The Augsburger walks with Dante through the hell of the departed. He addresses the inconsolable and reports to them that on earth some things have changed.
When I’ d reported to the couple, thus
That up there no one murders now for gain
Since no one owns a thing, the faithless spouse
Who’ d beguiled that woman so improperly
Lifted his hand, now tied to hers by chains
And looked at her and turned perplexed to me
So no one steals, if there’ s no property?
I shook my head. And as their hands just touched
I saw a blush suffuse the woman’ s cheeks.
He saw it too and cried, She hasn’ t once
Shown so much since the day she was seduced!
And murmuring, Then there’ s no abstinence?
They moved off swiftly. And the ties that fused
Them tight were of no weight or consequence.
Translated from the German