Page 206 - Summaries of Boccaccio's Decameron: A Visionary Journey in 100 Stories and 100 Etchings by Petru Russu

The Night at the Inn: Pinuccio and Adriano

This novella tells the comical tale of mistaken identities and
entanglements during a fateful night at an inn. Themes of love, confusion,
and reconciliation shine in this lively narrative.

Pinuccio and Adriano, two young and spirited friends, arrive at an inn
during their travels. Pinuccio harbors romantic feelings for the innkeeper’s
daughter, and that night, with Adriano’s aid, he schemes to visit her in
secret. Meanwhile, Adriano retires to his assigned bed.

Through a mix-up, Adriano unwittingly ends up in the bed of the
innkeeper’s wife, while Pinuccio successfully visits the daughter. However,

the tangled night takes another turn when Pinuccio, after his rendezvous,
mistakenly climbs into the innkeeper’s bed, mistaking it for Adriano’s.

Thinking he is speaking to his friend, Pinuccio brags about his successful
tryst with the innkeeper’s daughter, unknowingly confessing everything

to the father. Furious and bewildered, the innkeeper begins to argue with
Pinuccio, waking everyone in the house.

The commotion quickly reveals the extent of the misunderstandings. The
innkeeper’s wife, realizing the precarious situation, cleverly takes charge.
She ushers her daughter into her bed and assures her husband that no
harm was done, fabricating a story to diffuse his anger.

The night concludes with everyone returning to their places, the innkeeper
FLUID, INTERWOVEN SHAPES AND none the wiser, and the young men narrowly avoiding scandal. The quick
VIBRANT COLORS CAPTURE THE thinking of the innkeeper’s wife restores harmony, leaving the friends and
CONFUSION AND RECONCILIATION
household to laugh about the night’s events in the days to come.
IN THE TALE’S MISTAKEN
IDENTITIES AND TANGLED EVENTS.
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