James Finn Cotter (bản dịch tiếng Anh)

I had by now parted from these shadows
         And was following in the footsteps of my guide
         When one behind me pointing his finger
 
         Cried, "See, the light does not appear to shine
5         Upon the left side of the lower climber,
         And he seems to act as if he were alive!"
 
         At the sound of these words I turned my eyes,
         And I saw those shades stare at me in wonder,
         Only at me and at the broken light.
 
10       "Why is your mind in such entanglement
         You slacken off your walk?" my master asked,
         "Why do you care what they may whisper here?
 
         "Come after me and let the people chatter.
         Stand steadfast as a tower whose great height
15       Never shakes when struck by gusts of wind:
 
         "For people always who let thought spring up
         On thought fall ever farther from their goal,
         Since one thought saps the strength out of another."
 
         What else could I respond except "I come"?
20       I said it, my face coloring a little,
         As sometimes makes a man deserve forgiveness.
 
         And meantime all across the mountainside
         Came people slightly ahead of us, singing
         The Miserere, verse answering to verse.
 
25       When they had noticed that the rays of light
         Did not pass through my body, they soon changed
         Their chant into a hoarse and drawn-out "Oh!"
 
         And two of them, in roles of messengers,
         Raced up toward us to tender this request:
30       "We’d like to know about your present state."
 
         And my master replied, "You can return
         And report back to those who sent you here
         That this man’s body is in fact his flesh.
 
         "If they halted at the sight of his shadow,
35       As I suppose, that answer is enough:
         Let them honor him that they may benefit."
 
         I never saw meteors cut so swiftly
         Through the limpid sky at early nighttime
         Or lightning flash through August clouds at sunset
 
40       As swiftly as these shades turned back uphill
         And once there with the others veered around
         Toward us like cavalry charging with free rein.
 
         "These people pressing on us now are numerous,
         And they approach with prayer," the poet said,
45       "Be on your way, and listen as you walk!"
 
         "O soul, who move ahead to be made blessed
         In the same limbs you had when you were born,"
         They came crying, "a short while stay your steps!
 
         "Look if you ever have seen one of us
50       That you may carry news of him back there.
         Ah, why press on? Ah, why not stop right here?
 
         "All of us shades met with a violent death
         And remained sinners up to our last hour.
         The light of heaven then had so forewarned us
 
55       "That we, by true repenting and forgiving,
         Came out of our life, our peace made with the God
         Who fills our hearts with longing to see him."
 
         And I said, "Even though I search your faces,
         I recognize none of you, but if I now
60       In any way can please you, bliss-born souls,
 
         "Tell me and I will do it, by that peace
         Which I, in the steps of so good a guide,
         Am here made to pursue from world to world."
 
         And one began, "Each one of us has trust
65       In your benefices without your oaths,
         As long as no self-weakness thwarts your will.
 
         "So I, who speak alone before the rest,
         Pray you, if ever you look on that country
         Which lies between Romagna and Charles’ land,
 
70       "That you be gracious to me with your prayers
         In Fano, where devotions be made for me
         So that I here can purge my serious sins.
 
         "I came from there, but then the deep-gashed wounds
         From which flowed out the blood that gave me life
75       Were dealt me at the lap of the Antenors,
 
         "In the place where I thought I was most safe:
         Azzo of Este had it done, in anger
         Against me far beyond what justice called for.
 
         "If I had fled instead toward La Mira
80       When I was ambushed at Oriaco,
         I should still be there where men breathe the air.
 
         "I ran into the marsh, and reeds and mud
         So tangled me up I fell, and there I watched
         A pool from my veins spill into the soil."
 
85       Then said another, "Ah, so may that longing
         That draws you up the mountain be fulfilled,
         From kind compassion lend aid to my longing.
 
         "I am Buonconte once of Montefeltro.
         Giovanna and the others care not for me,
90       So I trudge with these souls, my brow bowed low."
 
         And I then asked him, "What force or what chance
         Led you so far astray from Campaldino
         That your gravesite, till now, remains unknown?"
 
         "Oh!" he replied, "below the Casentino,
95       A stream, called the Archiano, crosses
         From above the hermitage in the Apennines.
 
         "There, where its name then changes to the Arno,
         I came with my throat cut wide open, fleeing
         On foot and dripping blood upon the valley.
 
100      "There I lost my sight and then my speech:
         I ended with the name of Mary, and there
         I fell, and my flesh lay there all alone.
 
         "I’ll tell the truth — retell it to the living.
         God’s angel took me up and hell’s cried out,
105     ‘O you from heaven, why must you steal from me?
 
         " ‘His immortal part you haul off with you
         For one tiny tear which tears him from me,
         But I’ve made other plans for what remains!’
 
        "You know how in the atmosphere damp vapor
110      Condenses and turns once more into water
         As soon as it floats up to where cold strikes it:
 
         "Bad will that only plots bad deeds he added
         To intellect, and stirred the mist and wind
         By the power which his fiendish nature gave him.
 
115      "Then, when day was spent, he filled the valley
         From Pratomagno to the mountain range
         With clouds, and he so charged the sky aloft
 
         "That the overburdened air changed into water:
         The rains fell, and into the gullies flushed
120      Whatever the ground refused to sop back up,
 
         "And gathering together in huge torrents,
         They rushed head-onward toward the royal river
         So rapidly that nothing blocked their course.
 
         "The raging Archiano found my body
125      Frozen near its mouth and swept it on
         Into the Arno and unclenched the cross
 
         "Which on my breast I’d formed when pain felled me.
         Along its bed and on its bank it rolled me
         And then swaddled and wound me in its spoils."
 
130      "Pray, when you are come back into the world
         And are well rested from your lengthy journey,"
         A third spirit followed up the second,
 
         "Remember me, I who am La Pia.
         Siena made — Maremma unmade me —
135      As he knows well who plighted me his troth
 
         "And sealed the contract with his jeweled ring."

When the stress of pleasure or of pain,
         Which any of our senses apprehends,
         So concentrates the soul on that one sense
 
         That it is heedless of its other powers —
5         And this refutes the error which asserts
         One soul above another kindles in us —
 
         Then, when anything is heard or seen
         Which keeps the soul steadily drawn to it,
         Time passes on and we are unaware,
 
10       Because the sense perceiving time is other
         Than the one controlling the whole soul:
         The second is bound while the first is free.
 
         I had a real experience of this truth,
         Listening to that spirit and marveling,
15       For the sun had climbed fifty full degrees
 
         Without my noticing it, when we arrived
         There at a place where those souls called to us
         In unison, "Here, this is what you seek!"
 
         Often a peasant shuts a wider opening
20       In his hedges with a little forkful
         Of thorns, when his grapes grow dark and ripe,
 
         Than was the gap through which my leader climbed
         With me behind him, the two of us alone,
         While that flock was departing from us there.
 
25       Walk up San Leo or trek down to Noli,
         Mount to the summit of Bismantova,
         Still on two feet — but here a man must fly:
 
         I mean, fly with the rapid wings and feathers
         Of mighty longing, on behind that guide
30       Who brought me hope and who became my light.
 
         Upward we scaled inside the fissured rockface
         With walls on each side squeezed in close on us
         And hands and feet both needed for the stone.
 
         After we had reached the topmost rim
35       Of the high cliff, out on an open slope,
         "My master," I asked, "what way do we now take?"
 
         And he told me: "Make none of your steps downward,
         But up the mountain keep climbing after me
         Until some knowing guide appear to us."
 
40       The summit was so high I could not see it
         And the slope was much steeper than a line
         Drawn from mid-quadrant to a circle’s center.
 
         I was worn-out, when I began to moan,
         "O tender father, turn about and look:
45       I shall be left alone if you won’t pause!"
 
         "My son," he answered, "drag yourself up here,"
         And pointed to a ledge not much higher up
         Which circles the whole mountain on that side.
 
         His words so spurred me onwards that I forced
50       Myself to clamber up there after him
         Until the ledge was underneath my feet.
 
         We now sat down together on that spot,
         Facing the east from which we just had climbed,
         Since to gaze back that way often gives comfort.
 
55       I first turned my eyes to the shore below,
         Then raised them to the sun, and wondered
         How its rays shone on us from the left side.
 
         Sharply the poet noticed my amazement
         At seeing there the chariot of light
60       Begin its course between us and the north.
 
         So he said to me, "Were Castor and Pollux
         To keep close company with that bright mirror
         Which leads its light up and down the sky,
 
         "Then you would see the glowing Zodiac
65       Revolving even nearer to the Bears,
         Unless the sun should stray from its old path.
 
         "If you would understand how this can be,
         Then inwardly reflect: imagine Zion
         With this mountain so placed on the earth
 
70       "That they both share the same horizon but
         Two different hemispheres, so that the road
         Which Phaethon failed to drive on properly,
 
         "As you shall see, must pass around this mountain
         On one side and pass Zion on the other,
75       If your mind clearly comprehends this point."
 
         "Surely, my master," I said, "never before
         Have I seen so clearly as I now discern
         How defective was my understanding:
 
         "The middle circle of the heavenly motion,
80       Which in astronomy is called the Equator
         And which lies ever between summer and winter,
 
         "Is just as far away toward the north,
         For the reason that you give, as the Hebrews
         Used to see it toward the warmer climates.
 
85       "But if it please you, I should like to know
         How far we have to travel, for the hillside
         Leaps up higher than my eyes can reach."
 
         And he told me, "This mountain is such that
         Always at the start the climb is the hardest,
90       But the higher that one mounts the less one tires.
 
         "Therefore, when it seems to you so gentle
         That walking up is just as easy for you
         As riding down a river in a boat,
 
         "Then you will be at the end of this path:
95       There you can hope to rest from your fatigue.
         I say no more, but this I know is true."
 
         And after he had finished with these words,
         I heard a voice nearby cry out, "Perhaps
         Before then you will need to sit and rest!"
 
100      At that sound both of us then turned around,
         And we saw at our left a massive boulder
         Which neither of us had observed before.
 
         There we drew near, and up here there were people
         Tarrying in the shade behind the rock,
105      Like men spread out to loaf in idleness.
 
         And one of them, who looked to me all wayworn,
         Sat with his arms clasped fast around his knees,
         Bending his head down low between his legs.
 
         "O my sweet lord," I said, "fix your eyes sharply
110      On that one there who shows himself more lazy
         Than if slothfulness were his own sister!"
 
         Then he turned toward us to give us attention,
         Hardly raising his face above his legs,
         And said, "Then you go up if you’re so able!"
 
115      I knew then who he was, and that weariness
         Which still had left me short of breath did not
         Hinder me from walking to him, and when
 
         I came to him, he scarcely raised his head
         To say, "Have you really seen how the sun
120     Draws his chariot over your left shoulder?"
 
         His drowsy gestures and short-winded speech
         Moved my lips a little to a smile;
         Then I began, "Belacqua, I do not grieve
 
         "For you now; but tell me: what makes you sit
125      Here in this spot? Do you await an escort?
         Or have you simply slipped back to old ways?"
 
         And he: "O brother, why bother going up?
         God’s angel who is sitting at the gate
         Would not permit me to pass to the torments.
 
130      "First the heavens must revolve around me,
         With me outside them, as often as in life,
         Because I put off repenting to the end —
 
         "Unless there first comes to my aid a prayer
         Which rises from a heart that lives in grace:
135      What use are others if unheard in heaven?"
 
         By now the poet was bounding up before me,
         Calling back, "Come on now! See how the sun
         Touches the meridian, and on the shore
 
         "Night already sets foot on Morocco."

While sudden flight was scattering those shades
         Across the plain, twirling them toward the hilltop
         Where Justice and right reason probe the soul,
 
         I drew in closer to my true companion:
5         For how could I have run my course without him?
         Who would have led me up along the mountain?
 
         He looked as though heart-stricken with remorse.
         O pure and noble conscience! How sharp the sting
         A single trivial fault can give to you!
 
10       When he restrained his

The sun by now sank down to the horizon
         And the highest point of the meridian
         Circle arched above Jerusalem,
 
         And night, circling on the opposite side,
5         Rose out of the Ganges with the Scales
         Which topple from her hand when she grows longer,
 
         So, where I was, Aurora’s rose-white cheeks
         For all her beauty were turning golden-orange,
         As if they changed with ever increasing age.
 
10       We were there yet, alongside the sea’s margin,
         Like people who reflect about their route,
         Moving in mind and standing still in body.
 
         And look! just as Mars in the early dawn
         Burns with a deep red glow through heavy mists
15       Low in the west above the ocean’s surface,
 
         So appeared to me (may I see it again!)
         A light coming across the sea so fast
         Nothing in flight could match its rapid motion.
 
         When for a moment I’d withdrawn my eyes
20       From the light to ask my guide a question,
         Again I saw it grow in size and brightness.
 
         Then there appeared to me on each of its sides
         A whitish blur, and t

1         To race for safer waters, the small ship
         Of my poetic powers now hoists sail,
         Leaving in her wake that cruel sea.
 
         And I shall sing this second kingdom where
5         The human spirit purifies itself,
         Becoming fit to mount up into heaven.
 
         But let dead poetry here rise once more,
         O sacred Muses, since I am all your own,
         And let Calliope rise a step higher,
 
10       Accompanying my singing with that strain
         Which struck the wretched Magpies with such force
         That they despaired of ever finding pardon.
 
         Soft coloring of oriental sapphire,
         Collecting in the calm face of the sky,
15       Clear right up to the edge of the horizon,
 
         Brought back delight again into my eyes
         As soon as I stepped out from the dead air
         Which overburdened both my sight and breast.
 
        The beautiful, love-provoking planet
20       Was making the whole east break into smiles,
         Veiling the Fishes that follow in her train:
 
         I turned then to the right and fixed my mind
         On the other pole, and I saw there four stars
         Which, after the first people, none have seen.
 
25       The heavens seemed ecstatic in their flames.
         O widowed northern hemisphere, you are
         Deprived forever of wonder at their sight!
 
         When at last I left off gazing at them,
         Turning partially to the other pole
30       Where the Wain had already disappeared,
 
         I saw near me an aged man, alive,
         In bearing worthy of such reverence
         As no son ever would refuse his father.
 
         His beard was long and mixed with streaks of white,
35       Exactly like his hair which on both sides
         Fell in two tresses down upon his chest.
 
         Radiance from the four holy stars
         So suffused his countenance with light
         That I saw him as if he faced the sun.
 
40       "Who are you, running against the blind stream,
         Who have fled here from the eternal prison?"
         He asked, shaking his venerable locks.
 
         "Who guided you, or what was the lamp there
         That led you in escaping the deep night
45       Which keeps hell’s valley in unending blackness?
 
         "Are the laws of the abyss so shattered
         Or is some new design decreed in heaven
         That, although damned, you come here to my rocks?"
 
         At that my guide placed his hands upon me
50       And with words and gestures and other signs
         Made me bend my head and knees in reverence.
 
         Then he replied, "I come not on my own:
         A lady came from heaven — by her prayers
         I helped this man with my companionship.
 
55       "But since it is your wish that I unfold
         More about the truth of our condition,
         It is not my wish to deny your bidding.
 
         "This man has yet to see his final evening,
         But by his folly came so close to it
60       That not much time was left for him to turn.
 
         "As I just mentioned, I was sent to him
         For rescue, and there was no other way
         Than this on which I set myself to travel.
 
         "I have shown him all of the sinful people
65       And now I want to show him the spirits who
         Purge themselves beneath your supervision.
 
         "To tell you how I led him would take long:
         From up on high the power comes that helps me
         To guide him here to see and hear you now.
 
70       "Now be pleased to support his coming here.
         He goes in search of freedom, which is so dear,
         As he who gives his life for it would know.
 
         "You know, since death for its sake was not bitter
         To you in Utica, where you have doffed
75       The garment which on doomsday shall be bright.
 
         "We have not broken an eternal edict,
         Since he’s alive and Minos does not bind me:
         But I am of the ring where the chaste eyes
 
         "Of your Marcia gleam; her looks still pray you,
80       Oh holy breast, to hold her for your own.
         For love of her, then, bend to our request:
 
         "Permit us to pass through your seven realms.
         I will report your kindness back to her —
         If you allow such talk of you below."
 
85       "Marcia was so pleasing to my eyes
         While I lived there beyond," he then replied,
         "That every favor she wished of me, I did.
 
         "Now that she dwells across that stream of evil,
         She can no longer move me, by that law
90       Which was imposed when I emerged from there.
 
         "But if, as you say, a lady from heaven
         Moves and commands you, you need not flatter:
         It is enough you ask me for her sake.
 
         "Go then, and make sure that you cincture him
95       With a smooth reed and that you cleanse his face
         Until you have removed all trace of filth.
 
         "For it would not be fitting to go before
         The first angel there on guard from paradise
         With eyes still dulled by the thick murky mists.
 
100      "Around about the base of this small island,
         Below the place where waves beat on the shore,
         Rushes flourish in the soft wet mud.
 
         "No other plant that sprouts its leaves, or stalk
         That hardens, ever could thrive in such a spot
105      Because it would not bend to buffeting waves.
 
         "Then afterwards, do not come back this way.
         The sun, now rising, will point out to you
         An easier route for climbing up the mountain."
 
         With this he vanished. I lifted myself up
110     Without a word, drawing myself closer
         To my guide, and turned my eyes toward him,
 
         And he began, "Son, follow in my footsteps!
         Let us turn back, for the plain slopes downward
         In that direction to its lowest point."
 
115      The dawn was winning over the morning hour
         Which fled before it, so that, still far off,
         I recognized the trembling of the sea.
 
         We traveled along the solitary plain,
         Like a man turning to the road he’s lost
120     And, till he finds it, feels the walking useless.
 
         When we arrived at a meadow where the dew
         Outlasts the sun, since in the cooling shade
         The dew scarcely evaporates in the breeze,
 
         My master gently spread out both his hands
125     And pressed them on the grass. And I, at that,
         Comprehending what he here intended,
 
         Presented to his touch my tear-stained cheeks:
         Completely he revealed their rightful color
          Which hell had hidden underneath the grime.

130      Then we came down to the deserted shore
         Which never saw one man sail on its waters
         Who afterward resolved how to return.

         There, as another willed, he cinctured me.
         O wonderful! when he had picked the humble
135      Plant, the same one instantly sprang up

         Exactly at the spot he plucked it out.