 Following Nathan's advice, he finds the older gentleman in a copse, and recognizing him, is shame-stricken, and becomes his friend.Filostrato tells this tale.He attributes it to "various Genoese", but this may be seen as a reluctance to credit Marco Polo (as a Venetian an enemy of Florence and greatly disdained by Boccaccio personally); although no specific tale resembling this one appears in Polo's writings, his reports of Kublai Khan's generosity are likely the inspiration for the tale.