the divine comedy(神曲)-第24章
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He made reply who had the swollen belly;
〃And rueful be it thee the whole world knows it。〃
〃Rueful to thee the thirst be wherewith cracks
Thy tongue;〃 the Greek said; 〃and the putrid water
That hedges so thy paunch before thine eyes。〃
Then the false…coiner: 〃So is gaping wide
Thy mouth for speaking evil; as 'tis wont;
Because if I have thirst; and humour stuff me
Thou hast the burning and the head that aches;
And to lick up the mirror of Narcissus
Thou wouldst not want words many to invite thee。〃
In listening to them was I wholly fixed;
When said the Master to me: 〃Now just look;
For little wants it that I quarrel with thee。〃
When him I heard in anger speak to me;
I turned me round towards him with such shame
That still it eddies through my memory。
And as he is who dreams of his own harm;
Who dreaming wishes it may be a dream;
So that he craves what is; as if it were not;
Such I became; not having power to speak;
For to excuse myself I wished; and still
Excused myself; and did not think I did it。
〃Less shame doth wash away a greater fault;〃
The Master said; 〃than this of thine has been;
Therefore thyself disburden of all sadness;
And make account that I am aye beside thee;
If e'er it come to pass that fortune bring thee
Where there are people in a like dispute;
For a base wish it is to wish to hear it。〃
Inferno: Canto XXXI
One and the selfsame tongue first wounded me;
So that it tinged the one cheek and the other;
And then held out to me the medicine;
Thus do I hear that once Achilles' spear;
His and his father's; used to be the cause
First of a sad and then a gracious boon。
We turned our backs upon the wretched valley;
Upon the bank that girds it round about;
Going across it without any speech。
There it was less than night; and less than day;
So that my sight went little in advance;
But I could hear the blare of a loud horn;
So loud it would have made each thunder faint;
Which; counter to it following its way;
Mine eyes directed wholly to one place。
After the dolorous discomfiture
When Charlemagne the holy emprise lost;
So terribly Orlando sounded not。
Short while my head turned thitherward I held
When many lofty towers I seemed to see;
Whereat I: 〃Master; say; what town is this?〃
And he to me: 〃Because thou peerest forth
Athwart the darkness at too great a distance;
It happens that thou errest in thy fancy。
Well shalt thou see; if thou arrivest there;
How much the sense deceives itself by distance;
Therefore a little faster spur thee on。〃
Then tenderly he took me by the hand;
And said: 〃Before we farther have advanced;
That the reality may seem to thee
Less strange; know that these are not towers; but giants;
And they are in the well; around the bank;
From navel downward; one and all of them。〃
As; when the fog is vanishing away;
Little by little doth the sight refigure
Whate'er the mist that crowds the air conceals;
So; piercing through the dense and darksome air;
More and more near approaching tow'rd the verge;
My error fled; and fear came over me;
Because as on its circular parapets
Montereggione crowns itself with towers;
E'en thus the margin which surrounds the well
With one half of their bodies turreted
The horrible giants; whom Jove menaces
E'en now from out the heavens when he thunders。
And I of one already saw the face;
Shoulders; and breast; and great part of the belly;
And down along his sides both of the arms。
Certainly Nature; when she left the making
Of animals like these; did well indeed;
By taking such executors from Mars;
And if of elephants and whales she doth not
Repent her; whosoever looketh subtly
More just and more discreet will hold her for it;
For where the argument of intellect
Is added unto evil will and power;
No rampart can the people make against it。
His face appeared to me as long and large
As is at Rome the pine…cone of Saint Peter's;
And in proportion were the other bones;
So that the margin; which an apron was
Down from the middle; showed so much of him
Above it; that to reach up to his hair
Three Frieslanders in vain had vaunted them;
For I beheld thirty great palms of him
Down from the place where man his mantle buckles。
〃Raphael mai amech izabi almi;〃
Began to clamour the ferocious mouth;
To which were not befitting sweeter psalms。
And unto him my Guide: 〃Soul idiotic;
Keep to thy horn; and vent thyself with that;
When wrath or other passion touches thee。
Search round thy neck; and thou wilt find the belt
Which keeps it fastened; O bewildered soul;
And see it; where it bars thy mighty breast。〃
Then said to me: 〃He doth himself accuse;
This one is Nimrod; by whose evil thought
One language in the world is not still used。
Here let us leave him and not speak in vain;
For even such to him is every language
As his to others; which to none is known。〃
Therefore a longer journey did we make;
Turned to the left; and a crossbow…shot oft
We found another far more fierce and large。
In binding him; who might the master be
I cannot say; but he had pinioned close
Behind the right arm; and in front the other;
With chains; that held him so begirt about
From the neck down; that on the part uncovered
It wound itself as far as the fifth gyre。
〃This proud one wished to make experiment
Of his own power against the Supreme Jove;〃
My Leader said; 〃whence he has such a guerdon。
Ephialtes is his name; he showed great prowess。
What time the giants terrified the gods;
The arms he wielded never more he moves。〃
And I to him: 〃If possible; I should wish
That of the measureless Briareus
These eyes of mine might have experience。〃
Whence he replied: 〃Thou shalt behold Antaeus
Close by here; who can speak and is unbound;
Who at the bottom of all crime shall place us。
Much farther yon is he whom thou wouldst see;
And he is bound; and fashioned like to this one;
Save that he seems in aspect more ferocious。〃
There never was an earthquake of such might
That it could shake a tower so violently;
As Ephialtes suddenly shook himself。
Then was I more afraid of death than ever;
For nothing more was needful than the fear;
If I had not beheld the manacles。
Then we proceeded farther in advance;
And to Antaeus came; who; full five ells
Without the head; forth issued from the cavern。
〃O thou; who in the valley fortunate;
Which Scipio the heir of glory made;
When Hannibal turned back with all his hosts;
Once brought'st a thousand lions for thy prey;
And who; hadst thou been at the mighty war
Among thy brothers; some it seems still think
The sons of Earth the victory would have gained:
Place us below; nor be disdainful of it;
There where the cold doth lock Cocytus up。
Make us not go to Tityus nor Typhoeus;
This one can give of that which here is longed for;
Therefore stoop down; and do not curl thy lip。
Still in the world can he restore thy fame;
Because he lives; and still expects long life;
If to itself Grace call him not untimely。〃
So said the Master; and in haste the other
His hands extended and took up my Guide;
Hands whose great pressure Hercules once felt。
Virgilius; when he felt himself embraced;
Said unto me: 〃Draw nigh; that I may take thee;〃
Then of himself and me one bundle made。
As seems the Carisenda; to behold
Beneath the leaning side; when goes a cloud
Above it so that opposite it hangs;
Such did Antaeus seem to me; who stood
Watching to see him stoop; and then it was
I could have wished to go some other way。
But lightly in the abyss; which swallows up
Judas with Lucifer; he put us down;
Nor thus bowed downward made he there delay;
But; as a mast does in a ship; uprose。
Inferno: Canto XXXII
If I had rhymes both rough and stridulous;
As were appropriate to the dismal hole
Down upon which thrust all the other rocks;
I would press out the juice of my conception
More fully; but because I hav