifested by that hostelry Where thou didst lay thy sacred burden down."

(3) Not upon thee had he stretched forth his hand; Whereas the thing incredible has caused me To put him to an act which grieveth me. But tell him who thou wast, so that by way Of some amends thy fame he may refresh Up in the world, to which he can return." And the trunk said: "So thy sweet words allure me, I cannot silent be; and you be vexed not, That I a little to discourse am tempted. I am the one who both keys had in keeping Of Frederick's heart, and turned them to and fro So softly in unlocking and in locking, That from his secrets most men I withheld; Fidelity I bore the glorious office So great, I lost thereby my sleep and pulses. The courtesan who never from the dwelling Of Caesar turned aside her strumpet eyes, Death universal and the vice of courts, Inflamed against me all the other minds, And they, inflamed, did so inflame Augustus, That my glad honours turned to dismal mournings. My spirit, in disdainful exultation, Thinking by dying to escape disdain, Made me unjust against myself, the just.

(6) "Summae Deus clementiae," in the bosom Of the great burning chanted then I heard, Which made me no less eager to turn round; And spirits saw I walking through the flame; Wherefore I looked, to my own steps and theirs Apportioning my sight from time to time. After the close which to that hymn is made, Aloud they shouted, "Virum non cognosco;" Then recommenced the hymn with voices low. This also ended, cried they: "To the wood Diana ran, and drove forth Helice Therefrom, who had of Venus felt the poison." Then to their song returned they; then the wives They shouted, and the husbands who were chaste. As virtue and the marriage vow imposes. And I believe that them this mode suffices, For all the time the fire is burning them; With such care is it needful, and such food, That the last wound of all should be closed up.

(6) And in like mode his father-in-law is punished Within this moat, and the others of the council, Which for the Jews was a malignant seed." And thereupon I saw Virgilius marvel O'er him who was extended on the cross So vilely in eternal banishment. Then he directed to the Friar this voice: "Be not displeased, if granted thee, to tell us If to the right hand any pass slope down By which we two may issue forth from here, Without constraining some of the black angels To come and extricate us from this deep." Then he made answer: "Nearer than thou hopest There is a rock, that forth from the great circle Proceeds, and crosses all the cruel valleys,

(1) Nor speech the going, nor the going that Slackened; but talking we went bravely on, Even as a vessel urged by a good wind. And shadows, that appeared things doubly dead, From out the sepulchres of their eyes betrayed Wonder at me, aware that I was living. And I, continuing my colloquy, Said: "Peradventure he goes up more slowly Than he would do, for other people's sake. But tell me, if thou knowest, where is Piccarda; Tell me if any one of note I see Among this folk that gazes at me so." "My sister, who, 'twixt beautiful and good, I know not which was more, triumphs rejoicing Already in her crown on high Olympus." So said he first, and then: "'Tis not forbidden To name each other here, so milked away Is our resemblance by our dieting. This," pointing with his finger, "is Buonagiunta, Buonagiunta, of Lucca; and that face Beyond him there, more peaked than the others, Has held the holy Church within his arms; From Tours was he, and purges by his fasting Bolsena's eels and the Vernaccia wine."

(131) Now here stands the beauteous Bride: what shall I write of her now? was she not a Prince of God, as also the most beautiful, moreover in God’s Love also, and as a dear Son of the Creatures? Of the horrible, proud, and henceforth doleful lamentable Beginning of Sin. The highest Depth. Observe here,

(52) Therefore consider thyself, and say not, I stand in the Dark, and exercise Love, none sees it. Thou standest before the clear Countenance of God; also thou standest before the Abyss of Hell, before the Council of all Devils, who mock at thee; and besides, thou hast an evil [false] or unfaithful Love, and it is no other than a [wanton] Lechery; if ait was faithful, thou wouldst not defile thy Brother or Sister; both of you miserably defile the Image of God, and are the worst Enemies one of another; you cast one another into the Devil's murdering Den, and are in the Wrestling; but the Devil amuses you, and strows Sugar, that he may catch you and bind you fast; and then he leads you to Jericho, and scourges, [wounds,] and plagues you sufficiently.

(574) He first takes their property, and when that fails, and pleasures are beginning to swarm in the hive of his soul, then he breaks into a house, or steals the garments of some nightly wayfarer; next he proceeds to clear a temple. Meanwhile the old opinions which he had when a child, and which gave judgment about good and evil, are overthrown by those others which have just been emancipated, and are now the body-guard of love and share his empire. These in his democratic days, when he was still subject to the laws and to his father, were only let loose in the dreams of sleep. But now that he is under the dominion of love, he becomes always and in waking reality what he was then very rarely and in a dream only; he will commit the foulest murder, or eat forbidden food, or be guilty of any other horrid act. Love is his tyrant, and lives lordly in him and lawlessly, and being himself a king, leads him on, as a tyrant leads a State, to the performance of any reckless deed by which he can maintain himself and the rabble of his associates, whether those whom evil communications have brought in from without, or those whom he himself has allowed to break loose within him by reason of a similar evil nature in himself. Have we not here a picture of his way of life? Yes, indeed, he said. And if there are only a few of them in the State, and the

(4) So did Forese let the holy flock Pass by, and came with me behind it, saying, "When will it be that I again shall see thee?" "How long," I answered, "I may live, I know not; Yet my return will not so speedy be, But I shall sooner in desire arrive; Because the place where I was set to live From day to day of good is more depleted, And unto dismal ruin seems ordained." "Now go," he said, "for him most guilty of it At a beast's tail behold I dragged along Towards the valley where is no repentance. Faster at every step the beast is going, Increasing evermore until it smites him, And leaves the body vilely mutilated. Not long those wheels shall turn," and he uplifted His eyes to heaven, "ere shall be clear to thee That which my speech no farther can declare. Now stay behind; because the time so precious Is in this kingdom, that I lose too much By coming onward thus abreast with thee." As sometimes issues forth upon a gallop A cavalier from out a troop that ride, And seeks the honour of the first encounter,