How we cite our quotes: (Day.Story.Page)
Quote #4
'I comprehend that false deceit
And see how, while I thought that she
Seemed to allow my love, she'd found
Another servant, spurning me.
Ah, then I could not see
My future misery!
But she the other took
And me for him forsook.' (IV.Conclusion.364, Filostrato's song).
Filostrato's lament shows that he's been thrashed on the rocky road of love. Much of the deception in The Decameron involves, like this passage, lovers who are cheating on their spouses and going to great lengths to conceal it. Often, this is excused because, as we know, sexual passion just can't be denied, especially within the rules of courtly love.
Quote #5
A little later, the [roasted] crane was set before Currado and his guests, and much to his surprise, he found that one of the legs was missing. So he sent for Chichibio and asked him what had happened to it. Being a Venetian, and hence a good liar, Chichibio promptly replied:
'My lord, cranes have only one leg.' (VI.4.455, Neifile's story of Chichibio and the roasted crane)
Ever hear the saying "One lie begets another"? We believe that, and Chichibio here can attest to it. Generally speaking, subsequent lies are meant to save one's hide. Happily for Chichibio, he's able to have the last hilarious word and his story ends with laughter instead of a thrashing. Also, please note the sniping against Venetians here. If you pay close enough attention, you'll notice that our young Florentines have a whole sackful of stereotypes at their disposal when discussing their fellow Italians.
Quote #6
When he saw that [the casket] was full of coal [instead of the religious relic it was supposed to contain], Guccio Balena was the last person he suspected of playing him such a trick, for he knew him to be incapable of rising to such heights of ingenuity. (VI.10.474, Dioneo's tale of Friar Cipolla and the Angel Gabriel's feather)
The trade in relics during the middle ages was so brisk that John Calvin once exclaimed that if all the relics of Christ's cross were brought together in one place "they would form a whole ship's cargo." Friar Cipolla (whose translated name is "Brother Onion") is clearly the type of ecclesiastical fraud who can prey on the gullibility and lack of experience of the faithful in order to make money off fake religious objects. He thinks fast and explains that the coals were the coals over which St. Lawrence was roasted. Everyone buys it. The tale suggests that Friar Cipolla's pretty awesome in being able to make up a new story on the spot when the originally promised relic didn't appear. In fact, Cipolla insults Balena by suggesting he's too stupid to play a good trick.