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1FAOX pRirACB' iii Intboduction xxiii Thb Obligations or Dantb to Viboil - Ini HELL. CANTO I. DftDte hsTing wandered in the middle of his life into a dark forest, which represents the maze of haman passions, attempts to climb the mountain of Yirtne, and is repnlaed by three beasts, the leopard, the Hon, and the wolf, representing the Inst of Pleasore, Pride, and Avarice. He is rescued from these by the shade of Virgil, who promises to conduct him through HeU and Purgatory, whilst another worthier spirit shall finally lead him to Paradise 1 CANTO n. Dante having followed Yirgil along the mountain until nightfall, is oppressed with fears on account of the neatness of his undertaking, and his own unfitness for such a task. Virgil reproves his cowardice, and inroires him with confidence by the account of the manner in which he was called by Beatrice from Heaven, to speed to his assistance 5 CANTO III. Dante, following Yirgil, arrives at the gates of HeU, and reads the inscription written thereon. Immediately within the precincts he finds ilie vast crowd of human beings who on earth have done neither good nor evil, and who are punished there, together with the Angels who were neither on the side of God nor Lucifer when the latter rebelled, and who are hence excluded from Heaven and from the circles of HeU itself. From there they reach the bank of the River Acheron, where the Demon Charon ferries over the spirits of the condemnied into HeU, and there Dante faUs into a sudden swoon . 10 CANTO IV. Dante on recovering from his swoon finds himself on the other side of the Biver Acheron. He foUows Vii^l into the " blind world," and enters Limbo, which is the outer cirde of HeU. Here he finds aU those souls who, from the want of baptism, have lost salvation, but have done nothing to deserve actual punishment . .13
2X CONTENTS. FAGB CANTO V. Dante enters the second circle of Hell, where he finde Minos, the judge, who endeavours to stop his progress. Virgil having taken him within, he sees there the punishment of carnal sinners, who are for ever tost about hy furious winds. Amongst the condemned he sees and converses with Francesca of Bimini and her lover, and falls fainting to the ground with pity at their fate 17 CANTO VI. On returning to his senses Dante finds himself in the third circle, that of rain, in which gluttons are punished, under the guardianship of Cerberus. Amongst the condemned he finds a Florentine, nicknamed Hog, and converses with him on the dissensions of their town . . 21 CANTO VII. Dante is confronted by Pluto at the entrance of the fourth circle. Conducted by Virgil he obtains a safe passage, and sees within the avaricious and the prodigal, condemned to a like punishment, rolling great weights against each other. Passing onwards to the fifth circle they come to the Stygian lake, in which the souls of the wrathful are immersed. Skirting the lake they reach at last the foot of a tower . 25 CANTO VIII. Phlegyas, the ferryman of Styx, summoned by a signal from the tower, bears Virgil and Dante across the lake. On the way they are attacked by Philippe Argenti, whose punishment is described. They then arrive at the city of Dis, where the fallen angels prevent their entrance, closing the gate at Virgil's approach 28 CANTO IX. Virgil pauses, waiting for heavenly assistance. In the meantime the tiiree Furies rise upon the walls of Dis and threaten Dante with the sight of Medusa's head. The Angel then arrives across the Styx, and the fiends retiring, the gates of the city are opened. Dante following Virgil finds the heretics of all denominations punished in tombs of fire 32 CANTO X. Farinata degli TJberti, the Ghibeline leader, and Cavalcante Cavalcanti, the Guelph, rise from the same tomb and converse with Dante. The latter inquires about the welfare of his son Guide, Dante's great friend, and the former predicts Dante's exile. He explains to Dante that, although able to see indistinctly future events, the spirits are entirely ignorant of what is at the time going on in the world, unless they are informed by spirits lately arrived from there . . .36 CANTO XI. Besting on a rock that overhangs the seventh circle while they pause to accustom themselves to the fetid atmosphere, Virgil explains to Dante what crimes are punished in the three remaining circles, namely, violence, fraud, and treason. He shows how the crimes punished in the circles outside the city of Dis are of less culpability than those doomed within the walls, and how usury is particularly hateful to God 40
3CONTENTS. xi CANTO xn. Descending the bank intx> the seventh circle, they find it guarded by the Minotanr. Having reached the bottom of the cliff, Dante sees a river of blood, in which ore punished those who have committed violence against their neighbour, being prevented from rising out of the boiling stream by a band of Centaurs, who gallop with bows and arrows along its bank. Three of them advance to meet Virgil and Dant€, and, at the former's request, one of them guides the poets along the bank, and finally carries Dante across the stream on his back 43 CANTO XIII. Entering the second division of the seventh circle, Dante finds himself in a weird wood, the trees of which are the spirits of those who hnve committed violence against their own persons, and who are punished by being fed upon by Harpies. While Virgil converses with Pietro delle Vigne, the confidant and Chancellor of the Emperor Frederic II., two spirits rush through the forest, chased by black bitches, who tear them to pieces, such being the punishment of those who have committed violence against themselves in their estate . . .47 CANTO xrv. The poets reach the boundary of the wood and see before them the third compartment of this circle, a plain of burning sand, where are punished in various ways those who have committed violence against God, Nature, and Art. Amongst the first they see Capaneus, one of the seven before Thebes. They reach a rivulet of blood, the river of Phlegethon, which traverses the burning desert, and whose petrified margins afford Dante a passage across the sand 51 CANTO XV. Following the petrified margins of the stream through the circle, they meet a troop of tormented spirits who have committed violence against Nature. Amongst those Dante recognises his old preceptor, Ser Brunetto, who accompanies him for some distance, and predicts his coming exile 56 CANTO XVI. The poets having almost crossed the desert, where they can hear the falling of the torrent into the next circle, meet another troop punished for the same vice, amongst whom Dante converses with three distinguished Florentines. Having reached the precipice, Virgil throws a rope down the waterfall, upon which signal a monster rises . . 59 CANTO XVII. The form of the monster Gerion is described. Virgil and Dante descend a short distance to reach him, and then Dante returns alone to the extreme verge of the sandy desert, where he sees seated under the rain of fire those who have committed violence against art, or usurers. On returning to Virgil he finds him seated on the back of Gerion, and taking his place before him, the poets are carried down by the monster to the next circle ' 63 CANTO XVIII. A description of the eighth circle, which is divided into ten wards, in which are punished those who have committed frauds of ten different kinds. Virgil and Dante pass through the first two wards ; in the first are punished those who have deceived women, who are naked and lashed by demons ; in the second all flatterers, who are doomed to wallow in human excrement ......... 66
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1FAOX pRirACB' iii Intboduction xxiii Thb Obligations or Dantb to Viboil - Ini HELL. CANTO I. DftDte hsTing wandered in the middle of his life into a dark forest, which represents the maze of haman passions, attempts to climb the mountain of Yirtne, and is repnlaed by three beasts, the leopard, the Hon, and the wolf, representing the Inst of Pleasore, Pride, and Avarice. He is rescued from these by the shade of Virgil, who promises to conduct him through HeU and Purgatory, whilst another worthier spirit shall finally lead him to Paradise 1 CANTO n. Dante having followed Yirgil along the mountain until nightfall, is oppressed with fears on account of the neatness of his undertaking, and his own unfitness for such a task. Virgil reproves his cowardice, and inroires him with confidence by the account of the manner in which he was called by Beatrice from Heaven, to speed to his assistance 5 CANTO III. Dante, following Yirgil, arrives at the gates of HeU, and reads the inscription written thereon. Immediately within the precincts he finds ilie vast crowd of human beings who on earth have done neither good nor evil, and who are punished there, together with the Angels who were neither on the side of God nor Lucifer when the latter rebelled, and who are hence excluded from Heaven and from the circles of HeU itself. From there they reach the bank of the River Acheron, where the Demon Charon ferries over the spirits of the condemnied into HeU, and there Dante faUs into a sudden swoon . 10 CANTO IV. Dante on recovering from his swoon finds himself on the other side of the Biver Acheron. He foUows Vii^l into the " blind world," and enters Limbo, which is the outer cirde of HeU. Here he finds aU those souls who, from the want of baptism, have lost salvation, but have done nothing to deserve actual punishment . .13
2X CONTENTS. FAGB CANTO V. Dante enters the second circle of Hell, where he finde Minos, the judge, who endeavours to stop his progress. Virgil having taken him within, he sees there the punishment of carnal sinners, who are for ever tost about hy furious winds. Amongst the condemned he sees and converses with Francesca of Bimini and her lover, and falls fainting to the ground with pity at their fate 17 CANTO VI. On returning to his senses Dante finds himself in the third circle, that of rain, in which gluttons are punished, under the guardianship of Cerberus. Amongst the condemned he finds a Florentine, nicknamed Hog, and converses with him on the dissensions of their town . . 21 CANTO VII. Dante is confronted by Pluto at the entrance of the fourth circle. Conducted by Virgil he obtains a safe passage, and sees within the avaricious and the prodigal, condemned to a like punishment, rolling great weights against each other. Passing onwards to the fifth circle they come to the Stygian lake, in which the souls of the wrathful are immersed. Skirting the lake they reach at last the foot of a tower . 25 CANTO VIII. Phlegyas, the ferryman of Styx, summoned by a signal from the tower, bears Virgil and Dante across the lake. On the way they are attacked by Philippe Argenti, whose punishment is described. They then arrive at the city of Dis, where the fallen angels prevent their entrance, closing the gate at Virgil's approach 28 CANTO IX. Virgil pauses, waiting for heavenly assistance. In the meantime the tiiree Furies rise upon the walls of Dis and threaten Dante with the sight of Medusa's head. The Angel then arrives across the Styx, and the fiends retiring, the gates of the city are opened. Dante following Virgil finds the heretics of all denominations punished in tombs of fire 32 CANTO X. Farinata degli TJberti, the Ghibeline leader, and Cavalcante Cavalcanti, the Guelph, rise from the same tomb and converse with Dante. The latter inquires about the welfare of his son Guide, Dante's great friend, and the former predicts Dante's exile. He explains to Dante that, although able to see indistinctly future events, the spirits are entirely ignorant of what is at the time going on in the world, unless they are informed by spirits lately arrived from there . . .36 CANTO XI. Besting on a rock that overhangs the seventh circle while they pause to accustom themselves to the fetid atmosphere, Virgil explains to Dante what crimes are punished in the three remaining circles, namely, violence, fraud, and treason. He shows how the crimes punished in the circles outside the city of Dis are of less culpability than those doomed within the walls, and how usury is particularly hateful to God 40
3CONTENTS. xi CANTO xn. Descending the bank intx> the seventh circle, they find it guarded by the Minotanr. Having reached the bottom of the cliff, Dante sees a river of blood, in which ore punished those who have committed violence against their neighbour, being prevented from rising out of the boiling stream by a band of Centaurs, who gallop with bows and arrows along its bank. Three of them advance to meet Virgil and Dant€, and, at the former's request, one of them guides the poets along the bank, and finally carries Dante across the stream on his back 43 CANTO XIII. Entering the second division of the seventh circle, Dante finds himself in a weird wood, the trees of which are the spirits of those who hnve committed violence against their own persons, and who are punished by being fed upon by Harpies. While Virgil converses with Pietro delle Vigne, the confidant and Chancellor of the Emperor Frederic II., two spirits rush through the forest, chased by black bitches, who tear them to pieces, such being the punishment of those who have committed violence against themselves in their estate . . .47 CANTO xrv. The poets reach the boundary of the wood and see before them the third compartment of this circle, a plain of burning sand, where are punished in various ways those who have committed violence against God, Nature, and Art. Amongst the first they see Capaneus, one of the seven before Thebes. They reach a rivulet of blood, the river of Phlegethon, which traverses the burning desert, and whose petrified margins afford Dante a passage across the sand 51 CANTO XV. Following the petrified margins of the stream through the circle, they meet a troop of tormented spirits who have committed violence against Nature. Amongst those Dante recognises his old preceptor, Ser Brunetto, who accompanies him for some distance, and predicts his coming exile 56 CANTO XVI. The poets having almost crossed the desert, where they can hear the falling of the torrent into the next circle, meet another troop punished for the same vice, amongst whom Dante converses with three distinguished Florentines. Having reached the precipice, Virgil throws a rope down the waterfall, upon which signal a monster rises . . 59 CANTO XVII. The form of the monster Gerion is described. Virgil and Dante descend a short distance to reach him, and then Dante returns alone to the extreme verge of the sandy desert, where he sees seated under the rain of fire those who have committed violence against art, or usurers. On returning to Virgil he finds him seated on the back of Gerion, and taking his place before him, the poets are carried down by the monster to the next circle ' 63 CANTO XVIII. A description of the eighth circle, which is divided into ten wards, in which are punished those who have committed frauds of ten different kinds. Virgil and Dante pass through the first two wards ; in the first are punished those who have deceived women, who are naked and lashed by demons ; in the second all flatterers, who are doomed to wallow in human excrement ......... 66
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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