Chapter 5 · Malebolgeone of the damnedCircle VIIIPlayable
Catalano and Loderingo
Two Jovial Friars of Bologna under the lead, who notice the living by their breath.
Un frate godente di Bologna, sotto il piombo dorato. Si accorge dei vivi dal fiato: «Costui par vivo a l’atto de la gola» (XXIII, 88).
«Costui par vivo a l’atto de la gola;e s’e’ son morti, per qual privilegiovanno scoperti de la grave stola?».
Revealswho the two cloaks past the rank are, and how they know you are alive.
Past the end of the rank, under the top of the climb out of the sixth ditch, two cloaks walk on their own with slow steps: they do not belong to the rank and they do not come to the scream. They notice you the way they notice Dante, «a l’atto de la gola», by your breathing: hold your breath and they walk on as if you were not there, breathe within fifteen metres and they turn, look you over askance and come towards you as fast as the lead lets them, which is barely. They never leave their stretch, and they do not stand in the way of the ramp.
Catalano speaks for both. Tell him you are going back up and he gives you their two names and the way out, the ruin «che giace in costa e nel fondo soperchia». Lie to him and he gives you what the place is: the devil is «bugiardo e padre di menzogna», which is the truth about Malacoda’s intact bridge, and one cloak alone crushes nobody, the college does. Either way Virgil, who believed the devil, says from where he stands that whoever hooks the sinners over there told the story badly.
The numbers
| What | How much | When |
|---|---|---|
| Where they walk | from 1.5° before to 6° past the top of the climb | outer half of the floor, off the ramp |
| They hear you breathe within | 15 m | and not at all while you hold your breath |
| Their pace | 0.22 m/s | they stop two metres from you |
| The answer that writes the name | promise or lie | the lie weighs 0.35 |
Links
- Found in
- The Sixth Ditch, the Hypocrites