Cornazano -- b

Speranza

74 PROVERBS

più innan:(iy mandò gli cavalli alla stalla
et ordinò che gli mettessero ad ordine la
cena, e si fece dare una camera.

L'hoste non ci era, che era andato a
Trento da un suo fratello che stava co 'l
Vescovo, che Vhavea mandato a diman-
dare; ma ci era la moglie, giovanetta e
bella, con un famiglio e con una serva.
La quale mandò il famiglio alla stalla
per attendere a gli cavalli, et a se chiamò
la serva per darle le linzuola e le altre
cose necessarie per la camera; e perche
haveva visto il gentil' huomo, che per esser
giovanetto e bello molto le era piacciuto,
tener non si puote che non le dicesse : —
« Vuoi ch'io ti dica, Giacomina ? questo
» mi pare un piacevol giovane, et è più
» bello che non è mio marito. — Madonna
» mia, » rispose ella, « sapete comedi i;
» el si voi torre del bene fin che se ne pò
» haver e. Se voi facessi a mio modo, dor-
» mirestivi seco in questa notte ; egli è



IN JESTS 75

horses to the stable, ordered that a supper
be got ready for him and made them give
him a room.

The inn-keeper was not there; he had
gone to Trent, to one of his brother's,
who was staying at the Bishop's and
had sent for him; but his wife was
there, young and graceful, with one
footman and one female servant. She
sent the footman to the stable to look
after the horses, called the female servant
to give him sheets and the other articles
necessary for the room, and as she caught
sight of the gentleman who, as for being
young and handsome, had pleased her,
she could not abstain from saying to
her : — « Shall I tell thee, Giacomina?
» he seems to me to be a very agreeable
» young man, and a much finer fellow
» than my husband. — Madonna, »
replied the servant, « you know how it
» is : we should take the ball in the hop.
» If you would act after my way, you
» would sleep with him to-night; he is



76 PROVERBS

» forastieri, non si supera mai, e potrete
» cacciar il famiglio a dormire alla
» stalla, con scusa di guardare che a gli
» cavalli non /ussero robati gli forni"
» menti, et acciò che ancora non facessero
» questione e rumore. — Deh ! va in maV
» hora tua ! » disse ella; — « Dehl
» perche non ho io quel bel volto che havete
» voi ! » rispose la serva ; « cV io so ben
» che non perderei una cosi bella ventura,
» né una cosi buona e dolce notte. »

La Madonna, che già tutta ardeva di
voglia, disse : — « Tu dirai pur della
» tua tu; quanto per me, non saprei mai
» come dovessi fare. — Lasciate questo
» incarico a me, » rispose ella; e tolta la
chiave di una camera dovo era il più tristo
e peggior letto che fusse in tutta l'hostaria,
gli condusse dentro il padrone e dissegli :
« Questo sarà lo alloggiamento vostro
» per riposare. » E subito ch'egli fu
dentro, rivolse gli occhi intorno al letto.



IH JESTS 77

» a stranger, it will never be found out,
» and you can send the footman to sleep
» in the stable, under pretext of keeping
» people from stealing the horses' har-
» nesses, or again for fear they might
» fight and make a noise. — Oh ! go to
» blazes! » cried out the innkeeper.
— « Oh ! that I had the lovely fece you
» have, » replied the servant; « I know
» jolly well I should not let so fine an
» opportunity be lost, or so good and
» pleasant a night. »

The Madonna, who was burning all
alive with longing, said : — « You may
» say what you like ; I should never know
» how to come about it. — Leave it to
» me, » replied the other; and having
taken the key of a room in which there
was the worst and meanest bed in the
whole inn, she led the gentleman into it
and said to him : « Here is your sleeping-
» room. » As he was inside the room,
he cast his eyes on the bed and at seeing
it so tattered, so out of order, he cried



78 PROVERBS

e vedendolo tanto tristo e mal in ordine,
disse : * — « Credete voi eh* io uso di dor-
» mire a casa mia su la paglia? —
» Messer, nò, » rispose la Giacomina,
« ma intuita questa hostaria non è altro
» che un buon letto, sopra al quale dorme
» la moglier dell' hoste^ e se ella mutasse
» alloggiamento, andarla a pericolo di
» amalarsi, per esser bella e delicatamente
» allevata. — Io non vorrei già, » disse
il gentil' huomo ; « ma vorrà pur dormir
» questa notte in un bon letto ancViOy che
» questa passata son stato in un tanto
» tristo, che mai non ho potuto dormire.
» — Io ho pensato un modo che tutti dua
» potrete dormire adagio; voi dormirete
» in quel bon letto da capo, » disse la
serva, « et ella vi dormirà da piedi. » //
giovane, che l'havea vista e che molto gli
era piacciuta, rispose : — « Io farò tutto
» quello che ella comanderà; fate pur che
» d sia ben da cena. — Ogni cosa sarà



IN JESTS 79

out : — « Do you fancy that I am used
» at home to sleep on the straw? — No,
» Sir, » replied la Giacomina, « but
» throughout the whole inn there is
» only one good bed, upon which the
» inn-keeper's wife sleeps; if she were
» to change it, she would run the risk of
» felling HI, pretty and delicately reared
» as she is. — I do not wish for that, »
said the gentleman, « but I should however
» like to lie also on a good bed; last
» night I had so bad a one that I could
» not sleep. — I have thought of an
» expedient by means of which you can
» both of you sleep at your ease : you
» should lie at the head of the bed, »
said the servant, « and my mistress
» should lie at the foot. » The young
man, who had seen the mistress whom
he had pleased very much, answered : —
« I shall do as she likes; try in the
» meanwhile and let us have a good
» supper. — Every thing shall be as it



8o PROVERBS

» in ordine y » rispose ella; e subito tor-
nata dalla Madonna e narratole il tutto,
si dierno a far la cena, la quale fi^ abbon-
dantissima non solamente di varie sorte
de carni e di uccelli, ma di trute e di car-
pioni e di tutte le maniere di pesci che si
poterò haver nel lago di Garda, presso al
quale erano.

Da poi e' hebbero cenato, la Giacomina
condusse il gentil' huomo nella camera di
sua madonna, la qual si havea già acconcio
il capo per andar a dormire, et egli datogli
la bona notte, disse : — « Madonna, el
» m'incresce ben di disconciarvi. — //
» vostro star adagio a me i il maggior
» acconcio del mondo, » rispose ella.
Disse alVhor la Giacomina : — « Non
» vi rincresca aspettar un poco, c'hor
» hora io vengo, » Et havendo tolto da far
collatione, ritornò subito e disse : « Io era
y> andata per portare un cape^^iale per
» conciarvi da piedi, ma subito che son



IN JESTS 8 1

» ought, » she replied, and returned at
once to Madonna; after having related
the affair to her, they set about getting
ready the supper which was very copious,
not only in meats and all sorts of game,
but in trout and fishes of all kinds that
could be had from Lake Garda, near
which the inn was situated.

After they had supped, la Giacomina
led the gentleman into the room of her
mistress, who had already accommo-
dated her head for sleeping, and on
bidding her good night, he said to her :
— « Madonna, I am very sorry for dis-
» turbing you. — Provided you are well,
» this is the best arrangement in the
» world for me, » she replied. La Giaco-
mina then said : — « Be not impatient
» to wait a little while for me, I shall
» be back directly ; » and having been
to take what was necessary to form a
light supper, she returns and says : « I
» was going to look for a pillow to
» accommodate you at the foot of the

II



82 PROVERBS

» Stata fuori de l'uscio, m'è venuto in
» mente quello che V altro giorno s* anegò
» qui nel lago, et ho havuta si gran
» paura, che quasi son caduta morta; sì
» che, dormite pur tutti da un capo. » Il
giovane e la Madonna intendendo questo
cominciamo a ridere e dissero : — « Già-
» comina, dati pace e votene a dormir, che
» noi si acconciaremo al meglio che sia
» possibile; » e cosi tutti se n'andarono
al letto. Il giovane, c'havea desiderio
d'imparare il mestier de l'armi, si portò
tanto bene in questi primi incontri, che in
meno di due bore ruppe quattro lande.
Cessati che furono alquanto questi colpi
furiosi, egli cominciò a ridere; la donna
che V udi gli adimandò di che rideva, et
egli rispose : — « Di una cosa che mi è
» venuta in mente. — Deh! narratemela
» se ella si pò dire, » disse la giovane.
— (dove la dirò, » rispose egli all' bora.
« Hier sera, all'entrar de la hostaria.



IN JESTS 83

» bed, but as soon as I had gone out of
» the door, the idea of him that drowned
» himself the other day in the Lake,
» quite near hand, rushed into my head,
» and I was so much afraid that I almost
» dropped dead; lie therefore both of
» you at the same side. » The youg man
and Madonna, thoroughly understanding
her meaning, burst out in laughter, and
replied : — « Giacomina, be not uneasy
» and go off to bed; we shall arrange
» ourselves as best we can. » The young
man, longing to learn the profession of
arms, behaved so well in this first en-
counter that, in less that two hours, he
had entered the lists four times. These
furious discharges being, somewhat ap-
peased, he fell alaughing; the mistress,
who heard him, asked him what he was
laughing at, and he answered her: — « At
» an idea which has run into my mind.
» — Ehi tell it to me, if it may be
» told, » said the young woman. —
« Most willingly; » he continued then :



84 PROVERBS

» mi riscontrai in una croce, e me la tolsi
» in bono augurio, e fu tutto in contra-
» rio, perchè mal cenai e peggio dormii;
» questa sera, ritrovai sopro V uscio un
» paio di corna, e vedete qual cena e quale
» bona notte è questa! — Voi potrete
» adunque dire : Inam;} corna che croce, y>
disse la donna. — a E quanto; » rispose
il giovane; e cosi cominciata un^ altra
giostra, disse sempre mentre che durò :
« Inan:^ corna che crou ; » eì in tal modo
se lo tolse in uso, che mal altro non diceva
che questo proverbio.




IN JESTS 85

« Yesterday evening, when I was enter-
» ing the inn, I met with a cross which
» I took to be a good foreboding, and it
» was quite the contrary, for I was badly
» fed and lodged worse; this evening I
» met with a pair of horns over the
» door, and you see what a good supper
» and night I have had! — You may
» therefore say : Horns rather than
» crosses, » replied Madonna. — « Yes,
» much rather, » answered the young
man, and having set about beginning
another tilting, he never ceased so long
as it lasted from sajdng : Horns rather
than crosses, and he put it to such con-
stant use, that he was never heard saying
anything else but this proverb.





PROVERBIO SEXTO

PERCHÈ SI DICE .* Non mi curo di pompe,
pur che sìa ben vestito.




ON mi curo di pompe, pur
che sia ben vestito. Questo
proverbio è antico e manifesto
a pochi; el quale solemo in
proposito dire quando volemo mostrar che
ogni avantagio e bene accetto havemo. Fu il
principio primo suo per tale maniera :

Fu una una garspnetta, la quale circa
di dodici anni e forse meno fi per rispetto
d'alcune hereditati maritata in bello e



SIXTH PROVERB



Y THEY SAY : / bavt MO mid of pomp,
" ' ~ m well dressed.



have no nadofpomp, provided
I am well dressed. This is an
old proverb, but few people
! understand its meaning; wc
arc accustomed to malie use of it, when
we want to show that we are sure of any
gain or advantage as agreed upon. It
first originated thus :

There was quite a young girl who,
from the age of twelve and perhaps
younger, was, by reason of certain inbe-



88 PHOVERBS

grande omo di circa anni ventiotto o fino
in trenta, et era di più famosi homini in
fornimento da sposa che havesse quella
terra o quella etade. Andando questa gar-
Tiona a marito, che fu menata alle no:(^e,
intese pure d'alcunevecchie delinstrumènto
smisurato del marito ; e fatta sera, e male
voluntieri andata a letto per timore de
tale arme, come il marito se le fu appres-
sato, diede uno sgui:(^o d'anguilla in sal-
tare fuora. Lui lusinghevolmente tenendole
dietro, con btione par ole l'assicura, pregan-
dola stia ferma a compiacerlo, che di tale
piagha mai non morì donna; e cosi par-
lando, leda il cordone in mano, credendosi
per questa commoverla pia lei ad obse-
guirli. Ma essa, apena tanto la forma
tocca, cominciò a pianger forte e stringere
la camisa entro le gambe. Hor sono molti
di cotale natura, che bisognandoli com-
battere quello che con feste e con piacere



IN JESTS 89

ritances, married to a tall and fine man ol
about twenty-eight or thirty, who was
admirably well supplied with a husband's
tackles and the most famous there was in
the country at the time. This young girl,
while being brought the wedding day to
be married, hears a few old women talking
about her husband's huge tool; the night
having come, she went very unwilHngly
to bed, because of the great fear she was
in of such weapons ; as soon as he wanted
to get near her, she slipped like an eel to
escape from him. He held unto her cares-
singly, encouraged her with kind words,
beseeching her to keep still and comply
with him, and assuring her that no woman
had ever died from such wounds; while
thus speaking to her, he introduced his
cock into her hand, thinking thereby to
work her the better into submission. But
she had hardly touched the lump, than she
began to cry very loud and squeeze her
chemise between her thighs. Now, many
persons are of such stuff that, if they

12



90 PROVERBS

debe farsi, rimangono perduti e senj^a
ardire; s'abbassa la cresta al loro uccello,
si che disutili poi sono agli assalti. Costui
adunque di natura tale, ritrattosi sdegnato
in la sua posta, dise a costei : — « Stati
» in la mar bora che Dio ti dia, tncK^o-
» nosa pissotta che tu sei l io mi credeva
» haver tolta una donna, et ho tolto una
» pittima assaltare ; ma te ne pagherò,
» renditi certa. Io voglio che tu torni
» onde venisti, e tormi in letto chi da me
» non fuga. » Con questo sdegno, ador-
men^^ato in fine, statesi fino al di senT^a
dire altro; ma cosi presto come lucire
vide, chiamò la moglie : « Levasu, asi-
» nella I ì> e levatosi anchora esso e ves-
tito, le fa aprire i cassoni de le vesti di
leiy che riccamente Vhaveva adóbbata, e
fino ad una minima :(acchetta le tolse
quante veste le haveva Jatte, e chiamato



IN JESTS 91

must obtain through strife what ought to
be done in merriment and joyously, they
stand bewildered and discouraged; their
bird's crest falls and all attempts become
useless. The husband belonged to this
stamp; he therefore withdrew for his
part, bawling out : — « Stay with the
» evil luck God bestows on you, naughty
» little pisser that you are ! I thought I
» had taken a woman and I have taken a
» little bitch that won't keep In a posi-
» tion ; but you shall pay me for it, be
» certain of it. I will have you go back
» to where you came from, and take to
» my bed one who does not want to
» flee from me. » Thereupon being all in
a rage, he finished by falling asleep and
remained until day-break without uttering
another word ; but as soon as he beheld
the day-light, he called out to his wife :
« Get up, you donkey! » and having got
up himself also and dressed, he made her
open the trunks in which she kept her
gowns, for he had richly supplied her



92 PROVERBS

uno famiglio^ gliele da sotto el mantello,
e con seco si parte di casa, dicendo a lei :
» Ritorna a toi parenti, che te vestino ; »
e vassene alloggiare con uno suo caro
compagno non molto longe dalla stanT^a
sua, e le vesti gli da che le governi.



Non era anco nella casa delle no%^
alcun levato; la gar^pnetta, spogliata de
suoi mobili, sulla banca del letto, in
camisola, scassetta a lachrimare e stare
dolente. Levatasi poi la turba per la casa,
le donne pia domestiche entrano in la
camera dello sposo novello, e credendo tro-
vare la putta in festa, la trovarono fra
pianti in camisotto. Fannosi intorno tutte
meste, e dimandono che è questo e dove è
lo sposo. La garT^ona si muove a contarle
ciò che ha fatto, corrucciatosi con ella e
tolti i panni, perchè non è voluta star



IN JESTS 93

with them, and took back from her
everything he had had made for her in
the shape of clothing, even to the smallest
frock; then having called a footman, put
the bundle on his back under his cloak
and left the house with him while sapng :
« Go home to your parents, they will
» dress you. » He returned to lodge at
one of his friend's who Hved near hand,
and gave the effects into his keeping.

Nobody had as yet risen where the
wedding took place; the young girl
stripped of her effects sat in her chemise
on the bed-stead, weeping and sobbing.
Then the people of the house having got
up, the intimate women came into the
room of the bridegroom, and thinking to
find the little one merry, they found her
in her chemise weeping. They, all of
them sad, are gathering about her, asking
what does that mean and where is the
bridegroom. The little one ventures to tell
them what she has done; how he became
angry with her and carried off her effects.



94 PROVERBS

li salda, havendo troppo smisurato ma-
nico. Una matrona alVhora delle piacenti,
e che mentre fa giovine mai per homo sa-
rebbe fuggita, leva la mano e dalle un
gran boffetto : — « Ghiotta, » dicendo;
« garxpna da poco I poscia che tu bai
> paura di corda grossa, oltre la mal'
» hora, mai ti vorrò bene. Iddio fha
» fatto una bella ventura, e tu, disgra-
iiata, non V intendi? i^ — La giovinetta
alVhora, asciuti gli occhi, comincia a
dimandar se gli è pericolo, et elle tutte
ad un tratto cominciano a riderla. —
« Semplice che tu sei, » dicono quelle;
« noi tutte ti facciamo la sicurtade ; sta
» salda allo scontro, e sapiati ben regere :
» che se male ti dee fare, sarà nel tragere
» fora, in mettere nulla, e cosi tu ne con-
dii fesserai poi. La piaga di quello loco
» mai non dolse. » La sposa alVhora,
lascivetta e viva : — « Mandate adunque, »
dissele, « a cercarlo, ch'io non fuggirò



IN JESTS 9S

she not having wished it to be done with
her, because he had too huge a handle.
Thereupon a matron, who was still one
of the most comical and who during her
youth would never have fled from a man,
lifting her hand gave her a smart slap on
the cheek in bawling out : — « You silly
» thing, you little wench of nothing at all !
» since you are afraid of a thick rope,
» besides the evil that befalls you I shall
» never wish you well. God bestowed a
» great favor upon you, and you do not
» profit by it. » The little child then
wipes her eyes and begins to enquire if
there is any danger : they all begin to
laugh at her. — « How silly you are! *
the women say to her, « we are all here
» to assure you of the contrary. Be steady
» for the shock and learn to keep your-
» self properly; if it is to hurt you, it is
3> in taking it out and not in putting it in :
» you will own so to us afterwards. Never
» wound in that spot kills. » Then the
bride all sprightly and merry : — « Send



96 PROVERBS

» più sopra di voi, che havete tutte queste
» cose provate. » Air bora si mossero a
mandare messi atomo, e quella che le
haveva dato il hoffetto, imaginando dove
dovea essere, proprio mandolo dal com-
pagno, e fattolo venire sopra di leiy pro-
mettendoli la sposa mitigata, se li fa
incontro a V uscio: — ■ n Adio, scudiero
» da bene^ pocha fatica te sarà ; y> e con
tale paroìe intrando innanzi, con quella
che in camisa era ancho, el chiude in
camera.

La gar::pna , come insegnato havevanle
le più pratiche, si leva con un riselto in
verso lui, e con le braccia aperte al collo
li salta, amori:(andolo di lingua e di basi
che haveriano eccitati i morti entro le
tombe. El marito la vuole gittare sul
letto ; lei dice : — « Io voglio una gratia
)) da voi, che mi rendiate tutte le mie
» vesti, poi di me fate ciò che v^è in pia-



IN JESTS ^7

» for him therefore, » she says ; « I shall
» flee no more than you, who have all
» done it. » They sent out messengers to
look about for him, and she that had
given the slap thinking where he could
be, went precisely to seek him at his
friend's, and prevailed upon him to came
back to his wife, promising him that
she was greatly softened down; going
before him as far as the door : — « Good
» luck to you, brave knight, » she says
to him, « you will have but little to
» weary » ; and so saying she shut him up
in the room with the young one, who was
still in her chemise.

The damsel, as the most expert matrons
had taught her, got up before him making^
all sorts of smiles at him, and with out-
stretched arms flys to his neck, exciting
him by licking and kisses that would have
recalled to life the dead within the tomb.
The husband wishes to toss her over on
the bed, and she says : — « I desire one
» favor from you, namely, that j'ou give



98 PROVERBS

» cere. » Lui che la cognosceva pomposetta,
realmente disse : — « Per infino emesso le
1^ vesti son tue, ma servimi d'animo e
1^ non fuggire, ch*io voglio per ogni dito
1^ in traverso del cordone che tu ricevi,
» farti un altro vestito di che colore vuoi,
» e cosi ti prometto realissimamente. »
Ella^ vanetta troppo d'essere adorna, ani-'
mesa responde : — « Io son contenta, »
e saltata sul letto come cerva, accetta el
sposo come intendere deesi; et era già il
cordone a me^a strada in una impulsa,
cFella comincia a numerare le dita per
havere una vesta del promesso, e dice : —
« È uno! i> Segue il marito e da ciò che
gli resta : — ^È duil » disse la gar:^pna,
numerando per due dita in traverso quello
che era un palmo e mcT^, e forse meglio.
Ridea el cauto marito in me^ l'opra, e
seguendo perfinire el fatto suo, la sposa,
come se niente anco sentisse y li disse :
« Andate oltra con dell'altro. y> Rispose



IN JESTS 99

» me back my things ; then do what you
» like with me. » He, knowing she was
coquet, answers her candidly : — « From
y> this moment all the gowns are yours,
» but comply with me as a friend, and do
» not flee away; I shall for every inch of
» the bodkin that enters your belly, get you
» made as many others of whatever color
» you wish; this I promise you in earn-
» est. » She, only too proud of attire,
eagerly answers : — « I am glad of it, »
and leaping on the bed like a hind, receiv-
es her husband as that may ^be under-
stood ; the bodkin was with a single thrust
already half ways, when she begins to
count the inches that had entered, to have
one of the promised dresses, and shouts
out : — « One! » The husband thrusts
in the remainder : — « Two ! » says the
damsel, counting as two inches what was
worth a span and a half, and perhaps
more. The husband was laughing in the
very heat of the business, and had just
finished when the bride, as if she felt



100 PROVERBS



quello : -^ « Io non n'ho più ; » e rideva
pure, essercitandosi della constantia della
ganpnelta. Lei senti pur la borsa de so-
nagli che gli shattea a quello modo mi
quaderno; vi pone IcCmano e dimanda al '
marito : — « Che è questo altro ì » Et il
marito che s'appressa ad ungharla : —
:d Sta salda, » disse per iorla di proposito
semplicetto; a sono duo tali che s'attacano
> li per una pompa y ma da officio nes-
» suno. » Disse all' bora lei: — « Adun-
» que io non guadagno se non dui vestiti ?
» povereta me! hor mettiti oltra quest'
"» altri, ch'io non mi curo de pompe, pur
» che sia ben vestita. »

Questa fu la risposta della giovinetta
sposa, tanto poco inanti timida e paventosa
di grande arma; la quale risposta se
meritò essere per singulare facetia divul-
gata; intendere el pò chi ha letta l'his-
toria onde'l proverbio ditto se diceva.



IN JESTS lOI

nothing, says to him : « Have at it again
» for another inch. — There is no more
» of it, » he answers while laughing,
amazed at the young lass's firmness. She
then perceives the little bell-purse which
was striking along her quaternary, and lay-
ing her hand on it asks the husband : —
« What is that ? » The husband, who was
getting ready to give her a good greasing,
answers her in order to remove from her
such an over foolish idea : — « Do not
» trouble yourself about it, these are trifles
» we place there for pomp, but which are
» good for nothing at all. — I shall have
» then earned only two dresses, » she
shouts : « how poor am I ! Come, thrust
» these into it also ; I have no need of
» pomp, . provided I am well dressed. »
Such was the [reply of the young bride, a
little before so afraid of and scared at big
weapons, a reply which, on account of its
strange drollery, deserved to be published,
as whoever has read the story firom which
the said proverb springs may understand.




PROVERBIO SETTIMO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : Chi fa li fatti suoi non
s'imbratta le mani.



IMILE simplicitade o vero
materia leva il dettato quello^
che spesso dicono i solliciti, i
quali intenti molto su gli
avan:(iy dicono in escusatione di suo esser-
citio : Chi fa li fatti suoi non s'imbratta
le mani.




Una gentil madonna Milanese, vedova
del primo marito, toìse il secondo non mai
maritato, castellano, rico e giovine bri*




SEVENTH PROVERB

WHY THEY SAY : Who docs Us owfi business
does not soil his hands.




like simplicity or rather drol-
lery has given rise to this
adage, which interested peo-
ple often apply to themselves
when, too attentive to lose anything, they
say in excuse of their way of acting : ^ho
does his own business does not soil bis hands.



A noble Milan lady, the widow of a
first husband, took a second who had
never been married before, being a rich
lord of a manor and a mettlesome.vyoung



104 PROVERBS

gante. Hor per mostrarsi costei modesta
troppo, credendo per tal sospitione bestiale
piacerli più, la prima notte che se gli ac-
compagnò, si pose uno guanto in mano e
su la destra, con la quale sapea, come si
fa, che haveva a toccare i membri del ma -
rito, et caetera. Et marito vedendo questo
e trovando el guanto in quella mano ave
volea porre altro, si rise secOy e pur non
disse altro, e fece dal suo canto el debito
del letto. V altra sera, venuta l'hora di
colcarse, comanda alla moglie che vada a
letto e tienele mente che si mette il guanto.
All' hor a lui, spogliatosi nudo, che era
d'estate, piglia un gran paro di sonagli
che prima haveva preparati a questo, et
attacatogli a me^p del cordone, passeggia
per la camera un gran pe:(p, risonando
tin, ton, e tach, tach. La mogliera guarda
costui e molto maravigliasi dell' atto, pur
non dice altro e l'aspetta nel letto. El
marito de li ad un ùoco le va presso; lei



IN JESTS 10$

man. Now, she, wishing to show herself
over modest and thinking to please him
the better by this nonsensical prudery,
clapped on a glove, the first night they
passed together, on the right hand, like
a woman who knows what she is going
about, and that she would have to take
hold of her husband's member etcatera. He
in taking notice of it and feeling a glove
on the hand into which he intended to
put something else, laughs to himself, but
says nothing, and performed himself the
office of the bridal bed. The next evening
at bed hour, he orders his wife to go to
bed, and observes her again putting on
the glove. Then having stripped himself
stark naked, for they were in the heart of
summer, he takes a large pair of bells
which he had prepared beforehand, and
having fastened them on to the middle of
his hangers, walks a considerable while
through the room, causing at every step
a ding, dong, tack, tack. The wife eyes
him, being greatly surprised at the pro-

14



I06 PROVERBS

tiene il guanto^ e lui tiene i sonagli, e
facendo l'officio del connujno, sona intorna
al quaderno della moglie, e pare essere el
cento par de diavoli; àncho non ha tutto
quello che la vorria, peroche la grosse:^^
de sonagli attaccati gli toglieva molto del
camalepaese.



Passano dui, tre, quattro e sei giorni,
costei perseverando col guanto et lui con i
sonagli ; e parendo ad dia perdere molto
del sagio che gli die la prima notte, comu-
nicò questa disgratia sua con le vicine,
cotne^l marito si mettea i sonagli circa al
cordone et usava seco con quelle tampelle
intomo al mantice, de cui perdeva quasi
un ter:(p presso. Le vicine, udendo el novo
modo de concubito, risero tanto quanto sia
credibile, poi volto verso lei che si doleva,
dissero : — « Madonna Gabriella » {che



IN JESTS 107

ceedings, but yet says nothing and waits
for him in bed. He soon gets close to
her; she keeps on the glove, he the bells
and, while performing the conjugal duty,
jingles about his wife's quaternary, that one
would say there were a hundred pairs 01
devils ; yet she did not get so much of it
as she would have wished : the space
occupied by the bells which were fastened
to it, deprived her of a good part of the
carnal region.

Two, three, four, six days passed by, she
obstinately putting on the glove, he the
bells ; and as it appeared to her that she
was losing very much of what she had
tasted on the first night, she related her
misfortune to the neighbours : how her
husband used to attach bells to his rope
and had meddled with her having this
ironware round the bellows, so that she
lost one third of it. The neighbours, on
hearing of this new mode of operating,
begin to laugh as much as is credible, then
turning towards the plaintiff, they say :



I08 PROVERBS

cosi si chiamava), » vi date cagione che cosi faccia; questi
» suoi sonagli el se gli attacchi in vostro
1^ smaccamento, volendo esser inteso sem^
» parlare. Che novità usate voi come
» dormite con lui ?» Ella rispose alVhora :
— « Donne mie care^ non mi ascondo
» da voi; per mostrargli di me qualche
» modestia^ mi ho sempre in mano mettuto
» un guanto, accioche facendomi toccare
» quella facenda, mi conoscesse lui netta
> e schifa di tal vitupero. » Hor se gli
fu a ridere alquanto prima, a questa
fiata gliene fu a pien gor:(a, e dissero
tutte : — « Questa è la cagione; voi
» monstrate dita de andare a sparaviero,
» togliendo il guanto, e lui al falcone
» tollendo i sonagli di quella grandcT^a,
» e si vi scorge per una santa città, et
» ha ragione. Hora andate e mettete giù
» quello guanto, e se non basta una mano
» nuda a torlo suso, mettete entrambe



IN JESTS 109

— « Madonna Gabriella » (such was her
name), « see you do not offer him the
» occasion of acting thus ; he being willing
» to make himself understood without
» speaking, fixes on these bells to make
» game of you. What novelty do you then
» use when you sleep with him ? » She ans-
wers : — « My dear ladies, I do not wish
» to mantle myself from you ; to show
» myself somewhat reserved with him, I
» have always put on a glove, so that it
» happening he made me handle what
» you know, he saw how clean and
» careful I am about sparing myself such
» a contact. » If they had laughed a little
at first, this time they laughed their belly
full, and they all shouted out : — « That
» is the reason; you show him your
» fingers in putting on gloves as if
» you were going ahawking : he lets
» yau see he is falcon-hunting by
» putting on such large sized bells; he
n) takes you for a town saint, and he is
» quite right. Come then, leave aside the



no PROVERBS

» due per fare el fatto vostro, et haver e
» tutto. y>



Havuto adunque questo amonimento,
Madonna Gabriella la sera andando a
letto col marito, prese per la cordella il
ditto guanto, e gettolo nel me:(^o della ca-
mera, vedente lui. All'hor el benigno
marito che già si haveva gli sonagli
al cordon cinti, disciolsegli e geitogli
dietro el guanto, et entrò presso la
donna, entrando in castello di ultima pò-
tentia che li nefusse. La moglie alVhora
sentendo, per haver gettato el guanto, gran
differentia in la misura per li sonagli
che più non gli erano attaccati, disse :
« Per certo, queste nostre vicine son pur
» donne d'assai; io conosco bene hora che
» esse hanno ragione. » E preso sempre da
Vhora inanT^i el cordone con ambi le mani,
come le havevano ditto, se escusà verso il



IN JESTS III

A glove, and if one naked hand is not
» enough to take hold of it, put the two
» to it, and do your own business : you
» will gain thereby in having all. »

Being thus kindly admonished. Madonna
Gabriella, when going to bed at night
with her husband, took the aforesaid
glove by the lace and flung it into the
middle of the room under his eyes. Then
the kind husband, the same as had already
the bells tied on to his rope, unknotted
them and cast them with the glove; after
this he lay close to his wife and forced his
way into her citadel with all the strength
he could. The wife then feeUng, as the
glove was thrown away, that there was
a great difference of size because of the
bells which were no longer tied on to it,
cried out : — « To be sure, those neigh-
» bouring women of ours are wise, and
» I now confess they are right. » Hence-
forth she took hold of the rope with the
two hands as they had told her, and
excused herselfin presence of her husband



112 PROVERBS

marito di quella importunità tanto an^
siosa dicendo : « Chi fa li fatti suoi non
» s'imbratta le mani. » El quale prover-
bio, conosciuto el caso, fa con non poco
riso fra il popolo grandissimo diffuso.




m JESTS 113

for this importunate eagerness, in saying :
— « Who does his own business does not
» soil his hands. »

This proverb, the event being known,
spread widely among the people, not
without being a cause of merriment.




IS




PROVERBIO OTTAVO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : Tu potresti ben essere
corritor«y ma non hai già la vista.




NCHORA seriT^a intentione
(Thuomini o donne, da gli
animali son tratti alcuni
il proverbj, renando in essi
pili sentimento spesso che non pare e pia
cautela; come si legge del granchio che
é di tanta astutia, quando ha fame,
che insidia a Vhostrega su i sassi, e come
vede aprirla, un lapillo parato nelle
branche gli pone entro, e più non può




EIGHTH T>ROVERB

WHY THEY SAY : You may he a good runner,
hut you do not look like it.




OME few proverbs are also
taken from animals, without
there being question of men
or women; beasts having
sometimes more judgment and skill than
it would seem, as we read of the crab,
which is so cunning when hungry that
it lays siege to the oyster in the rocks : as
soon as it sees it opening, it throws between
its shells a pebble which it holds quite
ready in its claws, so that the shellcan



Il6 PROVERBS

serrarsi, onde all' bora lui si pasce di sua
industria.

Un gambero adunque, animale peggiore
di pravità, errando un dì su la riva d'un
acqua, fil trovato da una volpe traver-
sante quei campi ; la quale, vedendo questo
tanto strano d'aspetto, lentissimo di modo,
et oltre di ciò che andava tanto indrieto e
più che inanzi, si maravigliò forte e
tutta mirabonda el contemplava ; poi, non
bastando questo, gli da delle T^ampe, e
vole intendere pure che animalei. El gam-
bero, alT^ato el ceffo : — « Sor elio, » dice,
« va per la fede tua, per li tuoi fatti, e
» lassa a me, che non ti do impa^p, fare
» limici.» Risponde la volpe: — m Che sai
» tu fare ? che virtù i la tua ? y> e con
tal parlare ridicolo el dileggia, poi dice :
« Per gentille:(pia faciamo a correre tu et
» io un me^ miglio insieme. » Ella el
vedeva andare cosi retrogrado, e perciò



W JESTS 117

no longer be closed; it then eats it up and
feeds itself by the wiles of its trade.

A lobster then, being a still more mali-
cious animal, while wandering one day on
the brink of the water, was met by a fox
that was crossing these coasts. The fox, on
seeing this strange looking creature, of
so slow a gait, and which moreover was
walking backwards much more than for-
wards, wondered exceedingly and began
to gaze at it; not being satisfied with that,
he gives it a few strokes of his paw,
wishing to know what sort of animal it
is. The lobster, raising its head, says : —
Hi Dear little brother, upon your faith!
» mind your own business, and I that
» am in no way disturbing you, let me
» mind mine. — What can you do ? »
enquires the fox; « what talent have you? »
Having defied it by these bitter words,
he next says : « Let us, to amuse our-
» selves, run a mile together, you or I
» for it; » he saw it walking backwards



Il8 PROVERBS

con tali modi lo beffegiava. El gambero
air bora animosamente tolle r invito, e
mette pegno, e non soloacceta correre seco,
ma gli proferisce dargli avantagio tanto
quanto è longa. La volpe, credendolo di
scorgiere doppiamente : « Per la mia fé h
risponde, « ogni avantagio i bono ; io son
» contenta. » E cosi ditto, si gli acconcia
innan:^, e lui de dietro, dicendo : —
« Non ti levare infin che non tei dico; »
e quetamente si gli attaccha con le branche
entro la cauda, poi dice a la volpe : « Tira
» via I y> El peso era leggiero e tegnia
pocho loco; la volpe se mette in gambe
inverso il segno, e gionta, si volta indie-
tro, non credendolo ^vedere ancho mosso ;
i lui, lassato giuso, gli dice : « Ove guardi
» tu, sorella? io son qua prima di te;
» e che sia 'l vero, vedi che ti son dreto
» pia prossimo al segno. » La volpe si
volta, e vedendo haver perso, riman
morta ; poi muta anchora e stupefatta, il



IN JESTS 1 19

and thus laughed at it. The lobster gladly
accepts the challenge, puts in his wager
and, not only wishes to beat him well, but
proposed to give the fox a start of his
own length. The latter, thinking to make
game of it two-fold, replies : — « Upon
» my faith! every advantage is good
» to be taken ; I accept most willingly. »
Having said this, he places himself ahead,
the lobster getting behind, saying : — « Do
» not start until I tell you, » and she
quietly holds on to his tail by her claws,
then cries out to the fox : « Forward I »
The weight was light and occupied but
little space; the fox gallops off at full
speed for the winning-post, reaches it and
immediately turns round thinking indeed
to see the lobster still in the same place,
but she lets herself drop down and says :
— « Where are you looking, little bro-
» ther ? I have got in before you, in proof
» whereof you see me here behind you
» nearer the winning-post. » The fox turns
about and, seeing that he has lost, stands



120 PROVERBS

mira pur dinanzi e poi de dreio, sempre
il vede andare alla riversa, infin stringe
ne le spalle e dice : « Tu potresti bene
» essere corridore, ma non hai già la
» vista. » n quale proverbio se usurpano le
persone in suo proposito, quando uno frappa
e promette più di quello che stima altrui
che valere possa.




IM JESTS 121

as dead ; mute with stupe&ction , he
looks before, behind, and sees her always
going backwards; finally, he scuds his
shoulders and says : — « You may be a
» very good runner, but you do not look
» like it, » a proverb which is quoted
seasonably when anybody boasts and pro-
mises to do more than he is thought
capable of.




i6




PROVERBIO NONO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : McgUo è tardi
che non mai.




ALU diserti di Thebaida ve-
nuto è a noi quel trito et un-
tato proverbio che dice : Me-
glio è tardi che non mai ;
// quale in questo modo avvenne :

FU adunque un buon huomo de li beni
di fortuna agiato assai, il quale haveva
una mogliera molto bella e da lui somma-
mente amata, che nel parto gli mori, las-
ciandogli il nato figliuol cagion della



NINTH PROVERB



WHY THEY SAY : Better late than never.



HIS common and frequently
quoted proverb has come, to
us from the depths of the
Thebaidan deserts : Better

late than never^ and here is how it took

place :




There was a good man pretty well sup-
plied with the gifts of fortune arid married
to a very lovely woman, whom he loved
immensely and who died in child-bed, while
leaving him an infant whose birth was the



124 PROVERBS

morte sua. Il guai dato alla nutrice, fu
da lei con gran diligentia nutricato, Jìn
che pervenne alla età di torgli il latte. Il
buon huomo abbandonato da quella che
egli quanto se stesso amava, reputan-
dosi di non mai più essere contento al
mondo, si dispose di ridursi al diserto a
fare heremitica vita, e condur seco il fi-
gliuolo, il quale, come ho dettOy già pote-
rla vivere senT^ la nutria. E cosi data
ogni sua facultateper l'amor di Dio, con
l'unico figliuol se gli condusse, dove ritro^
vato un loco assai, secondo il diserto,
ameno per alcune palme che Vadom-
bravano, e per un lucido fonie che nel
me^Tp gli sorgeva, quivi ad habitar si pose,
et al figliuolo, che grandicello veniva,
ogni di insegnava sue certe orationi ch'egli
sapeva, amaestrandolo nelle cose della
fede. Et in questo modo, il padre vivendo
de frutti e d'herbe, e bevendo l'acqua viva.



IN JESTS 125

cause of her death. The child, being en-
trusted to a nurse, was by her great care
reared up until it reached the age of being
weaned. The good man, bereaved of her
whom he loved as much as himself, fear-
ing to be never again happy in this
world, prepared himself to retire to the
desert and lead the life of a hermit, bring-
ing with him his child who, as already
stated, could get on without his nurse.
Having bestowed all his wealth for God's
sake, he went there with his sole oflf-
spring ; and after having lit upon a place
agreeable enough for a desert, owing to a
few palm-trees which shaded it, and a
clear stream that flowed through the
midst of it, he stopped there with the in-
tention of abiding in it. He taught his
growing up son a few prayers daily
which he knew, and instructed him on
matters of religion ; in this way, the fa-
ther living on fruit, herbs, and drinking



126 PROVERBS

parvenne alla senettute et ilfigliuol alla
gioventute.

Il padre alcuna volta andava alla
cittate, lasciando il figliuolo, e ne portava
quando pane e quando altre cose, si cofHe
per elemosina da gli amici accattar
poteva. E cosi la sua miser abil vita gran
pe^iTp sostenne, et essendo già fatto debile e
vecchio, e non potendo lafatiga sostenere,
il suo salvatico figliuolo seco di condurre
un di deliberossi, accioche in cambio suo
dagli amici e domestici suoi, comehaveva
per consuetudine, andare per la elemosina
ne tempi futuri potesse; e fatta la delibe-
ratione, ad effetto la mise. Onde pervenuto
il rusticano et inesperto giovane nella
cittate, molto si maravigliava di tutte le
cose che vedeva, le quale da lui tnai più
non erano state vedute ; alle quali il padre
poneva il nome che gli pareva, secondo
che dal figliuolo ne era addimandato,
Hora, andanto cosi insieme, si abatterono



IN JESTS 127

of the clear water, attained old age, and
the son manhood.

The father used to go sometimes to
the town, leaving his son behind, and he
used to bring from it now bread, now
something else, accordingly as he could
procure alms of his friends. He thus pro-
longed his existence a good while, and,
having now grown old and feeble, being
no longer able to bear the fatigue, he re-
solved one day to fetch his son with him,
that he might go in his stead and ask, as
he himself used to do, alms from his
friends and acquaintances ; haying taken
his resolution, he put it into execution.
The rustic and unexperienced young man,
having arrived at the town, was greatly
astonished at everything he saw, having
as yet seen nothing ; and the father, ac-
cordingly as he was questioned by his son,
named every thing as it seemed fit to
him. Now, while they were both walking
together, they fell across a few lovely
young girls who, with their hair nicely



128 PROVERBS

in alcune bellissime giovani che molto
bene in ordine dalla chiesa venivano, et
addimandatone il padre dal figliuolo, gli
rispose : — « Ohimè I segnati, figliuol
» mio^ che queste sono le male cose, perchè
» il Demonio, che vedi tanto bruto con le
» corna e con gli piedi Socha, per mejijp
» di queste inganna gli huomini, per
» modo che nelV Inferno, dove i il fuoco
» cosi ardente e dove bc^lieno tante col-
» dare piene di pece, gli conduce. » Il
figliuolo, poiché si hebbe segnato, non
puote fare che non dicesse : « Padre, di
» tutte le cose che mi hai mostrato, non
» ho veduto anchora alcuna più bella, ne
» che più di queste mi piaccia. ì> Fedendo
il padre chepid poteva il naturale che Vac-
cidentale, di haver lo seco conduttu gV in-
crebbe, e con la maggior preste:(^a che
puote ali* hremo ne lo rimenà, sempre di-
cendogli, per quanto fu longo il camino,
mal de le f emine, per modo che gli cacciò



IN JESTS 129

done up, were returning from church;
and the father, being interrogated by the
son upon this, answers : — a Oh ! cross
» yourself, my child ; those are evil crea-
» tures, because the Devil, whom you
» know and who is so ugly with his horns
» and cloven hoofs, makes use of them
» to lead men into error and hurl them
» into Hell, where the fire is so hot and
» where so many caldrons of pitch are
» boiling. » The son, after having blessed
himself, could not retain himself from
saying : — « Father, of all the things
» you have shown me, I have seen none
» finer, or which pleased me more. »
The father, on seeing that the natural
was far more powerful than the ac-
cidental, regretted having brought him
with him and led him as soon as he could
back to the desert, talking to him all along
the way, however long it was, of the evil
of women, so that he succeeded in putting



17



130 PROVERBS

in fantasia che assai peggio del Diavola
erano, ne mai più di quel diserto loco uscir
gli permise.

Non dopo molto il padre, rendendo il
debito alla Natura, di questa vita passò,
et il figliuolo solo rimase; il quale ciban-
dosi di fruii e d* herba, e dicendo ogni
giorno quelle poche orationi che il padre
insegnato gli haveva, molli anni visse.
Fra questi tempi avvenne che essendo ap-
presso a Palestina un divoto Monasterio,
nel quale erano molti giovani monachi
sen:(a lora Abate, che in quelli giorni gli
era mancato, loro si deliberorono di
crearne uno per Superiore a tutti. Ma
perche erano tutti giovani, di lor stessi dif-
fidandosi, di cercarne uno nel disertosi
disposero, e cosi questo huomo agresto e
selvatico ritrovarono, il quale dopo molti
preghi con loro si condusse al Monasterio,
et Abate lo fecero. E perchè, cornei detto,
il Monasterio era molto presso alla cittate.



IN JESTS 131

into his head that they were worse than
the Devil, and never again allowed him to
leave their solitude.

The father, in a short time after, pay-
ing his tribute to Nature, departed this
life, and the son remained alone. Nou-
rishing himself with fruit and herbs, offer-
ing up every day those few prayers which
his father had taught him, be lived many
long years. At this time it happened there
was near Palestine a holy Monastery in
which many young monks were living
without their Abbot, who had been miss-
ing during those days ; they resolved to
elect one, that would be their common
Superior. But they being all of them
young, mistrusting themselves, they pre-
pared to look for one in the desert, and
lighting upon this wild and uncultivated
man whom, by force of entreaties, they
succeeded in bringing to the Convent,
they made him their Abbot. As this Mo-
nastery was not, as stated, far from the
town, many persons frequented It, and



132 PROVERBS

era dalle genti assai frequemtato e special-
mente dalle femine, delle quali la nuig"
giar parte qui veniva a confessarsi. Il
roi^o e restico Abate, che anchor nel core
serbato havea gli precetti paterni, vedendo
queste femine, subito impaurito si faceva
il segno de la croce e fuggiva. Un Mona-
cho, che molte volte gli haveva veduto fare
quell' atto, gli disse : — « Percbéfuggite,
» Padre, queste donne che vengono da noi
» per consiglio ? — Perchè sono la nuda
» cosa, » rispose, e narrogli tutte quelle
baie che li havea dette il padre. Il Mo-
nacho, cognoscendo Vignorantia sua, gli
disse come queste erano le nostre matri, e
che mantenevano la natura humana, et
infine gli soggionse che il maggior piacer
che al mondo fusse era ad usar carnaio-
mente con loro, e che a lui pareva, come
già molte volte havea provato, che questa
fusse parte della dolce^a della eterna bea-
titudine. L'Abate, che era huonio grossis-



IN JESTS 133

especially women, the greater part of
whom came there to confession. The
rough and rustic Abbot, who conserved
in the bottom of his heart the paternal
precepts, suddenly seized with dread at
seeing these women, crossed himself and
fled. A Monk, who had often seen him
act thus, says : — a Why do you run
» away, my Father, from these women
» who come to us for advice ? — Because
» they are the evil, » he answers, and
he related to him all the idle tales his Ei-
ther had told him. The Monk, on seeing
his ignorance, told him that they were
our mothers, how they were perpetuating
the human species ; finally, he added that
the greatest pleasure in this world was to
use it carnally with them, and that tc
him, who had tasted it many times, it
seemed to be a part of the sweetness ot
the eternal beatitude. The Abbot, who
was the simplest of men, considered about
making a trial of it, on the Monk's kind
assurances ; and the latter, in order to



134 PROVERBS

sima, deliberò, per le bone persuasioni del
Monaco, di provarlo, et egli, per fargli
cosa grata, subito li ritrovò una contadi-
natta morbida e grassa, amica sua, et
insegnatogli corno a fare havea, seco air
amoroso duello il mise. U Abate, venuto
al fine del suo camino, e sentendo la dol-
^;(a che il Monaco gli havea detto, stra--
lucando gli occhi e credendo di spirar Ta-
nima, disse: « Habbi tu cura de gli
» altri monachi, che in Paradiso me ne
» vadol » Ma pur, sendo finito il lavO'
rio, e vedendosi vivo anchora, a piangere
cominciò. Il Monaco pietoso, credendo cV
egli il facesse per lo peccato, al meglio che
gli era possibile il confortava, dicendo
che Iddio che era misericordiosissimo per-
donava maggior eccesso assai. V Abate ris-
pose: « Di questo non piango io, ma
» della disgrafia mia, che son stato tanto
» ad imparare et ad approvarlo. — Pa-
» dre, » dice il Monaco, « meglio é



IN JESTS 135

please him, procured him on the spot a
little fat round village girl, who was his
good friend, and taught him what he had
to do, engaging him with her in the amor-
ous duel. The Abbot, having arrived at
the end of his journey and feeling the
sweetness of which the Monk had spoken
to him coming, with his eyes jumping
out of his head and thrnking he was about
giving up the ghost, crys out : — « Take
» the direction of the other Monks, I am
» going away to Paradise I » But having
finished the work and seeing himself still
alive, began to sob. The Monk, being
seized with compassion and thinking he
was weeping for the sin committed, con-
soled him as best he could by telling him
that God was full of pity, and that he
would pardon the most grievous faults.
— « It is not for that I am weeping, »
says the Abbot ; « I am weeping over my
» misfortune, for having been so long
» without knowing and tasting it. — Fa-
» ther, » says the Monk, « better late



136 PROV£RBS

» tardi che non mai. — Meglio i tardi
» che non mai, » risponde V Abate. —
(c Meglio è tardi che non mai, » replica
il Monaco. Infin altro non dicea l'Abate
in ogni cosa ; se alcuno si veniva a confes-
sare, se alcuno veniva a messa portava
elemosina, l'Abate dicea : — « Meglio è
» tardi che non mai ; » e tanto si sparse
e divulgò questo proverbio, che fino nelle
parti nostre venne. E pero, meglio è tardi
che non mai che voi Thabbiate apparatoci
intenso.




IN JESTS 137

» than never. — Better late than never, »
replied the Abbot. — « Better late than
» never, » replied the Monk. In short,
the Abbot could no longer say anything
else ; if anybody came to confess, if any-
body came to mass or offered any alms :
— « Better late than never, » the Abbot
used to say ; and the proverb spread about
and was divulged in such a way as to
reach our countries. Therefore better late
than never^that you have heard and learn-
ed it yourselves.




18



PROVERBIO DECIMO
PERCHÈ SI DICE : Tutu è fava.



I villa alla città tu venne
un' altro, el quale se allega
assai frequentemente quando
alcuno, dimandattìe per sot-
tile qualche grossr^a per comparatione
d'un altra cosa, chi é pia perito risponde
a quella interrogatione : Tutta è fava,
volendo per tal proverbia denotare che sia
tutta una cosa quello in cut crede qualche
differentia. Di questo il nascimento é face'
tissimo.




©



TENTH PROVERB



WHY THEY SAY : // ts all heatis.




HERE came from the borough
to the town another adage,
which is pretty often quoted
when anybody asks in ex-
change for a small object, another com-
paratively much larger ; the interested
party answers : // is all hearts, as wishing
to denote by this proverb that it is all one,
although he knows very well there is a
big difference. The origin of this saying
is very amusing.



140 PROVERBS

Uno villano del contado d'Imola,
huomo grosso de ingegno e povero dHnstru-
mento, tolse per moglie una gar:(pna molto
astuta, trentoni:^ata per tutto il paese, e
tolsela il castrone per donT^ella, mostran-
dosi anchor lei quando s'accompagnò^ che
di piccolo cordone ben le facesse intolera-
bile male, e tutti gli atti facendogli sotto
che fatica et impotentia persuadere ponno.
Hora il marito gli credea ogni cosa per
non havere mai più coito usato, se non a
squassar se il fusto entro lemacchie^ e cosi
passò in questa opinione parecchi giorni
che havesse havuto la mogliera atela, et
impacciandosi seco le facesse uno grandis-
simo male di poca cosa.

Hora era in questa villa un fante a
piede che non vedea lume, cecato d'ambe
gli occhi per certi maleficii, et havea già
conosciuta la moglie; con lo qual questo
villano, anchora avanti che 7 menasse



IN JESTS 141

A country fellow from Imola, a thick
headed man and badly furnished with
tool, took for wife a cunning little lass
whom the whole country had many times
repassed at thirty-one; and the dunce
took her for a maiden, from this that on
the wedding night she pretended that he,
with his short stump of a cock, caused
her an insupportable pain, making under
him all sorts of faces suitable to convince
him of the fatigue and impossibility in
which she was. The husband believed
everything, having never before made use
of any coition, save when he rubbed his
handle sometimes in the brambles ; he
was a long while of opinion that he had
had his wife a maiden, and that in doing
business with her he did her a lot of
harm with his nothing at all.

Now there was in this borough a certain
foot-soldier who did not see clear, having
lost the sight of his two eyes by some
accident, and who knew the woman long
beforehand ; the rustic, even before his



142 PROVERBS

costei, haveva unasingulare domestiches^a
e sempre le feste era in sua compagnia,
che gli pareva pure, percV era scorto, im-
parare qualche cosa alla giornata. Havea
questo fante a piede orbo il più bel mem"
bro che per grosse:^a mai veduto fosse, e la
misura proportionatamente li seguiva. Un
giorno ad arte havendo lui questo villano
tratto de casa, el condusse con varii ra*
gionamenti ad un campo di fave, che ali*
hora n' era il tempo, et era il campo di
detto villano. Quivi assettati a ragionare
come gli ociosi fanno, di più lascivie, el
villano raccontò conte la donna sua appena
el può aspettare in su quelV attOy tanto i
inesperta lei di simili cose. Il fante alV
})ora si fa mostrare la verga, e dice : —
« Hel son perciò poche, vero nessune
» donne che per gran membro mai si fug-
» gino di sotto: loro natura da loco ad
» ogni grand cosa, » Dice il villano : —
« Non credesti questo ; poco piti eh* io ne



IN JESTS 143

marriage, was a very intimate friend of
his, and, they were always together at
feasts, imagining to learn something daily
from him, as the soldier was malicious.
This blind foot-soldier had the finest
tackle that was ever seen ; its proportional
size and length were also noteworthy.
Having one day by chance made the pea-
sant come out, he led him along talking
of one thing or another to a field of beans
which belonged to the peasant, it being
then the bean-season. There they sat
down to talk, as it happens between per-
sons out of work, blackguards, and the
countryman began to relate how his wife
could hardly bear him when he did that,
she was so fresh at the business. The sol-
dier got him to show his rod and says :
— « Eh ! there are however very few
» women, or to speak more justly, there
» is not one that would flee from under
» a man, however large his member be ;
» their nature gives shelter to the largest
» tool. — Believe nothing of the sort, »



144 PROV£RBS

» havessi, io non potrei impacciarmi con
» lei; » e^cosi confabulando insieme^ il
fante infustato del proposito, che*l conosceva
per huomo grosso e di poco ingegno, cava
il cordone suo e fa vederglielo. Il villano,
stupefatto di tanta presentia : — ^ Ohi
» ohi y^ disse; « questa è una magna
» cosa ; la mia femina non potrebbe già
> lei ricevere questo. — Si bene, » disse
» il fante; ella lo torrebbe tutto, per lo
» del de Dio l » Giura il villan che la
no 7 torria mai. — « Foi tu metter pe-
» gno che s' io te la faccio starfertna,
» non potrai far nulla? — Per mia
» fé/ » risponde il fante, « va, menala
» qua lei sola, ch'io voglio mettere pegno
» dieci lire. — Et io, » dice il villano,
» questo campo di fave, che non ho altro
» al mondo. » E ditone ordiva a menare
la femina, alla quale giunto, menandola
al campo, gli narra questa guaia che ha



IN JESTS 145

rcplys the countryman ; « however little
» more of it I had, I could do nothing
» with her. » While talking thus, the sol-
dier, being put into humor by the discourse,
and knowing his friend to be a loggerhead,
of little brain, exhibits his rope and makes
him look at it. The countryman, astound-
ed at so large a size, cries out : — « Oh 1
» oh ! there is a big tool ; my wife could
» never receive it. — Yes ! » replies the
soldier ; « she would receive it entire, by
» heaven ! » The countryman swears that
it would never enter : — « Will you bet
» something that, even if I held her still,
» you could do nothing ? — By my
» faith ! » reply s the soldier, « go, fetch
» her here alone, I will bet ten livres.
» — And I, » says the countryman, « I
» bet this field of beans, although it is all
^) I have in the world. »

Having said this, he goes off to look
for his wife, meets her and, while bringing
her to the field of beans, relates to her
the dispute he had just had, not without

19



146 PROVERBS

tnettuto, c'l smisurato cordone di quel
fante. — « Ahi y> disse lei, « non du^
» bitasti già, marito mio, havete vinto;
» ti non potrà giamai farmelo ricevere.
» — Di questo son certo, » risponde il
marito ; « stringi pur bene, che la meta di
» questi danari voglio che sian tuoi, da
» farti un guarnello ; e vedi che non per-
» dessimo le fave, che moriremo da fame
j» quest' anno. »

E con questo parlare giunsero dal fante,
il quale ancho infustato e distringato,
presto s'acconciò appresso a costei, come
può intendersi, e mentre che s'appara a
far la prova su la riva d'un fosso in ditto
campo, trova con mano e con le cose molte
ortiche e spine per lo campo male curato,
nelle quali pungendosi dimanda al vil-
lano : — « Che diavolo d'herba i questa ?
» io mi pungo tutto. — Na, na, » dice
il villano, « tu vorresti pentirti ; va pure
» inanT^i, tutta è fava; » e tutto stava



IN JESTS 147

alluding to the soldier's huge rope. —
» Ah ! » she cried, « make no doubt
» about it, my dear husband, you have
» won ; he can never stick it into me. —
» I am sure of it, » replys the husband,
ft but squeeze your thighs tight ; I wish
» you to have half the money for yourself
» and that you get a petticoat made for
» it. Take care we do not lose our beans,
» we should have no other alternative but
» to die of hunger this year. »

While talking in this manner, they reach
the soldier who, with the mast still lifted
and the canvass unlaced, is not long about
getting himself into a position near her,
as may be supposed ; but as he was pre-
paring to make his trial in the gripe of a
ditch of the said field, he grazed with his
hand and thighs a heap of nettles and
briars, the field not having been well
trimmed ; he pricks himself there and asks
the country-man : — « What devilish
» herbs are those ? I have pricked myself
» all over. — Na, na, » replies the coun-



148 PROVERBS

basso nel fosso, guardando per sotto s* ella
il ricevea. Sta anco un pochetto il fante, e
per le ra^^e se strada i testicoli, li quali
serptggiavano per terra, et ancor grida :
— « Ohitnel che cosa i quest' altro! »
El villano ride, credendosi clje 7 dica per
non potere, et caetera, e pur risponde: —
« Tutta i fava. » Il fante in fine, supe-
rato ortiche^ spine et ogni contrasto, entrò
in possessione e fi V officio. Il villano pie-
gato, come vide il cordone tutto a coperto,
cominciò fare un siffilo, torcendo il tnos-
tax^in verso il campo, e disse: (r A Dio,
» favel » La moglie al:(à la testa sotto il
fante e rispose : — a /n verità, marito
» mio, mai non Vhaveria creduto; ma
» lassate, che anchora non havete perso,
» io vinsegnarò un punto che vi pia-
» cera. » Se levò suso e cosi fornita /V



IN JESTS 149

tryman, « you would like to recant ;
» come, push, it is all beans; » and he
kept himself crippled up in the gripe look-
ing underneath to see if she received
him. The soldier waited a little longer in
suspense, and peels the skin off his testi-
cles with the briars, which dragged along
the ground; he shouts out : — « Ho there !
» what is that again ? » The countryman
splits his sides with laughing, thinking the
other is prating thus for want of being
able, et caUra , and replies anew : —
a It is all beans. » The soldier at last,
triumphing over the nettles, briars and
all other obstacles, takes possession and
performs the office. The countryman,
doubled up into two, as soon as he sees
the rope entirely lodged, begins whistl-
ing and, tuning his snout to the field,
shouts out : — Good-bye, beans ! » The
wife lifts her head from under the soldier
and says : — « Indeed, my dear husband,
» I should never have thought it ; but
» leave it to me, you have not yet lost.



150 PROVERBS

pra, persuade al marito che debbi negare
tutto al fante a piede, ,che non gli essendo
testimonio non perderd nulla, E cosi fatto
come la disse, il fante dimandò di pro-
varlo un' altra volta; onde determina-
rono il di seguente iterar l'opera^ come lei
cercava, stando a sententia del prete de la
villa, che in quello campo pigliarono or^
dine che fusse presente. Il quale, si come
il villano principio die al proverbio:
Tutta è fava, cosi die il prete all' altro
succedente, come narraremo, che spesso si
dice : Gliene fusse pur anco!




IN JESTS 151

» and I shall teach you a dodge that will
» not displease you. » She stood up, the
business being done, and persuades her
husband to deny the soldier all : the lat-
ter having no witnesses, they would lose
nothing. He did as she said, and the
soldier then asked to give proof of it a
second time ; they therefore resolved to
recommence the thing on the next day,
just what she wanted, in referring to the
arbitration of the parish priest, whom they
managed in such a way as to have him
present in tne said field. The parish
priest, as well as the countryman had
given rise to the proverb : // is all heans,
gave, as we are going to relate, rise to
the following, which is frequently said :
Why he has no more of it I





PROVERBIO UNDECIMO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : Gliene fosse pur

anchora !




ENUTO l'altro giorno, poi
eh' alle spese del villano ben
pransato hebbe, el prete e lui
e la mogliere, a cui pareva
uno athomo mille anni di pervenire alla
pastura, appresentarono al campo, secondo
il dato ordine, ove trovato Vorbo, e salu-
tato, dissegli il villano : — « Per levare
» via ciascheduna differentia, prova
» quello che tu dici di fare ; » et accon--



ELEVENTH PROVERB



WHY THEY SAY : IVhy he has no more of it !




HE next day came ; after
having dined well at the
country-man's expense, the
] latter, the parish priest and
the woman, to whom every minute seemed
a thousand years she longed so much to
get into her clover, betook themselves
to the field, according to the agreement,
and having found and saluted the blind-
man there, the country-man says: —
« To put an end to the dispute, prove
» what you have pretended you were able

20



154 PROVERBS

cialo el prete in la vedetta can gli occhiali
al naso, perché era vecchio, si getta lui la
fnoglie del villano sotto e lavora, sennan-
dole el marito che pur stringa; ma presto
d prete dette la sententia, che veduto ma-
nifestamente havea l'arma in fodro. Levò
gli occhiali e disse : — « Gliene fusse pur
» ancho I Tu hai perse le fave, » disse
al villano. Esso non fece matto, se non
congionto le braccia : — « Patta di San
» Martello ! tu V hai ben dura I »




IN JESTS 155

» to do. » The priest, having then placed
himself in a line of observation, with the
spectacles on his nose, by reason of his
being old, the soldier stretched under
him the peasant's wife and set to the
work, the husband nodding to the wife
to close her thighs tight ; but thereupon
the parish priest pronounced the sentence :
he had distinctly seen the weapon enter-
ing the scabbard. He took off his specta-
cles and exclaimed : — « Why he has no
» more of it ! You have lost the beans, »
he says to the country-man. The latter
did not breathe a word, save that, in
crossing his arms, he exclaimed: —
« Potta di San Martello I You have dealt
» a hard blow ! »




PROVERBIO DUODEQMO



ALiTER PERCHÈ SI DICE : Tutta è fava.




LTRi dicono il proverbio
precedente bavere havuto la
sua origine per questo altro
modo :



Una gentilissima Madonna in Lom-
bardia havea marito, ma principe di terre
insatiabili per la gran moltitudine di
(emine; al quale un di fra gli altri la
donna, appassionata dall' ingiuria, ci) era
stato molti giorni con quelle a piacere, fece
un bellissimo convito e fondato in gran




TWELFTH PROVERB

AN OTHER EXPLANATION, WHY THEY SAY :

// is all beans.




THERS pretend that the pre-
ceding proverb has its origin
in this source :

A very noble Madonna of
Lombardy had for husband a prince who,
by his temper, was insatiable of women,
and loving them all; one day among
the rest, the lady, provoked by the injury
he was doing her, having stayed away
several days to amuse himself with them,
got a magnificent banquet ordered, weH



158 PROVERBS

moralitade, volendogli con questo dargli
intendere che da donna a donna sia nes-
suna differentia, se non quanto al soper-
chio appetito gli la fece. Et in summa,
venutoci Principe alla mensa con i Baroni
seco discombenti, el scalcho di Madama
porta in tavola vivande delicate epretiose,
con condimento di T^chari e d'ogni bona
speciaria; ma la sustantia sua tutta era
fava, che Fhavea el cuocho di migliori del
mondo. Vennero in tavola mar:(apan di
fava, gambari, pesci di mille maniere e
torte, dentro i quali, benché la loro mate-
ria tutta fusse fava, oltre le forme diverse
delle cose, era il gusto diversificato con
mille sapori, si che al Signore parse me-
glio che mai fusse. Ricevuto da lei in
questo convito e gionto al fine, le dimandò
che cibi erano quei si ben conditi, prima
quelli marzapani, e poi quei pesci. La
Madonna risponde : — « Signore, en-
» trambe dui erano fava. — Quello altro



IN JESTS 159

grounded on morality, with the intention
of giving him to understand that there
was no difference between one woman
and another, and that it is the vivacity of
the appetite which makes one. In fine,
the Prince having arrived at table with
his Barons, who seated themselves about
him, the knight of Madam serves out rare
and delicate dishes, seasoned with sugar
and all kinds of spices ; but , the sub-
stance of each was but beans, the lady
having one of the best cooks in the
world. They served out bean marchpanes,
lobsters, fishes of all kinds, pies; and
these dishes, though all of them set off
with beans, had, besides the diversity of
their appearance, yet all different savours,
so that they appeared to the Prince the
best he had ever tasted. After she had
made him perform the honors of the ban-
quet, which came last, he asked her what
were these dishes that were so well season-
ed, first of all what were these marchpanes,
then those fishes. Madonna answers : —



l60 PROVERBS

» arrosto che venne poi? y* dice il Signore.
La Madonna risponde : — « Tutta é
» fava. — Quelle anguille e lamprede ? »
dice anchora elio ; e lei : — « Signore,
» tutta è fava. » A l'ultimo: — « Quella
» torta tanto bona, che cosa è? y> diman-
da anchora. — « Tu tta è fava. Signore, »
pur responde essa. All'hora lui con li
Baroni suoi, tratti in guardarsi, conób-
bero questo convito fatto non sen^^a grande
arte, e ricordandosi lui del passato di che
gii era stato con le concubine, subito il
cor gli disse : — « Ecco la causa. » E
cominciati tutti a rallegrarsi; — « Ma-
» donna, » disse il Principe, « voi havetime
» ricevuto air imperiale di cibi quadrage-
» simali; io da hora avanti voglio ricevere
» voi de cibi di carnevale^ e mangiarete
» sola con meco sempre mai ad un ta-
» gliere; » e sorridendo presela per tnano
et andarono in camera ringratiandola de
Vhonesia e faceta correttione che gli havea



IN JESTS l6l

« Signor, the one and the other were
» only beans. — And that roast meat
» which came next ? » the Prince inquired .
— « It was all beans, » says Madonna. —
« And those eels, those lampreys ?» he
inquired again. — « Still beans, » says
she. In fine : — « And that pie which
» was so good ? — Nothing but beans, »
she replies. Then the Prince and Barons,
staring at one another, understood that
the banquet had been ordered not without
great art, and as he had just recalled to
mind the past day which he had spent
with his mistresses, his heart says to
him : a There is the cause thereof. »
They all began to laugh : « Madonna, »
says the Prince, « you have treated me
» imperially with Lent dishes ; henceforth
» I will feast you on good carnival dishes ;
» you shall always eat alone with me and
» at the same table ; » and smiling he took
her by the hand. He went oflF with her
into her room, thanking her for the
honest and funny rebuke she had made

21



1 62



PROVERBS



data ; e licentiate tutte le concubine, ri^
tenne lei come debito era ; onde il proverbio
poi si pose in uso.




IN JESTS



l6i



him and, having taken leave of his mis-
tresses, remained near her as he should.
The proverb passed since into use.




PROVERBIO TREDICESIMO
PERCHÈ SI DICE .* Non ten darei quella.



1 N altro pur villano, rum
I men del primo grosso i^inge-
I gno e simplicione, levò il
1 proverbio : Non ten darei
quella, il quale vien detto quando uno
espetta più di quello che' l merita, e pa-
rendo a quello che deve dare che Vhabbia
torto, gli risponde, scocchato el dito di
me^t co'l pollice : Non te ne darei
quella. El corso é questo :




THIRTEENTH PROVERB

WHY THEY SAY : / would fiot givc you thai

for it.




NOT HER countryman, not
less thick headed and silly
than the other, gave rise to
the proverb : I would not
give you that for it, which is said to
anybody that counts on more than he
deserves; he who is to pay, judging that
the other counts wrongly, answers him
by snapping his middle finger against
his thumb : / would not give you that for
it. The story was thus :



1 66 PROVERBS

Un Pecoraro Bresciatw di Valtroppia,
molto grosso quanto sia possibile, com* é
detto, tolse una bella giovane per moglie,
e la prima notte cke s'accompagnò non fi
nulla, però non havendo mai più toccata
donna^ credeva doversegli dal marito a tutte
fare quello buco còl cordone, e postosi in-
torno alla mogliere con tale pensiero, bora
nel ventre, bora nel petto et hor nelli
fianchi, le premeva indarno quello che
andar altrove dovea, si che disutile stette
con lei la prima notte. Cercò assai con
man se Vhaveua buco, et in ogni loco, se
non là dov' era, che mai non si havrebbe
persuaso che^l fusse stato ascosto intra le
gambe. Et in summa, levatosi la mane,
et andato a i pistori, un suo compagno
cauto più di lui li dotnanda dei porta-
menti che havea con la mogliere usato. —
« Ahi ohi del del » risponde il Pecoraro,



IN JESTS 167

A Brescian shepherd of Valtroppia, as
great a blockhead as possible, took for
wife a pretty girl, and the first night he
slept with her, did nothing at her :
having never touched a woman, he
thought that the husband should bore
them all a hole with his bodkin, and, in
this intent he began by turning all
round his wife; he planted now in her
belly, now in her corset, now in her
flanks, quite uselessly, what he had to
communicate to her elsewhere, so that Be
was of no use to her this first night. His
hands looked out curiously if she had
a hole, they searched every place except
where it was, for he would never have
imagined that it was concealed between
the thighs ; in fine, having got up in the
morning and gone tu find the other
shepherds, one of his comrades, more
expert than he, asked him how he had got
on with his wife. — « Ah! oh! ba! ba! »
answered the shepherd, « I could do
» nothing; impossible to find or make



1 68 PROVERBS

» fwn ho potuto far niente, che non ho pò-
» tuto trovare ni fare el buco. » Diu
il compagno : — « Non te ne maravi'-
» gliare, fratello ; che^l si convien fare
» con una gran fatica. — Ahi ohi de!
» del y> risponde il pecoraro, « se vuoi
» durare per mi questa fatica efarghe el
» buco ti la prima volta^ son contento
» pagarti alcuna cosa. — Fé, » diu
Valtro, « è gene va da fare, ma pur per
» tuo amore, se tu mi paghi, farò si che
» senza una stenta tu potrai poi agiata-
» mente fare il tuo fatto. » Et in summa
il Pecoraro gli promisse cinque pecore, e
la seguente notte el colchò in letto con la
mogliere sua, la quale non se ne fi niente
schiffa, per essere il marito stato uno pol-
trone la notte dinanzi. Fi Vofficio magni-
ficamente, e venuta la mattina, diu al
Pecoraro : — « Va mo a tua posta, e urea



IN JESTS 1^9

» the hole. — Do not be surprised at it,
» brother, » replied the other, « you
» must bore it with great toil. — Ah !
» oh! ba! bai » replied the shepherd,
» if you wish to undertake this toil for
» me and form out this hole once for all
» in her, I shall be glad to pay you
» something. — There is a lot to be
» done, » says the other, « but if you
» pay me, I shall do it so well that you
» can afterwards without sweating set to
» the business quite at your ease. » In
short, the shepherd promised him five
sheep and, the night after, put him in
bed with his wife who showed herself no
way unruly, her husband having proved
himself good for nothing the first night.
He fulfilled his ofiSce admirably well and,
when the morning came, says to the
shepherd : — « Come, have at it
» yourself, now; look well at the bottom
» of the belly, you will find where to
» take your pleasure without any toil;
» but do not forget to give me my

22



rjO PROVEBBS

» ben in fondo del corpo, che tu traverai
» dove darti piacere sens^a fatica alcuna,
» ma ricordati de darmi le mie pecore.
» — Lassami prima provare, » disse il
Pecoraro, m sesta bene, e ciò che fbo pro-
» messo te lo attenderà. » E l'altra notte
accostatosi alla moglie, le dimando enfiai
buco che gli ha quel compagno fatto. Ella
gli mostra e dice : — « Fra le gambe; »
e breviter la calvacò due fiate sen:(^ altro
dolore, non mostrandosi però di restare
contento. La mattina, el compagno gli ftl
innan:(i e gli dimanda se gli ha ben ser-
vito; lo Pecoraro lo confessa molto freda-
mente; colui dimanda che'l voi cinque
pecore : il Pecoraro non gli presta audien-
tia . Fallo in fine acetare avanti al vicario,
homo anco lui rotondo in quella valle, il
quaky udita la loro differentia^ dimanda
al Pecoraro : « Se'l t'ha tolto la fatica a
» farle il buco, perchè non gli dai tu le
» cinque pecore, come promettesti! » AlV



IN JESTS 171

» sheep. — Let me try first, » says the
shepherd, « if the work is well done,
^ and what I have promised you, I shall
» give. » Having gone to bed the next
night with his wife, he asks her where
was the hole that his fiiend had made
her; she shows it to him and says :
— a There, between my thighs; » and
breviter he mounted her twice without
pain, not seeming however to be well
satisfied. His comrade come up to him
in the morning and asks whether he has
done him much service; the shepherd
only agrees to it coldly, and when the
other tells him he wants his five sheep,
he refuses to listen to him. The other
then summons him before the bailiff, a
straight forward man also in this valley,
who, having heard the dispute, says to
the shepherd : — « If he has spared you
» the trouble of making a hole in your
» wife, why do you not give him the
» five sheep, according to your pro-
» mise? » The shepherd then, snapping



172



PROVERBS



bora il Pecoraro scocchato ci dito conC è
ditto sopra : — « Messer, » disse alto,
« non gene darei quella ; el gelo ha fatto
» troppo presso al buco di sotto, io fallo
» quasi ogni volta. » Rise la turba ali*
bora, e da poi in qua si è detto il qual pro-
verbiò.




IN JESTS 173

his fingers, as stated further back : —
a Mister, » he cried aloud, « I would
» not give him that for it ; he made it
» too near the hole underneath, and I
» am mistaken almost every time. »
Those who were present began to laugh,
and since then the proverb spread about.





PROVERBIO QJJATORDICESIMO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : Pissa chiaro^
indorme al medico.




ISSA chiaro, et indorme al
medico, usurpa, dico, ogni
generatione del mondo, solo
in proposito di mostrar fede
e lealtade a suoi maggiori, El proverbio
bebbe la sua origine altramente che non si
costuma d'allegare, e fu in tal forma :

Un Medico ignorante, come sono molti,
entrò in le montagne Genovesi a Chiavari,
piene e populose d'huomini grossi, disposto



FOURTEENTH PROVERB



■WHY THEY SAY : Ptss cUof, utid lough at
the Doctor.




iss clear, and laugb at the

Doctor, all sons of people
say that, simply to show
confidence in, and attach-
, our ancestors. The proverb had
different origin from the one
usually alleged, and here it is :

An ignorant Doctor, as there are many
of them so, came with the intentioD of
establishing himself among the moun-



176 PROVERBS

seco di arrichirà ivi. E per le prime
prove che feu di se, trovando quelle ville e
valli tutte piene di garzone da marito che
tran texitrici di lana e di lino, gittò e
sparse lo nome di sapere conciare le fighe
storte ; e perchè fu sempre fama che tutte
le texitrici r hanno storta, per quella con-
fricatione et in suso e in giuso, molte gar-
:(pne da marito secretamente andavano da
lui, le quali acconciando sopra un banco
preparato a questo e facendo il dovere, di-
ceva questa essere la forma di indri:(arle.
Elio haveva uno cordone formato e duro,
pareva ad esse le servisse bene, e molte ne
tirò sotto trappola^ e con grande utile e
piacere suo s'acquistò in breve tempo una
gran fama, si che fra le femine non si



IN JESTS 177

tains of Genoa, at Chiavari, a place
crowded and inhabited only by big
blockheads. And as first proofs of his
capacity, he published and spread about
the rumor that he could redress sprained
figs, as he found throughout the various
boroughs and valleys numbers of mar-
riageable girls employed as woollen and
hemp weavers; and as people always
pretended that such weavers have it
sprained owing to the fi-ictional move-
ment of their legs, many of these girls
came secretly to consult him. He laid
them on a bench designed for the pur-
pose, operated on them, intimating
thereby that this was the only way of
setting it right again. His tool was of
fine size and form; they all seemed to
have been well treated, and by causing
several of them to fall into the trap, he
acquired in a short time great renown to
his good profit and pleasure. The women
ttìked among themselves only of master



23



178 PROVERBS

diceva altro se nan di maestro Ghirùrdone
da Bobbio, eh' era cosi il suo nome.

Un mulatiere^ in fine, di questo loco,
che haveva la mogliera vecchia e molto
infer ma y predandolo ella di questo Medico,
et havendo lei opinione che la spacciasse,
come havea per inan:(i inteso che *l faceva
all' altre, glielo fece venire perfino a casa,
che V uno e V altro era bene staghente di
roba. E come fu entrato el Medico, di-
manda de la infermità della donna ; dice
il marito : — « Lei ve la dirà, entrate
» in camera. » Entrato quello, la vec-
chia die di mano all' uscio e disse : —
« Messere, io vorrei che me la dri^^aste,
» perchè tutto il tempo della vita mia son
» stata texitrice; so che sete magnanimo
» di tal virtute. » El Medico, vedendo
questa vecchia stomachosa, dice : —
» Madonna, ogni mal vecchio è incura-
» bile, ma lassatemi vedere l'orina vos-
» tra, e' havete forse qualche altra infer-



IN JESTS 179

Ghirardone da Bobbio, as he styled
himself.

In fine, a muleteer of the neighbourhood
being requested by his wife, already old
and weak, to fetch her the Doctor in the
hope that he would cure her also in the
same way as the others, brought him to
his house, as they were well-to-do people.
As soon as the Doctor entered, he
inquired what was the woman's illness.
— « She will tell you, » replied the
husband; a go into her room. »► The
moment he went in, the woman pushed
the door and said : — « Mister, I should
» like you to redress it for me; I have
» been a weaver all my life, and I know
» your talent for this purpose is re-
» markable. » The Doctor, on seeing
this disgusting old hag, says : — « Ma-
» donna, every inveterate disease is
» incurable; but let me see your urine.
» Perhaps you have quite another infir-
» mity firom the one you think. » He
said this to get some money out of her,



l80 PROVERBS

» mità che non credete; » e questo disse
per cavarle alle mani danari, che la conos-
cea riccha. All' hora lei, orinato in un
bicchiere, gli mostra V acqua; el Medico
tutto attonito la guarda, dicendo essere
quella acqua molto torbida^ e fa entrar el
marito. — « Che vuoi tu che ti doni, »
dice questo, ^ e fa in tal modo cV ella
» guarisca, si che possa pisciar chiaro ? »
Disse el Medico : — « Non voglio patto,
» ma dami dui ducati inanti tratto, poi
» de giorno in giorno secondo la mia
» cura. » Dice el Mulatiere : — « Come
» la pissa chiaro y sarà ella poi guarita
» e libera ? — Si, » rispose elio : « come
» la pissa chiaro, indormi al medico. »
La vecchia, che per altro lo haveva fatto
domandare, cioè per voglia di menare i
mantici, notò la parola che comepissava
chiaro ne dovesse indormire al Medico, e
tennesela a mente. Onde tenendola in
cura più che non le pareva che fare dovesse



IN JESTS l8l

because he knew she was rich. The
woman, having then urined in a cup,
shows him her water ; the Doctor looks
at it quite astonished and says it is very
muddy, then brings in the husband. —
» What shall I give you, » inquired the
latter, « in order that you try and
» cure her and that she finishes by
» pissing clear? — I will have no for-
» feit, » replies the Doctor; « but give
» me two ducats this very day, then you
» shall give me as much every day
» during the whole time of my atten-
» dance. — When she will piss clear, »
said the Muleteer, « will she be cured
» and rid of her illness? — Yes, » he
replies; « when she pisses clear, let her
» laugh at the Doctor. »

The old hag, who had him come for
a very different object, namely, through
the desire of working the bellows, noted
down the word that, when she would
piss clear, should laugh at the Doctor,
and she stowed it up in her memory. As



1 82 PROVERBS

per pelarla pur bene, disse al marito :
— « Fedi tu, Gavocchìo » (che cosi si
chiamava), « questo poltrone Medico non
» confesserà mai cVio pissi chiaro, solo
» per rapinarmi i miei danari, e tu pur
» vedi cV io pisso chiarissimo. Non
» voglio che *l licentiamo, perchè de da-
» nari spesi me ne haverei il danno, ma
y> voglio, se tu farai a mio senno, che
y> guadagnamo trenta boni ducati con
» lui ; che gli i per andar in Polj^evera a
» torre robe e danari che li ha lassati;
» voglio che quelli siano tutti nostri. »
El marito dice : — « Ordina come vuoi
» cV io faccia^ che lo fard, peroche ancho
» a me pare che tu pissi chiaro, — Egli
» lo convien fare confessare per for:(a, »
dice la moglie; « el modo adunque i
:d questo. Prendi una utria della gran-
» de^a che è la mia persoruiy e venirai
» all' hora che 7 deve tornare con gli



IN JESTS 183

he was making the cure last longer than
she thought reasonable, in order to fleece
her, she says to her husband : « Do you
» see, Gavocchio » (this was his name);
« this goodfornothing Doctor will never
» confess I piss clear, simply to rob me
» of my money, and you see how I piss
» as clear as anybody. I do not wish to
» take leave of him, because I should
» lose the money he made us shell out
» to him, but I wish, if you do as I am
» going to tell you, to win back from
» him thirty fine ducats; he is about
» going to Polzevera to look after some
» effects and money he left there : I wish
» all that to be ours. — Command
» whatever you wish me to do, » says
the husband, « I shall do it; it appears
» to me also that you piss clear. — We
» must make him to own it by force, »
says the wife, « and here is the means :
» Take a leather bottle of the same size
» as I, and set out at the same hour, as
» he is to return with the money. Con-



184 PROVERBS

» danari. Menami con un mulo in su ci
» tal fosso, e li aspettamo ; in questo
» mespy mi coprirai di frasche, che non
» mi parrà carne in verun loco, e cosi
» queW altra utria, per dar colore a
» quel che vogliamo fare. Habhi poi un
» compagno tuo fidato, dal quale mostra
» volere comprare queste utrie, e comedi
» Medico passa, chiamalo a consigliarti
» ciò che gliene pare. » A pena cosi disse
che 7 marito non la lassò andar più oltre,
e le rispose subito : — « Io t' intendo,
» tu li voi pissare e trombeggiare sotto la
» barga; esso crederà che tu sii un* utria
}ì e dirà che tu pissi chiaro, e tu voi
» amolare et indormirne al Medico;
» altro modo non ci è da vindicarsi. Tu
» parli benissimo. »



E cosi havuto per spia el di che 7 Me-
dico dovea tornare con gli danari, se



IN JESTS 185

» duct me on a mule to such a ditch, and
» we shall await him there. You shall
» cover me over with leaves, in such a
» way that no part of my flesh shall be
» visible nowhere, and you shall do in
» like manner with the leather bottle,
» the better to palliate what we want to
» do. Have then a friend on whom you
» may rely ; you will pretend you want
» to buy these two leather bottles from
» him, and, when the Doctor comes up,
» call him to have his advice on what you
» are to do. » She had hardly said this,
when the husband interrupted her and
exclaimed : — « I understand you; you
» want to piss on him and fart in his
» beard; he will take you for a leather
» bottle and say you piss clear; you
» want to bombard and make a fool of
» the Doctor. There is no better means
» of taking vengeance ; you speak to the
» purpose. »

This being agreed upon, and having
learned by spying the day on which the

24



1 86 PROVERBS

n' andò Gavouhio con la moglie sua su
un mulo, et una utria et un suo compare
a piede, su*l josso di d*onde dovea passare,
e qui smontato, taglia molte frasche e fa
mettere la vecchia giuso in quattro, nuda,
con gli ginocchi piegati e le gambe molto
raccolte sotto; poi la copre di frasche
intorno, come suole fare chi camina con
utrie per caldo e per gran sole, come era
ali* bora. El simile fa all'altra utria per
colorire la fallacia de quella, si che ogni
persona se ne sarebbe stata ingannata.
Eccoti all' hora giungere il Medico in su
una muletta, con due bol:^ di dietro et i
danari dentro, circa ducati sessanta e
quatro taj^e. Al qual Gavocchio tutto
misericordioso si fu sotto ^ dicendo: —
« Caro messere, se de vaia, ve prego per
» carila, desmontate un poco a vedere che
» vi pare di queste utrie che questo huomo



IN JESTS 187

Doctor was to return with the money,
Gavocchio and his wife planted on a
mule, with a leather bottle and a compa-
nion, make for the ditch near which he was
to pass. Having alighted there, he cuts
down a lot of boughs and places the old
hag quite naked and doubled up in four,
her knees bent up and her legs well
gathered underneath; he next covers her
quite with leaves, as people travelling do
with leather bottles during the great heat
and under the sun, as at that time. He
does the same thing with the second
leather bottle, to hide the deceit of the
first, so well indeed that any one would
be mistaken to know which was which.
The Doctor arrives on his little mule,
with two bags containing the money
behind, about sixty ducats and four
goblets ; Gavocchio, very humble looking,
goes before him, saying : — « My worthy
» Sir, if you please, I beg you for cha-
» rity sake, dismount a moment and see
» what you think of those leather bottles



1 88 PROVERBS

» da bene mi vorria vendere; voi sete phi-
» ìosopho, consigliero di Dio : se seguo il
» parer vostroy non posso male spendere. »
El Medico, cV era grossolano assai, s'al-
legrava nelle laude sue; infine smontò e
lassò la muletta con le bol^ in groppa
sotto un albero, e venuto sul fosso ove son
le utrie^ si piega apunto a quella dove é
la vecchia sotto. El marito gli dice : —
« Tenete in mano un poco la bocca di
» questa, » e gli fa prendere la pendo-
gliera della moglie infra le frasche, che
parca propria la bocca pilosa de una utria,
e tenendo li labbri schi:(i con le dita^ el
marito a cavallone la premea su li fianchi,
si che la vecchia co^ninciò a pissare. El
Medico disse all' hora: — « Questa
» utria e rotta, la scompissa per tutto. »
Dice Gavocchio : — « Guardate pure,
» messere, se le vienchiara, che la non fusse



IN JESTS 189

» which this good man wishes to sell
» me; you are a philosopher, a counsellor
» of God : if I follow your advice, I
» shall not spend my money wrongfully. »
The Doctor, quite innocent, was elated
at his eulogy; at last he alights, leaves
the mule under a tree, with the bags
behind, and arriving at the ditch, bends
himself up into two under the one repre-
sented by the old hag. — « Take a little
» of the mouth of this one into your
» hand, » says the husband, and he
makes him take hold of under the boughs
his wife's pouch which looked very much
like the hairy mouth of a leather bottle;
himself holding his lips closed with his fin-
gers, the husband astraddle on the top ope-
rated a pressure upon her flanks, so that the
old hagbegan pissing. — « This bottle is full
» of holes, » exclaimed the Doctor; « it is
» pissing from all parts. — Look close,
» master, » says Gavocchio, « if it
» pisses clear, that it is not damaged in
» the inside. — Yes, it pisses very clear, »



190 PROVERBS

» dannegiata dentro. y> El Medico risponde:
— « Si, la pissa chiarissimo, » scompis-
sandogli pur sempre la vecchia per mano
e per braccia; la quale come hebbe inteso
che 7 Medico confessò che la pissava
chiaro, si raccordò del ditto d* esso, che la
dovesse indormire al Medico, e comincid
amolare e trarre spingarde. El Medico
udendo, dice Gavocchio : — « Deh t
» messere, anasate di che sa. » El Me-
dico le pone el naso fra la fessa e 7 bucho
de V herbe, e tira el spirito e gridò : —
ce HoiI hoil non la comprasti, lapu:(a
» di stercho, e tantoché la nega; ella è
» amorbata dentro. » La vecchia alV
hora salta in piedi, e con un calcio in
petto il getta in fosso y dicendo: — « Tu
^ menti per la gola; io son guarita; tu
» hai confessato già che pisso chiaro^ e
)) chi pissa chiaro ne indorme al medico,
» e cosi ho fatto. » Mentre che 7 Medico
precipitato in fosso chiama aiuto, Gavoc-



IN JESTS 191

says the Doctor whose hands and arms
the old hag sprinkled abundantly. When
she heard him confessing that she pissed
clear, she bethought herself of his words,
that it remained to her to laugh at him :
she began farting and letting fly cannon
shots. As the Doctor was holding out his
ear, Gavocchio says to him : — « Eh!
» master, smell then what it is like. »
The Doctor sticks his nose between the
slit and boughs, breathes strongly and
cries out : — « Oh ! oh ! do not buy it,
» it stinks farting to smother one ; it is all
» rotten inside. » Then the old hag jumps
to her feet, and with a kick of her heel
right in his breast sends him spinning
into the gripe on his back, saying : —
» cured. You have confessed I piss clear,
» and who pisses clear laughs at the
» Doctor; that is what I am doing. »
While the Doctor lay in the bottom of
the gripe, calling for help, Gavocchio
makes for the mule, climbs upon it and



19.2 . PROVERBS

chio corre alla tnuletta, tnonia suso, e la
vecchia infraschata in su la groppa, fug-,
gendo lutti via con li danari e lassando
nella pacchiera il Medico sepolto, dal
quale sempre mai pò per la b^a fattegli
si disse: Fissa chiaro» et indorme al
medico.




IN JESTS 195

taking the old hag up behind him, still
covered with boughs, sets off with the
money, leaving the Doctor buried in the
muck; consequently, in remembrance of
the good trick that had been played on
him, they never ceased from saying :
Piss clear, and laugh at the Doctor.




2^



PROVERBIO aUINTODEOMO

PERCHE SI DICE : Tu noQ sei quello.



A una bella donzella di Pia-
cen:(a nacque questo motto
si proverbiato^ quanto alcuno
presumendo di se o di uno
altro di cui parla sopra il vero, se gli
responde : « Tu non sei quello, overo :
n non è quello; e cosi fu sua origine :




Era in la terra di Piacen:(a un polito
scudieray e ben fornito di gioie per la
sposa, il quale era de' belli danzatori che




FIFTEENTH PROVERB



WHY THEY say: You UfC Hot be.



HIS adage, now so widely
spread about, sprang from a
lovely young lady of Pia-
cenza; when anybody think-
ing too much of himself or another, brags
of more than is true, he is answered :
You are noi he^ or : He is not youy and
here is how it had its rise :




There was in the town of Piacenza a
gallant knight, well supplied with a bride-
groom's jewls, and one of the best dancers



1^6 PROVERBS

mai si videro, e ben venduto per tale virtute
da tutte le danne; et bavea questa gentile:i^a
in se, che con quante ballava, ches* accor-
gesse daloro essere amato, le ponea in mar-
no il cordone sesilavedeva bella, especial"
mente essendo immascherato. Hora era
costui tanto in gratia e fama delle donne
per sua bdtade e virtù di dammare, e poi
per quest' altra parte e' habbiam detta ,
che beata quella era che poteva amicar-
s^li. Essendo venire le f estedi Carnevale,
che costui molto andava a torno su le feste
travestito, e dovendosi in casa d' un cit-
tadino fare una mobil festa alla quale
esso doveva venire, una bellissima don-
^lla di contrada, informata de gli aiti
di costui dair altre donne, con molti
preghi impetrò dal padre andar a questa
festa, alla quale lei d* industriasi fece in-



IN JESTS l^J

ever known, highly appreciated by all the
ladies on this account. Among other petty
tricks, he used, especially when masked, to
put his bodkin into the hand of all those
with whom he danced and whom he saw he
pleased, provided they were pretty. And
he was held in such £ivor and renown
among the ladies, owing to his beauty and
skill in the dance, as also for the said
particularity, that she who could make
herself sought after by him deemed herself
blessed. The carnival festivities having
arrived, during which he went disguised
to all the meetings, as there was to take
place at the house of a noble citizen a
grand ball to which he had promised to
come, a very lovely young lady of the
neighbourhood, being informed by other
ladles of his ways of acting begged
earnestly her father's leave to go and had
herself skilfiilly invited, as she was desirous
of feeling the bodkin. The father having
given her his permission, she was off with
her mother on the feast day to the house



198 l»llOVERBS

vitarty desiderosa di toccare la corda. Il
padre concessale licentia, con la moiré
d di de la fèsta andossene alla casa del
convitatore, e dopo pramp, cominciato a
dammare, eccoti in breve venuto costui im-^
mascherato, e fa alla giovane per V altre
donne dimostrato. Presto essa conosciutolo^
con gli occhi di pietà incominciò a soleci'^
tarlo e dimostrargli ardentissimo amore,
per le quali viste costui andò ad invitarla
di ballare, e date con ella alcune volte
per sala al saltarello, segna al sonatore
che gli faccia una piva che li serva pia
in proposito di darle in mano la reliquia
detta; e cosi, mutato il suono, comincia-
rono a menarla più trita, essendo seco in
ballo una gran turba. E poi che gli ha li
mani alquanto strette, e lei risposto con
distringere di mani, in quello accelerare
della misura, che 7 ballo da chi lo mena
si trahe in tondo, le pose in mano il



JN JESTS 199

of him who issued the invitations, and,
after meal when they b^an to dance, the
man of whom there is (question was seen
coming at the same instant ; he was masked,
and the other ladies pointed him out to
this young lady. She began, as soon as
she had distinguished him, to cast most
wistful glances at him, and feel a burning
love for him; he perceived it and invited
her to dance. When he had taken several
rounds of the hall with her in dancing the
saltarello, he made a sign to the fiddler to
play an air of the bag-pipes, that he might
have a better opportunity of slipping the
said relic into her hand, and on this change
of measure they began to whirl round
more quickly, there being a large crowd
to dance with them. After having squeezed
her hands a while, a pressure which she
answered by letting them go with him,
in that acceleration of time which takes
place when the dance forms in a ring by
the command of him who leads it, he
slipped into her band the little beast quite



200 PROVERBS

bestiolo in ordine, ni lei fugi la presa
e tenne fermo fin che ulatamcnte tenere
potè, e questo fi da una volto in suso.

Hor volse la fortuna che uno vecchio
amante di costei qui si trovasse^ il quale
in sei anni di tempo mai haveva havuto
da lei uno piacere ni pure un atto di he-^
nignitade ; onde havendo visto manifesta^
mente questo atto di costei con ditto dan^
^ato^y disse con. nn compagno suo, pieno
di dolore : — « Ahi l femine puttane I
« maladetto da Dio che in voi si sfida I »
et al compagno narrò quanto havea visto.
Poi disse seco : « Dapoi che cosi i, pur
» che tipiaccia toccar la corda alV huomo,
T^ io mi havrò da te questo contento, che
» // metterò in mano ciò che ti cerchi; »
e partito de li, va subito a stravestirsi
tutto in la foggia eh' era questo altro j el
quale come partito fa, che l'hebhe per
spia, stette pochetto e poi afidò lui su la



IN JESTS 201

duly, and &r from refusing to take it, she
held it firmly as long as she could secretly
hold it, and she repeated it again at ano-
ther heat.

Now, chance would have it that there
should be there one of her old sweethearts^
who during six years could obtain from
her neither pleasure nor even one act ot
pure benevolence; having clearly seen
what she had done with the fine dancer,
he, filli of chagrin, says to one of his
comrades : — « Ah ! whorish women !
» Curse of God on him who relies on
» you ! » and he related to him all he had
seen. Then he says to himself : « Since it
» is so, and since you like to handle
» man's tool, I shall have this pleasure
» from you, and I shall put into your
» hand what you are looking for. » Having
gone out, he goes off at once to disguise
himself exactly like the other, and when
the latter was gone away, which he found
out by having him watched, he waited a
moment and entered the ball soon after. He

26



ZOZ PKOVERBS

dma festa. EgU era di persona pare a
lui, e di foggie simUissimi in tutto, siche
costei senza dubbio el crtdea essere fuello.
Come si venne all' opera di dannare, che
questo secondo VhMe tolta suso, a tempo
e locoficomefeu il primo e diede in mano
d tabernacolo^ non sapendo lui che 'l
precessore fosse a dieci per uno meglio
fornito; la qualfacenda come questa don-
ydla in mano el strinse, trovandosi si in
grosso essere fraudata, prèsto levò la
mano e lo rigittò indreto, dicendo : ♦—
a In la mal* bora tual Tu non sei
» quello; i^ e lassandolo in ballo, andò a
sedere, contando alle compagne fidate ciò
che le era intervenuto. El giovine scornato
per piccolo fornimento usci di sala, e nar*
rata V Ustoria per la terra, levò il pro-
verbio impU : Tu poa sei quello \ ni
da quello tempo in qua giovine alcuna
Piacentina porse la mano, se non a dis^



IK JESTS 203

MTas quite like his rival in height and cos*
tume, so much so that she had not the
slightest doubt but that it was still he.
When the dancing moment had come
and this second masquerader had led her
out with him, he did at the same time
and spot like the former, and placed the
tabernacle in her hand, ignoring that his
predecessor was ten times better famished;
but when the young lady held this afiair
between . her fingers, finding herself so
grossly outwitted, she quickly takes her
hand away, flings the man back exclaiming :
— « Woe to youl you are not he; » and
abandoning him in the midst of the ball,
she went and sat down; not without
relating to her surest friends what had
just b^dlen her. The young man, whose
slight supply had made a fool of him, left
the hall, and the story having been spread
throughout town, set on foot the proverb :
You are not be. From that time down to
the present, no young girl of Piacenza
would give her hand any longer, except



^^4 PROVERBS

coperto, el quale costume anchora se osserva
e tiense, che se uno immascberato invita
donne, elle gli dicono : « Scopritivi el
» volto, e dapoi daniaró. »

openly, a custom which is still observed
and mantained, and if a masquerader
invites ladies, they answer him : « Strip
3» your face, then I shall dance. »

PROVERBIO SESTODEaMO

PERCHÈ SI DICE : A chi la va. Dio lo

benedica:

'Arcivescovo di Roma-
gna, chiamato Andreasso da
Cingoli, hebbe una sorella
delle belle donne di quel
tempo, ma troppo ghiotta de* dolci bocconi,
siche servandola lui per maritarla, lei
fugge con un suo amante; ma ribavuta
pure, con destro modo ombreggiando la sua
fuga esser stata a certo monasterio, par
fare di lei qualche bon parentado,
anchora tramava pur di maritarla.

SIXTEENTH PROVERB

WHY THET SAY ; Wfej gots te bed with her,
may God bUa him i

HB Archbishop of Romagna,
called Andreasso da Cingoli,
sister who was the
finest woman of the time,
but too dainty mouthed for sweet bits, so
that while he was keeping her for wedlock,
she ran off with one of her gallants ; aiter
he had succeeded in finding her out, having
clev^ly mantled her flight in pretending
she bad gone into a monastery, he never-
theless occupied himselfabom getting her
married, in order to get her into a good

Fuggi anchor lei la seconda e la ter^a volta
con alcun contestabile della chiesa, e
V Arcivescovo, scomunicando chi la rete-
nessey ancbora rihebbela e con molte hu-
mane castigationi cercò corr^gierla. Non
stette lei per questo che la fuga pigliò la
quarta volta y e fa per molte mani all'
hora sbal^^atay siche, inanimi che rihavere
più si potesse, intervenero molte obsecra--
tioni et escomunicamenti in la catedrale
chiesa; e pure insieme anchora la riscosse.
La quale chiamata inanT^i a se el fra--
tello, presenti alcuni principali parenti et
alcuni canonici di gran gravitade, la co-
minciaron a riprendere acerbamente, ri-
cordandogli quanta vergogna per lei elio
haveva in fronte, d poco honore che la
facea ài suo sangue^ e molte altre escla-
mattoni inter miscendo. La giovane, poi
e' hebbe udito, non spaventata in nulla,
rispose subito , guardandolo fisso : —

connection: She ran off a second time,
then a third with a provost of the church .
The Archbishop, by excommunicating him
who kept her away, rescued her again and
by the help of honest rebukes tried to
correct her. That did not hinder her from
taking the flight a fourth time; she passed
then through many hands, and before she
could be found again, it was necessary to
pronounce a number of interdictions and
excommunications in the cathedral; he
rescued her however again.

The brother having summoned her
before him in presence of the nearest
relations and a few of the gravest canons,
all began to reprimand her sharply, to
recall to her with what shame she was
covering their brow, the little honor she
did their blood, underlining their com-
plaints with manyexclamations.The young
girl not in the least troubled, after having
heard them, answers immediately, while
gazing at him : — « Monsignor and
» brother, shall I tell you? — Say all

« Mcmsigwr e fratdlo, vuoi cV io fi
dica? — Di ciò che voli, » rispose quétto.
— « Quando una femina ha passato gli
Y dui, non la terrebbe il cento diavoli

> che non arrivassi fino a cento. » UAr^
civescovo ridendo^ tutti i circostanti udito
quello, si trinse nelle spalle e com-
mando die si sonasse a predica, mettuia
lei in la libertà sua. E congr^ato a udire
buomini e donne, lui montò in sul pulpito
e disse : — » Huomini miei e voi, donne
y> putancy la cagione della mia predica
» è questa : io ho per quella mia sorella
» fuggitiva scomunicato spesso terrieri e
» soldati; ultimamente riprendendola
» de^ falli suoi, mi risponde coram cm-
» nibus che quando una femina ha pas^
» saio gli dui, non la terrebbe il cento
» diavoli che la mm arrivassefinoa cento,
)^ Jo recomunico ogn' un che V ha goduta,
"» et da bora inanziy a chi la va San

> Piero lo benedica; bon prò gli possa

» you like, » he answered. — « When a
» woman has passed by two, the hundreth
» devil would not hinder her from going
» to a hundred. » The Archbishop, with
all the audience having heard this answer,
buried himself while laughing in his shoul-
ders and ordered the bell to be rui^ for
the sermon, after having set his sister free.
Then men and women pressing up to
hear him, he ascended the pulpit and said :
« Good men and you, whorish women,
y> the object of my sermon is this : I often
» excommunicated my fellow countrymen
» and soldiers for my sister who had run
» away; in a word, as I rebuked her for
» her errors, she answered me coram om-
» nibus, that when a woman has passed
» by two, the hundreth devil would not
» hinder her from going to a hundred. I
» unbind all those who have enjoyed her,
» from excommunication, and may Saint
» Peter bless henceforth whoever goes
» to bed with her, much good may
» it do him I But see, my dear country-

> farei Ma guardate, dttadeni miei y come
» noi stiamo. Son stato confessore prima
)> che vescovo^ ni mai confessai donna da
i> dieci anni in suso che non havesse pas-
i> sati quei dui. Voi sete tutte, f emine,
» puttane, e noi huomini siamo tutti cor-
1^ nuti. Io dalla parte mia non voglio
i> più affanno; a chi la va^ San Piero

> lo benedica I "J^ E data questa henedi-
tione, smontò dipergolo, lassando quello
proverbio in bocca al popolo^ el quale
anchor a a nostri di s* allega.






IN JESTS 215

» men, how it turns out. Before being a
9 bishop I was a confessor, and I never
» confessed women of more than ten
» years old but had passed this number
» two. You, women, you are all whores,
» and we men are all cuckolds. For what
» is mine, I wish no more annoyance;
» whoever goes to bed with her, may
» Saint Peter bless him! » Having given
this benediction, h e came down from the
pulpit, leaving in the mouths of the people
this proverb, which is still quoted in our
days.