1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Dante Alighieri spent nearly two 5 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: decades writing his most famous work, what we now call 6 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: The Divine Comedy. I say now because for the first 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: two centuries after his death it was simply called Commodia, 8 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: and the Divina was added around fifteen. It's seen as 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: the most significant work of Italian literature and is still 10 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: studied by scholars and woven into popular culture today. If 11 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: you've heard the phrase the circles of Hell, you have 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: Dante to thank for that. Most recently, the author Dan Brown, 13 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: known for or his novel The Da Vinci Code, published 14 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: a novel called Inferno. As you might imagine, Dante features 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: heavily in the story. And it's amazing to see a 16 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: work of literature still be so influential after over five 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: hundred years in print. But it almost didn't happen. As 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: I said before, Dante spent nearly two decades writing his masterpiece. 19 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: Everyone around him had plenty of time to learn about 20 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: his project. His two sons, Jacopo and Pietro, were most 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: likely allowed to read along as he wrote it. I 22 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: guess my point is that people were aware of the book. 23 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: It was the center of his existence for so long, 24 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,279 Speaker 1: after all. And then in one just a year after 25 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: he had completed the whole thing, but before he had 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: a chance to publish it, Dante died. His family went 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: through that same sort of grieving process we would experience today, 28 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: wrapping up his final affairs and making sure his burial 29 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: was taken care of properly. But within weeks life would 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: have moved on, except his uns couldn't forget that manuscript, 31 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: and who could blame them now? The Divine Comedy is 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: a collection of one parts called cantos. Going through his 33 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: papers after his death, Dante's sons discovered that there were 34 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: thirteen canto's missing. That'sent of the book, one eighth of 35 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: the completed work, and not just any thirtcent either. They 36 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: were missing the final chapters of the entire story. It 37 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: was maddening. According to an early Dante biographer, the sons 38 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: searched the family home for months. They went through every 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: scrap of paper they could find, dug through drawers, and 40 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: boxes and looked for any clue that might tell them 41 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: where the missing pages had gone, but nothing worked and 42 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,839 Speaker 1: they were left empty handed. Friends recommended that the two 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: men simply complete the story themselves. They knew how it 44 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: was supposed to end, and they were familiar with their 45 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: father's work, so why couldn't they just piece together the 46 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: final parts and call it a day? And that was 47 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: certainly possible, but it was far from ideal. They, like 48 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: a lot of other people, wanted their father's official ending. 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: As the story goes, one of the sons, Jocopel, went 50 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: to sleep one night after another frustrating day of searching 51 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 1: for the papers, and a short while later began to dream. 52 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: In it, he saw the figure of his father, dressed 53 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: in white and glowing in that Renaissance painting sort of way. 54 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: Still fixated on the missing papers, Jocope asked his father 55 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: about it, and the older man nodded before walking over 56 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: to a particular spot along his chamber wall, and then 57 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: he pointed. The next morning, Jocope called for a lawyer 58 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: to watch as he searched the room. There, right in 59 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: the spot his father's ghost had told him about, he 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: found a hidden compartment with stacks of paper. Inside. They 61 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: were covered in mold and had begun to rot on 62 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: the edges, but they were still legible. After reading through 63 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: them for a moment, he smiled the missing pages had 64 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: been found. It's crazy to imagine, but one of the 65 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: most significant works of literature of all time almost didn't happen. 66 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: The Divine Comedy is responsible for providing us with vivid 67 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: images of the world beyond our own, from hopeful visions 68 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: of Paradise to the nightmarish trials of Hell. The fact 69 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: that they even exist today at all feels like a 70 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: random victory for Dante or his sons, though it was 71 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: nothing short of a dream come true. The eighteen sixties 72 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: was not a good era for transatlantic travel. The most 73 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: advanced passenger ships were steampowered, but even with that technology, 74 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: the average journey from England to America took nearly two weeks. 75 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: That's a long time to be in the middle of 76 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: the ocean, considering how often weather can change over a 77 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: two week period. In October of eighteen sixty three, two 78 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: ships departed Liverpool on their way to America. One of them, 79 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: the Africa, encountered horrible weather and reportedly sank as a result, 80 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: The second ship, called the City of Limerick, wasn't doing 81 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: much better either. They had been moving through rough seas 82 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: and dark storms for nearly a week, and there didn't 83 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: seem to be an end in sight. On board was 84 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: a man named mister Wilmot, who was returning to the 85 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: United States, where his wife awaited him at home in Connecticut. 86 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: Wilmot was sharing a stateroom with a friend, a man 87 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: named mister Tate. The two men slept on bunks in 88 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: the room, Wilmot on the bottom and Tate up above, 89 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: but for at least a few days, Wilmot had barely 90 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: moved from his bed due to seasickness from the choppy waves. 91 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: One stormy night, though, Wilmot was sleeping in his bunk 92 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: when he had the most vivid dream in it. He 93 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: could see the door to the tiny stateroom slowly open, 94 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: and they're dressed in a white nightgown. Was his wife. 95 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: It was a logical vision. He missed her terribly, and 96 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: the growing anticipation of being reunited with her hadn't helped. 97 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: Even if it was just a dream, it was good 98 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 1: to see her again. When she stepped into the room, 99 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,799 Speaker 1: Wilmot noticed a nervous look on her face. She cast 100 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: a worried glance in his direction, but higher up, as 101 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: if she were looking at the bunk warts Ate slept, 102 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: Then carefully, she crept over to Wilmot's bed, stooped down low, 103 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: and kissed him. A moment later, she stood back up, 104 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: slipped out of the room, and the dream was over. 105 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: The next morning, Wilmot awoke to find Tate standing beside 106 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: his bed, staring down at him with a frown. You're 107 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: a pretty fellow, Tate said, sarcastically. To have a lady 108 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: come and visit you here. Wilmot was confused and asked 109 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: his friend to explain himself. Tate went on to describe 110 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: in incredible detail the visit of a woman in a 111 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: white dressing gown who had approached the bunk and kissed 112 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: Wilmot naturally. Wilmot was stunned. It was exactly as he 113 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: had dreamt it. But that wasn't possible. How could two 114 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: men have the same dream, let alone doing so inside 115 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: the same room. This would be an amazing tale if 116 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: it ended right there, But there's actually more. About a 117 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: week after the shared dream, the steamship docked in New 118 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: York and Wilmot caught a train north to Connecticut. His 119 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: entire family had gathered to welcome him home, and it 120 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: was probably a very happy occasion. But the moment he 121 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: and his wife had a second alone, she surprised him 122 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: with a very unusual question. Did you receive a visit 123 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: from me a week ago? She asked, stunned, Wilmot nodded, 124 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: but also noted that it would have been impossible. How 125 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: could she have boarded his ship and found him in 126 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: his quarters? Her answer was chilling. Apparently, after hearing the 127 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: news of the sinking of the Africa, she had spent 128 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: days suffering from deep anxiety, worried for the safety of 129 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: her husband. One night, about a week before his return, 130 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: she found herself still awake into the night, and was 131 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: so overcome with fear that she imagined visiting her husband 132 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: as he traveled. She described entering the room and how 133 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: she could see Tate, awake in his own bed, watching 134 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: her as she looked around. She described the kiss, the 135 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: gentle caress, and then her silence exit. Then, as if 136 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: to prove it had all really happened, she described every 137 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: detail of the room, right down to the structure of 138 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: the bunks, the two men slept on. If the story 139 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: of Mr and Mrs Wilmot is any indication, love is 140 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: a powerful, mysterious force that binds us to each other. 141 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: Sometimes we love someone so deeply that we can't shake 142 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: the feeling that they're right there with us, even when 143 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: they're far away, And perhaps there's a good reason why. 144 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 145 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 146 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 147 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 148 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 149 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 150 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 151 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.