第八圈续，第四沟：预言者。曼图和曼图阿的起源。
在这第一卷关于地狱里的事情的第二十篇，我的诗句应当叙述新的刑罚。
我已经准备观察刚才发现的一条沟了，这里也是沉浸在痛苦的泪水之中。在环形的幽谷里面，我看见一群人默默地哭泣着走来，他们的步伐有点像地面上走的祈祷队。当他们走近时，我聚精会神注视的时候，那惊奇的事情让我看见了：他们的面部长得都朝向脊背，他们的眼光只投射在自己的臀部，他们只能向后倒退走，因为他们看不见前面了。也许这是他们患的一种瘫痪病吧。但是我没有见过，我不相信有这种病人。诸位读者，假如上帝允许你们了解我的著作，那末请你们想一想：当那些和我们形状相同的灵魂，一个个扭歪着脖颈，眼泪从背脊流到屁股上，在我面前走过，我的面孔怎能保持着干燥呢？当然我的头趴在一块岩石之上，我哭泣了。
于是那位引路人对我说：“你也和世俗的凡人一般见识么？在这里不应当再有怜悯。对于上帝的判决表示一种伤感，岂不有罪么？抬起你的头吧，你看前面来的一个人，当他在世的时候，地裂开在他的前面，但是他看不见，忒拜人一齐叫道：“你往那儿跑，安菲阿刺俄斯？为什么你临阵逃脱？’他还是跑着，直到跌进米诺斯家里，他自己断送了性命。你看他现在把胸当作背，眼睛望着后面，一步一步向后倒退，因为他在生前希望看得太远了。
“你看本瑞西阿斯，当他是男人的时候，他曾经变成女人的体态，直等到他再用他的魔杖打了那成对的两条蛇，他才又回复了男人的气概。在他的面的是阿伦斯。阿沦斯的背接近他的肚子。阿伦斯住在卢尼山上，在那里，卡腊腊人在山脚下种地；他把白岩洞做了他的家，从那里他可以观察星宿看到海洋，没有一点遮碍。再前是一个女人；她的一双辫子盖在胸前，下身长着毛，她的名字叫做曼图；她曾经遍游各地，最后她定居在我生长的地方，因此我愿意你听我说几句。
“当她的父亲去死之后，酒神之城做了别人的奴隶，她长久地各处飘泊。在意大利的北边，阿尔卑斯山脉连绵不绝，和日耳曼分界。山谷里的水向南流下，积成贝纳科湖。我想汇成这个湖的来源，总有几百几千条呢。在那里，有一个地点，可以做特兰托、布里西亚和维罗纳调三个地方牧师的集会所，假使他们愿意往那里去。在那湖边最低处，有一个佩斯齐埃拉城堡，美丽而险要，可以抵御布里西亚人和贝加摩人的侵犯。从这里湖水流了出去，流成一条河，经过青色的原野。这条河叫做敏乔，直流到戈维尔诺洛，从那里并入波河。敏乔河流过一块低地，散开而成沼泽，在夏天那里是常常很不卫生。
“那位残忍的处女经过这里，看见这块地方是一个烂泥滩，既未开辟，又无居民。在这里，她可以躲避人世来往的麻烦，和她的随从专心于她的魔术；于是她就住在那里，她的遗体也埋在那里。后来，零散在那地方四周的居民才汇聚起来，在她的枯骨上面造了一座城，因为他的四周是沼泽之地，抵御外侮有险可守。因是曼图第一个选定的地点，于是这座城叫曼图阿，用不着再抽签了。在卡萨罗迪没有被庇纳蒙所欺骗以前，这里的居民还要多些。
“我要你听的话就是这样，假使我的城还有别的起源，那末你不要以伪当真。”
于是我说：“老师，你的话据我看来是确实的，我是相信的；别人说的话对我是灰熄烟灭了。但是，那些走过的灵魂，假使有值得注意的，就请你告诉我罢，因为我的心此时还想念着他们呢。”
于是他对我说：“那一个，他的胡须拖在他棕色的后肩上，是一个占卜官，当希腊国里男子走空，只剩摇篮里的孩子的时候。在奥利斯港口，他和卡尔卡斯推算解缆起碇的时辰。欧刊皮鲁斯是他的名字，在我高雅的悲剧里，我有一处唱过他。你是看过全书的，当然你很熟悉的了。那一个腰身很细的是司各特，他对于各种的魔术都很精通。这是波纳提；这是阿兹顿忒，他现在还愿意再拿起他的牛皮和麻绳呢，但是太晚了。看这班妇人，她们都是放下绣针，纺缍，梭子，拿起灵芝和木偶，学做女巫，预言吉凶的。……
“但是，现在我们可以走了；因为该隐和他的荆棘已经在两个半球的边界上了，已经在塞维利亚前面和海波接触了。你要记得，昨晚月圆光亮；你在深林之中，她的光线没有伤害你。”
他这样对我说着，我们向前走了。
Fit argument of this the twentieth strain
Of the first song, whose awful theme records
The spirits whelm'd in woe. ?Earnest I look'd
Into the depth, that open'd to my view,
Moisten'd with tears of anguish, and beheld
A tribe, that came along the hollow vale,
In silence weeping: such their step as walk
Quires chanting solemn litanies on earth.
As on them more direct mine eye descends,
Each wondrously seem'd to be revers'd
At the neck-bone, so that the countenance
Was from the reins averted: and because
None might before him look, they were compell'd
To' advance with backward gait. ?Thus one perhaps
Hath been by force of palsy clean transpos'd,
But I ne'er saw it nor believe it so.
Now, reader! think within thyself, so God
Fruit of thy reading give thee! how I long
Could keep my visage dry, when I beheld
Near me our form distorted in such guise,
That on the hinder parts fall'n from the face
The tears down-streaming roll'd. ?Against a rock
I leant and wept, so that my guide exclaim'd:
"What, and art thou too witless as the rest?
Here pity most doth show herself alive,
When she is dead. ?What guilt exceedeth his,
Who with Heaven's judgment in his passion strives?
Raise up thy head, raise up, and see the man,
Before whose eyes earth gap'd in Thebes, when all
Cried out, 'Amphiaraus, whither rushest?
'Why leavest thou the war?' ?He not the less
Fell ruining far as to Minos down,
Whose grapple none eludes. ?Lo! how he makes
The breast his shoulders, and who once too far
Before him wish'd to see, now backward looks,
And treads reverse his path. ?Tiresias note,
Who semblance chang'd, when woman he became
Of male, through every limb transform'd, and then
Once more behov'd him with his rod to strike
The two entwining serpents, ere the plumes,
That mark'd the better sex, might shoot again.
"Aruns, with more his belly facing, comes.
On Luni's mountains 'midst the marbles white,
Where delves Carrara's hind, who wons beneath,
A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars
And main-sea wide in boundless view he held.
"The next, whose loosen'd tresses overspread
Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair
On that side grows) was Manto, she who search'd
Through many regions, and at length her seat
Fix'd in my native land, whence a short space
My words detain thy audience. ?When her sire
From life departed, and in servitude
The city dedicate to Bacchus mourn'd,
Long time she went a wand'rer through the world.
Aloft in Italy's delightful land
A lake there lies, at foot of that proud Alp,
That o'er the Tyrol locks Germania in,
Its name Benacus, which a thousand rills,
Methinks, and more, water between the vale
Camonica and Garda and the height
Of Apennine remote. ?There is a spot
At midway of that lake, where he who bears
Of Trento's flock the past'ral staff, with him
Of Brescia, and the Veronese, might each
Passing that way his benediction give.
A garrison of goodly site and strong
Peschiera stands, to awe with front oppos'd
The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore
More slope each way descends. ?There, whatsoev'er
Benacus' bosom holds not, tumbling o'er
Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath
Through the green pastures. ?Soon as in his course
The steam makes head, Benacus then no more
They call the name, but Mincius, till at last
Reaching Governo into Po he falls.
Not far his course hath run, when a wide flat
It finds, which overstretchmg as a marsh
It covers, pestilent in summer oft.
Hence journeying, the savage maiden saw
'Midst of the fen a territory waste
And naked of inhabitants. ?To shun
All human converse, here she with her slaves
Plying her arts remain'd, and liv'd, and left
Her body tenantless. ?Thenceforth the tribes,
Who round were scatter'd, gath'ring to that place
Assembled; for its strength was great, enclos'd
On all parts by the fen. ?On those dead bones
They rear'd themselves a city, for her sake,
Calling it Mantua, who first chose the spot,
Nor ask'd another omen for the name,
Wherein more numerous the people dwelt,
Ere Casalodi's madness by deceit
Was wrong'd of Pinamonte. ?If thou hear
Henceforth another origin assign'd
Of that my country, I forewarn thee now,
That falsehood none beguile thee of the truth."
I answer'd: "Teacher, I conclude thy words
So certain, that all else shall be to me
As embers lacking life. ?But now of these,
Who here proceed, instruct me, if thou see
Any that merit more especial note.
For thereon is my mind alone intent."
He straight replied: "That spirit, from whose cheek
The beard sweeps o'er his shoulders brown, what time
Graecia was emptied of her males, that scarce
The cradles were supplied, the seer was he
In Aulis, who with Calchas gave the sign
When first to cut the cable. ?Him they nam'd
Eurypilus: so sings my tragic strain,
In which majestic measure well thou know'st,
Who know'st it all. ?That other, round the loins
So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot,
Practis'd in ev'ry slight of magic wile.
"Guido Bonatti see: ?Asdente mark,
Who now were willing, he had tended still
The thread and cordwain; and too late repents.
"See next the wretches, who the needle left,
The shuttle and the spindle, and became
Diviners: baneful witcheries they wrought
With images and herbs. ?But onward now:
For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine
On either hemisphere, touching the wave
Beneath the towers of Seville. ?Yesternight
The moon was round. ?Thou mayst remember well:
For she good service did thee in the gloom
Of the deep wood." ?This said, both onward mov'd.
在这第一卷关于地狱里的事情的第二十篇，我的诗句应当叙述新的刑罚。
我已经准备观察刚才发现的一条沟了，这里也是沉浸在痛苦的泪水之中。在环形的幽谷里面，我看见一群人默默地哭泣着走来，他们的步伐有点像地面上走的祈祷队。当他们走近时，我聚精会神注视的时候，那惊奇的事情让我看见了：他们的面部长得都朝向脊背，他们的眼光只投射在自己的臀部，他们只能向后倒退走，因为他们看不见前面了。也许这是他们患的一种瘫痪病吧。但是我没有见过，我不相信有这种病人。诸位读者，假如上帝允许你们了解我的著作，那末请你们想一想：当那些和我们形状相同的灵魂，一个个扭歪着脖颈，眼泪从背脊流到屁股上，在我面前走过，我的面孔怎能保持着干燥呢？当然我的头趴在一块岩石之上，我哭泣了。
于是那位引路人对我说：“你也和世俗的凡人一般见识么？在这里不应当再有怜悯。对于上帝的判决表示一种伤感，岂不有罪么？抬起你的头吧，你看前面来的一个人，当他在世的时候，地裂开在他的前面，但是他看不见，忒拜人一齐叫道：“你往那儿跑，安菲阿刺俄斯？为什么你临阵逃脱？’他还是跑着，直到跌进米诺斯家里，他自己断送了性命。你看他现在把胸当作背，眼睛望着后面，一步一步向后倒退，因为他在生前希望看得太远了。
“你看本瑞西阿斯，当他是男人的时候，他曾经变成女人的体态，直等到他再用他的魔杖打了那成对的两条蛇，他才又回复了男人的气概。在他的面的是阿伦斯。阿沦斯的背接近他的肚子。阿伦斯住在卢尼山上，在那里，卡腊腊人在山脚下种地；他把白岩洞做了他的家，从那里他可以观察星宿看到海洋，没有一点遮碍。再前是一个女人；她的一双辫子盖在胸前，下身长着毛，她的名字叫做曼图；她曾经遍游各地，最后她定居在我生长的地方，因此我愿意你听我说几句。
“当她的父亲去死之后，酒神之城做了别人的奴隶，她长久地各处飘泊。在意大利的北边，阿尔卑斯山脉连绵不绝，和日耳曼分界。山谷里的水向南流下，积成贝纳科湖。我想汇成这个湖的来源，总有几百几千条呢。在那里，有一个地点，可以做特兰托、布里西亚和维罗纳调三个地方牧师的集会所，假使他们愿意往那里去。在那湖边最低处，有一个佩斯齐埃拉城堡，美丽而险要，可以抵御布里西亚人和贝加摩人的侵犯。从这里湖水流了出去，流成一条河，经过青色的原野。这条河叫做敏乔，直流到戈维尔诺洛，从那里并入波河。敏乔河流过一块低地，散开而成沼泽，在夏天那里是常常很不卫生。
“那位残忍的处女经过这里，看见这块地方是一个烂泥滩，既未开辟，又无居民。在这里，她可以躲避人世来往的麻烦，和她的随从专心于她的魔术；于是她就住在那里，她的遗体也埋在那里。后来，零散在那地方四周的居民才汇聚起来，在她的枯骨上面造了一座城，因为他的四周是沼泽之地，抵御外侮有险可守。因是曼图第一个选定的地点，于是这座城叫曼图阿，用不着再抽签了。在卡萨罗迪没有被庇纳蒙所欺骗以前，这里的居民还要多些。
“我要你听的话就是这样，假使我的城还有别的起源，那末你不要以伪当真。”
于是我说：“老师，你的话据我看来是确实的，我是相信的；别人说的话对我是灰熄烟灭了。但是，那些走过的灵魂，假使有值得注意的，就请你告诉我罢，因为我的心此时还想念着他们呢。”
于是他对我说：“那一个，他的胡须拖在他棕色的后肩上，是一个占卜官，当希腊国里男子走空，只剩摇篮里的孩子的时候。在奥利斯港口，他和卡尔卡斯推算解缆起碇的时辰。欧刊皮鲁斯是他的名字，在我高雅的悲剧里，我有一处唱过他。你是看过全书的，当然你很熟悉的了。那一个腰身很细的是司各特，他对于各种的魔术都很精通。这是波纳提；这是阿兹顿忒，他现在还愿意再拿起他的牛皮和麻绳呢，但是太晚了。看这班妇人，她们都是放下绣针，纺缍，梭子，拿起灵芝和木偶，学做女巫，预言吉凶的。……
“但是，现在我们可以走了；因为该隐和他的荆棘已经在两个半球的边界上了，已经在塞维利亚前面和海波接触了。你要记得，昨晚月圆光亮；你在深林之中，她的光线没有伤害你。”
他这样对我说着，我们向前走了。
Fit argument of this the twentieth strain
Of the first song, whose awful theme records
The spirits whelm'd in woe. ?Earnest I look'd
Into the depth, that open'd to my view,
Moisten'd with tears of anguish, and beheld
A tribe, that came along the hollow vale,
In silence weeping: such their step as walk
Quires chanting solemn litanies on earth.
As on them more direct mine eye descends,
Each wondrously seem'd to be revers'd
At the neck-bone, so that the countenance
Was from the reins averted: and because
None might before him look, they were compell'd
To' advance with backward gait. ?Thus one perhaps
Hath been by force of palsy clean transpos'd,
But I ne'er saw it nor believe it so.
Now, reader! think within thyself, so God
Fruit of thy reading give thee! how I long
Could keep my visage dry, when I beheld
Near me our form distorted in such guise,
That on the hinder parts fall'n from the face
The tears down-streaming roll'd. ?Against a rock
I leant and wept, so that my guide exclaim'd:
"What, and art thou too witless as the rest?
Here pity most doth show herself alive,
When she is dead. ?What guilt exceedeth his,
Who with Heaven's judgment in his passion strives?
Raise up thy head, raise up, and see the man,
Before whose eyes earth gap'd in Thebes, when all
Cried out, 'Amphiaraus, whither rushest?
'Why leavest thou the war?' ?He not the less
Fell ruining far as to Minos down,
Whose grapple none eludes. ?Lo! how he makes
The breast his shoulders, and who once too far
Before him wish'd to see, now backward looks,
And treads reverse his path. ?Tiresias note,
Who semblance chang'd, when woman he became
Of male, through every limb transform'd, and then
Once more behov'd him with his rod to strike
The two entwining serpents, ere the plumes,
That mark'd the better sex, might shoot again.
"Aruns, with more his belly facing, comes.
On Luni's mountains 'midst the marbles white,
Where delves Carrara's hind, who wons beneath,
A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars
And main-sea wide in boundless view he held.
"The next, whose loosen'd tresses overspread
Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair
On that side grows) was Manto, she who search'd
Through many regions, and at length her seat
Fix'd in my native land, whence a short space
My words detain thy audience. ?When her sire
From life departed, and in servitude
The city dedicate to Bacchus mourn'd,
Long time she went a wand'rer through the world.
Aloft in Italy's delightful land
A lake there lies, at foot of that proud Alp,
That o'er the Tyrol locks Germania in,
Its name Benacus, which a thousand rills,
Methinks, and more, water between the vale
Camonica and Garda and the height
Of Apennine remote. ?There is a spot
At midway of that lake, where he who bears
Of Trento's flock the past'ral staff, with him
Of Brescia, and the Veronese, might each
Passing that way his benediction give.
A garrison of goodly site and strong
Peschiera stands, to awe with front oppos'd
The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore
More slope each way descends. ?There, whatsoev'er
Benacus' bosom holds not, tumbling o'er
Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath
Through the green pastures. ?Soon as in his course
The steam makes head, Benacus then no more
They call the name, but Mincius, till at last
Reaching Governo into Po he falls.
Not far his course hath run, when a wide flat
It finds, which overstretchmg as a marsh
It covers, pestilent in summer oft.
Hence journeying, the savage maiden saw
'Midst of the fen a territory waste
And naked of inhabitants. ?To shun
All human converse, here she with her slaves
Plying her arts remain'd, and liv'd, and left
Her body tenantless. ?Thenceforth the tribes,
Who round were scatter'd, gath'ring to that place
Assembled; for its strength was great, enclos'd
On all parts by the fen. ?On those dead bones
They rear'd themselves a city, for her sake,
Calling it Mantua, who first chose the spot,
Nor ask'd another omen for the name,
Wherein more numerous the people dwelt,
Ere Casalodi's madness by deceit
Was wrong'd of Pinamonte. ?If thou hear
Henceforth another origin assign'd
Of that my country, I forewarn thee now,
That falsehood none beguile thee of the truth."
I answer'd: "Teacher, I conclude thy words
So certain, that all else shall be to me
As embers lacking life. ?But now of these,
Who here proceed, instruct me, if thou see
Any that merit more especial note.
For thereon is my mind alone intent."
He straight replied: "That spirit, from whose cheek
The beard sweeps o'er his shoulders brown, what time
Graecia was emptied of her males, that scarce
The cradles were supplied, the seer was he
In Aulis, who with Calchas gave the sign
When first to cut the cable. ?Him they nam'd
Eurypilus: so sings my tragic strain,
In which majestic measure well thou know'st,
Who know'st it all. ?That other, round the loins
So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot,
Practis'd in ev'ry slight of magic wile.
"Guido Bonatti see: ?Asdente mark,
Who now were willing, he had tended still
The thread and cordwain; and too late repents.
"See next the wretches, who the needle left,
The shuttle and the spindle, and became
Diviners: baneful witcheries they wrought
With images and herbs. ?But onward now:
For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine
On either hemisphere, touching the wave
Beneath the towers of Seville. ?Yesternight
The moon was round. ?Thou mayst remember well:
For she good service did thee in the gloom
Of the deep wood." ?This said, both onward mov'd.