The Decameron, Volume II

by Giovanni Boccaccio

gladly him whom you shallbe pleased to give me for husband, thereby conferring upon me greathonour and dignity; but if you should bid me tarry in the fire, delightedwere I to obey, so thereby I might pleasure you. How far it beseems me tohave you, my King, for my knight, you best know; and therefore I saynought thereof; nor will the kiss which you crave as your sole tribute ofmy love be granted you save by leave of my Lady the Queen. Natheless, mayyou have of this great graciousness that you and my Lady the Queen haveshewn me, and which I may not requite, abundant recompense in theblessing and favour of God;" and so she was silent.

  The Queen was mightily delighted with the girl's answer, and deemed heras discreet as the King had said. The King then sent for the girl'sfather and mother, and being assured that his intention had theirapproval, summoned to his presence a young man, Perdicone by name, thatwas of gentle birth, but in poor circumstances, and put certain ringsinto his hand, and (he nowise gainsaying) wedded him to Lisa. Which done,besides jewels many and precious that he and the Queen gave the girl, heforthwith bestowed upon Perdicone two domains, right goodly and of amplerevenues, to wit, Ceffalu and Calatabellotta, saying:--"We give them tothee for thy wife's dowry; what we have in store for thee thou wilt learnhereafter." Which said, he turned to the girl, and:--"Now," quoth he, "weare minded to cull that fruit which is due to us of thy love;" and so,taking her head between both his hands, he kissed her brow. Wherefore,great was the joy of Perdicone, and the father and mother of Lisa, andLisa herself, and mighty the cheer they made, and gaily did theycelebrate the nuptials. And, as many affirm, right well did the King keephis promise to the girl; for that ever, while he lived, he called himselfher knight, nor went to any passage of arms bearing other device thanthat which he had from her.

  Now 'tis by doing after this sort that sovereigns win the hearts of theirsubjects, give others occasion of well-doing, and gain for themselves animperishable renown. At which mark few or none in our times have bent thebow of their understanding, the more part of the princes having becomebut cruel tyrants.

  NOVEL VIII.

  --Sophronia, albeit she deems herself wife to Gisippus, is wife to TitusQuintius Fulvus, and goes with him to Rome, where Gisippus arrives inindigence, and deeming himself scorned by Titus, to compass his owndeath, avers that he has slain a man. Titus recognizes him, and to savehis life, alleges that 'twas he that slew the man: whereof he that didthe deed being witness, he discovers himself as the murderer. Whereby itcomes to pass that they are all three liberated by Octavianus; and Titusgives Gisippus his sister to wife, and shares with him all his substance.--

  So ceased Pampinea; and when all the ladies, and most of all theGhibelline, had commended King Pedro, Filomena by command of the kingthus began:--Magnificent my ladies, who wots not that there is nought sogreat but kings, when they have a mind, may accomplish it? As also that'tis of them that magnificence is most especially demanded? Now whoso,being powerful, does that which it appertains to him to do, does well;but therein is no such matter of marvel, or occasion of extolling him tothe skies, as in his deed, of whom, for that his power is slight, less isdemanded. Wherefore, as you are so profuse of your words in exaltation ofthe fine deeds, as you deem them, of monarchs, I make no manner of doubt,but that the doings of our peers must seem to you yet more delectable andcommendable, when they equal or surpass those of kings. Accordingly 'tisa transaction, laudable and magnificent, that passed between twocitizens, who were friends, that I purpose to recount to you in my story.

  I say, then, that what time Octavianus Caesar, not as yet hight Augustus,but being in the office called Triumvirate, swayed the empire of Rome,there dwelt at Rome a gentleman, Publius Quintius Fulvus by name, who,having a son, Titus Quintius Fulvus, that was a very prodigy of wit, senthim to Athens to study philosophy, and to the best of his power commendedhim to a nobleman of that city, Chremes by name, who was his very oldfriend. Chremes lodged Titus in his own house with his son Gisippus, andplaced both Titus and Gisippus under a philosopher named Aristippus, tolearn of him his doctrine. And the two youths, thus keeping together,found each the other's conversation so congruous with his own, that theregrew up between them a friendship so close and brotherly that 'twas neverbroken by aught but death; nor knew either rest or solace save when hewas with the other. So, gifted alike with pre-eminent subtlety of wit,they entered on their studies, and with even pace and prodigious applausescaled together the glorious heights of philosophy. In which way of life,to the exceeding great delight of Chremes, who entreated Titus as no lesshis son than Gisippus, they continued for full three years. At the endwhereof, it befell (after the common course of things mundane) thatChremes (being now aged) departed this life. Whom with equal grief theymourned as a common father; and the friends and kinsfolk of Chremes werealike at a loss to determine whether of the twain stood in need of themore consolation upon the bereavement.

  Some months afterward the friends and kinsfolk of Gisippus came to himand exhorted him, as did also Titus, to take a wife, and found him amaiden, wondrous fair, of one of the most noble houses of Athens, hername Sophronia, and her age about fifteen years. So a time was appointedfor their nuptials, and one day, when 'twas near at hand, Gisippus badeTitus come see the maiden, whom as yet he had not seen; and they beingcome into her house, and she sitting betwixt them, Titus, as he were fainto observe with care the several charms of his friend's wife that was tobe, surveyed her with the closest attention, and being delighted beyondmeasure with all that he saw, grew, as inly he extolled her charms to theskies, enamoured of her with a love as ardent, albeit he gave no sign ofit, as ever lover bore to lady. However, after they had tarried a whilewith her, they took their leave, and went home, where Titus repaired tohis chamber, and there gave himself over to solitary musing on thedamsel's charms, and the longer he brooded, the more he burned for her.Whereon as he reflected, having heaved many a fervent sigh, thus he beganto commune with himself:--Ah! woe worth thy life, Titus! Whom makest thouthe mistress of thy soul, thy love, thy hope? Knowest thou not that byreason as well of thy honourable entreatment by Chremes and his kin as ofthe wholehearted friendship that is between thee and Gisippus, it behovesthee to have his betrothed in even such pious regard as if she were thysister? Whither art thou suffering beguiling love, delusive hope, tohurry thee? Open the eyes of thine understanding, and see thyself,wretched man, as thou art; obey the dictates of thy reason, refrain thycarnal appetite, control thine inordinate desires, and give thy thoughtsanother bent; join battle with thy lust at the outset, and conquerthyself while there is yet time. This which thou wouldst have is notmeet, is not seemly: this which thou art minded to ensue, thou wouldstrather, though thou wert, as thou art not, sure of its attainment,eschew, hadst thou but the respect thou shouldst have, for the claims oftrue friendship. So, then, Titus, what wilt thou do? What but abandonthis unseemly love, if thou wouldst do as it behoves thee?

  But then, as he remembered Sophronia, his thoughts took the contrarydirection, and he recanted all he had said, musing on this wise:--Thelaws of Love are of force above all others; they abrogate not only thelaw of human friendship, but the law Divine itself. How many times erenow has father loved daughter, brother sister, step-mother step-son?aberrations far more notable than that a friend should love his friend'swife, which has happened a thousand times. Besides which, I am young, andyouth is altogether subject to the laws of Love. Love's pleasure, then,should be mine. The seemly is for folk of riper years. 'Tis not in mypower to will aught save that which Love wills. So beauteous is thisdamsel that there is none but should love her; and if I love her, who amyoung, who can justly censure me? I love her not because she is theaffianced of Gisippus; no matter whose she was, I should love her all thesame. Herein is Fortune to blame, that gave her to my friend, Gisippus,rather than to another. And if she is worthy of love, as for beauty sheis, Gisippus, if he should come to know that I love her, ought to be lessjealous than another.

  Then, scorning himself that he should indulge such thoughts, he relapsedinto the opposing mood,
albeit not to abide there, but ever veering toand fro, he spent not only the whole of that day and the ensuing night,but many others; insomuch that, being able neither to eat nor to sleep,he grew so weak that he was fain to take to his bed. Gisippus, who hadmarked his moodiness for some days, and now saw that he was fairly sick,was much distressed; and with sedulous care, never quitting his side, hetended, and strove as best he might to comfort, him, not seldom and mostearnestly demanding to know of him the cause of his melancholy and hissickness. Many were the subterfuges to which Titus resorted; but, asGisippus was not to be put off with his fables, finding himself hardpressed by him, with sighs and sobs he made answer on thiswise:--"Gisippus, had such been the will of the Gods, I were fain ratherto die than to live, seeing that Fortune has brought me to a strait inwhich needs must my virtue be put to the ordeal, and, to my