the divine comedy(神曲)-第61节
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In little while; and the lost countenance
As love desires it so in her did colour。
When in this wise she had her speech unloosed;
She 'gan to sing so; that with difficulty
Could I have turned my thoughts away from her。
〃I am;〃 she sang; 〃I am the Siren sweet
Who mariners amid the main unman;
So full am I of pleasantness to hear。
I drew Ulysses from his wandering way
Unto my song; and he who dwells with me
Seldom departs so wholly I content him。〃
Her mouth was not yet closed again; before
Appeared a Lady saintly and alert
Close at my side to put her to confusion。
〃Virgilius; O Virgilius! who is this?〃
Sternly she said; and he was drawing near
With eyes still fixed upon that modest one。
She seized the other and in front laid open;
Rending her garments; and her belly showed me;
This waked me with the stench that issued from it。
I turned mine eyes; and good Virgilius said:
〃At least thrice have I called thee; rise and come;
Find we the opening by which thou mayst enter。〃
I rose; and full already of high day
Were all the circles of the Sacred Mountain;
And with the new sun at our back we went。
Following behind him; I my forehead bore
Like unto one who has it laden with thought;
Who makes himself the half arch of a bridge;
When I heard say; 〃Come; here the passage is;〃
Spoken in a manner gentle and benign;
Such as we hear not in this mortal region。
With open wings; which of a swan appeared;
Upward he turned us who thus spake to us;
Between the two walls of the solid granite。
He moved his pinions afterwards and fanned us;
Affirming those 'qui lugent' to be blessed;
For they shall have their souls with comfort filled。
〃What aileth thee; that aye to earth thou gazest?〃
To me my Guide began to say; we both
Somewhat beyond the Angel having mounted。
And I: 〃With such misgiving makes me go
A vision new; which bends me to itself;
So that I cannot from the thought withdraw me。〃
〃Didst thou behold;〃 he said; 〃that old enchantress;
Who sole above us henceforth is lamented?
Didst thou behold how man is freed from her?
Suffice it thee; and smite earth with thy heels;
Thine eyes lift upward to the lure; that whirls
The Eternal King with revolutions vast。〃
Even as the hawk; that first his feet surveys;
Then turns him to the call and stretches forward;
Through the desire of food that draws him thither;
Such I became; and such; as far as cleaves
The rock to give a way to him who mounts;
Went on to where the circling doth begin。
On the fifth circle when I had come forth;
People I saw upon it who were weeping;
Stretched prone upon the ground; all downward turned。
〃Adhaesit pavimento anima mea;〃
I heard them say with sighings so profound;
That hardly could the words be understood。
〃O ye elect of God; whose sufferings
Justice and Hope both render less severe;
Direct ye us towards the high ascents。〃
〃If ye are come secure from this prostration;
And wish to find the way most speedily;
Let your right hands be evermore outside。〃
Thus did the Poet ask; and thus was answered
By them somewhat in front of us; whence I
In what was spoken divined the rest concealed;
And unto my Lord's eyes mine eyes I turned;
Whence he assented with a cheerful sign
To what the sight of my desire implored。
When of myself I could dispose at will;
Above that creature did I draw myself;
Whose words before had caused me to take note;
Saying: 〃O Spirit; in whom weeping ripens
That without which to God we cannot turn;
Suspend awhile for me thy greater care。
Who wast thou; and why are your backs turned upwards;
Tell me; and if thou wouldst that I procure thee
Anything there whence living I departed。〃
And he to me: 〃Wherefore our backs the heaven
Turns to itself; know shalt thou; but beforehand
'Scias quod ego fui successor Petri。'
Between Siestri and Chiaveri descends
A river beautiful; and of its name
The title of my blood its summit makes。
A month and little more essayed I how
Weighs the great cloak on him from mire who keeps it;
For all the other burdens seem a feather。
Tardy; ah woe is me! was my conversion;
But when the Roman Shepherd I was made;
Then I discovered life to be a lie。
I saw that there the heart was not at rest;
Nor farther in that life could one ascend;
Whereby the love of this was kindled in me。
Until that time a wretched soul and parted
From God was I; and wholly avaricious;
Now; as thou seest; I here am punished for it。
What avarice does is here made manifest
In the purgation of these souls converted;
And no more bitter pain the Mountain has。
Even as our eye did not uplift itself
Aloft; being fastened upon earthly things;
So justice here has merged it in the earth。
As avarice had extinguished our affection
For every good; whereby was action lost;
So justice here doth hold us in restraint;
Bound and imprisoned by the feet and hands;
And so long as it pleases the just Lord
Shall we remain immovable and prostrate。〃
I on my knees had fallen; and wished to speak;
But even as I began; and he was 'ware;
Only by listening; of my reverence;
〃What cause;〃 he said; 〃has downward bent thee thus?〃
And I to him: 〃For your own dignity;
Standing; my conscience stung me with remorse。〃
〃Straighten thy legs; and upward raise thee; brother;〃
He answered: 〃Err not; fellow…servant am I
With thee and with the others to one power。
If e'er that holy; evangelic sound;
Which sayeth 'neque nubent;' thou hast heard;
Well canst thou see why in this wise I speak。
Now go; no longer will I have thee linger;
Because thy stay doth incommode my weeping;
With which I ripen that which thou hast said。
On earth I have a grandchild named Alagia;
Good in herself; unless indeed our house
Malevolent may make her by example;
And she alone remains to me on earth。〃
Purgatorio: Canto XX
Ill strives the will against a better will;
Therefore; to pleasure him; against my pleasure
I drew the sponge not saturate from the water。
Onward I moved; and onward moved my Leader;
Through vacant places; skirting still the rock;
As on a wall close to the battlements;
For they that through their eyes pour drop by drop
The malady which all the world pervades;
On the other side too near the verge approach。
Accursed mayst thou be; thou old she…wolf;
That more than all the other beasts hast prey;
Because of hunger infinitely hollow!
O heaven; in whose gyrations some appear
To think conditions here below are changed;
When will he come through whom she shall depart?
Onward we went with footsteps slow and scarce;
And I attentive to the shades I heard
Piteously weeping and bemoaning them;
And I by peradventure heard 〃Sweet Mary!〃
Uttered in front of us amid the weeping
Even as a woman does who is in child…birth;
And in continuance: 〃How poor thou wast
Is manifested by that hostelry
Where thou didst lay thy sacred burden down。〃
Thereafterward I heard: 〃O good Fabricius;
Virtue with poverty didst thou prefer
To the possession of great wealth with vice。〃
So pleasurable were these words to me
That I drew farther onward to have knowledge
Touching that spirit whence they seemed to come。
He furthermore was speaking of the largess
Which Nicholas unto the maidens gave;
In order to conduct their youth to honour。
〃O soul that dost so excellently speak;
Tell me who wast thou;〃 said I; 〃and why only
Thou dost renew these praises well deserved?
Not without recompense shall be thy word;
If I return to finish the short journey
Of that life which is flying to its end。〃
And he: 〃I'll tell thee; not for any comfort
I may expect from earth; but that so much
Grace shines in thee or ever thou art dead。
I was the root of that malignant plant
Which overshadows all the Christian world;
So that good fruit is seldom gathered from it;
But if Douay and Ghent; and Lille and Bruges
Had Power; soon vengeance would be taken on it;
And this I pray of Him who judges all。
Hugh Capet was I called upon the earth;
From me were born the Louises and Philips;
By whom in later days has France been governed。
I was the son of a Parisian butcher;
What time the ancient kings had perished all;
Excepting one; contrite in cloth of gray。
I found me grasping in my hands the rein
Of the realm's government; and so great power
Of new acquest; and so with friends abounding;
That to the widowed diadem promoted
The head of mine own offspring was; from whom
The consecrated bones of these began。
So long as the great dowry of Provence
Out of my blood took not the sense of shame;
'Twas little worth; but still it did no harm。
Then it began with falsehood and with force
Its rapine; and thereafter; for amends;
Took Ponthieu; Normandy; and Gascony。
Charles came to Italy; and for amends
A victim made of Conradin; and then
Thrust Thomas back to heaven; for amends。
A time I see; not very distant now;
Which drawe