Summary of Decameron Tales - Fourth Day

Fourth Day

Boccaccio begins this day with a defense of his work as it is thus far completed. Although he says that portions of the earlier days were circulating among the literate citizens of Tuscany while the work was in progress, this is doubtful. Instead, Boccaccio is probably just shooting down potential detractors. The reader must remember that vernacular fictional prose was not a respected genre in 14th century Italy and some of the criticisms Boccaccio combats in the introduction to the fourth day were common attitudes towards the genre. Others, however, were specific to the Decameron itself.

One criticism of the latter type was that it was not healthy for a man of Boccaccio's age – approximately 38 – to associate with young ladies, to whom the work is supposedly written. To defend against this criticism (which would never really enter into the thoughts of a real critic of the day) Boccaccio tells a story explaining how natural it is for a man to enjoy a woman's company. In this story Filipo Balducci is a hermit living with his son on Mount Asinaio after the death of his wife and travels occasionally to Florence for supplies. One day his son – now eighteen and having never before left the mountain – accompanies him because Filipo is too infirm to make the journey alone. While there the son becomes fascinated with women, even though he had never seen one before and Filipo regrets ever bringing his son to Florence.

This is commonly referred to as the 101st story of the Decameron. The story originates in the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic from before the time of Christ. The tale was quite common during the medieval era, appearing in Barlaam and Josaphat (written in the 8th century), an exemplum of Jacques de Vitry (13th century) and Cento Novelle Antiche (also 13th century), The Seven Wise Masters, and Italian collection of fables called Fiori di Virtu (14th century), Odo of Shirton's "De heremita iuvene" (12th century), and a French fabliau (13th century). The last two are the most probable sources for Boccaccio because in them the father refers to the women as "geese," whereas in the earlier versions he calls them "demons" who tempt the souls of men.

Filostrato reigns during the fourth day, in which the storytellers tell tales of lovers whose relationship ends in disaster. This is the first day a male storyteller reigns.