329 i.e. paying their way with fine words, instead of coin.
330 i.e. making sausages of them.
331 Bachi, drones or maggots. Pastinaca means “parsnip” and is a meaningless addition of Fra Cipolla’s fashion.
332 A play of words upon the primary meaning (winged things) of the word pennate, hedge-bills.
333 i.e. The Word [made] flesh. Get-thee-to-the-windows is only a patter tag.
334 Or Slopes or Coasts (piaggie).
335 ?
336 Industria in the old sense of ingenuity, skilful procurement, etc.
337 i.e. the tale-telling.
338 Lit. the northern chariot (carro di tramontana); quære the Great Bear?
339 Alluding to the subject fixed for the next day’s discourse, as who should say, “Have you begun already to play tricks upon us men in very deed, ere you tell about them in words?”
340 See p. 144, note 2.
341 i.e. pene arrecto.
342 i.e. a fattened capon well larded.
343 i.e. eggs.
344 So called from the figure of a lily stamped on the coin; cf. our rose-nobles.
345 i.e. the discarded vanities aforesaid.
346 i.e. the other ex votos.
347 There is apparently some satirical allusion here, which I cannot undertake to explain.
348 Syn. professor of the liberal arts (artista).
349 i.e. inhabitants of Arezzo.
350 Riporre, possibly a mistake for riportare, to fetch back.
351 Lit. wished her all his weal.
352 Boccaccio writes carelessly “for aught” (altro), which makes nonsense of the passage.
353 Or, in modern parlance, “twopennny-halfpenny.”
354 Syn. encourager, helper, auxiliary (confortatore).
355 This sudden change from the third to the second person, in speaking of Nicostratus, is a characteristic example of Boccaccio’s constant abuse of the figure enallage in his dialogues.
356 i.e. those eyes.
357 i.e. the Siennese.
358 i.e. from discovering to his friend his liking for the lady.
359 Or, in modern parlance, logic-chopping (sillogizzando).
360 i.e. with that whereof you bear the name, i.e. laurel (laurea).
361 Or “on this subject” (in questo).
362 Quære, “half-complines,” i.e. half-past seven p.m. “Half-vespers” would be half-past four, which seems too early.
363 Carolando, i.e. dancing in a round and singing the while, the original meaning of our word “carol.”
364 i.e. half-past seven a.m.
365 Where the papal court then was. See p. 257, note.
366 Or, as La Fontaine would say, “aussi bien faite pour armer un lit.”
367 Or apron.
368 Se n’andò col ceteratojo; a proverbial expression of similar meaning to our “was whistled down the wind,” i.e. was lightly dismissed without provision, like a cast-off hawk.
369 A play of words upon the Italian equivalent of the French word Douay (Duagio, i.e. Twoay, Treagio, Quattragio) invented by the roguish priest to impose upon the simple goodwife.
370 Or in modern parlance, “making her a connection by marriage of etc.,” Boccaccio feigning priests to be members of the Holy Family, by virtue of their office.
371 i.e. Good cheer.
372 A play upon the double meaning of a denajo, which signifies also “for money.”
373 A kind of rissole made of eggs, sweet herbs and cheese.
374 Vernaccia, a kind of rich white wine like Malmsey.
375 i.e. not strait-cut.
376 Sforzandosi, i.e. recovering his wind with an effort.
377 i.e. love him, grant him her favours. See ante, passim.
378 i.e. in the malaria district.
379 i.e. great ugly Ciuta.
380 Quarantanove, a proverbial expression for an indefinite number.
381 i.e. how they might do this.
382 i.e. in the old sense of “manager” (massajo).
383 i.e. white wine, see p. 372, note.
384 i.e. embarked on a bootless quest.
385 A proverbial way of saying that he bore malice and was vindictive.
386 Lit. out of hand (fuor di mano).
387 Boccaccio here misquotes himself. See p. 389, where the lady says to her lover, “Whether seemeth to thee the greater, his wit or the love I bear him?” This is only one of the numberless instances of negligence and inconsistency which occur in the Decameron and which make it evident to the student that it must have passed into the hands of the public without the final revision and correction by the author, that limæ labor without which no book is complete and which is especially necessary in the case of such a work as the present, where Boccaccio figures as the virtual creator of Italian prose.
388 Lit. face, aspect (viso).
389 i.e. thy lover’s.
390 V’è donato, i.e. young lovers look to receive gifts of their mistresses, whilst those of more mature age bestow them.
391 Lit. red as rabies (rabbia). Some commentators suppose that Boccaccio meant to write robbia, madder.
392 i.e. resource (consiglio). See ante, passim.
393 Boccaccio appears to have forgotten to mention that Rinieri had broken the rounds of the ladder, when he withdrew it (as stated, p. 394), apparently to place an additional obstacle in the way of the lady’s escape.
394 Quære, the street of that name?
395 Danza trivigiana, lit. Trevisan dance, O.E. the shaking of the sheets.
396 i.e. with the doctor’s hood of miniver.
397 The colour of the doctors’ robes of that time.
398 The commentators note here that on the church door of San Gallo was depicted an especially frightful Lucifer, with many mouths.
399 Legnaja is said to be famous for big pumpkins.
400 i.e. they think of and cherish us alone, holding us as dear as their very eyes.
401 i.e. Fat-hog and Get-thee-to-supper, burlesque perversions of the names Ipocrasso (Hippocrates) and Avicenna.
402 i.e. love her beyond anything in the world. For former instances of this idiomatic expression, see ante, passim.
403 Syn. cauterized (calterita), a nonsensical word employed by Bruno for the purpose of mystifying the credulous physician.
404 Syn. secretary, confidant (segretaro).
405 A play of words upon mela (apple) and mellone (pumpkin). Mellone is strictly a water-melon; but I have rendered it “pumpkin,” to preserve the English idiom, “pumpkinhead” being our equivalent for the Italian “melon,” used in the sense of dullard, noodle.
406 According to the commentators, “baptized on a Sunday” anciently signified a simpleton, because salt (which is constantly used by the Italian classical writers as a synonym for wit or sense) was not sold on Sundays.
407 Syn. confusedly (frastagliatamente).
408 La Contessa di Civillari, i.e. the public sewers. Civillari, according to the commentators, was the name of an alley in Florence, where all the ordure and filth of the neighbourhood was deposited and stored in trenches for manure.
409 Nacchere, syn. a loud crack of wind.
410 Syn. smelt (sentito).
411 Laterina, i.e. Latrina.
412 Lit. Broom-handle (Manico della Scopa).
413 Lit. “do yourself a mischief, without doing us any good”; but the sequel shows that the contrary is meant, as in the text.
414 i.e. what he is worth.
415 Bucherame. The word “buckram” was anciently applied to the finest linen cloth, as is apparently the case here; see Ducange, voce Boquerannus, and Florio, voce Bucherame.
416 i.e. in needlework.
417 “It was the custom in those days to attach to the bedposts sundry small instruments in the form of birds, which, by means of certain mechanical devices, gave forth sounds modulated like the song of actual birds.” — Fanfani.
418 Syn. that which belongeth to us (ciò che ci è,
) ci, as I have before noted, signifying both “here” and “us,” dative and accusative.
419 i.e. procure bills of exchange for.
420 i.e. we must see what is to be done.
421 i.e. having executed and exchanged the necessary legal documents for the proper carrying out of the transaction and completed the matter to their mutual satisfaction.
422 The song sung by Pamfilo (under which name, as I have before pointed out, the author appears to represent himself) apparently alludes to Boccaccio’s amours with the Princess Maria of Naples (Fiammetta), by whom his passion was returned in kind.
423 According to the Ptolemaic system, the earth is encompassed by eight celestial zones or heavens; the first or highest, above which is the empyrean, (otherwise called the ninth heaven,) is that of the Moon, the second that of Mercury, the third that of Venus, the fourth that of the Sun, the fifth that of Mars, the sixth that of Jupiter, the seventh that of Saturn and the eighth or lowest that of the fixed stars and of the Earth.
424 D’azzurrino in color cilestro. This is one of the many passages in which Boccaccio has imitated Dante (cf. Purgatorio, c. xxvi. II. 4-6, “... il sole.... Che già, raggiando, tutto l’occidente Mutava in bianco aspetto di cilestro,”) and also one of the innumerable instances in which former translators (who all agree in making the advent of the light change the colour of the sky from azure to a darker colour, instead of, as Boccaccio intended, to watchet, i.e. a paler or greyish blue,) have misrendered the text, for sheer ignorance of the author’s meaning.
425 Scannadio signifies “Murder-God” and was no doubt a nickname bestowed upon the dead man, on account of his wicked and reprobate way of life.
426 i.e. balls for a pellet bow, usually made out of clay. Bruno and Buffalmacco were punning upon the double meaning, land and earth (or clay), of the word terra.
427 Scimmione (lit. ape), a contemptuous distortion of Simone.
428 Chiarea. According to the commentators, the composition of this drink is unknown, but that of clary, a sort of hippocras or spiced wine clear-strained (whence the name), offers no difficulty to the student of old English literature.
429 i.e. the doublet.
430 i.e. do me a double injury.
431 Syn. goodly design of foresight (buono avviso).
432 Giovani di tromba marina. The sense seems as above; the commentators say that giovani di tromba marina is a name given to those youths who go trumpeting about everywhere the favours accorded them by women; but the tromba marina is a stringed (not a wind) instrument, a sort of primitive violoncello with one string.
433 “Your teeth did dance like virginal jacks.” — Ben Jonson.
434 Adagiarono, i.e. unsaddled and stabled and fed them.
435 i.e. hog.
436 Lit. a backbiter (morditore).
437 i.e. conjured him by God to make peace with him.
438 i.e. from a serious or moral point of view.
439 Apparently Laodicea (hod. Eskihissar) in Anatolia, from which a traveller, taking the direct land route, would necessarily pass Antioch (hod. Antakhia) on his way to Jerusalem.
440 i.e. arrectus est penis ejus.
441 See p. 372, note.
442 i.e. fortune.
443 Cattajo. This word is usually translated Cathay, i.e. China; but semble Boccaccio meant rather the Dalmatian province of Cattaro, which would better answer the description in the text, Nathan’s estate being described as adjoining a highway leading from the Ponant (or Western shores of the Mediterranean) to the Levant (or Eastern shores), e.g. the road from Cattaro on the Adriatic to Salonica on the Ægean. Cathay (China) seems, from the circumstances of the case, out of the question, as is also the Italian town called Cattaio, near Padua.
444 i.e. to show the most extravagant hospitality.
445 Or as we should say, “After much beating about the bush.”
446 i.e. jealousies.
447 i.e. all sections of the given theme.
448 Lit. accident (accidente).
449 i.e. with news of her life.
450 Dubbio, i.e. a doubtful case or question.
451 i.e. who would have recognized her as Madam Catalina.
452 Compassione, i.e. emotion.
453 Lit. I leave you free of Niccoluccio (libera vi lascio di Niccoluccio).
454 i.e. Ansaldo, Dianora and the nigromancer.
455 i.e. the money promised him by way of recompense.
456 i.e., nicety, minuteness (strettezza).
457 A town on the Bay of Naples, near the ruins of Pompeii.
458 Per amore amiate (Fr. aimiez par amour).
459 In si forte punto, or, in modern parlance, at so critical or ill-starred a moment.
460 Sollevata, syn. solaced, relieved or (3) agitated, troubled.
461 Sic, Publio Quinzio Fulvo; but quære should it not rather be Publio Quinto Fulvio, i.e. Publius Quintus Fulvius, a form of the name which seems more in accordance with the genius of the Latin language?
462 Or “his” (a sè).
463 Or “thine” (a te).
464 Lit. “hope” (sperare). See note, p. 5.
465 i.e. I would have her in common with thee.
466 Or “arguments” (consigli).
467 i.e. of your counsel.
468 i.e. my riches are not the result of covetous amassing, but of the favours of fortune.
469 Sic (tiepidezza); but semble “timidity” or “distrustfulness” is meant.
470 i.e. perils.
471 i.e. to cross the Alps into France.
472 Adagiarono; see p. 447, note.
473 i.e. to place themselves according to their several ranks, which were unknown to Torello.
474 Sic (la vostra credenza raffermeremo); but the meaning is, “whereby we may amend your unbelief and give you cause to credit our assertion that we are merchants.”
475 i.e. should any rumour get wind of death.
476 Sic (all’ altro esercito). The meaning of this does not appear, as no mention has yet been made of two Christian armies. Perhaps we should translate “the rest of the army,” i.e. such part of the remnant of the Christian host as fled to Acre and shut themselves up there after the disastrous day of Hittin (23 June, 1187). Acre fell on the 29th July, 1187.
477 It may be well to remind the European reader that the turban consists of two parts, i.e. a skull-cap and a linen cloth, which is wound round it in various folds and shapes, to form the well-known Eastern head-dress.
478 i.e. he who was to have married Madam Adalieta.
479 See p. 325.
480 Or “strange” (nuovo); see ante, passim.
481 i.e. his vassals.
482 i.e. the husband of his kinswoman aforesaid.
483 i.e. unwetted with tears.
484 i.e. of overmuch licence.
485 Two noted wine-bidders of the time.
486 Lit. living folk (viventi).
The Decameron: J. M. Rigg, 1903
Translated by J. M. Rigg
In 1903 J. M. Rigg published the following translation of The Decameron, lacking only an English rendering of tale III.x, which is left instead in the original Italian with a footnote: “No apology is needed for leaving, in accordance with precedent, the subsequent detail untranslated”. Later Boccaccio translator and scholar G. H. McWilliam praised Rigg’s elegant style in sections of formal language, though he complained that the translation was spoiled by an obsolete vocabulary in more vernacular sections. The text was reissued many times in the twentieth century, including in Everyman’s Library (1930) with an introduction by Edward Hutton.
The original frontispiece
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PROEM
FIRST DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
THIRD DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
FOURTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
FIFTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
SIXTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
SEVENTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
EIGHTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
NINTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
TENTH DAY.
NOVEL I.
NOVEL II.
NOVEL III.
NOVEL IV.
NOVEL V.
NOVEL VI.
NOVEL VII.
NOVEL VIII.
NOVEL IX.
NOVEL X.
THE AUTHOR’S EPILOGUE.
Collected Works of Giovanni Boccaccio Page 191
