Canto VI
The Third
Circle; Gluttonous
Scene 1
“Mother, the Book says in Proverbs 13:25 says a
righteous man eats until his heart's content or eats enough to satisfy his
appetite. God's desire is not for us to just
eat enough to curb our appetite. He wants us to eat until our heart's content
until our bellies are satisfied and full.” Dante was the age of ten when he
retorted to his mother. “Well, I am full now and would like to leave. Others
await me at the Forum.”
“'Every person must respect his
mother and his father' (Leviticus 19:3), and it says,
'God your Lord you shall respect, Him you shall serve'
(Deuteronomy 10:20). Here the same word, respect.” Dante’s mother still
had on her cooking apron replied to her son. “If you do, finish your meal. It's
not that I have to feed you for there are others outside who need the food.”
“But Mother, if I were to take another bite, I
would be considered as a glutton. You may feed what remains to the others.”
Dante told his mother. “Charity starts from the home.”
“If that is a wish, my Lord. You may also share
your bed with others. I see no reason you shall sleep alone.” The mother handed
down her judgment which Dante was to object and was saved by the arrival of his
father. He was let off with a simple reprimand then and the father had to
soothe the agitated wife.’
“Dante will one day be a learned person. He
values his lessons of life more than the food you may serve but I am an
exception. Serve me his food and I will ever be pleased.” That was the thought
of Dante on his father before he was awakened.
Dante found himself in the mire; soggy ground
of mud and dirt.
“I sink in.” Dante found himself immersed in
the mire up to his pelvis. “Help me, Virgil.”
“I am here, Dante.” Virgil appeared before him
but he was not immersed. He was only covered at his heel.
“How come…” Dante asked.
“It maybe I am a dead soul and you are a living
one. And I think we are in Third Circle
of Hell.” A stinking slush fell from the top and landed near the two of them.
“Is that what I may think was?” Dante had an image
of the sewage of the cities and with the billions of inhabitants, food may be
scarce but not the excrement of it.
“I won’t know but we will soon know.” Virgil
saw the slush was set on by a group of naked bodies all covered in it until a
huge creature appeared there. It was given a name by those who have read of it.
“Cerberus!” The naked souls all retreated from
the huge creature where it stood barking. The creature was often referred to as
the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards
the gates of the Underworld to prevent the
dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon and was usually
described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding
from multiple parts of his body.
The hound turned towards Dante. It growls with
the fangs seen at the jaws.
“I think we are its next meal.” Dante slowly
back away but his body was half immersed. It was Virgil who acted to scoop the
mud and tossed it into the hound’s mouth.
“Here you go, mutt. Three feeds for you.” The
hound swallowed the mud and by the grace of the Gods, another chunk fell from
the top at a distance away. The hound took off in a gallop towards it.
“Thank you, Virgil. How did you do that?” Dante
asked.
“I used to feed the hungry canines near my
home. All they want was some affection.” Virgil replied.
“No, how did you pick up the mid? You are
supposed to be…”
“Dead. I guess what belongs here can be ours.”
Virgil smiled. “Now can we affirm our location or move on?”
The poets make their
way across the swamp, walking occasionally on the shades, which seem to have no
corporeal bodies. They saw around them were naked souls swimming or plodding on
the soft mire either in escaping the hound or looking for new spots to lounge
at.
“Gluttons they all
looked to me,” Dante called out in frustration. “Lazy souls to be wasted here.
Get a real life.”
Dante Alighieri, who are you to judge us, and the names you say of
us is insulting.” Dante turned to look at the one who was challenging him. The
soul laid in the mire seen with only its legs seen bent at the knees and the
shoulders with the appearance of the head.
“Giacomo of Florence. I ---” Dante was stunned by the sight
of one he had not befriended but merely acquainted by reputation.
“Come on, Dante the Poet, or was it the Preacher.” The one in
the mire raised his right arm as if to make a gesture of taking a speech. “You
are finally here. I am not without company but to have one as irate like you
will be a blessing in disguise.”
“Giacomo, you are still the Ciacco the Hog to me. You
deserved to be in the mire.” Dante snapped back. He turned to Virgil. “Ciacco
here is a …man of many repute trades, and he eats too much. I thought he shall
be trapped in the winds of Lust but here he is…Where are we, Ciacco?”
“In Gluttony of course. Next to ladies of dubious repute, I
am at my best with the feast of food. I can and will eat anything and nothing
repulse me of it. Not the looks or the taste as long it can be consumed.”
Ciacco boasted of his feat. “Unfortunately, I had succumbed to the ills of food
and then the Gods took me here.”
“So, this the Second Circle. It’s Gluttony.” Virgil smiled.
“First time here though.”
“Tell me, Ciacco. When I last left for the war as a
volunteer, Florence was in turmoil. The so name faction of the Dark challenged
the Clear? How did it fare there? Were you ever there?”
In Florence, amid the Civil War II, another battle was in the
ruling elected leaders, designated by the shade of Dark and Clear for the
political influence.
“And what of the honest men who stands not with them?” Dante
asked. “What of Farinata?”
“It shall come to blood; Clear shall
rise over Dark. And rout the dark lord’s force, battered and shaken.” Ciacco
told Dante. “I will borrow your words that you may
have read.”
Then it shall come
to pass within three suns
That the fallen shall arise, and by the power
Of one now gripped by many hesitations
Black shall ride on
White for many years,
Loading it down with burdens and oppressions
And humbling of proud names and helpless tears.
Two are honest, but
none will heed them. There,
Pride, avarice, and envy are the tongues
Men know and heed, a Babel of despair.”
Canto VI; https://infernobydante.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/canto-vi/
Dante sighed. He recalled then some of his friends that were involved in
the revolution.
“What of Farinata, Tegghiaio, Jacopo Rusticurri, Arrigo, Mosca… all good
me who had set their hearts on doing good? Do you know of them?”
“Seen them went by here. They lie below in the darker lair. They may
hold heavier guilt that had drawn them to greater pain. It was what I am told.
Do descent more and you may see them.” Ciacco told Dante with a serious tone.
“How does it feel not to be your friends there? You ought to be ---” Dante was cut off by the other in his query.
“Well, it ain’t much to look at but we are well fed.” Ciacco laughed
and then grabbed a handful of the more. “It ain’t the best of Florence but it’s
a feast. You have to be careful if the hound gets here. I do sink into the mire
and remained quiet.”
“For eternity?” Virgil asked.
“Not that long. We get the call up by the Gods to leave now
and then. Your name gets called up and you are taken away. I did not go for I
hid then. I was told that they will send us to the abattoir and get you to know
what.” Ciacco mimics the action of being slaughter with a swipe across his
neck. “Me, I ain’t going to be dead twice. Never say die again.”
“How do you know when they will come?” Dante asked.
“It was not the Tuscany Orchestra but they have their music
with the huge trumpets in play and then the Judge; the Almighty Judge with the
book of names. It was supposed to name the ones that were to be saved and to
the fires of Hell the others. Some called it the Last Judgment well I guess it
was on us who are here. Last call to salvation or be burned in Hell. I had not
my name called yet so here I am.”
It was then a huge chunk of mire fell on Ciacco from the top.
“I guess he got his final judgment,” Virgil added on. “He
will move on now. So must we too.”
“I won’t be so sure.” Dante saw the right hand reached out
over the top of the chunk. “Ciacco held a great appetite than most of us. If
anyone can survive the feast, then it's him.”
Virgil looked at the hand that waved at them and decided to
move on. The two took their slow walk in the mire, with each step, Dante felt
his mind searching for an answer to what he had seen. He had dislike Ciacco but
to see the soul sunken into the mire was disheartening. It was then he wished
the other some relief to his sins. Dante then recited the words from the poem
in his mind.
“When the great clarion fades, Into the voice of the thundering
Omniscience,
What of these agonies? Will they be the same,
Or more, or less, after the final sentence?”
And he to me: “Look
to your science again
Where it is written: the more a thing is perfect
The more it feels of pleasure and pain.
As for these souls,
though they can never soar
To true perfection, still in the new time
They will be nearer it than they were before.”
https://infernobydante.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/canto-vi/
Tell me, Dante Alighieri. What had you evolved to be? Are you
still the poet who narrates the situation without emotion, or the preacher who
sermons on the situation?”
“Why do you question me?” Dante asked.
“I don’t know either now.”
“Probably do you good then. Keep that
mind open, and we may just learn more answers.” Virgil chuckled to himself.
Soon, they came upon the edge of the
mire and solid ground felt by their feet, Dante saw the deep crevasse at the
edge.
“Guess we are into the next circle now,”
Dante spoke to Virgil.
“It may be so but we have another to
evade if we reach it,” Virgil told Dante.
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