The Decameron

The medieval masterpiece that shaped the modern short story — a hundred tales of wit, desire, and fortune told against the shadow of the Black Death.

Florence, 1348: as plague ravages the city, seven young women and three young men flee to a secluded villa in the countryside. To pass the days, each tells one story every evening for ten days — a hundred tales in all, ranging from bawdy comedy to tragic romance, from clever tricksters outwitting fools to lovers defying fate.

Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron is a dazzling panorama of medieval life — merchants and monks, kings and servants, saints and scoundrels — told with a wit and frankness that scandalized and delighted readers for seven centuries. Its frame-story structure and richly human characters influenced Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the entire tradition of Western storytelling.



One of the founding works of European narrative fiction

A hundred complete tales — comic, tragic, romantic, and satirical

The John Payne translation, a classic rendering prized for its fidelity and style