The Decameron

The next storyteller is Pampinea. An “exceedingly rich” (718) baker named Cisti possesses a large collection of wine. Geri, a local nobleman, visits Cisti’s successful bakery and he and Cisti share a glass of wine. Later, Geri returns the favor by inviting Cisti to a banquet in honor of a papal delegation visiting Florence, but Cisti declines. Though Cisti is not able to attend the banquet, Geri hopes that the baker will send some of his delicious wine for the delegation to enjoy. He sends a servant with a small flask to collect the wine, though the servant takes a “a huge flask” (720), intending to drink some of the wine himself while travelling back and forth. Cisti correctly deduces the servant’s plan and sends him away. The servant returns to Geri, who sends him back to Cisti, who again turns the servant away. When the servant returns, Geri realizes that the servant is using a far larger flask than intended. He disciplines the servant and sends the original, smaller flask which Cisti happily ignores and sends a large quantity of wine instead. Though there is a class difference between the nobleman and the baker, the incident makes them great friends “for life” (721).

The next storyteller is Lauretta. Dego is a young man who lives in Florence. He is friends with the city’s bishop, despite being a man with a bad reputation for being “inordinately fond of women” (723). Dego covets the wife of a local man and offers the man 500 gold coins to sleep with the man’s wife. The man accepts. After Dego has sex with the woman, however, the man discovers that he has been paid in silver coins that have been coated with gold. Rumors of the scam spread through the city, humiliating the man. One day, Dego and his friend the bishop ride through Florence. They see a woman named Monna Nonna. Noticing that Dego is attracted to her, the bishop begins to speak to the woman on Dego’s behalf. However, she is furious. She shouts at Dego and embarrasses the bishop with the stories of Dego’s disreputable behavior. Dego and the bishop leave the scene, made “silent and shamefaced” (724) by the comment.

The next storyteller is Neifile. Currado Gianfigliazzi kills a crane (a species of bird) and takes it home to eat. As his cook Chichibio is preparing the bird, “a fair young country wench called Brunetta” (725) visits his house. Chichibio is in love with Brunetta so, when she asks for one of the bird’s legs, he obliges her. However, he struggles to think of an excuse for Currado as to why one of the crane’s legs is now missing. He tells Currado that, in actual fact, cranes “only have the one leg” (726). Currado tells his cook to prove himself. The next morning, Currado and Chichibio go out to a place where a flock of cranes has gathered. Chichibio points to the birds which are standing (as they naturally do) on one leg. However, Currado shouts. The noise scares the birds, which lower their second legs before flying away. Chichibio responds that the cranes’s second leg only appears when they hear a shout. Since Currado “never shouted” (727) when he killed the original crane, Chichibio explains, the crane’s second leg did not appear. Currado finds his cook’s story amusing, so refrains from beating Chichibio.

The next storyteller is Panfilo. Forese and Giotto are regarded as smart but unattractive men. Giotto is a famous painter while Forese is a famous jurist. They meet while riding along the same road. Both are dressed in shabby, poor clothes with similarly unattractive horses. The men decide to ride along the road together and, not long after, they are “caught in a sudden downpour” (730). They share a mutual friend in the area so they go to his house to shelter. Not wanting to stay long, however, and desperate to return to Florence, they ask the friend for capes and hats and decide to continue through the rain. When the storm finally relents, Forese laughs at the bedraggled, terrible appearance of Giotto. In turn, Giotto points out that Forese is very much in the same state. The exchange of insults helps the men finally realize that they both look terrible.

The next storyteller is Fiammetta. Michele Scalza argues with his friends about the famous wealthy families of Florence. Michele argues that the Baronci family is the oldest and most noble of all, insisting that he can prove his claim. If he is right, he says, the other friends must buy dinner. Michele’s argument is this: “the older the family, the more noble it is” (733). As such, because the Baronci family is famously ugly as “the Lord God created them when He was still learning His craft” (734), they therefore must be the oldest. If they are the oldest, then they are the most noble. His friends cannot dispute the logic, so Michele wins and his friends buy him dinner.

The next storyteller is Filostrato. In the town of Prato, an old law dictates that any woman committing adultery should be “burned alive, whether she was with a lover or simply doing it for money” (735). A woman named Madonna Filippa is caught cheating on Rinaldo, her husband, and she is dragged in front of a magistrate. She confesses to her sins but declares that the old law is unjust, since “this law only applies to us poor women” (737). In her argument, she calls on Rinaldo to admit that she has always satisfied his wants and needs. Since her husband is satisfied, she argues, what is she supposed to do with her remaining libido. The crowd laughs and Madonna Filippa is freed. The law is changed so that “in future it would apply only to those wives who took payment for being unfaithful to their husbands” (738).

The next storyteller is Emilia. A man named Fresco has a niece named Cesca who is particularly vain, “never thinking for a moment of her own defects” (739). One day, she returns to the house, loudly complaining that everyone else in the city is ugly. Fresco turns to his niece, telling her that if she is worried about seeing too many ugly people, she should “never [. . . ] look at [herself]” (740) in the mirror. Cesca, who is not famed for her intelligence, does not understand his insult. Fresco knows that his niece will never change her ways.

The next storyteller is Elissa. Betto Brunelleschi wants a poet named Guido Cavalcanti to come out with his friends. Guido is considered to be “one of the finest logicians in the world and an expert natural philosopher” (742). He is uninterested in partying with Betto. While Betto and his friends go out, they find themselves wandering through a collection of tombs. They meet Guido and Betto asks him why he is trying to avoid them. Guido says only that, when the group are at home, they can say whatever they please. He exits the vicinity, leaving the group to ponder what he meant. Betto realizes that Guido’s witty comment implies that the tombs are the group’s home. After being insulted in such a way, they feel “suitably abashed” (743) and leave the poet to himself.

The final storyteller is Dioneo. In the wealthy city of Certaldo, a Franciscan friar named Cipolla asks for money. He is something of a scoundrel but his genial attitude means that he is popular among the local people. One day, he offers to show the people of Certaldo “a most sacred and beautiful relic” (745), a feather that was left behind in Mary’s bedroom after she was visited by the Angel Gabriel. The promise is overheard by Giovanni del Bragoniera and Biagio Pizzini. They decide to trick Cipolla, so they wait until he goes for his lunch and then try to steal the feather. They find something resembling “the tail feathers of a parrot” (748) among Cipolla’s possessions and replace it with lumps of charcoal. Later, Cipolla delivers a sermon to the local people. He opens the box which he believes contains the feather, ready to show the crowd, but finds the charcoal instead. He immediately changes his story, telling the crowd that the box contains “the coals over which the blessed martyr Saint Lawrence was roasted” (752), admitting that he must have switched the boxes by accident. Given that the saint’s holy day is near, he continues, this must be a sign from God. The crowd accepts the story. Biagio and Giovanni are amused by the quick-thinking friar. They admit to their trick afterwards and return his feather.