第 22 节
作者:
辛苦 更新:2021-02-20 05:04 字数:9322
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 have them not;
Not without fear I bring myself to speak;
For 'tis no enterprise to take in jest;
To sketch the bottom of all the universe;
Nor for a tongue that cries Mamma and Babbo。
But may those Ladies help this verse of mine;
Who helped Amphion in enclosing Thebes;
That from the fact the word be not diverse。
O rabble ill…begotten above all;
Who're in the place to speak of which is hard;
'Twere better ye had here been sheep or goats!
When we were down within the darksome well;
Beneath the giant's feet; but lower far;
And I was scanning still the lofty wall;
I heard it said to me: 〃Look how thou steppest!
Take heed thou do not trample with thy feet
The heads of the tired; miserable brothers!〃
Whereat I turned me round; and saw before me
And underfoot a lake; that from the frost
The semblance had of glass; and not of water。
So thick a veil ne'er made upon its current
In winter…time Danube in Austria;
Nor there beneath the frigid sky the Don;
As there was here; so that if Tambernich
Had fallen upon it; or Pietrapana;
E'en at the edge 'twould not have given a creak。
And as to croak the frog doth place himself
With muzzle out of water;when is dreaming
Of gleaning oftentimes the peasant…girl;
Livid; as far down as where shame appears;
Were the disconsolate shades within the ice;
Setting their teeth unto the note of storks。
Each one his countenance held downward bent;
From mouth the cold; from eyes the doleful heart
Among them witness of itself procures。
When round about me somewhat I had looked;
I downward turned me; and saw two so close;
The hair upon their heads together mingled。
〃Ye who so strain your breasts together; tell me;〃
I said; 〃who are you;〃 and they bent their necks;
And when to me their faces they had lifted;
Their eyes; which first were only moist within;
Gushed o'er the eyelids; and the frost congealed
The tears between; and locked them up again。
Clamp never bound together wood with wood
So strongly; whereat they; like two he…goats;
Butted together; so much wrath o'ercame them。
And one; who had by reason of the cold
Lost both his ears; still with his visage downward;
Said: 〃Why dost thou so mirror thyself in us?
If thou desire to know who these two are;
The valley whence Bisenzio descends
Belonged to them and to their father Albert。
They from one body came; and all Caina
Thou shalt search through; and shalt not find a shade
More worthy to be fixed in gelatine;
Not he in whom were broken breast and shadow
At one and the same blow by Arthur's hand;
Focaccia not; not he who me encumbers
So with his head I see no farther forward;
And bore the name of Sassol Mascheroni;
Well knowest thou who he was; if thou art Tuscan。
And that thou put me not to further speech;
Know that I Camicion de' Pazzi was;
And wait Carlino to exonerate me。〃
Then I beheld a thousand faces; made
Purple with cold; whence o'er me comes a shudder;
And evermore will come; at frozen ponds。
And while we were advancing tow'rds the middle;
Where everything of weight unites together;
And I was shivering in the eternal shade;
Whether 'twere will; or destiny; or chance;
I know not; but in walking 'mong the heads
I struck my foot hard in the face of one。
Weeping he growled: 〃Why dost thou trample me?
Unless thou comest to increase the vengeance
of Montaperti; why dost thou molest me?〃
And I: 〃My Master; now wait here for me;
That I through him may issue from a doubt;
Then thou mayst hurry me; as thou shalt wish。〃
The Leader stopped; and to that one I said
Who was blaspheming vehemently still:
〃Who art thou; that thus reprehendest others?〃
〃Now who art thou; that goest through Antenora
Smiting;〃 replied he; 〃other people's cheeks;
So that; if thou wert living; 'twere too much?〃
〃Living I am; and dear to thee it may be;〃
Was my response; 〃if thou demandest fame;
That 'mid the other notes thy name I place。〃
And he to me: 〃For the reverse I long;
Take thyself hence; and give me no more trouble;
For ill thou knowest to flatter in this hollow。〃
Then by the scalp behind I seized upon him;
And said: 〃It must needs be thou name thyself;
Or not a hair remain upon thee here。〃
Whence he to me: 〃Though thou strip off my hair;
I will not tell thee who I am; nor show thee;
If on my head a thousand times thou fall。〃
I had his hair in hand already twisted;
And more than one shock of it had pulled out;
He barking; with his eyes held firmly down;
When cried another: 〃What doth ail thee; Bocca?
Is't not enough to clatter with thy jaws;
But thou must bark? what devil touches thee?〃
〃Now;〃 said I; 〃I care not to have thee speak;
Accursed traitor; for unto thy shame
I will report of thee veracious news。〃
〃Begone;〃 replied he; 〃and tell what thou wilt;
But be not silent; if thou issue hence;
Of him who had just now his tongue so prompt;
He weepeth here the silver of the French;
'I saw;' thus canst thou phrase it; 'him of Duera
There where the sinners stand out in the cold。'
If thou shouldst questioned be who else was there;
Thou hast beside thee him of Beccaria;
Of whom the gorget Florence slit asunder;
Gianni del Soldanier; I think; may be
Yonder with Ganellon; and Tebaldello
Who oped Faenza when the people slep。〃
Already we had gone away from him;
When I beheld two frozen in one hole;
So that one head a hood was to the other;
And even as bread through hunger is devoured;
The uppermost on the other set his teeth;
There where the brain is to the nape united。
Not in another fashion Tydeus gnawed
The temples of Menalippus in disdain;
Than that one did the skull and the other things。
〃O thou; who showest by such bestial sign
Thy hatred against him whom thou art eating;
Tell me the wherefore;〃 said I; 〃with this compact;
That if thou rightfully of him complain;
In knowing who ye are; and his tra