THE SECOND STORY
[Day the Fourth]
FRA ALBERTO GIVETH A LADY TO BELIEVE THAT THE ANGEL GABRIEL IS ENAMOURED OF HER AND IN HIS SHAPE LIETH WITH HER SUNDRY TIMES; AFTER WHICH, FOR FEAR OF HER KINSMEN, HE CASTETH HIMSELF FORTH OF HER WINDOW INTO THE CANAL AND TAKETH REFUGE IN THE HOUSE OF A POOR MAN, WHO ON THE MORROW CARRIETH HIM, IN THE GUISE OF A WILD MAN OF THE WOODS, TO THE PIAZZA, WHERE, BEING RECOGNIZED, HE IS TAKEN BY HIS BRETHREN AND PUT IN PRISON
The story told by Fiammetta had more than once brought the tears tothe eyes of the ladies her companions; but, it being now finished, theking with a stern countenance said, "My life would seem to me a littleprice to give for half the delight that Guiscardo had with Ghismonda,nor should any of you ladies marvel thereat, seeing that every hour ofmy life I suffer a thousand deaths, nor for all that is a singleparticle of delight vouchsafed me. But, leaving be my affairs for thepresent, it is my pleasure that Pampinea follow on the order of thediscourse with some story of woeful chances and fortunes in part liketo mine own; which if she ensue like as Fiammetta hath begun, I shalldoubtless begin to feel some dew fallen upon my fire." Pampinea,hearing the order laid upon her, more by her affection apprehended themind of the ladies her companions than that of Filostrato by hiswords,[224] wherefore, being more disposed to give them some diversionthan to content the king, farther than in the mere letter of hiscommandment, she bethought herself to tell a story, that should,without departing from the proposed theme, give occasion for laughter,and accordingly began as follows:
[Footnote 224: _i.e._ was more inclined to consider the wishes of theladies her companions, which she divined by sympathy, than those ofFilostrato, as shown by his words (_piu per la sua affezione cognobbel'animo delle campagne che quello del re per le sue parole_). It isdifficult, however, in this instance as in many others, to discoverwith certainty Boccaccio's exact meaning, owing to his affectation ofCiceronian concision and delight in obscure elliptical forms ofconstruction; whilst his use of words in a remote or unfamiliar senseand the impossibility of deciding, in certain cases, the person of thepronouns and adjectives employed tend still farther to darken counsel._E.g._, if we render _affezione_ sentiment, _cognobbe_ (as_riconobbe_) acknowledged, recognized, and read _le sue parole_ asmeaning _her_ (instead of _his_) words, the whole sense of the passageis changed, and we must read it "more by her sentiment (_i.e._ by thetendency and spirit of her story) recognized the inclination of hercompanions than that of the king by her [actual] words." I havecommented thus at large on this passage, in order to give my readerssome idea of the difficulties which at every page beset the translatorof the Decameron and which make Boccaccio perhaps the most troublesomeof all authors to render into representative English.]
"The vulgar have a proverb to the effect that he who is naught and isheld good may do ill and it is not believed of him; the whichaffordeth me ample matter for discourse upon that which hath beenproposed to me and at the same time to show what and how great is thehypocrisy of the clergy, who, with garments long and wide and facespaled by art and voices humble and meek to solicit the folk, butexceeding loud and fierce to rebuke in others their own vices, pretendthat themselves by taking and others by giving to them come tosalvation, and to boot, not as men who have, like ourselves, topurchase paradise, but as in a manner they were possessors and lordsthereof, assign unto each who dieth, according to the sum of themonies left them by him, a more or less excellent place there,studying thus to deceive first themselves, an they believe as theysay, and after those who put faith for that matter in their words.Anent whom, were it permitted me to discover as much as it behoved, Iwould quickly make clear to many simple folk that which they keephidden under those huge wide gowns of theirs. But would God it mightbetide them all of their cozening tricks, as it betided a certainminor friar, and he no youngling, but held one of the firstcasuists[225] in Venice; of whom it especially pleaseth me to tellyou, so as peradventure somewhat to cheer your hearts, that are fullof compassion for the death of Ghismonda, with laughter and pleasance.
[Footnote 225: Lit. of those who _was_ held of the greatest casuists(_di quelli che de' maggior cassesi era tenuto_). This is another veryobscure passage. The meaning of the word _cassesi_ is unknown and wecan only guess it to be a dialectic (probably Venetian) corruption ofthe word _casisti_ (casuists). The Giunta edition separates the wordthus, _casse si_, making _si_ a mere corroborative prefix to _era_,but I do not see how the alteration helps us, the word _casse_(chests, boxes) being apparently meaningless in this connection.]
There was, then, noble ladies, in Imola, a man of wicked and corruptlife, who was called Berto della Massa and whose lewd fashions, beingwell known of the Imolese, had brought him into such ill savour withthem that there was none in the town who would credit him, even whenhe said sooth; wherefore, seeing that his shifts might no longer standhim in stead there, he removed in desperation to Venice, thereceptacle of every kind of trash, thinking to find there new means ofcarrying on his wicked practices. There, as if conscience-stricken forthe evil deeds done by him in the past, feigning himself overcome withthe utmost humility and waxing devouter than any man alive, he wentand turned Minor Friar and styled himself Fra Alberta da Imola; inwhich habit he proceeded to lead, to all appearance, a very austerelife, greatly commending abstinence and mortification and never eatingflesh nor drinking wine, whenas he had not thereof that which was tohis liking. In short, scarce was any ware of him when from a thief, apimp, a forger, a manslayer, he suddenly became a great preacher,without having for all that forsworn the vices aforesaid, whenas hemight secretly put them in practice. Moreover, becoming a priest, hewould still, whenas he celebrated mass at the altar, an he were seenof many, beweep our Saviour's passion, as one whom tears cost little,whenas he willed it. Brief, what with his preachings and his tears, hecontrived on such wise to inveigle the Venetians that he was trusteeand depository of well nigh every will made in the town and guardianof folk's monies, besides being confessor and counsellor of the mostpart of the men and women of the place; and doing thus, from wolf hewas become shepherd and the fame of his sanctity was far greater inthose parts than ever was that of St. Francis at Assisi.
It chanced one day that a vain simple young lady, by name MadamLisetta da Ca[226] Quirino, wife of a great merchant who was gone withthe galleys into Flanders, came with other ladies to confess to thissame holy friar, at whose feet kneeling and having, like a truedaughter of Venice as she was (where the women are all feather-brained),told him part of her affairs, she was asked of him if she had a lover.Whereto she answered, with an offended air, 'Good lack, sir friar,have you no eyes in your head? Seem my charms to you such as those ofyonder others? I might have lovers and to spare, an I would; but mybeauties are not for this one nor that. How many women do you seewhose charms are such as mine, who would be fair in Paradise?' Brief,she said so many things of this beauty of hers that it was a wearinessto hear. Fra Alberto incontinent perceived that she savoured of follyand himseeming she was a fit soil for his tools, he fell suddenly andbeyond measure in love with her; but, reserving blandishments for amore convenient season, he proceeded, for the nonce, so he might showhimself a holy man, to rebuke her and tell her that this was vaingloryand so forth. The lady told him he was an ass and knew not what onebeauty was more than another, whereupon he, unwilling to vex herovermuch, took her confession and let her go away with the others.
[Footnote 226: Venetian contraction of _Casa_, house. Da Ca Quirino,of the Quirino house or family.]
He let some days pass, then, taking with him a trusty companion ofhis, he repaired to Madam Lisetta's house and withdrawing with herinto a room apart, where none might see him, he fell on his kneesbefore her and said, 'Madam, I pray you for God's sake pardon me thatwhich I said to you last Sunday, whenas you bespoke me of your beauty,for that the following night I was so cruelly chastised there that Ihave not since been able to rise from my bed till to-day.' QuothMistress Featherbrain, 'And who chastised you thu
s?' 'I will tellyou,' replied the monk. 'Being that night at my orisons, as I stilluse to be, I saw of a sudden a great light in my cell and ere I couldturn me to see what it might be, I beheld over against me a very fairyouth with a stout cudgel in his hand, who took me by the gown anddragging me to my feet, gave me such a drubbing that he broke everybone in my body. I asked him why he used me thus and he answered, "Forthat thou presumedst to-day, to disparage the celestial charms ofMadam Lisetta, whom I love over all things, save only God." "Who,then, are you?" asked I; and he replied that he was the angel Gabriel."O my lord," said I, "I pray you pardon me"; and he, "So be it; Ipardon thee on condition that thou go to her, as first thou mayst, andget her pardon; but if she pardons thee not, I will return to thee andgive thee such a bout of it that I will make thee a woeful man forall the time thou shalt live here below." That which he said to meafter I dare not tell you, except you first pardon me.'
My Lady Addlepate, who was somewhat scant of wit, was overjoyed tohear this, taking it all for gospel, and said, after a little, 'I toldyou, Fra Alberto, that my charms were celestial, but, so God be mineaid, it irketh me for you and I will pardon you forthright, so you maycome to no more harm, provided you tell me truly that which the angelsaid to you after.' 'Madam,' replied Fra Alberto, 'since you pardonme, I will gladly tell it you; but I must warn you of one thing, towit, that whatever I tell you, you must have a care not to repeat itto any one alive, an you would not mar your affairs, for that you arethe luckiest lady in the world. The angel Gabriel bade me tell youthat you pleased him so much that he had many a time come to pass thenight with you, but that he feared to affright you. Now he sendeth totell you by me that he hath a mind to come to you one night and abideawhile with you and (for that he is an angel and that, if he came inangel-form, you might not avail to touch him,) he purposeth, for yourdelectation, to come in guise of a man, wherefore he biddeth you sendto tell him when you would have him come and in whose form, and hewill come hither; whereof you may hold yourself blest over any otherlady alive.'
My Lady Conceit answered that it liked her well that the angel Gabrielloved her, seeing she loved him well nor ever failed to light a candleof a groat before him, whereas she saw him depictured, and that whattime soever he chose to come to her, he should be dearly welcome andwould find her all alone in her chamber, but on this condition, thathe should not leave her for the Virgin Mary, whose great well-wisherit was said he was, as indeed appeareth, inasmuch as in every placewhere she saw him [limned], he was on his knees before her. Moreover,she said it must rest with him to come in whatsoever form he pleased,so but she was not affrighted.
Then said Fra Alberto, 'Madam, you speak sagely and I will withoutfail take order with him of that which you tell me. But you may do mea great favour, which will cost you nothing; it is this, that you willhim come with this my body. And I will tell you in what you will do mea favour; you must know that he will take my soul forth of my body andput it in Paradise, whilst he himself will enter into me; and whatwhile he abideth with you, so long will my soul abide in Paradise.''With all my heart,' answered Dame Littlewit. 'I will well that youhave this consolation, in requital of the buffets he gave you on myaccount.' Then said Fra Alberto, 'Look that he find the door of yourhouse open to-night, so he may come in thereat, for that, coming inhuman form, as he will, he might not enter save by the door.' The ladyreplied that it should be done, whereupon the monk took his leave andshe abode in such a transport of exultation that her breech touchednot her shift and herseemed a thousand years till the angel Gabrielshould come to her.
Meanwhile, Fra Alberto, bethinking him that it behoved him play thecavalier, not the angel, that night proceeded to fortify himself withconfections and other good things, so he might not lightly beunhorsed; then, getting leave, as soon as it was night, he repairedwith one of his comrades to the house of a woman, a friend of his,whence he was used whiles to take his start what time he went tocourse the fillies; and thence, whenas it seemed to him time, havingdisguised himself, he betook him to the lady's house. There he trickedhimself out as an angel with the trappings he had brought with him andgoing up, entered the chamber of the lady, who, seeing this creatureall in white, fell on her knees before him. The angel blessed her andraising her to her feet, signed to her to go to bed, which she,studious to obey, promptly did, and the angel after lay down with hisdevotee. Now Fra Alberto was a personable man of his body and a lustyand excellent well set up on his legs; wherefore, finding himself inbed with Madam Lisetta, who was young and dainty, he showed himselfanother guess bedfellow than her husband and many a time that nighttook flight without wings, whereof she avowed herself exceedingcontent; and eke he told her many things of the glories of heaven.Then, the day drawing near, after taking order for his return, he madeoff with his trappings and returned to his comrade, whom the goodwoman of the house had meanwhile borne amicable company, lest heshould get a fright, lying alone.
As for the lady, no sooner had she dined than, taking herwaiting-woman with her, she betook herself to Fra Alberto and gave himnews of the angel Gabriel, telling him that which she had heard fromhim of the glories of life eternal and how he was made and adding toboot, marvellous stories of her own invention. 'Madam,' said he, 'Iknow not how you fared with him; I only know that yesternight, whenashe came to me and I did your message to him, he suddenly transportedmy soul amongst such a multitude of roses and other flowers that neverwas the like thereof seen here below, and I abode in one of the mostdelightsome places that was aye until the morning; but what became ofmy body meanwhile I know not.' 'Do I not tell you?' answered the lady.'Your body lay all night in mine arms with the angel Gabriel. If youbelieve me not, look under your left pap, whereas I gave the angelsuch a kiss that the marks of it will stay by you for some days tocome.' Quoth the friar, 'Say you so? Then will I do to-day a thing Ihave not done this great while; I will strip myself, to see if youtell truth.' Then, after much prating, the lady returned home and FraAlberto paid her many visits in angel-form, without suffering anyhindrance.
However, it chanced one day that Madam Lisetta, being in dispute witha gossip of hers upon the question of female charms, to set her ownabove all others, said, like a woman who had little wit in her noddle,'An you but knew whom my beauty pleaseth, in truth you would hold yourpeace of other women.' The other, longing to hear, said, as one whoknew her well, 'Madam, maybe you say sooth; but knowing not who thismay be, one cannot turn about so lightly.' Thereupon quoth Lisetta,who was eath enough to draw, 'Gossip, it must go no farther; but he Imean is the angel Gabriel, who loveth me more than himself, as thefairest lady (for that which he telleth me) who is in the world or theMaremma.'[227] The other had a mind to laugh, but contained herself,so she might make Lisetta speak farther, and said, 'Faith, madam, anthe angel Gabriel be your lover and tell you this, needs must it beso; but methought not the angels did these things.' 'Gossip,' answeredthe lady, 'you are mistaken; zounds, he doth what you wot of betterthan my husband and telleth me they do it also up yonder; but, forthat I seem to him fairer than any she in heaven, he hath fallen inlove with me and cometh full oft to lie with me; seestow now?'[228]
[Footnote 227: _cf._ Artemus Ward's "Natives of the Universe and otherparts."]
[Footnote 228: _Mo vedi vu_, Venetian for _Or vedi tu_, now dost thousee? I have rendered it by the equivalent old English form.]
The gossip, to whom it seemed a thousand years till she should bewhereas she might repeat these things, took her leave of Madam Lisettaand foregathering at an entertainment with a great company of ladies,orderly recounted to them the whole story. They told it again to theirhusbands and other ladies, and these to yet others, and so in lessthan two days Venice was all full of it. Among others to whose earsthe thing came were Lisetta's brothers-in-law, who, without sayingaught to her, bethought themselves to find the angel in question andsee if he knew how to fly, and to this end they lay several nights inwait for him. As chance would have it, some inkling of the matter[229]came to the ears of Fra Alberto, who accordi
ngly repaired one night tothe lady's house, to reprove her, but hardly had he put off hisclothes ere her brothers-in-law, who had seen him come, were at thedoor of her chamber to open it.
[Footnote 229: _i.e._ not of the trap laid for him by the lady'sbrothers-in-law, but of her indiscretion in discovering the secret.]
Fra Alberto, hearing this and guessing what was to do, started up andhaving no other resource, opened a window, which gave upon the GrandCanal, and cast himself thence into the water. The canal was deepthere and he could swim well, so that he did himself no hurt, but madehis way to the opposite bank and hastily entering a house that stoodopen there, besought a poor man, whom he found within, to save hislife for the love of God, telling him a tale of his own fashion, toexplain how he came there at that hour and naked. The good man wasmoved to pity and it behoving him to go do his occasions, he put himin his own bed and bade him abide there against his return; then,locking him in, he went about his affairs. Meanwhile, the lady'sbrothers-in-law entered her chamber and found that the angel Gabrielhad flown, leaving his wings there; whereupon, seeing themselvesbaffled, they gave her all manner hard words and ultimately made offto their own house with the angel's trappings, leaving herdisconsolate.
Broad day come, the good man with whom Fra Alberto had taken refuge,being on the Rialto, heard how the angel Gabriel had gone that nightto lie with Madam Lisetta and being surprised by her kinsmen, had casthimself for fear into the canal, nor was it known what was come ofhim, and concluded forthright that this was he whom he had at home.Accordingly, he returned thither and recognizing the monk, found meansafter much parley, to make him fetch him fifty ducats, an he would nothave him give him up to the lady's kinsmen. Having gotten the moneyand Fra Alberto offering to depart thence, the good man said to him,'There is no way of escape for you, an it be not one that I will tellyou. We hold to-day a festival, wherein one bringeth a man cladbear-fashion and another one accoutred as a wild man of the woods andwhat not else, some one thing and some another, and there is a huntheld in St. Mark's Place, which finished, the festival is at an endand after each goeth whither it pleaseth him with him whom he hathbrought. An you will have me lead you thither, after one or other ofthese fashions, I can after carry you whither you please, ere it bespied out that you are here; else I know not how you are to get away,without being recognized, for the lady's kinsmen, concluding that youmust be somewhere hereabout, have set a watch for you on all sides.'
Hard as it seemed to Fra Alberto to go on such wise, nevertheless, ofthe fear he had of the lady's kinsmen, he resigned himself thereto andtold his host whither he would be carried, leaving the manner to him.Accordingly, the other, having smeared him all over with honey andcovered him with down, clapped a chain about his neck and a mask onhis face; then giving him a great staff in on hand and in the othertwo great dogs which he had fetched from the shambles he despatchedone to the Rialto to make public proclamation that whoso would see theangel Gabriel should repair to St. Mark's Place; and this was Venetianloyalty! This done, after a while, he brought him forth and settinghim before himself, went holding him by the chain behind, to the nosmall clamour of the folk, who said all, 'What be this? What bethis?'[230] till he came to the place, where, what with those who hadfollowed after them and those who, hearing the proclamation, were comethither from the Rialto, were folk without end. There he tied his wildman to a column in a raised and high place, making a show of awaitingthe hunt, whilst the flies and gads gave the monk exceeding annoy, forthat he was besmeared with honey. But, when he saw the place wellfilled, making as he would unchain his wild man, he pulled off FraAlberto's mask and said, 'Gentlemen, since the bear cometh not andthere is no hunt toward, I purpose, so you may not be come in vain,that you shall see the angel Gabriel, who cometh down from heaven toearth anights, to comfort the Venetian ladies.'
[Footnote 230: _Che xe quel?_ Venetian for _che c'e quella cosa_, Whatis this thing?]
No sooner was the mask off than Fra Alberto was incontinent recognizedof all, who raised a general outcry against him, giving him thescurviest words and the soundest rating was ever given a cantingknave; moreover, they cast in his face, one this kind of filth andanother that, and so they baited him a great while, till the news cameby chance to his brethren, whereupon half a dozen of them salliedforth and coming thither, unchained him and threw a gown over him;then, with a general hue and cry behind them, they carried him off tothe convent, where it is believed he died in prison, after a wretchedlife. Thus then did this fellow, held good and doing ill, without itbeing believed, dare to feign himself the angel Gabriel, and afterbeing turned into a wild man of the woods and put to shame, as hedeserved, bewailed, when too late, the sins he had committed. Godgrant it happen thus to all other knaves of his fashion!"
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio Page 38
