They changed color and gnashed their teeth
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Ma quell’ anime, ch’ eran lasse e nude, cangiar colore e dibattero i denti, ratto che ’nteser le parole crude.
But those souls, weary and naked, changed color and gnashed their teeth as soon as they heard the cruel words.
But the weary, naked souls change color and gnash their teeth as soon as they hear the cruel words.
The camera turns from Charon to the souls he is condemning. They are <i>lasse e nude</i>, weary and stripped bare — exhausted before their torment has even begun. Charon's words hit them like a blow: they blanch and their teeth chatter.
<i>Ratto che 'nteser le parole crude</i> — as soon as they heard the cruel words. The speed of their reaction is the measure of their terror. They understood instantly what awaited them, and the body answered before the mind could soften it. Dante lets us see damnation land on the flesh: color draining, jaws clenching, the whole frame recoiling from a future it cannot escape.
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