Page 148 - THE DECAMERON: 100 Days on 100 Etchings by Petru Rusu
P. 148

“Peronella“



              Peronella, a beautiful and charming woman, lives with                       He tells her to relax: it’s a saint’s feast day so there’s no

              her poor husband in a district of Naples. Every day,                        work. However, he’s sold the empty tub to the man he
              Peronella’s husband goes off to find work and Peronella                     brought with him. Peronella does some quick thinking and
              stays home to spin wool. Pretty soon, she catches the                       tells her husband that she’s already sold it for even more.
              eye of a young gentleman called Giannello. They figure                     The man’s in there now inspecting it. Peronella’s husband

              out that once her husband leaves for the day, they have                     is pleased and goes to check it out. Giannello plays
              plenty of time to play around before he returns. Except                     along, even saying that the tub needs a good cleaning
              for one day, when Peronella’s husband returns early and                     before he buys it. The husband is glad to oblige for such
              finds the door to the house locked. What a virtuous wife,                   a good price so he lowers himself into the tub and begins

              he thinks. She’s locked the door behind me to keep the                      scraping away the leftover wine. Giannello sees his
              naughty men out. Inside, Peronella hears her husband                        final opportunity to get what he really came for. While
              knock on the door and gives herself up for lost. She hides                  Peronella is leaning over the edge of the tub and giving
              Giannello in an empty “tub” (or wine barrel) and goes to                    instructions to her husband, Giannello, uh, completes

              answer the door. When she sees her husband returned                         his task like a wild stallion with a mare, according to
              so early from work, she gives him a dressing down: how                      Filostrato. And just in time, too, before the husband
              could she have married such a lazybones? How are they                       clambers back out of the tub. So Giannello winds up with
              going to put food on the table?                                             the “embraces” of his lover and a tub in the bargain.































                                                                                                                                      “Peronella” retrieved from publicly source: shmoop
     DECAMERON      148                                                                                   <https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/decameron/summary/seventh-day-second-story>
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