La Divina Commedia Inferno Canto XXV The song of thieves and infernal metamorphoses Time: Sunday, March 26, 1301 (Saturday, April 9, 1300): around eleven o’clock in the morning Place: Circle VIII (Malebolge): fraudulents Ditch VII: thieves People: Dante, Virgilio, Vanni Fucci, il centauro Caco. Thieves: Francesco Cavalcanti, Agnolo Brunelleschi, Cianfa Donati, Buoso Donati, Puccio de’ Galigai © 2021 Dr. M. Junker: Fonetics, metrics, accents colored, protected by Namirial SpA © 1994 Le Lettere: Critical Edition of the Divine Comedy (by Giorgio Petrocchi) English Translation by Charles Eliot Norton: 1901/1952 (Encyclopædia Britannica)
1 Al fine de le sue par le il ladro 2 6 8 le mani alzò con amendue le fiche, 2 4 8 3 gridando: «T gli, Dio, ch’a te le squadro!». 2 4 6 8 Da indi in qua mi fu r le s rpi amiche, 2 4 6 8 perch’ una li s’avv lse all ra al c llo, 2 6 8 6 c me dic sse ‘Non v ’ che più diche’; 1 4 7 9 e un’altra a le braccia, e rileg llo, 3 6 ribad ndo sé st ssa sì dinanzi, 3 6 8 9 che non pot a con sse dare un cr llo. 4 6 8 Ahi Pist ia, Pist ia, ché non stanzi 1 3 6 8 d’incenerarti sì che più non duri, 4 6 8 12 p i che ’n mal fare!il s"me tuo#avanzi? (1/2) (3) 4 6 8 Per tutt’ i c$rchi de lo ’nf%rno scuri 2 4 8 non vidi spirto&in Dio tanto sup'rbo, 2 4 6 7 15 non qu(l che cadde)a T*be giù da’ muri. 1 2 4 6 8 El si fuggì che non parlò più v+rbo; 1 4 8 e,io vidi-un cent.uro pi/n di rabbia (2.3) 6 8 18 venir chiamando:0«1v’ è,23v’ è l’ac4rbo?». 2 4 6 8 Mar5mma non cr6d’ io che tante n’abbia, 2 6 8 quante bisce78lli9av:a su per la gr;ppa 1 3 4 6 7 21 infin <ve comincia n=stra labbia. 2 6 8 S>vra le spalle, di?tro da la c@ppa, (1) 4 (6) con l’aliAapBrte li giacCaDun draco; 2 4 8 24 e quElloFaffuGca qualunque s’intHppa. 2 4 7 Lo mio maIJstro disse: «QuKstiLè Caco, 4 6 8 che, sMtto ’l sasso di mNnteOAventino, (1) 2 4 7 27 di sangue fPce spQsse vRlte laco. 2 4 6 8
2 At the end of his words the thief raised his hands with both the figs, 3 crying, “Take that, God! for at Thee I square them.” From that time forth the serpents were my friends, for then one coiled about his neck, 6 as if it said: “I will not have thee say more”; and another about his arms and bound him up anew, clinching itself so in front 9 that he could not give a shake with them. Ah Pistoia! Pistoia! why dost thou not decree to make ashes of thyself, so that thou last no longer, 12 since in evil-doing thou dost surpass thine own seed? Through all the dark circles of Hell I saw no spirit so arrogant toward God, 15 not even that one who fell down from the walls at Thebes. He fled away, and spoke not a word more. And I saw a Centaur full of rage 18 come crying out: “Where is he, where is the obdurate one?” I do not believe Maremma has so many snakes as he had upon his croup 21 up to where our semblance begins. On his shoulders, behind the nape, a dragon with open wings was lying upon him, 24 which sets on fire whomsoever it encounters. My Master said: “This is Cacus, who beneath the rock of Mount Aventine 27 often made a lake of blood.
3 Non va cS’ suTi fratUi per un cammino, 2 6 per lo furto che frodolVnte fWce 3 8 30 del grandeXarmYnto ch’Zlli[\bbe]a vicino; 2 4 7 ^nde cessar le sue_`pere biace 1 4 7 sbtto la mazza d’crcule, che fdrse 1 4 6 33 gliene diè cfnto,ge non sentì le dihce». 3 4 8 Mintre che sì parlava,jed el trasckrse, 1 4 6 (8) e trl spiriti vmnner sntto noi, 2 3 6 (8) 36 dp’ quai néqio né ’l duca mio s’accrrse, 2 4 6 8 se non quando gridar: «Chi siste vti?»; 2 (3) 6 7 8 per che nustra novvlla si ristwtte, 3 6 39 exintendymmo pur ad zssi p{i. 4 6 8 Io non li conosc|a; ma}~i segutte, 1 6 8 cme sul seguitar per alcun caso, 1 3 6 9 42 che l’un nomar un altro conventte, 2 4 6 dicndo: «Cianfa dve f a rimao?»; 2 4 6 8 per ch’io,acciò che ’l duca stsseattnto, 2 4 6 8 45 mi pui ’l dito su dal mntoal nao. 2 4 6 8 Se tu s’r, lettre,a crder lnto 2 4 6 8 ciò ch’io dirò, non sarà maraviglia, 1 4 7 48 chéio che ’l vidi,a pnail mi consnto. 2 4 6 Cm’ io tena levatein lr le ciglia, 2 4 6 8 e un serp¡nte con s¢i piè si lancia 4 (7) 8 51 dinanzi£a l’uno,¤e tutto¥a lui s’appiglia. 2 4 6 8 C¦’ piè di m§¨©o liªavvinse la pancia 2 4 7 e con li«anterï¬r le braccia pr ®e; 6 8 54 p¯i li°addentò±e l’una²e l’altra guancia; 1 4 6 8
4 He goes not on one road with his brothers, because of the fraudulent theft he committed 30 of the great herd that he had in his neighborhood; for which his crooked deeds ceased under the club of Hercules, who perhaps dealt him 33 a hundred blows with it, and he felt not ten of them.” While he was thus speaking, and that one had run by, lo! three spirits came below us, 36 of whom neither I nor my Leader was aware till when they cried out: “Who are ye?” by which our story was stopped, 39 and we then gave heed only to them. I did not know them, but it happened, as it usually happens by some chance, 42 that one had occasion to name another, saying: “Where can Cianfa have stayed?“ Wherefore I, in order that my Leader might be attentive, 45 put my finger upward from my chin to my nose. If, Reader, thou art now slow to credit that which I shall tell, it will be no marvel, 48 for I who saw it hardly admit it to myself. As I was holding my eyebrows raised upon them, lo! a serpent with six feet darts 51 in front of one, and takes hold all over him. With its middle feet it clasped his paunch, and with its fore feet took his arms, 54 then struck its teeth in one and the other cheek;
5 li diretani³a le c´sce distµ¶e, 4 7 e mi·eli la c¸da tra ’mbedue 2 6 57 e di¹tro per le rºn sù la rit»¼e. 2 6 7 ½llera¾abbarbicata mai non fue 1 6 8 ad alber sì, c¿me l’orribil fiÀra 2 4 5 8 60 per l’altrui mÁmbraÂavviticchiò le sue. 3 4 8 PÃi s’appiccar, cÄme di calda cÅra 1 4 5 8 fÆssero stati,Çe mischiar lÈr colÉre, 1 4 7 (8) 63 né l’un né l’altro già parÊa quËl ch’Ìra: 2 4 6 8 cÍme procÎdeÏinnanzi da l’ardÐre, 1 4 6 per lo papiro suÑo,Òun colÓr bruno 4 6 9 66 che non è nÔroÕancÖra×e ’l bianco mØre. 4 6 8 LiÙaltri due ’l riguardavano,Úe ciascuno (1) 3 6 gridava:Û«Omè,ÜAgnÝl, cÞme ti muti! 2 4 6 7 69 Vßdi che già non sà’ né due néáuno». 1 4 6 8 Giàâãran li due capiäun divenuti, (1) 2 6 7 quando n’apparver due figure miste 1 4 6 8 72 in una faccia,åæv’ çran due perduti. 2 4 6 8 Fèrsi le braccia due di quattro liste; 1 4 6 8 le césce con le gambeêe ’l vëntreìe ’l casso 2 6 8 75 divínner mîmbra che non fuïr mai viste. 2 4 8 ðgne primañioòaspóttoôiviõöra casso: 1 4 6 7 8 due÷e nessun l’imagine pervørsa 1 4 6 78 parùa;úe tal sûn güo con lýnto passo. 2 4 6 8 Cþme ’l ramarro s tto la gran f rsa 1 4 (6) 9 d i dì canicular, cangiando s pe, 2 6 8 81 f lgore par se la via attrav rsa, 1 4 7
6 its hind feet it spread out upon his thighs, and put its tail between them, 57 and stretched it up behind along the reins. Ivy was never so bearded to a tree, as the horrible beast 60 entwined its own through the other’s limbs. Then they stuck together as if of hot wax they had been, and mingled their color; neither 63 the one nor the other seemed now that which it had been; even as in advance of the flame, a dark color proceeds up along the paper 66 which is not yet black, and the white dies away. The other two were looking on, and each cried: “O me! Agnel, how thou changest! 69 See, now thou art neither two nor one! Now were the two heads become one, when there appeared to us two countenances mixed 72 in one face wherein the two were lost. The two arms were made of four strips; the thighs with the legs, the belly and the chest 75 became members that were never seen before. Every original aspect was there canceled; two and none the perverted image 78 appeared, and such it went away with slow step. As the lizard under the great scourge of the dog-days, changing from hedge to hedge, 81 seems a lightning-flash, if it cross the way,
7 sì par va, ven ndo v rso l’ pe 1 3 6 8 de li altri due, un serpent llo acc o, (2) 4 8 84 livido e n ro c me gran di p pe; 1 4 6 8 e qu lla parte nde prima è pr o 2 4 5 7 n stro alim nto, a l’un di l r trafisse; 1 4 6 8 87 p!i cadde giu"o#innanzi lui dist$%o. (2) 4 6 8 Lo trafitto ’l mirò, ma nulla disse; 3 6 8 anzi, c&’ piè fermati, 'badigliava 1 (4) 6 90 pur c(me s)nno*o f+bbre l’assalisse. (1) 4 6 ,lli ’l serp-nte.e qu/i lui riguardava; 1 4 6 7 l’un per la piaga0e l’altro per la b1cca 1 4 6 93 fummavan f2rte,3e ’l fummo si scontrava. 2 4 6 Taccia Lucano4omai là d5v’ 6’ t7cca 1 4 6 (7) del mi8ero Sab9llo:e di Na;idio, 2 6 96 e<att=nda>a?udir qu@l ch’Ar si scBcca. 3 6 8 Taccia di CadmoCe d’AretuDaEOvidio, 1 4 8 ché se quFlloGin serpHnteIe quJllaKin fLnte 3 6 8 99 convMrte poNetando,Oio non lo ’nvidio; 2 6 7 ché due nature maiPa frQnteRa frSnte 2 4 6 8 non trasmutò sì ch’amendue le fTrme (1) 4 5 (8) 102 a cambiar lUr matVra fWsser prXnte. 3 4 6 8 InsiYme si rispuZ[ero\a tai n]rme, 2 6 9 che ’l serp^nte la c_da`in farca fbsse, 3 6 8 105 e ’l feruto ristrinsecinsidme l’erme. 3 6 8 Le gambe con le cfsce sgco sthsse 2 6 (8) s’appiccir sì, che ’n pjco la giuntura 3 4 6 108 non facka slgnomalcun che si parnsse. (3) 4 6
8 so seemed, coming toward the bellies of the two others, a little fiery serpent, 84 livid, and black as a pepper corn. And that part whereat is first taken our nourishment, it transfixed in one of them, 87 then fell down stretched out before him. The transfixed one gazed at it, but said nothing; nay, with feet fixed, he began to yawn, 90 just as if sleep or fever had assailed him. He looked at the serpent, and that at him; one through the wound, the other through its mouth, 93 were smoking fiercely, and the smoke commingled. Let Lucan henceforth be silent, where he tells of the wretched Sabellus and of Nasidius, 96 and let him wait to hear that which now is related. Let Ovid be silent concerning Cadmus and Arethusa, for if, him into a serpent and her into a fountain, 99 he converts poetizing, I grudge it not to him; for never two natures front to front did he transmute, so that both the forms 102 were prompt to exchange their matter. They responded to one another in such wise, that the serpent cleft his tail into a fork, 105 and the wounded one drew his feet together. The legs and the thighs along with them so stuck together, that in short while the juncture 108 made no mark that was apparent.
9 Toglioa la cpda fqssa la figura 2 4 6 che si perdrva là,se la sua ptlle 4 6 (8) 111 si facua mvlle,we quxlla di là dura. 3 4 6 9 Io vidiyintrar le braccia per l’asczlle, 2 4 6 e{i due piè de la fi|ra, ch’}ran c~rti, 3 6 8 114 tantoallungar quantoaccorciavan qulle. 1 4 5 8 Pscia li piè di ritro,insi meattrti, 1 (4) 6 8 diventaron lo mmbro che l’um cla, 3 6 9 117 e ’l miero del suo n’ava due prti. 2 6 9 Mntre che ’l fummo l’unoe l’altro vla 1 4 6 8 di colr nvo,e gnera ’l pl suo 3 4 6 9 120 per l’una partee da l’altrail dipla, 2 4 7 l’un si levòe l’altro cadde giuo, (1) 4 6 8 non torcndo però le lucrnempie, 3 6 9 123 s tto le quai ciascun cambiava mu¡o. 1 4 6 (8) Qu¢l ch’£ra dritto,¤il trasse v¥r’ le t¦mpie, 1 2 4 6 (8) e di tr§ppa mat¨ra ch’in là v©nne 3 6 9 126 uscir liªor«cchi de le g¬te sc mpie; 2 4 8 ciò che non c®rse¯in di°tro±e si rit²nne 1 4 6 di qu³l sov´rchio, fé naµo¶a la faccia 2 4 7 129 e le labbra·ingrossò quanto conv¸nne. 3 6 7 Qu¹l che giacéa,ºil mu»o¼innanzi caccia, 1 4 6 8 e li½or¾cchi ritira per la t¿sta 3 6 132 cÀme face le cÁrna la lumaccia; (3) 6 e la lingua, ch’avéaÂunitaÃe prÄsta 3 (6) 8 primaÅa parlar, si fÆnde,Çe la forcuta 1 4 6 135 ne l’altro si richiude;Èe ’l fummo rÉsta. 2 6 8
10 The cleft tail was taking on the shape that the other was losing, and its skin 111 was becoming soft, and that of the other hard. I saw the arms entering through the armpits, and the two feet of the beast, which were short, 114 lengthening out in proportion as the arms were shortening. Then the hinder feet, twisted together, became the member that man conceals, 117 and the wretch from his had two stretched forth. While the smoke veils the one and the other with a new color, and generates hair on 120 the one part, and strips it from the other, the one rose up, and the other fell down, not however turning aside their pitiless lights, 123 beneath which each was changing his muzzle. He who was erect drew his in toward the temples, and, from the too much material that came in there, 126 the ears issued on the smooth cheeks; that which did not run back and was retained, of its superfluity made a nose for the face, 129 and thickened the lips so much as was needful. He that was lying down drives his muzzle forward, and draws backward his ears into his head, 132 as the snail does its horns. And his tongue, which before was united and fit for speech, cleaves itself, and the forked one 135 of the other closes up; and the smoke stops.
11 L’anima ch’Êra fiËra divenuta, 1 4 6 suffolando si fugge per la valle, 3 6 138 e l’altro diÌtroÍa lui parlando sputa. 2 4 6 8 PÎscia li vÏlse le novÐlle spalle, 1 4 8 e disseÑa l’altro:Ò«I’ vÓ’ che BuÔÕo cÖrra, 2 4 6 8 141 c×m’ ho fatt’ io, carpØn per quÙsto calle». 4 6 8 CoÚì vid’ io la sÛttima ÜavÝrra (2) 4 6 mutareÞe traßmutare;àe qui mi scuái 2 6 8 144 la novità se fiâr la pãnnaäabbårra. 4 6 8 Eæavvçgna che lièécchi miêi confuëi 3 6 8 fìsseroíalquantoîe l’animo ïmagato, 1 4 6 147 non potðr quñi fuggirsi tanto chiuòi, 3 4 6 8 ch’i’ non scorgóssi bôn Puccio Sciancato; 4 6 7 ed õra quöl che s÷l, di trø compagni 2 4 6 (8) 150 che vùnner prima, non úra mutato; (2) 4 7 l’altr’ ûra quül che tu, Gaville, piagni. 1.2.4 6 8
12 The soul that had become a brute fled hissing along the valley, 138 and the other, speaking, sputters behind it. Then he turned on him his new shoulders, and said to the third, “I want that Buoso should run, 141 as I have done, on his belly along this path.” Thus I saw the seventh ballast change and transmute, and here let be my excuse 144 the novelty, if my pen straggle a little. And although my eyes were somewhat confused, and my mind bewildered, 147 those could not flee away so covertly but that I clearly distinguished Puccio Sciancato: and he it was who alone, of the three companions 150 that came first, was not changed; the other was he whom thou, Gaville, weepest.
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