Either side strove hard to bring the
matter to a point and rout the enemy, but to no avail. And so the battle
went on till vesper-tide, and without victory on either side. Many a man
fell there; many a child was made an orphan there; many a lady widowed;
and many another woman plunged in grief and tears for the rest of her
days, I mean the mothers and the araines of those who fell.[NOTE 2]
So when they had fought till the sun was low they left off, and retired
each side to its tents. Those who were unhurt were so dead tired that they
were like to drop, and the wounded, who were many on both sides, were
moaning in their various degrees of pain; but all were more fit for rest
than fighting, so gladly they took their repose that night. And when
morning approached, King Caidu, who had news from his scouts that the
Great Kaan was sending a great army to reinforce his son, judged that it
was time to be off; so he called his host to saddle and mounted his horse
at dawn, and away they set on their return to their own country. And when
the Great Kaan's son and the grandson of Prester John saw that King Caidu
had retired with all his host, they let them go unpursued, for they were
themselves sorely fatigued and needed rest. So King Caidu and his host
rode and rode, till they came to their own realm of Great Turkey and to
Samarcand; and there they abode a long while without again making war.
[NOTE 3]
NOTE 1. - The names are uncertain. The G.T. has "one of whom was called
Tibai or Ciban"; Pauthier, as in the text.
The phrase about their being Kaidu's kinsmen is in the G.T., "qe
zinzinz (?) meisme estoient de Caidu roi."
NOTE 2. - Araines for Harims, I presume. In the narrative of a merchant
in Ramusio (II. 84, 86) we find the same word represented by Arin and
Arino.
NOTE 3. - The date at the beginning of the chapter is in G.T., and
Pauthier's MS. A, as we have given it. Pauthier substitutes 1276, as that
seems to be the date approximately connecting Prince Numughan with the
wars against Kaidu. In 1275 Kublai appointed Numughan to the command of
his N.W. frontier, with Ngantung or 'Antung, an able general, to assist
him in repelling the aggressions of Kaidu. In the same year Kaidu and Dua
Khan entered the Uighur country (W. and N.W. of Kamul), with more than
100,000 men. Two years later, viz., in 1277, Kaidu and Shireghi, a son of
Mangu Khan, engaged near Almalik (on the Hi) the troops of Kublai,
commanded by Numughan and 'Antung, and took both of them prisoners. The
invaders then marched towards Karakorum.
