Part 11

[Footnote 4: _Pynson_ here has, "and there is plenty of great neddres (_adders_) of whyche they make a greate fest and ete theym at great solemnytees. For, if a man make a greate fest, and had gyven them all the mete that he myght gete, and he give theym no neddres, he hath no thanke for all that he doth."]

[Footnote 5: Wool.]

[Footnote 6: Hangchow-fu.]

[Footnote 7: _Pynson_ says, "There is in y^t citie mo than VII thousand gates and each of III gate is a good toure where the kepers dwell," &c.]

[Footnote 8: Borders.]

[Footnote 9: Baboons.]

[Footnote 10: Convent.]

[Footnote 11: What is left over.]

[Footnote 12: _Pynson_ says III Thousand or IIII Thousand.]

[Footnote 13: Off.]

[Footnote 14: Seat or settlement.]

CAP. LXIIII.

_Of the lande of Pygmen,[1] wherein dwell but smal people of three spanne long._

WHEN men passe from that citie of Chibens, they passe over a great river of freshe water, and it is nere IIII mile brode & then men enter into the lande of the great Caan. This river goeth through the land of Pigmeens, and there men are of little stature for they are but three span long, and they are right fayre bothe men and women, though they bee little, and they are wedded when they are halfe a yere olde, and they live but viii[2] yeare, and he that liveth viii yeare is holden right olde, and these small men are the best workemen in sylke and of cotton in all maner of thing that are in the worlde, and these smal men travail not nor tyl land but they haue amonge them great men, as we are, to travaill for them & they haue great scorne of those great men, as we would haue of giaunts or of them if they were among us.

[Footnote 1: Pigmies, dwarfs. Homer, in the third book of the Iliad, has immortalized the Pigmies and their battles with the Cranes. (See Appendix for a curious engraving.) Pliny, in his 7th Book, cap. 2, speaks thus of them: "Beyond these people, and at the very extremity of the mountains, the Trispithami (_from_ [Greek: treis], _three, and_ [Greek: spithamai], _spans_), and the Pigmies are said to exist; two races that are but three spans in height--that is to say, twenty-seven inches only. They enjoy a salubrious atmosphere and a perpetual spring, being sheltered by the mountains from the northern blasts: it is these people that Homer has mentioned as being waged war upon by cranes. It is said that they are in the habit of going down, every spring, to the sea shore in a large body, seated on the backs of rams and goats, and armed with arrows, and there destroy the eggs and the young of those birds; that this expedition occupies them for the space of three months, and that otherwise it would be impossible for them to withstand the increasing multitudes of the cranes. Their cabins, it is said, are built of mud, mixed with feathers and egg-shells. Aristotle, indeed, says that they dwell in caves; but, in other respects, he gives the same details as other writers."]

[Footnote 2: Other editions say six or seven years.]

[Decoration]

CAP. LXV.

_Of the citie of Menke where is a great navy._

FROM this land men go through many countreys cities & towns, till they come to a citie that men call Menke. In that citie is a great navy of ships and they are as white as snow of the kind of the wod that they are made of & they are made as it were great houses with halles and chambres and other easements.[1]

[Footnote 1: Conveniences.]

CAP. LXVI.

_Of the land named Cathay and of the great riches thereof._

AND from thence men go uppon a river that men call Ceremosan, and this river goeth throughe Cathay[1] & doth many times harme when it waxeth great. Cathay is a faire countrey & rich, ful of goods and merchandises, thether come marchauntes everye yeare for to fetch spices and other marchandises more commonly than they do in other countreys. And ye shall understand that marchaunts that come from Venice or from Gene or from other places of Lombardy, or of Italy, they go by sea and land, xi monthes and more or they may come to Cathay.

[Footnote 1: Northern China.]

CAP. LXVII.

_Of a great citie named Cadon therein is the great Caanes palaice and sege._

IN the province of Cathay towards the East, is an olde citie & beside that citie the Tartariens have made an other citie that men call Cadon,[1] y^t hathe xii[2] gates, and betwene eche two gates is a great myle, so those two cities the olde and the new is round about xx myle. In this citie is the palaice and sege of y^e great Caane in a full faire place and great, of which the wals about is two myle, and within that are many fayre places, and in the gardeyne of that palaice is a right greate hill on the which is an other palaice, and it is the fayrest that may bee founde in any place, and all about that hyll are many trees berynge divers fruites, and about that hyll is a great dyche, and there nere are many rivers on eche syde, and in those are many wylde foules that he may take and not go out of the palayce. Within y^e hall of that palaice are xxiiii pillers of gold and all the walks are covered with rych skynnes of beastes that men call Panthera.

Those are fayre beastes and well smelling and of the smell of those skynnes, none evyll smell may come to the palayce, those skynnes are as redde as bloude, and they shine so against the Sonne that a man can scarcely beholde them and those skynnes are estemed there as much as golde.

In the myddest of the palace is a place made that they call the Monture[3] for the great Caane, that is well made with precious stones and great hanging about, and at the foure corners of that Montour are foure nedders[4] of golde, & under that mountour and about are conduites of bevrage that they drink in the Emperour's courte. And the hall of that palayce is richly dight and wel, and firste at the upper ende of the hall is the throne of the Emperour right hie where he sitteth at meate (_at a_) table that is well bordered with gold and that bordure is full of precious stones and great pearles, and the greces on which he goeth up are of diverse precious stones bordred with golde.

At the left syde of his throne is the sege of his wife a degree lower than he sitteth and that is of Jasper bordred with gold and the sege of his seconde wife is a degree lower than the fyrste, and that is also of good Jasper bordred with golde and the sege of the thyrd wife is a degree lower than the seconde for alwaye he hathe three wives with him wheresoeuer he is, besyde these wives on the same side setteth other ladies of his kin eche one lower than other, as they are of degree, and all those that are wedded, haue a counterfaite[5] of a man's foote uppon their heads a cubite long and all made with precious stones, & about they are made with shining fethers of pecockes or such other in tokening that they are in subjection to man & under men's feete, & they that are not wedded haue none such. On the right side of the Emperour sitteth fyrste his sonne the which shall be Emperour after him, and he sitteth also a degree lower than the Emperour in such maner of seges as the Emperour sitteth, and by him sitteth other lordes of his kyn, eche one lower than other as they are of degree. And the Emperour hath his table by himselfe alone that is made of golde and precious stones, or of white Crystal or yelowe, bordred with golde, and eche one of his wyves hath a table by hirselfe. And under the Emperours table sitteth foure clerkes at his feete that wryteth all that the Emperour sayth be it good or ylle. And at great feastes about the Emperours table, and all other tables in the hall is a vine made of gold that goeth all about the hall, and it hath many braunches of grapes lyke to grapes of the vine, some are white, some are yelowe, some red, some grene, and some blacke, all the red are of rubies of cremes[6] or allabonce, the white are of cristall or byrall,[7] the yelowe are of topaces, the grene are of Emeraudes & Crysolytes, and the blacke are of Quickes and Gerandes, & this vyne is made thus of precious stones so properly that it seemeth that it were a vyne growinge. And before the borde of the Emperour standeth great lordes and no man is so hardy to speke unto hym, except it be musicians for to solace the Emperour. And all the vessell that is served in his hall or chambres, are of precious stones and namely at tables where great lordes eate, that is to say, of Jasper, crystall, amatyst, or fyne golde, and the cuppes are of Emeraudes, saphyres, topaces, and many other maner of stones; and (_of_) silver haue they no vessell, for they praise silver but little to make vessell of, but they make of silver greces, pylers & paviments of halles & chambres. And ye shall understande that my felaw & I were in wages with him xvi moneths against the Kinge of Mancy,[8] uppon whome he made warre, and the cause was we had so great desire to see the nobilitye of his court, if it were suche as we heard speake of, and forsoth we founde it more richer & solempne than ever we harde speake of, and we should neuer haue beleved it, had we not seene it. But ye shall understande the meat and drinke is more honest among us than it is in those countreys, for all the comons eate upon skines of beastes on theyr knees and eate but fleshe of all maner of beastes, & when they haue all eate they wipe theyr handes on their skirtes & they eate but once in the day & eate but little bread but the maner of the lordes is full noble and richly.

[Footnote 1: Others call it Sugarmago or Eugarmago.]

[Footnote 2: _Pynson_ says seven.]

[Footnote 3: This is a curious term, which can scarcely be translated. A French edition has _Mountaynette_, which _Cotgrave_ says is a little mountain. A Latin edition says _Ascensorium_.]

[Footnote 4: Serpents.]

[Footnote 5: Representation.]

[Footnote 6: I have up to the present failed in finding equivalents for these two words, also for Quickes (spelt in _Pynson_ Onichez, which may probably mean onyxes,) and Gerandes. This latter word is spelt in one MS. _Garantez_, and may mean garnet. Cotgrave gives _Alabandique_, "a kinde of blacke stone mingled with purple."]

[Footnote 7: Beryl.]

[Footnote 8: _Marco Polo_ gives a graphic description of the invasion and subjection of Manzi, or Southern China, in the year 1268, by Kublai's great general _Bayan_ (great or noble) _Hundred eyes_. If, therefore, there is any truth in Mandeville, he and his "felaw" may have helped to put down an insurrection in the kingdom of Manzi.]

[Decoration]

CAP. LXVIII.

_Wherefore that the Emperour of Cathay is called the great Caane._

AND ye shall understande why he is called y^e great Caane, ye knowe y^t all the worlde was destroied with Noes floud but Noe his wife & children. Noe had three sons, Sem, Cham & Japhet. Cham when he saw his father naked when he slept, scorned him & therefore he was cursed and Japhet covered him againe. These three brethrene hadde all the land. Cham toke the best parte eastward that is called Asia. Sem toke Afryke and Japhet toke Europe. Cham was the mightiest and richest of his bretherne and of him are come the Paynim folke & divers maner of men of the yles, some headlesse, and other men disfigured, and for this Cham the Emperour there called him Cham and Lord of all. But ye shall understande that the Emperour of Cathay is called Caane, and not Cham, & for this cause, it is not long ago that all Tartary was in subjection and thrall to other nations about, and they were made herdemen to kepe beastes, and among them was vii linages[1] or kindes, the firste was called Tartary that is the best, the second linage is called Tamghot,[2] the third Furace,[3] the fourth Valaire, the fifth Semoth,[4] the sixth Menchy,[5] the seventh Sobeth.[6] These are all holding of the great Caane of Cathay. Now it befell so that the first linage was an olde man & hee was not ryche and men called him Chanius. This man lay and slept on a nighte in his bedde, and there came to him a knighte, all white, sitting uppon a white hors, and sayde to him, Caane slepeste thou? God that is almighty sent me to thee, & it is his will that thou saye to the vii linages y^t thou shalt be theyr Emperour, for ye shall conquere all the lande about you, and they shall be in your subjection as you have bene in theirs. And when morow came he rose up and sayde it to the vii linages, and they scorned him and sayde he was a fole, and the next night the same knighte came to the vii linages and bad them of gods behalfe to make Chanius their Emperour, and they shold be out of all subjection. And on the morow they chose Chanius to be Emperour, and dyd him all worship that they might do, & called him Caane as the white knighte called him, and they sayde they would doe as he badde them. Then he made many statutes and lawes, the which he called Ysakan.[7] The firste statute was, that they shoulde be obedient to God almyghtie, and beleve that he should deliver them out of thraldome, and that they shoulde call on him in all their workes. Another statute was, y^t all men that might beare armes shoulde be nombred, and to eche x shoulde be a master, and to a hundred a master, and to a thousand a master. Then he commaunded to all the greatest and principallest of the vii linages, that they should forsake all that they had in heritage or lordship, and that they should hold them payed of that he wold give them of his grace, and they did so. And also he bad them y^t eche man should bringe his eldest sonne before him, and sleay his owne sonne with his owne handes, and smyte of their heads, and as sone they did his bidding. And when he saw they made no letting[8] of what he bad them, then bad he them folow his baner, and then he put in subjection all the landes about him.

[Footnote 1: People or tribes.]

[Footnote 2: Tangut, or Tanghút, is the name given to certain tribes of Thibetan extraction, who lived on the north-west frontier of China.]

[Footnote 3: Called variously Eurache, Semoche, Megly and Coboghe, whose relative positions can scarcely now be defined accurately.]

[Footnote 4: As Footnote #3.]

[Footnote 5: As Footnote #3.]

[Footnote 6: As Footnote #3.]

[Footnote 7: Others write it Ysya-Chan.]

[Footnote 8: Hindrance.]

CAP. LXIX.

_How the great Caane was hid under a tree, and so escaped his enimies bicause of a byrd._

AND it befell on a day that the Caane rode with a fewe men to see the lande that he had wonne, and he met with a greate multitude of his enimies and there he was caste downe of his horse, and his horse slayne, and when his men saw him at y^e earth[1] they went[2] he had been deade, and fledde, & the ennimies folowed after, and when he sawe his ennimies were fer,[3] he hid him in a bushe, for the wod was thicke there, and when they were come againe from the chace, they went to seke among the wood if any were hid there, and they founde many, and as they came to the place where he was, they saw a birde sitte uppon a tree, the which byrd men call an Oule, and then sayd they, that there was no man, for the birde sat there, and so went they away, and thus was the Caane saved from death, & so he went awaye on a night to his owne men, which were glad of his comming, and from that time hitherwardes men of that countrey haue that byrde in great reverence, and for that cause they worship that byrd aboue all other birds of the worlde. And incontinent he assembled all his men, rode uppon his enimies and destroyed them, and when he had won all the landes that were aboute him, he helde them in subjection. And when the Caane had won all the lordes to mounte Belyan, the white knighte came to him in a vision againe, and said unto him, Caan the will of God is, that thou passe the mounte Belyan, and thou shalt win many landes, and for thou shalt find no passage, go thou to mount Belian that is upon the sea side and knele ix times thereon against the east in the worship of God, & he shall shew thee a way how thou shalt passe, and Caan did so, & anon the sea that touched the hil, withdrew him, & shewed him a faire way of ix foote brode betwene the hill and the sea, & so he passed right wel with al his men, & then he wan the land of Cathay that is the best land and the greatest of all the worlde, and for those ix knelings and the ix foote of way, Caane and the men of Tartary have the number of ix in great worship.

[Footnote 1: On the ground.]

[Footnote 2: Weened--supposed, imagined.]

[Footnote 3: Far away.]

CAP. LXX.

_Of the great Caanes letters and the wryting about his seale._

NOW when he had wonne the lande of Cathay he dyed, and then raigned after Cythoco[1] the eldest sonne of Caane, & his other brothers went to winne them landes in other countreys, and they wan the land of Pruisse, and of Russy & they dyd cal themselfe Caane, but he of Cathay is the greatest lorde of all the worlde and so he called him in his letters and sayth thus, _Caane filius dei excelsi, universam terram coulentium summus imperator, & dominus dominantium_ That is to say, Caane Gods son, Emperour of all those that tyll all the lande, and Lorde of all lordes. And the writing about his great seale is, _Deus in celo & Caane super terram ejus fortitudo omnium hominum imperatoris sigillum_ That is to say, God in heaven, Caan uppon earth, his strength the seale of the Emperor of all men. And the wryting about his privy seale is, _Dei fortitudo omnium hominum imperatoris sigillum_ That is to say, The strength of God, seale of the Emperour of all men. And if it be so that they be not christen, yet the Emperour and the Tartarins beleve in God Almightie.

[Footnote 1: In other editions Ecchecha. In reality, Ok-lar-Khan, who succeeded his father in 1229, and reigned over the Tartars till 1241.]

CAP. LXXI.

_Of the governaunce of the countrey of the great Caane._

NOW haue I tolde you why he is called the great Caane, now shall I tell you of the governinge of his courte when they make great feastes, and he kepeth foure principall feastes in the yeare, the fyrste of his byrth, the seconde when he is borne to the Temple to be circumcised, the third is of his ydoles when they begin to speake, and the fourth when the ydole beginneth fyrst to do myracles, & at those tymes he hath men well arayed by thousands and by hundreds and eche one wote well what he shal do. For there is fyrst ordeined 4000 rich barons and mighty for to ordeine the feast & to serve the Emperour & all these barons haue crowns of gold well dight with precious stones and pearles, and they are clad in clothes of golde & camathas[1] as richly as they may bee made & they may well have suche clothes for they are there of lesse pryce than wollen cloth is here. And these foure thousande barons are departed in foure parties, & eche company is clad in diverse colour ryght richely, and when the first thousand is passed and hath shewed them, then come the seconde thousande, and then the thirde thousande & then the fourth, and none of them speketh a word. And on the one side of the Emperours table sitteth many phylosophers of many sciences, some of Astronomie, Nygromancie[2], Geometry, Pyromacy,[3] & many other sciences, and some haue before them Astrolabes[4] of golde or of precious stones full of sande or of coles brenning, some haue horologes[5] well dight and richly, and many other instruments after their sciences. And at a certaine houre when they see time, they say to men that stand before them, make peace, and then saye those men with a loude voyce to all the hall, now be styll awhile, and then saith one of the philosophers, eche man make reverence and encline to the Emperour, that is Gods sonne, and lorde of the worlde, for now is time and houre, and then all men enclyne to him, and knele on the earth, and then the Phylosopher biddeth them rise up againe. And at another houre another philosopher biddeth them put their fingers in theyr eares and they do so, and at another houre another philosopher biddeth that all men shall laye their hande on their heads, and they do so, and then he biddeth them take them away and they doe so, and thus from houre to houre they bid divers thinges. And I asked privily what it shoulde meane and one of the masters said that the enclining and the kneling on the earth at that time hath this token, that all those men that kneled so shall evermore be true to the Emperour, that for no gift nor thretning they shal never be traitours nor false to him and the putting of the finger in the eare hath this token, that none of those shall here any yll spoken of the Emperour or his counsayll. And ye shall understande that men dight nothing, as clothes, bread, drinke nor no such things to the Emperour but at certaine hours that the Philosophers tell, and if any man reyse war against the Emperour in what countrey so ever it bee these Philosophers know it sone, & tell y^e Emperour or his counsail and he sendeth men thether, for he hath many men. Also he hath many men that kepeth birdes, as gerfaukons[6], sperhaukes,[7] faucons,[8] gentils,[9] lavers, sacres,[10] popyniaye[11] that can speake, and many other, ten thousande olyphants, baboynes, marmosets and other and he hath ever aboute him many Physicions more than two hundred that are Christen men & xx sarasyns, but yet he trusteth more to Christen men than in Sarasyns. And there is in that countrey many Sarasins and other Servaunts that are Christen and converted to the faith, through preching of good Christen men that dwel there, but there are many that will not that men[12] wete that they are Christen.

[Footnote 1: A rich silken or thread stuff.]

[Footnote 2: Necromancy, or foretelling events by pretended communion with the dead.]

[Footnote 3: Divination by fire.]

[Footnote 4: An astronomical instrument.]

[Footnote 5: Timepieces.]

[Footnote 6: Girfalcons.]

[Footnote 7: Sparrowhawks.]

[Footnote 8: Falcons.]

[Footnote 9: Gentles.]

[Footnote 10: Sakers or Peregrine hawks.]

[Footnote 11: Parrots.]

[Footnote 12: Will not let men know.]

CAP. LXXII.

_Of the great ryches of the Emperour and of his dispending._

THIS Emperour is a great lorde, for he may dispend what he will without nombre, bicause he spendeth nother sylver nor golde & maketh no money but of lether or skynnes, and this same money goeth through all his lande, and of the sylver & gold buylded he his palaces. And he hath in his chambre a piller of golde in the which is a Ruby, and carbuncle of a foote[1] long, the which lighteth all his chambre by night & he hath many other precious stones & rubies, but this is the most.[2] This Emperour dwelleth in the sommer towardes the North in a citie that men call Saydus and there it is colde enoughe, and in the winter he dwelleth in a citie that men call Camalach, and there it is right hot, but for the most part is he at Cadon, that is not farre thence.

[Footnote 1: Others say half a foot. There were always rumours in the East of wonderful rubies, especially one belonging to the King of Ceylon, which Kublai Khan is reported to have coveted, and wished to purchase.]

[Footnote 2: The greatest.]

CAP. LXXIII.

_Of the ordynaunce of the lordes of the Emperour when he rideth from one countrey to another to warre._