The Contrapasso in Dante's Inferno
Circle of the Malevolent
As we enter, I immediately felt ill from the humidity and indispictable odour of burnt flesh that fills the air. The walls and grounds are covered with big pearls, dripping with a thick substance of the colour red. With a further glance, I realize each pearl has a dark circle on its surface and these are eyeballs. An endless line of naked sinners stand close by along the circular path. There standing infront of the line is a great heinous monster, with two large horns on the crown of its head replacing the ears, huge round eyes, a lion's mouth and beasty paws with nails atleast ten inches in length.
I notice something perculiar in this circle, and I ask Virgil, "Why is it that the sinners are oddly silent here?" And he does not answer my question, but replies, "Let's continue and see what Leeca does to the sinners."
English: Dante Alighieri's portrait by Sandro Bott...
Ancient Roman bust (so-called "Bust of Vergil") fr...
Porque sin máiz no hay paysWe approach the line and I see the great beast stabbing the throat of a sinner with a single nail from his left claw. The nail pokes through the back of the sinner's neck, then Leeca pulls it out and stabs the eyes with two nails from the right claw, leaving with only empty sockets. The sinner is grabbed by the bleeding neck, and thrown into the large pit located at the center of the circular path.
I sensed the need to vomit and I watched the sinners pushing one another down to the bottom of the pit in order to dig themselves up to the surface. A numerous number of blacks crows drifts the air on top of the pit and pecks the empty eye sockets of those sinners who manage to crawl to the top. The sinner sinks...