Page 43 - THE DECAMERON: A Visionary Journey in 100 Stories and 100 Etchings by Petru Russu

The Second Day | The Fourth Novell
Andreuccio, not knowing what else to say, replied, "Sister, I care Storyteller: Lauretta
for you with all a brother's affection, but if I don't go, supper
will await me at the inn, and I shall be taxed with discourtesy." Landolpho Ruffolo, falling into poverty, became a pirate on the
seas and, being taken by the Genoese, barely escaped drowning.
She said, "I can send word that they are not to expect you at the Nevertheless, he did so upon a little chest or coffer full of very rich
inn. You would better discharge the debt of courtesy by inviting jewels, being carried on it to Corfu, where he was well entertained by
your friends here to sup, and then you might all go together." a good woman. He afterward returned home richly to his own house.
.
Andreuccio agreed to stay, and she pretended to send word to
the inn. They had a splendid supper, which she prolonged until
nightfall. When Andreuccio was about to leave, she insisted
he stay, saying Naples was no place to walk about after dark,
especially for a stranger. Believing her, he stayed. After supper,
they talked for a long time, and when the night was well advanced,
she gave him her chamber and retired to another with her women.

It was a hot night, so Andreuccio stripped to his doublet and laid
his stockings on the bed's head. Needing to relieve himself, he
asked the lad where to go and was shown a door in the corner of
the room. Andreuccio, suspecting nothing, went in but stepped on
a loose plank, falling into a narrow alley filled with filth. He called
for the lad, who had run off to inform the lady. She quickly found
Andreuccio's clothes and money, closed the door, and left him.

Realizing he had been tricked, Andreuccio climbed over a
low wall into the street and went to the house, shouting and
battering the door. The lady's servant-girl appeared at the
window, pretending not to know him, and told him to leave.
Andreuccio, now certain of his misfortune, bewailed his loss
and renewed his attack on the door with a large stone. The
neighbors, annoyed by the noise, came to their windows and
told him to leave, thinking his story was a mere fiction to annoy
the good woman.

1985 HAND COLORED AQUA TINTA / AQUA FORTE
29,5X19,5 CM. | 11¾X7½ IN. (IMAGE SIZE).
39
The Decameron