THE DIVINE COMEDY: Inferno, Purgatorio & Paradiso (3 Classic Translations in One Edition). Dante Alighieri. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Dante Alighieri
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isbn: 9788027233335
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to shore?"—

       "It was the friar Gomita," he rejoin'd,

       "He of Gallura, vessel of all guile,

       Who had his master's enemies in hand,

       And us'd them so that they commend him well.

       Money he took, and them at large dismiss'd.

       So he reports: and in each other charge

       Committed to his keeping, play'd the part

       Of barterer to the height: with him doth herd

       The chief of Logodoro, Michel Zanche.

       Sardinia is a theme, whereof their tongue

       Is never weary. Out! alas! behold

       That other, how he grins! More would I say,

       But tremble lest he mean to maul me sore."

       Their captain then to Farfarello turning,

       Who roll'd his moony eyes in act to strike,

       Rebuk'd him thus: "Off! cursed bird! Avaunt!"—

       "If ye desire to see or hear," he thus

       Quaking with dread resum'd, "or Tuscan spirits

       Or Lombard, I will cause them to appear.

       Meantime let these ill talons bate their fury,

       So that no vengeance they may fear from them,

       And I, remaining in this self-same place,

       Will for myself but one, make sev'n appear,

       When my shrill whistle shall be heard; for so

       Our custom is to call each other up."

       Cagnazzo at that word deriding grinn'd,

       Then wagg'd the head and spake: "Hear his device,

       Mischievous as he is, to plunge him down."

       Whereto he thus, who fail'd not in rich store

       Of nice-wove toils; "Mischief forsooth extreme,

       Meant only to procure myself more woe!"

       No longer Alichino then refrain'd,

       But thus, the rest gainsaying, him bespake:

       "If thou do cast thee down, I not on foot

       Will chase thee, but above the pitch will beat

       My plumes. Quit we the vantage ground, and let

       The bank be as a shield, that we may see

       If singly thou prevail against us all."

       Now, reader, of new sport expect to hear!

       They each one turn'd his eyes to the' other shore,

       He first, who was the hardest to persuade.

       The spirit of Navarre chose well his time,

       Planted his feet on land, and at one leap

       Escaping disappointed their resolve.

       Them quick resentment stung, but him the most,

       Who was the cause of failure; in pursuit

       He therefore sped, exclaiming: "Thou art caught."

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       But little it avail'd: terror outstripp'd

       His following flight: the other plung'd beneath,

       And he with upward pinion rais'd his breast:

       E'en thus the water-fowl, when she perceives

       The falcon near, dives instant down, while he

       Enrag'd and spent retires. That mockery

       In Calcabrina fury stirr'd, who flew

       After him, with desire of strife inflam'd;

       And, for the barterer had 'scap'd, so turn'd

       His talons on his comrade. O'er the dyke

       In grapple close they join'd; but the' other prov'd

       A goshawk able to rend well his foe;

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       And in the boiling lake both fell. The heat

       Was umpire soon between them, but in vain

       To lift themselves they strove, so fast were glued

       Their pennons. Barbariccia, as the rest,

       That chance lamenting, four in flight dispatch'd

       From the' other coast, with all their weapons arm'd.

       They, to their post on each side speedily

       Descending, stretch'd their hooks toward the fiends,

       Who flounder'd, inly burning from their scars:

       And we departing left them to that broil.

       IN silence and in solitude we went,

       One first, the other following his steps,

       As minor friars journeying on their road.

       The present fray had turn'd my thoughts to muse

       Upon old Aesop's fable, where he told

       What fate unto the mouse and frog befell.

       For language hath not sounds more like in sense,

       Than are these chances, if the origin

       And end of each be heedfully compar'd.

       And as one thought bursts from another forth,

       So afterward from that another sprang,

       Which added doubly to my former fear.

       For thus I reason'd: "These through us have been

       So foil'd, with loss and mock'ry so complete,

       As needs must sting them sore. If anger then

       Be to their evil will conjoin'd, more fell

       They shall pursue us, than the savage hound

       Snatches the leveret, panting 'twixt his jaws."

       Already I perceiv'd my hair stand all

       On end with terror, and look'd eager back.

       "Teacher," I thus began, "if speedily

       Thyself and me thou hide not, much I dread

       Those evil talons. Even now behind

       They urge us: quick imagination works

       So forcibly, that I already feel them."

       He answer'd: "Were I form'd of leaded glass,

       I should not sooner draw unto myself

       Thy outward image, than I now imprint

       That from within. This moment came thy thoughts

       Presented before mine, with similar act

       And count'nance similar, so that from both

       I one design have fram'd. If the right coast

       Incline so much, that we may thence descend

       Into the other chasm, we shall escape

       Secure from this imagined pursuit."

       He had not spoke his purpose to the