Cast out by heaven and hell alike
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Caccianli i ciel per non esser men belli, né lo profondo inferno li riceve, ch’ alcuna gloria i rei avrebber d’ elli».
The heavens drive them out, so as not to be less beautiful, nor does deep Hell receive them, for the damned would derive some glory over them.”
Heaven drives them out to keep its beauty pure, and deep Hell will not take them either, lest the truly damned gain some glory over them.
Both worlds reject them, and for opposite reasons that amount to the same contempt. Heaven expels them to stay beautiful — a face without a blemish. And real Hell will not stoop to admit them, because even the damned deserve the small dignity of being worse than someone; to house the neutrals would hand the guilty a kind of glory.
So they hang between, belonging nowhere. It is the perfect punishment for people who wanted to belong to no cause. Having refused to be counted, they are now uncountable, and the two eternities that organize everyone else simply pass them by.
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