The Boy Who Had Never Seen a Woman
Boccaccio's Story of Filippo Balducci and His Son
and other tales of Aarne-Thompson type 1678
selected and edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1998
and other tales of Aarne-Thompson type 1678
selected and edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1998
When Filippo Balducci lost his wife to death, he resolved to devote himself and his young son to God. Consequently he gave his worldly possessions to charity, then took his little son to the slopes of Mount Asinaio, where they lived together in a cave, completely secluded from the ways and temptations of the world. In this remote sanctuary, Filippo taught his son about God and the saints, protecting him always from distractions and sin.
Only after the boy reached the age of eighteen did the father feel it safe to expose him to the outside world.
"Surely," thought Filippo, "his years of devotion and prayer in this place of solitude will now defend him against the ways of the world." And the two of them, father and son, set off for the city of Florence.
Everything was new and amazing for the son: houses, palaces, churches, horses, and people. Filled with amazement, he asked his father about every unfamiliar thing, and Filippo dutifully provided names and explanations for all that they saw, that is, until they happened upon a party of beautiful young women. The boy, who until now had never beheld such a sight, could not take his eyes from them.
"Do not look at them," warned Filippo.
"But what are they?" asked the son.
"Oh, they are just geese," replied Filippo, wanting to divert the boy's attention from the young women.
"Please, father," begged the boy, "let me have one of those geese. I could put something into its bill.
"No!" exclaimed the father. "Their bills are not where you think they are, and they require special feeding. And furthermore they are evil!"
Poor Filippo now regretted having taken his son from his protective sanctuary, for even as he spoke, he realized that however clever his responses were, they were no match for the boy's natural inclinations.
A hermit once took a young monk to the city. He had raised him since childhood, and the old monk now wanted put the young one to a test. Arriving in the city, they saw a number of women walking to and fro. Filled with amazement, the young monk stared at them with calf's eyes. Until now he had never seen a woman, for since his earliest childhood he had been raised in a monastery.
He asked the old monk what these things were.
The old monk answered, saying, "They are geese." The women were wearing white veils and white cloaks.
The young monk left good enough alone and said nothing more. Afterward, when the two were back at their monastery, the young monk began to cry bitterly.
The old monk asked him why he was crying.
The young monk replied, "Father, why should I not be crying! I wanted every so badly to have a goose!"
To a king a son was born.
The wise astrologers counseled that he should be kept for ten years without ever seeing the sun. So he was brought up and taken care of in a darksome cavern.
After the time had gone by, they brought him forth, and they set before him many fine jewels and many lovely girls, calling each thing by its name, and saying of the maidens that they were demons. Then they asked him which thing pleased him the most of all.
And he answered, "The demons."
At this the king marveled mightily, saying, "What a terrible thing is the tyranny and beauty of women."
There was once a king to whom a son was born, and when the father consulted the wise men and astronomers concerning the young prince and asked them to tell him the future of the boy, they replied that should the prince be allowed to see the light of day before he was fourteen years old, he would certainly become blind. The king was greatly troubled, but having an implicit trust in the prophecy of the wise men and astronomers, he gave orders that his sons should be taken to a tower and kept in a dark room.
The boy grew up in that room and never saw any human being except his nurse who brought him food and drink and looked after him. When the time fixed by the wise men and astronomers had expired, that is, when the prince had attained the age of fourteen, he was taken from the tower and entrusted to the wise men, who undertook his education. The prince was taught many things about God and the world, paradise and hell, angels and demons, virtue and sin. He was also made acquainted with all creatures inhabiting the world, and he saw for the first time in his life men and women, sheep and oxen, dogs, cats, birds, fishes, and insects. The wise men told him the names of all these creatures. When the prince saw women and asked what they were called, one of his masters jokingly replied, "They are called the children of Satan."
One day the king asked his son which of the creatures he had seen pleased him most, and the boy replied that of all the living creatures he had now seen he found most pleasure in the children of Satan.
The king, on being subsequently told that by the children of Satan his son had meant women, said to him, "Beware of them, for they may lead you into hell."
Revised Thanksgiving Day, 1998.