Here begins the Eighth Day, wherein, under the rule of Lauretta, are discussed the tricks that people in general, men and women alike, are forever playing upon one another.

At the beginning of the day we're witness to another break. The group, after the scandalous stories of the previous day, separate themselves from nature and allow civilization back in by way of going to church. The shade of night had departed and the suns rays were illuminating even the highest of mountain peaks...

Although this can be seen as a sort of cleansing from the previous day's activities and discussion, it also may not be seen as such a great breach of the outside world on our little group. Seeing how church/god/heaven has such an ethereal, celestial, make-believe, and mythological mystique about it, it really isn't much of a breach at all in my opinion. If anything, back then, it may have helped to bring them closer to another world beyond our own; something more angelic or heavenly.

The stories of this day, chosen by Lauretta, are ones that pertain to the tricks people play on each other. I expect to see a lot of people have their tricks backfire on them and some sort of justice be found before the conclusion to most of the tales has been reached.

1st Neifile

intention: "to commend the man and censure the woman, and to show that men are just as capable of deceiving those who trust them, as of being deceived by in whom they place their trust."


"I declare that any woman who strays from the path of virtue for monetary gain deserves to be burnt alive, whereas the woman who yields to the forces of love, knowing how powerful they are, deserves a lenient judge who will order her acquitted..." Here we see the old debate about which kind of adultery is ok. It's a recurrent argument in the D. The characters seem to think that it's ok to cheat for love but not for money. A woman who cheats for money should be burned alive? This is a female character advocating this, which just goes to show how human opinion can be shaped within a culture. In our culture there are very few women who would share this point of view. Most would agree that the woman should cheat, and if caught and reproached for her behavior, get divorced and take half her husband's possessions.

Marriage was something very different long ago and it hasn't been until recently that love is the reason people get married. I think there have been forces at work for a very long time that have helped to keep people together but those forces aren't really at work today. With equal opportunity and such a large "middle class" the prospects of marrying for money are very limited. A man and a woman both have responsibilities to earn a living as a single income household is nearly impossible to even imagine. It's easy to leave a relationship without any social censure and it's financially advantageous for females to do so. There are major benefits to getting a divorce for a woman and some for a man as well.

We can see by these stories that people 'fall in love' or in plain English, want to screw many different people. We see something physically attractive or perceive some innate quality in an individual and a spark is lit somewhere in our bodies that propels and motivates us to unite with them sexually. That doesn't mean that there aren't people who prefer monogamous relationships. I'm just saying that there are many many precedents for people seeking sex outside of a the legally binding contractual agreement called marriage. An attempt to perverse and corrupt our true nature? Maybe.

I love how in her story the man goes from loving the woman to instantly hating her when she asks for money!!! The man feels something pure for a woman that he has idealized. She has thrown his image of her in the mud and so now he looks at her in disgust. This story is worth reading by everyone. It shows how a less than virtuous behavior and failure to respect yourself can cause someone's opinion of you to diminish.

2nd Panfilo

On priests: "who have proclaimed a crusade against our wives, and who seem to think, when they succeed in laying one of them on her back, that they have earned full remission of all their sins..."

The moral of this story is made clear: You shouldn't believe every thing that a priest tells you.

In the notes the translator excuses himself by admitting that "no translation could do proper justice to (this story's) high-spirited account of rustic midsummer passion, reinforced in the telling by a constant stream of Florentinisms and double meanings."

I have a feeling that most of the book fits this description and so it must have been incredibly difficult to translate and should be read in the proper Italian to fully appreciate it. Even then, I imagine it would be unlikely to appreciate it fully due to the evolution of the Italian language.

Again, in this story we see a woman receiving her reward for asking for money in return for sexual favors.

3rd Elissa

This story was absolutely hysterical as nearly all the Colandrino stories are for me. I loved loved loved this story and it's one of my favorites in the D.

I laughed when I thought about all the potential animal dung Colandrino would pick up when they told him to collect dry black stones even though he wound up only collecting rocks. When he beats his wife....!!! OMG I was laughing out loud. I don't agree with wife beating but the way B. relates it it's just slap stick comedy. It's great!

"We don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg." I found this very curious. If this was a literal translation then I wonder when the story of the goose and the golden egg was made.

4th Emilia

"And in fact, I have sometimes had occasion to reflect, that if women were made of silver, you couldn't turn them into coins, as they bend too easily."
"if need be, I would sleep with half a dozen men, let alone one." hahahaha!!!! wow!

This was another extremely amusing story.

5th Filostrato skip this one if you want

6th Filomena
Another amusing Colandrino story. It's not as funny as the first but a pleasant read nonetheless. Unfortunately, I didn't really appreciate how his friends took advantage of him this time. To play a trick on someone is one thing but to steal from them is just wrong.

7th Pampinea

Moral: "it will teach you to think twice before playing tricks on people, which is always a sensible precaution."

From Notes: The scholar in this tale, the longest in the D., is thought by many commentators to be in part a self-portrait, the account of Rinieri's encounter with the widow Elena reflecting some keenly felt personal experience of unrequited love. An interpretation along those lines seems to be strengthened by a later work, Corbaccio, in which B. writes a first person narrative describing how he fell desperately in love with a widow by whom he was heartlessly rejected.

Another story in which love turns to hate but in this case it is because the woman has decided to play with the heart of her wooer.

"after all, did you not ask him, when you were cavorting together, whether he considered my stupidity or your love for him to be the greater?" How did he know that this conversation took place and the words that were said????

"For a savage beast of your sort, death is the only fit punishment, the only just revenge, though admittedly, had I been dealing with a human being, I should already have done enough. So whilst I am not an eagle, yet, knowing that you are not a dove, but a poisonous snake, I intend to harry you with all the hated and all the strength of a man who is fighting his oldest enemy."

His 'oldest enemy' must be people who thought themselves too good for his company and treated him as a play thing.

"I should still have had my pen, with which I should have lampooned you so mercilessly,..." Threats from a man of letters. It really feels as though the main character is B. himself. It feels like B. is threatening everyone he ever hated.

"The power of the pen is far greater than those people suppose who have not proved it by experience."
"I advise you therefore to think twice, ladies, before you play such tricks, especially when you have a scholar to deal with." hahahaha

This story was told by Pampinea. I think that's worth mentioning again. B. goes above and beyond to really put a hurting on this women but I don't find it misogynistic. He didn't attack females, he attacked a female for toying with him.

8th Fiammetta

B. feels the need to apologize for the cruelty and subject matter of the previous story. It felt more like a personal vent or fantasy vendetta than a story. He beguiles his audience by promising a more entertaining tale and recognizes the scholar's deeds as harsh. He confesses, basically, that the story was not at all pleasant.

Share and share alike... I like this story.

9th Lauretta

A Bruno and Buffalmacco story
"these ladies trip the light fantastic" I'm starting to wonder about this asshole's translating skills.
"with a cacophonous voice like that, you could charm the vultures out of the trees." hahaha!
This was an amusing tale and worth reading! All Coldandrino's and BB's stories are pretty funny.

10th Dioneo
"... skinning them wholesale,... so daintily has the lady-barber known how to wield her razor." Brilliant!!!!