A few specimens will
suffice to exhibit the manner in which he deals with it. Sir Hubert is a
rich gentleman, who squanders almost all his substance in giving grand
entertainments to the Lady Mabel, whom he makes love to without meeting
with any return. Finding his suit unsuccessful, and his money being all
spent, he retires to a small and distant farm, having nothing left but
one poor hawk, upon which he depends for his means of subsistence.
Meanwhile, the Lady Mabel marries, and has a son. After a time, (her
husband being dead,) she comes to reside in a castle in the
neighbourhood of Sir Hubert's cottage, where her son, who has often
remarked the prowess and beauty of the above-mentioned hawk, falls sick,
assuring his mother that nothing can save his life except the possession
of the bird. The lady very reluctantly pays a visit to Sir Hubert, and
tells him that she has a request to proffer, which she will make known
to him after dinner. Though Sir Hubert is delighted to see her, the
mention of dinner throws him into a state of great perplexity, as he has
nothing in the house which they can make a meal of. Going out of doors,
"he espies his hawk upon the perch, which he seizes, and finding it very
fat, judges it might make a dish not unworthy of such a lady. Without
further thought, then, he pulls his head off, and gives it to a girl to
dress and roast carefully."

This being done, the lady and her admirer sit down to dinner, and make
an excellent repast. When their meal is over, then comes the
_eclaircissement_. The lady proffers her petition for the hawk; and
discovers from Sir Hubert's answer, and to her own consternation, that
she has eaten the very article she came in quest of, and which she had
expected to carry home alive; as the only means of saving the life of
her son. The young gentleman dies on finding that he cannot obtain what
he wants; and Mabel marries Sir Hubert, and settles upon him all her
possessions, as a reward for his magnanimity in sacrificing that which
(next to herself) he held dearest in the whole world, rather than that
she should go without a dinner.

Such is a short sketch of Boccacio's tale of the Falcon--a good enough
story in its way; and more creditable than many that were circulated
among the loose fish, male and female, that play their parts in the
_Decameron_. This novel has been versified by Mr Patmore, and versified
(as our specimens shall show) as he alone could have versified it