Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 037 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 15 to 18 Of the great festival which the Kaan holds on New Year's day Co

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037 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 15 to 18 Of the great festival which the Kaan holds on New Year's day Co · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty seven of the Book of Sir Marco Polo,
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  Speaker 1: the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East,
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  Speaker 1: Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or the volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please us at LibriVox dot org. Recording by Anossimon The
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  Speaker 1: Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms
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  Speaker 1: and Marvels of the East, Volume one by Rosicello the Pisa,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Henry Yule, Book second part one, Chapters fifteen
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  Speaker 1: to eighteen. Chapter fifteen of the Great Festival which the
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  Speaker 1: Khan holds on New Year's Day. The beginning of their
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  Speaker 1: new year is the month of February, and on that
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  Speaker 1: occasion the Great Khan that all his subjects made such
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  Speaker 1: a feast as I now shall describe. It is the
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  Speaker 1: custom that on this occasion the Khan and all his
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  Speaker 1: subjects should be clothed entirely in white, so that day
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  Speaker 1: everybody is in white, men and women great and small.
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  Speaker 1: And this is done in order that they may thrive
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  Speaker 1: all through the year, for they deem that white clothing
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  Speaker 1: is lucky. On that day, also all the people of
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  Speaker 1: all the provinces and governments and kingdoms and countries that
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  Speaker 1: own allegiance to the Khan bring him great presents of
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  Speaker 1: gold and silver, and pearls and gems, and rich textures
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  Speaker 1: of diverse kinds. And this they do that the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: throughout the year may have abundance of treasure and enjoyment
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  Speaker 1: without care. And the people also make presents to each
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  Speaker 1: other of white things, and embrace and kiss and make
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  Speaker 1: merry and wish each other happiness and good luck for
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  Speaker 1: the coming year. On that day, I can assure you,
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  Speaker 1: among the customary presents there shall be offered to the
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  Speaker 1: Khan from various quarters, more than one hundred thousand white horses,
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  Speaker 1: beautiful animals and richly comparisoned. And you must know this
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  Speaker 1: their custom in offering presents to the Great Khan, at
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  Speaker 1: least when the province making the present is able to
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  Speaker 1: do so, to present nine times nine articles. For instance,
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  Speaker 1: if a province sends horses, it sends nine times nine
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  Speaker 1: or eighty one horses of gold, nine times nine pieces
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  Speaker 1: of gold, and so with stuffs or whatever else the
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  Speaker 1: present may consist of. On that day, also the whole
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  Speaker 1: of the Khan's elephants, amounting fully to five thousand in number,
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  Speaker 1: are exhibited, all covered with rich and gay housings of
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  Speaker 1: inlaid cloth representing beasts and birds, whilst each of them
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  Speaker 1: carries on his back two splendid coffers, all of these
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  Speaker 1: being filled with the Emperor's plate and other costly furniture
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  Speaker 1: required for the court on the occasion of the White Feast.
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  Speaker 1: And these are followed by a vast number of camels,
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  Speaker 1: which are likewise covered with rich housings and laden with
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  Speaker 1: things needful for the feast. All these are paraded before
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor, and it makes the finest side in the world. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: on the morning of the feast, before the tables are set,
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  Speaker 1: all the kings and all the dukes, marquesses, counts, barons, knights,
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  Speaker 1: and astrologers and philosophers, and leeches and falconers and other
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  Speaker 1: officials of sundry kinds from all the places round about,
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  Speaker 1: present themselves in the Great Hall before the Emperor, whilst
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  Speaker 1: those who can find no room to enter, stand outside
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  Speaker 1: in such a position that the Emperor can see them
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  Speaker 1: all well, and the whole company is marshaled in this wise.
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  Speaker 1: First are the Khan's sons and a nephews, and the
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  Speaker 1: other princes of the Blood Imperial next to them, all kings,
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  Speaker 1: then dukes, and then all others in succession, according to
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  Speaker 1: the degree of each. And when they are all seated,
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  Speaker 1: each in his proper place, then a great prelate rises
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  Speaker 1: and says with a loud voice, bow and a door.
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  Speaker 1: And as soon as he is set this, the company
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  Speaker 1: bowed down until their forts touch the earth in at
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  Speaker 1: towards the Emperor, as if he were a god. And
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  Speaker 1: this adoration they repeat four times, and then go to
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  Speaker 1: a highly decorated altar, on which is a vermilion tablet
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  Speaker 1: with the name of the Grand Cahn inscribed thereon, and
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  Speaker 1: a beautiful censor of gold. So they incense the tablet
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  Speaker 1: and the altar with great reverence, and then return each
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  Speaker 1: man to his seat. When all have performed this, then
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  Speaker 1: the presents are offered, of which I have spoken as
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  Speaker 1: being so rich and costly. And after all have been
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  Speaker 1: offered and been seen by the Emperor, the tables are
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  Speaker 1: set and all take their places at them with perfect order,
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  Speaker 1: as I have already told you. And after dinner the
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  Speaker 1: jugglers come in and amuse the court as you have
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  Speaker 1: heard before. And when that is over, every man goes
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  Speaker 1: to his quarters. Chapter sixteen concerning the twelve thousand barons
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  Speaker 1: who receive robes of cloth of gold from the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: on the great festivals thirteen chain a piece. Now you
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  Speaker 1: must know that the Great Khan has set apart twelve
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  Speaker 1: thousand of his men, who are distinguished by the name
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  Speaker 1: of Kashikhan, as I've told you before, and on each
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  Speaker 1: of these twelve thousand barrens he bestows thirteen changes of rayment,
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  Speaker 1: which are all different from one another. I mean that
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  Speaker 1: in one set, the twelve thousand are all of one color,
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  Speaker 1: the next twelve thousand of another color, and so on,
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  Speaker 1: so that they are of thirteen different colors. These robes
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  Speaker 1: are garnished with gems and pearls and other precious things
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  Speaker 1: in a very rich and costly manner. And along with
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  Speaker 1: each of these changes of raymond, that is, thirteen times
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  Speaker 1: in the year, he bestows on each of those twelve
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  Speaker 1: thousand barrens a fine golden girdle of great richness and value,
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  Speaker 1: and likewise a pair of boots of kamut, that is
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  Speaker 1: to say, of burgal, curiously wrought with silvered thread in
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  Speaker 1: so much that when they are clothed in these trees presses,
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  Speaker 1: every man of them looks like a king. And there
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  Speaker 1: is an established order as to which dress is to
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  Speaker 1: be worn at each of those thirteen feasts. The Emperor
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  Speaker 1: himself also has his thirteen suits, corresponding to those of
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  Speaker 1: his parents in color. I mean, though his are grander, richer,
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  Speaker 1: and costlier, so that he is always arrayed in the
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  Speaker 1: same color as his barons, who are, as it were,
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  Speaker 1: his comrades. And you may see that all this costs
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  Speaker 1: an amount which it is scarcely possible to calculate. Now
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  Speaker 1: I've told you of the thirteen changes of raiment received
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  Speaker 1: from the Prince by those twelve thousand barons, amounting in
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  Speaker 1: all to one hundred and fifty six thousand suits of
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  Speaker 1: so great costs and value, to say nothing of the
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  Speaker 1: girdles and the boots, which are also worth the great
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  Speaker 1: sum of money. All this the great Lord hath ordered
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  Speaker 1: that he may attach the more of grandeur and dignity
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  Speaker 1: to his festivals. And now I must mention another thing
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  Speaker 1: that I had forgotten, but which you will be astonished
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  Speaker 1: to learn from this book. You must know that on
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  Speaker 1: the feast day, a great line is led to the
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  Speaker 1: Emperor's presence, and as soon as it sees him, it
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  Speaker 1: lies down before him with every sign of the greatest veneration,
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  Speaker 1: as if it acknowledged him for its lord. And it
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  Speaker 1: remains there, lying before him and entirely unchained. Truly, this
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  Speaker 1: must seem a strange story to those who have not
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  Speaker 1: seen the thing. Chapter seventeen. How the Great Khan and
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  Speaker 1: joineth his people to supply him with game. The three
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  Speaker 1: months of December, January and February, during which the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: resides at his capital city, are assigned for hunting and fowling,
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  Speaker 1: to the extent of some forty days journey round the city,
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  Speaker 1: and it is ordained that the larger game taken be
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  Speaker 1: sent to the court, to be more particular, of all
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  Speaker 1: the larger beasts of the chase, such as boars, roebucks, bucks, stags, lions, bears,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. The greater part of what is taken has
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  Speaker 1: to be sent and feathered game. Likewise, the animals are
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  Speaker 1: gutted and despatched to the court or on cards. This
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  Speaker 1: is done by all the people within twenty or thirty
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  Speaker 1: days journey, and the quantity so despatched is immense. Those
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  Speaker 1: at a greater distance cannot send the game, but they
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  Speaker 1: have to send the skins after tanning them, and these
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  Speaker 1: are employed in the making of equipments for the Emperor's army.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen. Of the lions and leopards and wolves that
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  Speaker 1: the Khan keeps for the chase. The Emperor had numbers
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  Speaker 1: of leopards trained to the chase, and hath also a
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  Speaker 1: great many lynxes taught in like manner to catch game,
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  Speaker 1: and which afford excellent sport. He hath also several great lions,
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  Speaker 1: bigger than those of Babylonia, beasts whose skins are colored
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  Speaker 1: in the most beautiful way, being striped all along the
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  Speaker 1: sides with black, red, and white. These are trained to
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  Speaker 1: catch boars and wild cattle, bears, wild asses, stags, and
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  Speaker 1: other great or fierce beasts. And is a rare sight
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  Speaker 1: I can tell you, to see those lines giving chase
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  Speaker 1: to such beasts as I have mentioned. When they are
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  Speaker 1: to be so employed, the lines are taken out in
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  Speaker 1: a covered cart, and every line has a little doggie
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  Speaker 1: with him. They are obliged to approach the game against
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  Speaker 1: the wind, otherwise the animals would send the approach of
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  Speaker 1: the lion, and be off. There are also a great
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  Speaker 1: number of eagles, all broken to catch wolves, foxes, deer,
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  Speaker 1: and wild goats, and they do catch them in great numbers.
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  Speaker 1: But those especially that are trained to wolf catching, are
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  Speaker 1: very large and powerful birds, and no wolf is able
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  Speaker 1: to get away from them. End of Section thirty seven.