The Decameron, Volume II

by Giovanni Boccaccio

wellfurnished with arms and horses, clothes and money as thou shalt be, ifthou but give my lady thy love? Receive, then, my words with open mind;be thyself again; bethink thee that 'tis Fortune's way to confront a manbut once with smiling mien and open lap, and, if he then accept not herbounty, he has but himself to blame, if afterward he find himself inwant, in beggary. Besides which, no such loyalty is demanded betweenservants and their masters as between friends and kinsfolk; rather 'tisfor servants, so far as they may, to behave towards their masters astheir masters behave towards them. Thinkest thou, that, if thou hadst afair wife or mother or daughter or sister that found favour inNicostratus' eyes, he would be so scrupulous on the point of loyalty asthou art disposed to be in regard of his lady? Thou art a fool, if sothou dost believe. Hold it for certain, that, if blandishments andsupplications did not suffice, he would, whatever thou mightest think ofit, have recourse to force. Observe we, then, towards them and theirs thesame rule which they observe towards us and ours. Take the boon thatFortune offers thee; repulse her not; rather go thou to meet her, andhail her advance; for be sure that, if thou do not so, to say nought ofthy lady's death, which will certainly ensue, thou thyself wilt repentthee thereof so often that thou wilt be fain of death."

  Since he had last seen Lusca, Pyrrhus had repeatedly pondered what shehad said to him, and had made his mind up that, should she come again, hewould answer her in another sort, and comply in all respects with thelady's desires, provided he might be assured that she was not merelyputting him to the proof; wherefore he now made answer:--"Lo, now, Lusca,I acknowledge the truth of all that thou sayst; but, on the other hand, Iknow that my lord is not a little wise and wary, and, as he has committedall his affairs to my charge, I sorely misdoubt me that 'tis with hisapprobation, and by his advice, and but to prove me, that Lydia doesthis: wherefore let her do three things which I shall demand of her formy assurance, and then there is nought that she shall crave of me, but Iwill certainly render her prompt obedience. Which three things arethese:--first, let her in Nicostratus' presence kill his finesparrow-hawk: then she must send me a lock of Nicostratus' beard, andlastly one of his best teeth." Hard seemed these terms to Lusca, and hardbeyond measure to the lady, but Love, that great fautor of enterprise,and master of stratagem, gave her resolution to address herself to theirperformance: wherefore through the chambermaid she sent him word thatwhat he required of her she would do, and that without either reservationor delay; and therewithal she told him, that, as he deemed Nicostratus sowise, she would contrive that they should enjoy one another inNicostratus' presence, and that Nicostratus should believe that 'twas amere show. Pyrrhus, therefore, anxiously expected what the lady would do.Some days thus passed, and then Nicostratus gave a great breakfast, aswas his frequent wont, to certain gentlemen, and when the tables wereremoved, the lady, robed in green samite, and richly adorned, came forthof her chamber into the hall wherein they sate, and before the eyes ofPyrrhus and all the rest of the company hied her to the perch, on whichstood the sparrow-hawk that Nicostratus so much prized, and loosed him,and, as if she were minded to carry him on her hand, took him by thejesses and dashed him against the wall so that he died.Whereupon:--"Alas! my lady, what hast thou done?" exclaimed Nicostratus:but she vouchsafed no answer, save that, turning to the gentlemen thathad sate at meat with him, she said:--"My lords, ill fitted were I totake vengeance on a king that had done me despite, if I lacked thecourage to be avenged on a sparrow-hawk. You are to know that by thisbird I have long been cheated of all the time that ought to be devoted bygentlemen to pleasuring their ladies; for with the first streaks of dawnNicostratus has been up and got him to horse, and hawk on hand hied himto the champaign to see him fly, leaving me, such as you see me, aloneand ill content abed. For which cause I have oftentimes been minded to dothat which I have now done, and have only refrained therefrom, that,biding my time, I might do it in the presence of men that should judge mycause justly, as I trust you will do." Which hearing, the gentlemen, whodeemed her affections no less fixed on Nicostratus than her wordsimported, broke with one accord into a laugh, and turning to Nicostratus,who was sore displeased, fell a saying:--"Now well done of the lady toavenge her wrongs by the death of the sparrow-hawk!" and so, the ladybeing withdrawn to her chamber, they passed the affair off with diverspleasantries, turning the wrath of Nicostratus to laughter.

  Pyrrhus, who had witnessed what had passed, said to himself:--Noblyindeed has my lady begun, and on such wise as promises well for thefelicity of my love. God grant that she so continue. And even so Lydiadid: for not many days after she had killed the sparrow-hawk, she, beingwith Nicostratus in her chamber, from caressing passed to toying andtrifling with him, and he, sportively pulling her by the hair, gave heroccasion to fulfil the second of Pyrrhus' demands; which she did bynimbly laying hold of one of the lesser tufts of his beard, and, laughingthe while, plucking it so hard that she tore it out of his chin. WhichNicostratus somewhat resenting:--"Now what cause hast thou," quoth she,"to make such a wry face? 'Tis but that I have plucked some half-dozenhairs from thy beard. Thou didst not feel it as much as did I but now thytugging of my hair." And so they continued jesting and sporting with oneanother, the lady jealously guarding the tuft that she had torn from thebeard, which the very same day she sent to her cherished lover. The thirddemand caused the lady more thought; but, being amply endowed with wit,and powerfully, seconded by Love, she failed not to hit upon an aptexpedient.

  Nicostratus had in his service two lads, who, being of gentle birth, hadbeen placed with him by their kinsfolk, that they might learn manners,one of whom, when Nicostratus sate at meat, carved before him, while theother gave him to drink. Both lads Lydia called to her, and gave them tounderstand that their breath smelt, and admonished them that, when theywaited on Nicostratus, they should hold their heads as far back aspossible, saying never a word of the matter to any. The lads believingher, did as she bade them. Whereupon she took occasion to say toNicostratus:--"Hast thou marked what these lads do when they wait uponthee?" "Troth, that have I," replied Nicostratus; "indeed I have oftenhad it in mind to ask them why they do so." "Nay," rejoined the lady,"spare thyself the pains; for I can tell thee the reason, which I havefor some time kept close, lest it should vex thee; but as I now see thatothers begin to be ware of it, it need no longer be withheld from thee.'Tis for that thy breath stinks shrewdly that they thus avert their headsfrom thee: 'twas not wont to be so, nor know I why it should be so; and'tis most offensive when thou art in converse with gentlemen; andtherefore 'twould be well to find some way of curing it." "I wonder whatit could be," returned Nicostratus; "is it perchance that I have adecayed tooth in my jaw?" "That may well be," quoth Lydia: and taking himto a window, she caused him open his mouth, and after regarding it onthis side and that:--"Oh! Nicostratus," quoth she, "how couldst thou haveendured it so long? Thou hast a tooth here, which, by what I see, is notonly decayed, but actually rotten throughout; and beyond all manner ofdoubt, if thou let it remain long in thy head, 'twill infect itsneighbours; so 'tis my advice that thou out with it before the mattergrows worse." "My judgment jumps with thine," quoth Nicostratus;"wherefore send without delay for a chirurgeon to draw it." "God forbid,"returned the lady, "that chirurgeon come hither for such a purpose;methinks, the case is such that I can very well dispense with him, anddraw the tooth myself. Besides which, these chirurgeons do these thingsin such a cruel way, that I could never endure to see thee or know theeunder the hands of any of them: wherefore my mind is quite made up to doit myself, that, at least, if thou shalt suffer too much, I may give itover at once, as a chirurgeon would not do." And so she caused theinstruments that are used on such occasions to be brought her, and havingdismissed all other attendants save Lusca from the chamber, and lockedthe door, made Nicostratus lie down on a table, set the pincers in hismouth, and clapped them on one of his teeth, which, while Lusca held him,so that, albeit he roared for pain, he might not move, she wrenched bymain force from his jaw, and keeping it close, took from Lusca's handanother a
nd horribly decayed tooth, which she shewed him, suffering andhalf dead as he was, saying:--"See what thou hadst in thy jaw; mark howfar gone it is." Believing what she said, and deeming that, now the toothwas out, his breath would no more be offensive, and being somewhat easedof the pain, which had been extreme, and still remained, so that hemurmured not little, by divers comforting applications, he quitted thechamber: whereupon the lady forthwith sent the tooth to her lover, who,having now full assurance of her love, placed himself entirely at herservice. But the lady being minded to make his assurance yet more sure,and deeming each hour a thousand till she might be with him, now saw fit,for