Divine Comedy (Illustrated Edition). Dante Alighieri

VIII. Phlegyas. Philippo Argenti. The Gate of the City of Dis.

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      I say, continuing, that long before

       We to the foot of that high tower had come,

       Our eyes went upward to the summit of it,

      By reason of two flamelets we saw placed there,

       And from afar another answer them,

       So far, that hardly could the eye attain it.

      And, to the sea of all discernment turned,

       I said: "What sayeth this, and what respondeth

       That other fire? and who are they that made it?"

      And he to me: "Across the turbid waves

       What is expected thou canst now discern,

       If reek of the morass conceal it not."

      Cord never shot an arrow from itself

       That sped away athwart the air so swift,

       As I beheld a very little boat

      Come o'er the water tow'rds us at that moment,

       Under the guidance of a single pilot,

       Who shouted, "Now art thou arrived, fell soul?"

      "Phlegyas, Phlegyas, thou criest out in vain

       For this once," said my Lord; "thou shalt not have us

       Longer than in the passing of the slough."

      As he who listens to some great deceit

       That has been done to him, and then resents it,

       Such became Phlegyas, in his gathered wrath.

      My Guide descended down into the boat,

       And then he made me enter after him,

       And only when I entered seemed it laden.

      Soon as the Guide and I were in the boat,

       The antique prow goes on its way, dividing

       More of the water than 'tis wont with others.

      While we were running through the dead canal,

       Uprose in front of me one full of mire,

       And said, "Who 'rt thou that comest ere the hour?"

      And I to him: "Although I come, I stay not;

       But who art thou that hast become so squalid?"

       "Thou seest that I am one who weeps," he answered.

      And I to him: "With weeping and with wailing,

       Thou spirit maledict, do thou remain;

       For thee I know, though thou art all defiled."

      Then stretched he both his hands unto the boat;

       Whereat my wary Master thrust him back,

       Saying, "Away there with the other dogs!"

      Thereafter with his arms he clasped my neck;

       He kissed my face, and said: "Disdainful soul,

       Blessed be she who bore thee in her bosom.

      That was an arrogant person in the world;

       Goodness is none, that decks his memory;

       So likewise here his shade is furious.

      How many are esteemed great kings up there,

       Who here shall be like unto swine in mire,

       Leaving behind them horrible dispraises!"

      And I: "My Master, much should I be pleased,

       If I could see him soused into this broth,

       Before we issue forth out of the lake."

      And he to me: "Ere unto thee the shore

       Reveal itself, thou shalt be satisfied;

       Such a desire 'tis meet thou shouldst enjoy."

      A little after that, I saw such havoc

       Made of him by the people of the mire,

       That still I praise and thank my God for it.

      They all were shouting, "At Philippo Argenti!"

       And that exasperate spirit Florentine

       Turned round upon himself with his own teeth.

      We left him there, and more of him I tell not;

       But on mine ears there smote a lamentation,

       Whence forward I intent unbar mine eyes.

      And the good Master said: "Even now, my Son,

       The city draweth near whose name is Dis,

       With the grave citizens, with the great throng."

      And I: "Its mosques already, Master, clearly

       Within there in the valley I discern

       Vermilion, as if issuing from the fire

      They were." And he to me: "The fire eternal

       That kindles them within makes them look red,

       As thou beholdest in this nether Hell."

      Then we arrived within the moats profound,

       That circumvallate that disconsolate city;

       The walls appeared to me to be of iron.

      Not without making first a circuit wide,

       We came unto a place where loud the pilot

       Cried out to us, "Debark, here is the entrance."

      More than a thousand at the gates I saw

       Out of the Heavens rained down, who angrily

       Were saying, "Who is this that without death

      Goes through the kingdom of the people dead?"

       And my sagacious Master made a sign

       Of wishing secretly to speak with them.

      A little then they quelled their great disdain,

       And said: "Come thou alone, and he begone

       Who has so boldly entered these dominions.

      Let him return alone by his mad road;

       Try, if he can; for thou shalt here remain,

       Who hast escorted him through such dark regions."

      Think, Reader, if I was discomforted

       At utterance of the accursed words;

       For never to return here I believed.

      "O my dear Guide, who more than seven times

       Hast rendered me security, and drawn me

       From imminent peril that before me stood,

      Do not desert me," said I, "thus undone;

       And if the going farther be denied us,

       Let us retrace our steps together swiftly."

      And that Lord, who had led me thitherward,

       Said unto me: "Fear not; because our passage

       None can take from us, it by Such is given.

      But here await me, and thy weary spirit

       Comfort and nourish with a better hope;