THE FIFTH STORY
[Day the Sixth]
MESSER FORESE DA RABATTA AND MASTER GIOTTO THE PAINTER COMING FROM MUGELLO, EACH JESTINGLY RALLIETH THE OTHER ON HIS SCURVY FAVOUR
Neifile being silent and the ladies having taken much pleasure inChichibio's reply, Pamfilo, by the queen's desire, spoke thus:"Dearest ladies, it chanceth often that, like as fortune whiles hidethvery great treasures of worth and virtue under mean conditions, ashath been a little before shown by Pampinea, even so, under thesorriest of human forms are marvellous wits found to have been lodgedby nature; and this very plainly appeared in two townsmen of ours, ofwhom I purpose briefly to entertain you. For that the one, who wascalled Messer Forese da Rabatta, though little of person andmisshapen, with a flat camoys face, that had been an eyesore on theshoulders of the foulest cadger in Florence, was yet of suchexcellence in the interpretation of the laws, that he was of many menof worth reputed a very treasury of civil right; whilst the other,whose name was Giotto, had so excellent a genius that there wasnothing of all which Nature, mother and mover of all things,presenteth unto us by the ceaseless revolution of the heavens, but hewith pencil and pen and brush depicted it and that so closely that notlike, nay, but rather the thing itself it seemed, insomuch that men'svisual sense is found to have been oftentimes deceived in things ofhis fashion, taking that for real which was but depictured. Wherefore,he having brought back to the light this art, which had for many anage lain buried under the errors of certain folk who painted more todivert the eyes of the ignorant than to please the understanding ofthe judicious, he may deservedly be styled one of the chief glories ofFlorence, the more so that he bore the honours he had gained with theutmost humility and although, while he lived, chief over all else inhis art, he still refused to be called master, which title, thoughrejected by him, shone so much the more gloriously in him as it waswith greater eagerness greedily usurped by those who knew less thanhe, or by his disciples. Yet, great as was his skill, he was nottherefore anywise goodlier of person or better favoured than MesserForese. But, to come to my story:
I must tell you that Messer Forese and Giotto had each his countryhouse at Mugello and the former, having gone to visit his estates, atthat season of the summer when the Courts hold holiday, and returningthence on a sorry cart-horse, chanced to fall in with the aforesaidGiotto, who had been on the same errand and was then on his way backto Florence nowise better equipped than himself in horse andaccoutrements. Accordingly, they joined company and fared on softly,like old men as they were. Presently, it chanced, as we often see ithappen in summer time, that a sudden shower overtook them, from which,as quickliest they might, they took shelter in the house of ahusbandman, a friend and acquaintance of both of them. After awhile,the rain showing no sign of giving over and they wishing to reachFlorence by daylight, they borrowed of their host two old homespuncloaks and two hats, rusty with age, for that there were no better tobe had, and set out again upon their way.
When they had gone awhile and were all drenched and bemired with thesplashing that their hackneys kept up with their hoofs--things whichuse not to add worship to any one's looks,--the weather began to cleara little and the two wayfarers, who had long fared on in silence, fellto conversing together. Messer Forese, as he rode, hearkening toGiotto, who was a very fine talker, fell to considering his companionfrom head to foot and seeing him everywise so ill accoutred and insuch scurvy case, burst out laughing and without taking any thought tohis own plight, said to him, 'How sayst thou, Giotto? An thereencountered us here a stranger who had never seen thee, thinkest thouhe would believe thee to be, as thou art, the finest painter in theworld?' 'Ay, sir,' answered Giotto forthright, 'methinketh he mighte'en believe it whenas, looking upon you, he should believe that youknew your A B C.' Messer Forese, hearing this, was sensible of hiserror and saw himself paid with money such as the wares he hadsold."[304]
[Footnote 304: Or, as we should say, "in his own coin."]
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio Page 63