Cerberus, that cruel beast, devoid of form,
Stanas barking like a dog with triple jaw
O'er the sad souls forced downward by the storm.
Red are his eyes, large belly he displays,

A black and greasy beard: with savage claw
He seizes on the spirits, tears, and flays.
Like whelps they howl beneath the inclement rain ;
And with one side the other side defending,
Oft turn themselves these wretched souls profane.
When Cerberus viewed us, as we nearer came,

13

19

The monstrous worm, his triple mouth extending,
Showed his huge tusks, and shook through all his frame.

Then on the ground his either hand my guide

25

Stretched out; and when he both with earth had filled,
Cast it within those craving gullets wide.

And as a dog that barks with ravening jaw,

The moment that he tastes the food, is stilled,-
Intent alone to glut his greedy maw;

So Cerberus ceased his filthy jaws to use,
Who at the spirits with such fury storms,
That they full gladly would their hearing lose.
Now o'er the shades, close ent to shun the sleet,

We took our road, and on their empty forms,
Which seemed substantial, did we place our feet.
Stretched on the ground, they all recumbent lay,
Save one, who from his seat uprose in haste,
As soon as he beheld us pass that way.
"O thou who visitest these realms," he said,
"Recal me to thy memory, if thou mayest,
For thou wert born before my spirit fled."
"The anguish thou art suffering doth erase

Thy form," I said, "so wholly from my mind,
Methinks I never have beheld thy face:

But tell me who thou art, thus sadly thrust

66

Within this place of woe;-though one may find
Pangs more intense, yet none can more disgust."
Thy city," he made answer, "where so rife

Is envy, that no limits can restrain,

31

37

43

49

13. The three-headed dog of ancient mythology. The Demons who preside in the several circles are symbols of the vices punished therein; and Cerberus is the emblem of Gluttony. xv. 68.

49. Florence. See canto

Was my abode in the serener life.
Te, O my citizens, to mark my taste,
Erst named me Ciacco: here amid the rain
For gluttony thou seest my body waste:
Nor I alone this weight of misery bear;-

All these unhappy souls, condemned to smart
For like offences, like affliction share."

"O Ciacco," I replied, "thy misery

So weighs me down, it makes the tears to start:
But tell me, if thou knowest, what will be
Attempted in the factious city next?

Doth one just man within its boundary dwell?
And why by such fierce discord is it vext ?"
"After long struggle blood," he said, " shall flow;
The woodland party shall the other quell,
And with dire slaughter chase away their foe.
Yet, ere three years shall humbled be their pride;
The other shall prove victor by his aid
Who now cajoling, flatters either side.

Long time shall these their foreheads lift on high,
While heavy weights are on the other laid,
Though fierce their rage, and pitiful their cry.
Two just ones are there, but unheard their call ;-
For Envy, Pride, and Avarice combine-
Three fatal sparks-to fire the hearts of all."
Here ended he his lamentable strain.

Then I: "More knowledge to impart be thine;
And farther converse I entreat thee deign.

Tegghiaio, and Farinata, names of worth,

53. Ciacco is a nick-name, signifying a hog, and here applied to a Florentine epicure. 61. Florence-divided at this time (1300) into the factions of the Neri and Bianchi. See canto xxiv. 143, and " Memoir of Dante." 65. i. e. The Bianchi (called the Woodland party, from their leaders the Cerchi, a new family who came from the country), shall prevail against the Neri. 67. Within three years they will recover their power by the aid of Charles of Valois, who cajoled both parties. 73. This is an answer to the second question, line 62. Who these were (the only two just men in Florence) is not known. Dante and his friend Guido Cavalcanti are by some supposed to be intended. 79. Tegghiaio Aldo

brandi. See xvi. 41. Tegghiaio is a dissyllable. Of Farinata, see canto x. 32, and notes. These men are praised for their patriotism, but placed in hell for their vices.

And Rusticucci, Mosca, with the rest

Who bent their minds to working good on earth-
Say where they are, in answer to my prayers;
And tell, to satisfy my longing breast,

If bliss in heaven, or woe in hell be theirs."

86

"'Mid blacker souls," he said, "they're doomed to dwel;
If thou descend, - for crime of different dve
Thou wilt behold them buried deep in hell.
But when to the sweet world thou shalt return,
I pray thee to revive my memory:

No more I say ;-no more seek thou to learn.”
His stedfast eyes askance he then inclined, -

A moment gazed on me,-then downward bent, And falling, joined his other comrades blind. "Ne'er shall he rise again," the master said,

66

Till, when the Power of vengeance shall be sent,
The angelic trumpet wake him from the dead.
Each soul shall then regain its mournful tomb,-
Regain the flesh and pristine form it wore,
And hear pronounced the everlasting doom."
O'er rain and shadows thus we took our road-
A mixture foul;-and as we onward bore,
Some converse on the life to come bestowed.
Then I: "O master, will these pangs be made

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103

More sharp, when sentence hath been past by heaven, Or lessened, or remain thus fierce ?" He said: "Remember, that the nearer each attain

A perfect state, a finer sense is given

To thrill with pleasure, or to throb with pain. Though true perfection never can be their's,

Yet, for this race accurst, in misery bound,
Heaven, after judgment, worthier doom prepares."
Then speaking more than to repeat I care,

We made a circuit that sad coast around;
And at the point, whence downward leads the stair,
Plutus, the mighty enemy, we found.

106. i. e. Remember the saying of Aristotle. riches, and therefore the great enemy of mankind.

109

115. The god of

1

At the entrance of the fourth circle, Plutus, the ancient god of riches, endeavours to terrify Dante, but is silenced by Virgil. The Avaricious and Prodigal are here punished, and among the former, many Popes and Cardinals. Virgil takes occasion to speak of Fortune, and the fickleness of earthly possessions. They enter the fifth circle, where the wrathful and gloomy are punished in the lake of Styx.

"PAPÉ Satan, Satan Aleppé," cried

The voice of Plutus, thundering loud and hoarse;
Whereat, apprized of all, my sapient guide
Exclaimed, to comfort me: Let not dismay
Confound thy senses; for his utmost force
Shall nought avail to check thy downward way."
Then turning round: "Be silent, Wolf accurst,'
He sternly said to that swollen lip abhorred;
"And let thy furious rage within thee burst.

Not without sanction we descend below ;

For thus 'tis willed on high, where Michael's sword
On the adulterer struck the vengeful blow."

As sweeping round, when sudden splits the mast,
Sails bellying with the wind are headlong thro,
So quickly fell to earth the monster vast.
Thus to the fourth abyss we made descent,
Still gaining on that mournful bank of stone,
In which the ills of all the world are pent.
Justice divine! of the dire toils I saw,

And novel punishments, oh! who can speak?
Why bring we on ourselves such fearful law?

As rising o'er Charybdis' rocky height

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Waves meeting waves in dreadful conflict break,
Thus, wheeling round, these souls are doomed to fight.
Elsewhere I saw not such a numerous crowd:-

Enormous weights they with their breasts impelled
From side to side, nor ceased to howl aloud.

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1. This exclamation of Plutus, the god of riches, is evidently intended to frighten Dante, and seems to mean "Avaunt, for Satan is Prince here." The line is thus stopped, and explained by Signor Rossetti: "Pap'è Satan, Pap'è Satan, Aleppe." "The Pope is Satan, the Pope is Satan, Prince." 7. That Plutus is the symbol of Avarice is evident from his being identified with the Wolf of the first canto. 12. 1. e. Lucifer.

Clashing they met :-then turned; and harsh abuse
Each on the other pouring, fiercely yelled;

66

Thou, why so niggard ?" "Thou, why so profuse ?" Round the dark circle, till they met again,

Thus they pursued their course on either hand,
Vociferating still their taunting strain.
Midway arriving-to renew the fight,

Back o'er the semicircle turns each band:
And I, whose heart was stricken at the sight,
Exclaimed: "O thou, my master, tell, I pray,

What race is this? and these upon the left
With closely-shaven heads, all Priests were they ?"
To me he said: "All these before thy view,
In their first life of reason were so reft,
No medium in the use of wealth they knew.
This by their words is clearly proved, each time
They meet, as round the circle they repair,
Parting anon-so opposite their crime.
Priests once, both Popes and Cardinals were they,
Whose heads uncovered are devoid of hair;
O'er them foul Avarice held unbounded sway.
"Amid so many, master," I replied,

"I surely ought to recognize some few,
Who, when alive, were with these vices dyed."
Then he: "Thou hast devised a project vain ;-
Since that inglorious life, which now they rue,
Permitteth none to know them here again.
For ever will they clash with double shocks;
And at the resurrection quit the tomb,—

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43

49

55

These with clenched hands, and those with shaven locks. Spendthrift and miser thus renew the fight,

Driven from the beauteous world to realms of gloom:
Words need I not to paint their evil plight.

Now see the gifts to Fortune's care consigned,
How swift, my son, how variable their gale, -
Sought with such anxious labour by mankind:

61

30. The Avaricious and Prodigal are not only punished together, but are made the instruments of punishing each other. 46. In thus instancing Popes and Cardinals solely, Dante does not mean that they alone were guilty of avarice, but that they were the most conspicuous examples; and he tells us elsewhere, Par. xvii. 133, that he purposely selects them from the highest rank, to give his reproof the greater weight.