L ' I N F E R N O

INF C22 22-24 / DANTE
talor così, ad alleggiar la pena, so, now and then, to ease the punishment,
mostrav' alcun de' peccatori 'l dosso some sinner showed his back,
e nascondea in men che non balena. and hid as quick as lightning.
INF C22 25-27 / DANTE
E come a l'orlo de l'acqua d'un fosso As frogs squat, at the edge of
stanno i ranocchi pur col muso fuori, the ditchwater,
sì che celano i piedi e l'altro grosso, with only mouths showing,
INF C22 28-30 / DANTE
sì stavan d'ogne parte i peccatori; so the sinners stood on every side:
ma come s'appressava Barbariccia, but they instantly shot beneath
così si ritraén sotto i bollori. the seething, as Barbariccia approached.
INF C22 31-33 / DANTE
I' vidi, e anco il cor me n'accapriccia, I saw, and my heart still shudders at it,
uno aspettar così, com' elli 'ncontra one linger, just as one frog remains
ch'una rana rimane e l'altra spiccia; when the others scatter:
159
INF C22 34-36 / DANTE
e Graffiacan, che li era più di contra, and Graffiacane…Scratchdog… who was nearest
li arruncigliò le 'mpegolate chiome him, hooked his pitchy hair, and hauled him up,
e trassel sù, che mi parve una lontra. looking, to me, like an otter.
INF C22 37-63 / KLINE
I already knew the names of every demon, so I noted them well as they were called, and when they shouted to each
other, listened out. ‘O Rubicante, see you get your clutches in him, and flay him,’ all the accursed tribe cried
together. And I: ‘Master, make out if you can, who that wretch is, who has fallen into the hands of his enemies.’ My
guide drew close to him, and asked him where he came from, and he answered: I was born in the kingdom of
Navarre. My mother placed me as a servant to a lord, since she had borne me to a scurrilous waster of himself and
his possessions. Then I was of the household of good King Thibaut, and there I took to selling offices, for which I
serve my sentence in this heat.’ And Ciriatto, from whose mouth a tusk, like a boar’s, projected on each side, made
him feel how one of them could rip. The mouse had come among the evil cats: but Barbariccia caught him in his
arms, and said: ‘Stand back, while I fork him!’ And, turning to my Master, he said: ‘Ask away, if you want to learn
more from him, before someone else gets at him.’
INF C22 64-87 / KLINE
So my guide said: ‘Now say, do you know any of the other sinners under the boiling pitch that is a Latian?’ And
Ciampolo replied: ‘I separated, just now, from one who was a neighbour of theirs over there, and I wish I were still
beneath him, since I should not then fear claw or hook!’ And Libicocco cried: ‘We have endured this too long!’ and
grappled Ciampolo’s arm with the prong, and, mangling it, carried away a chunk. Draghignazzo, too, wanted a
swipe at the legs, below: at which their leader twisted round and round on them with an evil frown. When they had
settled a little, without waiting, my guide asked Ciampolo, who was still gazing at his wound: ‘Who was he, from
whom you say you unluckily separated, to come on land?’ He replied: ‘It was Friar Gomita, he of Gallura, in
Sardinia, the vessel of every fraud, who held his master’s prisoners in his hands, and treated them so that they all
praise him for it, taking money for himself, and letting them go, quietly: and in his other roles, he was a high, and
not a low, barrator.
INF C22 88-123 / KLINE
With him, Don Michel Zanche of Logodoro, keeps company, and their tongues never tire of speaking of Sardinia. O
me! See that other demon grinning: I would speak more, but I fear he is getting ready to claw my skin.’ And their
great captain, turning to Farfarello, who was rolling his eyes to strike, said: ‘Away with you, cursed bird.’ The
scared sinner then resumed: ‘If you want to see or hear Tuscans or Lombards, I will make them come, but let the
Malebranche hold back a little, so that the others may not feel their vengeance, and sitting here, I, who am one, will
make seven appear, by whistling, as we do, when any of us gets out.’ Cagnazzo raised his snout, at these words, and,
shaking his head, said: Hear the wicked scheme he has contrived to plunge back down.’ At which Ciampolo, who
had a great store of tricks, replied: ‘I would be malicious indeed, if I contrived greater sorrow for my companions.’
Alichino, could contain himself no longer, and contrary to the others said to him: ‘If you run, I will not charge after
you, but beat my wings above the boiling pitch: forget the cliff, and let the bank be a course, and see if you alone
can beat us.’ O you that read this, hear of this new sport! They all glanced towards the cliff side, he above all who
had been most unwilling for this. The Navarrese picked his moment well, planted his feet on the ground, and in an
instant plunged, and freed himself from their intention.
INF C22 124-151 / KLINE
Each of the demons was stung with guilt, but Alichino most who had caused the error: so he started up and shouted:
‘You are caught!’ But it helped him little, since wings could not outrun terror: the sinner dived down: and Alichino,
flying, the sinner dived down: and Alichino, flying, lifted his breast. The duck dives like that when the falcon nears,
and the hawk flies back up, angry and thwarted. Calcabrina, furious at the trick, flew on after him, wanting the
sinner to escape, in order to quarrel. And when the barrator had vanished, he turned his claws on his friend, and
grappled with him above the ditch. But the other was sparrow hawk enough to claw him thoroughly, and both
dropped down, into the centre of the boiling pond. The heat, instantly, separated them, but they could not rise, their
wings were so glued up. Barbariccia, lamenting with the rest, made four fly over to the other bank, with all their
grappling irons, and they dropped rapidly on both sides to the shore. They stretched their hooks out to the trapped
pair, who were already scaled by the crust, and we left them, like that, embroiled.