Page 120 - THE DECAMERON: A Visionary Journey in 100 Stories and 100 Etchings by Petru Russu

The Decameron Pamfilo's story being ended, the queen, after commending it not a little, rocks, ensuring her death. Wrapping her head in a mantle, she lay
called for one to follow from Emilia; who thus began:
weeping on the boat's floor.
"It is fitting and right to rejoice when events unfold in such a way that
However, things turned out quite differently. The wind, being from the
passion receives its due reward. As love merits joy rather than suffering
north and very steady, with almost no waves, kept the boat on an even
in the long run, I gladly obey the queen's command and address our
keel. The next day, around vespers, the boat reached land near a city
present theme.
You should know, dear ladies, that not far from Sicily, there is an islet
difference whether she was at sea or ashore, as she had not raised her
head since boarding the boat and had no intention of doing so.
called Lipari. Not long ago, there lived a damsel named Gostanza, as fair called Susa, a hundred miles beyond Tunis. To the damsel, it made no
as fair could be, and from one of the most honorable families on the
island. Martuccio Gomito, also from the island, was a young man, gallant When the boat grounded, a poor woman employed by some fishermen
and courteous, and worthy for his condition. He became enamored of was on the shore, taking nets out of the sunlight. Seeing the boat under
Gostanza, who, in turn, grew so afire for him that she was ever ill at full sail, she wondered why it was allowed to drift ashore and assumed
ease unless she saw him. Martuccio, desiring her as his wife, asked her the fishermen on board were asleep. She approached the boat and found
father for her hand. Her father, however, refused, citing Martuccio's only the damsel fast asleep. After calling her many times, she finally
poverty as the reason. Mortified by this rejection, Martuccio swore in awakened her. Seeing by her dress that she was a Christian, the woman
the presence of his friends and kinsfolk that Lipari would know him no asked her in Latin how she had come there alone in the boat. Hearing
more until he was wealthy. Latin, the damsel wondered if the wind had shifted and carried her back
to Lipari. She started up, looked around, and, finding herself ashore in an
So, he sailed away and took to scouring the seas as a rover on the coast of unfamiliar place, asked the woman where she was. The woman replied,
Barbary, preying upon those whose force did not match his own. Fortune "My daughter, you are near Susa in Barbary."
favored him enough in this way of life, had he known how to rest and
be thankful. However, it was not enough for him and his comrades to The damsel, sorrowful that God had not granted her the boon of death,
become wealthy in a short time; their greed was inordinate. While seeking apprehensive of dishonor, and at her wits' end, sat at the foot of the boat
to satisfy it, they encountered certain Saracen ships, were taken after a and burst into tears. The woman, seeing her distress, took pity on her and
long defense, despoiled, and most of them were thrown into the sea by persuaded her to come to her hut. There, she coaxed the damsel into
their captors. Martuccio was taken to Tunis, imprisoned, and kept in a telling her story and, knowing she must be fasting, offered her coarse
very sad plight for a long time. bread, fish, and water, which the damsel ate a little of. Gostanza then
asked the woman who she was and how she spoke Latin. The woman
Meanwhile, news reached Lipari that all who were with Martuccio aboard replied that her name was Carapresa and that she was from Trapani,
his ship had perished at sea. The damsel, whose grief on Martuccio's where she had served some Christian fishermen.
departure had known no bounds, wept for a long time upon hearing
that he was dead. She resolved to end her life but lacked the courage Though sad, the name Carapresa seemed to be of happy augury to the
to do so violently. Instead, she devised a novel way to devote herself damsel, giving her hope and making her less eager for death. Without
to death. One night, she stole out of her father's house and went to the revealing her identity, she earnestly begged the woman to have pity
port. There, she found a fishing boat, still equipped with mast, sails, and on her youth and advise her on how to avoid insult. Carapresa, a good
oars, as the owners had just left it. She boarded the boat, rowed some woman, left her in the hut, quickly picked up her nets, and returned.
distance out to sea, hoisted the sail, cast away the oars and tiller, and She wrapped Gostanza in her own mantle and led her to Susa. There,
let the boat drift, believing it would either capsize or be dashed against she said, "Gostanza, I will take you to the house of an excellent Saracen
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The Decameron