The Pleasant Nights - Giovanfrancesco Straparola da Caravaggio (approx. 1480 - after 1557)

Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019

The Pleasant Nights
Giovanfrancesco Straparola da Caravaggio (approx. 1480 - after 1557)

The bishop of a small city, Aodi, after the death of a relative, Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza, becomes one of the contenders for the Duke's throne. However, the vicissitudes of stormy time and the hatred of enemies force him to leave Milan and settle in his episcopal residence in Lod; but also there, near Milan, relatives-rivals do not leave the bishop alone. Then he, along with his daughter, the young beautiful widow Lucretius Gonzaga, leaves for Venice. Here, on the island of Murano, the father and his daughter lease a magnificent palazzo; In this palazzo around Signora Lucretia soon begins the most exquisite society: beautiful, educated, pleasant in the encirclement of the maidens and in no way inferior to them cavalry.

In the midst of a grand Venetian carnival. To make the pastime even more enjoyable, the beautiful Lucretius offers the following: let every evening after dancing, the five girls, determined by lot, tell the guests entertaining novellas and fairy tales, accompanied by their cunning riddles.

The maidens around Lucretius were rarely found to be boycoty and capable storytellers, and therefore they were able to deliver pleasure to their listeners with their stories, equally fascinating and instructive. Here are just a few of them.

Lived once in Genoa a nobleman named Raynaldo Scala. Seeing that his life was eclipsing sunshine, Rinaldo called his only son Salardo and ordered him to keep his instructions forever and never to deviate from them forever. The instructions were as follows: no matter how strong the love would have Salardo attached to his wife, he should by no means reveal any of his secrets to her; nor under any kind, raise up as his son and do the heir to the state of a child born not of him; under no circumstances should not give themselves up to the power of the sovereign, the one-state-ruling country.

Not a year later, after the death of his father, Salardo took the wife of Theodore, the daughter of one of the first Genoese nobles. As their spouses loved each other, God did not bless them with their offspring, and therefore they decided to raise up as their own child a son of a poor widow, who was called Postumyo. After a certain time, Salardo left Genoa and settled in Monferrato, where he succeeded very quickly and became the closest friend of the Marquess here. Among the joys and luxury of court life, Salardo came to the conclusion that his father had just survived in the old age: after breaking his father's instructions, he not only did not lose anything, but, on the contrary, acquired a lot. Grinning over the memory of his father, the wicked son intended to break the third instruction, and at the same time, to assume the loyalty of Theodora.

Salardo stole a favorite hunting marquise falcon, took it to his friend Fransoe and asked to hide it for a while. Returning home, he killed one of his own falcons and ordered his wife to prepare him for dinner; He told her that it was a falcon marquis killed by her. The tearful Theodora executed her husband's orders, but refused to touch the bird at the table, for which Salardo awarded her a good crap. The next morning, getting up early in the morning, all in tears from the incurred insult, Theodora hurried to the palace and told the marquis about the husband's atrocities. The Marquis fluttered with anger and ordered immediately to hang Salardo, and to divide his property into three parts: one - widow, the second - to his son, and the third - a executioner. The resourceful Postumyo volunteered to hang his father in person, so that all the property remained in the family.

Theodore's intelligence has come to fruition. Salardo, who bitterly and sincerely repented of his son's disrespect, was already standing on a scaffold with a loop on his neck when Francoe delivered the marquee to the irrefutable proof of the innocence of a friend. The Marquise forgave Salardo and ordered him to hang Postumyo instead, but Salardo persuaded the gentleman to release the villain on all four sides, and in return for the property he wanted to take, he handed a loop that was almost tied to his neck. Nobody heard anything about Postummo, Theodora hid in the monastery and died soon there, and Salardo returned to Genoa, where he lived peacefully for many years, handing over much of his condition to God's pleasing affairs.

Another story took place in Venice. Lived in this glorious city, a merchant named Dimitrios. He kept his young wife, Polissen, in luxury, which was unprecedented for their estate, and all because he loved her very much. Dimitrios often left the house for a long time in commercial matters, and the cute and well-off woman, in his absence, became confused with one priest. Who knows how long their shoulders would last, if not Manuso, kum and friend Dimitrios. The house of Manuso stood directly opposite the house of an unlucky merchant, and one fine evening he saw the clergyman steal over the door and how he and his mistress engaged in what they called uncomfortable in words.

When Dimitri returned to Venice, Manuso told him what he knew. Dimitriot doubted the truthfulness of the words of a friend, but he suggested to him how to convince himself. And once again Dimitrios told Polisen that he was leaving for Cyprus, and he himself secretly escaped from the harbor to Manuso's house. Later in the evening, he rushed to the beggar, smeared his face with the dirt and knocked on the door of his own house, praying to prevent him from freezing during a rainy night. The gray-haired maid pushed the beggar and took him to the room for the night, adjacent to the bedroom of Polissya. Of the doubts of Dimitri, there was no trace left, and early in the morning he slipped out of the house, no one noticed.

After washing and changing his clothes, he again knocked on the door of his own house, in response to the bewilderment of his wife explaining that, allegedly, the bad weather forced him to return from the road. Polissen barely managed to hide a priest in a chest with dresses, where he hid himself, trembling with fear. Dimitriot sent a maid to call Polisen's brothers to dinner, and he himself had never left home. Shurins gladly responded to the invitation of Dimitrios. After lunch the master began to paint, in what luxury and content he contained their sister, and in the proof ordered Polisene to show the brothers all their countless jewels and outfits. Yes, she was not alone, she opened the chests one by one, until at last the priest was not taken out of the dress with the light of God. Polisen's brothers wanted to kill him, but Dimitrios convinced them of killing a spiritual person, Yes, besides, when she is in one underwear, is not good. He told his wife to leave the shrines. On the way home they did not keep righteous anger. They killed the poor man to death.

Upon learning of the death of his wife, Dimitriot thought of a servant - she was a beautiful, kind and plump. She became his adorable wife and owner of the costumes and jewelry of the late Polissen.

Having finished the story of Dimitrios and Polisen, Ariadne, as agreed, made a riddle: "Three good friends somehow pirovali / At the table set by the ... </> And here the servant brings them in the final / Three pigeons on the dish expensive. / Everyone of his own, without spending a word, / Cleaned up, and yet there are two."

How could that be? This is not yet the most cunning of those riddles that the narrators offered to the gathered, but she also put them to a standstill. And the answer is this: just one of the buddies was called Vseya.

But what happened somehow on Kapraya Island. On this island, near the royal palace lived a poor widow with a son named Pietro, and nicknamed the Fool. Pietro was a fisherman, but a fisherman was useless, and therefore they and his mother starved forever. Once, the fool was lucky and he pulled out of the water of a large tuna, who suddenly prayed in a human voice, say, let me go, Pietro, from my living one you will be more proku than the fried. Pentecost was pity and was immediately rewarded - he caught so much fish as he had never seen in his life. When he returned home with a prey, the royal daughter, Luciana, by his custom, became an evil joy over him. The fool could not stand, ran to the shore, called for tuna and ordered to make Luciana get pregnant. A deadline was passed, and a girl who was barely twelve years old gave birth to a charming baby. The consequence was: in the palace, under the fear of death, they assembled all male islanders over thirteen years of age. To the utter surprise, the baby was recognized as the father of Pietro Fool.

The king was not in a position to bear such a shame. He ordered to plant Lucan, Pietro and the baby in a refined barrel and throw them into the sea. The fool was not at all scared and, sitting in a barrel, told Luciane about the magic tuna and about where the baby came from. Then he called for tuna and ordered to listen to Lucan as his own. She first ordered the tuna to throw a barrel on the shore. Leaving the barrel and looking around, Luciana wished that the most luxurious palace was erected on the shore, and Pietro was dirty and the fool turned into the most beautiful and wise man in the world. All her desires were fulfilled in an instant.

In the meantime, the king and the queen could not forgive themselves that they had been so cruel with their daughter and grandson, and, in order to alleviate their torment, they went to Jerusalem. Along the way, they envisioned the beautiful palace on the island and ordered the shipmen to stick to the shore. The great thing was their joy when they found a living and unharmed grandson and a daughter who told them all the miraculous story that came with her and Pietro. They all lived happily ever after, and when King died, Pietro began to rule his kingdom.

In Bohemia, the next storyteller began his story, a poor widow lived. When she died, she left the sons of her only a quiche, a board for cutting bread and a cat. The cat got to the youngest - Constantino Lucky. Constantine was littered: what is the problem with a cat, when the stomach cripples its hunger from the back? But then the cat said that she would take care of the food. The cat ran in the field, caught a hare and went to the royal palace with prey. In the palace she was led to the king, whom she presented a hare in the name of her lord Constantine, the kindest, most beautiful and most powerful man in the world. From the respect to the glorious Lord Constantine, the king invited the guest to the table, and the one, being full of himself, cleverly secretly crammed the full amount of dishes for the master.

Then the cat repeatedly went to the palace with different racks, but soon it was bored to her, and she asked the owner to fully trust her, promising that in a short time would make him a rich man. And one day, she led Constantine on the riverbank to the royal palace, split up the donagh, pushed into the water and shouted that Messer Constantino drowned. The scribes rushed to the scream, dragged Constantino out of the water, gave her beautiful clothes and brought them to the king. The cat told him a story about how her lord was sent to the palace with rich gifts, but the robbers, having learned about it, robbed and almost killed him. The king hugged the visitor in every way and even gave his daughter Elizethet for him. After the wedding, the rich caravan was equipped with dowels and sent to the newlyweds under a secure guard. Of course, there were no houses in the house. but the cat made everything and took care of everything. She ran forward and nobody met on the road, all under the fear of death ordered to answer that everything around belongs to Messer Constantine the Happy. Upon reaching the magnificent castle and discovering a small garrison there, the cat told the soldiers that from a minute they should attack innumerable troops, and that they could save their lives in the only way - to call their lord Messer Constantine. So they did. The young people were conveniently located in the castle, whose true owner, as soon as it became known, died in a foreign land without leaving offspring. When the father of Elizetheth died, Constantine, as the son-in-law of the deceased, took the Bohemian throne rightfully. that everything around belongs to the Messer Constantine to the Happy. Upon reaching the magnificent castle and discovering a small garrison there, the cat told the soldiers that from a minute they should attack innumerable troops, and that they could save their lives in the only way - to call their lord Messer Constantine. So they did. The young people were conveniently located in the castle, whose true owner, as soon as it became known, died in a foreign land without leaving offspring. When the father of Elizetheth died, Constantine, as the son-in-law of the deceased, took the Bohemian throne rightfully. that everything around belongs to the Messer Constantine to the Happy. Upon reaching the magnificent castle and discovering a small garrison there, the cat told the soldiers that from a minute they should attack innumerable troops, and that they could save their lives in the only way - to call their lord Messer Constantine. So they did. The young people were conveniently located in the castle, whose true owner, as soon as it became known, died in a foreign land without leaving offspring. When the father of Elizetheth died, Constantine, as the son-in-law of the deceased, took the Bohemian throne rightfully. and that they can save life in the only way - to call their master Messer Constantine. So they did. The young people were conveniently located in the castle, whose true owner, as soon as it became known, died in a foreign land without leaving offspring. When the father of Elizetheth died, Constantine, as the son-in-law of the deceased, took the Bohemian throne rightfully. and that they can save life in the only way - to call their master Messer Constantine. So they did. The young people were conveniently located in the castle, whose true owner, as soon as it became known, died in a foreign land without leaving offspring. When the father of Elizetheth died, Constantine, as the son-in-law of the deceased, took the Bohemian throne rightfully.

Many more tales and stories were told in the palace of beautiful Lucretia on the island of Murano for thirteen carnival nights. At the end of the thirteenth night on Venice, a bell ringing that proclaimed the end of the Carnival and the beginning of the Great Lent was spread, calling on the pious Christians to leave their amusement for prayer and repentance.