Lit Trad 2 Divine Comedy Cantos 18-23

Front 1

Eighth circle is called? And what is punished there?

Back 1

Malebolge. fraud is punished here

Front 2

8th circle 1st pouch

Back 2

panders and seducers scourged by horned demons

Front 3

I was not spared the sight of him before.

Back 3

Dante

Front 4

You, who cast your eyes upon the ground, if these your features are not false, must be Venedico Caccianemico; but what brings you to sauces so piquant.

Back 4

Dante

Front 5

I speak unwillingly; but your plain speech, that brings the memory of the old world to me, is what compels me; for it was I who led Ghisolabella to do as the Marquis would have her do--however they retell that filthy tale.

Back 5

Venedico

Front 6

I'm not the only Bolognese who weeps here; indeed, this place is so crammed full of us that not so many tongues have learned to say sipa between the Savena and Reno; if you want faith and testament of that, just call to mind our avaricious hearts.

Back 6

Venedico

Front 7

Be off, you pimp, there are no women here for you to trick.

Back 7

Demon

Front 8

Stay, and make sure that the sight of still more ill-born spirits strikes your eyes, for you have not yet seen their faces, since they have been moving in our direction.

Back 8

Virgil

Front 9

Look at that mighty one who comes and does not seem to shed a tear of pain: how he still keeps the image of a king! That shade is Jason, who with heart and head deprived the men of Colchis of their ram.

Back 9

Virgil

Front 10

He made a landfall on the isle of Lemnos after its women, bold and pitiless, had given all their island males to death. With polished words and love signs he took in Hypsipyle, the girl whose own deception had earlier deceived the other women.

Back 10

Virgil

Front 11

And he abandoned her, alone and pregnant; such guilt condemns him to such punishment; and for Medea, too, revenge is taken. With him go those who cheated so: this is enough for you to know of that first valley and of the souls it clamps within its jaws.

Back 11

Virgil

Front 12

Why do you stare more greedily at me than at the others who are filthy?

Back 12

Alessio Interminei of Lucca

Front 13

Because, if I remember right, I have seen you before, with your hair dry; and so I eye you more than all: you are Alessio Interminei of Lucca.

Back 13

Dante

Front 14

I am plunged here because of flatteries--of which my tounge had such sufficiency.

Back 14

Alessio Interminei of Lucca

Front 15

See you thrust your head a little farther to the front, so that your eyes can clearly glimpse the face of that besmirched, bedraggled harridan who scratches at herself with shit-filled nails and now she crouches, now she stands upright.

Back 15

Virgil

Front 16

That is Thais, the harlot who returned her lover's question, 'Are you very grateful to me?' by saying, 'Yes, enormously.' And now our sight has had its fill of this.

Back 16

Virgil

Front 17

Who is that shade who suffers and quivers more than all his other comrades, that sinner who is licked by redder flames?

Back 17

Dante

Front 18

If you would have me lead you down along the steepest of the banks, from him you'll learn about his self and sins.

Back 18

Virgil

Front 19

What pleases you will please me too: you are my lord; you know what is unspoken.

Back 19

Dante

Front 20

Whoever you may be, dejected soul, whose head is downward, planted like a pole do speak if you are able.

Back 20

Dante

Front 21

Are you already standing, already standing there, o Boniface? The book has lied to me by several years. Are you so quickly sated with the riches for which you did not fear to take by guile the Lovely Lady, then to violate her?

Back 21

Nicholas III

Front 22

Tell this to him at once: 'I am not he--not whom you think I am.'"

Back 22

Virgil

Front 23

What is it, then, you want of me? If you have crossed the bank and climbed so far to find out who I am, then know that I was one of those who wore the mighty mantle, and surely was a son of the she-bear, so eager to advance the cubs that I pursed wealth above while here I purse myself.

Back 23

Nicholas III

Front 24

Below my head there is the place of those who took the way of simony before me; and they are stuffed within the clefts of stone. I, too, shall yield my place and fall below when he arrives, the one for whom I had mistaken you when I was quick to question.

Back 24

Nicholas

Front 25

But I have baked my feet a time longer, have stood like this, upon my head, than he is to stand planted here with scarlet feet: for after him, one uglier in deeds will come, a lawless shepherd from the wet, worthy to cover him and cover me.

Back 25

Nicholas III

Front 26

He'll be a second Jason, of whom we read in Maccabees; and just as Jason's king was soft to him, so shall the king of France be soft to this one.

Back 26

Nicholas III

Front 27

Then tell me now, how much gold did our Lord ask that Saint Peter give to him before he placed the keys within his care? Surely the only thing he said was, 'Follow me.' And Peter and the others never asked for gold or silver when they chose Matthias to take the place of the transgressing soul.

Back 27

Dante

Front 28

Sttay as you are, for you are rightly punished; and guard with care the money got by evil that made you so audacious against Charles. And were it not that I am still prevented by reverance for those exalted keys that you had held within the happy life, I'd utter words much heavier than these, because your avarice afflicts the world: it tramples on the good, lifts up the wicked.

Back 28

Dante

Front 29

You, shepherds, the Evangelist had noticed when he saw her who sits uopon the waters, and realized she fornicates with kings, she who was born with seven heads and had the power and support of the ten horns, as long as virtue was her husband's pleasure.

Back 29

Dante

Front 30

You've made yourselves a god of gold and silver; how are you different from idolaters, save that they worship one and you a hundred? Ah, Constantine, what wickedness was born--and not from your conversion--from the dower that you bestowed upon the first rich father.

Back 30

Dante

Front 31

8th circle fourth pouch

Back 31

Diviners, astrologers and magicians heads turned backwards

Front 32

Are you as foolish as the rest? Here pity only lives when it is dead: for who can be more impious than he who links God's judgement to passivity.

Back 32

Virgil

Front 33

Lift, lift your head and see the one for whom the earth was opened while the Thebans watched, so that they all cried: 'Amphiaraus, where are you rushing? Have you quit the fight.'Nor did he interrupt his downward plunge to Minos, who lays hands on every sinner.

Back 33

Virgil

Front 34

See how he's made a chest out of his shoulders; and since he wanted so to see ahead, he looks behind and walks a backward path. And see Tiresias, who changed his mien when from a man he turned into a woman, so totally transforming all his limbs that then he had to strike once more upon the two entwining serpents with his wand before he had his manly plumes again.

Back 34

Virgil

Front 35

And Aruns is the one who backs against the belly of tiresias--Aruns who, in Luni's hills, tilled by the Carrarese, who live below, had as his home, a cave among white marbles, from which he could gaze at stars and sea with unimpended view.

Back 35

Virgil

Front 36

And she who covers up her breasts--which you can't see--with her disheveled locks, who keeps all of her hairy parts to the far side, was Manto, who had searched through many lands, then settled in the place where I was born; on this, I'd have you hear me now a whiile.

Back 36

Virgil

Front 37

When Manto's father took his leave of life, and Bacchus' city found itself enslaved, she wandered through the world for many years. High up, in lovely Italy, beneath the Alps that shut in Germany above Tirolo, lies a lake know as Benaco.

Back 37

Virgil

Front 38

A thousand springs and more, I think, must flow out of the waters of that lake to bathe Pennino, Garda, Val Camonica. And at its middle is a place where tree--the bishops of Verona, Brescia, Trento--may bless if they should chance to come that way.

Back 38

Virgil

Front 39

Peschiera, strong and handsome fortress, built to face the Brescians and the Bergamasques stands where the circling shore is at its lowest. There, all the waters that cannot be held within the bosom of Benaco fall, to form a river running through green meadows.

Back 39

Virgil

Front 40

No sooner has that stream begun to flow than it is called the Mincio, not Benaco--until Governolo, where it joins the Po. It's not flowed far before it finds flat land; and there it stretches out to form a fen that in the summer can at times be fetid.

Back 40

Virgil

Front 41

And when she passed that way, the savage virgin saw land along the middle of the swamp, untilled and stripped of its inhabitants. And there, to flee all human intercourse, she halted with her slaves to ply her arts; and there she lived, there left her empty body.

Back 41

Virgil

Front 42

And afterward, the people of those parts collected at that place, because the marsh--surrounding it on all sides--made it strong. They built a city over her dead bones; and after her who first had picked that spot, they called it Mantua--they cast no lots. There once were far more people in its walls, before the foolishness of Casalodi was tricked by the deceit of Pinamonte.

Back 42

Virgil

Front 43

Therefore, I charge you, if you ever hear a different tale of my town's origin, do not let any falsehood gull the truth.

Back 43

Virgil

Front 44

That which you have spoken convinces me and so compels my trust that others' words would only be spent coals. But tell me if among the passing souls you see some spirits worthy of our notice, because my mind is bent on that alone.

Back 44

Dante

Front 45

That shade who spreads his beard down from his cheeks accross his swarthy shoulders--when Greece had been so emptied of its males that hardly any cradle held a son, he was an augur; and at Aulis, he and Calchas set the time to cut the cables.

Back 45

Virgil

Front 46

His name's Eurypylus; a certain passage of my high tragedy has sung it so; you know that well enough, who know the whole. That other there, his flanks extremely spare, was Michael Scot, a man who certainly knew how the game of magic fraud was played.

Back 46

Virgil

Front 47

That other there, his flanks extremely spare, was Michael Scot, a man who certainly knew how the game of magic fraud was played. See there Guido Bonatti; see Asdente, who now would wish he had attended to his cord and leather, but repents too late.

Back 47

Virgil

Front 48

See those sad women who had left their needle, shuttle, and spindle to become diviners; they cast their spells with herbs and effigies/ But let us go; Cain with his hrons already is at the border of both hemispheres and there, below Seville, touches the sea.

Back 48

Virgil

Front 49

Last night the moon was at its full; you should be well aware of this, for there were times when it did you no harm in the deep wood.

Back 49

Virgil

Front 50

Take care, take care.

Back 50

Virgil

Front 51

O Malebranche, I've got an elder of Saint Zita for you! Shove this one under--I'll go back for more--his city is well furnished with such stores; there, everyone's a grafter but Bonturo; and there--for cash--they'll change a no to yes.

Back 51

Black Demon

Front 52

The Sacred Face has no place here; here we swim differently than in the Serchio; if you donj't want to feel our grappling hooks, don't try to lift yourself above that ditch.

Back 52

Black Demon

Front 53

Don't let those demons see that you are here; take care to crouch behind the cover of a crag. No matter what offense they offer me, don't be afraid; I know how these things go--Ive had to face such fracases before.

Back 53

Virgil

Front 54

Can't forget your savagery! Before you try to maul me, just let one of all your troop step forward. Hear me out, and then decide if I am to be hooked.

Back 54

Virgil

Front 55

Let Malacoda go! How can he win?

Back 55

Demons

Front 56

O Malacoda do you think I've come already armed--as you can see--against your obstacles, withouth the will of God and helpful fate? Let us move on; it is the will of Heaven for me to show this wild way to another.

Back 56

Virgil

Front 57

Since that's the way things stand, let us not wound him.

Back 57

Malacoda

Front 58

O you, who crouch, bent low among the bridge's splintered rocks, you can feel safe--and now return to me.

Back 58

Virgil

Front 59

And shall I give it to him on the rump? Yes, let him have it!

Back 59

Demons

Front 60

Be still, Scarmiglione, still! There is no use in going much farther on this ridge, because the sixxth bridge--at the bottom there--is smashed to bits. Yet if you tow still want to go ahead, move up and walk along this rocky edge; nearby, another ridge will form a path.

Back 60

Malacoda

Front 61

Five hours from this hour yesterday, one thousand and two hundred sixty-six years passed since that roadway was shattered here. I'm sending ten of mine out there to see if any sinner lifts his head for air; go with my men--there is no malice in them.

Back 61

Malacoda

Front 62

Step forward, Alichino and Calcabrina, and Barbariccia, who can lead the ten. Let Libicocco go, and Draghignazzo and tusky Ciriatto and Graffiacane and Farfarello and mad Rubicante. Search all around the clammy stew of pitch; keep these two safe and sound till the next ridge that rises without break across the dens.

Back 62

Malacoda

Front 63

Ah me! What is this that I see? Can't we do without company? If you know how to go, I want no escort. If you are just as keen as usual, can't you see how those demons grind their teeth? Their brows are menacing, they promise trouble.

Back 63

Dante

Front 64

I do not want you frightened: just let them gnash away as they may wish; they do it for the wretches boiled in pitch.

Back 64

Virgil

Front 65

If you can, find out what is the name of that unfortunate who's fallen victim to his enemies.

Back 65

Dante

Front 66

My homeland was the kingdom of Navarre. My mother, who had me by a wastrel, destroyer of himself and his possessions, had placed me in the service of a lord. Then I was in the household of the worthy King Thibault; there I started taking graft; with this heat I pay reckoning for that.

Back 66

Barrator from Navarre

Front 67

Stand off there, while I fork him fast ask on, if you would learn some more from him before one of the others does him in.

Back 67

Barrator from Navarre

Front 68

Now tell: among the sinners who hide beneath the pitch, are any others Italian?

Back 68

Virgil

Front 69

I have just left one who was nearby there; and would I were still covered by the pitch as he is hidden, for then I'd have no fear of hook or talkon.

Back 69

Barrator from Navarre

Front 70

We've been too patient

Back 70

Libicocco

Front 71

Who was the one you left to come ashore--unluckily--as you just said before?

Back 71

Virgil

Front 72

Fra Gomita of Callura, who was a vessel fit for every fraud: he had his master's enemies in hand, but handled them in ways that pleased them all. He took their gold and smoothly let them off, as he himself says; and in other matters, he was a sovereign, not a petty swindler.

Back 72

Barrator

Front 73

His comrade there is Don Michele Zanche of Logodoro; and their tongues are never too tired to talk of their Sardinia. Ah me, see that one there who grinds his teeth! If I were not afraid, I'd speak som more, but he is getting set to scratch my scurf.

Back 73

Barrator from Navarre

Front 74

Get away from there, you filthy bird!

Back 74

Farfarello

Front 75

If you perhaps would like to see or hear Lombards of Tuscans, I can fetch you some; but let the Malebranche stand aside so that my comrades need not fear their vengeance. Remaining in this very spot, I shall, although alone, make seven more appear whenm I have whistled, as has been our custom when one of us has managed to get out.

Back 75

Barrator from Navarre

Front 76

Just listen to that trick by which he thinks he can dive back!

Back 76

Cagnazzo

Front 77

Then I must have too many tricks, if I bring greater torment to my friends.

Back 77

Barrator

Front 78

If you dive back, I shall not gallop after you but beat my wings above the pitch; we'll leave this height; with the embankment as a screen, we'll see if you--alone--can handle us.

Back 78

Alichino

Front 79

You are caught!

Back 79

Demon

Front 80

Because of us, they have been mocked, and this inflicted so much hurt and scorn that I am sure they feel deep indignation. If anger's to be added to their malice, they'll hunt us down with more ferocity than any hound whose teeth have trapped a hare.

Back 80

Dante

Front 81

If you don't conceal yourself and me at once--they terrify me, those Malebranche; they are after us; I so imagine them, I hear them now.

Back 81

Dante

Front 82

8th circle 6th pouch

Back 82

hypocrites clothed in lead

Front 83

Were I a leaded mirror, I could not gather in your outer image more quickly than I have received your inner. For even now your thoughts have joined my own; in both our acts and aspects we are kin--with both our minds I've come to one decision.

Back 83

Virgil

Front 84

If that right bank is not extremely steep, we can descend into the other moat and so escape from the imagined chase.

Back 84

Virgil

Front 85

Please try to find someone whose name or deed I recognize; and while we walk, be watchful with your eyes.

Back 85

Dante

Front 86

Stay your steps, o you who hurry so along this darkened air! Perhaps you'll have from me that which you seek.

Back 86

Cataland

Front 87

Wait, and then continue following his pace.

Back 87

Virgil

Front 88

The throbbing of his throat makes this one seem alive; and if they're dead, what privilege lets them appear without the heavy mantle? Tuscan, you who come to this assembly of sad hypocrites, do not disdain to tell us who you are.

Back 88

Catalano and Lodringo

Front 89

Where the lovely Arno flows, there I was born and raised, in the great city; I'm with the body I have always had. But who are you, upon whose cheeks I see such tears distilled by grief? And let me know what punishment it is that glitters so.

Back 89

Dante

Front 90

The yellow cloaks are of a lead so thick, their heaviness makes us, the balances beneath them, creak. We both were Jovial Friars, and the Bolognese; my name was Catalano, Loderingo was his, and we were chose by your city together, for the post that's usually one man's to keep the peace; and what we were is still to be observed around Gardingo.

Back 90

Catalano

Front 91

O Friars, your misdeeds...

Back 91

Dante

Front 92

That one impaled there, whom you see, counseled the Pharisees that it was prudent to let one man--and not one nation--suffer. Naked, he has been stretched across the path, as you can see, and he must feel the weight of anyone who passes over him.

Back 92

Fra Catalano

Front 93

Like torment, in this ditch, afflicts both his father in law and others in that council which for the Jews has seeded so much evil.

Back 93

Fra Catalano

Front 94

If it does not displease you--of you may--tell us if there's some passage on the right that would allow the two of us to leave without our having to compel black angels to travel to this deep, to get us out.

Back 94

Virgil

Front 95

Closer than you hope, you'll find a rocky ridge that stretches from the great round wall and crosses all the savage valleys, except that here it's broken--not a bridge. But where its ruins slope along the bank and heap up at the bottom, you can climb.

Back 95

Catalano

Front 96

He who hooks sinners over there gave us a false account of this affair.

Back 96

Virgil

Front 97

In Bologna, I once heard about the devil's many vices--they said he was a liar and father of lies.

Back 97

Catalano