The concluding verses of _Purg._ vi. will at once come to mind: the famous invective in which he ironically congratulates his native city on her “feverish” energy,[126] shown in the disinterested eagerness of her citizens to take up the lucrative burdens of public office, and in the amazing agility of her legislative activity, beside which the democratic traditions of Ancient Athens— Fecero al viver ben un picciol cenno—[127] the laws passed in October being superseded by the middle of November— ... Che fai tanto sotili Provedimenti, che a mezzo novembre Non giugne quel che tu d’ ottobre fili. Then there is the scarcely less famous passage in _Par._ xxi,[128] where St. Peter Damian, inveighing against the Roman Curia, describes the fat Cardinals as supported on every side as they go—held up to right and left, and pushed and pulled along— Or voglion quinci e quindi chi i rincalzi Li moderni pastori, e chi gli meni Tanto son gravi! e chi di rietro gli alzi. And when they ride, covering their palfreys with their ample robes, “so that two beasts are moving ’neath one hide”— Sì che due bestie van sott’ una pelle.[129] Or again, there is Beatrice’s tirade in _Par._ xxix.[130] against the farce of unauthorised indulgences, and against the fashions of the contemporary pulpit: the fashion of neglecting the Gospel, and straining after originality, as though Christ’s mandate had been: “Go ye into all the world, and preach—frivolities!” Andate, e predicate al mondo ciance.[131] The modern preacher’s “head is swelled” (if we may so translate _Gonfia il cappuccio_), and he is perfectly content if by his jests and gibes he can raise a laugh, while the fiend sits unseen in the corner of his hood. This passage is as perennially applicable as any in Dante, and combines the satire of Alexander Pope with the stern earnestness of the author of the _Task_, so aptly compared to it by W. W. Vernon. Dante no doubt felt a certain appropriateness which justified him in putting these invectives into the mouths of his august _dramatis personae_: but we are apt to hear the ring of _his_ voice in each of them. There are, however, other passages in the _Purgatorio_ and the _Paradiso_ of which the playfulness belongs to the characters themselves. In _Purg._ xx. we have two instances given to show that the risible faculties are not extinguished by the pains of purification. Greedy Midas’ dismal surprise when, in answer to his ill-advised prayer, his very food turned to gold and became uneatable, is a legitimate and unfailing cause of laughter— Per la qual sempre convien che si rida—[132] to those who lie fettered face downwards[133] in the terrace of the avaricious. And it is with evident relish that the same souls repeat their last lesson: “Tell us, Crassus, for thou knowest, what is the flavour of gold?” Crasso, Dilci, che ’l sai: di che sapore è l’ oro?[134]