And now my Master was recalling me, Wherefore more eagerly I prayed the spirit That he would tell me who was with him there. He said: "With more than a thousand here I lie; Within here is the second Frederick, And the Cardinal, and of the rest I speak not." Thereon he hid himself; and I towards The ancient poet turned my steps, reflecting Upon that saying, which seemed hostile to me. He moved along; and afterward, thus going, 115 120 He said to me, "Why art thou so bewildered?" 125 "Let memory preserve what thou hast heard Against thyself," that Sage commanded me, "And now attend here"; and he raised his finger. "When thou shalt be before the radiance sweet Of her whose beauteous eyes all things behold, We left the wall, and went towards the middle, 130 135 CANTO XI. UPON the margin of a lofty bank Which great rocks broken in a circle made, And there, by reason of the horrible Excess of stench the deep abyss throws out, We drew ourselves aside behind the cover Of a great tomb, whereon I saw a writing, Which said: "Pope Anastasius I hold, Whom out of the right way Photinus drew." "Slow it behoveth our descent to be, So that the sense be first a little used To the sad blast, and then we shall not heed it." "Some compensation find, that the time pass not My son, upon the inside of these rocks,” Began he then to say, are three small circles, 5 1Ο 15 From grade to grade, like those which thou art leaving. They all are full of spirits maledict; But that hereafter sight alone suffice thee, Hear how and wherefore they are in constraint. Of every malice that wins hate in Heaven, Injury is the end; and all such end Either by force or fraud afflicteth others. But because fraud is man's peculiar vice, More it displeases God; and so stand lowest The fraudulent, and greater dole assails them. All the first circle of the Violent is; But since force may be used against three persons, In three rounds 't is divided and constructed. To God, to ourselves, and to our neighbor can we Use force; I say on them and on their things, As thou shalt hear with reason manifest. A death by violence, and painful wounds, 20 25 30 Are to our neighbor given; and in his substance 35 Ruin, and arson, and injurious levies; Whence homicides, and he who smites unjustly, Marauders, and freebooters, the first round Tormenteth all in companies diverse. Man may lay violent hands upon himself And his own goods; and therefore in the second 40 Whoever of your world deprives himself, Who games, and dissipates his property, In heart denying and blaspheming Him, Seal with its signet Sodom and Cahors, Fraud, wherewithal is every conscience stung, A man may practise upon him who trusts, This latter mode, it would appear, dissevers Only the bond of love which Nature makes; Wherefore within the second circle nestle Hypocrisy, flattery, and who deals in magic, Falsification, theft, and simony, Panders, and barrators, and the like filth. By the other mode, forgotten is that love Which Nature makes, and what is after added, Of the Universe, upon which Dis is seated, 45 50 55 60 65 And I: "My Master, clear enough proceeds Thy reasoning, and full well distinguishes This cavern and the people who possess it. But tell me, those within the fat lagoon, 70 Whom the wind drives, and whom the rain doth beat, And who encounter with such bitter tongues, Wherefore are they inside of the red city Not punished, if God has them in his wrath, And if he has not, wherefore in such fashion?" 75 And unto me he said: "Why wanders so Thine intellect from that which it is wont? Or, sooth, thy mind where is it elsewhere looking? Hast thou no recollection of those words With which thine Ethics thoroughly discusses The dispositions three, that Heaven abides not, — Incontinence, and Malice, and insane Bestiality? and how Incontinence Less God offendeth, and less blame attracts? If thou regardest this conclusion well, And to thy mind recallest who they are That up outside are undergoing penance, Clearly wilt thou perceive why from these felons They separated are, and why less wroth Justice divine doth smite them with its hammer." 80 85 |