at. He and Statius now humbly follow the glorious procession, which
enters a forest and circles gravely round a barren tree-trunk, to
which the chariot is tethered. Immediately the dry branches burst into
bud and leaf, and, soothed by angelic music, Dante falls asleep, only
to be favored by a vision so startling, that on awakening he eagerly
looks around for Beatrice. The nymph who bore him safely through the
waters then points her out, resting beneath the mystic tree, and
Beatrice, rousing too, bids Dante note the fate of her chariot. The
poet then sees an eagle (the Empire), swoop down from heaven, tear the
tree asunder, and attack the Chariot (the Church), into which a fox
(heresy) has sprung as if in quest of prey. Although the fox is soon
routed by Beatrice, the eagle makes its nest in the chariot, beneath
which arises a seven-headed monster (the seven capital sins), bearing
on its back a giant, who alternately caresses and chastises a whore.

_Canto XXXIII._ The seven Virtues having chanted a hymn, Beatrice
motions to Statius and Dante to follow her, asking the latter why he
is so mute? Rejoining she best knows what he needs, Dante receives
from her lips an explanation of what he has just seen, which he is
bidden reveal to mankind. Conversing thus, they reach the second
stream, of whose waters Beatrice bids her friend drink, and after that
renovating draught Dante realizes he has now been made pure and "apt
for mounting to the stars."




PARADISE