The Monk and the Abbott
Intro
- Storyteller: Dioneo
- Dioneo believes that their purpose in storytelling is to amuse and entertain.
- So he plans to do this by telling the story of a monk who used the naughty behavior of another to get out of a sticky situation.
Story
- There was a young monk in Lunigiana who came upon a beautiful peasant girl gathering herbs nearby his monastery.
- He falls in lust with her and convinces her to come back to his cell so that they can indulge themselves.
- The Abbot hears them having fun in his room. The Abbot decides to hang onto that information for later.
- The young monk knows he's in trouble when he hears someone in the hallway. He looks through a crack in the door and sees the Abbot. Uh-oh.
- But he's a quick thinker and comes up with a plan. He tells the girl he's going to find her a way out.
- Then he goes to the Abbot and hands him his key (the monks do this whenever they're leaving).
- He tells the Abbot that he's going to pick up the remaining firewood he'd left outside.
- The Abbot makes a beeline for the young monk's room. You can probably imagine what he does when he finds the lovely young girl there.
- Shmoop blushes to say it, but it's important to the punch line: the Abbot is too old and large to assume the "missionary position." He lets the girl be alpha for this one.
- The young monk doesn't actually go for the firewood. He stands in the corridor and watches.
- When the Abbot's done with the girl, he decides to scold the young monk anyway.
- But the young monk's ready for him. He pretends that the Abbot's scolding him for his "technique" and not for the fact that he'd had a girl in his room.
- I didn't realize that we monks had women to "support," he jokes. He promises to do better next time.
- So the young monk gets away with his offense and finds ways to bring the girl back for more visits.