Canto XXXI
The
Earthly Paradise; Queen Beatrice.
Scene I
Then
a lady appeared on the chariot. She was wearing a white veil, green cape, and a
flame-red dress. Her head is crowned by olive branches that were inlaid with
bright jewels.
“Hail,
Queen Beatrice. Hail the Queen of the Empire. Bow to her for she is your Queen.”
The others who accompanied the chariot called out.
At
the first sight of her, even veiled, Dante trembled, feeling within himself a
familiar sensation, “the mighty power of old love.”; the feeling is forgotten
when he last met her. Dante turned to Fabricius abut to chagrin—that one was on
his knees bowing to the lady.
“Do
you not bow before your Queen, Dante?” The Queen sounded out. Dante looked up
and compares her to the Queen he once knew. He gazed both with admiration and a
little fear when she called on him once more.
“Do
you not bow, Dante?”
“I
will not for you are not of my --- My Queen, and this is not my realm.” Dante
cried out. “You are a ---”
Dante’s
emotions got hold of him then. His tears flowed from his eyes.
“How
dare you shed tears here in Paradise? We are in Paradise, where men are
supposed to be happy. And ---”
“Blasphemy!”
Dante bent his head and caught his reflection in the stream, where he seems so
incredibly shame-faced that he diverted his eyes back to the grass. He felt
like a child being scolded by his mother.
The
Queen alighted from the chariot and the other souls surrounded her singing in
Latin praising her and then begging their lady to pity poor Dante. Beatrice
turned to them, reprimands them gently for interrupting, and explains to them
why she wants Dante to understand and heed her words.
“Dante
is --- young and with burdens of sins. I want him pure so that he can join me.
He revels for it’s his design that we existed. He held great poetic talent that
will add melodies to our souls.” The Queen looked hard at Dante. “Dante
neglected to till his seed well and it has grown wilder and more noxious.”
The
Queen spoke of her childhood with Dante.
“We
were young, innocence was in us. I used to lead him down the right path by his
love for me. But as soon as I died, he abandoned me to follow someone else and
began going down a crooked path where he “followed counterfeits of goodness.” I
tried to come to him in dreams and lead him back, but he never heeded me again.
Finally, he strayed so far from the true path that the only way to save his
soul was to show him all the horrors of Hell. For that task, he was guided and
even given the chance to drink at the fountains.”
The
mention of the fountains drew gasps and whispers from the souls there.
“All
of you drank from it.” The Queen turned
her attention back to Dante.
“Speak
Dante, as you are allowed now. Tell me if I was ever wrong.”
Completely
stunned at her words, Dante can't speak. He was never a man of words.
"Men
at some moments are masters of their fates; The fault, dear Brutus, is not in
our stars, but ourselves, that we are underlings." Beatrice sized it for
Dante. “The wisdom of Shakespeare has a tinge of truth to it.”
“I
---” Dante was still dumbstruck by the Queen. He was in pain on being
confronted by her.
“Whatever
happened to the glib poet we all know?” The Queen mocked him. “Was it because I
was not there for you? Was Casella not my worth in love and desire? Was
Gentucca better? I hear that she was a faithful lover. Are we not the same?”
Finally,
at the mention of Gentucca, Dante whispered his reply. He found his voice.
“The
devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O,
what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” Dante took the lengthy-expression from
the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare.
“I
read that Antonio was saying that even good things can be twisted to achieve
bad ends. Was that how you see me, Dante? A mere ----”
“Mere
appearances turned me aside with their false loveliness, as soon as I had lost
your countenance.” Dante glared at her. “You did not break me in Hell, and also
in Purgatory. You won’t break me here too. I will fight back. No more journey
but a quest to stop you.”
“Accusations
and threats, Dante. I am your Queen and you insulted me.” The Queen was upset.
“I came to you aa Beatrice and you denounced me as --- mad, and now you defied
God. You are --- filled with sins. God knows that.”
“Repent,
Dante. Or be sent back to Hell. If my supreme beauty couldn’t keep you from
sin, what could?” Dante avoided her stare then. When Beatrice saw Dante looking
down, she told him to live his eyes so that, by looking at her, he can increase
the shame he feels just hearing her. Dante meekly obeyed then.
“Why
do you resist me?” Underneath the veil, Beatrice seems even more beautiful than
he remembers, and this brings on more tears because he cannot imagine being
lured away from her. The sight of her beauty and his corresponding shame
overwhelm him so that he looked away in shame.
“Why
do you shy away?” Beatrice asked.
“As
what Adam should have said when he was offered the apple.” The voice belonged
to Fabricius. “Virgil's shame was because he could not resist you.”
“Fabricius,
how dare you speak to me of such?” Beatrice glared at the other. “You ---”
“I
was his friend. I was his confidante then. He told me of his love for you but
he can’t find himself to be with you. I was relieved then for I was in love
---lust on you. I was the one who pushed him to wed Casella as you did then. I
told him you were too --- beautiful for him. He was sad but accepted that as
the reason he could not be with you.”
“You
lied to me and mocked his love ---: Beatrice was snapped in her words by
Fabricius.
“Yes,
I did as I did then with Virgil. I had to fight him off you so that I could
have you. You are my ---Eve, as I am Adam. He was not. I told Casella also that
he was hurt and she consoled him. So well, that he ended up in her bed.
Chastity was Virgil’s --- downfall. He felt obliged to wed Casella soon after.
He has done what he could ---- not find himself with you, Beatrice.”
“Enough,
Fabricius. Enough ---”
“You
were hurt but your heart was set on one; the powerful emperor for you desired;
no, you lusted power. What was Virgil to you was not enough. You told me so at
the wedding of Virgil and Casella. I wanted to be with you but I was also not given
the ---opportunity.”
“Why,
Fabricius? Why ---No, who are you to ---”
“No,
Beatrice. I could for I knew the truth. I was not ashamed of my love. I had my
regrets that it was not welcomed then but not anymore. I am glad it was not.”
Fabricius looked at the Queen. “Show him the real Garden.”
“Griffin,
speak the truth here.” Fabricius looked at the creature. “If you are the Man,
you once were, my Emperor.”
The
Griffin flapped its wings and snorted. It pulled hard at the weight of the
chariot and moved towards the tree in the center of the line of seven trees.
“Stop!”
The Queen called out but the griffin moved on. It took one of the fruits hanging
on the tree.
It
was an apple.
The
griffin took a bite.
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