Ingenia 4: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:57, 2 December 2025

AdulteryCross dressingCross dressing: man in women’s clothesDeceptionDeceitful womanEvidenceFalse evidence of virtueGender playIdentity objectClothesLesson: women’s cleverness and deceitMisinterpretationOld manFoolish old manOrchardTreesViolenceBeating

A steward, whose primary responsibility is tending to his lord's expansive, exotic gardens, has a much younger, beautiful wife. His wife falls for her husband's scribe, who appears disinterested in women. When she sees a piece of the scribe's writing about the 'wiles of women', she laughs, telling him he doesn't know the first thing about women's tricks. For example, she tells him that she can easily arrange it so that her husband leaves their chamber in the middle of the night, giving her enough time to meet a lover, and that when he returns he will be none the wiser. The scribe thinks this is impossible, and agrees to do as the woman says to test her claim.

That night, the wife suddenly wakes her husband from his sleep. She tells him that she has heard noises in the gardens outside, and that he must carefully check that no harm has come to the plants, and that no fruit has been stolen. The steward complains that he will freeze, as his wife recently sent his overcoat to the tailor to be mended. She gives him her fur coat instead, and he leaves. As they had agreed, the scribe then sneaks into the bedchamber, and the two have sex. Then, bearing the wife's instructions in mind, the scribe waits by his chamber door, near the entrance to the garden. Soon the husband comes back, wrapped in the fur coat and shivering; the scribe pretends to think it is the wife returning from some liasion, and berates and beats 'her' for such dishonorable actions. The husband, upon returning to the chamber, is comforted by his wife, and has renewed faith in the loyalty and morality of his scribe.

From Murko (1890)

[Added by Jane Bonsall]

Note
This 'Wiles of Women' story is found only in the Bohemian version of the Seven Sages. There are clear links to Ingenia, especially as regards the idea of writing down the 'wiles of women'. See also Puteus for another example of a story in which a husband receives punishment for the wife's adultery. Nishimura notes the following: Motifs and Type: TMI K1514.4: Returning husband beaten by servants. K1514.4.1: Husband beaten by paramour. T261.1: Husband takes wife’s place and receives punishment for her adultery. T481.4: Wife seduces husband’s servant (pupil). ATU 1419: The returning Husband hoodwinked. Analogues: See Fabliau MR8 ‘De la Borgoise d’Orliens’ and MR50 ‘Le Chevalier, sa Dame et le Clerc’, and MR100 ‘De la Dame qui fist batre son mari’. Hagen, Gesamtabenteuer, 27 ‘Frauenbeständigkeit’. Decameron, 7.7. Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, Il Pecorone, 3.2. La Fontaine, Contes, 1.3 ‘Le Cocu battu et content’. D’Ouville, ‘Tale of a Man who delights in Being Laid and Struck’, in Contes aux heures perdues. Afanasjew, Russian Ridiculous Tales, 77 ‘The Merchant’s Wife and the Watchman’. Reference stories, etc.: In Les Cent Nouvelle Nouvelle, 23, the dialogue between the wife and the scribe is very similar. Bandello, Le Novelle, 1.53 is a dialogue between a farmer and a married woman. The flirtation with the scribe is also depicted in Les Cent Nouvelle Nouvelle, 13.

Critical Literature
Murko (1890), Nishimura (2001)

Ingenia 4 appears in the following versions and secondary versions

Ingenia 4 is narrated in the following occurrences

Narrator	Pages
Second Master	Czech Version H: Kronika sedmi mudrců

Ingenia 4 appears in the following manuscripts
This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database

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 {{Inset Story
 |Has Critical Literature=Murko (1890); Nishimura (2001)
-|Has Summary=A steward, whose primary responsibility is tending to his lord's expansive, exotic gardens, has a much younger, beautiful wife. His wife falls for her husband's scribe, who appears disinterested in women. When she sees a piece of the scribe's writing about the 'wiles of women', she laughs, telling him he doesn't know anything of women's tricks. As proof, she tells him that she can easily arrange it so that her husband leaves their chamber in the middle of the night, giving her enough time to meet a lover, and that when he returns he will be none the wiser. The scribe thinks this is impossible, and agrees to do as the woman says to test her claim.
+|Has Motif=Adultery; Cross dressing; Cross dressing: man in women’s clothes; Deception; Deceitful woman; Evidence; False evidence of virtue; Gender play; Identity object; Clothes; Lesson: women’s cleverness and deceit; Misinterpretation; Old man; Foolish old man; Orchard; Trees; Violence; Beating
+|Has Summary=A steward, whose primary responsibility is tending to his lord's expansive, exotic gardens, has a much younger, beautiful wife. His wife falls for her husband's scribe, who appears disinterested in women. When she sees a piece of the scribe's writing about the 'wiles of women', she laughs, telling him he doesn't know the first thing about women's tricks. For example, she tells him that she can easily arrange it so that her husband leaves their chamber in the middle of the night, giving her enough time to meet a lover, and that when he returns he will be none the wiser. The scribe thinks this is impossible, and agrees to do as the woman says to test her claim.
-That night, the wife suddenly wakes her husband from his sleep. She tells him that she has heard noises in the gardens outside, and that he must carefully check that no harm has come to the plants, and that no fruit has been stolen.
+That night, the wife suddenly wakes her husband from his sleep. She tells him that she has heard noises in the gardens outside, and that he must carefully check that no harm has come to the plants, and that no fruit has been stolen. The steward complains that he will freeze, as his wife recently sent his overcoat to the tailor to be mended. She gives him her fur coat instead, and he leaves. As they had agreed, the scribe then sneaks into the bedchamber, and the two have sex. Then, bearing the wife's instructions in mind, the scribe waits by his chamber door, near the entrance to the garden. Soon the husband comes back, wrapped in the fur coat and shivering; the scribe pretends to think it is the wife returning from some liasion, and berates and beats 'her' for such dishonorable actions. The husband, upon returning to the chamber, is comforted by his wife, and has renewed faith in the loyalty and morality of his scribe.
+From [[Murko (1890)]]
+[Added by Jane Bonsall]
+|Has Note=This 'Wiles of Women' story is found only in the Bohemian version of the Seven Sages. There are clear links to [[Ingenia]], especially as regards the idea of writing down the 'wiles of women'. See also [[Puteus]] for another example of a story in which a husband receives punishment for the wife's adultery.
+Nishimura notes the following:
+'''Motifs and Type:''' TMI K1514.4: Returning husband beaten by servants. K1514.4.1: Husband beaten by paramour. T261.1: Husband takes wife’s place and receives punishment for her adultery. T481.4: Wife seduces husband’s servant (pupil). ATU 1419: The returning Husband hoodwinked.
+'''Analogues:''' See Fabliau MR8 ‘De la Borgoise d’Orliens’ and MR50 ‘Le Chevalier, sa Dame et le Clerc’, and MR100 ‘De la Dame qui fist batre son mari’. Hagen, ''Gesamtabenteuer'', 27 ‘Frauenbeständigkeit’. ''Decameron'', 7.7. Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, ''Il Pecorone'', 3.2. La Fontaine, ''Contes'', 1.3 ‘Le Cocu battu et content’. D’Ouville, ‘Tale of a Man who delights in Being Laid and Struck’, in ''Contes aux heures perdues''. Afanasjew, ''Russian Ridiculous Tales'', 77 ‘The Merchant’s Wife and the Watchman’.
+'''Reference stories''', '''etc.:''' In ''Les Cent Nouvelle Nouvelle'', 23, the dialogue between the wife and the scribe is very similar. Bandello, ''Le Novelle'', 1.53 is a dialogue between a farmer and a married woman. The flirtation with the scribe is also depicted in ''Les Cent Nouvelle Nouvelle'', 13.
 }}