Inferno: Canto X
INFERNO: CANTO X
We walked along a narrow path
Between the graves and the city wall,
My Master lead and I followed behind.
"You have turned to walk me through these
Ungodly fires," I began,
"Please tell me what I want to know;
The people who are lying in these tombs,
May I see them? The covers are already lifted
And no one is keeping guard."
And he said to me: "They will all be closed up
When they return here on Judgment Day
With the bodies they left in the ground above.
On this side is the cemetery
Of Epicurus with all his followers,
When the body dies, he also kills the soul;
But as for the question you have asked me,
It will be answered for you before we leave,
As will your secret wish, that you have kept from me."
And I said: "Good Leader, I only keep the secret
In my heart so that I don't talk too much,
As you have told me, more than once, not to."
"O Tuscan, who walks through the city of fire
And yet is alive, you speak so beautifully,
Please rest for a while in this place.
Your speech identifies you very clearly as
A native of that noble fatherland,
To which, perhaps, I was too harsh."
This sound suddenly issued forth
From one of the tombs; This brought fear to my heart,
And I pressed a little nearer to my Leader.
And to me he said: "What are you doing? Turn around.
Look, it is Farinata who has risen;
You can see him from the waist up."
I had already fixed my eyes on those of the ghost,
And he rose up erect, showing his face and chest
As though he despised his surroundings.
And with a gentle push of encouragement, my Leader
Thrust me between the tombs towards him,
Exclaiming, "Choose your words well."
As soon as I was at the foot of his tomb
He looked me over, and, as if disdainful,
He asked me, "Who were your ancestors?"
I, while wanting to appear friendly,
Did not conceal it, but revealed it all to him;
He then raised his brows a little.
And he said: "Your family has been bitter enemies
To me, and to my fathers, and my friends;
So that twice I had to send them into hiding."
"If they were banished, they returned on all sides"
I answered him, "The first time and the second;
But they could never get it right."
Then there arose from the same grave,
Uncovered down to his chin, a shadow at his side;
As though he had risen on his knees.
He gazed around me, as if hopeful that he would see
Someone else there with me, but after his
Suspicion was wrong, he began to cry said to me:
"If you are able to go through this blind
Prison, on pure will alone, and still be alive,
Where is my son? And why is he not with you?"
And I said to him: "I did not come by myself;
He who is waiting over there, lead me here,
The one that your son Guido despised."
His language and the mode of his punishment
Made me realize who he was;
So my answer to him was correct.
He suddenly jumped up and cried out:
"What did you say? Is he not still alive?
Does he not still carry the light of life in his eyes?"
When he became aware of my delay in answering,
For I had not answered his question,
He fell, and I did not see him again.
But the other one, who had asked that
I remain, did not change his look at all,
He neither moved his head, nor bent his body.
"And if," He said, picking up where he left off,
"They do not ever get it right,"
He continued, "That hurts me more than this wretched bed.
But fifty times will the glow and flame of
The face of the Lady who reigns here appear,
Before you know how hard it is to get it right;
And when you return to the sweet world above,
Find out why people are so merciless
Against my race in every one of their laws?"
So I said to him: "The slaughter and great carnage
Which have stained the land of Arabia red with blood,
Have caused such merciless laws to be made."
He sighed and shook his head,
"There I was not alone," He said,
"And stood with the others who thought we had a just cause.
But in that group I was alone, because when every one
Else agreed to destroy Florence,
I was the one person who openly defended her."
"Very well. May your family rest in peace,"
I then asked him, "Can you answer me one question,
Which has eluded my rational thinking?
It seems that you can see, if I hear correctly,
Things that will happen before they do,
But you don't know what is happening now."
"We see, like those who have imperfect sight,
The things," He said, "That are far away from us;
Such is our gift from the Sovereign Ruler.
But, when they draw closer, we can no longer see them
And if no one tells us what is happening,
Then we have no idea of what is going on around us.
So you can understand that, being dead,
Our knowledge of the future will stop, at the moment
When the portal of the future is closed."
Then I, as if feeling regretful for asking,
Said: "Now, then, will you tell that fallen one,
That his son is still alive.
And just now, when I did not answer him,
Tell him that I did it because I was thinking
Of the problem you just solved for me."
Now my Master began calling me,
And I eagerly prayed that the spirit
Would tell me who was with him there. He said:
"More than a thousand souls lie with me in this grave;
In here is Frederick the Second,
And the Cardinal, and of the rest I will not speak."
Then he hid himself; and I returned to
The ancient poet, reflecting
On what he had said, which seemed hostile to me.
He moved along; and afterward,
He said to me, "Why are you so distracted?"
And I told him everything that was in my mind.
"Remember the words that were spoken against you,"
The Sage commanded me,
"And listen to this;" And he raised his finger.
"When you are finally standing in the sweet glow
Of her whose beauteous eyes behold all things,
From her you will learn the meaning of you life."
Then he turned around and we walked on;
We left the wall, and went towards the middle,
Along a path that leads into a valley,
Which was filled with a putrid stench.