The Grand Canal is the route of a desperate escape in the episode of Berto della Massa: when discovered in a woman’s chamber, he jumps from its window into the water and swims to the opposite bank. The canal saves him from immediate capture, but not from the consequences of his deception.

The Canal as an Escape Route

With the chamber’s occupants closing in and no other resource, Berto opens a window facing the Grand Canal and throws himself into it. The water is deep, but he can swim well and is unhurt. He reaches the far bank and slips into an open house, turning the canal from a boundary into a passage between danger and temporary refuge.

Refuge and Exposure

The man in the house takes pity on the naked fugitive, gives him a bed, and locks him inside while he goes about his business. The shelter is brief: the next day, news heard on the Rialto identifies the fugitive as the monk who had plunged into the canal. The leap has carried Berto out of the chamber, but the public retelling of it makes the escape traceable.

Narrative Significance

The Grand Canal is presented through action rather than description: its depth and the swimmer’s ability determine whether the escape succeeds. Yet the crossing offers only a momentary advantage. The episode’s reversal is sharp: a daring flight through the water avoids immediate discovery, while the spectacle of that same flight helps expose the fugitive afterward.