History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0448/04484.txt

Text File | 1992-10-12 | 21.6 KB | 393 lines

$Unique_ID{how04484}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Travels Of Marco Polo
Part VII}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Polo, Marco}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{province
khan
king
days
tartars
gold
country
elephants
mien
silver}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title:       Travels Of Marco Polo
Book:        Book Second: Of Kublai Khan, Great Khan Now Reigning, His Great Puissance
Author:      Polo, Marco

Part VII

Chapter LI

Wherein Is Related How The King Of Mien And Bengal Vowed Vengeance Against The
Great Khan

     But I was forgetting to tell you of a famous battle that was fought in
the kingdom of Wanchen in the province of Zardandan, and that ought not to be
omitted from our book.  So we will relate all the particulars.

     You see, in the year of Christ 1277, the great Khan sent a large force
into the kingdoms of Karajang and Wanchen, to protect them from the ravages
of ill-disposed people; and this was before he had sent any of his sons to
rule the country, as he did afterwards when he made Essen-timur king there,
the son of a son of his who was deceased.

     Now there was a certain king, called the king of Mien and of Bengal, who
was a very puissant prince, with much territory and treasure and people; and
he was not as yet subject to the great Khan, though it was not long after
that the latter conquered him and took from him both the kingdoms that I have
named.  And it came to pass that when this king of Mien and Bengal heard that
the host of the great Khan was at Wanchen, he said to himself that it
behooved him to go against them with so great a force as should insure his
cutting off the whole of them, insomuch that the great Khan would be very
sorry ever to send an army again thither to his frontier.

     So this king prepared a great force and munitions of war; and he had,
let me tell you, two thousand great elephants, on each of which was set a
tower of timber, well framed and strong, and carrying from twelve to sixteen
well armed fighting men.  And besides these, he had of horsemen and of
footmen good sixty thousand men.  In short, he equipped a fine force, as well
befitted such a puissant prince.  It was indeed a host capable of doing great
things.

     And what shall I tell you?  When the king had completed these great
preparations to fight the Tartars, he tarried not, but straightway marched
against them.  And after advancing without meeting with anything worth
mentioning, they arrived within three days of the great Khan's host, which
was then at Wanchen in the territory of Zardandan, of which I have already
spoken.  So there the king pitched his camp, and halted to refresh his army.

Chapter LII

Of The Battle That Was Fought By The Great Khan's Host And His Seneschal
Against The King Of Mien

     And when the captain of the Tartar host had certain news that the king
aforesaid was coming against him with so great a force, he waxed uneasy,
seeing that he had with him but twelve thousand horsemen.  Nevertheless he
was a most valiant and able soldier, of great experience in arms and an
excellent captain; and his name was Nasruddin.  His troops too were very
good, and he gave them very particular orders and cautions how to act, and
took every measure for his own defense and that of his army.  And why should
I make a long story of it?  The whole force of the Tartars, consisting of
twelve thousand well mounted horsemen, advanced to receives the enemy in the
plain of Wanchen, and there they waited to give them battle.  And this they
did through the good judgment of the excellent captain who led them; for hard
by that plain was a great wood, thick with trees.  And so there in the plain
the Tartars awaited their foe.  Let us then leave discoursing of them a
while; we shall come back to them presently; but meantime let us speak of the
enemy.

     After the king of Mien had halted long enough to refresh his troops, he
resumed his march, and came to the plain of Wanchen, where the Tartars were
already in order of battle.  And when the king's army had arrived in the
plain, and was within a mile of the enemy, he caused all the castles that
were on the elephants to be ordered for battle, and the fighting men to take
up their posts on them, and he arrayed his horse and his foot with all skill,
like a wise king that he was.  And when he had completed all his arrangements
he began to advance to engage the enemy.  The Tartars, seeing the foe
advance, showed no dismay, but came on likewise with good order and
discipline to meet them.  And when they were near and nothing remained but to
begin the fight, the horses of the Tartars took such fright at the sight of
the elephants that they could not be got to face the foe, but always swerved
and turned back; while all the time the king and his forces, and all his
elephants, continued to advance upon them.

     And when the Tartars perceived how the case stood, they were in great
wrath, and knew not what to say or do; for well enough they saw that unless
they could get their horses to advance, all would be lost.  But their captain
acted like a wise leader who had considered everything beforehand.  He
immediately gave orders that every man should dismount and tie his horse to
the trees of the forest that stood hard by, and that they should take to
their bows, a weapon that they knew how to handle better than any troops in
the world.  They did as he bade them, and plied their bows stoutly, shooting
so many shafts at the advancing elephants that in a short space they had
wounded or slain the greater part of them as well as of the men they carried.
The enemy also shot at the Tartars, but the Tartars had the better weapons,
and were the better archers to boot.

     And what shall I tell you?  Understand that when the elephants felt the
smart of those arrows that pelted them like rain, they turned tail and fled,
and nothing on earth would have induced them to turn and face the Tartars.
So off they sped with such a noise and uproar that you would have thought the
world was coming to an end!  And then, too, they plunged into the wood and
rushed this way and that, dashing their castles against the trees, bursting
their harness and smashing and destroying everything that was on them.

     So when the Tartars saw that the elephants had turned tail and could not
be brought to face the fight again, they got to horse at once and charged the
enemy.  And then the battle began to rage furiously with sword and mace.
Right fiercely did the two hosts rush together, and deadly were their blows
exchanged.  The king's troops were far more in number than the Tartars, but
they were not of such metal, nor so inured to war; otherwise the Tartars who
were so few in number could never have stood against them.  Then might you
see swashing blows dealt and taken from sword and mace; then might you see
knights and horses and men-at-arms go down; then might you see arms and hands
and legs and heads hewn off; and besides the dead that fell, many a wounded
man, that never rose again, for the sore press there was.  The din and uproar
was so great from this side and from that, that God might have thundered and
no man would have heard it!  Great was the medley, and dire and parlous was
the fight that was fought on both sides; but the Tartars had the best of it.

     In an ill hour indeed, for the king and his people, was that battle
begun, so many of them were slain therein.  And when they had continued
fighting till midday the king's troops could stand against the Tartars no
longer; but felt that they were defeated, and turned and fled.  And when the
Tartars saw them routed they gave chase, and hacked and slew so mercilessly
that it was a piteous sight to see.  But after pursuing a while they gave up,
and returned to the wood to catch the elephants that had run away, and to
manage this they had to cut down great trees to bar their passage.  Even then
they would not have been able to take them without the help of the king's own
men who had been taken, and who knew better how to deal with the beasts than
the Tartars did.  The elephant is an animal that has more wit than any other;
but in this way at last they were caught, more than two hundred of them.  And
it was from this time forth that the great Khan began to keep numbers of
elephants.

     So thus it was that the king aforesaid was defeated by the sagacity and
superior skill of the Tartars as you have heard.

Chapter LIII

Of The Great Descent That Leads Towards The Kingdom Of Mien

     After leaving the province of which I have been speaking you come to a
great descent.  In fact you ride for two days and a half continually down
hill.  On all this descent there is nothing worthy of mention except only
that there is a large place there where occasionally a great market is held;
for all the people of the country around come thither on fixed days, three
times a week, and hold a market there.  They exchange gold for silver; for
they have gold in abundance; and they give one weight of fine gold for five
weights of fine silver; so this induces merchants to come from various
quarters bringing silver which they exchange for gold with these people; and
in this way the merchants make great gain.  As regards those people of the
country who dispose of gold so cheaply you must understand that nobody is
acquainted with their places of abode, for they dwell in inaccessible
positions, in sites so wild and strong that no one can get at them to meddle
with them.  Nor will they allow anybody to accompany them so as to gain a
knowledge of their abodes.

     After you have ridden those two days and a half down hill, you find
yourself in a province towards the south which is pretty near to India, and
this province is called Amien.  You travel therein for fifteen days through
a very unfrequented country, and through great woods abounding in elephants
and unicorns and numbers of other wild beasts.  There are no dwellings and no
people, so we need say no more of this wild country, for in sooth there is
nothing to tell.  But I have a story to relate which you shall now hear.

Chapter LIV

Concerning The City Of Mien, And The Two Towers That Are Therein, One Of Gold
And The Other Of Silver

     And when you have traveled those fifteen days through such a difficult
country as I have described, in which travelers have to carry provisions for
the road because there are no inhabitants, then you arrive at the capital
city of this province of Mien, and it also is called Amien, and is a very
great and noble city.  The people are idolaters and have a peculiar language,
and are subject to the great Khan.

     And in this city there is a thing so rich and rare that I must tell you
about it.  You see there was in former days a rich and puissant king in this
city, and when he was about to die he commanded that by his tomb they should
erect two towers, one at either end, one of gold and the other of silver, in
such fashion as I shall tell you.  The towers are built of fine stone; and
then one of them has been covered with gold a good finger in thickness, so
that the tower looks as if it were all of solid gold; and the other is
covered with silver in like manner so that it seems to be all of solid
silver.  Each tower is a good ten paces in height and of breadth in
proportion.  The upper part of these towers is round, and girt all about with
bells, the top of the gold tower with gilded bells and the silver tower with
silvered bells, insomuch that whenever the wind blows among these bells they
tinkle.  The tomb likewise was plated partly with gold, and partly with
silver.  The king caused these towers to be erected to commemorate his
magnificence and for the good of his soul; and really they do form one of the
finest sights in the world; so exquisitely finished are they, so splendid and
costly.  And when they are lighted up by the sun they shine most brilliantly
and are visible from a vast distance.

     Now you must know that the great Khan conquered the country in this
fashion.

     You see at the court of the great Khan there was a great number of
gleemen and jugglers; and he said to them one day that he wanted them to go
and conquer the aforesaid province of Mien, and that he would give them a
good captain to lead them and other good aid.  And they replied that they
would be delighted.  So the emperor caused them to be fitted out with all
that an army requires, and gave them a captain and a body of men-at-arms to
help them; and so they set out, and marched until they came to the country
and province of Mien.  And they did conquer the whole of it!  And when they
found in the city the two towers of gold and silver of which I have been
telling you, they were greatly astonished, and sent word thereof to the great
Khan, asking what he would have them do with the two towers, seeing what a
great quantity of wealth there was upon them.  And the great Khan, being well
aware that the king had caused these towers to be made for the good of his
soul, and to preserve his memory after his death, said that he would not have
them injured, but would have them left precisely as they were.  And that was
no wonder either, for you must know that no Tartar in the world will ever, if
he can help it, lay hand on anything appertaining to the dead.

     They have in this province numbers of elephants and wild oxen; also
beautiful stags and deer and roe, and other kinds of large game in plenty.

     Now having told you about the province of Mien, I will tell you about
another province which is called Bengal, as you shall hear presently.

Chapter LV

Concerning The Province Of Bengal

     Bengal is a province towards the south, which up to the year 1290, when
the aforesaid Messer Marco Polo was still at the court of the great Khan, had
not yet been conquered; but his armies had gone thither to make the conquest.
You must know that this province has a peculiar language, and that the people
are wretched idolaters.  They are tolerably close to India.  There are
numbers of eunuchs there, insomuch that all the barons who keep them get them
from that province.

     The people have oxen as tall as elephants, but not so big.  They live on
flesh and milk and rice.  They grow cotton, in which they drive a great
trade, and also spices such as spike-nard, galingale, ginger, sugar, and many
other sorts.  And the people of India also come thither in search of eunuchs
that I mentioned, and of slaves, male and female, of which there are great
numbers, taken from other provinces with which those of the country are at
war; and these eunuchs and slaves are sold to the Indian and other merchants
who carry them thence for sale about the world.

     There is nothing more to mention about this country, so we will quit it,
and I will tell you of another province called Kafche-kue.

Chapter LVI

Discourses Of The Province Of Kafche-Kue

     Kafche-kue is a province towards the east, which has a king.  The people
are idolaters, and have a language of their own.  They have made their
submission to the great Khan, and send him tribute every year.  And let me
tell you their king is so given to luxury that he has at the least three
hundred wives; for whenever he hears of any beautiful woman in the land, he
takes and marries her.

     They find in this country a good deal of gold, and they also have great
abundance of spices.  But they are such a long way from the sea that the
products are of little value, and thus their price is low.  They have
elephants in great numbers, and other cattle of sundry kinds, and plenty of
game.  They live on flesh and milk and rice, and have wine made of rice and
good spices.  The whole of the people, or nearly so, have their skin marked
with the needle in patterns representing lions, dragons, birds, and what not,
done in such a way that it can never be obliterated.  This work they cause to
be wrought over face and neck and chest, arms and hands, and belly, and, in
short, the whole body; and they look on it as a token of elegance, so that
those who have the largest amount of this embroidery are regarded with the
greatest admiration.

Chapter LVII

Concerning The Province Of Anin

     Anin is a province towards the east, the people of which are subject to
the great Khan, and are idolaters.  They live by cattle and tillage, and have
a peculiar language.  The women wear on their legs and arms bracelets of gold
and silver of great value, and the men wear such as are even yet more costly.
They have plenty of horses which they sell in great numbers to the Indians,
making a great profit thereby.  And they have also vast herds of buffaloes
and oxen, having excellent pastures for these.  They have likewise all the
necessaries of life in abundance.

     Now you must know that between Anin and Kafche-kue which we have left
behind us, there is a distance of twenty-five days' journey; and from Karche-
kue to Bengal, the third province in our rear, is thirty days' journey.  We
shall now leave Anin and proceed to another province which is some eight
days' journey further, always going eastward.

Chapter LVIII

Concerning The Province Of Toloman

     Toloman is a province towards the east, the people of which are
idolaters and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the great Khan.
They are a tall and very handsome people, though in complexion brown rather
than white, and are good soldiers.  They have a good many towns, and a vast
number of villages, among great mountains, and in strong positions.

     When any of them die, the bodies are burnt, and then they take the bones
and put them in little chests.  These are carried high up the mountains, and
placed in great caverns, where they are hung up in such wise that neither man
nor beast can come at them.

     A good deal of gold is found in the country, and for petty traffic they
use porcelain shells such as I have told you of before.  All these provinces
that I have been speaking of, to wit Bengal and Karche-kue and Anin, employ
for currency porcelain shells and gold.  There are merchants in this country
who are very rich and dispose of large quantities of goods.  The people live
on flesh and rice and milk, and brew their wine from rice and excellent
spices.

Chapter LIX

Concerning The Province Of Kwei-Chau

     Kwei-Chau is a province towards the east.  After leaving Toloman you
travel along a river for twelve days, meeting with a good number of towns and
villages, but nothing worthy of particular mention.  After you have traveled
those twelve days along the river you come to a great and noble city which is
called Fungul.

     The people are idolaters and subject to the great Khan, and live by
trade and handicrafts.  You must know they manufacture stuffs of the bark of
certain trees which form very fine summer clothing.  They are good soldiers,
and have paper money.  For you must understand that hence forward we are in
the countries where the great Khan's paper money is current.

     The country swarms with lions to that degree that no man can venture to
sleep outside his house at night.  Moreover, when you travel on that river,
and come to halt at night, unless you keep a good way from the bank the lions
will spring on the boat and snatch one of the crew and make off with him and
devour him.  And but for a certain help that the inhabitants enjoy, no one
could venture to travel in that province, because of the multitude of those
lions, and because of their strength and ferocity.

     But you see they have in this province a large breed of dogs, so fierce
and bold that two of them together will attack a lion.  So every man who goes
a journey takes with him a couple of those dogs, and when a lion appears they
have at him with the greatest boldness, and the lion turns on them but can't
touch them, for they are very deft at eschewing his blows.  So they follow
him, perpetually giving tongue, and watching their chance to give him a bite
in the rump or in the thigh, or wherever they may.  The lion makes no
reprisal except now and then to turn fiercely on them, and then indeed were
he to catch the dogs it would be all over with them, but they take good care
that he shall not.  So, to escape the dogs' din, the lion makes off, and gets
into the wood, where mayhap he stands at bay against a tree to have his rear
protected from their annoyance.  And when the travelers see the lion in this
plight they take to their bows, for they are capital archers, and shoot their
arrows at him till he falls dead.  And 'tis thus that travelers in those
parts do deliver themselves from those lions.

     They have a good deal of silk and other products which are carried up
and down, by the river of which we spoke, into various quarters.

     You travel along the river for twelve days more, finding a good many
towns all along, and the people always idolaters, and subject to the great
Khan, with paper money current, and living by trade and handicrafts.  There
are also plenty of fighting men.  And after traveling those twelve days you
arrive at the city of Cheng-tu-fu of which we spoke in this book some time
ago.

     From Cheng-tu-fu you set out again and travel some seventy days through
the provinces and cities and towns which we have already visited, and all
which have been already particularly spoken of in our book.  At the end of
those seventy days you come to Cho-chau where we were before.

     From Cho-chau you set out again and travel four days towards the south,
finding many towns and villages.  The people are great traders and craftsmen,
are all idolaters, and use the paper money of the great Khan their sovereign.
At the end of those four days you come to the city of Hokien-fu belonging to
the province of Cathay, and of it I shall now speak.