Part 14
AND King Alexander sometime sent his men to win that lande, and they sent him letters that sayde thus, What behoveth a man to have all the worlde, that is not content therewithal: thou shalt fynde nothing at al in us, why that thou shouldest make warre upon us, for we haue no ryches nor treasure, and all the cattell of our countrey are common, our meates that we eate are our riches, and instede of gold and silver, we make our treasure peace & concorde of love, and we have nought but a cloth uppon our bodies, our wyves are not arrayed rychely to pleasing, for we holde it a great foly for a man to tryme up his body with costly aparel to make it seme fairer than God made it. We haue ben evermore in peace til now y^t thou wilt disherite us. We haue a king among us, not for nede of the law, nor to judge any man, for there are no trespassours among us, but all onely to learne us to be obedient to him & so maist you take from us but our good peace. And when King Alexander saw this letter he thought he shold doe to much harme if he troubled them, and sent to them that they should kepe well theyr good maners, & haue no dread of him.
CAP. XCVII.
_How the Emperour Prester John when he goeth to batayle, he hath three crosses borne before him of fine gold._
THIS Emperour Prester John, when he goeth to batayle, he hath no baner borne before him, but he hath borne before him three crosses of fine gold, & those are large & great, and well set with precious stones, & for to kepe eche crosse, is ordeyned a thousand[1] men of armes, in maner as men kepe a standerde in other countreys, and he hath men without number when he goeth in any batayle against any other lord. And when he hath no battayle but rydeth with privy company, then doth he beare before him a crosse of tree[2] not painted, and without gold or precious stones, and all playne in token that our lord Jesu Christ suffered death on a cross of tree. And also he hath borne before him a platter of gold ful of earth, in token y^t lordship and noblenesse shal tourne to nought, & his flesh shall turne to earth. And also he has borne before him another vessell full of Jewels, and golde and precious stones, in token of his noblenes and of his might.
[Footnote 1: Others say 10,000.]
[Footnote 2: A wooden cross.]
CAP. XCVIII.
_Of the moste[1] dwelling place of Prester John in a citie called Suse._
AND he dwelleth commonly at the citie of Suse, & there is his principall palaice that is so riche that marvayle is to tell, & about the principall toure of the palaice are two pomels[2] of gold all round, and eche one of those hath two carbuncles great & large, y^t shine ryght clere in the night, and y^e principal gates of this palaice are of precious stones that men call Saraine[3] & the borders of the barres are of Ivory, & windowes of the hall and chambers are of Cristall, and tables that they eate of, some Emerandes, some are of Mayk,[4] some of golde and precious stones, and the pillers that beare the tables are of such stones also, and the greces on the which y^e Emperour goeth to his sege where he sitteth at meat, one is of Mastik,[5] another of Cristal, another of green Jasphy,[6] another of Diasper,[7] another of Serdin,[8] another of Cornelin,[9] another of Seuton, & that he setteth his fote upon, is of Crisolites, and all these greces are bordered with fine gold, and well set with great perles and other precious stones, and ye side of the sege are Emerauds bordred with gold and with precious stones, the pillers in his chambre are of fine gold with many Carbuncles and other such stones that giue great light in the night, and all if the Carbuncles giue great light, neuerthelesse there burneth xii[10] great vessels of Cristall full of balme to giue good smell, and to drive away evill ayre. The fourme[11] of his bedde is all of Saphire well bound with gold to make him slepe well & for to destroy lechery, for he will not lye by his wives but thrise[12] a yeare, after the seasons, and all onely for getting of children. And he hath also a fayre palayce in the city of Nyse where he dwelleth when he wil, but the aier there is not so well tempered as it is in the citie of Suse. And he hath euery day in his courte more than xxx thousand men, besides comers and goers, but xxx thousand there or in the court of the great Caane spendeth not so much as xii thousand in our countrey. He hath euermore vii kinges in his court to serve him and eche one of them serveth a moneth, and with these kinges serue alway Lxxii Dukes & CCC[13] erles, and euery day eat in his court xii archbishops and xx byshops. The patryarke of saint Thomas is as he were a pope and Archbishops and byshops & abbotes, all are kings in that countrey, and some of the lordes is master of the hall, some of the chambre, some steward, some marshal, and other officers, and therefore he is ful rychley served. And his land lasteth in breadth four moneths journey and it is of length without measure.
[Footnote 1: The greatest.]
[Footnote 2: A ball or knot.]
[Footnote 3: ? Sardonyx.]
[Footnote 4: Another edition says Amethysts.]
[Footnote 5: Another edition says Onyx.]
[Footnote 6: Probably Jasper.]
[Footnote 7: Another edition says Amethyst, but as the whole is so apocryphal it does not much matter.]
[Footnote 8: Sardine or Sardonyx.]
[Footnote 9: Cornelian. What Seuton is I will not even venture to guess at.]
[Footnote 10: Another edition says, "a great vessel."]
[Footnote 11: The framework.]
[Footnote 12: Others say four times.]
[Footnote 13: Elsewhere it is 360.]
CAP. XCIX.
_Of the wildernesse wherein groweth the trees of the sonne & the Moone._
AND beyond that river is a great wildernesse as men that haue ben there say. In this Wildernesse as men saye are the trees of the Sonne and of the Mone that spake to Kyng Alexander and tolde him of his death, and men saye that folke that kepe these trees & eate of the fruits of them, they live foure or five hundred yeare through vertue of the fruite, and we woulde gladly haue gone thyther, but I beleve that an hundred thousand men of armes shold not passe that wildernesse for great plenty of wilde beastes, as dragons and serpents that sley men when they pass that way. In this lande are many Oliphantes all white and blew without number, and unicornes & lyons of many maners.[1] Many other yles are in the land of Prester John that were to long to tell, and much ryches and nobly of precious stones in great plenty. I beleve y^t we haue herd say why this Emperour is called Prester John but for those that know it not I wil declare. There was sometime an Emperour that was a noble prince, & doughty, & he had many christen Knights with him and y^e Emperour thought hee woulde see the service in Christen churches, and then was churches of christendome in Turkey, Surry and Tartary, Hierusalem, Palistine, Araby and Alappy,[2] and all the lordes[3] of Egypte. And thys Emperour came with a Christen Knight into a church of Egipt and it was on a saterday after Whit sonday when the byshop gaue orders, and he behelde the service and he asked of the Knight what folke those should be that stode before the Byshop, and the Knight sayd they should be prestes, & he sayde he wold no more be called Kinge ne Emperour but preest, and he would haue the name of him that came first out of the prestes and he was called John, and so haue all the Emperors sythen[4] be called Prester John. In this lande are many Christen men of good faith & good lawe, and they haue prestes to sing masse, and they make the sacrements as men of Grece do, but they say not but that y^e Apostles said as saint Peter, and saint Thomas, and other apostles when they song masse and said _Pater noster_, and the wordes with the which Gods body is sacred; we haue many addicions of Popes that haue bene ordeyned of which men in those countreys know not.
[Footnote 1: Kinds or sorts.]
[Footnote 2: ? Aleppo.]
[Footnote 3: Other editions read _land_.]
[Footnote 4: Since then.]
CAP. C.
_Of a great yland and kingedome called Taprobane._[1]
TOWARDE the East side of Prester John's lande is an yle that men call Taprobane, & is right good and fructuous,[2] and there is a great Kyng and a rych, and he is obedient unto Prester John & the King is alway made by eleccion. In this yle is ii wynters and two somers, and they shere[3] corne twise in the yere, all times in the yeare gardeins florysheth. There dwelleth good people and reasonable and many Christen men among them that are full rich, and the water betwene the syde of Prester John and this yle is not full depe for men may see the grounde in many places.
[Footnote 1: There seems a difference of opinion whether this island is Ceylon or Sumatra.]
[Footnote 2: Fruitful.]
[Footnote 3: Reap.]
CAP. CI.
_Of two other yles, one is called Orel, & the other Argete where are many gold mines._
THERE are more eastward two other yles--y^e one is called Orell and the other Argete of whom all the land is mine of gold & silver. In those yles many men se no sters[1] clere shining, but one starre y^t is called Canapos[2] and there many men se not y^e Mone but in the last quarter. In that yle is a great hyll of golde that pismyres[3] kepe, & they do fine golde from the other that is not fine golde, and the pismyres are as great as houndes, so that no man dare come there for dread of pismyres that should assayle them so that men may not worke in that gold nor get thereof but by subtiltie, and therefore when it is righte hote the pismyres hide them in the earth from undern[4] to none of the daye, and then men of the countrey take Cameles and dormedaries and other beastes & go thither and charge them with gold and go away fast or the pismyres come out of the earth. And other times when it is not so hot y^t the pismyres hide them not, they take mares that haue foles, and they lay upon these mares two long vessels as it were two small barels and the mouth upwards and drive them thether and holde theyr foles at home, and when the pismyres se these vessels they spring therein, for they haue[5] of kinde to leue no hole nor pyt open, and anone they fyl these vessels with golde, and when men think that the vessels be full they take the foles and bring them as nere as they dare, and then they whine, and the mares heare them, and anone they come to theyr foles and so they take the gold, for these pismyres will suffer beastes for to go among them, but no men.
[Footnote 1: Stars.]
[Footnote 2: Canopus, a star of the first magnitude, in the rudder of the constellation _Argo_.]
[Footnote 3: Ants.]
[Footnote 4: See footnote, _ante_, p. 125.]
[Footnote 5: For it is their habit.]
CAP. CII.
_Of the darke countrey and hils and roches of stone nigh to Paradise._
BEYOND the yles of the lande of Prester John and his lordeship of wildernesse to go right East, men shall not finde but hils, great rocks and other myrke[1] lande, where no man may see a day or night as men of the countrey say, and this wildernesse and myrke land lasteth to Paradise terrestre, where Adam and Eve were sette, but they were there but a lyttle while, and that is toward the East at the beginning of the earth, but that is not our East that we call where the Son ryseth in those countreys towarde Paradise, and then it is midnight in our countrey for the roundnesse of the earth, for our Lorde made the earth all rounde in the middest of y^e fyrmament. Of Paradise can I not speake properly for I haue not bene there, but that I haue heard I shall tell you. Men say that Paradise terrestre is the highest lande in all the worlde, and it is so high that it toucheth nere to the cyrcle of the Mone, for it is so high y^t Noes floude might not come thereto which covered all the earth about.
[Footnote 1: Dark, murky.]
CAP. CIII.
_A lyttle of Paradise terrestre._
THIS Paradise terrestre is enclosed al about with a wall, and that wall is all covered with mosse as it semeth, y^t men may see no stone nor nothing else whereof it is, and in the highest place of Paradise in the middest of it is a well that casteth out the foure flouds that run through divers landes. The first floud is called Phison or Ganges, and that runneth through Inde, in that river are many precious stones and much _Lignum Aloes_ & gravel of golde. Another is called Nilus or Gison, and y^t runneth through Ethiope & Egipt. The third is called Tigre & that runneth through Assyry & Armony the great. And the fourth is called Eufrates, y^t runneth through Armony and Percy & men say that the sweete and fresh waters of y^e world take their springing of them. The first river is called Phison, that is to say, gathering of many rivers together & faling into one, and some call it Ganges, for a King y^t was in Inde that men cal Gangeras, for it runneth through his land & this river is in some places cleane, in some places troble,[1] in some places hot, in some places cold. The second river is called Nilus or Gison, for it is ever trouble, for Gison is to say troble. The third river is called Tigris that is to say fast running, for it runneth faster than any of the other, & so is a beast that men call Tigris for he runneth fast. The fourth ryver is called Eufrates y^t is to say well bearing, for there groweth many good things upon that ryver. And ye shall understande that no man living may go unto y^t Paradise, for by land he may not go for wylde beastes which are in the wyldernesse, and for hylls and rocks where no man may passe. Nor by those ryvers may no man passe, for they come with so great course and so great waves that no ship may saile against them. Many great lordes haue essayed many times to go by those rivers to Paradise, but they might not spede in theyr way, for some dyed for werynesse of rowinge, some waxt blynde and some defe for noise of the waters, so no man may passe there but through speciall grace of God--for I can tell you no more of that place. I shall tell you of that I haue seene.
[Footnote 1: Troubled or muddy.]
[Decoration]
CAP. CIIII.
_How Prester Johns land lyeth foote against[1] foote to Englande._
THERE yles of the land of Prester John, they are under the earth to us, & other yles are there whoso wold pursue them for to environ the earth whoso had grace of God to hold the waye, he mighte come right to the same countreys that he were come of and come from & so go about the earth, and for that it asketh so long tyme, & also there are so many perils to passe that fewe men assay to go so, and yet it might be done, & therefore men come from these yles to other yles costing of the lordship of Prester John, & men come in the coming to one yle y^t men cal Cassoy, & that country is nere Lx journeys long & more than L of bredth, that is the best land that is in those countreys saue Cathay & if marchants came thither as commonly as they do to Cathay, it would be better than Cathay, for it is so thick of cities & towns y^t when a man goeth out of a citie he seeth another on eche side. There is great plenty of spices and other goods. Ye king of this ile is rich & mighty & he holdeth his land of y^e great Caan for y^t is one of y^e xii princes[2] that the great Caan hath under him beside his owne lande.
[Footnote 1: Antipodes.]
[Footnote 2: Misprint for provinces.]
CAP. CV.
_Of the Kingedome of Ryboth._
FROM this yle men go another kyngdome that is called Riboth, and that is also under y^e great Caan. This is a good countrey and plentious of corne, wine & other things, men of this lande haue no houses but they dwell in tentes made of tree. And the principall citie of the countrey is all blacke made of black stones and white and all the streetes are paved with such stones and in the citie is no man so hardy to spil blood of man ne beast, for worship of a mawment[1] that is worshiped there. In that citie dwelleth the Pope of their lawe, that they call Lopasse, and he giveth all dignities & benefices that fall to y^e mawmet. And men of religion and men that haue churches in that countrey are obedient to him as men here to the pope. In this yle they haue a custome through all the countrey that when a mans father is dead they wil do him great worship, they send after all his friends, religious priests and many other, and they beare the body to an hill with great Joy and myrth, and whan it is there, the greatest prelate smiteth of his head, & laieth it upon a great plate of gold, or silver, and giveth it to his sonne and his son taketh it to his other friends, singing and sayinge many orysons,[2] and then the prestes and the religious men cut the flesh of[3] the body in peces and say orysons, and the byrds of the countrey come thether, for they know well the custome, and they flye about them as they were egles and other birds that eate flesh, and the priestes cast the pieces unto them, and they beare it away a little from thence and then they eate it, and as priestes in our countrey sing for soules _subvenite sancti dei_ and so forth, so those prestes ther syng with high voyce in their language in this maner wyse. Se and beholde how good and gracious a man this was, that ye aungels of God come for to fetch him & beare him into Paradise. And then thinketh y^e son of the same man that he is greatly worshipped when birds haue eaten his father, and where are most plenty of byrds, there is most worship. And then cometh the sonne home with all his friendes, and maketh them a great feast, the sonne maketh cleane his fathers head and giveth them drynke thereof, & the fleshe of the head he cutteth of, and giveth it to his moste speciall fryends, some a lyttle, & some a lyttle, for deynty. And in remembrance of this holy man that the birds haue eaten, the sonne doth make a cuppe of the scalpe[4] & thereof drinketh he all his life, in remembrance of his father.
[Footnote 1: A puppet or doll, or mammet--an idol--probably so called as a contraction for Mahomet.]
[Footnote 2: Prayers.]
[Footnote 3: Off.]
[Footnote 4: Skull.]
[Decoration]
CAP. CVI.
_Of a rych man that is neyther king, prince, duke nor erle._
AND from this men go ten journeys through the land of the great Caan, which is a full good yle & a great kingdom & the king is ful mighty. And in this yle is a rich man which is no king, prince, Duke nor Erle, but he hath eche yere cccc[1] thousand horses charged[2] with ryce and corne, and he hath a noble & a rich life after the maner of the countrey, for he hath L damosels that serve him every day at his meate & bed and do what he wil. And when he sytteth at the table they bring him meat, & at eche time fiue meates togither, and they sing in the bringing a song, and they cut his meate and put it in his mouth, and he hath righte long nayles on his hands, that is a great nobility in that countrey & therefore they let theyr nayles grow as long as they may,[3] and some let them growe so long that they come about theyr handes and y^t is a great nobility & gentry, and the gentry of a woman is to haue small fete, and therefore anon as they are borne, they binde their feete so straight that they cannot wax halfe as they shoulde. And he hath a full faire palaice, & rich, wher he dwelleth, of which the wall is two myle about, & there is many faire gardeins, and all the pavement of the hal, & chambres, is of gold & silver, and in the midst of one of these gardeins is a lyttle hyl, whereon is a place made wyth toures and pynacles all of golde, and there he wyll syt often to take the ayer and disport, for it is made for nothing else. From this land men may go through y^e land of the great Caane.
[Footnote 1: Other editions say 300,000.]
[Footnote 2: Loaded.]
[Footnote 3: Similar to the Chinese custom of the upper classes.]
CAP. CVII.
_How all these landes yles and kingdomes, and the men therof afore rehersed, haue some of the articles of our faith._
AND ye shall understand that all these men & folke that haue reason y^t I haue spoken of, haue some articles of our faith, all[1] if they be of divers lawes and divers beleves, yet they haue some good poynts of our fayth, & they beleve in God of kinde as theyr prophecie sayth, _Et metuent eum omnes fines terræ_, That is to say, And all endes of the earth shall dread him. And in another place, _Omnes gentes servient ei_, That is to say, All folk shall serve him, but they cannot speak parfitly but as theyr kyndly wit teacheth them, neither of the Son nor of the Holy Ghost can they speake, but they can speake well of the Byble, and specially of Genesis, and of the bokes of Moyses. And they say that those creatures y^t they worship are no gods, but they worship them for great vertue that is in them which may not be without special grace of God, & of simulacre and ydoles, they say that all men haue simulacres, and that, say they, for us christen men haue ymages of our Lady & other, but they wot not that we worship not the ymages of stone nor of wood, but the saynts of whome they are made, for as the letter teacheth clarkes how they shal beleve, so ymages and paynture teacheth lewde[2] men. They say also that the aungell of God speaketh to them in their ydoles & do miracles, they say soth,[3] but it is the evil aungell that doth myracles to maintaine them in their ydolatrie.
[Footnote 1: Even.]
[Footnote 2: Unlearned.]
[Footnote 3: Truly.]
CAP. CVIII.
_How John Maundevyl leveth many mervailes unwrytten & the cause wherefore._
THERE are many other countreys where I haue not yet ben nor sene & therefore I can not speke properly of them. Also in countreys where I haue bene are many marvailes that I speke not of, for it were to long a tale and therefore hold you payd at this time y^t I haue sayd, for I will say no more of mervailes that are there, so that other men that go thither may fynde ynough for to say that I haue not tolde.
[Decoration]
CAP. CIX.
_What time John Maundevil departed out of England._
AND I John Maundevil that went out of my countrey and passed the sea, the yeare of our lord MCCCXXII and I haue passed through many landes and yles and countreys, and now am come to rest. I haue compyled this boke and do wryte it the yeare of our Lord MCCCLXVI at XXXIV yeare after my departing from my countrey, & for as much as many men beleve not that they see with theyr eyen, or y^t they may conceive & know in their mynde, therefore I made my way to Rome in my coming homewarde, to shew my boke to the holy father the pope,[1] and tell him of the mervayles y^t I had sene in diverse countreys; so that he with his wise counsel wold examine it, with diverse folke y^t are at Rome, for there dwell men of all nations of the world, and a lytle time after when he & his counsel had examined it all through, he sayde to me for a certayne that it was true for he sayd he had a boke of latin contayning all that and much more, of y^e which _Mappa Mundi_ is made, the which boke I saw, & therefore the pope hath ratyfied & confirmed my boke in all poyntes. And I pray to all those that rede this boke, that they will pray for me and I shall pray for them, & all those that say for me our Lord's prayer & that God forgive me my sinnes, I make them parteners & graunt them part of all my good pylgrimages and other good dedes which I ever dyd or shall do to my lyves ende & I pray to God of whome all grace cometh, that he will, all the readers and hearers that are christen, fulfil with his grace, and saue them body and soule & bring them to his Joy that euer shall last. He that is in the Trinitie, the Father, the Sonne, and the Holy Ghost, that liveth & raigneth God without ende
Amen
[Footnote 1: Urban V.]
Imprinted at London in Breadstreat at the nether ende by Thomas East. An 1568 The 6 day of October
[Decoration]
[Decoration]
_Here beginneth the journall of Frier Odoricus, one of the order of the Minorites, concerning strange things which hee sawe among the Tartars of the East._