Page 190 - THE DECAMERON: A Visionary Journey in 100 Stories and 100 Etchings by Petru Russu

The Decameron expectations. It was a very hot night, and the bishop had been looking for The Eighth Day | The Fifth Novell
them, intending to go home with them, enjoy their company, and quench
Storyteller: Filostrato
his thirst. When he saw them coming into the piazza, he told them of his
desire, and they escorted him to their house. In the cool of their little
Three mischievous friends played a prank on an incompetent judge
courtyard, bright with many lamps, he took a comforting draught of their
in Florence, fabricating a case about a stolen ring. They confused
good wine. When he was done, the young men said, "Sir, since you have
him with conflicting stories, leading to the judge's frustration
graciously visited our humble house, which we were about to invite you
to, we would be grateful if you would look at something, a mere trifle,
highlighting the need for honest and capable individuals in authority.
that we have to show you." The bishop replied that he would do so with and dismissal of the case. The prank exposed his incompetence,
pleasure. One of the young men took a lighted torch and led the way,
with the bishop and the others following, to the chamber where Master
Rector lay with Ciutazza.

The rector, being in a hurry, had ridden hard and was already over three
miles on his way when they arrived. Somewhat tired, he was resting, but
despite the hot night, he still held Ciutazza in his arms. In this posture, he
was shown to the bishop when the young man bearing the light, followed
by the others, entered the chamber. Roused and seeing the light and
the people around him, the rector was greatly ashamed and frightened,
and he hid his head under the covers. But the bishop, reprimanding him
severely, made him thrust his head out again and look at his bedfellow.
Realizing the trick the lady had played on him, the rector was now the
saddest man ever, both because of the trick and his great disgrace. His
discomfiture was complete when, having dressed, he was put in close
custody by the bishop's command and sent to prison to expiate his offense
with a rigorous penance.

The bishop then wanted to know how the rector had ended up with
Ciutazza. The young men told the whole story, and when they finished,
the bishop commended both the lady and the young men for taking proper
vengeance without shedding a priest's blood. The bishop made the rector
bewail his transgression for forty days, but with his love and the scornful
rejection he received, he bewailed it for more than forty-nine days. For
a long time, he couldn't show himself in the street without boys pointing
at him and saying, "There goes the man who lay with Ciutazza." This was
such an affliction that he was nearly driven mad. In this way, the worthy
lady rid herself of the rector's vexatious importunity, and Ciutazza had a 1985 HAND COLORED AQUA TINTA / AQUA FORTE
jolly night and earned her shift. 29,5X19,5 CM. | 11¾X7½ IN. (IMAGE SIZE).
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The Decameron