thou, good wife?' whereupon the
goodman, coming up, answered, 'Here am I; what wouldst thou have?'
'Who art thou?' asked Giannello. 'I want the woman with whom I made
the bargain for this vat.' Quoth the other, 'You may deal with me in
all assurance, for I am her husband.' Then said Giannello, 'The vat
appeareth to me sound enough; but meseemeth you have kept dregs or the
like therein, for it is all overcrusted with I know not what that is
so hard and dry that I cannot remove aught thereof with my nails;
wherefore I will not take it, except I first see it clean.' 'Nay,'
answered Peronella, 'the bargain shall not fall through for that; my
husband will clean it all out.' 'Ay will I,' rejoined the latter, and
laying down his tools, put off his coat; then, calling for a light and
a scraper, he entered the vat and fell to scraping. Peronella, as if
she had a mind to see what he did, thrust her head and one of her
arms, shoulder and all, in at the mouth of the vat, which was not
overbig, and fell to saying, 'Scrape here' and 'There' and 'There
also' and 'See, here is a little left.'

[Footnote 344: So called from the figure of a lily stamped on the
coin; cf. our rose-nobles.]

Whilst she was thus engaged in directing her husband and showing him
where to scrape, Giannello, who had scarce yet that morning done his
full desire, when they were interrupted by the mason's coming, seeing
that he could not as he would, bethought himself to accomplish it as
he might; wherefore, boarding her, as she held the mouth of the vat
all closed up, on such wise as in the ample plains the unbridled
stallions, afire with love, assail the mares of Parthia, he satisfied
his juvenile ardour, the which enterprise was brought to perfection
well nigh at the same moment as the scraping of the vat; whereupon he
dismounted and Peronella withdrawing her head from the mouth of the
vat, the husband came forth thereof. Then said she to her gallant,
'Take this light, good man, and look if it be clean to thy mind.'
Giannello looked in and said that it was well and that he was
satisfied and giving the husband seven florins, caused carry the vat
to his own house."

THE THIRD STORY

[Day the Seventh]

FRA RINALDO LIETH WITH HIS GOSSIP AND BEING FOUND OF HER
HUSBAND CLOSETED WITH HER IN HER CHAMBER, THEY GIVE HIM TO
BELIEVE THAT HE WAS IN ACT TO CONJURE WORMS FROM HIS GODSON

Filostrato had not known to speak so obscurely of the mare