Decameron (English spelling)

Japanese: デカメロン - でかめろん（英語表記）Decameron

A masterpiece by the great 14th century Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio. It means "Ten Days". It is a compilation of 100 short stories (novezura) told over 10 days, and is also called "Human Comedy" in contrast to Dante's "Divine Comedy" (Divine Comedy), which has the structure of "Sankyu" (The Three Worlds, the Hundred Songs). Using medieval European folklore, anecdotes, historical facts, and legends as its material, it features characters from all social classes, from royalty and nobility to servants and maids, from the Pope to beggars, and is set in a frame story structure similar to "The Thousand and One Nights". The author, the person in charge of the one-day story, the narrator, and the characters in the story all talk to each other in complex ways, creating a multi-layered world of dialogue that is depicted using avant-garde literary techniques.

The author compiled 100 stories in 10 days from 1349 to 1351, including short stories he had written or saved over the years. There are disclaimers at the beginning and end of the book, and a long preface at the beginning of the first day, in which the author's creative intentions are described in detail, but what is particularly noteworthy is the dark scenes of the plague that fill the foundation or background that inspired him to compile these 100 short stories, which are rather cheerful and lively, that is, the description of the terrible conditions of the city of Florence at that time, which was like a hellish picture. The author states that these cheerful stories were written for women who lived in the depths of a closed society, feeling unfulfilled, in the fear of impending death.

[Hideaki Kawashima]

Its composition

In 1348, when the plague was raging in Florence, three young noblemen and seven noblewomen met at the Church of Saint Maria Novella, and escaped to a mountain villa surrounded by hills in the suburbs. To relieve themselves of the dark world, they each told one story over the course of ten days. A king or queen was chosen to lead the troupe each day, and under his presidency, each person told a short story, as designated by him. On the first and ninth days, the participants were free to tell stories of their choice, but on the other days, each had a set theme. However, only the nobleman Dioneo was given the privilege of deviating slightly from the theme. For example, on the first day, Queen Pampinea presided over the troupe, and the first story was told by the nobleman Panfilo, in which the famous villain Ceparello told the greatest lie of his life on his deathbed, pretending to be a saint, Chappete. At the end of the day, after some closing words, the troupe will break into dancing and sing a canzone.

The 100 short stories are all fantastical, and while most are light-hearted comedies, there are also some darker stories, such as The Fourth Day, which tells of unhappy love. The setting of the stories extends far beyond the Italian peninsula, and includes Europe, the Orient, and Africa, which is why this work is called the "merchant's epic" of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

[Hideaki Kawashima]

"The Decameron, translated by Morita Sohei (1931, Shinchosha)" ▽ "The Decameron, translated by Kashiwagumo Tatsuo (1955, Kawade Shobo)" ▽ "The Decameron, translated by Iwasaki Junko (1971, Shueisha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

14世紀イタリアの大作家ジョバンニ・ボッカチオの代表作。「十日物語」の意。10日100話の短編物語(ノベツラ)を集大成した作品で、三界百歌の構成をもつダンテの『神曲』（神聖喜劇）に対して、『人曲』（人間喜劇）ともよばれる。中世ヨーロッパの民間伝承、逸話、史実、伝説などを素材にして、王侯貴族から下男下女、教皇から乞食(こじき)に至るまで、ありとあらゆる社会階層の人物群を登場させ、『千一夜物語』などの流れをくむ枠物語の結構に収め、著者、1日の物語の主宰者、話者、作中人物らが、複雑に語り合い、重層的な対話世界を、前衛的な文学手法で描き出している。

　著者は長年にわたって書きためてきた、あるいは温存してきた短編物語も含め、1349年から51年にかけて、10日100話をまとめ上げた。巻頭と巻末に断り書きがあり、第1日の冒頭には長い序文も付せられていて、著者の創作意図がときには細部にわたって記されているが、とりわけ、むしろ陽気さと活気に満ちた100の短編物語群をまとめる契機になった基盤、もしくはその背景を埋め尽くしている暗黒のペストの場景、すなわち地獄絵のような当時のフィレンツェ市国の惨状の描写は、注目に値するであろう。この陽気な物語群は、迫りくる死の恐怖のなかで、閉ざされた社会の奥に心満たされぬ思いで生きる女性たちのために書かれた、と著者は断っている。

［河島英昭］

その構成

1348年のペストが荒れ狂うフィレンツェで、聖女マリーア・ノベッラ教会堂に、年若い3人の貴公子と7人の貴婦人とが落ち合い、郊外の丘陵に囲まれた山荘へ難を逃れ、黒々とした現実世界の憂さを晴らすため、10日にわたって各人が一話ずつ物語をすることになる。そして、日ごとに一座を取り仕切る王もしくは女王を選び出し、その主宰のもとに、指名されながら、各人が短編物語を話しだす。第1日と第9日は自由に自分の好みの物語を話してもよいが、他の日にはそれぞれに主題が定められている。ただし、貴公子のディオネーオにだけは主題からすこしそれてもよい特権が与えられてある。たとえば第1日は女王パンピーネアが主宰し、第一話は貴公子パンフィロが物語るのだが、名高い大悪党チェッパレッロは臨終に一世一代の大嘘(うそ)をついて聖者チャッペレットになりすますという筋書き。また1日の末尾には締めくくりのことばとともに、一座の者たちが踊りに打ち興じて、カンツォーネを歌うことになっている。

　100話の短編物語はそれぞれに奇想天外なものばかりで、おおむねは明るい喜劇だが、不幸な愛を物語る第4日のように暗いものも配置されている。物語の舞台はイタリア半島を大きく踏み出して、ヨーロッパはもとより、オリエント、アフリカの各地に及び、この作品が中世からルネサンスにかけての「商人の叙事詩」とよばれるゆえんともなっている。

［河島英昭］

『森田草平訳『デカメロン』全二巻（1931・新潮社）』▽『柏熊達生訳『デカメロン』（1955・河出書房）』▽『岩崎純孝訳『デカメロン』全二巻（1971・集英社）』

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