Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation):
A marquis named Walter marries a poor but virtuous maiden named Grisilde despite his fears that marriage will cramp his style. He makes Grisilde promise to obey him in all things. Will this be a happy marriage? Will Grisilde get sick of Walter always getting up in her grill? Will Walter miss his bachelor days too much?
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication):
For no reason whatsoever, Walter decides he isn't sure about Grisilde's steadfastness, so he decides it would be an awesome idea to test the living daylights out of her. He does this the logical way: by pretending to kill her two children but actually hiding them in bologna... er, Bologna. Grisilde puts up with it, as she promised to do.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point):
Walter decides that pretending to kill the kids wasn't enough, so he announces his plans to remarry. He asks Grisilde to leave and go back to her father.
Now, all along, Grisilde has said that all she desires is Walter, and his love. That's why this last test of her is the ultimate one: Walter is asking her to give him up out of obedience to him. Grisilde agrees, but that's not the end of the climactic moment; she still has to watch Walter marry another woman—and do so without complaint.
Falling Action:
Walter calls Grisilde to the palace to prepare for his new wife, then parades the new wife and her brother through the town and palace. He asks Grisilde how she likes his new wife. Surely this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Grisilde, right? When Walter rubs her face in it all by asking her how she likes his new bride, won't she lose it and rip Walter a new one in front of all the company?
Not so much: Grisilde replies that she likes Walter's new wife very much, but asks him not to torment her the way he did her. Walter reveals that the children are actually Grisilde's son and daughter, and that she is still his beloved wife; he only pretended to kill them to test her.
Grisilde doesn't break. She passes the test and remains the model of wifely obedience, and Walter reveals his machinations to everyone. We find out the answers to all of the questions set up by the initial situation, climax, and suspense. The conflict is over: Walter is satisfied enough with Grisilde's performance to reward her with her children and the knowledge of how he's tested her.
Conclusion
Walter and Grisilde live happily ever after, their children making good marriages, the wives free of the torments Grisilde endured. Grisilde's reward for passing Walter's tests is a happy end to her life, which concludes with the happiness and prosperity of her children.