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第 11 节
作者:辛苦      更新:2021-02-20 05:04      字数:9322
  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;
  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