The Decameron, Volume II

clothes, to adjust the ladderfor thy descent; 'tis he in whom thou shouldst labour to inspire thistenderness thou now shewest for thy honour, that honour which for hissake thou hast not scrupled to jeopardize both now and on a thousandother occasions. Why, then, call'st thou not him to come to thy succour?To whom pertains it rather than to him? Thou art his. And of whom will hehave a care, whom will he succour, if not thee? Thou askedst him thatnight, when thou wast wantoning with him, whether seemed to him thegreater, my folly or the love thou didst bear him: call him now, foolishwoman, and see if the love thou bearest him, and thy wit and his, mayavail to deliver thee from my folly. 'Tis now no longer in thy power toshew me courtesy of that which I no more desire, nor yet to refuse it,did I desire it. Reserve thy nights for thy lover, if so be thou go hencealive. Be they all thine and his. One of them was more than I cared for;'tis enough for me to have been flouted once. Ay, and by thy cunning ofspeech thou strivest might and main to conciliate my good-will, callingme worthy gentleman, by which insinuation thou wouldst fain induce memagnanimously to desist from further chastisement of thy baseness. Butthy cajoleries shall not now cloud the eyes of my mind, as did once thyfalse promises. I know myself, and better now for thy one night'sinstruction than for all the time I spent at Paris. But, granted that Iwere disposed to be magnanimous, thou art not of those to whom 'tis meetto shew magnanimity. A wild beast such as thou, having merited vengeance,can claim no relief from suffering save death, though in the case of ahuman being 'twould suffice to temper vengeance with mercy, as thousaidst. Wherefore I, albeit no eagle, witting thee to be no dove, but avenomous serpent, mankind's most ancient enemy, am minded, bating no jotof malice or of might, to harry thee to the bitter end: natheless thiswhich I do is not properly to be called vengeance but rather justretribution; seeing that vengeance should be in excess of the offence,and this my chastisement of thee will fall short of it; for, were Iminded to be avenged on thee, considering what account thou madest of myheart and soul, 'twould not suffice me to take thy life, no, nor thelives of a hundred others such as thee; for I should but slay a vile andbase and wicked woman. And what the Devil art thou more than any otherpitiful baggage, that I should spare thy little store of beauty, which afew years will ruin, covering thy face with wrinkles? And yet 'twas notfor want of will that thou didst fail to do to death a worthy gentleman,as thou but now didst call me, of whom in a single day of his life theworld may well have more profit than of a hundred thousand like theewhile the world shall last. Wherefore by this rude discipline I willteach thee what it is to flout men of spirit, and more especially what itis to flout scholars, that if thou escape with thy life thou mayst havegood cause ever hereafter to shun such folly. But if thou art so fain tomake the descent, why cast not thyself down, whereby, God helping, thouwouldst at once break thy neck, be quit of the torment thou endurest, andmake me the happiest man alive? I have no more to say to thee. 'Twas myart and craft thus caused thee climb; be it thine to find the way down:thou hadst cunning enough, when thou wast minded to flout me."

  While the scholar thus spoke, the hapless lady wept incessantly, andbefore he had done, to aggravate her misery, the sun was high in theheaven. However, when he was silent, thus she made answer:--"Ah! ruthlessman, if that accursed night has so rankled with thee, and thou deemest myfault so grave that neither my youth and beauty, nor my bitter tears, noryet my humble supplications may move thee to pity, let this at least movethee, and abate somewhat of thy remorseless severity, that 'twas my actalone, in that of late I trusted thee, and discovered to thee all mysecret, that did open the way to compass thy end, and make me cognizantof my guilt, seeing that, had I not confided in thee, on no wise mightstthou have been avenged on me; which thou wouldst seem so ardently to havedesired. Turn thee, then, turn thee, I pray thee, from thy wrath, andpardon me. So thou wilt pardon me, and get me down hence, right gladlywill I give up for ever my faithless gallant, and thou shalt be my solelover and lord, albeit thou sayst hard things of my beauty, slight andshortlived as thou wouldst have it to be, which, however it may comparewith others, is, I wot, to be prized, if for no other reason, yet forthis, that 'tis the admiration and solace and delight of young men, andthou art not yet old. And albeit I have been harshly treated by thee, yetbelieve I cannot that thou wouldst have me do myself so shamefully todeath as to cast me down, like some abandoned wretch, before thine eyes,in which, unless thou wast then, as thou hast since shewn thyself, aliar, I found such favour. Ah! have pity on me for God's and mercy'ssake! The sun waxes exceeding hot, and having suffered not a little bythe cold of last night, I now begin to be sorely afflicted by the heat."

  "Madam," rejoined the scholar, who held her in parley with no smalldelight, "'twas not for any love that thou didst bear me that thoutrustedst me, but that thou mightst recover that which thou hadst lost,for which cause thou meritest but the greater punishment; and foolishindeed art thou if thou supposest that such was the sole means availablefor my revenge. I had a thousand others, and, while I feigned to lovethee, I had laid a thousand gins for thy feet, into one or other of whichin no long time, though this had not occurred, thou must needs havefallen, and that too to thy more grievous suffering and shame; nor was itto spare thee, but that I might be the sooner rejoiced by thydiscomfiture that I took my present course. And though all other meanshad failed me, I had still the pen, with which I would have written ofthee such matters and in such a sort, that when thou wist them, as thoushouldst have done, thou wouldst have regretted a thousand times thatthou hadst ever been born. The might of the pen is greater far than theysuppose, who have not proved it by experience. By God I swear, so may He,who has prospered me thus far in this my revenge, prosper me to the end!that I would have written of thee things that would have so shamed theein thine own--not to speak of others'--sight that thou hadst put outthine eyes that thou mightst no more see thyself; wherefore chide not thesea, for that it has sent forth a tiny rivulet. For thy love, or whetherthou be mine or no, nought care I. Be thou still his, whose thou hastbeen, if thou canst. Hate him as I once did, I now love him, by reason ofhis present entreatment of thee. Ye go getting you enamoured, ye women,and nought will satisfy you but young gallants, because ye mark thattheir flesh is ruddier, and their beards are blacker, than other folk's,and that they carry themselves well, and foot it featly in the dance, andjoust; but those that are now more mature were even as they, and possessa knowledge which they have yet to acquire. And therewithal ye deem thatthey ride better, and cover more miles in a day, than men of riper age.Now that they dust the pelisse with more vigour I certainly allow, buttheir seniors, being more experienced, know better the places where thefleas lurk; and spare and dainty diet is preferable to abundance withoutsavour: moreover hard trotting will gall and jade even the youngest,whereas an easy pace, though it bring one somewhat later to the inn, atany rate brings one thither fresh. Ye discern not, witless creatures thatye are, how much of evil this little shew of bravery serves to hide. Youryoung gallant is never content with one woman, but lusts after as many ashe sets eyes on; nor is there any but he deems himself worthy of her:wherefore 'tis not possible that their love should be lasting, as thouhast but now proved and mayst only too truly witness. Moreover to beworshipped, to be caressed by their ladies they deem but their due; noris there aught whereon they plume and boast them so proudly as theirconquests: which impertinence has caused not a few women to surrender tothe friars, who keep their own counsel. Peradventure thou wilt say thatnever a soul save thy maid, and I wist aught of thy loves; but, if so,thou hast been misinformed, and if thou so believest, thou dostmisbelieve. Scarce aught else is talked of either in his quarter or inthine; but most often 'tis those most concerned whose ears such mattersreach last. Moreover, they rob you, these young gallants, whereas theothers make you presents. So, then, having made a bad choice, be thoustill his to whom thou hast given thyself, and leave me, whom thou didstflout, to another, for I have found a lady of much greater charms thanthine, and that has understood me better than thou didst. And that thoumays
t get thee to the other world better certified of the desire of myeyes than thou wouldst seem to be here by my words, delay no more, butcast thyself down, whereby thy soul, taken forthwith, as I doubt not shewill be, into the embrace of the Devil, may see whether thy headlong fallafflicts mine eyes, or no. But, for that I doubt thou meanest not thus togladden me, I bid thee, if thou findest the sun begin to scorch thee,remember the cold thou didst cause me to endure, wherewith, by admixture,thou mayst readily temper the sun's heat."

  The hapless lady, seeing that the scholar's words were ever to the sameruthless effect, burst afresh into tears, and said:--"Lo, now, sincenought that pertains to me may move thee, be thou at least moved by thelove thou bearest this lady of whom thou speakest, who, thou sayst, iswiser than I, and loves thee,