Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 021 - Book First Chapters 11 to 15 Of the noble city of Tauris Of the monastery of Saint Barsamo on the bo

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021 - Book First Chapters 11 to 15 Of the noble city of Tauris Of the monastery of Saint Barsamo on the bo · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty one 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 to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Lynn Thompson. 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 da Pisa,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Henry Yule, Section twenty one, book first Chapters
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  Speaker 1: eleven to fifteen of the Noble City of Taurus, of
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  Speaker 1: the Monastery of Saint Barsama, on the Borders of Taurus,
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  Speaker 1: of the Great Country of Persia, with some account of
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  Speaker 1: the three Kings, how the three Kings return to their
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  Speaker 1: own country, of the eight Kingdoms of Persia, and how
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  Speaker 1: they are aimed Chapter eleven of the Noble City of Taurus.
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  Speaker 1: Taurus is a great and noble city situated in a
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  Speaker 1: great province called Iraq, in which are many other towns
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  Speaker 1: and villages, But as Taurus is the most noble, I
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  Speaker 1: will tell you about it. The men of Taurus get
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  Speaker 1: their living by trade and handicrafts, for they weave many
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  Speaker 1: kinds of beautiful and valuable stuffs of silk and gold.
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  Speaker 1: The city has such a good position that merchandise is
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  Speaker 1: brought thither from India, borders, Kremisaur and many other regions,
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  Speaker 1: and that attracts many Latin merchants, especially Genoese, to buy
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  Speaker 1: goods and transact other business there. The more as it
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  Speaker 1: is also a great market for precious stones. It is
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  Speaker 1: a city in fact where merchants make large profits. The
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  Speaker 1: people of the place are themselves poor creatures and are
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  Speaker 1: a great medley of diffent classes. There are Armenians, Nestorians, Jacobites, Georgians, Persians,
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  Speaker 1: and finally the natives of the city themselves, who are
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  Speaker 1: worshipers of Muhammad. These last are a very evil generation.
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  Speaker 1: They are known as Torresi. The city is all girt
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  Speaker 1: round with charming gardens, full of many varieties of large
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  Speaker 1: and excellent fruits. Now we will quit Taurus and speak
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  Speaker 1: of the great country of Persia. From Taurus to Persia
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  Speaker 1: is a journey of twelve days, Chapter twelve of the
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  Speaker 1: Monastery of Saint Barsamo. On the borders of Taurus, on
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  Speaker 1: the borders of the territory of Taurus. There is a
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  Speaker 1: monastery called after Saint Barsamo, a most devout saint. There
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  Speaker 1: is an abbot with many monks who wear a habit
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  Speaker 1: like that of the Carmelites, and these, to avoid idleness,
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  Speaker 1: are continually knitting wooden girdles. These they place upon the
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  Speaker 1: altar of Saint Balsamo during the service, and when they
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  Speaker 1: go begging about the province, like the brethren of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, they present them to their friends and to
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  Speaker 1: the gentlefolks, for they are excellent things to remove bodily pain.
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  Speaker 1: Wherefore every one is devoutly eager to possess them. Chapter
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  Speaker 1: thirteen of the Great Country of Persia, with some account
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  Speaker 1: of the Three Kings. Persia is a great country which
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  Speaker 1: was in old times very illustrious and powerful, but now
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  Speaker 1: the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it. In Persia is
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  Speaker 1: the city of Sabah from which the three mage eyes
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  Speaker 1: set out when they went to worship Jesus Christ. And
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  Speaker 1: in this city they are buried in three very large
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  Speaker 1: and beautiful monuments, side by side, and above them there
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  Speaker 1: is a square building carefully kept. The bodies are still entire,
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  Speaker 1: with the hair and beard remaining. One of these was
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  Speaker 1: called Jasper, the second Melchior, and the third Balfazar. Messermaco
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  Speaker 1: Polo asked a great many questions of the people of
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  Speaker 1: that city as to those three magi, but never one
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  Speaker 1: could he find that new aught of the matter, except
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  Speaker 1: that these were three kings who were buried there in
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  Speaker 1: days of old. However, at a place three days journey distant,
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  Speaker 1: he heard of what I am going to tell you.
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  Speaker 1: He found a village there which goes by the name
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  Speaker 1: of color Ataperestan, which is, as much to say, the
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  Speaker 1: castle of the fire worshippers. And the name is rightly applied,
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  Speaker 1: for the people there do worship fire. And I will
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  Speaker 1: tell you why they relate that. In old times, three
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  Speaker 1: kings of that country went away to worship a prophet
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  Speaker 1: that was born, and they carried with them three manner
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  Speaker 1: of offerings, gold and frankincense and myrrh, in order to
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  Speaker 1: ascertain whether the prophet were God or an earthly king,
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  Speaker 1: or a physician. For said they, if he take the gold,
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  Speaker 1: then he is an earthly king. If he take the incense,
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  Speaker 1: he is God. If he take the mrh, he is
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  Speaker 1: a physician. So it came to pass when they had
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  Speaker 1: come to the place where the child was born. The
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  Speaker 1: youngest of the three kings went in first and found
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  Speaker 1: the child apparently just of his own age, so he
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  Speaker 1: went forth again, marveling greatly. The middle one entered next,
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  Speaker 1: and like the first, he found the child seemingly of
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  Speaker 1: his own age, so he also went forth again and
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  Speaker 1: marveled greatly. Lastly, the eldest went in, and as it
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  Speaker 1: had befallen the other two, so it befell him. And
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  Speaker 1: he went forth very pensive. And when the three had
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  Speaker 1: rejoined one another, each told what he had seen, and
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  Speaker 1: then they all marveled the more so they agreed to
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  Speaker 1: go in, all three together, and on doing so, they
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  Speaker 1: beheld the child with the appearance of its actual age,
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  Speaker 1: to wit some thirteen days. Then they adored and presented
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  Speaker 1: their gold and incense and myrrh, and the child took
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  Speaker 1: all the three offerings, and then gave them a small
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  Speaker 1: closed box, whereupon the kings departed to return to their
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  Speaker 1: own land. Chapter fourteen. What befell When the three kings
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  Speaker 1: returned to their own country, and when they had ridden
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  Speaker 1: many days, they said they would see what the child
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  Speaker 1: had given them so they opened the little box, and
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  Speaker 1: inside they found a stone. On seeing this, they began
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  Speaker 1: to wonder what this might be that the Child had
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  Speaker 1: given them, and what was the import thereof? Now the
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  Speaker 1: signification was this, When they presented their offerings, the Child
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  Speaker 1: had accepted all three, And when they saw that, they
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  Speaker 1: had said within themselves that he was the true God,
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  Speaker 1: and the true King, and the true physician. And what
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  Speaker 1: the gift of the stone implied was that this faith
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  Speaker 1: which had begun in them should abide firm rock. For
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  Speaker 1: He well knew what was in their thoughts. Howbeit they
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  Speaker 1: had no understanding at all of this signification of the
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  Speaker 1: gift of the stone. So they cast it into a well.
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  Speaker 1: Then straightway a fire from heaven descended into that well
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  Speaker 1: wherein the stone had been cast. And when the three
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  Speaker 1: kings beheld this marvel, they were sore amazed, and it
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  Speaker 1: greatly repented them that they had cast away the stone.
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  Speaker 1: For well, they then perceived that it had a great
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  Speaker 1: and holy meaning. So they took of that fire and
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  Speaker 1: carried it into their own country and placed it in
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  Speaker 1: a rich and beautiful church. And there the people keep
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  Speaker 1: it continually burning and worship it as a god. And
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  Speaker 1: all the sacrifices they offer are kindled with that fire.
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  Speaker 1: And if ever the fire becomes extinct, they go to
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  Speaker 1: other cities round about where the same faith is held
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  Speaker 1: and obtain of that fire from them and carry it
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  Speaker 1: to the church. And this is the reason why the
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  Speaker 1: people of the country worship fire. They will often go
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  Speaker 1: ten days journey to get of that fire. Such then,
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  Speaker 1: was the story told by the people of that castle
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  Speaker 1: to Messamacho Polo. They declared to him for a truth,
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  Speaker 1: that such was their history, and that one of the
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  Speaker 1: three kings was of the very city called Sabah, and
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  Speaker 1: the second from Ava, and the third of that very
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  Speaker 1: castle where they still worshiped fire with the people of
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  Speaker 1: all the country round about. Having related this story, I
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  Speaker 1: will now tell you of the different provinces of Persia
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  Speaker 1: and their peculiarities. Chapter fifteen of the eight Kingdoms of
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  Speaker 1: Persia and how they are named. Now you must know
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  Speaker 1: that Persia is a very great country and contains eight kingdoms.
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  Speaker 1: I will tell you the names of them all. The
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  Speaker 1: first kingdom is that at the beginning of Persia and
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  Speaker 1: is called Kasvin. The second is further to the south
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  Speaker 1: and is called Kurdistan. The third is Law, the fourth Sulstan,
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  Speaker 1: the fifth Isthanit, the sixth Serazi, the seventh Sonkara, the
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  Speaker 1: eighth Tanakhane, which is at the further extremity of Persia.
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  Speaker 1: All these kingdoms lie in a southerly direction, except one
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  Speaker 1: to wit Tanukhan, that lies towards the east and borders
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  Speaker 1: on the country of Arbasal. In this country of Persia
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  Speaker 1: there is a great supply of fine horses, and people
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  Speaker 1: take them to India for sale, for they are horses
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  Speaker 1: of great price, a single one being worth as much
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  Speaker 1: of their money as is equal to two hundred livres
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  Speaker 1: tour nois. Some will be more, some less, according to
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  Speaker 1: the quality. Here also are the finest asses in the world,
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  Speaker 1: one of them being worth full thirty marks of silver,
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  Speaker 1: for they are very large and fast and acquire a
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  Speaker 1: capit amble. Dealers carry their horses to Kisi and Commosa,
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  Speaker 1: two cities on the shores of the Sea of India,
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  Speaker 1: and there they meet with merchants who take the horses
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  Speaker 1: onto India for sale. In this country there are many
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  Speaker 1: cruel and murderous people, so that no day passes, but
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  Speaker 1: there is some homicide among them. Were it not for
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  Speaker 1: the government, which is that of the Tartars of the Levant.
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  Speaker 1: They would do great mischief to merchants and indeed morga
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  Speaker 1: the government. They often succeed in doing such mischief. Unless
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  Speaker 1: merchants be well armed, they run the risk of being
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  Speaker 1: murdered or at least dropped for everything, and it sometimes
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  Speaker 1: happens that a whole party perishes in this way when
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  Speaker 1: not on their guard. The people are all Saracens, i e.
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  Speaker 1: Followers of the law of Muhammet. In the cities there
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  Speaker 1: are traders and artisans who live by their labour and
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  Speaker 1: craftswathing cloths and gold and silk stuffs of sundry kind.
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  Speaker 1: They have plenty of cotton produced in the country, and
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  Speaker 1: abundance of wheat, barley, millet, panic and wine with fruits
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  Speaker 1: of all kinds. Some one may say, but the Saracens
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  Speaker 1: don't drink wine, which is prohibited by their law. The
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  Speaker 1: answer is that they gloss their text in this way,
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  Speaker 1: that if the wine be boiled so that a part
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  Speaker 1: is dissipated and the rest becomes sweet, they may drink
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  Speaker 1: without breach of the commandment, for it is then no
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  Speaker 1: longer called wine, the name being changed with the change
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  Speaker 1: of flavor end of Section twenty one