Maraviglioso Boccaccio

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WONDROUS BOCCACCIO

Florence 1348

the time of the plague

I am leaving...

just like that, without having

ever really enjoyed anything.

I lost my daughter, but the

plague will not take these two!

Stay back, you touched her!

- Take them away. - Stay back!

And do not look for us!

I shall go with them, Lauretta.

I will not leave them alone.

We have finished here, let's go.

Not like that! You will not treat

my people like that! Go and help him.

I want them together,

one next to the other!

No, no, no!

- What are you doing?

Get away from there!

- Come back up!

We are in a hurry, they pay us to work.

Get out of there!

We shall bury you, too!

He's not the only one to behave this way.

You saw the others, didn't you?

At least two of them.

Shame on you! - Who are we harming?

The smell of flowers keeps the plague away.

I have the plague, little flower!

Why shouldn't you have it, too?

Wait, Paola! Paola!

Are we all here?

- No, not Elisabetta.

I'm here, I'm here.

I will not come!

- Elisabetta! Together, remember?

We will save ourselves together,

we shall leave this place.

I will not come.

If you have doubts, I do not.

Tomorrow, I shall leave this place.

Leaving you to count the dead

every evening.

I will climb the hill to open skies, if

death wishes to take me up there, he may.

What sways you, Fiammetta?

You were most certain of all.

To abandon everything...

- We have been abandoned.

I know this, as do you.

- We must not turn back.

We've been searching for days, where

were you? We had begun to expect...

Dioneo, Filostrato, Panfilo...

tomorrow, we are leaving Florence.

Come with us.

You are not serious?

- We are determined to find some peace.

For us, these days have been...

have been...

Come with us.

Very well!

In 2 hours, at Ponte Santa Trinita.

Come, come!

How wonderful!

- Over there!

Friends, what are you doing?

What are we doing?

Ladies, your wits have brought us here.

I now not what you intend to do now.

But I have left my worries down there.

As have you, Fiammetta, yes?

We must find the will to live together

these days, or we return to Florence.

Stay, Dioneo, for our friendship.

We are all so very tired.

Dioneo, I too want that which you seek,

as do all of us.

Let us give ourselves rules,

for the days will be long.

Neifile and Filomena have had an idea.

A good idea, I believe.

Tell them, Neifile.

- Yes.

Every day we will tell a story,

each their own, but good ones!

Many you will have heard of,

being a hundred years old.

Goodness, I can think of nothing,

what will I do now?

I have many, but are we free

in terms of subject, yes?

No, Dioneo!

Do not get upset, but there is a

final rule we must give ourselves.

No love.

Because those who are without

must not be made to feel envy.

Very well, as you wish.

Right now, no one will stop me kissing

my woman. Then I swear, no more.

But we can make it so. Do you not miss it?

- I miss it, too, very much.

You know, we are always so close,

even in silence. - Even in silence.

And all the things that happened in

Florence, we must not think of them.

We must not think of them.

Filomena, are you sleeping?

Listen!

Then, yes...

I'm overjoyed to be the first to tell

story, about love and a resurrection.

This is about the plague, too.

Forgive me.

But you will see that she,

and also he...

The story is thus: she is Catalina,

bride of great beauty and honesty.

But she has fallen ill, very ill.

With a malady that is unknown.

And this is her husband, Nicoluccio.

A good husband, an able merchant.

Living under the rule, as all in that

house, of the mother, Madonna Lucrezia...

who is ordering the servant and doctor

to take Catalina far away from here...

to their house in the country.

She has given orders to the coachman.

And this is Messer Gentile Carisendi,

young and handsome and desperate.

The plague touched him,

but did not take him.

For days he stands under the window where

the woman he loves, has always loved...

perhaps lays dying.

If she does not leave,

she will take all of us.

During the journey that took

Catalina far from home...

the doctor and servant

would witness her death.

They stopped, but did not turn back.

They left her in the crypt

of an abandoned church.

Doctor, will I not get in trouble?

These days, the quicker the burial the

more they are thankful: relatives, friends.

How did you leave her?

- On the slab, as best I could.

I put a hand on her heart...

and felt she was alive.

Alive?

- Yes, I brought her here.

You love her so dearly?

Look at me.

Yes, I know you. It is so.

No! You will see her again soon.

Now, return to your room and wait.

My God, who are you?

Am I alive, or dead?

- Alive, dazed but alive.

You are among friends,

do not be afraid.

Yes, you have seen the worst of it.

My doctor has looked at you and says that

you are still sick, but will get better.

And we will help you.

I shall not touch you,

if you do not with me to.

The pestilence has been kind,

it passed far away from our valley.

And everyone says that it

is leaving Florence, too.

Good morning, Catalina.

Forgive me for intruding.

I will not look at you,

but allow me to speak.

You know why you are here in our house,

my mother told you everything.

And my love for you,

you've known of for some time.

But that God has restored you to life

on account of this love, well, it...

it amazes me.

Truly.

And I am grateful to him.

As am I. - But I must ask

one favour of you: stay here.

Stay here until you are fully cured.

But, why...

Your kinsfolk believe you to be dead,

no one in your house expects you.

There.

I don't understand.

Because I wish to make a precious

gift to your husband.

A gift of you...

No, I shall not come closer.

I shall propose a formal ceremony,

here outside my house.

I will invite your friends

and mine, from Florence.

They seem strong,

but are in fact very fragile.

These?

- Yes.

And this one is a wild pine.

Which do you prefer?

- Peaches.

Let's try this game, too.

Go ahead.

Well done!

Leave us.

Friend, you have honored my ceremony...

and now I intend to honour you.

I shall show you he most precious

person I have in the entire world.

But first you must help me

to dispel a certain doubt.

Here it is.

A gentleman has in his house

a good and most loyal servant...

who suddenly falls seriously ill.

The gentlemen, without waiting for the end,

abandons him in the middle of the street.

A stranger, moved to compassion, takes

him home and restores him to health.

Now, if the first gentleman

wishes to take the servant back...

and the second refuses this request...

who do you think is in the right?

My fellow guests have given me the

job of recounting a response...

because according to them,

and you are mistaken, my friend...

I am best suited to such discussion.

It's Nicoluccio!

I will never have the courage

to go out there.

All of us are in agreement.

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