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The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375)

  • Free to read
  • 20 hours to read
  • 111 chapters
  • Reading level: 10th to 12th grade

"The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio" by Giovanni Boccaccio is a collection of short stories written between 1348 and 1353. Ten young people flee plague-ridden Florence to shelter in a countryside villa, where they pass two weeks by telling one hundred tales. Their stories span love both tragic and erotic, clever wit, practical jokes, and life lessons. Through this frame narrative, Boccaccio creates a mosaic of medieval Italian life while satirizing the Church and exploring themes of fortune, human desire, and social tensions between classes.

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  • Plague · Europe · History
  • Storytelling
  • Allegories
  • Frame stories

Read the opening

Day the Second 48

THE FIRST STORY. Martellino feigneth himself a cripple and maketh believe to wax whole upon the body of St. Arrigo. His imposture being discovered, he is beaten and being after taken [for a thief,] goeth in peril of being hanged by the neck, but ultimately escapeth 49

THE SECOND STORY. Rinaldo d'Asti, having been robbed, maketh his way to Castel Guglielmo, where he is hospitably entertained by a widow lady and having made good his loss, returneth to his own house, safe and sound 52

THE THIRD STORY. Three young men squander their substance and become poor; but a nephew of theirs, returning home in desperation, falleth in with an abbot and findeth him to be the king's daughter of England, who taketh him to husband and maketh good all his uncles' losses, restoring them to good estate 57

THE FOURTH STORY. Landolfo Ruffolo, grown poor, turneth corsair and being taken by the Genoese, is wrecked at sea, but saveth himself upon a coffer full of jewels of price and being entertained in Corfu by a woman, returneth home rich 63

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Contents

Show all 111 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. Day the Second 48
  3. Day the Third 127
  4. Day the Fourth 189
  5. Day the Fifth 243
  6. Day the Sixth 294
  7. Day the Seventh 322
  8. Day the Eighth 365
  9. Day the Ninth 427
  10. Day the Tenth 462
  11. Proem
  12. The First Story
  13. The Second Story
  14. The Third Story
  15. The Fourth Story
  16. The Fifth Story
  17. The Sixth Story
  18. The Seventh Story
  19. The Eighth Story
  20. The Ninth Story
  21. The Tenth Story
  22. The First Story
  23. The Second Story
  24. The Third Story
  25. The Fourth Story
  26. The Fifth Story
  27. The Sixth Story
  28. The Seventh Story
  29. The Eighth Story
  30. The Ninth Story
  31. The Tenth Story
  32. The First Story
  33. The Second Story
  34. The Third Story
  35. The Fourth Story
  36. The Fifth Story
  37. The Sixth Story
  38. The Seventh Story
  39. The Eighth Story
  40. The Ninth Story
  41. The Tenth Story
  42. The First Story
  43. The Second Story
  44. The Third Story
  45. The Fourth Story
  46. The Fifth Story
  47. The Sixth Story
  48. The Seventh Story
  49. The Eighth Story
  50. The Ninth Story
  51. The Tenth Story
  52. The First Story
  53. The Second Story
  54. The Third Story
  55. The Fourth Story
  56. The Fifth Story
  57. The Sixth Story
  58. The Seventh Story
  59. The Eighth Story
  60. The Ninth Story
  61. The Tenth Story
  62. The First Story
  63. The Second Story
  64. The Third Story
  65. The Fourth Story
  66. The Fifth Story
  67. The Sixth Story
  68. The Seventh Story
  69. The Eighth Story
  70. The Ninth Story
  71. The Tenth Story
  72. The First Story
  73. The Second Story
  74. The Third Story
  75. The Fourth Story
  76. The Fifth Story
  77. The Sixth Story
  78. The Seventh Story
  79. The Eighth Story
  80. The Ninth Story
  81. The Tenth Story
  82. The First Story
  83. The Second Story
  84. The Third Story
  85. The Fourth Story
  86. The Fifth Story
  87. The Sixth Story
  88. The Seventh Story
  89. The Eighth Story
  90. The Ninth Story
  91. The Tenth Story
  92. The First Story
  93. The Second Story
  94. The Third Story
  95. The Fourth Story
  96. The Fifth Story
  97. The Sixth Story
  98. The Seventh Story
  99. The Eighth Story
  100. The Ninth Story
  101. The Tenth Story
  102. The First Story
  103. The Second Story
  104. The Third Story
  105. The Fourth Story
  106. The Fifth Story
  107. The Sixth Story
  108. The Seventh Story
  109. The Eighth Story
  110. The Ninth Story
  111. The Tenth Story

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About this edition

This free edition of The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #23700, released 2007-12-03. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Short Stories, Classics of Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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