“Everything, then, which I am about to tell you is true, except the names, the places, and the country.”
The narrator of the tenth tale in this collection is Parlamente and the tale is preceded by this call to truth. In fact, most of the tales—or a great many at any rate—are preceded by such an establishment. It is one of the conceits of the constructive fiction by Margurite of Navarre that the stories contained in the Heptameron are all true.
“Her secret was revealed, as you shall find from her story, in which I will state nothing but what is true, except the names of the persons and the places, which I will change."
Another recurrence in the introduction of the tales, such as the one that Geburon, another narrator, is about to relate, is that in addition to being true, the stories feature real life personages known to Marguerite. Little may be gained by expending effort trying to track down whether these characters were in the story actually were involved in any events bearing a similarity to the events in the tale, however, as—like in this one—the names were discreetly changed protect the innocent as well as, doubtlessly, the guilty.
A Nasty Adventure which befel Madam De Roncex at the Franciscan Monastery of Thouars.
Each of the individual tales are given a sort of subtitle which reveals in capsule summary the most basic, bare-bones summary of the plot of the story to come. Novel XI entices with the lure of the adventure being “nasty.” As for the Franciscan Monastery, it must be stated that the author displays a hardy predilection for thinking the worst of that particular brotherhood of monks.
“There was at Saragossa a merchant who, feeling his end approach, and seeing that he must quit his possessions, which he had, perhaps, acquired with bad faith, thought to make satisfaction in part for his sins after his death by giving some little present to God, as if God gave his grace for money.”
This is the opening line of tale number 55 and it is completely representative of how most of the other stories open. Generally, the foundation of the story is laid with the introduction of a main character and quick and efficient description of his situation.
“This tale, ladies, in which our sex is not spared, conveys this lesson to husbands: that wives of high spirit suffer themselves to be led astray by resentment and vindictiveness, rather than by the charms of love.”
Most—though certainly not every single one—of the tales are summed up at the end with a pithy moral lesson. Some are pithier than others. And some—such as this example—are more prosaic. The moral often becomes the stimulant for a small bit of discourse between the other tellers with commentary and criticism offered in good spirits.
