[137] Here too he mentions a translation of the Decameron into English.
[138] This should also be the place to mention the Novelle of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca. They have lately been re-edited by Professor d'Ancona, Bologna, Romagnoli, 1871. They are short tales, historical and moral, drawn from miscellaneous medieval sources, and resembling the Novellino in type. Two of them (Novelle ix. and x., ed. cit. pp. 62-74) are interesting as forming part of the Legend of Dante the Poet.
[139] For example, the first Novel of the fourth day is the story which Shakspere dramatized in The Merchant of Venice, and forms, as every one can see, the authentic source of that comedy.
[140] It must be remarked that the text of Il Pecorone underwent Domenichi's revision in the sixteenth century, which may account for a certain flatness.
[141] See Carducci, Cantilene e Ballate, Strambotti e Madrigali nei Secoli xiii e xiv, Pisa, Nistri, 1871. Pp. 176-205 contain a reprint of these lyrics. Carducci's work Intorno ad alcune Rime, Imola, 1876, may be consulted at pp. 54 et seq. for the origin, wide diffusion, and several species of the popular dance-song.
[142] Cantilene, etc. pp. 196, 199, 204.
[143] Cantilene, etc. p. 211.
[144] Cantilene, etc. p. 220.
[145] Ibid. p. 219. Compare Passando con pensier in the Rime di Messer Cino e d'altri (Barbèra), p. 563.
[146] Ibid. p. 233.