L ' I N F E R N O

DANTE ADDRESSES ANOTHER SOUL IN THE DARKNESS
DANTE:
INF C19 1-3 / DANTE INF C19 1-3 / KLINE
O Simon mago, o miseri seguaci O Simon Magus. O you, his rapacious,
che le cose di Dio, che di bontate wretched followers, who prostitute,
deon essere spose, e voi rapaci for gold and silver,
SIMON MAGUS: SIMON OF SAMARIA (SIMON THE SORCERER), REBUKED (ACTS VIII 9-24) BY ST PETER FOR THINKING THAT
‘THE GIFT OF GOD MAY BE PURCHASED WITH MONEY’. HENCE: ‘SIMONISTS’ (‘SIMONIACS’) WHO TRADE IN HOLY OFFICES.
141
INF C19 4-6 / DANTE
per oro e per argento avolterate, the things of God that should be wedded to virtue!
or convien che per voi suoni la tromba, Now the trumpets must sound for you,
però che ne la terza bolgia state. since you are in the third chasm.
INF C19 7-9 / KLINE
Already we had climbed to the next arch, onto that part of the causeway that hangs right over the centre of the ditch.
DANTE LOOKS AT SOMETHING INVISIBLE TO THE AUDIENCE, THEN DESCRIBES IT.
DANTE:
INF C19 10-12 / DANTE INF C19 10-12 / KLINE
O somma sapïenza, quanta è l'arte O somma sapïenza…O Supreme Wisdom…
che mostri in cielo, in terra e nel mal mondo, how great the art is, that you display, in the
heavens,
e quanto giusto tua virtù comparte! on earth, and in the underworld, and how justly
your virtue acts.
INF C19 13-15 / DANTE
Io vidi per le coste e per lo fondo On the sides and floor of the fosse,
piena la pietra livida di fóri, I saw the livid stone is full of holes,
d'un largo tutti e ciascun era tondo. all of one width, and each one rounded.
INF C19 16-18 / DANTE
Non mi parean men ampi né maggiori They seemed seem no narrower or larger,
che que' che son nel mio bel San Giovanni, than those in my beautiful Baptistery of St John,
fatti per loco d'i battezzatori; made as places to protect those baptising,
HE BROODS, AND DECIDES TO BRING UP SOMETHING WHICH RANKLES.
DANTE:
INF C19 19-21 / DANTE INF C19 19-21 / KLINE
l'un de li quali, ancor non è molt' anni, one of which I broke, not many years ago,
rupp' io per un che dentro v'annegava: to aid a child inside: and let this be a sign
e questo sia suggel ch'ogn' omo sganni. of the truth to end all speculation.
I BROKE: DANTE EXPLAINS HERE, TO COUNTER CHARGES, PRESUMABLY OF SACRILEGE MADE AGAINST HIM.
INF C19 22-24 / DANTE
Fuor de la bocca a ciascun soperchiava From the mouth of each hole, a sinner’s feet
d'un peccator li piedi e de le gambe and legs emerged emerge, up to the calf,
infino al grosso, e l'altro dentro stava. and the rest remained inside.
INF C19 25-27 / DANTE
Le piante erano a tutti accese intrambe; The soles were are all on fire: so that the joints
per che sì forte guizzavan le giunte, quivered quiver so strongly, that they would have
che spezzate averien ritorte e strambe. snapped snap grass ropes and willow branches.