CANTO XXII.

CANTO XXII.Horsemen I’ve seen in march across the field,Hastening to charge, or, answering muster, stand,And sometimes too when forced their ground to yield;I have seen skirmishers upon your land,O Aretines![594]and those on foray sent;With trumpet and with bell[595]to sound commandHave seen jousts run and well-fought tournament,With drum, and signal from the castle shown,And foreign music with familiar blent;But ne’er by blast on such a trumpet blown10Beheld I horse or foot to motion brought,Nor ship by star or landmark guided on.With the ten demons moved we from the spot;Ah, cruel company! but ‘with the goodIn church, and in the tavern with the sot.’Still to the pitch was my attention gluedFully to see what in the Bolgia lay,And who were in its burning mass imbrued.As when the dolphins vaulted backs display,Warning to mariners they should prepare20To trim their vessel ere the storm makes way;So, to assuage the pain he had to bear,Some wretch would show his back above the tide,Then swifter plunge than lightnings cleave the air.And as the frogs close to the marsh’s sideWith muzzles thrust out of the water stand,While feet and bodies carefully they hide;So stood the sinners upon every hand.But on beholding Barbariccia nighBeneath the bubbles[596]disappeared the band.30I saw what still my heart is shaken by:One waiting, as it sometimes comes to passThat one frog plunges, one at rest doth lie;And Graffiacan, who nearest to him was,Him upward drew, clutching his pitchy hair:To me he bore the look an otter has.I of their names[597]ere this was well aware,For I gave heed unto the names of allWhen they at first were chosen. ‘Now prepare,And, Rubicante, with thy talons fall40Upon him and flay well,’ with many criesAnd one consent the accursed ones did call.I said: ‘O Master, if in any wiseThou canst, find out who is the wretched wightThus at the mercy of his enemies.’Whereon my Guide drew full within his sight,Asking him whence he came, and he replied:‘In kingdom of Navarre[598]I first saw light.Me servant to a lord my mother tied;Through her I from a scoundrel sire did spring,50Waster of goods and of himself beside.As servant next to Thiebault,[599]righteous king,I set myself to ply barratorship;And in this heat discharge my reckoning.’And Ciriatto, close upon whose lipOn either side a boar-like tusk did stand,Made him to feel how one of them could rip.The mouse had stumbled on the wild cat band;But Barbariccia locked him in embrace,And, ‘Off while I shall hug him!’ gave command.60Round to my Master then he turned his face:‘Ask more of him if more thou wouldest know,While he against their fury yet finds grace.’My Leader asked: ‘Declare now if belowThe pitch ’mong all the guilty there lies hereA Latian?’[600]He replied: ‘Short while agoFrom one[601]I parted who to them lived near;And would that I might use him still for shield,Then hook or claw I should no longer fear,’Said Libicocco: ‘Too much grace we yield.’70And in the sinner’s arm he fixed his hook,And from it clean a fleshy fragment peeled.But seeing Draghignazzo also tookAim at his legs, the leader of the TenTurned swiftly round on them with angry look.On this they were a little quieted; thenOf him who still gazed on his wound my GuideWithout delay demanded thus again:‘Who was it whom, in coming to the side,Thou say’st thou didst do ill to leave behind?’80‘Gomita of Gallura,’[602]he replied,‘A vessel full of fraud of every kind,Who, holding in his power his master’s foes,So used them him they bear in thankful mind;For, taking bribes, he let slip all of those,He says; and he in other posts did worse,And as a chieftain ’mong barrators rose.Don Michael Zanche[603]doth with him converse,From Logodoro, and with endless dinThey gossip[604]of Sardinian characters.90But look, ah me! how yonder one doth grin.More would I say, but that I am afraidHe is about to claw me on the skin.’To Farfarel the captain turned his head,For, as about to swoop, he rolled his eye,And, ‘Cursed hawk, preserve thy distance!’ said.‘If ye would talk with, or would closer spy,’The frighted wretch began once more to say,‘Tuscans or Lombards, I will bring them nigh.But let the Malebranche first give way,100That of their vengeance they may not have fear,And I to this same place where now I stayFor me, who am but one, will bring seven nearWhen I shall whistle as we use to doWhenever on the surface we appear.’On this Cagnazzo up his muzzle threw,Shaking his head and saying: ‘Hear the cheatHe has contrived, to throw himself below.’Then he who in devices was complete:‘Far too malicious, in good sooth,’ replied,110‘When for my friends I plan a sorer fate.’This, Alichin withstood not but deniedThe others’ counsel,[605]saying: ‘If thou flingThyself hence, thee I strive not to outstride.But o’er the pitch I’ll dart upon the wing.Leave we the ridge,[606]and be the bank a shield;And see if thou canst all of us outspring.’O Reader, hear a novel trick revealed.All to the other side turned round their eyes,He first[607]who slowest was the boon to yield.120In choice of time the Navarrese was wise;Taking firm stand, himself he forward flung,Eluding thus their hostile purposes.Then with compunction each of them was stung,But he the most[608]whose slackness made them fail;Therefore he started, ‘Caught!’ upon his tongue.But little it bested, nor could prevailHis wings ’gainst fear. Below the other went,While he with upturned breast aloft did sail.And as the falcon, when, on its descent,130The wild duck suddenly dives out of sight,Returns outwitted back, and malcontent;To be befooled filled Calcabrin with spite.Hovering he followed, wishing in his mindThe wretch escaping should leave cause for fight.When the barrator vanished, from behindHe on his comrade with his talons fellAnd clawed him, ’bove the moat with him entwined.The other was a spar-hawk terribleTo claw in turn; together then the two140Plunged in the boiling pool. The heat full wellHow to unlock their fierce embraces knew;But yet they had no power[609]to rise again,So were their wings all plastered o’er with glue.Then Barbariccia, mourning with his train,Caused four to fly forth to the other sideWith all their grapplers. Swift their flight was ta’en.Down to the place from either hand they glide,Reaching their hooks to those who were limed fast,And now beneath the scum were being fried.150And from them thus engaged we onward passed.FOOTNOTES:[594]O Aretines: Dante is mentioned as having taken part in the campaign of 1289 against Arezzo, in the course of which the battle of Campaldino was fought. But the text can hardly refer to what he witnessed in that campaign, as the field of it was almost confined to the Casentino, and little more than a formal entrance was made on the true Aretine territory; while the chronicles make no mention of jousts and forays. There is, however, no reason to think but that Dante was engaged in the attack made by Florence on the Ghibeline Arezzo in the early summer of the preceding year. In a few days the Florentines and their allies had taken above forty castles and strongholds, and devastated the enemy’s country far and near; and, though unable to take the capital, they held all kinds of warlike games in front of it. Dante was then twenty-three years of age, and according to the Florentine constitution of that period would, in a full muster of the militia, be required to serve as a cavalier without pay, and providing his own horse and arms.[595]Bell: The use of the bell for martial music was common in the Italy of the thirteenth century. The great war-bell of the Florentines was carried with them into the field.[596]Beneath the bubbles, etc.: As the barrators took toll of the administration of justice and appointment to offices, something always sticking to their palms, so now they are plunged in the pitch; and as they denied to others what should be the common blessing of justice, now they cannot so much as breathe the air without paying dearly for it to the demons.[597]Their names: The names of all the demons. All of them urge Rubicante, the ‘mad red devil,’ to flay the victim, shining and sleek with the hot pitch, who is held fast by Graffiacane.[598]In kingdom of Navarre, etc.: The commentators give the name of John Paul to this shade, but all that is known of him is found in the text.[599]Thiebault: King of Navarre and second of that name. He accompanied his father-in-law, Saint Louis, to Tunis, and died on his way back, in 1270.[600]A Latian: An Italian.[601]From one, etc.: A Sardinian. The barrator prolongs his answer so as to procure a respite from the fangs of his tormentors.[602]Gomita of Gallura: ‘Friar Gomita’ was high in favour with Nino Visconti (Purg.viii. 53), the lord of Gallura, one of the provinces into which Sardinia was divided under the Pisans. At last, after bearing long with him, the ‘gentle Judge Nino’ hanged Gomita for setting prisoners free for bribes.[603]Don Michael Zanche: Enzo, King of Sardinia, married Adelasia, the lady of Logodoro, one of the four Sardinian judgedoms or provinces. Of this province Zanche, seneschal to Enzo, acquired the government during the long imprisonment of his master, or upon his death in 1273. Zanche’s daughter was married to Branca d’Oria, by whom Zanche was treacherously slain in 1275 (Inf.xxxiii. 137). There seems to be nothing extant to support the accusation implied in the text.[604]They gossip, etc.: Zanche’s experience of Sardinia was of an earlier date than Gomita’s. It has been claimed for, or charged against, the Sardinians, that more than other men they delight in gossip touching their native country. These two, if it can be supposed that, plunged among and choked with pitch, they still cared for Sardinian talk, would find material enough in the troubled history of their land. In 1300 it belonged partly to Genoa and partly to Pisa.[605]The others’ counsel: Alichino, confident in his own powers, is willing to risk an experiment with the sinner. The other devils count a bird in the hand worth two in the bush.[606]The ridge: Not the crown of the great rocky barrier between the Fifth and the Sixth Bolgias, for it is not on that the devils are standing; neither are they allowed to pass over it (Inf.xxiii. 55). We are to figure them to ourselves as standing on a ledge running between the fosse and the foot of the enclosing rocky steep—a pathway continued under the bridges and all round the Bolgia for their convenience as guardians of it. The bank adjoining the pitch will serve as a screen for the sinner if the demons retire to the other side of this ledge.[607]He first, etc.: Cagnazzo. See line 106.[608]He the most, etc.: Alichino, whose confidence in his agility had led to the outwitting of the band.[609]No power: The foolish ineptitude of the devils for anything beyond their special function of hooking up and flaying those who appear on the surface of the pitch, and their irrational fierce playfulness as of tiger cubs, convey a vivid impression of the limits set to their diabolical power, and at the same time heighten the sense of what Dante’s feeling of insecurity must have been while in such inhuman companionship.

Horsemen I’ve seen in march across the field,Hastening to charge, or, answering muster, stand,And sometimes too when forced their ground to yield;I have seen skirmishers upon your land,O Aretines![594]and those on foray sent;With trumpet and with bell[595]to sound commandHave seen jousts run and well-fought tournament,With drum, and signal from the castle shown,And foreign music with familiar blent;But ne’er by blast on such a trumpet blown10Beheld I horse or foot to motion brought,Nor ship by star or landmark guided on.With the ten demons moved we from the spot;Ah, cruel company! but ‘with the goodIn church, and in the tavern with the sot.’Still to the pitch was my attention gluedFully to see what in the Bolgia lay,And who were in its burning mass imbrued.As when the dolphins vaulted backs display,Warning to mariners they should prepare20To trim their vessel ere the storm makes way;So, to assuage the pain he had to bear,Some wretch would show his back above the tide,Then swifter plunge than lightnings cleave the air.And as the frogs close to the marsh’s sideWith muzzles thrust out of the water stand,While feet and bodies carefully they hide;So stood the sinners upon every hand.But on beholding Barbariccia nighBeneath the bubbles[596]disappeared the band.30I saw what still my heart is shaken by:One waiting, as it sometimes comes to passThat one frog plunges, one at rest doth lie;And Graffiacan, who nearest to him was,Him upward drew, clutching his pitchy hair:To me he bore the look an otter has.I of their names[597]ere this was well aware,For I gave heed unto the names of allWhen they at first were chosen. ‘Now prepare,And, Rubicante, with thy talons fall40Upon him and flay well,’ with many criesAnd one consent the accursed ones did call.I said: ‘O Master, if in any wiseThou canst, find out who is the wretched wightThus at the mercy of his enemies.’Whereon my Guide drew full within his sight,Asking him whence he came, and he replied:‘In kingdom of Navarre[598]I first saw light.Me servant to a lord my mother tied;Through her I from a scoundrel sire did spring,50Waster of goods and of himself beside.As servant next to Thiebault,[599]righteous king,I set myself to ply barratorship;And in this heat discharge my reckoning.’And Ciriatto, close upon whose lipOn either side a boar-like tusk did stand,Made him to feel how one of them could rip.The mouse had stumbled on the wild cat band;But Barbariccia locked him in embrace,And, ‘Off while I shall hug him!’ gave command.60Round to my Master then he turned his face:‘Ask more of him if more thou wouldest know,While he against their fury yet finds grace.’My Leader asked: ‘Declare now if belowThe pitch ’mong all the guilty there lies hereA Latian?’[600]He replied: ‘Short while agoFrom one[601]I parted who to them lived near;And would that I might use him still for shield,Then hook or claw I should no longer fear,’Said Libicocco: ‘Too much grace we yield.’70And in the sinner’s arm he fixed his hook,And from it clean a fleshy fragment peeled.But seeing Draghignazzo also tookAim at his legs, the leader of the TenTurned swiftly round on them with angry look.On this they were a little quieted; thenOf him who still gazed on his wound my GuideWithout delay demanded thus again:‘Who was it whom, in coming to the side,Thou say’st thou didst do ill to leave behind?’80‘Gomita of Gallura,’[602]he replied,‘A vessel full of fraud of every kind,Who, holding in his power his master’s foes,So used them him they bear in thankful mind;For, taking bribes, he let slip all of those,He says; and he in other posts did worse,And as a chieftain ’mong barrators rose.Don Michael Zanche[603]doth with him converse,From Logodoro, and with endless dinThey gossip[604]of Sardinian characters.90But look, ah me! how yonder one doth grin.More would I say, but that I am afraidHe is about to claw me on the skin.’To Farfarel the captain turned his head,For, as about to swoop, he rolled his eye,And, ‘Cursed hawk, preserve thy distance!’ said.‘If ye would talk with, or would closer spy,’The frighted wretch began once more to say,‘Tuscans or Lombards, I will bring them nigh.But let the Malebranche first give way,100That of their vengeance they may not have fear,And I to this same place where now I stayFor me, who am but one, will bring seven nearWhen I shall whistle as we use to doWhenever on the surface we appear.’On this Cagnazzo up his muzzle threw,Shaking his head and saying: ‘Hear the cheatHe has contrived, to throw himself below.’Then he who in devices was complete:‘Far too malicious, in good sooth,’ replied,110‘When for my friends I plan a sorer fate.’This, Alichin withstood not but deniedThe others’ counsel,[605]saying: ‘If thou flingThyself hence, thee I strive not to outstride.But o’er the pitch I’ll dart upon the wing.Leave we the ridge,[606]and be the bank a shield;And see if thou canst all of us outspring.’O Reader, hear a novel trick revealed.All to the other side turned round their eyes,He first[607]who slowest was the boon to yield.120In choice of time the Navarrese was wise;Taking firm stand, himself he forward flung,Eluding thus their hostile purposes.Then with compunction each of them was stung,But he the most[608]whose slackness made them fail;Therefore he started, ‘Caught!’ upon his tongue.But little it bested, nor could prevailHis wings ’gainst fear. Below the other went,While he with upturned breast aloft did sail.And as the falcon, when, on its descent,130The wild duck suddenly dives out of sight,Returns outwitted back, and malcontent;To be befooled filled Calcabrin with spite.Hovering he followed, wishing in his mindThe wretch escaping should leave cause for fight.When the barrator vanished, from behindHe on his comrade with his talons fellAnd clawed him, ’bove the moat with him entwined.The other was a spar-hawk terribleTo claw in turn; together then the two140Plunged in the boiling pool. The heat full wellHow to unlock their fierce embraces knew;But yet they had no power[609]to rise again,So were their wings all plastered o’er with glue.Then Barbariccia, mourning with his train,Caused four to fly forth to the other sideWith all their grapplers. Swift their flight was ta’en.Down to the place from either hand they glide,Reaching their hooks to those who were limed fast,And now beneath the scum were being fried.150And from them thus engaged we onward passed.

FOOTNOTES:[594]O Aretines: Dante is mentioned as having taken part in the campaign of 1289 against Arezzo, in the course of which the battle of Campaldino was fought. But the text can hardly refer to what he witnessed in that campaign, as the field of it was almost confined to the Casentino, and little more than a formal entrance was made on the true Aretine territory; while the chronicles make no mention of jousts and forays. There is, however, no reason to think but that Dante was engaged in the attack made by Florence on the Ghibeline Arezzo in the early summer of the preceding year. In a few days the Florentines and their allies had taken above forty castles and strongholds, and devastated the enemy’s country far and near; and, though unable to take the capital, they held all kinds of warlike games in front of it. Dante was then twenty-three years of age, and according to the Florentine constitution of that period would, in a full muster of the militia, be required to serve as a cavalier without pay, and providing his own horse and arms.[595]Bell: The use of the bell for martial music was common in the Italy of the thirteenth century. The great war-bell of the Florentines was carried with them into the field.[596]Beneath the bubbles, etc.: As the barrators took toll of the administration of justice and appointment to offices, something always sticking to their palms, so now they are plunged in the pitch; and as they denied to others what should be the common blessing of justice, now they cannot so much as breathe the air without paying dearly for it to the demons.[597]Their names: The names of all the demons. All of them urge Rubicante, the ‘mad red devil,’ to flay the victim, shining and sleek with the hot pitch, who is held fast by Graffiacane.[598]In kingdom of Navarre, etc.: The commentators give the name of John Paul to this shade, but all that is known of him is found in the text.[599]Thiebault: King of Navarre and second of that name. He accompanied his father-in-law, Saint Louis, to Tunis, and died on his way back, in 1270.[600]A Latian: An Italian.[601]From one, etc.: A Sardinian. The barrator prolongs his answer so as to procure a respite from the fangs of his tormentors.[602]Gomita of Gallura: ‘Friar Gomita’ was high in favour with Nino Visconti (Purg.viii. 53), the lord of Gallura, one of the provinces into which Sardinia was divided under the Pisans. At last, after bearing long with him, the ‘gentle Judge Nino’ hanged Gomita for setting prisoners free for bribes.[603]Don Michael Zanche: Enzo, King of Sardinia, married Adelasia, the lady of Logodoro, one of the four Sardinian judgedoms or provinces. Of this province Zanche, seneschal to Enzo, acquired the government during the long imprisonment of his master, or upon his death in 1273. Zanche’s daughter was married to Branca d’Oria, by whom Zanche was treacherously slain in 1275 (Inf.xxxiii. 137). There seems to be nothing extant to support the accusation implied in the text.[604]They gossip, etc.: Zanche’s experience of Sardinia was of an earlier date than Gomita’s. It has been claimed for, or charged against, the Sardinians, that more than other men they delight in gossip touching their native country. These two, if it can be supposed that, plunged among and choked with pitch, they still cared for Sardinian talk, would find material enough in the troubled history of their land. In 1300 it belonged partly to Genoa and partly to Pisa.[605]The others’ counsel: Alichino, confident in his own powers, is willing to risk an experiment with the sinner. The other devils count a bird in the hand worth two in the bush.[606]The ridge: Not the crown of the great rocky barrier between the Fifth and the Sixth Bolgias, for it is not on that the devils are standing; neither are they allowed to pass over it (Inf.xxiii. 55). We are to figure them to ourselves as standing on a ledge running between the fosse and the foot of the enclosing rocky steep—a pathway continued under the bridges and all round the Bolgia for their convenience as guardians of it. The bank adjoining the pitch will serve as a screen for the sinner if the demons retire to the other side of this ledge.[607]He first, etc.: Cagnazzo. See line 106.[608]He the most, etc.: Alichino, whose confidence in his agility had led to the outwitting of the band.[609]No power: The foolish ineptitude of the devils for anything beyond their special function of hooking up and flaying those who appear on the surface of the pitch, and their irrational fierce playfulness as of tiger cubs, convey a vivid impression of the limits set to their diabolical power, and at the same time heighten the sense of what Dante’s feeling of insecurity must have been while in such inhuman companionship.

[594]O Aretines: Dante is mentioned as having taken part in the campaign of 1289 against Arezzo, in the course of which the battle of Campaldino was fought. But the text can hardly refer to what he witnessed in that campaign, as the field of it was almost confined to the Casentino, and little more than a formal entrance was made on the true Aretine territory; while the chronicles make no mention of jousts and forays. There is, however, no reason to think but that Dante was engaged in the attack made by Florence on the Ghibeline Arezzo in the early summer of the preceding year. In a few days the Florentines and their allies had taken above forty castles and strongholds, and devastated the enemy’s country far and near; and, though unable to take the capital, they held all kinds of warlike games in front of it. Dante was then twenty-three years of age, and according to the Florentine constitution of that period would, in a full muster of the militia, be required to serve as a cavalier without pay, and providing his own horse and arms.

[595]Bell: The use of the bell for martial music was common in the Italy of the thirteenth century. The great war-bell of the Florentines was carried with them into the field.

[596]Beneath the bubbles, etc.: As the barrators took toll of the administration of justice and appointment to offices, something always sticking to their palms, so now they are plunged in the pitch; and as they denied to others what should be the common blessing of justice, now they cannot so much as breathe the air without paying dearly for it to the demons.

[597]Their names: The names of all the demons. All of them urge Rubicante, the ‘mad red devil,’ to flay the victim, shining and sleek with the hot pitch, who is held fast by Graffiacane.

[598]In kingdom of Navarre, etc.: The commentators give the name of John Paul to this shade, but all that is known of him is found in the text.

[599]Thiebault: King of Navarre and second of that name. He accompanied his father-in-law, Saint Louis, to Tunis, and died on his way back, in 1270.

[600]A Latian: An Italian.

[601]From one, etc.: A Sardinian. The barrator prolongs his answer so as to procure a respite from the fangs of his tormentors.

[602]Gomita of Gallura: ‘Friar Gomita’ was high in favour with Nino Visconti (Purg.viii. 53), the lord of Gallura, one of the provinces into which Sardinia was divided under the Pisans. At last, after bearing long with him, the ‘gentle Judge Nino’ hanged Gomita for setting prisoners free for bribes.

[603]Don Michael Zanche: Enzo, King of Sardinia, married Adelasia, the lady of Logodoro, one of the four Sardinian judgedoms or provinces. Of this province Zanche, seneschal to Enzo, acquired the government during the long imprisonment of his master, or upon his death in 1273. Zanche’s daughter was married to Branca d’Oria, by whom Zanche was treacherously slain in 1275 (Inf.xxxiii. 137). There seems to be nothing extant to support the accusation implied in the text.

[604]They gossip, etc.: Zanche’s experience of Sardinia was of an earlier date than Gomita’s. It has been claimed for, or charged against, the Sardinians, that more than other men they delight in gossip touching their native country. These two, if it can be supposed that, plunged among and choked with pitch, they still cared for Sardinian talk, would find material enough in the troubled history of their land. In 1300 it belonged partly to Genoa and partly to Pisa.

[605]The others’ counsel: Alichino, confident in his own powers, is willing to risk an experiment with the sinner. The other devils count a bird in the hand worth two in the bush.

[606]The ridge: Not the crown of the great rocky barrier between the Fifth and the Sixth Bolgias, for it is not on that the devils are standing; neither are they allowed to pass over it (Inf.xxiii. 55). We are to figure them to ourselves as standing on a ledge running between the fosse and the foot of the enclosing rocky steep—a pathway continued under the bridges and all round the Bolgia for their convenience as guardians of it. The bank adjoining the pitch will serve as a screen for the sinner if the demons retire to the other side of this ledge.

[607]He first, etc.: Cagnazzo. See line 106.

[608]He the most, etc.: Alichino, whose confidence in his agility had led to the outwitting of the band.

[609]No power: The foolish ineptitude of the devils for anything beyond their special function of hooking up and flaying those who appear on the surface of the pitch, and their irrational fierce playfulness as of tiger cubs, convey a vivid impression of the limits set to their diabolical power, and at the same time heighten the sense of what Dante’s feeling of insecurity must have been while in such inhuman companionship.

Back to Index Next