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Chapter 1

• The style of this forerunner of the novel is a series of short tales told by ten young people who go to the country to escape the plague.

• The name of the book comes from Greek words that mean ten days; the people tell their stories each evening for ten days.

• The first tale is about Ser Ciappelletto, an unscrupulous man who comes to be thought of as a saint in Burgundy.
• The second tale concerns Giannotto di Civigni who is determined to convert his Jewish friend, Abraham, to Christianity to save his soul.

• Abraham does convert after going to Rome to study the clergy, but not for the reasons Giannotto di Civigni intended.
• The next tale is about Saladin, the Sultan of Babylon, who finds his treasury empty and goes to Melchisedech, a man who lends money at a very high interest.

• Saladin devises a test...

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