The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

by Giovanni Boccaccio

  HERE BEGINNETH THE BOOK CALLED DECAMERON AND SURNAMED PRINCE GALAHALTWHEREIN ARE CONTAINED AN HUNDRED STORIES IN TEN DAYS TOLD BY SEVENLADIES AND THREE YOUNG MEN

  PROEM

  A kindly thing it is to have compassion of the afflicted and albeit itwell beseemeth every one, yet of those is it more particularlyrequired who have erst had need of comfort and have found it in any,amongst whom, if ever any had need thereof or held it dear or tookpleasure therein aforetimes, certes, I am one of these. For that,having from my first youth unto this present been beyond measureinflamed with a very high and noble passion (higher and nobler,perchance, than might appear, were I to relate it, to sort with my lowestate) albeit by persons of discretion who had intelligence thereof Iwas commended therefor and accounted so much the more worth, nathelessa passing sore travail it was to me to bear it, not, certes, by reasonof the cruelty of the beloved lady, but because of the exceedingardour begotten in my breast of an ill-ordered appetite, for which,for that it suffered me not to stand content at any reasonable bounds,caused me ofttimes feel more chagrin than I had occasion for. In thismy affliction the pleasant discourse of a certain friend of mine andhis admirable consolations afforded me such refreshment that I firmlybelieve of these it came that I died not. But, as it pleased Him who,being Himself infinite, hath for immutable law appointed unto allthings mundane that they shall have an end, my love,--beyond everyother fervent and which nor stress of reasoning nor counsel, no, noryet manifest shame nor peril that might ensue thereof, had availedeither to break or to bend,--of its own motion, in process of time, onsuch wise abated that of itself at this present it hath left me onlythat pleasance which it is used to afford unto whoso adventurethhimself not too far in the navigation of its profounder oceans; byreason whereof, all chagrin being done away, I feel it growndelightsome, whereas it used to be grievous. Yet, albeit the pain hathceased, not, therefore, is the memory fled of the benefits whilomreceived and the kindnesses bestowed on me by those to whom, of thegoodwill they bore me, my troubles were grievous; nor, as I deem, willit ever pass away, save for death. And for that gratitude, to mythinking, is, among the other virtues, especially commendable and itscontrary blameworthy, I have, that I may not appear ungrateful,bethought myself, now that I can call myself free, to endeavour, inthat little which is possible to me, to afford some relief, inrequital of that which I received aforetime,--if not to those whosuccoured me and who, belike, by reason of their good sense or oftheir fortune, have no occasion therefor,--to those, at least, whostand in need thereof. And albeit my support, or rather I should saymy comfort, may be and indeed is of little enough avail to theafflicted, natheless meseemeth it should rather be proffered whereasthe need appeareth greater, as well because it will there do moreservice as for that it will still be there the liefer had. And whowill deny that this [comfort], whatsoever [worth] it be, it behovethmuch more to give unto lovesick ladies than unto men? For that thesewithin their tender bosoms, fearful and shamefast, hold hid the firesof love (which those who have proved know how much more puissance theyhave than those which are manifest), and constrained by the wishes,the pleasures, the commandments of fathers, mothers, brothers andhusbands, abide most time enmewed in the narrow compass of theirchambers and sitting in a manner idle, willing and willing not in onebreath, revolve in themselves various thoughts which it is notpossible should still be merry. By reason whereof if there arise intheir minds any melancholy, bred of ardent desire, needs must it withgrievous annoy abide therein, except it be done away by new discourse;more by token that they are far less strong than men to endure. Withmen in love it happeneth not on this wise, as we may manifestly see.They, if any melancholy or heaviness of thought oppress them, havemany means of easing it or doing it away, for that to them, an theyhave a mind thereto, there lacketh not commodity of going abouthearing and seeing many things, fowling, hunting, fishing, riding,gaming and trafficking; each of which means hath, altogether or inpart, power to draw the mind unto itself and to divert it fromtroublous thought, at least for some space of time, whereafter, oneway or another, either solacement superveneth or else the annoygroweth less. Wherefore, to the end that the unright of Fortune may byme in part be amended, which, where there is the less strength toendure, as we see it in delicate ladies, hath there been the moreniggard of support, I purpose, for the succour and solace of ladies inlove (unto others[1] the needle and the spindle and the reel suffice)to recount an hundred stories or fables or parables or histories orwhatever you like to style them, in ten days' time related by anhonourable company of seven ladies and three young men made in thedays of the late deadly pestilence, together with sundry canzonetssung by the aforesaid ladies for their diversion. In these storieswill be found love-chances,[2] both gladsome and grievous, and otheraccidents of fortune befallen as well in times present as in days ofold, whereof the ladies aforesaid, who shall read them, may at oncetake solace from the delectable things therein shown forth and usefulcounsel, inasmuch as they may learn thereby what is to be eschewed andwhat is on like wise to be ensued,--the which methinketh cannot betidewithout cease of chagrin. If it happen thus (as God grant it may) letthem render thanks therefor to Love, who, by loosing me from hisbonds, hath vouchsafed me the power of applying myself to the serviceof their pleasures.

  [Footnote 1: _i.e._ those not in love.]

  [Footnote 2: Syn. adventures (_casi_).]