Madonna Dianora and Messer Ansaldo
- Storyteller: Emilia
- Literary public service announcement: this story influences Chaucer's "Franklin's Tale".
- Madonna Dianora, who's old and unattractive…Psych! Just wanted to see if you were paying attention.
- Madonna Dianora, who's young and beautiful, is married to a man named Gilberto.
- She's attracted the attention of Messer Ansaldo.
- Dianora's pretty happy with her husband's immense wealth and good nature, so she has to find a way to get rid of Ansaldo.
- She hits upon a surefire way of losing him: ask him to prove his love by completing an impossible task.
- Dianora tells the servant woman sent by Ansaldo that although it's almost January, she would like a garden flowering like springtime planted near their town.
- If he can't do this, says Dianora, he can take his love and split. She'll also turn her husband and kinfolk loose on Ansaldo if he won't go away.
- Ansaldo sees what she's trying to do, but he's a stubborn man. Instead of giving up, he hires a magician to help him complete his task.
- So of course, Ansaldo's able to pull off a blossoming garden in the middle of January.
- When Dianora learns that Ansaldo fulfilled her "impossible" task, she's dismayed. What's she supposed to do now?
- She tells Gilberto of her bargain with Ansaldo and once he gets over his anger, he gives her permission to do something unusual.
- She should go to Ansaldo and see if he'll let Dianora out of her promise. If he won't, then she may— just this once—give her body to him.
- But don't fall in love, warns Gilberto.
- Dianora doesn't like this answer one bit. But she heads over to Ansaldo's house to do as she's told. Husband knows best.
- Ansaldo's overjoyed to see her, but asks what she's doing there anyway.
- And Dianora tells him it's not her choice: her husband is making her fulfill her promise.
- She tells Ansaldo that she doesn't love him and doesn't want to do anything with him, but a deal's a deal.
- Ansaldo's so impressed by Gilberto's generosity that he releases Dianora of her promise to him.
- When she returns to her husband and tells him what happened, Gilberto's pretty impressed himself and becomes fast friends with Ansaldo.
- And when the magician hears how generous both men were to each other, he tears up the bill for his grand optical illusion.
- No one is impressed with Dianora.
- Emilia ends the story with a question: who among these fine people was the most generous?