Tales from the Decameron

About Tales from the Decameron

“The Decameron reads in some ways as a guide to social distancing and self-isolation.” —The New York Times

“The 14th-century Italian book that shows us how to survive coronavirus.” —New Statesman

Bawdy and moving, hilarious and reflective: these stories offer the very best of Boccaccio’s Decameron—the inspiration for the new film The Little Hours—in a brilliant, playful new translation.

In the early summer of the year 1348, as a terrible plague ravages the city, ten charming young Florentines take refuge in country villas to tell each other stories—one hundred stories of love, adventure, and surprising twists of fortune that later inspired Chaucer, Keats, and Shakespeare. Now, this hugely enjoyable volume collects the best stories of Boccaccio’s masterwork in a fresh, accessible new translation by Peter Hainsworth. It includes such celebrated, thought-provoking tales as “Isabella and the Pot of Basil” (famously adapted by Keats) and “Patient Griselda” alongside many boisterous and daring stories featuring faithless wives, philandering priests, and curious nuns. Written in an early Florentine dialect and influencing scores of literature that followed, The Decameron is a masterpiece of classical Italian prose.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.