The Decameron, Volume II

by Giovanni Boccaccio

this man with thelaws, that by not a few of those well able to form an opinion he wasreputed a veritable storehouse of civil jurisprudence. The other, whosename was Giotto, was of so excellent a wit that, let Nature, mother ofall, operant ever by continual revolution of the heavens, fashion whatshe would, he with his style and pen and pencil would depict its like onsuch wise that it shewed not as its like, but rather as the thing itself,insomuch that the visual sense of men did often err in regard thereof,mistaking for real that which was but painted. Wherefore, having broughtback to light that art which had for many ages lain buried beneath theblunders of those who painted rather to delight the eyes of the ignorantthan to satisfy the intelligence of the wise, he may deservedly be calledone of the lights that compose the glory of Florence, and the more so,the more lowly was the spirit in which he won that glory, who, albeit hewas, while he yet lived, the master of others, yet did ever refuse to becalled their master. And this title that he rejected adorned him with alustre the more splendid in proportion to the avidity with which it wasusurped by those who were less knowing than he, or were his pupils. Butfor all the exceeding greatness of his art, yet in no particular had hethe advantage of Messer Forese either in form or in feature. But to cometo the story:--'Twas in Mugello that Messer Forese, as likewise Giotto,had his country-seat, whence returning from a sojourn that he had madethere during the summer vacation of the courts, and being, as it chanced,mounted on a poor jade of a draught horse, he fell in with the saidGiotto, who was also on his way back to Florence after a like sojourn onhis own estate, and was neither better mounted, nor in any other wisebetter equipped, than Messer Forese. And so, being both old men, theyjogged on together at a slow pace: and being surprised by a suddenshower, such as we frequently see fall in summer, they presently soughtshelter in the house of a husbandman that was known to each of them, andwas their friend. But after a while, as the rain gave no sign of ceasing,and they had a mind to be at Florence that same day, they borrowed of thehusbandman two old cloaks of Romagnole cloth, and two hats much the worsefor age (there being no better to be had), and resumed their journey.Whereon they had not proceeded far, when, taking note that they weresoaked through and through, and liberally splashed with the mud cast upby their nags' hooves (circumstances which are not of a kind to add toone's dignity), they, after long silence, the sky beginning to brighten alittle, began to converse. And Messer Forese, as he rode and hearkened toGiotto, who was an excellent talker, surveyed him sideways, and from headto foot, and all over, and seeing him in all points in so sorry andscurvy a trim, and recking nought of his own appearance, broke into alaugh and said:--"Giotto, would e'er a stranger that met us, and had notseen thee before, believe, thinkst thou, that thou wert, as thou art,the greatest painter in the world." Whereto Giotto answeredpromptly:--"Methinks, Sir, he might, if, scanning you, he gave you creditfor knowing the A B C." Which hearing, Messer Forese recognized hiserror, and perceived that he had gotten as good as he brought.

  (1) The name of a Florentine family famous for the extraordinary uglinessof its men: whereby it came to pass that any grotesque or extremely uglyman was called a Baroncio. Fanfani, Vocab. della Lingua Italiana, 1891.

  NOVEL VI.

  --Michele Scalza proves to certain young men that the Baronci are the bestgentlemen in the world and the Maremma, and wins a supper.--

  The ladies were still laughing over Giotto's ready retort, when the queencharged Fiammetta to follow suit; wherefore thus Fiammettabegan:--Pamfilo's mention of the Baronci, who to you, Damsels, areperchance not so well known as to him, has brought to my mind a story inwhich 'tis shewn how great is their nobility; and, for that it involvesno deviation from our rule of discourse, I am minded to tell it you.

  'Tis no long time since there dwelt in our city a young man, MicheleScalza by name, the pleasantest and merriest fellow in the world, and thebest furnished with quaint stories: for which reason the Florentine youthset great store on having him with them when they forgathered in company.Now it so befell that one day, he being with a party of them at Mont'Ughi, they fell a disputing together on this wise; to wit, who were thebest gentlemen and of the longest descent in Florence. One said, theUberti, another, the Lamberti, or some other family, according to thepredilection of the speaker. Whereat Scalza began to smile, andsaid:--"Now out upon you, out upon you, blockheads that ye are: ye knownot what ye say. The best gentlemen and of longest descent in all theworld and the Maremma (let alone Florence) are the Baronci by the commonconsent of all phisopholers,(1) and all that know them as I do; and lestyou should otherwise conceive me, I say that 'tis of your neighbours theBaronci(2) of Santa Maria Maggiore that I speak." Whereupon the youngmen, who had looked for somewhat else from him, said derisively:--"Thoudost but jest with us; as if we did not know the Baronci as well asthou!" Quoth Scalza:--"By the Gospels I jest not, but speak sooth; and ifthere is any of you will wager a supper to be given to the winner and sixgood fellows whom he shall choose, I will gladly do the like, and--whatis more--I will abide by the decision of such one of you as you maychoose." Then said one of them whose name was Neri Mannini:--"I am readyto adventure this supper;" and so they agreed together that Piero diFiorentino, in whose house they were, should be judge, and hied them tohim followed by all the rest, eager to see Scalza lose, and triumph inhis discomfiture, and told Piero all that had been said. Piero, who was ayoung man of sound sense, heard what Neri had to say; and then turning toScalza:--"And how," quoth he, "mayst thou make good what thou averrest?""I will demonstrate it," returned Scalza, "by reasoning so cogent thatnot only you, but he that denies it shall acknowledge that I say sooth.You know, and so they were saying but now, that the longer men's descent,the better is their gentility, and I say that the Baronci are of longerdescent, and thus better gentlemen than any other men. If, then, I proveto you that they are of longer descent than any other men, without adoubt the victory in this dispute will rest with me. Now you must knowthat when God made the Baronci, He was but a novice in His art, of which,when He made the rest of mankind, He was already master. And to assureyourself that herein I say sooth, you have but to consider the Baronci,how they differ from the rest of mankind, who all have faces wellcomposed and duly proportioned, whereas of the Baronci you will see onewith a face very long and narrow, another with a face inordinately broad,one with a very long nose, another with a short one, one with aprotruding and upturned chin, and great jaws like an ass's; and againthere will be one that has one eye larger than its fellow, or set on alower plane; so that their faces resemble those that children make whenthey begin to learn to draw. Whereby, as I said, 'tis plainly manifestthat, when God made them, He was but novice in His art; and so they areof longer descent than the rest of mankind, and by consequence bettergentlemen." By which entertaining argument Piero, the judge, and Neri whohad wagered the supper, and all the rest, calling to mind the Baronci'sugliness, were so tickled, that they fell a laughing, and averred thatScalza was in the right, and that he had won the wager, and that withouta doubt the Baronci were the best gentlemen, and of the longest descent,not merely in Florence, but in the world and the Maremma to boot.Wherefore 'twas not without reason that Pamfilo, being minded to declareMesser Forese's ill-favouredness, said that he would have been hideousbeside a Baroncio.

  (1) In the Italian fisofoli: an evidently intentional distortion.

  (2) Villani, Istorie Fiorentine, iv. cap. ix., and Dante, Paradiso, xvi.104, spell the name Barucci.

  NOVEL VII.

  --Madonna Filippa, being found by her husband with her lover, is citedbefore the court, and by a ready and jocund answer acquits herself, andbrings about an alteration of the statute.--

  Fiammetta had been silent some time, but Scalza's novel argument to provethe pre-eminent nobility of the Baronci kept all still laughing, when thequeen called for a story from Filostrato, who thus began:--Noble ladies,an excellent thing is apt speech on all occasions, but to be proficienttherein I deem then most excellent when the occasion does mostimperatively demand it. As was the case wit
h a gentlewoman, of whom Ipurpose to speak to you, who not only ministered gaiety and merriment toher hearers, but extricated herself, as you shall hear, from the toils ofan ignominious death.

  There was aforetime in the city of Prato a statute no less censurablethan harsh, which, making no distinction between the wife whom herhusband took in adultery with her lover, and the woman found pleasuring astranger for money, condemned both alike to be burned. While this statutewas in force, it befell that a gentlewoman, fair and beyond measureenamoured, Madonna Filippa by name, was by her husband, Rinaldo de'Pugliesi, found in her own chamber one night in the arms of Lazzarino de'Guazzagliotri, a handsome young noble of the same city, whom she lovedeven as herself. Whereat Rinaldo, very wroth, scarce refrained fromfalling upon them and killing them