That Is The Sort Of Answer They Get If
The Patient Is To Get Well.
And then the kinsfolk of the sick man go and
procure all that has been commanded, and do as has been bidden, and the
conjuror who had uttered all that gets on his legs again.
So they fetch the sheep of the colour prescribed, and slaughter them, and
sprinkle the blood over such places as have been enjoined, in honour and
propitiation of the spirit. And the conjurors come, and the ladies, in the
number that was ordered, and when all are assembled and everything is
ready, they begin to dance and play and sing in honour of the spirit. And
they take flesh-broth and drink and lign-aloes, and a great number of
lights, and go about hither and thither, scattering the broth and the
drink and the meat also. And when they have done this for a while, again
shall one of the conjurors fall flat and wallow there foaming at the
mouth, and then the others will ask if he have yet pardoned the sick man?
And sometimes he shall answer yea! and sometimes he shall answer no! And
if the answer be no, they shall be told that something or other has
to be done all over again, and then he will be pardoned; so this they do.
And when all that the spirit has commanded has been done with great
ceremony, then it shall be announced that the man is pardoned and shall be
speedily cured. So when they at length receive such a reply, they announce
that it is all made up with the spirit, and that he is propitiated, and
they fall to eating and drinking with great joy and mirth, and he who had
been lying lifeless on the ground gets up and takes his share. So when
they have all eaten and drunken, every man departs home. And presently the
sick man gets sound and well.[NOTE 12]
Now that I have told you of the customs and naughty ways of that people,
we will have done talking of them and their province, and I will tell you
about others, all in regular order and succession.
NOTE 1. - [Baber writes (Travels, p. 171) when arriving to the
Lan-tsang kiang (Mekong River): "We were now on the border-line between
Carajan and Zardandan: 'When you have travelled five days you find a
province called Zardandan,' says Messer Marco, precisely the actual number
of stages from Tali-fu to the present boundary of Yung-ch'ang. That this
river must have been the demarcation between the two provinces is obvious;
one glance into that deep rift, the only exit from which is by painful
worked artificial zigzags which, under the most favourable conditions,
cannot be called safe, will satisfy the most sceptical geographer. The
exact statement of distance is a proof that Marco entered the territory of
Yung-ch'ang." Captain Gill says (II. p. 343-344) that the five marches of
Marco Polo "would be very long ones. Our journey was eight days, but it
might easily have been done in seven, as the first march to Hsia-Kuan was
not worthy of the name. The Grosvenor expedition made eleven marches with
one day's halt - twelve days altogether, and Mr. Margary was nine or ten
days on the journey. It is true that, by camping out every night, the
marches might be longer; and, as Polo refers to the crackling of the
bamboos in the fires, it is highly probable that he found no 'fine
hostelries' on this route. This is the way the traders still travel in
Tibet; they march until they are tired, or until they find a nice grassy
spot; they then off saddles, turn their animals loose, light a fire under
some adjacent tree, and halt for the night; thus the longest possible
distance can be performed every day, and the five days from Ta-li to
Yung-Ch'ang would not be by any means an impossibility." - H.C.]
NOTE 2. - Ramusio says that both men and women use this gold case. There
can be no better instance of the accuracy with which Polo is generally
found to have represented Oriental names, when we recover his real
representation of them, than this name Zardandan. In the old Latin
editions the name appeared as Ardandan, Ardadam, etc.; in
Ramusio as Cardandan, correctly enough, only the first letter
should have been printed C. Marsden, carrying out his systematic
conversion of the Ramusian spelling, made this into Kardandan, and
thus the name became irrecognizable. Klaproth, I believe, first showed
that the word was simply the Persian ZAR-DANDAN, "Gold-Teeth," and
produced quotations from Rashiduddin mentioning the people in question by
that identical name. Indeed that historian mentions them several times.
Thus: "North-west of China is the frontier of Tibet, and of the ZARDANDAN,
who lie between Tibet and Karajang. These people cover their teeth with a
gold case, which they take off when they eat." They are also frequently
mentioned in the Chinese annals about this period under the same name,
viz. Kin-Chi, "Gold-Teeth," and some years after Polo's departure
from the East they originated a revolt against the Mongol yoke, in which a
great number of the imperial troops were massacred. (De Mailla, IX.
478-479.)
[Baber writes (p. 159): "In Western Yuennan the betel-nut is chewed with
prepared lime, colouring the teeth red, and causing a profuse
expectoration. We first met with the practice near Tali-fu.
"Is it not possible that the red colour imparted to the teeth by the
practice of chewing betel with lime may go some way to account for the
ancient name of this region, 'Zar-dandan,' 'Chin-Ch'ih,' or
'Golden-Teeth'? Betel-chewing is, of course, common all over China; but
the use of lime is almost unknown and the teeth are not necessarily
discoloured.
"In the neighbourhood of Tali, one comes suddenly upon a lime-chewing
people, and is at once struck with the strange red hue of their teeth and
gums.
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