But The Phrase Would Also Seem
To Have Meant Saddle And Pack-Saddle.
Thus Cobarruvias explains the
phrase Hombre de dos sillas, "Conviene saber de la gineta y brida, ser
de silla y albarda (pack-saddle), servir de todo," and we find the
converse expression, No ser para silla ni para albarda, good for
nothing.
But for an example of the exact phrase of the French text I am indebted to
P. della Valle. Speaking of the Persian horses, he says: "Few of them are
of any great height, and you seldom see thoroughbreds among them; probably
because here they have no liking for such and don't seek to breed them.
For the most part they are of that very useful style that we call horses
for both saddles (che noi chiamiamo da due selle)" etc. (See
Cobarruvias, under Silla and Brida; Dice. de la Lengua Castellana por
la Real Academia Espanola, under Silla, Gineta, Brida; P. della Valle,
Let. XV. da Sciraz, sec. 3, vol. ii, p. 240.)
NOTE 3. - The supposed confusion between Adel and Aden does not affect this
chapter.
The "Soldan of Aden" was the Sultan of Yemen, whose chief residence was at
Ta'izz, North-East of Mokha. The prince reigning in Polo's day was Malik
Muzaffar Shamsuddin Abul Mahasen Yusuf. His father, Malik Mansur, a
retainer of the Ayubite Dynasty, had been sent by Saladin as Wazir to
Yemen, with his brother Malik Muazzam Turan Shah. After the death of the
latter, and of his successor, the Wazir assumed the government and became
the founder of a dynasty.
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