Messer Carisendi
Intro
- Storyteller: Lauretta
- The brigata agrees that Nathan has one-upped everyone so far in his generosity. Lauretta, next to tell a story, is feeling story exhaustion. She says that they've covered almost every possible topic in the ten days of their game and it would be hard to find something to share that had not already been told.
- So she's going to have to go with an old standby and tell a story about lovers.
- Lovers are always giving up things they want to possess the objects of their love, so they're magnanimous in their own way.
- Besides, the listeners are all young, so love is really all they want to talk about anyway.
Story
- Lauretta takes us back to Bologna, where one Messer Gentile Carisendi is deeply in love with a woman called Catalina. Alas (and there's always an alas), she's happily married to Niccoluccio, a chief magistrate of Modena.
- Though Gentile's a good and kind gentleman, Catalina doesn't return his love.
- When Niccoluccio goes off to Modena to fill his position as magistrate, Catalina—who's pregnant—stays behind in one of his residences outside the city.
- She becomes ill and, to the eyes of all her kinsfolk, dies. They don't bother to save the baby, because they think it's too premature.
- Catalina's buried in a tomb and her story's over. That is, until Gentile finds out about her death.
- He feels that it's too bad that he never had the chance to kiss her, so he rides out to her tomb, breaks in and lies down beside her for a kiss.
- Here's where it gets a little creepy: while he's at it, he decides to feel her breast, too.
- He figures he'll never get another opportunity like this.
- Lauretta comments, you know men, when they want one thing it leads to another…
- While caressing her breast, Gentile feels a faint heartbeat there, so he gently removes her from the tomb and brings her to his house where his mother tends to her.
- Soon, Catalina revives; all it takes is a warm bath and a cozy fireplace.
- On regaining consciousness, she realizes she's in a strange place. Gentile tells her what's happened.
- She begs him not to dishonor her or her husband, and he gallantly agrees.
- She wants to return to her husband as soon as possible, but Gentile has grander plans. He wants to do something more ceremonial to mark the occasion, but he has to go out of town first.
- He asks Catalina to stay in his home until he returns.
- Catalina agrees. After all, he did rescue her from the tomb.
- Soon, she gives birth to a son (she was farther along than her kinsfolk thought). Everyone's overjoyed.
- Gentile arranges for a lavish banquet and invites Niccoluccio and family out to his house.
- He keeps Catalina and the baby hidden and tells his company that he'd like to perform a Persian custom.
- This custom requires the host to show his guests his most precious possession. But first, he has a question.
- He asks Niccoluccio, who's a magistrate, about the ownership rights over a servant that had been cast into the streets by his original lords and picked up by another master.
- Who legally gets to keep this servant? Niccoluccio says that the second master has rights, since he picked up the servant and nursed it back to health.
- At this point, Gentile reveals Catalina and her baby. No one recognizes them at first.
- Even Catalina's husband asks her where's she's from. She doesn't reply.
- Gentile explains that this is the servant of whom he spoke, and since he's the second master, he has legal rights to keep her.
- But he's not going to do that. He tells everyone what happened and who the lady really is.
- Everyone bursts into tears and waits to see what Gentile will do next.
- Gentile says that although this is no longer the wife his family cast out, the child really does belong to Niccoluccio. Therefore, he'll give them back. He presents the baby to Niccoluccio. More tears all around.
- Niccoluccio's overjoyed, and he and Gentile become the best of friends after this.
- Now Lauretta poses a question: wasn't Gentile the most noble of all the generous figures they had discussed that day?
- After all, he was a young lover and still managed to control his passions to do the right thing.