The Decameron, Volume II
Page 58
sell, I should scarce gethalf the value; nor am I as yet so well known here as to come by any tohelp me at this juncture, and so what to do or what to say I know not;but this I know that, if I send not the money without delay, mymerchandise will be taken to Monaco, and I shall never touch aught of itagain." Whereat the lady was mightily annoyed, being apprehensive oflosing all, and bethought her how she might prevent the goods going toMonaco: wherefore:--"God knows," quoth she, "that for the love I bearthee I am not a little sorry for thee: but what boots it idly to distressoneself? Had I the money, God knows I would lend it thee forthwith, but Ihave it not. One, indeed, there is that accommodated me a day or two agowith five hundred florins that I stood in need of, but he requires aheavy usance, not less than thirty on the hundred, and if thou shouldsthave recourse to him, good security must be forthcoming. Now for my partI am ready, so I may serve thee, to pledge all these dresses, and myperson to boot, for as much as he will tend thee thereon; but how wiltthou secure the balance?"
Salabaetto divined the motive that prompted her thus to accommodate him,and that she was to lend the money herself; which suiting his purposewell, he first of all thanked her, and then said that, being constrainedby necessity, he would not stand out against exorbitant terms, addingthat, as to the balance, he would secure it upon the merchandise that hehad at the dogana by causing it to be entered in the name of the lender;but that he must keep the key of the storerooms, as well that he might beable to shew the goods, if requested, as to make sure that none of themshould be tampered with or changed or exchanged. The lady said that thiswas reasonable, and that 'twas excellent security. So, betimes on themorrow, the lady sent for a broker, in whom she reposed much trust, andhaving talked the matter over with him, gave him a thousand florins ofgold, which the broker took to Salabaetto, and thereupon had all thatSalabaetto had at the dogana entered in his name; they then had thescript and counterscript made out, and, the arrangement thus concluded,went about their respective affairs. Salabaetto lost no time in gettingaboard a bark with his five hundred florins of gold, and being come toNaples, sent thence a remittance which fully discharged his obligation tohis masters that had entrusted him with the stuffs: he also paid all thathe owed to Pietro dello Canigiano and all his other creditors, and madenot a little merry with Canigiano over the trick he had played theSicilian lady. He then departed from Naples, and being minded to havedone with mercantile affairs, betook him to Ferrara.
Jancofiore, surprised at first by Salabaetto's disappearance fromPalermo, waxed after a while suspicious; and, when she had waited fullytwo months, seeing that he did not return, she caused the broker to breakopen the store-rooms. And trying first of all the casks, she found themfull of sea-water, save that in each there was perhaps a hog's-head ofoil floating on the surface. Then undoing the bales, she found them all,save two that contained stuffs, full of tow, and in short their wholecontents put together were not worth more than two hundred florins.Wherefore Jancofiore, knowing herself to have been outdone, regrettedlong and bitterly the five hundred florins of gold that she had refunded,and still more the thousand that she had lent, repeating many a time toherself:--Who with a Tuscan has to do, Had need of eyesight quick andtrue. Thus, left with the loss and the laugh against her, she discoveredthat there were others as knowing as she.
(1) Neither the Vocab. degli Accad. della Crusca nor the Ricchezzeattempts to define the precise nature of this scent, which Fanfaniidentifies with that of the orange-blossom.
(2) I.e. with a sort of musical boxes in the shape of birds.
No sooner was Dioneo's story ended, than Lauretta, witting that therewiththe end of her sovereignty was come, bestowed her meed of praise onPietro Canigiano for his good counsel, and also on Salabaetto for theequal sagacity which he displayed in carrying it out, and then, takingoff the laurel wreath, set it on the head of Emilia, sayinggraciously:--"I know not, Madam, how debonair a queen you may prove, butat least we shall have in you a fair one. Be it your care, then, that youexercise your authority in a manner answerable to your charms." Whichsaid, she resumed her seat.
Not so much to receive the crown, as to be thus commended to her face andbefore the company for that which ladies are wont to covet the most,Emilia was a little shamefast; a tint like that of the newly-blown roseoverspread her face, and a while she stood silent with downcast eyes:then, as the blush faded away, she raised them; and having given herseneschal her commands touching all matters pertaining to the company,thus she spake:--"Sweet my ladies, 'tis matter of common experience that,when the oxen have swunken a part of the day under the coercive yoke,they are relieved thereof and loosed, and suffered to go seek theirpasture at their own sweet will in the woods; nor can we fail to observethat gardens luxuriant with diversity of leafage are not less, but farmore fair to see, than woods wherein is nought but oaks. Wherefore I deemthat, as for so many days our discourse has been confined within thebounds of certain laws, 'twill be not only meet but profitable for us,being in need of relaxation, to roam a while, and so recruit our strengthto undergo the yoke once more. And therefore I am minded that to-morrowthe sweet tenor of your discourse be not confined to any particulartheme, but that you be at liberty to discourse on such wise as to eachmay seem best; for well assured am I that thus to speak of divers matterswill be no less pleasurable than to limit ourselves to one topic; and byreason of this enlargement my successor in the sovereignty will find youmore vigorous, and be therefore all the more forward to reimpose upon youthe wonted restraint of our laws." Having so said, she dismissed all thecompany until supper-time.
All approved the wisdom of what the queen had said; and being risenbetook them to their several diversions, the ladies to weave garlands andotherwise disport them, the young men to play and sing; and so theywhiled away the hours until supper-time; which being come, they gatheredabout the fair fountain, and took their meal with gay and festal cheer.Supper ended, they addressed them to their wonted pastime of song anddance. At the close of which the queen, notwithstanding the songs whichdivers of the company had already gladly accorded them, called foranother from Pamfilo, who without the least demur thus sang:--
So great, O Love, the bliss Through thee I prove, so jocund my estate, That in thy flame to burn I bless my fate!
Such plenitude of joy my heart doth know Of that high joy and rare, Wherewith thou hast me blest, As, bounds disdaining, still doth overflow, And by my radiant air My blitheness manifest; For by thee thus possessed With love, where meeter 'twere to venerate, I still consume within thy flame elate.
Well wot I, Love, no song may e'er reveal, Nor any sign declare What in my heart is pent Nay, might they so, that were I best conceal, Whereof were others ware, 'Twould serve but to torment Me, whose is such content, That weak were words and all inadequate A tittle of my bliss to adumbrate.
Who would have dreamed that e'er in mine embrace Her I should clip and fold Whom there I still do feel, Or as 'gainst her face e'er to lay my face Attain such grace untold, And unimagined weal? Wherefore my bliss I seal Of mine own heart within the circuit strait, And still in thy sweet flame luxuriate.
So ended Pamfilo his song: whereto all the company responded in fullchorus; nor was there any but gave to its words an inordinate degree ofattention, endeavouring by conjecture to penetrate that which heintimated that 'twas meet he should keep secret. Divers were theinterpretations hazarded, but all were wide of the mark. At length,however, the queen, seeing that ladies and men alike were fain of rest,bade all betake them to bed.
--Endeth here the eighth day of the Decameron, beginneth the ninth, inwhich, under the rule of Emilia, discourse is had, at the discretion ofeach, of such matters as most commend themselves to each in turn.--
The luminary, before whose splendour the night takes wing, had alreadychanged the eighth heaven(1) from azure to the lighter blue,(2) and inthe meads the flowerets were beginning to lift their heads, when Emilia,being risen, roused her fair gossips, and, likewise, the young men. Andso the queen leading the
way at an easy pace, and the rest of the companyfollowing, they hied them to a copse at no great distance from thepalace. Where, being entered, they saw the goats and stags and other wildcreatures, as if witting that in this time of pestilence they had noughtto fear from the hunter, stand awaiting them with no more sign of fearthan if they had been tamed: and so, making now towards this, now towardsthe other of them as if to touch them, they diverted themselves for awhile by making them skip and run. But, as soon as the sun was in theascendant, by common consent they turned back, and whoso met them,garlanded as they were with oak-leaves, and carrying store of fragrantherbs or flowers in their hands might well have said:--"Either shalldeath not vanquish these, or they will meet it with a light heart." So,slowly wended they their way, now singing, now bandying quips and merryjests, to the palace, where they found all things in order meet, andtheir