They have an Ecclesiastical
Calendar as we have; and there are five days in the month that they
observe particularly; and on these five days they would on no account
either slaughter any animal or eat flesh meat. On those days, moreover,
they observe much greater abstinence altogether than on other days.[NOTE
3]
Among these people a man may take thirty wives, more or less, if he can
but afford to do so, each having wives in proportion to his wealth and
means; but the first wife is always held in highest consideration. The men
endow their wives with cattle, slaves, and money, according to their
ability. And if a man dislikes any one of his wives, he just turns her off
and takes another. They take to wife their cousins and their fathers'
widows (always excepting the man's own mother), holding to be no sin many
things that we think grievous sins, and, in short, they live like
beasts.[NOTE 4]
Messer Maffeo and Messer Marco Polo dwelt a whole year in this city when
on a mission.[NOTE 5]
Now we will leave this and tell you about other provinces towards the
north, for we are going to take you a sixty days' journey in that
direction.
NOTE 1. - Campichiu is undoubtedly Kanchau, which was at this time, as
Pauthier tells us, the chief city of the administration of Kansuh
corresponding to Polo's Tangut. Kansuh itself is a name compounded of
the names of the two cities Kan-chau and Suh-chau.
[Kanchau fell under the Tangut dominion in 1208. (Palladius, p. 10.) The
Musulmans mentioned by Polo at Shachau and Kanchau probably came from
Khotan. - H. C.]
The difficulties that have been made about the form of the name
Campiciou, etc., in Polo, and the attempts to explain these, are
probably alike futile. Quatremere writes the Persian form of the name
after Abdurrazzak as Kamtcheou, but I see that Erdmann writes it after
Rashid, I presume on good grounds, as Ckamidschu, i.e. Kamiju or
Kamichu. And that this was the Western pronunciation of the name is
shown by the form which Pegolotti uses, Camexu, i.e. Camechu. The p in
Polo's spelling is probably only a superfluous letter, as in the
occasional old spelling of dampnum, contempnere, hympnus,
tirampnus, sompnour, Dampne Deu. In fact, Marignolli writes Polo's
Quinsai as Campsay.
It is worthy of notice that though Ramusio's text prints the names of
these two cities as Succuir and Campion, his own pronunciation of them
appears to have been quite well understood by the Persian traveller Hajji
Mahomed, for it is perfectly clear that the latter recognized in these
names Suhchau and Kanchau. (See Ram. II. f. 14v.) The second volume of
the Navigationi, containing Polo, was published after Ramusio's death,
and it is possible that the names as he himself read them were more
correct (e.g. Succiur, Campjou).
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