The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri
Oavto XXXIII. HELL. 127 And now meseemed a certain wind to hear, Whence I : " My master, who then stirreth this P Is not all vapour's motion stilled down here ?" *^ Whence he to me : " Ptdl sure thou wilt not miss To have an answer made thee by thy sight, Seeing the cause that agitates the abyss. One of the wretches in that frozen plight Then cried to us : " O souls so cruelly fell.
That ye are bound unto the lowest pit, Bemove from oft my £a.ce this hardened veil, So that I vent the giief that fills my heart A little ere the tears again congeal. Whence I to him : " First tell me who thou wert. If thou want'st aid, and if I help thee not. To the bottom of the ice may I depart. " I am the Friar Alberigo, brought From a bad orchard, I'm a fruit," he said, " To take back dates for figs is here my lot.
'** « Oh !" said I to him, " art already dead ?'* And he to me : '^ I've not the least idea Whether my body on the earth doth tread. Such an advantia.ge hath this Ftolomea That many times ere Atropos should slay *** The spirit is hurled downwards to this layer. That thou more willingly may dear away The tears &st frozen to my visage, know That at the time the spirit doth betray.
As I did, in its body straight doth go ^^ A demon, by the which 'tis henceforth swayed Until its life unto completion grow. The spirit in a well like this is laid, And still perchance his form appears above. Who here behind me winters in his shade. ^^ Thou ought'st to know, if thou dost lately rove Hither, he's Branca Doria, many a year Has passed since he was pent within this drove. Line 118.
Alberigo de' Manfredi a Beooicing Friar, who, having qaarrelled with some others of the order, invited them to a banquet nnder the pretence of a pacification, and on his ordering the fmit to be removed, his assassins appeared at the arranged signal and murdered all his guests. Line 124. Ptolomea, the name of the third circle, probably after Ptolemy, the betrayer of Fompey the Ghreat.
Line 137* The Dorias were a leading Genoese family, and Branca is said to have murdered his jEather-in-law Michel Zanche, the Sardinian ruler alluded to already in Canto XXII. The neighbour alluded to in line 146 as sharer in Branca iJoria's villainies is stated to have been his cousin.
128 HELL. Cahto XXXIV. ** I think," said I, " thou dost deceive me here, For Branca Doria is by no means dead, ^^ But eats, and drinks, and sleeps, and clothes doth wear." ** In Malebranche's higher pit," he said, " There, where the pitch tenacious boils apace, Already Michel Zanche had not sped Ere this one left the Devil in his place, *^ Within his body, and his neighbour's, he Who always ran with him his cheating race.
But stretch forth now thy hand my eyes to free. Leaving his eyes still closed I onwards went, For rudeness unto such is courtesy. ^•'•" Ah, Genovese ! ye men in every bent So diverse, and so full of every shame, Why from the world are ye not wholly sent ? For with the worst soul Italy can claim Such one of ye I found, who by his worth ^""^ Bathes now in spirit in Cocitus' stream, And yet in body seems alive on earth. Line 154. The worst soul in Italy is the Friar Alberigo.
CANTO XXXIV. The poets advance into the fourth quarter of the last circle, called Jndecca ; there the damned are wholly submerged beneath the frozen lake of Cocitus. Advancing towards the icy blast that meets them, Virgil shows Dante the gigantic form of Lucifer piercing through the lake. Yiigil then takes up Dante, and descends along the body of the feJlen archEui^l into the centre of the earth.
From thence he ascends on the other side, and, after a weary climb through a deep cavern, the poets at length lEHSue on the Antipodes. *^VexiUa regis prodeunt infemi, Towards us, therefore, forwards cast thy gaze," My master said, " if thou wouldst see them there nigh.
As when there breathes around a misty haze, Or when the night draws o'er our hemisphere, ^ Appears from far a mill i* the wind that plays, Such building then before me seemed to rear : Then to escape the wind, behind I drew My chief, no other refuge being near. Line 1. The banners of the infernal king advance. The Latin line is a parody of the opening of a hymn sung by the Church in honour of the Cross.
According to the principles of translation which I have imposed on myself I have never felt justified in translating into English the Latin lines introduced by Dante into his poem. Such lines, generally quotations from the Vulgate, are very common in the " Purgatory" and " Paradise.*'
Oavto XXXIII. HELL. 127 And now meseemed a certain wind to hear, Whence I : " My master, who then stirs this P Is not all vapour's motion stilled down here ?" *^ Whence he to me : " Ptdl sure you will not miss To have an answer made you by your sight, Seeing the cause that agitates the abyss." One of the wretches in that frozen plight Then cried to us : " O souls so cruelly fell. That you are bound unto the lowest pit, Bemove from oft my £a.ce this hardened veil, So that I vent the giief that fills my heart A little ere the tears again congeal." Whence I to him : " First tell me who you were. If you want'st aid, and if I help you not. To the bottom of the ice may I depart." " I am the Friar Alberigo, brought From a bad orchard, I'm a fruit," he said, " To take back dates for figs is here my lot." '** « Oh !" said I to him, " art already dead ?'* And he to me : '^ I've not the least idea Whether my body on the earth does tread. Such an advantia.ge has this Ftolomea That many times ere Atropos should slay *** The spirit is hurled downwards to this layer. That you more willingly may dear away The tears &st frozen to my visage, know That at the time the spirit does betray. As I did, in its body straight does go ^^ A demon, by the which 'tis henceforth swayed Until its life unto completion grow. The spirit in a well like this is laid, And still perchance his form appears above. Who here behind me winters in his shade. ^^ You ought'st to know, if you do lately rove Hither, he's Branca Doria, many a year Has passed since he was pent within this drove." Line 118. Alberigo de' Manfredi a Beooicing Friar, who, having qaarrelled with some others of the order, invited them to a banquet nnder the pretence of a pacification, and on his ordering the fmit to be removed, his assassins appeared at the arranged signal and murdered all his guests. Line 124. Ptolomea, the name of the third circle, probably after Ptolemy, the betrayer of Fompey the Ghreat. Line 137* The Dorias were a leading Genoese family, and Branca is said to have murdered his jEather-in-law Michel Zanche, the Sardinian ruler alluded to already in Canto XXII. The neighbour alluded to in line 146 as sharer in Branca iJoria's villainies is stated to have been his cousin.
128 HELL. Cahto XXXIV. ** I think," said I, " you do deceive me here, For Branca Doria is by no means dead, ^^ But eats, and drinks, and sleeps, and clothes does wear." ** In Malebranche's higher pit," he said, " There, where the pitch tenacious boils apace, Already Michel Zanche had not sped Ere this one left the Devil in his place, *^ Within his body, and his neighbour's, he Who always ran with him his cheating race. But stretch forth now your hand my eyes to free." Leaving his eyes still closed I onwards went, For rudeness unto such is courtesy. ^•'•" Ah, Genovese ! you men in every bent So diverse, and so full of every shame, Why from the world are you not wholly sent ? For with the worst soul Italy can claim Such one of you I found, who by his worth ^""^ Bathes now in spirit in Cocitus' stream, And yet in body seems alive on earth. Line 154. The worst soul in Italy is the Friar Alberigo.
CANTO XXXIV. The poets advance into the fourth quarter of the last circle, called Jndecca ; there the damned are wholly submerged beneath the frozen lake of Cocitus. Advancing towards the icy blast that meets them, Virgil shows Dante the gigantic form of Lucifer piercing through the lake. Yiigil then takes up Dante, and descends along the body of the feJlen archEui^l into the centre of the earth. From thence he ascends on the other side, and, after a weary climb through a deep cavern, the poets at length lEHSue on the Antipodes. *^VexiUa regis prodeunt infemi, Towards us, therefore, forwards cast your gaze," My master said, " if you would see them there nigh." As when there breathes around a misty haze, Or when the night draws o'er our hemisphere, ^ Appears from far a mill i* the wind that plays, Such building then before me seemed to rear : Then to escape the wind, behind I drew My chief, no other refuge being near. Line 1. The banners of the infernal king advance. The Latin line is a parody of the opening of a hymn sung by the Church in honour of the Cross. According to the principles of translation which I have imposed on myself I have never felt justified in translating into English the Latin lines introduced by Dante into his poem. Such lines, generally quotations from the Vulgate, are very common in the " Purgatory" and " Paradise.*'
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