Page 180 - THE DECAMERON: 100 Days on 100 Etchings by Petru Rusu

“The Student and the Widow“
A young widow of Florence, Elena, takes a certain gentleman
as her lover. But because she’s very beautiful (and she knows
it), another gentleman named Rinieri falls in love with her.
Rinieri’s a very clever fellow and has just returned from his
studies in Paris. Elena really wants nothing to do with him, but
she can see that he admires her and can’t resist flirting and
coming up with ways to string him along. Her lover knows
that Rinieri has a thing for his girl and begins to get jealous.
Elena realizes that this is the perfect time to play a nasty
little trick on Rinieri to prove her devotion to her lover. So she
tells Rinieri to come to her just after Christmas so that they
can hook up. Of course, Rinieri is delighted. He’s received by
Elena’s maidservant, who locks him in the courtyard and tells
him to wait there until her mistress appears. Meanwhile, Elena
is living it up in the warm house with her lover. She takes
delight in showing him the freezing Rinieri and mocking the
scholar for his foolishness. She even goes downstairs to speak
with Rinieri, saying that her brother’s paid her a surprise visit
and that Rinieri can’t come in until he leaves. It takes most of
the night and the near death of Rinieri, but Elena pulls off her
nasty prank and convinces her lover of her devotion. Rinieri
feels his love for Elena turning into hatred as he freezes in
the courtyard. He spends the next several months recovering
physically from the experience and plotting his revenge
against the heartless wench. Soon, Fortune provides an
opportunity for Rinieri to be avenged. Elena’s lover has left
her for a younger woman and leaves her longing for him. Her
maidservant advises Elena to consult with Rinieri, the scholar,
to find a magical incantation that will make her lover return.
Elena proves herself to be seriously stupid, because she
thinks this is a good idea even after what she did to Rinieri.
She sends the maidservant to ask Rinieri to help. Of course, he
agrees. He tells Elena that she needs to do everything he says
so that her lover will return. Rinieri makes a picture of Elena’s
lover and tells her that she must take it to a flowing stream
by herself in the middle of the night. She has to take off her
clothes and dip herself seven times into the water. Then she
has to climb up something high a tree or onto a roof while
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still naked and recite some mumbo-jumbo. There are some
other very specific instructions, all of which Elena promises
to do. So she goes out to a farm of hers to perform the ritual
and Rinieri follows her. She performs the ritual exactly as
prescribed and climbs up a ladder to the top of an observation
tower. When she reaches the top, Rinieri takes away the
ladder. Now Elena’s stuck on the platform of the tower and
she’s still completely naked. By this time, Elena realizes that
she’s fallen into a trap, but it’s too late. She’s on top of a
tower in a deserted area and no one can hear her scream.
In the morning, Rinieri shows up and takes great pleasure
in his successful revenge. At first, Elena’s worried about her
reputation (which Rinieri has assured her she’s already ruined
with her sexscapades).Then she cries and pleads with him as
she gets the worst sunburn and bug bites ever. She’s dying of
thirst, too. But Rinieri has no pity. He spends the entire day
taunting her from the ground and watching her suffer and
burn. He’s pretty sadistic. He remembers how he almost died
in that cold courtyard. He suggests that if she’s so anxious to
get off the roof, she should just jump off and break her neck.
He goes on and on about how much he hates her. While he’s
at it, he insults women in general because they’re suckers
for younger men. He tells Elena he’ll bring her clothes so she
can come down, but he really goes off for lunch and a long
nap. Finally, when Rinieri can see that she is on the brink
of death, he takes her clothes back to the maidservant and
tells her where she can find her. He also tells her that she’ll
suffer for her part in his humiliation, as well.The maidservant
arrives at the tower fearing the worst. With the help of a
swineherd, they replace the ladder and carry the lady down.
The maidservant slips on the ladder and snaps her thigh-bone;
Rinieri’s revenge is complete. Elena does live through the
ordeal (so does the maidservant), but she makes up a story
to explain how she got injured and burned. She has to live
through a world of pain until her burns are healed. She vows
not to play tricks on anyone else or to mess around with men.
And that, says Pampinea, should teach women not to trifle
with scholars.
“The Student and the Widow” retrieved from publicly source: shmoop
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