Voices uttering holy maxims whirl around Dante and Virgil like gusts of wind. Each voice recalls a story or example of charity.
On the second terrace, the souls of the envious sit with their backs against the rockface, clothed in sackcloth, their eyelids sewn shut with wire. Among these souls, Dante speaks with Sapia of Sienna, who tells him that one of the sins she must purge here is that she once rejoiced in the defeat of her compatriots at Val d’Elsa. Sapia asks Dante to bring word of her presence in Purgatory to her relatives.
The poets then take leave of the envious as more invisible voices flit by, citing examples of punished envy. They reach the stairs leading to the third terrace, and an angel removes another 'P' from Dante’s forehead.
EXCERPT OF THE COMEDY: Pg. 13, 139-150
Dante and Virgil encounter Sapia of Sienna and the envious. - La Divina Commedia: novamente illustrata da artisti italiani, Florence, Alinari, 1902-1903, Purgatorio, p. 156. Université de Montréal, Bibliothèque des livres rares et collections spéciales, Collection générale, PQ 4302 F02 1902.