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第12章

the divine comedy(神曲)-第12章

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  And smacks still of the mountain and the granite;

Will make itself; for thy good deeds; thy foe;
  And it is right; for among crabbed sorbs
  It ill befits the sweet fig to bear fruit。

Old rumour in the world proclaims them blind;
  A people avaricious; envious; proud;
  Take heed that of their customs thou do cleanse thee。

Thy fortune so much honour doth reserve thee;
  One party and the other shall be hungry
  For thee; but far from goat shall be the grass。

Their litter let the beasts of Fesole
  Make of themselves; nor let them touch the plant;
  If any still upon their dunghill rise;

In which may yet revive the consecrated
  Seed of those Romans; who remained there when
  The nest of such great malice it became。〃

〃If my entreaty wholly were fulfilled;〃
  Replied I to him; 〃not yet would you be
  In banishment from human nature placed;

For in my mind is fixed; and touches now
  My heart the dear and good paternal image
  Of you; when in the world from hour to hour

You taught me how a man becomes eternal;
  And how much I am grateful; while I live
  Behoves that in my language be discerned。

What you narrate of my career I write;
  And keep it to be glossed with other text
  By a Lady who can do it; if I reach her。

This much will I have manifest to you;
  Provided that my conscience do not chide me;
  For whatsoever Fortune I am ready。

Such handsel is not new unto mine ears;
  Therefore let Fortune turn her wheel around
  As it may please her; and the churl his mattock。〃

My Master thereupon on his right cheek
  Did backward turn himself; and looked at me;
  Then said: 〃He listeneth well who noteth it。〃

Nor speaking less on that account; I go
  With Ser Brunetto; and I ask who are
  His most known and most eminent companions。

And he to me: 〃To know of some is well;
  Of others it were laudable to be silent;
  For short would be the time for so much speech。


Know them in sum; that all of them were clerks;
  And men of letters great and of great fame;
  In the world tainted with the selfsame sin。

Priscian goes yonder with that wretched crowd;
  And Francis of Accorso; and thou hadst seen there
  If thou hadst had a hankering for such scurf;

That one; who by the Servant of the Servants
  From Arno was transferred to Bacchiglione;
  Where he has left his sin…excited nerves。

More would I say; but coming and discoursing
  Can be no longer; for that I behold
  New smoke uprising yonder from the sand。

A people comes with whom I may not be;
  Commended unto thee be my Tesoro;
  In which I still live; and no more I ask。〃

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。



Inferno: Canto XVI


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。

Towards us came they; and each one cried out:
  〃Stop; thou; for by thy garb to us thou seemest
  To be some one of our depraved city。〃

Ah me! what wounds I saw upon their limbs;
  Recent and ancient by the flames burnt in!
  It pains me still but to remember it。

Unto their cries my Teacher paused attentive;
  He turned his face towards me; and 〃Now wait;〃
  He said; 〃to these we should be courteous。

And if it were not for the fire that darts
  The nature of this region; I should say
  That haste were more becoming thee than them。〃

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;

Thus; wheeling round; did every one his visage
  Direct to me; so that in opposite wise
  His neck and feet continual journey made。

And; 〃If the misery of this soft place
  Bring in disdain ourselves and our entreaties;〃
  Began one; 〃and our aspect black and blistered;

Let the renown of us thy mind incline
  To tell us who thou art; who thus securely
  Thy living feet dost move along through Hell。

He in whose footprints thou dost see me treading;
  Naked and skinless though he now may go;
  Was of a greater rank than thou dost think;

He was the grandson of the good Gualdrada;
  His name was Guidoguerra; and in life
  Much did he with his wisdom and his sword。

The other; who close by me treads the sand;
  Tegghiaio Aldobrandi is; whose fame
  Above there in the world should welcome be。

And I; who with them on the cross am placed;
  Jacopo Rusticucci was; and truly
  My savage wife; more than aught else; doth harm me。〃

Could I have been protected from the fire;
  Below I should have thrown myself among them;
  And think the Teacher would have suffered it;

But as I should have burned and baked myself;
  My terror overmastered my good will;
  Which made me greedy of embracing them。

Then I began: 〃Sorrow and not disdain
  Did your condition fix within me so;
  That tardily it wholly is stripped off;

As soon as this my Lord said unto me
  Words; on account of which I thought within me
  That people such as you are were approaching。

I of your city am; and evermore
  Your labours and your honourable names
  I with affection have retraced and heard。

I leave the gall; and go for the sweet fruits
  Promised to me by the veracious Leader;
  But to the centre first I needs must plunge。〃

〃So may the soul for a long while conduct
  Those limbs of thine;〃 did he make answer then;
  〃And so may thy renown shine after thee;

Valour and courtesy; say if they dwell
  Within our city; as they used to do;
  Or if they wholly have gone out of it;

For Guglielmo Borsier; who is in torment
  With us of late; and goes there with his comrades;
  Doth greatly mortify us with his words。〃

〃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。

〃If other times so little it doth cost thee;〃
  Replied they all; 〃to satisfy another;
  Happy art thou; thus speaking at thy will!

Therefore; if thou escape from these dark places;
  And come to rebehold the beauteous stars;
  When it shall pleasure thee to say; 'I was;'

See that thou speak of us unto the people。〃
  Then they broke up the wheel; and in their flight
  It seemed as if their agile legs were wings。

Not an Amen could possibly be said
  So rapidly as they had disappeared;
  Wherefore the Master deemed best to depart。

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。

I had a cord around about me girt;
  And therewithal I whilom had designed
  To take the panther with the painted skin。

After I this had all from me unloosed;
  As my Conductor had commanded me;
  I reached it to him; gathered up and coiled;

Whereat he turned himself to the right side;
  And at a little distance from the verge;
  He cast it down into that deep abyss。

〃It must needs be some novelty respond;〃
  I said within myself; 〃to the new signal
  The Master with his eye is following so。〃

Ah me! how very cautious men should be
  With those who not alone behold the act

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