Decameron

Bedtime Reading in 5000 English Words: Decameron (in Pure English) is a collection of short stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio, the earliest representative writer of the Italian Renaissance. The Decameron has the greatest influence on later generations. It is the first realistic work in the history of modern European literature with a concise style of writing and vivid language. The work tells a story of ten young men and women living in a villa in the countryside of Florence to avoid the Black Death and taking turns telling stories to entertain themselves in ten days. So the work is named “The Decameron”. In 1348, a terrible plague occurred in Florence, Italy. large numbers of corpses were transported outside the city every day, even every hour. From March to July, more than 100,000 people died of illness. The beautiful and prosperous Florence in the past became horrible with corpses everywhere. Boccaccio created the Decameron with this plague as the background to record this human disaster. Mainly based on love and wisdom, the work shows the social reality of Italy and exposes the degeneration and corruption of priests and nobles. Meanwhile, it also praises the cleverness and bravery of ordinary businessmen and common people, as well as the love of young men and women. Most contents of the work are based on historical events, medieval folklore and Eastern folk tales, breaking through the simple storytelling method of medieval novels in form, trying to explore a new way in describing the natural style, outlining character characteristics, depicting character psychology and sculptural images, with an immeasurable influence on the later development of European novels.