A few moments passed before I sorted myself again. One of the black-clad men sat up in his chair, looked at me faintly with pity and asked if I wanted something to drink. This flight was going to take a while and I asked him for a glass of water.

He said impassively, " I would need a stronger drink for something like that". He laughed nervously. I believed his emotion while he poured a glass, and I went back to looking at the pictures. A writing on one of the images spoke of a hell, but over the years I have encountered many metaphorical depictions of hells. Probably the most famous one in literature comes from Dante Alighieri, in his "Comedia" written in the Middle Ages.

In his work, Dante, the traveller, descends the nine circles of hell in the company of Virgil, himself an important poet of antiquity. As they descended, they encountered offenders to whom sins, including the seven deadly sins in particular, were clinging and were forced to do their penance in the circles, guarded by innumerable fiendish creatures and....

"Your water." I gasped.

"Thank you!" I wondered whether a hell like the one in 'Comedia' awaited me. Probably not. I put the image aside and stared at the ceiling of the cabin.

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here!"