〔Preface〕 1
〔Introduction〕 4
〔First Day,First Story〕Ser Cepparello tricks a holy friar with a false confession and dies;although he was a very evil man dur-ing his lifetime,he is after death reputed to be a saint and is called Saint Ciappelletto. 20
〔First Day,Second Story〕A Jew named Abraham,encouraged by Giannotto di Civignì,goes to the court of Rome,and after ob-serving the wickedness of the clergy,he returns to Paris and becomes a Christian. 31
〔First Day,Third Story〕Melchisedech,a Jew,by means of a short story about three rings,escapes from a trap set for him by Saladin. 34
〔First Day,Fourth Story〕A monk,having committed a sin de-serving of the most severe punishment,saves himself by accus-ing his Abbot of the same sin and escapes punishment. 37
〔First Day,Fifth Story〕By means of a banquet of chicken and some witty words,the Marchioness of Montferrato squelches the foolish love of the King of France. 40
〔First Day,Sixth Story〕With a witty remark a worthy man con-founds the wicked hypocrisy of the clergy. 42
〔First Day,Seventh Story〕With a story about Primasso and the Abbot of Cluny,Bergamino properly rebukes an unusual fit of avarice on the part of Messer Can della Scala. 45
〔First Day,Eighth Story〕With a witty saying Guiglielmo Bor-siere rebukes the avarice of Messer Ermino de'Grimaldi. 49
〔First Day,Ninth Story〕Rebuked by a lady of Gascony,the King of Cyprus is transformed from a faint-hearted man into acourageous ruler. 51
〔First Day,Tenth Story〕Master Alberto of Bologna properly shames a lady who had in turn tried to make him feel ashamed for being in love with her. 52
〔First Day,Conclusion〕 55
〔Second Day,First Story〕Pretending to be paralyzed,Martellino makes it appear that he has been cured by being placed upon the body of Saint Arrigo;and when his ruse is discovered,he is beaten and then arrested;after very nearly being hanged by the neck 58
〔Second Day,Introduction〕 58
〔Second Day,Second Story〕Rinaldo d'Asti is robbed,arrives at Castel Guiglielmo,and is offered lodging by a widow;after he has recovered his possessions,he returns to his home safe and sound. 63
〔Second Day,Third Story〕Three young men squander their pos-sessions and become impoverished;while returning home in de-spair,a nephew of theirs meets an Abbot whom he discovers to be the daughter of the King of England;she takes him for her husband,and 68
〔Second Day,Fourth Story〕Landolfo Rufolo is impoverished,be-comes a pirate,and is shipwrecked after being captured by the Genoese,but he escapes on a chest filled with very precious jewels;after he is rescued by a woman on Corfu,he returns home a rich 76
〔Second Day,Fifth Story〕Andreuccio from Perugia goes to Naples to buy horses,is caught up in three unfortunate adven-tures in one night,escapes from them all,and returns home with a ruby. 80
〔Second Day,Sixth Story〕Madam Beritola,after losing her two sons,is found on an island with two roebucks and goes to Lu-nigiana;there one of her sons joins the service of its lord,sleeps with his daughter,and is put into prison;after Sicily rebels agai 91
〔Second Day,Seventh Story〕The Sultan of Babylon sends one of his daughters as a wife for the King of Algarve;in a series of misadventures,she passes through the hands of nine men in different lands in the space of four years;finally,she is re-turned to 102
〔Second Day,Eighth Story〕The Count of Antwerp,being un-justly accused,goes into exile;he leaves two of his children in different parts of England;he returns to Scotland,unknown to them,and finds them in good condition;then he joins the army of the King 120
〔Second Day,Ninth Story〕Bernabò da Genoa is deceived by Am-bruogiuolo,loses his money,and orders his innocent wife to be killed;she escapes and in the disguise of a man enters the ser-vice of the Sultan:she locates the one who deceived her hus-band an 133
〔Second Day,Tenth Story〕Paganino da Monaco steals the wife of Messer Ricciardo di Chinzica;when he finds out where she is,he goes there and becomes Paganino's friend;when he asks Pa-ganino to give his wife back to him,Paganino agrees on the condition t 144
〔Second Day,Conclusion〕 151
〔Third Day,Introduction〕 154
〔Third Day,First Story〕Masetto da Lamporecchio pretends to be a deaf-mute and becomes the gardener for a convent of nuns,who all compete to lie with him. 157
〔Third Day,Second Story〕A groom lies with the wife of King Agilulf,and Agilulf discovers this but says nothing;he finds the man and shears his hair;the shorn man shears all the oth-ers and thus avoids coming to a bad end. 162
〔Third Day,Third Story〕Under the pretense of going to confes-sion and being of the purest of minds,a lady,who is in love with a young man,induces a sanctimonious friar,who is un-suspecting,to arrange things to the entire satisfaction of her pleasure. 167
〔Third Day,Fourth Story〕Dom Felice teaches Friar Puccio how to attain sainthood by performing one of his penances;Friar Puccio does this,and by this means Dom Felice has a good time with the friar's wife. 175
〔Third Day,Fifth Story〕Zima gives Messer Francesco Vergellesi one of his horses and in return for this he receives his permis-sion to speak to his wife;she is unable to speak,and Zima replies on her behalf,and later on,things turn out according to his 180
〔Third Day,Sixth Story〕Ricciardo Minutolo is in love with the wife of Filippello Sighinolfi;hearing that she is jealous,he tells her Filippello is going to the baths to meet his own wifeon the following day and persuades her to go there,and be-lieving 185
〔Third Day,Seventh Story〕Tedaldo,angry with his lady,leaves Florence;returning there after some time disguised as a pil-grim,he speaks with the lady and makes her aware of her er-rot,and he frees her husband,who had been condemned to death for murderin 192
〔Third Day,Eighth Story〕After eating a certain powder,Feron-do is buried for dead;and the Abbot,who is enjoying his wife,takes him out of his tomb,imprisons him,and makes him believe that he is in Purgatory;after he is resurrected,he raises as his own 207
〔Third Day,Ninth Story〕Giletta of Narbonne cures the King of France of fistula;in reward she requests Beltramo di Rossiglione for her husband,who after marrying her against his will,goes to Florence out of indignation;there he courts a young woman whom 215
〔Third Day,Tenth Story〕Alibech becomes a recluse and a monk named Rustico teaches her how to put the Devil back into Hell.Then she is led away from there to become the wife of Neerbale. 224
〔Third Day,Conclusion〕 228
〔Fourth Day,Introduction〕 232
〔Fourth Day,First Story〕Tancredi,Prince of Salerno,kills the lover of his daughter and sends her his heart in a gold goblet;she pours poisoned water on it,drinks it,and dies. 238
〔Fourth Day,Second Story〕Brother Alberto convinces a lady that the Angel Gabriel is in love with her;then,disguised as the angel,he sleeps with her many times;in fear of her rela-tives,he flees from her house and seeks refuge in the home of a poor man, 246
〔Fourth Day,Third Story〕Three young men are in love with three sisters and run away with them to Crete:the eldest sis-ter.kills her lover out of jealousy;the second sister saves the first from death by giving herself to the Duke of Crete,but then she i 254
〔Fourth Day,Fourth Story〕Gerbino,violating a pledge made by his grandfather,King William,attacks a ship belonging to the King of Tunis in order to abduct his daughter;when she is killed by the men who are on board,he kills them,and then he is beheaded. 260
〔Fourth Day,Fifth Story〕Ellisabetta's brothers kill her lover;he appears to her in a dream and tells her where he is buried;she secretly digs up his head and places it in a pot of basil,over which she weeps every day for a long time;her brothers take i 264
〔Fourth Day,Sixth Story〕Andriuola loves Gabriotto;she tells him of a dream she has had and he in turn tells her another;he dies suddenly in her arms;while she is carrying him back to his home with the assistance of one of her servants,they are arrested 268
〔Fourth Day,Seventh Story〕Simona loves Pasquino;they are to-gether in a garden;Pasquino rubs his teeth with a sage leaf and dies;Simona is arrested,and while she is explaining to the judge how Pasquino died,she rubs one of the leaves against her teeth 274
〔Fourth Day,Eighth Story〕Girolamo loves Salvestra;he is per-suaded by his mother's entreaties to go to Paris;he returns to discover Salvestra married;he secretly enters her home and dies there by her side;his body is taken to a church,and Salvestra die 278
〔Fourth Day,Ninth Story〕Sir Guiglielmo Rossiglione makes his wife eat the heart of her lover,Sir Guiglielmo Guardastagno,whom he has killed;when later she discovers this,she throws herself from a high window to the ground and dies,and she is buried wit 283
〔Fourth Day,Tenth Story〕The wife of a physician,believing her lover to be dead after he has fallen asleep from taking a drug,puts him inside a chest,which is carried off with the man in-side by two usurers to their home;when the lover comes to his sens 286
〔Fourth Day,Conclusion〕 294
〔Fifth Day,Introduction〕 297
〔Fifth Day,First Story〕Cimone acquires wisdom by falling in love with Efigenia,his lady,whom he abducts on the high seas;he is imprisoned in Rhodes,from where he is freed by Lisimaco,with whom he once again abducts both Efigenia and Cassandrea duri 298
〔Fifth Day,Second Story〕Gostanza is in love with Martuccio Comito,and when she hears that he is dead,in desperation she sets out alone in a boat which is carried by the wind to Susa;she discovers Martuccio alive in Tunisia and makes herself known t 307
〔Fifth Day,Third Story〕Pietro Boccamazza runs away with Ag-nolella;they encounter some brigands;the young girl flees through a forest and is taken to a castle,while Pietro is cap-tured but escapes from their clutches,and after a number of adventures 313
〔Fifth Day,Fourth Story〕Ricciardo Manardi is found bv Messer Lizio da Valbona with his daughter,whom he marries,and he remains on good terms with her father. 319
〔Fifth Day,Fifth Story〕Guidotto da Cremona leaves Giacomin da Pavia in charge of his daughter and passes away;in Faenza,Giannol di Severino and Minghino di Mingole fall in love with her;the two men fight over her;when the girl is recognized to be Gia 324
〔Fifth Day,Sixth Story〕Gian di Procida is discovered with the girl he loves,who had been handed over to King Frederick,and with her he is tied to a stake and is about to be burned when he is recognized by Ruggier de Loria;then he is freed and they ar 329
〔Fifth Day,Seventh Story〕Teodoro,in love with Violante,the daughter of Messer Amerigo,his master,makes her pregnant and is condemned to be hanged;but while he is being whipped along the way to the gallows,he is recognized by his father,and given ba 334
〔Fifth Day,Eighth Story〕Nastagio degli Onesti,in love with a girl from the Traversari family,squanders all his wealth with-out being loved in return;his relatives beg him to leave forChiassi;there he sees a knight hunting down a young lady,who is kil 340
〔Fifth Day,Ninth Story〕Federigo degli Alberighi,who loves but is not loved in return,spends all the money he has in courtship and is left with only a falcon,which,since he has nothing else to give her,he offers to his lady to eat when she visits his ho 345
〔Fifth Day,Tenth Story〕Pietro di Vinciolo goes out to eat sup-per;his wife has a young man in,and when Pietro returns,she hides him under a chicken coop;Pietro says that a young man was discovered in Ercolano's home,where he was eating supper,having be 351
〔Fifth Day,Conclusion〕 358
〔Sixth Day,Introduction〕 361
〔Sixth Day,First Story〕A knight offers Madonna Oretta a ride on a story;but he tells it so poorly that she begs him to put her down. 363
〔Sixth Day,Second Story〕With a single phrase,Cisti the baker shows Messer Geri Spina that he has made an unreasonable re-quest. 364
〔Sixth Day,Third Story〕With a quick reply,Monna Nonna de'Pulci silences the less than honorable witticisms of the Bishop of Florence. 368
〔Sixth Day,Fouth Story〕Chichibio,Currado Gianfigliazzi's cook,turns Currado's anger into laughter with a quick word uttered in time to save himself from the unpleasant fate with which Currado had threatened him. 369
〔Sixth Day,Fifth Story〕Messer Forese da Rabatta and Maestro Giotto,the painter,make fun of each other's poor appearance while returning from Mugello. 372
〔Sixth Day,Sixth Story〕Michele Scalza proves to certain young men that the Baronci are the noblest gentlemen in the world(or in the Maremma)and wins a supper. 374
〔Sixth Day,Seventh Story〕Madonna Filippa is discovered by her husband with a lover of hers,and when she is called before a judge,with a ready and amusing reply she secures her freedomand causes the statute to be changed. 376
〔Sixth Day,Eighth Story〕Fresco advises his niece not to look at herself in the mirror if,as she has declared,she finds the sight of disagreeable people annoying. 378
〔Sixth Day,Ninth Story〕With a witty remark,Guido Cavalcanti quite rightly rebukes certain Florentine gentlemen who had come upon him by surprise. 380
〔Sixth Day,Tenth Story〕Brother Cipolla promises some peasants that he will show them a feather from the Angel Gabriel;but finding only bits of charcoal in its place,he tells them that these were the ones used to roast Saint Lorenzo. 382
〔Sixth Day,Conclusion〕 389
〔Seventh Day,Introduction〕 395
〔Seventh Day,First Story〕Gianni Lotteringhi hears a knock at his door during the night;he awakens his wife,and she makes him believe it is a ghost;they go and exorcise.the ghost with a prayer,and the knocking stops. 396
〔Seventh Day,Second Story〕Peronella hides her lover inside a barrel when she discovers that her husband is coming home;she tells the husband,who has sold the barrel,she had al-ready sold it to someone who is inside of it checking to see if it is sound; 400
〔Seventh Day,Third Story〕Brother Rinaldo lies with the mother of his godchild;when her husband discovers him in her bed-room,they lead him to believe that he is exorcising his godson's worms. 404
〔Seventh Day,Fourth Story〕One night,Tofano locks his wife out of the house,and when she finds,in spite of all her en-treaties,that she is unable to get back inside,she pretends to throw herself down a well by dropping a huge stone into it;Tofano leaves 409
〔Seventh Day,Fifth Story〕A jealous husband disguised as a priest hears his wife's confession,and she gives him to believe that she loves a priest who comes to her every night,and while the jealous husband keeps watch hiding by the door,the lady has her 413
〔Seventh Day,Sixth Story〕While she is with Leonetto,Madonna Isabella,who is loved by a certain Messer Lambertuccio,is visited by him just as her husband is about to return home;she sends Messer Lambertuccio out of her house with a dagger in his hand,an 420
〔Seventh Day,Seventh Story〕Lodovico reveals to Madonna Beat-rice the love he bears for her,whereupon she sends her hus-band Egano into a garden disguised as herself while she lies with Lodovico;then,afterward,Lodovico gets out of bed,goes into the gard 423
〔Seventh Day,Eighth Story〕A man becomes jealous of his wife,and she ties a string to her toe during the night,so that she will know that her lover has come to visit her;the husband no-tices this,and whìle he is off chasing her lover,the wife puts anot 428
〔Seventh Day,Ninth Story〕Lidia,the wife of Nicostrato,is in love with Pirro;in order to test her love,Pirro asks her to perform three tasks,all of which she does for him;besides this,in Nicostrato's presence,she makes love to him,and gives Nicos-trato 435
〔Seventh Day,Tenth Story〕Two Sienese are in love with the same woman,and one of them is the godfather of her child;the godfather dies and returns to his friend,as he promised he would,and he describes how people live in the next world. 444
〔Seventh Day,Conclusion〕 447
〔Eighth Day,Introduction〕 451
〔Eighth Day,First Story〕Gulfardo borrows a sum of money from Guasparruolo,and he makes an arrangement with Guasparruolo's wife to sleep with her for the sum of money he has received;later,in her presence,he tells Guasparruolo he has returned his money 451
〔Eighth Day,Second Story〕The priest of Varlungo goes to bed with Monna Belcolore,leaving his cloak with her as a pledge;after borrowing a mortar from her,he sends it back to her and asks that she return the cloak he left as a pledge;the good woman retu 454
〔Eighth Day,Third Story〕Calandrino,Bruno,and Buffalmacco go down to the Mugnone River in search of heliotrope,and Calandrino thinks he has found it;he returns home loaded with stones;his wife scolds him,and he,losing his temper,beats her up,and tells h 459
〔Eighth Day,Fourth Story〕The Rector of Fiesole is in love with a lady who is a widow;he is not loved in return by her,and while he is in bed with one of her maidservants,thinking that he is in bed with her,the lady's brothers arrange to have him discov 466
〔Eighth Day,Fifth Story〕Three young men pull down the breech-es of a judge,who had come to Florence from the Marches,while he is on the bench administering the law. 471
〔Eighth Day,Sixth Story〕Bruno and Buffalmacco steal a pig from Calandrino;pretending to help him find it again by means of a test using ginger cookies and Vernaccia wine,they give him two such cookies one after the other,made from cheap ginger seasoned 474
〔Eighth Day,Seventh Story〕A scholar is in love with a widow,who loves another man and makes the scholar stand one winter night under the snow waiting for her;later on,as the result of following his advice,she is forced to stand for an entire day in mid 479
〔Eighth Day,Eighth Story〕Two men are intimate friends,and one goes to bed with the other's wife;when the other man dis-covers this,he arranges with his wife to lock the first man in-side a chest,upon which he makes love to the wife of the man who is tr 499
〔Eighth Day,Ninth Story〕Master Simone,the doctor,in order to become a member of a supposed club of expeditioners,is persuaded by Bruno and Buffalmacco to go one night to a cer-tain spot,where he is thrown by Buffalmacco into a ditch full of filth and l 504
〔Eighth Day,Tenth Story〕A Sicilian woman masterfully relieves a merchant of all the goods he has brought to Palermo;pre-tending to have returned to Palermo with even more goods than he had the first time,he borrows money from her and leaves her with no 518
〔Eighth Day,Conclusion〕 528
〔Ninth Day,Introduction〕 531
〔Ninth Day,First Story〕Madonna Francesca,loved by a certain Rinuccio and a certain Alessandro,but loving neither of them in return,makes one of them play dead in a tomb and gets the other one to go in to carry out what he thinks is a dead body;and when 532
〔Ninth Day,Second Story〕An Abbess quickly gets up from her bed in the dark in order to catch one of her nuns who was re-ported to be in bed with her lover;the Abbess herself is in bed with a priest,and she puts his pants on her head,thinking that she i 537
〔Ninth Day,Third Story〕Urged on by Bruno,Buffalmacco,and Nello,Doctor Simone gives Calandrino to believe that he is pregnant;Calandrino gives them capons and money in return for medicine,and he is cured without giving birth. 539
〔Ninth Day,Fourth Story〕Cecco,the son of Messer Fortarrigo,gambles away all his possessions at Bonconvento as well as the money belonging to Cecco,son of Messer Angiolieri;he then runs after Cecco in his shirt and,claiming that he had been robbed by 543
〔Ninth Day,Fifth Story〕Calandrino falls in love with a young woman,and Bruno writes down a magic formula for him with which,as soon as he touches her,she goes off with him;but when he is discovered by his wife,he finds himself in a serious and painfu 547
〔Ninth Day,Sixth Story〕Two young men take lodgings at someone's home,where one of them lies with the host's daughter,while his wife inadvertently lies with the other;the man who was with the daughter gets into bed with her father and tells him everyt 554
〔Ninth Day,Seventh Story〕Talano d'Imole dreams that a wolf rips apart his wife's throat and face;he tells her to be wary of this;she does not do so,and it happens to her. 558
〔Ninth Day,Eighth Story〕Biondello plays a trick on Ciacco in re-gard to a dinner,for which Ciacco carefully takes his revenge by having Biondello soundly thrashed. 560
〔Ninth Day,Ninth Story〕Two young men ask adyice from Solomon,one of them as to what he must do to be loved,the other as to how he should punish his stubborn wife:Solomon tells the first man to love and the other to go to the Goose Bridge. 564
〔Ninth Day,Tenth Story〕At Compare Pietro's request,Father Gianni casts a spell in order to turn his wife into a mare;but when it comes time to stick the tail on,Pietro,by saying that he doesn't want a tail,ruins the whole spell. 568
〔Ninth Day,Conclusion〕 571
〔Tenth Day,Introduction〕 574
〔Tenth Day,First Story〕A knight is in the service of the King of Spain;he feels he has been poorly rewarded,and so the Kingfirst provides him with clear proof that this is not his fault but,rather,that of his own wretched Fortune,and then handsomely 575
〔Tenth Day,Second Story〕Ghino di Tacco captures the Abbot of Clignì,treats him for a stomachache,and then releases him;when the Abbot returns to the Court of Rome,he reconciles Ghino with Pope Boniface and makes him a member of the Or-der of the H 577
〔Tenth Day,Third Story〕Mithridanes,envious of Nathan's rep-utation for courtesy,sets out to murder him,and after acciden-tally coming across Nathan without recognizing him,and learning from Nathan himself how he might carry out his in-tentions,Mith 582
〔Tenth Day,Fourth Story〕Messer Gentil de'Carisendi,having arrived from Modena,takes from her tomb a lady he has loved who has been buried for dead;after she has been revived,she gives birth to a male child,and Messer Gentile restores her and her so 588
〔Tenth Day,Fifth Story〕Madonna Dianora asks Messer Ansaldo to give her a garden that would be as beautiful in January as in May;by hiring a magician,Messer Ansaldo manages to grant her wish;her husband agrees that she must fulfill Messer Ansaldo's de 594
〔Tenth Day,Sixth Story〕The old and victorious King Charles,having fallen in love with a young girl,then regrets his foolish fancy and arranges honorable marriages for both the girl and one of her sisters. 598
〔Tenth Day,Seventh Story〕On learning about the fervent love borne for him by Lisa,who has fallen ill because of it,King Peter comforts her and then gives her in marriage to a young nobleman;and after kissing her on the brow,he declares him-self to be 603
〔Tenth Day,Eighth Story〕Sophronia,believing that she is the wife of Gisippus,is actually married to Titus Quintus Fulvius,with whom she goes to Rome,where Gisippus arrives in an impoverished state.Believing that he has been scorned by Ti-tus,he claim 610
〔Tenth Day,Ninth Story〕Saladin,disguised as a merchant,is entertained by Messer Torello;a crusade is launched;Messer Torello gives his wife a date before which she is not to remar-ry.He is captured,but because of his skill in training hunting birds,he 625
〔Tenth Day,Tenth Story〕The Marquis of Sanluzzo is urged by the requests of his vassals to take a wife,and in order to have his own way in the matter,he chooses the daughter of a peas-ant and by her he has two children,whom he pretends to have put to de 641
〔Tenth Day,Conclusion〕 650
〔The Author's Conclusion〕 653
〔Notes〕 658