NOVEL VII.
Talano di Molese dreams that a wolf tore his wife's face and throat; and he bids her take care of herself; she disregards his advice, and it happens as he had dreamed.
Pamfilo's novel being concluded, and the good woman's ready wit much commended, the queen turned next to Pampinea, who spoke as follows: - We have had a great deal heretofore upon the subject of dreams, which many people think nothing of; but notwithstanding what has been said, I shall relate what happened, not long since, to a neighbour of mine, for not believing her husband's dream.
I do not know whether you are acquainted with Talano di Molese, a man of great worth. He had a wife, a very handsome woman, but the most fantastical, cross-grained piece of stuff that could be: insomuch, that she would never do anything that was agreeable to other people, neither could anything ever be done to please her: which, though a great affliction to him, Talano was forced to bear with. Now it happened one night, as they were together at a country-house of his, that he dreamed he saw her going through a pleasant grove, not far from his house, when a monstrous fierce wolf seemed to leap from a corner of it, which seized her by the throat, and threw her down, and would have dragged her away, whilst she cried out aloud for help; and upon the wolfs leaving her, it appeared that her face and throat were most miserably torn. In consequence of this dream, he said to her in the morning, "Wife, though your nasty froward temper would never suffer me to have one happy day with you, yet I should be sorry if any harm was to befall you; therefore, if you would be ruled by me, you would not stir out of your house today." Being asked the reason, he related his whole dream; upon which she shook her head and said, "He that means a person ill dreams the same. You express a good deal of concern for me indeed, but you dream only as you could wish it: assure yourself, however, that both now and at all times, I shall be very careful not to give you any such pleasure." Talano replied, "I really guessed what you would say; such thanks a person has for currying a scald head! But think what you will, I spoke it with a good design, and I advise you again to stay at home, or at least not to go into such a grove." - "Well," she replied, "I will oblige you in that."
Afterwards she began to say to herself, "This rogue has been making an assignation with some base woman or other in yonder place, and thinks to frighten me from going thither; I should be blind, indeed, not to see through this artifice; but I will see what sort of cattle they are he is to meet, though I stay the whole day." Having said this, the husband was no sooner out of one door than she went out at the other, posting away to the grove; and being come into the thickest part of it, she stood waiting to see whether anybody came. Continuing upon the watch in this manner, without any fear of the wolf, behold, a monstrous large one rushed out of a close thicket, and seized her by the throat, before she had time, from the first seeing of it, to say so much as, Lord help me! and the brute carried her off as he would a lamb. She could make no noise, because he pinched her throat, nor was she able to help herself in any other manner, so that she must inevitably have been strangled, had not the wolf come in the way of some shepherds, who made a noise, and forced him to quit her. Being known by them, she was carried to her own house, all torn as she was, and was attended by several surgeons, who made a cure at last; yet not in such a manner, but that one side of her face was strangely seamed and disfigured, so that there was an end of her beauty. Afterwards, being ashamed to appear abroad, she lamented all her life long her perverse disposition, in not giving credit, in a point which would have cost her nothing, to that true dream of her husband's.
Talano d´Imola
