The Escape from the Malebranche

Dante and Virgil follow the ten devils along the bank of the boiling pitch. The barrator Ciampolo of Navarre is fished out by Graffiacane and questioned. He tricks the devils by offering to whistle up more sinners, then dives back into the pitch. Two devils, Calcabrina and Alichino, fight and fall into the pitch themselves. In the confusion, Virgil and Dante escape. They descend into the sixth Bolgia, where the hypocrites are punished. This episode is a comic interlude that also demonstrates the folly of the devils and the providence that protects the travelers.