RETURN TO THE SIMILE COLLECTOR"S LIBRARY
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As one washed
ashore escapes death
As one who tallies
gains and losses
As one who changes
plans
As a beast turned
coward by ghosts
As flowers revive
under the sun's warmth
As one experienced
(weak simile)
Words as a whirlwind
of sand
Charon's eyes as
red glowing embers
The seed of Adam
falls like leaves (and)
Answers to a signal
like a falcon
As a man seized by
sleep
Thunder awakens
as if by force
As an eagle Homer
soars above all poets
Darkness and
noise as in a tempest at sea
The spirts
are blown about like flocks of starlings
As cranes sinners
chant their laments
Paolo and Francesca
as turtle-doves approach
Dante collapses like
a falling corpse
Plautus falls
like a broken ship's mast
Sinners dance like
waves churning above Charybdis
Fortune's decisions
are hidden like a serpent in grass
A boat moves
faster than an arrow
As one angered by
deceit
As swine are kings
in hell
Mosques gleam as
if fired in a forge
As a man listens
when blinded by fog
As a windstorm tears
a forest and scatteres beasts and shepherds
As frogs before a
serpent sinners scatter
Sepulchres like those
in France and Italy
Sinners can see the future as the far-sighted see
Nature follows Divine Intellect like a disciple
An enbankment
is like an Alpine cliff
The Minotaur bites
himself as if angry (weak simile)
As a stricken bull staggers before dying
A tumult as
if a hunt in chase of a boar
Mastiffs swift as
greyhounds just released
Flakes of fire
falling as if Alpine snow (and)
As when Alexander
had his troops trample the flames (and)
As heated steel
the burning sand
Red water as the
sulphurous springs used by prostitutes
A mountain diserted
as a thing worn out
The Old Man of Crete
looks at Rome as t'were a mirror
As the Flemings
fearing floods build dykes and
As the Paduans build walls
As squinting in
evening light under a new moon (and)
Squinting as a tailor
with a needle's eye
Head bowed as one
in reverence
As one at Verona
runs for the Green Mantle
As falling
water sounds like a beehive
As wrestlers stripped
and oiled circle around one another
As one who hears
the truth
As the Acquacheta
River thunders
As a swimmer rising
from the depths Geryon appears
Geryon's skin
complexly patterned as Turkish cloth (and)
As a boat or a beaver
Geryon draws up on shore (and)
As a scorpion's
stinger Geryon's tail
As dogs fend off
insects so the sinners the fire and sand
As an ox tongues
his nose
As one shivering
with malaria Dante mounts Geryon
As a boat Geryon
backs off from the shore (and)
Geryon's tail moves
like an eel (continues)
Dante's fear greater
than Phaeton's (continues)
As Icarus Dante
fears plumeting wingless into the sea
Geryon descends
as a weary and sullen falcon (and)
Geryon departs
as an arrow off the bow
As a castle's
walls and moats so the Malebolge
Sinners parade like
pilgrims to Rome's Jubilee
Flames cover
sinners as oil covered things
Sinners as stakes
but inverted (and)
Dante as a friar
confessing one condemned
As one confused
by mockery
Canto 20 is the only canto without similes
Black pitch
as in the Venetian Arsenal
Dante wheels about
as a terrified man (weak simile)
The demons as cooks
boiling meat using hooks
The demons as dogs
attacking a beggar
Dante fearful as
soldiers surrendering to the enemy
As dolphins
sinners arch their backs above the pitch
As frogs or an otter
the sinners hide
As a boar's tusks
the demon Ciriatto
As a duck evades
a falcon
As friars walk
in single file
As a hare trapped
in the teeth of a hound
As a mother saves
her son from the fire Vergil seizes Dante (continues)
As water in a sluice
Vergil slides downwards
As a Spring
thaw Vergil's countenance clears
As a meditator Vergil
ascends a crag
The legacy of the
lazy is as smoke or vapor
As one who falls
without warning
As ivy on a
tree a reptile on a sinner clings (and)
As melting wax the
reptile and sinner blend (and)
As a flame browns
paper
As a lizard flashes
across a road (and)
As a black peppercorn
a lizard (and)
As with sleep or
fever motionless and still
As a snail retracts
its horns
As a farmer
sees distant glow worms in a valley (and)
As he who viewed
Elijah's ascending chariot (and)
The retreating flame
as a little cloud (and)
As a flickering
flame divides in two (and)
As a tongue speaking
As the bronze bull echoed the cries of the tortured
As a split
open barrel- (Mohammed)
As a swinging lantern
a severed head- (Bertran de Born)
As arrows laments
pierce Dante (and)
As the pain and
stench of all Italy's hospitals
Two sinners propped
together as pans in a fire (and)
The sinners scratch
as stablehands curry horses (and)
As fish are scaled
with a knife
As Semele's
grief at her husband's mad murders (and)
As Hecuba barking
maddened by grief (and)
As an enraged boar
bites running loose
A sinner shaped
like a lute
As a consumptive
contorts his lips
As wet hands will
give off smoke before a winter fire
A belly struck by
another sinner sounds like a drum
As a sleeper dreaming
wishes he were dreaming
As Achille's
spear both heals or wounds so Vergil's words
A horn louder than
that heard by Charlemagne
As shapes become
clearer in thinning fog (and)
As turrets tower
over walls and ramparts- the giants
As broad as the
"pine-cone" at St. Peters in Rome
The giant Ephialtes
shakes as an earthquake
As the illusion
a tower is falling by passing clouds (and)
As the mast of a
canting ship the giant Antaeus suddenly rises up
As a lake with
frost seems like glass
Frozen sinners like nearly submerged
frogs (and)
Teeth chattering
like clacking beaks of storks
Two frozen fast
sinners butt heads like goats
As bread is devoured
so one sinner by another
Words as seeds
to bear fruit
Teeth upon the bone
as a dog's
Tears frozen like
a visor over the eyes (and)
Dante's face insensitive
as a callus
As a windmill
appears through a fog or evening darkness (and)
As straws glimmer
within glass so the sinners in the ice (and)
Frozen solid in
ice one sinner bent as a bow
As a sun-burnt inhabitant
of the Nile so a head of Satan (and)
Wings larger than
a ship's sails (and)
Wings like a bat
Teeth crunching
like a grinder
As a man exhausted
| CANTO 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
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As one washed ashore escapes death |
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| And even as he, who, with distressful breath, Forth issued from the sea upon the shore, Turns to the water perilous and gazes; So did my soul, that still was fleeing onward, Turn itself back to re-behold the pass Which never yet a living person left. |
E come quei che con lena affannata, uscito fuor del pelago a la riva, si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata, così l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva, si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo che non lasciò già mai persona viva. |
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As one who mourns his losses |
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| And as he is who willingly acquires, And the time comes that causes him to lose, Who weeps in all his thoughts and is despondent, E'en such made me that beast withouten peace, Which, coming on against me by degrees Thrust me back thither where the sun is silent. |
E qual è quei che volontieri acquista, e giugne 'l tempo che perder lo face, che 'n tutt'i suoi pensier piange e s'attrista; tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace, che, venendomi 'ncontro, a poco a poco mi ripigneva là dove 'l sol tace. |
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| CANTO 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
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As one who changes plans |
|
|
| And as he is, who unwills what he
willed, And by new thoughts doth his intention change, So that from his design he quite withdraws, Such I became, upon that dark hillside, Because, in thinking, I consumed the emprise, Which was so very prompt in the beginning. |
E qual è quei che disvuol
ciò che volle e per novi pensier cangia proposta, sì che dal cominciar tutto si tolle, tal mi fec'io 'n quella oscura costa, perché, pensando, consumai la 'mpresa che fu nel cominciar cotanto tosta.. |
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As a beast turned coward by ghosts |
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| "If I have well thy language
understood," Replied that shade of the Magnanimous, "Thy soul attainted is with cowardice, Which many times a man encumbers so, It turns him back from honoured enterprise, As false sight doth a beast, when he is shy. |
"S'i' ho ben la parola tua
intesa", rispuose del magnanimo quell'ombra, "l'anima tua è da viltade offesa; la qual molte fiate l'omo ingombra sì che d'onrata impresa lo rivolve, come falso veder bestia quand' ombra. |
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As flowers revive under the sun's warmth |
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| Even as the flowerets, by nocturnal
chill, Bowed down and closed, when the sun whitens them, Uplift themselves all open on their stems; Such I became with my exhausted strength, And such good courage to my heart there coursed, That I began, like an intrepid person: |
Quali fioretti dal notturno
gelo chinati e chiusi, poi che 'l sol li 'mbianca, si drizzan tutti aperti in loro stelo, tal mi fec'io di mia virtude stanca, e tanto buono ardire al cor mi corse, ch'i' cominciai come persona franca: |
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| CANTO 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
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As one experienced (weak simile) |
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| And he to me, as one experienced: "Here all suspicion needs must be abandoned, All cowardice must needs be here extinct. |
Ed elli a me, come persona accorta "Qui si convien lasciare ogne, sospetto; ogne vilta convien che qui sia morta. |
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Words as a whirlwind of sand |
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| Languages diverse, horrible dialects, Accents of anger, words of agony, And voices high and hoarse, with sound of hands, Made up a tumult that goes whirling on For ever in that air for ever black, Even as the sand doth, when the whirlwind breathes. |
Diverse lingue, orribili favelle, parole di dolore, accenti d'ira, voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle facevano un tumulto, il qual s'aggira sempre in quell'aura sanza tempo tinta, come la rena quando turbo spira. |
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Charon's eyes like red glowing embers |
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| Thereat were quieted the fleecy cheeks Of him the ferryman of the livid fen, Who round about his eyes had wheels of flame. |
Caron dimonio, con occhi di bragia, loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie; batte col remo qualunque s'adagia. |
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The seed of Adam falls like leaves (continues)
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| As in the autumn-time the leaves fall off, First one and then another, till the branch Unto the earth surrenders all its spoils; In similar wise the evil seed of Adam Throw themselves from that margin one by one, |
Come d'autunno si levan le foglie l'una appresso de l'altra, fin che 'l ramo vede a la terra tutte le sue spoglie, similemente il mal seme d'Adamo gittansi di quel lito ad una ad una, |
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Answering to a signal like a falcon |
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| At signals, as a bird unto its lure. So they depart across the dusky wave, And ere upon the other side they land, Again on this side a new troop assembles. |
per cenni come augel per suo richiamo. Così sen vanno su per l'onda bruna, e avanti che sien di là discese, anche di qua nuova schiera s'auna. |
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As a man seized by sleep |
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| The land of tears gave forth a blast of
wind, And fulminated a vermilion light, Which overmastered in me every sense, And as a man whom sleep hath seized I fell. |
La terra lagrimosa diede vento, che balenò una luce vermiglia la qual mi vinse ciascun sentimento; e caddi come l'uom cui sonno piglia. |
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| CANTO 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
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Thunder awakens as if by force |
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| Broke the deep lethargy within my head A heavy thunder, so that I upstarted, Like to a person who by force is wakened; |
Ruppemi l'alto sonno ne la testa un greve truono, sì ch'io mi riscossi come persona ch'è per forza desta; |
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As an eagle Homer soars above all poets |
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| Thus I beheld assemble the fair school Of that lord of the song pre-eminent, [Homer] Who o'er the others like an eagle soars. |
Così vid'i' adunar la bella scola di quel segnor de l'altissimo canto che sovra li altri com'aquila vola. |
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| CANTO 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Darkness and noise as in
a tempest at sea (Inf. 5:28-30) |
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| I came into a place mute of all light, Which bellows as the sea does in a tempest, If by opposing winds 't is combated. |
Io venni in loco d'ogne luce muto, che mugghia come fa mar per tempesta, se da contrari venti è combattuto. |
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The spirts are blown about like flocks of starlings
(Continues) |
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| And as the wings of starlings bear them on In the cold season in large band and full, So doth that blast the spirits maledict; It hither, thither, downward, upward, drives them; No hope doth comfort them for evermore, Not of repose, but even of lesser pain. |
E come li stornei ne portan l'ali nel freddo tempo, a schiera larga e piena, così quel fiato li spiriti mali di qua, di là, di giù, di sù li mena; nulla speranza li conforta mai, non che di posa, ma di minor pena. |
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As cranes sinners chant their laments |
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| And as the cranes go chanting forth their lays, Making in air a long line of themselves, So saw I coming, uttering lamentations, Shadows borne onward by the aforesaid stress |
E come i gru van cantando lor lai, faccendo in aere di sé lunga riga, così vid' io venir, traendo guai, ombre portate de la detta briga; |
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Paolo and Francesca as turtle-doves approach |
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| As turtle-doves, called onward by desire, With open and steady wings to the sweet nest Fly through the air by their volition borne, So came they from the band where Dido is, Approaching us athwart the air malign, So strong was the affectionate appeal. |
Quali colombe dal disio chiamate con l'ali alzate e ferme al dolce nido vegnon per l'aere dal voler portate; cotali uscir de la schiera ov' è Dido, a noi venendo per l'aere maligno, sì forte fu l'affettuöso grido. |
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Dante collapses like a falling corpse |
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| And all the while one spirit uttered this, The other one did weep so, that, for pity, I swooned away as if I had been dying, And fell, even as a dead body falls. |
Mentre che l'uno spirto questo disse, l'altro piangëa; sì che di pietade io venni men così com' io morisse. E caddi come corpo morto cade. |
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| CANTO 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
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Cerberus as a rapacious dog |
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| And my Conductor, with his spans extended, Took of the earth, and with his fists well filled, He threw it into those rapacious gullets. Such as that dog is, who by barking craves, And quiet grows soon as his food he gnaws, For to devour it he but thinks and struggles, The like became those muzzles filth-begrimed Of Cerberus the demon, who so thunders Over the souls that they would fain be deaf |
E 'l duca mio distese le sue spanne, prese la terra, e con piene le pugna la gittò dentro a le bramose canne. Qual è quel cane ch'abbaiando agogna, e si racqueta poi che 'l pasto morde, ché solo a divorarlo intende e pugna, cotai si fecer quelle facce lorde de lo demonio Cerbero, che 'ntrona l'anime sì, ch'esser vorrebber sorde. |
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| CANTO 7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Plautus collapses like a
broken ship's mast (Inf. 7:13-15) |
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| Even as the sails inflated by the wind Involved together fall when snaps the mast, So fell the cruel monster to the earth. |
Quali dal vento le gonfiate vele caggiono avvolte, poi che l'alber fiacca, tal cadde a terra la fiera crudele. |
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Sinners dance like waves churning above
Charybdis |
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| As doth the billow there upon Charybdis, That breaks itself on that which it encounters, So here the folk must dance their roundelay. |
Come fa l'onda là sovra Cariddi, che si frange con quella in cui s'intoppa, così convien che qui la gente riddi. |
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Fortune's decisions are hidden like a serpent
in grass |
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| He in like manner to the mundane splendours Ordained a general ministress and guide, that she might change at times the empty treasures From race to race, from one blood to another, Beyond resistance of all human wisdom. Therefore one people triumphs, and another Languishes, in pursuance of her judgment, Which hidden is, as in the grass a serpent. |
Similemente a li splendor mondani ordinò general ministra e duce che permutasse a tempo li ben vani di gente in gente e d'uno in altro sangue, oltre la difension d'i senni umani; per ch'una gente impera e l'altra langue, seguendo lo giudicio di costei, che è occulto come in erba l'angue. |
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| CANTO 8 | ||
|---|---|---|
| A boat moves faster than
an arrow (Inf. 8:13-18) |
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| 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!" |
Corda non pinse mai da sé saetta che sì corresse via per l'aere snella, com'io vidi una nave piccioletta venir per l'acqua verso noi in quella, sotto 'l governo d'un sol galeoto, che gridava: "Or se' giunta, anima fella!". |
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As one angered by deceit |
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| 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. |
Qual è colui che grande inganno ascolta che li sia fatto, e poi se ne rammarca, fecesi Flegiàs ne l'ira accolta. |
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As swine are kings in hell |
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| How many are esteemed great kings up there, Who here shall be like unto swine in mire, Leaving behind them horrible dispraises!" |
Quanti si tegnon or là sù gran
regi che qui staranno come porci in brago, di sé lasciando orribili dispregi!". |
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Mosques gleam as if fired in a forge |
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| 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." |
E io: "Maestro, già le sue meschite là entro certe ne la valle cerno, vermiglie come se di foco uscite fossero". Ed ei mi disse: "Il foco etterno ch'entro l'affoca le dimostra rosse, come tu vedi in questo basso inferno". |
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| CANTO 9 | ||
|---|---|---|
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As a man listens when blinded by fog |
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| He stopped attentive, like a man who listens, Because the eye could not conduct him far Through the black air, and through the heavy fog. |
Attento si fermò com' uom ch'ascolta; ché l'occhio nol potea menare a lunga per l'aere nero e per la nebbia folta. |
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As a windstorm tears a forest and scatteres beasts
and shepherds |
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| And now there came across the turbid waves The clangour of a sound with terror fraught, Because of which both of the margins trembled; Not otherwise it was than of a wind Impetuous on account of adverse heats, That smites the forest, and, without restraint, The branches rends, beats down, and bears away; Right onward, laden with dust, it goes superb, And puts to flight the wild beasts and the shepherds. |
E già venia su per le torbide onde un fracasso d'un suon, pien di spavento, per cui tremavano amendue le sponde, non altrimenti fatto che d'un vento impetüoso per li avversi ardori, che fier la selva e sanz' alcun rattento li rami schianta, abbatte e porta fori; dinanzi polveroso va superbo, e fa fuggir le fiere e li pastori. |
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As frogs before a serpent sinners scatter |
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| Even as the frogs before the hostile serpent Across the water scatter all abroad, Until each one is huddled in the earth. More than a thousand ruined souls I saw, Thus fleeing from before one who on foot Was passing o'er the Styx with soles unwet. |
Come le rane innanzi a la nimica biscia per l'acqua si dileguan tutte, fin ch'a la terra ciascuna s'abbica, vid' io più di mille anime distrutte fuggir così dinanzi ad un ch'al passo passava Stige con le piante asciutte. |
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Sepulchres like those in France and Italy |
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| Even as at Arles, where stagnant grows the Rhone, Even as at Pola near to the Quarnaro, That shuts in Italy and bathes its borders, The sepulchres make all the place uneven; So likewise did they there on every side, Saving that there the manner was more bitter; |
Sì come ad Arli, ove Rodano stagna, sì com'a Pola, presso del Carnaro ch'Italia chiude e suoi termini bagna, fanno i sepulcri tutt' il loco varo, così facevan quivi d'ogne parte, salvo che 'l modo v'era più amaro; |
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| CANTO 10 | ||
|---|---|---|
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Sinners can see the future as the far-sighted
see |
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| "We see, like those who have imperfect sight, The things," he said, "that distant are from us; So much still shines on us the Sovereign Ruler. |
"Noi veggiam, come quei c'ha mala luce, le cose", disse, "che ne son lontano; cotanto ancor ne splende il sommo duce. |
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| CANTO 11 |
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|---|---|---|
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Nature follows Divine Intellect like a
disciple |
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| "Philosophy," he said, "to him
who heeds it, Noteth, not only in one place alone, After what manner Nature takes her course From Intellect Divine, and from its art; And if thy Physics carefully thou notest, After not many pages shalt thou find, That this your art as far as possible Follows, as the disciple doth the master; So that your art is, as it were, God's grandchild. |
"Filosofia", mi disse, "a chi
la 'ntende, nota, non pure in una sola parte, come natura lo suo corso prende dal divino 'ntelletto e da sua arte; e se tu ben la tua Fisica note, tu troverai, non dopo molte carte, che l'arte vostra quella, quanto pote, segue, come 'l maestro fa 'l discente; sì che vostr'arte a Dio quasi è nepote. |
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| CANTO 12 | ||
|---|---|---|
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An enbankment is like an Alpine cliff |
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| The place where to descend the bank we came Was alpine, and from what was there, moreover, Of such a kind that every eye would shun it. Such as that ruin is which in the flank Smote, on this side of Trent, the Adige, Either by earthquake or by failing stay, For from the mountain's top, from which it moved, Unto the plain the cliff is shattered so, Some path 'twould give to him who was above; Even such was the descent of that ravine, |
Era lo loco ov'a scender la riva venimmo, alpestro e, per quel che v'er'anco, tal, ch'ogne vista ne sarebbe schiva. Qual è quella ruina che nel fianco di qua da Trento l'Adice percosse, o per tremoto o per sostegno manco, che da cima del monte, onde si mosse, al piano è sì la roccia discoscesa, ch'alcuna via darebbe a chi sù fosse: cotal di quel burrato era la scesa; |
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The Minotaur bites himself as if angry (weak
simile) |
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| And on the border of the broken chasm The infamy of Crete was stretched along, Who was conceived in the fictitious cow; And when he us beheld, he bit himself, Even as one whom anger racks within. |
e 'n su la punta de la rotta lacca l'infamia di Creti era distesa che fu concetta ne la falsa vacca; e quando vide noi, sé stesso morse, sì come quei cui l'ira dentro fiacca. |
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As a stricken bull staggers before dying |
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| As is that bull who breaks loose at the moment In which he has received the mortal blow, Who cannot walk, but staggers here and there, The Minotaur beheld I do the like |
Qual è quel toro che si slaccia in quella c'ha ricevuto già 'l colpo mortale, che gir non sa, ma qua e là saltella, vid'io lo Minotauro far cotale; |
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| CANTO 13 | ||
|---|---|---|
| A tumult as if a hunt in
chase of a boar (Inf. 13:109-114) |
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| We were attentive still unto the trunk, Thinking that more it yet might wish to tell us, When by a tumult we were overtaken, In the same way as he is who perceives The boar and chase approaching to his stand, Who hears the crashing of the beasts and branches; |
Noi eravamo ancora al tronco attesi, credendo ch'altro ne volesse dire, quando noi fummo d'un romor sorpresi, similemente a colui che venire sente 'l porco e la caccia a la sua posta, ch'ode le bestie, e le frasche stormire. |
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Mastiffs swift as greyhounds just released |
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| Behind them was the forest full of black She-mastiffs, ravenous, and swift of foot As greyhounds, who are issuing from the chain. |
Di rietro a loro era la selva piena di nere cagne, bramose e correnti come veltri ch'uscisser di catena. |
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| CANTO 14 | ||
|---|---|---|
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Flakes of fire falling as if Alpine snow
(Continues) |
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| O'er all the sand-waste, with a gradual fall, Were raining down dilated flakes of fire, As of the snow on Alp without a wind. |
Sovra tutto 'l sabbion, d'un cader lento, piovean di foco dilatate falde, come di neve in alpe sanza vento. |
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As when Alexander had his troops trample the
flames (Continues) |
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| As Alexander, in those torrid parts Of India, beheld upon his host Flames fall unbroken till they reached the ground. Whence he provided with his phalanxes To trample down the soil, because the vapour Better extinguished was while it was single; |
Quali Alessandro in quelle parti calde d'India vide sopra 'l suo stuolo fiamme cadere infino a terra salde, per ch'ei provide a scalpitar lo suolo con le sue schiere, acciò che lo vapore mei si stingueva mentre ch'era solo: |
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|
As heated steel the burning sand |
||
| Thus was descending the eternal heat, Whereby the sand was set on fire, like tinder Beneath the steel, for doubling of the dole. |
tale scendeva l'etternale ardore; onde la rena s'accendea, com'esca sotto focile, a doppiar lo dolore. |
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|
Red water as sulphurous springs used by prostitutes |
||
| Speaking no word, we came to where there gushes Forth from the wood a little rivulet, Whose redness makes my hair still stand on end. As from the Bulicame springs the brooklet, The sinful women later share among them, So downward through the sand it went its way |
Tacendo divenimmo là 've spiccia fuor de la selva un picciol fiumicello, lo cui rossore ancor mi raccapriccia. Quale del Bulicame esce ruscello che parton poi tra lor le peccatrici, tal per la rena giù sen giva quello. |
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|
A mountain diserted as a thing worn out |
||
| There is a mountain there, that once was glad With waters and with leaves, which was called Ida; Now 'tis deserted, as a thing worn out. |
Una montagna v'è che già fu lieta d'acqua e di fronde, che si chiamò Ida: or è diserta come cosa vieta. |
|
|
The Old Man of Crete looks tat Rome as t'were
a mirror |
||
| A grand old man stands in the mount erect, Who holds his shoulders turned tow'rds Damietta, And looks at Rome as if it were his mirror. |
Dentro dal monte sta dritto un gran veglio, che tien volte le spalle inver' Dammiata e Roma guarda come suo speglio. |
|
| CANTO 15 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
As the Flemings fearing floods build dykes and |
|
|
| Even as the Flemings, 'twixt Cadsand and Bruges, Fearing the flood that tow'rds them hurls itself, Their bulwarks build to put the sea to flight; And as the Paduans along the Brenta, To guard their villas and their villages, Or ever Chiarentana feel the heat; In such similitude had those been made, Albeit not so lofty nor so thick, Whoever he might be, the master made them. |
Quali Fiamminghi tra Guizzante e Bruggia, temendo 'l fiotto che 'nver lor s'avventa, fanno lo schermo perché 'l mar si fuggia; e quali Padoan lungo la Brenta, per difender lor ville e lor castelli, anzi che Carentana il caldo senta: a tale imagine eran fatti quelli, tutto che né sì alti né sì grossi, qual che si fosse, lo maestro felli. |
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|
As squinting in evening light under a new moon
(Continues) |
||
| When we a company of souls encountered, Who came beside the dike, and every one Gazed at us, as at evening we are wont To eye each other under a new moon, |
quando incontrammo d'anime una schiera che venìan lungo l'argine, e ciascuna ci riguardava come suol da sera guardare uno altro sotto nuova luna; |
|
|
squinting as a tailor with a needle's eye |
||
| And so towards us sharpened they their brows As an old tailor at the needle's eye. |
e sì ver' noi aguzzavan le ciglia come 'l vecchio sartor fa ne la cruna. |
|
|
head bowed as one in reverence |
||
| I did not dare to go down from the
road Level to walk with him; but my head bowed I held as one who goeth reverently. |
I' non osava scender de la strada per andar par di lui; ma 'l capo chino tenea com'uom che reverente vada. |
|
|
As one at Verona runs for the Green Mantle |
||
| Then he turned round, and seemed to be of those Who at Verona run for the Green Mantle Across the plain; and seemed to be among them The one who wins, and not the one who loses. |
Poi si rivolse, e parve di coloro che corrono a Verona il drappo verde per la campagna; e parve di costoro quelli che vince, non colui che perde |
|
| CANTO 16 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
As falling water sounds like a beehive |
|
|
| Now was I where was heard the reverberation Of water falling into the next round, Like to that humming which the beehives make, When shadows three together started forth, Running, from out a company that passed Beneath the rain of the sharp martyrdom. |
Già era in loco onde s'udìa 'l
rimbombo de l'acqua che cadea ne l'altro giro, simile a quel che l'arnie fanno rombo, quando tre ombre insieme si partiro, correndo, d'una torma che passava sotto la pioggia de l'aspro martiro. |
|
|
As wrestlers stripped and oiled circle
around one another |
||
| As soon as we stood still, they recommenced The old refrain, and when they overtook us, Formed of themselves a wheel, all three of them. As champions stripped and oiled are wont to do, Watching for their advantage and their hold, Before they come to blows and thrusts between them, |
Ricominciar, come noi restammo, ei l'antico verso; e quando a noi fuor giunti, fenno una rota di sé tutti e trei. Qual sogliono i campion far nudi e unti, avvisando lor presa e lor vantaggio, prima che sien tra lor battuti e punti, |
|
|
As one who hears the truth |
||
| "The new inhabitants and the sudden gains, Pride and extravagance have in thee engendered, Florence, so that thou weep'st thereat already!" In this wise I exclaimed with face uplifted; And the three, taking that for my reply, Looked at each other, as one looks at truth. |
"La gente nuova e i sùbiti guadagni orgoglio e dismisura han generata, Fiorenza, in te, sì che tu già ten piagni." Così gridai con la faccia levata; e i tre, che ciò inteser per risposta, guardar l'un l'altro com'al ver si guata. |
|
|
As the Acquacheta River thunders |
||
| I followed him, and little had we gone, Before the sound of water was so near us, That speaking we should hardly have been heard. Even as that stream which holdeth its own course The first from Monte Veso tow'rds the East, Upon the left-hand slope of Apennine, Which is above called Acquacheta, ere It down descendeth into its low bed, And at Forli is vacant of that name, Reverberates there above San Benedetto From Alps, by falling at a single leap, Where for a thousand there were room enough; Thus downward from a bank precipitate, We found resounding that dark-tinted water, So that it soon the ear would have offended. |
Io lo seguiva, e poco eravam iti, che 'l suon de l'acqua n'era sì vicino, che per parlar saremmo a pena uditi. Come quel fiume c'ha proprio cammino prima dal Monte Viso 'nver' levante, da la sinistra costa d'Apennino, che si chiama Acquacheta suso, avante che si divalli giù nel basso letto, e a Forlì di quel nome è vacante, rimbomba là sovra San Benedetto de l'Alpe per cadere ad una scesa ove dovea per mille esser recetto; così, giù d'una ripa discoscesa, trovammo risonar quell'acqua tinta, sì che 'n poc'ora avria l'orecchia offesa. |
|
|
As a swimmer rising from the depths Geryon appears |
||
| Athwart that dense and darksome atmosphere I saw a figure swimming upward come, Marvellous unto every steadfast heart, Even as he returns who goeth down Sometimes to clear an anchor, which has grappled Reef, or aught else that in the sea is hidden, Who upward stretches, and draws in his feet. |
ch'i' vidi per quell'aere grosso e scuro venir notando una figura in suso, maravigliosa ad ogne cor sicuro, sì come torna colui che va giuso talora a solver l'àncora ch'aggrappa o scoglio o altro che nel mare è chiuso, che 'n sù si stende, e da piè si rattrappa |
|
| CANTO 17 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geryon's skin complexly
patterned as Turkish cloth (Continues) (Inf. 17:13-18) |
|
|
| Two paws it had, hairy unto the armpits; The back, and breast, and both the sides it had Depicted o'er with nooses and with shields. With colours more, groundwork or broidery Never in cloth did Tartars make nor Turks, Nor were such tissues by Arachne laid. |
due branche avea pilose insin l'ascelle; lo dosso e 'l petto e ambedue le coste dipinti avea di nodi e di rotelle. Con più color, sommesse e sovraposte non fer mai drappi Tartari né Turchi, né fuor tai tele per Aragne imposte. |
|
|
As a boat or a beaver Geryon draws up on shore
(Continues) |
||
| As sometimes wherries lie upon the shore, That part are in the water, part on land; And as among the guzzling Germans there, The beaver plants himself to wage his war; So that vile monster lay upon the border, Which is of stone, and shutteth in the sand. |
Come tal volta stanno a riva i burchi, che parte sono in acqua e parte in terra, e come là tra li Tedeschi lurchi lo bivero s'assetta a far sua guerra, così la fiera pessima si stava su l'orlo ch'è di pietra e 'l sabbion serra. |
|
|
As a scorpion's stinger so Geryon's tail |
||
| His tail was wholly quivering in the void, Contorting upwards the envenomed fork, That in the guise of scorpion armed its point. |
Nel vano tutta sua coda guizzava, torcendo in sù la venenosa forca ch'a guisa di scorpion la punta armava. |
|
|
As dogs fend off insects so the sinners the fire
and sand |
||
| Out of their eyes was gushing forth their woe; This way, that way, they helped them with their hands Now from the flames and now from the hot soil. Not otherwise in summer do the dogs, Now with the foot, now with the muzzle, when By fleas, or flies, or gadflies, they are bitten. |
Per li occhi fora scoppiava lor duolo; è di qua, di là soccorrien con le mani quando a' vapori, e quando al caldo suolo: non altrimenti fan di state i cani or col ceffo, or col piè, quando son morsi o da pulci o da mosche o da tafani. |
|
|
As an ox tongues his nose |
||
| A Paduan am I with these Florentines; Full many a time they thunder in mine ears, Exclaiming, 'Come the sovereign cavalier, He who shall bring the satchel with three goats;'" Then twisted he his mouth, and forth he thrust His tongue, like to an ox that licks its nose. |
Con questi Fiorentin son padoano: spesse fiate mi 'ntronan li orecchi gridando: "Vegna 'l cavalier sovrano, che recherà la tasca con tre becchi!"". Qui distorse la bocca e di fuor trasse la lingua, come bue che 'l naso lecchi |
|
|
As one who shivers with malaria Dante mounts
Geryon |
||
| Now we descend by stairways such as these; Mount thou in front, for I will be midway, So that the tail may have no power to harm thee." Such as he is who has so near the ague Of quartan that his nails are blue already, And trembles all, but looking at the shade; Even such became I at those proffered words; But shame in me his menaces produced, Which maketh servant strong before good master. |
Omai si scende per sì fatte scale: monta dinanzi, ch'i' voglio esser mezzo, sì che la coda non possa far male". Qual è colui che sì presso ha 'l riprezzo de la quartana, c'ha già l'unghie smorte, e triema tutto pur guardando 'l rezzo, tal divenn'io a le parole porte; ma vergogna mi fé le sue minacce, che innanzi a buon segnor fa servo forte. |
|
|
As a boat Geryon backs off from the shore (Continues) |
||
| Even as the little vessel shoves from shore, Backward, still backward, so he thence withdrew; And when he wholly felt himself afloat, |
Come la navicella esce di loco in dietro in dietro, sì quindi si tolse; e poi ch'al tutto si sentì a gioco, |
|
|
Geryon's tail moves like an eel (Continues) |
||
| There where his breast had been he turned his
tail, And that extended like an eel he moved, And with his paws drew to himself the air. |
là 'v'era 'l petto, la coda rivolse, e quella tesa, come anguilla, mosse, e con le branche l'aere a sé raccolse. |
|
|
Dante's fear greater than Phaeton's (Continues) |
||
| A greater fear I do not think there was What time abandoned Phaeton the reins, Whereby the heavens, as still appears, were scorched; |
Maggior paura non credo che fosse quando Fetonte abbandonò li freni, per che 'l ciel, come pare ancor, si cosse; |
|
|
As Icarus Dante fears plumeting wingless into
the sea |
||
| Nor when the wretched Icarus his flanks Felt stripped of feathers by the melting wax, His father crying, "An ill way thou takest!" Than was my own, when I perceived myself On all sides in the air, and saw extinguished The sight of everything but of the monster |
né quando Icaro misero le reni sentì spennar per la scaldata cera, gridando il padre a lui "Mala via tieni!", che fu la mia, quando vidi ch'i' era ne l'aere d'ogne parte, e vidi spenta ogne veduta fuor che de la fera. |
|
|
Geryon descends as a weary and sullen falcon
(Continues) |
||
| As falcon who has long been on the wing, Who, without seeing either lure or bird, Maketh the falconer say, "Ah me, thou stoopest," Descendeth weary, whence he started swiftly, Thorough a hundred circles, and alights Far from his master, sullen and disdainful; Even thus did Geryon place us on the bottom, Close to the bases of the rough-hewn rock, And being disencumbered of our persons, |
Come 'l falcon ch'è stato assai su l'ali, che sanza veder logoro o uccello fa dire al falconiere "Omè, tu cali!", discende lasso onde si move isnello, per cento rote, e da lunge si pone dal suo maestro, disdegnoso e fello; così ne puose al fondo Gerione al piè al piè de la stagliata rocca e, discarcate le nostre persone, |
|
|
Geryon departs as an arrow off the bow |
||
| He sped away as arrow from the string | si dileguò come da corda cocca | |
| CANTO 18 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
As a castle's walls and moats so the Malebolge |
|
|
| As where for the protection of the walls Many and many moats surround the castles, The part in which they are a figure forms, Just such an image those presented there; And as about such strongholds from their gates Unto the outer bank are little bridges, So from the precipice's base did crags Project, which intersected dikes and moats, Unto the well that truncates and collects them. |
Quale, dove per guardia de le mura più e più fossi cingon li castelli, la parte dove son rende figura, tale imagine quivi facean quelli; e come a tai fortezze da' lor sogli a la ripa di fuor son ponticelli, così da imo de la roccia scogli movien che ricidien li argini e ' fossi infino al pozzo che i tronca e raccogli. |
|
|
Sinners parade like pilgrims to Rome's Jubilee |
||
| Down at the bottom were the sinners naked; This side the middle came they facing us, Beyond it, with us, but with greater steps; Even as the Romans, for the mighty host, The year of Jubilee, upon the bridge, Have chosen a mode to pass the people over; For all upon one side towards the Castle Their faces have, and go unto St. Peter's; On the other side they go towards the Mountain. |
Nel fondo erano ignudi i peccatori; dal mezzo in qua ci venien verso 'l volto, di là con noi, ma con passi maggiori, come i Roman per l'essercito molto, l'anno del giubileo, su per lo ponte hanno a passar la gente modo colto, che da l'un lato tutti hanno la fronte verso 'l castello e vanno a Santo Pietro; da l'altra sponda vanno verso 'l monte. |
|
| CANTO 19 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Flames cover sinners as oil covered things |
|
|
| In all of them the soles were both on fire; Wherefore the joints so violently quivered, They would have snapped asunder withes and bands. Even as the flame of unctuous things is wont To move upon the outer surface only, So likewise was it there from heel to point. |
Le piante erano a tutti accese intrambe; per che sì forte guizzavan le giunte, che spezzate averien ritorte e strambe. Qual suole il fiammeggiar de le cose unte muoversi pur su per la strema buccia, tal era lì dai calcagni a le punte. |
|
|
Sinners as stakes but inverted (Continues) |
||
| "Whoe'er thou art, that standest upside
down, O doleful soul, implanted like a stake," To say began I, "if thou canst, speak out." |
"O qual che se' che 'l di sù tien
di sotto, anima trista come pal commessa", comincia' io a dir, "se puoi, fa motto". |
|
|
Dante las a friar confessing one condemned |
||
| I stood even as the friar who is confessing The false assassin, who, when he is fixed, Recalls him, so that death may be delayed. |
Io stava come 'l frate che confessa lo perfido assessin, che, poi ch'è fitto, richiama lui, per che la morte cessa. |
|
|
As one confused by mockery |
||
| Such I became, as people are who stand, Not comprehending what is answered them, As if bemocked, and know not how to answer. |
Tal mi fec'io, quai son color che stanno, per non intender ciò ch'è lor risposto, quasi scornati, e risponder non sanno |
|
| CANTO 21 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Black pitch as in the Venetian Arsenal |
|
|
| And I beheld it marvellously dark. As in the Arsenal of the Venetians Boils in the winter the tenacious pitch To smear their unsound vessels o'er again, For sail they cannot; and instead thereof One makes his vessel new, and one recaulks The ribs of that which many a voyage has made; One hammers at the prow, one at the stern, This one makes oars, and that one cordage twists, Another mends the mainsail and the mizzen; Thus, not by fire, but by the art divine, Was boiling down below there a dense pitch Which upon every side the bank belimed. |
e vidila mirabilmente oscura. Quale ne l'arzanà de' Viniziani bolle l'inverno la tenace pece a rimpalmare i legni lor non sani, ché navicar non ponno - in quella vece chi fa suo legno novo e chi ristoppa le coste a quel che più viaggi fece; chi ribatte da proda e chi da poppa; altri fa remi e altri volge sarte; chi terzeruolo e artimon rintoppa -; tal, non per foco, ma per divin'arte, bollia là giuso una pegola spessa, che 'nviscava la ripa d'ogne parte |
|
|
Dante wheels about as a terrified man (weak simile) |
||
| Then I turned round, as one who is impatient To see what it behoves him to escape, And whom a sudden terror doth unman, Who, while he looks, delays not his departure; And I beheld behind us a black devil, Running along upon the crag, approach. |
Allor mi volsi come l'uom cui tarda di veder quel che li convien fuggire e cui paura sùbita sgagliarda, che, per veder, non indugia 'l partire: e vidi dietro a noi un diavol nero correndo su per lo scoglio venire. |
|
|
The demons as cooks boiling meat using hooks |
||
| They seized him then with more than a hundred
rakes; They said: "It here behoves thee to dance covered, That, if thou canst, thou secretly mayest pilfer." Not otherwise the cooks their scullions make Immerse into the middle of the caldron The meat with hooks, so that it may not float. |
Poi l'addentar con più di cento raffi, disser: "Coverto convien che qui balli, sì che, se puoi, nascosamente accaffi". Non altrimenti i cuoci a' lor vassalli fanno attuffare in mezzo la caldaia la carne con li uncin, perché non galli. |
|
|
The demons as dogs attacking a beggar |
||
| With the same fury, and the same uproar, As dogs leap out upon a mendicant, Who on a sudden begs, where'er he stops, They issued from beneath the little bridge, And turned against him all their grappling-irons; But he cried out: "Be none of you malignant! |
Con quel furore e con quella tempesta ch'escono i cani a dosso al poverello che di sùbito chiede ove s'arresta, usciron quei di sotto al ponticello, e volser contra lui tutt'i runcigli; ma el gridò: "Nessun di voi sia fello! |
|
|
Dante fearful as soldiers surrendering to the enemy |
||
| Wherefore I started and came swiftly to him; And all the devils forward thrust themselves, So that I feared they would not keep their compact. And thus beheld I once afraid the soldiers Who issued under safeguard from Caprona, Seeing themselves among so many foes. |
Per ch'io mi mossi, e a lui venni ratto; e i diavoli si fecer tutti avanti, sì ch'io temetti ch'ei tenesser patto; così vid'io già temer li fanti ch'uscivan patteggiati di Caprona, veggendo sé tra nemici cotanti. |
|
| CANTO 22 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
As dolphins sinners arch their backs above the
pitch (Continues) |
| |