[654] _His brethren_: The Centaurs who guard the river of blood (_Inf._ xii. 56). In Fucci, as a sinner guilty of blood and violence above most of the thieves, the Centaur Cacus takes a special malign interest. [655] _Our tale_: Of Cacus. It is interrupted by the arrival of three sinners whom Dante does not at first recognise as he gazes down on them, but only when they begin to speak among themselves. They are three noble citizens of Florence: Agnello Brunelleschi, Buoso degli Abati, and Puccio Sciancatto de' Galigai--all said to have pilfered in private life, or to have abused their tenure of high office by plundering the Commonwealth. What is certainly known of them is that they were Florentine thieves of quality. [656] _Cianfa_: Another Florentine gentleman, one of the Donati. Since his companions lost sight of him he has been transformed into a six-footed serpent. Immediately appearing, he darts upon Agnello. [657] _On chin, etc._: A gesture by which silence is requested. The mention of Cianfa shows Dante that he is among Florentines. [658] _Papyrus_: The original is _papiro_, the word used in Dante's time for a wick made out of a reed like the papyrus; _papér_ being still the name for a wick in some dialects.--(Scartazzini.) It cannot be shown that _papiro_ was ever employed for paper in Italian. This, however, does not prove that Dante may not so use it in this instance, adopting it from the Latin _papyrus_. Besides, he says that the brown colour travels up over the _papiro_; while it goes downward on a burning wick. Nor would the simile, if drawn from a slowly burning lamp-wick, agree with the speed of the change described in the text. [659] _A little snake_: As transpires from the last line of the Canto, this is Francesco, of the Florentine family of the Cavalcanti, to which Dante's friend Guido belonged. He wounds Buoso in the navel, and then, instead of growing into one new monster as was the case with Cianfa and Agnello, they exchange shapes, and when the transformation is complete Buoso is the serpent and Francesco is the human shade. [660] _Rooted he stood, etc._: The description agrees with the symptoms of snake-bite, one of which is extreme drowsiness. [661] _Sabellus and Nassidius_: Were soldiers of Cato's army whose death by snake-bite in the Libyan desert is described by Lucan, _Pharsal._ ix. Sabbellus was burned up by the poison, bones and all; Nassidius swelled up and burst. [662] _Cadmus_: _Metam._ iv. [663] _Arethusa_: _Metam._ v.