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Thirteen Questions of Love by Boccaccio

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THE FIRST QUESTION proposed by Filocolo — A young woman, asked to show which of two lovers she loves the more, each of whom claims to be the favored one, places her own garland on the head of one, and taking from the other the one he wears, dons it herself. To which did she show the more favor?


THE SECOND QUESTION proposed by Longano — Which is the more unhappy: the lady who, after having tasted of love, loses the lover who must go into exile without hope of return; or she to whom Fate has never allowed to taste with a lover the joys of love at all?


THE THIRD QUESTION proposed by a young Gentlewoman named Cara — To which of three aspirants should a lady give her preference? To him who excels in valor, or to him who is most courteous and liberal, or to him who is the wisest?


THE FOURTH QUESTION proposed by Menedon — A story in which the question must be resolved as to which of three persons, the husband, the lover, or the magician, has behaved generously?


THE FIFTH QUESTION proposed by Clonico — Which is the more unhappy? A lover who cannot obtain the favor of his mistress, or he who having obtained it has reason for jealousy?


THE SIXTH QUESTION proposed by a young Gentlewoman — Two maidens in love with the same youth wish to induce him to choose between them. Agreed on this, one runs to him, embraces him and kisses him; the other cannot but remain apart, all shy and shameful. Which of them loved him better or deserved his love more?


THE SEVENTH QUESTION proposed by Galeone — Is love a good or an evil thing? A question containing a charming ballad in which is explained the sense of the name of Fiammetta.


THE EIGHTH QUESTION proposed by a young Gentlewoman named Paola — Of two women whom he likes equally, ought a young man prefer her who is of superior station to him, by noble birth, parentage, and riches?


THE NINTH QUESTION proposed by Feramonte, duke of Montorio — Who is it better that a young man should love: a maiden, a married woman, or a widow?


THE TENTH QUESTION proposed by Ascaleon — A beautiful and noble lady beloved of all, but especially by two young knights, is falsely accused and condemned to the fire. If there is a knight who would fight in defense of her honor against the first who should hold to the contrary, and should overcome, she should be free; but if he should be beaten, then she should burn. The two lovers come forward and fight, and one allows himself to be vanquished for her sake. Which of the two should she have loved the better?


THE ELEVENTH QUESTION proposed by a Gentlewoman named Graziosa — Which is of greater delight to the lover: to see his mistress present, or not seeing her, to think lovingly of her?


THE TWELFTH QUESTION proposed by Parmenio — A young gentleman in love with a young maiden resorts to a wrinkled and hideous old hag as go-between. She contrives a meeting between them. However, during the attempted assignation all are taken together in surprise by the brothers of the young woman and the unlucky suitor is condemned by the brothers to lie both with their sister and the old beggar woman, each for a year, and to have converse precisely alike with each. Only, he may choose which he will take first and which last. Of the two, which should he have taken for the first year?


THE THIRTEENTH QUESTION proposed by Massalino — Which was the greater: the good fortune and happiness of the husband who got again the lost wife whom he thought dead, or the loyalty of the lover who brought her out alive from her tomb and touched her no in restoring her to her husband?

From Rafa’s biography (2011)

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“You might think that after the millions and millions of balls I’ve hit, I’d have the basic shots of tennis sown up, that reliably hitting a true, smooth, clean shot every time would be a piece of cake. But it isn’t. Not just because every day you wake up feeling differently, but because every shot is different; every single one. From the moment the ball is in motion, it comes at you at an infinitesimal number of angles and speeds; with more topspin, or backspin, or flatter, or higher. The differences might be minute, microscopic, but so are the variations your body makes – shoulders, elbow, wrists, hips, ankles, knees – in every shot. And there are so many other factors – the weather, the surface, the rival. No ball arrives the same as another; no shot is identical. So every time you line up to hit a shot, you have to make a split-second judgment as to the trajectory and speed of the ball and then make a split-second decision as to how, how hard, and where you must try to hit the shot back. And you have to do that over and over, often fifty times in a game, fifteen times in twenty seconds, in continual bursts more than two, three, four hours, and all the time you’re running hard and your nerves are taut; it’s when your coordination is right and the tempo is smooth that the good sensations come, that you are better able to manage the biological and mental feat of striking the ball cleanly in the middle of the racket and aiming it true… Tennis is, more than most sports, a sport of the mind; it is the player who has those good sensations on the most days, who manages to isolate himself best from his fears and from the ups and downs in morale a match inevitably brings, who ends up [winning].”