Based on Dioneo's Words What Is the Author's Tone
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Il Decamerone = The Decameron, Giovanni Boccacccio The Decameron is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هشتم ماه فوریه سال 2018میلادی عنوان: دکامرون ؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: احمدخان دریابیگی؛ بوشهر، ؟، 1282؛ عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: حبیب شنوقی؛ تهران، گوتنبرگ، 1338، در دو جلد؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایتالیا - سد 14م عنوان: دکامرون - حاوی یکصد حکایت فرح انگیز؛ نویسنده: جووانی بوکاچیو؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ تهران، مازیار، 1379، در 876ص؛ چاپ دوم 1393؛ شابک 9789645676108؛ دکامرون، مشهورترین اثر «جووانی بوکاچیو»، نویسنده ی سده ی چهاردهم میلادی کشور «ایتالیا»، و دارای یکصد داستان کوتاه است؛ «بوکاچیو» این کتاب را، به سبک «هزار و یک شب» نگاشته اند، و مواد خام قصه ها را، از افسانه های «یونانی»، «رومی»، و دیگر کشورهای مشرق زمین، و گاه، از زندگی روزمره ی مردمان، وام بگرفته است، ایشان این کتاب را، بلافاصله پس از شیوع «طاعون سال 1348میلادی»، در شهر «فلورانس» بنوشتند؛ چارچوب راویان اصلی «دکامرون» را، «هفت زن»، و «سه مرد»، تشکیل میدهند، که برای گریز از بلای «طاعون»، «فلورانس» را ترک کرده، به خانه های ییلاقی اطراف شهر، پناه می‌برند؛ و در آنجا، برای اینکه ذهن خود را، از آن رخداد دور کنند، به قصه گوئی برای یکدیگر می‌پردازند؛ و چون خـُلق و خوی داستان‌گویان گوناگون است، داستانها دارای گیرائی، و گوناگونی بسیار است؛ نویسنده به روح بشری، و اشخاص داستان آشنا هستند، و قهرمانهای آن زنده، و پر از شور زندگی، و جانوران داستانهای «دکامرون» نیز همانند قهرمانهای داستان پر از شور زندگانی هستند، این کتاب بعدها در ادبیات برخی کشورها، از جمله در «انگلستان» نیز، مورد اقتباس و تقلید قرار گرفت؛ بسیاری از نویسندگان، از جمله «ویلیام شکسپیر» نام آشنا، از قصه های آن، برای نگاشتن نمایشنامه های خود، سود بردند؛ نخستین برگردان فارسی «دکامرون»، در دوره ی «ناصر‌الدین شاه قاجار» بود، که «احمدخان دریابیگی» در فاصله ی سالهای 1280هجری خورشیدی، تا سال 1282هجری خورشیدی، نخست در روزنامه ی «مظفری بوشهر»، و سپس به صورت چاپ سنگی، و در قطع بزرگ آنرا به سال1282هجری خورشیدی، چاپ کردند؛ برگردان دوم را زنده یاد «حبیب شنوقی»، در دو جلد و در یک مجلد، در سال 1338هجری خورشیدی منتشر کردند، و سرانجام ترجمه ی سوم، که ترجمه ای دقیق و کامل است، توسط زنده یاد «محمد قاضی»؛ در سال 1379هجری خورشیدی، در انتشارات مازیار منتشر شد؛ البته گزینشی از داستانهای «دکامرون» را نیز، بانو «طاهره بدیعی» در 70ص، در سال 1381هجری خورشیدی منتشر کرده اند؛ عنوان کتاب یعنی «دکامرون»، از معادل یونانی دو واژه ی «دَه»، و «روز»، گرفته شده است؛ ساختار «دکامرون»، در سال 1351میلادی (و یا به روایتی به سال 1353میلادی) به پایان رسیده است؛ کتاب با شرحی از «وبا (مرگ سیاه)» آغاز، و به معرفی «هفت زن» و «سه مرد جوان» میرسد، که از «فلورانس» «وبا» زده، به دهاتی در حواشی «فیسل»، برای دو هفته، فرار میکنند؛ برای گذشت زمان، هر شب، همه ی اعضا، هر کدام، داستانی را بازگو میکند؛ اگرچه چهارده روز میگذرد، دو روز در هر هفته، برای کارهای دیگر است: یک روز برای وظایف، و یک روز مقدس، که هیچکس در آنروز هیچ کاری نمی‌کند؛ بدینسان در پایان ده روز، صد داستان بازگو میشوند هر کدام از شخصیتها به نوبت به عنوان «شاه»، و یا «ملکه»، برای یکی از آن ده روز، برگزیده میشوند؛ وظیفه (شاه و یا ملکه)، گزینش موضوع داستان، برای آنروز است، و موضوعات همه ی روزها، به استثنای دو روز، معین میگردند: «قدرت دارایی»، «قدرت خواست آدمی»، «داستانها ی عاشقانه که غم انگیز به پایان میرسند»، «داستانهای عاشقانه که پایانی خوش دارند»، «پاسخهای هوشمندانه ای که جان یک سخنگو را حفظ میکنند»، «حقه هایی که زنان به مردان میزنند»، «حقه هایی که مردم بطور عام به هم میزنند»، و «داستانهایی از عفت و پاکدامنی»؛ تنها «دایو نیو» که هر روز داستان دهم را میگوید، برای تیزهوشی که دارد، حق آنرا دارد، که هر داستانی را که دلش بخواهد بازگو نماید؛ نویسنده های بسیاری، میاندیشند که: «دایو نیو»، نقطه نظرات خود «بوگاچیو» را بیان میکند؛ هر روز، علاوه بر روایت، شامل یک مقدمه و نتیجه مختصر نیز هستند، تا قالب داستانها، به غیر از داستانگویی، و از راه توضیح فعالیتهای روزانه نیز، ادامه یابد؛ این فاصله ی میان پرده ای، شامل آوازهای محلی (فولکور) «ایتالیایی» است؛ رابطه ی بین داستانهای یکروز، با روزهای دیگر، آنگونه که «بوگاچیو»، رخدادهای پیشین را بهم میتند، یک کلیت را تشکیل میدهند؛ موضوع پایه ای داستانها: «به ریشخند گرفتن شهوت و طمع کشیشها»، «تنش بین طبقه ی ثروتمند تاجرها و خانواده های اشرافی»، و «خطرات و ماجراجوییهای بازرگانان در سفرهای تجاری» هستند تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 17/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 07/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
- 14th-century classics historical
Author 6 books 15.1k followers
:::::::::::::: تذكرني القصص أو الحكايات كي أكون أدق بغرائب ألف ولكن العامل المشترك هنا هو جاذبية تلك النوعية من الكتب :::::::::::::: الكتاب تجربة لذيذة لا تنسى ومجددا
مازلتُ أتذكر اليوم الذي توافرت فيه الديكاميرون أمامي للاستعارة في طبعة ثمينة وبالانجليزية
وأنا جد سعيدة أنني تكاسلت عن قراءتها
لأنه لا ترجمة مثل ترجمة علماني
ولا أظنني كنت لأقرأ هذا العمل مرتين
ليلة وليلة
وليالي جلوسي جوار أمي أستمع إليها عبر الأثير
بآداء لطيف وأحيانا مفتعل لممثلي الإذاعة
فقد شعرت أنني عدت بالزمن والحكايات تتابع
بحلوها وسخيفها
فهي تعيدك بطريقة ما إلى طفولتك
وتعطيك جرعة خيال لا بأس بها
وفيها من حس الدعابة والمرح ما يسلي ويمضي الوقت
وقد عرفت عنها لأول مرة في مراهقتي من كتب الصديق الوفي
أديبنا أنيس منصور
صالح علماني
شكرا دوما على جمالك
- shortstories ترجمات-صالح-علماني
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Want to Read
March 15, 2020I guess this might be a good time to finally finish reading this? (I started this book twice in the past, in 2010 and 2014 but never managed to finish.)
637 reviews 1,888 followers
After a couple of years, two attempts and two different editions, I have finally finished this book. The first great literary accomplishment of 2016. Anyway, I started reading this collection in 2013 and failed miserably. Statistics But, as you see, this year I made it. It ended up being a rather special read for me, since I happen to have a photo of a loyal companion sitting by my side, a devoted witness of my struggle with his beautiful amber eyes on me, which I can only visualize now. May 9, 16
All I can say is that the history of humanity lies on every page of this book. Virtues and defects that have illuminated and darkened human existence were eloquently expressed by Boccaccio's brilliant pen that concocted, with mastery and otherworldly wit, one hundred tales told by seven young ladies and three young men who, to contextualize this fine collection, fled the magnificent city of Florence (a place I adore and with which I have a bond that goes beyond the origin of my name and ancestry), trying to escape from the Black Death. These stories are mostly about the connections between intelligence and fortune and how the sort of picaresque characters manage to achieve success. Often involving eroticism (Boccaccio must have been the E.L. James of his time but, you know, with writing skills), these tales accentuate the distance from medieval ideals, focusing on the actual human being.
06/25/2013 marked as: currently-reading
09/22/2013 page 590 64.0%
01/02/2014 marked as: will-i-ever-finish-it
12/10/2015 marked as: started reading from page 1, clandestinely
12/20/2015 marked as: currently-reading, officially
02/13/2016 marked as: finished
A lovely memory is now attached to this wonderful book.
* Also on my blog.
** Photo credit: Charlie and book / me.
- ancestry italian stories-and-novellas-for-this-life
36 reviews 144 followers
In the 14th century in Europe, during the devastating times of the Black Death, a group of young Florentines - seven women and three men - decide to flee to seek shelter and escape from the plague in a villa outside of the city of Florence. This is the basic frame used by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio to tell us one hundred tales of life, love and fortune with The Decameron. After leaving the city, in order to pass the time, an idea of telling stories is brought up and each one of the young group - Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, Elissa, Panfilo, Filostrato and Dioneo - must tell one story per day. Starting on the second day, Filomena, who was appointed as the queen of the day - they all took turns into being the queen or king - decided that the stories to be told in each day should all pertain to a theme previously chosen by the one in charge. The only exception to that rule is Dioneo, who asked to have the privilege to be the last one to tell his tale each day and to be freed of the requirement of complying to the day's theme. It's been argued that Dioneo served as a way for Boccaccio to express his own views through his stories. I had a lot of pleasant days in the company of the young Florentines, such as the eighth day, where Lauretta chose as a theme stories of tricks women play on men or that men play on women which, of course, is packed with hilarious stories and clever stratagems; or the last day, when Panfilo asked that tales about deeds of generosity be told. I wonder if Boccaccio intended to leave a hopeful message to his readers after many cases of betrayals and misfortunes. But two days were more enjoyable than others: THIRD DAY As the queen of the day, Neifile ruled that stories where a person has painfully acquired something or has lost it and then regained it should be told for everyone's amusement. In that day, Panfilo narrates a very funny tale (the fourth one) of Dom Felice who, desiring to spend some 'quality time' with Friar Puccio's wife, tells her husband that he should do a penance to gain blessedness. Let's just say that Dom Felice should do a lot of penance after that tale... Other two stories from that early day remained as some of my favorites: Filostrato tells the story of Masetto da Lamporecchio, a young and handsome man who, deciding to pass as being mute, finds work in a convent of women as a gardener after hearing the old one is no longer there. While working, he is noticed by two of the nuns who, curious to find out what's the sensation of being with a man, decide to lie with him. As word spreads out, Masetto finds himself working very long extra hours. Dioneo tells the tale of a beautiful and young girl named Alibech who, not being religious but hearing many Christians talking about faith and serving God, wished to find out what it was all about. After hearing their response and wandering into the desert in an attempt to become closer to God, she finally meets a monk named Rustico that, tempted by her looks, decided to teach her how to "put the devil back into hell". FOURTH DAY On the fourth day, Filostrato, who was appointed re del giorno, demanded his friends to tell stories of lovers whose relationship ended in disaster. Fiammetta narrates the first tale of the day, telling the story of Tancredi who, after slaying his daughter Ghismonda's lover, sends her his heart in a golden cup. She, then, decides to fill the cup with poison, drinks it and dies. Among other tragic stories, my favorite is the one that follows: Filomena tells the sad story of Lisabetta who has her lover Lorenzo murdered by her brothers. In a dream, he tells her where they buried his body and she decides to take his head and to set it in a pot of basil, whereon she daily weeps a great while. Boccaccio's language and wit in writing here is similar to Cervantes in Don Quixote, as he was able to write about violence, sex or even scatological humor, for example, successfully turning those themes into very light reads, making the episodes funny and enjoyable without shocking his readers. Not that he seemed to be in any way afraid of being offensive and raising some eyebrows: his tales about clergyman being deceitful - or "hypocrites", to borrow one of the adjectives he employed in one of the narratives - or nuns having sex seem to be a direct criticism and a mockery to their status as holy people. One of the aspects that really amused me was the role of women in his work. Boccaccio directly spoke to the "gracious ladies" with the words below in the first day, defining them as the main audience to his book. Film adaptation: there's been many adaptations, but I've only watched one: 1971's Il Decameron by Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Who would be better than the ever so controversial filmmaker to add extra layers of mockery, satire and erotica to Boccaccio's already teasing tales? The director nicely connected nine of the stories through the fifth tale of the sixth day where Pasolini played the painter Giotto. This film is in no way necessary to complement the book, but it was a great one hour and a half of pure fun! Rating: Boccaccio's work proved to be a fine companion as I often read his stories on my commute to work and found myself giggling all the time. I can see myself re-reading some tales from time to time, like you would with a daily reflections book. For that, 4 stars.
"'Alack!' rejoined the other, 'what is this thou sayest? Knowest thou not that we have promised our virginity to God?'
'Oh, as for that,' answered the first, 'how many things are promised Him all day long, whereof not one is fulfilled unto Him! An we have promised it Him, let Him find Himself another or others to perform it to Him.'"
Boccaccio once again writes an humorous tale packed with religious satire and catholic church criticism. Even the abbess, from whom you'd expect better discernment and leadership towards what's rightful, can't help but to share of Masetto's services.TENTH TALE 
"Whereupon Rustico, seeing her so fair, felt an accession of desire, and therewith came an insurgence of the flesh, which Alibech marking with surprise, said: 'Rustico, what is this, which I see thee have, that so protrudes, and which I have not?'
'Oh! my daughter,' said Rustico, ''tis the Devil of whom I have told thee: and, seest thou? he is now tormenting me most grievously, insomuch that I am scarce able to hold out.'"
This tale was so "graphic" that in John Payne's translation of The Decameron he decided to include Boccaccio's original words instead of translating them, stating that it was "...impossible to render the technicalities of that mysterious art into tolerable English..."
"...nor did she ever water these with other water than that of her tears or rose or orange-flower water."
----------------- "As often, most gracious ladies, as, taking thought in myself, I mind me how very pitiful you are all by nature, so often do I recognize that this present work will, to your thinking, have a grievous and a weariful beginning, inasmuch as the dolorous remembrance of the late pestiferous mortality, which it beareth on its forefront, is universally irksome to all who saw or otherwise knew it."
On the fourth day, once again, he addressed the ladies by writing about having been criticized for liking the ladies too much and thinking solely of pleasuring them with his tales: "There are then, discreet ladies, some who, reading these stories, have said that you please me overmuch and that it is not a seemly thing that I should take so much delight in pleasuring and solacing you; and some have said yet worse of commending you as I do."
Setting the discussion aside of why he would include that odd defense (it seems he was being defensive without having been actually attacked?) on Decamerone, I was amazed by the extensive portraits Boccaccio painted of women: they were cunning, sad, some were cheaters, others were passionate, subjugated and the roles go on. For living in a time where men loved - and idolized, and described women as being the most beautiful things to have ever walked on the earth - women so much, constantly elevating them to goddesses status, it seems that Boccaccio masterfully wrote an array of human-like characters with great range of emotions.
- 100-best-books-world-library 2014 reviewed
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Edited April 12, 2020 The Decameron is a set of one hundred stories told to each other by a group of ten people, seven women and three men, over ten days. All these stories exist within one story which is about this group of people who come together in Florence during an outbreak of the plague and how they react to it - which is by going off into the surrounding countryside and recreating a kind of temporary Eden outside the ravages of the times. Beyond that there are the author's intentions and his defence of his work, which are a further frame to the whole work. Boccaccio sees stories as a form of education - in this case to teach his reader, which he largely assumed to be women since references to potential male readers are rare, about love. Love is a vague word in English, you can love to have tea with your chips, you might love your dog, or the colour yellow on a bedroom door. None of those feature in the Decameron, love here is of the sexual or occasionally of the romantic kind. The new society of the ten people is based on affinity and trust. They live in common, although apparently using the estates of other people, and they benefit from the labour of servants so this is socially exclusive, unlike The Canterbury Tales in which people come from a mix of social backgrounds. The new society is time bound and intended from the first, like reading itself, to be a temporary respite from events. They have a monarch to rule each day, but each of the ten in turn gets one day to rule One of the advantages of taking part in a group read - like our one of the Decameron - is benefiting from the contributions that all the other readers make. ReemK10 pointed out that that there is a wealth of meaning in the character names and in the complex of numbers (three men and seven women, the importance of ten and so on) but as a reader all of that largely passed me over. The only character who really stood out for me was Dioneo, and not because he was Dionysian but because he got to tell the last story of everyday. This at last was a reference point - everything else was in flux for me. I felt at one moment that Panfilo was an author stand in, but that moment passed and life returned to normal. In other words the Decameron has intricate foundations but they don't interfere with the appearance of the building. For the reader there are simply one hundred stories, divided into ten days set in a framing narrative with some linking text. The stories give an impression of the world view of leisured middle to upper class urban people (socially below the nobility but of high enough status and wealth to be able to look down on people who are overly concerned with business) of mid-fourteenth century north Italy. The geographical scope ranges over the entire Mediterranean, with a couple of stories set in France and England (England is as exotic here as Saladin, a fantasy destination where dreams can become true) there are no stories set in China or other far eastern locations despite The Travels of Marco Polo. The Merchant of Prato gives an idea of just how natural and everyday that geographical scope was to those involved in commerce in Italy at that time. The stories are set throughout history, some in antiquity, others in the recent past, many are roughly contemporary to Boccaccio's time. Boccaccio may not have invented any of the stories. Many are recognisable retellings, and some will in turn be retold by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, others like the horrible Griselda story seem to have been widely known at the time and pop up in a variety of sources as a role model for a good woman (see for instance Le Menagier de Paris. In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer reuses and adapts a few stories from Decameron and takes Boccaccio's idea of a framing narrative however he makes an important change. Chaucer's storytellers cover a fairly broad social spectrum , Boccaccio's reflect one view point that of Florentine urban Patrician families. They own landed estates, but don't have aristocratic titles , they admire aristocratic values and although their family wealth probably comes from trade and commerce, too pronounced an interest in business is felt to be improper. Being chaste, or more to the point being seen to be chaste, is an important attribute for the women of this class and governs how they are perceived in society. Therefore the ability to conduct extramarital relationships with discretion is lionised. Oddly although their own reputation is important, persuading a servant to have sexual relations with an over eager suitor or to receive a beating in place of the heroine in exchange for a gift such a suit of clothes is seen as laudable, even by a bishop. Morality is a social attribute, what is appropriate depends on the social position of the person, rather than an absolute set of values that is immutable throughout the whole of society Having said that women of a low social class can be exemplary - pre-eminently Griselda, and can have some concern for their virtue, equally the poor (broadly speaking) can be dismissed as simple minded and herd like, ripe to be fooled by any passing quick witted Friar who is prepared to claim that a parrot's feather, in fact, came from an angel's wing. It is difficult, and without doubt very unwise, to do what I am doing and attempt to generalise about one hundred stories told by ten narrators as there always seem to be exceptions and nuances of opinion from one story to the next. Perhaps if read with paper to hand and a pencil behind the ear, setting out in columns the attitudes revealed in each story, patterns might emerge consistent to particular narrators, or maybe that each day had a particular tone. But all of this is perhaps besides the point, this is a compendium of stories. Few if any would have been original to Boccaccio, many have deep roots and have been endlessly retold. What he has done is collect, adapt and present them within the frame work of this group of seven young women and three men moving between various estates, not many miles outside Florence, over a period of a few days while the plague runs it's course within the city. The stories are lively, often funny, and vivid. They feature lecherous men (particularly priests and friars), cunning plans and generally the victory of the witty. Love and Fortune are capitalised and at times appear to be forces in their own right in the universe alongside God and one law of nature seems to be that one woman can keep a man happy but it takes many men to please one woman. This, given the social importance for a woman of appearing chaste, provides drama and humour in many of the tales. Some of the stories have a savage twist , not always condemned by narrator or his in book audience, a few see a man getting the woman he wants despite her lack of interest, some marriages are between partners of unequal ages, which doesn't seem to have been particularly unusual for the times, and this can be a narrative driver for the pursuit of extra-marital pleasures. The idea of marriage as a romantic union between two people is a rather unusual one if one takes a broad view of it. Marriage in Boccaccio in common with most of human history is a business like affair, for love to develop in it (or despite it) takes particular skill and the triumph of the witty over the wilful . So overall what can be concluded about the Decameron? Perhaps nothing other than that people have to read it for themselves and that it may not be the medieval Europe that you expected to find.
- 14th-century italy medieval-history
1,554 reviews 8,524 followers
"Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it." Like The Canterbury Tales, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, etc., "The Decameron" is an early masterpiece of literature. It is one of those books I avoided because I thought it would be stilted and boring. Hells NASTY Bells was I wrong. Boccaccio is funny, flippant, irreverent, libidinous, provocative, inspiring, insulting, crazy and always -- always entertaining. 100 stories told during the the summer of 1348 as the Black Death is ravaging Florence (and Europe). Ten aristocratic youths take to the country to escape the death, stink and bodies of the City and to hang out and amuse themselves on stories of love and adventure and sex and trickery. Bad priests, evil princes, saints, sinners, and various twists and turns paints a detailed picture of Italy from over 660 years ago that seems just as modern and funky as today. Things have certainly changed, but lords and ladies it is incredible just how many things have stayed the same.
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
- 2014 aere-perennius
Author 5 books 3,186 followers
Amazing. I'm utterly flabbergasted by how good this is. Forty years before The Canterbury Tales took England by storm, a little tiny place called Italy was having a full-blown RENAISSANCE. So why the hell have I been avoiding all these fantastic pieces of art, anyway? Because they're in Italian? For SHAME. Fortunately, this translation is fantastic... and you know what? It really holds up. It has everything a public who wants to be entertained could ever desire. A hundred short stories framed by nobles hiding out while the Black Plague ravages Europe, eating, frolicking, and telling stories every night for ten nights. Do you think a quarantine is a recipe for depression and disaster? Muahahahahaha NO. Let's just put it this way... there's more sex, laughter, trickery, sex, adultery, sex, theft, cons, sex, and hilarious situations in these stories than you'd find in the entire works of Shakespeare. And let's put this in perspective... Chaucer and Shakespeare stole a TON of s**t from Boccaccio. All of it funny and light and clever and wickedly perverse. I always knew that literature, in general, is an incestuous lot, but between these many classic tales of spouses pulling fast ones on each other or selfless tales of true love or steadfastness or tales of corruption, greed, and confidence games, I'm tempted to just throw in the hat and say this guy has it ALL. I know it ain't true. I've read enough Italians from more than a millennia prior to put paid to that idea. But STILL. This is entertaining as hell. And I thought Chaucer was a RIOT, too. It just goes to show... never judge a book by its cover. You might be losing out on some GREAT comedy.
- 2019-shelf humor romance
602 reviews 819 followers
El "Decameron" de Giovanni Boccaccio es uno de esos libros que pueden incluirse dentro de una tríada junto a "Los cuentos de Canterbury" de Geoffrey Chaucey, y el "Canzoniere" de Francesco Petrarca, verdaderos símbolos de la literatura medieval. Jornada primera: Cada cual habla de lo que más le agrada. Dentro de las distintas temáticas propuestas por los distintos "reyes" de turno, sólo Dioneo es el que está libre de sujetarse a un tópico en especial, por lo que sus historias siempre son las más atractivas.
En realidad, el Decameron es un libro que se ubica entre la edad medieval y el Renacimiento y es el fiel reflejo del pensamiento europeo del siglo XIV.
Boccaccio, digno sucesor de Dante Alighieri y discípulo de Petrarca logró reconocimiento y fama eterna a partir de la publicación de este libro que también generó ciertas polémicas por el subido tono de muchos de sus cuentos.
Un punto importante a tener en cuenta es que el libro se ubica históricamente durante la época en que la peste negra o "bubónica" (por la naturaleza de cómo se manifestaba en los enfermos) devastó parte de Asia, Africa y Europa entre 1348 y 1351.
Algunos historiadores llegaron a estimar que su avance de la peste negra cegó la vida de veinticinco millones de personas. Bocaccio escribe el "Decameron" entre 1351 y 1353.
El libro en sí narra brevemente la historia de siete doncellas (Pampinea, Filomena, Neifile, Fiammetta, Elisa, Lauretta y Emilia) y tres mancebos (Dioneo, Filóstrato y Pánfilo) quienes, escapando de la peste se establecen en un castillo en un campo de las afueras de Florencia y a partir de allí deciden que contar cuentos durante diez días para despejarse y entretenerse hasta que la peste vaya desapareciendo.
Cada uno a su turno es proclamado "rey" y este indica el tema o tópico a utilizarse en la narración de los cuentos.
Lo más fuerte del libro es precisamente el proemio de Boccaccio puesto que describe con lujo de detalles y en forma muy cruda los efectos de la peste negra en Italia y cuáles son los efectos de esta en los habitantes. El grado descriptivo es realmente escalofriante e increíblemente, parece mentira que semejante inicio cambie radicalmente a partir de los alegres cuentos de estos jóvenes florentinos.
La estructura del libro es clara. Posee el proemio escrito por el autor seguido de diez jornadas de cuentos (una por día) de diez cuentos cada una, lo que da un total de cien relatos que el autor describe como "cien cuentos, fábulas, parábolas e historias o como quieran llamarlas y es correcta esta aclaración puesto que el lector pasa de simples cuentos anecdóticos a mini novelas que involucran historias más complejas.
La temática utilizada en las diez jornadas del Decameron es la siguiente:
Jornada segunda: Se habla de aquellas personas que, abrumadas por diversos infortunios, consiguen llegar a dichoso término.
Jornada tercera: dedicada a quienes con gracia e inteligencia lograron alguna cosa largamente deseada, o recobraron lo que habían perdido.
Jornada cuarta: historias de amor con final desgraciado.
Jornada quinta: historias de amor con final feliz.
Jornada sexta: sobre aquellos que se defendieron con alguna respuesta aguda, evitaron daños y afrentas e hicieron callar a los necios.
Jornada séptima: burlas que por amor o por miedo, hacen las mujeres a sus maridos, con o sin el conocimiento de ellos.
Jornada octava: burlas que con frecuencia se hacen hombres y mujeres entre sí.
Jornada novena: tema libre.
Jornada décima: grandes hazañas.
El libro produjo mucho revuelo en su época (consideremos que fue leído por primera vez en 1353) por el alto tono de contenido sexual de muchos relatos, que giran en su gran mayoría en el adulterio, las infidelidades y la corrupción carnal de personas dentro del ámbito eclesiástico (monjas, frailes y ábates) y en otros aspectos hay que resaltar ciertos aspectos extremadamente machistas o misóginos que serían totalmente repelidos hoy en día en el que el la sociedad y especialmente las mujeres de hoy no admite bajo ningún concepto y con justa razón algunas de las discriminaciones expuestas en ciertas historias.
El libro fue prohibido durante la Inquisición y todos aquellos lectores que lo tuvieran eran severamente castigados o ejecutados.
Una de las historias, que yo defino como la más fuerte y tal vez chocante de la historia en la que una niña de 14 años es prácticamente violada repetidas veces bajo el engaño de "mandar a guardar al diablo en el infierno" por parte de un hombre que no tiene ningún escrúpulo en abusar de ella.
Creo que el lector sabrá interpretar la desacertada frase entre comillas.
Muchas veces, los finales de los cuentos intentan transmitirle al lector el hecho de gozar esos placeres descriptos en el argumento del mismo, pero es como que precisamente se ofrece seguir el camino del adulterio o la infidelidad, algo que demuestra cierta displicencia de Bocaccio principalmente en la mujer a la que considera bajo el control total del hombre en todos sus aspectos, más allá de considerarla un ser frágil, débil, etc., etc.
Creo que esa es la única característica que no comparto para nada del libro. Tal vez pueda aceptarse que es el tipo de pensamiento del hombre medieval y que uno como lector en el siglo XXI sabrá claramente reconocer, pero en algunos cuentos resulta un tanto chocante e innecesario.
De todos modos, el tenor de muchísimos otros cuentos es realmente divertido, distendido y en algunos casos, el de las parábolas edificantes para los personajes ofician a modo de redención luego de las penurias sufridas.
En el epílogo Boccaccio reconoce que fue atacado por los aspectos que ya comenté, pero en cierta manera se desliga del tema recordándole al lector que puede hacer uso de su libre albedrío y de no leer el Decameron en caso de que éste hiera sus susceptibilidades.
Más allá de lo expuesto, creo que el Decameron es uno de los libros fundacionales de la literatura, porque posicionó a Boccaccio en el altar de los más grandes escritores que dio Italia y la literatura mundial, trono que comparte con grandes como Dante Alighieri, Cervantes o Shakespeare, sólo por nombrar algunos de los más insignes.
273 reviews 524 followers
Colourful, elegant, hilarious euphemisms for sexual exploits and double-entendres, applied by Boccaccio to produce texts agreeable with cultural norms of his time, are the best things my eyes have been blessed with. Then after many kisses they went to bed together and took delight and pleasure one of another almost all that night, hearing the nightingale sing many a time. This story had a happy ending, too. 🤤 There he held a lavish and honourable wedding-feast and afterwards went after nightingales with her, in peace and solace and at length, both by night and by day, to his heart's content. But the 10th story of the 3rd day, when Rustico teaches Alibech how to put the devil in Hell? 'What you have there is the pit of Hell,' said Rustico, 'and I have to say that I believe God sent you here for the salvation of my soul. And with these words, he led the young girl over to one of their little beds, and showed her how one sets about imprisoning that cursed enemy of the Lord. Now let me climb the bed I have fallen off rereading this masterpiece of a scene. To those of you who never opened The Decameron, I have only one thing to say:
For even if this devil torments me so mercilessly, if you will take pity on me and let me stuff him back into Hell, you'll give me great consolation and you'll really please God and serve Him, if that's what you've come to these parts to do, like you told me.'
The girl answered him in all good faith: 'Oh, my father, seeing that I have this pit of Hell, let it be done whenever you like.'
'Bless you, my daughter!' said Rustico then. 'Let us go then and stuff him back in there right away, so he'll leave me in peace afterwards.' 
The young girl, who had never had any devil in her pit of Hell before that moment, felt some pain the first time, and so she said to Rustico, 'There's no doubt, father, that this devil must be a wicked thing altogether, and a real enemy of God, for even the pit of Hell, let alone anything else, is sore when he's stuffed back in there.' 
- classics-to-keep-me-stable
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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51799.The_Decameron