Novel I
Novel I
[Voice: filomena]
[001] A knight offers to carry Madonna Oretta a horseback with a story, but tells it so ill that she prays him to dismount her.
[002]
As
stars are set for an ornament in the serene
expanse of heaven, and likewise in springtime flowers and leafy shrubs in the green
meadows, so, damsels, in the hour of rare and excellent discourse, is wit with its bright
sallies. Which, being brief, are much more proper for ladies than for men, seeing that
prolixity of speech, where brevity is possible, is much less allowable to them.
[003]
But for whatever cause, be it the sorry quality of our understanding, or
some especial enmity that heaven bears to our generation, few ladies or none are left
to-day that, when occasion prompts, are able to meet it with apt speech, ay, or if aught
of the kind they hear, can understand it aright: to our common shame be it spoken!
[004]
But as, touching this matter, enough has already been said by
Pampinea,
[005]
'Tis no long time since there
dwelt in our city a lady, noble,
debonair and of excellent discourse, whom
not a few of you may have
seen or heard of, whose name--for such high
qualities merit not
oblivion--
[006]
was Madonna Oretta, her husband being Messer
Geri Spina.
Now this lady, happening to be, as we are, in the country,
moving
from place to place for pleasure with a company of ladies and
gentlemen,
whom she had entertained the day before at breakfast at her
house, and the place of their next sojourn, whither they were to go
afoot, being some considerable distance off, one of the gentlemen
of
the company said to her:
[007]
Madonna Oretta, so please you, I will
carry you great part of the way a horseback with one of the finest
stories
in the world.
[008]
Indeed, Sir,
replied the lady,
I pray
you
do
so; and I shall deem it the greatest of favours.
[009]
Whereupon the
gentleman, who perhaps was no better master of his weapon than of
his
story, began a tale, which in itself was indeed excellent, but which,
by
repeating the same word three, four or six times, and now and
again
harking back, and saying:
I said not well
; and erring
not seldom in
the names, setting one in place of another, he utterly
spoiled; besides
which, his mode of delivery accorded very ill with
the character of the
persons and incidents:
[010]
insomuch that Madonna
Oretta, as she listened, did
oft sweat, and was like to faint, as if she
were ill and at the point of
death. And being at length able to bear
no more of it, witting that the
gentleman had got into a mess and
was not like to get out of it, she said
pleasantly to him:
[011]
Sir, this
horse of yours trots too hard; I pray you
be pleased to set me down.
[012]
The gentleman, being perchance more quick
of apprehension than
he was skilful in narration, missed not the meaning
of her sally, and
took it in all good and gay humour. So, leaving
unfinished the tale
which he had begun, and so mishandled, he addressed
himself to tell
her other stories.