Gianni and the Werewolf
Intro
- Storyteller: Emilia
- Emilia pretends to be dismayed that she has to go first on this day, but she seems prepared anyway.
- She's going to tell the story about a man and a werewolf because, hey, every woman is afraid of werewolves.
- As a bonus, Emilia will teach them a prayer to protect them against such creatures.
Story
- Gianni Lotteringhi has a beautiful and clever wife called Monna Tessa.
- Gianni isn't so clever. However, he's a good weaver and makes a good living, so most people in the neighborhood take advantage of him.
- Tessa realizes that she'll need to take a lover to be happy, so she turns her mind to a handsome man called Federigo.
- In the summer, Tessa often goes to a villa that her husband owned. Most of the time, Gianni doesn't stay at home with her in the evenings, so this means that Tessa's free to invite her friend.
- And she does, more than once. Tessa contrives a system of signals to warn Federigo if her husband's going to be at home in the villa.
- There's a donkey's skull on a post in the vineyard near the villa. If the skull points toward Florence, their date is on. If it points in the opposite direction, they'll have to raincheck because Gianni's at home.
- This works well until it doesn't. One night, Gianni arrives at the villa unexpectedly.
- Tessa sends the maid with a supper for Federigo into the garden, but no one tells him about the change in plans.
- And so just as they go to bed, Federigo knocks on the door.
- Gianni hears it immediately and Tessa has some quick thinking to do.
- She tells Gianni that the knocking is from a werewolf that's been scaring her for the past few nights.
- Tessa tells her husband that she knows a prayer to exorcise the beast and asks Gianni to go with her to the door.
- She stands at the door and speaks a "prayer" that's actually a warning to Federigo who's on the other side of the door.
- In the prayer, she tells him about the food under the tree and that he should "let them be" since Gianni's there.
- Federigo gets it and makes off with the food that Tessa set out for him.
- In the days after, Tessa and Federigo have a good laugh over her prayer.
- At the end of her tale, Emilia tells us that there's another version of the ending, one that has a peasant turning the donkey skull from the right direction to the wrong one and also a different prayer.
- Emilia says we can choose which version we like best, or perhaps keep them both.