Messer Geri Spina

Messer Geri Spina moves among the city's elite, a man of wealth and consequence whose favor is worth courting and whose displeasure is worth fearing. His story turns on a crane, a cook's quick tongue, and the thin line between a lord's amusement and his wrath. He matters because his willingness to laugh at a clever answer reveals the Decameron's recurring bargain: wit can save a man's skin, provided the powerful man is in the mood to be entertained.