Introduction
People are
always worrying about life after death. One of the biggest worries is
what will happen to their immortal soul. Will they live the afterlife
forever in the bliss of Heaven or suffer eternal torment down in Hell?
In my storybook you will be taken on a journey through Hell with the
greatest of tour guides: Lucifer. He will lead you through three of the
nine circles of Hell from Dante Alighieri's poem "Inferno." Take this
chance to hear from Lucifer some of the things you will be going
through on your tour.
"Hell. A place filled with fire, pain, misery, and most of all, sinners. Have you ever heard of Dante Alighieri? A long, long time ago he wrote a poem, "The Divine Comedy." Great work- you should read it sometime. It really grabs at one's soul. Now, I wish to focus on just one portion in particular, Dante's "Inferno." He wrote it about himself. You see, in the "Inferno," Dante takes a little trip, you could say. Namely, Virgil, a poet who died and went to Hell, takes Dante on a tour through Hell. Now that didn't actually happen, but Dante was surprisingly accurate about some things, about most things actually. It was kind of chilling to read how much he got right. You are now going to get your own personal tour of Hell, with me, Lucifer, as your humble guide. I'm very busy running Hell, so we are on a time limit. For this reason we will be visiting only three of the nine circles. I do hope you don't mind. In fact, I'm sure you would rather not be going on this tour. It is for your own good, however, so you must go. Now then, I have never given this tour before so I only know where we will be going. That being said, would you like to know our stops as well?
Our first stop will be at the First Circle, Limbo. Yes, Limbo, not to be confused with Purgatory. In Limbo you will get to see some people who you might feel don't belong there. I agree with you on that one but the Father can be finicky sometimes. You see, Limbo is filled with those who were not baptized. It truly is sad. So many down here are true believers in God the Father. Virgil himself resides here. Perhaps we will see him, or maybe Aristotle or Plato.
The next stop won't be much of a walk, so to speak. It will be the Second Circle of Hell. Now, starting here the circles get divided into specific sins. The Second Circle is Lust. This is one of my favorites. Almost everyone is guilty of this sin, but it requires a certain degree of Lust to actually be sent here for it. Cleopatra is a great example. There are many familiar faces here- Paolo and Francesca, Helen of Troy, and Achilles, to name a few.
The end of our tour lands us in the Ninth Circle of Hell. It is the last circle and is where I have taken up residence. This is the one place where Dante gets just a bit wrong. Not much, just a little. I'll talk more on that matter when we get there. Now, the Ninth Circle is where the traitors go. There are four rings here. Anyways, the first ring is filled with those who have betrayed friends and family. Terrible thing to do, no? The second ring is for those who are traitors to their country. The third I feel is pointless, but here are housed those who are traitors to their guests. So, remember to be nice to any company you have over. Now, the last ring is probably the most infamous. This is the ring for those who betray the Father himself. Actually, you only have to betray someone whom you praise above all others to land in the last ring of the last circle. It is in this last ring that I spend most of my time. With me in this place of torment are Brutus, Cassius, and, most notably, Judas.
Now, any questions? Shall we get on with the tour?"
"Hell. A place filled with fire, pain, misery, and most of all, sinners. Have you ever heard of Dante Alighieri? A long, long time ago he wrote a poem, "The Divine Comedy." Great work- you should read it sometime. It really grabs at one's soul. Now, I wish to focus on just one portion in particular, Dante's "Inferno." He wrote it about himself. You see, in the "Inferno," Dante takes a little trip, you could say. Namely, Virgil, a poet who died and went to Hell, takes Dante on a tour through Hell. Now that didn't actually happen, but Dante was surprisingly accurate about some things, about most things actually. It was kind of chilling to read how much he got right. You are now going to get your own personal tour of Hell, with me, Lucifer, as your humble guide. I'm very busy running Hell, so we are on a time limit. For this reason we will be visiting only three of the nine circles. I do hope you don't mind. In fact, I'm sure you would rather not be going on this tour. It is for your own good, however, so you must go. Now then, I have never given this tour before so I only know where we will be going. That being said, would you like to know our stops as well?
Our first stop will be at the First Circle, Limbo. Yes, Limbo, not to be confused with Purgatory. In Limbo you will get to see some people who you might feel don't belong there. I agree with you on that one but the Father can be finicky sometimes. You see, Limbo is filled with those who were not baptized. It truly is sad. So many down here are true believers in God the Father. Virgil himself resides here. Perhaps we will see him, or maybe Aristotle or Plato.
The next stop won't be much of a walk, so to speak. It will be the Second Circle of Hell. Now, starting here the circles get divided into specific sins. The Second Circle is Lust. This is one of my favorites. Almost everyone is guilty of this sin, but it requires a certain degree of Lust to actually be sent here for it. Cleopatra is a great example. There are many familiar faces here- Paolo and Francesca, Helen of Troy, and Achilles, to name a few.
The end of our tour lands us in the Ninth Circle of Hell. It is the last circle and is where I have taken up residence. This is the one place where Dante gets just a bit wrong. Not much, just a little. I'll talk more on that matter when we get there. Now, the Ninth Circle is where the traitors go. There are four rings here. Anyways, the first ring is filled with those who have betrayed friends and family. Terrible thing to do, no? The second ring is for those who are traitors to their country. The third I feel is pointless, but here are housed those who are traitors to their guests. So, remember to be nice to any company you have over. Now, the last ring is probably the most infamous. This is the ring for those who betray the Father himself. Actually, you only have to betray someone whom you praise above all others to land in the last ring of the last circle. It is in this last ring that I spend most of my time. With me in this place of torment are Brutus, Cassius, and, most notably, Judas.
Now, any questions? Shall we get on with the tour?"