Page 192 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

A Game of Wits: Salabaetto’s Revenge

Salabaetto, a modest Florentine merchant, arrives in Palermo with his
goods and hope. But fortune doesn’t favor the naïve: he’s soon entangled
with Madame Biancafiore, a Sicilian courtesan renowned for seducing and

swindling visiting merchants. She plays her game well, wooing Salabaetto,
draining his earnings, and leaving him penniless. Her charm is her
currency, and she trades in deception.

Rather than licking his wounds, Salabaetto leans into his inner strategist.

He reappears in Palermo, casting illusions of newfound wealth and status,
planting rumors of lavish merchandise. It’s bait, and Biancafiore bites.

She lends him a sizable sum, enticed by the promise of profit. What
she receives, however, is a worthless pawn, mere water and tow, while
Salabaetto disappears with her gold. The sting of betrayal bites deeper
when it’s the deceiver who’s outplayed.

The reaction among Boccaccio’s listeners? Laughter so loud, tears
streamed down their cheeks. It’s a celebration not just of trickery, but
of theatrical finesse. The true brilliance lies in how Salabaetto avenges

himself without brute force or public shame, his revenge is clever,
calculated, and clean.

Dioneo’s prologue and epilogue frame the novella with a wink: that
tricks are most delightful when the victim fancies themselves too clever
BOLD CONTRASTS AND
to be caught. Biancafiore, master of manipulation, becomes the tale’s
GEOMETRIC MOVEMENT
UNDERSCORE THE CALCULATED punchline. And Salabaetto ascends, not just with money, but with a tale
DECEPTION AT THE HEART that turns humiliation into legend. This witty tale celebrates Salabaetto’s
OF SALABAETTO’S REVENGE,
ingenuity and underscores the poetic justice dealt to the dishonest
HEIGHTENING THE DRAMATIC
TENSION. Sicilian woman.
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