The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

by Giovanni Boccaccio

  THE NINTH STORY

  [Day the Second]

  BERNABO OF GENOA, DUPED BY AMBROGIUOLO, LOSETH HIS GOOD AND COMMANDETH THAT HIS INNOCENT WIFE BE PUT TO DEATH. SHE ESCAPETH AND SERVETH THE SOLDAN IN A MAN'S HABIT. HERE SHE LIGHTETH UPON THE DECEIVER OF HER HUSBAND AND BRINGETH THE LATTER TO ALEXANDRIA, WHERE, HER TRADUCER BEING PUNISHED, SHE RESUMETH WOMAN'S APPAREL AND RETURNETH TO GENOA WITH HER HUSBAND, RICH

  Elisa having furnished her due with her pitiful story, Filomena thequeen, who was tall and goodly of person and smiling and agreeable ofaspect beyond any other of her sex, collecting herself, said, "Needsmust the covenant with Dioneo be observed, wherefore, there remainingnone other to tell than he and I, I will tell my story first, and he,for that he asked it as a favour, shall be the last to speak." Sosaying, she began thus, "There is a proverb oftentimes cited among thecommon folk to the effect that the deceiver abideth[131] at the feetof the deceived; the which meseemeth may by no reasoning be shown tobe true, an it approve not itself by actual occurrences. Wherefore,whilst ensuing the appointed theme, it hath occurred to me, dearestladies, to show you, at the same time, that this is true, even as itis said; nor should it mislike you to hear it, so you may know how tokeep yourselves from deceivers.

  [Footnote 131: _Rimane._ The verb _rimanere_ is constantly used by theold Italian writers in the sense of "to become," so that the proverbcited in the text may be read "The deceiver becometh (_i.e._ findethhimself in the end) at the feet (_i.e._ at the mercy) of the persondeceived."]

  There were once at Paris in an inn certain very considerable Italianmerchants, who were come thither, according to their usance, some onone occasion and some on another, and having one evening among otherssupped all together merrily, they fell to devising of divers matters,and passing from one discourse to another, they came at last to speakof their wives, whom they had left at home, and one said jestingly, 'Iknow not how mine doth; but this I know well, that, whenas therecometh to my hand here any lass that pleaseth me, I leave on one sidethe love I bear my wife and take of the other such pleasure as I may.''And I,' quoth another, 'do likewise, for that if I believe that mywife pusheth her fortunes [in my absence,] she doth it, and if Ibelieve it not, still she doth it; wherefore tit for tat be it; an assstill getteth as good as he giveth.'[132] A third, following on, camewell nigh to the same conclusion, and in brief all seemed agreed uponthis point, that the wives they left behind had no mind to lose timein their husbands' absence. One only, who hight Bernabo Lomellini ofGenoa, maintained the contrary, avouching that he, by special grace ofGod, had a lady to wife who was belike the most accomplished woman ofall Italy in all those qualities which a lady, nay, even (in greatpart) in those which a knight or an esquire, should have; for that shewas fair of favour and yet in her first youth and adroit and robust ofher person; nor was there aught that pertaineth unto a woman, such asworks of broidery in silk and the like, but she did it better than anyother of her sex. Moreover, said he, there was no sewer, or in otherwords, no serving-man, alive who served better or more deftly at anobleman's table than did she, for that she was very well bred andexceeding wise and discreet. He after went on to extol her as knowingbetter how to ride a horse and fly a hawk, to read and write and casta reckoning than if she were a merchant; and thence, after many othercommendations, coming to that whereof it had been discoursed amongthem, he avouched with an oath that there could be found no honesternor chaster woman than she; wherefore he firmly believed that, shouldhe abide half a score years, or even always, from home, she wouldnever incline to the least levity with another man. Among themerchants who discoursed thus was a young man called Ambrogiuolo ofPiacenza, who fell to making the greatest mock in the world of thislast commendation bestowed by Bernabo upon his wife and asked himscoffingly if the emperor had granted him that privilege over andabove all other men. Bernabo, some little nettled, replied that notthe emperor, but God, who could somewhat more than the emperor, hadvouchsafed him the favour in question. Whereupon quoth Ambrogiuolo,'Bernabo, I doubt not a whit but that thou thinkest to say sooth; butmeseemeth thou hast paid little regard to the nature of things; forthat, hadst thou taken heed thereunto, I deem thee not so dull of witbut thou wouldst have noted therein certain matters which had madethee speak more circumspectly on this subject. And that thou mayst notthink that we, who have spoken much at large of our wives, believethat we have wives other or otherwise made than thine, but mayst seethat we spoke thus, moved by natural perception, I will e'en reasonwith thee a little on this matter. I have always understood man to bethe noblest animal created of God among mortals, and after him, woman;but man, as is commonly believed and as is seen by works, is the moreperfect and having more perfection, must without fail have more offirmness and constancy, for that women universally are morechangeable; the reason whereof might be shown by many naturalarguments, which for the present I purpose to leave be. If then man beof more stability and yet cannot keep himself, let alone fromcomplying with a woman who soliciteth him, but even from desiring onewho pleaseth him, nay more, from doing what he can, so he may avail tobe with her,--and if this betide him not once a month, but a thousandtimes a day,--what canst thou expect a woman, naturally unstable, toavail against the prayers, the blandishments, the gifts and a thousandother means which an adroit man, who loveth her, will use? Thinkestthou she can hold out? Certes, how much soever thou mayst affirm it,I believe not that thou believest it; and thou thyself sayst that thywife is a woman and that she is of flesh and blood, as are otherwomen. If this be so, those same desires must be hers and the samepowers that are in other women to resist these natural appetites;wherefore, however honest she be, it is possible she may do that whichother women do; and nothing that is possible she be so peremptorilydenied nor the contrary thereof affirmed with such rigour as thoudost.' To which Bernabo made answer, saying, 'I am a merchant, and nota philosopher, and as a merchant I will answer; and I say that Iacknowledge that what thou sayst may happen to foolish women in whomthere is no shame; but those who are discreet are so careful of theirhonour that for the guarding thereof they become stronger than men,who reck not of this; and of those thus fashioned is my wife.''Indeed,' rejoined Ambrogiuolo, 'if, for every time they occupythemselves with toys of this kind, there sprouted from their foreheadsa horn to bear witness of that which they have done, there be few, Ibelieve, who would incline thereto; but, far from the horn sprouting,there appeareth neither trace nor token thereof in those who arediscreet, and shame and soil of honour consist not but in thingsdiscovered; wherefore, whenas they may secretly, they do it, or, ifthey forebear, it is for stupidity. And have thou this for certainthat she alone is chaste, who hath either never been solicited of anyor who, having herself solicited, hath not been hearkened. Andalthough I know by natural and true reasons that it is e'en as I say,yet should I not speak thereof with so full an assurance, had I notmany a time and with many women made essay thereof. And this I tellthee, that, were I near this most sanctified wife of thine, I warrantme I would in brief space of time bring her to that which I havealready gotten of other women.' Whereupon quoth Bernabo, 'Disputingwith words might be prolonged without end; thou wouldst say and Ishould say, and in the end it would all amount to nothing. But, sincethou wilt have it that all women are so compliant and that thineaddress is such, I am content, so I may certify thee of my wife'shonesty, to have my head cut off, and thou canst anywise avail tobring her to do thy pleasure in aught of the kind; and if thou failthereof, I will have thee lose no otherwhat than a thousand goldflorins.' 'Bernabo,' replied Ambrogiuolo, who was now grown heatedover the dispute, 'I know not what I should do with thy blood, if Iwon the wager; but, an thou have a mind to see proof of that which Ihave advanced, do thou stake five thousand gold florins of thy monies,which should be less dear to thee than thy head, against a thousand ofmine, and whereas thou settest no limit [of time,] I will e'en bindmyself to go to Genoa and within three months from the day of mydeparture hence to have done my will of thy wife and to bring backwith
me, in proof thereof, sundry of her most precious things and suchand so many tokens that thou shalt thyself confess it to be truth, soverily thou wilt pledge me thy faith not to come to Genoa within thatterm nor write her aught of the matter.' Bernabo said that it likedhim well and albeit the other merchants endeavoured to hinder theaffair, foreseeing that sore mischief might come thereof, the twomerchants' minds were so inflamed that, in despite of the rest, theybound themselves one to other by express writings under their hands.This done, Bernabo abode behind, whilst Ambrogiuolo, as quickliest hemight, betook himself to Genoa. There he abode some days and informinghimself with the utmost precaution of the name of the street where thelady dwelt and of her manner of life, understood of her that and morethan that which he had heard of her from Bernabo, wherefore himseemedhe was come on a fool's errand. However, he presently clapped up anacquaintance with a poor woman, who was much about the house and whosegreat well-wisher the lady was, and availing not to induce her toaught else, he debauched her with money and prevailed with her tobring him, in a chest wroughten after a fashion of his own, not onlyinto the house, but into the gentlewoman's very bedchamber, where,according to the ordinance given her of him, the good woman commendedit to her care for some days, as if she had a mind to go somewhither.The chest, then being left in the chamber and the night come,Ambrogiuolo, what time he judged the lady to be asleep, opened thechest with certain engines of his and came softly out into thechamber, where there was a light burning, with whose aid he proceededto observe the ordinance of the place, the paintings and every othernotable thing that was therein and fixed them in his memory. Then,drawing near the bed and perceiving that the lady and a little girl,who was with her, were fast asleep, he softly altogether uncovered theformer and found that she was as fair, naked, as clad, but saw no signabout her that he might carry away, save one, to wit, a mole which shehad under the left pap and about which were sundry little hairs as redas gold. This noted he covered her softly up again, albeit, seeing herso fair, he was tempted to adventure his life and lay himself by herside; however, for that he had heard her to be so obdurate anduncomplying in matters of this kind, he hazarded not himself, but,abiding at his leisure in the chamber the most part of the night, tookfrom one of her coffers a purse and a night-rail, together with sundryrings and girdles, and laying them all in his chest, returned thitherhimself and shut himself up therein as before; and on this wise he didtwo nights, without the lady being ware of aught. On the third day thegood woman came back for the chest, according to the given ordinance,and carried it off whence she had taken it, whereupon Ambrogiuolo cameout and having rewarded her according to promise, returned, asquickliest he might, with the things aforesaid, to Paris, where hearrived before the term appointed. There he summoned the merchants whohad been present at the dispute and the laying of the wager anddeclared, in Bernabo's presence, that he had won the wager laidbetween them, for that he had accomplished that whereof he had vauntedhimself; and to prove this to be true, he first described the fashionof the chamber and the paintings thereof and after showed the thingshe had brought with him thence, avouching that he had them of herself.Bernabo confessed the chamber to be as he had said and owned,moreover, that he recognized the things in question as being in truthhis wife's; but said that he might have learned from one of theservants of the house the fashion of the chamber and have gotten thethings in like manner; wherefore, an he had nought else to say,himseemed not that this should suffice to prove him to have won.Whereupon quoth Ambrogiuolo, 'In sooth this should suffice, but, sincethou wilt have me say more, I will say it. I tell thee that MadamGinevra thy wife hath under her left pap a pretty big mole, aboutwhich are maybe half a dozen little hairs as red as gold.' WhenBernabo heard this, it was as if he had gotten a knife-thrust in theheart, such anguish did he feel, and though he had said not a word,his countenance, being all changed, gave very manifest token that whatAmbrogiuolo said was true. Then, after awhile, 'Gentlemen,' quoth he,'that which Ambrogiuolo saith is true; wherefore, he having won, lethim come whenassoever it pleaseth him and he shall be paid.'Accordingly, on the ensuing day Ambrogiuolo was paid in full andBernabo, departing Paris, betook himself to Genoa with fell intentagainst the lady. When he drew near the city, he would not entertherein, but lighted down a good score miles away at a country houseof his and despatched one of his servants, in whom he much trusted, toGenoa with two horses and letters under his hand, advising his wifethat he had returned and bidding her come to him; and he privilycharged the man, whenas he should be with the lady in such place asshould seem best to him, to put her to death without pity and returnto him. The servant accordingly repaired to Genoa and delivering theletters and doing his errand, was received with great rejoicing by thelady, who on the morrow took horse with him and set out for theircountry house. As they fared on together, discoursing of one thing andanother, they came to a very deep and lonely valley, beset with highrocks and trees, which seeming to the servant a place wherein hemight, with assurance for himself, do his lord's commandment, hepulled out his knife and taking the lady by the arm, said, 'Madam,commend your soul to God, for needs must you die, without faringfarther.' The lady, seeing the knife and hearing these words, was alldismayed and said, 'Mercy, for God's sake! Ere thou slay me, tell mewherein I have offended thee, that thou wouldst put me to death.''Madam,' answered the man, 'me you have nowise offended; but whereinyou have offended your husband I know not, save that he hath commandedme slay you by the way, without having any pity upon you, threateningme, an I did it not, to have me hanged by the neck. You know well howmuch I am beholden to him and how I may not gainsay him in aught thathe may impose upon me; God knoweth it irketh me for you, but I can nootherwise.' Whereupon quoth the lady, weeping, 'Alack, for God's sake,consent not to become the murderer of one who hath never wronged thee,to serve another! God who knoweth all knoweth that I never did aughtfor which I should receive such a recompense from my husband. But letthat be; thou mayst, an thou wilt, at once content God and thy masterand me, on this wise; to wit, that thou take these my clothes and giveme but thy doublet and a hood and with the former return to my lordand thine and tell him that thou hast slain me; and I swear to thee,by that life which thou wilt have bestowed on me, that I will removehence and get me gone into a country whence never shall any news of mewin either to him or to thee or into these parts.' The servant, whowas loath to slay her, was lightly moved to compassion; wherefore hetook her clothes and give her a sorry doublet of his and a hood,leaving her sundry monies she had with her. Then praying her departthe country, he left her in the valley and afoot and betook himself tohis master, to whom he avouched that not only was his commandmentaccomplished, but that he had left the lady's dead body among a packof wolves, and Bernabo presently returned to Genoa, where the thingbecoming known, he was much blamed. As for the lady, she abode aloneand disconsolate till nightfall, when she disguised herself as mostshe might and repaired to a village hard by, where, having gotten froman old woman that which she needed, she fitted the doublet to hershape and shortening it, made a pair of linen breeches of her shift;then, having cut her hair and altogether transformed herself in theguise of a sailor, she betook herself to the sea-shore, where, aschance would have it, she found a Catalan gentleman, by name SenorEncararch, who had landed at Alba from a ship he had in the offing, torefresh himself at a spring there. With him she entered into parleyand engaging with him as a servant, embarked on board the ship, underthe name of Sicurano da Finale. There, being furnished by thegentleman with better clothes, she proceeded to serve him so well andso aptly that she became in the utmost favour with him. No great whileafter it befell that the Catalan made a voyage to Alexandria with alading of his and carrying thither certain peregrine falcons for theSoldan, presented them to him. The Soldan, having once and againentertained him at meat and noting with approof the fashions ofSicurano, who still went serving him, begged him[133] of his master,who yielded him to him, although it irked him to do it, and Sicurano,in a little while, by his good behaviour, gained t
he love and favourof the Soldan, even as he had gained that of the Catalan. Wherefore,in process of time, it befell that,--the time coming for a greatassemblage, in the guise of a fair, of merchants, both Christian andSaracen, which was wont at a certain season of the year to be held inAcre, a town under the seignory of the Soldan, and to which, in orderthat the merchants and their merchandise might rest secure, the latterwas still used to despatch, besides other his officers, some one ofhis chief men, with troops, to look to the guard,--he bethoughthimself to send Sicurano, who was by this well versed in the languageof the country, on this service; and so he did. Sicurano accordinglycame to Acre as governor and captain of the guard of the merchants andtheir merchandise and there well and diligently doing that whichpertained to his office and going round looking about him, saw manymerchants there, Sicilians and Pisans and Genoese and Venetians andother Italians, with whom he was fain to make acquaintance, inremembrance of his country. It befell, one time amongst others, that,having lighted down at the shop of certain Venetian merchants, heespied among other trinkets, a purse and a girdle, which hestraightway knew for having been his and marvelled thereat; but,without making any sign, he carelessly asked to whom they pertainedand if they were for sale. Now Ambrogiuolo of Piacenza was comethither with much merchandise on board a Venetian ship and hearing thecaptain of the guard ask whose the trinkets were, came forward andsaid, laughing, 'Sir, the things are mine and I do not sell them; but,if they please you, I will gladly give them to you.' Sicurano, seeinghim laugh, misdoubted he had recognized him by some gesture of his;but yet, keeping a steady countenance, he said, 'Belike thou laughestto see me, a soldier, go questioning of these women's toys?' 'Sir,'answered Ambrogiuolo, 'I laugh not at that; nay, but at the way I cameby them.' 'Marry, then,' said Sicurano, 'an it be not unspeakable,tell me how thou gottest them, so God give thee good luck.' QuothAmbrogiuolo, 'Sir, a gentlewoman of Genoa, hight Madam Ginevra, wifeof Bernabo Lomellini, gave me these things, with certain others, onenight that I lay with her, and prayed me keep them for the love ofher. Now I laugh for that I mind me of the simplicity of Bernabo, whowas fool enough to lay five thousand florins to one that I would notbring his wife to do my pleasure; the which I did and won the wager;whereupon he, who should rather have punished himself for hisstupidity than her for doing that which all women do, returned fromParis to Genoa and there, by what I have since heard, caused her putto death.' Sicurano, hearing this, understood forthwith what was thecause of Bernabo's anger against his wife[134] and manifestlyperceiving this fellow to have been the occasion of all her ills,determined not to let him go unpunished therefor. Accordingly hefeigned to be greatly diverted with the story and artfully clapped upa strait acquaintance with him, insomuch that, the fair being ended,Ambrogiuolo, at his instance, accompanied him, with all his good, toAlexandria. Here Sicurano let build him a warehouse and lodged in hishands store of his own monies; and Ambrogiuolo, foreseeing greatadvantage to himself, willingly took up his abode there. Meanwhile,Sicurano, careful to make Bernabo clear of his[135] innocence, restednot till, by means of certain great Genoese merchants who were then inAlexandria, he had, on some plausible occasion of his[136] owndevising, caused him come thither, where finding him in poor enoughcase, he had him privily entertained by a friend of his[137] againstit should seem to him[138] time to do that which he purposed. Now hehad already made Ambrogiuolo recount his story before the Soldan forthe latter's diversion; but seeing Bernabo there and thinking therewas no need to use farther delay in the matter, he took occasion toprocure the Soldan to have Ambrogiuolo and Bernabo brought before himand in the latter's presence, to extort from the former, by dint ofseverity, an it might not easily be done [by other means,] the truthof that whereof he vaunted himself concerning Bernabo's wife.Accordingly, they both being come, the Soldan, in the presence ofmany, with a stern countenance commanded Ambrogiuolo to tell the truthhow he had won of Bernabo the five thousand gold florins; and Sicuranohimself, in whom he most trusted, with a yet angrier aspect,threatened him with the most grievous torments, an he told it not;whereupon Ambrogiuolo, affrighted on one side and another and in ameasure constrained, in the presence of Bernabo and many others,plainly related everything, even as it passed, expecting no worsepunishment therefor than the restitution of the five thousand goldflorins and of the stolen trinkets. He having spoken, Sicurano, as hewere the Soldan's minister in the matter, turned to Bernabo and saidto him, 'And thou, what didst thou to thy lady for this lie?' WheretoBernabo replied, 'Overcome with wrath for the loss of my money andwith resentment for the shame which meseemed I had gotten from mywife, I caused a servant of mine put her to death, and according tothat which he reported to me, she was straightway devoured by amultitude of wolves,' These things said in the presence of the Soldanand all heard and apprehended of him, albeit he knew not yet to whatend Sicurano, who had sought and ordered this, would fain come, thelatter said to him, 'My lord, you may very clearly see how much reasonyonder poor lady had to vaunt herself of her gallant and her husband,for that the former at once bereaved her of honour, marring her fairfame with lies, and despoiled her husband, whilst the latter morecredulous of others' falsehoods than of the truth which he might bylong experience have known, caused her to be slain and eaten ofwolves; and moreover, such is the goodwill and the love borne her bythe one and the other that, having long abidden with her, neither ofthem knoweth her. But that you may the better apprehend that whicheach of these hath deserved, I will,--so but you vouchsafe me, ofspecial favour to punish the deceiver and pardon the dupe,--e'en causeher come hither into your and their presence.' The Soldan, disposed inthe matter altogether to comply with Sicurano's wishes, answered thathe would well and bade him produce the lady; whereat Bernabo marvelledexceedingly, for that he firmly believed her to be dead, whilstAmbrogiuolo, now divining his danger, began to be in fear of worsethan paying of monies and knew not whether more to hope or to fearfrom the coming of the lady, but awaited her appearance with theutmost amazement. The Soldan, then, having accorded Sicurano his wish,the latter threw himself, weeping, on his knees before him and puttingoff, as it were at one and the same time, his manly voice andmasculine demeanour, said, 'My lord, I am the wretched misfortunateGinevra, who have these six years gone wandering in man's disguiseabout the world, having been foully and wickedly aspersed by thistraitor Ambrogiuolo and given by yonder cruel and unjust man to oneof his servants to be slain and eaten of wolves.' Then, tearing openthe fore part of her clothes and showing her breast, she discoveredherself to the Soldan and all else who were present and after, turningto Ambrogiuolo, indignantly demanded of him when he had ever lain withher, according as he had aforetime boasted; but he, now knowing herand fallen well nigh dumb for shame, said nothing. The Soldan, who hadalways held her a man, seeing and hearing this, fell into such awonderment that he more than once misdoubted that which he saw andheard to be rather a dream than true. However, after his amazement hadabated, apprehending the truth of the matter, he lauded to the utmostthe life and fashions of Ginevra, till then called Sicurano, andextolled her constancy and virtue; and letting bring her verysumptuous woman's apparel and women to attend her, he pardonedBernabo, in accordance with her request, the death he had merited,whilst the latter, recognizing her, cast himself at her feet, weepingand craving forgiveness, which she, ill worthy as he was thereof,graciously accorded him and raising him to his feet, embraced himtenderly, as her husband. Then the Soldan commanded that Ambrogiuoloshould incontinent be bound to a stake and smeared with honey andexposed to the sun in some high place of the city, nor should ever beloosed thence till such time as he should fall of himself; and so wasit done. After this he commanded that all that had belonged to himshould be given to the lady, the which was not so little but that itoutvalued ten thousand doubloons. Moreover, he let make a very goodlybanquet, wherein he entertained Bernabo with honour, as MadamGinevra's husband, and herself as a very valiant lady and gave her, injewels and vessels of gold and silver and monies, that which amountedto better[139] than other ten t
housand doubloons. Then, the banquetover, he caused equip them a ship and gave them leave to return attheir pleasure to Genoa, whither accordingly they returned with greatjoyance and exceeding rich; and there they were received with theutmost honour, especially Madam Ginevra, who was of all believed to bedead and who, while she lived, was still reputed of great worth andvirtue. As for Ambrogiuolo, being that same day bounded to the stakeand anointed with honey, he was, to his exceeding torment, not onlyslain, but devoured, of the flies and wasps and gadflies, wherewiththat country aboundeth, even to the bones, which latter, waxed whiteand hanging by the sinews, being left unremoved, long bore witness ofhis villainy to all who saw them. And on this wise did the deceiverabide at the feet of the deceived."

  [Footnote 132: Lit. Whatsoever an ass giveth against a wall, such hereceiveth (_Quale asino da in parete, tal riceve_). I cannot find anysatisfactory explanation of this proverbial saying, which may berendered in two ways, according as _quale_ and _tale_ are taken asrelative to a thing or a person. The probable reference seems to be tothe circumstance of an ass making water against a wall, so that hisurine returns to him.]

  [Footnote 133: From this point until the final discovery of her truesex, the heroine is spoken of in the masculine gender, as became herassumed name and habit.]

  [Footnote 134: Here Boccaccio uses the feminine pronoun, immediatelyafterward resuming the masculine form in speaking of Sicurano.]

  [Footnote 135: _i.e._ her.]

  [Footnote 136: _i.e._ her.]

  [Footnote 137: _i.e._ hers.]

  [Footnote 138: _i.e._ her.]

  [Footnote 139: Sic (_meglio_).]