Chapter 3 Summary

Nuto is a man who has returned home to Lamporecchio after working as a gardener at a convent tended to by eight nuns and an abbess. Nuto could not live on the small salary the nuns were able to pay and was driven crazy by the nun's conflicting orders. Nuto shares his story with Masetto, a handsome young worker who desires to work at the convent and to indulge in the many freedoms to be had there. Masetto knows that he must not reveal the plan to Nuto and worries about how he might gain employment at the convent. Nuto had promised to send a replacement but has no intention of doing so to a friend. Masetto knows that he has the gardening ability to do the job well but worries that he is too handsome and may distract the nuns. Masetto decides...