Inferno: Canto Xix
INFERNO: CANTO XIX
O Simon Magus and your forlorn disciples,
The things of God, which should have been
Left on a path of holiness,
You prostitute them for silver and for gold,
And so the trumpet sounds for you,
Because now you live in this third circle.
We had already reached the edge of a tomb and
Ascended to that portion of the bridge
Which hangs over the middle of the moat.
Wisdom supreme, how great are your powers
In heaven, in earth, and in this evil hell,
And how appropriately justice distributes your power!
I saw on the sides and on the bottom
Of the stone, all of the perforations were filled,
They were all the same size, and everyone was round.
To me, they seemed neither lesser nor greater
Than those that are fashioned in my beautiful Saint John
For the place where the baptizers stand,
And one of which, not many years ago,
I broke for someone was drowning in it;
Let this be a sign for all men to be honest.
Out of the mouth of each of these, protruded
The feet of a transgressor, and the legs
Up to the calf. The rest remained hidden within.
In all of them both soles were on fire;
Which caused the ankles to quiver so violently,
They would have snapped any ropes or chains.
Even as a flame which is burning oily things
Will move along the outer surface only,
So the feet burned from heel to toe.
"Master, who is that one who is writhing
More than his other comrades"
I said, "And who has a redder flame burning?"
And he said to me: "If you want me to take you
Down there along that lowest bank, you will learn
From him what his sins were and who he is."
And I said: "Whatever pleases you, also pleases me;
You are my Lord, and know that I will not depart from
Your desire, for you know best even what is not spoken."
Then we arrived at the fourth circle;
We turned, and on the left side descended
Down to the bottom, which was narrow and full of holes.
And the good Master kept me at his side
Until he brought me to the hole which held
The one lamented so loud and shook his feet.
"Who are you, that is standing upside down,
O miserable soul, who is planted in the ground like a Stake," I began, "If you can, speak to me."
I stood as a friar who is hearing the confession
Of an assassin, who, when he is fixed to die,
Calls him over, so that his death will be delayed.
And he cried out: "Have you already arrived here,
Do you stand there already, Boniface?
The record lied to me by many years.
Are you satiated with your wealth so soon,
For which you did not fear to take from the church,
By fraud, in order to work your woe?"
I became, as people who stand,
Not comprehending the answer they received,
As if being mocked, and not knowing not how to reply.
Then Virgil said: "Answer him. Say, 'I am not him, I am not who You think I am.'" And I replied as he instructed me.
This made the spirit kick with both his feet, then, sighing,
With a voice of lamentation he said to me: "Then what do you want Of me? If you want to know who I am, so much that you have crossed The bank, know that I once wore the papal crown;
And truly I was the son of the bear,
So eager to pocket the riches of that wealth
Above, and here, I find myself pocketed.
Beneath my head the others were dragged down
Who have preceded me in simony,
Flattened along the fissure of the rock.
Below there I will also fall, whenever
The one will come who I believed you were,
When I first asked the question.
But my feet have already been toasted,
And I have been in here upside down,
Longer than he will be planted with his reddened feet;
For after him shall come the fouler one
From the west, a Pastor who is without law,
And he will cover both of us.
He will be the New Jason, of whom we read
In Maccabees; and as his king was pliable,
So France's king will soften to this one."
I do not know if I was too bold,
When I answered him in this way:
"I pray that you tell me now how great a treasure
Our Lord demanded of Saint Peter first,
Before he put the keys into his keeping?
Truly he asked nothing more than to 'Follow me.'
Neither Peter nor the rest asked Matthew for
Silver or gold, when he was chosen
To fill the place the evil soul had lost.
Therefore stay here, for you are justly punished,
And keep safe guard over your ill-gotten money,
Which caused you to be valiant against Charles.
And if I did not have the
Reverence for the keys that you once held
In keeping in your happy life,
I would utter more grievous words still;
Because your avarice afflicts the world,
Trampling the good and lifting the depraved.
The Evangelist had you Pastors in mind,
When he spoke of she who sits upon many waters
And was seen to fornicate with many kings;
The same who was born with the seven heads,
And received power and strength from the ten horns,
So long as virtue was pleasing to her spouse.
You have made yourselves a god of gold and silver;
And are the same as someone who worships an idol,
Except that he worships one, and you worship a hundred.
Ah, Constantine! What evil did you bring forth,
Not from your conversion, but from that marriage dowry
Which the first wealthy Father took from you!"
And while I spoke to him this way,
Either my anger or his own conscience stung him,
And he struggled violently with both his feet.
I think that it pleased my Leader, for
With a contented smile, he listened to every
True word that I expressed.
Therefore with both his arms he took me up,
And when he had me pressed against his chest,
Returned up the path the same way where we descended.
And he did not grow tired of having me clasped to him;
But took me to the summit of the arch
Which was the passage from the fourth circle to the fifth.
There he set me down,
Tenderly on the bridge uneven and steep,
That would have been a hard passage, even for goats:
There another valley was unveiled to me.