Canto 31
One and the selfsame tongue first wounded me,
so that it colored both my cheeks, and then
supplied me with the medicine required;
Achilles’ and his father’s lance, I hear,
was likewise wont to be the source of, first,
a sad, and, after, of a grateful gift.
We turned our backs upon the woeful vale
over the bank which girds it round about,
and passed across without a single word.
Here less than night it was, and less than day,
so that my sight advanced not far; but here
I heard a horn give forth so loud a sound,
that it had rendered any thunder faint;
this led mine eyes, as counter to its path
they followed, wholly to a single place.
After the woeful rout, when Charlemagne
the holy army of his knights had lost,
Roland blew not so terrible a blast.
I had not kept my head turned toward it long,
when many lofty towers I seemed to see;
I, therefore: “Teacher, say what town is this?”
“Since through the darkness from too far away
thou peerest,” he replied, “it comes about
that afterward thou errest in conceiving.
If yonder thou attain, thou ’lt clearly see
how from afar one’s senses are deceived;
hence onward urge thyself a little more.”
Thereat he took my hand with kindly care,
and said to me: “Ere further on we go,
so that the fact may seem less strange to thee,
know, then, that towers they are not, but Giants;
and all of them are standing in the well
around the bank, each from his navel down.”
As, when a fog is thinning off, one’s gaze
little by little giveth shape to that,
which, since it packs the air, the mist conceals;
even so, as through the dense, dark air I pierced,
and nearer drew and nearer to the brink,
error in me took flight, and fear increased;
for, as upon its round enclosing walls
Montereggione crowns itself with towers;
thus o’er the margin which surrounds the well
with one half of their bodies towered up
those frightful Giants, whom, when from the sky
he thunders, Jupiter is threatening still.
Already now was I distinguishing
the face of one, his shoulders and his breast,
most of his paunch, and, down his sides, both arms.
When Nature ceased from making animals
like these, and took such executioners
from Mars, she certainly did very well;
and ev’n if she of elephants and whales
repent her not, whoever subtly looks
holds her therein the more discreet and just;
for where the reasoning faculty is joined
to evil will equipped with power to act,
people can make against it no defence.
His face appeared to me as long and big
as is at Rome the pine-cone of Saint Peter’s,
and in proportion to it were his other bones;
so that the bank, which from his middle down
an apron was, showed quite so much of him
above it, that of reaching to his hair
three Frisians would have made a useless boast;
for I full thirty spans of him perceived,
down from the place at which one buckles cloaks.
“Rafel mai amech zabi et almi”
the frightful mouth, to which no sweeter psalms
were fitting, thereupon began to cry.
Then toward him cried my Leader: “Foolish soul,
keep to thy horn, and vent thyself therewith,
when wrath or other passion seizes thee!
Search at thy neck, and thou wilt find the cord
which holds it tied, O spirit of confusion,
and see it lying on thy mighty breast.”
To me then: “Self-accused he stands, for this
is Nimrod, to whose evil thought is due
that more than one tongue in the world is spoken.
Let us leave him alone, nor talk in vain;
for such is every tongue to him, as his
to others is, for that is known to none.
Then, turning to the left, we travelled on
much further; and within a crossbow’s shot
we found the next one far more large and fierce.
What was the master’s power who girded him,
I cannot say; but this one had in front
his left arm, and behind his back his right,
tied by a chain, which downward from his neck
held him so bound, that on the uncovered part
it wound around as far as the fifth coil.
My Leader said to me: “’Gainst Jove Most High
this proud soul wished to test his strength, and hence
hath this reward. Ephialtes is his name;
his haughty undertaking he attempted
what time the Giants caused the Gods to fear;
the arms he plied he moveth now no more.”
And I to him: “If possible it be,
I ’d gladly have these eyes of mine enjoy
experience of the measureless Briareus.”
Then he replied: “Antaeus thou ’lt behold
not far from here, who speaks, and, since unbound,
can set us at the bottom of all sin.
He is much further on, whom thou wouldst see,
and bound he is, and shaped like this one, save
that more ferocious in his looks he seems.”
There never was an earthquake strong enough
to shake a tower with so much violence,
as Ephialtes quickly shook at this.
Then more than ever yet did I fear death,
nor for it was there need of more than fear,
had it not been that I perceived his bonds.
We thereupon proceeded further still,
and to Antaeus came, who full five ells,
beside his head, protruded from the pit.
“O thou that in the valley fortune-blest,
which once caused Scipio to inherit glory
when with his followers Hannibal took flight,
once tookst a thousand lions as thy prey,
and who, hadst thou been at thy brethren’s war
on high, it seems that it is still believed
the Sons of Earth had been the victors there;
pray set us down below, nor let disdain
affect thee, where the cold locks up Cocytus.
Make us not go to Tìtyus or to Tìpheus;
this man can give what most is longed for here;
stoop, then, nor twist thy muzzle. He can still
give fame to thee on earth, since he is living,
and still looks forward to long life, if Grace
recall him not untimely to itself.”
The Teacher thus; then he in haste stretched out
the hands, whose mighty pressure Hercules
once felt, and took my Leader. Virgil then,
on feeling himself taken, said to me:
“Come here, that I may take thee up;” and then
so did, that he and I one bundle were.
Such as the Carisenda seems, when viewed
beneath its leaning side, whene’er a cloud
sails o’er it so, that opposite it hangs;
such did Antaeus seem to me, who watched
to see him stoop, and such a moment ’t was,
that I had gladly gone another road.
But lightly at the bottom, which devours
Judas and Lucifer, he set us down;
nor, thus bent over, did he linger there,
but raised himself, as on a ship a mast.
Courtney Langdon, translator. Full text is available at Liberty Fund.
Canto 31
Una medesma lingua pria mi morse,
sì che mi tinse l’una e l’altra guancia,
e poi la medicina mi riporse;
così od’ io che solea far la lancia
d’Achille e del suo padre esser cagione
prima di trista e poi di buona mancia.
Noi demmo il dosso al misero vallone
su per la ripa che ’l cinge dintorno,
attraversando sanza alcun sermone.
Quiv’ era men che notte e men che giorno,
sì che ’l viso m’andava innanzi poco;
ma io senti’ sonare un alto corno,
tanto ch’avrebbe ogne tuon fatto fioco,
che, contra sé la sua via seguitando,
dirizzò li occhi miei tutti ad un loco.
Dopo la dolorosa rotta, quando
Carlo Magno perdé la santa gesta,
non sonò sì terribilmente Orlando.
Poco portäi in là volta la testa,
che me parve veder molte alte torri;
ond’ io: «Maestro, dì, che terra è questa?».
Ed elli a me: «Però che tu trascorri
per le tenebre troppo da la lungi,
avvien che poi nel maginare abborri.
Tu vedrai ben, se tu là ti congiungi,
quanto ’l senso s’inganna di lontano;
però alquanto più te stesso pungi».
Poi caramente mi prese per mano
e disse: «Pria che noi siam più avanti,
acciò che ’l fatto men ti paia strano,
sappi che non son torri, ma giganti,
e son nel pozzo intorno da la ripa
da l’umbilico in giuso tutti quanti».
Come quando la nebbia si dissipa,
lo sguardo a poco a poco raffigura
ciò che cela ’l vapor che l’aere stipa,
così forando l’aura grossa e scura,
più e più appressando ver’ la sponda,
fuggiemi errore e cresciemi paura;
però che, come su la cerchia tonda
Montereggion di torri si corona,
così la proda che ’l pozzo circonda
torreggiavan di mezza la persona
li orribili giganti, cui minaccia
Giove del cielo ancora quando tuona.
E io scorgeva già d’alcun la faccia,
le spalle e ’l petto e del ventre gran parte,
e per le coste giù ambo le braccia.
Natura certo, quando lasciò l’arte
di sì fatti animali, assai fé bene
per tòrre tali essecutori a Marte.
E s’ella d’elefanti e di balene
non si pente, chi guarda sottilmente,
più giusta e più discreta la ne tene;
ché dove l’argomento de la mente
s’aggiugne al mal volere e a la possa,
nessun riparo vi può far la gente.
La faccia sua mi parea lunga e grossa
come la pina di San Pietro a Roma,
e a sua proporzione eran l’altre ossa;
sì che la ripa, ch’era perizoma
dal mezzo in giù, ne mostrava ben tanto
di sovra, che di giugnere a la chioma
tre Frison s’averien dato mal vanto;
però ch’i’ ne vedea trenta gran palmi
dal loco in giù dov’ omo affibbia ’l manto.
«Raphèl maì amècche zabì almi»,
cominciò a gridar la fiera bocca,
cui non si convenia più dolci salmi.
E ’l duca mio ver’ lui: «Anima sciocca,
tienti col corno, e con quel ti disfoga
quand’ ira o altra passïon ti tocca!
Cércati al collo, e troverai la soga
che ’l tien legato, o anima confusa,
e vedi lui che ’l gran petto ti doga».
Poi disse a me: «Elli stessi s’accusa;
questi è Nembrotto per lo cui mal coto
pur un linguaggio nel mondo non s’usa.
Lasciànlo stare e non parliamo a vòto;
ché così è a lui ciascun linguaggio
come ’l suo ad altrui, ch’a nullo è noto».
Facemmo adunque più lungo vïaggio,
vòlti a sinistra; e al trar d’un balestro
trovammo l’altro assai più fero e maggio.
A cigner lui qual che fosse ’l maestro,
non so io dir, ma el tenea soccinto
dinanzi l’altro e dietro il braccio destro
d’una catena che ’l tenea avvinto
dal collo in giù, sì che ’n su lo scoperto
si ravvolgëa infino al giro quinto.
«Questo superbo volle esser esperto
di sua potenza contra ’l sommo Giove»,
disse ’l mio duca, «ond’ elli ha cotal merto.
Fïalte ha nome, e fece le gran prove
quando i giganti fer paura a’ dèi;
le braccia ch’el menò, già mai non move».
E io a lui: «S’esser puote, io vorrei
che de lo smisurato Brïareo
esperïenza avesser li occhi mei».
Ond’ ei rispuose: «Tu vedrai Anteo
presso di qui che parla ed è disciolto,
che ne porrà nel fondo d’ogne reo.
Quel che tu vuo’ veder, più là è molto
ed è legato e fatto come questo,
salvo che più feroce par nel volto».
Non fu tremoto già tanto rubesto,
che scotesse una torre così forte,
come Fïalte a scuotersi fu presto.
Allor temett’ io più che mai la morte,
e non v’era mestier più che la dotta,
s’io non avessi viste le ritorte.
Noi procedemmo più avante allotta,
e venimmo ad Anteo, che ben cinque alle,
sanza la testa, uscia fuor de la grotta.
«O tu che ne la fortunata valle
che fece Scipïon di gloria reda,
quand’ Anibàl co’ suoi diede le spalle,
recasti già mille leon per preda,
e che, se fossi stato a l’alta guerra
de’ tuoi fratelli, ancor par che si creda
ch’avrebber vinto i figli de la terra:
mettine giù, e non ten vegna schifo,
dove Cocito la freddura serra.
Non ci fare ire a Tizio né a Tifo:
questi può dar di quel che qui si brama;
però ti china e non torcer lo grifo.
Ancor ti può nel mondo render fama,
ch’el vive, e lunga vita ancor aspetta
se ’nnanzi tempo grazia a sé nol chiama».
Così disse ’l maestro; e quelli in fretta
le man distese, e prese ’l duca mio,
ond’ Ercule sentì già grande stretta.
Virgilio, quando prender si sentio,
disse a me: «Fatti qua, sì ch’io ti prenda»;
poi fece sì ch’un fascio era elli e io.
Qual pare a riguardar la Carisenda
sotto ’l chinato, quando un nuvol vada
sovr’ essa sì, ched ella incontro penda:
tal parve Antëo a me che stava a bada
di vederlo chinare, e fu tal ora
ch’i’ avrei voluto ir per altra strada.
Ma lievemente al fondo che divora
Lucifero con Giuda, ci sposò;
né, sì chinato, lì fece dimora,
e come albero in nave si levò.
Giorgio Petrocchi, editor. Full text is available at Colombia University’s Digital Dante project.
Canto 32
If I had rhymes that were as harsh and hoarse
as would be fitting for the dismal hole,
on which lean all the other circling rocks,
I ’d squeeze the juice of my conception out
more fully; but because I have them not,
not without fear do I resolve to speak;
for to describe the bottom of the universe
is not an enterprise wherewith to jest,
nor for a tongue that says ‘mamma’ and ‘dad’;
let, then, those Ladies give my verse their aid,
who helped Amphion build the walls of Thebes,
that from the facts the telling differ not.
O rabble, that, ill-born beyond all people,
are in a place, to speak of which is hard,
far better had ye here been sheep or goats!
When we were down within the gloomy well,
beneath the Giant’s feet, though lower far,
and I still gazing at its lofty wall,
I heard one say to me: “Look where thou walkest!
and see that with thy feet thou trample not
the heads of us two wretched, weary brothers!”
Thereat I turned around, and saw before me,
and ’neath my feet, a lake which, being frozen,
seemed to be made of glass and not of water.
The Danube up in Austria never made
so thick a veil in winter for its course,
nor yonder ’neath the cold sky did the Don,
as what was here; for even if Tambernich
had fallen on it, or had Pietrapana,
it had not cracked even at its very edge.
And as a frog remains, to do its croaking,
with muzzle out of water, in the season
when oft the peasant dreams that she is gleaning;
even so, as far as where one’s shame is shown,
the woeful shades were livid in the ice,
as to the notes of storks they set their teeth.
Each kept his face turned downward; from his mouth,
the cold, and from his eyes, his saddened heart
provides itself a witness in their midst.
When I had gazed around a while, I looked
down at my feet, and two I saw with heads
so close together, that their hair was mixed.
“Ye that are pressing thus your breasts together,
say who ye are,” said I. They bent their necks,
and when their faces had been raised toward me,
their eyes, moist only inwardly before,
gushed upward though the lids; whereat the cold,
binding the tears between them, closed them up.
A clamp ne’er bound so tightly board to board;
whereat, so great the anger mastering them,
like two he-goats, they butted one another.
And one who had, by reason of the cold,
lost both his ears, with face still lowered, said:
“Why dost thou mirror thee so much on us?
If thou wouldst know who those two near thee are,
the valley from which thy Bisenzio flows
belonged to their sire Albert and to them.
They issued from one body; and thou canst search
through all Caìna, but thou ’lt never find
a shade more worthy to be fixed in ice;
not he, whose breast and shadow broken were
by one same blow at Arthur’s hand; nor yet
Focaccia; nor this fellow here, whose head
so blocks me, that I cannot see beyond,
and who was Sàssol Mascheroni called;
who he was, thou, if Tuscan, now knowst well.
And that thou put me to no further speech,
know, then, that I was Camiciòn de’ Pazzi,
and that, to excuse me, I await Carlìn.”
Thereafter I beheld a thousand faces
made doglike by the cold; hence frozen ponds
cause me to shudder now, and always will.
And now, while toward that center we were moving,
whereto all heavy objects gravitate,
and I was trembling in the eternal cold;
I know not whether it were will, or fate,
or chance; but as I walked among the heads,
hard in the face of one I struck my foot.
Weeping he scolded: “Wherefore dost thou smite me?
Unless thou comest to increase the vengeance
for Mont’ Aperti, why dost thou molest me?”
And I said: “Teacher, wait now for me here,
that I through him may issue from a doubt;
then at thy pleasure shalt thou hurry me.”
My Leader stopped; and I to him, who still
was savagely blaspheming, said: “What sort
of man art thou, that scoldest people so?”
“Now who art thou, that goest” he replied,
“through Antenora, smiting cheeks so roughly,
that it would be too much, wert thou alive?”
“I am alive, and it may profit thee”
was my reply, “for me to place thy name,
if fame thou ask, among my other notes.”
And he: “I crave the contrary; away
with thee, and bother me no more; for ill
dost thou know how to flatter in this bog!”
Thereat I seized him by the nape, and said:
“It needs must be that thou reveal thy name,
or that no hair remain upon thee here!”
Then he to me: “Though thou pull out my hair,
I ’ll neither say, nor show thee, who I am,
fall thou upon my head a thousand times.”
I had his hair wrapped round my hand already,
and more than one shock had I plucked from him,
while he was barking, with his eyes turned down;
when here another cried: “What ails thee, Bocca?
Is making noise with jawbones not enough,
unless thou bark? What devil touches thee?”
“Henceforth” said I, “I would not have thee speak,
perfidious traitor; for true news of thee
I ’ll carry with me to thy lasting shame.”
“Begone, and tell whate’er thou wilt;” he answered,
but be not silent, if thou issue hence,
of him who had just now his tongue so ready.
He here bewails the money of the French;
‘Him of Duera’ thou canst say, ‘I saw
where cold the days are for the sinful folk.’
And if thou shouldst be asked who else was there,
thou hast beside thee him of Beccherìa,
who had his gorget cut in two by Florence.
Gianni de’ Soldanier is further on,
I think, with Ganellon, and Tebaldello,
who, while its people slept, unlocked Faenza.”
From him we had departed now, when two
I saw, so frozen in a single hole,
that one man’s head served as the other’s cap.
And as because of hunger bread is eaten,
even so the upper on the other set
his teeth, where to the nape the brain is joined.
Not otherwise did Tydeus gnaw the temples
of Menalippus out of spite, than this one
was gnawing at the skull and other parts.
“O thou that showest by a sign so beastly
hatred toward him thou eatest, tell me why,”
said I to him, “on this express condition,
that shouldst thou rightfully of him complain,
I, knowing who ye are, and that one’s sin,
may quit thee for it in the world above,
if that, wherewith I speak, be not dried up.”
Courtney Langdon, translator. Full text is available at Liberty Fund.
Canto 32
S’ïo avessi le rime aspre e chiocce,
come si converrebbe al tristo buco
sovra ’l qual pontan tutte l’altre rocce,
io premerei di mio concetto il suco
più pienamente; ma perch’ io non l’abbo,
non sanza tema a dicer mi conduco;
ché non è impresa da pigliare a gabbo
discriver fondo a tutto l’universo,
né da lingua che chiami mamma o babbo.
Ma quelle donne aiutino il mio verso
ch’aiutaro Anfïone a chiuder Tebe,
sì che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso.
Oh sovra tutte mal creata plebe
che stai nel loco onde parlare è duro,
mei foste state qui pecore o zebe!
Come noi fummo giù nel pozzo scuro
sotto i piè del gigante assai più bassi,
e io mirava ancora a l’alto muro,
dicere udi’mi: «Guarda come passi:
va sì, che tu non calchi con le piante
le teste de’ fratei miseri lassi».
Per ch’io mi volsi, e vidimi davante
e sotto i piedi un lago che per gelo
avea di vetro e non d’acqua sembiante.
Non fece al corso suo sì grosso velo
di verno la Danoia in Osterlicchi,
né Tanaï là sotto ’l freddo cielo,
com’ era quivi; che se Tambernicchi
vi fosse sù caduto, o Pietrapana,
non avria pur da l’orlo fatto cricchi.
E come a gracidar si sta la rana
col muso fuor de l’acqua, quando sogna
di spigolar sovente la villana,
livide, insin là dove appar vergogna
eran l’ombre dolenti ne la ghiaccia,
mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna.
Ognuna in giù tenea volta la faccia;
da bocca il freddo, e da li occhi il cor tristo
tra lor testimonianza si procaccia.
Quand’ io m’ebbi dintorno alquanto visto,
volsimi a’ piedi, e vidi due sì stretti,
che ’l pel del capo avieno insieme misto.
«Ditemi, voi che sì strignete i petti»,
diss’ io, «chi siete?». E quei piegaro i colli;
e poi ch’ebber li visi a me eretti,
li occhi lor, ch’eran pria pur dentro molli,
gocciar su per le labbra, e ’l gelo strinse
le lagrime tra essi e riserrolli.
Con legno legno spranga mai non cinse
forte così; ond’ ei come due becchi
cozzaro insieme, tanta ira li vinse.
E un ch’avea perduti ambo li orecchi
per la freddura, pur col viso in giùe,
disse: «Perché cotanto in noi ti specchi?
Se vuoi saper chi son cotesti due,
la valle onde Bisenzo si dichina
del padre loro Alberto e di lor fue.
D’un corpo usciro; e tutta la Caina
potrai cercare, e non troverai ombra
degna più d’esser fitta in gelatina:
non quelli a cui fu rotto il petto e l’ombra
con esso un colpo per la man d’Artù;
non Focaccia; non questi che m’ingombra
col capo sì, ch’i’ non veggio oltre più,
e fu nomato Sassol Mascheroni;
se tosco se’, ben sai omai chi fu.
E perché non mi metti in più sermoni,
sappi ch’i’ fu’ il Camiscion de’ Pazzi;
e aspetto Carlin che mi scagioni».
Poscia vid’ io mille visi cagnazzi
fatti per freddo; onde mi vien riprezzo,
e verrà sempre, de’ gelati guazzi.
E mentre ch’andavamo inver’ lo mezzo
al quale ogne gravezza si rauna,
e io tremava ne l’etterno rezzo;
se voler fu o destino o fortuna,
non so; ma, passeggiando tra le teste,
forte percossi ’l piè nel viso ad una.
Piangendo mi sgridò: «Perché mi peste?
se tu non vieni a crescer la vendetta
di Montaperti, perché mi moleste?».
E io: «Maestro mio, or qui m’aspetta,
sì ch’io esca d’un dubbio per costui;
poi mi farai, quantunque vorrai, fretta».
Lo duca stette, e io dissi a colui
che bestemmiava duramente ancora:
«Qual se’ tu che così rampogni altrui?».
«Or tu chi se’ che vai per l’Antenora,
percotendo», rispuose, «altrui le gote,
sì che, se fossi vivo, troppo fora?».
«Vivo son io, e caro esser ti puote»,
fu mia risposta, «se dimandi fama,
ch’io metta il nome tuo tra l’altre note».
Ed elli a me: «Del contrario ho io brama.
Lèvati quinci e non mi dar più lagna,
ché mal sai lusingar per questa lama!».
Allor lo presi per la cuticagna
e dissi: «El converrà che tu ti nomi,
o che capel qui sù non ti rimagna».
Ond’ elli a me: «Perché tu mi dischiomi,
né ti dirò ch’io sia, né mosterrolti,
se mille fiate in sul capo mi tomi».
lo avea già i capelli in mano avvolti,
e tratti glien’ avea più d’una ciocca,
latrando lui con li occhi in giù raccolti,
quando un altro gridò: «Che hai tu, Bocca?
non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
se tu non latri? qual diavol ti tocca?».
«Omai», diss’ io, «non vo’ che più favelle,
malvagio traditor; ch’a la tua onta
io porterò di te vere novelle».
«Va via», rispuose, «e ciò che tu vuoi conta;
ma non tacer, se tu di qua entro eschi,
di quel ch’ebbe or così la lingua pronta.
El piange qui l’argento de’ Franceschi:
“Io vidi”, potrai dir, “quel da Duera
là dove i peccatori stanno freschi”.
Se fossi domandato “Altri chi v’era?”,
tu hai dallato quel di Beccheria
di cui segò Fiorenza la gorgiera.
Gianni de’ Soldanier credo che sia
più là con Ganellone e Tebaldello,
ch’aprì Faenza quando si dormia».
Noi eravam partiti già da ello,
ch’io vidi due ghiacciati in una buca,
sì che l’un capo a l’altro era cappello;
e come ’l pan per fame si manduca,
così ’l sovran li denti a l’altro pose
là ’ve ’l cervel s’aggiugne con la nuca:
non altrimenti Tidëo si rose
le tempie a Menalippo per disdegno,
che quei faceva il teschio e l’altre cose.
«O tu che mostri per sì bestial segno
odio sovra colui che tu ti mangi,
dimmi ’l perché», diss’ io, «per tal convegno,
che se tu a ragion di lui ti piangi,
sappiendo chi voi siete e la sua pecca,
nel mondo suso ancora io te ne cangi,
se quella con ch’io parlo non si secca».
Giorgio Petrocchi, editor. Full text is available at Colombia University’s Digital Dante project.
Canto 33
From his grim meal that sinner raised his mouth,
and wiped it on the hair of that same head,
which he had spoiled behind. He then began:
“Thou wouldst that I renew a hopeless grief,
the thought of which already breaks my heart,
before I speak of it. But if my words
are likely to be seeds, and bear the fruit
of infamy upon the traitor whom I gnaw,
speaking and weeping shalt thou see together.
I know not who thou art, nor by what means
thou ’rt come down here, but when I hear thee speak,
thou truly seemst to me a Florentine.
Know, then, that I Count Ugolino was,
and this man here Ruggieri, the Archbishop;
and now I ’ll tell thee why I ’m thus his neighbor.
That, as the outcome of his evil thoughts,
I, trusting him, was seized, and afterward
was put to death, there is no need to say;
but that which thou canst not have heard, that is,
how cruel was my death, thou now shalt hear,
and whether he have wronged me thou shalt know.
A narrow slit within the moulting-tower,
which bears, because of me, the name of Hunger,
and in whose walls still others must be locked,
had through its opening shown me many a moon
already, when I had the evil dream,
which rent apart the curtain of the future.
This one therein a lord and huntsman seemed,
chasing the wolf and wolfings toward the mount
which hinders Pisans from beholding Lucca,
with bitches lean and eager and well trained;
for he had set before him in his van
Gualandi with Sismondi and Lanfranchi.
After a little run both father and sons
seemed weary to me; then methought I saw
their flanks torn open by sharp-pointed fangs.
When, just before the morning, I awoke,
I heard my children, who were with me there,
sob in their sleep, and ask me for their bread.
Cruel indeed thou art, if, thinking what
my heart forebode, thou grievest not already;
and if thou weepest not, at what art wont
to weep? Awake they were, and now the hour
was drawing nigh when food was brought to us,
hence each, by reason of his dream, was worried;
and then I heard the dread tower’s lower door
nailed up; whereat, without a word, I looked
my children in the face. I did not weep,
so like a stone had I become within;
they wept; and my poor little Anselm said:
‘Father, thou lookest so! What aileth thee?’
But still I did not weep, nor did I answer
through all that day, or through the following night,
till on the world another sun had dawned.
Then, when a little beam had made its way
into our woeful prison, and I perceived
by their four faces, how I looked myself,
I bit in anguish both my hands. And they,
thinking it done because I craved to eat,
immediately stood up, and said to me:
‘Father, much less shall we be pained, if us
thou eat; thou with this wretched flesh didst clothe us,
do thou, then, strip it from us now.’ Thereat,
to sadden them no more, I calmed myself;
through that day and the next we all kept mute.
Ah, why, hard earth, didst thou not open up?
Then Gaddo, when the fourth day we had reached,
stretched himself out at length before my feet,
and said: “My father, why dost thou not help me?”
And there he died; and, ev’n as thou seest me,
between the fifth day and the sixth I saw
the three fall one by one; and, blind already,
I gave myself to groping over each,
and two days called them, after they were dead;
then fasting proved more powerful than pain.”
When he had spoken thus, with eyes awry,
he seized again the wretched skull with teeth,
which for the bone were strong as are a dog’s.
Ah, Pisa, foul reproach of those that dwell
in that fair country where the sì is heard;
since slow thy neighbors are to punish thee,
then let Caprara and Gorgona move,
and make a hedge across the Arno’s mouth,
that every person in thee may be drowned!
for though Count Ugolino had the name
of traitor to thee in thy castle-towns,
thou shouldst not thus have crucified his sons.
Their youthful age had made, thou modern Thebes,
Brigata and Uguccione innocent,
and the other two my canto names above.
Further along we went, to where the ice
roughly enswathes another class of people,
not downward turned, but wholly on their backs.
Weeping itself allows not weeping there,
and tears, which find a barrier in their eyes,
turn back, to cause their suffering to increase;
because the first ones form a solid block,
and thus like crystal visors wholly fill
the hollow cup beneath the brow. And though,
as in a callous spot,
because of cold
all feeling had departed from my face,
it seemed to me that now I felt some wind;
whence I to him: “My Teacher, who moves this?
Is not all moving air quenched here below?”
And he: “Ere long shalt thou be where thine eyes,
seeing the cause which raineth down the blast,
will make an answer to thee as to this.”
One of the wretches of the icy crust
called out to us thereat: “O souls, so cruel,
that unto you the last place is assigned,
remove for me the hard veils on my face,
that I may somewhat vent the pain that fills
my heart, before the tears freeze up again.”
Whence I to him: “If thou wouldst have me help thee,
say who thou art; and should I not relieve thee,
may I needs reach the bottom of the ice!”
Then he: “I Frate Alberigo am,
he of the evil garden’s fruit, who here
for every fig I gave get back a date.”
Then “Oh!” said I, “art thou already dead?”
And he to me replied: “I have no knowledge
how in the world above my body fares.
Such is the privilege of this Ptolomèa,
that frequently a soul falls into it,
ere Atropos have caused it to move on.
But that thou scrape more gladly from my face
these glassy tears, know, then, that just as soon
as any soul betrays, as I betrayed,
its body is taken from it by a demon,
who then takes charge of it, until its time
be all revolved. Into a well like this
it rushes headlong down; and so, perhaps,
the body of the shade that winters here
behind me, is still visible above.
This thou shouldst know, if just come down, for he
Ser Branca d’ Oria is, and many years
have now gone by, since he was thus shut up.”
“I think” said I, “that thou deceivest me,
for Branca d’ Oria is not dead as yet,
but eats, and drinks, and sleeps, and dons his clothes.”
“Above us, in the Malebranche’s ditch,”
he said, “there, where the sticky pitch is boiling,
not yet had Michel Zanche’s soul arrived,
when in his stead this fellow left behind
a devil in his body, as did also
one of his kinsmen, who with him performed
the treachery. But stretch thy hand here now,
and ope mine eyes!” And yet I oped them not,
for rudeness shown to him was courtesy.
Ah, Genoese! ye men estranged from all
morality, and full of every vice,
why from the earth are ye not wholly driven?
for with the meanest spirit of Romagna,
I found one such of you, that, for his deeds,
in soul he bathes already in Cocytus,
and seems in body still alive above.
Courtney Langdon, translator. Full text is available at Liberty Fund.
Canto 33
La bocca sollevò dal fiero pasto
quel peccator, forbendola a’ capelli
del capo ch’elli avea di retro guasto.
Poi cominciò: «Tu vuo’ ch’io rinovelli
disperato dolor che ’l cor mi preme
già pur pensando, pria ch’io ne favelli.
Ma se le mie parole esser dien seme
che frutti infamia al traditor ch’i’ rodo,
parlar e lagrimar vedrai insieme.
Io non so chi tu se’ né per che modo
venuto se’ qua giù; ma fiorentino
mi sembri veramente quand’ io t’odo.
Tu dei saper ch’i’ fui conte Ugolino,
e questi è l’arcivescovo Ruggieri:
or ti dirò perché i son tal vicino.
Che per l’effetto de’ suo’ mai pensieri,
fidandomi di lui, io fossi preso
e poscia morto, dir non è mestieri;
però quel che non puoi avere inteso,
cioè come la morte mia fu cruda,
udirai, e saprai s’e’ m’ha offeso.
Breve pertugio dentro da la Muda,
la qual per me ha ’l titol de la fame,
e che conviene ancor ch’altrui si chiuda,
m’avea mostrato per lo suo forame
più lune già, quand’ io feci ’l mal sonno
che del futuro mi squarciò ’l velame.
Questi pareva a me maestro e donno,
cacciando il lupo e ’ lupicini al monte
per che i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno.
Con cagne magre, studïose e conte
Gualandi con Sismondi e con Lanfranchi
s’avea messi dinanzi da la fronte.
In picciol corso mi parieno stanchi
lo padre e ’ figli, e con l’agute scane
mi parea lor veder fender li fianchi.
Quando fui desto innanzi la dimane,
pianger senti’ fra ’l sonno i miei figliuoli
ch’eran con meco, e dimandar del pane.
Ben se’ crudel, se tu già non ti duoli
pensando ciò che ’l mio cor s’annunziava;
e se non piangi, di che pianger suoli?
Già eran desti, e l’ora s’appressava
che ’l cibo ne solëa essere addotto,
e per suo sogno ciascun dubitava;
e io senti’ chiavar l’uscio di sotto
a l’orribile torre; ond’ io guardai
nel viso a’ mie’ figliuoi sanza far motto.
Io non piangëa, sì dentro impetrai:
piangevan elli; e Anselmuccio mio
disse: “Tu guardi sì, padre! che hai?”.
Perciò non lagrimai né rispuos’ io
tutto quel giorno né la notte appresso,
infin che l’altro sol nel mondo uscìo.
Come un poco di raggio si fu messo
nel doloroso carcere, e io scorsi
per quattro visi il mio aspetto stesso,
ambo le man per lo dolor mi morsi;
ed ei, pensando ch’io ’l fessi per voglia
di manicar, di sùbito levorsi
e disser: “Padre, assai ci fia men doglia
se tu mangi di noi: tu ne vestisti
queste misere carni, e tu le spoglia”.
Queta’mi allor per non farli più tristi;
lo dì e l’altro stemmo tutti muti;
ahi dura terra, perché non t’apristi?
Poscia che fummo al quarto dì venuti,
Gaddo mi si gittò disteso a’ piedi,
dicendo: “Padre mio, ché non m’aiuti?”.
Quivi morì; e come tu mi vedi,
vid’ io cascar li tre ad uno ad uno
tra ’l quinto dì e ’l sesto; ond’ io mi diedi,
già cieco, a brancolar sovra ciascuno,
e due dì li chiamai, poi che fur morti.
Poscia, più che ’l dolor, poté ’l digiuno».
Quand’ ebbe detto ciò, con li occhi torti
riprese ’l teschio misero co’ denti,
che furo a l’osso, come d’un can, forti.
Ahi Pisa, vituperio de le genti
del bel paese là dove ’l sì suona,
poi che i vicini a te punir son lenti,
muovasi la Capraia e la Gorgona,
e faccian siepe ad Arno in su la foce,
sì ch’elli annieghi in te ogne persona!
Che se ’l conte Ugolino aveva voce
d’aver tradita te de le castella,
non dovei tu i figliuoi porre a tal croce.
Innocenti facea l’età novella,
novella Tebe, Uguiccione e ’l Brigata
e li altri due che ’l canto suso appella.
Noi passammo oltre, là ’ve la gelata
ruvidamente un’altra gente fascia,
non volta in giù, ma tutta riversata.
Lo pianto stesso lì pianger non lascia,
e ’l duol che truova in su li occhi rintoppo,
si volge in entro a far crescer l’ambascia;
ché le lagrime prime fanno groppo,
e sì come visiere di cristallo,
rïempion sotto ’l ciglio tutto il coppo.
E avvegna che, sì come d’un callo,
per la freddura ciascun sentimento
cessato avesse del mio viso stallo,
già mi parea sentire alquanto vento;
per ch’io: «Maestro mio, questo chi move?
non è qua giù ogne vapore spento?».
Ond’ elli a me: «Avaccio sarai dove
di ciò ti farà l’occhio la risposta,
veggendo la cagion che ’l fiato piove».
E un de’ tristi de la fredda crosta
gridò a noi: «O anime crudeli
tanto che data v’è l’ultima posta,
levatemi dal viso i duri veli,
sì ch’ïo sfoghi ’l duol che ’l cor m’impregna,
un poco, pria che ’l pianto si raggeli».
Per ch’io a lui: «Se vuo’ ch’i’ ti sovvegna,
dimmi chi se’, e s’io non ti disbrigo,
al fondo de la ghiaccia ir mi convegna».
Rispuose adunque: «I’ son frate Alberigo;
i’ son quel da le frutta del mal orto,
che qui riprendo dattero per figo».
«Oh», diss’ io lui, «or se’ tu ancor morto?».
Ed elli a me: «Come ’l mio corpo stea
nel mondo sù, nulla scïenza porto.
Cotal vantaggio ha questa Tolomea,
che spesse volte l’anima ci cade
innanzi ch’Atropòs mossa le dea.
E perché tu più volentier mi rade
le ’nvetrïate lagrime dal volto,
sappie che, tosto che l’anima trade
come fec’ ïo, il corpo suo l’è tolto
da un demonio, che poscia il governa
mentre che ’l tempo suo tutto sia vòlto.
Ella ruina in sì fatta cisterna;
e forse pare ancor lo corpo suso
de l’ombra che di qua dietro mi verna.
Tu ’l dei saper, se tu vien pur mo giuso:
elli è ser Branca Doria, e son più anni
poscia passati ch’el fu sì racchiuso».
«Io credo», diss’ io lui, «che tu m’inganni;
ché Branca Doria non morì unquanche,
e mangia e bee e dorme e veste panni».
«Nel fosso sù», diss’ el, «de’ Malebranche,
là dove bolle la tenace pece,
non era ancora giunto Michel Zanche,
che questi lasciò il diavolo in sua vece
nel corpo suo, ed un suo prossimano
che ’l tradimento insieme con lui fece.
Ma distendi oggimai in qua la mano;
aprimi li occhi». E io non gliel’ apersi;
e cortesia fu lui esser villano.
Ahi Genovesi, uomini diversi
d’ogne costume e pien d’ogne magagna,
perché non siete voi del mondo spersi?
Ché col peggiore spirto di Romagna
trovai di voi un tal, che per sua opra
in anima in Cocito già si bagna,
e in corpo par vivo ancor di sopra.
Giorgio Petrocchi, editor. Full text is available at Colombia University’s Digital Dante project.
Canto 34
“The banners of the King of Hell advance
toward us; now, therefore, look ahead of thee,”
my Teacher said, “and see if thou perceive him.”
As, when a heavy fog is breathed abroad,
or when at night our hemisphere grows dark,
a windmill looks when seen from far away;
even such a structure seemed I now to see;
then, for the wind, I shrank behind my Leader,
for other shelter was there none. I now —
and ’t is with fear I put it into verse, —
was where the shades were wholly covered up,
and visible as is a straw in glass;
some lying are; and some are standing up,
one on his head, the other on his soles;
one, like a bow, bends toward his feet his face.
When we had gone so far ahead, that now
it pleased my Teacher to reveal to me
the Creature who once seemed so beautiful,
he stepped from where he was in front of me,
stopped me, and said: “Lo Dis, and lo the place,
where thou must arm thyself with fortitude!”
How frozen and how weak I then became,
ask thou not, Reader, for I write it not,
because all speech would be of small avail.
I did not die, nor yet remained alive;
think for thyself now, hast thou any wit,
what I became, of both of these deprived.
The Emperor of the Realm of Woe stood forth
out of the ice from midway up his breast;
and I compare more closely with a Giant,
than merely with his arms the Giants do;
consider now how great that whole must be,
that with such parts as these may be compared.
If, once as beautiful as ugly now,
he still raised up his brows against his Maker,
justly doth every woe proceed from him.
Oh, what a marvel it appeared to me,
when I beheld three faces to his head!
One was in front of us, and that was red;
the other two were to the latter joined
right o’er the middle of each shoulder-blade,
and met each other where he had his crest;
that on the right twixt white and yellow seemed;
the left one such to look at, as are those
who come from there, where valeward flows the Nile.
Under each face two mighty wings stretched out,
of size proportioned to so huge a bird;
sails of the sea I never saw so large.
They had no feathers, but were like a bat’s
in fashion; these he flapped in such a way,
that three winds issued forth from him; thereby
Cocytus was completely frozen up.
With six eyes he was weeping, and his tears
and bloody slaver trickled o’er three chins.
In each mouth, as a heckle would have done,
a sinner he was crushing with his teeth,
and thus was causing pain to three of them.
To him who was in front of us the biting
was nothing to the clawing, for at times
his back remained completely stripped of skin.
“That soul up there which hath the greatest pain
Judas Iscariot is,” my Teacher said,
“who hath his head within, and plies his legs
without. Of the other two, whose heads are down,
Brutus is he who from the black snout hangs;
see how he writhes, and utters not a word!
Cassius the other is, who so big-limbed
appears. But night is coming up again,
and now ’t is time to leave, for we ’ve seen all.”
Then, as it pleased him, I embraced his neck,
and he availed himself of time and place,
and when the wings were opened wide enough,
he firmly grasped the shaggy flanks, and then
from tuft to tuft he afterward descended
between the matted hair and frozen crusts.
When we were come to where the thigh turns round,
just at the thick part of the hips, my Leader
with tiring effort and with stress of breath
turned his head round to where his legs had been,
and seized the hair as one would who ascends;
hence I thought we were going back to Hell.
“Hold fast to me, for by such stairs as these”
panting like one worn out, my Teacher said,
“must such great wickedness be left behind.”
Then, through an opening in the rock he issued,
and, after seating me upon its edge,
over toward me advanced his cautious step.
Raising mine eyes, I thought that I should still
see Lucifer the same as when I left him;
but I beheld him with his legs held up.
And thereupon, if I became perplexed,
let those dull people think, who do not see
what kind of point that was which I had passed.
“Stand up” my Teacher said, “upon thy feet!
the way is long and difficult the road,
and now to middle-tierce the sun returns.”
It was no palace hallway where we were,
but just a natural passage under ground,
which had a wretched floor and lack of light.
“Before I tear myself from this abyss,
Teacher,” said I on rising, “talk to me
a little, and correct my wrong ideas.
Where is the ice? And how is this one fixed
thus upside down? And in so short a time
how hath the sun from evening crossed to morn?”
Then he to me: “Thou thinkest thou art still
beyond the center where I seized the hair
of that bad Worm who perforates the world.
While I was going down, thou wast beyond it;
but when I turned, thou then didst pass the point
to which all weights are drawn on every side;
thou now art come beneath the hemisphere
opposed to that the great dry land o’ercovers,
and ’neath whose zenith was destroyed the Man,
who without sinfulness was born and died;
thy feet thou hast upon the little sphere,
which forms the other surface of Judecca.
’T is morning here, whenever evening there;
and he who made our ladder with his hair,
is still fixed fast, ev’n as he was before.
He fell on this side out of Heaven; whereat,
the land, which hitherto was spread out here,
through fear of him made of the sea a veil,
and came into our hemisphere; perhaps
to flee from him, what is on this side seen
left the place empty here, and upward rushed.”
There is a place down there, as far removed
from Beelzebub, as e’er his tomb extends,
not known by sight, but by a brooklet’s sound,
which flows down through a hole there in the rock,
gnawed in it by the water’s spiral course,
which slightly slopes. My Leader then, and I,
in order to regain the world of light,
entered upon that dark and hidden path;
and, without caring for repose, went up,
he going on ahead, and I behind,
till through a rounded opening I beheld
some of the lovely things the sky contains;
thence we came out, and saw again the stars.
Courtney Langdon, translator. Full text is available at Liberty Fund.
Canto 34
«Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni
verso di noi; però dinanzi mira»,
disse ’l maestro mio, «se tu ’l discerni».
Come quando una grossa nebbia spira,
o quando l’emisperio nostro annotta,
par di lungi un molin che ’l vento gira,
veder mi parve un tal dificio allotta;
poi per lo vento mi ristrinsi retro
al duca mio, ché non lì era altra grotta.
Già era, e con paura il metto in metro,
là dove l’ombre tutte eran coperte,
e trasparien come festuca in vetro.
Altre sono a giacere; altre stanno erte,
quella col capo e quella con le piante;
altra, com’ arco, il volto a’ piè rinverte.
Quando noi fummo fatti tanto avante,
ch’al mio maestro piacque di mostrarmi
la creatura ch’ebbe il bel sembiante,
d’innanzi mi si tolse e fé restarmi,
«Ecco Dite», dicendo, «ed ecco il loco
ove convien che di fortezza t’armi».
Com’ io divenni allor gelato e fioco,
nol dimandar, lettor, ch’i’ non lo scrivo,
però ch’ogne parlar sarebbe poco.
Io non mori’ e non rimasi vivo;
pensa oggimai per te, s’hai fior d’ingegno,
qual io divenni, d’uno e d’altro privo.
Lo ’mperador del doloroso regno
da mezzo ’l petto uscia fuor de la ghiaccia;
e più con un gigante io mi convegno,
che i giganti non fan con le sue braccia:
vedi oggimai quant’ esser dee quel tutto
ch’a così fatta parte si confaccia.
S’el fu sì bel com’ elli è ora brutto,
e contra ’l suo fattore alzò le ciglia,
ben dee da lui procedere ogne lutto.
Oh quanto parve a me gran maraviglia
quand’ io vidi tre facce a la sua testa!
L’una dinanzi, e quella era vermiglia;
l’altr’ eran due, che s’aggiugnieno a questa
sovresso ’l mezzo di ciascuna spalla,
e sé giugnieno al loco de la cresta:
e la destra parea tra bianca e gialla;
la sinistra a vedere era tal, quali
vegnon di là onde ’l Nilo s’avvalla.
Sotto ciascuna uscivan due grand’ ali,
quanto si convenia a tanto uccello:
vele di mar non vid’ io mai cotali.
Non avean penne, ma di vispistrello
era lor modo; e quelle svolazzava,
sì che tre venti si movean da ello:
quindi Cocito tutto s’aggelava.
Con sei occhi piangëa, e per tre menti
gocciava ’l pianto e sanguinosa bava.
Da ogne bocca dirompea co’ denti
un peccatore, a guisa di maciulla,
sì che tre ne facea così dolenti.
A quel dinanzi il mordere era nulla
verso ’l graffiar, che talvolta la schiena
rimanea de la pelle tutta brulla.
«Quell’ anima là sù c’ha maggior pena»,
disse ’l maestro, «è Giuda Scarïotto,
che ’l capo ha dentro e fuor le gambe mena.
De li altri due c’hanno il capo di sotto,
quel che pende dal nero ceffo è Bruto:
vedi come si storce, e non fa motto!;
e l’altro è Cassio, che par sì membruto.
Ma la notte risurge, e oramai
è da partir, ché tutto avem veduto».
Com’ a lui piacque, il collo li avvinghiai;
ed el prese di tempo e loco poste,
e quando l’ali fuoro aperte assai,
appigliò sé a le vellute coste;
di vello in vello giù discese poscia
tra ’l folto pelo e le gelate croste.
Quando noi fummo là dove la coscia
si volge, a punto in sul grosso de l’anche,
lo duca, con fatica e con angoscia,
volse la testa ov’ elli avea le zanche,
e aggrappossi al pel com’ om che sale,
sì che ’n inferno i’ credea tornar anche.
«Attienti ben, ché per cotali scale»,
disse ’l maestro, ansando com’ uom lasso,
«conviensi dipartir da tanto male».
Poi uscì fuor per lo fóro d’un sasso
e puose me in su l’orlo a sedere;
appresso porse a me l’accorto passo.
Io levai li occhi e credetti vedere
Lucifero com’ io l’avea lasciato,
e vidili le gambe in sù tenere;
e s’io divenni allora travagliato,
la gente grossa il pensi, che non vede
qual è quel punto ch’io avea passato.
«Lèvati sù», disse ’l maestro, «in piede:
la via è lunga e ’l cammino è malvagio,
e già il sole a mezza terza riede».
Non era camminata di palagio
là ’v’ eravam, ma natural burella
ch’avea mal suolo e di lume disagio.
«Prima ch’io de l’abisso mi divella,
maestro mio», diss’ io quando fui dritto,
«a trarmi d’erro un poco mi favella:
ov’ è la ghiaccia? e questi com’ è fitto
sì sottosopra? e come, in sì poc’ ora,
da sera a mane ha fatto il sol tragitto?».
Ed elli a me: «Tu imagini ancora
d’esser di là dal centro, ov’ io mi presi
al pel del vermo reo che ’l mondo fóra.
Di là fosti cotanto quant’ io scesi;
quand’ io mi volsi, tu passasti ’l punto
al qual si traggon d’ogne parte i pesi.
E se’ or sotto l’emisperio giunto
ch’è contraposto a quel che la gran secca
coverchia, e sotto ’l cui colmo consunto
fu l’uom che nacque e visse sanza pecca;
tu haï i piedi in su picciola spera
che l’altra faccia fa de la Giudecca.
Qui è da man, quando di là è sera;
e questi, che ne fé scala col pelo,
fitto è ancora sì come prim’ era.
Da questa parte cadde giù dal cielo;
e la terra, che pria di qua si sporse,
per paura di lui fé del mar velo,
e venne a l’emisperio nostro; e forse
per fuggir lui lasciò qui loco vòto
quella ch’appar di qua, e sù ricorse».
Luogo è là giù da Belzebù remoto
tanto quanto la tomba si distende,
che non per vista, ma per suono è noto
d’un ruscelletto che quivi discende
per la buca d’un sasso, ch’elli ha roso,
col corso ch’elli avvolge, e poco pende.
Lo duca e io per quel cammino ascoso
intrammo a ritornar nel chiaro mondo;
e sanza cura aver d’alcun riposo,
salimmo sù, el primo e io secondo,
tanto ch’i’ vidi de le cose belle
che porta ’l ciel, per un pertugio tondo.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.
Giorgio Petrocchi, editor. Full text is available at Colombia University’s Digital Dante project.