As I dove into my studies of the Black Death, I uncovered
one book considered to be the oldest account on the matter,
The
Decamaron by Giovanni Boccaccio. To my great surprise I actually had
the book in my collection, but had just never got to reading it. Although this
book is set during the Black Death it only briefly mentions the terrible event.
It's actually set at a villa retreat where a group of 10 friends go into
quarantine to avoid the terrible plague. They decide to pass the time by
sharing stories with one another. This book by Boccaccio is actually a
collection of 100 short stories (similar to the
Golden Legend, One
Thousand and One Nights, and
The Canterbury Tales). While it
doesn't deal with the real historical setting of the Black Death it does
provide great insight into the medieval life of the time. This work would go on
to inspire Geoffrey Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales who would then
inspire the great Shakespeare. I actually do own the
Canterbury Tales,
and intend to read it at a later time.
Giovanni Boccaccio was already an established Florentine
poet by the time he wrote the Decameron in 1348-1353. He was inspired by the
work of Dante's Divine Comedy and later became good friends
with fellow Florentine writer, Petrarch. The intent of this book was no doubt
to have some laughs at what most have been an apocalyptic feeling during the
Black Death. Boccaccio offers some good firsthand detail of the Black Death in
his intro, explaining the symptoms and how corpses were piled into the streets.
He discusses the world of quarantine, where everyone stayed indoors. Social
order was destroyed as isolation became the new norm. He uses this idea of
quarantine and isolation to create a romantic setting. A group of 10 young
nobles, (7 women and 3 men) get together in a beautiful villa in the
countryside to enjoy one another's company. One can imagine the drama and
romantic flings that arise within this household. However this book is more
interested in their system of storytelling with themes for each day.
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As I read this book I couldn't help but think of how ahead
of it's time it must have been. Many of the stories in this book deal with
controversial/scandalous topics pertaining to the church and marriage. It's no
wonder it was so popular during this time, since it offered a completely new
and groundbreaking perspective with great humor. It could be considered one the earliest literary transitions from the old fashioned Christian dogma to a new age of humanism that inspired the Renaissance. For this reason alone Boccaccio is often considered the father of
humanism, alongside Dante Allegri and Petrarch. It's also no surprise that the book was censored by the papacy and even burned as a vanity by reformists such as Girolamo Savonarola.
Aside from the critique on
religion, there are also some shocking examples of dark humor and tragedy throughout the
book. There were many stories where I just couldn't believe the cruelty or unfairness that had unfolded. Another underlying theme is the complete objectification and disrespect
for women (which was likely the norm in those days). While there are some disturbing tales there
are also some very clever and humorous tales. The book is very easy to
comprehend, and truly takes the reader into the medieval age of Europe. In
truth I read about 50% of the tales, however I made sure to read the most
famous ones. The book has a total of 100 short stories, 10 tales in 10 days. These are the ones I enjoyed the most with my reviews. All in all I'd say it was some great poetic writing and I can see what it is considered an all time classic.
Notable stories of the Decameron
Theme of the 1st Day: No theme on the first day, but the majority seem to be critical of the Catholic Church. Which is probably how Bocaccio wanted to start off with a bang.
Day 1: Tale 1 (Ser Cepparello lies his way into heaven)
Boccacio opens with a controversial bang on the first tale,
completely slamming the flaws of the Christian church. This is a reoccurring
theme thru many of the tales. In this one there is a terribly wicked man known
as Ser Cepparello who moves to a new city in Burgundy as he approaches death. A
friar arrives to hear his final confession and give him is last rites. Ser
Cepparello lies about his life so that he comes off as a righteous man. The
friar believes every word he says, and preaches of his righteousness. Since
none of the townspeople know of his past life of wickedness they believe his
lies and have Sir Ceparello's venerated as a saint.
Review: In this tale Boccacio is essentially putting focus on the
hypocrisy and gullibility of the church. He demonstrates how a system that is
driven by judgement can be easily swayed with convincing lies.
Day 1: Tale 2 (The Jew visits Rome)
Another controversial story that hits at the hypocrisy of
church. A Christian man constantly tries to convince a Jew to convert to
Christianity. Finally the Jewish man decides to travel to Rome to better
understand the Catholic faith. He witnesses corruption amongst the clergy
members who are supposed to be the examples of Christ. Knowing that
Christianity is on the rise and Judaism is on the downfall, he is blown away.
He is convinced that if Christianity can be so corrupt and still prosper, it
must be a stronger faith.
Review: Boccaccio is achieving two things with this story. He is
pointing out the corruption of the Christian faith however he is also
clarifying how powerful the religion still is despite all that.
Day 1: Tale 3 (Saladin's 3 rings)
Another story with a religious theme, the powerful sultan
Saladin asks a Jewish noble which is the true faith; Christianity, Judaism, or
Islam. The Jewish man feels trapped with the question and instead answers with
a parable. He tells a story of how a father was asked a similar question and
had to present a ring to his favorite son. Unable to chose one over the other,
the father has 3 identical rings forged to present to his 3 sons. The Jew
explains it is the same with choosing one faith over the other. Despite dodging
the question, the sultan Saladin appreciates the Jew's wisdom and they remain
friends.
Review: Although Boccaccio dodges the main question with a clever
parable he does however hit at another important message. It is a message of
religious tolerance where both a muslim and a jew come to understand one
another as equals, despite their religious beliefs.
Theme of the 2nd Day: Adventures with a happy ending
Day 2: Tale 5 (The misadventures of Andreccuio)
This is a hysterical tale about a man named Andreccuio da
Perugia who has a wild night of problems that go from bad to worse. He is first
fooled by a pretty woman and robbed of his money and his clothes. He tries to
get back into the house to recover his clothes, but falls into a sewage shaft.
He then meets two graverobbers who convince him to join their heist. However
first they decide to clean him off from the sewage smell. They drop Andreccuio
into a well, but run off when two police officers approach leaving him trapped.
The police officers pull him out but leave before noticing him. Andreccuio then
reunites with the graverobbers to complete the robbery of a dead bishop. The
graverobbers insist that Andreccuio go into the tomb to collect the valuables.
Andreccuio is able to collect a ring, but once again the graverobbers flee when
others approach, leaving poor Andreccuio entrapped once again. Andreccuio fears
he will either die in the tomb or be arrested for robbing a bishop. However a
pair of different robbers arrive to the tomb and when the open it to see
Andreccuio they panic and flea. Andreccuio is able to escape with the ring
despite his terrible night.
Review: This is such a funny story of total dark humor. Andreccuio
goes from one bad situation to another, however comes out ahead in the
end.
Day 2: Tale 7 (The 9 men of Alatiel)
This is another scandalous tale from Boccaccio that
objectifies women. The sultan of Babylon arranges to marry off his beautiful
daughter, Alatiel to the king of Algarve, Portugal (which is wrong but was the
norms in those days for diplomatic ties). However her ship gets blown off
course and crashes on the island of Mallorca. From there she is claimed and
passed over from one noble price to another across the Meditterrian. A total of
9 men claim her for a brief period of time, each killing the other to take
ownership of her. She is naive, passive, and goes along with the chaos quite
willingly. Her beauty is so desired, a war nearly breaks out amongst two
princes in Greece. She eventually makes her way back to North Africa, where she
is rescued by one of her father's noblemen. Before reuniting with her father,
the nobleman named Antigono helps her create a story that preserves her
virtuousness so that she can hide the explicit details of her experience. Her
father is happy she is still alive and believes her fictional story. She then
marries the king of Algarve as was planned who is convinced she is still a
virgin.
Review: This is one of the longer tales but quite a comedic and
adventurous despite being a little raunchy. The poor girl Alatiel is caught in
a storm of chaos due to her beauty, passed from one man to another. She is
literally claimed by these predatory men like a lioness being claimed by a
lion. She really gets no say in the matter because she is lost in a foreign
land that belongs to men. The clever twist in the end is that her dignity is
still preserved in the end with a fabricated story. So the people that matter
in her life still see her as a virtuous woman, rather than someone who
slept with 9 different men.
Theme of the 3rd Day: To lose something dearly but later
regain it
Day 3: Tale 1 (The country boy in the convent)
One of many sexual tales from Boccaccio of a man seeking
female conquest. A country boy visits a convent pretending to be dumb so as to
win favor with the women. The mother superior eventually puts him to work the
fields and he attracts some of the nuns. All of them begin to have relations
with him so frequently that he becomes exhausted. Even the abbess partakes in
the fun, at which point he confesses that he is not a dumb mute. They all allow
the boy to stay as their field hand, have many children in the covenant, and
agree to never speak of it.
Review: Yet another scandalous sexual story poking flaws at the
Christian system of sisterhood. Even though these women have dedicated
themselves to god, the narrator still wants to demonstrate their human
desires.
Day 3: Tale 2 (The king and the stable boy)
Another tale of adultery, a young stable boy sleeps with the
wife of the Lombard king Agilulf. The husband arrives later that night, and his
wife mistakens him for the stable boy wanting a second round. The husband grows
confused and suspicious and sets out to find this person who has just slept
with his wife. He goes to the chamber of the servants where he expects the
culprit to still be breathing loudly from excitement. He locates the stable
boy, and not wanting to make a scene in the dark room, he decides to identify
him by cutting some of his hair. When the boy awakes and realizes a chunk of
his hair is missing, he goes around the stable and cuts off all the other male
servants in the similar fashion as his. This way the next morning the king is
unsure of who he had identified the night before. Realizing he has been
outwitted the king simply tells whoever did it not to do it again.
Review: Yet another comical tale of adultery, where the adulteress
lover outwits the poor husband. I think in this case it is a one-sided affair
since the stable boy disguised himself as the king, and the poor wife had no
idea it wasn't her husband.
Day 3: Tale 10 (Sending the devil back to hell)
This is a very erotic controversial story, argubably one of
the most obscene. A young naive woman named Alibech seeks to find God and goes
on a spiritual quest in the desert. She meets a monk named Rustico, who fools
her the best way to find God is to send the devil back to hell. He presents the
devil as his erection and hell as her vagina. She obliges this request as the
monk continiously pleasures himself within her. She is so convinced that she is
doing good that she also begins to enjoy the act. Eventually the monk gets
exhausted and sends her off to another suitor. The suitor eventually marries
Alibech and happily helps her "send the devil back to hell".
Review: I couldn't believe this tale as I read it. It's yet another
example of Boccaccio pushing the limits in the 1300s. Although it's vague, the
sexually implications are so raunchy and naughty. It's like reading an erotic porn. If it's shocking to read now, one can only imagine how shocking it was to read back then.
Theme of the 4th Day: Romantic tales that end in disaster or
tragedy
Day 4: Tale 1 (Ghismonda and Guilelmo)
Here's a story of cruel and dark nature pertaining to a
tragic romance and a father's pride. The princess Ghismonda is reluctant to get
married, but finally does so to appear her father King Tancredi. However after
her husband dies, she later finds a lover in secret, Guilelmo of humble birth.
She knows her father will not approve of this relationship since he is not of
noble class. Nonetheless she secretly meets with him for some time in the
castle's hidden chambers. Eventually King Tancredi discovers the secret and
threatens her daughter to end the relationship. When she refuses he has
Guilelmo arrested, cuts out his heart, and serves it to Ghismonda in a golden
chalice. This dark twisted act breaks Ghismonda who then gives her father a
well composed farewell address. She then drinks poison to commit suicide, out
of heartbreak but also to get revenge on her father.
Review: Truly a powerful and tragic romantic tale, that likely
inspired some of Shakespeare's work. The topic of forbidden love always makes
for the best romantic stories and that is certainly the case here. It is even
more emotional when both lovers must accept death when they can no longer be
together. The act of serving a lover's heart in a cup is such a dark yet poetic
symbol. Ghismonda handles it all with such grace and composure, and chooses
death as her ultimate response which shatters her terrible father.
Day 4: Tale 5 (The Pot of Basil)
Here is another heartbreaking story where a woman get's
maltreated. Lisabetta is the daughter of a wealthy merchant family from
Messina, who falls for a common man Lorenzo. Her three brothers however
intervene in the romance stating he is not good enough for her due to his lower
class. Lisabetta and Lorenzo still meet nonetheless for some time in secret.
The brothers eventually murder Lorenzo and bury him in secret. Lisabetta is
torn from the mysterious disappearance of Lorenzo, until one night she has a dream
where he tells her what happened. Lisabetta locates the buried body of Lorenzo
and decides to severe his head as a memento of their love. She decides to bury
the head in a pot with soil and basil seeds. She waters the plant everyday with
her tears. The basil grows abundantly from the decomposition of Lorenzo's head
and the tears from Lisabetta. The brothers grow suspicious once again and steal
Lisabetta's pot to discover Lorenzo's severed head in a basil pot. They decide
to flee from Messina afraid that they might get tried for murder. Lisabetta
however never finds her pot again and eventually dies from heartbreak.
Review: This is another heartbreaking tragic story quite similar to
the tale of Ghismonda. Once again it pertains to forbidden love due to a
difference in social class. At first it's very disturbing and somewhat
psychotic that she would severe his head and put it in a pot. But then this
idea from Boccaccio that the chemistry of the decomposed head and her tears
would produce amazing plants is truly quite poetic. I think she gets treated
very unfairly in this story on two accounts; first that the brothers would murder
her lover, then that would steal her basil pot. It's not fair that they should
get to escape while she eventually dies of grief. It is a poetic but also very
unfair and tragic story.
Day 4: Tale 9 (Lover's heart)
Another story of adultery with a very cruel and unusual
punishment. A knight learns of his wife's affair and rides out to ambush the
lover. He thrusts a lance into the lover's body and cuts out his heart. The
knight then has the lover's heart cooked and served to his wife. The wife eats
and enjoys the heart, at which point the husband bluntly tells her it was the
heart of her dead lover. Naturally she is horrified with grief and promises to
never eat a meal again. She dies of starvation and is later buried with her
lover at much dismay to the knight.
Review: A very dark punishment from Boccaccio who demonstrates his
range on the topic of adultery. While some of his tales allow the adulterers to
walk off freely and victoriously, there are others that have a harsh
ending for the adulterer. This tale is certainly an example of the latter,
where both lovers meet a tragic end. To have his wife eat the lover's heart is
a very twisted idea, and one of several dark stories in the book.
Theme of the 5th Day: Romantic tales that go thru troubles
but have a happy ending
Day 5: Tale 1 (Cimone and Iphigenia)
Another twisted story about a man having his way with a
woman by any means necessary. In this case the dimwitted Cimone becomes
infatuated with the beautiful Iphigenia and complete changes his persona to
appeal to her. However she is already promised to another noble prince. Cimone
then gathers a group of pirates, raids her ship, kills a few of her servants,
and kidnaps her. He is however later arrested by the bailiff and all seems lost
for Cimone. However the bailiff later approaches him with a scheme of his own,
where he also seeks to kidnap a woman who is set to be married to someone else.
Knowing that Cimone had once partook in a similar endeavor the bailiff offers
Cimone freedom so that he will help him abduct this woman. In return he helps
Cimone kidnap Iphigenia. Both Cimone and the bailiff kidnap their women and
marry them without any further dispute.
Review: While it might seem as somewhat of a heroic tale of romantic
bravado, it's actually a total crime. Cimone is a criminal who is acting out
against Iphigenia's will. To make matters worse the baliff who represents the
law, supports and partakes in a similar crime. Both men literally steal their
prize, by which once again the woman gets no say in the matter. Yet another
controversial tale from Boccaccio.
Day 5: Tale 8 (The ghost of Nastagio)
Nastagio is a young nobleman that is infatuated with the
beautiful Ravenna, who does not share his affection. Feeling quite heartbroken
Nastagio journeys into a haunted forest where he sees a naked woman screaming
in horror. He then watches as a knight with two black dogs chases her down and
stabs her with a dagger. Nastagio intervenes protesting how can he do this to a
woman. The knight explains that they are ghosts and he is seeking justice for
the heartbreak the woman caused him. He also explains that this a weekly
occurrence. Nastagio realizes that he can relate with the ghost's vengeful
plight of heartbreak and decides to bring Ravenna and her family to witness the
ordeal. Ravenna is terrified at the sight and realizes she is the ghostly woman
that is being slaughtered. She decides to change her attitude towards Nastagio
and the two get married.
Review: I think this is a cruel story in regard to the women
involved. Although heartbreak is no fun, a woman should not be punished for not
loving another man. The ghost scene in the forest is one of the crudest
displays of unfair violence in the book as the knight slaughters this poor
naked woman on a weekly basis, just because she didn't like him. Although it is
meant to be a metaphor I think it is dark taste from Boccaccio.
Day 5: Tale 9 (Federigo's falcon)
This is one of my favorites of just sheer good storytelling.
A noblemen named Federigo goes broke in his pursuit of women and is left with
only a falcon. Despite his unfortunate situation he finds peace from the
companionship of the falcon. However a situation arises when he is visited by
one of his former loves, Monna Giovanna. Her son has grown ill, and she seeks
to make him happy by giving him Federigo's bird. Federigo however is so poor
that he doesn't have a proper meal to offer Monna, so has his falcon killed and
served. After she explains the purpose of her visit, Federigo is overcome with
grief. First that he has killed his precious falcon but second that he is
unable to satisfy Monna's request. After her son dies, Monna later decides to
marry Federigo, who although is not wealthy, is a good-hearted person.
Review: This is a great dark comedy, one of my favorites. My only
complaint is I don't think it was necessary that the child had to die. Somewhat
Boccaccio can be a bit grim with his stories.
Theme of the 6th Day: Solving a problem thru clever
wit
Day 6: Tale 4 (Chichibo's crane)
This is a silly comedic tale about Chichibio the cook who is
able to use cleverness to save his life. The king requests a crane that he
recently hunted to be cooked and prepared by of Chichibio. As Chichibio
prepares the tasty crane, a girl he likes asks for a piece, so he gives her the
fried drumstick of the bird. When he serves the dish to his king, the king is
outraged that a leg is missing. Chichibio explains that all cranes have only
one leg, of which the king challenges him to prove it the next day. Chichibio
follows the king to a pond where they see a pack of cranes sleeping on one leg.
Chichibio tries to convince the king of his lie, but the king that shouts to
get their attention, at which point both legs are revealed. Chichibio quickly
comes up with an excuse to explain himself, stating that he never thought to
yell at them like that, so as to see both legs. The king finds this explanation
to be hysterical and finds favor with the cook for his cleverness.
Review: This is one of several examples in the book where the
character is saved thru cleverness. It's a silly story but shows a more comedic light sided approach to Boccaccio's stories.
Day 6: Tale 5 (Master Giotto and Forese da Rabatta)
A rather simple tale about two brilliant Florentines walking
and chatting with one another. One is the famous painter, Master Giotto who
speaks with the intelligent jurist Forese da Rabatta. Despite their fame and
success they appear like humble old men walking thru the streets and stop for a
minute to acknowledge this. Rabatta makes an insult at Giotto's wardrobe
stating one would never imagine he could paint such beauty. In retort Giotto
tells Rabatta one would never think he knew how to read based by his
appearance. It's a witty comeback by Giotto who fits in the Day 6 theme of
cleverness.
Review: This is a very brief simple story about two old man
exchanging verbal jabs at one another. It also gives homage to the great
Florentine painter and architect, Master Giotto. The jurist is also a
historical Florentine jurist, but not quite as famous as Giotto.
Day 6: Tale 7 (Madonna Filippa's trial)
This is one of many tales pertaining to adultery where the
woman, Madonna Filippa has been caught cheating on her husband. The husband has
her stand in front of a trial to explain herself. She confidently explains that
she did not take anything away from her husband and was always willing to make
love with him, however he never wanted to. Therefore since she still had love
to share she found someone else so that it did not go to waste. This bold
confession shocks the judge and the court and she is found not-guilty.
Review: This is one of the few instances in the book, where the
woman actually wins her case. Although she has still committed adultery she
somehow offers a clever perspective albeit she is still breaking the sanctity
of marriage.
Day 6: Tale 10 (The coal of Father Cipolla)
Here is another comical tale about Father Cipolla and his
debatable holy relics. He claims to have all sorts of relics from his travels
such as a vial of sweat from Michael the archangel, one of the nails from the
holy ark, and a feather from the angel Gabriel. Some of the local parishioners
decide to pull a prank on the friar and steal his feather and replace it with
some coal. When Cipolla gives his sermon the next day to present his feather he
is shocked to see it has been replaced by coal. However Cipolla handles it with
smooth composure, being gifted at exaggerated oratory. He claims the coals he
now possesses were the same that were used to burn St. Lawrence at the stake.
The pranksters laugh at the whole event, but are also quite impressed with the friars
improvisation.
Review: This is a funny story that demonstrates a person so gifted
at BS, that he can make up a lie on the spot. Despite the friar liar's
outrageous claims, one can't help admire his devotion and knowledge of the
faith. I think his intentions are good as someone who just uses false props as
a way to help enhance his preaching of the lord.
Theme of 7th Day: Tales by which wives trick
their husbands
Day 7: Tale 2 (Peronella's bathtub lover)
Another story of adultery, Peronella has an affair with a
man while her husband is out working. One day the husband comes home early,
while Peronella's lover is with her, so she quickly hides him in a tub. The
wife then goes on a tirade at her husband for being home early and not making
them any money. The husband tells her is has come home early because he has
sold the tub and needs to inspect it. Realizing she is about to be caught,
Peronella quickly comes up with a lie that she has already sold the tub and
there is already a man inside inspecting it. The lover then goes along with
Peronella's lie and adds a twist by stating he will buy it a higher price but
it needs to be cleaned first. At this point the husband gets into the tub to
clean it while the lover continues his love passion with Peronella. The lover
then completes the purchase as his the husband carry it to his hose. It is a
clever manipulation from the wife, but such a degrading story for the poor
husband.
Review: This is a cruel dark comedy, where the husband gets
humiliated on several accounts. First is the general fact that his wife is
having an affair. Then she has the nerve to yell at him for coming home early.
Then she makes him go into the tub and make sure it is cleaned while she
continues to have sex with her lover. Then they make the poor husband carry it
to the lover's house. Such a cruel fate for the man and a victorious affair for
the woman.
Day 7: Tale 9 (The affair of Lydia and Pyrrhus)
This is a great tale, another scandalous love affair that
pertains to creative trickery. Lydia is the wife of the wealthy noble lord
Nicostratus, who has much more passionate desire than her older husband. She
falls for Nicostratus' loyal hunter, Pyrrhus who is youthful and has a vigor to
match that of Lydia. Despite several advances Pyrrhus holds his ground not
wanting to disrespect the wife of his noble lord. Seeing that he can't deter
her affection, he gives her three tests to prove her love. The first is that
she must kill his sparrowhawk, then pull some hair from his beard, then pull a
tooth from his mouth. She comes up with a clever tactic for each of the
challenging tasks and succeeds. Seeing that he is now tied to his noble's lord,
Pyrrhus then comes up with a clever scheme of his own. He climbs a tree and
calls out to Nicostratus and Lydia to stop making love (which is a lie he makes
up, and later claims the tree is under some sort of magical spell). He then
convinces the king to climb the tree for himself, and then proceeds to make
love with Lydia. Upon seeing this the king grows furious and makes harsh
accusations at them both. However both deny the act, and furthermore Lydia
accuses her husband to never make such accusations again. This basically grants
the two young lovers more freedom for future relations.
Review: I really enjoyed this story as being creative, clever, and
comedic. Lydia is no doubt the instigator of the scandalous affair, and despite
Pyrrhus hesitation he eventually goes along with it himself. The three tasks
are quite comical, and I literally laughed out loud when she killed the
sparrowhawk at the dinner table. She claimed that her husband gave more
attention to the bird than to her. Then there was the trick about the magical
tree which I thought was also quite original and creative. All-in-all this was
one of my favorite stories of Boccaccio despite it's scandalous content.
Day 7: Tale 10 (A vision from purgatory)
Here's an interesting tale about two friends from Sienna
(Tingoccio and Meuccio) who make a deal with one another. Whoever dies first
must contact the other and tell him what the afterlife is like. Before either
die, they both fall in love with the same woman, Monna Mita. It just so happens
that Tingoccio is the godfather of her child, which gives him the edge, but
also makes it a little more controversial. Despite winning the affection of his
godson's mother he dies later. He then visits his friend Meuccio in a vision
and tells him he is in purgatory for his past sins. However when the question
comes up about sleeping with his godchild's mother, he laughs it off as not
that bad of a sin. Which basically enables Meuccio to continue his pursuit of
Monna Mita.
Review: This is an intriguing story detailing the afterlife, perhaps
a nod to Dante's Divine Comedy. As a ghost Tingoccio explains that he is not
quite in heaven or hell, but somewhere in the middle layer (like Purgatory). He
has committed many sins, most likely pertaining to his loose pursuit of married
women. However the joke is that sleeping with his godchild's mother is not that
bad of a sin. It's actually quite funny that he can laugh at his own
predicament and encourage his friend to continue with his sleezy morals.
Theme of 8th Day: Comical tricks and pranks
Day 8: Tale 3 (The prank of the invisible stone)
This is a humorous tale about a pair of friends pulling a
prank on their naive friend Calandrino. They tell him about a magical location
where there are stones known as heliotropes that can make a person invisible.
Calandrino eagerly sets out to the Mugnone River in Florence to locate these
magical black stones. His friends (Bruno and Buffalmacco) secretly follow him
and when they witness Calandrino gather some stones they begin their prank.
They begin to discuss amongst themselves and speak of Calandrino (who is in
plain sight) as if they cannot see him. Calandrino is convinced the invisible
stone is working. The friends even throw rocks at Calandrino as they speak
ill of him (which Calandrino assumes is an accident). Calandrino makes it
home without a single person addressing him, until he is confronted by his
wife. He then throws a fit and beats his wife whom he suspects has ruined his
magical spell. The friends later intervene to save his wife and confess their
prank. They all laugh at Calandrino's stupidity.
Review: This is a comical tale, fairly innocent except the part
about Calandrino beating his wife. Calandrino is convinced that women ruin
everything, including his magical spell and he takes out his foolishness on
her. Although this might add a touch of dark humor it seems quite unfair that
the wife should have to suffer from her husband's foolishness.
Day 8: Tale 5 (The judge's breeches)
Carrying on with this theme of pranks, this tale is a rather
brief one. The judge Niccola da San Lepidio is a messy person with sloppy loose
clothing. Three Florentine friends decide to pull a joke on him during a
courtroom trial. The two friends present a fake dispute to be heard by the
judge, while the other friend hides under the judge's bench. At the right
moment the friend yanks down the judge's breeches in front of everyone at the
courtroom. Thus creating a humiliating moment for the judge, but a hysterical
moment for everyone inside the courtroom.
Review: This is a pretty simple silly story without any major theme
or message. The judge probably had it coming for his sloppy demeanor. Perhaps
this humiliation will inspire him to dress in a more dignified manner fitting
of a judge.
Day 8: Tale 6 (Calandrino's Pig)
We return here to another comical prank on the poor buffoon
Calandrino played by his cruel friends Bruno and Buffalmacco. Calandrino
is going on about selling this pig, so his wife doesn't get mad at him. His two
friends then decide to kidnap the pig, by getting Calandrino drunk with the
priest. While asleep they easily kidnap the priest and the next morning
Calandrino find's himself in a state of panic. His friends try to calm him and
come up with a plan to question all the local neighbors who could have committed
the theft. They procure some bread and cheese and declare whoever committed the
crime will not be able to eat the bread or cheese (they also acquire a couple
pieces of sour bread). When they start passing out the bread all the townsfolk
eat it without complaint until they come to Calandrino. They give him the sour
bread which Calandrino is unable to eat and thus points to him as the culprit.
Calandrino is besides himself unable to make sense how he is being accused of
stealing his own pig. However his friends convince him this is the reality of
the situation which he eventually accepts.
Review: This is a comical tale, almost more of a dark comedy in
regards to the poor Calandrino. His friends completely take advantage of his
stupidity. It's pretty cool to see Bonnaccaccio bring back the same characters
for a different story. Calandrino is actually the most frequent character
throughout the book. One could see how they could make an entire
television series around Calandrino and his prankster friends.
Day 8: Tale 7 (The Scholar's Revenge)
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This is far worse than a tale of a prank, rather cruel and
unusual torture. Rinieri is a scholar who spends most his free time studying at
the university never interested in woman. That is until he falls for Elena, who
is a young beautiful widow. Elena agrees to meet him one cold winter night, but
decides to play a cruel prank on Rinieri with her other lover. As Elena awaits
outside for Elena to let him in, she delays and laughs with her boyfriend. She
stalls and mocks him for nearly two full days, while Rinieri foolishly awaits
in the bitter cold night, almost freezing to death. Rinieri realizes it was all
a very cruel joke and decides one day to get revenge on her. Years later she
comes to him for counsel since he is a wise scholar, asking if he knows any
magical spells to help bring her lover back. Rinieri comes up with a cruel plan
to have her climb a moon tower, butt naked, and recant some spell. However when
she does this, he removes the ladder so that she is trapped in the tower. She
freezes in the night and burns during the heat of the day (so much so that her
skin is scolded). As she is trapped there, the two have dialogue for some while
where Rinieri basically encourages her to commit suicide. It is not until a
farmer chasing his livestock, that she is rescued. So she is in truth paid double fold for her cruel joke on the scholar.
Review: This was one of the longest tales in the book I read. I
thought it was quite a dark tale, that went a bit too far. I did feel sorry for
the scholar at first when he was left outside in the cold, while Elena and her
boyfriend made fun of him. This is double the pain, to be humiliated like this
but to also nearly freeze to death from it. So naturally he wanted revenge, but
I'm afraid he just went too far. To have her naked, freezing during the night,
and then burning during the day. Then to torment her with back-and-forth
dialogue made it all the worse. The majority of this tale is actually the
dialogue they share, where Rinieri basically tells her she is a devil. He even
leaves her for a while to go take a nap. Boccaccio clearly intends to make the
scholar victorious in the tale, with a fair warning to never prank a scholar.
But in truth I think the scholar should have pumped the breaks a little bit,
rather then pushing the poor woman near death. I think he came off as very
ungentlemanly and rather more the villain in the end.
Theme of 9th Day: No theme of the day
Day 9: Tale 3 (Pregnant Calandrino)
Here is another brief, comical prank story pertaining to the
recurring star of the book, the foolish Calandrino. It's another cruel
ploy from Bruno and Buffalmacco who seek to take advantage of Calandrino's
gullibility. They convince him that he looks very unhealthy, then are able to
bribe a doctor to diagnose Calandrino as being pregnant. Calandrino is shocked
and blames his wife for riding on top of him. The doctor states he can cure the
remedy, but will need a good fortune from Calandrino. Poor Calandrino coughs up
the money to pay for the treatment which the doctor shares with Bruno and
Buffalmacco.
Review: Once again another funny story that makes one wonder, why is
Calandrino friends with Bruno and Buffalmacco who always torment him with
pranks. Furthermore these aren't just silly pranks, but also involve theft and
stealing money from the dimwitted Calandrino. In this particular tale, I
couldn't help but notice a minor flaw when the doctor convinced Calandrino he
would "take care" of the pregnancy. Even if it was fake, Calandrino
and his wife had no idea, and thus decided to carry on with this abortion. That
part is obviously ignored since it's a fake pregnancy anyway.
Day 9: Tale 6 (The mix-up at the inn)
This is another funny story about quite the lover's mix-up.
Pinuccio is a young Florentine who is in love with the innkeeper's daughter,
Niccolosa. He devises a plan with his friend Adriano to arrive to the inn late
at night, and request a room, so that he can sleep with Niccolosa. The father
agrees, and has 3 beds arranged in the small house for him and his wife, for
his daughter Niccolosa, and for the two friends Pinnucio and Adriana to share.
Pinnucio feeling bold decides to sneak into Niccolosa's bed where the two
quietly make love. Meanwhile Adriano gets up to go the bathroom, and must move
the cradle next to the innkeeper's bed. This confuses his wife who later gets
up to check on something and returns to Adriano's bed (thinking it is her
husband's bed since the cradle has been moved). Pinnucio also makes a similar
mistake and lies next to the innkeeper thinking it is his friend Adriana.
Pinnucio then goes on to reveal all the deatils with his daughter, (thinking
that he's talking to his friend) which is actually the daughter's father. The
innkeeper's wife then comes to the rescue and realizes the mistake. She makes
up a lie that she was sleeping with her daughter by mistake, and the young
Pinnucio was in truth sleepwalking. Pinnucio plays along with this detail and
the next morning everyone shares a good laugh.
This is one of the funnier stories in the book and I laughed
several times. Most especially when Pinnucio accidentally lies next to his
lover's father and spills all the beans. Adriano also gets quite lucky when a
naked woman (the wife of the innkeeper) lies next to him. Luckily the confusing
mix-up is resolved with some good humor and there are no major losses in the
story (except for maybe the innkeeper's pride).
Day 9: Tale 9 (The Bridge of Geese)
This is another example of dark humor that is very
disrespectful to women. Two men decide to travel to Jerusalem to get counsel
from the wise king Solomon. The first one seeks to get other people to respect
him, and the second seeks to better control his unruly disobedient wife. The
wise king is brief with them both telling the first man to "love" and
the second man to go the bridge of geese. Both men are disappointed with this
limited counsel and on their way home they are halted at a bridge with a pack
of geese. They then witness a man beating his mule so as to get it moving. At
this point the second man heeds the counsel of Solomon, at arriving at the
bridge of geese. He reasons that in seeing this stranger beat his mule, is the
answer Solomon had pointed him too on how to treat his disobedient wife. So
naturally the husband goes home and beats his wife, and the next morning she
falls in line. As for the first man seeking respect, his counsel is more
straightforward and he simply changes the way he treats people.
Despite being a crude story it does have some interesting
elements to it. The part about the bridge of geese is a pretty clever set-up
from Boccaccio. This is the highlight of the story, and a very vague
response from the wise king Solomon. In truth it should be the bridge of the
mule, where the traveling man is inspired. However this is another example of
the dated material where beating one's wife could be seen as an acceptable
solution to a problem. Another minor flaw in this story is unequal symmetry between
the two issues. The disobedient wife issue takes up the majority of the tale,
while the man with the love issue becomes an afterthought.
Theme of 10th Day: Righteous and generous
acts
Day 10: Tale 5 (The 3 good deeds)
This is a clever tale regarding a sequence of righteous
deeds among nobles. The noble Messer Ansaldo is in love with the married
Madonna Dianora who does not share his affection despite the many gifts he
sends her. Hoping to dissuade his advances, Dianora presents an impossible
challenge to Messer. She states she will accept his love, if he can produce a
garden in the middle of January. Seeing this as an impossible task during the
heart of winter, Messer pays off a magician who is able to create the garden.
Dianora is shocked at the result and confesses to her husband regarding her
promise to Messer. The husband then performs the first good deed, by allowing
his wife to uphold her promise to Messer even if this means giving up her body.
When Dianora presents herself to Messer as she promised with the support of her
husband, Messer completes the 2
nd good deed by cancelling their
deal. They become good friends instead. The final good deed is performed by the
magician, who in seeing the other two deeds decides to also follow suit and not
accept payment for his magical garden.
Review: Such a clever tale with a great message of treating others
fairly. While the story starts off with the usual scandalous affair arch, it
actually goes in a whole different direction. It becomes like a competition of
good deeds, each person one-upping the other. Boccaccio leaves an open-ended
question at the end of which person did the best deed. I think it's actually
the magician that does the most righteous act, but not accepting payment
(especially since he wasn't affiliated with any side, rather in it for a
business matter).
Day 10: Tale 7 (King Pedro the just)
This is a love story with a happy ending, pertaining to a
young woman's obsession with King Pedro III of Aragon. The young Lisa watches
the king perform in a jousting ceremony and falls head over heels for him. It's
a rather unhealthy obsession since he is the married king and she is just a
noble woman. She grows lovesick, bedridden, where no medicine will save her.
Her parents are devastated and call upon the famed musician Minuccio to help
cheer her up. The musician feels sorry for the heartbroken woman and agrees to
write her a song to perform for the king. The song is so beautiful the king
decides to meet the infatuated Lisa. Upon visiting her, Lisa begins to recover
and regain a sense of hope. Furthermore the king shows her favor by giving her
a kiss, arranging a noble marriage for her, and promising to forever be her
knight.
Review: This is the epitome of a happy ending fairy tale. The young
Lisa is your typical lovestruck person, however she takes the obsession to
extreme severity near death. The good King Pedro III was a historical figure
who reigned the Spanish kingdom of Aragon from 1276-1285. His just character is
on fully display here as he finds favor with this lovestruck young woman. His 3
deeds of kindness fit in perfect with the theme of day 10, making for a true
happy ending.
Day 10: Tale 10 (Story of Griselda)
This one I found to be very cruel and somewhat on the dark
side. The wealthy noble lord, Gualtieri refuses to marry but is eventually
convinced by his friends and family. He then chooses a peasant woman named
Griselda, to everyone's surprise. Gulatieri even goes to the womans' father to
seek his approval, which he gladly accepts this being a major jump in their
wealth status. However there is a major catch in that Gualtieri want's his wife
to be very devoted and obedient (to the extent of a pet). Griselda accepts the
terms, then goes thru a series of very cruel tests from Gulatier. He first
sends both their two children away since he deems them of low-birth of which
Griselda must live with. He then decides to marry another woman and divorce
Griselda, which she also accepts. Too add insult to injury he then has Griselda
clean and prepare the house for his new marriage. After she passes all these
tests (which likely span a good twenty years) she is redeemed and forever loved
by Gulatieri.
Review: I think the cruelty of Gultaieri is beyond measure and
Griselda should have never gone back to him. To have a mother give up her
children voluntarily, would be unbearable and is simply unbelievable in this
tale. The other trials are equally as painful and far-fetched. I found her one
line in the book to be very powerful and emotional. She basically requests
Gulatieri to treat his new wife with much more care since she is of noble
birth, rather then a peasant upbringing. Here Griselda is making reference to how
peasants have a higher tolerance for pain and suffering unlike those of higher
class. It's a happy ending in that she gets to maintain her wealth and status.
But no human being should have been disrespected in that manner for that long.
I think Gulatieri deserves a harsh punishment for this cruel treatment he put
his wife thru. I suppose it's yet another example of the gender inequality from
the medieval days which could never pass in today's day-and-age.
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