The Portable Dante (44 page)

The same amount of time it takes that sphere (which, like a child at play, is never still) to go from break of day to the third hour,

was left now for the sun to run its course toward night: mid-afternoon it was up there (and midnight here, where I am writing this).

Now, its late rays struck full upon our faces, for we had gone so far around the mount that we were walking due west toward the sun.

But suddenly I felt my brow forced down by light far brighter than I sensed before; my mind was stunned by what it did not know.

I placed both of my hands above my eyes and used them as a visor for my face to temper the intensity of light.

A ray leaps back from water or from glass, reflecting back the other way as it ascends in the same way it first came down,

forming an angle with the plummet-line exactly equal to the incidence—as theory and experiment both show;

in just this way it seemed I had been struck by light reflected just in front of me: and that is why I quickly looked aside.

“Dear father, what is this? There is no way for me to shield my eyes from such bright light; it’s moving toward us, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Don’t be surprised if you can still be dazed by members of the Heavenly Court, ” he said. “This is our invitation to ascend.

Not long from now, a sight like this will prove to be no burden, but a joy as great as Nature has prepared your soul to feel. ”

Before the blessed angel now we stood. He joyfully announced: “Enter this way to stairs less steep by far than those below. ”

Past him we went, already climbing when
Beati ntisericordes
from behind came ringing, and “Conqueror, rejoice. ”

And while my guide and I in solitude were moving upward, I, hoping to learn from his wise words with every step we took,

turned toward him and began to question him: “What did that spirit from Romagna mean who spoke of ‘partnership’ and of ‘denial’?”

“Knowing the price he pays for his worst fault, ” he answered, “naturally he censures it, hoping that others will have less to bear.

Because you make things of this world your goal, which are diminished as each shares in them, Envy pumps hard the bellows for your sighs.

But if your love were for the lofty sphere, your cravings would aspire for the heights, and fear of loss would not oppress your heart;

the more there are up there who speak of ‘ours, ’ the more each one possesses and the more Charity burns intensely in that realm. ”

“I hunger more for satisfaction now, ” I said, “than when I held my tongue before, and new perplexities come to my mind.

How can one good that’s shared by many souls make all those who possess it wealthier than if it were possessed by just a few?”

And he: “Since you insist on limiting your mind to thoughts of worldly things alone, from the true light you reap only the dark.

That infinite, ineffable true Good that dwells in Heaven speeds instantly to love, as light rays to a shining surface would;

just as much ardor as it finds, it gives: the greater the proportion of our love, the more eternal goodness we receive;

the more souls there above who are in love the more there are worth loving; love grows more, each soul a mirror mutually mirroring.

And if my words have not appeased your thirst, when you see Beatrice you will see all of your longings truly satisfied.

Strive hard for the quick disappearance now of the five wounds that suffering will heal, just as the other two have left no trace. ”

I was about to say “I’m satisfied, ” but seeing that we had reached the next round, my eager eyes forgot about my tongue.

And, there, it seemed to me that suddenly I was caught up in an ecstatic trance: a temple filled with people I could see;

a lady at the entrance whispering, tenderly as a mother would, “My son, why hast Thou dealt with us this way? You see,

Thy father and I, both of us in tears, have searched for Thee. ” Silence. The vision then, quick to appear, as quickly disappeared.

And then, another lady I could see: her cheeks were streaked with tears distilled by grief— a grief born from the spirit of revenge.

She spoke: “If you are master of this town whose naming caused such strife among the gods, and which shines as the source of all the arts,

take vengeance on those wanton arms that dared embrace our daughter, O Pisistratus!” And then, it seemed, that lord replied to her,

his face serene, his words gentle and calm: “What shall we do to those who wish us harm if we condemn the ones who show us love?”

And then I saw a mob, raging with hate, stoning a boy to death, as all of them kept screaming to each other, “Kill him, kill!”

I saw him sinking slowly to his knees, the weight of death forcing him to the earth; but still his eyes were open gates to Heaven,

while he, in agony, prayed to his Lord for the forgiveness of his murderers, his face showing compassion for them all.

When finally my soul became aware of the reality that lay beyond, I recognized my error and its truth.

My leader, who saw I was in the plight of someone trying hard to wake from sleep, said: “What is wrong? Have you lost all control?

You have been walking for a good half-league like someone half-asleep or drunk on wine: your eyes about to close, unsteady legs. ”

“O my sweet father, listen: I will tell you all of the things that did appear to me while I could scarcely move my legs, ” I said.

And he: “Were you to put a hundred masks upon your face, still you could never hide from me the slightest thought that comes to you.

The things you saw were shown that you might learn to let your heart be flooded by the peace that flows eternally from that High Fount.

I did not ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ as one who looks with eyes that have no gift of insight might, eyes doomed to blindness once the body dies;

106-114. The third example of Meekness is from the life of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Stephen was stoned to death by an angry crowd, but, even in his final agony, he asked the Lord to forgive his persecutors (Acts 7:54-60).
I asked you this to give strength to your limbs; so must the lazy man be spurred to put the time of his reawakening to best use. ”

We walked along, with evening coming on, into the splendor of the setting sun, looking ahead as far as we could see.

Then gradually a cloud of smoke took shape; slowly it drifted toward us, dark as night; we were not able to escape its grip:

it took away our sight, and the pure air.

The gloom of Hell or of a night bereft of all its planets, under barren skies, and totally obscured by dark, dense clouds,

never had wrapped my face within a veil so thick, made of such harsh and stinging stuff, as was that smoke that poured around us there.

It was too much for open eyes to bear, and so my wise and faithful guide drew near, offering me his shoulder for support.

Just as the blind man walks close to his guide in order not to stray, or to collide with something that could hurt or even kill him,

so I moved through that foul and acrid air, hearing my guide keep telling me: “Watch out! Be very careful not to lose me here. ”

I could hear voices, which all seemed to pray the Lamb of God Who takes away our sins that He be merciful and grant them peace.

Each prayer they sang began with
Agnus Dei;
the same words, sung in unison, produced an atmosphere of perfect harmony.

“Master, those voices—are they shades I hear?” I asked. And he to me, “Yes, you are right, and they are loosening the knot of Wrath. ”

“And who are you whose body cleaves our smoke? You speak of us as though you still belonged with those who measure time by calendars. ”

I heard a voice, somewhere, that spoke these words. My master said: “Answer his question, first, then ask him if this is the right way up. ”

And I: “O creature, you who cleanse your soul to give it back, made beautiful, to God, you will hear wonders if you come with me. ”

“I’ll come as far as I’m allowed, ” he said, “and if we cannot see each other’s face, we can at least hear one another’s words. ”

Then I began: “Still wrapped in mortal bonds that death has yet to loose, I climb to Heaven; and through the pains of Hell I have come here.

19.
“Agnus Dei”
(“Lamb of God”) is a prayer opener taken from the canon of the Mass. It is significant that the Wrathful are singing to the
Lamb of God,
to Jesus, the meek One.
Since God has given me the special grace of His desire that I should see His court by means unknown to men of our own day,

please tell me who you were before you died, and tell me, too: is this the way to reach the passage up? Your words shall be our guide. ”

“I was a Lombard, Marco was my name; I knew about the world, I loved that good at which men now no longer aim their bows.

The path you’re on will lead you to the stairs. ” Thus he replied, then added: “Now, I pray that you will pray for me when you’re above. ”

“I promise you to do what you have asked, ” I said. “But there’s a problem haunting me: I can no longer keep it to myself.

I first was made aware of it below, and now it plagues my mind a second time, for your words second what I first heard there:

the world, indeed, as you have just declared, is destitute of every virtue known, swarming with evils, ever breeding more.

What is the cause of this? Please make it clear that I may teach the truth to other men; some see it in the stars, some on the earth. ”

A deep sigh, wrung by grief into “Alas!” came first, and then: “The world, brother, is blind, and obviously the world is where you’re from!”

You men on earth attribute everything to the spheres’ influence alone, as if with some predestined plan they moved all things.

If this were true, then our Free Will would be annihilated: it would not be just to render bliss for good or pain for evil.

The spheres initiate your tendencies: not all of them—but even if they did, you have the light that shows you right from wrong,

and your Free Will, which, though it may grow faint in its first struggles with the heavens, can still surmount all obstacles if nurtured well.

You are free subjects of a greater power, a nobler nature that creates your mind, and over this the spheres have no control.

So, if the world today has gone astray, the cause lies in yourselves and only there! Now I shall carefully explain that cause.

From the fond hands of God, Who loves her even before He gives her being, there issues forth just like a child, all smiles and tears at play,

the simple soul, pure in its ignorance, which, having sprung from her Creator’s joy, will turn to anything it likes. At first

she is attracted to a trivial toy, and though beguiled, she will run after it, if guide or curb do not divert her love.

Men, therefore, needed the restraint of laws, needed a ruler able to at least discern the towers of the True city. True,

the laws there are, but who enforces them? No one. The shepherd who is leading you can chew the cud but lacks the cloven hoof.

And so the flock, that see their shepherd’s greed for the same worldly goods that they have craved, are quite content to feed on what he feeds.

As you can see, bad leadership has caused the present state of evil in the world, not Nature that has grown corrupt in you.

On Rome, that brought the world to know the good, once shone two suns that lighted up two ways: the road of this world and the road of God.

The one sun has put out the other’s light; the sword is now one with the crook—and fused together thus, must bring about misrule,

since joined, now neither fears the other one. If you still doubt, think of the grain when ripe— each plant is judged according to its seed.

The region of the Po and Adige flowed with true worth, with honest courtesy, until the time of Frederick’s campaign;

but now, the kind of man who is ashamed to talk with, even meet with, honest folk, may travel there completely reassured!

There, three old men still live in whom the past rebukes the present. How those three must yearn for God to call them to a better life!—

Currado da Palazzo, good Gherardo, and Guido da Castel—who’s better named ’the simple Lombard, ’ as the French would say.

Tell the world this: The church of Rome, which fused two powers into one, has sunk in muck, defiling both herself and her true role. ”