Journal of Italian Translation 2 Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter, and Keep Hope Alive! On (Mis?)Translating the Most Famous Verse in the Divine Comedy” Sante Matteo HORS D’OEUVRE But before ye enter into this essay, let’s start things off with a pop quiz—just two questions: a little antipasto before the main course! First, a language question: Choose the correct English translation of this sentence: Finite ogni fagiolo voi che mangiate qui. A. Finish each bean, you who are eating here! B. Those of you who regularly eat here, make sure you fnish every bean! C. You who routinely eat here always fnish every bean. D. Those of you who are eating here are fnishing all the beans. E. Those of you who usually eat here are now fnishing every bean. F. You who are eating here always fnish all the beans. G. All of the above. The correct answer is G: all the proposed translations are correct approximations. In form, both fnite and mangiate can be either im- perative or indicative. In this particular sentence, however, mangiate can only be indicative—You (you all, plural) eat/are eating—and only fnite can be both imperative—Finish (all of you)! or indicative: You fnish/are fnishing. In the indicative mood, both fnite and mangiate can be either the simple present—you fnish . . . eat (regularly, all the time)--or the progressive present—you are (in the process of) fnishing . . . eating (now). For the second person plural (voi), Italian uses the same verb ending for the imperative, the indicative simple present, and the indicative progressive present. 1 1 A grammar primer for those who have not studied Italian or those who could use a refresher: In English, as in Italian, the indicative and the imperative have the same form of the verb: eat, but the indicative, in English, is always accompanied by the subject