The Heliotrope
Whereby Pedrolino and Graziano play a trick on Pantalone
Many years ago, when I lived in Ravenna, I was Graziano's servant. At the time, Pantalone owed Graziano some money, but always found a reason not to pay him back. So Graziano decided to get his money another way.
He told Pantalone that in a field just outside town could be found the heliotrope, a stone that conferred invisibility upon the holder. If Pantalone helped him find it, they could sell it and split the profits.
So we went to the field. After seeing Pantalone pick up rocks and put them in his pouch, I said "Dottore, where has Pantalone gone?" Dottore looked about but, pretending that he could not see Pantalone, said "I do not know." When he heard this, Pantalone thought to himself: "Ah! I must have the heliotrope, and can't be seen. I can sell it myself, and Dottore will never know."
Of course, this meant he would have to keep quiet. So Dottore said "That scoundrel Pantalone has left us in the field to do all the work. Why, if he were here, I would strike him, thus." And he thrust out his fist and struck Pantalone in the face. Pantalone winced, but, not wanting to reveal his presence and thus his possession of the heliotrope, said nothing, though his face turned red from the blow.
"No, I would not do so," said Graziano. "Instead, I would take this rock, and throw it at him, thus." And he took a rock the size of his hand, and threw it at Pantalone's chest, where it bounced quite nicely. Again Pantalone, wishing to remain unnoticed, bore the painful blow in silence.
"Ah, no," said Graziano, "for in the law, striking a man with such a rock is a serious offense. Instead, I should take this branch, and hit him, thus." And he grabbed a branch and began swinging it about, striking Pantalone several times, and Pantalone again, bore his pains in silence. And as we returned to town, Graziano would occasionally swing the branch, catching Pantalone on the chin, or legs, or chest, or elsewhere.
Now, I had arranged with the good folk of Ravenna that when we returned, Pantalone would think himself invisible, and we ought do nothing to make him believe otherwise. So he found himself in a street when someone would say "Ah, I see no one in this street, so I shall stretch my arms out thus." Or "Ah, I see no one in this street, so I shall lay down this heavy load here." Or "I see no one in the street, so I shall empty my chamberpot this way."
After half a day of this abuse, Pantalone decided to rid himself of the stone, but of course he found himself no more visible than he was before. In a panic, he sought out Graziano, who was waiting in the town square. Graziano speculated that perhaps some dust of the stone had fallen on his clothes. So Pantalone removed them, and stood there naked in the middle of Ravenna.
"Alas, Pantalone, I can say in truth that you are no more visible now than you were before."
"This is terrible!" cried Pantalone. "I can't conduct business like this!"
"Indeed, you cannot," answered Graziano. However, he explained that he knew a man (myself, in disguise) who sold salves that could restore his visibility. Thus Pantalone purchased one which, by a remarkable good fortune, happened to cost as much as he owed Graziano. And the salve indeed made him visible once more. And this is how Graziano made Pantalone repay his debt.
Notes
Readers of the Decameron will recognize this story (possibly from the title alone). I make no apologies! I may turn this into a commedia scenario.
As I wrote this up the first draft, I realized I was speaking in William's voice: the vocabulary was much bigger, and the sentences had much more complex constructions: "Whereupons" and "thuslikes" appeared throughout. Pedrolino, however, is a servant, so he would not have spoken that way; I've subsequently rewritten it so that it sounds like Pedrolino recounting the story.