"'Ye, par ma fay,' quoth heo,
'A great merveille we wol telle the;
That is hennes in even way
The mountas of ten daies journey,
Thou shalt find trowes[5] two:
Seyntes and holy they buth bo;
Higher than in othir countray all.
ARBESET men heom callith.'
* * * * *
'Sire Kyng,' quod on, 'by myn eyghe
Either Trough is an hundrod feet hygh,
They stondith up into the skye;
That on to the Sonne, sikirlye;
That othir, we tellith the nowe,
Is sakret in the Mone vertue.'"
(Weber, I. 277.)
Weber's glossary gives "Arbeset = Strawberry Tree, arbous, arbousier,
arbutus"; but that is nonsense.
Further, in the French Prose Romance of Alexander, which is contained in
the fine volume in the British Museum known as the Shrewsbury Book (Reg.
XV. e. 6), though we do not find the Arbre Sec so named, we find it
described and pictorially represented. The Romance (fol. xiiii. v.)
describes Alexander and his chief companions as ascending a certain
mountain by 2500 steps which were attached to a golden chain. At the top
they find the golden Temple of the Sun and an old man asleep within.
It goes on: -
"Quant le viellart les vit si leur demanda s'ils vouloient veoir les
Arbres sacrez de la Lune et du Soleil que nous annuncent les choses qui
sont a avenir. Quant Alexandre ouy ce si fut rempli de mult grant ioye. Si
lui respondirent, 'Ouye sur, nous les voulons veoir.' Et cil lui dist, 'Se
tu es nez de prince malle et de femelle il te convient entrer en celui
lieu.' Et Alexandre lui respondi, 'Nous somes nez de compagne malle et de
femelle.' Dont se leve le viellart du lit ou il gesoit, et leur dist,
'Hostez vos vestemens et vos chauces.' Et Tholomeus et Antigonus et
Perdiacas le suivrent. Lors comencerent a aler parmy la forest qui estoit
enclose en merveilleux labour. Illec trouverent les arbres semblables a
loriers et oliviers. Et estoient de cent pies de haults, et decouroit
d'eulz incens ypobaume[6] a grant quantite. Apres entrerent plus avant en
la forest, et trouverent une arbre durement hault qui n'avoit ne fueille
ne fruit. Si seoit sur cet arbre une grant oysel qui avoit en son chief
une creste qui estoit semblable au paon, et les plumes du col
resplendissants come fin or. Et avoit la couleur de rose. Dont lui dist le
viellart, 'Cet oysel dont vous vous merveillez est appeles Fenis, lequel
n'a nul pareil en tout le monde.' Dont passerent outre, et allerent aux
Arbres du Soleil et de la Lune. Et quant ils y furent venus, si leur dist
le viellart, 'Regardez en haut, et pensez en votre coeur ce que vous
vouldrez demander, et ne le dites de la bouche.' Alisandre luy demanda en
quel language donnent les Arbres response aux gens. Et il lui respondit,
'L'Arbre du Soleil commence a parler Indien.' Dont baisa Alexandre les
arbres, et comenca en son ceur a penser s'il conquesteroit tout le monde
et retourneroit en Macedonie atout son ost. Dont lui respondit l'Arbre du
Soleil, 'Alexandre tu seras Roy de tout le monde, mais Macedonie tu ne
verras jamais,'" etc.
The appearance of the Arbre Sec in Maps of the 15th century, such as those
of Andrea Bianco (1436) and Fra Mauro (1459), may be ascribed to the
influence of Polo's own work; but a more genuine evidence of the
prevalence of the legend is found in the celebrated Hereford Map
constructed in the 13th century by Richard de Haldingham. This, in the
vicinity of India and the Terrestrial Paradise, exhibits a Tree with the
rubric "Albor Balsami est Arbor Sicca."
The legends of the Dry Tree were probably spun out of the words of the
Vulgate in Ezekiel xvii. 24: "Humiliavi lignum sublime et exaltavi lignum
humile; et siccavi lignum viride et frondescere feci lignum aridum."
Whether the Rue de l'Arbre Sec in Paris derives its name from the legend
I know not. [The name of the street is taken from an old sign-board; some
say it is derived from the gibbet placed in the vicinity, but this is more
than doubtful. - H. C.]
[Illustration: Commentles arbres du soleil et De la lune prophe tiserent
la mort alixandre.]
The actual tree to which Polo refers in the text was probably one of those
so frequent in Persia, to which age, position, or accident has attached a
character of sanctity, and which are styled Dirakht-i-Fazl, Trees of
Excellence or Grace, and often receive titles appropriate to Holy Persons.
Vows are made before them, and pieces torn from the clothes of the
votaries are hung upon the branches or nailed to the trunks. To a tree of
such a character, imposing in decay, Lucan compares Pompey:
"Stat magni nominis umbra.
Qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro,
Exuvias veteres populi sacrataque gestans
Dona ducum * * * * *
- Quamvis primo nutet casura sub Euro,
Tot circum silvae firmo se robore tollant,
Sola tamen colitur."
(Pharsalia, I. 135.)
The Tree of Mamre was evidently precisely one of this class; and those who
have crossed the Suez Desert before railway days will remember such a
Dirakht-i-Fazl, an aged mimosa, a veritable Arbre Seul (could we
accept that reading), that stood just half-way across the Desert,
streaming with the exuviae veteres of Mecca Pilgrims. The majority of
such holy trees in Persia appear to be Plane-trees. Admiration for the
beauty of this tree seems to have occasionally risen into superstitious
veneration from a very old date. Herodotus relates that the Carians, after
their defeat by the Persians on the Marsyas, rallied in the sacred grove
of Plane-trees at Labranda. And the same historian tells how, some years
later, Xerxes on his march to Greece decorated a beautiful Chinar with
golden ornaments.
