Chichibio and the crane - part 3

From Decamerone (1349-1351) by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375),

the novel “Chichibio and the crane”

part 3

Chichibio straddled with fear, he wanted to escape but coudn’t. When he arrives at the river, first he sees a dozen cranes sleeping and standing on one leg and and shout:” sir, you can see for yourself that I was right last night, cranes have only one leg!.” Sir Corrado respons:’ wait i am going to show you that they have two !”and saying that he gets close to the birds and scream oh! Oh!”. Hearing that sound, the cranes unfold the second leg and run away. Sir Corrado looks at Chichibio and says to him:” well, rascal, didn’t I tell you? I didn’t think they had two!!”. Chichibio, at first stays silent, but then cluthching at straws, respond:” you are right, Sir, but perhaps you didn’t scream oh oh at the crane from last night Because if you would have done it, for sure she would have unfold her second leg and consequently the second thigh!”. When Sir Corrado hears this, he started to laugh, but he doesn’t fell like punishing this very good cook and he forgives him from the bad joke.

 translated by IsabelleWanlin Hocquet

Chichibio and the crane - part 2

From Decamerone (1349-1351) by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375),

the novel “Chichibio and the crane”

part 2

When sitting at the table, Sir Corrado realises quicky that the crane has one thigh missing.

 That startles him. He then summons Chichibio and ask him what happened with the other thigh. Chichibio respond immediately “ but Sir Corrado, the crane only have one thigh because they only have one leg..” Sir Corrado then responds: “all right then,let’s see tomorrow, and if it is not like you said, you will receive so many blows that you will never forget!” the next morning after dawn, Sir Corrado, still very upset saddle the horses and called Chichibio. Together , they go near a river where they usually can find cranes. Sir Corrado says: “ now let’s see which one of us lied last night”

                                                                           translated by IsabelleWanlin Hocquet

Chichibio and the crane - part 1

From  DECAMERONE (1349-1351) by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375),the novel “Chichibio and the crane”

(leggi in italiano) -- 日本語へ

Boccaccio writes the Decamerone in the Italian language from circa three hundred called “vulgar”. What will follow is a summary, in contemporary italian, from a novel suitable for advanced students.

A long time ago, in Florence, lived a noble called Sir Corrado Gianfigliazzi, a rich banker famous for being generous and very good at hunting with a falcon.

foto da internet

One day, when he was hunting in the country near Florence, his falcon got a young and fat crane to the joy of Sir Corrado. He gave it to his excellent venetian cook called Chichibio and ordered him to cook it and serve it for dinner.
Chichibio,usually very clever in cooking, prepared the crane with great care so that when the cooking is almost done, the whole kitchen is filled with a delicious aroma that Brunetta, the girl that Chichibio fell in love with, can’t resist.
Brunetta, entered the kitchen and when she sees the crane, asked Chichibio if she can eat a thigh, but Chichibio told her:” I am sorry, but i can”t give it to you! It is for the master and his guest”. Brunetta praised him for a long time but then threatened him:”if you don’t give it to me,i promised i will not look at you anymore”. Finally Chichibio surrenders, cuts one of the thigh of the roasted crane and gives it to her, then he serves the crane to Sir Corrado and his friend guest.

                                                                 translated by IsabelleWanlin Hocquet



Messer: o messere form used in italian language circa four hundred means “Master” a title used for polite form
falcone: a type of hawk, rather big, used in the old times for hunting.

When Brunetta speaks with Chichibio she uses the formal form “il voi’ instead of ‘il lei’. It was, in fact, in the past, the most used form for courtesy and respect, while today we use only “ il Lei”. But “il Voi” is still used in many parts of southern Italy.