hunting grounds to her bedchamber, and grabbing the falcon from its perch, wrings its neck in front of all. Then, laughing, she nuzzles up to Decius and plucks five hairs from his beard, claiming that they were white, making him appear older than he was. The ruse to take Decius' tooth takes days of planning. Lidia eventually has the youthful cupbearers turn their heads to the side as they serve the wine, in the belief that they have bad breath. Then, at the banquet, she loudly proclaims that they turn aside because Decius has bad breath. Pearus is then summoned to help remove the duke's offending bad tooth. Amazed, Pearus then concedes to Lidia's newest wish: to be caught "in flagrante delicto" by the duke. The plan is simple. Lidia feigns illness and the four named characters make a trip to a garden to help relieve her. When they arrive at a pear tree, Decius sends Pearus up it to fetch some fruit. While in the tree the knight, feigning modesty, pretends that he can see the duke and Lidia in the act of intercourse. Lidia explains that it is an illusion caused by the height. Decius and Pearus promptly switch places to test the illusion. While Pearus and Lidia have sex, the duke believes he is being tricked by the pear tree. When he climbs down, he orders the tree cut down, at Lidia's request, so that it will not deceive others. References Elliot, Alison Goddard (1984). Seven Medieval Latin Comedies. Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series B, Volume 20. New York: Garland Publishing. . Roy, Bruno (1974). "Arnulf of Orleans and the Latin 'Comedy'." Speculum, 49:2 (April), pp. 258–266. Radcliff-Umstead, Douglas (1968). "Boccaccio's Adaptation of Some Latin Sources for the Decameron." Italica, 45:2 (June), pp. 171–. Vasvári, Louise O. (1988). "Vegetal-Genital Onomastics in the Libro de buen amor." Romance Philology, 42:1 (Aug.), pp. 1–29. Notes Medieval drama 12th-century Latin literature 12th-century plays