Inferno: Canto Xv
INFERNO: CANTO XV
Walking along the stone embankment,
The brooklet's mist overshadows us,
But it saves both the water and the dikes from fire.
As the Flemings, between Wissant and Bruges,
Fearing the flood that hurls itself towards them,
Build their dikes to keep the flood waters back;
And as the Paduans along the Brenta,
Protect their villas and their Castles,
Before Chiarentana feels the heat;
In similar fashion these walls had been made,
Albeit not so lofty nor so thick,
Whoever he might be, the master made them.
Now we were far away from the forest,
I could not see where it was,
Even when I looked behind me,
When we encountered a company of souls,
Who came beside the dike, and every one
Gazed at us, as in the evening we were
To look at each other under a new moon,
And so they came toward us, looking intently
As an old tailor looks at the needle's eye.
Thus scrutinized by such a group,
I was recognized someone, who seized
My garment's hem, and cried out,
"What a marvel!" and I, when he stretched forth
His arm to me, fastened my eyes on his baked features,
Even his scorched body did not prevent
Me from recognizing him;
And bowing my face towards his,
I replied, "Are you here, Ser Brunetto?"
And he said: "I hope it does not displease you, my son,
To share some time with Brunetto Latini
While the rest of the group moves on."
I said to him: "I would enjoy that very much;
And if you wish me to sit down with you,
I will, if my Master does not mind, for I go with him."
"O son," He said, "When someone from this herd
Stops for a moment, he lies there for a hundred years,
Not even fanning himself when he is hit with fire.
Therefore go on; I will follow you from the edge,
And afterward will I rejoin my band,
Which goes on lamenting its eternal doom."
I did not dare come off the road
To walk with him; but I kept my head bowed
As someone who walks reverently.
And he began: "What fortune or what fate
Leads you down here before your time?
And who is this that shows you the way?"
"Up there above us in the serene life,"
I answered him, "I was lost in a valley,
While I was still alive.
But yesterday I turned my back on it;
This one appeared to me, promised to return me there,
And leads me homeward along this road."
And he said to me: "If you follow your star,
You cannot fail to reach a glorious port,
If I judged your beautiful life correctly.
And if I had not died so prematurely,
Seeing how favorable Heaven is to you,
I would have given you comfort in your work.
But that ungrateful and malignant people,
Who descended from Fesole,
And still smell of mountain and granite,
Will make themselves your enemy, because of your good deeds,
And it is right; for among bitter weeds
It does not benefit the sweet fig to bear fruit.
Old rumor in the world proclaims them blind;
A people avaricious, envious, proud;
Take heed that you cleanse yourself of their customs.
You do deserve so much honor,
One party or the other shall be hungry
For you; but the grass will be far from those goats.
Let their litter of beasts from Fesole
Make for themselves, and do not let them touch the plant,
If any should arise upon their dunghill,
In which may yet revive the consecrated
Seed of those Romans, who remained there when
It became the nest of such great malice."
"If my wishes were wholly fulfilled,"
I replied to him, "You would not be
In banishment and placed far away from human kindness;
For my mind is fixed, and it fills
My heart with the dear and good paternal image
Of you, when in the world from hour to hour
You taught me how a man becomes eternal;
And how much I am grateful, while I live
I will always speak highly of you.
What you tell me of my career, I will write,
And keep it to be combined with other text
By a Lady who can do it, if I reach her.
This much will I have promise you;
Provided that my conscience does not chide me,
I am ready for whatsoever Fortune should befall me.
Such prophesy is not new to my ears;
Therefore let Fortune turn her wheel around
As it may please her, as a worker with his shovel."
My Master turned to look over his right shoulder
And gazed back at me,
Then said: "He listens well he who notes all that he hears."
Not speaking less on that account, I go
With Brunetto, and I ask who are
His most known and most eminent companions.
And he said to me: "To know of some is well;
Of others it is better to be silent,
For there is not enough time for so much speech.
Know them in total, that all of them were clerks,
And men of great letters and of great fame,
In the world tainted with the same sin.
Priscian goes yonder with that wretched crowd,
And Francis of Accorso; and you would have seen them
If you had a hankering for such filth,
That one, who is the Servant of the Servants
From Arno was transferred to Bacchiglione,
Where he left his sin-excited nerves.
I would say more, but coming and talking
Must come to an end; for I see
New smoke rising from the sand.
People are coming with whom I must not be;
I give to you my Tesoro, so tell my story,
That I may still live, and I will ask no more."
Then he turned around, and seemed to be like those
Who in Verona run for the Green Mantle
Across the plain; and seemed to be
The one who wins, and not the one who loses.