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第13章

the divine comedy(神曲)-第13章

小说: the divine comedy(神曲) 字数: 每页4000字

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Ah me! how very cautious men should be
  With those who not alone behold the act;
  But with their wisdom look into the thoughts!

He said to me: 〃Soon there will upward come
  What I await; and what thy thought is dreaming
  Must soon reveal itself unto thy sight。〃

Aye to that truth which has the face of falsehood;
  A man should close his lips as far as may be;
  Because without his fault it causes shame;

But here I cannot; and; Reader; by the notes
  Of this my Comedy to thee I swear;
  So may they not be void of lasting favour;

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。



Inferno: Canto XVII


〃Behold the monster with the pointed tail;
  Who cleaves the hills; and breaketh walls and weapons;
  Behold him who infecteth all the world。〃

Thus unto me my Guide began to say;
  And beckoned him that he should come to shore;
  Near to the confine of the trodden marble;

And that uncleanly image of deceit
  Came up and thrust ashore its head and bust;
  But on the border did not drag its tail。

The face was as the face of a just man;
  Its semblance outwardly was so benign;
  And of a serpent all the trunk beside。

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。

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。

His tail was wholly quivering in the void;
  Contorting upwards the envenomed fork;
  That in the guise of scorpion armed its point。

The Guide said: 〃Now perforce must turn aside
  Our way a little; even to that beast
  Malevolent; that yonder coucheth him。〃

We therefore on the right side descended;
  And made ten steps upon the outer verge;
  Completely to avoid the sand and flame;

And after we are come to him; I see
  A little farther off upon the sand
  A people sitting near the hollow place。

Then said to me the Master: 〃So that full
  Experience of this round thou bear away;
  Now go and see what their condition is。

There let thy conversation be concise;
  Till thou returnest I will speak with him;
  That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders。〃

Thus farther still upon the outermost
  Head of that seventh circle all alone
  I went; where sat the melancholy folk。

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。

When I had turned mine eyes upon the faces
  Of some; on whom the dolorous fire is falling;
  Not one of them I knew; but I perceived

That from the neck of each there hung a pouch;
  Which certain colour had; and certain blazon;
  And thereupon it seems their eyes are feeding。

And as I gazing round me come among them;
  Upon a yellow pouch I azure saw
  That had the face and posture of a lion。

Proceeding then the current of my sight;
  Another of them saw I; red as blood;
  Display a goose more white than butter is。

And one; who with an azure sow and gravid
  Emblazoned had his little pouch of white;
  Said unto me: 〃What dost thou in this moat?

Now get thee gone; and since thou'rt still alive;
  Know that a neighbour of mine; Vitaliano;
  Will have his seat here on my left…hand side。

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。

And fearing lest my longer stay might vex
  Him who had warned me not to tarry long;
  Backward I turned me from those weary souls。

I found my Guide; who had already mounted
  Upon the back of that wild animal;
  And said to me: 〃Now be both strong and bold。

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。

I seated me upon those monstrous shoulders;
  I wished to say; and yet the voice came not
  As I believed; 〃Take heed that thou embrace me。〃

But he; who other times had rescued me
  In other peril; soon as I had mounted;
  Within his arms encircled and sustained me;

And said: 〃Now; Geryon; bestir thyself;
  The circles large; and the descent be little;
  Think of the novel burden which thou hast。〃

Even as the little vessel shoves from shore;
  Backward; still backward; so he thence withdrew;
  And when he wholly felt himself afloat;

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。

A greater fear I do not think there was
  What time abandoned Phaeton the reins;
  Whereby the heavens; as still appears; were scorched;

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。

Onward he goeth; swimming slowly; slowly;
  Wheels and descends; but I perceive it only
  By wind upon my face and from below。

I heard already on the right the whirlpool
  Making a horrible crashing under us;
  Whence I thrust out my head with eyes cast downward。

Then was I still more fearful of the abyss;
  Because I fires beheld; and heard laments;
  Whereat I; trembling; all the closer cling。

I saw then; for before I had not seen it;
  The turning and descending; by great horrors
  That were approaching upon divers sides。

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;

He sped away as arrow from the string。



Inferno: Canto XVIII


There is a place in Hell called Malebolge;
  Wholly of stone and of an iron colour;
  As is the circle that around it turns。

Right in the middle of the field malign
  There yawns a well exceeding wide and deep;
  Of which its place the structure will recount。

Round; then; is that enclosure which remains
  Between the well and foot of the high; hard bank;
  And has distinct in valleys ten its bottom。

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。

Within this place; down shaken from the back
  Of Geryon; we found us; and the Poet
  Held to the left; and I moved on behind。

Upon my right hand I beheld new anguish;
  New torments; and new wielders of the lash;
  Wherewith the foremost Bolgia was replete。

Down at the bottom wer

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