THE DIVINE COMEDY: Inferno, Purgatorio & Paradiso (3 Classic Translations in One Edition). Dante Alighieri
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СКАЧАТЬ have arriv'd.

       Sithence the place, where I am set to live,

       Is, day by day, more scoop'd of all its good,

       And dismal ruin seems to threaten it."

       "Go now," he cried: "lo! he, whose guilt is most,

       Passes before my vision, dragg'd at heels

       Of an infuriate beast. Toward the vale,

       Where guilt hath no redemption, on it speeds,

       Each step increasing swiftness on the last;

       Until a blow it strikes, that leaveth him

       A corse most vilely shatter'd. No long space

       Those wheels have yet to roll" (therewith his eyes

       Look'd up to heav'n) "ere thou shalt plainly see

       That which my words may not more plainly tell.

       I quit thee: time is precious here: I lose

       Too much, thus measuring my pace with shine."

       As from a troop of well-rank'd chivalry

       One knight, more enterprising than the rest,

       Pricks forth at gallop, eager to display

       His prowess in the first encounter prov'd

       So parted he from us with lengthen'd strides,

       And left me on the way with those twain spirits,

       Who were such mighty marshals of the world.

       When he beyond us had so fled mine eyes

       No nearer reach'd him, than my thought his words,

       The branches of another fruit, thick hung,

       And blooming fresh, appear'd. E'en as our steps

       Turn'd thither, not far off it rose to view.

       Beneath it were a multitude, that rais'd

       Their hands, and shouted forth I know not What

       Unto the boughs; like greedy and fond brats,

       That beg, and answer none obtain from him,

       Of whom they beg; but more to draw them on,

       He at arm's length the object of their wish

       Above them holds aloft, and hides it not.

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       At length, as undeceiv'd they went their way:

       And we approach the tree, who vows and tears

       Sue to in vain, the mighty tree. "Pass on,

       And come not near. Stands higher up the wood,

       Whereof Eve tasted, and from it was ta'en

       'this plant." Such sounds from midst the thickets came.

       Whence I, with either bard, close to the side

       That rose, pass'd forth beyond. "Remember," next

       We heard, "those noblest creatures of the clouds,

       How they their twofold bosoms overgorg'd

       Oppos'd in fight to Theseus: call to mind

       The Hebrews, how effeminate they stoop'd

       To ease their thirst; whence Gideon's ranks were thinn'd,

       As he to Midian march'd adown the hills."

       Thus near one border coasting, still we heard

       The sins of gluttony, with woe erewhile

       Reguerdon'd. Then along the lonely path,

       Once more at large, full thousand paces on

       We travel'd, each contemplative and mute.

       "Why pensive journey thus ye three alone?"

       Thus suddenly a voice exclaim'd: whereat

       I shook, as doth a scar'd and paltry beast;

       Then rais'd my head to look from whence it came.

       Was ne'er, in furnace, glass, or metal seen

       So bright and glowing red, as was the shape

       I now beheld. "If ye desire to mount,"

       He cried, "here must ye turn. This way he goes,

       Who goes in quest of peace." His countenance

       Had dazzled me; and to my guides I fac'd

       Backward, like one who walks, as sound directs.

       As when, to harbinger the dawn, springs up

       On freshen'd wing the air of May, and breathes

       Of fragrance, all impregn'd with herb and flowers,

       E'en such a wind I felt upon my front

       Blow gently, and the moving of a wing

       Perceiv'd, that moving shed ambrosial smell;

       And then a voice: "Blessed are they, whom grace

       Doth so illume, that appetite in them

       Exhaleth no inordinate desire,

       Still hung'ring as the rule of temperance wills."

       It was an hour, when he who climbs, had need

       To walk uncrippled: for the sun had now

       To Taurus the meridian circle left,

       And to the Scorpion left the night. As one

       That makes no pause, but presses on his road,

       Whate'er betide him, if some urgent need

       Impel: so enter'd we upon our way,

       One before other; for, but singly, none

       That steep and narrow scale admits to climb.

       E'en as the young stork lifteth up his wing

       Through СКАЧАТЬ