1–12. I have seen … or star: Referring to the last line of Canto 21, this magnificent mock-epic simile juxtaposes the noblest (the knightly) forms of warfare and their signals with the grotesquely debased and ineffectual military discipline of the Evil Claws (the devils, it will be remembered, are at war with both God and man). At times the catalog descends from heroic assaults and reviews to retreat (line 3), mere predatory raids (line 5), and a suggestion of civil war (line 4). The simile is masterfully constructed: note the function of the repeated “vidi” [I have seen], “quando” [sometimes], and “con/a” [with/at] in articulating and gradually intensifying the accumulation of instances, and the equal division of the four terzine into two groups, one on activities, the other on their respective signals, returning at the end to horsemen, but expanding the panorama to include foot soldiers and ships as well. Essential to the effect is that the simile climaxes in ludicrous non-similarity—like the simile in 21.7–21. The topos of a list of beautiful things (including martial activities) is the basis of a well-established genre of medieval poetry, the plazer (see the notes to 14.30, 28.22–24).
4–5. I have seen mounted men … O Aretines: In a letter, now lost, quoted by Leonardo Bruni, Dante claimed to have participated as a mounted soldier in the battle of Campaldino (June 1289), in Aretine territory. There has been uncertainty as to whether terra (line 4) here signifies “territory” (in which case corridori means “scouts”) or, as generally accepted today—and as regularly in Dante—“city” (in which case the reference is to civic disturbances in which horsemen—corridori–coursed the city to intimidate and, if possible, kill their political opponents).
6. tournaments striking, and jousts running: The distinction is between mass encounters (with swords, principally) on open fields and individual jousts (with lances) in the lists.
7. sometimes with bells: Italian cities sent forth armies accompanied by great war wagons which bore, among other equipment, great bells. The captures of such carri constituted major victories.
12. at a sign from land or star: The term segno [sign], referring to the stars, signifies “constellation”: the ship would be setting forth at a certain hour (the rising or transit of a particular star or constellation), perhaps with astrological significance. The gamut of this catalog of activities and signs ends with the word stella [star], providing the greatest possible antithesis to the devils’ signals (and one sufficiently exalted that stelle is the concluding word of each of the three cantiche of the poem).
13. the ten demons: See 21.120, with note.
14–15. in church … with the gluttons:This striking phrase may already have been proverbial in Dante’s time; in any case it has been so ever since.
19–21. As dolphins do … save their ship: The traditional idea that dolphins warn sailors of approaching storms goes back at least as far as Isidore of Seville, Etymologies 12.6.11 (P.L. 82.452); it is frequently mentioned in writers contemporary with Dante. The simile contains the hidden suggestion that some kind of storm is now approaching. The frequency with which devils and sinners are compared to animals in this canto has frequently been noted: 19–21, dolphins; 25–27, 32–33, frogs; 36, otter; 56, boar; 58, cat and mouse; 96, bird; 106, dog’s snout; 114, horse’s gallop; 130–32, duck and falcon; 139, hawk. The devils are compared to dogs in 21.67–69 (see also the discussion of their names in the note to 21.118–23).
31. my heart still makes me shudder: Again the poet still feels the emotions of the pilgrim.
35. hooked his grapple … like an otter: The bases of the comparison are both the passivity of the captured otter, hanging from the hook or noose with its limbs dangling, and the sleekness of its wet fur, streaming with water (here, pitch). Line 35 is perhaps the most striking of the many sound effects in these two cantos suggesting stickiness and viscosity, partly because it combines elements of the dangers of both capture and entanglement, the grapplehooks and the pitch.
37–39. I had learned … to each other: One notes Dante’s care to maintain the verisimilitude of the pilgrim’s point of view. It is of course the pilgrim’s fear (cf. 21.91–99, 127–32) that we understand to have motivated the exactness of his memory (see the note to 21.74); the commentators point out that his fear takes second place to his curiosity “when they were chosen” (21.118–23) and “when they called” (21.76, 105), and, implicitly, other occasions. Compare 25.40–45. Each of the ten demons is named once in this canto, except for Curly Beard, who is named three times (lines 29, 59, and 145).
40. O Ruby Face: Now that a sinner has been captured, the rest of the canto is filled with action and dialogue. Previously, like the pilgrim, the devils have been silent and on the alert.
45. into the hands of his enemies: Dante’s term is avversari [adversaries], literally translating New Testament diabolus; we use the word “enemies” in order to preserve the politically realistic ring of the passage; it reminds us again that the infernal events are transpositions of earthly ones, probably witnessed by Dante, such as the merciless interrogations of prisoners and the fear on the faces of surrendering soldiers (21.94–96). See Additional Note 9.
48. Navarre: A small kingdom in the Pyrenees, in the south of France, integrated into that country in 1598.
50–51. she had generated me … and of himself: In other words, the unnamed Navarrese (to whom the early commentators attribute the name Ciampolo, or Jean-Paul) was the illegitimate son of a spendthrift who ultimately committed suicide (the punishment of both these sins is described in Canto 13). The use of the term “generated” (generate), usually used of a child’s father, is striking when applied, as here, to the mother.
52–54. Then I was in the household … in this heat: Barratry is here identified as a sin characteristic of underlings; those Ciampolo mentions were servants and ministers of rulers. Civil servants of republican governments are included in the reference to Lucca (21.37–42).
52. good king Thibaut: This is probably Thibaut II, king of Navarre (12551270), celebrated for his valor and generosity.
57. let him feel how one of them could rip: We are not told the location of the ripping wound now inflicted by Big Pig (see line 77 and note).
58. Among bad cats had the mouse arrived: A hint of reference to beast fables, further developed in 23.4–9.
60. Stay over there … gripped: The line is addressed to the devils {state [stay] is plural); “while I have him gripped” translates the more vivid mentr’ io lo ’nforco [literally, while I have him forked].
70. We’ve been patient: The Italian abbiam sofferto [literally, we have suffered] brings into focus the root meaning of “patient,” from Latin patior, “to suffer,“ with considerable ironic force: Love Notch is impatient to inflict suffering.
74. decurion: See the note to 21.120.
77. gazing at his wound: This is one of the most effectively chilling moments of the canto, conveying the hallucinated atmosphere of sudden violence and the shocked amazement of its victims.
81–87. Brother Gomita … a champion: Galluria was one of the four administrative districts of Sardinia; according to the early commentators, Brother Gomita (afrate godente [see the note to 23.103]) was appointed by Nino Visconti of Pisa (see 33.13–18, with notes) as his deputy and was later hanged for his disloyalty and bribe-taking. Nothing is known of the incident related here.
83. his master’s: Dante’s word, donno (used also in line 88), from Latin dominus, was used in Sardinia as the equivalent of signore.
87. champion: Dante’s word is sovrano [superior, sovereign].
88–89. Michel Zanche of Logodoro: Logodoro was another of the four Sardinian districts; Michele Zanche is said to have been the deputy of King Enzo 1239–1249; d. 1272). Again, nothing specific is known of him, beyond his having been murdered by his son-in-law, Branca Doria, whom Dante places in Cocytus (33.136–47).
91–93. Oh me … scratch my scurf:Ciampolo’s terror is real and justified, but he does not lose his presence of mind, as his slangy, contemptuous “scratch my scurf” indicates. This moment, in which he begins to manipulate the situation to his own advantage, is skillfully chosen, for he has captured everyone’s attention by telling the truth (cf. 21.106–14, with notes).
97–99. If you want to see … Tuscans or Lombards:Virgil has inquired about Italians generally, but Ciampolo has heard him and the pilgrim converse and has recognized their respective accents. He assumes—correctly—that they will be particularly interested in sinners from their own regions (the pilgrim’s interest in Tuscany needs no comment; Virgil’s interest in Lombardy—compare 1.68–helps account for the digression of20.58–91). The “question of language” permeates the Malebolge. See Additional Note 13.
106. Evil Dog lifted his snout:He smells the trick, apparently.
112–17. Harlequin … you can outdo us:See the note tona 21.123; Harlequin’s delight in pursuit befits the traditional leader of the infernal hunt. He is “against the others” in wishing to accept Ciampolo’s challenge. The devils’ wings and their ability to fly have not been mentioned since 21.33. They now become the focus of the action, as Harlequin’s overconfidence and competitiveness lead to the discomfiture of the other devils (grotesquely lacking in “military” discipline).
118. O you who read … sport:The fifth of the seven addresses to the reader in the Inferno (see the note to 8.94–96). Dante’s word ludo [sport, or theatrical play] is a Latinism, derived from the word used by the Romans for athletic contests and gladiatorial fights; novo means both “strange” and “new.”
120. he first … most unwilling:Evil Dog (lines 106–8).
125. he who had caused the fault:Harlequin (line 112).
131. when the falcon approaches:The imagery of falcons and falconry—frequently used of angels in the Comedy–first appears in the poem in Canto 3 (see 3.117 and 17.127–32, with notes); it reaches explicitness in this canto just when the devils’ flight ironically lands them in the pitch: as their actions show, these are fallen/falling angels.
144. they had so enlimed their wings:Dante’s inviscato [enlimed] is derived from visco [birdlime], the sticky substance used to capture small birds inviscare was part of the system of bird imagery in Canto 13 as well; cf. 13.55–57, with note); impaniati [viscous ones], line 149, equivalent to inviscati, is derived from pania, another term for the same substance.