Short while my head turned thitherward I held And he to me: "Because thou Athwart the darkness at too great a distance, It happens that thou errest in thy fancy. Well shalt thou see, if thou arrivest there, How much the sense deceives itself by distance; Then tenderly he took me by the hand, Less And said: "Before we farther have advanced, strange, know that these are not towers, but giants, From navel downward, one and all of them." As, when the fog is vanishing away, Little by little doth the sight refigure Whate'er the mist that crowds the air conceals, So, piercing through the dense and darksome air, Because as on its circular parapets Montereggione crowns itself with towers, E'en thus the margin which surrounds the well 20 25 30 35 40 With one half of their bodies turreted The horrible giants, whom Jove menaces E'en now from out the heavens when he thunders. 45 And I of one already saw the face, Shoulders, and breast, and great part of the belly, And down along his sides both of the arms. Certainly Nature, when she left the making Of animals like these, did well indeed, By taking such executors from Mars; And if of elephants and whales she doth not Repent her, whosoever looketh subtly More just and more discreet will hold her for it; For where the argument of intellect Is added unto evil will and power, No rampart can the people make against it. His face appeared to me as long and large As is at Rome the pine-cone of Saint Peter's, And in proportion were the other bones; So that the margin, which an apron was Down from the middle, showed so much of him Three Frieslanders in vain had vaunted them; 50 55 60 65 Down from the place where man his mantle buckles. Raphel mai amech izabi almi,” Began to clamor the ferocious mouth, To which were not befitting sweeter psalms. And unto him my Guide: "Soul idiotic, Keep to thy horn, and vent thyself with that, When wrath or other passion touches thee. Search round thy neck, and thou wilt find the belt Which keeps it fastened, O bewildered soul, And see it, where it bars thy mighty breast." Then said to me: "He doth himself accuse; This one is Nimrod, by whose evil thought One language in the world is not still used. Here let us leave him and not speak in vain ; For even such to him is every language As his to others, which to none is known." Turned to the left, and a crossbow-shot off In binding him, who might the master be I cannot say; but he had pinioned close With chains, that held him so begirt about From the neck down, that on the part uncovered This proud one wished to make experiment Of his own power against the Supreme Jove," My Leader said, "whence he has such a guerdon. Ephialtes is his name; he showed great prowess, What time the giants terrified the Gods; The arms he wielded never more he moves." And I to him: "If possible, I should wish That of the measureless Briareus These eyes of mine might have experience." Close by here, who can speak and is unbound, And he is bound, and fashioned like to this one, Then was I more afraid of death than ever, 95 100 105 If I had not beheld the manacles. Then we proceeded farther in advance, And to Antæus came, who, full five ells Without the head, forth issued from the cavern. "O thou, who in the valley fortunate, Which Scipio the heir of glory made, When Hannibal turned back with all his hosts, Once brought'st a thousand lions for thy prey, And who, hadst thou been at the mighty war Among thy brothers, some it seems still think The sons of Earth the victory would have gained; Place us below, nor be disdainful of it, There where the cold doth lock Cocytus up.. Make us not go to Tityus nor Typhoeus; 115 120 This one can give of that which here is longed for; 125 Still in the world can he restore thy fame; Because he lives, and still expects long life, If to itself Grace call him not untimely." So said the Master; and in haste the other His hands extended and took up my Guide, Hands whose great pressure Hercules once felt. Virgilius, when he felt himself embraced, 130 Said unto me: "Draw nigh, that I may take thee "; Then of himself and me one bundle made. As seems the Carisenda, to behold Beneath the leaning side, when goes a cloud 135 |