lmost deafened by the rising chorus of wails.
With a falcon-like swoop Geryon finally alights on the next level,
and, having deposited his passengers at the foot of a splintered rock,
darts away like an arrow from a taut bow-string.

_Canto XVIII._ The eighth circle, called Malebolge (Evil Pits), is
divided into ten gulfs, between which rocky arches form bridge-like
passages. This whole region is of stone and ice, and from the pit in
the centre continually rise horrid exhalations. Among the unfortunates
incessantly lashed by horned demons in the first gulf, Dante perceives
one who was a notorious pander on earth and who is justly suffering
the penalty of his crimes. Later on, watching a train of culprits
driven by other demons, Dante recognizes among them Jason, who secured
the Golden Fleece, thanks to Medea, but proved faithless toward her in
the end.

Crossing to the second division, Dante beholds sinners buried in dung,
in punishment for having led astray their fellow-creatures by
flattery. One of them,--whom the poet recognizes,--emerging from his
filthy bath, sadly confesses, "Me thus low down my flatteries have
sunk, wherewith I ne'er enough could glut my tongue." In this place
Dante also notes the harlot Thais, expiating her sins, with other
notorious seducers and flatterers.

_Canto XIX._ By means of another rocky bridge the travellers reach the
third gulf, where are punished all who have been guilty of simony.
These are sunk, head first, in a series of burning pits, whence emerge
only the red-hot soles of their convulsively agitated feet. Seeing a
ruddier flame hover over one pair of soles, Dante timidly inquires to
whom they belong, whereupon Virgil, carrying him down to this spot,
bids him seek his answer from the culprit himself. Peering down into
the stone-pit, Dante then timidly proffers his request, only to be
hotly reviled by Pope Nicholas III, who first mistakes his
interlocutor for Pope Boniface, and confesses he was brought to this
state by nepotism. But, when he predicts a worse pope will ultimately
follow him down into this region, Dante sternly rebukes him.

_Canto XX._ Virgil is so pleased with Dante's speech to Pope Nicholas
that, seizing him in his arms, he carries him swiftly over the bridge
which leads to the fourth division. Here Dante beholds a procession of
chanting criminals whose heads are turned to face their backs. This
sight proves so awful that Dante weeps, until Virgil bids him n