The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

by Giovanni Boccaccio

  THE SEVENTH STORY

  [Day the Fourth]

  SIMONA LOVETH PASQUINO AND THEY BEING TOGETHER IN A GARDEN, THE LATTER RUBBETH A LEAF OF SAGE AGAINST HIS TEETH AND DIETH. SHE, BEING TAKEN AND THINKING TO SHOW THE JUDGE HOW HER LOVER DIED, RUBBETH ONE OF THE SAME LEAVES AGAINST HER TEETH AND DIETH ON LIKE WISE

  Pamfilo having delivered himself of his story, the king, showing nocompassion for Andrevuola, looked at Emilia and signed to her that itwas his pleasure she should with a story follow on those who hadalready told; whereupon she, without delay, began as follows: "Dearcompanions, the story told by Pamfilo putteth me in mind to tell youone in nothing like unto his save that like as Andrevuola lost herbeloved in a garden, even so did she of whom I have to tell, and beingtaken in like manner as was Andrevuola, freed herself from the court,not by dint of fortitude nor constancy, but by an unlooked-for death.And as hath otherwhile been said amongst us, albeit Love lieferinhabiteth the houses of the great, yet not therefor doth he declinethe empery of those of the poor; nay, whiles in these latter he somanifesteth his power that he maketh himself feared, as a mostpuissant seignior, of the richer sort. This, if not in all, yet ingreat part, will appear from my story, with which it pleaseth me tore-enter our own city, wherefrom this day, discoursing diversely ofdivers things and ranging over various parts of the world, we have sofar departed.

  There was, then, no great while ago, in Florence a damsel veryhandsome and agreeable, according to her condition, who was thedaughter of a poor father and was called Simona; and although itbehoved her with her own hands earn the bread she would eat andsustain her life by spinning wool, she was not therefor of so poor aspirit but that she dared to admit into her heart Love, which,--bymeans of the pleasing words and fashions of a youth of no greateraccount than herself, who went giving wool to spin for a master ofhis, a wool-monger,--had long made a show of wishing to enter there.Having, then, received Him into her bosom with the pleasing aspect ofthe youth who loved her whose name was Pasquino, she heaved a thousandsighs, hotter than fire, at every hank of yarn she wound about thespindle, bethinking her of him who had given it her to spin andardently desiring, but venturing not to do more. He, on his side,grown exceeding anxious that his master's wool should be well spun,overlooked Simona's spinning more diligently than that of any other,as if the yarn spun by her alone and none other were to furnish forththe whole cloth; wherefore, the one soliciting and the otherdelighting to be solicited, it befell that, he growing bolder than ofhis wont and she laying aside much of the timidity and shamefastnessshe was used to feel, they gave themselves up with a common accord tomutual pleasures, which were so pleasing to both that not only didneither wait to be bidden thereto of the other, but each forewentother in the matter of invitation.

  Ensuing this their delight from day to day and waxing ever moreenkindled for continuance, it chanced one day that Pasquino toldSimona he would fain have her find means to come to a garden, whitherhe wished to carry her so they might there foregather more at theirease and with less suspect. Simona answered that she would well andaccordingly on Sunday, after eating, giving her father to believe thatshe meant to go a-pardoning to San Gallo,[250] she betook herself,with a friend of hers, called Lagina, to the garden appointed her ofPasquino. There she found him with a comrade of his, whose name wasPuccino, but who was commonly called Stramba,[251] and an amorousacquaintance being quickly clapped up between the latter and Lagina,Simona and her lover withdrew to one part of the garden, to do theirpleasure, leaving Stramba and Lagina in another.

  [Footnote 250: _i.e._ to attend the ecclesiastical function called aPardon, with which word, used in this sense, Meyerbeer's opera ofDinorah (properly Le Pardon de Ploermel) has familiarized opera-goers.A Pardon is a sort of minor jubilee of the Roman Catholic Church, heldin honour of some local saint, at which certain indulgences andremissions of sins (hence the name) are granted to the faithfulattending the services of the occasion.]

  [Footnote 251: _i.e._ Bandy-legs.]

  Now in that part of the garden, whither Pasquino and Simona hadbetaken themselves, was a very great and goodly bush of sage, at thefoot whereof they sat down and solaced themselves together a greatwhile, holding much discourse of a collation they purposed to makethere at their leisure. Presently, Pasquino turned to the greatsage-bush and plucking a leaf thereof, began to rub his teeth and gumswithal, avouching that sage cleaned them excellent well of aught thatmight be left thereon after eating. After he had thus rubbed themawhile, he returned to the subject of the collation, of which he hadalready spoken, nor had he long pursued his discourse when he beganaltogether to change countenance and well nigh immediately after lostsight and speech, and in a little while he died. Simona, seeing this,fell to weeping and crying out and called Stramba and Lagina, who ranthither in haste and seeing Pasquino not only dead, but already grownall swollen and full of dark spots about his face and body, Strambacried out of a sudden, 'Ah, wicked woman! Thou hast poisoned him.'Making a great outcry, he was heard of many who dwelt near the gardenand who, running to the clamour, found Pasquino dead and swollen.

  Hearing Stramba lamenting and accusing Simona of having poisoned himof her malice, whilst she, for dolour of the sudden mishap that hadcarried off her lover, knew not how to excuse herself, being as itwere beside herself, they all concluded that it was as he said; andaccordingly she was taken and carried off, still weeping sore, to theProvost's palace, where, at the instance of Stramba and other twocomrades of Pasquino, by name Atticciato and Malagevole, who had comeup meanwhile, a judge addressed himself without delay to examine herof the fact and being unable to discover that she had done malice inthe matter or was anywise guilty, he bethought himself, in herpresence, to view the dead body and the place and manner of themishap, as recounted to him by her, for that he apprehended it notvery well by her words.

  Accordingly, he let bring her, without any stir, whereas Pasquino'sbody lay yet, swollen as it were a tun, and himself following herthither, marvelled at the dead man and asked her how it had been;whereupon, going up to the sage-bush, she recounted to him all theforegoing story and to give him more fully to understand how the thinghad befallen, she did even as Pasquino had done and rubbed one of thesage-leaves against her teeth. Then,--whilst her words were, in thejudge's presence, flouted by Stramba and Atticciato and the otherfriends and comrades of Pasquino as frivolous and vain and they alldenounced her wickedness with the more instance, demanding nothingless than that the fire should be the punishment of suchperversity,--the wretched girl, who abode all confounded for dolour ofher lost lover and fear of the punishment demanded by Stramba fell,for having rubbed the sage against her teeth, into that samemischance, whereinto her lover had fallen [and dropped dead], to theno small wonderment of as many as were present. O happy souls, to whomit fell in one same day to terminate at once your fervent love andyour mortal life! Happier yet, an ye went together to one same place!And most happy, if folk love in the other life and ye love there asyou loved here below! But happiest beyond compare,--at least in ourjudgment who abide after her on life,--was Simona's soul, whoseinnocence fortune suffered not to fall under the testimony of Strambaand Atticciato and Malagevole, wool-carders belike or men of yetmeaner condition, finding her a more honourable way, with a death likeunto that of her lover, to deliver herself from their calumnies and tofollow the soul, so dearly loved of her, of her Pasquino.

  The judge, in a manner astonied, as were likewise as many as werethere, at this mischance and unknowing what to say, abode long silent;then, recollecting himself, he said, 'It seemeth this sage ispoisonous, the which is not wont to happen of sage. But, so it may notavail to offend on this wise against any other, be it cut down even tothe roots and cast into the fire.' This the keeper of the gardenproceeded to do in the judge's presence, and no sooner had he levelledthe great bush with the ground than the cause of the death of the twounfortunate lovers appeared; for thereunder was a toad of marvellousbigness, by whose pestiferous breath they concluded the sage t
o havebecome venomous. None daring approach the beast, they made a greathedge of brushwood about it and there burnt it, together with thesage. So ended the judge's inquest upon the death of the unfortunatePasquino, who, together with his Simona, all swollen as they were, wasburied by Stramba and Atticciato and Guccio Imbratta and Malagevole inthe church of St. Paul, whereof it chanced they were parishioners."