Bergamino and Cangrande
Intro
- Storyteller: Filostrato
- Filostrato snipes at Emilia for making an easy target (i.e. the clergy) the subject of her tale. Anyone can criticize the corrupt clergy.
- It's cooler, he says, when you take aim at an "unusual object" and hit your mark.
- The hero of his story will deserve greater praise, because he criticized a great prince.
Story
- Cangrande della Scala, Lord of Verona, was usually a generous prince in all things. But one year, he had an attack of stinginess.
- He called together entertainers for a great party, but once everyone arrived he changed his mind and sent them all away with almost nothing.
- One of these was Bergamino, a comedian, who received nothing for his preparations from Cangrande.
- But he hung around anyway, hoping that the prince would loosen his purse strings and make it worth his while.
- Bergamino got nothing for his patience except an enormous bill from the inn where he stayed.
- In the end, he had to barter three of his finest gowns to the innkeeper for his room.
- But he stayed on. Bergamino put himself directly in front of Cangrande so the prince could see how dejected he was about not getting paid.
- Cangrande eventually took the bait and asked him what could possibly be wrong?
- Bergamino responded with a relevant story about Primas, a renowned grammarian, and a similar encounter he had with a notoriously generous Abbot of Cluny.
- Though Primas was a famous poet, he was poverty-stricken and learned that he could get a good breakfast if he went to see the Abbot of Cluny.
- But Primas wanted to make sure he didn't starve on the journey in case he got lost. So he took three loaves of bread with him.
- When he arrives at the monastery, sure enough, they're preparing a sumptuous breakfast.
- However, it was the practice not to set food on the table till the Abbot had entered the hall.
- When the Abbot walks through the door, the first person he sees is Primas, who's dirty and ill-mannered. It turns him off completely and he goes back to his room.
- Primas decides to dig into his emergency rations while he waits for the Abbot's temper to cool.
- Unfortunately, the Abbot's serving men tell him that Primas is chowing down on his own vittles in the dining room. This makes the Abbot feel even angrier toward the vagrant.
- But the Abbot has a sudden insight. He's always been generous, even to people who didn't deserve it. Why the sudden attack of miserliness?
- He finally thinks to ask who Primas is. When he finds out, he's appalled. Primas the grammarian!
- So the Abbot returns to the hall and puts Primas in a place of honor. He also gives him lovely parting gifts and puts his residence at Primas' disposal.
- When Bergamino finishes the story, Cangrande gets it. He tells Bergamino that, like the Abbot, he doesn't know why he's been so harsh with Bergamino.
- But he'll make exactly the same amends to him as the Abbot had done with Primas.
- In the end, Bergamino leaves with a lovely robe, money, a horse, and access to Cangrande's home for as long as he wants to stay.