Journal 11 : The Canto of Ulysses

The canto of Ulysses. ...Who is Dante? What is the Comedy?...

Jean pays great attention, and I begin slowly and accurately:

'Then of that age-old fire the loftier horn

Began to mutter and move, as a wavering flame

Wrestles against the wind and is over-worn;

And, like a speaking tongue vibrant to frame

Language, the tip of it flickering to and fro

Threw out a voice and answered: "When I came.." (pg 112)'

To be honest, I couldn’t understand the joke or the comedy, which Primo Levi tried to portray for Jean. First, it was a unique chapter to me because it seemed it was the only chapter when Primo was able to “breath with relief” by chatting with the Pikolo, Jean. When Primo stated “He (Jean) spent a month in Liguria, he likes Italy, he would like to learn Italian. I would be pleased to teach him Italian: why not try? We can do it. Why not immediately, one thing is as good as another, the important thing is not to lose time, not to waste this hour (pg 112),” I noticed Primo is actually enjoying being with Jean. Before, he was intimated by the Germans and the daunting prisoners, and did not have any “true friend,” who he could actually fool around with. But as we could notice from the quote, Primo said not wasting time is the important thing. It was interesting of recognizing that Primo was interested in poems and he was intelligent enough to remember each stanzas of it. This was the chapter made Primo able to be "Primo" again, not being a "prisoner Primo."