On Famous Women

— XI —

—bedience; honors are forgotten, riches are consumed, hatred is loved, and very often one enters into the dangers of life; and among these things, contentions occur and peace is brief, etc."
If the codex is faithfully copied, everyone understands that with such a guide it is difficult to walk straight. But let it be noted that we have in our hands a volgarizzamento: the practice of translating Latin works into the common Italian "vulgar" tongue, and moreover a copy of it, made perhaps not from the original, but from another copy, and completed God knows when, God knows where, and by whom. In cases of doubt, it is therefore necessary to return to the source, which is the Latin text of Boccaccio, and with it at least straighten out the sense of the discourse. I say in cases of doubt, because when the reading of the translation is secure due to the consistency of the codices: ancient manuscript volumes, it is best to leave it as it is found, whether Albanzani had a different version of the text before him or whether he misunderstood it; and at most, the reader is warned of the discrepancy in a note. There are few cases of manifest error, and in those instances, one may correct it, always providing a notification.

Let us return to the example. From the beginning, the codex proceeds well, then it falters: "Because of which it happened that Hercules fell into that shameful obedience; honors are forgotten, riches are consumed, hatred is loved original: "amasi lodio" (corrected by the editor to is armed original: "armasi", aided by the Latin text hatreds are armed original: "armentur odia"), and very often one enters into the dangers of life. And among these things, there is no lack of sorrows."