Landolfo Rufolo and the Power of Fortune
Intro
- Storyteller: Lauretta
- Lauretta says that Pampinea will be a tough act to follow, but she's going to do it.
- How? She'll tell a story that has greater misfortunes and doesn't end quite so well.
- You won't really enjoy it as well as Pampinea's, she says, but you'll just have to deal.
Story
- Landolfo Rufolo is a wealthy merchant from Ravello who foolishly tries to double his fortune with a risky business venture.
- It doesn't work out. Landolfo loses almost everything he has and realizes that he'll have to turn to piracy to recover his economic footing in the world.
- It turns out that Landolfo's a really great pirate—even better than he was at being a merchant—and raids enough Turkish ships to make himself a tidy fortune.
- At this point, Landolfo feels he has enough coin to choose early retirement, so he sails for home as quickly as he can.
- But Fortune will have none of this. A storm blows up and forces him into the protection of a bay.
- It also forces two Genoese ships to harbor there. They recognize Landolfo's vessel and decide to reclaim some of the booty for themselves.
- The Genoese quickly take Landolfo hostage, steal his booty (pirate booty, not the other kind) and sink his ship. The next day, they find themselves in the middle of another storm.
- The ship carrying Landolfo wrecks and sends everyone and everything into the sea. Landolfo winds up clinging to a chest until he washes up on the shore of Corfu.
- A kindly woman drags him from the sea and takes care of him until he's well. She also hands over the chest that he had been clinging to when she found him.
- And, of course, when Landolfo opens it, he finds it filled with precious jewels.
- But he's finally learned to be cautious, so he tells no one of his fortune as he makes his way back to Ravello.
- Once there, he cashes in the jewels, sends sums of money to the woman at Corfu and to others that helped him get back home, and lives happily ever after without having to return to the business world.