method of meeting a sudden fiscal emergency, at least at the beginning.

Never has this method of financiering been illustrated on so stupendous a scale as during the European War, which began in 1914. Taxation was resorted to sparingly during the struggle itself, England being the only country which made vigorous use of this source of revenue. General resort was had to the issue of paper money, either directly by the government or indirectly through the increased circulation of bank notes issued by government-controlled institutions. But the main reliance of all, and the sole financial resource of some nations, was loans. By the middle of 1918 the new war loans created since July 1914 by the seven leading powers amounted to about $150,000,000,000. As the debts of these same nations, namely, the United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary and the German Empire, amounted to about $23,000,000,000 before the war, their aggregate debt on 1 Aug. 1918 was not far from $175,000,000,000. This represented a per capita charge on the populations of these seven nations of about $361, as against $47 in 1914. It has been estimated that this indebtedness is equal to about 15 per cent of their national wealth. The burden involved in such a charge is perhaps made clearest by comparing it with the per capita debt of the United States, which amounted to $10.59 in 1913, representing one-half of 1 per cent of our national wealth.

Public Works.-There is one other purpose for which the employment of public credit is justifiable and that is the construction of public works. If a canal or an electric light plant is to be constructed it is essential both from an engineering and a fiscal point of view that the money for this purpose must be instantly available so that the work can be carried through to completion without any unnecessary delay. From the engineering standpoint any interruption means waste, for an idle plant, half constructed, would rapidly deteriorate and much of the work would have to be done over again. While from a fiscal standpoint it is essential that the whole work be completed as speedily as possible in order that it may become productive; a half finished canal or electric light plant involves expense but brings in no return. To raise the large sums necessary to carry out a modern public work it is necessary to resort to public loans, as it would be both impracticable and unjust to attempt to secure them by taxation. Moreover, in the case of an improvement whose use extends over a long period of time, it is not unreasonable to ask future generations to share in the burden.

Advantages of Borrowing. We may at this point endeavor to summarize briefly some of the alleged advantages and disadvantages of public debts. It is necessary to emphasize the fact that the question is not as to whether the money asked for shall be spent. We must assume that the need exists and that the proper authority has decided upon the expenditure. Then the only question is as to the relative merits of public borrowing as contrasted with other methods of raising the necessary funds. Numerous advantages have been cited in favor of the policy of public debts, such as that it affords a safe and convenient form of investment; this may have been true in the 18th century, but could hardly have much force in this

age of corporate and public utility securities. It has also been urged, as by Alexander Hamilton in this country, that the issue of government bonds is equivalent to the creation of so much new capital in the country. Some writers have even carried this doctrine so far as to suggest that the cause of England's wealth was the existence of her large national debt.

A more solid advantage lies in the fact that by a policy of borrowing a government can secure that part of the national capital which is easily disposable, while a system of extremely heavy taxation might have serious economic consequences and result in practical confiscation of some incomes. The purchaser of a government bond gives his property voluntarily for public uses in exchange for an equivalent; it is not, therefore, in ordinary circumstances withdrawn from production, but only the free capital, the surplus from current income, is placed at the disposal of the government. Private industry is, therefore, interfered with as little as possible under this system. Of course this argument assumes that the rate of interest offered by the government is not so high as to cause the withdrawal of capital from existing industries. In case this is done this argument loses much of its force.

But the most convincing argument in favor of a policy of public borrowing lies in the fact that the financial burden of the present generation is thereby lessened and future generations are made to contribute to expenditures, a part at least of whose benefits they will share. This is particularly true when very large sums are needed for undertakings that will last for a long time, as any great engineering work, like a state-owned railroad or a canal or a road system, or municipal improvements such as sewers, street pavements or a lighting plant. In all such cases the expenditure is an investment of capital, the returns from which will be enjoyed by possibly several generations of taxpayers, and it is consequently argued that they should be expected to bear a part of the cost. The same argument would apply to expenditures for war, at least for a war of defence, which should protect the country and possibly preserve its very integrity and independence. Here is an immeasurable benefit, the costs of which may fairly be distributed among successive generations through the medium of a public debt.

Disadvantages of Public Debts.- On the other hand, there are undeniable disadvantages and dangers connected with the constantly increasing tendency to resort to public credit to meet all unusual or large expenditures. Perhaps the greatest danger is connected with the last argument cited in favor of public debts. It is so easy to impose the burden of an unusual cost upon the next generation by borrowing the money instead of levying heavier taxation that there is danger that this may be done when there is no real justification for it. Many a local community in the United States to-day is paying the interest on bonds issued to pay for improvements that either never were constructed or wore out before the debt was paid.

Another danger lies in the effect which the raising and spending of large sums obtained by the sale of government bonds may have upon private industry. This will be keenly felt if the need of the government is great and it raises the rate of interest in order to attract the

needed supply of capital. Then the capital which would normally have replaced losses through depreciation, or have provided for ordinary growth of the business, may be diverted from private industry into the public purse. But before describing even such a diversion as an evil we shall have to know the use to which the money will be put. It may be that the government expenditure will bring advantages so great as far to outweigh any losses that may be inflicted upon private industry; unhappily the reverse has generally proven to be the case in the past.

Classification of Public Debts.- In the creation of a public debt various technical questions arise which it is necessary to describe if we are to have a clear idea of its character. The classification of public debts may first be considered, and here there are several lines of distinction. A usual distinction is that between forced loans, or legal tender paper money, and voluntary loans or bond issues. As the former may more properly be discussed under the title paper money, we shall pass on to the further classification of bonds. With reference to the character of the security behind them, these may be classified as floating or funded; the former consist of unpaid accounts charged against the state, while the latter are debts which have been formally acknowledged by the government and their payment provided by law.

Funded debts again may be classified with reference to the time they have to run, into terminable and perpetual debts. By the former is meant debts which run for a certain specified term upon the expiration of which they are redeemable or convertible at the option of the government. By a perpetual debt is meant one whose contract mentions no time at which payment can be demanded by the creditor; while the government theoretically may pay off such a debt at will, it seldom exercises the privilege, and the debt becomes practically a perpetual one. Such is the form in which most of the French debt has been thrown, while the favorite form for debts incurred by federal, state or local governments in the United States has been the terminable bond.

One great advantage which the latter has is the fact that the government is thereby given the power, when the bond matures, of converting it into another one bearing a lower rate of interest. Inasmuch as most loans are created in times of crisis or of urgent necessity, the rates of interest have probably been higher than they will be subsequently. Moreover the tendency of the whole 19th century was toward lower interest rates. Short term bonds with frequent conversions would, therefore, lower the national interest charge and set free income which could be used to pay the principal of the debt. Sometimes the debt is thrown into a form intermediate between the terminable and perpetual, namely the annuity. This is really paid in installments, for the obligation of the government is terminated upon the expiration of the term agreed upon, whether a certain definite time or the life of an individual.

Rate of Interest. Another technical question to be decided when the debt is created is whether loans shall be placed at or below par. The general verdict is that the government should fix the rate of interest at a point that will approximate the market rate as closely as

possible, for if it is fixed any lower the bonds will sell for less than par and the government will then have to pay back a larger sum when it extinguishes the debt than it receives at the time of sale. Usually only those nations which have a practically perpetual debt have preferred to sell their bonds at a discount in order to secure the lower interest rate.

Should a Public Debt be Paid?- The final problem, but probably the most important of all after the debt has been incurred, is that of debt payment. Should a nation endeavor to pay off its debts? The policy adopted by the United States from the very beginning of its national existence has been one of debt payment, but this policy has not been generally adopted by other nations. England was practically the only European nation which reduced its national debt during the 19th century. This difference in practice reflects two very different theories as to the desirability of debt payment. The one school holds that the only way to get rid of or reduce the burden of a debt is to pay off the principal; the other wishes to accomplish the same purpose by so developing the resources of the country that the burden of the debt becomes negligible.

The arguments against debt payment or rather in defense of a perpetual debt may be briefly stated. It is claimed that the burden of a public debt is gradually lessened by the depreciation of gold; but this is both too uncertain and too tardy in effect to be assigned much weight. Another argument which is entitled to more serious consideration holds that the burden of debt will be diminished by the natural growth of the country in population, industries and wealth. Thus while the French debt, for instance, trebled between 1840 and 1870, the national wealth grew as rapidly and the burden of the larger sum was not felt any more heavily than was the smaller amount a generation before. A third argument urges that surplus revenue should be applied to other reforms before that of debt payment. Thus, John Stuart Mill, writing of English conditions in the forties, said, "the increase of revenue should rather be disposed of by taking off taxes than by liquidating debt, as long as any very objectionable imposts remain." Eventually, he admitted, the remission of taxes should stop and the proceeds be applied to debt payment, but other writers have been unwilling to grant this and have insisted that "taxes fructify in the pockets of the taxpayers," that these could promote the national welfare more if they were not taxed than if taxes were collected and applied to the payment of a national debt.

The arguments advanced in favor of a policy of debt payment rest upon firmer economic ground and justify the action of this country. These are partly economic and partly political. In the first place it has been argued that the payment of a debt will convert the bondholder, who previously had been a drone, living upon his income, into an active man of business. In order to pay the debt the government collects capital from the taxpayers and hands it over to the bondholders in exchange for their bonds. These latter must then actively interest themselves in the investment of the capital thus repaid them, and in many cases must undertake the operation of new enterprises in order to safeguard it. Society is thus better off by this

addition, forced though it be, to the number of productive workers. The existence of an idle class, supported by the proceeds of general taxation, is moreover a social menace, and the payment of the debt is thus socially desirable.

Another argument for debt payment has to do primarily with improvement debts, the proceeds of which have been applied to some capital investment, as sewers, street paving, schoolhouses, parks, etc. In these cases the property is subject to depreciation and will require ultimate replacement. If such debts were not paid within a reasonable time a situation would arise in which the property would have disappeared or lost its value, but society would still be paying interest for its use and the principal would remain as a burden upon the future. Not only does every consideration of equity and good finance demand that such a debt be paid, but economic and engineering considerations set a definite limit to the life of such a loan: it should in no case run longer than the economic life of the property to purchase which it was incurred. This would apply in the United States primarily to municipal and local improvement bonds.

For the payment of our national debt the argument is a political rather than a purely economic one. The debt is almost entirely a legacy of war, and this is even more true of the debts of other nations. Nothing is of greater value to a nation in time of war than unimpaired credit, and nothing impairs the national credit more than a heavy and permanent debt charge. If the adage, "in time of peace prepare for war" be true, it applies with especial force to the payment of a national debt at a rate as rapid as is consistent with sound economic development. It is a truism of modern war that success is determined largely by economic and financial strength. Here we have perhaps the most potent influence making for debt payment, though it must be admitted that hitherto it has not been very effective.

Methods of Debt Payment.-If it is decided that public debts ought to be paid, the further question arises as to the best manner of doing so. The oldest method is probably that of the sinking fund, which still finds expression in our national legislation on this subject. Probably the best known application of the principle of the sinking fund was made by Pitt in England in 1786, embodying a proposal put forward by a clergyman named Price. This scheme consisted in the inviolable appropriation of a fixed annual sum to the purchase of public obligations, which should be placed in a fund into which should be paid each year the interest accruing on these bonds. Each year additional bonds would be purchased and placed in the fund and the interest would thus be compounded until in time it would expunge a debt of any magnitude. Indeed the calculations of Dr. Price on this point seemed magical. The payments into the sinking fund were continued during the Napoleonic wars even though money had to be borrowed to do it. But the absurdity of this piece of fiscal machinery was exposed in 1813 by Dr. Robert Hamilton, and it was later estimated that between 1785 and 1829 the government had borrowed over £300,000,000 at 5 per cent in order to pay a debt bearing 42 per cent interest. The scheme was thereupon abandoned and has never been resumed.

Another method of debt payment, which has been followed by England largely since the breakdown of the sinking fund policy, is that of annuities. If the public debt is thrown into this form, either as terminable or life annuities, the principal of the debt is automatically reduced as these fall in or mature. The objection to them is similar to the objection to the old sinking fund, that it commits the government to fixed annual payments whether these are convenient or not.

This criticism leads to the statement of the correct policy of debt payment, which consists in the establishment of a permanent appropriation beyond the annual interest charge. But such an appropriation must be out of surplus revenue and therefore cannot be "inviolable." No automatic machinery can compel the extinction of a public debt unless there exists a clear net revenue to devote to that purpose. Considerable discretion must therefore be granted in the administration of a system of debt payment, for it must necessarily be suspended in periods of deficit. One favorable feature may be conceded to the sinking fund policy, which was that it committed a government definitely to the policy of debt payment. And to-day it has a place in local finance, where most of the debts are for purposes of improvement, and where accordingly it is essential that definite provision be made for debt payment. More recently, however, the principle of serial bonds has been adopted as a better and more economical, systematic and regular method of debt payment. See NATIONAL DEBTS OF THE WORLD.

Bibliography. Adams, H. C., 'Public Debts' (New York 1887); Bastable, C. F., Public Finance (3d ed., New York 1903); Bullock, C. J., ed., Selected Readings in Public Finance' (Boston 1906); Dewey, D. R., Financial History of the United States' (New York, rev. ed., 1912); Jèze, G., Science des Finances (5th ed., Paris 1912); McCulloch, J. R., Taxation and the Funding System (3d ed., London 1863); Wagner, A., Finanzwissenschaft) (Leipzig, Vol. I, 3d ed., 1883; Vol. II, 2d ed., 1890; Vol. III, 1889; Vol. IV, 1899).

ERNEST L. BOGART, Professor of Economics, University of Illinois. DEBTS, Right of a Wife to Contract. See HUSBAND AND WIFE.

DEBUSSY, Claude Achille, distinguished French composer: b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 22 Aug. 1862; d. 26 March 1918. He was educated at the Paris Conservatoire. From the time he was 12 years old he attracted attention as possessing remarkable musical ability. In 1884 he won the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata "L'Enfant Prodigue." Later compositions brought rebuke instead of commendation, for their departure from established forms. After a sojourn in Russia, where he assimilated the modes of the native music, Debussy returned to Paris and gave himself up to composition; but it was not until 1893 that he began to receive public recognition. In 1902 his opera Pelleas and Melisande was produced in Paris, and from this time his fame and position were assured. Debussy has written profusely, not only dramatic music, but also a multitude of songs and pieces for piano and orchestra. While his work is refined, graceful and elegant to the

highest degree, and his mastery of technique acknowledged to be perfect, it is claimed that his music is of the intellect rather than of the soul. It is also criticized as being too dependent for full interpretation upon the non-musical aid of the "programme." Among his principal works are 'La Mer'; 'Printemps'; 'Prelude á l'apres-midi d'un Faune'; 'Petite Suite'; 'Images'; 'Ariettes oubliées'; Trois Nocturnes'; Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire'; 'Proses Lyriques.'

DÉBUT, dä-bü, a French word which has been adopted into the English language, signifying generally a beginning or entrance, but specially applied to the first appearance of an actor or actress on the stage, or to a first appearance in a particular theatre. In these circumstances, the actor is called débutant; the actress, a débutante. The expression is very frequently used with reference to a young lady's first entrance into society.

DECA (Gr. signifying "ten"), a prefix of frequent occurrence; as in Decapolis, a group of 10 cities; decalogue, the 10 commandments; decametre, a measure of 10 metres, etc. From deca is formed decade, a collection or group of 10. In the calendar of the French Republic the term decade was used to designate the week of 10 days, which were severally named primidi, duodi, tridi, quartidi, quintidi, sextidi, septidi, octidi, nontidi, and decadi. See CALEN

DAR.

DECACHORD, děk'a-kôrd (Gr. dekachordos, ten-stringed), an ancient Greek instrument of 10 strings, triangular in shape; also a kind of large guitar with 10 strings.

DECADE. See DECA.

DECADENTS, The, a school of artists and writers, the followers of which delight in the more or less morbid refinements of feeling and style, and pride themselves upon this perversion of taste. The decadent is fond of the products of declining civilization corrupted by many centuries of culture, of works too highly seasoned and vitiated, which presage the final dissolution of a social order fallen into decrepitude, and shuns the simple, the natural, the healthful, clinging only to the artificial and the complicated in life and character. The name of decadents may rightly be given to those who make a subtile virtuosity out of art. Among French writers Baudelaire was the first theorist of this school, and his influence was felt by many writers of the "end of the century," such as the Goncourts and Maurice Barrès. The decadents' school of poetry is best represented by Stephane Mallarmé and Verlaine, and its disciples are numerous, including many men of undoubted talent who have combatted the stiffness and dryness of the Parnassians, not without success. They are often termed deliquescents and symbolists; the latter term is well chosen as indicating their aims and manner.

DECALOGUE. A term, from the Greek, corresponding to the Hebrew (Ten Words' (Ex. xxxiv, 28; Deut. x, 4); in the Septuagint ol δέκα λόγοι. In the Pentateuch it appears in two versions (Ex. xx, 2-17 and Deut. v, 6-18) with some variants that have given rise to much discussion and criticism. The sources in the Bible describe it as embodying the statements of God on Mount Sinai; revealed

to Moses and the people of Israel on the third month after the deliverance from Egypt amid thunder, lightning and heavy smoke. The Ten Words were written by Him on two tablets of stone ('tables of testimony) or tables of the covenant'), and given to Moses. In his anger at the people's apostasy, Moses broke the tables (Ex. xxxii, 19), and later God commanded him to make two other tables like the first (Ex. xxxiv, 1), upon which to rewrite the Ten Words. In another passage, however (Ex. xxxiv, 27-28), Moses was ordered to rewrite and did rewrite the commandments himself; but in Deut. iv, 13, and other passages, God is the writer. Moses placed in the book (Ex. xxv, 16, 21, xl, 20) this second set brought down from Mount Sinai. The Ark was called, therefore, Ark of the Testimony) (Ex. xxv, 22; Num. iv, 5).

The Decalogue begins with the declaration in the first person that the speaker is Israel's God who led him out of Egypt and bondage. Hence no other gods shall be for Israel, and as a necessary corollary, no graven image or representation of anything shall be made as idol to bow down to and serve. The sin of idolatry is further enlarged upon as contrasting with the nature of the Deity, who while punishing the children for the sins of their fathers unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate God is merciful to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His commandments. Next comes the prohibition against taking His name in vain, which is followed by the injunction to keep the Sabbath holy as a rest day from all work for man as well as beast, the stranger as well as the household. Honoring father and mother is the substance of the next commandment, and a reward is added-long life. In quick succession murder, adultery, theft, and false testimony are forbidden. The Decalogue concludes with a commandment against covetousness of anything that is one's neighbor's.

The differences in the two versions of the Decalogue form an interesting chapter in the critical study of the Pentateuch. While there is no essential variation so far as vital obligations are concerned, verbal changes occur and in one instance, that of the Sabbath, an entirely different reason is adduced for its observance. The slight variants in the Masoretic text, occasional differences in words, as for instance "covet" for "desire," "remember the Sabbath" in one case and "keep" in the other, and "false witness" in one and a witness of deceit" in the other; some additions and amplifications, all this has been explained as due to carelessness on the part of transcribers, who trusted to their memory. But the variation in the reason alleged for the Sabbath cannot be so readily explained. The Exodus version connects it with creation; that of Deuteronomy associates it with Israel's release from Egyptian slavery. In the one case, the universal, in the other a national historical element. One can understand how the critics of the different schools analyze these variants to discover which text is the earlier. The difficulty is less felt by the early rabbis who claim both versions to be alike of divine origin and spoken at the same time. The division of the Decalogue is another subject of inquiry. As it was written on two tablets of stone and

on both sides, its arrangement would have been naturally one group of five "words" each on one stone. So, in fact, is the statement as to the original division made by Josephus ('Antiquitates' Vol. III, 5, 4) and by Philo ('De Decalogo' 12) the first group of five including the commandments referring to our relation to God and the second referring to our conduct toward our neighbors. Another variation is to be noted. The sequence of certain of the "words" differs in various versions. The Masoretic text, Josephus, the Syriac Hexapla agree as to the order of the prohibitions against murder, adultery, and theft, but the Septuagint, Codex Alexandrinus and Ambrosianus have the sequence of "murder, theft, and adultery," while Philo has the order "adultery, murder, theft," and the Codex Vaticanus "adultery, theft, murder" - slight variations, it is true; but in so fundamental a code as the Decalogue one would expect in every version uniformity throughout. No less peculiar is the diversity in the numbering of the different commandments. According to the Jewish tradition, Ex. xx, 2, forms the first "word," while verses 3-6 constitute the second. The Codex Vaticanus of the Septuagint and the Deuteronomy of Ambrosianus have similar arrangement. Josephus and Philo regard verse 3 as first, verses 4-6 as second, verse 7 as third, verses 8-11 as fourth, verse 12 as fifth, verse 13 as sixth, verse 14 as seventh, verse 15 as eighth, verse 16 as ninth and verse 17 as tenth commandment. The Roman Catholic and Lutheran rule combines verses 3-6 into the first, and every commandment is advanced by one to the last, the traditional Jewish "tenth❞ being divided into ninth and tenth, to maintain the traditional number. In the exegetical and philosophical writings of the early and mediaval rabbinical authorities, the Decalogue plays an important part - piety, mysticism and ingenuity alike enter into their interpretations. A point that aroused much dispute was the relation of revelation to the Ten Words. Was the Decalogue exclusively essential compared to the rest of the Law? In the daily liturgy in early Talmudic times the recital of the Ten Words was a special feature, but later withdrawn to silence the inference that the Decalogue alone had been revealed by God on Mount Sinai (Berak. 11a).

a

Consult Caverno, C., "Ten Words' (Boston 1899); Driver, 'Introduction to the Old Testament (New York 1902); Geffken, 'Ueber die Versifications Eintheilungen des Dekalogs' (Hamburg 1838); Green, 'Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch' (New York 1895); Montefiore in Hibbert Lectures (London 1892) Robinson, The Decalogue' (Chicago 1899); Smith, W. Robertson, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church (pp. 331-345). Consult also the latest Bible dictionaries and the Catholic and Jewish encyclopedias.

ABRAM S. ISAACS.

DECAMERON, The. In the year 1348 the plague, which had been for some time devastating the East, appeared in "the notable city of Florence." A hundred thousand persons perished. Boccaccio in the first part of his work, after his immortal description of the ravages of the pestilence, exclaims: "Alas, how many great palaces, how many goodly houses, how many noble mansions, once full of families, of

lords and ladies abode empty even of the meanest servants! How many memorable families, how many ample heritages, how many famous fortunes were seen to remain without lawful heir! How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, how many sprightly youths whom not others only but Galen, Hippocrates or Æsculapius themselves would have judged most hale, breakfasted in the morning with their kinsfolk, comrades and friends and that same night supped with their ancestors in the other world!” Boccaccio tells us how at seven o'clock of a Tuesday morning it chanced that seven young ladies, all knit to one another by friendship, neighborhood or kinship met in the venerable church of Santa Maria Novella for divine service: "Each was discreet and of noble blood and well-mannered and full of honest sprightliness." He does not give their actual names but applies to them fictitious designations corresponding to their qualities. The eldest is called Pamfinia, "the all-admonishing"; there is Fiammetta, known to be the Princess Maria, illegitimate daughter of King Robert of Naples, for whom Boccaccio cherished a "very high and noble passion." The others are Filomena, the "Nightingale," Emilia, Lauretta, the "laurelcrowned," Neifile, the "novelty-loving," and Elisa. They propose to flee from the deathstricken city and go to the country: "There," they say, "we may hear the small birds sing; there we may see the hills clad all in green and the fields and plains full of corn wave even as doth the sea; there may we see trees, a thousand sorts, and there is the face of heaven more open to view, the which angered against us though it be, nevertheless denieth not unto us its eternal beauties, far goodlier to look upon than the empty walls of our city. Moreover, there is the air far cooler.»

While they are discussing how best to go, three young men enter-Pamfilo ("Perfect in Love"), Filostrato ("Unhappy in Love") and Dioneo ("The Amorous"), "all very agreeable and well-bred, of worth and discretion." The ladies invite the young men to accompany them, and the next day with a train of servitors of every kind they repair to a place two miles from the city, on a little hill back from the road where stands a palace with courtyard and loggie and saloons and bedrooms, abounding in costly paintings, with wells of cool water and cellars full of rare wines. They organize their sessions in the most formal manner with the design of "living merrily." Each member of the party must take turns in being "King or Queen of the day." Pamfinia is chosen to be first and is crowned with "a goodly and honorable wreath of laurel-leaves. Each servant has an appropriate name and a set task: Parmeno is seneschal and has charge of the chief saloon; Sirisco is purveyor and treasurer; Misia and Lirisca take charge of the kitchen; there are others in charge of the bed-chambers. They stray about till dinner; then they find the tables laid with snowy cloths and glittering with silver; the viands are delicious, they have the choicest wines. Dinner is followed by music and dancing: Dioneo plays the lute, Fiammetta the viol.

At three in the afternoon, after their siesta, they go to a little meadow of green grass and the daily session of story-telling begins. The "Queen" calls upon each in turn and one story