Alibech Is Brought Home and Married by Nerbale

Alibech’s return from the desert and marriage to Neerbale convert a private religiously framed sexual education into a domestic and economic outcome: she is brought back to Capsa against her wishes, and her new husband succeeds to her father’s estate through her. When she later explains to the women of the city what she and Rustico called their sexual encounters, her account becomes a widely repeated saying, the episode’s final comic reversal.

The Fire and the Inheritance

Alibech’s father and the rest of his household die when a fire breaks out in Capsa. Because she is alive, she becomes heir to his property. Neerbale, who has spent his own substance on pleasure, hears that she has survived and sets out to find her. The timing matters: he reaches her before the court can take possession of the estate as property belonging to a man thought to have died without an heir.

Return from the Desert

Neerbale brings Alibech back to Capsa, to Rustico’s great satisfaction but against her own will. The return ends her stay in the desert, where she had gone seeking religious devotion and where Rustico had taught her to understand sex through the euphemism of putting the devil in hell. The contrast is sharp: what Alibech had treated as a form of service to God is now interrupted by an inheritance claim and a journey home arranged by a man seeking her fortune.

Marriage and Property

Back in Capsa, Neerbale marries Alibech and, in her right, succeeds to her father’s ample inheritance. The tale thus makes the marriage consequential not only as a change in Alibech’s life but also as the means by which Neerbale gains access to the estate. Her return is presented as something imposed on her rather than a choice she welcomes; the inheritance passes through her even as her wishes are overridden.

The Story Becomes a Saying

Before Neerbale has slept with her, the women ask Alibech what she did in the desert to serve God. She answers that she served by putting the devil in hell, and, asked how this was done, explains it in words and gestures. The women laugh and tell her not to worry: the same service is performed there, and Neerbale will serve God with her in the same way. As the account passes from one person to another through the city, the phrase becomes a common saying that the most acceptable service to God is putting the devil in hell. The ending turns Alibech’s literal-minded understanding into public sexual humor, while Dioneo’s closing address extends the joke to young women beyond the story. The episode belongs to a tale told within the Decameron’s storytelling frame.