Part 41

Frisio replied:

“I think you fain would make these ladies weep. But even supposing this were true, I tell you that such women are no longer to be found in the world.”

27.—“Indeed they are to be found,” said the Magnifico; “and that this is true, listen:

“In my time there was a gentleman at Pisa, whose name was messer Tommaso; I do not remember of what family, although I often heard it mentioned by my father, who was a great friend of his. Now this messer Tommaso, crossing one day in a small vessel from Pisa to Sicily on business, was surprised by some Moorish galleys which had come up so stealthily that those who commanded the vessel did not suspect it; and although the men who were in her defended themselves stoutly, yet as they were few and the enemy many, the vessel fell into the hands of the Moors, together with all who were in her, both wounded and whole as it chanced, and among them messer Tommaso, who had carried himself bravely and slain with his own hand a brother of one of the captains of the galleys. Wherefore enraged, as you may believe, by the loss of a brother, the captain claimed him as special prisoner, and beating and maltreating him every day, carried him to Barbary, having resolved to keep him there in great misery a captive for life and with grievous pains.

“All the others got free after a time, some in one way and some in another, and returned home and reported to his wife (whose name was madonna Argentina) and to his children, the hard life and sore affliction in which messer Tommaso was living and was like to go on living without hope unless God should aid him miraculously. After she and they were informed of this and had tried several other means to deliver him, and when he himself was quite resigned to die, it came to pass that watchful love so kindled the wit and daring of one of his sons, who was called Paolo, that the youth took no heed of any kind of danger and resolved either to die or to free his father; and this thing was brought about in such sort that the father was conveyed away so privily that he was in Leghorn before it was discovered in Barbary that he had departed thence. From here messer Tommaso wrote in safety to his wife, and informed her of his deliverance and where he was and how he hoped to see her the next day. Overwhelmed with great and unexpected joy at being (through the dutifulness and merit of her son) so soon to see her husband, whom she so dearly loved and firmly believed she would never see again,—the good and gentle lady raised her eyes to heaven when she had read the letter, and calling her husband’s name fell dead upon the ground; nor in spite of all the remedies that were employed upon her did the departed spirit return again to her body. Cruel spectacle, and enough to moderate human wishes and restrain their over-longing for too much joy.”

28.—Then Frisio said, laughing:

“How do you know that she did not die of grief at hearing that her husband was coming home?”

The Magnifico replied:

“Because the rest of her life did not comport with this; nay, I think that her soul, unable to brook delay in seeing him with the eyes of her body, forsook it, and, drawn by eagerness, quickly flew whither her thought had flown on reading the letter.”

My lord Gaspar said:

“It may be that this lady was too loving, for women always run to extremes in everything, which is bad; and you see that by being too loving she wrought evil to herself, and to her husband and children, for whom she turned to bitterness the joy of his perilous and longed-for deliverance. So you ought by no means to cite her as one of those women who have been the cause of such great benefits.”

The Magnifico replied:

“I cite her as one of those who bear witness that there are wives who love their husbands; for of those who have been the cause of great benefits to the world, I could tell you of an endless number, and discourse to you of some so ancient that they almost seem fabulous, and of those who among men have been the inventors of such things, that they deserved to be esteemed as goddesses, like Pallas and Ceres; and of the Sibyls, by whose mouth God has so often spoken and revealed to the world events that were to come; and of those who have instructed very great men, like Aspasia, and like Diotima, who furthermore by her sacrifices delayed for ten years the time of a pestilence that was to come upon Athens. I could tell you of Nicostrate, Evander’s mother, who taught the Latins letters; and of still another woman, who was preceptress to the lyric poet Pindar; and of Corinna and of Sappho, who were excellent in poetry; but I do not wish to seek out matters so far afield. I tell you, however (leaving the rest apart), that women were perhaps not less the cause of Rome’s greatness than men.”

“This,” said my lord Gaspar, “would be fine to hear.”

29.—The Magnifico replied:

“Then listen to it. After the fall of Troy many Trojans fled who escaped that great disaster, some in one direction and some in another; of whom one part, who were buffeted by many storms, came to Italy at that place where the Tiber flows into the sea. Landing here in search of necessaries, they began to roam about the country: the women, who had remained in the ships, bethought themselves of a good plan that would put an end to their perilous and long wandering by sea and give them a new fatherland in place of that which they had lost; and after consulting together in the absence of the men, they burned the ships; and the first to begin the work bore the name Roma. Yet fearing the wrath of the men, who were returning, they went out to meet these; and embracing and kissing, some their husbands, some their kinsmen, with tokens of affection, they softened the first impulse of anger; then they quietly explained to the men the reason of their wise device. Whereupon the Trojans, either from necessity or from having been kindly received by the natives, were well pleased with what the women had done, and dwelt there with the Latins in the place where afterwards was Rome; and from this arose the ancient custom among the Romans that the women kissed their kinsfolk when they met. Now you see how much these women helped to make a beginning of Rome.

30.—“Nor did the Sabine women contribute less to its increase than the Trojan women did to its beginning. For Romulus, having excited general enmity among all his neighbours by the seizure of their women, was harassed by wars on every side; which (he being a man of ability) were soon brought to a successful issue, except that with the Sabines, which was very great because Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, was very powerful and wise. Wherefore, a severe conflict having taken place between Romans and Sabines, with very heavy loss on both sides, and a new and cruel battle making ready, the Sabine women,—clad in black, with hair loose and torn, weeping, sorrowful, fearless of the weapons that were already drawn to strike,—rushed in between the fathers and husbands, imploring them to refrain from defiling their hands with the blood of fathers-in-law and sons-in-law. And if the men were still displeased with the alliance, let the weapons be turned against the women, for it were better for them to die than to live widowed or fatherless and brotherless, and to remember that their children were begotten of those who had slain their fathers, or that they themselves were born of those who had slain their husbands. Lamenting thus and weeping, many of them carried their little babes in their arms, some of whom were already beginning to loose the tongue and seemed to try to call and to make merry with their grandsires; to whom the women showed the little ones, and said, weeping: ‘Behold your blood, which with such heat and fury you are seeking to shed with your own hands.’

“The women’s dutifulness and wisdom wrought such great effect at this pass, that not only were lasting friendship and union established between the two hostile kings, but what was stranger, the Sabines came to live at Rome, and of the two peoples a single one was made. And thus this union greatly increased the power of Rome, thanks to those wise and lofty-minded women, who were rewarded by Romulus in such fashion that in dividing the people into thirty wards he gave thereto the names of the Sabine women.”

31.—Here having paused a little, and seeing that my lord Gaspar did not speak, the Magnifico Giuliano said:

“Do you not think that these women were the cause of good to their men-folk and contributed to the greatness of Rome?”

My lord Gaspar replied:

“No doubt they were worthy of much praise; but had you been as willing to tell the sins of women as their good works, you would not have omitted to say that in this war of Titus Tatius a woman betrayed Rome and showed the enemy the way to seize the Capitol, whereby the Romans came near being all destroyed.”

The Magnifico Giuliano replied:

“You tell me of a single bad woman, while I tell you of countless good ones; and besides those already mentioned, I could show you a thousand other instances on my side, of benefits done to Rome by women, and could tell you why a temple was dedicated of old to Venus Armata, and another to Venus Calva, and how the Festival of the Handmaidens was instituted in honour of Juno because handmaidens once delivered Rome from the wiles of the enemy. But leaving all these things aside, did not that lofty deed—the discovery of Cataline’s conspiracy, whereof Cicero so vaunts himself—spring chiefly from a vile woman?—who for this might be said to have been the cause of all the good that Cicero boasts of having wrought the Roman commonwealth. And had I time enough, I should further show you that women have often corrected many of men’s errours; but I fear that this discourse of mine is already too long and wearisome: so, having performed according to my ability the task imposed upon me by these ladies, I think it well to give place to someone who will say things worthier to be listened to than any I can say.”

32.—Then my lady Emilia said:

“Do not deprive women of those true praises that are their due; and remember that if my lord Gaspar, and perhaps my lord Ottaviano as well, listen to you with weariness, we and all these other gentlemen listen to you with pleasure.”

The Magnifico still wished to stop, but all the ladies began begging him to speak: whereupon he said, laughing:

“In order not to make my lord Gaspar more my enemy than he is, I will tell briefly of a few women who occur to my mind, omitting many that I might mention.” Then he continued: “When Philip, son of Demetrius, was laying siege to the city of Chios, he issued an edict promising freedom and their masters’ wives to all slaves who should escape from the city and come to him. So great was the women’s wrath at this shameful edict that they rushed to the walls in arms, and fought so fiercely that in a short time they drove Philip off with disgrace and loss: which their husbands had not been able to do.