E dissi: "Padre, da che tu mi lavi Perchè diede il consiglio frodolente, Quando mi prese, dicendomi : "Forse Otto volte la coda al dosso duro, Quand' egli ebbe il suo dir così compiuto, Torcendo e dibattendo il corno acuto. 110. Attender, 'fulfilment.' 115. Meschini, 'servitors.' 117. A' crini: lurking about his hair, ready to seize him. 130 119. Puossi = si può. One cannot repent without renunciation of the will. 120. Consente, 'admits.' 121. Mi riscossi, 'I shuddered.' 123. Loico, 'a logician.' 125. Cf. V, II-2. 127. Furo, 'thievish': cf. XXVI, 41–2. 129. Mi rancuro, 'I repine.' Noi passammo oltre, ed io e il Duca mio, A quei che scommettendo acquistan carco. 135. Fio, 'fee': their due. 135 136. To those who make a load by separating': usually a load is made by putting together; but the sowers of discord, who occupy the next bolgia, make up their burden of sin by putting asunder those who were united. CANTO XXVIII ARGUMENT An involved simile, at the beginning of this canto, calls up the picture of a vast accumulation of maimed bodies gathered, through the centuries, from the many battlefields of southern Italy. Even this mangled host conveys but a faint idea of the ninth bolgia. Creators of strife are here hacked by the sword of a fiend, as they pass by; their horribly dissevered state represents the life of bloodshed and dissension which they loved. Conspicuous among them are Mahomet, the Roman Curio, Mosca de' Lamberti of Florence, and the Provençal warrior-poet Bertran de Born. Dante's contemporaries believed Mahomet to have been originally not only a Christian, but a cardinal and an aspirant to the papacy. The poet, then, was justified in regarding him and his son-in-law Ali as the leaders of a great schism in the Christian Church. The tribune Curio, banished from Rome, fled to Cæsar, who was hesitating on the bank of the Rubicon, and 'sunk the doubt' within him by urging him to march on the capital. The event is narrated by Lucan in Pharsalia, I, 266 ff. He now wishes he had never seen Rimini, near which town the Rubicon empties into the Adriatic. In 1215 a Buondelmonte, who was betrothed to a lady of the Amidei family, was induced to jilt her and appear on his weddingday with a bride from the house of the Donati. The Amidei came together to discuss the best way to avenge this affront. Some advised inflicting on Buondelmonte a beating or a wound in the face. Mosca, however, affirmed that such an attack would result in more harm to the aggressors than to the victim. 'Cosa fatta capo ha,' he declared- 'a thing once done has an end': if we do him a hurt, let it be a final one. The Amidei followed his counsel and murdered the offender. Hence arose the feud between the families and, according to local tradition, the first conflict between Guelfs and Ghibellines in Florence. The Lamberti, to whom Mosca belonged, were afterwards banished from the city and never allowed to return. Bertran de Born was a Provençal poet of the latter part of the 12th century. To further his private ends, he took advantage of the disputes and wars of Henry II of England and his two elder sons, Henry and Richard, who had extensive possessions in south ern France. According to his old Provençal biography, which considerably exaggerates his political importance, Bertran was active in fomenting their quarrels, and formed a close friendship with the younger Henry. This prince was crowned in his father's lifetime, and was consequently known as 'the young English king.' His early death in 1283 was mourned by Bertran in verse that gained wide renown. Chi poria mai pur con parole sciolte Dicer del sangue e delle piaghe appieno, Per lo nostro sermone e per la mente, Come Livïo scrive, che non erra; Con quella che sentì di colpi doglie 1. Con parole sciolte: in prose. 2. Appieno, 'in full.’ 3. Per narrar, 'though he should narrate.' 4. Verria meno, 'would fall short.' 5 игре 5. Per, 'by reason of.' Sermone, 'speech': cf. XIII, 21. Mente, 'memory': cf. II, 6. 6. Comprender, 'hold.' Seno, 'hollow,' i. e., capacity. 7. The ei is redundant: it anticipates the real subject, gente. In this involved passage, s' adunasse is to be connected with quella (gente) in l. 13 and l'altra (gente) in 1. 15. The conclusion is reached in ll. 20-1. 8. Fortunata, 'stormy.' 9. The name Apulia was often given to all the continental part of the Kingdom of Naples. 10. Per li Troiani, 'on account of the Trojans,' i. e., the Romans, whose ancestors came from Troy: the allusion is to the conquest of the Samnites by the Romans, perhaps also to the defeat of Pyrrhus. The 'long war' is the Second Punic War, led by Hannibal against Rome. II. It was said that after the battle of Cannæ Hannibal's troops took from the dead Romans more than three bushels of rings -or (the 'unerring Livy' adds, XXXIII, 12), according to a report nearer the truth, about one bushel. Cf. Conv., IV, v, 164–71. — Anella, plural of anello. Per contrastare a, Roberto Guiscardo ; E l'altra, il cui ossame ancor s'accoglie Ciascun Pugliese, e là da Tagliacozzo Ove senz' arme vinse il vecchio Alardo : Mostrasse, da equar sarebbe nulla Al modo della nona bolgia sòzzo. I car Tra le gambe pendevan le minugia; faile pareva, e il tristo sacco 15 20 25 Che merda fa di quel che si trangugia.uzd Mentre che tutto in lui veder m' attacco, Guardommi, e con le man s' aperse il petto,' 14. Per contrastare, 'through opposing' Robert Guiscard, the Norman conqueror who overran southern Italy in the 11th century, and became Duke of Apulia. 15. Those slain in the battle of Benevento, in 1266, where Manfred, son of Frederick II, was defeated by Charles of Anjou, and killed. In reality there was no fight at Ceprano; the first encounter was at S. Germano. Dante apparently followed, with several chroniclers, a false report. Some of the Apulian barons were faithless at Benevento; but the Apulian reputation for inconstancy antedates the battle. 17. Da, 'by.' At Tagliacozzo, in 1268, the Imperial forces were again defeated by Charles of Anjou, and Conradin, nephew of Manfred and grandson of Frederick, was captured. The victory was due to the stategy of an elderly French General, Érard de Valéry; he won by his wit rather than by his sword. 19. Qual... qual, 'one trasse. Mozzo, 'severed.' another.' Membro is the object of mos 20. Equar, 'compare.' Cf. Æn., II, 362. 22. Veggia, 'cask.' Mezzul, 'mid-board': the middle one of the three pieces that compose the bottom of a cask. Lulla (half-moon), 'side-piece.' 23. The construction is made clear by transposing the two halves of this line. 24. Cleft from chin to anus. 25. Minugia, 'entrails.' 26. Corata, 'pluck.' Sacco: the stomach. 27. Si trangugia, 'is swallowed.' |