一點一滴: 《十日談》（Decameron）

《十日談》（Decameron）為意大利文藝復興時期作家喬萬尼·薄伽丘所著的一本寫實主義短篇小說集。

1348年繁華的佛羅倫斯發生一場殘酷的瘟疫（黑死病），喪鐘亂鳴，死了十多萬人，在整個歐洲，因此病而死的人多達一千萬人。隔年薄伽丘以這次瘟疫為背景，執筆寫下了《十日談》，內容是講述七位女性和三位男性到佛羅倫斯郊外山上的別墅躲避瘟疫，這十位男女就在賞心悅目的園林裏住了下來，除了唱歌跳舞之外，大家決定每人每天講一個故事來渡過酷熱的日子，最後合計講了一百個故事，即《十日談》的內容。

《十日談》故事來源廣泛，取材於歷史事件、意大利中世紀的《金驢記》、法國中世紀的寓言、東方民間故事（阿拉伯、印度和中國的民間故事，如《一千零一夜》、《馬可波羅遊記》、《七哲人書》），乃至於宮廷傳聞、街談巷議，兼容並蓄，熔鑄古典文學和民間文學的特點於一爐。
這些故事中除了對於現實生活的描寫、愛情的稱揚、商人的智慧和才幹之外，同時對於當時的帝王、貴族、教會等等勢力的黑暗面加以揭露諷刺；如《十日談》的「第三日」更描述了一位猛男馬賽多（Masetto）如何以肉體滿足了修道院的修女們。也因此《十日談》完成後薄伽丘倍受教會勢力的咒罵攻擊，這些打擊使他一度想燒燬他的著作，幸而好友兼詩人的佩脫拉克（Francesco Petrarch，Francesco Petrarca）加以阻止，也才使得《十日談》這部傑作得以保存下來。
《十日談》的寫實主義文學風格，對後來西方文學發展影響甚大。開啟歐洲短篇小說的藝術形式之先河。意大利文藝理論家弗朗切斯科·德·桑克蒂斯（1817年—1883年）將《十日談》和但丁的《神曲》相提並論，稱之為《人曲》。後來英國喬叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》、法國馬格里特·德·納瓦爾的《七日談》都是摹仿《十日談》的作品。


The Decameron (subtitle: Prencipe Galeotto) is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Some believe many parts of the tales are indebted to the influence of The Book of Good Love. Many notable writers such as Chaucer are said to have drawn inspiration from The Decameron (See Literary sources and influence of the Decameron below).

Description

Illustration from a copy of The Decameron, ca. 1492, Venice.

Decameron, painting by Sandro Botticelli from 1487
The Decameron is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. Boccaccio begins with a description of the Black Death and a group of seven women and three men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the (then) countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for each one of the nights spent at the villa. Although fourteen days pass, two days each week are set aside; one day for chores and one holy day during which no work is done. In this manner, 100 stories are told by the end of the two weeks.
Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn. Each character tells a tale of a unique individual's personal experience. This charge extends to choosing the theme of the stories for that day, and all but two days have topics assigned: examples of the power of fortune; examples of the power of human will; love tales that end tragically; love tales that end happily; witty replies that save the speaker; tricks that women play on men; tricks that people play on each other in general; examples of virtue. Only Dioneo, who usually tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes, due to his wit.
Each day also includes a short introduction and conclusion to continue the frame of the tales by describing other daily activities besides story-telling. These frame tale interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs. The interactions among tales in a day, or across days, as Boccaccio spins variations and reversals of previous material, form a whole and not just a collection of stories.
Boccacio made similar Greek etymological plays of words in some of his other works. The subtitle is Prencipe Galeotto, which derives from the opening material in which Boccaccio dedicates the work to ladies of the day who did not have the diversions of men (hunting, fishing, riding, falconry) who were forced to conceal their amorous passions and stay idle and concealed in their rooms. Thus the book is subtitled Prencipe Galeotto, that is Galehaut, the go-between of Lancelot and Guinevere, a nod to Dante's allusion to Galeotto in "Inferno V", who was blamed for the arousal of lust in the episode of Paolo and Francesca.

[edit] Analysis

From an edition of Boccaccio's "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium" showing Lady Fortune spinning her wheel.
Beyond the unity provided by the frame narrative, Decameron provides a unity in philosophical outlook. Throughout runs the common medieval theme of Lady Fortune, and how quickly one can rise and fall through the external influences of the "Wheel of Fortune". Boccaccio had been educated in the tradition of Dante's Divine Comedy which used various levels of allegory to show the connections between the literal events of the story and the Christian message. However Decameron uses Dante's model, not to educate the reader but to satirize this method of learning. The Roman Catholic Church, priests, and religious belief become the satirical source of comedy throughout. This was part of a wider historical trend in the aftermath of the Black Death which saw widespread discontent with the church.
Many details of the Decameron are infused with a medieval sense of numerological and mystical significance. For example, it is widely believed that the seven young women are meant to represent the Four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) and the Three Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity). It is further supposed that the three men represent the classical Greek tripartite division of the soul (Reason, Spirit, and Lust, see Book IV of Republic). Boccaccio himself notes that the names he gives for these ten characters are in fact pseudonyms chosen as "appropriate to the qualities of each". The Italian names of the seven women, in the same (most likely significant) order as given in the text, are: Pampinea (the flourishing one), Fiammetta (small flame), Filomena (faithful in love), Emilia (rival), Lauretta (wise, crowned with laurels), Neifile (cloudy), and Elissa (God is my vow).
The men, in order, are: Panfilo (completely in love), Filostrato (overcome by love), and Dioneo (lustful).[2]