They Have Rats Also, As Large As The Dogs In Italy,
Which Are Hunted By Means Of Dogs, As Cats Are Unable To Cope With Them.
In
this country every one has a bundle of great boughs of trees, as large as a
pillar, standing in a pot of water before the door; and there are many
other strange and wonderful novelties, a relation of which would be
exceedingly delightful.
[1] By lower India, our author seems here to indicate the southern
provinces of Persia. - E.
[2] Tantus est calor, quod virilia hominum exeunt corpus, et descendant
usque at mediam tibiarum: ideo faciunt unctionum, et ungunt illa, et
in, quibusdam sacculis ponunt circa se cingentes, et aliter
morerentur.
[3] This place seems to have been Tatta, in the Delta of the Indus. - E.
[4] This unknown king, rex Daldili, is probably an error in translating
from the Venetian or Friul dialect of Oderic into Monkish Latin, and
may have been originally Il Re dal Deli, or the King of Delhi. - E.
SECTION III.
Of the Martyrdom of the Friars[l].
Four of our friars, Tolentinus de Marchia, James of Padua, Demetrius, a lay
brother, and Peter de Senis, suffered martyrdom in the city of Thana. These
friars had engaged for their passage at Ormus to Polumbrum, but were
forcibly carried to Thana, where there are fifteen houses of Christians,
schismatics of the Nestorian communion, and on their arrival they were
hospitably entertained in one of these houses. A strife happened to take
place between the man of that house and his wife, in which the man beat his
wife severely. She complained to the kadi, who interrogated her how she
could prove her assertion. On which she answered that there were four
priests of the Franks who were present, and could attest the bad usage she
had received. On this a person of Alexandria, who was present, requested of
the kadi that these men might be sent for, since they were learned men,
versant in the scriptures, and it would be right to dispute with them
concerning the faith. Our friars were accordingly sent for, and, leaving
Peter to take charge of their goods, the other three went to the kadi; who
began to dispute with them concerning our faith, saying, "That Christ was a
mere man, and not God." But friar Thomas[2] shewed evidently, both from
reason and by examples drawn from Scripture, that Christ was really God and
man, and so confounded the kadi and the other infidels, that they were
unable to produce any rational arguments in contradiction to him. On this
some one exclaimed, "And what do you say concerning Mahomet?" To this friar
Thomas replied; "Since I have proved to you that Christ is really God and
man, who hath given the law to mankind, and since Mahomet set himself
contrary thereto, and taught an opposite law, if ye are wise, you may well
know what ought to be concluded respecting him." But the kadi and the other
Saracens insisted that he should declare his own opinion concerning
Mahomet. "You may all see," said he, "what must be my opinion; and as you
insist that I should speak out plainly, I must declare that your Mahomet is
the son of perdition, and is in hell with his father the devil. And not him
only, but all who have held his law, which is entirely abominable and
false, contrary to GOD, and adverse to the salvation of souls." On hearing
this, the Saracens cried out, "Let him die! let him die! who hath thus
blasphemed against the prophet."
Then they seized upon the friars, and exposed them to the burning sun, that
they might suffer a severe death by the adust heat of the suns rays: For
such is the excessive heat of the sun in that place, that any person who
remains exposed to its direct influence, during the time necessary to say
the mass, is sure to die. But the friars remained hale and joyful, from the
third to the ninth hour of the day, praising and glorifying the Lord. The
Saracens, astonished at this, came to the friars, saying, "We intend to
make a large fire, and to throw you therein; and if your faith is true, as
you say, the fire will not be able to burn you; but if you are burnt, it
will plainly appear that your faith is false." To this the friars answered,
that they were ready to endure chains and imprisonment, and even the fire,
and all other torments for the faith; but should the fire consume them it
was not to be inferred that it did so on account of their faith, but as a
punishment for their sins: declaring that their faith was most true and
perfect, and the only one by which the souls of men could possibly be
saved. While they thus determined upon burning the friars, the report of
this affair spread over the whole city, and all the people of both sexes,
young and old, flocked to behold the spectacle. The friars were accordingly
led to the most public square of the city, where a great fire was lighted
up, into which friar Thomas endeavoured to throw himself; but a Saracen
held him back, saying: "You shall not do so, old man, as you may have some
spell or contrivance about you, for preventing the fire from hurting you,
and you must allow another of your people to go into the fire." Then four
of the Saracens seized upon friar James, intending to have thrown him into
the fire, but he requested permission to walk in of his own accord, to shew
his devotion to the faith. This, however, they refused, and threw him in
headlong. The fire was so large and fierce that he could not be seen; yet
his voice was heard from the midst of the flames, calling upon the name of
the Glorious Virgin. When the fire was totally consumed, friar James was
seen standing on the embers, unhurt and joyful, with his hands raised to
heaven in form of the cross, and himself praising and glorifying GOD, who
had thus manifested the greatness of his faith; and nothing whatever about
his person, not even his clothes or his hair, was found in the slightest
degree injured by the fire.
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