• Dante uses this comparison before, Canto I 60:⁠— “But I beheld it sparkle round about Like iron that comes molten from the fire.” ↩
• The inventor of the game of chess brought it to a Persian king, who was so delighted with it, that he offered him in return whatever reward he might ask. The inventor said he wished only a grain of wheat, doubled as many times as there were squares on the chessboard; that is, one grain for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, and so on to sixty-four. This the king readily granted; but when the amount was reckoned up, he had not wheat enough in his whole kingdom to pay it. ↩
• Their appointed place or whereabout. ↩