CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction 1

Il Novellino

I: Proem 35

II: Of the rich embassy which Prester John sent to the noble Emperor Frederick 37

III: Of a wise Greek whom a King kept in prison, and how he judged of a courser 40

IV: How a jongleur lamented before Alexander the conduct of a knight, to whom he had made a gift on condition that the knight should give him whatsoever Alexander might present him with 44

V: How a king committed a reply to a young son of his who had to bear it to the ambassadors of Greece 48

VI: How it came into the mind of King David to learn the number of his subjects 50

VII: Here it is told how the angel spoke to Solomon, and said that the Lord God would take away the kingdom from his son for his sins 51

VIII: Of the gift of a king’s son to a king of Syria who had been driven from his throne 55

IX: Here it is treated of an argument and a judgment that took place in Alexandria 58

X: Here it is told of a fine judgment given by the slave of Bari in a dispute between a townsman and a pilgrim 61

XI: Here it is told how Master Giordano was deceived by a false disciple of his 63

XII: Here it is told of the honour that Aminadab did to King David, his rightful lord 64

XIII: Here it is told how Antigonus reproved Alexander for having a cythera played for his delight 65

XIV: How a king had a son of his brought up in a dark place, and then showed him everything, and how women pleased him most 66

XV: How a land steward plucked out his own eye and that of his son to the end that justice might be observed 67

XVI: Here it is told of the great mercy wrought by Saint Paulinus the bishop 68

XVII: Of the great act of charity which a banker did for the love of God 69

XVIII: Of the judgment of God on a baron of Charlemagne 69

XIX: Of the great generosity and courtesy of the Young King 70

XX: Of the great liberality and courtesy of the King of England 72

XXI: How three necromancers came to the court of the Emperor Frederick 77

XXII: How the Emperor Frederick’s goshawk escaped to Milan 80

XXIII: How the Emperor Frederick found a countryman at a fountain and asked leave to drink, and how he took away his drinking-cup 82

XXIV: How the Emperor Frederick put a question to two wise men, and how he rewarded them 83

XXV: How the Sultan gave two hundred marks to a man and how his treasurer wrote down the entry in his presence 85

XXVI: Here it is told of a burgher of France 88

XXVII: Here it is told of a great Moaddo who was insulted 90

XXVIII: Here it is told of a custom that existed in the kingdom of France 91

XXIX: Here it is told how some learned astrologers disputed about the Empyrean 92

XXX: Here it is told how a Lombard knight squandered his substance 94

XXXI: Here it is told of a story-teller of Messer Azzolino 95

XXXII: Of the great deeds of prowess of Riccar Loghercio of the Isle 97

XXXIII: Here is told a tale of Messer Imberal del Balzo 98

XXXIV: How two noble knights loved each other with a great love 100

XXXV: Here it is told of Master Thaddeus of Bologna 101

XXXVI: Here it is told how a cruel king persecuted the Christians 102

XXXVII: Here it is told of a battle between two kings of Greece 105

XXXVIII: Of an astrologer called Melisus, who was reprimanded by a woman 106

XXXIX: Here it is told of Bishop Aldebrandino, and how he was mocked by a friar 108

XL: Of a minstrel whose name was Saladin 108

XLI: A tale of Messer Polo Traversaro 110

XLII: Here is told an excellent tale of William of Borganda of Provence 112

XLIII: Here it is told of Messer Giacopino Rangone and what he did to a court player 115

XLIV: Of a question that was put to a courtier 116

XLV: How Lancelot fought at a fountain 116

XLVI: Here it is told how Narcissus fell in love with his own image 117

XLVII: Here it is told how a knight asked a lady for her love 119

XLVIII: Here it is told of King Conrady father of Conradin 119

XLIX: Here it is told of a physician of Toulouse and how he took to wife a niece of the Archbishop of Toulouse 120

L: Here it is told of Master Francis, son of Master Accorso of Bologna 122

LI: Here it is told of a Gascon woman, and how she had recourse to the King of Cyprus 123

LII: Of a bell that was ordered in King John’s days 124

LIII: Here it is told of a privilege granted by the Emperor to one of his barons 125

LIV: Here it is told how the parish priest Porcellino was accused 126

LV: Here is told a tale of a man of the court whose name was Marco 128

LVI: How a man of the Marches went to study in Bologna 129

LVII: The Woman and the Pear-tree 130

LVIII: The Wisest of the Beasts 134

LIX: Here it is told of a gentleman whom the Emperor had hanged 134

LX: Here it is told how Charles of Anjou loved a lady 137

LXI: Here it is told of the philosopher Socrates, and how he answered the Greeks 141

LXII: Here is told a tale of Messer Roberto 144

LXIII: Of good King Meladius and the Knight Without Fear 146

LXIV: A Tale told of the Court of Puy in Provence 146

LXV: Here it is told of Queen Iseult and Messer Tristan of Lyonese 154

LXVI: Here it is told of a philosopher who was called Diogenes 158

LXVII: Here it is told of Papirius and how his father brought him to the council 159

LXVIII: Of a question which a young man proposed to Aristotle 160

LXIX: Here it is told of the great justice of the Emperor Trajan 161

LXX: Here it is told how Hercules went into the forest 163

LXXI: Here it is told how Seneca consoled a woman whose son had died 164

LXXII: Here it is told how Cato lamented against fortune 167

LXXIII: How the Sultan being in need of money, sought to find occasion to proceed against a Jew 168

LXXIV: The story of a vassal and a lord 169

LXXV: How the Lord entered into partnership with a minstrel 171

LXXVI: Here it is told of the great killing done by King Richard 174

LXXVII: Here is told of Messer Rinieri, a knight of the Court 175

LXXVIII: Here is told of a philosopher much given to the vulgarisation of science 177

LXXIX: Here it is told of a Court player who adored a lord 178

LXXX: The Pilgrim and the Ugly Woman 181

LXXXI: Here below it is told of the council which was held by the sons of King Priam of Troy 182

LXXXII: Here it is told how the Lady of Shalott died for love of Lancelot of the Lake 184

LXXXIII: How Christ going one day with his disciples in a deserted place, they saw great treasure 186

LXXXIV: How Messer Azzolino Romano arranged a great charity 188

LXXXV: Of a great famine that was once in Genoa 192

LXXXVI: The Emperor and the Pilgrim 193

LXXXVII: How a man went to shrive himself 194

LXXXVIII: Here is told of Messer Castellano da Cofferi of Mantua 194

LXXXIX: Here it is told of a Court player who began a story that never ended 195

XC: Here it is told how the emperor Frederick killed a falcon of his 196

XCI: How a certain man confessed to a friar 197

XCII: Here it is told of a good woman who had made a fine pie 198

XCIII: Here it is told of a countryman who went to shrive himself 199

XCIV: Here it is told of the fox and the mule 199

XCV: Here it is told of a countryman who went to the town 201

XCVI: Here it is told of Bito and Messer Frulli of San Giorgio near Florence 201

XCVII: Here it is told how a merchant carried wine overseas in casks with two partitions and what happened 205

XCVIII: Here it is told of a merchant who bought caps 206

XCIX: Here is told a pretty tale of love 207

C: How the Emperor Frederick went to the Old Man of the Mountain 211