Yielding Due Reverence To The Great Khan, They Promised
Faithfully To Execute The Charge Which He Had Committed To Them, And To
Present To The Pope The Letters In The Tartarian Language, Which He Gave
Them For That Purpose.
According to the custom of the empire, the great
khan caused to be given them a golden tablet, engraven
And signed with the
mark or signet of the khan, in virtue of which, instead of a passport, the
bearers were entitled to be everywhere conveyed in safety through dangerous
places, by the governors of provinces and cities, throughout the whole
empire, having their expences everywhere defrayed, and should be furnished
with whatever was needful for them and their attendants in all places, and
for as long as they might have occasion to stay.
Taking their leave of the great khan, they set out upon the journey into
the west, carrying with them the letters to the pope, and the golden
tablet. After travelling twenty days, the Tartar lord, who was associated
in their embassy to the pope, fell grievously sick; on which, having
consulted upon what was best to be done, they resolved to leave him, and to
continue their journey, They were everywhere courteously received, through
the authority of the imperial tablet; yet they were often compelled to
wait, by the overflowing of the rivers, in the course of their journey, so
that they spent three years before they reached the port in the country of
the Armenians, called Giazza [9]. From thence they proceeded to Acre [10],
where they arrived in the month of April 1269. On their arrival at Acre,
they were informed of the death of Pope Clement IV., by Tibaldo Visconti of
Placentia, the papal legate who then resided in that place. They related to
him what had befallen them, and declared what commission they had received
from the great khan to the pope, and he advised to wait the creation of a
new pope, to whom they might deliver their letters. Upon this they took
shipping for Venice, by the way of Negropont, intending to visit their
friends and relations, and to remain there until a new pope should be
elected. On their arrival, Nicolo found that his wife was dead, whom he had
left pregnant at his departure; but that she had left a son, now nineteen
[11] years of age, who is this very Marco, the author of this book, in
which he will make manifest all those things which he has seen in his
travels.
The election of the pope was deferred two years, and the Polos became
afraid least the great khan might be displeased at their delay. They went
therefore back to Acre, carrying Marco along with them; and having gone to
Jerusalem for the holy oil requested by Kublai, they received letters from
the legate, testifying their fidelity to the great khan, and that a pope
was not yet chosen. They then set out on their journey, and went to Giazza,
in Armenia.
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