The Decameron, Volume II
while,he turned to Messer Neri, and asked who the two damsels were.Whereto:--"Sire," replied Messer Neri, "they are my twin daughters, andthey are called, the one, Ginevra the Fair, and the other, Isotta theBlonde." Whereupon the King was loud in praise of them, and exhortedMesser Neri to bestow them in marriage. To which Messer Neri demurred,for that he no longer had the means. And nought of the supper nowremaining to serve, save the fruit, in came the two young damsels ingowns of taffeta very fine, bearing in their hands two vast silversalvers full of divers fruits, such as the season yielded, and set themon the table before the King. Which done, they withdrew a little spaceand fell a singing to music a ditty, of which the opening words were asfollows:--
Love, many words would not suffice There where I am come to tell.
And so dulcet and delightsome was the strain that to the King, his eyesand ears alike charmed, it seemed as if all the nine orders of angelswere descended there to sing. The song ended, they knelt and respectfullycraved the King's leave to depart; which, though sorely against his will,he gave them with a forced gaiety.
Supper ended, the King and his companions, having remounted their horses,took leave of Messer Neri, and conversing of divers matters, returned tothe royal quarters; where the King, still harbouring his secret passion,nor, despite affairs of state that supervened, being able to forget thebeauty and sweetness of Ginevra the Fair, for whose sake he likewiseloved her twin sister, was so limed by Love that he could scarce think ofaught else. So, feigning other reasons, he consorted familiarly withMesser Neri, and did much frequent his garden, that he might see Ginevra.And at length, being unable to endure his suffering any longer, and beingminded, for that he could devise no other expedient, to despoil theirfather not only of the one but of the other damsel also, he discoveredboth his love and his project to Count Guy; who, being a good man andtrue, thus made answer:--"Sire, your tale causes me not a littleastonishment, and that more especially because of your conversation fromyour childhood to this very day, I have, methinks, known more than anyother man. And as no such passion did I ever mark in you, even in youryouth, when Love should more readily have fixed you with his fangs, asnow I discern, when you are already on the verge of old age, 'tis to meso strange, so surprising that you should veritably love, that I deem itlittle short of a miracle. And were it meet for me to reprove you, wellwot I the language I should hold to you, considering that you are yet inarms in a realm but lately won, among a people as yet unknown to you, andwily and treacherous in the extreme, and that the gravest anxieties andmatters of high policy engross your mind, so that you are not as yet ableto sit you down, and nevertheless amid all these weighty concerns youhave given harbourage to false, flattering Love. This is not the wisdomof a great king, but the folly of a feather-pated boy. And moreover, whatis far worse, you say that you are resolved to despoil this poor knightof his two daughters, whom, entertaining you in his house, and honouringyou to the best of his power, he brought into your presence all butnaked, testifying thereby, how great is his faith in you, and how assuredhe is that you are a king, and not a devouring wolf. Have you so soonforgotten that 'twas Manfred's outrageous usage of his subjects thatopened you the way into this realm? What treachery was he ever guilty ofthat better merited eternal torment, than 'twould be in you to wrest fromone that honourably entreats you at once his hope and his consolation?What would be said of you if so you should do? Perchance you deem that'twould suffice to say:--'I did it because he is a Ghibelline.' Is itthen consistent with the justice of a king that those, be they who theymay, who seek his protection, as this man has sought yours, should beentreated after this sort? King, I bid you remember that exceeding greatas is your glory to have vanquished Manfred, yet to conquer oneself is astill greater glory: wherefore you, to whom belongs the correction ofothers, see to it that you conquer yourself, and refrain this unrulypassion; and let not such a blot mar the splendour of your achievements."
Sore stricken at heart by the Count's words, and the more mortified thathe acknowledged their truth, the King heaved a fervent sigh or two, andthen:--"Count," quoth he, "that enemy there is none, however mighty, butto the practised warrior is weak enough and easy to conquer in comparisonof his own appetite, I make no doubt, but, great though the struggle willbe and immeasurable the force that it demands, so shrewdly galled am I byyour words, that not many days will have gone by before I shall withoutfail have done enough to shew you that I, that am the conqueror ofothers, am no less able to gain the victory over myself." And indeed buta few days thereafter, the King, on his return to Naples, being minded atonce to leave himself no excuse for dishonourable conduct, and torecompense the knight for his honourable entreatment of him, did, albeit'twas hard for him to endow another with that which he had most ardentlydesired for himself, none the less resolve to bestow the two damsels inmarriage, and that not as Messer Neri's daughters, but as his own.Wherefore, Messer Neri consenting, he provided both with magnificentdowries, and gave Ginevra the Fair to Messer Maffeo da Palizzi, andIsotta the Blonde to Messer Guglielmo della Magna, noble knights andgreat barons both; which done, sad at heart beyond measure, he betook himto Apulia, and by incessant travail did so mortify his vehement appetitethat he snapped and broke in pieces the fetters of Love, and for the restof his days was no more vexed by such passion.
Perchance there will be those who say that 'tis but a trifle for a kingto bestow two girls in marriage; nor shall I dispute it: but say we thata king in love bestowed in marriage her whom he loved, neither havingtaken nor taking, of his love, leaf or flower or fruit; then this I saywas a feat great indeed, nay, as great as might be.
After such a sort then did this magnificent King, at once generouslyrewarding the noble knight, commendably honouring the damsels that heloved, and stoutly subduing himself.
NOVEL VII.
--King Pedro, being apprised of the fervent love borne him by Lisa, whothereof is sick, comforts her, and forthwith gives her in marriage to ayoung gentleman, and having kissed her on the brow, ever after professeshimself her knight.--
When Fiammetta was come to the end of her story, and not a little praisehad been accorded to the virile magnificence of King Charles, albeit onethere was of the ladies, who, being a Ghibelline, joined not therein,Pampinea, having received the king's command, thus began:--None is thereof discernment, worshipful my ladies, that would say otherwise than youhave said touching good King Charles, unless for some other cause shebear him a grudge; however, for that there comes to my mind the,perchance no less honourable, entreatment of one of our Florentine girlsby one of his adversaries, I am minded to recount the same to you.
What time the French were driven forth of Sicily there dwelt at Palermoone of our Florentines, that was an apothecary, Bernardo Puccini by name,a man of great wealth, that by his lady had an only and exceeding fairdaughter, then of marriageable age. Now King Pedro of Arragon, beinginstated in the sovereignty of the island, did at Palermo make with hisbarons marvellous celebration thereof; during which, as he tilted afterthe Catalan fashion, it befell that Bernardo's daughter, Lisa by name,being with other ladies at a window, did thence espy him in the course,whereat being prodigiously delighted, she regarded him again and again,and grew fervently enamoured of him; nor yet, when the festivities wereended, and she was at home with her father, was there aught she couldthink of but this her exalted and aspiring love. In regard whereof thatwhich most irked her was her sense of her low rank, which scarcepermitted her any hope of a happy issue; but, for all that, give over herlove for the King she would not; nor yet, for fear of worse to come,dared she discover it. The King, meanwhile, recking, witting nothing ofthe matter, her suffering waxed immeasurable, intolerable; and her loveever growing with ever fresh accessions of melancholy, the fair maiden,overborne at last, fell sick, and visibly day by day wasted like snow insunlight. Distraught with grief thereat, her father and mother affordedher such succour as they might with words of good cheer, and counsel ofphysicians, and physic; but all to no purpose; for that she in despair ofher l
ove was resolved no more to live.
Now her father assuring her that there was no whim of hers but should begratified, the fancy took her that, if she might find apt means, shewould, before she died, make her love and her resolve known to the King:wherefore one day she besought her father to cause Minuccio d'Arezzo, tocome to her; which Minuccio, was a singer and musician of those days,reputed most skilful, and well seen of King Pedro. Bernardo, deeming thatLisa desired but to hear him play and sing a while, conveyed her messageto him; and he, being an agreeable fellow, came to her forthwith, andafter giving her some words of loving cheer, sweetly discoursed some airsupon his viol, and then sang her some songs; whereby, while he thought tocomfort her, he did but add fire and flame to her love. Presently thegirl said that she would fain say a few words to him in private, and whenall else were withdrawn from the