Study Questions
1. With what does Dante compare the banks of the river as they continue their journey?

2. How long have Dante and Virgil been traveling?

3. Who is Brunetto?

4. How does Brunetto say that Dante can win?

5. What does Dante say that he will do with the words that Brunetto gives him?

6. Who is the wise lady that Dante mentions in the passage?

7. What is the meaning of the words “Well-heeded is well-heard”?

8. Why does the adviser not tell Dante who is in Circle VII?

9. Who is the “Servant of servants”?

10. How does Dante say that he feels about the future?

Answers
1. Dante compares the banks of the rivers with the dikes of Flanders and the dikes of Padua, Italy.

2. Dante and Virgil had left on Friday and the daylight of the day is fading. They talk through the dusk and the night until a new day dawns.

3. Brunetto was a former teacher/adviser to Dante.

4. Brunetto says that Dante could win by following his star.

5. Dante says that he will write down the words that Brunetto has shared with him and will give them to a wise lady.

6. The wise lady is a reference to Beatrice.

7. The words mean that what one really hears well is something that one obeys.

8. The adviser tells Dante that it will take too long to mention them all by name.

9. The “Servant of servants” is the Pope.

10. Dante says that he is unafraid about the future.