Collected Works of Giovanni Boccaccio
Page 485
Appeared in Painter’s Palace of Pleasure, vol. i (1566), No. 37.
NOVEL IX
By Filomena
Bernabò of Genoa is cheated out of his money by Ambrogiuolo, and orders his own innocent wife to be put to death. She escapes in men’s clothes, and enters the Sultan’s service, meets the cheat, and sends for her husband to Alexandria, where Ambrogiuolo meets with his due reward. She then resumes her female attire, and returns to Genoa with her husband, and with great wealth.
Appeared in Westward for Smelts, by Kind Kit of Kingston (1620).
For the origin of “Cymbeline” from this tale see B. Leonhardt, Zu Cymbelin, in Anglia, vii (1884), fasc. 3, and S. Levy, in Anglia, vii, p. 120 et seq.; R. Ohle, Shakespeare’s Cymbeline und seine romanischen Vorläufer (Berlin, 1890). For a Sicilian original of this tale see G. L. Perroni, Un “cuntu” siciliano ed una novella del Boccaccio, in Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari, xix (1900), fasc. 2. See also G. Paris, Le conte de la gageure dans Boccace, in Misc. di studi critici in onore di A. Graf (Bergamo, 1903), pp. 107-16.
NOVEL X
By Dioneo
Paganino of Monaco carries off the wife of Ricciardo da Chinzica, who, finding out where she is, goes after her and makes friends with Paganino. He demands his wife back, and Paganino promises to restore her if she herself wishes it. She, however, has no desire to return to him, so remains with Paganino, who marries her after Chinzica’s death.
THE THIRD DAY
Neifile Queen
Subject. — The luck of such as have painfully acquired some much coveted thing, or having lost it have recovered it.
NOVEL I
By Filostrato
Masetto da Lamporecchio feigns dumbness, and becomes gardener to a convent of nuns, which leads to the consequence that they all lie with him.
Against the Nuns.
For some sources and precedents for this story see P. Toldo, Rileggendo le Mille e una Notte, in Miscellanea di studi critici ed. in onore di A. Graf (Bergamo, 1903), p. 491 et seq.
NOVEL II
By Pampinea
A groom of King Agilulf takes his place with the queen. Agilulf finds it out, discovers the offender, and cuts off his hair, whilst he pretends to be asleep. He, however, marks all his fellow-grooms in the same way, and thus escapes punishment.
NOVEL III
By Filomena
A lady, who has fallen in love with a handsome gentleman, makes use of a friar, under the cloak of confession and scruples of conscience, and without his perceiving it, to act as her intermediary.
Against the Friars.
On this tale see E. Baxmann, Middleton’s Lustpiel, “The Widow,” und Boccaccio’s “Decameron” III, 3, and II, 2 (Halle, 1903).
NOVEL IV
By Pamfilo
Dom Felice teaches “Friar” Puccio how he may be saved by doing a penance; while “Friar” Puccio is performing the penance, Dom Felice passes the time pleasantly with his wife.
Against the Monks.
NOVEL V
By Elisa
Zima gives his palfrey to Messer Francesco Vergellesi on the condition of being allowed to speak to his wife out of earshot of anyone, and the wife making no response, he answers for her himself, and the usual consequence soon follows.
Appeared in H. C.’s Forest of Fancy (1579).
In this and the following tale cf. P. Toldo, Quelques sources italiennes du théâtre comique de Houdard de la Motte, in Bulletin Italien, vol. i (1901), p. 200 et seq.
NOVEL VI
By Fiammetta
Ricciardo Minutolo loves the wife of Filippello Fighinolfi, whom he knows to be jealous of her husband. He tells her that Filippello has an assignation the following day at a bagnio with his wife, and the lady goes there to meet her husband. Imagining herself to be in bed with her husband, she finds herself with Ricciardo.
This story, told by Fiammetta, is, in my opinion, significant for Boccaccio’s own love affair. In it is told how a woman is tricked into love.
Cf. also P. Toldi, ubi supra.
NOVEL VII
By Emilia
Tedaldo, angry with one of his mistresses, quits Florence. Some time after he returns in the disguise of a pilgrim, speaks with the lady, and convinces her of her error; saves the life of her husband, who has been condemned for killing him, reconciles him to his brothers, and enjoys unmolested the favours of the lady.
Censure of the clergy.
Consult M. Colombo, Due lettere scritte al Can. Dom. Moreni sopra due luoghi del Decam., in Opuscoli (Padova, 1832), vol. iii, p. 176 et seq.
NOVEL VIII
By Lauretta
Ferondo having swallowed a certain drug, is buried for dead. He is taken out of the sepulchre by the abbot, who has a liaison with his wife, put in prison, and made to believe that he is in purgatory; he is then resuscitated, and brings up a child as his own, which the abbot has begotten by his wife.
Against the Monks.
Consult P. Toldo, Les morts qui mangent, in Bulletin Italien, vol. v (1905), P. 291 et seq.
NOVEL IX
By Neifile
Gillette de Narbonne cures the king of a fistula. As a reward she demands the hand of Bertram de Roussillon, who, espousing her against his will, leaves for Florence in disgust. There he has a love affair with a young lady, and lies with Gillette, believing himself to be with his mistress. She bears him twin sons, and by that means, he loving her dearly, honours her as his wife.
Appeared in Painter’s Palace of Pleasure, vol. i (1566), No. 38.
For the connection with All’s well that ends well, see C. Segré, Un’ eroina del Boccaccio e l’ “Elena” Shakespeariana, in Fanfulla della Domenica, xxiii, 16, and G. P[aris], Une version orientale du thème de “All’s well that ends well,” in Romania, xvi (1887), p. 98 et seq.
NOVEL X
By Dioneo
Alibech becomes a hermit, and is taught by one Rustico, a friar, how to put back the devil into hell; on returning home she becomes the wife of Neerbale.
Against the Friars.
This does not appear in the anonymous translation of the Decameron of 1620, another story being in its place.
THE FOURTH DAY
Filostrato King
Subject. — Love that ended in disaster.
NOVEL I
By Fiammetta
Tancred, Prince of Salerno, caused his daughter’s lover to be put to death, and sends her his heart in a golden goblet. She pours poison into it, drinks it and dies.
Appeared in Painter’s Palace of Pleasure, vol. i (1566), No. 39.
For the sources and influence of this tale consult: G. Cecioni, La Leggenda del cuore mangiato e tre antiche versioni in ottava rima di una novella del B., in Rivista contemporanea, vol. i (1888), fasc. 9. J. Zupitza, Die Mittelenglischen Bearbeitungen der Erzählung Boccaccios von Ghismonda und Guiscardo, in Vierteljahrsschrift für Kultur u. Litt. der Renaissance, vol. i (1885), fasc. 1. Sherwood, Die neuenglischen Bearbeitungen der Erzählung Boccaccios von Ghismonda und Guiscardo, in Litteraturblatt für german. und roman. Philologie, xiii (1892), p. 412. J. W. Cunliffe, Gismond of Salern, in Publications of Mod. Lang. Ass. of Am., xxi (1906), fasc. 2.
NOVEL II
By Pampinea
Friar Alberto makes a woman believe that the Archangel Gabriel is in love with her, and visits her several times at night under that pretence. Afterwards he is obliged to escape out of a window for fear of her relations, and takes refuge in the house of a poor man, who the next day takes him publicly into the square and exhibits him, disguised as a wild man; he is recognised, taken away by his fellow-friars, and put into prison.
Against the Friars.
Appeared in Tarlton’s News out of Purgatorie (1590).
NOVEL III
By Lauretta
Three young men are in love with three sisters and take them to Crete, where the eldest sister kills her lover from jealousy. The second saves her sister from death, by giving herself to the Prince o
f Crete, and because of this, her lover kills her and goes away with the eldest sister. The third couple is accused of this murder, and forced to confess it by torture, and being certain that they will be put to death, they bribe their keeper to escape with them and flee to Rhodes, where they die in poverty and misery.
NOVEL IV
By Elisa
Gerbino, contrary to a promise which his grandfather Guglielmo had given the King of Tunis, fights with a Tunisian ship in order to carry off the king’s daughter. The crew kill the princess, for which he puts them all to the sword, but is himself beheaded for that deed.
Appeared in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576).
See L. Cappelletti, La novella di Gerbino, imitazioni e raffronto, in Cronaca minima (Livorno, Aug. 14, 1887.)
NOVEL V
By Filomena
Isabella’s brothers put her lover to death. He appears to her in a dream, and tells her where his body is buried; whereupon, she secretly brings away his head and buries it in a pot of basil, over which she weeps for hours every day, and when her brothers take it away she dies soon afterwards.
Appeared in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576).
Consult T. Cannizzaro, Il lamento di Lisabetta da Messina e la leggenda del vaso di basilico (Catania, Battiato, 1902).
On the poem of Keats see U. Mengin, L’Italie des romantiques (Paris, 1902).
There is a Sicilian love song at end of this tale.
NOVEL VI
By Pamfilo
A young lady called Andreuola is in love with Gabriotto. She tells him a dream that she has had, and whilst relating one that he has had, he suddenly falls into her arms, dead. Whilst she is trying to get the body to his own house, with the aid of her maid, they are both arrested by the watch. She tells the magistrate how it happened, and resists his improper advances. Her father hears what has happened to her and procures her release, as her innocence is established, but she renounces the world and becomes a nun.
NOVEL VII
By Emilia
Simona and Pasquino are lovers, and, being in a garden together, Pasquino rubs his teeth with a leaf of sage, and dies immediately. Simona is arrested, and, on being brought before the judge, she wishes to explain how Pasquino met his death, and, rubbing her teeth with a leaf front the same plant, she dies on the spot.
Appeared in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576).
NOVEL VIII
By Neifile
Girolamo is in love with Salvestra. His mother urges him to go to Paris, and on his return, finding his mistress married, he secretly introduces himself into her house, and dies at her side. Whilst he is being buried, Salvestra also dies on his body in the church.
Appeared in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576).
NOVEL IX
By Filostrato
Guillaume de Roussillon gives his wife the heart of de Cabestaing to eat, whom he had killed because he was her lover. When she discovers this, she throws herself out of a high window, and being killed, is buried with him.
Appeared in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576).
See G. Paris, La légende du Châtelain de Couci dans l’Inde, in Romania, vol. xii (1883), p. 359 et seq., for a similar story.
NOVEL X
By Dioneo
A surgeon’s wife puts her lover, who is in a deep sleep, into a chest, thinking him dead, and two usurers steal it. In their house he wakes up and is taken for a thief. The lady’s maid tells the magistrate that she had put him into the chest which the money-lenders had stolen. By these means she saves him from the gallows, and the usurers are fined for the theft.
THE FIFTH DAY
Fiammetta Queen
Subject. — Good fortune befalling lovers after many dire and disastrous adventures.
NOVEL I
By Pamfilo
Cymon becomes wise through love, and carries off Iphigenia, his mistress, by force of arms, to sea. He is put in prison at Rhodes, where he is set at liberty by Lysimachus, and they together carry off Iphigenia and Cassandra on their wedding-day, flee to Crete, marry their mistresses, and are happily summoned to return home.
First English translation, A Pleasant and Delightful History of Galesus, Cymon, and Iphigenia, etc., by T. C. Gent (ca. 1584).
Consult Tribolati, F., Diporto sulla novella I della quinta giornata del Decamerone: saggio critico, in Arch. Stor. per le Marche e per l’ Umbria, vol. ii (1885), fasc. 8-9. v.
NOVEL II
By Emilia
Constanza loves Martuccio Gomito. When she hears that he has perished, in despair she goes quite by herself into a boat, and is driven to Susa by the wind and waves. She meets Martuccio alive in Tunis, makes herself known to him; and as he is very high in the king’s favour there, because of his good counsels, the monarch bestows great wealth on him, and he marries his beloved, and returns to Lipari with her.
Appeared in Greene’s Perimedes the Blacksmith (1588).
NOVEL III
By Elisa
Pietro Boccamazza runs away with Agnolella, his mistress, and falls among thieves. She escapes into a wood, and is taken to a castle. Pietro is taken prisoner by the thieves, but escapes and comes to the same castle with some adventures, where he marries Agnolella, and they return to Rome.
NOVEL IV
By Filostrato
Ricciardo Manardi is found by Lizio da Valbona in bed with his daughter, whereupon he marries her, and lives in peace and friendship with her father.
NOVEL V
By Neifile
On his death-bed Guidotto of Cremona appoints Giacomino of Pavia as guardian of his adopted daughter. Giannole di Severino and Minghino di Mingole both fall in love with the girl, and fight on her account, when it is discovered that she is the sister of Giannole, and Minghino marries her.
Consult Prato, S., L’ orma del leone, racconto orientale considerato nella tradizione popolare, in Romania, xii (1883), p. 535 et seq.
Chasles, E., La Comédie en France au XVI Siècle (Paris, 1867). Rajna, P., Le origini della novella narrata dal “Frankeleyn” nei Canterbury Tales del Chaucer, in Romania, xxxii (1903), p. 204 et seq.
NOVEL VI
By Pampinea
Gianni di Procida is surprised in the arms of a girl who had been given to King Frederick, and he intends to have them burnt at the stake together. Ruggieri dell’ Oria, however, recognises them both, and they are set at liberty, and marry.
Consult Zumbini, B., Alcune novelle del Boccaccio e i suoi criterii d’ arte, in Atti della R. Acc. della Crusca (Firenze, 1905), No. 29th Jan.
NOVEL VII
By Lauretta
Teodoro is in love with Violante, the daughter of his master, Amerigo, Abbot of Trapani. She becomes pregnant, and he is sentenced to be hanged. As he is being led to execution, after being scourged, his father recognises him, he is set at liberty, and marries his mistress.
Appeared in H. C.’s Forest of Fancy, ii (1579).
NOVEL VIII
By Filomena
Nastagio degli Onesti loves the daughter of Paolo Traversaro, and spends much of his fortune without being able to gain her love in return. At the advice of his friends he goes to Chiassi, where he sees a lady being pursued by a huntsman, who kills her and lets his dogs devour her. He invites his own relations and those of the lady to an entertainment, lets them see this terrible chase, and she, from fear of suffering the same fate, marries him.
Appeared in A Notable History of Nastagio and Traversari, etc., in English verse by C. T. (1569), and in Turberville’s Tragical Tales (ca. 1576), vol. i, and in H. C.’s Forest of Fancy (1579).
Consult Cappelletti, L., Commento sopra l’ VIII nov. della V. giornata dell Decameron in Propugnatore, vol. viii (1875), parts i and ii. Borgognoni, A., La XLVIII nov. del Decameron, in Domenica Letteraria, iii (1883), 13. Neilson, W. A., The purgatory of cruel beauties. A note on the sources of the 8th novel of the 5th day of the Decameron, in Romania, xxix (1900), p. 85 et seq. And for the influence of Dante
here: Arullani, V. A., Nella scia dantesca, alcuni oltretomba posteriori alla Divina Commedia (Alba, 1905).
NOVEL IX
By Fiammetta
Frederigo being in love without any return, spends all his property for the lady’s sake, and at last has nothing left but one favourite hawk. The lady coming to see him unexpectedly, he has this prepared for dinner, having nothing else to give her; and she is so touched when she hears this, that she alters her mind and makes him master of herself and all her wealth.
Cappelletti, L., Commento sopra la IX novella della quinta giornata del Decameron, in Propugnatore, vol. x, part i.
Tosi, I., Longfellow e l’ Italia (Bologna, 1906), esp. p. 89 et seq.
NOVEL X
By Dioneo
Pietro di Vinciolo goes out to supper, and in the meanwhile his wife has a young fellow come to see her. Pietro returns home unexpectedly and discovers his wife’s trick, but as he is no better himself, they manage to make it up between them.
Consult De Maria, U., Dell’ Asino d’ oro di Apuleio e di varie sue imitazioni nella nostra letteratura (Roma, 1901).
THE SIXTH DAY
Elisa Queen
Subject. — Of such as by some sprightly sally have repulsed an attack, or by some ready retort or device have avoided loss, peril, or scorn.
NOVEL I
By Filomena
A knight engages to carry Madonna Oretta behind him on the saddle, promising to tell her a pleasant story by the way; but the lady finding it not to be according to her taste, begs him to allow her to dismount.
NOVEL II
By Pampinea
Cisti the baker, by a sharp retort, makes Signor Geri Spina sensible of an unreasonable request.