y treads down the grass
in this eternal evening. Thou art not the first man who has descended
before his death into these dwellings, although all intercourse between
us and the living is difficult. But cease from praise; I do not like
eulogies and the confused sounds of glory have always offended my ears.
That is why I fled from Rome, where I was known to the idle and curious,
and laboured in the solitude of my beloved Parthenope. And then I am not
so convinced that the men of thy generation understand my verses that
should be gratified by thy praises. Who art thou?"

"I am called Marbodius of the Kingdom of Alca. I made my profession in
the Abbey of Corrigan. I read thy poems by day and I read them by night.
It is thee whom I have come to see in Hell; I was impatient to know what
thy fate was. On earth the learned often dispute about it. Some hold
it probable that, having lived under the power of demons, thou art now
burning in inextinguishable flames; others, more cautious, pronounce
no opinion, believing that all which is said concerning the dead is
uncertain and full of lies; several, though not in truth the ablest,
maintain that, because thou didst elevate the tone of the Sicilian Muses
and foretell that a new progeny would descend from heaven, thou wert
admitted, like the Emperor Trajan, to enjoy eternal blessedness in the
Christian heaven."

"Thou seest that such is not the case," answered the shade, smiling.

"I meet thee in truth, O Virgil, among the heroes and sages in those
Elysian Fields which thou thyself hast described. Thus, contrary to what
several on earth believe, no one has come to seek thee on the part of
Him who reigns on high?"

After a rather long silence:

"I will conceal nought from thee. He sent for me; one of his messengers,
a simple man, came to say that I was expected, and that, although I
had not been initiated into their mysteries, in consideration of my
prophetic verses, a place had been reserved for me among those of the
new sect. But I refused to accept that invitation; I had no desire
to change my lace. I did so not because I share the admiration of the
Greeks for the Elysian fields, or because I taste here those joys
which caused Proserpine to lose the remembrance of her mother. I never
believed much myself in what I say about these things in the 'Aeneid.'
I was instructed by philosophers and men of science and I had a correct
foreboding of the truth. Life in hell is extremely at