The Whip of Envy, Sapia
We now had reached the top step of the stairway
Where the mountain which cures sin by our climbing
Cuts away steeply for a second time.
The terrace here girdles the hill around
5 In the same way the first ledge did below,
Except that this curve makes a tighter loop.
No shapes here and no likenesses to see:
The cliff-face and the roadbed both are bare
From the livid discoloring of the stone.
10 "Were we to wait for people to give directions,"
The poet observed, "I am afraid our choice
Perhaps should have to be delayed too long."
Straight at the sun he riveted his eyes,
And turning on the pivot of his right side
15 He swung himself full forward on his left.
"O tender light, with trust in you I enter
On this new road: now lead us on," he said,
"For in this place we require to be led.
"You warm the world, you shed your light upon it:
20 Unless other reasons urge us differently,
Your own bright beams will always be our guide."
The distance measured down here is a mile,
That far we had already traveled there
In a short time because of our prompt will:
25 And flying toward us we heard but did not see
Spirits calling gracious invitations
To banquet at the table of love’s feast.
The first voice that flew past cried out aloud
"They have no wine!" and it sped on by us
30 Off to our rear, re-echoing the words.
And before it fully faded out of hearing
Distance, another voice passed with the cry,
"I am Orestes!" and also did not pause.
"Oh," I cried, "father, what are these voices?"
35 And just as I asked this, listen! a third
Exclaimed, "Love those who do you injury!"
And my kind master said, "This circle scourges
The sin of envy, and for this reason
The whip is fashioned with the cords of love.
40 "The rein must be composed of opposite sound:
I venture to say that you shall hear it soon
Before you reach the passageway of pardon.
"But fix your eyes steadily through the air
And you shall see folk seated in front of us
45 Where each one sits with back against the rock."
At that I more than ever opened my eyes:
I peered ahead and noticed shades in cloaks
Of the same discoloration as the stone.
And when we went straight forward a short space,
50 I heard cried out " Mary, pray for us!"
And cried out "Michael" and "Peter" and "All saints."
I do not think there walks on earth today
A man so hard of heart he’d not be stabbed
By keen compassion at what I witnessed there,
55 For, when I came up close enough to them
That their condition became clear to me,
Tears of deep grief drained slowly from my eyes.
Each one seemed to be covered in coarse haircloth,
And one propped up the other with his shoulder
60 As all of them leaned back along the cliff-side.
So, too, the blind in their impoverishment
Gather at indulgences to beg bread;
And one lets droop his head against another’s,
The more to make the people pity them,
65 Not merely by the sound of their sad pleading,
But by the sad looks that express their cravings.
And as the sun brings no help to the blind,
So for the shades in the place that I speak of
The light of heaven withholds its radiance.
70 An iron thread pierces and sews up
All of their eyelids, as is done to falcons
Still so wild they recoil at keeping quiet.
I thought that I did wrong to walk about
Seeing others who could not see me
75 And so I turned to my wise counselor.
He clearly knew what this mute wished to say
And had no need to wait for me to ask,
But said, "Speak, and be brief and to the point."
Virgil walked on with me along the side
80 Of the high terrace from which one could fall
Since there is no surrounding parapet.
And on the other side of me there sat
The devout shades who wet their cheeks with tears
Which seeped out through the terrible stitched seams.
85 I turned to them, "O people," I began,
"Assured of seeing the supernal light
Which alone is the object of your longing,
"So may grace soon clean out the clogged debris
Of conscience that the river of memory
90 May once more run down through it clear and pure,
"Tell me, as a favor I shall cherish,
Is any soul among you here Italian?
For me to know perhaps will do him good."
"O my brother, we each are citizens
95 Of one true city, but you intend someone
Who as a pilgrim lived in Italy."
I seemed to hear this answer come some distance
From up ahead of where I stood; so I moved
To make myself heard more in that direction.
100 Among them all I saw one shade that looked
Expectant — and if someone asks me how:
The chin was raised the way the blind lift theirs.
"Spirit," said I, "subduing yourself to climb:
If you are the one who responded to me,
105 Make yourself known by either place or name."
"I was a Sienese," the shade replied,
"And with the rest here I mend my sinful life,
Weeping to Him to show Himself to us.
"Sapient I was not, though named Sapia.
110 I found far more delight in other’s losses
Than ever I enjoyed my own good fortune.
"But that you may not fancy I deceive you,
Listen to the story of my folly
In the declining arc of my last years.
115 "My fellow citizens took to the field
Near Colle to join battle with their foes,
And I prayed God for what he’d willed already.
"There they were shattered and turned backward
With harsh steps of retreat, and seeing the rout,
120 I knew the deepest pleasure of my life:
"So deep, I turned my brazen face upward
To shout at God, ‘Now I no longer fear you!’
Like the blackbird at a hint of fair weather.
"I wanted peace with God just at the end
125 Of all my days, and my debit would not
As yet have been reduced by penitence,
"Had it not been that Piero Pettinaio,
Who in his charity felt sorry for me,
Remembered me in his own holy prayers.
130 "But who are you who come inquiring
Of our condition, with your eyes unsewn,
So I believe, and breathing when you talk?"
"My eyes," I said, "will here be taken from me,
But not for very long, because they rarely
135 Committed sin by casting looks of envy.
"Far greater is the fear that keeps my soul
Suspended, of the torment there below,
For even now that burden weighs me down."
And she asked me, "Who then has led you up here
140 Among us, if you think to go back down?"
And I: "He who is with me and says nothing.
"And I am living, and so request of me,
Elected spirit, if you would have me move
My mortal steps, down there, on your behalf."
145 "Oh, such a strange new thing is this to hear,"
She cried, "it is a great sign that God loves you:
Give me your aid at times, then, with your prayers.
"And I beg you by all you yearn for most,
Should ever you set foot on Tuscan soil,
150 Restore my good name with my kinsfolk there.
"You will find them among those foolish people
With their hopes high for Talamone where they
Will lose more than in digging for Diana —
"But there the admirals shall lose most of all."
