Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/123

Rh Now get thee gone; and since thou 'rt still alive,

Know that a neighbor of mine, Vitaliano,

Will have his seat here on my left-hand side.

A Paduan am I with these Florentines;

Full many a time they thunder in mine ears,

Exclaiming, 'Come the sovereign cavalier,

He who shall bring the satchel with three goats;

Then twisted he his mouth, and forth he thrust

His tongue, like to an ox that licks its nose.

And fearing lest my longer stay might vex

Him who had warned me not to tarry long,

Backward I turned me from those weary souls.

I found my Guide, who had already mounted

Upon the back of that wild animal,

And said to me: "Now be both strong and bold.

Now we descend by stairways such as these;

Mount thou in front, for I will be midway,

So that the tail may have no power to harm thee."

Such as he is who has so near the ague

Of quartan that his nails are blue already,

And trembles all, but looking at the shade;

Even such became I at those proffered words;

But shame in me his menaces produced,

Which maketh servant strong before good master.