When the mind returned, which closed itself before the pity of these tvſo kinsfolk, that had all confounded me with sadness, new torments and new tormented souls I see around me wherever I
move, and howsoever I turn, and wherever I gaze. I am in the third circle, that of the rain eternal,
accursed, cold, and heavy. Its rule and quality are never new. Coarse hail, and foul water and snow
pour down through the [murky] air; the earth that receives them stinks. Cerberus, a beast cruel and
monstrous, with three throats barks doglike above the people that are here submerged. He has [red]
eyes, and a greasy and black beard, and a big belly, and hands armed with claws: he tears the spirits,
flays them, and rends."
-Dante Alghieri,
quoted on the Virtual Library Web site
Cerberus is
a. a beast cruel and monstrous.
b. a dog that barks.
C. a man with a big belly.
d. a beast with two throats.