Dante and Virgil, descended to the eighth circle with the help of tunnel-drillers, traversing the seventh chamber of Hell. Virgil, confused and stammering, is surprised by the darkness in his vernacular. Dante has to take him back earnestly to remind him of the journey they are both leading in the underworld. Their mission, to cross the river Lethe, making the connection between Hell and Elysion.
Lethe appears to them, in an angelic form. Repeating obscure admonitions and formulas, the daughter of Eris proposes a high-speed crossing on board a tunnel shuttle. A damned mute manifests himself. Imploring Virgil, it is the astrologer and alchemist Michel Scotus, whose punishment, sighs Dante...