the divine comedy(神曲)-第3节
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〃All those who perish in the wrath of God
Here meet together out of every land;
And ready are they to pass o'er the river;
Because celestial Justice spurs them on;
So that their fear is turned into desire。
This way there never passes a good soul;
And hence if Charon doth complain of thee;
Well mayst thou know now what his speech imports。〃
This being finished; all the dusk champaign
Trembled so violently; that of that terror
The recollection bathes me still with sweat。
The land of tears gave forth a blast of wind;
And fulminated a vermilion light;
Which overmastered in me every sense;
And as a man whom sleep hath seized I fell。
Inferno: Canto IV
Broke the deep lethargy within my head
A heavy thunder; so that I upstarted;
Like to a person who by force is wakened;
And round about I moved my rested eyes;
Uprisen erect; and steadfastly I gazed;
To recognise the place wherein I was。
True is it; that upon the verge I found me
Of the abysmal valley dolorous;
That gathers thunder of infinite ululations。
Obscure; profound it was; and nebulous;
So that by fixing on its depths my sight
Nothing whatever I discerned therein。
〃Let us descend now into the blind world;〃
Began the Poet; pallid utterly;
〃I will be first; and thou shalt second be。〃
And I; who of his colour was aware;
Said: 〃How shall I come; if thou art afraid;
Who'rt wont to be a comfort to my fears?〃
And he to me: 〃The anguish of the people
Who are below here in my face depicts
That pity which for terror thou hast taken。
Let us go on; for the long way impels us。〃
Thus he went in; and thus he made me enter
The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss。
There; as it seemed to me from listening;
Were lamentations none; but only sighs;
That tremble made the everlasting air。
And this arose from sorrow without torment;
Which the crowds had; that many were and great;
Of infants and of women and of men。
To me the Master good: 〃Thou dost not ask
What spirits these; which thou beholdest; are?
Now will I have thee know; ere thou go farther;
That they sinned not; and if they merit had;
'Tis not enough; because they had not baptism
Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest;
And if they were before Christianity;
In the right manner they adored not God;
And among such as these am I myself。
For such defects; and not for other guilt;
Lost are we and are only so far punished;
That without hope we live on in desire。〃
Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard;
Because some people of much worthiness
I knew; who in that Limbo were suspended。
〃Tell me; my Master; tell me; thou my Lord;〃
Began I; with desire of being certain
Of that Faith which o'ercometh every error;
〃Came any one by his own merit hence;
Or by another's; who was blessed thereafter?〃
And he; who understood my covert speech;
Replied: 〃I was a novice in this state;
When I saw hither come a Mighty One;
With sign of victory incoronate。
Hence he drew forth the shade of the First Parent;
And that of his son Abel; and of Noah;
Of Moses the lawgiver; and the obedient
Abraham; patriarch; and David; king;
Israel with his father and his children;
And Rachel; for whose sake he did so much;
And others many; and he made them blessed;
And thou must know; that earlier than these
Never were any human spirits saved。〃
We ceased not to advance because he spake;
But still were passing onward through the forest;
The forest; say I; of thick…crowded ghosts。
Not very far as yet our way had gone
This side the summit; when I saw a fire
That overcame a hemisphere of darkness。
We were a little distant from it still;
But not so far that I in part discerned not
That honourable people held that place。
〃O thou who honourest every art and science;
Who may these be; which such great honour have;
That from the fashion of the rest it parts them?〃
And he to me: 〃The honourable name;
That sounds of them above there in thy life;
Wins grace in Heaven; that so advances them。〃
In the mean time a voice was heard by me:
〃All honour be to the pre…eminent Poet;
His shade returns again; that was departed。〃
After the voice had ceased and quiet was;
Four mighty shades I saw approaching us;
Semblance had they nor sorrowful nor glad。
To say to me began my gracious Master:
〃Him with that falchion in his hand behold;
Who comes before the three; even as their lord。
That one is Homer; Poet sovereign;
He who comes next is Horace; the satirist;
The third is Ovid; and the last is Lucan。
Because to each of these with me applies
The name that solitary voice proclaimed;
They do me honour; and in that do well。〃
Thus I beheld assemble the fair school
Of that lord of the song pre…eminent;
Who o'er the others like an eagle soars。
When they together had discoursed somewhat;
They turned to me with signs of salutation;
And on beholding this; my Master smiled;
And more of honour still; much more; they did me;
In that they made me one of their own band;
So that the sixth was I; 'mid so much wit。
Thus we went on as far as to the light;
Things saying 'tis becoming to keep silent;
As was the saying of them where I was。
We came unto a noble castle's foot;
Seven times encompassed with lofty walls;
Defended round by a fair rivulet;
This we passed over even as firm ground;
Through portals seven I entered with these Sages;
We came into a meadow of fresh verdure。
People were there with solemn eyes and slow;
Of great authority in their countenance;
They spake but seldom; and with gentle voices。
Thus we withdrew ourselves upon one side
Into an opening luminous and lofty;
So that they all of them were visible。
There opposite; upon the green enamel;
Were pointed out to me the mighty spirits;
Whom to have seen I feel myself exalted。
I saw Electra with companions many;
'Mongst whom I knew both Hector and Aeneas;
Caesar in armour with gerfalcon eyes;
I saw Camilla and Penthesilea
On the other side; and saw the King Latinus;
Who with Lavinia his daughter sat;
I saw that Brutus who drove Tarquin forth;
Lucretia; Julia; Marcia; and Cornelia;
And saw alone; apart; the Saladin。
When I had lifted up my brows a little;
The Master I beheld of those who know;
Sit with his philosophic family。
All gaze upon him; and all do him honour。
There I beheld both Socrates and Plato;
Who nearer him before the others stand;
Democritus; who puts the world on chance;
Diogenes; Anaxagoras; and Thales;
Zeno; Empedocles; and Heraclitus;
Of qualities I saw the good collector;
Hight Dioscorides; and Orpheus saw I;
Tully and Livy; and moral Seneca;
Euclid; geometrician; and Ptolemy;
Galen; Hippocrates; and Avicenna;
Averroes; who the great Comment made。
I cannot all of them pourtray in full;
Because so drives me onward the long theme;
That many times the word comes short of fact。
The sixfold company in two divides;
Another way my sapient Guide conducts me
Forth from the quiet to the air that trembles;
And to a place I come where nothing shines。
Inferno: Canto V
Thus I descended out of the first circle
Down to the second; that less space begirds;
And so much greater dole; that goads to wailing。
There standeth Minos horribly; and snarls;
Examines the transgressions at the entrance;
Judges; and sends according as he girds him。
I say; that when the spirit evil…born
Cometh before him; wholly it confesses;
And this discriminator of transgressions
Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it;
Girds himself with his tail as many times
As grades he wishes it should be thrust down。
Always before him many of them stand;
They go by turns each one unto the judgment;
They speak; and hear; and then are downward hurled。
〃O thou; that to this dolorous hostelry
Comest;〃 said Minos to me; when he saw me;
Leaving the practice of so great an office;
〃Look how thou enterest; and in whom thou trustest;
Let not the portal's amplitude deceive thee。〃
And unto him my Guide: 〃Why criest thou too?
Do not impede his journey fate…ordained;
It is so willed there where is power to do
That which is willed; and ask no further question。〃
And now begin the dolesome notes to grow
Audible unto me; now am I come
There where much lamentation strikes upon me。
I came into a place mute of all light;
Which bellows as the sea does in a tempest;
If by opposing winds 't is combated。
The infernal hurricane that never rests
Hurtles the spirits onward in its rapine;
Whirling them round; and smiting; it molests them。
When they arrive before the precipice;
There are the shrieks; the plaints; and the laments;
There they blaspheme the puissance divine。
I understood that unto such a torment
The carnal malefactors were condemned;
Who reason subjugate to appetite。
And as the wings of starlings bear them on
In the cold season in large band and full;
So doth that blast the spirits maled