Page 144 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

Fresco and His Niece : A Mirror Cracked by Wit

Cesca, the niece of Fresco da Celatico, is fair of face but foul of
temperament. Though graced with beauty, she is consumed by an
overinflated sense of self-worth. Her disdain for others, men, women,

strangers alike, is so absolute that she constantly complains of being
visually assaulted by ugliness. To Cesca, the world is a gallery of
grotesques, and she alone is the rare masterpiece.

One feast day, after a short walk through Florence, she returns home early

in a flurry of dramatic frustration. She sighs, fumes, and settles beside
Fresco, lamenting that she cannot endure another glance at the repugnant
people flooding the streets. Her tone is theatrical, her complaints

relentless. She says, “There is no woman in the world more distressed by
the sight of odious people than I am!”

Fresco, seasoned and sensible, finally has enough. With deadpan wit and
perfectly measured sarcasm, he delivers a barb: “If unpleasant folk offend

you so deeply, it’d be best not to look at yourself in the mirror.” It’s a
line wrapped in irony, exposing Cesca’s self-absorption and lack of self-
awareness in one swift stroke.

But Cesca, oblivious as a sheep and certain of her own brilliance, completely
misses the joke. She replies that she absolutely intends to keep admiring
herself in the mirror, just like other women. Thus, she walks away unscathed
but forever encased in her own vanity, a living caricature of self-delusion.
THE IMAGE CRACKLES WITH
IRONY AND FLAIR, ITS
ANGULAR WHIMSY AND This novella is not just a comedic jab at conceit, it’s a graceful reminder
KALEIDOSCOPIC SATURATION that intelligence without humility is a hollow ornament. Fresco’s jest
MIRRORING FRESCO’S
doesn’t erupt into rage or lecture; it shines as a subtle but potent truth,
SARDONIC BRILLIANCE AND HIS
NIECE’S FRACTURED VANITY. shared with good humor and timeless relevance.
DECAMERON 142 143