Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 030 - Book First Chapters 52 to 54 Concerning the customs of the Tartars Concerning the God of the Tartars

Transcript

030 - Book First Chapters 52 to 54 Concerning the customs of the Tartars Concerning the God of the Tartars · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Section thirty of the Book of Sir Marco Polo, the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volume one.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Onossimon The Book of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: ser Marco Polo the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: of the East, Volume one, Parusicello de Pisa, translated by
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Henry Yule, Book first Chapters fifty two to fifty four,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Chapter fifty two concerning the customs of the Tartars. Now
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: that we've begun to speak of the Tartars, I've plenty
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: to tell you on that subject. The Tartar custom is
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to spend the winter in warm plains, where they find
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: good pasture for their cattle, whilst in summer they betake
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: themselves to a cool climate among the mountains and valleys,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: where water is to be found as well as woods
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and pastures. Their houses are circular and are made of
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: ones covered with felts. These are carried along with them
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: whithersoever they go, for the ones are so strongly bound together,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and likewise so well combined that the frame can be
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: made very light. Whenever they erect these huts, the door
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: is always to the south. They also have wagons covered
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: with black felt, so efficaciously that no rain can get in.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: These are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and children travel in them. The women do the buying
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and selling, and whatever is necessary to provide for the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: husband and household. For the men. All lead the live
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: of gentlemen, troubling themselves about nothing but hunting and hawking,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and looking after the gosh, hawks and falcons, unless it
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: be the practice of warlike exercises. They live on the
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: milk and meat which their herds supply, and on the
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: produce of the chase, and they eat all kinds of flesh,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: including that of horses and dogs and Pharaoh's rats, of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: which last there are great numbers in burrows on those plains.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Their drink is Mas's milk. They are very careful not
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to meddle with each other's wives, and will not do
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: so on any account, holding that to be an evil
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: and abominable thing. The women, too are very good and
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: loyal to their husbands, and notable housewives withal ten or
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: twenty of them will dwell together in charming peace and unity.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Nor shall you ever hear an ill word among them.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: The marriage customs of Tartars are as follows. Any man
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: may take a hundred wives any so please, and if
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: he be able to keep them. But the first wife
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: is ever held most in honor and as the most legitimate,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: And the same applies to the sons whom she may bear.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: The husband gives a marriage payment to his wife's mother,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: and the wife brings nothing to her husband. They have
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: more children than other people because they have so many wives.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: They may marry their cousins. And if a father dies,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: his son may take any of the wives his own
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: mother always accepted. That is to say, the eldest son
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: may do this, but no other. A man may also
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: take the wife of his own brother after the latter's death.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Their weddings are celebrated with great ado Chapter fifty three
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: concerning the God of the Tartars. This is the fashion
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: of their religion. They say there is a most high
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: god of heaven, whom they worship daily with thurible and incense.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: But they pray to him only for health of mind
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and body. But they have also a certain other god
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of theirs, called Nuttigai, and they say he is the
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: god of the earth who watches over their children Catalan crops.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: They show him great worship and honor, and every man
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: has the figure of him in his house, made of
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: felt and cloth, and they also make in the same
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: manner images of his wife and children. The wife they
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: put on a left hand, and the children in front.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: And when they eat, they take the fat of the
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: meat and grease the god's mouth with a wool, as
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: well as the mouths of his wife and children. Then
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: they take off the broth and sprinkle it before the
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: door of the house, and that done they deem that
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: their God and his family have had their share of
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: the dinner. Their drink is mare's milk, prepared in such
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: a way that you would take it for white wine,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: and a right good drink. It is called by them camise.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: The clothes of the wealthy Tartars are for the most
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: part of gold and silk stuffs, lined with costly furs
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: such as sable and ermine, there and fogskin in the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: richest fashion. Chapter fifty four concerning the Tartar customs of war,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: all their harness of war is excellent and costly. Their
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: arms are bows and arrows, salt and maize, but above
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: all the bow, for they are capital arches, indeed the
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: best that are known. On their backs they wear armor
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: of kerbulli prepared from buffalo and other hides, which is
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: very strong. They are excellent soldiers and passing valiant in battle.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: They are also more capable of hardships than other nations.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: For many a time, if need be, they will go
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: for a month without any supply of food, living only
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: on the milk of their mares, and on such game
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: as their bows may win them. Their horses also will
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: subsist entirely on the grass of the plains, so that
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: there is no need to carry store of barley, or
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: straw or oats, and they are very docile to their riders. These,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: in case of need, will abide on horseback the lifelong night,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: armed at all points, while the horse will be continually grazing.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Of all troops in the world, these are they which
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: endure the greatest hardship and fatigue, and which cost the least,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: And they are the best of all for making wide
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: conquests of country. And this you will perceive from what
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: you have heard and shall hear in this book, And
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: as a fact, there can be no manner of doubt
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: that now they are the masters of the biggest half
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: of the world. Their troops are admirably ordered in the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: manner that I shall now relate. You see, when a
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: U Tatar prince goes forth to war, he takes with him, say,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: one hundred thousand horse Well, he appoints an officer to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: every ten men, one to every hundred, one to every thousand,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and one to every ten thousand, so that his own
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: orders have to be given to ten persons only, and
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: each of these ten persons has to pass the orders
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: only to other ten, and so on, no one having
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: to give orders to more than ten, and every one
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: in turn is responsible only to the officer immediately over him.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: And a discipline and order that comes of this method
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: is marvelous, for they are people very obedient to their chiefs. Further,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: they call the corps of one hundred thousand men a tuck,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: that of ten thousand they call a tauman. The thousand
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: they call blank, the hundred gus the ten blank. And
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: when the army is on the march, they have always
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: two hundred horsemen, very well mounted, who are sent a
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: distance of two marches in advance to reconnoiter, and these
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: always keep ahead. They have a similar party detached in
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: the rear and on either flank, so that there is
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: a good lookout kept on all sides against the surprise.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: When they are going on a distant expedition, they take
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: no gear with them except two leather bottles from milk,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: a little earthenware pot to cook their meat in, and
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: a little tent to shelter them from rain. And in
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: case of great urgency, they will ride ten days on
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: end without lighting a fire or taking a meal. On
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: such an occasion they will sustain themselves on the blood
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: of their horses, opening a vein and letting the blood
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: jest into their mouths, drinking till they have had enough,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: and then staunching it. They also have milk dried into
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: a kind of paste to carry with them, and when
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: they need food they put this in water and beat
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: it up till it dissolves, and then drink it. It
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: is prepared in this way, they boil the milk, and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: when the rich pot floats on the top, they skim
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: it into another vessel, and of that they make butter
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: for the milk will not become solid till this is removed.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Then they put the milk in the sun to dry.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: And when they go on an expedition, every man takes
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: some ten pounds of this dried milk with him, And
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: morning he will take a half pound of it and
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: put it in his leather bottle with as much water
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: as he pleases. So as he rides along, the milk
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: pace and the water in the bottle get well churned
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: together into a kind of pap and that makes his dinner.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: When they come to an engagement with the enemy, they
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: will gain the victory in this fashion. They never let
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: themselves get into a regular medley, but keep perpetually riding
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: round and shooting into the enemy. And as they do
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: not count it any shame to run away in battle,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: they will sometimes pretend to do so. And in running
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: away they turn in the saddle and shoot hard and
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: strong at the foe, and in this way make great havoc.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Their horses are trained so perfectly that they will double
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: hither and thither just like a dog, in a way
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: that is quite astonishing. Thus they fight to his good
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: purpose in running away, as if they stood and faced
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: the enemy. Because of the vast volleys of arrows that
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: they shoot in this way, turning round upon their sewers,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: who are fancying that they have won the battle. But
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: when the Tartars see that they have killed and wounded
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a good many horses and men, they will round bodily
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: and return to the charge in perfect order and with
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: loud cries, and in a very short time the enemy
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: are routed. In truth, they are stout and valiant soldiers,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: and inured to war. And you perceive that it is
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: just when the enemy sees them run and imagines that
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: he has gained the battle, that he has in reality
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: lost it. For the Tartars wheel round in a moment
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: when they judge the right time has come, And after
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: this fashion they have won many a fight. All this
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: that I have been telling you is true of the
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: manners and customs of the genuine Tartars. But I must
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: add also that in these days they are greatly degenerated.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: For those who are settled in Cathai have taken up
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: the practices of the other lators of the country and
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: have abandoned their own institutions, whilst those who have settled
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: in a levant have adopted the customs of the saracens.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: End of Section thirty