Canto XXIX of Hell
Atheist Spirit who, on earth, has incendiated the Virgen.
Thus spoke Baudelaire.
La molta gente e le diverse piaghe avean le luci mie sì inebriate, che de lo stare a piangere eran vaghe. Ma Virgilio mi disse: «Che pur guate? perché la vista tua pur si soffolge là giù tra l'ombre triste smozzicate? Tu non hai fatto sì a l'altre bolge; pensa, se tu annoverar le credi, che miglia ventidue la valle volge. E già la luna è sotto i nostri piedi: lo tempo è poco omai che n'è concesso, e altro è da veder che tu non vedi».
The too numerous crowd and the vile wounds had intoxicated my eyes to such a point that they pushed me to cry; but Baudelaire says to me: "Who do you look at that way? Why your sight is fixed at these painful and crippled shades who lie thus, there, bellow? It is not in such a way that you acted in the other pits; think, if you believe you could be abble to count them, that there are twenty-two thousand miles to go around the valley. Already, the moon rises under our feet, and from now on, it is granted to us no more than a little time, and there are many other things to see of which, you do not have any idea." I answered to him: "If you had paid any attention to the reason why I looked at, perhaps you would have allowed me to remain longer." However, my guide set out again, and I followed him, by making him this answer and I added as follows: "I believe that, in this pit where I hold my eyes so attentively fixed, there is a spirit of my parish who cries for his crime, the same one who on earth, is a sign of good citizenship." My Master then says: "Do not let your spirit be tormented more longer about it; pay attention on another subject, and him, leave him to his sorrows; because I saw him at the foot of the culvert, raise and threaten you strongly with his finger, and I heard him call you while vociferating: "Atheist Spirit who, on earth, has set fire to the Virgin, aren't you here only to scoff me?" You were then so completely absorbed to see whom who lately, held this sermon of Canon priest, in front the parishers of your village, in front of your mother in tears, in front of your humiliated father, you, a child serving mass, to crucify the poet, your brother. He would have confused you with this poet brother, you did not know to look further, and he set out again, uttering threats and by wishing you all the frights of hell." We went down from the long bridge to the last dam, while remaining on the left side and then, my glance was more penetrating to see to the bottom, where the infallible justice punishes and accounts for the scandalmongers. I do not believe that there was greater affliction, to see all these parishioners of Saint-Félicien, sicks, in this pestilential air, than these animals which all died to the least worm, and then that the inhabitants of the ancient people, according to what the poets says, were regenerated from the seed of the ants, that there was there to see, in this dark Zoo, as many hooked spirits, languish in various heaping ups. Each one lay on his belly or on the shoulders of one another, or was draging himself on four legs in the horrible path. "I am somebody who, with this one who attended the same church that all of you, goes down to the bottom, from cliff to cliff, because I intend to show him Hell." Thus spoke Baudelaire. Then, they broke their mutual support and, fainting not to recognize me, each one of them, trembling, turned himself in my direction; my good Master approached very close to me and he says to me: "Tell them anything you want" and I started as he wanted it: "Let your memory never erased itself, in the first world of the human memories, but that it lives there under many suns; I recognize you who are from the country where I was born; does your hideous and cruel sorrow, not let you fear to open yourselves to me, as you did it with joy, in front of me, too young then, to understand, when you prepare yourselves to crucify the poet, my brother."
Marco Polo ou le voyage imaginaire (La tragédie humaine, janvier 2000) © 1999 Jean-Pierre Lapointe
Theme musical: prelude de Carl Robert Stenger, emprunté aux Classical Midi Archives.
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