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 Ninth
A situation came about some time ago in the city of Bremerton that was in many ways like so many of the household disputes across the entire State. In short, a daughter was in love with a young man of whom her father did not approve.
It must be said that this father was of a particularly protective nature, of which he was proud, and his daughter, who was one summer short of her freshman year of high school, proved to be of a particularly rebellious nature, of which she was, in the end, proud.
The boyfriend, meanwhile, himself in her same year, was one of those innocents who think their innocence entitles them to a lack of suspicion—he was rather young, too—and he truly believed that his having no untoward motives should ensure a father’s forming of no unfounded opinions. As it happened, the opposite came true, which can be well imagined, and by showing himself to be a non-schemer, the young man made the father all the more wary of his scheming.
All that summer, the young couple saw much of each other, and their chaperoned dates seemed to be laying the groundwork for what were certain to be high-school sweethearts. It is likely that, had intervention never come, the couple would now be married, and they would likely have a family, too. Such was, at least, the young man’s later assessment.
As that summer advanced, the father watched this progress, and everything he saw seemed to confirm for him the craft of the young man. In fact, with every innocent date that did not conform to his fears, the man felt their ever nearer approach, and he worried that they would soon become unavoidable, as well. You see, he was one of those who believe that no man but himself could ever want what is best for his daughter, which is an unfortunate step to take beyond the more sober reflection that it is merely most men—not all—who do not want what is best for young women.
Eventually, there came a point when the father’s delusions became the only thing he saw—we are assured that the young man did nothing to arouse the suspicion that ensnared him—and he pulled the young man aside in order to inform him that there was to be a breakup.
“Listen,” the father said, “I think you and my daughter are looking for different things, and you should see other people. She thinks so, too, you can be sure; for I can be said to speak on her behalf. Really, I think you are being held back by her, if I am to be honest.”
As might be imagined, the young man was neither pleased nor appeased by these feigned excuses, and despite his age, he spoke up against them.
“Look,” the father answered, “I am telling you that my daughter and you are simply on different paths right now, and it is not so much a matter of you as her. If you truly love something, you have to let it go, you know? You are, I am sure, going to make some lady really happy someday.”
Here, we may momentarily intrude on the story in order to comment on what could—should, perhaps—have been done by this young lover at this time; for his situation was not as dire as it would seem. Most obviously, considering the inevitable strain between father and daughter due to the split, the young man could have exploited the rift, coming closer to her at the expense of him, and he could have, with a little skill, turned everything negative said about him to something positive in her mind. Much more, of course, of this same vein could have been done—likely successfully, too—but we must remined ourselves that the young man in question was, indeed, a young man.
As it happened, nothing more happened, and the young lovers allowed themselves to be separated, the break being made all the more stark by her entry into a private school—her father’s doing, of course—leaving him alone in the public school system that had fostered their development and been the field for their love. Thereafter, they saw very little of each other, and these few instances were as supervised as they were scrutinized, the father never forgetting his suspicion. To return to the consideration of what the young man could have done, this depressing state of his love, which the father had suddenly been able to reduce it to, likely did much to take from him the very will to fight back.
It need hardly be said that the love in question was fully and finally extinguished not long following the young woman’s change of schools. Thus, the father won, and his spoils might, with reason, be considered, showing just what he got by his victory. To do so, we need merely note that his daughter, by his own decree, was now to be enrolled in a private school of his own choosing, and we can be sure that he did his research in only selecting for her the very best and most prestigious. This, to all aware of the nature of such schools, is enough to know the bad end that things came to while, for others, it can be said that, before one semester was concluded, the daughter had done quite a bit more than just kissing with the boys of her new school, which her father, when later finding out, could only lament.
Phil: Thus were these two sweet lovers denied their days, and the father, for his part, could only look back with regret on what he had destroyed through his protection.
Chase: That is the kind of situation that I do not like even thinking about.
Pierce: I am the same way.
Daisy: Certainly, there does not seem to be anything good to see in it.
Phil: That is our theme, though, and I cannot, at least, this time be accused of not talking to it.
Pierce: What does everyone think of the young man’s choice to let the relationship die?
Chase: He should have doubled his pursuit, for sure. He had nothing to lose, after all, being as young as he was.
Daisy: Success was there to be had, too.
Neil: You can tell that for sure, Daisy?
Daisy: It always is, in such cases.
Pierce: I agree on what he should have done, and I agree on what he could have achieved. There is no reason to think that he could not have brought the father to his senses, either.
Neil: By reasoning with the man about his daughter?
Chase: Of course not.
Pierce: What I mean, Neil, is that he could have fought the man to a standstill, in which their relationship would have been allowed to continue as before.
Phil: Well, we must remember the suddenness of the father’s play.
Chase: That is true. It must have been demoralizing for the young man.
Pierce: Better that than the regret that he has now, I bet.
Neil: For sure.
Daisy: I think we are ready for you to tell our day’s final story, Pierce, if you are.
Pierce: I am.
