Salardo inherits his father’s wealth and receives three important instructions intended to protect him from misfortune. He is warned never to entrust an important secret to his wife, never to adopt another man’s child as his heir and never to settle in a territory ruled by a magistrate with unchecked power over life and death.
At first, Salardo believes that his father’s warnings are unnecessary. His affection for his wife, his confidence in his adopted son and his friendship with a powerful ruler persuade him that he knows better. However, when he puts these relationships to the test, he discovers how quickly affection can turn into betrayal. His father’s testament becomes a warning he understands only when his life is already in danger.
The Story of Salardo and His Father’s Will
Long ago, in the wealthy and ancient city of Genoa, there lived a nobleman named Rainaldo Scaglia. He possessed considerable riches and was respected for his intelligence, good judgement and generous nature. His greatest treasure, however, was his only son, Salardo.
Rainaldo spared no expense in educating the boy. He ensured that Salardo received instruction in the arts and other accomplishments expected of a gentleman of his standing. He hoped that his son would grow into a man of wisdom, honour and good judgement, capable of managing the family estate and maintaining its reputation.
As Rainaldo grew older, illness gradually weakened him. When he realised that his life was drawing to a close, he summoned a notary and prepared his last will. He left his entire estate to Salardo, but he also wanted to give his son something more valuable than money: advice drawn from his own experience.
Rainaldo called Salardo to his bedside and explained three instructions that he wanted him to remember throughout his life.
First, he warned his son never to reveal an important secret to his wife, regardless of how deeply he loved her.
Second, he advised him never to adopt another man’s child as his own, even if his marriage produced no children.
Third, he warned him never to settle in a state where the chief ruler possessed unrestricted authority to condemn people to death.
Rainaldo explained that these instructions were not given to make his son’s life difficult. He believed they would protect Salardo from dangers that wealth, noble birth and personal affection could not always prevent.
Having delivered his final advice, Rainaldo turned towards the wall and died.
Salardo inherited his father’s property and mourned his loss. Yet his grief did not prevent him from quickly turning his attention to marriage. Before a year had passed, he had married Theodora, the beautiful daughter of Messer Odescalco Doria, a nobleman of Genoa.
Theodora was intelligent and attractive, though somewhat proud. Salardo became deeply attached to her and could scarcely bear to spend time away from her.
For several years, the couple lived together without having a child. Salardo began to long for an heir who could inherit his wealth and continue his family line. Remembering his father’s warning, he nevertheless decided that the advice was old-fashioned and unnecessarily strict.
He persuaded Theodora to agree to the adoption of a child and eventually chose the son of a poor widow. They named the boy Postumius and raised him with care, providing him with the education and comforts that his own son would have received.
Salardo was pleased with the decision. He believed Postumius was obedient, courteous and affectionate. In his eyes, the boy’s good behaviour proved that his father’s warning against adoption had been mistaken.
Some time later, Salardo grew tired of living in Genoa. He had no particular grievance against the city, but he desired a change of surroundings and wanted to experience life elsewhere.
He gathered his money and jewels, arranged a fine travelling party and left Genoa with Theodora and Postumius. After travelling through Piedmont, they reached Montferrat, where they decided to settle.
Salardo soon became acquainted with the local noblemen. His wealth, generosity and pleasant manners made him popular, and he was frequently invited to hunting parties and social gatherings.
News of his hospitality eventually reached the Marquis of Montferrat. The ruler was impressed by Salardo’s appearance, education and willingness to entertain his guests. He welcomed him into his circle and began treating him as a close companion.
The friendship grew so strong that the marquis rarely allowed a day to pass without seeing him. Salardo’s influence also became considerable. People seeking favours from the ruler often approached Salardo, hoping that he would present their requests.
The young nobleman was delighted with his new position. He believed that his father’s warning against living under an absolute ruler had been unnecessary. The marquis appeared affectionate and generous, and Salardo could not imagine that the man who treated him so warmly might one day become his enemy.
One day, while reflecting on his good fortune, Salardo considered the three instructions in his father’s testament. He had already disregarded two of them by adopting Postumius and settling in Montferrat. Since neither decision had yet brought him trouble, he convinced himself that his father had been mistaken.
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Only the warning about keeping secrets from his wife remained.
Salardo decided to test Theodora’s loyalty. He believed that she loved him too deeply to betray him and wanted to prove that his father’s caution was unnecessary.
He devised a plan involving the marquis’s favourite falcon.
Without telling anyone, Salardo removed the bird from the ruler’s mews and secretly entrusted it to a faithful friend named Francesco. He asked Francesco to keep the falcon safely until he requested it.
Afterwards, Salardo killed one of his own falcons and carried the dead bird home beneath his cloak.
He showed it to Theodora and told her that he had killed the marquis’s favourite falcon. He explained that he had grown tired of spending so much time hunting and participating in the ruler’s entertainments. He claimed that he had therefore destroyed the bird in the hope that the marquis would become angry and spend less time demanding his company.
Theodora was horrified. She reminded her husband that the marquis had treated him with exceptional kindness and warned that such an insult could cost him his life.
Salardo reassured her. He explained that the secret belonged only to the two of them and begged her never to reveal it.
Theodora promised that she would rather die than betray him.
However, when Salardo asked her to prepare the dead falcon for supper, she refused to eat it. She could not bring herself to participate in what she considered a cruel and dangerous joke.
Salardo became angry. Instead of respecting her refusal, he struck her across the face.
Theodora began to cry. She was deeply hurt by the insult and the violence, and she quietly promised herself that she would remember what he had done.
The following morning, she left the house early and went directly to the marquis. She revealed the secret about the falcon, explaining that Salardo had deliberately killed the ruler’s favourite bird.
The marquis was furious. He felt insulted by the conduct of someone he had treated as a close friend. Without investigating the accusation or allowing Salardo to defend himself, he ordered his arrest.
He also pronounced a terrible sentence. Salardo was to be hanged, and his property was to be divided into three equal portions. One portion would go to Theodora for accusing him, another to Postumius, and the final portion to the person who carried out the execution.
When Postumius heard the sentence, he approached Theodora and suggested that he should become his father’s executioner. That way, he argued, the third share of the inheritance would remain within the family rather than passing to a stranger.
Theodora agreed that this was a sensible arrangement.
Postumius therefore went to the marquis and requested permission to hang Salardo himself. The ruler accepted his request.
Meanwhile, Salardo was imprisoned in chains and awaited his execution. He finally understood the wisdom of his father’s instructions.
He regretted adopting Postumius, trusting Theodora with his secret and placing himself under the authority of a ruler who could order a person’s death without a proper hearing.
He recognised that his wife and adopted son, whom he had treated with affection, were now willing to benefit from his death. He also realised that the marquis’s friendship had offered little protection once anger replaced favour.
Salardo had previously confided his plan to Francesco, his faithful friend. Before his arrest, he had asked Francesco to approach the marquis if he ever found himself in danger. Francesco had promised to help.
When he learned that Salardo had been condemned, Francesco hurried to the palace. He begged the marquis to delay the execution and allow his friend to explain himself.
The ruler initially refused to listen. He was still angry and threatened to have Francesco punished as well if he continued to interfere.
Francesco remained determined. He declared that he was willing to face execution alongside Salardo if he could not prove his friend’s innocence.
The marquis was struck by this declaration. He reasoned that Francesco would not willingly place his own life in danger unless he possessed important information.
He therefore granted him an hour to present his case and ordered that Salardo’s execution be postponed.
At the place of execution, Salardo was already being prepared for death. He had been brought to the gallows with a rope around his neck, and Postumius was ready to carry out the sentence.
Before the execution could proceed, the marquis’s messenger arrived with an order to bring Salardo before him.
The prisoner was taken back to the palace, where Francesco waited.
The marquis demanded an explanation. Salardo admitted that he had played a dangerous trick, but insisted that he had never harmed the ruler’s favourite falcon.
He explained that the bird was still alive and had been entrusted to Francesco. He then asked his friend to bring it to the palace.
Francesco soon returned with the falcon, which was healthy and well cared for.
The marquis was astonished.
Salardo then explained the three instructions left by his father and admitted that he had deliberately disregarded them. He had wanted to prove that his father’s advice was unnecessary, so he had invented the story about killing the falcon to discover whether Theodora would keep a secret.
His plan had revealed the opposite of what he expected. Theodora had betrayed him, Postumius had agreed to become his executioner for the sake of the inheritance, and the marquis had condemned him without hearing his defence.
The ruler was overcome with shame. He realised that he had allowed anger to overcome justice and had nearly put an innocent man to death.
He apologised to Salardo and personally removed the rope from his neck and the chains from his body. He embraced him and promised to make amends for the terrible injustice.
The marquis then ordered that Postumius should receive the same sentence he had been prepared to carry out against his father.
Salardo, however, refused to allow the young man to be executed. Although Postumius had betrayed him, he could not bring himself to demand his death.
Instead, he dismissed him from the family and gave him the rope he had intended to use against his father. He told Postumius to keep it as a reminder of his greed and wickedness, and ordered him never to return.
Postumius left the palace and disappeared from the story.
Theodora also suffered the consequences of her actions. When she learned that Salardo had been freed, she fled to a convent, where she eventually died.
Salardo remained in Montferrat for a little while longer, but the experience had changed him. He had learned that wealth and influence could not guarantee safety, and that the people closest to him were not always deserving of his confidence.
He therefore took leave of the marquis and returned to Genoa.
There, he gave away much of the wealth he no longer needed and lived peacefully for the rest of his life.
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Moral Lesson
The story explores the dangers of disregarding sound advice, placing blind confidence in others and allowing power to operate without accountability. Salardo’s father’s warnings are intended to protect him, but his son’s pride makes him believe that his own judgement is superior.
The tale also shows the importance of justice and loyalty. Francesco’s faithfulness saves Salardo when everyone else has turned against him. The marquis, meanwhile, learns that a ruler must listen to evidence before passing judgement, especially when a person’s life is at stake.
Knowledge Check
1. What three instructions did Rainaldo leave for his son?
He warned Salardo not to entrust important secrets to his wife, not to adopt another man’s child as his heir and not to live under a ruler with unchecked power over life and death.
2. Why did Salardo adopt Postumius?
He and Theodora had no children, and Salardo wanted an heir to inherit his property.
3. How did Salardo test his wife’s loyalty?
He secretly hid the marquis’s favourite falcon with Francesco, killed one of his own birds and told Theodora that he had killed the ruler’s falcon.
4. Why did Theodora reveal Salardo’s secret?
After Salardo struck her for refusing to eat the dead falcon, she became angry and decided to disclose what he had told her.
5. How did Francesco save Salardo from execution?
He persuaded the marquis to delay the execution and brought the supposedly dead falcon to the palace, proving that Salardo had not killed it.
6. What happened to Salardo, Theodora and Postumius at the end?
Salardo was released and returned to Genoa. Postumius was expelled from his life, while Theodora fled to a convent and died there.
Source
Giovanni Francesco Straparola, “The First Fable: Salardo, son of Rainaldo Scaglia,” in The Nights of Straparola, Volume I, translated by W. G. Waters (London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1894), Night the First, First Fable, pp. 11–20.
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