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第24章

the divine comedy(神曲)-第24章

小说: the divine comedy(神曲) 字数: 每页4000字

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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

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