The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio
rocks and trees, which seeming to the servant a place wherein he
might, with assurance for himself, do his lord's commandment, he
pulled out his knife and taking the lady by the arm, said, 'Madam,
commend your soul to God, for needs must you die, without faring
farther.' The lady, seeing the knife and hearing these words, was all
dismayed and said, 'Mercy, for God's sake! Ere thou slay me, tell me
wherein I have offended thee, that thou wouldst put me to death.'
'Madam,' answered the man, 'me you have nowise offended; but wherein
you have offended your husband I know not, save that he hath commanded
me slay you by the way, without having any pity upon you, threatening
me, an I did it not, to have me hanged by the neck. You know well how
much I am beholden to him and how I may not gainsay him in aught that
he may impose upon me; God knoweth it irketh me for you, but I can no
otherwise.' 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 aught
for which I should receive such a recompense from my husband. But let
that be; thou mayst, an thou wilt, at once content God and thy master
and me, on this wise; to wit, that thou take these my clothes and give
me but thy doublet and a hood and with the former return to my lord
and 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 remove
hence and get me gone into a country whence never shall any news of me
win either to him or to thee or into these parts.' The servant, who
was loath to slay her, was lightly moved to compassion; wherefore he
took her clothes and give her a sorry doublet of his and a hood,
leaving her sundry monies she had with her. Then praying her depart
the country, he left her in the valley and afoot and betook himself to
his master, to whom he avouched that not only was his commandment
accomplished, but that he had left the lady's dead body among a pack
of wolves, and Bernabo presently returned to Genoa, where the thing
becoming known, he was much blamed. As for the lady, she abode alone
and disconsolate till nightfall, when she disguised herself as most
she might and repaired to a village hard by, where, having gotten from
an old woman that which she needed, she fitted the doublet to her
shape and shortening it, made a pair of linen breeches of her shift;
then, having cut her hair and altogether transformed herself in the
guise of a sailor, she betook herself to the sea-shore, where, as
chance would have it, she found a Catalan gentleman, by name Senor
Encararch, who had landed at Alba from a ship he had in the offing, to
refresh himself at a spring there. With him she entered into parley
and engaging with him as a servant, embarked on board the ship, under
the name of Sicurano da Finale. There, being furnished by the
gentleman with better clothes, she proceeded to serve him so well and
so aptly that she became in the utmost favour with him. No great while
after it befell that the Catalan made a voyage to Alexandria with a
lading of his and carrying thither certain peregrine falcons for the
Soldan, presented them to him. The Soldan, having once and again
entertained him at meat and noting with approof the fashions of
Sicurano, 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 the love and favour
of the Soldan, even as he had gained that of the Catalan. Wherefore,
in process of time, it befell that,--the time coming for a great
assemblage, in the guise of a fair, of merchants, both Christian and
Saracen, which was wont at a certain season of the year to be held in
Acre, a town under the seignory of the Soldan, and to which, in order
that the merchants and their merchandise might rest secure, the latter
was still used to despatch, besides other his officers, some one of
his chief men, with troops, to look to the guard,--he bethought
himself to send Sicurano, who was by this well versed in the language
of the country, on this service; and so he did. Sicurano accordingly
came to Acre as governor and captain of the guard of the merchants and
their merchandise and there well and diligently doing that which
pertained to his office and going round looking about him, saw many
merchants there, Sicilians and Pisans and Genoese and Venetians and
other Italians, with whom he was fain to make acquaintance, in
remembrance of his country. It befell, one time amongst others, that,
having lighted down at the shop of certain Venetian merchants, he
espied among other trinkets, a purse and a girdle, which he
straightway knew for having been his and marvelled thereat; but,
without making any sign, he carelessly asked to whom they pertained
and if they were for sale. Now Ambrogiuolo of Piacenza was come
thither with much merchandise on board a Venetian ship and hearing the
captain of the guard ask whose the trinkets were, came forward and
said, 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, seeing
him laugh, misdoubted he had recognized him by some gesture of his;
but yet, keeping a steady countenance, he said, 'Belike thou laughest
to 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 came
by them.' 'Marry, then,' said Sicurano, 'an it be not unspeakable,
tell me how thou gottest them, so God give thee good luck.' Quoth
Ambrogiuolo, 'Sir, a gentlewoman of Genoa, hight Madam Ginevra, wife
of Bernabo Lomellini, gave me these things, with certain others, one
night that I lay with her, and prayed me keep them for the love of
her. Now I laugh for that I mind me of the simplicity of Bernabo, who
was fool enough to lay five thousand florins to one that I would not
bring his wife to do my pleasure; the which I did and won the wager;
whereupon he, who should rather have punished himself for his
stupidity than her for doing that which all women do, returned from
Paris to Genoa and there, by what I have since heard, caused her put
to death.' Sicurano, hearing this, understood forthwith what was the
cause of Bernabo's anger against his wife[134] and manifestly
perceiving this fellow to have been the occasion of all her ills,
determined not to let him go unpunished therefor. Accordingly he
feigned to be greatly diverted with the story and artfully clapped up
a strait acquaintance with him, insomuch that, the fair being ended,
Ambrogiuolo, at his instance, accompanied him, with all his good, to
Alexandria. Here Sicurano let build him a warehouse and lodged in his
hands store of his own monies; and Ambrogiuolo, foreseeing great
advantage to himself, willingly took up his abode there. Meanwhile,
Sicurano, careful to make Bernabo clear of his[135] innocence, rested
not till, by means of certain great Genoese merchants who were then in
Alexandria, he had, on some plausible occasion of his[136] own
devising, caused him come thither, where finding him in poor enough
case, he had him privily entertained by a friend of his[137] against
it should seem to him[138] time to do that which he purposed. Now he
had already made Ambrogiuolo recount his story before the Soldan for
the latter's diversion; but seeing Bernabo there and thinking there
was no need to use farther delay in the matter, he took occasion to
procure the Soldan to have Ambrogiuolo and Bernabo brought before him
and in the latter's presence, to extort from the former, by dint of
severity, an it might not easily be done [by other means,] the truth
of that whereof he vaunted himself concerning Bernabo's wife.
Accordingly, they both being come, the Soldan, in the presence of
many, with a stern countenance commanded Ambrogiuolo to tell the truth
how he had won of Bernabo the five thousand gold florins; and Sicurano
himself, 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 a
measure constrained, in the presence of Bernabo and many others,
plainly related everything, even as it passed, expecting no worse
punishment therefor than the restitution of the five thousand gold
florins and of the stolen trinkets. He having spoken, Sicurano, as he
were the Soldan's minister in the matter, turned to Bernabo and said
to him, 'And thou, what didst thou to thy lady for this lie?' Whereto
Bernabo replied, 'Overcome with wrath for the loss of my money and
with resentment for the shame which meseemed I had gotten from my
wife, I caused a servant of mine put her to death, and according to
that which he reported to me, she was straightway devoured by a
multitude of wolves,' These things said in the presence of the Soldan
and all heard and apprehended of him, albeit he knew not yet to what
end Sicurano, who had sought and ordered this, would fain come, the
latter said to him, 'My lord, you may very clearly see how much reason
yonder poor lady had to vaunt herself of her gallant and her husband,
for that the former at once bereaved her of honour, marring her fair
fame with lies, and despoiled her husband, whilst the latter more
credulous of others' falsehoods than of the truth which he might by
long experience have known, caused her to be slain and eaten of
wolves; and moreover, such is the goodwill and the love borne her by
the one and the other that, having long abidden with her, neither of
them knoweth her. But that you may the better apprehend that which
each of these hath deserved, I will,--so but you vouchsafe me, of
special favour to punish the deceiver and pardon the dupe,--e'en cause
her come hither into your and their presence.' The Soldan, disposed in
the matter altogether to comply with Sicurano's wishes, answered that
he would well and bade him produce the lady; whereat Bernabo marvelled
exceedingly, for that he firmly believed her to be dead, whilst
Ambrogiuolo, now divining his danger, began to be in fear of worse
than paying of monies and knew not whether more to hope or to fear
from the coming of the lady, but awaited her appearance with the
utmost amazement. The Soldan, then, having accorded Sicurano his wish,
the latter threw himself, weeping, on his knees before him and putting
off, as it were at one and the same time, his manly voice and
masculine demeanour, said, 'My lord, I am the wretched misfortunate
Ginevra, who have these six years gone wandering in man's disguise
about the world, having been foully and wickedly aspersed by this
traitor Ambrogiuolo and given by yonder cruel and unjust man to one
of his servants to be slain and eaten of wolves.' Then, tearing open
the fore part of her clothes and showing her breast, she discovered
herself to the Soldan and all else who were present and after, turning
to Ambrogiuolo, indignantly demanded of him when he had ever lain with
her, according as he had aforetime boasted; but he, now knowing her
and fallen well nigh dumb for shame, said nothing. The Soldan, who had
always held her a man, seeing and hearing this, fell into such a
wonderment that he more than once misdoubted that which he saw and
heard to be rather a dream than true. However, after his amazement had
abated, apprehending the truth of the matter, he lauded to the utmost
the life and fashions of Ginevra, till then called Sicurano, and
extolled her constancy and virtue; and letting bring her very
sumptuous woman's apparel and women to attend her, he pardoned
Bernabo, in accordance with her request, the death he had merited,