From That Time I Could
Have No Time Nor Place To Expound To Him The Catholic Faith; For A Man
Must
not speak before him, unless what he pleaseth to order or allow, except he
were an ambassador, who may
Speak what he will, and they always demand of
such whether he has any thing more to say.
The soothsayers are the priests of the Mongals, and whatever they command
to be done is performed without delay. I shall describe their office, as I
learnt it from the goldsmith and others. Of these soothsayers there are
great numbers, under the direction of a chief priest, whose house is always
about a stone's throw in front of the great house of Mangu-khan, and under
his charge are all the chariots which carry idols. The other soothsayers
dwell behind the court, in places appointed for them; and such as have
confidence in their art come to consult them from various distant parts.
Some of them are skilful in astronomy, especially their chief, and they
foretel eclipses of the sun and moon. When these are to happen, all the
people prepare their food, that they may not be under the necessity of
going out of doors, and during the eclipse they play on various instruments
of music, and set up loud shouts: when it is over, they indulge in feasting
and carousing, to express their joy.
These soothsayers pretend to foretell lucky and unlucky days for all
affairs; and the Tartars never levy an army, or undertake a war without
their approbation. They had long since resumed their attack on Hungary, but
that the soothsayers have always opposed it. They make every thing which is
sent to court pass between two fires, as a purification, likewise, all the
household stuff belonging to a dead person must be purged in the same
manner; and, if any living creature drop down, or any thing whatever fall
to the ground during the ceremony, it becomes the property of the
soothsayers, who, besides, have a certain proportion of every thing which
they purify as their due. There was, therefore, a twofold reason why Friar
Andrew Carpini was made to pass between the fires; both because he brought
presents, and because Con-khan, for whom these had been brought, was dead:
But as I brought nothing, this was not required of me.
Once on a time, some very costly furs were presented at the court of the
Christian lady, whom Pascha, the good woman of Metz served, and the
soothsayers, in passing them between the fires, took more than was their
due. Another woman, who had the custody of the treasures belonging to that
lady, accused them of the fraud to her mistress, who reproved them severely
for their conduct. Sometime afterwards the lady fell sick, and the
soothsayers accused the servant, who had detected their fraud, of having
bewitched her. She received the bastinado for seven days successively, and
other tortures, to make her confess; and on hearing of her mistress's
death, begged to be killed that she might follow her, for that, in truth,
she had never done her the smallest injury. But, as she confessed nothing,
Mangu-khan commanded that she should live. After this the soothsayers
accused the daughters nurse of the deceased lady, which nurse was a
Christian, and wife to the chief of the Nestorian priests. She and her
servant-maid were tortured to make a confession, and the maid answered,
that the nurse had sent her to receive responses from a certain horse. The
nurse also confessed that she had used some spells to procure the love of
her lady, but had never done any thing to hurt her. On being demanded to
say whether her husband knew of her incantations, she excused him, saying
that he had burnt the characters which she had made. Then she was put to
death, and the husband was sent to be judged by his bishop in Kathay.
It happened that the principal wife of Mangu brought forth a son, and the
soothsayers were brought to foretell the destiny of the infant, when they
prophesied that he should live long and prosperously, and become a great
lord; but he died in a few days. On being reproached for their falsehood,
they said that the nurse of Cerina, who had been lately put to death, had
killed the boy, and pretended to have seen her carrying him away. There
were then in the camp a son and daughter of the nurse, whom the lady
immediately sent for in a rage, and ordered them to be put to death. Some
time afterwards this came to the ears of Mangu-khan, who was much enraged
at the conduct of his wife. He caused the man to be beheaded who had slain
the nurses son, and made his head to be hung round the neck of the woman
who had killed her daughter, ordering her to be cudgelled with burning
fire-brands, through among all the tents, and then put to death. He would
also have put his wife to death if it had not been for the sake of the
children he had by her; but he commanded her to be shut up for seven days
without food, and went out from his court for a whole, moon.
After the feast of Pentecost, they began to prepare their letters for your
Majesty, and, in the mean time, the khan returned to Caracarum, and held a
great feast on the 15th of June, at which all the ambassadors were desired
to be present, but I went to church to baptize the three children of a poor
German. William the goldsmith was chief butler at this feast, as he had the
charge of the silver tree which poured out the drink. On this occasion the
khan gave, during four successive days, a complete suit of apparel each day
to all his courtiers, every day a new colour; and he made them a speech,
saying, "I have sent my brothers afar into dangers among foreign nations;
it shall be seen how you will conduct yourselves when I send you to extend
the boundaries of our empire."
At this time there was an ambassador at the court from the khans of Bagdat,
of whom it was reported, when Mangu declared he would not grant them peace
unless they would destroy all their warlike ammunition, that he answered,
"We will do this when you pluck off all the hoofs from your horses." I saw
there, also, the ambassadors from a soldan of India, who brought with him
eight leopards and ten hare-hounds who were taught to sit on a horses croup
in hunting, like the leopards.
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