And whilst below there with mine eye I search, 115
I saw one with his head so foul with ordure,
It was not clear if he were clerk or layman.
He screamed to me: "Wherefore art thou so eager
To look at me more than the other foul ones?"
And I to him: "Because, if I remember, 120
I have already seen thee with dry hair,
And thou 'rt Alessio Interminei of Lucca;
Therefore I eye thee more than all the others."
And he thereon, belaboring his pumpkin:
"The flatteries have submerged me here below, 125
Wherewith my tongue was never surfeited."
Then said to me the Guide: "See that thou thrust
Thy visage somewhat farther in advance,
That with thine eyes thou well the face attain
Of that uncleanly and dishevelled drab, 130
Who there doth scratch herself with filthy nails,
And crouches now, and now on foot is standing.
Thais the harlot is it, who replied
Unto her paramour, when he said, 'Have I
Great gratitude from thee?'—'Nay, marvellous'; 135
And herewith let our sight be satisfied."
Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/131
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Inferno XVIII.
111
