Book excerpt: A collection of 72 short stories written in the 16th century by Marguerite of Navarre. The stories take place over a 10 day period and are told by seven women and three men seeking refuge from a flood. Each day covers a different theme ranging from love, to trickery, to loyalty and more. The Heptameron is an important work in the development of French prose and is often compared to Boccaccio's Decameron. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.