"This is the place of the
merciless and the unfeeling," said the Angel. Turning a little to the
left, where there was a cell lighter than any I had so far seen, I asked
what place it was: "The abode of the Infernal Dragons," said he, "which
growl and rage, rush about and rend one another every instant." I drew
near and oh! what an indescribable sight they were! It was the glowing
fire of their eyes that gave all that light. "These are the descendants
of Adam," said my Guide, "scolds and raving, wrathful men; but yonder are
some of the ancient seed of the great Dragon, Lucifer;" but verily I
could not perceive any difference in loveliness between them. In the
next dungeon dwell the misers in awful torment, being linked by their
hearts to chests of burning coin, the rust of which was consuming them
without end, just as they had never thought of an end to the piling of
them, and now they were tearing themselves to pieces with more than
madness through grief and remorse. Below this was a charnel vault where
some of the apothecaries had been ground down and stuffed into
earthenware pots with Album graecum, dung, and many a stale ointment.
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