THE SCENE: Foreboding dreams give way to sudden tragedy, in this scene that effectively channels the anguish of a woman who has just lost the man she loves.
THE TEXT: If the girl was already feeling frightened on account of her own dream, her fears were magnified on learning about Gabriotto’s. She did her best to conceal them, however, for she did not wish to upset him. Although she took some solace in returning his kisses and caresses, she was filled with mysterious forebodings and kept looking into his face more often than usual. And every so often she cast her eyes around the garden to make sure that there was no sign of any black thing approaching.
As they lingered there together, Gabriotto suddenly heaved a tremendous sigh, enfolded her in his arms, and said:
“Alas, my dearest, comfort me, I am dying.” And so saying, he fell back to the ground and lay motionless upon the grass.
On seeing this, the girl drew her fallen lover to her bosom, and, choking back her tears with an effort, she exclaimed:
“Oh, my precious husband! Alas! What is the matter?”
Gabriotto did not reply, but simply lay there gasping for breath and perspiring all over, and shortly thereafter he gave up the ghost.
You can imagine the girl’s distress and agony, for she loved him more dearly than her very self. Bursting into floods of tears, she called out to him over and over again, but all to no avail; and eventually, having run her fingers over the whole of his body and discovering that he was completely cold, she was forced to acknowledge that he was dead. Stricken with anguish, not knowing what to do or say, her tears streaming down her cheeks, she ran to fetch her maidservant and poured out all the sorrow and misery she was feeling.
– Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, 14th Century AD
