"Raphel mai amech izabi almi,"
Began to clamor the ferocious mouth,
To which were not befitting sweeter psalms.
And unto him my Guide: "Soul idiotic, 70
Keep to thy horn, and vent thyself with that,
When wrath or other passion touches thee.
Search round thy neck, and thou wilt find the belt
Which keeps it fastened, O bewildered soul,
And see it, where it bars thy mighty breast." 75
Then said to me: "He doth himself accuse;
This one is Nimrod, by whose evil thought
One language in the world is not still used.
Here let us leave him and not speak in vain;
For even such to him is every language 80
As his to others, which to none is known."
Therefore a longer journey did we make,
Turned to the left, and a crossbow-shot off
We found another far more fierce and large.
In binding him, who might the master be 85
I cannot say; but he had pinioned close
Behind the right arm, and in front the other,
With chains, that held him so begirt about
From the neck down, that on the part uncovered
It wound itself as far as the fifth gyre. 90
Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/214
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194
The Divine Comedy
