Chapter I: Front Matter

Broadway Translations

IL NOVELLINO

THE HUNDRED OLD TALES

Translated from the Italian by
EDWARD STORER

With an Introduction

LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction 1

Il Novellino

I: Proem 35
II: Of the rich embassy which Prester John sent to the
noble Emperor Frederick 37
III: Of a wise Greek whom a King kept in prison, and how
he judged of a courser 40
IV: How a jongleur lamented before Alexander the conduct
of a knight, to whom he had made a gift on condition
that the knight should give him whatsoever Alexander
might present him with 44
V: How a king committed a reply to a young son of his
who had to bear it to the ambassadors of Greece 48
VI: How it came into the mind of King David to learn the
number of his subjects 50
VII: Here it is told how the angel spoke to Solomon, and
said that the Lord God would take away the kingdom
from his son for his sins 51
VIII: Of the gift of a king’s son to a king of Syria who
had been driven from his throne 55
IX: Here it is treated of an argument and a judgment that
took place in Alexandria 58
X: Here it is told of a fine judgment given by the slave
of Bari in a dispute between a townsman and a pilgrim 61
XI: Here it is told how Master Giordano was deceived by a
false disciple of his 63
XII: Here it is told of the honour that Aminadab did to
King David, his rightful lord 64
XIII: Here it is told how Antigonus reproved Alexander for
having a cythera played for his delight 65
XIV: How a king had a son of his brought up in a dark
place, and then showed him everything, and how women
pleased him most 66
XV: How a land steward plucked out his own eye and that
of his son to the end that justice might be observed 67
XVI: Here it is told of the great mercy wrought by Saint
Paulinus the bishop 68
XVII: Of the great act of charity which a banker did for
the love of God 69
XVIII: Of the judgment of God on a baron of Charlemagne 69
XIX: Of the great generosity and courtesy of the Young
King 70
XX: Of the great liberality and courtesy of the King of
England 72
XXI: How three necromancers came to the court of the
Emperor Frederick 77
XXII: How the Emperor Frederick’s goshawk escaped to Milan 80
XXIII: How the Emperor Frederick found a countryman at a
fountain and asked leave to drink, and how he took
away his drinking-cup 82
XXIV: How the Emperor Frederick put a question to two wise
men, and how he rewarded them 83
XXV: How the Sultan gave two hundred marks to a man and
how his treasurer wrote down the entry in his
presence 85
XXVI: Here it is told of a burgher of France 88
XXVII: Here it is told of a great Moaddo who was insulted 90
XXVIII: Here it is told of a custom that existed in the
kingdom of France 91
XXIX: Here it is told how some learned astrologers disputed
about the Empyrean 92
XXX: Here it is told how a Lombard knight squandered his
substance 94
XXXI: Here it is told of a story-teller of Messer Azzolino 95
XXXII: Of the great deeds of prowess of Riccar Loghercio of
the Isle 97
XXXIII: Here is told a tale of Messer Imberal del Balzo 98
XXXIV: How two noble knights loved each other with a great
love 100
XXXV: Here it is told of Master Thaddeus of Bologna 101
XXXVI: Here it is told how a cruel king persecuted the
Christians 102
XXXVII: Here it is told of a battle between two kings of
Greece 105
XXXVIII: Of an astrologer called Melisus, who was reprimanded
by a woman 106
XXXIX: Here it is told of Bishop Aldebrandino, and how he
was mocked by a friar 108
XL: Of a minstrel whose name was Saladin 108
XLI: A tale of Messer Polo Traversaro 110
XLII: Here is told an excellent tale of William of Borganda
of Provence 112
XLIII: Here it is told of Messer Giacopino Rangone and what
he did to a court player 115
XLIV: Of a question that was put to a courtier 116
XLV: How Lancelot fought at a fountain 116
XLVI: Here it is told how Narcissus fell in love with his
own image 117
XLVII: Here it is told how a knight asked a lady for her
love 119
XLVIII: Here it is told of King Conrady father of Conradin 119
XLIX: Here it is told of a physician of Toulouse and how he
took to wife a niece of the Archbishop of Toulouse 120
L: Here it is told of Master Francis, son of Master
Accorso of Bologna 122
LI: Here it is told of a Gascon woman, and how she had
recourse to the King of Cyprus 123
LII: Of a bell that was ordered in King John’s days 124
LIII: Here it is told of a privilege granted by the Emperor
to one of his barons 125
LIV: Here it is told how the parish priest Porcellino was
accused 126
LV: Here is told a tale of a man of the court whose name
was Marco 128
LVI: How a man of the Marches went to study in Bologna 129
LVII: The Woman and the Pear-tree 130
LVIII: The Wisest of the Beasts 134
LIX: Here it is told of a gentleman whom the Emperor had
hanged 134
LX: Here it is told how Charles of Anjou loved a lady 137
LXI: Here it is told of the philosopher Socrates, and how
he answered the Greeks 141
LXII: Here is told a tale of Messer Roberto 144
LXIII: Of good King Meladius and the Knight Without Fear 146
LXIV: A Tale told of the Court of Puy in Provence 146
LXV: Here it is told of Queen Iseult and Messer Tristan of
Lyonese 154
LXVI: Here it is told of a philosopher who was called
Diogenes 158
LXVII: Here it is told of Papirius and how his father
brought him to the council 159
LXVIII: Of a question which a young man proposed to Aristotle 160
LXIX: Here it is told of the great justice of the Emperor
Trajan 161
LXX: Here it is told how Hercules went into the forest 163
LXXI: Here it is told how Seneca consoled a woman whose son
had died 164
LXXII: Here it is told how Cato lamented against fortune 167
LXXIII: How the Sultan being in need of money, sought to
find occasion to proceed against a Jew 168
LXXIV: The story of a vassal and a lord 169
LXXV: How the Lord entered into partnership with a minstrel 171
LXXVI: Here it is told of the great killing done by King
Richard 174
LXXVII: Here is told of Messer Rinieri, a knight of the Court 175
LXXVIII: Here is told of a philosopher much given to the
vulgarisation of science 177
LXXIX: Here it is told of a Court player who adored a lord 178
LXXX: The Pilgrim and the Ugly Woman 181
LXXXI: Here below it is told of the council which was held
by the sons of King Priam of Troy 182
LXXXII: Here it is told how the Lady of Shalott died for love
of Lancelot of the Lake 184
LXXXIII: How Christ going one day with his disciples in a
deserted place, they saw great treasure 186
LXXXIV: How Messer Azzolino Romano arranged a great charity 188
LXXXV: Of a great famine that was once in Genoa 192
LXXXVI: The Emperor and the Pilgrim 193
LXXXVII: How a man went to shrive himself 194
LXXXVIII: Here is told of Messer Castellano da Cofferi of
Mantua 194
LXXXIX: Here it is told of a Court player who began a story
that never ended 195
XC: Here it is told how the emperor Frederick killed a
falcon of his 196
XCI: How a certain man confessed to a friar 197
XCII: Here it is told of a good woman who had made a fine
pie 198
XCIII: Here it is told of a countryman who went to shrive
himself 199
XCIV: Here it is told of the fox and the mule 199
XCV: Here it is told of a countryman who went to the town 201
XCVI: Here it is told of Bito and Messer Frulli of San
Giorgio near Florence 201
XCVII: Here it is told how a merchant carried wine overseas
in casks with two partitions and what happened 205
XCVIII: Here it is told of a merchant who bought caps 206
XCIX: Here is told a pretty tale of love 207
C: How the Emperor Frederick went to the Old Man of
the Mountain 211