The Portable Dante by Dante Alighieri
42
O mad Arachne, I could see you there, half-turned to spider, sad above the shreds of your own work of art that sentenced you.
45
O Rehoboam, the image of you here no longer threatens: in a chariot, it flees fear-stricken, though no man pursues.
48
Depicted, too, in that hard pavement stone was Alcmeon, who made his mother pay so dearly for the accursèd ornament.
51
31. Thymbraeus is another name for Apollo.
33. The giants, armed with boulders and tree trunks, presumed to attack Mount Olympus, home of the gods, only to be destroyed.
34. Nimrod was the giant who built the Tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar (Genesis 10:10). (Cf. Inferno XXXI, 77-78; Paradise XXVI, 126.)
37. Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus and Dione, and the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes.
40. Saul was the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin and first king of Israel.
43. Arachne was the daughter of Idmon of Colophon, who challenged Minerva to a weaving contest.
46. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, succeeded his father as king of Israel.
50. Alcmeon was the son of Amphiaraus the Soothsayer and Eriphyle.
Depicted were Sennacherib’s own sons assaulting him at prayer within the temple, and their departure, as he lay there dead.
54
Depicted was Tomyris with the ruin and slaughter that she wrought, her words to Cyrus: “Blood you have thirsted for—now, drink your own!”
57
Depicted was the rout of the Assyrians who fled at Holofernes’ death—it showed the remnants of his mutilated corpse.
60
I saw Troy gaping from its ashes there: O Ilium, how you were fallen low, depicted on the sculptured road of stone.
63
What master artist with his brush or pen could reproduce these shapes and shadings here? Such art must overwhelm the subtlest mind!
66
The dead seemed dead, the living seemed alive; no witness to the scene itself saw better than I who trod upon it, head bent low.
69
Be proud, then! Onward, haughty heads held high, you sons of Eve! Yes, never bow your head to see how evil is the road you tread!
72
We had, by now, gone farther round the mount, and much more of the sun’s course had been traced, than I, preoccupied, could have conceived—
75
when he who always kept a watchful eye as he moved on said: “Raise your head up now, you have spent time enough lost in your thoughts.
78
52. Sennacherib was the king of Assyria from 705 to 681 B.C., who arrogantly made war upon King Hezekiah of Judah and the Israelites.
55-56. Tomyris (or Thamyris), the queen of the Massagetae (a Scythian people), sought revenge for the treacherous murder of her son at the hands of Cyrus (560-529 B.C.), emperor of the Persians.
59. Holofernes was the general of the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians.
Look over there, and see. The angel comes! And, see—the sixth handmaiden has returned already from her service to the day.
81
Show reverence in your face and attitude, so that he will be glad to help us up; think that this day will never dawn again!”
84
I was well used to his admonishments not to waste time, so, anything he said to that effect could never be obscure.
87
Still closer to us, clothed in white, he came, the radiantly fair creature, and his face was shining like a trembling star at dawn.
90
He spread his arms out wide, and then his wings. He said: “Come, now, the steps are very close; henceforth, the climbing will be easier. ”
93
To such an invitation few respond: O race of men, born to fly heavenward, how can a breath of wind make you fall back?
96
He led us straight to where the rock was cleft. Once there, he brushed his wings against my brow, then he assured me of a safe ascent.
99
As, on the way up to the mountaintop crowned by the church, beyond the Rubaconte, set high, above that so well-governed town,
102
the steepness of the bold ascent is cut on the right hand by steps carved in the rock in times when one could trust ledgers and staves—
105
80. The sixth handmaiden is the sixth hour of the day, or noon.
98. With this gesture of his wings, the angel removes the first P, which stands for the sin of Pride, from the Pilgrim’s forehead.
102. The town is Florence, of course, and the reference is a bitterly ironic one in view of the incidents alluded to in line 105.
so here, the bank that from the second round falls steep has been made easier with steps though, on both sides, the high rock presses close.
108
While we were walking toward those steps, the song Beati pauperes spiritu! rang out more sweetly than could ever be described.
111
How different are these passageways from those of Hell! One enters here to music—there, below, to sounds of violent laments.
114
As we were climbing up the sacred steps, I seemed to feel myself much lighter now than I had been before on level ground.
117
“Master, ” I said, “tell me, what heavy thing has been removed from me? I feel as if to keep on climbing would be effortless. ”
120
He answered: “When the P’s that still remain (though they have almost faded) on your brow shall be erased completely like the first,
123
then will your feet be light with good desire; they will no longer feel the heavy road but will rejoice as they are urged to climb. ”
126
Then I did something anyone might do, made conscious by the way men looked at him that he must have some strange thing on his head:
129
his hand will try hard to investigate, feeling around to find, fulfilling thus the duty that the eyes cannot perform;
132
so, my right hand with fingers spread found just six of the seven letters that were carved upon my brow by him who keeps the keys. 13.5
Observing this, my master smiled at me.
CANTO XIII
THE PILGRIM AND Virgil reach the second cornice, which is the livid color of stone. Since there are no souls in sight of whom to ask directions, Virgil turns to the sun for guidance. When he and Dante have walked about a mile along the ledge, they hear a disembodied voice crying out the examples of Generosity, the virtue opposed to the vice of Envy. The first of the virtuous examples that it cites is the Virgin Mary’s solicitude at the wedding feast of Cana when she tells her son, “They have no wine. ” The second is the attempt of Pylades to save the life of his friend by claiming, “I am Orestes, ” and the third is the commandment from the gospels “Love your enemy. ” Virgil explains that on this terrace, the sin of Envy is punished, and he indicates the souls of the Envious sitting huddled together against the face of the cliff. They can be heard reciting the Litany of the Saints, and as the Pilgrim approaches them he remarks their piteous condition. They are dressed in the coarsest of haircloth, and their eyelids have been stitched shut with iron thread. The Pilgrim has a long conversation with Sapìa of Siena, who confesses that she rejoiced in the defeat of her own townsmen at the battle of Colle.
Now we are standing on the highest step, where, for a second time, we saw a ledge cut in the mount that heals all those who climb.
3
This terrace stretches all around the hill, exactly like the one below, although the arc of this one makes a sharper curve.
6
No sign of any souls or carvings here. The cliff face is all bare, the roadway bare— save for the livid color of the stone.
9
“If we wait here until somebody comes to give directions, ” said the Poet, “our choice, I am afraid, will be
12
6. This circle, being higher up the mountain, is smaller. Then, looking up, and staring at the sun, he made of his right side a pivot point, bringing the left side of his body round.
15
“O cherished light in whom I place my trust, please guide us on this unfamiliar road, ” he said, “for in this place guidance we need.
18
You warm the world; you shed your light on it; unless there be some reason that opposes, your radiant light should always show the way. ”
21
We had already gone along that ledge as far as what is called a mile on earth—and quickly, too, because of our good will—
24
when spirits, who could not be seen, were heard, as they came flying towards us, speaking words of courteous invitation to love’s board.
27
The first voice that came flying past us sang out loud and clear the words Vinum non habent; then we could hear them echoing behind.
30
Before the notes had faded quietly into distance, another voice cried out: “I am Orestes!” And that voice too swept by.
33
“Oh, ” I said, “Father, what voices are these?” And just as I was asking this, a third said, passing by: “Love those who do you harm!”
36
Then my good master said: “The Envious this circle scourges—that is why the whip used here is fashioned from the cords of love.
39
29. “Vinum non habent” (“They have no wine”) is the first example of charitable concern for others. Mary, acting out of concern for the happiness of others, lovingly solicits her son’s first miracle: the changing of water into wine.
33. The second example of the virtue opposed to Envy is from antiquity; the one who claims the name Orestes is doing so out of generosity and friendship.
36. The third voice expresses an evangelical precept taken from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:44).
The curb must sound the opposite of love; you will most likely hear it, I should think, before the pass of pardon has been reached.
42
Now look in front of you, look carefully and you will see some people over there, all of them with their backs against the cliff. ”
45
I looked ahead of me, straining my eyes: I saw a mass of spirits wrapped in cloaks the color of the stone they leaned against.
48
And then as we came closer to these souls, I heard the cry: “O Mary, pray for us”; then “Michael, Peter, and All Saints, ” they cried.
51
I do not think there is a man on earth with heart so hard that it would not be pierced with pity if he saw what I saw then:
54
when I had come up close enough to see the nature of the penance they endured, the sight squeezed bitter tears out of my eyes.
57
Their cloaks seemed to be made of coarsest cloth, and one’s head on another’s shoulder lay, the inner cliff supporting all of them.
60
They brought to mind blind beggars at church doors during Indulgences begging their bread: the one leaning his head upon the next
63
to stir up pity in their fellow man, not only by the sound of begging cries, but by the looks that plead no less than words.
66
42. This pass is at the entrance to the next terrace, at which point the angel will remove the second P of envy from the Pilgrim’s brow and admit him to the Third Terrace.
50-51. The souls are reciting the Litany of the Saints.
63. The penitent Envious, who once wished the worst for their neighbors, are now, like so many blind beggars, sustaining and supporting each other.
Just as the blind cannot enjoy the sun, so, to the shades I saw before me here, the light of Heaven denies its radiance:
69
the eyelids of these shades had been sewn shut with iron threads, like falcons newly caught, whose eyes we stitch to tame their restlessness.
72
I felt that I was doing something wrong, walking along, staring at people who could not stare back. I turned to my wise guide,
75
who knew quite well what his mute ward would ask, and waiting not for me to speak, said, “Yes, but let your words be brief and to the point. ”
78
Virgil was walking on one side of me, along the terrace edge where one could fall (for there was no protective parapet),
81
while on the other side of me were massed those supplicating souls whose cheeks were wet with tears that seeped out through the horrid seams.
84
I turned to them and said: “O souls assured that someday you will see the light of Heaven which is the only goal that you desire,
87
so may God’s grace soon wash away the film clouding your consciousness, and thus allow the stream of memory to flow through pure,
90
please let me know—I would be very grateful—is someone here, perhaps, Italian? I could be very helpful if he were. ”
93
“My brother, all of us are citizens of one true city. You mean is there a soul who was a pilgrim once in Italy?”
96
70. This image is taken from falconry: the eyes of these birds, which were captured when they were no longer fledglings, were sewn shut (with waxed silk thread, however, not with iron wire) to facilitate domestication and training. This answer to my question seemed to come from somewhere up ahead, so I moved on to where those souls could clearly hear my words.
99
Among them I discerned one shade that looked expectant. How could I tell? The chin was raised— that searching gesture of the blind. I said:
102
“O soul, learning to dominate yourself for the ascent—if it was you who spoke— tell me your name, or where you lived. ” She said:
105
“I was a Sienese; here with the rest I mend my evil life with tears and beg of Him that He reveal Himself to us.
108
Though named Sapìa, sapient I was not: I always reveled in another’s grief, enjoying that more than my own welfare.
111
If you do not believe me, listen now and you will see how far my folly went. In the declining arc of my long years,
114
it happened that my townsmen were engaged in battle just outside of Colle; I prayed God for what already He had willed.
117
Our men were scattered on the plain and forced to take the bitter course of flight. I watched the chase, seized with a surge of joy so fierce
120
I raised my shameless face to God and cried “I have lost all my fear of Thee!” I was the blackbird when the sun comes out awhile.
123
109. Sapìa of Siena was the paternal aunt of Provenzan Salvani (Purgatory XI, 121) and the wife of Ghinibaldo Saracini. She hated her fellow Sienese and resented her nephew’s rise to power.
116. The present Colle di Val d’Elsa in Tuscany was where, in 1269, the Sienese Ghibellines, under Provenzan Salvani and Count Guido Novello, were defeated in battle by the Florentine Guelphs, aided by the French troops of Charles d’Anjou.
120. This line, together with 110-111 (“I always reveled …”), indicates that Envy may involve not only resentment of the good fortune of others but positive enjoyment of their misfortunes.
I did not seek my peace with God, not till my final hour came—and even then, penance would not yet have reduced my debt
126
had it not been for one Pier Pettinaio, who, moved by charity to grieve for me, remembered me in all his holy prayers.
129
But who are you, so eager to inquire about us here—you with your eyes unsewn, so I would guess, and breathing out your words?”
132
“My sight one day shall be sewn up, ” I said, “but not for long; my eyes have seldom sinned
135
It is a greater fear that shakes my soul: that of the penance done below—already I feel on me the weight those souls must bear. ”
138
And she: “Then who has led you here to us, if you count on returning down below?” And I: “This man with me who does not speak.
141
I am alive. And if you want me to, O chosen soul, I would be glad to move my mortal feet on earth on your behalf. ”
144
“Oh, what a miracle this is!” she said. “What evidence of God’s great love for you! Yes, help me with a prayer from time to time.
147
By what you hold most dear, I beg of you, if ever you set foot on Tuscan soil, restore my name among my kinsfolk there.
150
127. Pier Pettinaio, “Peter the Combseller, ” was supposedly a member of the Franciscan order who dwelt close to Siena and was known for his piety, the miracles he performed, and his honesty (he refused to sell a defective comb).
147. In the Antepurgatory a number of souls had asked of the Pilgrim that when he returned to earth he solicit prayers for them from their loved ones. This is probably what Dante had in mind when he offered to “move” his “mortal feet” (144) on Sapìa’s behalf.
They live with those who dream of Talamone, whose foolish hopes will make them lose much more than they lost looking for Diana’s bed—
153
but, still, the admirals will lose the most. ”
CANTO XIV
THE CANTO OPENS with the gossip of two blind souls excited by their awareness of the unprecedented presence before them of a man who is still alive; they finally ask the Pilgrim who he is and where he is from. Dante’s reference to his place of origin —the valley of the Arno —touches off a lengthy outburst of anti-Tuscan sentiment from one of his interlocutors. The Pilgrim then asks their names; the speaker identifies himself as Guido del Duca and his fellow shade as Rinier da Calboli —and immediately launches into another invective, this time against the recent degeneracy of Romagna. As the Pilgrim and Virgil are leaving the souls of the Envious, they hear the sharp crack of voices —screaming out exempla of Envy. The first voice is that of Cain, and the second, that of the Athenian princess Aglauros, who was turned to stone because she envied her sister, who was loved by the god Mercury.