Page 98 - THE DECAMERON: A Visionary Journey in 100 Stories and 100 Etchings by Petru Russu

The Decameron The Fourth Day | The Third Novell When the King realized that Madam Pampinea had finished her
story, he sat quietly for a while, without saying a word, before
Storyteller: Lauretta
finally speaking. The beginning of this story wasn’t particularly
good because it caused some amusement; yet the ending turned
Three young men and three sisters fled to Crete. The eldest sister's
out better, and I wish harsher punishments had befallen the
jealousy led to her lover's death. The second sister saved her life by
immoral Friar. Then, turning to Madam Lauretta, he said, "Lady,
consenting to the Duke's request, but was later killed by her own
tell us a better tale if possible." She smiled and answered, "Sir,
lover who fled with the eldest sister. The third couple was accused of
you're too harsh towards poor lovers, wanting their romantic
her death, confessed, and bribed their way out of prison.
ventures to end badly. Nevertheless, in obedience to your strict
command, I will tell an unhappy story among three lovers who
faced unfortunate outcomes equally in their desires. So, here
is my story.

Every vice (dear ladies), as we know, brings great disgrace and
harm to those who practice it, and often to others as well. Among
these harmful vices, the one that most drives us into unavoidable
dangers, in my opinion, is anger. It is a sudden, inconsiderate
reaction provoked by some received injury, which dismisses all
reason, clouds understanding, and fills the mind with violent
fury. Although this inconvenience happens mostly to men, and
more to some than others, it has been noted that women have
felt the same anger, even more intensely, because it ignites and
burns brighter in them as they have less self-restraint. This isn't
surprising. If we observe carefully, we see that fire naturally
catches things that are light and tender more quickly than it
does those that are hard and weighty; and some of us women
(no offense to men) are much softer and delicate. Considering
our natural inclination and how our gentleness is pleasing to men
around us, and how anger is dangerous, I decided to show you by
my following story how the loves of three young men and three
young women met with tragic and fortunate outcomes due to the
anger of one among them, as I mentioned before.

Marseilles, as you know, is a very ancient and noble city in
Provence, situated by the sea. It once had much wealthier
merchants than it does now. Among them was Narnaldo Civida,
1985 HAND COLORED AQUA TINTA / AQUA FORTE a man of modest means but clear in faith and reputation, and
29,5X19,5 CM. | 11¾X7½ IN. (IMAGE SIZE).
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The Decameron