Part 9

And from thence men go through lyttle Armony,[3] & in that countrey is an olde castell that is on a rock, y^t men call the castell of Spirys, & there men finde an hawke sitting upon a perch right well made & a faire lady of Fayry that keepeth it, & he that will wake[4] this same hawke seven days and seven nightes, and some say that it is not but three days and three nightes, alone without any company and without slepe, this faire ladie shall come unto him at the vii dayes or iii dayes ende & shall graunte unto him the first thing that he will aske of worldly things, and that hath often ben proved. And so uppon a time it befell that a man which that tyme was Kinge of Armonye that was a righte doughty[5] man waked uppon a tyme, and at the seven dayes ende the lady came to him and bade him aske what he would for he had wel done his devoure,[6] and the king aunswered and sayde that he was a great lorde and in good peace, and he was riche, so that he would aske nothing but all onely the body of the fayre lady, or to haue his will of hir. Then this fayre lady aunswered and sayde unto him, that he was a foole, for he wist not what he asked, for he might not have hir, for he shoulde not haue asked hir but worldly thinges & she was not worldly. And the king sayde he woulde nought else, and she said sith he would aske nought else, she should graunt him three thinges and all that came after hym, and sayde unto him, Sir kinge you shall haue warre without peace unto the ix degree, and you shall be in subjection of your enemies, and you shall have greate nede of good and cattell, and sithen that tyme all the Kynges of Armonye have been in warre and nedefull[7] and under trybute of the Sarasyns. Also a poore mannes sonne as he waked on a tyme, and asked the lady that he might be rych and happy in marchaundise and the ladye graunted him, but she sayde to him that he hadde asked his undoynge for great pryde that he shoulde haue thereof. And this became so greate a marchaunte bothe by sea and lande, that he was so ryche that he knew not the thousande parte of hys goods. Also a Knight of the Templers waked likewise and when he had done, he desired to haue a purse full of golde and what soever he tooke thereof it shoulde ever be full againe and the ladye graunted it hym, but she tolde him that hee had desyred his destruction for great mistrowing that hee shoulde have of the same purse, and so it befell. But he that shal wake hath great nede for to kepe him from slepe, for if he sleepe he is lost that he shall neuer bee sene, but that is not the righte way, but for the mervaile. And from Topasonde men go to greate Armony to a citie that men call Artyron[8] that was wont to be a great Citie, but Turkes have destroyed it, for there neyther groweth no wyne nor fruyt. From this Artyron men go to an hyll that is called Sabissacol & there nere is another hil that men call Arath,[9] but the Jewes call it Thano where Archa Noe[10] rested after the diluvie[11] & yet it is on that hyll, a man may se it from ferre in cleare wether, & the hilles be xii[12] myle of height & some saye they haue bene there & put theyr fingers in the holes where the fende[13] went out when Noe sayde in this maner of wyse _Benedicite_. But they note well, for none may go on that hyll for snowe, that is alwaye uppon that hyll bothe wynter and somer, that no man may go by and never yode[14] syth Noe was, but a monke, through the grace of God, broughte a planke that yet is at the Abbey, at the hyll foote, and he had great desyre to go uppon that hyll, and aforced him thereto, and when he was at the thyrde part upwarde he was so wery that he might goe no further, and he rested him & slept and when he was awake he was downe at the hyll foote, and then prayed he to God devoutly that he would suffer him to go upon the hill, and the Aungell sayd that he should go upon the hil, and so he dyd, and since that tyme no man came there. And therefore men shoulde not beleve such wordes.

And from thence men go to a citie that men call Tanziro[15] and that is a fayre citie & good. Besyde that citie is an hyll of salte, and thereof every man taketh what he wyll and there dwelled many Christen men under tribute to the Sarasyns. From thence men go through many cities, townes, and castels towarde Inde, and then come to a citie that men call Cassaye that is a fayre citie, and in that citie is aboundance of corne wynes, and all maner of goods, and there met the three kynges togither that wente to make theyr offeryng to our Lord in Bethlehem. From that citie men go to a citie that men call Cardabago, and paynims say y^t Christen men may not dwell there, by[16] they dye sone and they know not the cause. And from thence men go through many countreys, cities & townes, that it were to long to tell, & to the citie of Carnaa, that was wont to be so great, that the wall about was of xxv myle, the wall sheweth yet, but it is not inhabited now with men, and there endeth the land of the Emperour of Perce.

[Footnote 1: Trebizond.]

[Footnote 2: Neighbouring countries.]

[Footnote 3: Armenia.]

[Footnote 4: Watch.]

[Footnote 5: Brave.

In the old Romance of Melusina, which was written by Jean d'Arras, Secretary to the Duc de Berri, brother to Charles V. of France--in 1387 (at the command of his master) is the legend of the Lady of the Sparrow Hawk, which shows how current it was at the time. According to his version, a fairy, named Presine, married King Helmas, and made him vow that he would never go near her at the time of childbirth. She bore him three daughters--Melusina, Melior, and Palestine--and at the birth of the latter the king broke his vow. When his children grew up they learnt this fact, and were very indignant at their father's conduct, to punish which (being gifted with supernatural power) they enclosed him in an enchanted mountain until he died. Presine was powerless to undo this deed, but she visited their unnatural conduct severely upon her daughters. Melusina was to become half serpent, half woman, every Saturday; Palestine was ever to watch their father's treasure on the top of a mountain in Arragon; while Melior's fate is thus told by the chronicler:--

"And thou Melyor to the I gyve a Castel in the grette Armenye, whyche is fayre and riche, wher thou shalt kepe a Sperschak unto the tyme that the grett maister shall hold his Jugement. And al noble and worthy knyghts, descended and come of noble lynee, that wil you watche there the day byfore the even, and th' even also of Saint Johan Baptiste, whiche is on the xx day of Juny, without any slep, shal have a geft of the of suche thinges, without to demande thy body, ne thy love, by maryage, nor other wise. And al thos that shal demande the without cesse, and that wol not forbere, and absteyn them not, shal be infortunat unto the IX lynee, and shal be put from theire prosperytees."]

[Footnote 6: Devoir, duty.]

[Footnote 7: Poor, needy.]

[Footnote 8: Erzeroum.]

[Footnote 9: Ararat.]

[Footnote 10: Noah's Ark.]

[Footnote 11: Flood.]

[Footnote 12: Others say seven.]

[Footnote 13: Fiend.]

[Footnote 14: Never went there.]

[Footnote 15: Tabreez or Tabriz.]

[Footnote 16: For.]

CAP. XLIX.

_Of the countrey of Job, and of the Kingedome of Caldee._

ON the other side of the citie of Carnaa men enter into the land of Job, that is a good lande & great plentie of all fruites & men call that land of Swere.[1] In this lande is the citie of Thomar. Job was a Paynim & also he was Cofraas son & he helde that lande as prince thereof, & he was so riche that he knew not the hondreth parte of his good, and after his povertie God made him richer than ever he was before, for after he was Kinge of Idumea after the death of King Esau, & when he was king he was called Joab, and in that kingedome he lived c yeare and lxx so that he was of age when he dyed cc yeare and xlviii. And in this lande of Job is no defaute[2] of nothing that is nedefull to mans body. There are hilles where men finde manna, and manna is called Aungell's bread that is a whit thing right sweete & much sweter than suger or hony, and that commeth of the dew of heaven that falleth on the herbes, and there it congeled and waxeth white and men doe it in medecines for riche men.

This lande marcheth to the lande of Caldee that is a great land, & there is full faire folke & well apparaited & they go richly araied with cloth of gold & with perls & other precious stones. But the women are righte foule & evill clad & go bare fote & bare an ill cote, large, wide, & short, unto theyr knees, & haue long sleves down to the fote, & they haue great black here long hanging about theyr shoulders & they are right foule for to loke upon that I dare not tell it all bicause that I am worthy for to haue a great reward for my praising of them. In this land of Caldee aforesayde is a citie that men call Hur & in y^t citie was Abraham y^e patriark born.

[Footnote 1: Susiana.]

[Footnote 2: Want of anything.]

CAP. L.

_Of the Kingedome of Amazony whereas dwelleth none but women._

AFTER the lande of Caldee is the lande of Amazony that is a land where there is no man but all women as men say, for they wil suffer no men to lyve among them nor to haue lordeshippe over them. For sometyme was a kinge in that lande and men were dwelling there as did in other countreys, and had wives, & it befell that the kynge had great warre with them of Sychy, he was called Colopius and hee was slaine in bataill and all the good bloude of his lande. And this queene when she herd that, & other ladies of that land, that the king and the lordes were slaine, they gathered them togither and killed all the men that were lefte in their lande among them, and sithen that time dwelled no man among them.

And when they will have any man they sende for them in a countrey that is nere theyr lande, and the men come and are ther viii dayes or as the woman lyketh, & then go they againe, and if they have men children they send them to theyr fathers when they can eate & go, and if they have maide chyldren they kepe them, and if they bee of gentill bloud they brene[1] the left pappe[2] away for bearing of a shelde, and if they be of little bloud they brene the ryght pappe away for shoting. For those women of that countrey are good warriours and are often in soudy[3] with other lordes, and the queene of that lande governeth well that lande, this lande is all environed with water. Beside Amazony is the lande of Termagute that is a good lande, King Alexander did make a citie ther that men call Alexandry.

[Footnote 1: Burn.]

[Footnote 2: Breast.]

[Footnote 3: War.]

[Decoration]

CAP. LI.

_Of the lande of Ethiope._

ON the other side of Calde toward the south side is Ethyope a great lande. In this lande on the south are the folke right blacke. In that side is a well that in the daye the water is so colde that no man may drinke thereof, & in the nighte it is so hote that no man may suffer to put his hand in it. In this lande the rivers and all the waters are troublous and some dele salte for the great hete, and men of y^t lande are lightly dronken & haue little appetite to meate, and they haue commonly the flixe of body and they live not long. In Ethiope[1] are such men that have but one foote, and they go so fast y^t it is a great marvaill, & that is a large fote that the shadow thereof covereth y^e body from son or rayne when they lye uppon their backes, and when their children be first borne they loke like russet, and when they waxe olde then they be all blacke. In Ethiope is the lande of Saba, of the which one of the three Kings that sought our Lorde at Bethleem was King.

[Footnote 1: Like many other marvellous stories related by Sir John Mandeville, they were told by Pliny, in his Natural History, nearly 1200 years previously. For instance, in Book 7, chap, li., devoted to Man, he quotes Ctesias as saying that in India is another race of men, who are known as Monocoli, who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. The same people are also called Sciapod[oe], because they are in the habit of lying on their backs during the time of extreme heat and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. For other types of these "peculiar people" see Appendix.]

CAP. LII.

_Of Inde the more, & Inde the lesse, & of diamonds, and small people, & other things._

FROM Ethyope men go into Inde through many dyverse countreys, and it is called Inde the more, and it is departed in three parties, that is to say, Inde the more that is a full hote lande, & Inde the lesse is a temperate land, and the thyrde part that is toward the north there it is right cold, so that for greate colde, frost & yce, the water becommeth Cristal & upon that groweth the good diamondes y^t is like a trouble[1] colour, & that Diamonde is so harde that no man may breake it. Other Diamonds men finde in Araby that are not so good for they are more softer and some are in Cipres and in Macedony men also finde diamondes but the best are in Inde & some are founde many times in a masse that cometh oute where men fynde golde from the myne when men breake the masse in pyeces, and sometyme men finde some of greatnesse of a pese,[2] and some lesse, and those are as harde as those of Inde, and all if it be that men fynde good dyamondes in Indie upon the Roch of Crystall, also menne finde good dyamondes upon the Roch of Adamante[3] in the sea and on hilles, as it were haysell noutes,[4] and they are all square and poynted of theyre owne kynde, and they grow both togither, male and female, and are noryshed with the dewe of heaven, and they engendre commonly & bring forth small children that multiply & growe all the yeare. I haue many times assayed that if a man kepe them with a lyttle of the roche, and wette them with many dewes oft times, they shal grow euery yeare, and the small shall waxe greate. And a manne shall bere the Diamonde in his left side, and then it is of more vertue, for the strength of theyr growing is toward the North, that is on the lefte side as men of those countreys say. To him that beareth the diamond upon him it giveth him hardinesse, it kepeth his lims of his body hole, it giveth victory of[5] enimies if a mans cause be ryght, and hym that bereth it in good will, it kepeth him from strife, from ryote, ill dreames, and sorcerys, and enchauntements, and no wylde beste shall greve him nor assaile him. And also the Dyamonde shoulde be given freely without covetyse and bying, & then it is of more vertue, it healeth him that is lunatyke, and he that is travailed with a divell, and if venym or poyson be brought in the presence of the Diamonde so soon it moysteth and beginneth to sweate, and men may well polyce[6] them to make men beleve that they may not be polyshed. But men may assaye them well in this maner, fyrst cut with them an diverse precious stones, as Saphyrs or other uppon Crystall and then men take a stone that is called Adamande, lay a nedell before that Adamande and if the Diamond is good & vertuous the Adamande draweth not the nedell to him whiles the Diamonde is there. And this is the proof that they make beyonde the sea. But it falleth sometime that the good diamond loseth his vertue through him that wereth it, and therefore it is nedefull for to make it to recover his virtue againe, or else it is lyttle of value.[7]

[Footnote 1: Prismatic.]

[Footnote 2: Pea.]

[Footnote 3: Rocks of Magnetic Loadstone were then firmly believed in.]

[Footnote 4: Hazel nuts.]

[Footnote 5: Over.]

[Footnote 6: Polish.]

[Footnote 7: This description of the diamond is largely taken from Pliny, book 37, chap. iv.]

CAP. LIII.

_Of diverse countreys & Kingdomes & yles of the lande of Inde._

MANY diverse countreys & Kingdoms are in Inde, and it is called Inde of a river that runneth through it, which is called Inde also & there are many precious stones in that river Inde. And in that ryver men finde Eles of xxx foote long & men y^t dwell nere that river are of evill colour, yelowe & grene. In Inde is more than fyve thousande yles that men dwell in good and great, beside those that men dwel not in. And in eche one of those is great plenty of cities and muche people, for men of Inde are of that condicion that they passe not out of theyr lande commonly, for they dwell under a planet that is called Saturne, & that planet maketh his course by the xii signes in xxx[1] yeare and the Mone passeth through the xii signes in a moneth and for that Saturne is of so late sterying,[2] therefore men that dwell under him, & in that clymate have no good will to be much sterying aboute. And in our countrey is it contrary, for we are in a climate that is of the mone, & of light stering and that is the planet of way, & therefore it giveth us will to much moving & steryng and to go into diverse countreys of the world, for it goeth about the worlde more lyghtly than any other planet dothe. Also men passe through Inde by many countreys unto the great Occean Sea. And then they fynde the yle of Hermes where marchaunts of Venis and of Gene and of other diverse partes of christendome come for to by them marchaundise.

In this lande men and women lye all naked in the ryvers and waters, from undren[3] or heate of the day tyll it be past none, and they ly all in the water but the face, for the great heat that is there, and the women be not ashamed for the men. In that yle are the ships without nayles of yron, or bond, for roches of Adamand[4] that are in the sea would draw shippes to them. From this yle men go by the sea to the yle of Lana where is great plenty of corne, and the King of this yle was sometime so mighty that he helde war against King Alexander with great strength. Men of this yle have many maner beleves and faithe & have also diverse lawes, for some do worship the Sunne, some the fyre, some the trees, & some the serpents, or any other thinge that they fyrst meete in the morning, and some doe worship simulacres[5] and Idoles, but betwene symulacres & ydoles is no[6] difference, and that is to understande, ymages made to what lykenesse of thing that man may invent, for some ymage hath an head lyke an Oxe, some haue three or foure heddes, on of a man or an hors or Oxe or any other best that no man hath seene. And ye shall understande that they that worship symulacres they worship them as for worthy men that were sometime, as Hercules, and other that dyd many mervayles in theyr tymes. For they saye they know well that they are not god of kynde[7] that made all thinges, but that they are wel[8] with god for the mervayles that they did, and therefore they worship them. And so say they of the sonne, for it chaungeth oft tymes, for it giueth sometime great heate for to nourych[9] all things on earth, & bicause it is of so greate profyte they knowe well that it is not God but it is well with God & that God loveth it more than any other thing, and for this cause they worshippe it. And also they saye theyr reasons of other planettes, and of fyre also, for it is profitable, and nedefull. And of ydolls they say the Oxe is the holyest that they may finde here in earthe, and more profitable than any other, for he doth much good, and none ille, and they knowe well that it maye not bee without the speciall grace of God, and therefore they make theyr God of an Oxe, the one halfe, and the other halfe a man, for man is the fairest and the best creature of the worlde. And they doe worship to serpentes, and other beastes that they fyrste meete with in the morninge, and namely those bestes that have good, meting after whome they speake[10] well all the day after, the which they have proved of long time, & therefore they say that this meting cometh of Gods grace, and therefore they doe make ymages lyke unto those things that they may worship them before they meete anythinges else. And there are some christen men that say that some bestes are better for to meet than some, for hares, swine, and other bestes are ill to meete first, as they saye. In this yle of Cana is many wilde bestes, & rattes in that countrey are as great as houndes here, and they take them with mastifes, for cattes may not take them. Fro thence men come to a citie that men call Sarchys, and it is a faire and a goode citie and there dwell many christen men of Gods faith, and there be men of religion. From thence men come to the land of Lombe & in that lande groweth peper in a forest that men call Tomber & it groweth in none other place more in all the worlde than in that forest, and that forest is well L[11] daies journey. And there by the lande of Lombe is the Citie of Polomes,[12] and under that Citie is an hyll that men call Polombe and thereof taketh the citie his name. And so at the fote of the same hill is a right faire and a clere well, that hath a full good and sweete savoure, and it smelleth of all maner of sortes of spyces, and also at eche houre of the daye it changeth his savour diversly, and who drinketh thries on the daye of that well, he is made hole of all maner (_of_) sickenesse that he hathe. I have sometime dronke of that well, and methinketh yet that I fare the better; some call it the well of youth, for they that drinke thereof seme to be yong alway, and live without great sicknesse, and they saye this well, cometh from Paradise terrestre, for it is so vertuous, and in this lande groweth ginger, and thither come many good marchauntes for spyces. In this countrey men worship the Oxe for his great simpleness and mekenesse, and the profite that is in him, for they make the Oxe to travaile vi or vii yere and then men do eate him. And the Kinge of that land hath euermore one Oxe with him, and he that kepeth him euery day taketh hys fees for the keping. And also euery daye he gathereth his uryne and his dong in a vessell of gold, and bereth it to the prelate that they call, Archi porta papaton[13] and the prelate bereth it to the King, and maketh thereupon a great blessing and then the King putteth his hande therein, and they call it gaule and hee anoynteth his fronte, and his breste therewith, and they doe it great worship, and saye he shall be fulfilled with the vertu of the Oxe before sayde, and that he is halowed through vertue of that holy thinge as they saye. And when the Kinge hath this done, then doe it other lordes, and after them other men after theyr degree, if they may haue any of the remenaunt.[14] In thys countrey theyr ydoles are halfe men and halfe oxe, as the figure sheweth in the seconde lefe here before, and out of these ydolles the wycked ghost[15] speaketh unto them, and giveth them aunswere of what thing that they aske him, and before these ydolles they many times sleay theyr children, and sprinkle the blood on the ydoles, and so make they sacrifice. And if any man die in that countrey, they brene them in tokening of penaunce that he should suffer no penance if he were layd in the earth for eating of wormes. And if his wife haue no children then they burne hir with him, and they saye that is good reason that she keepe him company in the other worlde, as she dyd in this, & if she haue children she may liue with them and[16] she will; and if the wyfe dye before, she shall be burnt, & hir husbande also, if he will. In this countrey groweth good wine, & women drink wine & men none, and women shaue theyr berds & not men.

[Footnote 1: _Pynson_ says 20 years.]

[Footnote 2: Slow motion.]

[Footnote 3: An early hour before noon. A Latin edition has it:--"_A diei hora tertia, usq: ad nonam_."]

[Footnote 4: Loadstone rocks.]