The Decameron, Volume II

by Giovanni Boccaccio

servants in blithe and merry cheer. A while they rested, nor wentthey to table until six ditties, each gayer than that which went before,had been sung by the young men and the ladies; which done, they washedtheir hands, and all by the queen's command were ranged by the seneschalat the table; and, the viands being served, they cheerily took theirmeal: wherefrom being risen, they trod some measures to the accompanimentof music; and then, by the queen's command, whoso would betook him torest. However, the accustomed hour being come, they all gathered at thewonted spot for their discoursing, and the queen, bending her regard uponFilomena, bade her make a beginning of the day's story-telling, which shewith a smile did on this wise:--

  (1) I.e. in the Ptolemaic system, the region of the fixed stars.

  (2) Cilestro: a word for which we have no exact equivalent, the dominantnote of the Italian sky, when the sun is well up, being its intenseluminosity.

  NOVEL I.

  --Madonna Francesca, having two lovers, the one Rinuccio, the otherAlessandro, by name, and loving neither of them, induces the one tosimulate a corpse in a tomb, and the other to enter the tomb to fetch himout: whereby, neither satisfying her demands, she artfully rids herselfof both.--

  Madam, since so it pleases you, well pleased am I that in this vast, thisboundless field of discourse, which you, our Lady Bountiful, havefurnished us withal, 'tis mine to run the first course; wherein if I dowell, I doubt not that those, who shall follow me, will do not only wellbut better. Such, sweet my ladies, has been the tenor of our discourse,that times not a few the might of Love, how great and singular it is, hasbeen set forth, but yet I doubt the topic is not exhausted, nor would itbe so, though we should continue to speak of nought else for the space ofa full year. And as Love not only leads lovers to debate with themselveswhether they were not best to die, but also draws them into the houses ofthe dead in quest of the dead, I am minded in this regard to tell you astory, wherein you will not only discern the power of Love, but will alsolearn how the ready wit of a worthy lady enabled her to disembarrassherself of two lovers, whose love was displeasing to her.

  Know, then, that there dwelt aforetime in the city of Pistoia a mostbeauteous widow lady, of whom it so befell that two of our citizens, theone Rinuccio Palermini, the other Alessandro Chiarmontesi, by name,tarrying at Pistoia, for that they were banished from Florence, became,neither witting how it stood with the other, in the last degreeenamoured. Wherefore each used all his arts to win the love of MadonnaFrancesca de' Lazzari--such was the lady's name--and she, being thuscontinually plied with ambassages and entreaties on the part of both, andhaving indiscreetly lent ear to them from time to time, found it no easymatter discreetly to extricate herself, when she was minded to be rid oftheir pestering, until it occurred to her to adopt the followingexpedient, to wit, to require of each a service, such as, though notimpracticable, she deemed none would actually perform, to the end that,they making default, she might have a decent and colourable pretext forrefusing any longer to receive their ambassages. Which expedient was onthis wise. One day there died in Pistoia, and was buried in a tomboutside the church of the Friars Minors, a man, who, though his forbearshad been gentlefolk, was reputed the very worst man, not in Pistoia only,but in all the world, and therewithal he was of form and feature sopreternaturally hideous that whoso knew him not could scarce see him forthe first time without a shudder. Now, the lady pondering her design onthe day of this man's death, it occurred to her that he might in ameasure subserve its accomplishment: wherefore she said to hermaid:--"Thou knowest to what worry and annoyance I am daily put by theambassages of these two Florentines, Rinuccio, and Alessandro. Now I amnot disposed to gratify either of them with my love, and therefore, toshake them off, I am minded, as they make such great protestations, toput them to the proof by requiring of each something which I am sure hewill not perform, and thus to rid myself of their pestering: so list whatI mean to do. Thou knowest that this morning there was interred in theground of the Friars Minors this Scannadio (such was the name of the badman of whom we spoke but now) whose aspect, while he yet lived, appalledeven the bravest among us. Thou wilt therefore go privily, to Alessandro,and say to him:--'Madonna Francesca sends thee word by me that the timeis now come when thou mayst win that which thou hast so much desired, towit, her love and joyance thereof, if thou be so minded, on the followingterms. For a reason, which thou shalt learn hereafter, one of her kinsmenis to bring home to her to-night the corpse of Scannadio, who was buriedthis morning; and she, standing in mortal dread of this dead man, wouldfain not see him; wherefore she prays thee to do her a great service, andbe so good as to get thee this evening at the hour of first sleep to thetomb wherein Scannadio is buried, and go in, and having wrapped thyselfin his grave-clothes, lie there, as thou wert Scannadio, himself, untilone come for thee, when thou must say never a word, but let him carrythee forth, and bear thee to Madonna Francesca's house, where she willgive thee welcome, and let thee stay with her, until thou art minded todepart, and, for the rest, thou wilt leave it to her.' And if he saysthat he will gladly do so, well and good; if not, then thou wilt tell himfrom me, never more to shew himself where I am, and, as he values hislife, to have a care to send me no more ambassages. Which done, thou wiltgo to Rinuccio Palermini, and wilt say to him:--'Madonna Francesca letsthee know that she is ready in all respects to comply with thy wishes, sothou wilt do her a great service, which is on this wise: to-night, aboutmidnight, thou must go to the tomb wherein was this morning interredScannadio, and saying never a word, whatever thou mayst hear or otherwisebe ware of, bear him gently forth to Madonna Francesca's house, wherethou shalt learn wherefore she requires this of thee, and shalt have thysolace of her; and if thou art not minded to obey her in this, see thatthou never more send her ambassage.'"

  The maid did her mistress's errand, omitting nothing, to both the men,and received from each the same answer, to wit, that to pleasure thelady, he would adventure a journey to hell, to say nothing of entering atomb. With which answer the maid returned to the lady, who waited to seeif they would be such fools as to make it good. Night came, and at thehour of first sleep Alessandro Chiarmontesi, stripped to his doublet,quitted his house, and bent his steps towards Scannadio's tomb, withintent there to take the dead man's place. As he walked, there came uponhim a great fear, and he fell a saying to himself:--Ah! what a fool am I!Whither go I? How know I that her kinsmen, having detected my love, andsurmising that which is not, have not put her upon requiring this of me,in order that they may slay me in the tomb? In which event I alone shouldbe the loser, for nought would ever be heard of it, so that they wouldescape scot-free. Or how know I but that 'tis some machination of one ofmy ill-wishers, whom perchance she loves, and is therefore minded toabet? And again quoth he to himself:--But allowing that 'tis neither theone nor the other, and that her kinsmen are really to carry me to herhouse, I scarce believe that 'tis either that they would fain embraceScannadio's corpse themselves, or let her do so: rather it must be thatthey have a mind to perpetrate some outrage upon it, for that, perchance,he once did them an evil turn. She bids me say never a word, no matterwhat I may hear or be otherwise ware of. Suppose they were to pluck outmy eyes, or my teeth, or cut off my hands, or treat me to some otherhorse-play of the like sort, how then? how could I keep quiet? And if Iopen my mouth, they will either recognize me, and perchance do me amischief, or, if they spare me, I shall have been at pains for nought,for they will not leave me with the lady, and she will say that Idisobeyed her command, and I shall never have aught of her favours.

  As thus he communed with himself, he was on the point of turning back;but his overmastering love plied him with opposing arguments of suchforce that he kept on his way, and reached the tomb; which having opened,he entered, and after stripping Scannadio, and wrapping himself in thegrave-clothes, closed it, and laid himself down in Scannadio's place. Hethen fell a thinking of the dead man, and his manner of life, and thethings which he had heard tell of as happening by night, and in otherless appalling places than the ho
uses of the dead; whereby all the hairsof his head stood on end, and he momently expected Scannadio to rise andcut his throat. However, the ardour of his love so fortified him that heovercame these and all other timorous apprehensions, and lay as if hewere dead, awaiting what should betide him.

  Towards midnight Rinuccio, bent likewise upon fulfilling his lady'sbehest, sallied forth of his house, revolving as he went diversforebodings of possible contingencies, as that, having Scannadio's corpseupon his shoulders, he might fall into the hands of the Signory, and becondemned to the fire as a wizard, or that, should the affair get wind,it might embroil him with his kinsfolk, or the like, which gave himpause. But then with a revulsion of feeling:-- Shall I, quoth he tohimself, deny this lady, whom I so much have loved and love, the veryfirst thing that she asks of me? And that too when I am thereby to