Circle Three: The Gluttons

Once again, I wake after fainting from pity. Being in Hell, as one would imagine, is incredibly overwhelming. Each way I turn I see man dealing with some new kind of torture that my mind isn't brave enough to imagine or retell at times. Whenever I try to turn away from one terrible sight I turn to see another.

In this circle, a torrential downpour hits Virgil and I. Hail, slush, black snow, and icy rain all hit us and form one mess all over the ground. Among this filth, Cerberus, a dog-like beast with three heads is waiting to rip apart the men in this circle. His stomach is already ready to burst from those he has already consumed, but still, he tears off more limbs.

The men howl just like the beast in pain, not pleasure. As we walked across the mush, our feet sinking in some places and hitting bodies in others, I heard my name. I had come across a man from my native town, Ciacco, The Hog. As his nickname implies, his sin was gluttony. Seeing him half buried in filth took a toll on my already pained heart. He begged me to speak about him when I got back to the surface. I promised that I would. Though I wanted to honor his memory, I am not quite sure why someone who had sinned would want others to know that they were in Hell. I wouldn't want my family to know that I was suffering, nor my enemies.