rewooded." As at the announcement of grievous ills, the face of
him who listens is disturbed, from whatsoever side the danger may
assail him, so I saw the other soul, that was turned to hear,
become disturbed and sad, when it had gathered to itself the
words.

[1] Fulcieri da Calvoli, so named by Villani (viii. 69), "a
fierce and cruel man," was made podesta of Florence in 1302. He
put to death many of the White Guelphs, and banished more of
them.

[2] Bribed by the opposite party.

[3] Florence, spoiled and undone.


The speech of one and the look of the other made me wishful to
know their names, and I made request for it, mixed with prayers.
Wherefore the spirit which first had spoken to me began again,
"Thou wishest that I abase myself in doing that for thee which
thou wilt not do for me; but since God wills that such great
grace of His shine through in thee, I will not be chary to thee;
therefore know that I am Guido del Duca. My blood was so inflamed
with envy, that had I seen a man becoming joyful, thou wouldst
have seen me overspread with livid hue. Of my sowing I reap this
straw. O human race, why dost thou set thy heart there where is
need of exclusion of companionship?

"This one is Rinier; this is the glory and the honor of the house
of Calboli,[1] where no one since has made himself heir of his
worth. And between the Po and the mountain,[2] and the sea[3] and
the Reno,[4] not his blood alone has become stripped of the good
required for truth and for delight; for within these limits the
ground is so full of poisonous stocks, that slowly would they now
die out through cultivation. Where is the good Lizio, and Arrigo
Manardi, Pier Traversaro, and Guido di Carpigna? O men of Romagna
turned to bastards! When in Bologna will a Fabbro take root
again? When in Faenza a Bernardin di Fosco, the noble scion of a
mean plant? Marvel not, Tuscan, if I weep, when I remember with
Guido da Prata, Ugolin d' Azzo who lived with us, Federico
Tignoso and his company, the house of Traversara, and the
Anastagi, (both the one race and the other is without heir), the
ladies and the cavaliers, the toils and the pleasures for which
love and courtesy inspired our will, there where hearts have
become so wicked. O Brettinoro! why dost thou not flee away,
since thy family hath gone, and many people, in order not to be
guilty? Well doth Bagnacaval that gets no more sons; and ill doth
Castrocaro, and worse Conio that takes most trouble to beget such
counts. Well will the Pagani do when their Demon shall go from
them;[6] yet not so that a pure report of them can ever remain. O
Ugolin de' Fantolin! thy name is secure, since one who,
degenerating, can make it dark is no longer awaited. But go thy
way, Tuscan, now; for now it pleases me far more to weep than to
speak, so much hath our discourse wrung my mind."

[1] A noble Guelph family of Forli.

[2] The Apennines.

[3] The Adriatic.

[4] Near Bologna.

[5] These and the others named afterwards were well-born,
honorable, and courteous men in Romagna in the thirteenth
century. What is known of them may be found in Benvenuto da
Imola's comment, and in that of Scartazzini.

[6] The Pagani were lords of Faenza and Imola (see Hell, Canto
XXVII); the Demon was Mainardo, who died in 1302.


We knew that those dear souls heard us go; therefore by silence
they made us confident of the road. After we had become alone by
going on, a voice that seemed like lightning when it cleaves the
air, came counter to us, saying, "Everyone that findeth me shall
slay me," [1] and fled like thunder which rolls away, if suddenly
the cloud is rent. Soon as our hearing had a truce from it, lo!
now another with so great a crash that it resembled thunderings
in swift succession: "I am Aglauros who became a stone."[2] And
then to draw me close to the Poet, I backward and not forward
took a step. Now was the air quiet on every side, and he said to
me, "That was the hard curb[3] which ought to hold man within his
bound; but ye take the bait, so that the hook of the old
adversary draws you to him, and therefore little avails bridle or
lure. Heaven calls you, and around you circles, displaying to you
its eternal beauties, and your eye looks only on the ground;
wherefore He who discerns everything scourges you.

[1] The words of Cain--Genesis, iv. 14.

[2] Daughter of Cecrops, changed to stone because of envy of her
sister.

[3] These examples of the fatal consequences of the sin.



CANTO XV. Second Ledge: the Envious.--An Angel removes the second
P from Dante's forehead.--Discourse concerning the Sharing of


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