Cisti the Baker and Messer Geri Spina
Intro
- Storyteller: Pampinea
- Pampinea laments the fact that sometimes Fortune and Nature conspire to put good men in unsuitable situations or to give them bodies that don't match their great personalities.
- But both Nature and Fortune have a way of hiding the best parts until they're absolutely needed—and then they burst forth.
- Pampinea will tell a story that illustrates this and takes a humble baker as its protagonist.
Story
- Messer Geri Spina is a nobleman in the good graces of Pope Boniface VIII, so when the Pope needs to send a delegation to Florence, he asks Geri to lodge them in his house.
- During this visit, the delegation walks past the local church every day as they get on with their business.
- Next to this church is Cisti's bakery. And Cisti's not just any baker: he's gotten quite rich from his talents in the kitchen, a 14th-century Cake Boss.
- Fortune gave him a humble calling, but rewarded him with riches.
- But Messer Geri, along with most everyone else, doesn't realize that Cisti's wealthy enough to have an awesome wine cellar. They just see the humble part.
- Because it's hot, Cisti decides to arrange things so that Messer Geri will come to him to ask for a drink of wine. FYI, he can't just outright offer it, because of the differences in their social situations. That's how these things work.
- So Cisti sits in the doorway drinking his wine and smacking his lips over its deliciousness until Messer Geri can't stand it anymore. Cisti offers him and his friends a drink.
- They're completely bowled over by how good it is. So every morning, Messer Geri and his group appear at Cisti's to drink a little wine.
- When the papal emissaries are leaving, Messer Geri throws a huge banquet and invites Cisti to it. But Cisti's a humble man and won't accept.
- If Cisti won't attend, Messer Geri hopes he'll send a small flagon of his good wine along to the party, just so his guests can take a little taste of it. He asks his servant to take a small flask for the job.
- This servant, however, is disgruntled that he can never taste his master's wines, so he takes a huge vessel along with him, so he can skim some off the top.
- When Cisti sees this, he chases the servant off, since he knows that Geri would never ask for so much wine. That would be unseemly.
- The servant tells Geri that Cisti has refused his request, saying that Geri would never ask for his wine.
- Geri sends the servant back, who proceeds to visit Cisti again with a supersized container.
- Again, Cisti sends him back to his master empty-handed.
- Messer Geri gets suspicious and asks to see the flagon that the servant brought to Cisti.
- When he sees the size of it, he scolds the greedy servant. Then, he sends a smaller flask for Cisti to fill.
- Cisti knew what was going on the whole time and didn't want to waste his good wines on servants. So now that he sees that Messer Geri knows the score, he sends his new friend his entire supply of good wine.
- Messer Geri receives it happily and from then on the two men are the greatest of friends despite their class differences.