Page 184 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

Calandrino and the Pig : A Feast of Folly

This Sixth Novell of Day Eight swings back to one of Boccaccio’s favorite
fools, Calandrino, the perpetually duped painter, who continues his
descent into gullibility, egged on by his irrepressible friends Bruno and

Buffalmacco.

Calandrino, proud of having secured a pig for resale, boasts to his
friends about the windfall. Sensing an opportunity for amusement (and
a bit of profit), Bruno and Buffalmacco swipe the pig, leaving Calandrino

bewildered and desperate. When panic sets in, they offer a ludicrous cure:
a “mystical diagnostic” using ginger and vernaccia wine, concocted with a
blend of mock seriousness and culinary cruelty.

The potion they administer doesn’t reveal divine truth, it makes
Calandrino sick. But rather than suspect the dosage or their intentions,
Calandrino falls headlong into their narrative: clearly, he must have eaten
the pig unknowingly during a moment of madness! His fear of his wife’s

wrath amplifies his embarrassment, and he does the only thing that
makes sense in his disoriented state, he bribes his friends into silence.

The prank is wildly successful. Bruno and Buffalmacco pocket the hush money,
the pig remains theirs, and Calandrino ends the tale confused, scolded, and
poorer. His friends’ triumph isn’t just financial, it’s theatrical, built on layers of
manipulation and his readiness to believe anything that feels extraordinary.

This tale, like others in the Calandrino cycle, acts as a mirror held up to
SURREALIST EXAGGERATIONS wishful thinking and gullibility. Boccaccio doesn’t pity Calandrino, he
CONVEY THE ABSURDITY OF
celebrates his foolishness as part of a world where intellect must be earned,
DECEPTION AND GULLIBILITY,
and not assumed. The comedy stings, but it’s never cruel, it just reveals how
REINFORCING THE COMEDIC TONE
OF THE TALE. easily fantasy trumps reason when desperation takes hold.
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