De inferno inferiori
The Pit of Flame and Smoke
Tnugdal looks around and sees a four-cornered pit like a cistern, belching a foul column of flame and smoke that reaches to the heavens.
Looking around, then, to see if he could somehow figure out where all these things had come to him— he saw a four-cornered pit, like a cistern. This well sends out a foul column of flame and smoke, and that column stretched all the way to the heavens.
Souls and Demons in the Furnace
Within the flame a vast multitude of souls and demons rise like sparks when the fire flares, then fall back into the furnace's depths when the smoke subsides.
There was also within the flame itself a vast multitude of souls together with demons. They rose up like sparks when the flame of those ascending flared, and once the smoke had been reduced to nothing, they fell again with the demons into the furnace, all the way down to its depths.
The Soul's Anguish and Self-Reproach
The soul, terrified and unable to flee, tears its cheeks and cries out in despair, lamenting that it refused to believe the holy scriptures and asking what madness has seized it.
But when the soul had seen this great spectacle, it wanted to draw back, but it didn't have the strength to lift its foot from the ground. But while terror kept urging it to try this more and more, and it realized that it couldn't carry out what it had wanted, filled with overwhelming fury it blazed with rage against itself. And tearing its cheeks with its nails, it cried out: 'Woe is me — why am I not dying? And why, most wretched as I am, did I refuse to believe the holy scriptures?' What madness has seized me?
Demons Surround the Soul
Demons rise with the flame, surround the soul like bees, blaze like fire among thorns, and in one voice declare her worthy of torments and ignorant of the penalties she has not yet experienced.
Hearing these things, the demons who had risen up with the flame immediately surrounded her with their instruments. With these they had snatched away the souls of the wretched to torments; and closing in, they surrounded her like bees. And they blazed up like fire among thorns.✦1 And there was one voice of all of them, saying, 'O wretched soul. You are worthy of punishments and torments; how did you come to this place?'2 You are ignorant of the punishments, and have not yet experienced the penalties.'3
The Sentence of Hopeless Torment
The demons pronounce a relentless sentence: the soul will see torment worthy of her deeds, cannot escape the serpent, will burn forever without perishing, and will find no consolation, refuge, light, help, or mercy, for she is delivered to the lower regions of hell.
You will yet see a torment worthy of your deeds. From which serpent you will not be able to escape. Nor will you be able to perish in it; but always, living in torment, you will burn. No consolation. No refuge. You will be able to see or find no light; no help. You will no longer be able to hope for any mercy. For you have drawn near to the gates of death; and to the lower regions of hell you will be delivered without delay.
Taunts of Eternal Mourning
The demons mock the soul, telling her that the one who led her here has deceived her and will never return, and commanding her to grieve, weep, cry out, and howl as she mourns, weeps, and burns forever with the damned.
The one who led you here has deceived you; let him free you, if he can, from our hands. For you'll never see him again. Grieve, wretched one, grieve. Weep. Cry out. And howl; for you'll mourn alongside those who mourn. You'll weep alongside those who weep. And you'll burn forever alongside those who burn.
Demons Prepare to Seize Her
The demons declare that no one can free the soul from their hands, then urge one another to drag her off, show her their cruelty, and hand her over to Lucifer to be devoured, brandishing their weapons and threatening eternal death.
There's no one who would want to or could free you from our hands. And they said to one another: What are we waiting for any longer? Let's drag her off and show her our cruelty. Let's hand her over to Lucifer to be devoured.4 And so, brandishing their weapons, they threatened each other with eternal death.5
The Appearance of the Demons
The spirits are described as black as coals, with eyes like burning lamps, teeth whiter than snow, tails like scorpions, sharp iron claws, and wings like vultures.
The spirits themselves were black as coals; their eyes, indeed, were like burning lamps of fire. Their teeth, too, were whiter than snow. And they had tails like scorpions. They also had iron claws, very sharp, and wings like vultures.
The Angel Rescues the Soul
As the demons rush forward to seize the soul and sing the song of death over her, a spirit of light appears, puts the dark spirits to flight, and comforts her, saying she will receive mercy and not judgment, seeing their punishments but never enduring them again.
When they were throwing themselves forward, meaning to seize her and carry her off with them without a moment's delay, and to sing the song of death over her as she wept — but a spirit of light was there. And once the spirits of darkness had been put to flight, he comforted her with his usual words, saying, 'Rejoice and be glad, daughter of light, because you will receive mercy and not judgment. You will indeed see their punishments; but you will never again have to endure them.'
Read the original Latin
Circumspiciens igitur si quo modo videre posset unde advenerant hec sibi omnia. vidit fossam quadrangulam quasi cisternam. qui puteus putridam flamme et fumi emittit columpnam; que columpna usque ad celos extendebatur.
Erat etiam in ipsa flamma maxima multitudo animarum simul et demonum. que ascendebant more favillarum cum flamma ascendentium et ad nichilum redacto fumo cum demonibus iterum cadebant in fornacem usque ad profundum.
Viso autem hoc magno spectaculo. volebat se anima retro retrahere. sed non valebat pedem a terra levare. Sed dum hoc sepius pavore persuadente temptaret facere. et se quod voluerat cerneret non posse perficere; nimio furore repleta in semet ipsam exarsit. et genas suas ungulis lacerans clamavit. 'Ve mihi ut quid ego non morior? Et quare ego miserrima sanctis scripturis credere nolui?
Que me dementia cepit?'
Audientes hec demones qui cum flamma ascenderant. ilico eam circumvenerunt cum instrumentis. quibus miserorum animas ad tormenta rapuerunt; et circumdantes circumdederunt eam sicut apes. et exarserunt sicut ignis in spinis. et erat vox una omnium dicentium. 'O misera anima. penis et cruciatibus digna; unde huc venisti? Ignara penarum nondum experta es penas.
adhuc videbis dignum tuis operibus tormentum. de quo exre non poteris. nec in eo perire valebis; sed semper in cruciatu vivens ardebis. Nullam consolationem. nullum refugium. nullum videre aut invenire poteris lumen; nullum auxilium. nullam misericordiam amplius sperare valebis. Appropinquasti namque portis mortis; et inferioribus inferni sine mora presentaberis.
Qui huc te duxit ille te decepit; liberet te si potest de manibus nostris. non enim eum amplius videbis. Dole misera dole. plora. clama. et ulula; lugebis enim cum lugentibus. flebis cum flentibus. et in eternum ardebis cum ardentibus.
Non enim est qui te velit aut possit liberare de manibus nostris.' Et ad invicem loquebantur dicentes. 'Quid est quod amplius moramur? Trahamus istam et ostendamus illi crudelitatem nostram. demus eam Lucifero dovorandam. et sic arma sua vibrantis minabantur sibi mortem perpetuam.'
Ipsi autem spiritus erant nigri sicut carbones; oculi vero eorum ut lampades ignis ardentes. dentes etiam eorum nive candidiores. et caudas habebant ut scorpiones. ungulas quoque ferreas valde acutas; et ut vultures habebant alas.
Cum igitur se iactarent. quod sine mora illam secum raperent. et flenti canticum mortis canerent; affuit spiritus lucis. et fugatis tenebrarum spiritibus. solitis eam consolabatur verbis dicens. 'Gaude et letare filia lucis; quia misericordiam et non iudicium consequeris. penas quidem videbis. sed eas amplius non pacieris.'
Scripture echoes
- ↩Exod.2.2 — And the woman conceived and bore a son, and she saw that he was good, and she hid him three months.
Notes
- 1 ↩Likely echo of Exodus 2:2 (LXX/Vulgate 'bush burning with fire') or Ecclesiasticus/Sirach imagery of fire in thorns; candidate only, not confirmed by Moses resolution.
- 2 ↩unde huc venisti rendered as 'how did you come to this place' to preserve the reproachful sense; literal 'whence' is less natural in modern English.
- 3 ↩penarum... penas: variant of poena; rendered as 'punishments... penalties' to reflect the Latin repetition while reading naturally in English.
- 4 ↩dovorandam: uncertain form, likely a variant of devorandam (gerundive of devoro). Translated as 'to be devoured' per the most plausible intended sense.
- 5 ↩vibrantis: participial form modifying arma; rendered as 'brandishing' to convey the threatening motion of weapons.
Visions of Tondal (Les Visions du chevalier Tondal) companion
Tondal came back and changed how he lived daily. That's the whole point.
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