NOVEL II.
An equerry belonging to King Agilulf lay with his queen; of which the king making a secret discovery, set a mark upon him, by shearing the hair off his head; upon which, he who was so shorn, cut that of his fellow-servants in like manner, and so escaped further punishment.
Filostrato having concluded his novel, which made the ladies sometimes blush and sometimes smile, the queen ordered Pampinea to follow; and she began pleasantly in this manner: - There are some people so indiscreet as to manifest that they know what they had better be unacquainted with, and who think that by bringing to light other people's offences, they lessen their own shame; whereas they make that all the greater. This I shall show to be true, by its contrary; setting forth the craft which a certain fellow (of no more account than Masetto) made use of to outwit a very wise and worthy prince.
Agilulf, king of Lombardy, fixed the seat of his kingdom, as his predecessors had done, at Pavia; having taken to wife Teudelinga, the widow of Vetari, his predecessor; a beautiful and most virtuous lady, but unhappy in having a lover. The affairs of the kingdom being now in a prosperous way, by the good management of King Agilulf, it happened that one of the queen's equerries fell immoderately in love with her. Though a man of the lowest extraction, he was in other respects far above the station in which he was placed; comely and graceful, and in person not unlike the king himself. His low rank did not prevent his having sense enough to see the inconvenience with which this passion might be attended; therefore he was so wise as to make discovery of it to no one; not even so much as by his looks to the queen herself. But though he lived without the least hopes of ever attaining his desire, yet he could not help glorying in having fixed his affections so high: and being entirely captivated, he took more than ordinary care (far beyond the rest of his fellow-servants) to do everything that he thought would please her. Whence it happened that if the queen had a mind to ride out at any time, she oftener rode the horse that he had the care of than any other; which he esteemed a singular favour, never stirring from the stirrup; and could he but touch her clothes, he was then the happiest man in the world. But as we often see that love is most violent where there is the least probability of success, so it happened to this groom; for his passion was such, he being without the least hope whatever, that he often resolved, as he was unable to disclose it, to die. Considering in what manner he should quit the world, he resolved at length that it should be so as to convince her that it was for her sake, and at the same time so as to enable him to try his fortune, if it were possible to obtain his desire in whole or part. He had no thought of speaking, or even writing to the queen (for he knew both were to no purpose), but chose rather to attempt her bed by stratagem: and the only feasible stratagem to that end was in some way or other to personate the king, and so get admittance into her chamber.
In order then to see how dressed and in what manner his majesty used to go to the queen, he hid himself often in the night in a great room in the palace, that was between the king's apartment and that of the queen; and one night he saw the king come out of his chamber, wrapped in a large mantle, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a wand in the other, and go to the queen's bed-room, where without speaking a word, he knocked two or three times at the door with his wand, and it was immediately opened, and the torch taken out of his hand. The groom having observed all this, and having seen the king return in like manner, determined to do the same. Accordingly, he procured such a mantle as the king's, with a torch and wand, and having first washed himself very clean, that the smell of the stables might not be offensive to the queen, or make her discover the trick, he hid himself as usual till every one was asleep, which he thought a fit time either to succeed in his desires, or to bring upon himself, by a most daring deed, that death he had long wished for. He struck a light, therefore; he kindled his torch, and folding himself well in the mantle, went to the door, and rapped twice with his stick. The door was immediately opened by a damsel half asleep, who took the light out of his hand, and set it in a comer of the room, while he stripped off his mantle, and got into the queen's bed. There he had the full gratification of his wishes, without a word being spoken on either side (for he knew the king's temper at certain times, and especially when he was disturbed, was such, that he would neither speak himself, nor be spoken to); and having stayed as long as he thought it was safe to stay, he took his mantle and torch, and stole softly to his own bed.
He had scarcely got into it before the king came to the queen's chamber, at which she was much surprised, and made bold to say to him, "My lord, what is the meaning of your returning so quickly? It is but this moment that you left me, and then you stayed longer than usual." The king, on hearing this, concluded that she had been imposed upon by somebody or other, who had assumed his person and manner: but, like a wise man, when he found that she was entirely ignorant of it, as well as every one else, he resolved that she should continue so: not like a great many simple people, who would have been apt to say, "I never was with you to-night before: who was it that was here? How did he come? In what manner did he go away?" All which must have given the lady great uneasiness, and the thing would have been in every one's mouth: whereas, by his discreet silence, he avoided both the one and the other. Seeming then more at ease in his looks and talk, than he was really in his mind, he said to her, "And is my coming again to you so soon disagreeable? however, I will leave you for to-night."
Highly incensed against the villain, who had dared to do him that injury, he now left the room, resolving to find him out, if it were possible; for he concluded he must be in the house, as there seemed no way for him to have got out. Taking a small light, therefore, in a lantern, he went into a long chamber over the stables, where all his domestics lay in different beds: and supposing, whoever he was, that he should find a difference in the beating of his heart and pulse, he began to examine them all from one end to the other. They were every one asleep, except that person who had been with the queen; and he seeing the king come into the room, and guessing the reason, thought it best to counterfeit sleep, and see what he meant to do. His majesty had now laid his hand upon many of them, without finding cause to suspect any one, till coming to that person, he immediately said to himself, "This is the man." Being desirous that nobody should know anything of his design, he for the present did nothing more than just cut off, with a pair of scissors he had brought with him, a part of the man's hair, which they wore very long at that time, in order to know him again the next morning; and having done this, he returned directly to his chamber. The man was wise enough to know what was the intent of this; therefore, without delay, he took a pair of scissors which they used for their horses, and clipping all the people's hair above their ears in like manner, went to bed again, without being perceived by any one.
In the morning the king rose, and ordered, before the palace gates were opened, that all his domestics should come before him, which accordingly they did, standing with their heads uncovered; when he began to inspect them one after another, in order to find out the person whom he had marked; and perceiving that many of them had their hair cut alike, he began to wonder, and said to himself, "This fellow, though he be of low condition, is of no common understanding." Therefore, seeing that he could in no way find out the person, without making a great stir and noise; and unwilling also to incur a shame of that sort, for the sake of a little revenge, he thought it best to let the person know, by a word or two, that he was observed, and to admonish him for the future. So turning to them all, he said, "Whoever he is, let him do so no more; and all of you go about your business." Another person would have put them to the rack, to find out what would be much better concealed, and any revenge for which would, instead of lessening, have enhanced the disgrace, and brought dishonour upon the lady. The domestics all wondered at the king's words, and asked one another what could be the meaning of them: but nobody was wise enough to understand them, except the man aimed at; who kept his knowledge to himself as long as the king lived, never daring to run the like risk any more.
[In the 40th chapter of the "Gesta Romanorum,” said to be from Macrobius, a wife's infidelity is discovered by feeling her pulse in conversation; but a story much nearer to that of Boccaccio occurs in Heber's French metrical romance of "the Seven Sages," though, according to Dunlop, it is not in the original Syntipas. The tale, however, has been taken immediately from the 98th of the "Cento Novelle Antiche,” and it has been imitated in turn in the "Palfrenier” of La Fontaine. Giannone, in his "History of Naples,” has censured, not without some reason, the impertinence of Boccaccio in applying this story, without right, truth, or pretence, to the pious Queen Theudelinda.]
