I saw two persons frozen in one hole,—
so that one head to the other was hat:—
and as bread in hunger is eaten,—
so the uppermost his teeth into the other stuck,—
there where the brain is joined to the nape.—
Not otherwise did Tydeus gnaw—
the temples of Menalippus through disdain—
than he did the skull and the other things.—
O thou who showest by so bestial token—
hatred over him whom thou eatest,—[Footnote 95]
tell me the why, said I: on such condition,—
that, if thou with reason of him complainest,—
knowing who you are, and his offence,—
in the world above I also may repay thee for it,—
if that [tongue] with which I speak does not become dry.
The mouth [he] raised from the beastly [Footnote 96] food,—
that sinner, wiping it on the hair—
of the head which he had disfigured (maimed) behind.—
Then [he] began: Thou wishest that I renew—
desperate grief, which me to the heart oppresses,—
even only thinking, before I speak of it.—
But if my words must (may) be a seed—
that will bear fruit of infamy to the traitor I gnaw,—
thou shalt see me both speak and weep.—
I know not who thou be nor by what means—
art thou come here below; but Florentine—
thou seemest to me truly, when I hear thee.—
Thou shouldst know that I was Count Ugolino,—
and this Archbishop Ruggieri:—
now I'll tell thee why I am such [Footnote 97] neighbor.—
How by the means of his evil mind,—
trusting in him, I was taken—
and then killed, there is no need of telling.—
But that which thou canst not have heard, (known), [Footnote 98]
that is, how cruel my death was,—
thou shalt hear; and [thou] shalt know whether he hath done me wrong.—
A narrow hole within the mew— [Footnote 99]
which from me has the title of Hunger,—
and in which it needs that others be confined,—
had shown me through its opening—
many moons already, when I had the fatal dream—
which tore from me the veil of the future.—
This [man] seemed to me leader and lord,—
driving the wolf and wolf-cubs [Footnote 100] to the mountain,
for which the Pisans cannot see Lucca.—[Footnote 101]
With hounds, [she-hounds,] lean, keen on the scent,
and well trained, (cagne magre studiose e conte,)—
Gualandi with Sismondi, and with Lanfranchi—
had [he] put before him in the van.—
After a short run they seemed to me borne down,—
the father and the sons, and by those sharp teeth—
I deemed their sides torn open.—
When I became awake ere the morning—
I heard weeping in their sleep my children,—
who were with me, and ask for bread.—
Indeed thou art cruel if thou dost not already grieve,—
thinking of what to my heart was then foreboded:—
and if thou weepest not, at what art thou wont to weep?—
They were now awake, and the hour was drawing near—
when food used to be brought in,—
and his dream gave each misgivings.—
And then I heard the door bolted [Footnote 102] below—
in the horrible tower: whereat I looked—
into the face of my children without saying a word.—
I was not weeping, so was I petrified (impietrai) within:—
they were weeping; and my little Anselm—
said: Thou lookest so! Father, what aileth thee?—
Yet I shed no tear, nor answered I—
all that day, nor the following night,—
until another sun arose over the world.—
As soon as a little gleam of light (un poco di raggio) began to creep—
into the doleful prison, and I saw in four faces my own very image,
both my hands through pain I bit;—
and they, thinking that I did it for wish of food, instantly arose,—
and said: Father, far less painful will it be to us—
if thou eatest of us; thou didst dress—
[us with] this miserable flesh, do thou take it off.—
I then calmed myself, not to make them more wretched.—
That day and the next we all lay silent:—
alas! cruel earth, why didn'tst thou open?—
After we had reached the fourth day—
Gaddo threw himself prostrate at my feet,—
saying: Father mine, why dost thou not help me?—
There he died; and, as thou seest me,—
did I see the three fall one by one,—
betwixt the fifth day and the sixth, whereat I began,—
already blind, to grope over each:—
and three days I called them after they were dead.—
Then more than the grief did the fasting overwhelm me.—
When he had said this, with eyes distorted—
he resumed the loathsome skull between his teeth,—
which, like a dog's, stuck to the bone.—
Ah Pisa! disgrace to the people—
of the fair land where the si sounds;—[Footnote 103]
as thy neighbors are slow to punish thee,—
let Capraja and Gorgona [Footnote 104] arise,—
and build a dam on Arno's mouth—
that may drown every mother's child in thee.—
For if Count Ugolino had the name—
of having defrauded thee of thy castles,—
thou shouldst not have put the children to such torture.—
Innocent were by their youthful age,—
Modern Thebes! Uguccione and Brigata,—
and the other two whom my song has mentioned."
[Footnote 95: Ti mangi, "thou selfishly holdest for thy dainty food." This is one of those idioms expressed by the reciprocal pronoun "ti," almost impossible to translate. Its meaning is felt only by the native Italian.]
[Footnote 96: Fiero, here as the carcass on which a beast of prey will feed, from fiera, savage beast.]
[Footnote 97: Tal vicino, a neighbor so barbarously distressing another.]
[Footnote 98: Inteso Udire, hear by chance; ascoltare, to listen, intendere, to understand what you hear, or are told.]
[Footnote 99: Muda, the place where the republic's eagles were kept during moulting-time. Mudare, to moult.]
[Footnote 100: Ugolino had the dream while suffering the acute pangs of hunger. He dreamt of a famished wolf and its whelps, hunted by she-hounds, under which allegory he recognizes the Ghibellines, himself being a Guelf.]
[Footnote 101: San Giuliano, a mountain between Pisa and Lucca.]
[Footnote 102: The Pisans, about eight months after Ugolino's imprisonment, bolted the dungeon's massive doors, locked them, and threw the keys into the Arno.]
[Footnote 103: Dante calls the language of Southern France the language of oc, and the Italian the language of si; both oc and si meaning "yes.">[