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♫PROPHECY MOTIF * * * * * * * * * *<br />
INF C24 141<br />
VANNI FUCCI (VOICE): & VANNI FUCCI (VOICE):<br />
INF C24 142-144 / DANTE INF C24 142-144 / KLINE<br />
apri li orecchi al mio annunzio, e odi. open your ears, and hear what I declare:<br />
Pistoia in pria d'i Neri si dimagra; Pistoia first is thinned of Blacks:<br />
poi Fiorenza rinova gente e modi. then Florence changes her people and her laws.<br />
171<br />
VANNI FUCCI PROPHESIES THE DEFEAT OF THE GHIBELLINE WHITES (BIANCHI) BY THE BLACK GUELPH (NERI) FACTION. THE<br />
BLACKS WERE EXPELLED FROM PISTOIA IN MAY 1301. DANTE WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO VOTED FOR THE EXPULSIONS. IN<br />
NOVEMBER 1301 THE BLACKS ENTERED FLORENCE, AIDED BY CHARLES DEVALOIS & IN APRIL 1302 MADE THE CITY DRIVE<br />
OUT THE WHITES (CHANGING THE PEOPLE & ITS LAWS). PISTOIA BECAME A RALLYING POINT FOR THE WHITES IN TUSCANY,<br />
UNTIL THEIR DEFEAT BY THE FLORENTINE & LUCCHESE GUELPHS, UNDER MOROELLO MALASPINA, MARQUIS OF<br />
GIOVAGALLO IN VALDIMAGRA (THE EXTREMITY OF LUNIGIANA). PICENO’S FIELD IS THE AREA BETWEEN SERRAVALLE &<br />
MONTECATINI. MALASPINA TOOK SERRAVALLE IN 1302 & REDUCED PISTOIA IN 1306. PISTOIA WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN<br />
FOUNDED BY THE REMNANTS OF CATILINE’S ARMY, LEADING TO DANTE’S COMMENT IN THE NEXT CANTO (‘YOU OUTDO YOUR<br />
SEED IN EVIL-DOING’)<br />
INF C24 145-147 / DANTE INF C24 145-147 / KLINE<br />
Tragge Marte vapor di Val di Magra Mars brings a vapour,<br />
ch'è di torbidi nuvoli involuto; from Valdimagra cloaked in turbid cloud,<br />
e con tempesta impetüosa e agra and a battle will be fought<br />
INF C24 148-150 / DANTE<br />
sovra Campo Picen fia combattuto; on the field of Piceno, in an angry and eager<br />
ond' ei repente spezzerà la nebbia, tempest, that will suddenly tear the mist open,<br />
sì ch'ogne Bianco ne sarà feruto. so that every White is wounded by it.<br />
VANNI FUCCI SHOUTS.<br />
VANNI FUCCI (VOICE):<br />
INF C24 151 / DANTE INF C24 151 / KLINE<br />
E detto l'ho perché doler ti debbia! And I have said this to give you pain.<br />
VANNI FUCCI HURLS HIS BOOK OR SHEAF OF POEMS AT DANTE. IT BOUNCES ABOVE THE WALL,<br />
DISINTEGRATES AND FALLS BACK BEHIND THE WALL.<br />
DANTE CLOSES THE CANTO.<br />
DANTE<br />
INF C24 151 / DANTE INF C24 151 / KLINE<br />
E detto l'ho perché doler ti debbia! And I have said this to give you pain.<br />
CANTO 25<br />
VANNI FUCCI REACHES HIS ARMS THROUGH CHINKS IN THE WALL AND MAKES ‘THE FIG, THE OBSCENE<br />
GESTURE WITH THUMB BETWEEN FINGERS, SHOUTING’.