Dante VI Canto XIX Scene III A

 Canto XIX

Fifth Terrace; Avarice

Scene III

“Poet, are you in hurry to leave or to die?” Virgil called out when he found himself lagging the other in the shadow. They had marched on with the sun still over their heads.

“We must make haste or be doomed in our quest.” Dante was heaving in deep breaths as if he needed air into his lungs. If there was any air to breathe in, it would have dispersed from his porous form of free radical atoms.

“No! I doubt it.” Virgil rushed up to overtake Dante. “You are rushing for you fear the harpies.”

“I do not. I --- We have the orb.” Dante stopped. “It will ----where is the orb? Where is Virgil?”

“I am Virgil or rather the program. The orb is not in me anymore. It left me sometime back when we were at the start of Purgatory. My program however still exists here meaning the orb is still functioning.”

“Then call back your host, Virgil. We need it to protect us.” Dante looked at the other. “We are ---”

“Defenceless? Perhaps but not without a clue as to how to defend, we are not.” Virgil replied. “And at this moment, you are being scanned by one of them.”

Dante froze in his stand, with his fear streaming through his living soul.  He looked hard at Virgil.

“Is it behind me?” Dante asked. “How does it look – what is it doing?” 

“It’s scanning you and trying to interpret your form. You are a soul like the others, but you held a solid form courtesy of the radical atoms, and ---” Virgil stopped talking. He moved towards the left side of Dante and stared to the rear of the other. Dante was then terrified but he could not move. He felt as if his soul was taken by bits to fear.

“There, it’s gone,” Virgil told Dante. “It left.”

Dante heaved a sigh of relief then and turned but was stopped by Virgil.

“Move on. We have to move.” Virgil backstepped while Dante took his lead-laden steps. They walked on in silence before Dante spoke up.

“Is it gone?” Dante asked. Virgil nodded.

“How did it look like?” Dante asked. “I am just curious.”

“Like your slain Siren, I guess,” Virgil replied. “How can I describe another program without going into its binary codes and with that you wouldn’t understand.”

“You are mocking me, Virgil. There was no harpy then.” Dante stopped again.

“Was it? Turn and look then.” Virgil challenged Dante but the other would not.

“Poet, I am a construct and as plain in my binary codes, I would not give you false data. I did engage the Harpy program with some intrusive routines and won --- this time. I am not as well equipped as the orb, but I have my tools.”

“What did you do?’ Dante asked.

“I had you for a soul with a penance. It had worked and the Harpy left but it may return. So, we need to make haste.”

“Thank you ---- Virgil,” Dante uttered his gratitude. He was to move on when before them were the sights of the souls lying face down on the surface. Their limbs were shackled with the chains to the surface and some were weeping with silent tears.

“Avarice!” Dante called out. “I read of this. What miserable mode can there be to face not the light?”

“Poet ---” Virgil stopped. “What’s the difference of avarice to greed?

“Avarice is more formal than greed. It suggests a desire to accumulate more and more wealth; and also, to hold on to what one has accumulated, hence also suggesting miserliness. It is almost always associated with money and possessions and is not used for food. Greed is a less formal and more general word than avarice. Although it is still most often used to suggest an excessive and uncontrollable desire for food, its usage has expanded and it is now used to suggest an unreasonable desire for wealth, possessions, and other things too. So, it is appropriate to call someone greedy if you think he/she has a desire for food, money, etc. which is beyond his/her control and insatiable. But avarice would be a better word to use when you want to suggest miserliness along with greed.” Dante explained from his reading. (https://learnodo-newtonic.com/avarice-vs-greed-difference-between-the-two-synonyms)

“The living had not disregarded the above and was more prevalent in the turn of the new World after the twentieth century. Colonization had overtaken the concept of annexure although both involve warfare and killings. The first recorded war was in 2700BCE in Mesopotamia although mankind, used here in relative terms for our discussion, the first was when the Angels descended to the living realm was called the Fallen. That was recorded in the Book but the act was at the start of mankind.”

“So, what created war? You may ask me of that, Virgil. I will quote you a passage from the archive. “Warfare provides people with a semblance of psychological positivity in oppressed societies where other outlets are lacking.” (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/05/why-human-beings-keep-fighting-wars-warfare). We are all the same, and God could not curb our desire and thus created the sin for it.”

“What has avarice got to do with war?” Virgil snapped back. “It's irrelevant in comparison.”

“Avarice is the war within the living to greed and take and hold it for themselves. I have mentioned, we may be the creation of God, but we are not perfect for God is not therefore we are to purge before we are. That was what perceived. “

“Poet, you conflict yourself.” Virgil looked at Dante. “I have mentioned that we must not get attached to the program here or we will like one of them or the others seen by us. We have to be objective in our quest.”

“I am and for once in my living lifetime, I am seeing the reality of it. I am not influenced by it but understanding it as God gave us free will to think and we shall.” Dante hit back.

“Alright, Poet. Let us move on then.” Virgil took to change the subject matter. “Ask them the path ahead.”

“I shall.” Dante then leaned down to speak with one of the souls there. “Pray do tell me, who are you thee? And what is your sin that I will offer prayer? Let my ears be thy eyes to the God.”