What shall I say then? He advanced to five cities in succession, but got
possession of none of them; for he did not wish to engage in besieging
them and they would not give themselves up. But when he came to the sixth
city he took that by storm, and so with a second, and a third, and a
fourth, until he had taken twelve cities in succession. And when he had
taken all these he advanced straight against the capital city of the
kingdom, which was called KINSAY, and which was the residence of the King
and Queen.
And when the King beheld Bayan coming with all his host, he was in great
dismay, as one unused to see such sights. So he and a great company of his
people got on board a thousand ships and fled to the islands of the Ocean
Sea, whilst the Queen who remained behind in the city took all measures in
her power for its defence, like a valiant lady.
Now it came to pass that the Queen asked what was the name of the captain
of the host, and they told her that it was Bayan Hundred-Eyes. So when she
wist that he was styled Hundred-Eyes, she called to mind how their
astrologers had foretold that a man of an hundred eyes should strip them
of the kingdom.[NOTE 5] Wherefore she gave herself up to Bayan, and
surrendered to him the whole kingdom and all the other cities and
fortresses, so that no resistance was made. And in sooth this was a goodly
conquest, for there was no realm on earth half so wealthy.[NOTE 6] The
amount that the King used to expend was perfectly marvellous; and as an
example I will tell you somewhat of his liberal acts.
In those provinces they are wont to expose their newborn babes; I speak of
the poor, who have not the means of bringing them up. But the King used to
have all those foundlings taken charge of, and had note made of the signs
and planets under which each was born, and then put them out to nurse
about the country. And when any rich man was childless he would go to the
King and obtain from him as many of these children as he desired. Or, when
the children grew up, the King would make up marriages among them, and
provide for the couples from his own purse. In this manner he used to
provide for some 20,000 boys and girls every year.[NOTE 7]
I will tell you another thing this King used to do. If he was taking a
ride through the city and chanced to see a house that was very small and
poor standing among other houses that were fine and large, he would ask
why it was so, and they would tell him it belonged to a poor man who had
not the means to enlarge it. Then the King would himself supply the means.
And thus it came to pass that in all the capital of the kingdom of Manzi,
Kinsay by name, you should not see any but fine houses.
This King used to be waited on by more than a thousand young gentlemen and
ladies, all clothed in the richest fashion. And he ruled his realm with
such justice that no malefactors were to be found therein. The city in
fact was so secure that no man closed his doors at night, not even in
houses and shops that were full of all sorts of rich merchandize. No one
could do justice in the telling to the great riches of that country, and
to the good disposition of the people. Now that I have told you about the
kingdom, I will go back to the Queen.
You must know that she was conducted to the Great Kaan, who gave her an
honourable reception, and caused her to be served with all state, like a
great lady as she was. But as for the King her husband, he never more did
quit the isles of the sea to which he had fled, but died there. So leave
we him and his wife and all their concerns, and let us return to our
story, and go on regularly with our account of the great province of Manzi
and of the manners and customs of its people. And, to begin at the
beginning, we must go back to the city of Coiganju, from which we
digressed to tell you about the conquest of Manzi.
NOTE 1. - Faghfur or Baghbur was a title applied by old Persian and
Arabic writers to the Emperor of China, much in the way that we used to
speak of the Great Mogul, and our fathers of the Sophy. It is, as
Neumann points out, an old Persian translation of the Chinese title
Tien-tzu, "Son of Heaven"; Bagh-Pur = "The Son of the Divinity," as
Sapor or Shah-Pur = "The Son of the King." Faghfur seems to have been
used as a proper name in Turkestan. (See Baber, 423.)
There is a word, Takfur, applied similarly by the Mahomedans to the
Greek emperors of both Byzantium and Trebizond (and also to the Kings of
Cilician Armenia), which was perhaps adopted as a jingling match to the
former term; Faghfur, the great infidel king in the East; Takfur, the
great infidel king in the West. Defremery says this is Armenian,
Tagavor, "a king." (I.B., II.
