Having the tree cut down suggests that Lydia has metaphorically castrated Nicostratos, and indeed her romp with Pyrrhus has completely inverted all the normal social hierarches, in which a servant must respect his master and a wife must be faithful to her husband. While Panfilo suggests that Lydia is able to pull off her trick thanks to the aid of fortune, it seems to have little role in the tale other than bringing Pyrrhus to her attention. The trick is entirely of her own creation, and it demonstrates something that could generously be called cleverness, which also demonstrates the deviousness of women.