Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 033 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 1 to 4 Of Kublay Kaan the great Kaan now reigning and of his great puiss

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033 - Book Second Part 1 Chapters 1 to 4 Of Kublay Kaan the great Kaan now reigning and of his great puiss · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty three of the Book of Sir Marcupolo the
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  Speaker 1: Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volume one.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Annassimon. The Book of ser
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  Speaker 1: Marco Polo, the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of
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  Speaker 1: the East, Volume one by Rosicello da Pisa, translated by
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  Speaker 1: Henry Yule. Book second, Part one, Chapters one to four,
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  Speaker 1: Part one The Khan, His Court and Capital. Chapter one
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  Speaker 1: of Kublai Khan, the Great Khan, now reigning, and of
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  Speaker 1: great precincts. Now am I come to that part of
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  Speaker 1: our book in which I shall tell you of the
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  Speaker 1: great and wonderful magnificence of the Great Khan now reigning,
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  Speaker 1: by name Kublai Khan, Khan being a title which signified
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  Speaker 1: the great lord of lords or emperor, and of a surety.
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  Speaker 1: He hath good right to such a title, for all
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  Speaker 1: men know for a certain truth that he is the
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  Speaker 1: most potent man as regards forces and lands and treasure
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  Speaker 1: that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed, from
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  Speaker 1: the time of our first father Adam until this day.
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  Speaker 1: All this I will make clear to you for truth
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  Speaker 1: in this book of ours, so that every one shall
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  Speaker 1: be faint to acknowledge that he is the greatest Lord
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  Speaker 1: that is now in the world, or ever hath been.
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  Speaker 1: And now he shall hear how and where fall Chapter
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  Speaker 1: two concerning the revolt of Nayan, whose uncle to the
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  Speaker 1: great Khan Kublai. Now this Kublai Khan is the right
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  Speaker 1: imperial lineage being descended from Dingis Khan, the first sovereign
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  Speaker 1: of all the Tatars, and he is the sixth lord
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  Speaker 1: in that succession. As I have already told you in
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  Speaker 1: this book, he came to the throne in the year
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  Speaker 1: of Christ twelve hundred and fifty six, and the empire
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  Speaker 1: fell to him because of his ambility and valor and
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  Speaker 1: great worth, as was right and reason. His brothers, indeed
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  Speaker 1: and other kinsmen disputed his claim, but his it remained,
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  Speaker 1: both because maintained by his great fellow, and because it
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  Speaker 1: was in law and right, his as being directly sprung
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  Speaker 1: of the imperial line up to the year of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Now running to it twelve ninety eight. He hath reigned
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  Speaker 1: two and forty years, and his age is about eighty five,
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  Speaker 1: so that he must have been about forty three years
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  Speaker 1: of age when he first came to the throne. Before
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  Speaker 1: that time he had often been to the wars, and
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  Speaker 1: had shown himself a gallant soldier and an excellent captain.
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  Speaker 1: But after coming to the throne, he never went to
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  Speaker 1: the wars in person, save once. This befell on the
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  Speaker 1: year of Christ twelve hundred eighty six, And I will
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  Speaker 1: tell you why he went. There was a great Tartar
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  Speaker 1: chief whose name was Nayan, a young man of thirty
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  Speaker 1: lord over many lands and many provinces, and he was
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  Speaker 1: uncle to the Emperor Kublai Khan of whom we are speaking.
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  Speaker 1: And when he found himself in authority, this Nayan worxed
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  Speaker 1: proud in the insolence of his youth and his great power,
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  Speaker 1: For indeed he could bring into the field three hundred
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  Speaker 1: thousand horsemen, though all the time he was liegemen to
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  Speaker 1: his nephew, the great Khan Kublai As was right in reason.
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  Speaker 1: Seeing then what great power he had, he took it
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  Speaker 1: into his head that he would be the great Khan's
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  Speaker 1: vassal no longer nay more, he would fain wrest his
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  Speaker 1: empire from him if he could. So this, Nayan sent
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  Speaker 1: envoys to another Tartar prince called Kai Dou, also a
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  Speaker 1: great and potent lord, who was a kinsman of his,
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  Speaker 1: and who was a nephew of the Great Khan and
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  Speaker 1: his lowful liegemen, also though he was in rebellion and
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  Speaker 1: a bitter enmity with sovereign lord and uncle. Now the
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  Speaker 1: message that Nayan sent was this, that he himself was
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  Speaker 1: making ready to march against the Great Khan with all
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  Speaker 1: his forces, which were great, And he begged Kai Do
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  Speaker 1: to do likewise from his side, so that by attacking
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  Speaker 1: Kublai on two sides at once, with such great forces,
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  Speaker 1: they would be able to wrest his dominion from him.
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  Speaker 1: And when Kaiitu heard the message of Nayan, he was
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  Speaker 1: right glad thereat and thought the time was come at
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  Speaker 1: last to gain his object. So he sent back answer
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  Speaker 1: that he would do as requested, and got ready his host,
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  Speaker 1: which mustered a good hundred thousand horsemen. Now let us
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  Speaker 1: go back to the Great Khan, who had news of
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  Speaker 1: all this plot Chapter three, how the Great Khan marched
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  Speaker 1: against Nayan. When the Great Khan heard what was afoot,
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  Speaker 1: he made his preparations in right good heart, like one
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  Speaker 1: who feared not the issue of an attempt so contrary
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  Speaker 1: to justice. Confident in his own conduct and prowess, he
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  Speaker 1: was in no degree disturbed, but vowed that he would
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  Speaker 1: never wear a crown again if he brought not those
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  Speaker 1: two traitors and disloyal Tartar chiefs to an ill end.
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  Speaker 1: So swiftly and secretly were his preparations made that no
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  Speaker 1: one knew of them but his pre council, and all
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  Speaker 1: were completed within ten or twelve days. In that time
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  Speaker 1: he had assembled good three hundred sixty thousand horsemen and
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  Speaker 1: one hundred thousand footmen, but a small force, indeed for him,
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  Speaker 1: and consisting only of those that were in the vicinity
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  Speaker 1: for the rest of his vast and innumerable forces were
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  Speaker 1: too far off to answer so hasty a summons, being
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  Speaker 1: engaged under orders from him on distant expeditions to conquer
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  Speaker 1: diverse countries and provinces. If he had waited to summon
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  Speaker 1: all his troops, the multitude assembled would have been beyond
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  Speaker 1: all belief, a multitude such as never was heard of
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  Speaker 1: or told of, passed all counting. In fact, those three
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  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty thousand horsemen that he got together consisted
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  Speaker 1: merely of the falconers and whippers in that were about
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  Speaker 1: the court. And when he had got ready this handful,
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  Speaker 1: as it were, of his troops, he ordered his astrologers
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  Speaker 1: to declare whether he should gain the battle and get
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  Speaker 1: the better of his enemies. After they had made their observations,
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  Speaker 1: they told him to go on boldly, for he would
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  Speaker 1: conquer and gain a glorious victory, or had he greatly rejoiced.
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  Speaker 1: So he marched with his army, and after advancing for
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  Speaker 1: twenty days, they arrived at the great Plain, where Nayan
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  Speaker 1: lay with all his host, amounting to some four hundred
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  Speaker 1: thousand horse Now the Great Khan's forces arrived so fast
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  Speaker 1: and so suddenly that the others knew nothing of the matter,
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  Speaker 1: For the Khan had caused such strict watch to be
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  Speaker 1: made in every direction for scouts that every one that
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  Speaker 1: appeared was instantly captured. Thus Nayan had no warning of
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  Speaker 1: his coming and was completely taken by surprise, in so
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  Speaker 1: much that when the Great Khan's army came up, he
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  Speaker 1: was asleep in the arms of a wife of his,
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  Speaker 1: of whom he was extravagantly fond. So thus you see
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  Speaker 1: why it was that the Emperor equipped his force with
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  Speaker 1: such speed and secrecy. Chapter four of the battle that
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  Speaker 1: the Great Khan fought with Nayan. What shall I say
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  Speaker 1: about it? When they had well broken, there was the
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  Speaker 1: Khan with all his host, upon a hill overlooking the
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  Speaker 1: plain where Nayan lay in his tent, in all security,
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  Speaker 1: without the slightest thought of any one coming thither to
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  Speaker 1: do him hard. In fact, his confidence of his was
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  Speaker 1: such that he kept no fordets, whether in front or
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  Speaker 1: in rear, for he knew nothing of the coming of
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  Speaker 1: the Great Khan, owing to all the approaches having been
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  Speaker 1: completely occupied. As I told you moreover, the place was
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  Speaker 1: in a remote wilderness, more than thirty marches from the court,
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  Speaker 1: though the Khan had made the distance in twenty so
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  Speaker 1: eager was he to come to battle with Nayan. And
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  Speaker 1: what shall I tell you next? The Khan was there
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  Speaker 1: on the hill, mounted on a great wooden bartizan, which
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  Speaker 1: was borne by four well trained elephants, and over him
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  Speaker 1: was hoisted a standard so high aloft that it could
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  Speaker 1: be seen from all sides. His troops were ordered in
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  Speaker 1: battles of thirty thousand men apiece, and a great part
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  Speaker 1: of the horsemen had each a foot soldier armed with
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  Speaker 1: a lance set on the cropper behind him. For it
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  Speaker 1: was thus that the footmen were disposed of, and the
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  Speaker 1: whole plain seemed to be covered with his forces. So
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  Speaker 1: it was thus that the Great Khan's army was arrayed
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  Speaker 1: for battle. When Nayan and his people saw what had happened,
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  Speaker 1: they were sorely confounded and rushed in haste to arms. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: they made them ready in good style, and formed their
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  Speaker 1: troops in an orderly manner. And when all were in
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  Speaker 1: battle array on both sides, as I have told you,
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  Speaker 1: and nothing remained but to fall to blows, then might
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  Speaker 1: you have heard a sound rise of many instruments of
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  Speaker 1: various music, and of the voices of the whole of
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  Speaker 1: the two hosts loudly singing. For this is a custom
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  Speaker 1: of the Tartars, that before they joined battle, they all
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  Speaker 1: unite in singing and playing on a certain two stringed
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  Speaker 1: instrument of theirs, a thing right pleasant to hear. And
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  Speaker 1: so they continue in their array of battle, singing and
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  Speaker 1: playing in this pleasing manner until the great Nakara of
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  Speaker 1: the prince is heard the sound. As soon as that
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  Speaker 1: begins to sound, the fight also begins on both sides,
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  Speaker 1: and in no case before other princess nakara's sounds there
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  Speaker 1: any commends fighting. So then as they were thus singing
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  Speaker 1: and playing, though ordered and ready for battle, the great
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  Speaker 1: nakara of the Great Khan began to sound, and that
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  Speaker 1: of Nayan also began to sound, And thenceforward the din
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  Speaker 1: of battle began to be heard loudly from this side
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  Speaker 1: and from that, and they rushed to work, so doubtedly
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  Speaker 1: with their bows and their maces, with their lances and swords,
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  Speaker 1: and with the arblast to the footmen, that it was
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  Speaker 1: a wondrous sight to see. Now, might you behold such
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  Speaker 1: flights of arrows from this side and from that that
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  Speaker 1: the whole heaven was a canopied with them, and they
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  Speaker 1: fell like rain. Now might you see on this side
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  Speaker 1: and on that full many a cavalier and men at
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  Speaker 1: arms fall slain in so much that the whole field
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  Speaker 1: seemed covered with them. From this side and from that,
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  Speaker 1: such cries arose from the crowds of the wounded and dying,
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  Speaker 1: that that God thundered you would not have heard him.
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  Speaker 1: For fears and furious was the battle, and quarter there
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  Speaker 1: were none given. But why should I make a long
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  Speaker 1: story of it? You must know that it was the
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  Speaker 1: most parlous and fierce and fearful battle that ever has
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  Speaker 1: been fought in our day, Nor have there ever been
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  Speaker 1: such forces in the field in actual fight, especially of horsemen,
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  Speaker 1: as were then engaged. For taking both sides. There were
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  Speaker 1: not fewer than seven hundred sixty thousand horsemen, a mighty force,
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  Speaker 1: and that without reckoning the footmen, who were also very numerous.
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  Speaker 1: The battle endured with various fortune on this side and
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  Speaker 1: on that, from morning till noon. But at last, by
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  Speaker 1: God's pleasure and the right that was on his side,
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  Speaker 1: the Great Khan had the victory, and Nayan lost the
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  Speaker 1: battle and was utterly routed. For the army of the
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  Speaker 1: Great Khan performed such feats of arms that Nayan and
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  Speaker 1: his host could stand against them no longer. So they
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  Speaker 1: turned and fled. But this availed nothing for Nayan, for
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  Speaker 1: he and all the barons with him were taken prisoners
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  Speaker 1: and had the surrender to the Khan with all their arms.
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  Speaker 1: Now you must know that Nayan was a baptized Christian,
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  Speaker 1: and bore the cross on his banner. But this naught
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  Speaker 1: availed him, seeing how grievously he had done amiss in
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  Speaker 1: reveling against his lord. For he was the Great Khan's liegeman,
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  Speaker 1: who was bound to hold his lands of him, like
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  Speaker 1: all his ancestors before him. End of Section thirty three.