THE PENTAMERON; or, THE FIVE DAYS OF FIFTY STORIES, AS TOLD BY A GROUP OF FRIENDS ESCAPING THE COVID PANDEMIC
DAY TWO
by Mariah Ashe
THE PENTAMERON; or, THE FIVE DAYS OF FIFTY STORIES, AS TOLD BY A GROUP OF FRIENDS ESCAPING THE COVID PANDEMIC is a reworking of the 15th Century work “Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles.” First translated into English in 1899 by Robert Douglas, this collection is now, for the first time, elevated to the level of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre with a frame story fitting for it.
Story the Third
On one of the college campuses of this State—I will only say that it located in what one might call the Seattle area—there was once a professor of physics who loved a professor of English, and he was, in turn, so esteemed by this linguistic lady that, whenever he liked, he would visit her in her office, she locking the door. Each was married, though not to each other, and their spouses were professors, as well, all at the same university.
Not a soul knew of this love affair, except a student who was a favorite of the English professor, she being as clever as she was book smart. Moreover, she was such a beautiful and pleasant young woman that both the men in the elder woman’s life—her husband and her lover—had gained the highest opinion of her, the one through efforts facilitating the affair while the other through efforts toward its concealment.
It chanced one day—I will not indicate when—that the two lovers were not able to keep one of their planned rendezvous. To be particular, she could not come to meet the man on account of her husband, who was detaining her with conversation in his own office, which was on the other side of campus. At this, the English professor was, of course, rather upset, though able to show none of it, and she sent off that prize student of hers to beg her lover to have patience, assuring him that she would, as soon as she could get rid of her husband, join him in her office.
Well, the student did as instructed, delivering the man the bad news, and he, being a proper professor, thanked her for her kindness in bringing him the word. Then, he bade her sit beside him, and he tenderly kissed her two or three times. She did not object, which gave him encouragement to proceed to other liberties, which were also not refused him.
This being done, the younger woman returned to the elder, the student informing the instructor of how anxiously her lover was awaiting her.
“I can well imagine his pain,” the professor of English lamented. “He is, I am sure, disappointed in me, too. Tell me, is he not bored, all by himself over there?”
“Indeed,” the young woman answered, “I believe that he is. He comforts himself, however, with the hope of your coming.”
“That, I can very well believe. In any event, go back to him, now, and be sure to employ every excuse that you can think of. Stay with him, I ask, and keep him there, waiting for me.”
“I will do as you ask, ma’am, but it seems to me that he loves you so greatly as to not need any excuses.”
“I well know it. Still, it worries me that he might become bored if left so long alone. Go, then, please, and see that he is still there, and be sure to not let him leave.”
“I shall go, since you wish it.”
Let us not speculate on the thoughts behind this exchange of words, and instead, follow the student back to the office of the English professor, where she found the Physics professor still waiting. The newest message, once told, brought a smile from the man.
“So,” he said, “she wishes me to remain both here and entertained. Is that correct?”
“Those were her words,” the young woman replied.
“In that case, she need not hurry; for you can take her place.”
With that, he kissed and cuddled her, and she was not able to depart until kissed and cuddled some more. Throughout, she bore it all patiently, and she would have been glad to regularly have such fortune, were it not to put her in danger from the man’s lover.
It should be noted that this rendezvous—the one being missed—had been scheduled during the timeframe when each professor had his and her office hours for the day. Thus, ninety minutes, in total, covers our story.
In due time, the young woman took her leave of the man, and she returned to the elder woman, who was herself just about free. Indeed, no sooner was the student seen than she was pulled aside by the English professor, who explained the direness that the situation had developed into.
“Do you see how unlucky I am?” she lamented. “All this time, despite whatever hints I make, my husband has kept me occupied in conversation little more than lecture, and now, that time is almost up; for there cannot be left more than fifteen minutes before my next class—you have one, too, I bet. Of all the days for him to be like this, I cannot believe that he chose this, one when secret stops me from being able to tell him to shut up.
“Now, I know you have already done much for me this afternoon, which I thank you for, but may I ask one favor further? You must stay here with my husband—I will find some excuse for you to talk with him—and keep him occupied while I slip away. I must leave soon, if I am to at all. Please, do this for me, and I can assure you that you will never again have to do work in any class of mine—even the whole department, perhaps, I can promise.”
Hardly waiting for answer, the elder woman dragged the younger with her back to her husband, and when she next spoke, anxiety so filled her voice that any spouse with a single suspicious bone would have looked long at her.
“Dear husband,” she said, “you remember my prize student, of course. I am sure that you remember, too—I have told you a number of times—my telling you that she was been requesting I set up a meeting with you—just like this—in order to probe your expertise. In fact, it so happens that her question concerns the subject of our conversation—you know, the thing that you have been telling me about. It is as if meant to be.”
“She has an interest in the Bronze Age Collapse?” the man in question—he was a professor of history—asked.
“Indeed, she does.”
The man looked to the young woman for several moments, and not only did he remember her, but he was reminded that she was rather difficult to forget.
“Really?” he asked her.
“Indeed, I do,” she answered.
“Well, in that case, I may as well return to what I was saying a moment ago, which would make a good introduction—I will talk quickly so that it does not take long. What most will tell you—my fellow professionals, I mean—is that the whole thing came about due to a systems collapse, but—this is what I was just telling my wife—that misses the whole point of trying to explain something, since we are supposed to be looking for its primary reason rather than just a list of contributing ones. They are, however, nearly right in an interesting way—this is what I will now show you—since that Collapse a little more than one thousand years before Christ came about, primarily, due to that society’s lack of system—they lacked society itself, as it were—there being nothing tying people and cites together but force, which can, of course, be forced.”
During this lecture, which continued for some time, the English professor managed to slip away such that only her prize student noticed, who was, of course, glad to see her go. The elder woman, now making the trip that the younger had done twice, had no hesitancy at crossing campus at a run, and she did not care that her fellow faculty might see her being so undignified; for she was frenzied toward the service of her love, and she knew that those others would not guess the true reason behind her behavior, anyway.
Upon arrival, she entered her office with a feeling of long-denied gratification, but her lover was not there. After all, he, too, had a class to teach during the day’s next block, and with only minutes remaining, he had left to prepare. It is, of course, possible to speculate on whether the man’s intimate moments with the younger woman influenced his lack of willingness to wait to the utmost for the elder, but this will be left for those who wish to do it.
For our part, we shall continue to follow the English professor as she turned, with disappointment, from her door, intent on returning to the office of her husband before making to her day’s next class; for she felt that she should, at the very least, free her prize student from her sacrifice, now that it did not matter. She did not run, but she, nonetheless, recrossed campus quickly.
It is for us to know just before the woman finds out that her husband, whom she had left in the company of her prize student, had been himself occupied in the meantime, and far more successfully than she, too. It happened—we do not know exactly how—that the husband convinced the young woman to grant him the same kind of company that she had twice shown to the Physics professor, and they were engaged in this way when the English professor returned to the room.
The torrent of harsh language that ensued is, for us, neither appropriate nor necessary, and we need only note that the elder woman’s primary target for her abuse was the younger, whom she called by every foul name that came to mind. Indeed, in the days to come, she did more and worse; for she sought out and seduced the younger woman’s boyfriend, thusly ending their relationship in pure spite and without even the feeblest claim of being in the service of love.
The prize student, however, was well learned in the entered-upon arts, and she quickly contrived matters such that the English professor caught her in the act a second time, though this time with the physics professor, the man who, it might be noted, started the whole thing. Up until this point, the elder woman only suspected the transgressions of the younger to have been upon her husband, and this, she could almost forgive, now that she felt as if she had got even. Thus, this new knowledge that her prize student also enjoyed her favored lover was, to the English professor, clear evidence of her defeat, and she no longer continued the fight. We are told that she made a final lashing out in the form of informing the wife of the physics professor of their affair, but nothing more.
From all accounts, we are assured that no divorces resulted, but how any of these households lived on, only those who know can tell.
Pierce: Here, then, is the long story of small section of a single day, which saw a woman lose both husband and lover to an unexpected rival, herself unexpecting.
Neil: Truly, misfortune combined and compounded.
Daisy: I know what our theme demands, but I prefer when there is at least some positive to see in a situation, even if it is only the lesser part.
Phil: Sometimes, though, it is just not there.
Chase: Consider this fact, Daisy. It may have been that so much enjoyment was involved in that prize student’s afternoon that the end hardly amounts to a misfortune, even if she lost both her status and a relationship.
Neil: Her day may have been worth its aftermath.
Daisy: That was what I was looking for.
Pierce: It is a pleasant thought, if nothing else.
Neil: Well, I suppose that my story is next.
Phil: If you please.
