Page 186 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

The Scholar and the Widow

Elena’s cries echoed through the stone alleys as the sun climbed
higher, drawing the attention of townsfolk who dared glance up at
the tower. Each hour brought deeper discomfort, each minute felt

stretched by the swarming insects and oppressive heat. Her once
carefully tended beauty wilted under the harsh treatment, and her
dignity eroded with the quiet, casual gazes of strangers.

The scholar observed from a hidden vantage point, expression

unreadable. What he felt, satisfaction, bitterness, or perhaps an
uneasy guilt, was locked behind a curtain of calculated silence. He
had orchestrated her torment with precision, matching her cruelty

note for note, season for season. Yet revenge, once executed, loses
its edge and leaves only quiet emptiness in its place.

By the time the scholar allowed her release, Elena staggered down
the tower steps, drained and broken. Her pride, so vibrant months

earlier, had been scorched away like her skin. Word of the incident
spread, mingled with curiosity, pity, and private judgments. In a city as
scholarly as Bologna, the tale of a brilliant young man and a too-clever

widow became a fable told over wine and whispered in corridors: a
lesson on love’s volatility and the price of mockery.

The scholar resumed his studies, now undistracted by longing. Yet
what he gained in focus, he lost in warmth. The story never tells

whether he felt peace afterward, or if his triumph became a quiet
shadow cast over the rest of his days. What remains is the impression
EXPRESSIVE DISTORTIONS AND
of a mind sharpened by betrayal and a heart hardened by humiliation,
STRIKING CONTRASTS AMPLIFY
leaving behind a parable that reminds readers how easily cruelty
THE EMOTIONAL EXTREMES OF
VENGEANCE AND POETIC JUSTICE. wraps itself in the guise of justice.
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