[078]
While the ladies were thus conversing, there came into the church
three young men, young, I say, but not so young that the age of the
youngest was less than twenty-five years; in whom neither the
sinister course of events, nor the loss of friends or kinsfolk, nor fear
for their own safety, had availed to quench, or even temper, the
ardour of their love.
[079]
The first was called Pamfilo, the second
Filostrato, and the third Dioneo. Very debonair and chivalrous
were they all; and in this troublous time they were seeking if haply,
to their exceeding great solace, they might have sight of their fair
friends, all three of whom chanced to be among the said seven ladies,
besides some that were of kin to the young men.
[080]
At one and the
same moment they recognised the ladies and were recognised by
them: wherefore, with a gracious smile, Pampinea thus began:
"Lo, fortune is propitious to our enterprise, having vouchsafed us the
good offices of these young men, who are as gallant as they are
discreet, and will gladly give us their guidance and escort, so we but
take them into our service."
[081]
Whereupon Neifile, crimson from brow
to neck with the blush of modesty, being one of those that had a
lover among the young men, said:
[082]
"For God's sake, Pampinea,
have a care what you say. Well assured am I that nought but good
can be said of any of them, and I deem them fit for office far more
onerous than this which you propose for them, and their good and
honourable company worthy of ladies fairer by far and more tenderly
to be cherished than such as we.
[083]
But 'tis no secret that they love
some of us here; wherefore I misdoubt that, if we take them with
us, we may thereby give occasion for scandal and censure merited
neither by us nor by them."
[084]
"That," said Filomena, "is of no
consequence;
so I but live honestly, my conscience gives me no
disquietude; if others asperse me, God and the truth will take arms
in my defence.
[085]
Now, should they be disposed to attend us, of a truth
we might say with Pampinea, that fortune favours our enterprise."
[086]
The silence which followed betokened consent on the part of the other
ladies, who then with one accord resolved to call the young men, and
acquaint them with their purpose, and pray them to be of their company.
[087]
So without further parley Pampinea, who had a kinsman
among the young men, rose and approached them where they stood
intently regarding them; and greeting them gaily, she opened to them
their plan, and besought them on the part of herself and her friends
to join their company on terms of honourable and fraternal comradeship.
[088]
At first the young men thought she did but trifle with them;
but when they saw that she was in earnest, they answered with
alacrity that they were ready, and promptly, even before they left
the church, set matters in train for their departure.
[089]
So all things
meet being first sent forward in due order to their intended place
of sojourn, the ladies with some of their maids, and the three young
men, each attended by a man-servant, sallied forth of the city on
the morrow, being Wednesday, about daybreak, and took the road;
nor had they journeyed more than two short miles when they
arrived at their destination.
[090]
The estate lay upon a little hill some
distance from the nearest highway, and, embowered in shrubberies
of divers hues, and other greenery, afforded the eye a pleasant
prospect.
[091]
On the summit of the hill was a palace with galleries,
halls and chambers, disposed around a fair and spacious court, each
very fair in itself, and the goodlier to see for the gladsome pictures
with which it was adorned; the whole set amidst meads and gardens
laid out with marvellous art, wells of the coolest water, and vaults of
the finest wines, things more suited to dainty drinkers than to sober
and honourable women. On their arrival the company, to their no
small delight, found their beds already made, the rooms well swept
and garnished with flowers of every sort that the season could afford,
and the floors carpeted with rushes. [092]When they were seated,
Dioneo, a gallant who had not his match for courtesy and wit, spoke
thus: "My ladies, 'tis not our forethought so much as your own
mother-wit that has guided us hither.
[093]
How you mean to dispose
of your cares I know not; mine I left behind me within the citygate
when I issued thence with you a brief while ago. Wherefore,
I pray you, either address yourselves to make merry, to laugh and
sing with me (so far, I mean, as may consist with your dignity), or
give me leave to hie me back to the stricken city, there to abide
with my cares."
[094]
To whom blithely Pampinea replied, as if she too
had cast off all her cares: "Well sayest thou, Dioneo, excellent
well; gaily we mean to live; 'twas a refuge from sorrow that here
we sought, nor had we other cause to come hither.
[095]
But, as no
anarchy can long endure, I who initiated the deliberations of which
this fair company is the fruit, do now, to the end that our joy may
be lasting, deem it expedient, that there be one among us in chief
authority, honoured and obeyed by us as our superior, whose
exclusive care it shall be to devise how we may pass our time
blithely.
[096]
And that each in turn may prove the weight of the care,
as well as enjoy the pleasure, of sovereignty, and, no distinction being
made of sex, envy be felt by none by reason of exclusion from the
office; I propose, that the weight and honour be borne by each one
for a day; and let the first to bear sway be chosen by us all,
those that follow to be appointed towards the vesper hour by him
or her who shall have had the signory for that day; and let each
holder of the signory be, for the time, sole arbiter of the place and
manner in which we are to pass our time."
