for the ambassador of the Greek Emperor. This earliest version of the tale is of Persian origin. Tenth tale (V, 10) Pietro di Vinciolo goes from home to eat, and his wife brings a boy into the house to bear her company. Pietro returns, and she hides her lover under a hen-coop. Pietro explains that in the house of Ercolano, with whom he was to have supped, there was discovered a young man bestowed there by Ercolano's wife. The lady censures Ercolano's wife, but unluckily an ass treads on the fingers of the boy that is hidden under the hen-coop, so that he cries out in pain. Pietro runs to the place, sees him, and apprehends the trick played on him by his wife, which nevertheless he finally condones, because he is not himself free from blame. As is custom among the ten storytellers, Dioneo tells the last and most bawdy tale of the day. This story is taken from Lucius Apuleius's 2nd-century The Golden Ass. Sixth day During the sixth day of storytelling, Elissa is queen of the brigata and chooses for the theme stories in which a character avoids attack or embarrassment through a clever remark. Many stories in the sixth day do not have previous versions. Boccaccio may have invented many of them himself. He certainly was clever enough to have created the situations and the retorts. First tale (VI, 1) A knight offers to carry Madonna Oretta a horseback with a story, but tells it so badly that she begs him to let her dismount. Filomena narrates this tale, which many see as revealing Boccaccio's opinion of what makes a good or bad storyteller, just as portions of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream contain Shakespeare's opinion of what makes a good or bad actor. Second tale (VI, 2) Cisti, a baker, by an apt speech gives Messer Geri Spina to know that he has by inadvertence asked that of him which he should not. Pampinea narrates. Third tale (VI, 3) Monna Nonna de' Pulci by a ready retort silences the scarce seemly jesting of the Bishop of Florence. Lauretta narrates. Fourth tale (VI, 4) Chichibio, cook to Currado Gianfigliazzi, owes his safety to a ready answer, whereby he converts Currado's wrath into laughter, and evades the evil fate with which Currado had threatened him. Neifile narrates. Fifth tale (VI, 5) Messer Forese da Rabatta, a