As if the monster wasn't bad enough, the agony of those in the fourth circle met my eyes. Each man was pushing around enormous boulders and rolled them at one another. They seemed to be in some kind of eternal war. Each side asking the other why they hoard or waste. Each believing that his side is right. The hoarders seemed pleased to have their boulders and the wasters seemed happy to see them set free. It was interesting to see these opposite sins being punished in the same place.
Most terrifying was that I couldn't make out any of the faces of the souls. Virgil explained that this was because, in life, they worked to be blind. Their hoarded gold and wasted money won't save them now.
Crossing over to the edge of the chasm, we came upon a small body of water that bubbled and flowed through a huge crack in the ledge. This water wasn't a welcome source though. Instead of being clear and a source of cooling its surroundings, it was black in color and smelled much like the muck and snow we had encountered earlier.
Following the water led to a marsh called Styx which was more like a swampland. It wasn't something that I wanted to trudge through. Making an attempt to climb through the water were masses of angry souls. Each was naked and covered in muck from the swamp. They bit at each other and tried to tear one another apart with whatever they could. They were trying to escape the water. Virgil explained that it was boiling. He went on to say that there were even souls who were sunken into the water. In life they were sullen and in death they are as well. They gargled this idea by song through the water. Eerie choking noises were the result.
Virgil and I walked on until we came to a great tower with no name.
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