ved to see Virgil close behind him and to
hear him explain that disembodied spirits cast no shadow. While they
are talking, they reach the foot of the mountain and are daunted by
its steep and rocky sides. They are vainly searching for some crevice
whereby they may hope to ascend, when they behold a slowly advancing
procession of white-robed figures, from whom Virgil humbly inquires
the way.

"As sheep, that step from forth their fold, by one,
Or pairs, or three at once; meanwhile the rest
Stand fearfully, bending the eye and nose
To ground, and what the foremost does, that do
The others, gathering round her if she stops,
Simple and quiet, nor the cause discern;
So saw I moving to advance the first,
Who of the fortunate crew were at the head,
Of modest mien, and graceful in their gait.
When they before me had beheld the light
From my right side fall broken on the ground,
So that the shadow reach'd the cave; they stopp'd,
And somewhat back retired: the same did all
Who follow'd, though unwitting of the cause."

These spirits too are startled at the sight of a living being, but,
when Virgil assures them Dante is not here without warrant, they
obligingly point out "the straight and narrow way" which serves as
entrance to Purgatory. This done, one spirit, detaching itself from
the rest, inquires whether Dante does not remember Manfred, King of
Naples and Sicily, and whether he will not, on his return to earth,
inform the princess that her father repented of his sins at the moment
of death and now bespeaks her prayers to shorten his time of
probation.

_Canto IV._ Dazed by what he has just seen and heard, Dante becomes
conscious of his surroundings once more, only when the sun stands
considerably higher, and when he has arrived at the foot of a rocky
pathway, up which he painfully follows Virgil, helping himself with
his hands as well as his feet. Arrived at its top, both gaze
wonderingly around them, and perceive by the position of the sun that
they must be at the antipodes of Florence, where their journey began.
Panting with the exertions he has just made, Dante expresses some fear
lest his strength may fail him, whereupon Virgil kindly assures him
the way, so arduous at first, will become easier and easier the higher
they ascend.

Just then a voice, addressing them, advises them to rest, and Dante,
turning, perceives, among other spirits, a sitting figure, in whom he
recognizes a