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