The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, by John Mandeville

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Transcribed from the 1900 Macmillan and adventure playsets for 3 year olds under 50 dollarsCo. edition by DavidPrice, email [email protected]

The Travels
of
Sir John Mandeville

The version of the CottonManuscript
in modern spelling

With three narratives, inillustration of it,
from Hakluyt’s“Navigations, Voyages& Discoveries”

London
Macmillan and Co. Limited
New York: The Macmillan Company
1900

p. ivGLASGOW:PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE & CO.

p.vBIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The Travels of Sir John Mandevillewere edited anonymously in 1725, in the version for which a‘Cotton’ manuscript in the British Museum is our onlyextant authority.  From 1499, when they were first printedby Wynkyn de Worde, the Travels had enjoyed greatpopularity in England, as in the rest of Europe; but the printededitions before 1725 had all followed an inferior translation(with an unperceived gap in the middle of it), which had alreadygained the upper hand before printing was invented.  Anothermanuscript in the British Museum, belonging to the‘Egerton’ collection, preserves yet a third version,and this was printed for the first time by Mr. G. F. Warner, forthe Roxburghe Club, in 1889, together with the original Frenchtext, and an introduction, and notes, which it would be difficultto over-praise.  In editing the Egerton version, Mr. Warnermade constant reference to the Cotton manuscript, which he quotedin many of his critical notes.  But with this exception, noone appears to have looked at the manuscript since it was firstprinted, and subsequent writers have been content to take thecorrectness of the 1725 text for granted, priding themselves,apparently, on the care with which they reproduced all thesuperfluous eighteenth century capitals with which every line isdotted.  Unluckily, the introduction of needless capitalswas the least of the original editor’s p. vicrimes, forhe omits words and phrases, and sometimes (a common trick withcareless copyists) a whole sentence or clause which happens toend with the same word as its predecessor.  He was also adeliberate as well as a careless criminal, for the paragraphabout the Arabic alphabet at the end of Chapter XV. beingdifficult to reproduce, he omitted it altogether, and not onlythis, but the last sentence of Chapter XVI. as well, because itcontained a reference to it.

That it has been left to the editor (who has hitherto ratheravoided that name) of a series of popular reprints to restorewhole phrases and sentences to the text of a famous book is notvery creditable to English scholarship, and amounts, indeed, to apersonal grievance; for to produce an easily readable text of anold book without a good critical edition to work on must alwaysbe difficult, while in the case of a work with the peculiarreputation of ‘Mandeville’ the difficulty is greatlyincreased.  Had a critical edition existed, it would havebeen permissible for a popular text to botch the few sentences inwhich the tail does not agree with the beginning, and to correctobvious mistranslation without special note.  But‘Mandeville’ has an old reputation as the‘Father of English Prose,’ and when no trustworthytext is available, even a popular editor must be careful lest hebear false witness.  The Cotton version is, therefore, herereproduced, ‘warts and all,’ save in less than adozen instances, where a dagger indicates that, to avoid printingnonsense, an obvious flaw has been corrected either from the‘Egerton’ manuscript or the French text.  When aword still survives, the modern form is adopted: thus‘Armenia’ and ‘soldiers’ are here printedinstead of ‘Ermony’ and‘soudiours.’  But a new word is neversubstituted for an p.viiold one, and the reader who is unfamiliar with obsoletewords, such as ‘Almayne’ (Germany) or‘dere’ (harm),—there are surprisingly few for abook written five centuries ago,—must consult theunpretentious glossary.  Of previous editions, that of 1725and the reprints of it, including those of Halliwell-Phillipps,profess, though they do not do so, to reproduce the manuscriptexactly.  Thomas Wright’s edition is really atranslation, and that issued in 1895 by Mr. Arthur Layard oftencomes near to being one, though the artist-editor has shown farmore feeling for the old text than his too whimsicalillustrations might lead one to expect.  It is hoped thatthe plan here adopted preserves as much as possible of thefourteenth century flavour, with the minimum of disturbance tothe modern reader’s enjoyment.

The plan of this series forbids the introduction of criticaldisquisitions, and I am thus absolved from attempting any theoryas to how the tangled web of the authorship of the book should beunravelled.  The simple faith of our childhood in a Sir JohnMandeville, really born at St. Albans, who travelled, and told inan English book what he saw and heard, is shattered topieces.  We now know that our Mandeville is a compilation,as clever and artistic as Malory’s ‘Morted’Arthur,’ from the works of earlier writers, withfew, if any, touches added from personal experience; that it waswritten in French, and rendered into Latin before it attractedthe notice of a series of English translators (whose own accountsof the work they were translating are not to be trusted), andthat the name Sir John Mandeville was a nom de guerreborrowed from a real knight of this name who lived in thereign of Edward II.  Beyond this it is difficult to unravelthe knot, despite the ends which lie p. viiitemptingly loose.  ALiège chronicler, Jean d’Outremeuse, tells a storyof a certain Jean de Bourgogne revealing on his deathbed that hisreal name was Sir John Mandeville; and in accordance with thisstory there is authentic record of a funeral inscription to a SirJohn Mandeville in a church at Liège.  Jean deBourgogne had written other books and had been in England, whichhe had left in 1322 (the year in which “Mandeville”began his travels), being then implicated in killing a nobleman,just, as the real Sir John Mandeville had been implicated tenyears before in the death of the Earl of Cornwall.  We thinkfor a moment that we have an explanation of the whole mystery inimagining that Jean de Bourgogne (he was also called Jeanàla Barbe, Joannes Barbatus) had chosen to fatherhis compilation on Mandeville, and eventually merged his ownidentity in that of his pseudonym.  But Jeand’Outremeuse, the recipient of his deathbed confidence, isa tricky witness, who may have had a hand in the authorshiphimself, and there is no clear story as yet forthcoming. But the book remains, and is none the less delightful for themystery which attaches to it, and little less important in thehistory of English literature as a translation than as anoriginal work.  For though a translation it stands as thefirst, or almost the first, attempt to bring secular subjectswithin the domain of English prose, and that is enough to make itmark an epoch.

Mandeville is here reprinted rather as a source of literarypleasure than as a medieval contribution to geography, and it istherefore no part of our duty to follow Mr. Warner in trackingout the authorities to whom the compiler had recourse insuccessive chapters.  But as there was some space in thisvolume to spare, p.ixand a very pleasant method of filling it suggesteditself, a threefold supplement is here printed, [0] which may be of some use even to seriousstudents, and is certainly very good literature.  WhenRichard Hakluyt, at the end of the sixteenth century, wascompiling his admirable work, ‘The Principall Navigations,Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by sea orover land, within the compasse of these 1500yeeres,’ he boldly overstepped the limits set forth onhis title-page, and printed in the original Latin, withtranslations into good Elizabethan English, the narratives ofthree of the earlier travellers, all of them foreigners, fromwhom the compiler of Mandeville had drawn most freely. “And because,” he tells us, “thesenorth-eastern regions beyond Volga, by reason of the hugedeserts, the cold climate, and the barbarous incivilitie of thepeople there inhabiting, were never yet thoroughly travelled byany of our Nation, nor sufficiently known unto us; I have hereannexed unto the said Englishman’s [ix] traveils the rare and memorablejournals of two friers who were some of the first Christians thattravailed farthest that way, and brought home most particularintelligence of all things which they had seen.” These two friars were John de Plano Carpini, sent on an embassyto the great Chan by Pope Innocent IV. in 1246, and William deRubruquis, who travelled in the interests of Louis IX. of Francein 1253.  In the same way in his Second Part, Hakluyt adds‘The Voyage of Frier Beatus Odoricus to Asia Minor,Armenia, Chaldaea, Persia, India, China, and other remoteparts,’ Odoric being a Franciscan of Pordenone in NorthItaly, who dictated an account of his travels in 1330. Anyone who p.xcompares these three narratives (more particularlyOdoric’s) with Mandeville’s Travels will see how thecompiler used his materials, and they have also very considerableinterest of their own.

As this volume of the Library of English Classics has broughtwith it an unusual editorial responsibility, I may be permittedan editor’s privilege in making two acknowledgments. The first, to my friend Mr. G. F. Warner, my readers must sharewith me, for without the help of his splendid edition of the‘Egerton’ version and the French text, the popular‘Mandeville’ could not have been attempted.  Mysecond acknowledgment is of a more personal nature. Roxburghe Club books are never easy to obtain, and the few copiesof the Mandeville allowed to be sold were priced at £20each.  In noticing Mr. Warner’s edition in the‘Academy’ (from a borrowed copy), I remarked ratherruefully that the gratitude which students of moderate meanscould feel towards the Club for printing so valuable a work wassomewhat tempered by this little matter of the price.  I wasthen helping Mr. Charles Elton with the catalogue of his library,and on reading my review, he wrote me a pretty letter to say thatby the rules of the Club he was the possessor of a second copy,and that he thought I was the best person to give it to. Students who have to think a good many times before they spend£20 on a book do not often receive such a present fromwealthy book-lovers; and at the risk of obtruding more of my ownconcerns than my rough-and-ready editing entitles me to do, Icannot send out this ‘Mandeville,’ within a few weeksof Mr. Elton’s too early death, without telling this littlestory of his kindness.

A. W. Pollard.

p.xiCONTENTS

p. 1THEPROLOGUE

For as much as the land beyond thesea, that is to say the Holy Land, that men call the Land ofPromission or of Behest, passing all other lands, is the mostworthy land, most excellent, and lady and sovereign of all otherlands, and is blessed and hallowed of the precious body and bloodof our Lord Jesu Christ; in the which land it liked him to takeflesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, to environ that holy landwith his blessed feet; and there he would of his blessednessenombre him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, andbecome man, and work many miracles, and preach and teach thefaith and the law of Christian men unto his children; and thereit liked him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us; and hethat was king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea and of allthings that be contained in them, would all only be clept king ofthat land, when he said, Rex sum Judeorum, that is to say,‘I am King of Jews’; and that land he chose beforeall other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the mostvirtuous land of all the world: for it is the heart and the midstof all the world, witnessing the philosopher, that saith thus,Virtus rerum in medio consistit, that is to say,‘The virtue of things is in the midst’; and in thatland he would lead his life, and suffer passion and death ofJews, for us, to buy and to deliver us from p. 4pains of hell,and from death without end; the which was ordained for us, forthe sin of our forme-father Adam, and for our own sins also; foras for himself, he had no evil deserved: for he thought neverevil ne did evil: and he that was king of glory and of joy, mightbest in that place suffer death; because he chose in that landrather than in any other, there to suffer his passion and hisdeath.  For he that will publish anything to make it openlyknown, he will make it to be cried and pronounced in the middleplace of a town; so that the thing that is proclaimed andpronounced, may evenly stretch to all parts: right so, he thatwas former of all the world, would suffer for us at Jerusalem,that is the midst of the world; to that end and intent, that hispassion and his death, that was published there, might be knownevenly to all parts of the world.

See now, how dear he bought man, that he made after his ownimage, and how dear he again-bought us, for the great love thathe had to us, and we never deserved it to him.  For moreprecious chattel ne greater ransom ne might he put for us, thanhis blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life, that hethralled for us; and all he offered for us that never didsin.

Ah dear God!  What love had he to us his subjects, whenhe that never trespassed, would for trespassers sufferdeath!  Right well ought us for to love and worship, todread and serve such a Lord; and to worship and praise such anholy land, that brought forth such fruit, through the which everyman is saved, but it be his own default.  Well may that landbe called delectable and a fructuous land, that was be-bled andmoisted with the precious blood of our Lord Jesu Christ; thewhich is the same land that our Lord behight us inheritage.  And in that land he would die, as seised, toleave it to us, his children.

Wherefore every good Christian man, that is of power, and hathwhereof, should pain him with all his strength for to conquer ourright heritage, and chase out all the misbelieving men.  Forwe be clept Christian men, after Christ our Father.  And ifwe be right children of Christ, we ought p. 5for tochallenge the heritage, that our Father left us, and do it out ofheathen men’s hands.  But now pride, covetise, andenvy have so inflamed the hearts of lords of the world, that theyare more busy for to dis-herit their neighbours, more than for tochallenge or to conquer their right heritage before-said. And the common people, that would put their bodies and theirchattels, to conquer our heritage, they may not do it without thelords.  For a sembly of people without a chieftain, or achief lord, is as a flock of sheep without a shepherd; the whichdeparteth and disperpleth and wit never whither to go.  Butwould God, that the temporal lords and all worldly lords were atgood accord, and with the common people would take this holyvoyage over the sea!  Then I trow well, that within a littletime, our right heritage before-said should be reconciled and putin the hands of the right heirs of Jesu Christ.

And, for as much as it is long time passed, that there was nogeneral passage ne voyage over the sea; and many men desire forto hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great solace andcomfort; I, John Mandeville, Knight, albeit I be not worthy, thatwas born in England, in the town of St. Albans, and passed thesea in the year of our Lord Jesu Christ, 1322, in the day of St.Michael; and hitherto been long time over the sea, and have seenand gone through many diverse lands, and many provinces andkingdoms and isles and have passed throughout Turkey, Armenia thelittle and the great; through Tartary, Persia, Syria, Arabia,Egypt the high and the low; through Lybia, Chaldea, and a greatpart of Ethiopia; through Amazonia, Ind the less and the more, agreat part; and throughout many other Isles, that be about Ind;where dwell many diverse folks, and of diverse manners and laws,and of diverse shapes of men.  Of which lands and isles Ishall speak more plainly hereafter; and I shall devise you ofsome part of things that there be, when time shall be, after itmay best come to my mind; and specially for them, that will andare in purpose for to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem and theholy places that are thereabout.  And p. 6I shall tellthe way that they shall hold thither.  For I have oftentimes passed and ridden that way, with good company of manylords.  God be thanked!

And ye shall understand, that I have put this book out ofLatin into French, and translated it again out of French intoEnglish, that every man of my nation may understand it.  Butlords and knights and other noble and worthy men that con Latinbut little, and have been beyond the sea, know and understand, ifI say truth or no, and if I err in devising, for forgetting orelse, that they may redress it and amend it.  For thingspassed out of long time from a man’s mind or from hissight, turn soon into forgetting; because that mind of man ne maynot be comprehended ne withholden, for the frailty ofmankind.

CHAPTER I

To teach you theWay out of England to Constantinople

In the name of God, Glorious andAlmighty!

He that will pass over the sea and come to land [to go to thecity of Jerusalem, he may wend many ways, both on sea and land],after the country that he cometh from; [for] many of them come toone end.  But troweth not that I will tell you all thetowns, and cities and castles that men shall go by; for thenshould I make too long a tale; but all only some countries andmost principal steads that men shall go through to go the rightway.

First, if a man come from the west side of the world, asEngland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or Norway, he may, if that hewill, go through Almayne and through the kingdom of Hungary, thatmarcheth to the land of Polayne, and to the land of Pannonia, andso to Silesia.

And the King of Hungary is a great lord and a mighty, andholdeth great lordships and much land in his hand.  p. 7For he holdeththe kingdom of Hungary, Sclavonia, and of Comania a great part,and of Bulgaria that men call the land of Bougiers, and of therealm of Russia a great part, whereof he hath made a duchy, thatlasteth unto the land of Nyfland, and marcheth to Prussia. And men go through the land of this lord, through a city that isclept Cypron, and by the castle of Neasburghe, and by the eviltown, that sit toward the end of Hungary.  And there passmen the river of Danube.  This river of Danube is a fullgreat river, and it goeth into Almayne, under the hills ofLombardy, and it receiveth into him forty other rivers, and itrunneth through Hungary and through Greece and through Thrace,and it entereth into the sea, toward the east so rudely and sosharply, that the water of the sea is fresh and holdeth hissweetness twenty mile within the sea.

And after, go men to Belgrade, and enter into the land ofBougiers; and there pass men a bridge of stone that is upon theriver of Marrok.  And men pass through the land ofPyncemartz and come to Greece to the city of Nye, and to the cityof Fynepape, and after to the city of Dandrenoble, and after toConstantinople, that was wont to be clept Bezanzon.  Andthere dwelleth commonly the Emperor of Greece.  And there isthe most fair church and the most noble of all the world; and itis of Saint Sophie.  And before that church is the image ofJustinian the emperor, covered with gold, and he sitteth upon anhorse y-crowned.  And he was wont to hold a round apple ofgold in his hand: but it is fallen out thereof.  And men saythere, that it is a token that the emperor hath lost a great partof his lands and of his lordships; for he was wont to be Emperorof Roumania and of Greece, of all Asia the less, and of the landof Syria, of the land of Judea in the which is Jerusalem, and ofthe land of Egypt, of Persia, and of Arabia.  But he hathlost all but Greece; and that land he holds all only.  Andmen would many times put the apple into the image’s handagain, but it will not hold it.  This apple betokeneth thelordship that he had over all the world, that is round.  Andthe tother p.8hand he lifteth up against the East, in token to menacethe misdoers.  This image stands upon a pillar of marble atConstantinople.

CHAPTER II

Of the Cross andthe Crown of our Lord Jesu Christ

At Constantinople is the cross ofour Lord Jesu Christ, and his coat without seams, that is cleptTunica inconsutilis, and the sponge, and the reed, of thewhich the Jews gave our Lord eysell and gall, in the cross. And there is one of the nails, that Christ was nailed with on thecross.

And some men trow that half the cross, that Christ was doneon, be in Cyprus, in an abbey of monks, that men call the Hill ofthe Holy Cross; but it is not so.  For that cross that is inCyprus, is the cross, in the which Dismas the good thief washanged on.  But all men know not that; and that is evily-done.  For for profit of the offering, they say that it isthe cross of our Lord Jesu Christ.

And ye shall understand that the cross of our Lord was made offour manner of trees, as it is contained in thisverse,—In cruce fit palma, cedrus,cypressus, oliva.  For that piece that wentupright from the earth to the head was of cypress; and the piecethat went overthwart, to the which his hands were nailed, was ofpalm; and the stock, that stood within the earth, in the whichwas made the mortise, was of cedar; and the table above his head,that was a foot and an half long, on the which the title waswritten in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, that was of olive.

And the Jews made the cross of these four manner of trees; forthey trowed that our Lord Jesu Christ should have hanged on thecross, as long as the cross might last.  And therefore madethey the foot of the cross of cedar; for cedar may not, in earthnor water, rot, and therefore they would that it should havelasted long.  For they trowed that the body of Christ shouldhave stunken, they p.9made that piece, that went from the earth upwards ofcypress, for it is well-smelling, so that the smell of his bodyshould not grieve men that went forby.  And the overthwartpiece was of palm, for in the Old Testament it was ordained, thatwhen one was overcome he should be crowned with palm; and forthey trowed that they had the victory of Christ Jesus, thereforemade they the overthwart piece of palm.  And the table ofthe title they made of olive; for olive betokeneth peace, as thestory of Noe witnesseth; when that the culver brought the branchof olive, that betokened peace made between God and man. And so trowed the Jews for to have peace, when Christ was dead;for they said that he made discord and strife amongst them. And ye shall understand that our Lord was y-nailed on the crosslying, and therefore he suffered the more pain.

And the Christian men, that dwell beyond the sea, in Greece,say that the tree of the cross, that we call cypress, was of thattree that Adam ate the apple off; and that find theywritten.  And they say also, that their scripture saith,that Adam was sick, and said to his son Seth, that he should goto the angel that kept Paradise, that he would send him oil ofmercy, for to anoint with his members, that he might havehealth.  And Seth went.  But the angel would not lethim come in; but said to him, that he might not have of the oilof mercy.  But he took him three grains of the same tree,that his father ate the apple off; and bade him, as soon as hisfather was dead, that he should put these three grains under histongue, and grave him so: and so he did.  And of these threegrains sprang a tree, as the angel said that it should, and barea fruit, through the which fruit Adam should be saved.  Andwhen Seth came again, he found his father near dead.  Andwhen he was dead, he did with the grains as the angel bade him;of the which sprung three trees, of the which the cross was made,that bare good fruit and blessed, our Lord Jesu Christ; throughwhom, Adam and all that come of him, should be saved anddelivered from dread of death without end, but it be their owndefault.

p. 10Thisholy cross had the Jews hid in the earth, under a rock of themount of Calvary; and it lay there two hundred year and more,into the time that St. Helen, that was mother to Constantine theEmperor of Rome.  And she was daughter of King Coel, born inColchester, that was King of England, that was clept then Britainthe more; the which the Emperor Constance wedded to his wife, forher beauty, and gat upon her Constantine, that was after Emperorof Rome, and King of England.

And ye shall understand, that the cross of our Lord was eightcubits long, and the overthwart piece was of length three cubitsand a half.  And one part of the crown of our Lord,wherewith he was crowned, and one of the nails, and the spearhead, and many other relics be in France, in the king’schapel.  And the crown lieth in a vessel of crystal richlydight.  For a king of France bought these relics some timeof the Jews, to whom the emperor had laid them in wed for a greatsum of silver.

And if all it be so, that men say, that this crown is ofthorns, ye shall understand, that it was of jonkes of the sea,that is to say, rushes of the sea, that prick as sharply asthorns.  For I have seen and beholden many times that ofParis and that of Constantinople; for they were both one, made ofrushes of the sea.  But men have departed them in two parts:of the which, one part is at Paris, and the other part is atConstantinople.  And I have one of those precious thorns,that seemeth like a white thorn; and that was given to me forgreat specially.  For there are many of them broken andfallen into the vessel that the crown lieth in; for they breakfor dryness when men move them to show them to great lords thatcome thither.

And ye shall understand, that our Lord Jesu, in that nightthat he was taken, he was led into a garden; and there he wasfirst examined right sharply; and there the Jews scorned him, andmade him a crown of the branches of albespine, that is whitethorn, that grew in that same garden, and set it on his head, sofast and so sore, that the blood ran down by many places of hisvisage, and of his neck, and of his shoulders.  Andtherefore hath the white p. 11thorn many virtues, for he thatbeareth a branch on him thereof, no thunder ne no manner oftempest may dere him; nor in the house, that it is in, may noevil ghost enter nor come unto the place that it is in.  Andin that same garden, Saint Peter denied our Lord thrice.

Afterward was our Lord led forth before the bishops and themasters of the law, into another garden of Annas; and there alsohe was examined, reproved, and scorned, and crowned eft with asweet thorn, that men clepeth barbarines, that grew in thatgarden, and that hath also many virtues.

And afterward he was led into a garden of Caiphas, and therehe was crowned with eglantine.

And after he was led into the chamber of Pilate, and there hewas examined and crowned.  And the Jews set him in a chair,and clad him in a mantle; and there made they the crown of jonkesof the sea; and there they kneeled to him, and scorned him,saying, Ave, Rex Judeorum! that is to say,‘Hail, King of Jews!’  And of this crown, halfis at Paris, and the other half at Constantinople.  And thiscrown had Christ on his head, when he was done upon the cross;and therefore ought men to worship it and hold it more worthythan any of the others.

And the spear shaft hath the Emperor of Almayne; but the headis at Paris.  And natheles the Emperor of Constantinoplesaith that he hath the spear head; and I have often time seen it,but it is greater than that at Paris.

CHAPTER III

Of the City ofConstantinople, and of the Faith of Greeks

At Constantinople lieth Saint Anne,our Lady’s mother, whom Saint Helen let bring fromJerusalem.  And there p. 12lieth also the body of JohnChrisostome, that was Archbishop of Constantinople.  Andthere lieth also Saint Luke the Evangelist: for his bones werebrought from Bethany, where he was buried.  And many otherrelics be there.  And there is the vessel of stone, as itwere of marble, that men clepe enydros, that evermore droppethwater, and filleth himself every year, till that it go overabove, without that that men take from within.

Constantinople is a full fair city, and a good, and wellwalled; and it is three-cornered.  And there is an arm ofthe sea Hellespont: and some men call it the Mouth ofConstantinople; and some men call it the Brace of Saint George:and that arm closeth the two parts of the city.  And upwardto the sea, upon the water, was wont to be the great city ofTroy, in a full fair plain: but that city was destroyed by themof Greece, and little appeareth thereof, because it is so longsith it was destroyed.

About Greece there be many isles, as Calliste, Calcas,Oertige, Tesbria, Mynia, Flaxon, Melo, Carpate, and Lemnos. And in this isle is the mount Athos, that passeth theclouds.  And there be many diverse languages and manycountries, that be obedient to the emperor; that is to say,Turcople, Pyncynard, Comange, and many other, as Thrace andMacedonia, of the which Alexander was king.  In this countrywas Aristotle born, in a city that men clepe Stagyra, a littlefrom the city of Thrace.  And at Stagyra lieth Aristotle;and there is an altar upon his tomb.  And there make mengreat feasts for him every year, as though he were a saint. And at his altar they holden their great councils and theirassemblies, and they hope, that through inspiration of God and ofhim, they shall have the better council.

In this country be right high hills, toward the end ofMacedonia.  And there is a great hill, that men clepeOlympus, that departeth Macedonia and Thrace.  And it is sohigh, that it passeth the clouds.  And there is anotherhill, that is clept Athos, that is so high, that the shadow ofhim reacheth to Lemne, that is an isle; and it is seventy-sixmile between.  And above at the cop of the hill is p. 13the air soclear, that men may find no wind there, and therefore may nobeast live there, so is the air dry.

And men say in these countries, that philosophers some timewent upon these hills, and held to their nose a sponge moistedwith water, for to have air; for the air above was so dry. And above, in the dust and in the powder of those hills, theywrote letters and figures with their fingers.  And at theyear’s end they came again, and found the same letters andfigures, the which they had written the year before, without anydefault.  And therefore it seemeth well, that these hillspass the clouds and join to the pure air.

At Constantinople is the palace of the emperor, right fair andwell-dight: and therein is a fair place for joustings, or forother plays and desports.  And it is made with stages, andhath degrees about, that every man may well see, and none grieveother.  And under these stages be stables well vaulted forthe emperor’s horses; and all the pillars be of marble.

And within the Church of Saint Sophia, an emperor sometimewould have buried the body of his father, when he was dead. And, as they made the grave, they found a body in the earth, andupon the body lay a fine plate of gold; and thereon was written,in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, letters that said thus; JesuChristus nascetur de Virgine Maria, et ego credo ineum; that is to say, ‘Jesu Christ shall be born of theVirgin Mary, and I trow in him.’  And the date when itwas laid in the earth, was two thousand year before our Lord wasborn.  And yet is the plate of gold in the treasury of thechurch.  And men say, that it was Hermogenes the wiseman.

And if all it so be, that men of Greece be Christian yet theyvary from our faith.  For they say, that the Holy Ghost maynot come of the Son; but all only of the Father.  And theyare not obedient to the Church of Rome, ne to the Pope.  Andthey say that their Patriarch hath as much power over the sea, asthe Pope hath on this side the sea.  And therefore Pope Johnxxii. sent letters to them, how Christian faith should be allone; and that they should be obedient to the Pope, that isGod’s Vicar on earth, to whom p. 14God gave his plein power for to bindand to assoil, and therefore they should be obedient to him.

And they sent again diverse answers; and among others theysaid thus: Potentiam tuam summam circa tuos subjectos,firmiter credimus.  Superbiam tuam summam tolerarenon possumus.  Avaritiam tuam summam satiare nonintendimus.  Dominus tecum; quia Dominusnobiscum est.  That is to say: ‘We trow well, thatthy power is great upon thy subjects.  We may not sufferthine high pride.  We be not in purpose to fulfil thy greatcovetise.  Lord be with thee; for our Lord is with us. Farewell.’  And other answer might he not have ofthem.

And also they make their sacrament of the altar of Therfbread, for our Lord made it of such bread, when he made hisMaundy.  And on the Shere-Thursday make they their Therfbread, in token of the Maundy, and dry it at the sun, and keep itall the year, and give it to sick men, instead of God’sbody.  And they make but one unction, when they christenchildren.  And they anoint not the sick men.  And theysay that there is no Purgatory, and that souls shall not haveneither joy ne pain till the day of doom.  And they say thatfornication is no sin deadly, but a thing that is kindly, andthat men and women should not wed but once, and whoso weddethoftener than once, their children be bastards and gotten insin.  And their priests also be wedded.

And they say also that usury is no deadly sin.  And theysell benefices of Holy Church.  And so do men in otherplaces: God amend it when his will is!  And that is greatsclaundre, for now is simony king crowned in Holy Church: Godamend it for his mercy!

And they say, that in Lent, men shall not fast, ne sing Mass,but on the Saturday and on the Sunday.  And they fast not onthe Saturday, no time of the year, but it be Christmas Even orEaster Even.  And they suffer not the Latins to sing attheir altars; and if they do, by any adventure, anon they washthe altar with holy water.  And they say that there shouldbe but one Mass said at one altar upon one day.

p. 15Andthey say also that our Lord ne ate never meat; but he made tokenof eating.  And also they say, that we sin deadly in shavingour beards, for the beard is token of a man, and gift of ourLord.  And they say that we sin deadly in eating of beaststhat were forbidden in the Old Testament, and of the old Law, asswine, hares and other beasts, that chew not their cud.  Andthey say that we sin, when we eat flesh on the days before AshWednesday, and of that that we eat flesh the Wednesday, and eggsand cheese upon the Fridays.  And they accurse all thosethat abstain them to eat flesh the Saturday.

Also the Emperor of Constantinople maketh the patriarch, thearchbishops and the bishops; and giveth the dignities and thebenefices of churches and depriveth them that be unworthy, whenhe findeth any cause.  And so is he lord both temporal andspiritual in his country.

And if ye will wit of their A.B.C. what letters they be, hereye may see them, with the names that they clepe them thereamongst them: Alpha, Betha, Gama, Deltha, εlonge,ε brevis, Epilmon, Thetha, Iota, Kapda, Lapda, Mi, Ni,Xi, ο brevis, Pi, Coph, Ro, Summa, Tau, Vi, Fy, Chi, Psi,Othomega, Diacosyn.

And all be it that these things touch not to one way,nevertheless they touch to that, that I have hight you, to shewyou a part of customs and manners, and diversities ofcountries.  And for this is the first country that isdiscordant in faith and in belief, and varieth from our faith, onthis half the sea, therefore I have set it here, that ye may knowthe diversity that is between our faith and theirs.  Formany men have great liking, to hear speak of strange things ofdiverse countries.

p.16CHAPTER IV

[Of the Way from Constantinople toJerusalem.]  Of Saint John the Evangelist. And of the Ypocras Daughter, transformed from a Womanto a Dragon

Now return I again, for to teachyou the way from Constantinople to Jerusalem.  He that willthrough Turkey, he goeth toward the city of Nyke, and passeththrough the gate of Chienetout, and always men see before themthe hill of Chienetout, that is right high; and it is a mile andan half from Nyke.

And whoso will go by water, by the brace of St. George, and bythe sea where St. Nicholas lieth, and toward many otherplaces—first men go to an isle that is clept Sylo.  Inthat isle groweth mastick on small trees, and out of them comethgum as it were of plum-trees or of cherry-trees.

And after go men through the isle of Patmos; and there wroteSt. John the Evangelist the Apocalypse.  And ye shallunderstand, that St. John was of age thirty-two year, when ourLord suffered his passion; and after his passion, he livedsixty-seven year, and in the hundredth year of his age hedied.

From Patmos men go unto Ephesus, a fair city and nigh to thesea.  And there died St. John, and was buried behind thehigh altar in a tomb.  And there is a fair church; forChristian men were wont to holden that place always.  And inthe tomb of St. John is nought but manna, that is cleptangels’ meat; for his body was translated intoParadise.  And Turks hold now all that place, and the cityand the church; and all Asia the less is y-clept Turkey. And ye shall understand, that St. John let make his grave therein his life, and laid himself therein all quick; and thereforesome men say, that he died not, but that he resteth there tillthe day of doom.  And, forsooth, there is a great marvel;for men may see there the earth of the tomb apertly many timesstir and move, as there were quick things under.

p. 17Andfrom Ephesus men go through many isles in the sea, unto the cityof Patera, where St. Nicholas was born, and so to Martha, wherehe was chosen to be bishop; and there groweth right good wine andstrong, and that men call wine of Martha.  And from thencego men to the isle of Crete, that the emperor gave sometime to[the] Genoese.

And then pass men through the isles of Colcos and of Lango, ofthe which isles Ypocras was lord of.  And some men say, thatin the isle of Lango is yet the daughter of Ypocras, in form andlikeness of a great dragon, that is a hundred fathom of length,as men say, for I have not seen her.  And they of the islescall her Lady of the Land.  And she lieth in an old castle,in a cave, and sheweth twice or thrice in the year, and she dothno harm to no man, but if men do her harm.  And she was thuschanged and transformed, from a fair damosel, into likeness of adragon, by a goddess that was clept Diana.  And men say,that she shall so endure in that form of a dragon, unto [the]time that a knight come, that is so hardy, that dare come to herand kiss her on the mouth; and then shall she turn again to herown kind, and be a woman again, but after that she shall not livelong.

And it is not long sithen, that a knight of Rhodes, that washardy and doughty in arms, said that he would kiss her.  Andwhen he was upon his courser, and went to the castle, and enteredinto the cave, the dragon lift up her head against him.  Andwhen the knight saw her in that form so hideous and so horriblehe fled away.  And the dragon bare the knight upon a rock,maugre his head; and from that rock, she cast him into thesea.  And so was lost both horse and man.

And also a young man, that wist not of the dragon, went out ofa ship, and went through the isle till that he came to thecastle, and came into the cave, and went so long, till that hefound a chamber; and there he saw a damosel that combed her headand looked in a mirror; and she had much treasure abouther.  And he trowed that she had been a common woman, thatdwelled there to receive men p. 18to folly.  And he abode, tillthe damosel saw the shadow of him in the mirror.  And sheturned her toward him, and asked him what he would?  And hesaid, he would be her leman or paramour.  And she asked him,if that he were a knight?  And he said, nay.  And thenshe said, that he might not be her leman; but she bade him goagain unto his fellows, and make him knight, and come again uponthe morrow, and she should come out of the cave before him, andthen come and kiss her on the mouth and have no dread,—forI shall do thee no manner of harm, albeit that thou see me inlikeness of a dragon; for though thou see me hideous and horribleto look on, I do thee to wit that it is made by enchantment; forwithout doubt, I am none other than thou seest now, a woman, andtherefore dread thee nought.  And if thou kiss me, thoushalt have all this treasure, and be my lord, and lord also ofall the isle.

And he departed from her and went to his fellows to ship, andlet make him knight and came again upon the morrow for to kissthis damosel.  And when he saw her come out of the cave inform of a dragon, so hideous and so horrible, he had so greatdread, that he fled again to the ship, and she followedhim.  And when she saw that he turned not again, she beganto cry, as a thing that had much sorrow; and then she turnedagain into her cave.  And anon the knight died.  Andsithen hitherward might no knight see her, but that he diedanon.  But when a knight cometh, that is so hardy to kissher, he shall not die; but he shall turn the damosel into herright form and kindly shape, and he shall be lord of all thecountries and isles abovesaid.

And from thence men come to the isle of Rhodes, the which isleHospitallers holden and govern; and that took they some-time fromthe emperor.  And it was wont to be clept Collos; and socall it the Turks yet.  And Saint Paul in his epistlewriteth to them of that isle ad Colossenses.  Thisisle is nigh eight hundred mile long from Constantinople.

p.19CHAPTER V

[Of diversities in Cyprus; of theRoad from Cyprus to Jerusalem, and of the Marvel of aFosse full of Sand]

And from this isle of Rhodes men goto Cyprus, where be many vines, that first be red and after oneyear they become white; and those wines that be most white, bemost clear and best of smell.

And men pass by that way, by a place that was wont to be agreat city, and a great land; and the city was clept Cathailye,the which city and land was lost through folly of a youngman.  For he had a fair damosel, that he loved well to hisparamour; and she died suddenly, and was done in a tomb ofmarble.  And for the great lust that he had to her, he wentin the night unto her tomb and opened it, and went in and lay byher, and went his way.  And when it came to the end of ninemonths, there came a voice to him and said, Go to the tomb ofthat woman, and open it and behold what thou hast begotten onher; and if thou let to go, thou shalt have a great harm. And he yede and opened the tomb, and there flew out an adderright hideous to see; the which as swithe flew about the city andthe country, and soon after the city sank down.  And therebe many perilous passages without fail.

From Rhodes to Cyprus be five hundred mile and more.  Butmen may go to Cyprus, and come not at Rhodes.  Cyprus isright a good isle, and a fair and a great, and it hath fourprincipal cities within him.  And there is an Archbishop atNicosea, and four other bishops in that land.  And atFamagost is one of the principal havens of the sea that is in theworld; and there arrive Christian men and Saracens and men of allnations.  In Cyprus is the Hill of the Holy Cross; and thereis an abbey of monks black and there is the cross of Dismas thegood thief, as I have said before.  And some men trow, p. 20that there ishalf the cross of our Lord; but it is not so, and they do evilthat make men to believe so.

In Cyprus lieth Saint Zenonimus, of whom men of that countrymake great solemnity.  And in the castle of Amours lieth thebody of Saint-Hilarion, and men keep it right worshipfully. And beside Famagost was Saint Barnabas the apostle born.

In Cyprus men hunt with papyonns, that be like leopards, andthey take wild beasts right well, and they be somewhat more thanlions; and they take more sharply the beasts, and more deliverthan do hounds.

In Cyprus is the manner of lords and all other men all to eaton the earth.  For they make ditches in the earth all aboutin the hall, deep to the knee, and they do pave them; and whenthey will eat, they go therein and sit there.  And the skillis for they may be the more fresh; for that land is much morehotter than it is here.  And at great feasts, and forstrangers, they set forms and tables, as men do in this country,but they had lever sit in the earth.

From Cyprus, men go to the land of Jerusalem by the sea: andin a day and in a night, he that hath good wind may come to thehaven of Tyre, that is now clept Surrye.  There wassome-time a great city and a good of Christian men, but Saracenshave destroyed it a great part; and they keep that haven rightwell, for dread of Christian men.  Men might go more rightto that haven, and come not in Cyprus, but they go gladly toCyprus to rest them on the land, or else to buy things, that theyhave need to their living.  On the sea-side men may findmany rubies.  And there is the well of the which holy writspeaketh of, and saith, Fons ortorum, et puteus aquarumviventium: that is to say, ‘the well of gardens, andthe ditch of living waters.’

In this city of Tyre, said the woman to our Lord, Beatusventer qui te portavit, et ubera que succisti: that isto say, ‘Blessed be the body that thee bare, and the papsthat thou suckedst.’  And there our Lord forgave thewoman of Canaan her sins.  And before Tyre was wont to bethe p. 21stone,on the which our Lord sat and preached, and on that stone wasfounded the Church of Saint Saviour.

And eight mile from Tyre, toward the east, upon the sea, isthe city of Sarphen, in Sarepta of Sidonians.  And there waswont for to dwell Elijah the prophet; and there raised he Jonas,the widow’s son, from death to life.  And five milefrom Sarphen is the city of Sidon; of the which city, Dido waslady, that was Aeneas’ wife, after the destruction of Troy,and that founded the city of Carthage in Africa, and now is cleptSidonsayete.  And in the city of Tyre, reigned Agenor, thefather of Dido.  And sixteen mile from Sidon isBeirout.  And from Beirout to Sardenare is three journeysand from Sardenare is five mile to Damascus.

And whoso will go long time on the sea, and come nearer toJerusalem, he shall go from Cyprus by sea to Port Jaffa. For that is the next haven to Jerusalem; for from that haven isnot but one day journey and a half to Jerusalem.  And thetown is called Jaffa; for one of the sons of Noah that hightJaphet founded it, and now it is clept Joppa.  And ye shallunderstand, that it is one of the oldest towns of the world, forit was founded before Noah’s flood.  And yet theresheweth in the rock, there as the iron chains were fastened, thatAndromeda, a great giant, was bounden with, and put in prisonbefore Noah’s flood, of the which giant, is a rib of hisside that is forty foot long.

And whoso will arrive at the port of Tyre or of Surrye, that Ihave spoken of before, may go by land, if he will, toJerusalem.  And men go from Surrye unto the city of Akon ina day.  And it was clept some-time Ptolemaïs.  Andit was some-time a city of Christian men, full fair, but it isnow destroyed; and it stands upon the sea.  And from Veniceto Akon, by sea, is two thousand and four score miles ofLombardy; and from Calabria, or from Sicily to Akon, by sea, is a1300 miles of Lombardy; and the isle of Crete is right in themidway.

And beside the city of Akon, toward the sea, six scorefurlongs on the right side, toward the south, is the Hill ofCarmel, where Elijah the prophet dwelled, and there p. 22was first theOrder of Friars Carmelites founded.  This hill is not rightgreat, nor full high.  And at the foot of this hill wassome-time a good city of Christian men, that men clept Caiffa,for Caiaphas first founded it; but it is now all wasted. And on the left side of the Hill of Carmel is a town, that menclepe Saffre, and that is set on another hill.  There SaintJames and Saint John were born; and, in worship of them there isa fair church.  And from Ptolemaïs, that men clepe nowAkon, unto a great hill, that is clept Scale of Tyre, is onehundred furlongs.  And beside the city of Akon runneth alittle river, that is clept Belon.

And there nigh is the Foss of Mennon that is all round; and itis one hundred cubits of largeness, and it is all full of gravel,shining bright, of the which men make fair verres andclear.  And men come from far, by water in ships, and byland with carts, for to fetch of that gravel.  And thoughthere be never so much taken away thereof in the day, at morrowit is as full again as ever it was; and that is a greatmarvel.  And there is evermore great wind in that foss, thatstirreth evermore the gravel, and maketh it trouble.  And ifany man do therein any manner metal, it turneth anon toglass.  And the glass, that is made of that gravel, if it bedone again into the gravel, it turneth anon into gravel as it wasfirst.  And therefore some men say, that it is a swallow ofthe gravelly sea.

Also from Akon, above-said, go men forth four journeys to thecity of Palestine, that was of the Philistines, that now is cleptGaza, that is a gay city and a rich; and it is right fair andfull of folk, and it is a little from the sea.  And fromthis city brought Samson the strong the gates upon an high land,when he was taken in that city, and there he slew in a palace theking and himself, and great number of the best of thePhilistines, the which had put out his eyen and shaved his head,and imprisoned him by treason of Dalida his paramour.  Andtherefore he made fall upon them a great hall, when they were atmeat.

And from thence go men to the city of Cesarea, and so to theCastle of Pilgrims, and so to Ascalon; and then to Jaffa, and soto Jerusalem.

p. 23Andwhoso will go by land through the land of Babylon, where thesoldan dwelleth commonly, he must get grace of him and leave togo more siker through those lands and countries.

And for to go to the Mount of Sinai, before that men go toJerusalem, they shall go from Gaza to the Castle of Daire. And after that, men come out of Syria, and enter into wilderness,and there the way is full sandy; and that wilderness and desertlasteth eight journeys, but always men find good inns, and allthat they need of victuals.  And men clepe that wildernessAchelleke.  And when a man cometh out of that desert, heentereth into Egypt, that men clepe Egypt-Canopac, and afterother language, men clepe it Morsyn.  And there first menfind a good town, that is clept Belethe; and it is at the end ofthe kingdom of Aleppo.  And from thence men go to Babylonand to Cairo.

CHAPTER VI

Of many Names ofSoldans, and of the Tower of Babylon

At Babylon there is a fair churchof our Lady, where she dwelled seven year, when she fled out ofthe land of Judea for dread of King Herod.  And there lieththe body of Saint Barbara the virgin and martyr.  And theredwelled Joseph, when he was sold of his brethren.  And theremade Nebuchadnezzar the king put three children into the furnaceof fire, for they were in the right truth of belief, the whichchildren men clept Anania, Azariah, Mishael, as the Psalm ofBenedicitesaith: but Nebuchadnezzar clept them otherwise,Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that is to say, God glorious,God victorious, and God over all things and realms: and that wasfor the miracle, that he saw God’s Son go with the childrenthrough the fire, as he said.

There dwelleth the soldan in his Calahelyke (for there p. 24is commonlyhis seat) in a fair castle, strong and great, and well set upon arock.  In that castle dwell alway, to keep it and to servethe soldan, more then 6000 persons, that take all theirnecessaries off the soldan’s court.  I ought rightwell to know it; for I dwelled with him as soldier in his wars agreat while against the Bedouins.  And he would have marriedme full highly to a great prince’s daughter, if I wouldhave forsaken my law and my belief; but I thank God, I had nowill to do it, for nothing that he behight me.

And ye shall understand that the soldan is lord of fivekingdoms, that he hath conquered and appropred to him bystrength.  And these be the names: the kingdom of Canapac,that is Egypt; and the kingdom of Jerusalem, where that David andSolomon were kings; and the kingdom of Syria, of the which thecity of Damascus was chief; and the kingdom of Aleppo in the landof Mathe; and the kingdom Arabia, that was to one of the threekings, that made offering to our Lord, when he was born. And many other lands he holdeth in his hand.  Andtherewithal he holdeth caliphs, that is a full great thing intheir language, and it is as much to say as king.

And there were wont to be five soldans; but now there is nomore but he of Egypt.  And the first soldan was Zarocon,that was of Media, as was father to Saladin that took the Caliphof Egypt and slew him, and was made soldan by strength. After that was Soldan Saladin, in whose time the King of England,Richard the First, with many other, kept the passage, thatSaladin ne might not pass.  After Saladin reigned his sonBoradin, and after him his nephew.  After that, theComanians that were in servage in Egypt, felt themselves thatthey were of great power, they chose them a soldan amongst them,the which made him to be clept Melechsalan.  And in his timeentered into the country of the kings of France Saint Louis, andfought with him; and [the soldan] took him and imprisoned him;and this [soldan] was slain by his own servants.  And after,they chose another to be soldan, that they clept Tympieman; andhe let deliver Saint Louis out of prison p. 25for a certainransom.  And after, one of these Comanians reigned, thathight Cachas, and slew Tympieman, for to be soldan; and made himbe clept Melechmenes.  And after another that had to nameBendochdare, that slew Melechmenes, for to be sultan, and clepthimself Melechdare.  In his time entered the good KingEdward of England into Syria, and did great harm to theSaracens.  And after, was this soldan empoisoned atDamascus, and his son thought to reign after him by heritage, andmade him to be clept Melechsache; but another that had to nameElphy, chased him out of the country and made him soldan. This man took the city of Tripoli and destroyed many of theChristian men, the year of grace 1289, and after was heimprisoned of another that would be soldan, but he was anonslain.  After that was the son of Elphy chosen to be soldan,and clept him Melechasseraff, and he took the city of Akon andchased out the Christian men; and this was also empoisoned, andthen was his brother made soldan, and was cleptMelechnasser.  And after, one that was clept Guytoga tookhim and put him in prison in the castle of Mountroyal, and madehim soldan by strength, and clept him Melechadel; and he was ofTartary.  But the Comanians chased him out of the country,and did him much sorrow, and made one of themself soldan, thathad to name Lachin.  And he made him to be cleptMelechmanser, the which on a day played at the chess, and hissword lay beside him; and so befell, that one wrathed him, andwith his own proper sword he was slain.  And after that,they were at great discord, for to make a soldan; and finallythey accorded to Melechnasser, that Guytoga had put in prison atMountroyal.  And this reigned long and governed so that hiseldest son was chosen after him, Melechmader, the which hisbrother let slay privily for to have the lordship, and made himto be clept Melechmadabron, and he soldan when I departed fromthose countries.

And wit ye well that the soldan may lead out of Egypt morethan 20,000 men of arms, and out of Syria, and out of Turkey andout of other countries that he holds, he may arrere more than50,000.  And all those be at his p. 26wages, and they be always at him,without the folk of his country, that is without number. And every each of them hath by year the mountance of six scoreflorins; but it behoveth, that every of them hold three horsesand a camel.  And by the cities and by towns be admirals,that have the governance of the people; one hath to govern four,and another hath to govern five, another more, and another wellmore.  And as many taketh the admiral by him alone, as allthe other soldiers have under him; and therefore, when the soldanwill advance any worthy knight, he maketh him an admiral. And when it is any dearth, the knights be right poor, and thenthey sell both their horse and their harness.

And the soldan hath four wives, one Christian and threeSaracens, of the which one dwelleth at Jerusalem, and another atDamascus, and another at Ascalon; and when them list, they removeto other cities, and when the soldan will he may go to visitthem.  And he hath as many paramours as him liketh. For he maketh to come before him the fairest and the noblest ofbirth, and the gentlest damosels of his country, and he makeththem to be kept and served full honourably.  And when hewill have one to lie with him, he maketh them all to come beforehim, and he beholdeth in all, which of them is most to hispleasure, and to her anon he sendeth or casteth a ring from hisfinger.  And then anon she shall be bathed and richlyattired, and anointed with delicate things of sweet smell, andthen led to the soldan’s chamber; and thus he doth as oftenas him list, when he will have any of them.

And before the soldan cometh no stranger, but if he be clothedin cloth of gold, or of Tartary or of Camaka, in theSaracens’ guise, and as the Saracens use.  And itbehoveth, that anon at the first sight that men see the soldan,be it in window or in what place else, that men kneel to him andkiss the earth, for that is the manner to do reverence to thesoldan of them that speak with him.  And when thatmessengers of strange countries come before him, the meinie ofthe soldan, when the strangers speak to him, they be about thesoldan with swords drawn p. 27and gisarmes and axes, their armslifted up in high with those weapons for to smite upon them, ifthey say any word that is displeasance to the soldan.  Andalso, no stranger cometh before him, but that he maketh him somepromise and grant of that the [stranger] asketh reasonably; by soit be not against his law.  And so do other princes beyond,for they say that no man shall come before no prince, but that[he be] better, and shall be more gladder in departing from hispresence than he was at the coming before him.

And understandeth, that that Babylon that I have spoken of,where that the sultan dwelleth, is not that great Babylon wherethe diversity of languages was first made for vengeance by themiracle of God, when the great Tower of Babel was begun to bemade; of the which the walls were sixty-four furlongs of height;that is in the great desert of Arabia, upon the way as men gotoward the kingdom of Chaldea.  But it is full long sincethat any man durst nigh to the tower; for it is all desert andfull of dragons and great serpents, and full of diverse venomousbeasts all about.  That tower, with the city, was oftwenty-five mile in circuit of the walls, as they of the countrysay, and as men may deem by estimation, after that men tell ofthe country.

And though it be clept the Tower of Babylon, yet nevertheless,there were ordained within many mansions and many greatdwelling-places, in length and breadth.  And that towercontained great country in circuit, for the tower alone containedten mile square.  That tower founded King Nimrod that wasking of that country; and he was the first king of theworld.  And he let make an image in the likeness of hisfather, and constrained all his subjects for to worship it; andanon began other lords to do the same, and so began the idols andthe simulacres first.

The town and the city were full well set in a fair country anda plain that men clepe the country of Samar, of the which thewalls of the city were two hundred cubits in height, and fiftycubits of deepness; and the river of Euphrates ran throughout thecity and about the tower also.  But Cyrus the King of Persiatook from them the p.28river, and destroyed all the city and the tower also;for he departed that river in 360 small rivers, because that hehad sworn, that he should put the river in such point, that awoman might well pass there, without casting off of her clothes,forasmuch as he had lost many worthy men that trowed to pass thatriver by swimming.

And from Babylon where the soldan dwelleth, to go rightbetween the Orient and the Septentrion toward the great Babylon,is forty journeys to pass by desert.  But it is not thegreat Babylon in the land and in the power of the said soldan,but it is in the power and the lordship of Persia, but he holdethit of the great Chan, that is the greatest emperor and the mostsovereign lord of all the parts beyond, and he is lord of theisles of Cathay and of many other isles and of a great part ofInd, and his land marcheth unto Prester John’s Land, and heholdeth so much land, that he knoweth not the end: and he is moremighty and greater lord without comparison than is the soldan: ofhis royal estate and of his might I shall speak more plenerly,when I shall speak of the land and of the country of Ind.

Also the city of Mecca where Mohammet lieth is of the greatdeserts of Arabia; and there lieth [the] body of him fullhonourably in their temple, that the Saracens clepenMusketh.  And it is from Babylon the less, where the soldandwelleth, unto Mecca above-said, into a thirty-two journeys.

And wit well, that the realm of Arabia is a full greatcountry, but therein is over-much desert.  And no man maydwell there in that desert for default of water, for that land isall gravelly and full of sand.  And it is dry and no thingfruitful, because that it hath no moisture; and therefore isthere so much desert.  And if it had rivers and wells, andthe land also were as it is in other parts, it should be as fullof people and as full inhabited with folk as in other places; forthere is full great multitude of people, whereas the land isinhabited.  Arabia dureth from the ends of the realm ofChaldea unto the last end of Africa, and marcheth to the land ofIdumea toward the end of Botron.  And in Chaldea the chiefcity is Bagdad.  And of Africa the chief city is Carthage,that Dido, that p.29was Eneas’s wife, founded; the which Eneas was ofthe city of Troy, and after was King of Italy.

Mesopotamia stretcheth also unto the deserts of Arabia, and itis a great country.  In this country is the city of Haran,where Abraham’s father dwelled, and from whence Abrahamdeparted by commandment of the angel.  And of that city wasEphraim, that was a great clerk and a great doctor.  AndTheophilus was of that city also, that our lady saved from ourenemy.  And Mesopotamia dureth from the river of Euphrates,unto the river of Tigris, for it is between those two rivers.

And beyond the river of Tigris is Chaldea, that is a fullgreat kingdom.  In that realm, at Bagdad above-said, waswont to dwell the caliph, that was wont to be both as Emperor andPope of the Arabians, so that he was lord spiritual and temporal;and he was successor to Mahommet, and of his generation. That city of Bagdad was wont to be clept Sutis, andNebuchadnezzar founded it; and there dwelled the holy prophetDaniel, and there he saw visions of heaven, and there he made theexposition of dreams.

And in old time there were wont to be three caliphs, he ofArabia and of Chaldea dwelt in the city of Bagdad above-said; andat Cairo beside Babylon dwelt the Caliph of Egypt; and atMorocco, upon the West Sea, dwelt the Caliph of the people ofBarbary and of Africans.  And now is there none of thecaliphs, nor nought have been since the time of the SoldanSaladin; for from that time hither the soldan clepeth himselfcaliph, and so have the caliphs lost their name.

Also witeth well, that Babylon the less, where the soldandwelleth, and at the city of Cairo that is nigh beside it, begreat huge cities many and fair; and that one sitteth nigh thatother.  Babylon sitteth upon the river of Gyson, sometimesclept Nile, that cometh out of Paradise terrestrial.

That river of Nile, all the year, when the sun entereth intothe sign of Cancer, it beginneth to wax, and it waxeth always aslong as the sun is in Cancer and in the sign of the Lion; and itwaxeth in such manner, that it is sometimes p. 30so great,that it is twenty cubits or more of deepness, and then it dothgreat harm to the goods that be upon the land.  For then mayno man travail to plough the lands for the great moisture, andtherefore is there dear time in that country.  And also,when it waxeth little, it is dear time in that country, fordefault of moisture.  And when the sun is in the sign ofVirgo, then beginneth the river for to wane and to decreaselittle and little, so that when the sun is entered into the signof Libra, then they enter between these rivers.  This rivercometh, running from Paradise terrestrial, between the deserts ofInd, and after it smiteth unto land, and runneth long time manygreat countries under earth.  And after it goeth out underan high hill, that men clepe Alothe, that is between Ind andEthiopia the mountance of five months’ journeys from theentry of Ethiopia; and after it environeth all Ethiopia andMauritania, and goeth all along from the land of Egypt unto thecity of Alexandria to the end of Egypt, and there it falleth intothe sea.  About this river be many birds and fowls, assikonies, that they clepen ibes.

CHAPTER VII

Of the Country of Egypt; of the BirdPhoenix of Arabia; of the City of Cairo; of theCunning to know Balm and to prove it; and of the Garnersof Joseph

Egypt is a long country, but it isstraight, that is to say narrow, for they may not enlarge ittoward the desert for default of water.  And the country isset along upon the river of Nile, by as much as that river mayserve by floods or otherwise, that when it floweth it may spreadabroad through the country; so is the country large oflength.  For there it raineth not but little in thatcountry, and for that cause they have no water, but if it be ofthat flood of that river.  And forasmuch as it ne rainethnot in that p.31country, but the air is alway pure and clear, thereforein that country be the good astronomers, for they find there noclouds to letten them.  Also the city of Cairo is rightgreat and more huge than that of Babylon the less, and it sittethabove toward the desert of Syria, a little above the riverabove-said.

In Egypt there be two parts: the height, that is towardEthiopia, and the lower, that is toward Arabia.  In Egypt isthe land of Rameses and the land of Goshen.  Egypt is astrong country, for it hath many shrewd havens because of thegreat rocks that be strong and dangerous to pass by.  And atEgypt, toward the east, is the Red Sea, that dureth unto the cityof Coston; and toward the west is the country of Lybia, that is afull dry land and little of fruit, for it is overmuch plenty ofheat, and that land is clept Fusthe.  And toward the partmeridional is Ethiopia.  And toward the north is the desert,that dureth unto Syria, and so is the country strong on allsides.  And it is well a fifteen journeys of length, andmore than two so much of desert, and it is but two journeys inlargeness.  And between Egypt and Nubia it hath well atwelve journeys of desert.  And men of Nubia be Christian,but they be black as the Moors for great heat of the sun.

In Egypt there be five provinces: that one is Sahythe; thatother Demeseer; another Resith, that is an isle in the Nile;another Alexandria; and another the land of Damietta.  Thatcity was wont to be right strong, but it was twice won of theChristian men, and therefore after that the Saracens beat downthe walls; and with the walls the tower thereof, the Saracensmade another city more far from the sea, and clept it the newDamietta; so that now no man dwelleth at the rather town ofDamietta.  At that city of Damietta is one of the havens ofEgypt; and at Alexandria is that other.  That is a fullstrong city, but there is no water to drink, but if it come byconduit from Nile, that entereth into their cisterns; and whosostopped that water from them, they might not endure there. In Egypt there be but few forcelets or castles, because that thecountry is so strong of himself.

p. 32At thedeserts of Egypt was a worthy man, that was an holy hermit, andthere met with him a monster (that is to say, a monster is athing deformed against kind both of man or of beast or ofanything else, and that is clept a monster).  And thismonster, that met with this holy hermit, was as it had been aman, that had two horns trenchant on his forehead; and he had abody like a man unto the navel, and beneath he had the body likea goat.  And the hermit asked him what he was.  And themonster answered him, and said he was a deadly creature, such asGod had formed, and dwelt in those deserts in purchasing hissustenance.  And [he] besought the hermit, that he wouldpray God for him, the which that came from heaven for to save allmankind, and was born of a maiden and suffered passion and death(as we well know) and by whom we live and be.  And yet isthe head with the two horns of that monster at Alexandria for amarvel.

In Egypt is the city of Heliopolis, that is to say, the cityof the Sun.  In that city there is a temple, made roundafter the shape of the Temple of Jerusalem.  The priests ofthat temple have all their writings, under the date of the fowlthat is clept phoenix; and there is none but one in all theworld.  And he cometh to burn himself upon the altar of thattemple at the end of five hundred year; for so long heliveth.  And at the five hundred years’ end, thepriests array their altar honestly, and put thereupon spices andsulphur vif and other things that will burn lightly; and then thebird phoenix cometh and burneth himself to ashes.  And thefirst day next after, men find in the ashes a worm; and thesecond day next after, men find a bird quick and perfect; and thethird day next after, he flieth his way.  And so there is nomore birds of that kind in all the world, but it alone, and trulythat is a great miracle of God.  And men may well liken thatbird unto God, because that there ne is no God but one; and also,that our Lord arose from death to life the third day.  Thisbird men see often-time fly in those countries; and he is notmickle more than an eagle.  And he hath a crest of feathersupon his head more great p. 33than the peacock hath; and is neckhis yellow after colour of an oriel that is a stone well shining,and his beak is coloured blue as ind; and his wings be of purplecolour, and his tail is barred overthwart with green and yellowand red.  And he is a full fair bird to look upon, againstthe sun, for he shineth full gloriously and nobly.

Also in Egypt be gardens, that have trees and herbs, the whichbear fruits seven times in the year.  And in that land menfind many fair emeralds and enough; and therefore they be greatercheap.  Also when it raineth once in the summer in the landof Egypt, then is all the country full of great mires.  Alsoat Cairo, that I spake of before, sell men commonly both men andwomen of other laws as we do here beasts in the market.  Andthere is a common house in that city that is all full of smallfurnaces, and thither bring women of the town their eyren ofhens, of geese, and or ducks for to be put into thosefurnaces.  And they that keep that house cover them withheat of horse dung, without hen, goose or duck or any otherfowl.  And at the end of three weeks or of a month they comeagain and take their chickens and flourish them and bring themforth, so that all the country is full of them.  And so mendo there both winter and summer.

Also in that country and in others also, men find long applesto sell, in their season, and men clepe them apples of Paradise;and they be right sweet and of good savour.  And though yecut them in never so many gobbets or parts, overthwart orendlong, evermore ye shall find in the midst the figure of theHoly Cross of our Lord Jesu.  But they will rot within eightdays, and for that cause men may not carry of those apples to nofar countries; of them men find the mountance of a hundred in abasket, and they have great leaves of a foot and a half oflength, and they be convenably large.  And men find therealso the apple tree of Adam, that have a bite at one of thesides; and there be also fig trees that bear no leaves, but figsupon the small branches; and men clepe them figs of Pharaoh.

Also beside Cairo, without that city, is the field where p. 34balm groweth;and it cometh out on small trees, that be none higher than to aman’s breeks’ girdle, and they seem as wood that isof the wild vine.  And in that field be seven wells, thatour Lord Jesu Christ made with one of his feet, when he went toplay with other children.  That field is not so well closed,but that men may enter at their own list; but in that season thatthe balm is growing, men put thereto good keeping, that no mandare be hardy to enter.

This balm groweth in no place, but only there.  Andthough that men bring of the plants, for to plant in othercountries, they grow well and fair; but they bring forth nofructuous thing, and the leaves of balm fall not.  And mencut the branches with a sharp flintstone, or with a sharp bone,when men will go to cut them; for whoso cut them with iron, itwould destroy his virtue and his nature.

And the Saracens clepe the wood Enonch-balse, and thefruit, the which is as cubebs, they clepe Abebissam, andthe liquor that droppeth from the branches they clepeGuybalse.  And men make always that balm to be tilledof the Christian men, or else it would not fructify; as theSaracens say themselves, for it hath been often-timeproved.  Men say also, that the balm groweth in Ind themore, in that desert where Alexander spake to the trees of thesun and of the moon, but I have not seen it; for I have not beenso far above upward, because that there be too many perilouspassages.

And wit ye well, that a man ought to take good keep for to buybalm, but if he con know it right well, for he may right lightlybe deceived.  For men sell a gum, that men clepe turpentine,instead of balm, and they put thereto a little balm for to givegood odour.  And some put wax in oil of the wood of thefruit of balm, and say that it is balm.  And some distilcloves of gilofre and of spikenard of Spain and of other spices,that be well smelling; and the liquor that goeth out thereof theyclepe it balm, and they think that they have balm, and they havenone.  For the Saracens counterfeit it by subtlety of craftfor to deceive the Christian men, as I have seen full many atime; and after them the p. 35merchants and the apothecariescounterfeit it eft sones, and then it is less worth, and a greatdeal worse.

But if it like you, I shall shew how ye shall know and prove,to the end that ye shall not be deceived.  First ye shallwell know, that the natural balm is full clear, and of citroncolour and strongly smelling; and if it be thick, or red orblack, it is sophisticate, that is to say, counterfeited and madelike it for deceit.  And understand, that if ye will put alittle balm in the palm of your hand against the sun, if it befine and good, ye ne shall not suffer your hand against the heatof the sun.  Also take a little balm with the point of aknife, and touch it to the fire, and if it burn it is a goodsign.  After take also a drop of balm, and put it into adish, or in a cup with milk of a goat, and if it be natural balmanon it will take and beclippe the milk.  Or put a drop ofbalm in clear water in a cup of silver or in a clear basin, stirit well with the clear water; and if the balm be fine and of hisown kind, the water shall never trouble; and if the balm besophisticate, that is to say counterfeited, the water shallbecome anon trouble; and also if the balm be fine it shall fallto the bottom of the vessel, as though it were quicksilver, forthe fine balm is more heavy twice than is the balm that issophisticate and counterfeited.  Now I have spoken ofbalm.

And now also I shall speak of another thing that is beyondBabylon, above the flood of the Nile, toward the desert betweenAfrica and Egypt; that is to say, of the garners of Joseph, thathe let make for to keep the grains for the peril of the dearyears.  And they be made of stone, full well made ofmasons’ craft; of the which two be marvellously great andhigh, and the tother ne be not so great.  And every garnerhath a gate for to enter within, a little high from the earth;for the land is wasted and fallen since the garners weremade.  And within they be all full of serpents.  Andabove the garners without be many scriptures of diverselanguages.  And some men say, that they be sepultures ofgreat lords, that were sometime, but that is not true, for allthe common rumour and speech is of all the people there, both farand near, that they be the p. 36garners of Joseph; and so find theyin their scriptures, and in their chronicles.  On the otherpart, if they were sepultures, they should not be void within, nethey should have no gates for to enter within; for ye may wellknow, that tombs and sepultures be not made of such greatness,nor of such highness; wherefore it is not to believe, that theybe tombs or sepultures.

In Egypt also there be diverse languages and diverse letters,and of other manner and condition than there be in otherparts.  As I shall devise you, such as they be, and thenames how they clepe them, to such intent, that ye may know thedifference of them and of others,—Athoimis, Bimchi, Chinok,Duram, Eni, Fin, Gomor, Heket, Janny, Karacta, Luzanin, Miche,Naryn, Oldach, Pilon, Qyn, Yron, Sichen, Thola, Urmron, Yph andZarm, Thoit.

CHAPTER VIII

Of the Isle of Sicily; of the wayfrom Babylon to the Mount Sinai; of the Church of SaintKatherine and of all the marvels there

Now will I return again, ere Iproceed any further, for to declare to you the other ways, thatdraw toward Babylon, where the sultan himself dwelleth, that isat the entry of Egypt; for as much as many folk go thither firstand after that to the Mount Sinai, and after return to Jerusalem,as I have said you here before.  For they fulfil first themore long pilgrimage, and after return again by the next ways,because that the more nigh way is the more worthy, and that isJerusalem; for no other pilgrimage is not like in comparison toit.  But for to fulfil their pilgrimages more easily andmore sikerly, men go first the longer way rather than the nearerway.

But whoso will go to Babylon by another way, more short fromthe countries of the west that I have rehearsed p. 37before, orfrom other countries next to them—then men go by France, byBurgundy and by Lombardy.  It needeth not to tell you thenames of the cities, nor of the towns that be in that way, forthe way is common, and it is known of many nations.  Andthere be many havens [where] men take the sea.  Some mentake the sea at Genoa, some at Venice, and pass by the seaAdriatic, that is clept the Gulf of Venice, that departeth Italyand Greece on that side; and some go to Naples, some to Rome, andfrom Rome to Brindisi and there they take the sea, and in manyother places where that havens be.  And men go by Tuscany,by Campania, by Calabria, by Apulia, and by the hills of Italy,by Corsica, by Sardinia, and by Sicily, that is a great isle anda good.

In that isle of Sicily there is a manner of a garden, in thewhich be many diverse fruits; and the garden is always green andflourishing, all the seasons of the year as well in winter as insummer.  That isle holds in compass about 350 Frenchmiles.  And between Sicily and Italy there is not but alittle arm of the sea, that men clepe the Farde of Messina. And Sicily is between the sea Adriatic and the sea ofLombardy.  And from Sicily into Calabria is but eight milesof Lombardy.

And in Sicily there is a manner of serpent, by the which menassay and prove, whether their children be bastards or no, or oflawful marriage: for if they be born in right marriage, theserpents go about them, and do them no harm, and if they be bornin avoutry, the serpents bite them and envenom them.  Andthus many wedded men prove if the children be their own.

Also in that isle is the Mount Etna, that men clepe MountGybelle, and the volcanoes that be evermore burning.  Andthere be seven places that burn and that cast out diverse flamesand diverse colour: and by the changing of those flames, men ofthat country know when it shall be dearth or good time, or coldor hot or moist or dry, or in all other manners how the timeshall be governed.  And from Italy unto the volcanoes ne isbut twenty-five mile.  And men say, that the volcanoes beways of hell.

p. 38Andwhoso goeth by Pisa, if that men list to go that way, there is anarm of the sea, where that men go to other havens in thosemarches.  And then men pass by the isle of Greaf that is atGenoa.  And after arrive men in Greece at the haven of thecity of Myrok, or at the haven of Valone, or at the city ofDuras; and there is a Duke at Duras, or at other havens in thosemarches; and so men go to Constantinople.  And after go menby water to the isle of Crete and to the isle of Rhodes, and soto Cyprus, and so to Athens, and from thence toConstantinople.  To hold the more right way by sea, it iswell a thousand eight hundred and four score mile ofLombardy.  And after from Cyprus men go by sea, and leaveJerusalem and all the country on the left hand, unto Egypt, andarrive at the city of Damietta, that was wont to be full strong,and it sits at the entry of Egypt.  And from Damietta go mento the city of Alexandria, that sits also upon the sea.  Inthat city was Saint Catherine beheaded: and there was Saint Markthe evangelist martyred and buried, but the Emperor Leo made hisbones to be brought to Venice.

And yet there is at Alexandria a fair church, all whitewithout paintures; and so be all the other churches that were ofthe Christian men, all white within, for the Paynims and theSaracens made them white for to fordo the images of saints thatwere painted on the walls.  That city of Alexandria is wellthirty furlongs in length, but it is but ten on largeness; and itis a full noble city and a fair.  At that city entereth theriver of Nile into the sea, as I to you have said before. In that river men find many precious stones, and much also oflignum aloes; and it is a manner of wood, that cometh out ofParadise terrestrial, the which is good for many diversemedicines, and it is right dear-worth.  And from Alexandriamen go to Babylon, where the sultan dwelleth; that sits also uponthe river of Nile: and this way is the most short, for to gostraight unto Babylon.

Now shall I say you also the way, that goeth from Babylon tothe Mount of Sinai, where Saint Catherine lieth.  He mustpass by the deserts of Arabia, by the which deserts Moses led thepeople of Israel.  And then p. 39pass men by the well that Moses madewith his hand in the deserts, when the people grucched; for theyfound nothing to drink.  And then pass men by the Well ofMarah, of the which the water was first bitter; but the childrenof Israel put therein a tree, and anon the water was sweet andgood for to drink.  And then go men by desert unto the valeof Elim, in the which vale be twelve wells; and there beseventy-two trees of palm, that bear the dates the which Mosesfound with the children of Israel.  And from that valley isbut a good journey to the Mount of Sinai.

And whoso will go by another way from Babylon, then men go bythe Red Sea, that is an arm of the sea Ocean.  And therepassed Moses with the children of Israel, over-thwart the sea alldry, when Pharaoh the King of Egypt chased them.  And thatsea is well a six mile of largeness in length; and in that seawas Pharaoh drowned and all his host that he led.  That seais not more red than another sea; but in some place thereof isthe gravel red, and therefore men clepen it the Red Sea. That sea runneth to the ends of Arabia and of Palestine.

That sea lasteth more than a four journeys, and then go men bydesert unto the Vale of Elim, and from thence to the Mount ofSinai.  And ye may well understand, that by this desert noman may go on horseback, because that there ne is neither meatfor horse ne water to drink; and for that cause men pass thatdesert with camels.  For the camel finds alway meat in treesand on bushes, that he feedeth him with: and he may well fastfrom drink two days or three.  And that may no horse do.

And wit well that from Babylon to the Mount Sinai is well atwelve good journeys, and some men make them more.  And somemen hasten them and pain them, and therefore they make themless.  And always men find latiners to go with them in thecountries, and further beyond, into time that men con thelanguage: and it behoveth men to bear victuals with them, thatshall dure them in those deserts, and other necessaries for tolive by.

p. 40And theMount of Sinai is clept the Desert of Sin, that is for to say,the bush burning; because there Moses saw our Lord God many timesin the form of fire burning upon that hill, and also in a bushburning, and spake to him.  And that was at the foot of thehill.  There is an abbey of monks, well builded and wellclosed with gates of iron for dread of the wild beasts; and themonks be Arabians or men of Greece.  And there [is] a greatconvent, and all they be as hermits, and they drink no wine, butif it be on principal feasts; and they be full devout men, andlive poorly and simply with joutes and with dates, and they dogreat abstinence and penances.

There is the Church of Saint Catherine, in the which be manylamps burning; for they have of oil of olives enough, both for toburn in their lamps and to eat also.  And that plenty havethey by the miracle of God; for the ravens and the crows and thechoughs and other fowls of the country assemble them there everyyear once, and fly thither as in pilgrimage; and everych of thembringeth a branch of the bays or of olive in their beaks insteadof offering, and leave them there; of the which the monks makegreat plenty of oil.  And this is a great marvel.  Andsith that fowls that have no kindly wit or reason go thither toseek that glorious Virgin, well more ought men then to seek her,and to worship her.

Also behind the altar of that church is the place where Mosessaw our Lord God in a burning bush.  And when the monksenter into that place, they do off both hosen and shoon or bootsalways, because that our Lord said to Moses, Do off thy hosen andthy shoon, for the place that thou standest on is land holy andblessed.  And the monks clepe that place Dozoleel, that isto say, the shadow of God.  And beside the high altar, threedegrees of height is the fertre of alabaster, where the bones ofSaint Catherine lie.  And the prelate of the monks sheweththe relics to the pilgrims, and with an instrument of silver hefroteth the bones; and then there goeth out a little oil, asthough it were a manner sweating, that is neither like to oil neto balm, but it is full sweet of smell; p. 41and of thatthey give a little to the pilgrims, for there goeth out butlittle quantity of the liquor.  And after that they shew thehead of Saint Catherine, and the cloth that she was wrapped in,that is yet all bloody; and in that same cloth so wrapped, theangels bare her body to the Mount Sinai, and there they buriedher with it.  And then they shew the bush, that burned andwasted nought, in the which our Lord spake to Moses, and otherrelics enough.

Also, when the prelate of the abbey is dead, I haveunderstood, by information, that his lamp quencheth.  Andwhen they choose another prelate, if he be a good man and worthyto be prelate, his lamp shall light with the grace of God withouttouching of any man.  For everych of them hath a lamp byhimself, and by their lamps they know well when any of them shalldie.  For when any shall die, the light beginneth to changeand to wax dim; and if he be chosen to be prelate, and is notworthy, his lamp quencheth anon.  And other men have toldme, that he that singeth the mass for the prelate that isdead—he shall find upon the altar the name written of himthat shall be prelate chosen.  And so upon a day, I asked ofthe monks, both one and other, how this befell.  But theywould not tell me nothing, into the time that I said that theyshould not hide the grace that God did them, but that they shouldpublish it to make the people have the more devotion, and thatthey did sin to hide God’s miracle, as me seemed.  Forthe miracles that God hath done and yet doth every day, be thewitness of his might and of his marvels, as David saith in thePsalter: Mirabilia testimonia tua, Domine, that isto say, ‘Lord thy marvels be thy witness.’  Andthen they told me, both one and other, how it befell full many atime, but more I might not have of them.

In that abbey ne entereth not no fly, ne toads ne newts, nesuch foul venomous beasts, ne lice ne fleas, by the miracle ofGod, and of our Lady.  For there were wont to be so manysuch manner of filths, that the monks were in will to leave theplace and the abbey, and were from thence upon the mountain aboveto eschew that p.42place; and our Lady came to them and bade them turnagain, and from thence forwards never entered such filth in thatplace amongst them, ne never shall enter hereafter.  Also,before the gate is the well, where Moses smote the stone, of thewhich the water came out plenteously.

From that abbey men go up the mountain of Moses, by manydegrees.  And there men find first a church of our Lady,where that she met the monks, when they fled away for the verminabove-said.  And more high upon that mountain is the chapelof Elijah the prophet; and that place they clepe Horeb, whereofholy writ speaketh, Et ambulavit in fortitudine cibi illiususque, ad montem Oreb; that is to say, ‘And hewent in strength of that meat unto the hill of God,Horeb.’  And there nigh is the vine that Saint Johnthe Evangelist planted that men clepe raisins of Staphis. And a little above is the chapel of Moses, and the rock whereMoses fled to for dread when he saw our Lord face to face. And in that rock is printed the form of his body, for he smote sostrongly and so hard himself in that rock, that all his body wasdolven within through the miracle of God.  And there besideis the place where our Lord took to Moses the Ten Commandments ofthe Law.  And there is the cave under the rock where Mosesdwelt, when he fasted forty days and forty nights.  But hedied in the Land of Promission, and no man knoweth where he wasburied.  And from that mountain men pass a great valley forto go to another mountain, where Saint Catherine was buried ofthe angels of the Lord.  And in that valley is a church offorty martyrs, and there sing the monks of the abbey, often-time:and that valley is right cold.  And after men go up themountain of Saint Catherine, that is more high than the mount ofMoses; and there, where Saint Catherine was buried, is neitherchurch nor chapel, nor other dwelling place, but there is an heapof stones about the place, where body of her, was put of theangels.  There was wont to be a chapel, but it was castdown, and yet lie the stones there.  And albeit that theCollect of Saint Catherine says, that it is the place where ourLord betaught the Ten Commandments to Moses, and there, p. 43where theblessed Virgin Saint Catherine was buried, that is to understandin one country, or in one place bearing one name; for both thatone and that other is clept the mount of Sinai.  But it is agreat way from that one to that other, and a great deep valleybetween them.

CHAPTER IX

Of the Desert between the Church of SaintCatherine and Jerusalem.  Of the Dry Tree; andhow Roses came first into the World

Now, after that men have visitedthose holy places, then will they turn toward Jerusalem. And then will they take leave of the monks, and recommendthemselves to their prayers.  And then they give thepilgrims of their victuals for to pass with the deserts towardSyria.  And those deserts dure well a thirteen journeys.

In that desert dwell many of Arabians, that men clepe Bedouinsand Ascopards, and they be folk full of all evilconditions.  And they have none houses, but tents, that theymake of skins of beasts, as of camels and of other beasts thatthey eat; and there beneath these they couch them and dwell inplace where they may find water, as on the Red Sea or elsewhere:for in that desert is full great default of water, and often-timeit falleth that where men find water at one time in a place itfaileth another time; and for that skill they make nonehabitations there.  These folk that I speak of, they tillnot the land, and they labour nought; for they eat no bread, butif it be any that dwell nigh a good town, that go thither and eatbread sometime.  And they roast their flesh and their fishupon the hot stones against the sun.  And they be strong menand well-fighting; and there so is much multitude of that folk,that they be without number.  And they ne reck of nothing,ne do not but chase after beasts to eat p. 44them. And they reck nothing of their life, and therefore they fear notthe sultan, ne no other prince; but they dare well war with them,if they do anything that is grievance to them.  And theyhave often-times war with the sultan, and, namely, that time thatI was with him.  And they bear but one shield and one spear,without other arms; and they wrap their heads and their neckswith a great quantity of white linen cloth; and they be rightfelonous and foul, and of cursed kind.

And when men pass this desert, in coming toward Jerusalem,they come to Bersabe (Beersheba), that was wont to be a full fairtown and a delectable of Christian men; and yet there be some oftheir churches.  In that town dwelled Abraham the patriarch,a long time.  That town of Bersabe founded Bersabe(Bathsheba), the wife of Sir Uriah the Knight, on the which KingDavid gat Solomen the Wise, that was king after David upon thetwelve kindreds of Jerusalem and reigned forty year.

And from thence go men to the city of Hebron, that is themountance of twelve good mile.  And it was clept sometimethe Vale of Mamre, and some-time it was clept the Vale of Tears,because that Adam wept there an hundred year for the death ofAbel his son, that Cain slew.  Hebron was wont to be theprincipal city of the Philistines, and there dwelled some timethe giants.  And that city was also sacerdotal, that is tosay, sanctuary of the tribe of Judah; and it was so free, thatmen received there all manner of fugitives of other places fortheir evil deeds.  In Hebron Joshua, Caleb and their companycame first to aspy, how they might win the land of Behest. In Hebron reigned first king David seven year and a half; and inJerusalem he reigned thirty-three year and a half.

And in Hebron be all the sepultures of the patriarchs, Adam,Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob; and of their wives, Eve, Sarah andRebecca, and of Leah; the which sepultures the Saracens keep fullcuriously, and have the place in great reverence for the holyfathers, the patriarchs that lie there.  And they suffer noChristian man to enter into that place, but if it be of specialgrace of the sultan; for they hold p. 45Christian men and Jews as dogs, andthey say, that they should not enter into so holy place. And men clepe that place, where they lie, Double Spelunk, orDouble Cave, or Double Ditch, forasmuch as that one lieth abovethat other.  And the Saracens clepe that place in theirlanguage, Karicarba, that is to say, ‘The Place ofPatriarchs.’  And the Jews clepe that placeArboth.  And in that same place was Abraham’shouse, and there he sat and saw three persons, and worshipped butone; as holy writ saith, Tres vidit et unum adoravit, thatis to say, ‘He saw three and worshipped one’: and ofthose same received Abraham the angels into his house.

And right fast by that place is a cave in the rock, where Adamand Eve dwelled when they were put out of Paradise; and there gotthey their children.  And in that same place was Adam formedand made, after that some men say: (for men were wont for toclepe that place the field of Damascus, because that it was inthe lordship of Damascus), and from thence was he translated intoParadise of delights, as they say; and after that he was drivenout of Paradise he was there left.  And the same day that hewas put in Paradise, the same day he was put out, for anon hesinned.  There beginneth the Vale of Hebron, that durethnigh to Jerusalem.  There the angel commanded Adam that heshould dwell with his wife Eve, of the which he gat Seth; ofwhich tribe, that is to say kindred, Jesu Christ was born.

In that valley is a field, where men draw out of the earth athing that men clepe cambile, and they eat it instead of spices,and they bear it to sell.  And men may not make the hole orthe cave, where it is taken out of the earth, so deep or so wide,but that it is, at the year’s end, full again up to thesides, through the grace of God.

And two mile from Hebron is the grave of Lot, that wasAbraham’s brother.

And a little from Hebron is the mount of Mamre, of the whichthe valley taketh his name.  And there is a tree of oak,that the Saracens clepe Dirpe, that is of Abraham’stime: the which men clepe the Dry Tree.  And they say p. 46that it hathbeen there since the beginning of the world, and was some-timegreen and bare leaves, unto the time that our Lord died on thecross, and then it dried: and so did all the trees that were thenin the world.  And some say, by their prophecies, that alord, a prince of the west side of the world, shall win the Landof Promission that is the Holy Land with help of Christian men,and he shall do sing a mass under that dry tree; and then thetree shall wax green and bear both fruit and leaves, and throughthat miracle many Saracens and Jews shall be turned to Christianfaith: and, therefore, they do great worship thereto, and keep itfull busily.  And, albeit so, that it be dry, natheles yethe beareth great virtue, for certainly he that hath a littlethereof upon him, it healeth him of the falling evil, and hishorse shall not be a-foundered: and many other virtues it hath;wherefore men hold it full precious.

From Hebron men go to Bethlehem in half a day, for it is butfive mile; and it is full fair way, by plains and woods fulldelectable.  Bethlehem is a little city, long and narrow andwell walled, and in each side enclosed with good ditches: and itwas wont to be clept Ephrata, as holy writ saith, Ecce,audivimus eum in Ephrata, that is to say, ‘Lo, weheard him in Ephrata.’  And toward the east end of thecity is a full fair church and a gracious, and it hath manytowers, pinacles and corners, full strong and curiously made; andwithin that church be forty-four pillars of marble, great andfair.

And between the city and the church is the fieldFloridus, that is to say, the ‘fieldflourished.’  For as much as a fair maiden was blamedwith wrong, and slandered that she had done fornication; forwhich cause she was demned to death, and to be burnt in thatplace, to the which she was led.  And, as the fire began toburn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as wiselyas she was not guilty of that sin, that he would help her andmake it to be known to all men, of his merciful grace.  Andwhen she had thus said, she entered into the fire, and anon wasthe fire quenched and out; and the brands that were p. 47burningbecame red rose-trees, and the brands that were not kindledbecame white rose-trees, full of roses.  And these were thefirst rose-trees and roses, both white and red, that ever any mansaw; and thus was this maiden saved by the grace of God. And therefore is that field clept the field of God flourished,for it was full of roses.

Also beside the choir of the church, at the right side, as mencome downward sixteen degrees, is the place where our Lord wasborn, that is full well dight of marble, and full richly paintedwith gold, silver, azure and other colours.  And three pacesbeside is the crib of the ox and the ass.  And beside thatis the place where the star fell, that led the three kings,Jaspar, Melchior and Balthazar: but men of Greece clepe themthus, Galgalath, Malgalath, and Seraphie,and the Jews clepe them, in this manner, in Hebrew,Appelius, Amerrius, and Damasus.  Thesethree kings offered to our Lord, gold, incense and myrrh, andthey met together through miracle of God; for they met togetherin a city in Ind, that men clepe Cassak, that is a fifty-threejourneys from Bethlehem; and they were at Bethlehem thethirteenth day; and that was the fourth day after that they hadseen the star, when they met in that city, and thus they were innine days from that city at Bethlehem, and that was greatmiracle.

Also, under the cloister of the church, by eighteen degrees atthe right side, is the charnel of the Innocents, where theirbones lie.  And before the place where our Lord was born isthe tomb of Saint Jerome, that was a priest and a cardinal, thattranslated the Bible and the Psalter from Hebrew into Latin: andwithout the minster is the chair that he sat in when hetranslated it.  And fast beside that church, a sixty fathom,is a church of Saint Nicholas, where our Lady rested her aftershe was lighted of our Lord; and forasmuch as she had too muchmilk in her paps, that grieved her, she milked them on the redstones of marble, so that the traces may yet be seen, in thestones, all white.

And ye shall understand, that all that dwell in Bethlehem beChristian men.

p. 48Andthere be fair vines about the city, and great plenty of wine,that the Christian men have do let make.  But the Saracensne till not no vines, ne they drink no wine: for their books oftheir law, that Mahomet betoke them, which they clepe their AlKoran, and some clepe it Mesaph, and in anotherlanguage it is clept Harme, and the same book forbiddeththem to drink wine.  For in that book, Mahomet cursed allthose that drink wine and all them that sell it: for some mensay, that he slew once an hermit in his drunkenness, that heloved full well; and therefore he cursed wine and them that drinkit.  But his curse be turned on to his own head, as holywrit saith, Et in virticem ipsius iniquitas ejusdescendet, that is for to say, ‘His wickedness shallturn and fall in his own head.’

And also the Saracens bring forth no pigs, nor they eat noswine’s flesh, for they say it is brother to man, and itwas forbidden by the old law; and they hold him all accursed thateat thereof.  Also in the land of Palestine and in the landof Egypt, they eat but little or none of flesh of veal or ofbeef, but if be so old, that he may no more travel for old; forit is forbidden, and for because they have but few of them;therefore they nourish them for to ere their lands.

In this city of Bethlehem was David the king born; and he hadsixty wives, and the first wife was called Michal; and also hehad three hundred lemans.

And from Bethlehem unto Jerusalem is but two mile; and in theway to Jerusalem half a mile from Bethlehem is a church, wherethe angel said to the shepherds of the birth of Christ.  Andin that way is the tomb of Rachel, that was Joseph’smother, the patriarch; and she died anon after that she wasdelivered of her son Benjamin.  And there she was buried ofJacob her husband, and he let set twelve great stones on her, intoken that she had born twelve children.  In the same way,half mile from Jerusalem, appeared the star to the threekings.  In that way also be many churches of Christian men,by the which men go towards the city of Jerusalem.

p.49CHAPTER X

Of thePilgrimages in Jerusalem, and of the Holy Placesthereabout

After, for to speak of Jerusalemthe holy city: ye shall understand, that it stands full fairbetween hills, and there be no rivers ne wells, but water comethby conduit from Hebron.  And ye shall understand, thatJerusalem of old time, unto the time of Melchisadech, was cleptJebus; and after it was clept Salem, unto the time of King David,that put these two names together, and clept it Jebusalem; andafter that, King Solomon clept it Jerosolomye; and after that,men clept it Jerusalem, and so it is clept yet.

And about Jerusalem is the kingdom of Syria.  And therebeside is the land of Palestine, and beside it is Ascalon, andbeside that is the land of Maritaine.  But Jerusalem is inthe land of Judea, and it is clept Judea, for that JudasMaccabeus was king of that country; and it marcheth eastward tothe kingdom of Arabia; on the south side to the land of Egypt;and on the west side to the Great Sea; on the north side, towardsthe kingdom of Syria and to the sea of Cyprus.  In Jerusalemwas wont to be a patriarch; and archbishops and bishops about inthe country.  About Jerusalem be these cities: Hebron, atseven mile; Jericho, at six mile; Beersheba, at eight mile;Ascalon, at seventeen mile; Jaffa, at sixteen mile; Ramath, atthree mile; and Bethlehem, at two mile.  And a two mile fromBethlehem, toward the south, is the Church of St. Karitot, thatwas abbot there, for whom they made much dole amongst the monkswhen he should die; and yet they be in mourning in the wise thatthey made their lamentation for him the first time; and it isfull great pity to behold.

This country and land of Jerusalem hath been in many diversnations’ hands, and often, therefore, hath the countrysuffered much tribulation for the sin of the p. 50people thatdwell there.  For that country hath been in the hands of allnations; that is to say, of Jews, of Canaanites, Assyrians,Persians, Medes, Macedonians, of Greeks, Romans, of Christianmen, of Saracens, Barbarians, Turks, Tartars, and of many otherdivers nations; for God will not that it be long in the hands oftraitors ne of sinners, be they Christian or other.  And nowhave the heathen men held that land in their hands forty year andmore; but they shall not hold it long, if God will.

And ye shall understand, that when men come to Jerusalem,their first pilgrimage is to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,where our Lord was buried, that is without the city on the northside; but it is now enclosed in with the town wall.  Andthere is a full fair church, all round, and open above, andcovered with lead; and on the west side is a fair tower and anhigh for bells, strongly made.

And in the midst of the church is a tabernacle, as it were alittle house, made with a low little door, and that tabernacle ismade in manner of half a compass, right curiously and richly madeof gold and azure and other rich colours full nobly made. And in the right side of that tabernacle is the sepulchre of ourLord; and the tabernacle is eight foot long, and five foot wide,and eleven foot in height.  And it is not long sith thesepulchre was all open, that men might kiss it and touch it; butfor pilgrims that came thither pained them to break the stone inpieces or in powder, therefore the soldan hath do make a wallabout the sepulchre that no man may touch it: but in the leftside of the wall of the tabernacle is, well the height of a man,a great stone to the quantity of a man’s head, that was ofthe holy sepulchre; and that stone kiss the pilgrims that comethither.  In that tabernacle be no windows, but it is allmade light with lamps that hang before the sepulchre.  Andthere is a lamp that hangeth before the sepulchre, that burnethlight; and on the Good Friday it goeth out by himself, [andlighteth again by him self] at that hour that our Lord rose fromdeath to life.

p. 51Alsowithin the church, at the right side, beside the choir of thechurch, is the mount of Calvary, where our Lord was put on thecross; and it is a rock of white colour and a little medled withred.  And the cross was set in a mortise in the samerock.  And on that rock dropped the wounds of our Lord whenhe was pined on the cross.  And that is clept Golgotha.

And men go up to that Golgotha by degrees; and in the place ofthat mortise was Adam’s head found after Noah’sflood, in token that the sins of Adam should be bought in thatsame place.  And upon that rock made Abraham sacrifice toour Lord.  And there is an altar; and before that altar lieGodefray de Bouillon and Baldwin, and other Christian kings ofJerusalem.

And there, nigh where our Lord was crucified, is this writtenin Greek:

† Ο θεὸςΒασιλεῦςἡμῶν πρὸαἰώνωνεἰργάσατοσωτηρίαν ἐνμέσῳ τῆςγῆς;

that is to say, in Latin,—

Deus Rex noster ante secula operatus estsalutem, in medio terrae;

that is to say,—

This God our King, before theworlds, hath wrought health in midst of the earth.

And also on that rock, where the cross was set, is writtenwithin the rock these words:

† Οἕιδεις,ἐστί Βάσιςτῆςπίστεωςὅλης τοῦκόσμουτούτου;

that is to say, in Latin,—

Quod vides, est fundamentum totius fideimundi hujus;

that is to say,—

† That thou seest, is the groundof all the faith of this world.

And ye shall understand, that when our Lord was done upon thecross, he was thirty-three year and three months of old. And the prophecy of David saith thus: Quadraginta annisproximus fui generationi huic; that is to say, p. 52‘Fortyyear was I neighbour to this kindred.’  And thusshould it seem that the prophecies were not true.  But theybe both true; for in old time men made a year of ten months, ofthe which March was the first and December was the last. But Gaius, that was Emperor of Rome, put these two monthsthereto, January and February, and ordained the year of twelvemonths; that is to say, 365 days, without leap year, after theproper course of the sun.  And therefore after counting often months of the year, he died in the fortieth year, as theprophet said.  And after the year of twelve months, he wasof age thirty-three year and three months.

Also, within the mount of Calvary, on the right side, is analtar, where the pillar lieth that our Lord Jesu was bounden towhen he was scourged.  And there beside be four pillars ofstone, that always drop water; and some men say that they weepfor our Lord’s death.  And nigh that altar is a placeunder earth forty-two degrees of deepness, where the holy crosswas found, by the wit of Saint Helen, under a rock where the Jewshad hid it.  And that was the very cross assayed; for theyfound three crosses, one of our Lord, and two of the two thieves;and Saint Helen proved them by a dead body that arose from deathto life, when that it was laid on it, that our Lord diedon.  And thereby in the wall is the place where the fournails of our Lord were hid: for he had two in his hands and twoin his feet.  And, of one of these, the Emperor ofConstantinople made a bridle to his horse to bear him in battle;and, through virtue thereof, he overcame his enemies, and won allthe land of Asia the less, that is to say, Turkey, Armenia theless and the more, and from Syria to Jerusalem, from Arabia toPersia, from Mesopotamia to the kingdom of Aleppo, from Egypt thehigh and the low and all the other kingdoms unto the depth ofEthiopia, and into Ind the less that then was Christian.

And there were in that time many good holy men and holyhermits, of whom the book of Father’s lives speaketh, andthey be now in Paynims’ and Saracens’ hands: but whenGod Almighty will, right as the lands p. 53were lost through sin of Christianmen, so shall they be won again by Christian men through help ofGod.

And in midst of that church is a compass, in the which Josephof Arimathea laid the body of our Lord when he had taken him downoff the cross; and there he washed the wounds of our Lord. And that compass, say men, is the midst of the world.

And in the church of the sepulchre, on the north side, is theplace where our Lord was put in prison (for he was in prison inmany places); and there is a part of the chain that he wasbounden with; and there he appeared first to Mary Magdalene whenhe was risen, and she wend that he had been a gardener.

In the church of Saint Sepulchre was wont to be canons of theorder of Saint Augustine, and had a prior, but the patriarch wastheir sovereign.

And without the doors of the church, on the right side as mengo upward eighteen grees, said our Lord to his mother,Mulier, ecce Filius tuus; that is to say, Woman,lo! thy Son!  And after that he said to John, his disciple,Ecce mater tua; that is to say, Lo! behold thymother!  And these words he said on the cross.  And onthese grees went our Lord when he bare the cross on hisshoulder.  And under these grees is a chapel, and in thatchapel sing priests, Indians, that is to say, priests of Ind, notafter our law, but after theirs; and alway they make theirsacrament of the altar, saying, Pater Nosterand otherprayers therewith; with the which prayers they say the words thatthe sacrament is made of, for they ne know not the additions thatmany popes have made; but they sing with good devotion.  Andthere near, is the place where that our Lord rested him when hewas weary for bearing of the cross.

And ye shall understand that before the church of thesepulchre is the city more feeble than in any other part, for thegreat plain that is between the church and the city.  Andtoward the east side, without the walls of the city, is the valeof Jehosaphat that toucheth to the walls as though it were alarge ditch.  And above that vale of Jehosaphat, out of thecity, is the church of Saint Stephen where he was p. 54stoned todeath.  And there beside, is the Golden Gate, that may notbe opened, by the which gate our Lord entered on Palm-Sunday uponan ass: and the gate opened against him when he would go unto thetemple; and yet appear the steps of the ass’s feet in threeplaces of the degrees that be of full hard stone.

And before the church of Saint Sepulchre, toward the south, at200 paces, is the great hospital of Saint John, of which thehospitallers had their foundation.  And within the palace ofthe sick men of that hospital be 124 pillars of stone.  Andin the walls of the house, without the number above-said, therebe fifty-four pillars that bear up the house.  And from thathospital to go toward the east is a full fair church, that isclept Nôtre Dame la Grande.  And then is thereanother church right nigh, that is clept Nôtre Dame deLatine.  And there were Mary Cleophas and MaryMagdalene, and tore their hair when our Lord was pained in thecross.

CHAPTER XI

Of the Temple of our Lord.  Ofthe Cruelty of King Herod.  Of the MountSion.  Of Probatica Piscina; and of NatatoriumSiloe

And from the church of thesepulchre, toward the east, at eight score paces, is TemplumDomini.  It is right a fair house, and it is all roundand high, and covered with lead.  And it is well paved withwhite marble.  But the Saracens will not suffer no Christianman ne Jews to come therein, for they say that none so foulsinful men should not come in so holy place: but I came in thereand in other places there I would, for I had letters of thesoldan with his great seal, and commonly other men have but hissignet.  In the which letters he commanded, of his specialgrace, to all his subjects, to let me see all the places, and toinform me pleinly all the mysteries of every place, and toconduct p. 55mefrom city to city, if it were need, and buxomly to receive me andmy company, and for to obey to all my requests reasonable if theywere not greatly against the royal power and dignity of thesoldan or of his law.  And to others, that ask him grace,such as have served him, he ne giveth not but his signet, thewhich they make to be borne before them hanging on a spear. And the folk of the country do great worship and reverence to hissignet or seal, and kneel thereto as lowly as we do to CorpusDomini.  And yet men do full greater reverence to hisletters; for the admiral and all other lords that they be shewedto, before or they receive them, they kneel down; and then theytake them and put them on their heads; and after, they kiss themand then they read them, kneeling with great reverence; and thenthey offer them to do all that the bearer asketh.

And in this Templum Dominiwere some-time canonsregulars, and they had an abbot to whom they were obedient; andin this temple was Charlemagne when that the angel brought himthe prepuce of our Lord Jesus Christ of his circumcision; andafter, King Charles let bring it to Paris into his chapel, andafter that he let bring it to Peyteres, and after that toChartres.

And ye shall understand, that this is not the temple thatSolomon made, for that temple dured not but 1102 year.  ForTitus, Vespasian’s son, Emperor of Rome, had laid siegeabout Jerusalem for to discomfit the Jews; for they put our Lordto death, without leave of the emperor.  And, when he hadwon the city, he burnt the temple and beat it down, and all thecity, and took the Jews and did them to death—1,100,000;and the others he put in prison and sold them toservage,—thirty for one penny; for they said they boughtJesu for thirty pennies, and he made of them better cheap when hegave thirty for one penny.

And after that time, Julian Apostate, that was emperor, gaveleave to the Jews to make the temple of Jerusalem, for he hatedChristian men.  And yet he was christened, but he forsookhis law, and became a renegade.  And p. 56when the Jewshad made the temple, came an earthquaking, and cast it down (asGod would) and destroyed all that they had made.

And after that, Adrian, that was Emperor of Rome, and of thelineage of Troy, made Jerusalem again and the temple in the samemanner as Solomon made it.  And he would not suffer no Jewsto dwell there, but only Christian men.  For although itwere so that he was not christened, yet he loved Christian menmore than any other nation save his own.  This emperor letenclose the church of Saint Sepulchre, and walled it within thecity; that, before, was without the city, long time before. And he would have changed the name of Jerusalem, and have cleptit Aelia; but that name lasted not long.

Also, ye shall understand, that the Saracens do much reverenceto that temple, and they say, that that place is rightholy.  And when they go in they go bare-foot, and kneel manytimes.  And when my fellows and I saw that, when we came inwe did off our shoes and came in bare-foot, and thought that weshould do as much worship and reverence thereto, as any of themisbelieving men should, and as great compunction in heart tohave.

This temple is sixty-four cubits of wideness, and as many inlength; and of height it is six score cubits.  And it iswithin, all about, made with pillars of marble.  And in themiddle place of the temple be many high stages, of fourteendegrees of height, made with good pillars all about: and thisplace the Jews call Sancta Sanctorum; that is to say,‘Holy of Hallows.’  And, in that place, comethno man save only their prelate, that maketh theirsacrifice.  And the folk stand all about, in diverse stages,after they be of dignity or of worship, so that they all may seethe sacrifice.  And in that temple be four entries, and thegates be of cypress, well made and curiously dight: and withinthe east gate our Lord said, ‘Here isJerusalem.’  And in the north side of that temple,within the gate, there is a well, but it runneth nought, of thewhich holy writ speaketh of and saith, Vidi aquam egredientemde templo; that is to say, ‘I saw water come out of thetemple.’

p. 57And onthat other side of the temple there is a rock that men clepeMoriach, but after it was clept Bethel, where the ark of God withrelics of Jews were wont to be put.  That ark or hutch withthe relics Titus led with him to Rome, when he had discomfitedall the Jews.  In that ark were the Ten Commandments, and ofAaron’s yard, and Moses’ yard with the which he madethe Red Sea depart, as it had been a wall, on the right side andon the left side, whiles that the people of Israel passed the seadry-foot: and with that yard he smote the rock, and the watercame out of it: and with that yard he did many wonders.  Andtherein was a vessel of gold full of manna, and clothing andornaments and the tabernacle of Aaron, and a tabernacle square ofgold with twelve precious stones, and a box of jasper green withfour figures and eight names of our Lord, and seven candlesticksof gold, and twelve pots of gold, and four censers of gold, andan altar of gold, and four lions of gold upon the which they barecherubin of gold twelve spans long, and the circle of swans ofheaven with a tabernacle of gold and a table of silver, and twotrumps of silver, and seven barley loaves and all the otherrelics that were before the birth of our Lord Jesu Christ.

And upon that rock was Jacob sleeping when he saw the angelsgo up and down by a ladder, and he said, Vere locus istesanctus est, et ego ignorabam; that is to say,‘Forsooth this place is holy, and I wist itnought.’  And there an angel held Jacob still, andturned his name, and clept him Israel.  And in that sameplace David saw the angel that smote the folk with a sword, andput it up bloody in the sheath.  And in that same rock wasSaint Simeon when he received our Lord into the temple.  Andin this rock he set him when the Jews would have stoned him; anda star came down and gave him light.  And upon that rockpreached our Lord often-time to the people.  And out thatsaid temple our Lord drove out the buyers and the sellers. And upon that rock our Lord set him when the Jews would havestoned him; and the rock clave in two, and in that cleaving wasour Lord hid, and there came down a p. 58star and gave light and served himwith clarity.  And upon that rock sat our Lady, and learnedher psalter.  And there our Lord forgave the woman her sins,that was found in avowtry.  And there was our Lordcircumcised.  And there the angels shewed tidings toZacharias of the birth of Saint Baptist his son.  And thereoffered first Melchisadech bread and wine to our Lord, in tokenof the sacrament that was to come.  And there fell Davidpraying to our Lord and to the angel that smote the people, thathe would have mercy on him and on the people: and our Lord heardhis prayer, and therefore would he make the temple in that place,but our Lord forbade him by an angel; for he had done treasonwhen he let slay Uriah the worthy knight, for to have Bathshebahis wife.  And therefore, all the purveyance that he hadordained to make the temple with he took it Solomon his son, andhe made it.  And he prayed our Lord, that all those thatprayed to him in that place with good heart—that he wouldhear their prayer and grant it them if they asked it rightfully:and our Lord granted it him, and therefore Solomon clept thattemple the Temple of Counsel and of Help of God.

And without the gate of that temple is an altar where Jewswere in wont to offer doves and turtles.  And between thetemple and that altar was Zacharias slain.  And upon thepinnacle of that temple was our Lord brought for to be tempted ofthe enemy, the fiend.  And on the height of that pinnaclethe Jews set Saint James, and cast him down to the earth, thatfirst was Bishop of Jerusalem.  And at the entry of thattemple, toward the west, is the gate that is clept PortaSpeciosa.  And nigh beside that temple, upon the rightside, is a church, covered with lead, that is cleptSolomon’s School.

And from that temple towards the south, right nigh, is thetemple of Solomon, that is right fair and well polished. And in that temple dwell the Knights of the Temple that were wontto be clept Templars; and that was the foundation of their order,so that there dwelled knights and in Templo Dominicanonsregulars.

From that temple toward the east, a six score paces, in p. 59the corner ofthe city, is the bath of our Lord; and in that bath was wont tocome water from Paradise, and yet it droppeth.  And therebeside is our Lady’s bed.  And fast by is the templeof Saint Simeon, and without the cloister of the temple, towardthe north, is a full fair church of Saint Anne, our Lady’smother; and there was our Lady conceived; and before that churchis a great tree that began to grow the same night.  Andunder that church, in going down by twenty-two degrees, liethJoachim, our Lady’s father, in a fair tomb of stone; andthere beside lay some-time Saint Anne, his wife; but Saint Helenlet translate her to Constantinople.  And in that church isa well, in manner of a cistern, that is clept ProbaticaPiscina, that hath five entries.  Into that well angelswere wont to come from heaven and bathe them within.  Andwhat man, that first bathed him after the moving of the water,was made whole of what manner of sickness that he had.  Andthere our Lord healed a man of the palsy that lay thirty-eightyear, and our Lord said to him, Tolle grabatum tuum etambula, that is to say, ‘Take thy bed andgo.’  And there beside was Pilate’s house.

And fast by is King Herod’s house, that let slay theinnocents.  This Herod was over-much cursed and cruel. For first he let slay his wife that he loved right well; and forthe passing love that he had to her when he saw her dead, he fellin a rage and out of his wit a great while; and sithen he cameagain to his wit.  And after he let slay his two sons thathe had of that wife.  And after that he let slay another ofhis wives, and a son that he had with her.  And after thathe let slay his own mother; and he would have slain his brotheralso, but he died suddenly.  And after that he did all theharm that he could or might.  And after he fell intosickness; and when he felt that he should die, he sent after hissister and after all the lords of his land; and when they werecome he let command them to prison.  And then he said to hissister, he wist well that men of the country would make no sorrowfor his death; and therefore he made his sister swear that sheshould let smite off all the heads of the lords when he weredead; p. 60andthen should all the land make sorrow for his death, and else,nought; and thus he made his testament.  But his sisterfulfilled not his will.  For, as soon as he was dead, shedelivered all the lords out of prison and let them go, each lordto his own, and told them all the purpose of her brother’sordinance.  And so was this cursed king never made sorrowfor, as he supposed for to have been.  And ye shallunderstand, that in that time there were three Herods, of greatname and fame for their cruelty.  This Herod, of which Ihave spoken of was Herod Ascalonite; and he that let behead SaintJohn the Baptist was Herod Antipas; and he that let smite offSaint James’s head was Herod Agrippa, and he put SaintPeter in prison.

Also, furthermore, in the city is the church of Saint Saviour;and there is the left arm of John Chrisostome, and the more partof the head of Saint Stephen.  And on that other side in thestreet, toward the south as men go to Mount Sion, is a church ofSaint James, where he was beheaded.

And from that church, a six score paces, is the MountSion.  And there is a fair church of our Lady, where shedwelled; and there she died.  And there was wont to be anabbot of canons regulars.  And from thence was she borne ofthe apostles unto the vale of Jehosaphat.  And there is thestone that the angel brought to our Lord from the mount of Sinai,and it is of that colour that the rock is of SaintCatherine.  And there beside is the gate where through ourLady went, when she was with child, when she went toBethlehem.  Also at the entry of the Mount Sion is achapel.  And in that chapel is the stone, great and large,with the which the sepulchre was covered with, when Joseph ofArimathea had put our Lord therein; the which stone the threeMarys saw turn upward when they came to the sepulchre the day ofhis resurrection, and there found an angel that told them of ourLord’s uprising from death to life.  And there also isa stone in the wall, beside the gate, of the pillar that our Lordwas scourged at.  And there was Annas’s house, thatwas bishop of the Jews in that time.  And there was our Lordexamined in the p.61night, and scourged and smitten and villainousentreated.  And that same place Saint Peter forsook our Lordthrice or the cock crew.  And there is a part of the tablethat he made his supper on, when he made his maundy with hisdisciples, when he gave them his flesh and his blood in form ofbread and wine.

And under that chapel, thirty-two degrees, is the place whereour Lord washed his disciples’ feet, and yet is the vesselwhere the water was.  And there beside that same vessel wasSaint Stephen buried.  And there is the altar where our Ladyheard the angels sing mass.  And there appeared first ourLord to his disciples after his resurrection, the gates enclosed,and said to them, Pax vobis! that is to say, ‘Peaceto you!’  And on that mount appeared Christ to SaintThomas the apostle and bade him assay his wounds; and thenbelieved he first, and said, Dominus meus et Deus meus!that is to say ‘My Lord and my God!’  In thesame church, beside the altar, were all the apostles onWhitsunday, when the Holy Ghost descended on them in likeness offire.  And there made our Lord his pasque with hisdisciples.  And there slept Saint John the evangelist uponthe breast of our Lord Jesu Christ, and saw sleeping manyheavenly privities.

Mount Sion is within the city, and it is a little higher thanthe other side of the city; and the city is stronger on that sidethan on that other side.  For at the foot of the Mount Sionis a fair castle and a strong that the soldan let make.  Inthe Mount Sion were buried King David and King Solomon, and manyother kings, Jews of Jerusalem.  And there is the placewhere the Jews would have cast up the body of our Lady when theapostles bare the body to be buried in the vale ofJehosaphat.  And there is the place where Saint Peter weptfull tenderly after that he had forsaken our Lord.  And astone’s cast from that chapel is another chapel, where ourLord was judged, for that time was there Caiaphas’shouse.  From that chapel, to go toward the east, at sevenscore paces, is a deep cave under the rock, that is clept theGalilee of our Lord, where Saint Peter hid him when he hadforsaken our Lord.  Item, p. 62between the Mount Sion and the Templeof Solomon is the place where our Lord raised the maiden in herfather’s house.

Under the Mount Sion, toward the vale of Jehosaphat, is a wellthat is clept Natatorium Siloe.  And there was ourLord washed after his baptism; and there made our Lord the blindman to see.  And there was y-buried Isaiah theprophet.  Also, straight from Natatorium Siloe, is animage, of stone and of old ancient work, that Absalom let make,and because thereof men clepe it the hand of Absalom.  Andfast by is yet the tree of elder that Judas hanged himself upon,for despair that he had, when he sold and betrayed ourLord.  And there beside was the synagogue, where the bishopsof Jews and the Pharisees came together and held their council;and there cast Judas the thirty pence before them, and said thathe had sinned betraying our Lord.  And there nigh was thehouse of the apostles Philip and Jacob Alphei.  And on thatother side of Mount Sion, toward the south, beyond the vale astone’s cast, is Aceldama; that is to say, the field ofblood, that was bought for the thirty pence, that our Lord wassold for.  And in that field be many tombs of Christian men,for there be many pilgrims graven.  And there be manyoratories, chapels and hermitages, where hermits were wont todwell.  And toward the east, an hundred paces, is thecharnel of the hospital of Saint John, where men were wont to putthe bones of dead men.

Also from Jerusalem, toward the west, is a fair church, wherethe tree of the cross grew.  And two mile from thence is afair church, where our Lady met with Elizabeth, when they wereboth with child; and Saint John stirred in his mother’swomb, and made reverence to his Creator that he saw not. And under the altar of that church is the place where Saint Johnwas born.  And from that church is a mile to the castle ofEmmaus: and there also our Lord shewed him to two of hisdisciples after his resurrection.  Also on that other side,200 paces from Jerusalem, is a church, where was wont to be thecave p. 63ofthe lion.  And under that church, at thirty degrees ofdeepness, were interred 12,000 martyrs, in the time of KingCosdroe that the lion met with, all in a night, by the will ofGod.

Also from Jerusalem, two mile, is the Mount Joy, a full fairplace and a delicious; and there lieth Samuel the prophet in afair tomb.  And men clepe it Mount Joy, for it giveth joy topilgrims’ hearts, because that there men see firstJerusalem.

Also between Jerusalem and the mount of Olivet is the vale ofJehosaphat, under the walls of the city, as I have saidbefore.  And in the midst of the vale is a little river thatmen clepe Torrens Cedron, and above it, overthwart, lay atree (that the cross was made of) that men yede over on. And fastby it is a little pit in the earth, where the foot of the pillaris yet interred; and there was our Lord first scourged, for hewas scourged and villainously entreated in many places. Also in the middle place of the vale of Jehosaphat is the churchof our Lady: and it is of forty-three degrees under the earthunto the sepulchre of our Lady.  And our Lady was of age,when she died, seventy-two year.  And beside the sepulchreof our Lady is an altar, where our Lord forgave Saint Peter allhis sins.  And from thence, toward the west, under an altar,is a well that cometh out of the river of Paradise.  And witwell, that that church is full low in the earth, and some is allwithin the earth.  But I suppose well, that it was not sofounded.  But for because that Jerusalem hath often-timebeen destroyed and the walls abated and beten down and tumbledinto the vale, and that they have been so filled again and theground enhanced; and for that skill is the church so low withinthe earth.  And, natheles, men say there commonly, that theearth hath so been cloven sith the time that our Lady was thereburied; and yet men say there, that it waxeth and groweth everyday, without doubt.  In that church were wont to be monksblack, that had their abbot.

And beside that church is a chapel, beside the rock that hightGethsemane.  And there was our Lord kissed of p. 64Judas; andthere was he taken of the Jews.  And there left our Lord hisdisciples, when he went to pray before his passion, when heprayed and said, Pater, si fieri potest,transeat a me calix iste; that is to say, ‘Father,if it may be, do let this chalice go from me’: and, when hecame again to his disciples, he found them sleeping.  And inthe rock within the chapel yet appear the fingers of ourLord’s hand, when he put them in the rock, when the Jewswould have taken him.

And from thence, a stone’s cast towards the south, isanother chapel, where our Lord sweat drops of blood.  Andthere, right nigh, is the tomb of King Jehosaphat, of whom thevale beareth the name.  This Jehosaphat was king of thatcountry, and was converted by an hermit, that was a worthy manand did much good.  And from thence, a bow draught towardsthe south, is the church, where Saint James and Zachariah theprophet were buried.

And above the vale is the mount of Olivet; and it is clept sofor the plenty of olives that grow there.  That mount ismore high than the city of Jerusalem is; and, therefore, may menupon that mount see many of the streets of the city.  Andbetween that mount and the city is not but the vale of Jehosaphatthat is not full large.  And from that mount styed our LordJesu Christ to heaven upon Ascension Day; and yet there sheweththe shape of his left foot in the stone.  And there is achurch where was wont to be an abbot and canons regulars. And a little thence, twenty-eight paces, is a chapel; and thereinis the stone on the which our Lord sat, when he preached theeight blessings and said thus: Beau pauperes spiritu: andthere he taught his disciples the Pater Noster; and wrotewith his finger in a stone.  And there nigh is a church ofSaint Mary Egyptian, and there she lieth in a tomb.  Andfrom thence toward the east, a three bow shot, is Bethphage, tothe which our Lord sent Saint Peter and Saint James for to seekthe ass upon Palm-Sunday, and rode upon that ass toJerusalem.

And in coming down from the mount of Olivet, toward the east,is a castle that is clept Bethany.  And there dwelt p. 65Simonleprous, and there harboured our Lord: and after he was baptisedof the apostles and was clept Julian, and was made bishop; andthis is the same Julian that men clepe to for good harbourage,for our Lord harboured with him in his house.  And in thathouse our Lord forgave Mary Magdalene her sins: there she washedhis feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.  Andthere served Saint Martha our Lord.  There our Lord raisedLazarus from death to life, that was dead four days and stank,that was brother to Mary Magdalene and to Martha.  And theredwelt also Mary Cleophas.  That castle is well a mile longfrom Jerusalem.  Also in coming down from the mount ofOlivet is the place where our Lord wept upon Jerusalem.  Andthere beside is the place where our Lady appeared to Saint Thomasthe apostle after her assumption, and gave him her girdle. And right nigh is the stone where our Lord often-time sat uponwhen he preached; and upon that same he shall sit at the day ofdoom, right as himself said.

Also after the mount of Olivet is the mount of Galilee. There assembled the apostles when Mary Magdalene came and toldthem of Christ’s uprising.  And there, between theMount Olivet and the Mount Galilee, is a church, where the angelsaid to our Lady of her death.

Also from Bethany to Jericho was sometime a little city, butit is now all destroyed, and now is there but a littlevillage.  That city took Joshua by miracle of God andcommandment of the angel, and destroyed it, and cursed it and allthem that bigged it again.  Of that city was Zaccheus thedwarf that clomb up into the sycamore tree for to see our Lord,because he was so little he might not see him for thepeople.  And of that city was Rahab the common woman thatescaped alone with them of her lineage: and she often-timerefreshed and fed the messengers of Israel, and kept them frommany great perils of death; and, therefore, she had good reward,as holy writ saith: Qui accipit prophetam in nomine meo,mercedem prophetae accipiet; that is to say, ‘Hethat taketh a prophet in my name, he shall take meed of theprophet.’  And so had she.  For p. 66sheprophesied to the messengers, saying, Novi quod Dominus tradetvobis terram hanc; that is to say, ‘I wot well, thatour Lord shall betake you this land’: and so he did. And after, Salomon, Naasson’s son, wedded her, and fromthat time was she a worthy woman, and served God well.

Also from Bethany go men to flom Jordan by a mountain andthrough desert.  And it is nigh a day journey from Bethany,toward the east, to a great hill, where our Lord fasted fortydays.  Upon that hill the enemy of hell bare our Lord andtempted him, and said, Dic ut lapides isti panes fiant;that is to say, ‘Say, that these stones be madeloaves.’  In that place, upon the hill, was wont to bea fair church; but it is all destroyed, so that there is now butan hermitage, that a manner of Christian men hold, that be cleptGeorgians, for Saint George converted them.  Upon that hilldwelt Abraham a great while, and therefore men clepe itAbraham’s Garden.  And between the hill and thisgarden runneth a little brook of water that was wont to bebitter; but, by the blessing of Elisha the prophet, it becamesweet and good to drink.  And at the foot of this hill,toward the plain, is a great well, that entereth into fromJordan.

From that hill to Jericho, that I spake of before, is but amile in going toward flom Jordan.  Also as men go to Jerichosat the blind man crying, Jesu, Fili David,miserere mei; that is to say, ‘Jesu, David’sSon, have mercy on me.’  And anon he had hissight.  Also, two mile from Jericho, is flome Jordan. And, an half mile more nigh, is a fair church of Saint John theBaptist, where he baptised our Lord.  And there beside isthe house of Jeremiah the prophet.

p.67CHAPTER XII

Of the Dead Sea; and of the FlomeJordan.  Of the Head of Saint John the Baptist;and of the Usages of the Samaritans

And from Jericho, a three mile, isthe Dead Sea.  About that sea groweth much alum and ofalkatran.  Between Jericho and that sea is the land ofEngeddi.  And there was wont to grow the balm; but men makedraw the branches thereof and bear them to be grafted at Babylon;and yet men clepe them vines of Geddi.  At a coast of thatsea, as men go from Arabia, is the mount of the Moabites, wherethere is a cave, that men clepe Karua.  Upon that hill ledBalak, the son of Beor, Balaam the priest for to curse the peopleof Israel.

That Dead Sea parteth the land of Ind and of Arabia, and thatsea lasteth from Soara unto Arabia.  The water of that seais full bitter and salt, and, if the earth were made moist andwet with that water, it would never bear fruit.  And theearth and the land changeth often his colour.  And itcasteth out of the water a thing that men clepe asphalt, alsogreat pieces, as the greatness of an horse, every day and on allsides.  And from Jerusalem to that sea is 200furlongs.  That sea is in length five hundred and four scorefurlongs, and in breadth an hundred and fifty furlongs; and it isclept the Dead Sea, for it runneth nought, but is everunmovable.  And neither man, ne beast, ne nothing thatbeareth life in him ne may not die in that sea.  And thathath been proved many times, by men that have deserved to be deadthat have been cast therein and left therein three days or four,and they ne might never die therein; for it receiveth no thingwithin him that beareth life.  And no man may drink of thewater for bitterness.  And if a man cast iron therein, itwill float above.  And if men cast a p. 68feathertherein, it will sink to the bottom, and these be things againstkind.

And also, the cities there were lost because of sin.  Andthere beside grow trees that bear full fair apples, and fair ofcolour to behold; but whoso breaketh them or cutteth them in two,he shall find within them coals and cinders, in token that bywrath of God the cities and the land were burnt and sunken intohell.  Some men clepe that sea the lake Dalfetidee; some,the flome of Devils; and some the flome that is everstinking.  And into that sea sunk the five cities by wrathof God; that is to say, Sodom, Gomorrah, Aldama, Zeboim, andZoar, for the abominable sin of sodomy that reigned inthem.  But Zoar, by the prayer of Lot, was saved and kept agreat while, for it was set upon a hill; and yet sheweth thereofsome part above the water, and men may see the walls when it isfair weather and clear.  In that city Lot dwelt a littlewhile; and there was he made drunk of his daughters, and lay withthem, and engendered of them Moab and Ammon.  And the causewhy his daughters made him drunk and for to lie by him was this:because they saw no man about them, but only their father, andtherefore they trowed that God had destroyed all the world as hehad done the cities, as he had done before by Noah’sflood.  And therefore they would lie by with their fatherfor to have issue, and for to replenish the world again withpeople to restore the world again by them; for they trowed thatthere had been no more men in all the world; and if their fatherhad not been drunk, he had not lain with them.

And the hill above Zoar men cleped it then Edom and after mencleped it Seir, and after Idumea.  Also at the right side ofthat Dead Sea, dwelleth yet the wife of Lot in likeness of a saltstone; for that she looked behind her when the cities sunk intohell.  This Lot was Haran’s son, that was brother toAbraham; and Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and Milcah,Nahor’s wife, were sisters to the said Lot.  And thesame Sarah was of eld four score and ten year when Isaac her sonwas gotten on her.  And Abraham had another son Ishmael thathe gat upon Hagar p.69his chamberer.  And when Isaac his son was eightdays old, Abraham his father let him be circumcised, and Ishmaelwith him that was fourteen year old: wherefore the Jews that comeof Isaac’s line be circumcised the eighth day, and theSaracens that come of Ishmael’s line be circumcised whenthey be fourteen year of age.

And ye shall understand, that within the Dead Sea, runneth theflom Jordan, and there it dieth, for it runneth no further more,and that is a place that is a mile from the church of Saint Johnthe Baptist toward the west, a little beneath the place wherethat Christian men bathe them commonly.  And a mile fromflom Jordan is the river of Jabbok, the which Jacob passed overwhen he came from Mesopotamia.  This flom Jordan is no greatriver, but it is plenteous of good fish; and it cometh out of thehill of Lebanon by two wells that be clept Jor and Dan, and ofthe two wells hath it the name.  And it passeth by a lakethat is clept Maron.  And after it passeth by the sea ofTiberias, and passeth under the hills of Gilboa; and there is afull fair vale, both on that one side and on that other of thesame river.  And men go [on] the hills of Lebanon, all inlength unto the desert of Pharan; and those hills part thekingdom of Syria and the country of Phoenicia; and upon thosehills grow trees of cedar that be full high, and they bear longapples, and as great as a man’s head.

And also this flom Jordan departeth the land of Galilee andthe land of Idumea and the land of Betron, and that runneth underearth a great way unto a fair plain and a great that is cleptMeldan in Sarmois; that is to say, Fair or market in theirlanguage, because that there is often fairs in that plain. And there becometh the water great and large.  In that plainis the tomb of Job.

And in that flom Jordan above-said was our Lord baptised ofSaint John, and the voice of God the Father was heard saying:Hic est Filius meus dilectus, etc.; that is to say,‘This is my beloved Son, in the which I am well pleased;hear him!’ and the Holy Ghost alighted upon him in likenessof a culver; and so at his baptising was all the wholeTrinity.

p. 70Andthrough that flome passed the children of Israel, all dry feet;and they put stones there in the middle place, in token of themiracle that the water withdrew him so.  Also in that flomeJordan Naaman of Syria bathed him, that was full rich, but he wasmesell; and there anon he took his health.

About the flome Jordan be many churches where that manyChristian men dwelled.  And nigh thereto is the city of Aithat Joshua assailed and took.  Also beyond the flome Jordanis the vale of Mamre, and that is a full fair vale.  Alsoupon the hill that I spake of before, where our Lord fasted fortydays, a two mile long from Galilee, is a fair hill and an high,where the enemy the fiend bare our Lord the third time to tempthim, and shewed him all the regions of the world and said, Hecomnia tibi dabo, si cadens adoraveris me; that is tosay, ‘All this shall I give thee, if thou fall and worshipme.’

Also from the Dead Sea to go eastward, out of the marches ofthe Holy Land that is clept the Land of Promission, is a strongcastle and a fair, in an hill that is clept Carak in Sarmois;that is to say, Royally.  That castle let make King Baldwin,that was King of France, when he had conquered that land, and putit into Christian men’s hands for to keep that country; andfor that cause was it clept the Mount Royal.  And under itthere is a town that hight Sobach, and there, all about, dwellChristian men, under tribute.

From thence go men to Nazareth, of the which our Lord beareththe surname.  And from thence there is three journeys toJerusalem: and men go by the province of Galilee by Ramath, bySothim and by the high hill of Ephraim, where Elkanah and Hannahthe mother of Samuel the prophet dwelled.  There was bornthis prophet; and, after his death, he was buried at Mount Joy,as I have said you before.

And then go men to Shiloh, where the Ark of God with therelics were kept long time under Eli the prophet.  Theremade the people of Hebron sacrifice to our Lord, and they yieldedup their vows.  And there spake p. 71God first to Samuel, and shewed himthe mutation of Order of Priesthood, and the mystery of theSacrament.  And right nigh, on the left side, is Gibeon andRamah and Benjamin, of the which holy writ speaketh of.

And after men go to Sichem, some-time clept Sichar; and thatis in the province of Samaritans.  And there is a full fairvale and a fructuous; and there is a fair city and a good thatmen clepe Neople.  And from thence is a journey toJerusalem.  And there is the well, where our Lord spake tothe woman of Samaritan.  And there was wont to be a church,but it is beaten down.  Beside that well King Rehoboam letmake two calves of gold and made them to be worshipped, and putthat one at Dan and that other at Bethel.  And a mile fromSichar is the city of Luz; and in that city dwelt Abraham acertain time.  Sichem is a ten mile from Jerusalem, and itis clept Neople; that is for to say, the New City.  And nighbeside is the tomb of Joseph the son of Jacob that governedEgypt: for the Jews bare his bones from Egypt and buried themthere, and thither go the Jews often-time in pilgrimage withgreat devotion.  In that city was Dinah, Jacob’sdaughter, ravished, for whom her brethren slew many persons anddid many harms to the city.  And there beside is the hill ofGerizim, where the Samaritans make their sacrifice: in that hillwould Abraham have sacrificed his son Isaac.  And therebeside is the vale of Dotaim, and there is the cistern, whereJoseph, was cast in of his brethren, which they sold; and that istwo mile from Sichar.

From thence go men to Samaria that men clepe now Sebast; andthat is the chief city of that country, and it sits between thehill of Aygnes as Jerusalem doth.  In that city was thesittings of the twelve tribes of Israel; but the city is not nowso great as it was wont to be.  There was buried Saint Johnthe Baptist between two prophets, Elisha and Abdon; but he wasbeheaded in the castle of Macharim beside the Dead Sea, and afterhe was translated of his disciples, and buried at Samaria. And there let Julianus Apostata dig him up and let burn his bones(for p. 72hewas at that time emperor) and let winnow the ashes in thewind.  But the finger that shewed our Lord, saying, EcceAgnus Dei; that is to say, ‘Lo! the Lamb of God,’that would never burn, but is all whole;—that finger letSaint Thecla, the holy virgin, be born into the hill of Sebast;and there make men great feast.

In that place was wont to be a fair church; and many otherthere were; but they be all beaten down.  There was wont tobe the head of Saint John Baptist, enclosed in the wall. But the Emperor Theodosius let draw it out, and found it wrappedin a little cloth, all bloody; and so he let it to be born toConstantinople.  And yet at Constantinople is the hinderpart of the head, and the fore part of the head, till under thechin, is at Rome under the church of Saint Silvester, where benuns of an hundred orders: and it is yet all broilly, as thoughit were half-burnt, for the Emperor Julianus above-said, of hiscursedness and malice, let burn that part with the other bones,and yet it sheweth; and this thing hath been proved both by popesand by emperors.  And the jaws beneath, that hold to thechin, and a part of the ashes and the platter that the head waslaid in, when it was smitten off, is at Genoa; and the Genoesemake of it great feast, and so do the Saracens also.  Andsome men say that the head of Saint John is at Amiens in Picardy;and other men say that it is the head of Saint John theBishop.  I wot never, but God knoweth; but in what wise thatmen worship it, the blessed Saint John holds him a-paid.

From this city of Sebast unto Jerusalem is twelve mile. And between the hills of that country there is a well that foursithes in the year changeth his colour, sometime green, sometimered, sometime clear and sometime trouble; and men clepe thatwell, Job.  And the folk of that country, that men clepeSamaritans, were converted and baptized by the apostles; but theyhold not well their doctrine, and always they hold laws bythemselves, varying from Christian men, from Saracens, Jews andPaynims.  And the Samaritans lieve well in one God, and theysay well that p.73there is but only one God, that all formed, and allshall doom; and they hold the Bible after the letter, and theyuse the Psalter as the Jews do.  And they say that they bethe right sons of God.  And among all other folk, they saythat they be best beloved of God, and that to them belongeth theheritage that God behight to his beloved children.  And theyhave also diverse clothing and shape to look on than other folkhave; for they wrap their heads in red linen cloth, in differencefrom others.  And the Saracens wrap their heads in whitelinen cloth; and the Christian men, that dwell in the country,wrap them in blue of Ind; and the Jews in yellow cloth.  Inthat country dwell many of the Jews, paying tribute as Christianmen do.  And if ye will know the letters that the Jews usethey be such, and the names be as they clepe them written above,in manner of their A. B. C.

CHAPTER XIII

Of the Province of Galilee, andwhere Antichrist shall be born.  OfNazareth.  Of the age of Our Lady.  Ofthe Day of Doom.  And of the customs ofJacobites, Syrians; and of the usages ofGeorgians

From this country of the Samaritansthat I have spoken of before go men to the plains of Galilee, andmen leave the hills on that one part.

And Galilee is one of the provinces of the Holy Land, and inthat province is the city of Nain—and Capernaum, andChorazin and Bethsaida.  In this Bethsaida was Saint p. 74Peter andSaint Andrew born.  And thence, a four mile, isChorazin.  And five mile from Chorazin is the city of Kedarwhereof the Psalter speaketh: Et habitavi cum habitantibusKedar; that is for to say, ‘And I have dwelled with thedwelling men in Kedar.’  In Chorazin shall Antichristbe born, as some men say.  And other men say he shall beborn in Babylon; for the prophet saith: De Babilonia coluberexest, qui totum mundum devorabit; that is to say‘Out of Babylon shall come a worm that shall devour all theworld.’  This Antichrist shall be nourished inBethsaida, and he shall reign in Capernaum: and therefore saithholy writ; Vae tibi, Chorazin!  Vaetibi, Bethsaida!  Vae tibi,Capernaum! that is to say, ‘Woe be to thee,Chorazin!  Woe to thee, Bethsaida!  Woe to thee,Capernaum.’  And all these towns be in the land ofGalilee.  And also the Cana of Galilee is four mile fromNazareth: of that city was Simon Chananeus and his wife Canee, ofthe which the holy evangelist speaketh of.  There did ourLord the first miracle at the wedding, when he turned water intowine.

And in the end of Galilee, at the hills, was the Ark of Godtaken; and on that other side is the Mount Endor or Hermon. And, thereabout, goeth the Brook of Torrens Kishon; and therebeside, Barak, that was Abimelech’s son with Deborah theprophetess overcame the host of Idumea, when Sisera the king wasslain of Jael the wife of Heber, and chased beyond the flomeJordan, by strength of sword, Zeeb and Zebah and Zalmunna, andthere he slew them.  Also a five mile from Nain is the cityof Jezreel that sometime was clept Zarim, of the which cityJezabel, the cursed queen, was lady and queen, that took away thevine of Naboth by her strength.  Fast by that city is thefield Megiddo, in the which the King Joram was slain of the Kingof Samaria and after was translated and buried in the MountSion.

And a mile from Jezreel be the hills of Gilboa, where Saul andJonathan, that were so fair, died; wherefore David cursed them,as holy writ saith: Montes Gilboæ, nec ros necpluvia, etc.; that is to say, ‘Ye hills ofGilboa, p.75neither dew ne rain come upon you.’  And amile from the hills of Gilboa toward the east is the city ofCyropolis, that was clept before Bethshan; and upon the walls ofthat city was the head of Saul hanged.

After go men by the hill beside the plains of Galilee untoNazareth, where was wont to be a great city and a fair; but nowthere is not but a little village, and houses abroad here andthere.  And it is not walled.  And it sits in a littlevalley, and there be hills all about.  There was our Ladyborn, but she was gotten at Jerusalem.  And because that ourLady was born at Nazareth, therefore bare our Lord his surname ofthat town.  There took Joseph our Lady to wife, when she wasfourteen year of age.  And there Gabriel greeted our Lady,saying, Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum! that is tosay, ‘Hail, full of grace, our Lord is withthee!’  And this salutation was done in a place of agreat altar of a fair church that was wont to be sometime, but itis now all down, and men have made a little receipt, beside apillar of that church, to receive the offerings ofpilgrims.  And the Saracens keep that place full dearly, forthe profit that they have thereof.  And they be full wickedSaracens and cruel, and more despiteful than in any other place,and have destroyed all the churches.  There nigh isGabriel’s Well, where our Lord was wont to bathe him, whenhe was young, and from that well bare he water often-time to hismother.  And in that well she washed often-time the cloutsof her Son Jesu Christ.  And from Jerusalem unto thither isthree journeys.  At Nazareth was our Lord nourished. Nazareth is as much to say as, ‘Flower of thegarden’; and by good skill may it be clept flower, forthere was nourished the flower of life that was Christ Jesu.

And two mile from Nazareth is the city of Sephor, by the waythat goeth from Nazareth to Akon.  And an half mile fromNazareth is the Leap of our Lord.  For the Jews led him uponan high rock for to make him leap down, and have slain him; butJesu passed amongst them, and leapt upon another rock, and yet bethe steps of his feet seen in the rock, where he alighted. And therefore say p.76some men, when they dread them of thieves in any way, orof enemies; Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat;that is to say, ‘Jesus, forsooth, passing by the midst ofthem, he went’: in token and mind, that our Lord passedthrough, out the Jews’ cruelty, and scaped safely fromthem, so surely may men pass the peril of thieves’. And then say men two verses of the Psalter three sithes:Irruat super eos formido & pavor, in magnitudinebrachii tui, Domine.  Fiant immobiles,quasi lapis, donec pertranseat populus tuus,Domine; donec pertranseat populus tuus iste,quem possedisti; and then may men pass without peril.

And ye shall understand, that our Lady had child when she wasfifteen year old.  And she was conversant with her sonthirty-three year and three months.  And after the passionof our Lord she lived twenty-four year.

Also from Nazareth men go to the Mount Tabor; and that is afour mile.  And it is a full fair hill and well high, wherewas wont to be a town and many churches; but they be alldestroyed.  But yet there is a place that men clepe theschool of God, where he was wont to teach his disciples, and toldthem the privities of heaven.  And, at the foot of thathill, Melchisedech that was King of Salem, in the turning of thathill met Abraham in coming again from the battle, when he hadslain Abimelech.  And this Melchisedech was both king andpriest of Salem that now is clept Jerusalem.  In that hillTabor our Lord transfigured him before Saint Peter, Saint Johnand Saint Jame; and there they saw, ghostly, Moses and Elias theprophets beside them.  And therefore said Saint Peter;Domine, bonum est nos hic esse; faciamus hictria tabernacula; that is to say, ‘Lord, it is good forus to be here; make we here three dwelling-places.’ And there heard they a voice of the Father that say; Hic estFilius meus dilectus, in quo mihi benecomplacui.  And our Lord defended them that they shouldnot tell that avision till that he were risen from death tolife.

In that hill and in that same place, at the day of doom, fourangels with four trumpets shall blow and raise all men that hadsuffered death, sith that the world was p. 77formed, fromdeath to life; and shall come in body and soul in judgment,before the face of our Lord in the Vale of Jehosaphat.  Andthe doom shall be on Easter Day, such time as our Lordarose.  And the doom shall begin, such hour as our Lorddescended to hell and despoiled it.  For at such hour shallhe despoil the world and lead his chosen to bliss; and the othershall he condemn to perpetual pains.  And then shall everyman have after his desert, either good or evil, but if the mercyof God pass his righteousness.

Also a mile from Mount Tabor is the Mount Hermon; and therewas the city of Nain.  Before the gate of that city raisedour Lord the widow’s son, that had no more children. Also three miles from Nazareth is the Castle Safra, of the whichthe sons of Zebedee and the sons of Alpheus were.  Also aseven mile from Nazareth is the Mount Cain, and under that is awell; and beside that well Lamech, Noah’s father, slew Cainwith an arrow.  For this Cain went through briars and bushesas a wild beast; and he had lived from the time of Adam hisfather unto the time of Noah, and so he lived nigh to 2000year.  And this Lamech was all blind for eld.

From Safra men go to the sea of Galilee and to the city ofTiberias, that sits upon the same sea.  And albeit that menclepe it a sea, yet is it neither sea ne arm of the sea. For it is but a stank of fresh water that is in length onehundred furlongs, and of breadth forty furlongs, and hath withinhim great plenty of good fish, and runneth into flomJordan.  The city is not full great, but it hath good bathswithin him.

And there, as the flome Jordan parteth from the sea ofGalilee, is a great bridge, where men pass from the Land ofPromission to the land of King Bashan and the land of Gennesaret,that be about the flom Jordan and the beginning of the sea ofTiberias.  And from thence may men go to Damascus, in threedays, by the kingdom of Traconitis, the which kingdom lastethfrom Mount Hermon to the sea of Galilee, or to the sea ofTiberias, or to the sea of Gennesaret; and all is one sea, andthis p. 78thetank that I have told you, but it changeth thus the name for thenames of the cities that sit beside him.

Upon that sea went our Lord dry feet; and there he took upSaint Peter, when he began to drench within the sea, and said tohim, Modice fidei, quare dubitasti?  And afterhis resurrection our Lord appeared on that sea to his disciplesand bade them fish, and filled all the net full of greatfishes.  In that sea rowed our Lord often-time; and there hecalled to him Saint Peter, Saint Andrew, Saint James and SaintJohn, the sons of Zebedee.

In that city of Tiberias is the table upon the which our Lordate upon with his disciples after his resurrection; and they knewhim in breaking of bread, as the gospel saith: Et cognoverunteum in fractione panis.  And nigh that city of Tiberiasis the hill, where our Lord fed 5000 persons with five barleyloaves and two fishes.

In that city a man cast a burning dart in wrath after ourLord.  And the head smote into the earth and waxed green;and it growed to a great tree.  And yet it groweth and thebark thereof is all like coals.

Also in the head of that sea of Galilee, toward theseptentrion is a strong castle and an high that hightSaphor.  And fast beside it is Capernaum.  Within theLand of Promission is not so strong a castle.  And there isa good town beneath that is clept also Saphor.  In thatcastle Saint Anne our Lady’s mother was born.  Andthere beneath, was Centurio’s house.  That country isclept the Galilee of Folk that were taken to tribute of Zebulonand Napthali.

And in again coming from that castle, a thirty mile, is thecity of Dan, that sometime was clept Belinas or Cesarea Philippi;that sits at the foot of the Mount of Lebanon, where the flomeJordan beginneth.  There beginneth the Land of Promissionand dureth unto Beersheba in length, in going toward the northinto the south, and it containeth well a nine score miles; and ofbreadth, that is to say, from Jericho unto Jaffa, and thatcontaineth a forty mile of Lombardy, or of our country, that bealso little miles; these be not miles of Gascony ne of the p. 79province ofAlmayne, where be great miles.  And wit ye well, that theLand of Promission is in Syria.  For the realm of Syriadureth from the deserts of Arabia unto Cilicia, and that isArmenia the great; that is to say, from the south to thenorth.  And, from the east to the west, it dureth from thegreat deserts of Arabia unto the West Sea.  But in thatrealm of Syria is the kingdom of Judea and many other provinces,as Palestine, Galilee, Little Cilicia, and many other.

In that country and other countries beyond they have a custom,when they shall use war, and when men hold siege about city orcastle, and they within dare not send out messengers with lettersfrom lord to lord for to ask succour, they make their letters andbind them to the neck of a culver, and let the culver flee. And the culvers be so taught, that they flee with those lettersto the very place that men would send them to.  For theculvers be nourished in those places where they be sent to, andthey send them thus, for to bear their letters.  And theculvers return again whereas they be nourished; and so they docommonly.

And ye shall understand that amongst the Saracens, one partand other, dwell many Christian men of many manners and diversenames.  And all be baptized and have diverse laws anddiverse customs.  But all believe in God the Father and theSon and the Holy Ghost; but always fail they in some articles ofour faith.  Some of these be clept Jacobites, for SaintJames converted them and Saint John baptized them.  They saythat a man shall make his confession only to God, and not to aman; for only to him should man yield him guilty of all that hehath misdone.  Ne God ordained not, ne never devised, ne theprophet neither, that a man should shrive him to another (as theysay), but only to God.  As Moses writeth in the Bible, andas David saith in the Psalter Book; Confitebor tibi,Domine, in toto corde meo, and Delictum meumtibi cognitum feci, and Deus meus es tu, &confitebor tibi, and Quoniam cogitatio hominisconfitebitur tibi, etc.  For they know all the Bible andthe Psalter.  And therefore allege they so the letter. But they allege not the authorities p. 80thus in Latin, but in their languagefull apertly, and say well, that David and other prophets sayit.

Natheles, Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory saythus:—Augustinus: Qui scelera sua cogitat, &conversus fuerit, veniam sibi credat.  Gregorius:Dominus potius mentem quam verba respicit.  And SaintHilary saith: Longorum temporum crimina, in ictu oculipereunt, si cordis nata fuerit compunctio.  Andfor such authorities they say, that only to God shall a manknowledge his defaults, yielding himself guilty and crying himmercy, and behoting to him to amend himself.  And therefore,when they will shrive them, they take fire and set it besidethem, and cast therein powder of frankincense; and in the smokethereof they shrive them to God, and cry him mercy.  Butsooth it is, that this confession was first and kindly.  ButSaint Peter the apostle, and they that came after him, haveordained to make their confession to man, and by good reason; forthey perceived well that no sickness was curable, [ne] goodmedicine to lay thereto, but if men knew the nature of themalady; and also no man may give convenable medicine, but if heknow the quality of the deed.  For one sin may be greater inone man than in another, and in one place and in one time than inanother; and therefore it behoveth him that he know the kind ofthe deed, and thereupon to give him penance.

There be other, that be clept Syrians; and they hold thebelief amongst us, and of them of Greece.  And they use allbeards, as men of Greece do.  And they make the sacrament oftherf bread.  And in their language they use letters ofSaracens.  But after the mystery of Holy Church they useletters of Greece.  And they make their confession, right asthe Jacobites do.

There be other, that men clepe Georgians, that Saint Georgeconverted; and him they worship more than any other saint, and tohim they cry for help.  And they came out of the realm ofGeorgia.  These folk use crowns shaven.  The clerkshave round crowns, and the lewd men have crowns all square. And they hold Christian law, as do they of Greece; of whom I havespoken of before.

p. 81Otherthere be that men clepe Christian men of Girding, for they be allgirt above.  And there be other that men cleptNestorians.  And some Arians, some Nubians, some of Greece,some of Ind, and some of Prester John’s Land.  And allthese have many articles of our faith, and to other they bevariant.  And of their variance were too long to tell, andso I will leave, as for the time, without more speaking ofthem.

CHAPTER XIV

Of the City of Damascus.  Ofthree ways to Jerusalem; one, by land and bysea; another, more by land than by sea; andthe third way to Jerusalem, all by land

Now after that I have told you somepart of folk in the countries before, now will I turn again to myway, for to turn again on this half.  Then whoso will gofrom the land of Galilee, of that that I have spoke for, to comeagain on this half, men come again by Damascus, that is a fullfair city and full noble, and full of all merchandises, and athree journeys long from the sea, and a five journeys fromJerusalem.  But upon camels, mules, horses, dromedaries andother beasts, men carry their merchandise thither.  Andthither come the merchants with merchandise by sea from India,Persia, Chaldea, Armenia, and of many other kingdoms.

This city founded Eliezer Damascus, that was yeoman anddispenser of Abraham before that Isaac was born.  For hethought for to have been Abraham’s heir, and he named thetown after his surname Damascus.  And in that place, whereDamascus was founded, Cain slew Abel his brother.  Andbeside Damascus is the Mount Seir.  In that city of Damascusthere is great plenty of wells.  And within the city andwithout be many fair gardens and of diverse fruits.  Noneother city is not like in comparison to it of fair gardens, andof fair disports.  p. 82The city is great and full of people,and well walled with double walls.  And there be manyphysicians.  And Saint Paul himself was there a physicianfor to keep men’s bodies in health, before he wasconverted.  And after that he was physician of souls. And Saint Luke the evangelist was disciple of Saint Paul for tolearn physic, and many other; for Saint Paul held then school ofphysic.  And near beside Damascus was he converted. And after his conversion ne dwelt in that city three days,without sight and without meat or drink; and in those three dayshe was ravished to heaven, and there he saw many privities of ourLord.

And fast beside Damascus is the castle of Arkes that is bothfair and strong.

From Damascus men come again by our Lady of Sardenak, that isa five mile on this half Damascus.  And it sitteth upon arock, and it is a full fair place; and it seemeth a castle, forthere was wont to be a castle, but it is now a full fairchurch.  And there within be monks and nuns Christian. And there is a vault under the church, where that Christian mendwell also.  And they have many good vines.  And in thechurch, behind the high altar, in the wall, is a table of blackwood, on the which sometime was depainted an image of our Ladythat turneth into flesh: but now the image sheweth but little,but alway, by the grace of God, that table evermore drops oil, asit were of olive; and there is a vessel of marble under the tableto receive the oil.  Thereof they give to pilgrims, for itheals of many sicknesses; and men say that, if it be kept wellseven year, afterwards it turns into flesh and blood.  FromSardenak men come through the vale of Bochar, the which is a fairvale and a plenteous of all manner of fruit; and it is amongsthills.  And there are therein fair rivers and great meadowsand noble pasture for beasts.  And men go by the mounts ofLibanus, which lasts from Armenia the more towards the north untoDan, the which is the end of the Land of Repromission toward thenorth, as I said before.  Their hills are right fruitful,and there are many fair wells and cedars and cypresses, and manyother trees p.83of divers kinds.  There are also many good townstoward the head of their hills, full of folk.

Between the city of Arkez and the city of Raphane is a river,that is called Sabatory; for on the Saturday it runs fast, andall the week else it stand still and runs not, or else butfairly.  Between the foresaid hills also is another waterthat on nights freezes hard and on days is no frost seenthereon.  And, as men come again from those hills, is a hillhigher than any of the other, and they call it there the HighHill.  There is a great city and a fair, the which is calledTripoli, in the which are many good Christian men, yemand thesame rites and customs that we use.  From thence men come bya city that is called Beyrout, where Saint George slew thedragon; and it is a good town, and a fair castle therein, and itis three journeys from the foresaid city of Sardenak.  Atthe one side of Beyrout sixteen mile, to come hitherward, is thecity of Sydon.  At Beyrout enters pilgrims into the sea thatwill come to Cyprus, and they arrive at the port of Surry or ofTyre, and so they come to Cyprus in a little space.  Or menmay come from the port of Tyre and come not at Cyprus, and arriveat some haven of Greece, and so come to these parts, as I saidbefore.

I have told you now of the way by which men go farrest andlongest to Jerusalem, as by Babylon and Mount Sinai and manyother places which ye heard me tell of; and also by which waysmen shall turn again to the Land of Repromission.  Now willI tell you the rightest way and the shortest to Jerusalem. For some men will not go the other; some for they have notspending enough, some for they have no good company, and some forthey may not endure the long travel, some for they dread them ofmany perils of deserts, some for they will haste them homeward,desiring to see their wives and their children, or for some otherreasonable cause that they have to turn soon home.  Andtherefore I will shew how men may pass tittest and in shortesttime make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  A man that comesfrom the lands of the west, he goes through France, Burgoyne, p. 84andLumbardy.  And so to Venice or Genoa, or some other haven,and ships there and wends by sea to the isle of Greff, the whichpertains to the Genoans.

And syne he arrives in Greece at Port Mirrok, or at Valoun, orat Duras, or at some other haven of that country, and rests himthere and buys him victuals and ships again and sails to Cyprusand arrives there at Famagost and comes not at the isle ofRhodes.  Famagost is the chief haven of Cyprus; and there herefreshes him and purveys him of victuals, and then he goes toship and comes no more on land, if he will, before he comes atPort Jaffa, that is the next haven to Jerusalem, for it is but aday journey and a half from Jerusalem, that is to say thirty-sixmile.  From the Port Jaffa men go to the city of Rames, thewhich is but a little thence; and it is a fair city and a goodand mickle folk therein.  And without that city toward thesouth is a kirk of our Lady, where our Lord shewed him to her inthree clouds, the which betokened the Trinity.  And a littlethence is another city, that men call Dispolis, but it hight sometime Lidda, a fair city and a well inhabited: there is a kirk ofSaint George, where he was headed.  From thence men go tothe castle of Emmaus, and so to the Mount Joy; there may pilgrimsfirst see Jerusalem.  At Mount Joy lies Samuel theprophet.  From thence men go to Jerusalem.  Besidetheir ways is the city of Ramatha and the Mount Modyn; andthereof was Matathias, Judas Machabeus father, and there are thegraves of the Machabees.  Beyond Ramatha is the town ofTekoa, whereof Amos the prophet was; and there is his grave.

I have told you before of the holy places that are atJerusalem and about it, and therefore I will speak no more ofthem at this time.  But I will turn again and shew you otherways a man may pass more by land, and namely for them that maynot suffer the savour of the sea, but is liefer to go by land, ifall it be the more pain.  From a man be entered into the seahe shall pass till one of the havens of Lumbardy, for there isthe best making of purveyance of victuals; or he may pass toGenoa or Venice p.85or some other.  And he shall pass by sea in toGreece to the Port Mirrok, or to Valoun or to Duras, or someother haven of that country.  And from thence he shall go byland to Constantinople, and he shall pass the water that iscalled Brace Saint George, the which is one arm of the sea. And from thence he shall by land go to Ruffynell, where a goodcastle is and a strong; and from therein he shall go to Puluual,and syne to the castle of Sinope, and from thence to Cappadocia,that is a great country, where are many great hills.  And heshall go though Turkey to the port of Chiutok and to the city ofNicæa, which is but seven miles thence.  That city wonthe Turks from the Emperor of Constantinople; and it is a faircity and well walled on the one side, and on the other side is agreat lake and a great river, the which is called Lay.  Fromthence men go by the hills of Nairmount and by the vales ofMailbrins and strait fells and by the town of Ormanx or by thetowns that are on Riclay and Stancon, the which are great riversand noble, and so to Antioch the less, which is set on the riverof Riclay.  And there abouts are many good hills and fair,and many fair woods and great plenty of wild beasts for to huntat.

And he that will go another way, he shall go by the plains ofRomany coasting the Roman Sea.  On that coast is a faircastle that men call Florach, and it is right a strongplace.  And uppermore amongst the mountains is a fair city,that is called Tarsus, and the city of Longemaath, and the cityof Assere, and the city of Marmistre.  And when a man ispassed those mountains and those fells, he goes by the city ofMarioch and by Artoise, where is a great bridge upon the river ofFerne, that is called Farfar, and it is a great river bearingships and it runs right fast out of the mountains to the city ofDamascus.  And beside the city of Damascus is another greatriver that comes from the hills of Liban, which men callAbbana.  At the passing of this river Saint Eustace, thatsome-time was called Placidas, lost his wife and his twochildren.  This river runs through the plain of Archades,and so to the Red Sea.  From thence men go to the city p. 86of Phenice,where are hot wells and hot baths.  And then men go to thecity of Ferne; and between Phenice and Ferne are ten mile. And there are many fair woods.  And then men come toAntioch, which is ten mile thence.  And it is a fair cityand well walled about with many fair towers; and it is a greatcity, but it was some-time greater than it is now.  For itwas some-time two mile on length and on breadth other halfmile.  And through the midst of that city ran the water ofFarphar and a great bridge over it; and there was some-time inthe walls about this city three hundred and fifty towers, and ateach pillar of the bridge was a stone.  This is the chiefcity of the kingdom of Syria.  And ten mile from this cityis the port of Saint Symeon; and there goes the water of Farpharinto the sea.  From Antioch men go to a city that is calledLacuth, and then to Gebel, and then to Tortouse.  And therenear is the land of Channel; and there is a strong castle that iscalled Maubek.  From Tortouse pass men to Tripoli by sea, orelse by land through the straits of mountains and fells. And there is a city that is called Gibilet.  From Tripoli gomen to Acres; and from thence are two ways to Jerusalem, the oneon the left half and the other on the right half.  By theleft way men go by Damascus and by the flum Jordan.  By theright way men go by Maryn and by the land of Flagramy and nearthe mountains into the city of Cayphas, that some men call thecastle of Pilgrims.  And from thence to Jerusalem are threeday journey, in the which men shall go through Caesarea Philippi,and so to Jaffa and Rames and the castle of Emmaus, and so toJerusalem.

Now have I told you some ways by land and by water that menmay go by to the Holy Land after the countries that they comefrom.  Nevertheless they come all to one end.  Yet isthere another way to Jerusalem all by land, and pass not the sea,from France or Flanders; but that way is full long and perilousand of great travel, and therefore few go that way.  He thatshall go that way, he shall go through Almayne and Prussia and soto Tartary.  This Tartary is holden of the great Caan ofCathay, of p.87whom I think to speak afterward.  This is a fullill land and sandy and little fruit bearing.  For theregrows no corn, ne wine, ne beans, ne peas, ne none other fruitconvenable to man for to live with.  But there are beasts ingreat plenty: and therefore they eat but flesh without bread andsup the broth and they drink milk of all manner of beasts. They eat hounds, cats, ratons, and all other wild beasts. And they have no wood, or else little; and therefore they warmand seethe their meat with horse-dung and cow-dung and of otherbeasts, dried against the sun.  And princes and other eatnot but once in the day, and that but little.  And they beright foul folk and of evil kind.  And in summer, by all thecountries, fall many tempests and many hideous thunders and leitsand slay much people and beasts also full often-time.  Andsuddenly is there passing heat, and suddenly also passing cold;and it is the foulest country and the most cursed and the poorestthat men know.  And their prince, that governeth thatcountry, that they clepe Batho, dwelleth at the city ofOrda.  And truly no good man should not dwell in thatcountry, for the land and the country is not worthy hounds todwell in.  It were a good country to sow in thistle andbriars and broom and thorns and briars; and for no other thing isit not good.  Natheles, there is good land in some place,but it is pure little, as men say.

I have not been in that country, nor by those ways.  ButI have been at other lands that march to those countries, as inthe land of Russia, as in the land of Nyflan, and in the realm ofCracow and of Letto, and in the realm of Daristan, and in manyother places that march to the coasts.  But I went never bythat way to Jerusalem, wherefore I may not well tell you themanner.

But, if this matter please to any worthy man that hath gone bythat way, he may tell it if him like, to that intent, that those,that will go by that way and make their voyage by those coasts,may know what way is there.  For no man may pass by that waygoodly, but in time of winter, for the perilous waters and wickedmareys, that be in those countries, that no man may pass but ifit be strong p.88frost and snow above.  For if the snow ne were not,men might not go upon the ice, ne horse ne car neither.

And it is well a three journeys of such way to pass fromPrussia to the land of Saracens habitable.  And it behovethto the Christian men, that shall war against them every year, tobear their victuals with them; for they shall find there nogood.  And then must they let carry their victual upon theice with cars that have no wheels, that they clepe sleighs. And as long as their victuals last they may abide there, but nolonger; for there shall they find no wight that will sell themany victual or anything.  And when the spies see anyChristian men come upon them, they run to the towns, and cry witha loud voice; Kerra, Kerra, Kerra.  Andthen anon they arm them and assemble them together.

And ye shall understand that it freezeth more strongly inthose countries than on this half.  And therefore hath everyman stews in his house, and in those stews they eat and do theiroccupations all that they may.  For that is at the northparts that men clepe the Septentrional where it is all onlycold.  For the sun is but little or none toward thosecountries.  And therefore in the Septentrion, that is verynorth, is the land so cold, that no man may dwell there. And, in the contrary, toward the south it is so hot, that no manne may dwell there, because that the sun, when he is upon thesouth, casteth his beams all straight upon that part.

CHAPTER XV

Of the Customs of Saracens, and oftheir Law.  And how the Soldan reasoned me,Author of this Book; and of the beginning ofMohammet

Now, because that I have spoken ofSaracens and of their country—now, if ye will know a partof their law and of their belief, I shall tell you after thattheir book that is p.89clept Alkarontelleth.  And some men clepethat book Meshaf.  And some men clepe itHarme, after the diverse languages of the country. The which book Mohammet took them.  In the which book, amongother things, is written, as I have often-time seen and read,that the good shall go to paradise, and the evil to hell; andthat believe all Saracens.  And if a man ask them whatparadise they mean, they say, to paradise that is a place ofdelights where men shall find all manner of fruits in allseasons, and rivers running of milk and honey, and of wine and ofsweet water; and that they shall have fair houses and noble,every man after his desert, made of precious stones and of goldand of silver; and that every man shall have four score wives allmaidens, and he shall have ado every day with them, and yet heshall find them always maidens.

Also they believe and speak gladly of the Virgin Mary and ofthe Incarnation.  And they say that Mary was taught of theangel; and that Gabriel said to her, that she was for-chosen fromthe beginning of the world and that he shewed to her theIncarnation of Jesu Christ and that she conceived and bare childmaiden; and that witnesseth their book.

And they say also, that Jesu Christ spake as soon as he wasborn; and that he was an holy prophet and a true in word anddeed, and meek and piteous and rightful and without any vice.

And they say also, that when the angel shewed the Incarnationof Christ unto Mary, she was young and had great dread.  Forthere was then an enchanter in the country that dealt withwitchcraft, that men clept Taknia, that by his enchantments couldmake him in likeness of an angel, and went often-times and laywith maidens.  And therefore Mary dreaded lest it had beenTaknia, that came for to deceive the maidens.  And thereforeshe conjured the angel, that he should tell her if it were he orno.  And the angel answered and said that she should have nodread of him, for he was very messenger of Jesu Christ. Also their book saith, that when that she had childed under apalm tree she had great shame, that she had a child; and p. 90she greet andsaid that she would that she had been dead.  And anon thechild spake to her and comforted her, and said, “Mother, nedismay thee nought, for God hath hid in thee his privities forthe salvation of the world.”  And in other many placessaith their Alkaron, that Jesu Christ spake as soon as hewas born.  And that book saith also that Jesu was sent fromGod Almighty for to be mirror and example and token to allmen.

And the Alkaronsaith also of the day of doom how Godshall come to doom all manner of folk.  And the good heshall draw on his side and put them into bliss, and the wicked heshall condemn to the pains of hell.  And among all prophetsJesu was the most excellent and the most worthy next God, andthat he made the gospels in the which is good doctrine andhealthful, full of clarity and soothfastness and true preachingto them that believe in God.  And that he was a very prophetand more than a prophet, and lived without sin, and gave sight tothe blind, and healed the lepers, and raised dead men, and styedto heaven.

And when they may hold the Book of the Gospels of our Lordwritten and namely Missus est Angelus Gabriel, that gospelthey say, those that be lettered, often-times in their orisons,and they kiss it and worship it with great devotion.

They fast an whole month in the year and eat nought but bynight.  And they keep them from their wives all thatmonth.  But the sick men be not constrained to thatfast.

Also this book speaketh of Jews and saith that they be cursed;for they would not believe that Jesu Christ was come ofGod.  And that they lied falsely on Mary and on her son JesuChrist, saying that they had crucified Jesu the son of Mary; forhe was never crucified, as they say, but that God made him to styup to him without death and without annoy.  But hetransfigured his likeness into Judas Iscariot, and him crucifiedthe Jews, and weened that it had been Jesus.  But Jesusstyed to heavens all quick.  And therefore they say, thatthe Christian men err and have no good knowledge of this, andthat they believe folily and falsely that Jesu Christ wascrucified.  p.91And they say yet, that and he had been crucified, thatGod had done against his righteousness for to suffer Jesu Christ,that was innocent, to be put upon the cross without guilt. And in this article they say that we fail and that the greatrighteousness of God might not suffer so great a wrong: and inthis faileth their faith.  For they knowledge well, that theworks of Jesu Christ be good, and his words and his deeds and hisdoctrine by his gospels were true, and his miracles also true;and the blessed Virgin Mary is good, and holy maiden before andafter the birth of Jesu Christ; and that all those that believeperfectly in God shall be saved.  And because that they goso nigh our faith, they be lightly converted to Christian lawwhen men preach them and shew them distinctly the law of JesuChrist, and when they tell them of the prophecies.

And also they say, that they know well by the prophecies thatthe law of Mahomet shall fail, as the law of the Jews did; andthat the law of Christian people shall last to the day ofdoom.  And if any man ask them what is their belief, theyanswer thus, and in this form: “We believe God, former ofheaven and of earth, and of all other things that he made. And without him is nothing made.  And we believe of the dayof doom, and that every man shall have his merit, after he hathdeserved.  And, we believe it for sooth, all that God hathsaid by the mouths of his prophets.”

Also Mahomet commanded in his Alkaron, that every manshould have two wives, or three or four; but now they take untonine, and of lemans as many as he may sustain.  And if anyof their wives mis-bear them against their husband, he may casther out of his house, and depart from her and take another; buthe shall depart with her his goods.

Also, when men speak to them of the Father and of the Son andof the Holy Ghost, they say, that they be three persons, but notone God; for their Alkaronspeaketh not of theTrinity.  But they say well, that God hath speech, and elsewere he dumb.  And God hath also a spirit they know well,for else they say, he were not alive.  And p. 92when menspeak to them of the Incarnation how that by the word of theangel God sent his wisdom in to earth and enombred him in theVirgin Mary, and by the word of God shall the dead be raised atthe day of doom, they say, that it is sooth and that the word ofGod hath great strength.  And they say that whoso knew notthe word of God he should not know God.  And they say alsothat Jesu Christ is the word of God: and so saith theirAlkaron, where it saith that the angel spake to Mary andsaid: “Mary, God shall preach thee the gospel by the wordof his mouth and his name shall be clept Jesu Christ.”

And they say also, that Abraham was friend to God, and thatMoses was familiar speaker with God, and Jesu Christ was the wordand the spirit of God, and that Mohammet was right messenger ofGod.  And they say, that of these four, Jesu was the mostworthy and the most excellent and the most great.  So thatthey have many good articles of our faith, albeit that they haveno perfect law and faith as Christian men have; and therefore bethey lightly converted, and namely those that understand thescriptures and the prophecies.  For they have the gospelsand the prophecies and the Bible written in their language;wherefore they ken much of holy writ, but they understand it notbut after the letter.  And so do the Jews, for theyunderstand not the letter ghostly, but bodily; and therefore bethey reproved of the wise, that ghostly understand it.  Andtherefore saith Saint Paul: Litera occidit; spiritusautem vivificat.  Also the Saracens say, that the Jewsbe cursed; for they have befouled the law that God sent them byMoses: and the Christian be cursed also, as they say; for theykeep not the commandments and the precepts of the gospel thatJesu Christ taught them.

And, therefore, I shall tell you what the soldan told me upona day in his chamber.  He let void out of his chamber allmanner of men, lords and others, for he would speak with me incounsel.  And there he asked me how the Christian mengoverned them in our country.  And I said him, “Rightwell, thanked be God!”

And he said me, “Truly nay!  For ye Christian p. 93ne reck rightnought, how untruly to serve God!  Ye should give ensampleto the lewd people for to do well, and ye give them ensample todo evil.  For the commons, upon festival days, when theyshould go to church to serve God, then go they to taverns, and bethere in gluttony all the day and all night, and eat and drink asbeasts that have no reason, and wit not when they haveenough.  And also the Christian men enforce themselves inall manners that they may, for to fight and for to deceive thatone that other.  And therewithal they be so proud, that theyknow not how to be clothed; now long, now short, now strait, nowlarge, now sworded, now daggered, and in all manner guises. They should be simple, meek and true, and full of alms-deeds, asJesu was, in whom they trow; but they be all the contrary, andever inclined to the evil, and to do evil.  And they be socovetous, that, for a little silver, they sell their daughters,their sisters and their own wives to put them to lechery. And one withdraweth the wife of another, and none of them holdethfaith to another; but they defoul their law that Jesu Christbetook them to keep for their salvation.  And thus, fortheir sins, have they lost all this land that we hold.  For,for their sins, their God hath taken them into our hands, notonly by strength of ourself, but for their sins.  For weknow well, in very sooth, that when ye serve God, God will helpyou; and when he is with you, no man may be against you. And that know we well by our prophecies, that Christian men shallwin again this land out of our hands, when they serve God moredevoutly; but as long as they be of foul and of unclean living(as they be now) we have no dread of them in no kind, for theirGod will not help them in no wise.”

And then I asked him, how he knew the state of Christianmen.  And he answered me, that he knew all the state of allcourts of Christian kings and princes and the state of thecommons also by his messengers that he sent to all lands, inmanner as they were merchants of precious stones, of cloths ofgold and of other things, for to know the manner of every countryamongst Christian men.  And p. 94then he let clepe in all the lordsthat he made void first out of his chamber, and there he shewedme four that were great lords in the country, that told me of mycountry and of many other Christian countries, as well as theyhad been of the same country; and they spake French right well,and the soldan also; whereof I had great marvel.

Alas! that it is great slander to our faith and to our law,when folk that be without law shall reprove us and undernim us ofour sins, and they that should be converted to Christ and to thelaw of Jesu by our good ensamples and by our acceptable life toGod, and so converted to the law of Jesu Christ, be, through ourwickedness and evil living, far from us and strangers from theholy and very belief, shall thus appeal us and hold us for wickedlivers and cursed.  And truly they say sooth, for theSaracens be good and faithful; for they keep entirely thecommandment of the holy book Alkaronthat God sent them byhis messenger Mahomet, to the which, as they say, Saint Gabrielthe angel oftentime told the will of God.

And ye shall understand, that Mahomet was born in Arabia, thatwas first a poor knave that kept camels, that went with merchantsfor merchandise.  And so befell, that he went with themerchants into Egypt; and they were then Christian in thoseparts.  And at the deserts of Arabia, he went into a chapelwhere a hermit dwelt.  And when he entered into the chapelthat was but a little and a low thing and had but a little doorand a low, then the entry began to wax so great, and so large andso high as though it had been of a great minster or the gate of apalace.  And this was the first miracle, the Saracens say,that Mahomet did in his youth.

After began he for to wax wise and rich.  And he was agreat astronomer.  And after, he was governor and prince ofthe land of Cozrodane; and he governed it full wisely, in suchmanner, that when the prince was dead, he took the lady to wifethat hight Gadrige.  And Mahomet fell often in the greatsickness that men call the falling evil; wherefore the lady wasfull sorry that ever she took him to husband.  But Mahometmade her to believe, that all p. 95times, when he fell so, Gabriel theangel came for to speak with him, and for the great light andbrightness of the angel he might not sustain him from falling;and therefore the Saracens say, that Gabriel came often to speakwith him.

This Mahomet reigned in Arabia, the year of our Lord JesuChrist 610, and was of the generation of Ishmael that wasAbraham’s son, that he gat upon Hagar his chamberer. And therefore there be Saracens that be clept Ishmaelites; andsome Hagarenes, of Hagar.  And the other properly be cleptSaracens, of Sarah.  And some be clept Moabites and someAmmonites, for the two sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon, that he begaton his daughters that were afterward great earthly princes.

And also Mahomet loved well a good hermit that dwelled in thedeserts a mile from Mount Sinai, in the way that men go fromArabia toward Chaldea and toward Ind, one day’s journeyfrom the sea, where the merchants of Venice come often formerchandise.  And so often went Mahomet to this hermit, thatall his men were wroth; for he would gladly hear this hermitpreach and make his men wake all night.  And therefore hismen thought to put the hermit to death.  And so it befellupon a night, that Mahomet was drunken of good wine, and he fellon sleep.  And his men took Mahomet’s sword out of hissheath, whiles he slept, and therewith they slew this hermit, andput his sword all bloody in his sheath again.  And atmorrow, when he found the hermit dead, he was full sorry andwroth, and would have done his men to death.  But they all,with one accord, said that he himself had slain him, when he wasdrunken, and shewed him his sword all bloody.  And he trowedthat they had said sooth.  And then he cursed the wine andall those that drink it.  And therefore Saracens that bedevout drink never no wine.  But some drink it privily; forif they drunk it openly, they should be reproved.  But theydrink good beverage and sweet and nourishing that is made ofgallamelle and that is that men make sugar of, that is of rightgood savour, and it is good for the breast.

Also it befalleth some-time, that Christian men become p. 96Saracens,either for poverty or for simpleness, or else for their ownwickedness.  And therefore the archflamen or the flamen, asour archbishop or bishop, when he receiveth them saith thus:La ellec olla Sila, Machomete rores alla; that isto say, ‘There is no God but one, and Mahomet hismessenger.’

Now I have told you a part of their law and of their customs,I shall say you of their letters that they have, with their namesand the manner of their figures what they be: Almoy, Bethath,Cathi, Ephoti, Delphoi, Fothi, Garothi, Hechum, Iotty, Kaythi,Lothum, Malach, Nabaloth, Orthi, Chesiri, ȝoch, Ruth,Holath, Routhi, Salathi, Thatimus, Yrthom, Aȝaȝoth,Arrocchi, ȝotipyn, Ichetus.  And these be the names oftheir a. b. c.  Now shall ye know the figures. . . . Andfour letters they have more than other for diversity of theirlanguage and speech, forasmuch as they speak in their throats;and we in England have in our language and speech two lettersmore than they have in their a. b. c.; and that is Þ andȝ, which be clept thorn and ȝogh.

CHAPTER XVI

Of the lands ofAlbania and of Libia.  Of the wishings for watchingof the Sparrow-hawk; and of Noah’s ship

Now, sith I have told you before ofthe Holy Land and of that country about, and of many ways for togo to that land and to the Mount Sinai, and of Babylon the moreand the less, and to other places that I have spoken before, nowis time, if it like you, for to tell you of the marches and islesand diverse beasts, and of diverse folk beyond these marches.

For in those countries beyond be many diverse countries andmany great kingdoms, that be departed by the four floods thatcome from paradise terrestrial.  For Mesopotamia and thekingdom of Chaldea and Arabia be between the two p. 97rivers ofTigris and of Euphrates; and the kingdom of Media and of Persiabe between the rivers of Nile and of Tigris; and the kingdom ofSyria, whereof I have spoken before, and Palestine and Phoeniciabe between Euphrates and the sea Mediterranean, the which seadureth in length from Morocco, upon the sea of Spain, unto theGreat Sea, so that it lasteth beyond Constantinople 3040 miles ofLombardy.

And toward the sea Ocean in Ind is the kingdom of Scythia,that is all closed with hills.  And after, under Scythia,and from the sea of Caspian unto the flom of Thainy, is Amazonia,that is the land of feminye, where that no man is, but only allwomen.  And after is Albania, a full great realm; and it isclept Albania, because that the folk be whiter there than inother marches there-about: and in that country be so great houndsand so strong, that they assail lions and slay them.  Andthen after is Hircania, Bactria, Hiberia and many otherkingdoms.

And between the Red Sea and the sea Ocean, toward the south isthe kingdom of Ethiopia and of Lybia the higher, the which landof Lybia (that is to say, Lybia the low) that beginneth at thesea of Spain from thence where the pillars of Hercules be, andendureth unto anent Egypt and toward Ethiopia.  In thatcountry of Lybia is the sea more high than the land, and itseemeth that it would cover the earth, and natheles yet itpasseth not his marks.  And men see in that country amountain to the which no man cometh.  In this land of Lybiawhoso turneth toward the east, the shadow of himself is on theright side; and here, in our country, the shadow is on the leftside.  In that sea of Lybia is no fish; for they may notlive ne dure for the great heat of the sun, because that thewater is evermore boiling for the great heat.  And manyother lands there be that it were too long to tell or tonumber.  But of some parts I shall speak more plainlyhereafter.

Whoso will then go toward Tartary, toward Persia, towardChaldea and toward Ind, he must enter the sea at Genoa or atVenice or at some other haven that I have told you before. And then pass men the sea and arrive at p. 98Trebizondthat is a good city; and it was wont to be the haven ofPontus.  There is the haven of Persians and of Medians andof the marches there beyond.  In that city lieth SaintAthanasius that was bishop of Alexandria, that made the psalmQuicunque vult.

This Athanasius was a great doctor of divinity.  And,because that he preached and spake so deeply of divinity and ofthe Godhead, he was accused to the Pope of Rome that he was anheretic.  Wherefore the Pope sent after him and put him inprison.  And whiles he was in prison he made that psalm andsent it to the Pope, and said, that if he were an heretic, thenwas that heresy, for that, he said, was his belief.  Andwhen the Pope saw it, and had examined it that it was perfect andgood, and verily our faith and our belief, he made him to bedelivered out of prison, and commanded that psalm to be saidevery day at prime; and so he held Athanasius a good man. But he would never go to his bishopric again, because that theyaccused him of heresy.

Trebizond was wont to be holden of the Emperor ofConstantinople; but a great man, that he sent for to keep thecountry against the Turks, usurped the land and held it tohimself, and cleped him Emperor of Trebizond.

And from thence men go through Little Armenia.  And inthat country is an old castle that stands upon a rock; the whichis clept the castle of the Sparrow-hawk, that is beyond the cityof Layays beside the town of Pharsipee, that belongeth to thelordship of Cruk, that is a rich lord and a good Christian man;where men find a sparrow-hawk upon a perch right fair and rightwell made, and a fair lady of faerie that keepeth it.  Andwho that will watch that sparrow-hawk seven days and sevennights, and, as some men say, three days and three nights,without company and without sleep, that fair lady shall give him,when he hath done, the first wish that he will wish of earthlythings; and that hath been proved often-times.

And one time befell, that a King of Armenia, that was a worthyknight and doughty man, and a noble princes watched that hawksome time.  And at the end of seven days and seven nightsthe lady came to him and bade him p. 99wish, for he had well deservedit.  And he answered that he was great lord enough, and wellin peace, and had enough of worldly riches; and therefore hewould wish none other thing, but the body of that fair lady, tohave it at his will.  And she answered him, that he knew notwhat he asked, and said that he was a fool to desire that hemight not have; for she said that he should not ask but earthlything, for she was none earthly thing, but a ghostly thing. And the king said that he ne would ask none other thing. And the lady answered; “Sith that I may not withdraw youfrom your lewd corage, I shall give you without wishing, and toall them that shall come of you.  Sir king! ye shall havewar without peace, and always to the nine degree, ye shall be insubjection of your enemies, and ye shall be needy of allgoods.”  And never since, neither the King of Armenianor the country were never in peace; ne they had never sithplenty of goods; and they have been sithen always under tributeof the Saracens.

Also the son of a poor man watched that hawk and wished thathe might chieve well, and to be happy to merchandise.  Andthe lady granted him.  And he became the most rich and themost famous merchant that might be on sea or on earth.  Andhe became so rich that he knew not the thousand part of that hehad.  And he was wiser in wishing than was the king.

Also a knight of the Temple watched there, and wished a purseevermore full of gold.  And the lady granted him.  Butshe said him that he had asked the destruction of their order forthe trust and the affiance of that purse, and for the great pridethat they should have.  And so it was.  And thereforelook he keep him well, that shall wake.  For if he sleep heis lost, that never man shall see him more.

This is not the right way for to go to the parts that I havenamed before, but for to see the marvel that I have spokenof.  And therefore whoso will go right way, men go fromTrebizond toward Armenia the Great unto a city that is cleptErzeroum, that was wont to be a good city and a plenteous; butthe Turks have greatly wasted it.  There-about groweth nowine nor fruit, but little or else p. 100none.  In this land is theearth more high than in any other, and that maketh greatcold.  And there be many good waters and good wells thatcome under earth from the flom of Paradise, that is cleptEuphrates, that is a journey beside that city; and that rivercometh towards Ind under earth, and resorteth into the land ofAltazar.  And so pass men by this Armenia and enter the seaof Persia.

From that city of Erzeroum go men to an hill that is cleptSabissocolle.  And there beside is another hill that menclepe Ararat, but the Jews clepe it Taneez, where Noah’sship rested, and yet is upon that mountain.  And men may seeit afar in clear weather.  And that mountain is well a sevenmile high.  And some men say that they have seen and touchedthe ship, and put their fingers in the parts where the fiend wentout, when that Noah said, Benedicite.  But they thatsay such words, say their will.  For a man may not go up themountain, for great plenty of snow that is always on thatmountain, neither summer nor winter.  So that no man may goup there, ne never man did, since the time of Noah, save a monkthat, by the grace of God, brought one of the planks down, thatyet is in the minster at the foot of the mountain.

And beside is the city of Dain that Noah founded.  Andfast by is the city of Any in the which were wont to be athousand churches.

But upon that mountain to go up, this monk had greatdesire.  And so upon a day, he went up.  And when hewas upward the three part of the mountain he was so weary that hemight no further, and so he rested him, and fell asleep. And when he awoke he found himself lying at the foot of themountain.  And then he prayed devoutly to God that he wouldvouchsafe to suffer him go up.  And an angel came to him,and said that he should go up.  And so he did.  Andsith that time never none.  Wherefore men should not believesuch words.

From that mountain go men to the city of Thauriso that waswont to be clept Taxis, that is a full fair city and a great, andone of the best that is in the world for merchandise; thithercome all merchants for to buy avoirdupois, p. 101and it isin the land of the Emperor of Persia.  And men say that theemperor taketh more good in that city for custom of merchandisethan doth the richest Christian king of all his realm thatliveth.  For the toll and the custom of his merchants iswithout estimation to be numbered.  Beside that city is ahill of salt, and of that salt every man taketh what he will forto salt with, to his need.  There dwell many Christian menunder tribute of Saracens.  And from that city, men pass bymany towns and castles in going toward Ind unto the city ofSadonia, that is a ten journeys from Thauriso, and it is a fullnoble city and a great.  And there dwelleth the Emperor ofPersia in summer; for the country is cold enough.  And therebe good rivers bearing ships.

After go men the way toward Ind by many journeys, and by manycountries, unto the city that is clept Cassak, and that is a fullnoble city, and a plenteous of corns and wines and of all othergoods.  This is the city where the three kings met togetherwhen they went to seek our Lord in Bethlehem to worship him andto present him with gold, incense, and myrrh.  And it isfrom that city to Bethlehem fifty-three journeys.  From thatcity men go to another city that is clept Gethe, that is ajourney from the sea that men clepe the Gravelly Sea.  Thatis the best city that the Emperor of Persia hath in all hisland.  And they clepe flesh there Dabago and the wineVapa.  And the Paynims say that no Christian man may notlong dwell ne endure with the life in that city, but die withinshort time; and no man knoweth not the cause.

After go men by many cities and towns and great countries thatit were too long to tell unto the city of Cornaa that was wont tobe so great that the walls about hold twenty-five mileabout.  The walls shew yet, but it is not allinhabited.  From Cornaa go men by many lands and many citiesand towns unto the land of Job.  And there endeth the landof the Emperor of Persia.  And if ye will know the lettersof Persians and what names they have, they be such as I lastdevised you, but not in sounding of their words.

p.102CHAPTER XVII

Of the land of Job; and of hisage.  Of the array of men of Chaldea.  Ofthe land where women dwell without company of men. Of the knowledge and virtues of the very diamond

After the departing from Cornaa,men enter into the land of Job that is a full fair country and aplenteous of all goods.  And men clepe that land the Land ofSusiana.  In that land is the city of Theman.

Job was a paynim, and he was Aram of Gosre, his son, and heldthat land as prince of that country.  And he was so richthat he knew not the hundred part of his goods.  Andalthough he were a paynim, nevertheless he served well God afterhis law.  And our Lord took his service to hispleasane.  And when he fell in poverty he was seventy-eightyear of age.  And after, when God had proved his patienceand that it was so great, he brought him again to riches and tohigher estate than he was before.  And after that he wasKing of Idumea after King Esau, and when he was king he was cleptJobab.  And in that kingdom he lived after 170 year. And so he was of age, when he died, 248 year.

In that land of Job there ne is no default of no thing that isneedful to man’s body.  There be hills, where men getgreat plenty of manna in greater abundance than in any othercountry.  This manna is clept bread of angels.  And itis a white thing that is full sweet and right delicious, and moresweet than honey or sugar.  And it cometh of the dew ofheaven that falleth upon the herbs in that country.  And itcongealeth and becometh all white and sweet.  And men put itin medicines for rich men to make the womb lax, and to purge evilblood.  For it cleanseth the blood and putteth outmelancholy.  This land of Job marcheth to the kingdom ofChaldea.

This land of Chaldea is full great.  And the language p. 103of thatcountry is more great in sounding than it is in other parts ofthe sea.  Men pass to go beyond by the Tower of Babylon theGreat, of the which I have told you before, where that all thelanguages were first changed.  And that is a four journeysfrom Chaldea.  In that realm be fair men, and they go fullnobly arrayed in clothes of gold, orfrayed and apparelled withgreat pearls and precious stone’s full nobly.  And thewomen be right foul and evil arrayed.  And they go allbare-foot and clothed in evil garments large and wide, but theybe short to the knees, and long sleeves down to the feet like amonk’s frock, and their sleeves be hanging about theirshoulders.  And they be black women foul and hideous, andtruly as foul as they be, as evil they be.

In that kingdom of Chaldea, in a city that is clept Ur,dwelled Terah, Abraham’s father.  And there wasAbraham born.  And that was in that time that Ninus was kingof Babylon, of Arabia and of Egypt.  This Ninus made thecity of Nineveh, the which that Noah had begun before.  Andbecause that Ninus performed it, he cleped it Nineveh after hisown name.  There lieth Tobit the prophet, of whom Holy Writspeaketh of.  And from that city of Ur Abraham departed, bythe commandment of God, from thence, after the death of hisfather, and led with him Sarah his wife and Lot hisbrother’s son, because that he had no child.  And theywent to dwell in the land of Canaan in a place that is cleptShechem.  And this Lot was he that was saved, when Sodom andGomorrah and the other cities were burnt and sunken down to hell,where that the Dead Sea is now, as I have told you before. In that land of Chaldea they have their proper languages andtheir proper letters, such as ye may see hereafter.

Beside the land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, that isthe land of Feminye.  And in that realm is all women and noman; not, as some men say, that men may not live there, but forbecause that the women will not suffer no men amongst them to betheir sovereigns.

For sometime there was a king in that country.  And menmarried, as in other countries.  And so befell p. 104that theking had war with them of Scythia, the which king hight Colopeus,that was slain in battle, and all the good blood of hisrealm.  And when the queen and all the other noble ladiessaw that they were all widows, and that all the royal blood waslost, they armed them and, as creatures out of wit, they slew allthe men of the country that were left; for they would that allthe women were widows as the queen and they were.  And fromthat time hitherwards they never would suffer man to dwellamongst them longer than seven days and seven nights; ne that nochild that were male should dwell amongst them longer than hewere nourished; and then sent to his father.  And when theywill have any company of man then they draw them towards thelands marching next to them.  And then they have loves thatuse them; and they dwell with them an eight days or ten, and thengo home again.  And if they have any knave child they keepit a certain time, and then send it to the father when he can goalone and eat by himself; or else they slay it.  And if itbe a female they do away that one pap with an hot iron.  Andif it be a woman of great lineage they do away the left pap thatthey may the better bear a shield.  And if it be a woman onfoot they do away the right pap, for to shoot with bow turkeys:for they shoot well with bows.

In that land they have a queen that governeth all that land,and all they be obeissant to her.  And always they make herqueen by election that is most worthy in arms; for they be rightgood warriors and orped, and wise, noble and worthy.  Andthey go oftentime in solde to help of other kings in their wars,for gold and silver as other soldiers do; and they maintainthemselves right vigourously.  This land of Amazonia is anisle, all environed with the sea save in two places, where be twoentries.  And beyond that water dwell the men that be theirparamours and their loves, where they go to solace them when theywill.

Beside Amazonia is the land of Tarmegyte that is a greatcountry and a full delectable.  And for the goodness of thecountry King Alexander let first make there the p. 105city ofAlexandria, and yet he made twelve cities of the same name; butthat city is now clept Celsite.

And from that other coast of Chaldea, toward the south, isEthiopia, a great country that stretcheth to the end ofEgypt.  Ethiopia is departed in two parts principal, andthat is in the east part and in the meridional part; the whichpart meridional is clept Mauritania; and the folk of that countrybe black enough and more black than in the tother part, and theybe clept Moors.  In that part is a well, that in the day itis so cold, that no man may drink thereof; and in the night it isso hot, that no man may suffer his hand therein.  And beyondthat part, toward the south, to pass by the sea Ocean, is a greatland and a great country; but men may not dwell there for thefervent burning of the sun, so is it passing hot in thatcountry.

In Ethiopia all the rivers and all the waters be trouble, andthey be somedeal salt for the great heat that is there.  Andthe folk of that country be lightly drunken and have but littleappetite to meat.  And they have commonly the flux of thewomb.  And they live not long.  In Ethiopia be manydiverse folk; and Ethiope is clept Cusis.  In that countrybe folk that have but one foot, and they go so blyve that it ismarvel.  And the foot is so large, that it shadoweth all thebody against the sun, when they will lie and rest them.  InEthiopia, when the children be young and little, they be allyellow; and, when that they wax of age, that yellowness turnethto be all black.  In Ethiopia is the city of Saba, and theland of the which one of the three kings that presented our Lordin Bethlehem, was king of.

From Ethiopia men go into Ind by many diverse countries. And men clepe the high Ind, Emlak.  And Ind is divided inthree principal parts; that is, the more that is a full hotcountry; and Ind the less, that is a full attempre country, thatstretcheth to the land of Media; and the three part toward theseptentrion is full cold, so that, for pure cold and continualfrost, the water becometh crystal.  And upon those rocks ofcrystal grow the good diamonds that be of trouble colour. Yellow p.106crystal draweth colour like oil.  And they be sohard, that no man may polish them.  And men clepe themdiamonds in that country, and Hamesein anothercountry.  Other diamonds men find in Arabia that be not sogood, and they be more brown and more tender.  And otherdiamonds also men find in the isle of Cyprus, that be yet moretender, and them men may well polish.  And in the land ofMacedonia men find diamonds also.  But the best and the mostprecious be in Ind.

And men find many times hard diamonds in a mass that comethout of gold, when men pure it and refine it out of the mine; whenmen break that mass in small pieces, and sometime it happens thatmen find some as great as a peas and some less, and they be ashard as those of Ind.

And albeit that men find good diamonds in Ind, yetnevertheless men find them more commonly upon the rocks in thesea and upon hills where the mine of gold is.  And they growmany together, one little, another great.  And there be someof the greatness of a bean and some as great as an hazelnut.  And they be square and pointed of their own kind, bothabove and beneath, without working of man’s hand.  Andthey grow together, male and female.  And they be nourishedwith the dew of heaven.  And they engender commonly andbring forth small children, that multiply and grow all theyear.  I have often-times assayed, that if a man keep themwith a little of the rock and wet them with May-dew oft-sithes,they shall grow every year, and the small will wax great. For right as the fine pearl congealeth and waxeth great of thedew of heaven, right so doth the very diamond; and right as thepearl of his own kind taketh roundness, right so the diamond, byvirtue of God, taketh squareness.  And men shall bear thediamond on his left side, for it is of greater virtue then, thanon the right side; for the strength of their growing is towardthe north, that is the left side of the world, and the left partof man is when he turneth his face toward the east.

And if you like to know the virtues of the diamond, (as menmay find in The Lapidarythat many men know not), p. 107I shalltell you, as they beyond the sea say and affirm, of whom allscience and all philosophy cometh from.  He that beareth thediamond upon him, it giveth him hardiness and manhood, and itkeepeth the limbs of his body whole.  It giveth him victoryof his enemies in plea and in war, if his cause berightful.  And it keepeth him that beareth it in goodwit.  And it keepeth him from strife and riot, from evilswevens from sorrows and from enchantments, and from fantasiesand illusions of wicked spirits.  And if any cursed witch orenchanter would bewitch him that beareth the diamond, all thatsorrow and mischance shall turn to himself through virtue of thatstone.  And also no wild beast dare assail the man thatbeareth it on him.  Also the diamond should be given freely,without coveting and without buying, and then it is of greatervirtue.  And it maketh a man more strong and more sadagainst his enemies.  And it healeth him that is lunatic,and them that the fiend pursueth or travaileth.  And ifvenom or poison be brought in presence of the diamond, anon itbeginneth to wax moist and for to sweat.

There be also diamonds in Ind that be clept violastres, (fortheir colour is like violet, or more brown than the violets),that be full hard and full precious.  But yet some men lovenot them so well as the other; but, in sooth, to me, I would lovethem as much as the other, for I have seen them assayed.

Also there is another manner of diamonds that be as white ascrystal, but they be a little more trouble.  And they begood and of great virtue, and all they be square and pointed oftheir own kind.  And some be six squared, some four squared,and some three as nature shapeth them.  And therefore whengreat lords and knights go to seek worship in arms, they beargladly the diamond upon them.

I shall speak a little more of the diamonds, although I tarrymy matter for a time, to the end, that they that know them not,be not deceived by gabbers that go by the country, that sellthem.  For whoso will buy the diamond it is needful to himthat he know them.  Because that men counterfeit them oftenof crystal that is yellow and of p. 108sapphires of citron colour that isyellow also, and of the sapphire loupe and of many otherstones.  But I tell you these counterfeits be not so hard;and also the points will break lightly, and men may easily polishthem.  But some workmen, for malice, will not polish them;to that intent, to make men believe that they may not bepolished.  But men may assay them in this manner. First shear with them or write with them in sapphires, in crystalor in other precious stones.  After that, men take theadamant, that is the shipman’s stone, that draweth theneedle to him, and men lay the diamond upon the adamant, and laythe needle before the adamant; and, if the diamond be good andvirtuous, the adamant draweth not the needle to him whiles thediamond is there present.  And this is the proof that theybeyond the sea make.

Natheles it befalleth often-time, that the good diamond losethhis virtue by sin, and for incontinence of him that bearethit.  And then it is needful to make it to recover his virtueagain, or else it is of little value.

CHAPTER XVIII

Of the customs of Isles aboutInd.  Of the difference betwixt Idols andSimulacres.  Of three manner growing of Pepper uponone tree.  Of the Well that changeth his odour everyhour of the day; and that is marvel

In Ind be full many diversecountries.  And it is clept Ind, for a flom that runneththroughout the country that is clept Ind.  In that flom menfind eels of thirty foot long and more.  And the folk thatdwell nigh that water be of evil colour, green and yellow.

In Ind and about Ind be more than 5000 isles good and greatthat men dwell in, without those that he inhabitable, and withoutother small isles.  In every isle is great plenty of cities,and of towns, and of folk without number.  For p. 109men of Indhave this condition of kind, that they never go out of their owncountry, and therefore is there great multitude of people. But they be not stirring ne movable, because that they be in thefirst climate, that is of Saturn; and Saturn is slow and littlemoving, for he tarryeth to make his turn by the twelve signsthirty year.  And the moon passeth through the twelve signsin one month.  And for because that Saturn is of so latestirring, therefore the folk of that country that be under hisclimate have of kind no will for to move ne stir to seek strangeplaces.  And in our country is all the contrary; for we bein the seventh climate, that is of the moon.  And the moonis of lightly moving, and the moon is planet of way; and for thatskill it giveth us will of kind for to move lightly and for to godivers ways, and to seek strange things and other diversities ofthe world; for the moon environeth the earth more hastily thanany other planet.

Also men go through Ind by many diverse countries to the greatsea Ocean.  And after, men find there an isle that is cleptCrues.  And thither come merchants of Venice and Genoa, andof other marches, for to buy merchandises.  But there is sogreat heat in those marches, and namely in that isle, that, forthe great distress of the heat, men’s ballocks hang down totheir knees for the great dissolution of the body.  And menof that country, that know the manner, let bind them up, or elsemight they not live, and anoint them with ointments madetherefore, to hold them up.

In that country and in Ethiopia, and in many other countries,the folk lie all naked in rivers and waters, men and womentogether, from undern of the day till it be past the noon. And they lie all in the water, save the visage, for the greatheat that there is.  And the women have no shame of the men,but lie all together, side to side, till the heat be past. There may men see many foul figure assembled, and namely nigh thegood towns.

In that isle be ships without nails of iron or bonds, for therocks of the adamants, for they be all full thereabout in thatsea, that it is marvel to speak of.  And if a ship p. 110passed bythose marches that had either iron bonds or iron nails, anon heshould be perished; for the adamant of his kind draweth the ironto him.  And so would it draw to him the ship because of theiron, that he should never depart from it, ne never gothence.

From that isle men go by sea to another isle that is cleptChana, where is great plenty of corn and wine.  And it waswont to be a great isle, and a great haven and a good; but thesea hath greatly wasted it and overcome it.  The king ofthat country was wont to be so strong and so mighty that he heldwar against King Alexander.

The folk of that country have a diverse law.  For some ofthem worship the sun, some the moon, some the fire, some trees,some serpents, or the first thing that they meet at morrow. And some worship simulacres and some idols.  But betweensimulacres and idols is a great difference.  For simulacresbe images made after likeness of men or of women, or of the sun,or of the moon, or of any beast, or of any kindly thing. And idols is an image made of lewd will of man, that man may notfind among kindly things, as an image that hath four heads, oneof a man, another of an horse or of an ox, or of some otherbeast, that no man hath seen after kindly disposition.

And they that worship simulacres, they worship them for someworthy man that was sometime, as Hercules, and many other thatdid many marvels in their time.  For they say well that theybe not gods; for they know well that there is a God of kind thatmade all things, the which is in heaven.  But they know wellthat this may not do the marvels that he made, but if it had beenby the special gift of God; and therefore they say that he waswell with God, and for because that he was so well with God,therefore they worship him.  And so say they of the sun,because that he changeth the time, and giveth heat, andnourisheth all things upon earth; and for it is of so greatprofit, they know well that that might not be, but that Godloveth it more than any other thing, and, for that skill, Godhath given it more great virtue in the world.  Therefore, itis good reason, as they say, to do it worship andreverence.  p.111And so say they, and make their reasons, of otherplanets, and of the fire also, because it is so profitable.

And of idols they say also that the ox is the most holy beastthat is in earth and most patient, and more profitable than anyother.  For he doth good enough and he doth no evil; andthey know well that it may not be without special grace ofGod.  And therefore make they their god of an ox the onepart, and the other half of a man.  Because that man is themost noble creature in earth, and also for he hath lordship aboveall beasts, therefore make they the halvendel of idol of a manupwards; and the tother half of an ox downwards, and of serpents,and of other beasts and diverse things, that they worship, thatthey meet first at morrow.

And they worship also specially all those that they have goodmeeting of; and when they speed well in their journey, aftertheir meeting, and namely such as they have proved and assayed byexperience of long time; for they say that thilk good meeting nemay not come but of the grace of God.  And therefore theymake images like to those things that they have belief in, for tobehold them and worship them first at morning, or they meet anycontrarious things.  And there be also some Christian menthat say, that some beasts have good meeting, that is to say forto meet with them first at morrow, and some beasts wickedmeeting; and that they have proved oft-time that the hare hathfull evil meeting, and swine and many other beasts.  And thesparrow-hawk or other fowls of ravine, when they fly after theirprey and take it before men of arms, it is a good sign; and if hefail of taking his prey, it is an evil sign.  And also tosuch folk, it is an evil meeting of ravens.

In these things and in such other, there be many folk thatbelieve; because it happeneth so often-time to fall after theirfantasies.  And also there be men enough that have no beliefin them.  And, sith that Christian men have such belief,that be informed and taught all day by holy doctrine, whereinthey should believe, it is no marvel then, that the paynims, thathave no good doctrine but only of their nature, believe morelargely for their simplesse.  p. 112And truly I have seen of paynims andSaracens that men clepe Augurs, that, when we ride in arms indivers countries upon our enemies, by the flying of fowls theywould tell us the prognostications of things that fell after; andso they did full oftentimes, and proffered their heads to-wedde,but if it would fall as they said.  But natheles, thereforeshould not a man put his belief in such things, but always havefull trust and belief in God our sovereign Lord.

This isle of Chana the Saracens have won and hold.  Inthat isle be many lions and many other wild beasts.  Andthere be rats in that isle as great as hounds here; and men takethem with great mastiffs, for cats may not take them.  Inthis isle and many other men bury not no dead men, for the heatis there so great, that in a little time the flesh will consumefrom the bones.

From thence men go by sea toward Ind the more to a city, thatmen clepe Sarche, that is a fair city and a good.  And theredwell many Christian men of good faith.  And there be manyreligious men, and namely of mendicants.

After go men by sea to the land of Lomb.  In that landgroweth the pepper in the forest that men clepe Combar.  Andit groweth nowhere else in all the world, but in that forest, andthat endureth well an eighteen journeys in length.  In theforest be two good cities; that one hight Fladrine and that otherZinglantz, and in every of them dwell Christian men and Jews,great plenty.  For it is a good country and a plentiful, butthere is overmuch passing heat.

And ye shall understand, that the pepper groweth in manner asdoth a wild vine that is planted fast by the trees of that woodfor to sustain it by, as doth the vine.  And the fruitthereof hangeth in manner as raisins.  And the tree is sothick charged, that it seemeth that it would break.  Andwhen it is ripe it is all green, as it were ivy berries. And then men cut them, as men do the vines, and then they put itupon an oven, and there it waxeth black and crisp.  Andthere is three manner of pepper all upon one tree; long pepper,black pepper and p.113white pepper.  The long pepper men clepeSorbotin, and the black pepper is clept Fulfulle,and the white pepper is clept Bano.  The long peppercometh first when the leaf beginneth to come, and it is like thecats of hazel that cometh before the leaf, and it hangethlow.  And after cometh the black with the leaf, in manner ofclusters of raisins, all green.  And when men have gatheredit, then cometh the white that is somedeal less than theblack.  And of that men bring but little into this country;for they beyond withhold it for themselves, because it is betterand more attempre in kind than the black.  And therefore isthere not so great plenty as of the black.

In that country be many manner of serpents and of other verminfor the great heat of the country and of the pepper.  Andsome men say, that when they will gather the pepper, they makefire, and burn about to make the serpents and the cockodrills toflee.  But save their grace of all that say so.  For ifthey burnt about the trees that bear, the pepper should be burnt,and it would dry up all the virtue, as of any other thing; andthen they did themselves much harm, and they should never quenchthe fire.  But thus they do: they anoint their hands andtheir feet [with a juice] made of snails and of other things madetherefore, of the which the serpents and the venomous beasts hateand dread the savour; and that maketh them flee before them,because of the smell, and then they gather it surely enough.

Also toward the head of that forest is the city ofPolombe.  And above the city is a great mountain that alsois clept Polombe.  And of that mount the city hath hisname.

And at the foot of that mount is a fair well and a great, thathath odour and savour of all spices.  And at every hour ofthe day he changeth his odour and his savour diversely.  Andwhoso drinketh three times fasting of that water of that well heis whole of all manner sickness that he hath.  And they thatdwell there and drink often of that well they never havesickness; and they seem always young.  I have drunkenthereof three or four sithes, and yet, methinketh, I fare thebetter.  Some men p. 114clepe it the well of youth. For they that often drink thereof seem always young-like, andlive without sickness.  And men say, that that well comethout of Paradise, and therefore it is so virtuous.

By all that country groweth good ginger, and therefore thithergo the merchants for spicery.

In that land men worship the ox for his simpleness and for hismeekness, and for the profit that cometh of him.  And theysay, that he is the holiest beast in earth.  For themseemeth, that whosoever be meek and patient, he is holy andprofitable; for then, they say, he hath all virtues in him. They make the ox to labour six year or seven, and then they eathim.  And the king of the country hath alway an ox withhim.  And he that keepeth him hath every day great fees, andkeepeth every day his dung and his urine in two vessels of gold,and bring it before their prelate that they clepeArchi-protopapaton.  And he beareth it before the king andmaketh there over a great blessing.  And then the kingwetteth his hands there, in that they clepe gall, and anointethhis front and his breast.  And after, he froteth him withthe dung and with the urine with great reverence, for to befullfilled of virtues of the ox and made holy by the virtue ofthat holy thing that nought is worth.  And when the kinghath done, then do the lords; and after them their ministers andother men, if they may have any remenant.

In that country they make idols, half man half ox.  Andin those idols evil spirits speak and give answer to men of whatis asked them.  Before these idols men slay their childrenmany times, and spring the blood upon the idols; and so they maketheir sacrifice.

And when any man dieth in the country they burn his body inname of penance; to that intent, that he suffer no pain in earthto be eaten of worms.  And if his wife have no child theyburn her with him, and say, that it is reason, that she make himcompany in that other world as she did in this.  But and shehave children with him, they let her live with them, to bringthem up if she will.  And if that she love more to live withher children than for to die p. 115with her husband, men hold her forfalse and cursed; ne she shall never be loved ne trusted of thepeople.  And if the woman die, before the husband, men burnhim with her, if that he will; and if he will not, no manconstraineth him thereto, but he may wed another time withoutblame or reproof.

In that country grow many strong vines.  And the womendrink wine, and men not.  And the women shave their beards,and the men not.

CHAPTER XIX

Of the Dooms made by St. Thomas’shand.  Of devotion and sacrifice made to Idolsthere, in the city of Calamye; and of theProcession in going about the city

From that country men pass by manymarches toward a country, a ten journeys thence, that is cleptMabaron; and it is a great kingdom, and it hath many fair citiesand towns.

In that kingdom lieth the body of Saint Thomas the apostle inflesh and bone, in a fair tomb in the city of Calamye; for therehe was martyred and buried.  And men of Assyria bare hisbody into Mesopotamia into the city of Edessa, and after, he wasbrought thither again.  And the arm and the hand that he putin our Lord’s side, when he appeared to him after hisresurrection and said to him, Noli esse incredulus, sedfidelis, is yet lying in a vessel without the tomb.  Andby that hand they make all their judgments in the country, whosohath right or wrong.  For when there is any dissensionbetween two parties, and every of them maintaineth his cause, andsaith that his cause is rightful, and that other saith thecontrary, then both parties write their causes in two bills andput them in the hand of Saint Thomas.  And anon he castethaway the bill of the wrong cause and holdeth still the p. 116bill withthe right cause.  And therefore men come from far countriesto have judgment of doubtable causes.  And other judgmentuse they none there.

Also the church, where Saint Thomas’ lieth, is bothgreat and fair, and all full of great simulacres, and those begreat images that they clepe their gods, of the which the leastis as great as two men.

And, amongst these other, there is a great image more than anyof the other, that is all covered with fine gold and preciousstones and rich pearls; and that idol is the god of falseChristians that have reneyed their faith.  And it sitteth ina chair of gold, full nobly arrayed, and he hath about his necklarge girdles wrought of gold and precious stones andpearls.  And this church is full richly wrought and, allovergilt within.  And to that idol go men on pilgrimage, ascommonly and with as great devotion as Christian men go to SaintJames, or other holy pilgrimages.  And many folk that comefrom far lands to seek that idol for the great devotion that theyhave, they look never upward, but evermore down to the earth, fordread to see anything about them that should let them of theirdevotion.  And some there be that go on pilgrimage to thisidol, that bear knives in their hands, that be made full keen andsharp; and always as they go, they smite themselves in their armsand in their legs and in their thighs with many hideous wounds;and so they shed their blood for love of that idol.  Andthey say, that he is blessed and holy, that dieth so for love ofhis god.  And other there be that lead their children for toslay, to make sacrifice to that idol; and after they have slainthem they spring the blood upon the idol.  And some there bethat come from far; and in going toward this idol, at every thirdpace that they go from their house, they kneel; and so continuetill they come thither: and when they come there, they takeincense and other aromatic things of noble smell, and cense theidol, as we would do here God’s precious body.  And socome folk to worship this idol, some from an hundred mile, andsome from many more.

p. 117Andbefore the minster of this idol, is a vivary, in manner of agreat lake, full of water.  And therein pilgrims cast goldand silver, pearls and precious stones without number, instead ofofferings.  And when the minister of that church need tomake any reparation of the church or of any of the idols, theytake gold and silver, pearls and precious stones out of thevivary, to quit the costage of such thing as they make or repair;so that that nothing is faulty, but anon it shall beamended.  And ye shall understand, that when [there be]great feasts and solemnities of that idol, as the dedication ofthe church and the throning of the idol, all the country aboutmeet there together.  And they set this idol upon a car withgreat reverence, well arrayed with cloths of gold, of rich clothsof Tartary, of Camaka, and other precious cloths.  And theylead him about the city with great solemnity.  And beforethe car go first in procession all the maidens of the country,two and two together full ordinatly.  And after thosemaidens go the pilgrims.  And some of them fall down underthe wheels of the car, and let the car go over them, so that theybe dead anon.  And some have their arms or their limbs allto-broken, and some the sides.  And all this do they forlove of their god, in great devotion.  And them thinkeththat the more pain, and the more tribulation that they suffer forlove of their god, the more joy they shall have in anotherworld.  And, shortly to say you, they suffer so great pains,and so hard martyrdoms for love of their idol, that a Christianman, I trow, durst not take upon him the tenth part the pain forlove of our Lord Jesu Christ.  And after, I say you, beforethe car, go all the minstrels of the country without number, withdiverse instruments, and they make all the melody that theycan.

And when they have gone all about the city, then they returnagain to the minster, and put the idol again into hisplace.  And then for the love and in worship of that idol,and for the reverence of the feast, they slay themselves, a twohundred or three hundred persons, with sharp knives, of the whichthey bring the bodies before the idol.  And p. 118then theysay that those be saints, because that they slew themselves oftheir own good will for love of their idol.  And as men herethat had an holy saint of his kin would think that it were tothem an high worship, right so then, thinketh there.  And asmen here devoutly would write holy saints’ lives and theirmiracles, and sue for their canonizations, right so do they therefor them that slay themselves wilfully for love of their idol,and say, that they be glorious martyrs and saints, and put themin their writings and in their litanies, and avaunt them greatly,one to another, of their holy kinsmen that so become saints, andsay, I have more holy saints in my kindred, than thou inthine!

And the custom also there is this, that when they that havesuch devotion and intent for to slay himself for love of his god,they send for all their friends, and have great plenty ofminstrels; and they go before the idol leading him that will slayhimself for such devotion between them, with greatreverence.  And he, all naked, hath a full sharp knife inhis hand, and he cutteth a great piece of his flesh, and castethit in the face of his idol, saying his orisons, recommending himto his god.  And then he smiteth himself and maketh greatwounds and deep, here and there, till he fall down dead. And then his friends present his body to the idol.  And thenthey say, singing, Holy god! behold what thy true servant hathdone for thee.  He hath forsaken his wife and his childrenand his riches, and all the goods of the world and his own lifefor the love of thee, and to make thee sacrifice of his flesh andof his blood.  Wherefore, holy god, put him among thy bestbeloved saints in thy bliss of paradise, for he hath welldeserved it.  And then they make a great fire, and burn thebody.  And then everych of his friends take a quantity ofthe ashes, and keep them instead of relics, and say that it isholy thing.  And they have no dread of no peril whiles theyhave those holy ashes upon them.  And [they] put his name intheir litanies as a saint.

p.119CHAPTER XX

Of the evil customs used in the Isle ofLamary.  And how the earth and the sea be of roundform and shape, by proof of the star that is cleptAntarctic, that is fixed in the south

From that country go men by the seaocean, and by many divers isles and by many countries that weretoo long for to tell of.  And a fifty-two journeys from thisland that I have spoken of, there is another land, that is fullgreat, that men clepe Lamary.  In that land is full greatheat.  And the custom there is such, that men and women goall naked.  And they scorn when they see any strange folkgoing clothed.  And they say, that God made Adam and Eve allnaked, and that no man should shame him to shew him such as Godmade him, for nothing is foul that is of kindly nature.  Andthey say, that they that be clothed be folk of another world, orthey be folk that trow not in God.  And they say, that theybelieve in God that formed the world, and that made Adam and Eveand all other things.  And they wed there no wives, for allthe women there be common and they forsake no man.  And theysay they sin if they refuse any man; and so God commanded to Adamand Eve and to all that come of him, when he said, Crescite etmultiplicamini et replete terram.  And therefore may noman in that country say, This is my wife; ne no woman may say,This my husband.  And when they have children, they may givethem to what man they will that hath companied with them. And also all the land is common; for all that a man holdeth oneyear, another man hath it another year; and every man taketh whatpart that him liketh.  And also all the goods of the land becommon, corns and all other things: for nothing there is kept inclose, ne nothing there is under lock, and every man there takethwhat he will without any contradiction, and as rich is one manthere as is another.

p. 120Butin that country there is a cursed custom, for they eat moregladly man’s flesh than any other flesh; and yet is thatcountry abundant of flesh, of fish, of corns, of gold and silver,and of all other goods.  Thither go merchants and bring withthem children to sell to them of the country, and they buythem.  And if they be fat they eat them anon.  And ifthey be lean they feed them till they be fat, and then they eatthem.  And they say, that it is the best flesh and thesweetest of all the world.

In that land, ne in many other beyond that, no man may see theStar Transmontane, that is clept the Star of the Sea, that isunmovable and that is toward the north, that we clepe theLode-star.  But men see another star, the contrary to him,that is toward the south, that is clept Antartic.  And rightas the ship-men take their advice here and govern them by theLode-star, right so do ship-men beyond those parts by the star ofthe south, the which star appeareth not to us.  And thisstar that is toward the north, that we clepe the Lode-star, neappeareth not to them.  For which cause men may wellperceive, that the land and the sea be of round shape and form;for the part of the firmament sheweth in one country that shewethnot in another country.  And men may well prove byexperience and subtle compassment of wit, that if a man foundpassages by ships that would go to search the world, men might goby ship all about the world and above and beneath.

The which thing I prove thus after that I have seen.  ForI have been toward the parts of Brabant, and beholden theAstrolabe that the star that is clept the Transmontane isfifty-three degrees high; and more further in Almayne and Bohemiait hath fifty-eight degrees; and more further toward the partsseptentrional it is sixty-two degrees of height and certainminutes; for I myself have measured it by the Astrolabe. Now shall ye know, that against the Transmontane is the totherstar that is clept Antarctic, as I have said before.  Andthose two stars ne move never, and by them turneth all thefirmament right as doth a wheel that turneth by hisaxle-tree.  So that those stars bear the firmament in twoequal parts, so that it hath as much p. 121above as it hath beneath. After this, I have gone toward the parts meridional, that is,toward the south, and I have found that in Lybia men see firstthe star Antarctic.  And so far I have gone more further inthose countries, that I have found that star more high; so thattoward the High Lybia it is eighteen degrees of height andcertain minutes (of the which sixty minutes make a degree). After going by sea and by land toward this country of that I havespoken, and to other isles and lands beyond that country, I havefound the Star Antarctic of thirty-three degrees of height andmore minutes.  And if I had had company and shipping for togo more beyond, I trow well, in certain, that we should have seenall the roundness of the firmament all about.  For, as Ihave said to you before, the half of the firmament is betweenthose two stars, the which halvendel I have seen.  And ofthe tother halvendel I have seen, toward the north under theTransmontane, sixty-two degrees and ten minutes, and toward thepart meridional I have seen under the Antarctic, thirty-threedegrees and sixteen minutes.  And then, the halvendel of thefirmament in all holdeth not but nine score degrees.  And ofthose nine score, I have seen sixty-two on that one part andthirty-three on that other part; that be, ninety-five degrees andnigh the halvendel of a degree.  And so, there ne failethbut that I have seen all the firmament, save four score and fourdegrees and the halvendel of a degree, and that is not the fourthpart of the firmament; for the fourth part of the roundness ofthe firmament holds four score and ten degrees, so there failethbut five degrees and an half of the fourth part.  And also Ihave seen the three parts of all the roundness of the firmamentand more yet five degrees and a half.  By the which I sayyou certainly that men may environ all the earth of all theworld, as well under as above, and turn again to his country,that had company and shipping and conduct.  And always heshould find men, lands and isles, as well as in thiscountry.  For ye wit well, that they that be toward theAntarctic, they be straight, feet against feet, of them thatdwell under the Transmontane; also well as we and p. 122they thatdwell under us be feet against feet.  For all the parts ofsea and of land have their opposites, habitable trepassable, andthey of this half and beyond half.

And wit well, that, after that that I may perceive andcomprehend, the lands of Prester John, Emperor of Ind, be underus.  For in going from Scotland or from England towardJerusalem men go upward always.  For our land is in the lowpart of the earth toward the west, and the land of Prester Johnis in the low part of the earth toward the east.  And [they]have there the day when we have the night; and also, high to thecontrary, they have the night when we have the day.  For theearth and the sea be of round form and shape, as I have saidbefore; and that that men go upward to one coast, men go downwardto another coast.

Also ye have heard me say that Jerusalem is in the midst ofthe world.  And that may men prove, and shew there by aspear, that is pight into the earth, upon the hour of midday,when it is equinox, that sheweth no shadow on no side.  Andthat it should be in the midst of the world, David witnesseth itin the Psalter, where he saith, Deus operatus est salutem inmedia terrae.  Then, they, that part from those parts ofthe west for to go toward Jerusalem, as many journeys as they goupward for to go thither, in as many journeys may they go fromJerusalem unto other confines of the superficiality of the earthbeyond.  And when men go beyond those journeys toward Indand to the foreign isles, all is environing the roundness of theearth and of the sea under our countries on this half.

And therefore hath it befallen many times of one thing that Ihave heard counted when I was young, how a worthy man departedsome-time from our countries for to go search the world. And so he passed Ind and the isles beyond Ind, where be more than5000 isles.  And so long he went by sea and land, and soenvironed the world by many seasons, that he found an isle wherehe heard speak his own language, calling on oxen in the plough,such words as men speak to beasts in his own country p. 123whereof hehad great marvel, for he knew not how it might be.  But Isay, that he had gone so long by land and by sea, that he hadenvironed all the earth; that he was come again environing, thatis to say, going about, unto his own marches, and if he wouldhave passed further, till he had found his country and his ownknowledge.  But he turned again from thence, from whence hewas come from.  And so he lost much painful labour, ashimself said a great while after that he was come home.  Forit befell after, that he went into Norway.  And theretempest of the sea took him, and he arrived in an isle. And, when he was in that isle, he knew well that it was the isle,where he had heard speak his own language before and the callingof oxen at the plough; and that was possible thing.

But how it seemeth to simple men unlearned, that men ne maynot go under the earth, and also that men should fall toward theheaven from under.  But that may not be, upon less than wemay fall toward heaven from the earth where we be.  For fromwhat part of the earth that men dwell, either above or beneath,it seemeth always to them that dwell that they go more right thanany other folk.  And right as it seemeth to us that they beunder us, right so it seemeth to them that we be underthem.  For if a man might fall from the earth unto thefirmament, by greater, reason the earth and the sea that be sogreat and so heavy should fall to the firmament: but that may notbe, and therefore saith our Lord God, Non timeas me,qui suspendi terram ex nihilo?

And albeit that it be possible thing that men may so environall the world, natheles, of a thousand persons, one ne might nothappen to return into his country.  For, for the greatnessof the earth and of the sea, men may go by a thousand and athousand other ways, that no man could ready him perfectly towardthe parts that he came from, but if it were by adventure and hap,or by the grace of God.  For the earth is full large andfull great, and holds in roundness and about environ, by aboveand by beneath, 20425 miles, after the opinion of old wise p.124astronomers; and their sayings I reprove nought. But, after my little wit, it seemeth me, saving their reverence,that it is more.

And for to have better understanding I say thus.  Bethere imagined a figure that hath a great compass.  And,about the point of the great compass that is clept the centre, bemade another little compass.  Then after, be the greatcompass devised by lines in many parts, and that all the linesmeet at the centre.  So, that in as many parts as the greatcompass shall be departed, in as many shall be departed thelittle, that is about the centre, albeit that the spaces beless.  Now then, be the great compass represented for thefirmament, and the little compass represented for theearth.  Now then, the firmament is devised by astronomers intwelve signs, and every sign is devised in thirty degrees; thatis, 360 degrees that the firmament hath above.  Also, be theearth devised in as many parts as the firmament, and let everypart answer to a degree of the firmament.  And wit it well,that, after the authors of astronomy, 700 furlongs of earthanswer to a degree of the firmament, and those be eighty-sevenmiles and four furlongs.  Now be that here multiplied by 360sithes, and then they be 31,500 miles every of eight furlongs,after miles of our country.  So much hath the earth inroundness and of height environ, after mine opinion and mineunderstanding.

And ye shall understand, that after the opinion of old wisephilosophers and astronomers, our country ne Ireland ne Wales neScotland ne Norway ne the other isles coasting to them ne be notin the superficiality counted above the earth, as it sheweth byall the books of astronomy.  For the superficiality of theearth is parted in seven parts for the seven planets, and thoseparts be clept climates.  And our parts be not of the sevenclimates, for they be descending toward the west†[drawing] towards the roundness of the world. †And also these isles of Ind which be even against us benot reckoned in the climates.  For they be against us thatbe in the low country.  And the seven climates stretch themenvironing the world.

p.125CHAPTER XXI

Of the Palace of the King of the Isle ofJava.  Of the Trees that bear meal, honey,wine, and venom; and of other marvels andcustoms used in the Isles marching thereabout

Beside that isle that I have spokenof, there is another isle that is clept Sumobor.  That is agreat isle, and the king thereof is right mighty.  The folkof that isle make them always to be marked in the visage with anhot iron, both men and women, for great noblesse, for to be knownfrom other folk; for they hold themselves most noble and mostworthy of all the world.  And they have war always with thefolk that go all naked.

And fast beside is another isle, that is clept Betemga, thatis a good isle and a plenteous.  And many other isles bethereabout, where there be many of diverse folk, of the which itwere too long to speak of all.

But fast beside that isle, for to pass by sea, is a great isleand a great country that men clepe Java.  And it is nigh twothousand mile in circuit.  And the king of that country is afull great lord and a rich and a mighty, and hath under him sevenother kings of seven other isles about him.  This isle isfull well inhabited, and full well manned.  There grow allmanner of spicery, more plenteously than in any other country, asof ginger, cloves-gilofre, canell, seedwall, nutmegs andmaces.  And wit well, that the nutmeg beareth the maces; forright as the nut of the hazel hath an husk without, that the nutis closed in till it be ripe and that after falleth out, right soit is of the nutmeg and of the maces.  Many other spices andmany other goods grow in that isle.  For of all things isthere plenty, save only of wine.  But there is gold andsilver, great plenty.

And the king of that country hath a palace full noble and fullmarvellous, and more rich than any in the world.  For allthe degrees to go up into halls and chambers be, p. 126one ofgold, another of silver.  And also, the pavements of hallsand chambers be all square, of gold one, and another ofsilver.  And all the walls within be covered with gold andsilver in fine plates, and in those plates be stories and battlesof knights enleved, and the crowns and the circles about theirheads be made of precious stones and rich pearls and great. And the halls and the chambers of the palace be all coveredwithin with gold and silver, so that no man would trow the richesof that palace but he had seen it.  And wit well, that theking of that isle is so mighty, that he hath many times overcomethe great Chan of Cathay in battle, that is the most greatemperor that is under the firmament either beyond the sea or onthis half.  For they have had often-time war between them,because that the great Chan would constrain him to hold his landof him; but that other at all times defendeth him well againsthim.

After that isle, in going by sea, men find another isle, goodand great, that men clepe Pathen, that is a great kingdom full offair cities and full of towns.  In that land grow trees thatbear meal, whereof men make good bread and white and of goodsavour; and it seemeth as it were of wheat, but it is notallinges of such savour.  And there be other trees that bearhoney good and sweet, and other trees that bear venom, againstthe which there is no medicine but [one]; and that is to taketheir proper leaves and stamp them and temper them with water andthen drink it, and else he shall die; for triacle will not avail,ne none other medicine.  Of this venom the Jews had let seekof one of their friends for to empoison all Christianity, as Ihave heard them say in their confession before their dying: butthanked be Almighty God! they failed of their purpose; but alwaysthey make great mortality of people.  And other trees therebe also that bear wine of noble sentiment.  And if you liketo hear how the meal cometh out of the trees I shall sayyou.  Men hew the trees with an hatchet, all about the footof the tree, till that the bark be parted in many parts, and thencometh out thereof a thick liquor, the which they receive invessels, and dry it at the heat of p. 127the sun; and then they have it to amill to grind and it becometh fair meal and white.  And thehoney and the wine and the venom be drawn out of other trees inthe same manner, and put in vessels for to keep.

In that isle is a dead sea, that is a lake that hath noground; and if anything fall into that lake it shall never comeup again.  In that lake grow reeds, that be canes, that theyclepe Thaby, that be thirty fathoms long; and of these canes menmake fair houses.  And there be other canes that be not solong, that grow near the land and have so long roots that endurewell a four quarters of a furlong or more; and at the knots ofthose roots men find precious stones that have greatvirtues.  And he that beareth any of them upon him, iron nesteel may not hurt him, ne draw no blood upon him; and therefore,they that have those stones upon them fight full hardily both onsea and land, for men may not harm [them] on no part.  Andtherefore, they that know the manner, and shall fight with them,they shoot to them arrows and quarrels without iron or steel, andso they hurt them and slay them.  And also of those canesthey make houses and ships and other things, as we have here,making houses and ships of oak or of any other trees.  Anddeem no man that I say it but for a trifle, for I have seen ofthe canes with mine own eyes, full many times, lying upon theriver of that lake, of the which twenty of our fellows ne mightnot lift up ne bear one to the earth.

After this isle men go by sea to another isle that is cleptCalonak.  And it is a fair land and a plenteous ofgoods.  And the king of that country hath as many wives ashe will.  For he maketh search all the country to get himthe fairest maidens that may be found, and maketh them to bebrought before him.  And he taketh one one night, andanother another night, and so forth continually suing; so that hehath a thousand wives or more.  And he lieth never but onenight with one of them, and another night with another; but ifthat one happen to be more lusty to his pleasance thananother.  And therefore the king getteth full many children,some-time an hundred, some-time a two-hundred, p. 128andsome-time more.  And he hath also into a 14,000 elephants ormore that he maketh for to be brought up amongst his villains byall his towns.  For in case that he had any war against anyother king about him, then [he] maketh certain men of arms for togo up into the castles of tree made for the war, that craftily beset upon the elephants’ backs, for to fight against theirenemies.  And so do other kings there-about.  For themanner of war is not there as it is here or in other countries,ne the ordinance of war neither.  And men clepe theelephants Warkes.

And in that isle there is a great marvel, more to speak ofthan in any other part of the world.  For all manner offishes, that be there in the sea about them, come once in theyear—each manner of diverse fishes, one manner of kindafter other.  And they cast themselves to the sea bank ofthat isle so great plenty and multitude, that no man may unnethesee but fish.  And there they abide three days.  Andevery man of the country taketh of them as many as himliketh.  And after, that manner of fish after the third daydeparteth and goeth into the sea.  And after them comeanother multitude of fish of another kind and do in the samemanner as the first did, other three days.  And after themanother, till all the diverse manner of fishes have been there,and that men have taken of them that them liketh.  And noman knoweth the cause wherefore it may be.  But they of thecountry say that it is for to do reverence to their king, that isthe most worthy king that is in the world as they say; becausethat he fulfilleth the commandment that God bade to Adam and Eve,when God said, Crescite et multiplicamini et repleteterram.  And for because that he multiplieth so theworld with children, therefore God sendeth him so the fishes ofdiverse kinds of all that be in the sea, to take at his will forhim and all his people.  And therefore all the fishes of thesea come to make him homage as the most noble and excellent kingof the world, and that is best beloved with God, as theysay.  I know not the reason, why it is, but God knoweth; butthis, me-seemeth, is the most p. 129marvel that ever I saw.  Forthis marvel is against kind and not with kind, that the fishesthat have freedom to environ all the coasts of the sea at theirown list, come of their own will to proffer them to the death,without constraining of man.  And therefore, I am siker thatthis may not be, without a great token.

There be also in that country a kind of snails that be sogreat, that many persons may lodge them in their shells, as menwould do in a little house.  And other snails there be thatbe full great but not so huge as the other.  And of thesesnails, and of great white worms that have black heads that be asgreat as a man’s thigh, and some less as great worms thatmen find there in woods, men make viand royal for the king andfor other great lords.  And if a man that is married die inthat country, men bury his wife with him all quick; for men saythere, that it is reason that she make him company in that otherworld as she did in this.

From that country men go by the sea ocean by an isle that isclept Caffolos.  Men of that country when their friends besick they hang them upon trees, and say that it is better thatbirds, that be angels of God, eat them, than the foul worms ofthe earth.

From that isle men go to another isle, where the folk be offull cursed kind.  For they nourish great dogs and teachthem to strangle their friends when they be sick.  For theywill not that they die of kindly death.  For they say, thatthey should suffer too great pain if they abide to die bythemselves, as nature would.  And, when they be thusenstrangled, they eat their flesh instead of venison.

Afterward men go by many isles by sea unto an isle that menclepe Milke.  And there is a full cursed people.  Forthey delight in nothing more than for to fight and to slaymen.  And they drink gladliest man’s blood, the whichthey clepe Dieu.  And the more men that a man may slay, themore worship he hath amongst them.  And if two persons be atdebate and, peradventure, be accorded by their friends or by someof their alliance, it behoveth that p. 130every of them that shall be accordeddrink of other’s blood: and else the accord ne the allianceis nought worth: ne it shall not be no reproof to him to breakthe alliance and the accord, but if every of them drink ofothers’ blood.

And from that isle men go by sea, from isle to isle, unto anisle that is clept Tracoda, where the folk of that country be asbeasts, and unreasonable, and dwell in caves that they make inthe earth; for they have no wit to make them houses.  Andwhen they see any man passing through their countries they hidethem in their caves.  And they eat flesh of serpents, andthey eat but little.  And they speak nought, but they hissas serpents do.  And they set no price by no avoir neriches, but only of a precious stone, that is amongst them, thatis of sixty colours.  And for the name of the isle, theyclepe it Tracodon.  And they love more that stone thananything else; and yet they know not the virtue thereof, but theycovet it and love it only for the beauty.

After that isle men go by the sea ocean, by many isles, untoan isle that is clept Nacumera, that is a great isle and good andfair.  And it is in compass about, more than a thousandmile.  And all the men and women of that isle havehounds’ heads, and they be clept Cynocephales.  Andthey be full reasonable and of good understanding, save that theyworship an ox for their God.  And also every one of thembeareth an ox of gold or of silver in his forehead, in token thatthey love well their God.  And they go all naked save alittle clout, that they cover with their knees and theirmembers.  They be great folk and well-fighting.  Andthey have a great targe that covereth all the body, and a spearin their hand to fight with.  And if they take any man inbattle, anon they eat him.

The king of that isle is full rich and full mighty and rightdevout after his law.  And he hath about his neck 300 pearlsorient, good and great and knotted, as paternosters here ofamber.  And in manner as we say our Pater Nosterandour Ave Maria, counting the Pater Nosters, right sothis king saith every day devoutly 300 p. 131prayers tohis God, or that he eat.  And he beareth also about his necka ruby orient, noble and fine, that is a foot of length and fivefingers large.  And, when they choose their king, they takehim that ruby to bear in his hand; and so they lead him, ridingall about the city.  And from thence-fromward they be allobeissant to him.  And that ruby he shall bear always abouthis neck, for if he had not that ruby upon him men would not holdhim for king.  The great Chan of Cathay hath greatly covetedthat ruby, but he might never have it for war, ne for no mannerof goods.  This king is so rightful and of equity in hisdooms, that men may go sikerly throughout all his country andbear with them what them list; that no man shall be hardy to robthem, and if he were, the king would justified anon.

From this land men go to another isle that is cleptSilha.  And it is well a 800 miles about.  In that landis full much waste, for it is full of serpents, of dragons and ofcockodrills, that no man dare dwell there.  Thesecockodrills be serpents, yellow and rayed above, and have fourfeet and short thighs, and great nails as claws or talons. And there be some that have five fathoms in length, and some ofsix and of eight and of ten.  And when they go by placesthat be gravelly, it seemeth as though men had drawn a great treethrough the gravelly place.  And there be also many wildbeasts, and namely of elephants.

In that isle is a great mountain.  And in mid place ofthe mount is a great lake in a full fair plain; and there isgreat plenty of water.  And they of the country say, thatAdam and Eve wept upon that mount an hundred year, when they weredriven out of Paradise, and that water, they say, is of theirtears; for so much water they wept, that made the foresaidlake.  And in the bottom of that lake men find many preciousstones and great pearls.  In that lake grow many reeds andgreat canes; and there within be many cocodrills and serpents andgreat water-leeches.  And the king of that country, onceevery year, giveth leave to poor men to go into the lake togather them precious stones and pearls, by way of alms, for thep. 132love ofGod that made Adam.  And all the year men find enough. And for the vermin that is within, they anoint their arms andtheir thighs and legs with an ointment made of a thing that isclept lemons, that is a manner of fruit like small pease; andthen have they no dread of no cockodrills, ne of none othervenomous vermin.  This water runneth, flowing and ebbing, bya side of the mountain, and in that river men find preciousstones and pearls, great plenty.  And men of that isle saycommonly, that the serpents and the wild beasts of that countrywill not do no harm ne touch with evil no strange man thatentereth into that country, but only to men that be born of thesame country.

In that country and others thereabout there be wild geese thathave two heads.  And there be lions, all white and as greatas oxen, and many other diverse beasts and fowls also that be notseen amongst us.

And wit well, that in that country and in other islesthereabout, the sea is so high, that it seemeth as though it hungat the clouds, and that it would cover all the world.  Andthat is great marvel that it might be so, save only the will ofGod, that the air sustaineth it.  And therefore saith Davidin the Psalter, Mirabiles elationes maris.

CHAPTER XXII

How men know by the Idol, if thesick shall die or not.  Of Folk of diverse shape andmarvellously disfigured.  And of the Monks that gavetheir relief to baboons, apes, and marmosets,and to other beasts

From that isle, in going by seatoward the south, is another great isle that is cleptDondun.  In that isle be folk of diverse kinds, so that thefather eateth the son, the son the father, the husband the wife,and the wife the husband.  And if it so befall, that thefather or mother or p. 133any of their friends be sick, anonthe son goeth to the priest of their law and prayeth him to askthe idol if his father or mother or friend shall die on that evilor not.  And then the priest and the son go together beforethe idol and kneel full devoutly and ask of the idol theirdemand.  And if the devil that is within answer that heshall live, they keep him well; and if he say that he shall die,then the priest goeth with the son, with the wife of him that issick, and they put their hands upon his mouth and stop hisbreath, and so they slay him.  And after that, they chop allthe body in small pieces, and pray all his friends to come andeat of him that is dead.  And they send for all theminstrels of the country and make a solemn feast.  And whenthey have eaten the flesh, they take the bones and bury them, andsing and make great melody.  And all those that be of hiskin or pretend them to be his friends, an they come not to thatfeast, they be reproved for evermore and shamed, and make greatdole, for never after shall they be holden as friends.  Andthey say also, that men eat their flesh for to deliver them outof pain; for if the worms of the earth eat them the soul shouldsuffer great pain, as they say.  And namely when the fleshis tender and meagre, then say their friends, that they do greatsin to let them have so long languor to suffer so much painwithout reason.  And when they find the flesh fat, then theysay, that it is well done to send them soon to Paradise, and thatthey have not suffered him too long to endure in pain.

The king of this isle is a full great lord and a mighty, andhath under him fifty-four great isles that give tribute tohim.  And in everych of these isles is a king crowned; andall be obeissant to that king.  And he hath in those islesmany diverse folk.

In one of these isles be folk of great stature, asgiants.  And they be hideous for to look upon.  Andthey have but one eye, and that is in the middle of thefront.  And they eat nothing but raw flesh and raw fish.

And in another isle toward the south dwell folk of foul p. 134stature andof cursed kind that have no heads.  And their eyen be intheir shoulders.

And in another isle be folk that have the face all flat, allplain, without nose and without mouth.  But they have twosmall holes, all round, instead of their eyes, and their mouth isplat also without lips.

And in another isle be folk of foul fashion and shape thathave the lip above the mouth so great, that when they sleep inthe sun they cover all the face with that lip.

And in another isle there be little folk, as dwarfs.  Andthey be two so much as the pigmies.  And they have no mouth;but instead of their mouth they have a little round hole, andwhen they shall eat or drink, they take through a pipe or a penor such a thing, and suck it in, for they have no tongue; andtherefore they speak not, but they make a manner of hissing as anadder doth, and they make signs one to another as monks do, bythe which every of them understandeth other.

And in another isle be folk that have great ears and long,that hang down to their knees.

And in another isle be folk that have horses’feet.  And they be strong and mighty, and swift runners; forthey take wild beasts with running, and eat them.

And in another isle be folk that go upon their hands and theirfeet as beasts.  And they be all skinned and feathered, andthey will leap as lightly into trees, and from tree to tree, asit were squirrels or apes.

And in another isle be folk that be both man and woman, andthey have kind; of that one and of that other.  And theyhave but one pap on the one side, and on that other none. And they have members of generation of man and woman, and theyuse both when they list, once that one, and another time thatother.  And they get children, when they use the member ofman; and they bear children, when they use the member ofwoman.

And in another isle be folk that go always upon their kneesfull marvellously.  And at every pace that they go, itseemeth that they would fall.  And they have in every footeight toes.

p. 135Manyother diverse folk of diverse natures be there in other islesabout, of the which it were too long to tell, and therefore Ipass over shortly.

From these isles, in passing by the sea ocean toward the eastby many journeys, men find a great country and a great kingdomthat men clepe Mancy.  And that is in Ind the more. And it is the best land and one the fairest that may be in allthe world, and the most delectable and the most plenteous of allgoods that is in power of man.  In that land dwell manyChristian men and Saracens, for it is a good country and agreat.  And there be therein more than 2000 great cities andrich, without other great towns.  And there is more plentyof people there than in any other part of Ind, for the bounty ofthe country.  In that country is no needy man, ne none thatgoeth on begging.  And they be full fair folk, but they beall pale.  And the men have thin beards and few hairs, butthey be long; but unnethe hath any man passing fifty hairs in hisbeard, and one hair sits here, another there, as the beard of aleopard or of a cat.  In that land be many fairer women thanin any other country beyond the sea, and therefore men clepe thatland Albany, because that the folk be white.

And the chief city of that country is clept Latorin, and it isa journey from the sea, and it is much more than Paris.  Inthat city is a great river bearing ships that go to all thecoasts in the sea.  No city of the world is so well storedof ships as is that.  And all those of the city and of thecountry worship idols.  In that country be double sithesmore birds than be here.  There be white geese, red aboutthe neck, and they have a great crest as a cock’s comb upontheir heads; and they be much more there than they be here, andmen buy them there all quick, right great cheap.  And thereis great plenty of adders of whom men make great feasts and eatthem at great solemnities; and he that maketh there a feast be itnever so costly, an he have no adders he hath no thank for histravail.

Many good cities there be in that country and men have greatplenty and great cheap of all wines and victuals.  In p. 136thatcountry be many churches of religious men, and of theirlaw.  And in those churches be idols as great as giants; andto these idols they give to eat at great festival days in thismanner.  They bring before them meat all sodden, as hot asthey come from the fire, and they let the smoke go up towards theidols; and then they say that the idols have eaten; and then thereligious men eat the meat afterwards.

In that country be white hens without feathers, but they bearwhite wool as sheep do here.  In that country women that beunmarried, they have tokens on their heads like coronals to beknown for unmarried.  Also in that country there be beaststaught of men to go into waters, into rivers and into deep stanksfor to take fish; the which beast is but little, and men clepethem loirs.  And when men cast them into the water, anonthey bring up great fishes, as many as men will.  And if menwill have more, they cast them in again, and they bring up asmany as men list to have.

And from that city passing many journeys is another city, onethe greatest of the world, that men clepe Cassay; that is to say,the ‘City of heaven.’  That city is well a fiftymile about, and it is strongly inhabited with people, insomuchthat in one house men make ten households.  In that city betwelve principal gates; and before every gate, a three mile or afour mile in length, is a great town or a great city.  Thatcity sits upon a great lake on the sea as doth Venice.  Andin that city be more than 12,000 bridges.  And upon everybridge be strong towers and good, in the which dwell the wardensfor to keep the city from the great Chan.  And on that onepart of the city runneth a great river all along the city. And there dwell Christian men and many merchants and other folkof diverse nations, because that the land is so good and soplenteous.  And there groweth full good wine that men clepeBigon, that is full mighty, and gentle in drinking.  This isa city royal where the King of Mancy was wont to dwell.  Andthere dwell many religious men, as it were of the Order ofFriars, for they be mendicants.

From that city men go by water, solacing and disporting them,till they come to an abbey of monks that p. 137is fast by,that be good religious men after their faith and law.  Inthat abbey is a great garden and a fair, where be many trees ofdiverse manner of fruits.  And in this garden is a littlehill full of delectable trees.  In that hill and in thatgarden be many diverse beasts, as of apes, marmosets, baboons andmany other diverse beasts.  And every day, when the conventof this abbey hath eaten, the almoner let bear the relief to thegarden, and he smiteth on the garden gate with a clicket ofsilver that he holdeth in his hand; and anon all the beasts ofthe hill and of diverse places of the garden come out a 3000, ora 4000; and they come in guise of poor men, and men give them therelief in fair vessels of silver, clean over-gilt.  And whenthey have eaten, the monk smiteth eftsoons on the garden gatewith the clicket, and then anon all the beasts return again totheir places that they come from.  And they say that thesebeasts be souls of worthy men that resemble in likeness of thosebeasts that be fair, and therefore they give them meat for thelove of God; and the other beasts that be foul, they say be soulsof poor men and of rude commons.  And thus they believe, andno man may put them out of this opinion.  These beastsabove-said they let take when they be young, and nourish them sowith alms, as many as they may find.  And I asked them if ithad not been better to have given that relief to poor men, ratherthan to those beasts.  And they answered me and said, thatthey had no poor men amongst them in that country; and though ithad been so that poor men had been among them, yet were itgreater alms to give it to those souls that do there theirpenance.  Many other marvels be in that city and in thecountry thereabout, that were too long to tell you.

From that city go men by the country a six journeys to anothercity that men clepe Chilenfo, of the which city the walls betwenty mile about.  In that city be sixty bridges of stone,so fair that no man may see fairer.  In that city was thefirst siege of the King of Mancy, for it is a fair and plenteousof all goods.

After, pass men overthwart a great river that men clepe p.138Dalay.  And that is the greatest river of freshwater that is in the world.  For there, as it is mostnarrow, it is more than four mile of breadth.  And thenenter men again into the land of the great Chan.

That river goeth through the land of Pigmies, where that thefolk be of little stature, that be but three span long, and theybe right fair and gentle, after their quantities, both the menand the women.  And they marry them when they be half yearof age and get children.  And they live not but six year orseven at the most; and he that liveth eight year, men hold himthere right passing old.  These men be the best workers ofgold, silver, cotton, silk and of all such things, of any otherthat be in the world.  And they have oftentimes war with thebirds of the country that they take and eat.  This littlefolk neither labour in lands ne in vines; but they have great menamongst them of our stature that till the land and labour amongstthe vines for them.  And of those men of our stature havethey as great scorn and wonder as we would have among us ofgiants, if they were amongst us.  There is a good city,amongst others, where there is dwelling great plenty of thoselittle folk, and it is a great city and a fair.  And the menbe great that dwell amongst them, but when they get any childrenthey be as little as the pigmies.  And therefore they be,all for the most part, all pigmies; for the nature of the land issuch.  The great Chan let keep this city full well, for itis his.  And albeit, that the pigmies be little, yet they befull reasonable after their age, and can both wit and good andmalice enough.

From that city go men by the country by many cities and manytowns unto a city that men clepe Jamchay; and it is a noble cityand a rich and of great profit to the Lord, and thither go men toseek merchandise of all manner of thing.  That city is fullmuch worth yearly to the lord of the country.  For he hathevery year to rent of that city (as they of the city say) 50,000cumants of florins of gold: for they count there all by cumants,and every cumant is 10,000 florins of gold.  Now may menwell p.139reckon how much that it amounteth.  The king ofthat country is full mighty, and yet he is under the greatChan.  And the great Chan hath under him twelve suchprovinces.  In that country in the good towns is a goodcustom: for whoso will make a feast to any of his friends, therebe certain inns in every good town, and he that will make thefeast will say to the hosteler, array for me to-morrow a gooddinner for so many folk, and telleth him the number, and devisethhim the viands; and he saith also, thus much I will dispend andno more.  And anon the hosteler arrayeth for him so fair andso well and so honestly, that there shall lack nothing; and itshall be done sooner and with less cost than an a man made it inhis own house.

And a five mile from that city, toward the head of the riverof Dalay, is another city that men clepe Menke.  In thatcity is strong navy of ships.  And all be white as snow ofthe kind of the trees that they be made of.  And they befull great ships and fair, and well ordained, and made with hallsand chambers and other easements, as though it were on theland.

From thence go men, by many towns and many cities, through thecountry, unto a city that men clepe Lanterine.  And it is aneight journeys from the city above-said.  This city sitsupon a fair river, great and broad, that men clepeCaramaron.  This river passeth throughout Cathay.  Andit doth often-time harm, and that full great, when it is overgreat.

CHAPTER XXIII

Of the great Chan of Cathay. Of the royalty of his palace, and how he sits atmeat; and of the great number of officers that servehim

Cathay is a great country and afair, noble and rich, and full of merchants.  Thither gomerchants all years for p. 140to seek spices and all manner ofmerchandises, more commonly than in any other part.  And yeshall understand, that merchants that come from Genoa or fromVenice or from Romania or other parts of Lombardy, they go by seaand by land eleven months or twelve, or more some-time, ere theymay come to the isle of Cathay that is the principal region ofall parts beyond; and it is of the great Chan.

From Cathay go men toward the east by many journeys.  Andthen men find a good city between these others, that men clepeSugarmago.  That city is one of the best stored of silk andother merchandises that is in the world.

After go men yet to another old city toward the east. And it is in the province of Cathay.  And beside that citythe men of Tartary have let make another city that is deptCaydon.  And it hath twelve gates, and between the two gatesthere is always a great mile; so that the two cities, that is tosay, the old and the new, have in circuit more than twentymile.

In this city is the siege of the great Chan in a full greatpalace and the most passing fair in all the world, of the whichthe walls be in circuit more than two mile.  And within thewalls it is all full of other palaces.  And in the garden ofthe great palace there is a great hill, upon the which there isanother palace; and it is the most fair and the most rich thatany man may devise.  And all about the palace and the hillbe many trees bearing many diverse fruits.  And all aboutthat hill be ditches great and deep, and beside them be greatvivaries on that one part and on that other.  And there is afull fair bridge to pass over the ditches.  And in thesevivaries be so many wild geese and ganders and wild ducks andswans and herons that it is without number.  And all aboutthese ditches and vivaries is the great garden full of wildbeasts.  So that when the great Chan will have any disporton that, to take any of the wild beasts or of the fowls, he willlet chase them and take them at the windows without going out ofhis chamber.

This palace, where his siege is, is both great and passing p. 141fair. And within the palace, in the hall, there be twenty-four pillarsof fine gold.  And all the walls be covered within of redskins of beasts that men clepe panthers, that be fair beasts andwell smelling; so that for the sweet odour of those skins no evilair may enter into the palace.  Those skins be as red asblood, and they shine so bright against the sun, that unnethe noman may behold them.  And many folk worship those beasts,when they meet them first at morning, for their great virtue andfor the good smell that they have.  And those skins theyprize more than though they were plate of fine gold.

And in the midst of this palace is the mountour for the greatChan, that is all wrought of gold and of precious stones andgreat pearls.  And at four corners of the mountour be fourserpents of gold.  And all about there is y-made large netsof silk and gold and great pearls hanging all about themountour.  And under the mountour be conduits of beveragethat they drink in the emperor’s court.  And besidethe conduits be many vessels of gold, by the which they that beof household drink at the conduit.

And the hall of the palace is full nobly arrayed, and fullmarvellously attired on all parts in all things that men apparelwith any hall.  And first, at the chief of the hall is theemperor’s throne, full high, where he sitteth at themeat.  And that is of fine precious stones, bordered allabout with pured gold and precious stones, and greatpearls.  And the grees that he goeth up to the table be ofprecious stones mingled with gold.

And at the left side of the emperor’s siege is the siegeof his first wife, one degree lower than the emperor; and it isof jasper, bordered with gold and precious stones.  And thesiege of his second wife is also another siege, more lower thanhis first wife; and it is also of jasper, bordered with gold, asthat other is.  And the siege of the third wife is also morelow, by a degree, than the second wife.  For he hath alwaysthree wives with him, where that ever he be.

And after his wives, on the same side, sit the ladies of p. 142his lineageyet lower, after that they be of estate.  And all those thatbe married have a counterfeit made like a man’s foot upontheir heads, a cubit long, all wrought with great pearls, fineand orient, and above made with peacocks’ feathers and ofother shining feathers; and that stands upon their heads like acrest, in token that they be under man’s foot and undersubjection of man.  And they that be unmarried have nonesuch.

And after at the right side of the emperor first sitteth hiseldest son that shall reign after him.  And he sitteth alsoone degree lower than the emperor, in such manner of sieges as dothe empresses.  And after him sit other great lords of hislineage, every of them a degree lower than the other, as they beof estate.

And the emperor hath his table alone by himself, that is ofgold and of precious stones, or of crystal bordered with gold,and full of precious stones or of amethysts, or of lignum aloesthat cometh out of paradise, or of ivory bound or bordered withgold.  And every one of his wives hath also her table byherself.  And his eldest son and the other lords also, andthe ladies, and all that sit with the emperor have tables aloneby themselves, full rich.  And there ne is no table but thatit is worth an huge treasure of goods.

And under the emperor’s table sit four clerks that writeall that the emperor saith, be it good, be it evil; for all thathe saith must be holden, for he may not change his word, nerevoke it.

And [at] great solemn feasts before the emperor’s tablemen bring great tables of gold, and thereon be peacocks of goldand many other manner of diverse fowls, all of gold and richlywrought and enamelled.  And men make them dance and sing,clapping their wings together, and make great noise.  Andwhether it be by craft or by necromancy I wot never; but it is agood sight to behold, and a fair; and it is great marvel how itmay be.  But I have the less marvel, because that they bethe most subtle men in all sciences and in all crafts that be inthe world: for of subtlety and of malice and of farcasting theypass all p.143men under heaven.  And therefore they saythemselves, that they see with two eyes and the Christian men seebut with one, because that they be more subtle than they. For all other nations, they say, be but blind in cunning andworking in comparison to them.  I did great business for tohave learned that craft, but the master told me that he had madeavow to his god to teach it to no creature, but only to hiseldest son.

Also above the emperor’s table and the other tables, andabove a great part in the hall, is a vine made of finegold.  And it spreadeth all about the hall.  And ithath many clusters of grapes, some white, some green, some yellowand some red and some black, all of precious stones.  Thewhite be of crystal and of beryl and of iris; the yellow be oftopazes; the red be of rubies and of grenaz and of alabrandines;the green be of emeralds, of perydoz and of chrysolites; and theblack be of onyx and garantez.  And they be all so properlymade that it seemeth a very vine bearing kindly grapes.

And before the emperor’s table stand great lords andrich barons and other that serve the emperor at the meat. And no man is so hardy to speak a word, but if the emperor speakto him; but if it be minstrels that sing songs and tell jests orother disports, to solace with the emperor.  And all thevessels that men be served with in the hall or in chambers be ofprecious stones, and specially at great tables either of jasperor of crystal or of amethysts or of fine gold.  And the cupsbe of emeralds and of sapphires, or of topazes, of perydoz, andof many other precious stones.  Vessels of silver is therenone, for they tell no price thereof to make no vessels of: butthey make thereof grecings and pillars and pavements to halls andchambers.  And before the hall door stand many barons andknights clean armed to keep that no man enter, but if it be thewill or the commandment of the emperor, or but if they beservants or minstrels of the household; and other none is not sohardy to neighen nigh the hall door.

And ye shall understand, that my fellows and I with ouryeomen, we served this emperor, and were his soldiers p. 144fifteenmonths against the King of Mancy, that held against him. And the cause was for we had great lust to see his noblesse andthe estate of his court and all his governance, to wit if it weresuch as we heard say that it was.  And truly we found itmore noble and more excellent, and richer and more marvellous,than ever we heard speak of, insomuch that we would never havelieved it had we not seen it.  For I trow, that no man wouldbelieve the noblesse, the riches ne the multitude of folk that bein his court, but he had seen it; for it is not there as it ishere.  For the lords here have folk of certain number asthey may suffice; but the great Chan hath every day folk at hiscostage and expense as without number.  But the ordinance,ne the expenses in meat and drink, ne the honesty, ne thecleanness, is not so arrayed there as it is here; for all thecommons there eat without cloth upon their knees, and they eatall manner of flesh and little of bread, and after meat they wipetheir hands upon their skirts, and they eat not but once aday.  But the estate of lords is full great, and rich andnoble.

And albeit that some men will not trow me, but hold it forfable to tell them the noblesse of his person and of his estateand of his court and of the great multitude of folk that heholds, natheles I shall say you a part of him and of his folk,after that I have seen the manner and the ordinance full many atime.  And whoso that will may lieve me if he will, andwhoso will not, may leave also.  For I wot well, if any manhath been in those countries beyond, though he have not been inthe place where the great Chan dwelleth, he shall hear speak ofhim so much marvellous thing, that he shall not trow itlightly.  And truly, no more did I myself, till I sawit.  And those that have been in those countries and in thegreat Chan’s household know well that I say sooth. And therefore I will not spare for them, that know not ne believenot but that that they see, for to tell you a part of him and ofhis estate that he holdeth, when he goeth from country tocountry, and when he maketh solemn feasts.

p.145CHAPTER XXIV.

Wherefore he is clept the greatChan.  Of the Style of his Letters: and of theSuperscription about his great Seal and his Privy Seal

First I shall say you why he wasclept the great Chan.

Ye shall understand, that all the world was destroyed byNoah’s flood, save only Noah and his wife and hischildren.  Noah had three sons, Shem, Cham, andJaphet.  This Cham was he that saw his father’s privymembers naked when he slept, and scorned them, and shewed themwith his finger to his brethren in scorning wise.  Andtherefore he was cursed of God.  And Japhet turned his faceaway and covered them.

These three brethren had seisin in all the land.  Andthis Cham, for his cruelty, took the greater and the best part,toward the east, that is clept Asia, and Shem took Africa, andJaphet took Europe.  And therefore is all the earth partedin these three parts by these three brethren.  Cham was thegreatest and the most mighty, and of him came more generationsthan of the other.  And of his son Chuse was engenderedNimrod the giant, that was the first king that ever was in theworld; and he began the foundation of the tower of Babylon. And that time, the fiends of hell came many times and lay withthe women of his generation and engendered on them diverse folk,as monsters and folk disfigured, some without heads, some withgreat ears, some with one eye, some giants, some withhorses’ feet, and many other diverse shape againstkind.  And of that generation of Cham be come the Paynimsand divers folk that be in isles of the sea by all Ind.  Andforasmuch as he was the most mighty, and no man might withstandhim, he cleped himself the Son of God and sovereign of all theworld.  And for this Cham, this emperor clepeth him Cham,and sovereign of all the world.

p. 146Andof the generation of Shem be come the Saracens.  And of thegeneration of Japhet is come the people of Israel.  Andthough that we dwell in Europe, this is the opinion, that theSyrians and the Samaritans have amongst them.  And that theytold me, before that I went toward Ind, but I found itotherwise.  Natheles, the sooth is this; that Tartars andthey that dwell in the great Asia, they came of Cham; but theEmperor of Cathay clepeth him not Cham, but Can, and I shall tellyou how.

It is but little more but eight score year that all Tartarywas in subjection and in servage to other nations about. For they were but bestial folk and did nothing but kept beastsand led them to pastures.  But among them they had sevenprincipal nations that were sovereigns of them all.  Of thewhich, the first nation or lineage was clept Tartar, and that isthe most noble and the most prized.  The second lineage isclept Tanghot, the third Eurache, the fourth Valair, the fifthSemoche, the sixth Megly, the seventh Coboghe.

Now befell it so that of the first lineage succeeded an oldworthy man that was not rich, that had to name Changuys. This man lay upon a night in his bed.  And he saw inavision, that there came before him a knight armed all inwhite.  And he sat upon a white horse, and said to him, Can,sleepest thou?  The Immortal God hath sent me to thee, andit is his will, that thou go to the seven lineages and say tothem that thou shalt be their emperor.  For thou shaltconquer the lands and the countries that be about, and they thatmarch upon you shall be under your subjection, as ye have beenunder theirs, for that is God’s will immortal.

And when he came at morrow, Changuys rose, and went to sevenlineages, and told them how the white knight had said.  Andthey scorned him, and said that he was a fool.  And so hedeparted from them all ashamed.  And the night ensuing, thiswhite knight came to the seven lineages, and commanded them onGod’s behalf immortal, that they should make this Changuystheir emperor, and they should be out of subjection, and theyshould hold all p.147other regions about them in their servage as they hadbeen to them before.  And on the morrow, they chose him tobe their emperor.  And they set him upon a black fertre, andafter that they lift him up with great solemnity.  And theyset him in a chair of gold and did him all manner of reverence,and they cleped him Chan, as the white knight called him.

And when he was thus chosen, he would assay if he might trustin them or no, and whether they would be obeissant to him orno.  And then he made many statutes and ordinances that theyclepe Ysya Chan.  The first statute was, that theyshould believe and obey in God Immortal, that is Almighty, thatwould cast them out of servage, and at all times clepe to him forhelp in time of need.  The tother statute was, that allmanner of men that might bare arms should be numbered, and toevery ten should be a master, and to every hundred a master, andto every thousand a master, and to every ten thousand amaster.  After he commanded to the principals of the sevenlineages, that they should leave and forsake all that they had ingoods and heritage, and from thenceforth to hold them paid ofthat that he would give them of his grace.  And they did soanon.  After he commanded to the principals of the sevenlineages, that every of them should bring his eldest son beforehim, and with their own hands smite off their heads withouttarrying.  And anon his commandment was performed.

And when the Chan saw that they made none obstacle to performhis commandment, then he thought well that he might trust inthem, and commanded them anon to make them ready and to sue hisbanner.  And after this, Chan put in subjection all thelands about him.

Afterward it befell upon a day, that the Can rode with a fewmeinie for to behold the strength of the country that he hadwon.  And so befell, that a great multitude of enemies metwith him.  And for to give good example hardiness to hispeople, he was the first that fought, and in the midst of hisenemies encountered, and there he was cast from his horse, andhis horse slain.  And when his p. 148folk saw him at the earth, they wereall abashed, and weened he had been dead, and flew every one, andtheir enemies after and chased them, but they wist not that theemperor was there.  And when the enemies were far pursuingthe chase, the emperor hid him in a thick wood.  And whet,they were come again from the chase, they went and sought thewoods if any of them had been hid in the thick of the woods; andmany they found and slew them anon.  So it happened that asthey went searching toward the place that the emperor was, theysaw an owl sitting upon a tree above him; and then they saidamongst them, that there was no man because that they saw thatbird there, and so they went their way; and thus escaped theemperor from death.  And then he went privily all by night,till he came to his folk that were full glad of his coming, andmade great thankings to God Immortal, and to that bird by whomtheir lord was saved.  And therefore principally above allfowls of world they worship the owl; and when they have any oftheir feathers, they keep them full preciously instead of relics,and bear them upon their heads with great reverence; and theyhold themselves blessed and safe from all perils while that theyhave them upon them, and therefore they bear their feathers upontheir heads.

After all this the Chan ordained him, and assembled hispeople, and went upon them that had assailed him before, anddestroyed them, and put them in subjection and servage.  Andwhen he had won and put all the lands and countries on this halfthe Mount Belian in subjection, the white knight came to himagain in his sleep, and said to him, Chan! the will of GodImmortal is that thou pass the Mount Belian.  And thou shaltwin the land and thou shalt put many nations in subjection. And for thou shalt find no good passage for to go toward thatcountry, go [to] the Mount Belian that is upon the sea, and kneelthere nine times toward the east in the worship of God Immortal,and he shall shew the way to pass by.  And the Chan didso.  And anon the sea that touched and was fast to the mountbegan to withdraw him, and shewed fair way of nine foot breadthlarge; and so he passed with his folk, and won p. 149the land ofCathay that is the greatest kingdom of the world.

And for the nine kneelings and for the nine foot of way theChan and all the men of Tartary have the number of nine in greatreverence.  And therefore who that will make the Chan anypresent, be it of horses, be it of birds, or of arrows or bows,or of fruit, or of any other thing, always he must make it of thenumber of nine.  And so then be the presents of greaterpleasure to him; and more benignly he will receive them thanthough he were presented with an hundred or two hundred. For him seemeth the number of nine so holy, because the messengerof God Immortal devised it.

Also, when the Chan of Cathay had won the country of Cathay,and put in subjection and under foot many countries about, hefell sick.  And when he felt well that he should die, hesaid to his twelve sons, that everych of them should bring himone of his arrows.  And so they did anon.  And then hecommanded that men should bind them together in threeplaces.  And then he took them to his eldest son, and badehim break them all together.  And he enforced him with allhis might to break them, but he ne might not.  And then theChan bade his second son to break them; and so, shortly, to all,each after other; but none of them might break them.  Andthen he bade the youngest son dissever every one from other, andbreak everych by himself.  And so he did.  And thensaid the Chan to his eldest son and to all the others, Whereforemight ye not break them?  And they answered that they mightnot, because that they were bound together.  And wherefore,quoth he, hath your little youngest brother broken them? Because, quoth they, that they were parted each from other. And then said the Chan, My sons, quoth he, truly thus will itfare by you.  For as long as ye be bound together in threeplaces, that is to say, in love, in truth and in good accord, noman shall be of power to grieve you.  But and ye bedissevered from these three places, that your one help not yourother, ye shall be destroyed and brought to nought.  And ifeach of you love p.150other and help other, ye shall be lords and sovereignsof all others.  And when he had made his ordinances, hedied.

And then after him reigned Ecchecha Cane, his eldestson.  And his other brethren went to win them many countriesand kingdoms, unto the land of Prussia and of Russia, and madethemselves to be clept Chane; but they were all obeissant totheir elder brother, and therefore was he clept the greatChan.

After Ecchecha reigned Guyo Chan.

And after him Mango Chan that was a good Christian man andbaptized, and gave letters of perpetual peace to all Christianmen, and sent his brother Halaon with great multitude of folk forto win the Holy Land and for to put it into Christian men’shands, and for to destroy Mahomet’s law, and for to takethe Caliph of Bagdad that was emperor and lord of all theSaracens.  And when this caliph was taken, men found him ofso high worship, that in all the remnant of the world, ne might aman find a more reverend man, ne higher in worship.  Andthen Halaon made him come before him, and said to him, Why, quothhe, haddest thou not taken with thee more soldiers and menenough, for a little quantity of treasure, for to defend thee andthy country, that art so abundant of treasure and so high in allworship?  And the caliph answered him, For he well trowedthat he had enough of his own proper men.  And then saidHalaon, Thou wert as a god of the Saracens.  And it isconvenient to a god to eat no meat that is mortal.  Andtherefore, thou shall not eat but precious stones, rich pearlsand treasure, that thou lovest so much.  And then hecommanded him to prison, and all his treasure about him. And so he died for hunger and thirst.  And then after this,Halaon won all the Land of Promission, and put it into Christianmen’s hands.  But the great Chan, his brother, died;and that was great sorrow and loss to all Christian men.

After Mango Chan reigned Cobyla Chan that was also a Christianman.  And he reigned forty-two year.  He founded thegreat city Izonge in Cathay, that is a great deal more thanRome.

p. 151Thetother great Chan that came after him became a Paynim, and allthe others after him.

The kingdom of Cathay is the greatest realm of theworld.  And also the great Chan is the most mighty emperorof the world and the greatest lord under the firmament.  Andso he clepeth him in his letters, right thus: Chan! Filius Dei excelsi, omnium universam terram colentiumsummus imperator, & dominus omniumdominantium!  And the letter of his great seal, writtenabout, is this; Deus in coelo, Chan super terram,ejus fortitudo.  Omnium hominum imperatorissigillum.  And the superscription about his little sealis this; Dei fortitudo, omnium hominum imperatorissigillum.

And albeit that they be not christened, yet nevertheless theemperor and all the Tartars believe in God Immortal.  Andwhen they will menace any man, then they say, God knoweth wellthat I shall do thee such a thing, and telleth his menace.

And thus have ye heard, why he is clept the great Chan.

CHAPTER XXV

Of the Governance of the great Chan’sCourt, and when he maketh solemn feasts.  Ofhis Philosophers.  And of his array, when herideth by the country

Now shall I tell you the governanceof the court of the great Chan, when he maketh solemn feasts; andthat is principally four times in the year.

The first feast is of his birth, that other is of hispresentation in their temple that they clepe their Moseache,where they make a manner of circumcision, and the tother twofeasts be of his idols.  The first feast of the idol is whenhe is first put into their temple and throned; the tother feastis when the idol beginneth first to speak, or to p. 152workmiracles.  More be there not of solemn feasts, but if hemarry any of his children.

Now understand, that at every of these feasts he hath greatmultitude of people, well ordained and well arrayed, bythousands, by hundreds, and by tens.  And every man knowethwell what service he shall do, and every man giveth so good heedand so good attendance to his service that no man findeth nodefault.  And there be first ordained 4000 barons, mightyand rich, for to govern and to make ordinance for the feast, andfor to serve the emperor.  And these solemn feasts be madewithout in halls and tents made of cloths of gold and oftartaries, full nobly.  And all those barons have crowns ofgold upon their heads, full noble and rich, full of preciousstones and great pearls orient.  And they be all clothed incloths of gold or of tartaries or of camakas, so richly and soperfectly, that no man in the world can amend it, ne betterdevise it.  And all those robes be orfrayed all about, anddubbed full of precious stones and of great orient pearls, fullrichly.  And they may well do so, for cloths of gold and ofsilk be greater cheap there a great deal than be cloths ofwool.  And these 4000 barons be devised in four companies,and every thousand is clothed in cloths all of one colour, andthat so well arrayed and so richly, that it is marvel tobehold.

The first thousand, that is of dukes, of earls, of marquisesand of admirals, all clothed in cloths of gold, with tissues ofgreen silk, and bordered with gold full of precious stones inmanner as I have said before.  The second thousand is allclothed in cloths diapered of red silk, all wrought with gold,and the orfrays set full of great pearl and precious stones, fullnobly wrought.  The third thousand is clothed in cloths ofsilk, of purple or of Ind.  And the fourth thousand is incloths of yellow.  And all their clothes be so nobly and sorichly wrought with gold and precious stones and rich pearls,that if a man of this country had but only one of their robes, hemight well say that he should never be poor; for the gold and theprecious stones and the great orient pearls be of greater p. 153value onthis half the sea than they be beyond the sea in thosecountries.

And when they be thus apparelled, they go two and twotogether, full ordinately, before the emperor, without speech ofany word, save only inclining to him.  And every one of thembeareth a tablet of jasper or of ivory or of crystal, and theminstrels going before them, sounding their instruments ofdiverse melody.  And when the first thousand is thus passedand hath made his muster, he withdraweth him on that one side;and then entereth that other second thousand, and doth right so,in the same manner of array and countenance, is did the first;and after, the third; and then, the fourth; and none of themsaith not one word.

And at one side of the emperor’s table sit manyphilosophers that be proved for wise men in many diversesciences, as of astronomy, necromancy, geomancy, pyromancy,hydromancy, of augury and of many other sciences.  Andeverych of them have before them astrolabes of gold, somespheres, some the brain pan of a dead man, some vessels of goldfull of gravel or sand, some vessels of gold full of coalsburning, some vessels of gold full of water and of wine and ofoil, and some horologes of gold, made full nobly and richlywrought, and many other manner of instruments after theirsciences.

And at certain hours, when them thinketh time, they say tocertain officers that stand before them, ordained for the time tofulfil their commandments; Make peace!

And then say the officers; Now peace! listen!

And after that, saith another of the philosophers; Every mando reverence and incline to the emperor, that is God’s Sonand sovereign lord of all the world!  For now is time! And then every man boweth his head toward the earth.

And then commandeth the same philosopher again; Standup!  And they do so.

p. 154Andat another hour, saith another philosopher; Put your littlefinger in your ears!  And anon they do so.

And at another hour, saith another philosopher; Put your handbefore your mouth!  And anon they do so.

And at another hour, saith another philosopher; Put your handupon your head!  And after that he biddeth them to do theirhand away.  And they do so.

And so, from hour to hour, they command certain things; andthey say, that those things have diverse significations. And I asked them privily what those things betokened.  Andone of the masters told me, that the bowing of the head at thathour betokened this; that all those that bowed their heads shouldevermore after be obeissant and true to the emperor, and never,for gifts ne for promise in no kind, to be false ne traitor untohim for good nor evil.  And the putting of the little fingerin the ear betokeneth, as they say, that none of them ne shallnot hear speak no contrarious thing to the emperor but that heshall tell it anon to his council or discover it to some men thatwill make relation to the emperor, though he were his father orbrother or son.  And so forth, of all other things that isdone by the philosophers, they told me the causes of many diversethings.  And trust right well in certain, that no man dothnothing to the emperor that belongeth unto him, neither clothingne bread ne wine ne bath ne none other thing that longeth to him,but at certain hours that his philosophers will devise.  Andif there fall war in any side to the emperor, anon thephilosophers come and say their advice after their calculations,and counsel the emperor of their advice by their sciences; sothat the emperor doth nothing without their counsel.

And when the philosophers have done and performed theircommandments, then the minstrels begin to do their minstrelsy,everych in their instruments, each after other, with all themelody that they can devise.  And when they have done a goodwhile, one of the officers of the emperor goeth up on a highstage wrought full curiously, and crieth and saith with loudvoice; Make Peace!  And then every man is still.

And then, anon after, all the lords that be of theemperor’s lineage, nobly arrayed in rich cloths of gold androyally apparelled on white steeds, as many as may p. 155well suehim at that time, be ready to make their presents to theemperor.  And then saith the steward of the court to thelords, by name; N. of N.! and nameth first the most noble and theworthiest by name, and saith; Be ye ready with such a number ofwhite horses, for to serve the emperor, your sovereignlord!  And to another lord he saith; N. of N., be ye readywith such a number, to serve your sovereign lord!  And toanother, right so, and to all the lords of the emperor’slineage, each after other, as they be of estate.  And whenthey be all cleped, they enter each after other, and present thewhite horses to the emperor, and then go their way.  Andthen after, all the other barons every of them, give him presentsor jewels or some other thing, after that they be ofestate.  And then after them, all the prelates of their law,and religious men and others; and every man giveth himsomething.  And when that all men have thus presented theemperor, the greatest of dignity of the prelates giveth him ablessing, saying an orison of their law.

And then begin the minstrels to make their minstrelsy indivers instruments with all the melody that they candevise.  And when they have done their craft, then theybring before the emperor, lions, leopards and other diversebeasts, and eagles and vultures and other divers fowls, andfishes and serpents, for to do him reverence.  And then comejugglers and enchanters, that do many marvels; for they make tocome in the air, by seeming, the sun and the moon to everyman’s sight.  And after they make the night so darkthat no man may see nothing.  And after they make the day tocome again, fair and pleasant with bright sun, to everyman’s sight.  And then they bring in dances of thefairest damsels of the world, and richest arrayed.  Andafter they make to come in other damsels bringing cups of goldfull of milk of diverse beasts, and give drink to lords and toladies.  And then they make knights to joust in arms fulllustily; and they run together a great random, and they frusschtogether full fiercely, and they break their spears so rudelythat the truncheons fly in sprouts and pieces all about thehall.  And then p. 156they make to come in hunting for thehart and for the boar, with hounds running with open mouth. And many other things they do by craft of their enchantments,that it is marvel for to see.  And such plays of disportthey make till the taking up of the boards.  This great Chanhath full great people for to serve him, as I have told youbefore.  For he hath of minstrels the number of thirteencumants, but they abide not always with him.  For all theminstrels that come before him, of what nation that they be of,they be withholden with him as of his household, and entered inhis books as for his own men.  And after that, where thatever they go, ever more they claim for minstrels of the greatChan; and under that title, all kings and lords cherish them themore with gifts and all things.  And therefore he hath sogreat multitude of them.

And he hath of certain men as though they were yeomen, thatkeep birds, as ostriches, gerfalcons, sparrow-hawks, falconsgentle, lanyers, sakers, sakrets, popinjays well speaking, andbirds singing, and also of wild beasts, as of elephants tame andother, baboons, apes, marmosets, and other diverse beasts; themountance of fifteen cumants of yeomen.

And of physicians Christian he hath 200, and of leeches thatbe Christian he hath 210, and of leeches and physicians that beSaracens twenty, but he trusteth more in the Christian leechesthan in the Saracen.  And his other common household iswithout number, and they all have all necessaries and all thatthem needeth of the emperor’s court.  And he hath inhis court many barons as servitors, that be Christian andconverted to good faith by the preaching of religious Christianmen that dwell with him; but there be many more, that will notthat men know that they be Christian.

This emperor may dispend as much as he will withoutestimation; for he not dispendeth ne maketh no money but ofleather imprinted or of paper.  And of that money is some ofgreater price and some of less price, after the diversity of hisstatutes.  And when that money hath run p. 157so longthat it beginneth to waste, then men bear it to theemperor’s treasury and then they take new money for theold.  And that money goeth throughout all the country andthroughout all his provinces, for there and beyond them they makeno money neither of gold nor of silver; and therefore he maydispend enough, and outrageously.  And of gold and silverthat men bear in his country he maketh cylours, pillars andpavements in his palace, and other diverse things what himliketh.

This emperor hath in his chamber, in one of the pillars ofgold, a ruby and a carbuncle of half a foot long, that in thenight giveth so great clearness and shining, that it is as lightas day.  And he hath many other precious stones and manyother rubies and carbuncles; but those be the greatest and themost precious.

This emperor dwelleth in summer in a city that is toward thenorth that is clept Saduz; and there is cold enough.  And inwinter he dwelleth in a city that is clept Camaaleche, and thatis an hot country.  But the country, where he dwelleth inmost commonly, is in Gaydo or in Jong, that is a good country anda temperate, after that the country is there; but to men of thiscountry it were too passing hot.

And when this emperor will ride from one country to another heordaineth four hosts of his folk, of the which the first hostgoeth before him a day’s journey.  For that host shallbe lodged the night where the emperor shall lie upon themorrow.  And there shall every man have all manner ofvictual and necessaries that be needful, of the emperor’scostage.  And in this first host is the number of peoplefifty cumants, what of horse what of foot, of the which everycumant amounteth 10,000 as I have told you before.  Andanother host goeth in the right side of the emperor, nigh half ajourney from him.  And another goeth on the left side ofhim, in the same wise.  And in every host is as muchmultitude of people as in the first host.  And then aftercometh the fourth host, that is much more than any of the others,and that goeth behind him, the mountance of a bow draught. And every host hath his p. 158journeys ordained in certain places,where they shall be lodged at night, and there they shall haveall that them needeth.  And if it befall that any of thehost die, anon they put another in his place, so that the numbershall evermore be whole.

And ye shall understand, that the emperor, in his properperson, rideth not as other great lords do beyond, but if he listto go privily with few men, for to be unknown.  And else, herides in a chariot with four wheels, upon the which is made afair chamber, and it is made of a certain wood, that cometh outof Paradise terrestrial, that men clepe lignum aloes, that thefloods of Paradise bring out at divers seasons, as I have toldyou here before.  And this chamber is full well smellingbecause of the wood that it is made of.  And all thischamber is covered within of plate of fine gold dubbed withprecious stones and great pearls.  And four elephants andfour great destriers, all white and covered with rich covertures,leading the chariot.  And four, or five, or six, of thegreatest lords ride about this chariot, full richly arrayed andfull nobly, so that no man shall neigh the chariot, but onlythose lords, but if that the emperor call any man to him that himlist to speak withal.  And above the chamber of this chariotthat the emperor sitteth in be set upon a perch four or five orsix gerfalcons, to that intent, that when the emperor seeth anywild fowl, that he may take it at his own list, and have thedisport and the play of the flight, first with one, and afterwith another; and so he taketh his disport passing by thecountry.  And no man rideth before him of his company, butall after him.  And no man dare not come nigh the chariot,by a bow draught, but those lords only that be about him. And all the host cometh fairly after him in great multitude.

And also such another chariot with such hosts ordained andarrayed go with the empress upon another side, everych byhimself, with four hosts, right as the emperor did; but not withso great multitude of people.  And his eldest son goeth byanother way in another chariot, in the same manner.  So thatthere is between them so great p. 159multitude of folk that it is marvelto tell it.  And no man should trow the number, but he hadseen it.  And some-time it happeth that when he will not gofar, and that it like him to have the empress and his childrenwith him, then they go altogether, and their folk be all mingledin fere, and divided in four parties only.

And ye shall understand, that the empire of this great Chan isdivided in twelve provinces; and every province hath more thantwo thousand cities, and of towns without number.  Thiscountry is full great, for it hath twelve principal kings intwelve provinces, and every of those Kings have many kings underthem, and all they be obeissant to the great Chan.  And hisland and his lordship dureth so far, that a man may not go fromone head to another, neither by sea ne land, the space of sevenyear.  And through the deserts of his lordship, there as menmay find no towns, there be inns ordained by every journey, toreceive both man and horse, in the which they shall find plentyof victual, and of all things that they need for to go by thecountry.

And there is a marvellous custom in that country (but it isprofitable), that if any contrarious thing that should beprejudice or grievance to the emperor in any kind, anon theemperor hath tidings thereof and full knowledge in a day, thoughit be three or four journeys from him or more.  For hisambassadors take their dromedaries or their horses, and theyprick in all that ever they may toward one of the inns.  Andwhen they come there, anon they blow an horn.  And anon theyof the inn know well enough that there be tidings to warn theemperor of some rebellion against him.  And then anon theymake other men ready, in all haste that they may, to bearletters, and prick in all that ever they may, till they come tothe other inns with their letters.  And then they make freshmen ready, to prick forth with the letters toward the emperor,while that the last bringer rest him, and bait his dromedary orhis horse.  And so, from inn to inn, till it come to theemperor.  And thus anon hath he hasty tidings of anythingthat beareth charge, by his couriers, that run so p. 160hastilythroughout all the country.  And also when the Emperorsendeth his couriers hastily throughout his land, every one ofthem hath a large throng full of small bells, and when they neighnear to the inns of other couriers that be also ordained by thejourneys, they ring their bells, and anon the other couriers makethem ready, and run their way unto another inn.  And thusrunneth one to other, full speedily and swiftly, till theemperor’s intent be served, in all haste.  And thesecouriers be clept Chydydo, after their language, that isto say, a messenger,

Also when the emperor goeth from one country to another, as Ihave told you here before, and he pass through cities and towns,every man maketh a fire before his door, and putteth thereinpowder of good gums that be sweet smelling, for to make goodsavour to the emperor.  And all the people kneel downagainst him, and do him great reverence.  And there, wherereligious Christian men dwell, as they do in many cities in theland, they go before him with procession with cross and holywater, and they sing, Veni creator spiritus! with an highvoice, and go towards him.  And when he heareth them, hecommandeth to his lords to ride beside him, that the religiousmen may come to him.  And when they be nigh him with thecross, then he doth adown his galiot that sits on his head inmanner of a chaplet, that is made of gold and precious stones andgreat pearls, and it is so rich, that men prize it to the valueof a realm in that country.  And then he kneeleth to thecross.  And then the prelate of the religious men saithbefore him certain orisons, and giveth him a blessing with thecross; and he inclineth to the blessing full devoutly.  Andthen the prelate giveth him some manner fruit, to the number ofnine, in a platter of silver, with pears or apples, or othermanner fruit.  And he taketh one.  And then men give tothe other lords that be about him.  For the custom is such,that no stranger shall come before him, but if he give him somemanner thing, after the old law that saith, Nemo accedat inconspectu meo vacuus.  And then the emperor saith to thereligious men, that they withdraw them again, that they be p. 161neitherhurt nor harmed of the great multitude of horses that come behindhim.  And also, in the same manner, do the religious menthat dwell there, to the empresses that pass by them, and to hiseldest son.  And to every of them they present fruit.

And ye shall understand, that the people that he hath so manyhosts of, about him and about his wives and his soil, they dwellnot continually with him.  But always, when him liketh, theybe sent for.  And after, when they have done, they return totheir own households, save only they that be dwelling with him inhousehold for to serve him and his wives and his sons for togovern his household.  And albeit, that the others bedeparted from him after that they have performed their service,yet there abideth continually with him in court 50,000 men athorse and 200,000 men a foot, without minstrels and those thatkeep wild beasts and divers birds, of the which I have told youthe number before.

Under the firmament is not so great a lord, ne so mighty, neso rich as is the great Chan; not Prester John, that is emperorof the high Ind, ne the Soldan of Babylon, ne the Emperor ofPersia.  All these ne be not in comparison to the greatChan, neither of might, ne of noblesse, ne of royalty, ne ofriches; for in all these he passeth all earthly princes. Wherefore it is great harm that he believeth not faithfully inGod.  And natheles he will gladly hear speak of God. And he suffereth well that Christian men dwell in his lordship,and that men of his faith be made Christian men if they will,throughout all his country; for he defendeth no man to hold nolaw other than him liketh.

In that country some men hath an hundred wives, some sixty,some more, some less.  And they take the next of their kinto their wives, save only that they out-take their mothers, theirdaughters, and their sisters of the mother’s side; buttheir sisters on the father’s side of another woman theymay well take, and their brothers’ wives also after theirdeath, and their step-mothers also in the same wise.

p.162CHAPTER XXVI

Of the Law and the Customs of theTartarians dwelling in Cathay.  And how that men dowhen the Emperor shall die, and how he shall bechosen

The folk of that country use alllong clothes without furs.  And they be clothed withprecious cloths of Tartary, and of cloths of gold.  Andtheir clothes be slit at the side, and they be fastened withlaces of silk.  And they clothe them also with pilches, andthe hide without; and they use neither cape ne hood.  And inthe same manner as the men go, the women go, so that no man mayunneth know the men from the women, save only those women that bemarried, that bear the token upon their heads of a man’sfoot, in sign that they be under man’s foot and undersubjection of man.

And their wives ne dwell not together, but every of them byherself; and the husband may lie with whom of them that himliketh.  Everych hath his house, both man and woman. And their houses be made round of staves, and it hath a roundwindow above that giveth them light, and also that serveth fordeliverance of smoke.  And the heling of their houses andthe walls and the doors be all of wood.  And when they go towar, they lead their houses with them upon chariots, as men dotents or pavilions.  And they make their fire in the midstof their houses.

And they have great multitude of all manner of beasts, saveonly of swine, for they bring none forth.  And they believewell one God that made and formed all things.  And nathelesyet have they idols of gold and silver, and of tree and ofcloth.  And to those idols they offer always their firstmilk of their beasts, and also of their meats and of their drinksbefore they eat.  And they offer often-times horses andbeasts.  And they clepe the God of kind Yroga.

And their emperor also, what name that ever he have, they putevermore thereto, Chan.  And when I was there, p. 163theiremperor had to name Thiaut, so that he was cleptThiaut-Chan.  And his eldest son was clept Tossue; and whenhe shall be emperor, he shall be clept Tossue-Chan.  And atthat time the emperor had twelve sons without him, that werenamed Cuncy, Ordii, Chadahay, Buryn, Negu, Nocab, Cadu, [Siban],Cuten, Balacy, Babylan, and Garegan.  And of his threewives, the first and principal, that was Prester John’sdaughter, had to name Serioche-Chan, and the tother Borak-Chan,and the tother Karanke-Chan.

The folk of that country begin all their things in the newmoon, and they worship much the moon and the sun and often-timekneel against them.  And all the folk of the country ridecommonly without spurs, but they bear always a little whip intheir hands for to chace with their horses.

And they have great conscience and hold it for a great sin tocast a knife in the fire, and for to draw flesh out of a pot witha knife, and for to smite an horse with the handle of a whip, orto smite an horse with a bridle, or to break one bone withanother, or for to cast milk or any liquor that men may drinkupon the earth, or for to take and slay little children. And the most sin that any man may do is to piss in their housesthat they dwell in, and whoso that may be found with that sinsikerly they slay him.  And of everych of these sins itbehoveth them to be shriven of their priests, and to pay greatsum of silver for their penance.  And it behoveth also, thatthe place that men have pissed in be hallowed again, and elsedare no man enter therein.  And when they have paid theirpenance, men make them pass through a fire or through two, for tocleanse them of their sins.  And also when any messengercometh and bringeth letters or any present to the emperor, itbehoveth him that he, with the thing that he bringeth, passthrough two burning fires for to purge them, that he bring nopoison ne venom, ne no wicked thing that might be grievance tothe Lord.  And also if any man or woman be taken in avoutryor fornication, anon they slay him.  And who that stealethanything, anon they slay him.

p. 164Menof that country be all good archers and shoot right well, bothmen and women, as well on horse-back, pricking, as on foot,running.  And the women make all things and all mannermysteries and crafts, as of clothes, boots and other things; andthey drive carts, ploughs and wains and chariots; and they makehouses and all manner mysteres, out taken bows and arrows andarmours that men make.  And all the women wear breeches, aswell as men.

All the folk of that country be full obeissant to theirsovereigns; ne they fight not, ne chide not one withanother.  And there be neither thieves ne robbers in thatcountry.  And every man worshippeth other; but no man theredoth no reverence to no strangers, but if they be greatprinces.

And they eat hounds, lions, leopards, mares and foals, asses,rats and mice and all manner of beasts, great and small, saveonly swine and beasts that were defended by the old law. And they eat all the beasts without and within, without castingaway of anything, save only the filth.  And they eat butlittle bread, but if it be in courts of great lords.  Andthey have not in many places, neither pease ne beans ne noneother pottages but the broth of the flesh.  For little eatthey anything but flesh and the broth.  And when they haveeaten, they wipe their hands upon their skirts; for they use nonapery ne towels, but if it be before great lords; but the commonpeople hath none.  And when they have eaten, they put theirdishes unwashen into the pot or cauldron with remnant of theflesh and of the broth till they will eat again.  And therich men drink milk of mares or of camels or of asses or of otherbeasts.  And they will be lightly drunken of milk and ofanother drink that is made of honey and of water sodden together;for in that country is neither wine ne ale.  They live fullwretchedly, and they eat but once in the day, and that butlittle, neither in courts ne in other places.  And in sooth,one man alone in this country will eat more in a day than one ofthem will eat in three days.  And if any strange messengercome there to a lord, men make him to eat but once a day, andthat full little.

p. 165Andwhen they war, they war full wisely and always do their business,to destroy their enemies.  Every man there beareth two bowsor three, and of arrows great plenty, and a great axe.  Andthe gentles have short spears and large and full trenchant onthat one side.  And they have plates and helms made ofquyrboylle, and their horses covertures of the same.  Andwhoso fleeth from the battle they slay him.  And when theyhold any siege about castle or town that is walled anddefensible, they behote to them that be within to do all theprofit and good, that it is marvel to hear; and they grant alsoto them that be within all that they will ask them.  Andafter that they be yielden, anon they slay them all; and cut offtheir ears and souse them in vinegar, and thereof they make greatservice for lords.  All their lust and all their imaginationis for to put all lands under their subjection.  And theysay that they know well by their prophecies, that they shall beovercome by archers and by strength of them; but they know not ofwhat nation ne of what law they shall be of, that shall overcomethem.  And therefore they suffer that folk of all laws maypeaceably dwell amongst them.

Also when they will make their idols or an image of any oftheir friends for to have remembrance of him, they make alwaysthe image all naked without any manner of clothing.  Forthey say that in good love should be no covering, that man shouldnot love for the fair clothing ne for the rich array, but onlyfor the body, such as God hath made it, and for the good virtuesthat the body is endowed with of Nature, not only for fairclothing that is not of kindly Nature.

And ye shall understand that it is great dread for to pursuethe Tartars if they flee in battle.  For in fleeing theyshoot behind them and slay both men and horses.  And whenthey will fight they will shock them together in a plump; that ifthere be 20,000 men, men shall not ween that there be scant10,000.  And they can well win land of strangers, but theycannot keep it; for they have greater lust to lie in tentswithout than for to lie in castle p. 166or in towns.  And they prizenothing the wit of other nations.

And amongst them oil of olive is full dear, for they hold itfor full noble medicine.  And all the Tartars have smalleyen and little of beard, and not thick haired but shear. And they be false and traitors; and they last nought that theybehote.  They be full hardy folk, and much pain and woe maysuffer and disease, more than any other folk, for they be taughtthereto in their own country of youth.  And therefore theyspend as who saith, right nought.

And when any man shall die, men set a spear beside him. And when he draweth towards the death, every man fleeth out ofthe house till he be dead.  And after that they bury him inthe fields.

And when the emperor dieth, men set him in a chair in midstthe place of his tent.  And men set a table before himclean, covered with a cloth, and thereupon flesh and diverseviands and a cup full of mare’s milk.  And men put amare beside him with her foal, and an horse saddled andbridled.  And they lay upon the horse gold and silver, greatquantity.  And they put about him great plenty ofstraw.  And then men make a great pit and a large, and withthe tent and all these other things they put him in earth. And they say that when he shall come into another world, he shallnot be without an house, ne without horse, ne without gold andsilver; and the mare shall give him milk, and bring him forthmore horses till he be well stored in the tother world.  Forthey trow that after their death they shall be eating anddrinking in that other world, and solacing them with their wives,as they did here.

And after time that the emperor is thus interred no man shallbe so hardy to speak of him before his friends.  And yetnatheles, sometime falleth of many that they make him to beinterred privily by night in wild places, and put again the grassover the pit for to grow; or else men cover the pit with graveland sand, that no man shall perceive where, ne know where, thepit is, to p.167that intent that never after none of his friends shallhave mind ne remembrance of him.  And then they say that heis ravished into another world, where he is a greater lord thanhe was here.

And then, after the death of the emperor, the seven lineagesassemble them together, and choose his eldest son, or the nextafter him of his blood.  And thus they say to him; we willand we pray and ordain that ye be our lord and our emperor.

And then he answereth, If ye will that I reign over you aslord, do everych of you that I shall command him, either to abideor to go; and whomsoever that I command to be slain, that anon hebe slain.

And they answer all with one voice, Whatsoever ye command, itshall be done.

Then saith the emperor, Now understand well, that my word fromhenceforth is sharp and biting as a sword.

After, men set him upon a black steed and so men bring him toa chair full richly arrayed, and there they crown him.  Andthen all the cities and good towns send him rich presents. So that at that journey he shall have more than sixty chariotscharged with gold silver, without jewels of gold and preciousstones, that lords gave him, that be without estimation, andwithout horses, and cloths of gold, and of camakas, and tartarinsthat be without number.

CHAPTER XXVII

Of the Realm of Tharse and the Lands andKingdoms towards the Septentrional Parts, in coming downfrom the land of Cathay

This land of Cathay is in Asia thedeep; and after, on this half, is Asia the more.  Thekingdom of Cathay marcheth toward the west unto the kingdom ofTharse, p.168the which was one of the kings that came to present ourLord in Bethlehem.  And they that be of the lineage of thatking are some Christian.  In Tharse they eat no flesh, nethey drink no wine.

And on this half, toward the west, is the kingdom ofTurkestan, that stretcheth him toward the west to the kingdom ofPersia, and toward the septentrional to the kingdom ofKhorasan.  In the country of Turkestan be but few goodcities; but the best city of that land hight Octorar.  Therebe great pastures, but few corns; and therefore, for the mostpart, they be all herdsmen, and they lie in tents and they drinka manner ale made of honey.

And after, on this half, is the kingdom of Khorasan, that is agood land and a plenteous, without wine.  And it hath adesert toward the east that lasteth more than an hundredjourneys.  And the best city of that country is cleptKhorasan, and of that city beareth the country his name. The folk of that country be hardy warriors.

And on this half is the kingdom of Comania, whereof theComanians that dwelled in Greece sometime were chased out. This is one of the greatest kingdoms of the world, but it is notall inhabited.  For at one of the parts there is so greatcold that no man may dwell there; and in another part there is sogreat heat that no man may endure it, and also there be so manyflies, that no man may know on what side he may turn him. In that country is but little arboury ne trees that bear fruit neother.  They lie in tents; and they burn the dung of beastsfor default of wood.  This kingdom descendeth on this halftoward us and toward Prussia and toward Russia.

And through that country runneth the river of Ethille that isone of the greatest rivers of the world.  And it freezeth sostrongly all years that many times men have fought upon the icewith great hosts, both parties on foot, and their horses voidedfor the time, and what on horse and on foot, more than 200,000persons on every side.

And between that river and the great sea Ocean, that p. 169they clepethe Sea Maure, lie all these realms.  And toward the head,beneath, in that realm is the Mount Chotaz, that is the highestmount of the world, and it is between the Sea Maure and the SeaCaspian.  There is full strait and dangerous passage for togo toward Ind.  And therefore King Alexander let make therea strong city, that men clepe Alexandria, for to keep the countrythat no man should pass without his leave.  And now menclepe that city, the Gate of Hell.

And the principal city of Comania is clept Sarak, that is oneof the three ways for to go into Ind.  But by that way, nemay not pass no great multitude of people, but if it be inwinter.  And that passage men clepe the Derbent.  Thetother way is for to go from the city of Turkestan by Persia, andby that way be many journeys by desert.  And the third wayis that cometh from Comania and then to go by the Great Sea andby the kingdom of Abchaz.

And ye shall understand, that all these kingdoms and all theselands above-said unto Prussia and to Russia be all obeissant tothe great Chan of Cathay, and many other countries that march toother coasts.  Wherefore his power and his lordship is fullgreat and full mighty.

CHAPTER XXVIII

The Emperor of Persia, and of theLand of Darkness; and of other kingdoms that belong to thegreat Chan of Cathay, and other lands of his, untothe sea of Greece

Now, since I have devised you thelands and the kingdoms toward the parts Septentrionals in comingdown from the land of Cathay unto the lands of the Christian,towards Prussia and Russia,—now shall I devise you of otherlands and kingdoms coming down by other coasts, toward the rightside, unto the sea of Greece, toward the land of Christianmen.  And, therefore, that after Ind and p. 170afterCathay the Emperor of Persia is the greatest lord, therefore, Ishall tell you of the kingdom of Persia.

First, where he hath two kingdoms, the first kingdom beginnethtoward the east, toward the kingdom of Turkestan, and itstretcheth toward the west unto the river of Pison, that is oneof the four rivers that come out of Paradise.  And onanother side it stretcheth toward the Septentrion unto the sea ofCaspian; and also toward the south unto the desert of Ind. And this country is good and plain and full of people.  Andthere be many good cities.  But the two principal cities bethese, Boyturra, and Seornergant, that some men clepeSormagant.  The tother kingdom of Persia stretcheth towardthe river of Pison and the parts of the west unto the kingdom ofMedia, and from the great Armenia and toward the Septentrion tothe sea of Caspian and toward the south to the land of Ind. That is also a good land and a plenteous, and it hath three greatprincipal cities—Messabor, Saphon, and Sarmassan.

And then after is Armenia, in the which were wont to be fourkingdoms; that is a noble country and full of goods.  And itbeginneth at Persia and stretcheth toward the west in length untoTurkey.  And in largeness it dureth to the city ofAlexandria, that now is clept the Gate of Hell, that I spake ofbefore, under the kingdom of Media.  In this Armenia be fullmany good cities, but Taurizo is most of name.

After this is the kingdom of Media, that is full long, but itis not full large, that beginneth toward the east to the land ofPersia and to Ind the less; and it stretcheth toward the west,toward the kingdom of Chaldea and toward the Septentrion,descending toward the little Armenia.  In that kingdom ofMedia there be many great hills and little of plain earth. There dwell Saracens and another manner of folk, that men clepeCordynes.  The best two cities of that kingdom be Sarras andKaremen.

After that is the kingdom of Georgia, that beginneth towardthe east to the great mountain that is clept Abzor, where thatdwell many diverse folk of diverse p. 171nations.  And men clepe thecountry Alamo.  This kingdom stretcheth him towards Turkeyand toward the Great Sea, and toward the south it marcheth to thegreat Armenia.  And there be two kingdoms in that country;that one is the kingdom of Georgia, and that other is the kingdomof Abchaz.  And always in that country be two kings; andthey be both Christian.  But the king of Georgia is insubjection to the great Chan.  And the king of Abchaz haththe more strong country, and he always vigorously defendeth hiscountry against all those that assail him, so that no man maymake him in subjection to no man.

In that kingdom of Abchaz is a great marvel.  For aprovince of the country that hath well in circuit three journeys,that men clepe Hanyson, is all covered with darkness, without anybrightness or light; so that no man may see ne hear, ne no mandare enter into him.  And, natheles, they of the countrysay, that some-times men hear voice of folk, and horses neighing,and cocks crowing.  And men wit well, that men dwell there,but they know not what men.  And they say, that the darknessbefell by miracle of God.  For a cursed emperor of Persia,that hight Saures, pursued all Christian men to destroy them andto compel them to make sacrifice to his idols, and rode withgreat host, in all that ever he might, for to confound theChristian men.  And then in that country dwelled many goodChristian men, the which that left their goods and would havefled into Greece.  And when they were in a plain that hightMegon, anon this cursed emperor met with them with his host forto have slain them and hewn them to pieces.  And anon theChristian men kneeled to the ground, and made their prayers toGod to succour them.  And anon a great thick cloud came andcovered the emperor and all his host.  And so they endure inthat manner that they ne may not go out on no side; and so shallthey evermore abide in that darkness till the day of doom, by themiracle of God.  And then the Christian men went where themliked best, at their own pleasance, p. 172without letting of any creature, andtheir enemies enclosed and confounded in darkness, without anystroke.

Wherefore we may well say with David, A Domino factum estistud; & est mirabile in oculis nostris.  Andthat was a great miracle, that God made for them.  Whereforemethinketh that Christian men should be more devout to serve ourLord God than any other men of any other sect.  For withoutany dread, ne were not cursedness and sin of Christian men, theyshould be lords of all the world.  For the banner of JesuChrist is always displayed, and ready on all sides to the help ofhis true loving servants.  Insomuch, that one good Christianman in good belief should overcome and out-chase a thousandcursed misbelieving men, as David saith in the Psalter,Quoniam persequebatur unus mills, & duo fugarentdecem milia; et cadent a latere tuo mille, &decem milia a dextris tuis.  And how that it might bethat one should chase a thousand, David himself saith following,Quia manus Domini fecit haec omnia, and our Lord himselfsaith, by the prophet’s mouth, Si in viis meisambulaveritis, super tribulantes vos misissem manummeam.  So that we may see apertly that if we will begood men, no enemy may not endure against us.

Also ye shall understand that out of that land of darknessgoeth out a great river that sheweth well that there be folkdwelling, by many ready tokens; but no man dare not enter intoit.

And wit well, that in the kingdoms of Georgia, of Abchaz andof the little Armenia be good Christian men and devout.  Forthey shrive them and housel them evermore once or twice in theweek.  And there be many of them that housel them every day;and so do we not on this half, albeit that Saint Paul commandethit, saying, Omnibus diebus dominicis ad communicandumhortor.  They keep that commandment, but we ne keep itnot.

Also after, on this half, is Turkey, that marcheth to thegreat Armenia.  And there be many provinces, as Cappadocia,Saure, Brique, Quesiton, Pytan, and Gemethe.  And in everychof these be many good cities.  This p. 173Turkeystretcheth unto the city of Sachala that sitteth upon the sea ofGreece, and so it marcheth to Syria.  Syria is a greatcountry and a good, as I have told you before.  And also ithath, above toward Ind, the kingdom of Chaldea, that stretchethfrom the mountains of Chaldea toward the east unto the city ofNineveh, that sitteth upon the river of Tigris; and in largenessit beginneth toward the north to the city of Maraga; and itstretcheth toward the south unto the sea Ocean.  In Chaldeais a plain country, and few hills and few rivers.

After is the kingdom of Mesopotamia, that beginneth, towardthe east, to the flom of Tigris, unto a city that is clept Mosul;and it stretcheth toward the west to the flom of Euphrates unto acity that is clept Roianz; and in length it goeth to the mount ofArmenia unto the desert of Ind the less.  This is a goodcountry and a plain, but it hath few rivers.  It hath buttwo mountains in that country, of the which one hight Symar andthat other Lyson.  And this land marcheth to the kingdom ofChaldea.

Yet there is, toward the parts Meridionals many countries andmany regions, as the land of Ethiopia, that marcheth, toward theeast to the great deserts, toward the west to the kingdom ofNubia, toward the south to the kingdom of Moretane, and towardthe north to the Red Sea.

After is Moretane, that dureth from the mountains of Ethiopiaunto Lybia the high.  And that country lieth along from thesea ocean toward the south; and toward the north it marcheth toNubia and to the high Lybia.  (These men of Nubia beChristian.)  And it marcheth from the lands above-said tothe deserts of Egypt, and that is the Egypt that I have spoken ofbefore.

And after is Lybia the high and Lybia the low, that descendethdown low toward the great sea of Spain, in the which country bemany kingdoms and many diverse folk.

Now I have devised you many countries on this half the kingdomof Cathay, of the which many be obeissant to the great Chan.

p.174CHAPTER XXIX

Of the Countries and Isles that be beyondthe Land of Cathay; and of the fruits there; and oftwenty-two kings enclosed within the mountains

Now shall I say you, suingly, ofcountries and isles that be beyond the countries that I havespoken of.

Wherefore I say you, in passing by the land of Cathay towardthe high Ind and toward Bacharia, men pass by a kingdom that menclepe Caldilhe, that is a full fair country.

And there groweth a manner of fruit, as though it weregourds.  And when they be ripe, men cut them a-two, and menfind within a little beast, in flesh, in bone, and blood, asthough it were a little lamb without wool.  And men eat boththe fruit and the beast.  And that is a great marvel. Of that fruit I have eaten, although it were wonderful, but thatI know well that God is marvellous in his works.  And,natheles, I told them of as great a marvel to them, that isamongst us, and that was of the Bernakes.  For I told themthat in our country were trees that bear a fruit that becomebirds flying, and those that fell in the water live, and theythat fall on the earth die anon, and they be right good toman’s meat.  And hereof had they as great marvel, thatsome of them trowed it were an impossible thing to be.

In that country be long apples of good savour, whereof be morethan an hundred in a cluster, and as many in another; and theyhave great long leaves and large, of two foot long or more. And in that country, and in other countries thereabout, grow manytrees that bear clove-gylofres and nutmegs, and great nuts ofInd, and of Canell and of many other spices.  And there bevines that bear so great grapes, that a strong man should haveenough to do for to bear one cluster with all the grapes.

In that same region be the mountains of Caspian that p. 175men clepeUber in the country.  Between those mountains the Jews often lineages be enclosed, that men clepe Goth and Magoth and theymay not go out on no side.  There were enclosed twenty-twokings with their people, that dwelled between the mountains ofScythia.  There King Alexander chased them between thosemountains, and there he thought for to enclose them through workof his men.  But when he saw that he might not do it, nebring it to an end, he prayed to God of nature that he wouldperform that that he had begun.  And all were it so, that hewas a paynim and not worthy to be heard, yet God of his graceclosed the mountains together, so that they dwell there all fastlocked and enclosed with high mountains all about, save only onone side, and on that side is the sea of Caspian.

Now may some men ask, since that the sea is on that one side,wherefore go they not out on the sea side, for to go where thatthem liketh?

But to this question, I shall answer; that sea of Caspiangoeth out by land under the mountains, and runneth by the desertat one side of the country, and after it stretcheth unto the endsof Persia, and although it be clept a sea, it is no sea, ne ittoucheth to none other sea, but it is a lake, the greatest of theworld; and though they would put them into that sea, they ne wistnever where that they should arrive; and also they can nolanguage but only their own, that no man knoweth but they; andtherefore may they not go out.

And also ye shall understand, that the Jews have no properland of their own for to dwell in, in all the world, but onlythat land between the mountains.  And yet they yield tributefor that land to the Queen of Amazonia, the which that makeththem to be kept in close full diligently, that they shall not goout on no side but by the coast of their land; for their landmarcheth to those mountains.

And often it hath befallen, that some of the Jews have gone upthe mountains and avaled down to the valleys.  But greatnumber of folk ne may not do so, for the mountains be so high andso straight up, that they must abide there, p. 176maugretheir might.  For they may not go out, but by a little issuethat was made by strength of men, and it lasteth well a fourgreat mile.

And after, is there yet a land all desert, where men may findno water, neither for digging ne for none other thing. Wherefore men may not dwell in that place, so is it full ofdragons, of serpents and of other venomous beasts, that no mandare not pass, but if it be strong winter.  And that straitpassage men clepe in that country Clyron.  And that is thepassage that the Queen of Amazonia maketh to be kept.  Andthough it happen some of them by fortune to go out, they can nomanner of language but Hebrew, so that they cannot speak to thepeople.

And yet, natheles, men say they shall go out in the time ofanti-Christ, and that they shall make great slaughter ofChristian men.  And therefore all the Jews that dwell in alllands learn always to speak Hebrew, in hope, that when the otherJews shall go out, that they may understand their speech, and tolead them into Christendom for to destroy the Christianpeople.  For the Jews say that they know well by theirprophecies, that they of Caspia shall go out, and spreadthroughout all the world, and that the Christian men shall beunder their subjection, as long as they have been in subjectionof them.

And if that you will wit how that they shall find their way,after that I have heard say I shall tell you.

In the time of anti-Christ a fox shall make there his train,and mine an hole where King Alexander let make the gates; and solong he shall mine and pierce the earth, till that he shall passthrough towards that folk.  And when they see the fox, theyshall have great marvel of him, because that they saw never sucha beast.  For of all other beasts they have enclosed amongstthem, save only the fox.  And then they shall chase him andpursue him so strait, till that he come to the same place that hecame from.  And then they shall dig and mine so strongly,till that they find the gates that King Alexander let make ofgreat stones, and passing huge, well cemented and made p. 177strong forthe mastery.  And those gates they shall break, and so goout by finding of that issue.

From that land go men toward the land of Bacharia, where befull evil folk and full cruel.  In that land be trees thatbear wool, as though it were of sheep, whereof men make clothesand all things that may be made of wool.

In that country be many hippotaynes that dwell some-time inthe water and sometime on the land.  And they be half manand half horse, as I have said before.  And they eat menwhen they may take them.

And there be rivers of waters that be full bitter, threesithes more than is the water of the sea.

In that country be many griffins, more plenty than in anyother country.  Some men say that they have the body upwardas an eagle and beneath as a lion; and truly they say sooth, thatthey be of that shape.  But one griffin hath the body moregreat and is more strong than eight lions, of such lions as be onthis half, and more great and stronger than an hundred eaglessuch as we have amongst us.  For one griffin there willbear, flying to his nest, a great horse, if he may find him atthe point, or two oxen yoked together as they go at theplough.  For he hath his talons so long and so large andgreat upon his feet, as though they were horns of great oxen orof bugles or of kine, so that men make cups of them to drinkof.  And of their ribs and of the pens of their wings, menmake bows, full strong, to shoot with arrows and quarrels.

From thence go men by many journeys through the land ofPrester John, the great Emperor of Ind.  And men clepe hisrealm the isle of Pentexoire.

p.178CHAPTER XXX

Of the Royal Estate of PresterJohn.  And of a rich man that made a marvellouscastle and cleped it Paradise; and of his subtlety

This emperor, Prester John, holdsfull great land, and hath many full noble cities and good townsin his realm, and many great diverse isles and large.  Forall the country of Ind is devised in isles for the great floodsthat come from Paradise, that depart all the land in manyparts.  And also in the sea he hath full many isles. And the best city in the Isle of Pentexoire is Nyse, that is afull royal city and a noble, and full rich.

This Prester John hath under him many kings and many isles andmany diverse folk of diverse conditions.  And this land isfull good and rich, but not so rich as is the land of the greatChan.  For the merchants come not thither so commonly for tobuy merchandises, as they do in the land of the great Chan, forit is too far to travel to.  And on that other part, in theIsle of Cathay, men find all manner thing that is need toman—cloths of gold, of silk, of spicery and all manneravoirdupois.  And therefore, albeit that men have greatercheap in the Isle of Prester John, natheles, men dread the longway and the great perils in the sea in those parts.

For in many places of the sea be great rocks of stones of theadamant, that of his proper nature draweth iron to him.  Andtherefore there pass no ships that have either bonds or nails ofiron within them.  And if there do, anon the rocks of theadamants draw them to them, that never they may go thence. I myself have seen afar in that sea, as though it had been agreat isle full of tree, and buscaylle, full of thorns andbriars, great plenty.  And the shipmen told us, that allthat was of ships that were drawn thither by the adamants, forthe iron that was in them.  And of the rotten-ness, andother thing that was p. 179within the ships, grew suchbuscaylle, and thorns and briars and green grass, and such mannerof thing; and of the masts and the sail-yards; it seemed a greatwood or a grove.  And such rocks be in many placesthereabout.  And therefore dare not the merchants passthere, but if they know well the passages, or else that they havegood lodesmen.

And also they dread the long way.  And therefore they goto Cathay, for it is more nigh.  And yet it is not so nigh,but that men must be travelling by sea and land, eleven months ortwelve, from Genoa or from Venice, or he come to Cathay. And yet is the land of Prester John more far by many dreadfuljourneys.

And the merchants pass by the kingdom of Persia, and go to acity that is Clept Hermes, for Hermes the philosopher foundedit.  And after that they pass an arm of the sea, and thenthey go to another city that is clept Golbache.  And therethey find merchandises, and of popinjays, as great plenty as menfind here of geese.  And if they will pass further, they maygo sikerly enough.  In that country is but little wheat orbarley, and therefore they eat rice and honey and milk and cheeseand fruit.

This Emperor Prester John taketh always to his wife thedaughter of the great Chan; and the great Chan also, in the samewise, the daughter of Prester John.  For these two be thegreatest lords under the firmament.

In the land of Prester John be many diverse things and manyprecious stones, so great and so large, that men make of themvessels, as platters, dishes and cups.  And many othermarvels be there, that it were too cumbrous and too long to putit in scripture of books; but of the principal isles and of hisestate and of his law, I shall tell you some part.

This Emperor Prester John is Christian, and a great part ofhis country also.  But yet, they have not all the articlesof our faith as we have.  They believe well in the Father,in the Son and in the Holy Ghost.  And they be full devoutand right true one to another.  And they set not by nobarretts, ne by cautels, nor of no deceits.

p. 180Andhe hath under him seventy-two provinces, and in every province isa king.  And these kings have kings under them, and all betributaries to Prester John.  And he hath in his lordshipsmany great marvels.

For in his country is the sea that men clepe the Gravelly Sea,that is all gravel and sand, without any drop of water, and itebbeth and floweth in great waves as other seas do, and it isnever still ne in peace, in no manner season.  And no manmay pass that sea by navy, ne by no manner of craft, andtherefore may no man know what land is beyond that sea.  Andalbeit that it have no water, yet men find therein and on thebanks full good fish of other manner of kind and shape, than menfind in any other sea, and they be of right good taste anddelicious to man’s meat.

And a three journeys long from that sea be great mountains,out of the which goeth out a great flood that cometh out ofParadise.  And it is full of precious stones, without anydrop of water, and it runneth through the desert on that oneside, so that it maketh the sea gravelly; and it beareth intothat sea, and there it endeth.  And that flome runneth,also, three days in the week and bringeth with him great stonesand the rocks also therewith, and that great plenty.  Andanon, as they be entered into the Gravelly Sea, they be seen nomore, but lost for evermore.  And in those three days thatthat river runneth, no man dare enter into it; but in the otherdays men dare enter well enough.

Also beyond that flome, more upward to the deserts, is a greatplain all gravelly, between the mountains.  And in thatplain, every day at the sun-rising, begin to grow small trees,and they grow till mid-day, bearing fruit; but no man dare takeof that fruit, for it is a thing of faerie.  And aftermid-day, they decrease and enter again into the earth, so that atthe going down of the sun they appear no more.  And so theydo, every day.  And that is a great marvel.

In that desert be many wild men, that be hideous to look on;for they be horned, and they speak nought, but they grunt, aspigs.  And there is also great plenty of wild p.181hounds.  And there be many popinjays, that theyclepe psittakes their language.  And they speak of theirproper nature, and salute men that go through the deserts, andspeak to them as apertly as though it were a man.  And theythat speak well have a large tongue, and have five toes upon afoot.  And there be also of another manner, that have butthree toes upon a foot, and they speak not, or but little, forthey can not but cry.

This Emperor Prester John when he goeth into battle againstany other lord, he hath no banners borne before him; but he haththree crosses of gold, fine, great and high, full of preciousstones, and every of those crosses be set in a chariot, fullrichly arrayed.  And for to keep every cross, be ordained10,000 men of arms and more than 100,000 men on foot, in manneras men would keep a standard in our countries, when that we be inland of war.  And this number of folk is without theprincipal host and without wings ordained for the battle. And when he hath no war, but rideth with a privy meinie, then hehath borne before him but one cross of tree, without painting andwithout gold or silver or precious stones, in remembrance thatJesu Christ suffered death upon a cross of tree.  And hehath borne before him also a platter of gold full of earth, intoken that his noblesse and his might and his flesh shall turn toearth.  And he hath borne before him also a vessel ofsilver, full of noble jewels of gold full rich and of preciousstones, in token of his lordship and of his noblesse and of hismight.

He dwelleth commonly in the city of Susa.  And there ishis principal palace, that is so rich and so noble, that no manwill trow it by estimation, but he had seen it.  And abovethe chief tower of the palace be two round pommels of gold, andin everych of them be two carbuncles great and large, that shinefull bright upon the night.  And the principal gates of hispalace be of precious stone that men clepe sardonyx, and theborder and the bars be of ivory.  And the windows of thehalls and chambers be of crystal.  And the tables whereonmen eat, some be of emeralds, some of amethyst, and some of gold,full of precious stones; p. 182and the pillars that bear up thetables be of the same precious stones.  And the degrees togo up to his throne, where he sitteth at the meat, one is ofonyx, another is of crystal, and another of jasper green, anotherof amethyst, another of sardine, another of cornelian, and theseventh, that he setteth on his feet, is of chrysolite.  Andall these degrees be bordered with fine gold, with the totherprecious stones, set with great pearls orient.  And thesides of the siege of his throne be of emeralds, and borderedwith gold full nobly, and dubbed with other precious stones andgreat pearls.  And all the pillars in his chamber be of finegold with precious stones, and with many carbuncles, that givegreat light upon the night to all people.  And albeit thatthe carbuncles give light right enough, natheles, at all timesburneth a vessel of crystal full of balm, for to give good smelland odour to the emperor, and to void away all wicked airs andcorruptions.  And the form of his bed is of fine sapphires,bended with gold, for to make him sleep well and to refrain himfrom lechery; for he will not lie with his wives, but four sithesin the year, after the four seasons, and that is only for toengender children.

He hath also a full fair palace and a noble at the city ofNyse, where that he dwelleth, when him best liketh; but the airis not so attempre, as it is at the city of Susa.

And ye shall understand, that in all his country nor in thecountries there all about, men eat not but once in the day, asthey do in the court of the great Chan.  And so they eatevery day in his court, more than 30,000 persons, without goersand comers.  But the 30,000 persons of his country, ne ofthe country of the great Chan, ne spend not so much good as do12,000 of our country.

This Emperor Prester John hath evermore seven kings with himto serve him, and they depart their service by certainmonths.  And with these kings serve always seventy-two dukesand three hundred and sixty earls.  And all the days of theyear, there eat in his household and in his court, twelvearchbishops and twenty bishops.  And the patriarch of SaintThomas is there as is the pope here.  And the archbishopsand the bishops and the abbots in p. 183that country be all kings.  Andeverych of these great lords know well enough the attendance oftheir service.  The one is master of his household, anotheris his chamberlain, another serveth him of a dish, another of thecup, another is steward, another is marshal, another is prince ofhis arms, and thus is he full nobly and royally served.  Andhis land dureth in very breadth four month’s journeys, andin length out of measure, that is to say, all isles under earththat we suppose to be under us.

Beside the isle of Pentexoire, that is the land of PresterJohn, is a eat isle, long and broad, that men clepe Mistorak; andit is in the lordship of Prester John.  In that isle isgreat plenty of goods.

There was dwelling, sometime, a rich man; and it is not longsince; and men clept him Gatholonabes.  And he was full ofcautels and of subtle deceits.  And he had a full faircastle and a strong in a mountain, so strong and so noble, thatno man could devise a fairer ne stronger.  And he had letmure all the mountain about with a strong wall and a fair. And within those walls he had the fairest garden that any manmight behold.  And therein were trees bearing all manner offruits, that any man could devise.  And therein were alsoall manner virtuous herbs of good smell, and all other herbs alsothat bear fair flowers.  And he had also in that garden manyfair wells; and beside those wells he had let make fair halls andfair chambers, depainted all with gold and azure; and there werein that place many diverse things, and many diverse stories: andof beasts, and of birds that sung full delectably and moved bycraft, that it seemed that they were quick.  And he had alsoin his garden all manner of fowls and of beasts that any manmight think on, for to have play or sport to behold them.

And he had also, in that place, the fairest damsels that mightbe found, under the age of fifteen years, and the fairest youngstriplings that men might get, of that same age.  And allthey were clothed in cloths of gold, full richly.  And hesaid that those were angels.

p. 184Andhe had also let make three wells, fair and noble and allenvironed with stone of jasper, of crystal, diapered with gold,and set with precious stones and great orient pearls.  Andhe had made a conduit under earth, so that the three wells, athis list, one should run milk, another wine and anotherhoney.  And that place he clept Paradise.

And when that any good knight, that was hardy and noble, cameto see this royalty, he would lead him into his paradise, andshow him these wonderful things to his disport, and themarvellous and delicious song of diverse birds, and the fairdamsels, and the fair wells of milk, of wine and of honey,plenteously running.  And he would let make diversinstruments of music to sound in an high tower, so merrily, thatit was joy for to hear; and no man should see the craftthereof.  And those, he said, were angels of God, and thatplace was Paradise, that God had behight to his friends, saying,Dabo vobis terram fluentem lacte et melle.  And thenwould he make them to drink of certain drink, whereof anon theyshould be drunk.  And then would them think greater delightthan they had before.  And then would he say to them, thatif they would die for him and for his love, that after theirdeath they should come to his paradise; and they should be of theage of those damosels, and they should play with them, and yet bemaidens.  And after that yet should he put them in a fairerparadise, where that they should see God of nature visibly, inhis majesty and in his bliss.  And then would he shew themhis intent, and say them, that if they would go slay such a lord,or such a man that was his enemy or contrarious to his list, thatthey should not dread to do it and for to be slain thereforethemselves.  For after their death, he would put them intoanother paradise, that was an hundred-fold fairer than any of thetother; and there should they dwell with the most fairestdamosels that might be, and play with them ever-more.

And thus went many diverse lusty bachelors for to slay greatlords in diverse countries, that were his enemies, and madethemselves to be slain, in hope to have that paradise.  p. 185And thus,often-time, he was revenged of his enemies by his subtle deceitsand false cautels.

And when the worthy men of the country had perceived thissubtle falsehood of this Gatholonabes, they assembled them withforce, and assailed his castle, and slew him, and destroyed allthe fair places and all the nobilities of that paradise. The place of the wells and of the walls and of many other thingsbe yet apertly seen, but the riches is voided clean.  And itis not long gone, since that place was destroyed.

CHAPTER XXXI

Of the Devil’s Head in the ValleyPerilous.  And of the Customs of Folk in diverseIsles that be about in the Lordship of Prester John

Beside that Isle of Mistorak uponthe left side nigh to the river of Pison is a marvellousthing.  There is a vale between the mountains, that durethnigh a four mile.  And some men clepe it the Vale Enchanted,some clepe it the Vale of Devils, and some clepe it the ValePerilous.  In that vale hear men often-time great tempestsand thunders, and great murmurs and noises, all days and nights,and great noise, as it were sound of tabors and of nakers and oftrumps, as though it were of a great feast.  This vale isall full of devils, and hath been always.  And men saythere, that it is one of the entries of hell.  In that valeis great plenty of gold and silver.  Wherefore manymisbelieving men, and many Christian men also, go in oftentimefor to have of the treasure that there is; but few come again,and namely of the misbelieving men, ne of the Christian menneither, for anon they be strangled of devils.

And in mid place of that vale, under a rock, is an head andthe visage of a devil bodily, full horrible and dreadful to see,and it sheweth not but the head, to the shoulders.  p. 186But thereis no man in the world so hardy, Christian man ne other, but thathe would be adread to behold it, and that it would seem him todie for dread, so is it hideous for to behold.  For hebeholdeth every man so sharply with dreadful eyen, that beevermore moving and sparkling as fire, and changeth and stirrethso often in diverse manner, with so horrible countenance, that noman dare not neighen towards him.  And from him cometh outsmoke and stinking fire and so much abomination, that unnethe noman may there endure.

But the good Christian men, that be stable in the faith, enterwell without peril.  For they will first shrive them andmark them with the token of the holy cross, so that the fiends nehave no power over them.  But albeit that they be withoutperil, yet, natheles, ne be they not without dread, when thatthey see the devils visibly and bodily all about them, that makefull many diverse assaults and menaces, in air and in earth, andaghast them with strokes of thunder-blasts and of tempests. And the most dread is, that God will take vengeance then of thatthat men have misdone against his will.

And ye shall understand, that when my fellows and I were inthat vale, we were in great thought, whether that we durst putour bodies in adventure, to go in or not, in the protection ofGod.  And some of our fellows accorded to enter, and somenot.  So there were with us two worthy men, friars minors,that were of Lombardy, that said, that if any man would enterthey would go in with us.  And when they had said so, uponthe gracious trust of God and of them, we let sing mass, and madeevery man to be shriven and houseled.  And then we enteredfourteen persons; but at our going out we were but nine. And so we wist never, whether that our fellows were lost, or elseturned again for dread.  But we saw them never after; andthose were two men of Greece, and three of Spain.  And ourother fellows that would not go in with us, they went by anothercoast to be before us; and so they were.

And thus we passed that perilous vale, and found therein p. 187gold andsilver, and precious stones and rich jewels, great plenty, bothhere and there, as us seemed.  But whether that it was, asus seemed, I wot never.  For I touched none, because thatthe devils be so subtle to make a thing to seem otherwise than itis, for to deceive mankind.  And therefore I touched none,and also because that I would not be put out of my devotion; forI was more devout then, than ever I was before or after, and allfor the dread of fiends that I saw in diverse figures, and alsofor the great multitude of dead bodies, that I saw there lying bythe way, by all the vale, as though there had been a battlebetween two kings, and the mightiest of the country, and that thegreater part had been discomfited and slain.  And I trow,that unnethe should any country have so much people within him,as lay slain in that vale as us thought, the which was an hideoussight to see.  And I marvelled much, that there were somany, and the bodies all whole without rotting.  But I trow,that fiends made them seem to be so whole without rotting. But that might not be to mine advice that so many should haveentered so newly, ne so many newly slain, with out stinking androtting.  And many of them were in habit of Christian men,but I trow well, that it were of such that went in for covetiseof the treasure that was there, and had overmuch feebleness inthe faith; so that their hearts ne might not endure in the belieffor dread.  And therefore were we the more devout a greatdeal.  And yet we were cast down, and beaten down many timesto the hard earth by winds and thunders and tempests.  Butevermore God of his grace holp us.  And so we passed thatperilous vale without peril and without encumbrance, thanked beAlmighty God.

After this, beyond the vale, is a great isle, where the folkbe great giants of twenty-eight foot long, or of thirty footlong.  And they have no clothing but of skins of beasts thatthey hang upon them.  And they eat no bread, but all rawflesh; and they drink milk of beasts, for they have plenty of allbestial.  And they have no houses to lie in.  And theyeat more gladly man’s p. 188flesh than any other flesh. Into that isle dare no man gladly enter.  And if they see aship and men therein, anon they enter into the sea for to takethem.

And men said us, that in an isle beyond that were giants ofgreater stature, some of forty-five foot, or of fifty foot long,and, as some men say, some of fifty cubits long.  But I sawnone of those, for I had no lust to go to those parts, becausethat no man cometh neither into that isle ne into the other, butif he be devoured anon.  And among those giants be sheep asgreat as oxen here, and they bear great wool and rough.  Ofthe sheep I have seen many times.  And men have seen, manytimes, those giants take men in the sea out of their ships, andbrought them to land, two in one hand and two in another, eatingthem going, all raw and all quick.

Another isle is there toward the north, in the sea Ocean,where that be full cruel and full evil women of nature.  Andthey have precious stones in their eyen.  And they be ofthat kind, that if they behold any man with wrath, they slay himanon with the beholding, as doth the basilisk.

Another isle is there, full fair and good and great, and fullof people, where the custom is such, that the first night thatthey be married, they make another man to lie by their wives forto have their maidenhead: and therefore they take great hire andgreat thank.  And there be certain men in every town thatserve of none other thing; and they clepe them cadeberiz, that isto say, the fools of wanhope.  For they of the country holdit so great a thing and so perilous for to have the maidenhead ofa woman, that them seemeth that they that have first themaidenhead putteth him in adventure of his life.  And if thehusband find his wife maiden that other next night after that sheshould have been lain by of the man that is assigned therefore,peradventure for drunkenness or for some other cause, the husbandshall plain upon him that he hath not done his devoir, in suchcruel wise as though the officers would have slain him.  Butafter the first night that they be lain by, they keep them sostraitly that they be not so hardy to speak with no man. And I asked them p.189the cause why that they held such custom: and they saidme, that of old time men had been dead for deflowering ofmaidens, that had serpents in their bodies that stung men upontheir yards, that they died anon: and therefore they held thatcustoms to make other men ordained therefore to lie by theirwives, for dread of death, and to assay the passage by another[rather] than for to put them in that adventure.

After that is another isle where that women make great sorrowwhen their children be y-born.  And when they die, they makegreat feast and great joy and revel, and then they cast them intoa great fire burning.  And those that love well theirhusbands, if their husbands be dead, they cast them also in thefire with their children, and burn them.  And they say thatthe fire shall cleanse them of all filths and of all vices, andthey shall go pured and clean into another world to theirhusbands, and they shall lead their children with them.  Andthe cause why that they weep, when their children be born isthis; for when they come into this world, they come to labour,sorrow and heaviness.  And why they make joy and gladness attheir dying is because that, as they say, then they go toParadise where the rivers run milk and honey, where that men seethem in joy and in abundance of goods, without sorrow andlabour.

In that isle men make their king evermore by election, andthey ne choose him not for no noblesse nor for no riches, butsuch one as is of good manners and of good conditions, andtherewithal rightfull, and also that he be of great age, and thathe have no children.  In that isle men be full rightfull andthey do rightfull judgments in every cause both of rich and poor,small and great, after the quantity of the trespass that ismis-done.  And the king may not doom no man to death withoutassent of his barons and other men wise of counsel, and that allthe court accord thereto.  And if the king himself do anyhomicide or any crime, as to slay a man, or any such case, heshall die there for.  But he shall not be slain as anotherman; but men shall defend, in pain of death, that no man be so p. 190hardy tomake him company ne to speak with him, ne that no man give him,ne sell him, ne serve him, neither of meat ne of drink; and soshall he die in mischief.  They spare no man that hathtrespassed, neither for love, ne for favour ne for riches, ne fornoblesse; but that he shall have after that he hath done.

Beyond that isle is another isle, where is great multitude offolk.  And they will not, for no thing, eat flesh of hares,ne of hens, ne of geese; and yet they bring forth enough, for tosee them and to behold them only; but they eat flesh of all otherbeasts, and drink milk.  In that country they take theirdaughters and their sisters to their wives, and their otherkinswomen.  And if there be ten men or twelve men or moredwelling in an house, the wife of everych of them shall be commonto them all that dwell in that house; so that every man may liewith whom he will of them on one night, and with another, anothernight.  And if she have any child, she may give it to whatman that she list, that hath companied with her, so that no manknoweth there whether the child be his or another’s. And if any man say to them, that they nourish other men’schildren, they answer that so do over men theirs.

In that country and by all Ind be great plenty of cockodrills,that is a manner of a long serpent, as I have said before. And in the night they dwell in the water, and on the day upon theland, in rocks and in caves.  And they eat no meat in allthe winter, but they lie as in a dream, as do the serpents. These serpents slay men, and they eat them weeping; and when theyeat they move the over jaw, and not the nether jaw, and they haveno tongue.

In that country and in many other beyond that, and also inmany on this half, men put in work the seed of cotton, and theysow it every year.  And then groweth it in small trees, thatbear cotton.  And so do men every year, so that there isplenty of cotton at all times.  Item; in this isle and inmany other, there is a manner of wood, hard and strong. Whoso covereth the coals of that wood under the ashes thereof,the coals will dwell and abide all p. 191quick, a year or more.  Andthat tree hath many leaves, as the juniper hath.  And therebe also many trees, that of nature they will never burn, ne rotin no manner.  And there be nut trees, that bear nuts asgreat as a man’s head.

There also be many beasts, that be clept orafles.  InArabia, they be clept gerfaunts.  That is a beast, pomely orspotted, that is but a little more high than is a steed, but hehath the neck a twenty cubits long; and his croup and his tail isas of an hart; and he may look over a great high house.  Andthere be also in that country many camles; that is a little beastas a goat, that is wild, and he liveth by the air and eatethnought, ne drinketh nought, at no time.  And he changeth hiscolour often-time, for men see him often sithes, now in onecolour and now in another colour; and he may change him into allmanner colours that him list, save only into red and white. There be also in that country passing great serpents, some of sixscore foot long, and they be of diverse colours, as rayed, red,green, and yellow, blue and black, and all speckled.  Andthere be others that have crests upon their heads, and they goupon their feet, upright, and they be well a four fathom great,or more, and they dwell always in rocks or in mountains, and theyhave alway the throat open, of whence they drop venomalways.  And there be also wild swine of many colours, asgreat as be oxen in our country, and they be all spotted, as beyoung fawns.  And there be also urchins, as great as wildswine here; we clepe them Porcz de Spine.  And there belions all white, great and mighty.  And there be also ofother beasts, as great and more greater than is a destrier, andmen clepe them Loerancs; and some men clepe them odenthos; andthey have a black head and three long horns trenchant in thefront, sharp as a sword, and the body is slender; and he is afull felonious beast, and he chaseth and slayeth theelephant.  There be also many other beasts, full wicked andcruel, that be not mickle more than a bear, and they have thehead like a boar, and they have six feet, and on every foot twolarge claws, trenchant; and the body is like a bear, and the tailas a lion.  And there be also mice p. 192as great ashounds, and yellow mice as great as ravens.  And there begeese, all red, three sithes more great than ours here, and theyhave the head, the neck and the breast all black.

And many other diverse beasts be in those countries, andelsewhere there-about, and many diverse birds also, of the whichit were too long for to tell you.  And therefore, I passover at this time.

CHAPTER XXXII

Of the goodness of the folk of the Isle ofBragman.  Of King Alexander.  Andwherefore the Emperor of Ind is clept Prester John

And beyond that isle is anotherisle, great and good and plenteous, where that be good folk andtrue, and of good living after their belief and of goodfaith.  And albeit that they be not christened, ne have noperfect law, yet, natheles, of kindly law they be full of allvirtue, and they eschew all vices and all malices and allsins.  For they be not proud, ne covetous, ne envious, newrathful, ne gluttons, ne lecherous.  Ne they do to any manotherwise than they would that other men did to them, and in thispoint they fulfil the ten commandments of God, and give no chargeof avoir, ne of riches.  And they lie not, ne they swear notfor none occasion, but they say simply, yea and nay; for theysay, he that sweareth will deceive his neighbour, and therefore,all that they do, they do it without oath.

And men clepe that isle the Isle of Bragman, and some menclepe it the Land of Faith.  And through that land runneth agreat river that is clept Thebe.  And, in general, all themen of those isles and of all the marches thereabout be more truethan in any other countries thereabout, and more rightfull thanothers in all things.  In p. 193that isle is no thief, ne murderer,ne common woman, ne poor beggar, ne never was man slain in thatcountry.  And they be so chaste, and lead so good life, asthat they were religious men, and they fast all days.  Andbecause they be so true and so rightfull, and so full of all goodconditions, they were never grieved with tempests, ne withthunder, ne with light, ne with hail, ne with pestilence, ne withwar, ne with hunger, ne with none other tribulation, as we be,many times, amongst us, for our sins.  Wherefore, it seemethwell, that God loveth them and is pleased with their creaunce fortheir good deeds.  They believe well in God, that made allthings, and him they worship.  And they prize none earthlyriches; and so they be all rightfull.  And they live fullordinately, and so soberly in meat and drink, that they liveright long.  And the most part of them die without sickness,when nature faileth them, for eld.

And it befell in King Alexander’s time, that he purposedhim to conquer that isle and to make them to hold of him. And when they of the country heard it, they sent messengers tohim with letters, that said thus; What may be enough to that manto whom all the world is insufficient?  Thou shalt findnothing in us, that may cause thee to war against us.  Forwe have no riches, ne none we covet, and all the goods of ourcountry be in common.  Our meat, that we sustain withal ourbodies, is our riches.  And, instead of treasure of gold andsilver, we make our treasure of accord and peace, and for to loveevery man other.  And for to apparel with our bodies we usea silly little clout for to wrap in our carrion.  Our wivesne be not arrayed for to make no man pleasance, but onlyconvenable array for to eschew folly.  When men pain them toarray the body for to make it seem fairer than God made it, theydo great sin.  For man should not devise ne ask greaterbeauty, than God hath ordained man to be at his birth.  Theearth ministereth to us two things,—our livelihood, thatcometh of the earth that we live by, and our sepulture after ourdeath.  We have been in perpetual peace till now, that thoucome to disinherit us.  And also we have a p. 194king, notonly for to do justice to every man, for he shall find no forfeitamong us; but for to keep noblesse, and for to shew that we beobeissant, we have a king.  For justice ne hath not among usno place, for we do to no man otherwise than we desire that mendo to us.  So that righteousness ne vengeance have nought todo among us.  So that nothing thou may take from us, but ourgood peace, that always hath dured among us.

And when King Alexander had read these letters, he thoughtthat he should do great sin, for to trouble them.  And thenhe sent them sureties, that they should not be afeard of him, andthat they should keep their good manners and their good peace, asthey had used before, of custom.  And so he let themalone.

Another isle there is, that men clepe Oxidrate, and anotherisle, that men clepe Gynosophe, where there is also good folk,and full of good faith.  And they hold, for the most part,the good conditions and customs and good manners, as men of thecountry abovesaid; but they go all naked.

Into that isle entered King Alexander, to see themanner.  And when he saw their great faith, and their truththat was amongst them, he said that he would not grieve them, andbade them ask of him what that they would have of him, riches oranything else, and they should have it, with good will.  Andthey answered, that he was rich enough that had meat and drink tosustain the body with, for the riches of this world, that istransitory, is not worth; but if it were in his power to makethem immortal, thereof would they pray him, and thank him. And Alexander answered them that it was not in his power to doit, because he was mortal, as they were.  And then theyasked him why he was so proud and so fierce, and so busy for toput all the world under his subjection, right as thou were a God,and hast no term of this life, neither day ne hour, and willestto have all the world at thy commandment, that shall leave theewithout fail, or thou leave it.  And right as it hath beento other men before thee, right so it shall be to other afterthee.  And from hence p. 195shalt thou bear nothing; but as thouwere born naked, right so all naked shall thy body be turned intoearth that thou were made of.  Wherefore thou shouldestthink and impress it in thy mind, that nothing is immortal, butonly God, that made the thing.  By the which answerAlexander was greatly astonished and abashed, and all confusedand departed from them.

And albeit that these folk have not the articles of our faithas we have, natheles, for their good faith natural, and for theirgood intent, I trow fully, that God loveth them, and that Godtake their service to gree, right as he did of Job, that was apaynim, and held him for his true servant.  And therefore,albeit that there be many diverse laws in the world, yet I trow,that God loveth always them that love him, and serve him meeklyin truth, and namely them that despise the vain glory of thisworld, as this folk do and as Job did also.

And therefore said our Lord by the mouth of Hosea the prophet,Ponam eis multiplices leges meas; and also in anotherplace, Qui totum orbem subdit suis legibus.  And alsoour Lord saith in the Gospel, Alias oves habeo, que nonsunt ex hoc ovili, that is to say, that he had other servantsthan those that be under Christian law.  And to thataccordeth the avision that Saint Peter saw at Jaffa, how theangel came from heaven, and brought before him diverse beasts, asserpents and other creeping beasts of the earth, and of otheralso, great plenty, and bade him take and eat.  And SaintPeter answered; I eat never, quoth he, of unclean beasts. And then said the angel, Non dicas immunda, que Deusmundavit.  And that was in token that no man should havein despite none earthly man for their diverse laws, for we knownot whom God loveth, ne whom God hateth.  And for thatexample, when men say, De profundis, they say it in commonand in general, with the Christian, Pro animabus omniumdefunctorum, pro quibus sit orandum.

And therefore say I of this folk, that be so true and sofaithful, that God loveth them.  For he hath amongst themmany of the prophets, and alway hath had.  And p. 196in thoseisles, they prophesied the Incarnation of Lord Jesu Christ, howhe should be born of a maiden, three thousand year or more or ourLord was born of the Virgin Mary.  And they believe well it,the Incarnation, and that full perfectly, but they know not themanner, how he suffered his passion and death for us.

And beyond these isles there is another isle that is cleptPytan.  The folk of that country ne till not, ne labour notthe earth, for they eat no manner thing.  And they be ofgood colour and of fair shape, after their greatness.  Butthe small be as dwarfs, but not so little as be thePigmies.  These men live by the smell of wild apples. And when they go any far way, they bear the apples with them; forif they had lost the savour of the apples, they should dieanon.  They ne be not full reasonable, but they be simpleand bestial.

After that is another isle, where the folk be all skinnedrough hair, as a rough beast, save only the face and the palm ofthe hand.  These folk go as well under the water of the sea,as they do above the land all dry.  And they eat both fleshand fish all raw.  In this isle is a great river that iswell a two mile and an half of breadth that is cleptBeaumare.

And from that river a fifteen journeys in length, going by thedeserts of the tother side of the river—whoso might go it,for I was not there, but it was told us of them of the country,that within those deserts were the trees of the sun and of themoon, that spake to King Alexander, and warned him of hisdeath.  And men say that the folk that keep those trees, andeat of the fruit and of the balm that groweth there, live wellfour hundred year or five hundred year, by virtue of the fruitand of the balm.  For men say that balm groweth there ingreat plenty and nowhere else, save only at Babylon, as I havetold you before.  We would have gone toward the trees fullgladly if we had might.  But I trow that 100,000 men of armsmight not pass those deserts safely, for the great multitude ofwild beasts and of great dragons and of great serpents that p. 197there be,that slay and devour all that come anent them.  In thatcountry be many white elephants without number, and of unicornsand of lions of many manners, and many of such beasts that I havetold before, and of many other hideous beasts without number.

Many other isles there be in the land of Prester John, andmany great marvels, that were too long to tell all, both of hisriches and of his noblesse and of the great plenty also ofprecious stones that he hath.  I trow that ye know wellenough, and have heard say, wherefore this emperor is cleptPrester John.  But, natheles, for them that know not, Ishall say you the cause.

It was sometime an emperor there, that was a worthy and a fullnoble prince, that had Christian knights in his company, as hehath that is now.  So it befell, that he had great list forto see the service in the church among Christian men.  Andthen dured Christendom beyond the sea, all Turkey, Syria,Tartary, Jerusalem, Palestine, Arabia, Aleppo and all the land ofEgypt.  And so it befell that this emperor came with aChristian knight with him into a church in Egypt.  And itwas the Saturday in Whitsun-week.  And the bishop madeorders.  And he beheld, and listened the service fulltentively.  And he asked the Christian knight what men ofdegree they should be that the prelate had before him.  Andthe knight answered and said that they should be priests. And then the emperor said that he would no longer be clept kingne emperor, but priest, and that he would have the name of thefirst priest that went out of the church, and his name wasJohn.  And so ever-more sithens, he is clept PresterJohn.

In his land be many Christian men of good faith and of goodlaw, and namely of them of the same country, and have commonlytheir priests, that sing the Mass, and make the sacrament of thealtar, of bread, right as the Greeks do; but they say not so manythings at the Mass as men do here.  For they say not butonly that that the apostles said, as our Lord taught them, rightas Saint Peter and Saint Thomas and the other apostles sung thep. 198Mass,saying the Pater Nosterand the words of thesacrament.  But we have many more additions that diverspopes have made, that they ne know not of.

CHAPTER XXXIII

Of the Hills ofGold that Pismires keep.  And of the four Floods thatcome from Paradise Terrestrial

Toward the east part of PresterJohn’s land is an isle good and great, that men clepeTaprobane, that is full noble and full fructuous.  And theking thereof is full rich, and is under the obeissance of PresterJohn.  And always there they make their king byelection.  In that isle be two summers and two winters, andmen harvest the corn twice a year.  And in all the seasonsof the year be the gardens flourished.  There dwell goodfolk and reasonable, and many Christian men amongst them, that beso rich that they wit not what to do with their goods.  Ofold time, when men passed from the land of Prester John unto thatisle, men made ordinance for to pass by ship, twenty-three days,or more; but now men pass by ship in seven days.  And menmay see the bottom of the sea in many places, for it is not fulldeep.

Beside that isle, toward the east, be two other isles. And men clepe that one Orille, and that other Argyte, of thewhich all the land is mine of gold and silver.  And thoseisles be right where that the Red Sea departeth from the seaocean.  And in those isles men see there no stars so clearlyas in other places.  For there appear no stars, but only oneclear star that men clepe Canapos.  And there is not themoon seen in all the lunation, save only the second quarter.

In the isle also of this Taprobane be great hills of gold,that pismires keep full diligently.  And they fine the puredgold, and cast away the un-pured.  And these p. 199pismires begreat as hounds, so that no man dare come to those hills for thepismires would assail them and devour them anon.  So that noman may get of that gold, but by great sleight.  Andtherefore when it is great heat, the pismires rest them in theearth, from prime of the day into noon.  And then the folkof the country take camels, dromedaries, and horses and otherbeasts, and go thither, and charge them in all haste that theymay; and after that, they flee away in all haste that the beastsmay go, or the pismires come out of the earth.  And in othertimes, when it is not so hot, and that the pismires ne rest themnot in the earth, then they get gold by this subtlety.  Theytake mares that have young colts or foals, and lay upon the maresvoid vessels made there-for; and they be all open above, andhanging low to the earth.  And then they send forth thosemares for to pasture about those hills, and with-hold the foalswith them at home.  And when the pismires see those vessels,they leap in anon: and they have this kind that they let nothingbe empty among them, but anon they fill it, be it what manner ofthing that it be; and so they fill those vessels with gold. And when that the folk suppose that the vessels be full, they putforth anon the young foals, and make them to neigh after theirdams.  And then anon the mares return towards their foalswith their charges of gold.  And then men discharges them,and get gold enough by this subtlety.  For the pismires willsuffer beasts to go and pasture amongst them, but no man in nowise.

And beyond the land and the isles and the deserts of PresterJohn’s lordship, in going straight toward the east, menfind nothing but mountains and rocks, full great.  And thereis the dark region, where no man may see, neither by day ne bynight, as they of the country say.  And that desert and thatplace of darkness dure from this coast unto Paradise terrestrial,where that Adam, our formest father, and Eve were put, thatdwelled there but little while: and that is towards the east atthe beginning of the earth.  But that is not that east thatwe clepe our east, on this half, where the sun riseth tous.  For when p.200the sun is east in those parts towards Paradiseterrestrial, it is then midnight in our parts on this half, forthe roundness of the earth, of the which I have touched to you ofbefore.  For our Lord God made the earth all round in themid place of the firmament.  And there as mountains andhills be and valleys, that is not but only of Noah’s flood,that wasted the soft ground and the tender, and fell down intovalleys, and the hard earth and the rocks abide mountains, whenthe soft earth and tender waxed nesh through the water, and felland became valleys.

Of Paradise ne can I not speak properly.  For I was notthere.  It is far beyond.  And that forthinkethme.  And also I was not worthy.  But as I have heardsay of wise men beyond, I shall tell you with good will.

Paradise terrestrial, as wise men say, is the highest place ofearth, that is in all the world.  And it is so high that ittoucheth nigh to the circle of the moon, there as the moon makethher turn; for she is so high that the flood of Noah ne might notcome to her, that would have covered all the earth of the worldall about and above and beneath, save Paradise only alone. And this Paradise is enclosed all about with a wall, and men witnot whereof it is; for the walls be covered all over with moss,as it seemeth.  And it seemeth not that the wall is stone ofnature, ne of none other thing that the wall is.  And thatwall stretcheth from the south to the north, and it hath not butone entry that is closed with fire, burning; so that no man thatis mortal ne dare not enter.

And in the most high place of Paradise, even in the middleplace, is a well that casteth out the four floods that run bydivers lands.  Of the which, the first is clept Pison, orGanges, that is all one; and it runneth throughout Ind or Emlak,in the which river be many precious stones, and much of lignumaloes and much gravel of gold.  And that other river isclept Nilus or Gison, that goeth by Ethiopia and after byEgypt.  And that other is clept Tigris, that runneth byAssyria and by Armenia the great.  And that other is cleptEuphrates, that runneth also by Media and Armenia and byPersia.  And men there beyond say, that p. 201all thesweet waters of the world, above and beneath, take theirbeginning of the well of Paradise, and out of that well allwaters come and go.

The first river is clept Pison, that is to say in theirlanguage Assembly; for many other rivers meet them there, and gointo that river.  And some men clepe it Ganges, for a kingthat was in Ind, that hight Gangeres, and that it ran throughouthis land.  And that water [is] in some place clear, and insome place troubled, in some place hot, and in some placecold.

The second river is clept Nilus or Gison; for it is alwaystrouble; and Gison, in the language of Ethiopia, is to say,trouble, and in the language of Egypt also.

The third river, that is dept Tigris, is as much for to sayas, fast-running; for he runneth more fast than any of thetother; and also there is a beast, that is clept tigris, that isfast-running.

The fourth river is clept Euphrates, that is to say,well-bearing; for there grow many goods upon that river, ascorns, fruits and other goods enough plenty.

And ye shall understand that no man that is mortal ne may notapproach to that Paradise.  For by land no man may go forwild beasts that be in the deserts, and for the high mountainsand great huge rocks that no man may pass by, for the dark placesthat be there, and that many.  And by the rivers may no mango.  For the water runneth so rudely and so sharply, becausethat it cometh down so outrageously from the high places above,that it runneth in so great waves, that no ship may not row nesail against it.  And the water roareth so, and maketh sohuge noise and so great tempest, that no man may hear other inthe ship, though he cried with all the craft that he could in thehighest voice that he might.  Many great lords have assayedwith great will, many times, for to pass by those rivers towardsParadise, with full great companies.  But they might notspeed in their voyage.  And many died for weariness ofrowing against those strong waves.  And many of them becameblind, and many deaf, for the noise of the water.  And somep. 202wereperished and lost within the waves.  So that no mortal manmay approach to that place, without special grace of God, so thatof that place I can say you no more; and therefore, I shall holdme still, and return to that, that I have seen.

CHAPTER XXXIV

Of the Customs of Kings and other thatdwell in the Isles coasting to Prester John’sLand.  And of the Worship that the Son doth to theFather when he is dead

From those isles that I have spokenof before, in the Land of Prester John, that be under earth as tous that be on this half, and of other isles that be more furtherbeyond, whoso will, pursue them for to come again right to theparts that he came from, and so environ all earth.  But whatfor the isles, what for the sea, and what for strong rowing, fewfolk assay for to pass that passage; albeit that men might do itwell, that might be of power to dress them thereto, as I havesaid you before.  And therefore men return from those islesabovesaid by other isles, coasting from the land of PresterJohn.

And then come men in returning to an isle that is cleptCasson.  And that isle hath well sixty journeys in length,and more than fifty in breadth.  This is the best isle andthe best kingdom that is in all those parts, out-takenCathay.  And if the merchants used as much that country asthey do Cathay, it would be better than Cathay in a shortwhile.  This country is full well inhabited, and so full ofcities and of good towns inhabited with people, that when a mangoeth out of one city, men see another city even before them; andthat is what part that a man go, in all that country.  Inthat isle is great plenty of all goods for to live with, and ofall manner of spices.  And there be great forests ofchestnuts.  The king of that isle is full p. 203rich andfull mighty, and, natheles, he holds his land of the great Chan,and is obeissant to him.  For it is one of the twelveprovinces that the great Chan hath under him without his properland, and without other less isles that he hath; for he hath fullmany.

From that kingdom come men, in returning, to another isle thatis clept Rybothe, and it is also under the great Chan.  Thatis a full good country, and full plenteous of all goods and ofwines and fruit and all other riches.  And the folk of thatcountry have no houses, but they dwell and lie all under tentsmade of black fern, by all the country.  And the principalcity and the most royal is all walled with black stone andwhite.  And all the streets also be pathed of the samestones.  In that city is no man so hardy to shed blood ofany man, ne of no beast, for the reverence of an idol that isworshipped there.  And in that isle dwelleth the pope oftheir law, that they clepe Lobassy.  This Lobassy giveth allthe benefices, and all other dignities and all other things thatbelong to the idol.  And all those that hold anything oftheir churches, religious and other, obey to him, as men do hereto the Pope of Rome.

In that isle they have a custom by all the country, that whenthe father is dead of any man, and the son list to do greatworship to his father, he sendeth to all his friends and to allhis kin, and for religious men and priests, and for minstrelsalso, great plenty.  And then men bear the dead body unto agreat hill with great joy and solemnity.  And when they havebrought it thither, the chief prelate smiteth off the head, andlayeth it upon a great platter of gold and of silver, if so [he]be a rich man.  And then he taketh the head to theson.  And then the son and his other kin sing and say manyorisons.  And then the priests and the religious men smiteall the body of the dead man in pieces.  And then they saycertain orisons.  And the fowls of ravine of all the countryabout know the custom of long time before, [and] come flyingabove in the air; as eagles, gledes, ravens and other fowls ofravine, that eat flesh.  And then the priests cast thegobbets of the flesh p. 204and then the fowls, each of them,taketh that he may, and goeth a little thence and eateth it; andso they do whilst any piece lasteth of the dead body.

And after that, as priests amongst us sing for the dead,Subvenite Sancti Dei, etc., right so the priestssing with high voice in their language; Behold how so worthy aman and how good a man this was, that the angels of God come forto seek him and for to bring him into Paradise.  And thenseemeth it to the son, that he is highly worshipped, when thatmany birds and fowls and ravens come and eat his father; and hethat hath most number of fowls is most worshipped.

And then the son bringeth home with him all his kin, and hisfriends, and all the others to his house, and maketh them a greatfeast.  And then all his friends make their vaunt and theirdalliance, how the fowls came thither, here five, here six, hereten, and there twenty, and so forth; and they rejoice them hugelyfor to speak thereof.  And when they be at meat, the son letbring forth the head of his father, and thereof he giveth of theflesh to his most special friends, instead of entre messe,or a sukkarke.  And of the brain pan, he letteth makea cup, and thereof drinketh he and his other friends also, withgreat devotion, in remembrance of the holy man, that the angelsof God have eaten.  And that cup the son shall keep to drinkof all his life-time, in remembrance of his father.

From that land, in returning by ten journeys throughout theland of the great Chan, is another good isle and a great kingdom,where the king is full rich and mighty.

And amongst the rich men of his country is a passing rich man,that is no prince, ne duke, ne earl, but he hath more that holdof him lands and other lordships, for he is more rich.  Forhe hath, every year, of annual rent 300,000 horses charged withcorn of diverse grains and of rice.  And so he leadeth afull noble life and a delicate, after the custom of thecountry.  For he hath, every day, fifty fair damosels, allmaidens, that serve him evermore at his meat, and for to lie byhim o’ night, and for to do p. 205with them that is to hispleasance.  And when he is at table, they bring him his meatat every time, five and five together; and in bringing theirservice they sing a song.  And after that, they cut hismeat, and put it in his mouth; for he toucheth nothing, nehandleth nought, but holdeth evermore his hands before him uponthe table.  For he hath so long nails, that he may takenothing, ne handle nothing.  For the noblesse of thatcountry is to have long nails, and to make them grow always to beas long as men may.  And there be many in that country, thathave their nails so long, that they environ all the hand. And that is a great noblesse.  And the noblesse of the womenis for to have small feet and little.  And therefore anon asthey be born, they let bind their feet so strait, that they maynot grow half as nature would.  And this is the noblesse ofthe women there to have small feet and little.  And alwaysthese damosels, that I spake of before, sing all the time thatthis rich man eateth.  And when that he eateth no more ofhis first course, then other five and five of fair damsels bringhim his second course, always singing as they did before. And so they do continually every day to the end of hismeat.  And in this manner he leadeth his life.  And sodid they before him, that were his ancestors.  And so shallthey that come after him, without doing of any deeds of arms, butlive evermore thus in ease, as a. swine that is fed in sty for tobe made fat.  He hath a full fair palace and full rich,where that he dwelleth in, of the which the walls be, in circuit,two mile.  And he hath within many fair gardens, and manyfair halls and chambers; and the pavement of his halls andchambers be of gold and silver.  And in the mid place of oneof his gardens is a little mountain, where there is a littlemeadow.  And in that meadow is a little toothill with towersand pinnacles, all of gold.  And in that little toothillwill he sit often-time, for to take the air and to disporthim.  For the place is made for nothing else, but only forhis disport.

From that country men come by the land of the great Chan also,that I have spoken of before.

p. 206Andye shall understand, that of all these countries, and of allthese isles, and of all the diverse folk, that I have spoken ofbefore, and of diverse laws, and of diverse beliefs that theyhave, yet is there none of them all but that they have somereason within them and understanding, but if it be the fewer, andthat have certain articles of our faith and some good points ofour belief, and that they believe in God, that formed all thingsand made the world, and clepe him God of Nature; after that theprophet saith, Et metuent eum omnes fines terrae, and alsoin another place, Omnes gentes servient ei, that is tosay, ‘All folk shall serve him.’

But yet they cannot speak perfectly (for there is no man toteach them), but only that they can devise by their naturalwit.  For they have no knowledge of the Son, ne of the HolyGhost.  But they can all speak of the Bible, and namely ofGenesis, of the prophet’s saws and of the books ofMoses.  And they say well, that the creatures that †they worship ne be no gods; but they worship them for the virtuethat is in them, that may not be but only by the grace ofGod.  And of simulacres and of idols, they say, that therebe no folk, but that they have simulacres.  And that theysay, for we Christian men have images, as of our Lady and ofother saints that we worship; not the images of tree or of stone,but the saints, in whose name they be made after.  For rightas the books and the scripture of them teach the clerks how andin what manner they shall believe, right so the images and thepaintings teach the lewd folk to worship the saints and to havethem in their mind, in whose names that the images be madeafter.  They say also, that the angels of God speak to themin those idols, and that they do many great miracles.  Andthey say sooth, that there is an angel within them.  Forthere be two manner of angels, a good and an evil, as the Greekssay, Cacho and Calo.  This Cacho is the wicked angel, andCalo is the good angel.  But the tother is not the goodangel, but the wicked angel that is within the idols to deceivethem and for to maintain them in their error.

p. 207Therebe many other divers countries and many other marvels beyond,that I have not seen.  Wherefore, of them I cannot speakproperly to tell you the manner of them.  And also in thecountries where I have been, be many more diversities of manywonderful things than I make mention of; for it were too longthing to devise you the manner.  And therefore, that that Ihave devised you of certain countries, that I have spoken ofbefore, I beseech your worthy and excellent noblesse, that itsuffice to you at this time.  For if that I devised you allthat is beyond the sea, another man, peradventure, that wouldpain him and travail his body for to go into those marches for toensearch those countries, might be blamed by my words inrehearsing many strange things; for he might not say nothing ofnew, in the which the hearers might have either solace, ordisport, or lust, or liking in the hearing.  For men sayalways, that new things and new tidings be pleasant tohear.  Wherefore I will hold me still, without any morerehearsing of diversities or of marvels that be beyond, to thatintent and end, that whoso will go into those countries, he shallfind enough to speak of, that I have not touched of in nowise.

And ye shall understand, if it like you, that at minehome-coming, I came to Rome, and shewed my life to our holyfather the pope, and was assoiled of all that lay in myconscience, of many a diverse grievous point; as men must needsthat be in company, dwelling amongst so many a diverse folk ofdiverse sect and of belief, as I have been.

And amongst all I shewed him this treatise, that I had madeafter information of men that knew of things that I had not seenmyself, and also of marvels and customs that I had seen myself,as far as God would give me grace; and besought his holyfatherhood, that my book might be examined and corrected byadvice of his wise and discreet council.  And our holyfather, of his special grace, remitted my book to be examined andproved by the advice of his said counsel.  By the which mybook was proved for true, insomuch, that they shewed me a p. 208book, thatmy book was examined by, that comprehended full much more, by anhundred part, by the which the Mappa Mundiwas madeafter.  And so my book (albeit that many men ne list not togive credence to nothing, but to that that they see with theireye, ne be the author ne the person never so true) is affirmedand proved by our holy father, in manner and form as I havesaid.

And I, John Mandevile, knight, abovesaid (although I beunworthy), that departed from our countries and passed the sea,the year of grace a thousand three hundred and twenty two, thathave passed many lands and many isles and countries, and searchedmany full strange places, and have been in many a full goodhonourable company, and at many a fair deed of arms (albeit thatI did none myself, for mine unable insuffisance), now I am comehome, maugre myself, to rest, for gouts artetykes that medistrain, that define the end of my labour; against my will (Godknoweth).

And thus, taking solace in my wretched rest, recording thetime passed, I have fulfilled these things, and put them writtenin this book, as it would come into my mind, the year of grace athousand three hundred and fifty six, in the thirty-fourth year,that I departed from our countries.

Wherefore, I pray to all the readers and hearers of this book,if it please them, that they would pray to God for me; and Ishall pray for them.  And all those that say for me aPater Noster, with an Ave Maria, that God forgiveme my sins, I make them partners, and grant them part of all thegood pilgrimages and of all the good deeds that I have done, ifany be to his pleasance; and not only of those, but of all thatever I shall do unto my life’s end.  And I beseechAlmighty God, from whom all goodness and grace cometh from, thathe vouchsafe of his excellent mercy and abundant grace, to fulfiltheir souls with inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in making defenceof all their ghostly enemies here in earth, to their salvationboth of body and soul; to worship and thanking of him, that isthree and one, without beginning and without ending; that iswithout quality, good, without quantity, great; p. 209that in allplaces is present, and all things containing; the which that nogoodness may amend, ne none evil impair; that in perfect Trinityliveth and reigneth God, by all worlds, and by all times!

Amen!  Amen!  Amen!

[Here Endeththe Book of John Mandeville.]

FOOTNOTES

[0]  The supplement was not transcribedas part of the original Project Gutenberg release.  Thetexts are available elsewhere in Project Gutenberg.—DP.

[ix]  Not Mandeville, but an anonymoussojourner among the Tartars, whose story fills a page and a halfin Hakluyt.

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