The poets accordingly hasten on to the bridge above the next Pit, the fifth, and here the demons treacherously mislead them by assuring them that the next bridge directly on their way is broken down, but the one to the left is standing. The anniversary of the catastrophe is precisely determined by Malacoda, the chief demon of the band, as five hours later than the present hour on the preceding day. There can be no doubt that he refers to the same earthquake as Virgil described when descending the stony cliff, and all commentators are agreed to this. The time now, therefore, is five hours before midday, _i.e._ 7 a.m., since it was at midday that Dante believed Christ to have died.[459] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [459] Some think the interval between this reference and the last almost too short, but the words do not indicate that Malacoda spoke on the stroke of seven! and the moon may have set at about 6.30. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The scenes with the demons follow, the breathless escape into the next Pit, of the Hypocrites, and the horrors of the Pit of the Thieves. Then for a short space, when the suffering and the murk of Hell is becoming almost intolerable, we are suddenly lifted into the upper air by the narrative of Ulysses—into the pure air and the vast spaces of the southern ocean, and we see once more the skies. We follow the adventurers to the regions beyond the sun, the world where no one lives; we see all the stars of the other pole, and the moon shines down upon us. Too soon comes the tragic end of the story, and the waters close over the ship; the shade of Ulysses passes on, and we are once more in the “buio d’ inferno.”[460] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [460] “Darkness of Hell.” _Purg._ xvi. 1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the next Pit, that of the Schismatics, as Dante stands ready to weep for pity on the bridge above it, Virgil reproaches him for delaying, for little remains now of the time permitted for seeing the Inferno, and already the moon is beneath their feet. This is about an hour after midday; for if the moon were full she would be just opposite the sun, hence under our feet when the sun is on the meridian, _i.e._ at noon; but this is one day after Full Moon, and therefore she does not reach the position till about an hour later.