Whereto the husband:—­“Wife, wife, for God’s sake distress not thyself:  thou shouldst give me credit for knowing what manner of woman thou art, as indeed I have partly seen this morning.  True it is that I went out to work; but ’tis plain that thou knowest not, as indeed I knew not, that to-day ’tis the feast of San Galeone, and a holiday, and that is why I am come home at this hour; but nevertheless I have found means to provide us with bread for more than a month; for I have sold to this gentleman, whom thou seest with me, the tun, thou wottest of, seeing that it has encumbered the house so long, and he will give me five gigliats for it.”  Quoth then Peronella:—­“And all this but adds to my trouble:  thou, that art a man, and goest abroad, and shouldst know affairs, hast sold for five gigliats a tun, which I, that am but a woman, and was scarce ever out of doors, have, for that it took up so much room in the house, sold for seven gigliats to a good man, that but now, as thou cam’st back, got therein, to see if ’twere sound.”  So hearing, the husband was overjoyed, and said to the man that was come to take it away:—­“Good man, I wish thee Godspeed; for, as thou hearest, my wife has sold the tun for seven gigliats, whereas thou gavest me only five.”  Whereupon:—­“So be it,” said the good man, and took himself off.  Then said Peronella to her husband:—­“Now, as thou art here, come up, and arrange the matter with the good man.”

Now Giannello, who, meanwhile, had been all on the alert to discover if there were aught he had to fear or be on his guard against, no sooner heard Peronella’s last words, than he sprang out of the tun, and feigning to know nought of her husband’s return, began thus:—­“Where art thou, good dame?” Whereto the husband, coming up, answered:—­“Here am I:  what wouldst thou of me?” Quoth Giannello:—­“And who art thou?  I would speak with the lady with whom I struck the bargain for this tun.”  Then said the good man:—­“Have no fear, you can deal with me; for I am her husband.”  Quoth then Giannello:—­“The tun seems to me sound enough; but I think you must have let the lees remain in it; for ’tis all encrusted with I know not what that is so dry, that I cannot raise it with the nail; wherefore I am not minded to take it unless I first see it scoured.”  Whereupon Peronella:—­“To be sure:  that shall not hinder the bargain; my husband will scour it clean.”  And:—­“Well and good,” said the husband.

So he laid down his tools, stripped himself to his vest, sent for a light and a rasp, and was in the tun, and scraping away, in a trice.  Whereupon Peronella, as if she were curious to see what he did, thrust her head into the vent of the tun, which was of no great size, and therewithal one of her arms up to the shoulder, and fell a saying:—­“Scrape here, and here, and there too, and look, there is a bit left here.”  So, she being in this posture, directing and admonishing her husband, Giannello, who had not, that morning, fully satisfied his desire,