Inferno: Canto I
INFERNO: CANTO I
Midway through the journey of my life
I found myself lost in a dark forest,
Having wandered off the main path.
It is hard for me to express in words
How savage, rough, and stern this forest was to me.
The very thought of it renews my fear.
It was so bitter that death could not be worse;
But in order to show you the good that I eventually found,
I must first tell you of the other things I saw.
I cannot remember how I entered the forest,
My thoughts were full of other things
When I wandered off the path.
But then I had reached the foot of a mountain,
At the point where the forest came to an end.
Until that time, I felt lost, and my heart was full of fear.
Then I looked up, and I saw its crest,
Already bathed in the rays of the sun
Which had lead many others to the right path.
Then my fear was calmed a little
And my heart was feeling stronger, having survived
The night, which I had passed so piteously.
And even as a man, who, with labored breathing,
Crawls out of the sea and onto the shore,
Will turn to look back at the perilous water;
My soul, still fleeing from fear,
Turned back to look at the pass
Which no living person had ever left.
After I rested my weary body,
I resumed my journey along the mountain path,
So narrow, that one foot was always lower on the slope.
As soon as I started to climb, I saw
A panther light and swift,
Covered in her spotted skin!
She never moved from my sight,
And many times blocked my way,
So that I had to turn off the path to retreat.
It was still early in the morning,
And the sun was rising, joining the last stars
That were with him in the sky, since time had first begun
When these wondrous things were first set in motion;
So, I took all of these as a sign of good luck.
The variegated skin of that wild beast,
The early morning sun, and the joyous season;
I was able to push my fear aside
Until a lion appeared in front of me.
He seemed as if he would charge at me
With his head uplifted, and his hunger deep.
Even the air on the mountain seemed afraid of him;
Then a she-wolf appeared, that was long and lean.
She seemed to be consumed in her greediness,
That had caused many folks to live in fear!
She made me feel so heavy in my heart,
With the fear that came by just looking at her,
That I relinquished all hope of making it to the top.
And like a man who acquires many things,
But then a time comes when he loses them,
He weeps and becomes despondent over his loss.
This is how I felt while being pressed by this relentless beast,
And, coming towards me, closer and closer, step by step
She moved me backward away from the sun.
I turned and began to run to the bottom of the path,
When suddenly, someone appeared in front of me,
Who seemed hoarse from a long-continued silence.
When I saw him standing alone in the vast desert,
I cried out to him. "Have pity on me, whatever you are,
Spirit or real man!" He answered me:
"What am I?; Once I was a man,
With parents from Lombardy,
They were Mantuans both of them.
I was born in the last days of the reign of Julius,
And lived in Rome under good Augustus,
During the time of false and lying gods.
I was a poet, and I sang of that just
Son of Anchises, who came out from Troy,
After the city of Ilion was burned.
But you, why are you going back to your miserable life?
Why don't you climb to the top of the mountain,
Which holds the source and cause of every great joy?"
"Are you Virgil? That prolific poet
Who has spread a river of speech so broad and wide?"
I blushed and turned away from him.
"Of all the poets great and small,
It was your works I studied most and loved best.
I spent many days exploring your verses!
You are my master, and you are my sage,
You, alone, are the one from whom I took
The beautiful style that now honors me.
See that beast? That is why I turned back;
Please protect me from her, famous Sage,
For she makes my heart race and my blood cold."
"It behooves you to take another road,"
He responded, when he saw how frightened I was,
"If you wish to leave this savage place;
Because this beast, which you fear so much,
Will not allow anyone to pass this way,
And she will harass him, till she destroys him;
She has a nature so ruthless and cruel,
That she never satisfies her greed,
And after eating food is even hungrier than before.
She mates with many animals, and there will be
Many more, until the Hound comes, who will finally Make her perish in her own pain.
He will not feed on either earth or wealth,
But upon wisdom, and virtue and love;
His nation will be between Feltro and Feltro;
He will be the savior of all of Italy,
On whose account the maid Camilla died,
As did Euryalus, Turnus, Nisus, of their wounds;
Through every city he will hunt her down,
Until he has sent her back to Hell,
The place where envy first let her loose.
Therefore I think it best for you
To follow me, and I will be your guide,
And will lead you through the eternal place,
Where you will hear the desperate cries of woe.
You Will see the inconsolable ancient souls,
Who cry out for a second death;
And you will see those who are content
Within the fire, because they hope to come,
Whenever it may be, to blessed peace;
At that time, if you still want to ascend to Heaven,
A soul, more worthy than me, must take you there;
And I will give you to her when I leave;
You see, the Emperor, who reigns above,
Because I was rebellious to his law,
Will not allow anyone to come to his city through me.
He governs everywhere, but he rules from there;
There is his city and his lofty throne;
And joyous are the ones that he selects!"
And I said to him: "Poet, I beg you,
By that same God whom you never knew,
So that I may escape this woe and worse,
Please take me to that glorious place,
So that I can see the gates of Saint Peter,
And also those whose anguish you have told me of."
He nodded and then moved on, and I followed behind him.