The day was to begin with a stroll among the hills
passed in philosophical talk; then followed breakfast, with music and
singing, after which came the recitation, in some cool, shady spot, of
a new poem, the subject of which had been given the night before; in
the evening the whole party walked to a spring of water where they all
sat down and each one told a tale; last of all came supper and lively
conversation 'of such a kind that the women might listen to it without
shame and the men might not seem to be speaking under the influence of
wine.' Ban- dello, in the introductions and dedications to single
novels, does not give us, it is true, such inaugural discourses as
this, since the circles before which the stories are told are
represented as already formed; but he gives us to understand in other
ways how rich, how manifold, and how charming the conditions of society
must have been. Some readers may be of opinion that no good was to be
got from a world which was willing to be amused by such immoral
literature. It would be juster to wonder at the secure foundations of a
society which, notwithstanding these tales, still observed the rules of
order and decency, and which knew how to vary such pastimes with
serious and solid discussion. The need of noble forms of social
intercourse was felt to be stronger than all others.
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