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The decameron / Giovanni Boccaccio ; Translated and with an Introduction by Wayne A. Rebhorn.

Title
The decameron / Giovanni Boccaccio ; Translated and with an Introduction by Wayne A. Rebhorn.
Author
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 1313-1375
Publication
New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextRequest in advance PQ4272.E5 A3613 2013Off-site

Details

Additional Authors
Rebhorn, Wayne A., 1943-
Description
lxxii, 947 pages; 25 cm
Summary
Revised for the seven hundredth anniversary of the author's birth, this tale of medieval Italian life details how ten young Florentines retreat to the countryside to escape the plague-infested city and entertain themselves by telling stories.
Uniform Title
Decamerone. English
Alternative Title
Decamerone.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Fiction
  • History
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 945-947).
Processing Action (note)
  • committed to retain
Contents
Machine generated contents note: Day 1 -- Introduction -- 1. Ser Cepparello deceives a holy friar with a false confession and dies, and although he was one of the worst of men during his life, he is reputed after his death to be a saint and is called Saint Ciappelletto -- 2. Abraham the Jew, urged on by Giannotto di Civigni, goes to the court of Rome, and after having seen the wickedness of the clergy, returns to Paris and becomes a Christian -- 3. Melchisedech the Jew uses a story about three rings to avoid a very dangerous trap set for him by Saladin -- 4. monk, having committed a sin deserving the gravest punishment, escapes paying any penalty for it by justly rebuking his Abbot for the same fault -- 5. By means of a banquet consisting entirely of hens, plus a few sprightly little words, the Marchioness of Monferrato curbs the foolish love of the King of France -- 6. By means of a fine quip a worthy man confounds the wicked hypocrisy of the religious -- 7. With a story about Primasso and the Abbot of Cluny, Bergamino justly rebukes Messer Can della Scala for an unexpected fit of avarice -- 8. With sprightly words Guiglielmo Borsiere rebukes the avarice of Messer Ermino de' Grimaldi -- 9. King of Cyprus, stung to the quick by a lady of Gascony, is transformed from a base coward into a man of courage -- 10. Master Alberto da Bologna justly shames a woman who wanted to make him feel ashamed for loving her -- Conclusion -- Day 2 -- Introduction -- 1. Pretending to be a cripple, Martellino makes it seem as though he is cured after having been placed on the body of Saint Arrigo. When his ruse is discovered, he is beaten and then arrested, and though in danger of being hanged, he gets off in the end -- 2. After being robbed, Rinaldo d'Asti turns up at Castel Guiglielmo, where he is given lodging by a widow, and then, after having recovered his possessions, returns home safe and sound -- 3. Three young men squander their wealth and are reduced to poverty. Later, a nephew of theirs, returning home in despair, falls in with an Abbot who he discovers is really the daughter of the King of England. After she takes him as her husband, she makes up what his uncles lost and restores all of them to their proper social [ect.] -- 4. Landolfo Rufolo is impoverished, becomes a pirate, and is ship-wrecked after being captured by the Genoese. He escapes, however, on a chest filled with very precious jewels, is cared for by a woman on Corfu, and finally returns home a rich man -- 5. Andreuccio da Perugia comes to buy horses in Naples where, during a single night, he is caught in three serious misadventures, manages to extricate himself from all of them, and returns home with a ruby -- 6. Having been separated from her two sons, Madama Beritola is discovered living on an island with two roebucks and is taken to Lunigiana, where one of her sons, who has entered the household of the lord she herself serves, is put in prison after sleeping with the lord's daughter. Following the Sicilian rebellion against King Charles, Madama Beritola recognizes her son, who marries the lord's daughter and is reunited with his brother, and all of them are restored to their elevated social [ect.] -- 7. Sultan of Babylon sends one of his daughters to be married to the King of Algarve, and in a series of misadventures spanning a period of four years, she passes through the hands of nine men in various places, until she is finally restored to her father as a virgin and goes off, as she was doing at the start, to marry the King of [ect.] -- 8. Having been falsely accused, the Count of Antwerp goes into exile and leaves his two children in different parts of England. When he later returns from Ireland in disguise and finds that they are doing well, he serves as a groom in the army of the King of France until his innocence is established and he is restored to his former [ect.] -- 9. Deceived by Ambruogiuolo, Bernabo of Genoa loses his money and orders his innocent wife to be killed. She escapes, however, and dressed like a man, enters the service of the Sultan. Having located the deceiver, she lures her husband to Alexandria, where Ambruogiuolo is punished and she dresses like a woman again, after which she and her husband, rich once more, return to [ect.] -- 10. Paganino da Monaco abducts the wife of Messer Ricciardo di Chinzica, who, after finding out where she is, goes and befriends her abductor. When he asks Paganino to give her back, the latter agrees to do so, provided that she wants to go. She refuses to return to Messer Ricciardo, however, and after his death, becomes Paganino's [ect.] -- Conclusion -- Day 3 -- Introduction -- 1. Masetto da Lamporecchio pretends he is a deaf-mute and becomes the gardener in a convent where the nuns all race one another to get to sleep with him -- 2. groom sleeps with the wife of King Agilulf. When the King finds out about it, he says nothing, but tracks down the guilty party and shears off some of his hair. The shorn one then shears all the others and thus escapes a terrible fate -- 3. Under the pretext of making her confession as someone with an exceptionally pure conscience, a lady who has fallen in love with a young man gets a solemn friar unwittingly to provide her with a means to achieve the complete satisfaction of her desires -- 4. Dom Felice teaches Frate Puccio how to achieve blessedness by performing an act of penance he devises for him, and while Frate Puccio is carrying it out, Dom Felice has a good time with the friar's wife -- 5. In exchange for giving one of his palfreys to Messer Francesco Vergellesi, Zima is granted permission to talk with his wife, but when she says nothing, Zima answers on her behalf, and what happens after that bears out the response he made -- 6. Ricciardo Minutolo loves the wife of Filippello Sighinolfi, and upon learning how jealous she is, he makes her think that his own wife would be meeting with Filippello at the baths the next day and thus persuades her to go there herself, after which she discovers that she had really been there with Ricciardo although all along she thought he was her [ect.] -- 7. Angered by his lady, Tedaldo leaves Florence, but returns some time later disguised as a pilgrim, speaks with her, making her aware of her error, and not only liberates her husband, who has been convicted of having murdered him and been sentenced to death for it, but makes peace between the husband and his own brothers, after which he discreetly enjoys himself with his [ect.] -- 8. Having consumed a certain powder, Ferondo is buried for dead, but the Abbot, who has been enjoying his wife, removes him from his tomb, imprisons him, and makes him believe he is in Purgatory, until he is finally resuscitated and then raises as his own a child his wife had with the Abbot -- 9. Having cured the King of France of a fistula, Giletta of Narbonne asks for the hand of Beltramo of Roussillon, who marries her against his will and then, in disdain, goes away to Florence. There he courts a young woman, whom Giletta impersonates, sleeping with him and bearing him two children, as a result of which he finally comes to cherish her and acknowledge her as his [ect.] -- 10. Alibech becomes a recluse, and Rustico, a monk, teaches her how to put the Devil back in Hell. She is then led away from there and becomes the wife of Neerbale -- Conclusion -- Day 4 -- Introduction -- 1. Tancredi, Prince of Salerno, kills his daughter's lover and sends her his heart in a golden chalice. Sprinkling it with poison, she drinks it down and thus dies -- 2. Frate Alberto, having given a lady to understand that the Angel Gabriel is in love with her, assumes the angel's form himself and sleeps with her on numerous occasions, until, scared by her relatives, he throws himself out of her house and takes refuge in that of a poor man. The next day the latter leads him to the piazza dressed up like a wild man, where he is recognized and apprehended by his fellow friars who proceed to incarcerate [ect.] -- 3. Three young men fall in love with three sisters and run away with them to Crete, where the eldest sister kills her lover out of jealousy. The second, by giving herself to the Duke of the island, saves her sister from death, but she herself is killed by her own lover who then takes flight with the eldest sister. The murder is blamed on the third sister and her lover, who are arrested for it and confess, but fearing execution, they bribe their guards and flee, now destitute, to Rhodes, where they die in [ect.] -- 4. Violating a pledge given by his grandfather King William, Gerbino attacks a ship belonging to the King of Tunis in order to abduct his daughter, but when she is slain by those on board, he kills them, after which he himself is beheaded -- 5. After Lisabetta's brothers kill her lover, he appears to her in a dream and shows her where he is buried. She secretly digs up his head and puts it in a pot of basil, weeping over it for hours every day, but when her brothers take it away from her, shortly afterward she herself dies of grief -- 6. After Andreuola, who is in love with Gabriotto, tells him about a dream she had, he tells her about one of his and then, suddenly, dies in her arms. While she is carrying him back to his house, assisted by one of her maids, they are arrested by the officers of the watch. She explains what happened to the podesta, who tries to rape her, but she fends him off. Her father learns of what has been going on, and since his daughter has been found innocent, he procures her release. She, however, absolutely refuses to go on living in the world any longer, and instead, becomes a [ect.]
ISBN
  • 9780393069303 (hardcover)
  • 0393069303 (hardcover)
LCCN
^^2013018804
OCLC
  • 843026057
  • SCSB-10906364
Owning Institutions
Harvard Library