The Decameron

On the second day, Filomena takes on the role of queen. She chooses misadventures with happy endings as the theme of the day.

The first storyteller is Neifile. Three Florentine performers named Stecchi, Martellino, and Marchese visit Treviso during a festival to celebrate a recently deceased man becoming a saint. The man's body is lying in state and Martellino disguises himself “as a paralytic” (258) so that he will be taken near the body. When nearby, he jumps in the air and pretends that the saint cured his paralysis. However, a Florentine man uncovers the trick. Martellino is attacked by the crowd while Stecchi and Marchese appeal to the local prince to save their friend “from the hands of the mob” (260). The prince agrees to stop the attack. Martellino is freed and the prince gifts each man “a new suit of clothes” (262).

The next storyteller is Filostrato. A merchant named Rinaldo d’Asti returns to his home in Florence from Bologna. While on the road, he meets a group of seemingly respectable people and travels with them. Unbeknownst to Rinaldo, the men are “brigands of a particularly desperate and disreputable sort” (263). They attack him and steal his possessions.