Vergogna e Paura 
 
  Per lo Schifo trovar ciascun' andava, 
Per dirli del misfatto molto male; 
E que' s'avëa fatto un capez[z]ale 
D'un fascio d'erba e sì son[n]iferava. 
  Vergogna fortemente lo sgridava; 
Paura d'altra parte sì·ll'assale, 
Dicendo: «Schifo, ben poco ti cale 
Che Gelosïa sì forte ne grava, 
  E ciò ci avien per te, quest' è palese. 
Quando tu, per la tua malaventura, 
Tu vuogli intender or d'es[s]er cortese 
  (Ben sa' ch'e' non ti move di natura!), 
Con ciaschedun dé' star a le difese 
Per ben guardar questa nostra chiusura». 
 
 

Modesty and Fear 
 
      Everyone was looking for Resistance  
to blame him for his bad mistake;  
and that one had made himself a bed  
from a bundle of grass, and there he fell asleep.
      Modesty was reprimanding him very harshly;  
in her turn Fear assails him,  
saying: "Resistance, you don't care at all  
that Jealousy is so upset with us! 
      And this happens to us because of you, it's clear.  
Whenever you, for your misfortune,  
wish to seem or to be courteous 
      (you well know that it's not your nature!),  
you must be, as we all are, on the defensive,  
in order to protect this enclosed place of ours." 
 

Lo Schifo 
 
  Lo Schifo, quando udïo quel romore, 
Conob[b]e ben ched egli avea mispreso, 
Sì disse: «Il diavol ben m'avea sorpreso, 
Quand' io a nessun uon mostrav' amore. 
  Ma s'i', colui che ven[n]e per lo fiore, 
I' 'l posso nel giardin tener mai preso, 
I' sia uguanno per la gola impeso 
Sed i' no'l fo morir a gran dolore». 
  Allor ricigna il viso e gli oc[c]hi torna, 
E troppo contra me tornò diverso: 
Del fior guardar fortemente s'atorna. 
  A[h]i lasso, c[h]'or mi fu cambiato ilverso! 
In poca d'or sì 'l fatto mi bistorna 
Che d'abate tornai men ch'a converso. 
 
 

Resistance 
 
      When Resistance heard that reproach,  
he knew very well that he had made a mistake.  
Thus he said: "The devil has deceived me,  
when I showed kindness to someone. 
      But if I can catch the one who came for the Flower,  
and if I can keep him prisoner,  
may I be hanged by my neck  
if I don't make him die with great pain." 
      Then he squints and rolls his eyes  
and became quite horrible towards me:  
he prepares to guard the Flower resolutely. 
      Alas! How things have changed for me!  
In such a short time my situation has so changed  
that from abbot I fell to being less than the lowest brother. 
 

Gelosia 
 
  Gelosïa, che stava in sospeccione 
Ch'ella del fior non fosse baratata, 
Sì fe' gridar per tutta la contrata 
Ch'a·llei venisse ciascun buon maz[z]one, 
  Ch'ella volea fondar una pregione 
Dove Bellacoglienza fia murata; 
Ché 'n altra guardia non fie più lasciata, 
Po' ch'ella l'à trovata i·mesprigione: 
  «Ché la guardia del fior è perigliosa, 
Sì saria folle se 'llei mi fidasse 
Per la bieltà ch'à 'n lei maravigliosa». 
  E se Venùs' ancor la vicitasse, 
Di ciò era certana, e non dottosa, 
Ch'e' conver[r]eb[b]e ch'ella il fior donasse. 
 
 

Jealousy 
 
      Jealousy, who was afraid  
of being cheated out of the Flower,  
had it announced throughout the countryside  
that all good masons should come to her, 
      because she wanted to build a prison  
where they could imprison Fair Welcome.  
She will not be left with another guardian,  
since jealousy found her guilty of malfeasance. 
      "Since guarding the Flower is dangerous,  
it would be a mistake to put my trust in her  
for all her marvelous beauty." 
      And if Venus should come again to visit her,  
she was sure and had no doubt  
of what would happen: that she would give up the Flower. 
 

L'Amante 
 
  Gelosia fece fondar un castello 
Con gran fossi d'intorno e barbacani, 
Ché molto ridottava uomini strani, 
Sì facev' ella que' di su' ostello; 
  E nel miluogo un casser fort' e bello, 
Che non dottava a[s]salto di villani, 
Fece murare a' mastri più sovrani 
Di marmo lavorato ad iscarpello; 
  E sì vi fece far qua[t]tro portali 
Con gran to[r]ri di sopra imbertescate, 
Ch'unque nel mondo non fur fatte tali; 
  E porte caditoie v'avea ordinate, 
Che venian per condotto di canali: 
L'altr' eran tutte di ferro sprangate. 
 
 

Lover 
 
      Jealousy had a castle built  
with large moats and fortifications all around,  
because she greatly feared outsiders,  
just as much as she did those within her castle. 
      And in the middle she had the greatest craftsmen  
construct an impressive tower  
with finely chiseled marble,  
which feared no assault from uncouth men. 
      She then had four portals made  
that were surmounted with lofty crenelated towers:  
never had the world seen anything like them. 
      She ordered movable gates  
that opened and closed hydraulically;  
the other gates were all reinforced with iron. 
 

L'Amante 
 
  Quando Gelosia vide il castel fatto, 
Sì si pensò d'avervi guernimento, 
Ch[ed] e' non era suo intendimento 
Di renderlo per forza néd a patto. 
  Per dare a' suo' nemici mal atratto, 
Vi mise dentro gran saettamento, 
E pece e olio e ogn' altro argomento 
Per arder castel di legname o gatto, 
  S'alcun lo vi volesse aprossimare: 
Ché perduti ne son molti castelli 
Per non prendersi guardia del cavare. 
  Ancor fe' far traboc[c]hi e manganelli 
Per li nemici lungi far istare 
E servirli di pietre e di quadrelli. 
 
 

Lover 
 
      On seeing that the castle was complete,  
Jealousy had it stocked with arms,  
for she did not wish to surrender it  
either through battle or treaty. 
      In order to give her enemies a bad reception  
she placed inside a great store of projectiles,  
and tar and oil and everything else  
that would ignite a war machine or battering ram, 
      if any one of these would approach too close.  
For many castles have been lost  
by those who failed to note their enemies' ploys. 
      Jealousy had still other weapons made,  
such as catapults that would keep the enemies far away  
by pelting them with stones and darts.