When I Asked Of Them, The Way To India, They
Pointed To The West, And They Travelled With Me, On Our Return, Always
Westwards, For Nearly Three Weeks.
I also saw there the ambassador of the
sultan of Turkey, who brought rich presents to the khan.
At length the
letters being ready for your majesty, they called for me and explained
them, and the following is their substance, so far as I could understand
them by my interpreter:
"The commandment of the Eternal GOD is this: As there is but one Eternal
GOD in heaven, so upon earth let there be but one Lord, Zingis-khan, son of
God, and Mangu-tinij[1]. This is the word which is spoken to you; whether
Moals, Namans, Markets, or Musselmen; wherever man may hear or horse may
go, cause it to be heard and understood, that such as have heard my
commands and do not obey, or would levy an army against me, shall be as
having eyes and not seeing, as having hands and unable to hold any thing,
and as having feet, yet unable to walk.
"This is the commandment of the Eternal GOD, and by the virtue of the
Eternal GOD, the commandment of Mangu-khan, the great emperor of the Moals,
is given to Lodowick the French King, and to all other lords and priests,
and to the great world of the Franks, that they understand my words and the
commandments of the Eternal GOD, made to Zingis-khan; neither but from
Zingis-khan ever came this commandment unto you[2].
"A certain man, named David, came unto you as an ambassador from the Moals,
but he was a liar; and with him you sent your ambassador to Khen-khan.
After Khen-khan was dead, your ambassador came to this court, and Charmis
his wife sent you a nassick cloth. But how could that wicked woman, more
vile than a dog, know matters appertaining to war and peace, and to settle
the great world in quiet?
"Those two monks who came from you to Sartach, were sent by Sartach to
Baatu; but as Mangu-khan is the greatest over the world of the Moals, Baatu
sent them unto us. And now that the great world of the Franks, and the
priests, and monks, may live in peace and enjoy their goods, and that the
commandment of GOD might be heard among you, we would have sent certain
Moals as our ambassadors to you by your priests; but your messenger
answered, that betwixt us and you there was a warlike nation, with many bad
men and troublesome ways, so that they were afraid they could not bring our
ambassadors in safety to you; but if we would deliver them our letters,
containing our commandments to King Lodowick, they engaged to carry them.
For this cause we have not sent our ambassadors along with them; but we
have sent you this, the commandment of the Eternal GOD, by your priests.
And this is the commandment of the Eternal GOD, which we have given you to
understand, and when you shall hear and believe it, if you will obey, send
your ambassadors unto us, so that we may be satisfied whether you will have
peace or war. When, by the power of the Eternal GOD, the whole world shall
be in unity, peace, and joy, from the rising of the sun to where it sets,
then shall it appear what we will do. But if ye shall see and hear the
commandment of the Eternal GOD, and will not hearken to or believe it,
saying, our country is far off, our hills are strong, our sea is great; and
in this confidence shall lead an army against us to know what we can do; he
that made what is hard easy, and that which is far off near, the Eternal
GOD himself knows that alone."
While these things were going forwards, my companion heard that we were to
return by the wilderness to Baatu, under the guidance of a Moal, on which
he ran to Bulgai, the chief secretary, signifying to him, by signs, that he
should certainly die if he went that way. On the day when we were to
receive our pass, which was a fortnight after the feast of St John, 8th
July, the secretary said to him; it is the pleasure of Mangu, that your
companion shall return by Baatu, and as you are sick, you may remain and
shall be provided in necessaries till some ambassador come, with whom you
may return more easily by a way where there are villages. The friar
answered "God grant the khan a long and prosperous life, I will remain."
Then they brought us three garments, saying, that as we refused gold or
silver, and had stayed long here, praying for the khan, he entreats that
each would accept a single garment, that you may not depart empty handed.
[1] Explained as signifying the sound of iron, probably in allusion to his
martial power. - E.
[2] The obscurity of this passage is inexplicable. - E.
SECTION XXXIX.
The departure of Rubruquis from the Court of Mangu-khan, and his journey
by Saray and other places, to Tripoly in Syria.
Leaving the Leskar or moving camp of Mangu-khan, we came to Caracarum, and
while we remained in the house of William Bouchier the goldsmith, my guide
brought ten jascots, five of which he delivered to William, commanding him,
from the khan, to expend these for the use of the friar while he remained
there, and he left the other five with my interpreter for my subsistence by
the way; for William had given them such instructions without my knowledge.
I immediately changed one of the jascots into small money, which I
distributed among the poor Christians of Caracarum. Another was spent in
providing garments and other necessaries for our journey. With the third my
interpreter bought several articles, of which he afterwards made some
profit.
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