title: The Heptameron (Penguin Classics)
author: Marguerite de Navarre
description: Although its authorship has never been conclusively proven, <b>The Heptameron</b> is generally accepted as the work of Marguerite de Navarre, Queen of Navarre and the sister of Francois I. <b>The Heptameron</b>, which has parallels to both Chaucer's <a href="/exec/obidos/isbn=039470293X/${0}">Canterbury Tales</a> and Boccaccio's <a href="/exec/obidos/isbn=014044629X/${0}">Decameron</a>, presents a collection of some seventy very short stories told by five gentleman and five lady travellers who find themselves stranded in an abbey. Proposed as an edifying method of passing time, the story-telling - as well as the conversations that follow each one - rapidly (d)evolves into an all-out verbal battle between the sexes. Most often the tales concern lovers, romantic conquests, and women's virtue - an object of intense pride and considerable power, or a prize of questionable/infinite value, depending upon the point of view. The stories include intimate details of adultery, flattery, betrayal, rape, and war; their very boldness and honesty may surprise many twentieth-century readers. The author declares that these stories actually were told by a group at the court of Francois I; the tellers testify to the veracity of their individual tales, and scholars have substantiated the claims for as many as twenty of the stories. Fictional or true, <b>The Heptameron</b> provides a rare and fascinating glimpse into the sixteenth century. Alternately bawdy, violent, chaste, funny, scatological, and sad, The Heptameron is a book to delight, offend, and educate twentieth-century readers. <i>-- For great reviews of books for girls, check out <a href="/exec/obidos/isbn=0140257322/${0}">Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14</a></i>. -- <i>From <a href="/exec/obidos/isbn=0140175903/${0}">500 Great Books by Women</a>; review by Erica Bauermeister</i>
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  # The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. V.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Margaret, Queen Of Navarre
  
  
  This page formatted 2005 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  SIXTH DAY.
  
  
  PROLOGUE.
  
  
  TALE LI.
  
  
  TALE LII.
  
  
  TALE LIII.
  
  
  TALE LIV.
  
  
  TALE LV.
  
  
  TALE LVI.
  
  
  TALE LVII.
  
  
  TALE LVIII.
  
  
  TALE LIX.
  
  
  TALE LX.
  
  
  SEVENTH DAY.
  
  
  PROLOGUE.
  
  
  TALE LXI.
  
  
  TALE LXII.
  
  
  TALE LXIII.
  
  
  TALE LXIV.
  
  
  TALE LXV.
  
  
  TALE LXVI.
  
  
  TALE LXVII.
  
  
  TALE LXVIII.
  
  
  TALE LXIX.
  
  
  TALE LXX.
  
  
  EIGHTH DAY.
  
  
  PROLOGUE.
  
  
  TALE LXXI.
  
  
  TALE LXXII.
  
  
  THE SUPPOSED NARRATORS OF THE HEPTAMERON TALES.
  
  
  
  
  
  BIBLIOGRAPHY.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
      
  
  Produced by David Widger
  
  
  
  
  
  THE TALES OF
  
  
  THE HEPTAMERON
  
  
  OF
  
  
  Margaret, Queen of Navarre
  
  
  _Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text_
  
  
  OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH
  
  
  AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON
  
  
  BY
  
  
  GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A.
  
  
  Also the Original Seventy-three Full Page Engravings
  
  
  
  
  
  Designed by S. FREUDENBERG
  
  
  And One Hundred and Fifty He