Here is an edited story from “The Decameron” (1353) by Giovanni Boccaccio. Ten characters hide from the black death for ten days, and each tell ten stories. This is the fifth story of the second day.
Let us hope we can all eventually emerge from self-isolation as happily as Andreuccio!
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An extremely rich bishop had died recently, and that day he had been placed in his family tomb. He was placed in the tomb along with many of his finest jewels, including a ruby ring worth 500 Florins.
Three thieves intended to break into the tomb that night, and steal the riches. The youngest of the three thieves was named Andreuccio.
In the middle of the night, the three thieves went to the bishop’s tomb, which was made of marble and very large. With their iron bars, they managed to pry open the entrance to the tomb, which was very heavy. The entrance was just large enough for one person to crawl through. The thieves began to whisper together, arguing about who should enter the tomb.
“Let Andreuccio enter,” said the two older thieves.
“I will not!” replied Andreuccio, who was terrified of the thought of crawling into the small hole.
But the two other thieves threatened him with the iron bars. “We will beat you to death with these bars unless you go in!”
Andreuccio, feeling scared, started to crawl into the narrow opening. But he said to himself that the other two thieves could not be trusted, and were planning to cheat him. “They will ask me to hand over all the jewels to them, and while I am crawling out of the hole, they will run away and leave me with nothing,” he said to himself.
So Andreuccio decided to get his own share of the jewels first. Quickly, he found the bishop’s ring, took it off the dead man’s finger, and placed it on his own. He then searched about for the other jewels. He handed a necklace and fine clothes to the other thieves, but told them that he could not find a ring.
The other two insisted that the ring must be there, and that he should search some more. Andreuccio pretended to search without finding it. At last, his companions told him to search until he died, and shut the heavy door of the tomb, leaving him alone in the darkness with the dead bishop.
Imagine the poor thief trapped in the tomb. Andreuccio tried again and again to lift up the lid with all his strength. But it was too heavy. At last, he fell exhausted on top of the dead body. He started to weep. He imagined only two possible fates for himself. He would either die in the tomb from starvation or lack of oxygen. Or else, if the tomb were opened, he would be found inside and would be hanged as a thief.
Time passed in the darkness. Eventually, Andreuccio heard voices outside the tomb. He realised that a group of people had gathered and were discussing how best to open the tomb and steal the jewels of the dead bishop. After a time, the lid of the tomb was opened, and the new thieves started to argue amongst themselves about who should go in to steal the jewels.
Then Andreuccio recognised the voice of the local priest. “What are you all scared of? A dead body will not eat you. There is nothing to be scared of. I will go in myself!”
The priest decided to enter the tomb legs first, in order to drop down onto the body. So he turned around and started to wriggle into the tomb. His legs appeared before Andreuccio. So Andreuccio grabbed hold of the legs and made some moaning noises. In a panic, the priest wriggled back out of the tomb and ran away as if he were being chased by a thousand devils. The others ran away in panic too, leaving the entrance to the tomb open.
Andreuccio scrambled out, and made his way quietly home, still wearing the ruby ring.
Vocabulary:
to emerge – to come out
self-isolation – removing oneself from contact with other people
a bishop – a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church
a tomb – a building to keep the bodies of rich or important dead people in
to pry something open – to force something open by using a rod or bar etc. to force an opening
to crawl – to move like a baby on hands and knees
to weep – to cry a lot
starvation – death from lack of food
moaning – a long, low sound, like that of a ghost or person in pain
to wriggle – to move with quick side to side motions, like a worm
to scramble – to move quickly and clumsily, like someone running in a panic
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