The Decameron, Volume II

pursuit, they held converse thereof, and from time to timeexchanged a kiss. Now it so befell, that, the way being none too wellknown to Pietro, when, perhaps eight miles from Rome, they should haveturned to the right, they took instead a leftward road. Whereon when theyhad ridden but little more than two miles, they found themselves close toa petty castle, whence, so soon as they were observed, there issued somedozen men at arms; and, as they drew near, the damsel, espying them, gavea cry, and said:--"We are attacked, Pietro, let us flee;" and guiding hernag as best she knew towards a great forest, she planted the spurs in hissides, and so, holding on by the saddle-bow, was borne by the goadedcreature into the forest at a gallop. Pietro, who had been too engrossedwith her face to give due heed to the way, and thus had not been ware, assoon as she, of the approach of the men at arms, was still looking aboutto see whence they were coming, when they came up with him, and took himprisoner, and forced him to dismount. Then they asked who he was, and,when he told them, they conferred among themselves, saying:--"This is oneof the friends of our enemies: what else can we do but relieve him of hisnag and of his clothes, and hang him on one of these oaks in scorn of theOrsini?" To which proposal all agreeing, they bade Pietro strip himself:but while, already divining his fate, he was so doing, an ambuscade offull five-and-twenty men at arms fell suddenly upon them,crying:--"Death, death!" Thus surprised, they let Pietro go, and stood onthe defensive; but, seeing that the enemy greatly outnumbered them, theytook to their heels, the others giving chase. Whereupon Pietro hastilyresumed his clothes, mounted his nag, and fled with all speed in thedirection which he had seen the damsel take. But finding no road or paththrough the forest, nor discerning any trace of a horse's hooves, hewas--for that he found not the damsel--albeit he deemed himself safe outof the clutches of his captors and their assailants, the most wretchedman alive, and fell a weeping and wandering hither and thither about theforest, uttering Agnolella's name. None answered; but turn back he darednot: so on he went, not knowing whither he went; besides which, he was inmortal dread of the wild beasts that infest the forest, as well onaccount of himself as of the damsel, whom momently he seemed to seethrottled by some bear or wolf. Thus did our unfortunate Pietro spend thewhole day, wandering about the forest, making it to resound with hiscries of Agnolella's name, and harking at times back, when he thought togo forward; until at last, what with his cries and his tears and hisfears and his long fasting, he was so spent that he could go no further.'Twas then nightfall, and, as he knew not what else to do, he dismountedat the foot of an immense oak, and having tethered his nag to the trunk,climbed up into the branches, lest he should be devoured by the wildbeasts during the night. Shortly afterwards the moon rose with a veryclear sky, and Pietro, who dared not sleep, lest he should fall, andindeed, had he been secure from that risk, his misery and his anxiety onaccount of the damsel would not have suffered him to sleep, kept watch,sighing and weeping and cursing his evil luck.

  Now the damsel, who, as we said before, had fled she knew not whither,allowing her nag to carry her whithersoever he would, strayed so far intothe forest that she lost sight of the place where she had entered it, andspent the whole day just as Pietro had done, wandering about thewilderness, pausing from time to time, and weeping, and uttering hisname, and bewailing her evil fortune. At last, seeing that 'twas now thevesper hour and Pietro came not, she struck into a path, which the nagfollowed, until, after riding some two miles, she espied at some distancea cottage, for which she made with all speed, and found there a good man,well stricken in years, with his wife, who was likewise aged. Seeing herride up alone, they said:--"Daughter, wherefore ridest thou thus alone atthis hour in these parts?" Weeping, the damsel made answer that she hadlost her companion in the forest, and asked how far might Anagni be fromthere? "My daughter," returned the good man, "this is not the road toAnagni; 'tis more than twelve miles away." "And how far off," inquiredthe damsel, "are the nearest houses in which one might find lodging forthe night?" "There are none so near," replied the good man, "that thoucanst reach them to-day." "Then, so please you," said the damsel, "sincego elsewhither I cannot, for God's sake let me pass the night here withyou." Whereto the good man made answer:--"Damsel, welcome art thou totarry the night with us; but still thou art to know that these parts areinfested both by day and by night by bands, which, be they friends or bethey foes, are alike ill to meet with, and not seldom do much despite andmischief, and if by misadventure one of these bands should visit us whilethou wert here, and marking thy youth and beauty should do thee despiteand dishonour, we should be unable to afford thee any succour. This wewould have thee know, that if it should so come to pass, thou mayst nothave cause to reproach us." The damsel heard not the old man's wordswithout dismay; but, seeing that the hour was now late, sheanswered:--"God, if He be so pleased, will save both you and me from suchmolestation, and if not, 'tis a much lesser evil to be maltreated by menthan to be torn in pieces by the wild beasts in the forest." So saying,she dismounted, and entered the cottage, where, having supped with thepoor man and his wife on such humble fare as they had, she laid herselfin her clothes beside them in their bed. She slept not, however; for herown evil plight and that of Pietro, for whom she knew not how to auguraught but evil, kept her sighing and weeping all night long. And towardsmatins she heard a great noise as of men that marched; so up she got andhied her into a large courtyard that was in rear of the cottage, and partof which was covered with a great heap of hay, which she espying, hidherself therein, that, if the men came there, they might not so readilyfind her. Scarce had she done so than the men, who proved to be a strongcompany of marauders, were at the door of the cottage, which they forcedopen; and having entered, and found the damsel's nag, still saddled, theyasked who was there. The damsel being out of sight, the good mananswered:--"There is none here but my wife and I; but this nag, which hasgiven some one the slip, found his way hither last night, and we housedhim, lest he should be devoured by the wolves." "So!" said the chief ofthe band, "as he has no owner, he will come in very handy for us."

  Whereupon, in several parties, they ransacked the cottage from top tobottom; and one party went out into the courtyard, where, as they threwaside their lances and targets, it so befell that one of them, notknowing where else to bestow his lance, tossed it into the hay, and waswithin an ace of killing the damsel that lay hid there, as likewise sheof betraying her whereabouts, for the lance all but grazing her leftbreast, insomuch that the head tore her apparel, she doubted she waswounded, and had given a great shriek, but that, remembering where shewas, she refrained for fear. By and by the company cooked them abreakfast of kid's and other meat, and having eaten and drunken,dispersed in divers directions, as their affairs required, taking thegirl's nag with them. And when they were gotten some little way off, thegood man asked his wife:--"What became of the damsel, our guest of lastnight, that I have not seen her since we rose?" The good woman answeredthat she knew not where the damsel was, and went to look for her. Thedamsel, discovering that the men were gone, came forth of the hay, andthe good man, seeing her, was overjoyed that she had not fallen into thehands of the ruffians, and, as day was breaking, said to her:--"Now thatday is at hand, we will, so it like thee, escort thee to a castle, somefive miles hence, where thou wilt be in safety; but thou must needs goafoot, because these villains, that are but just gone, have taken thy nagwith them." The damsel, resigning herself to her loss, besought them forGod's sake to take her to the castle: whereupon they set forth, andarrived there about half tierce. Now the castle belonged to one of theOrsini, Liello di Campo di Fiore by name, whose wife, as it chanced, wasthere. A most kindly and good woman she was, and, recognizing the damselas soon as she saw her, gave her a hearty welcome and would fain havefrom her a particular account of how she came there. So the damsel toldher the whole story. The lady, to whom Pietro was also known, as being afriend of her husband, was distressed to hear of his misadventure, andbeing told where he was taken, gave him up for dead. So she said to thedamsel:--"Since so it is that thou knowest n
ot how Pietro has fared, thoushalt stay here with me until such time as I may have opportunity to sendthee safely back to Rome."

  Meanwhile Pietro, perched on his oak in as woeful a plight as might be,had espied, when he should have been in his first sleep, a full score ofwolves, that, as they prowled, caught sight of the nag, and straightwaywere upon him on all sides. The horse, as soon as he was ware of theirapproach, strained on the reins till they snapped, and tried to make goodhis escape; but, being hemmed in, was brought to bay, and made a longfight of it with his teeth and hooves; but in the end they bore him downand throttled him and forthwith eviscerated him, and, the whole packfalling upon him, devoured him to the