The Tree Is All Ornamented With Silver Boughs, And Leaves And
Fruit All Of Silver.
The palace is like a church, having a middle aisle
and two side ones, beyond two rows of pillars, and has three gates to the
south, and before the middle gate stands the silver tree.
The khan sits at
the north wall, on a high place, that he may be seen of all, and there are
two flights of steps ascending to him, by one of which his cup-bearer goes
up, and comes down by the other. The middle space between the throne and
the silver tree is left vacant for the cup-bearers and the messengers who
bring presents; on the right side of the khan the men sit, and the women on
the left. One woman only sits beside him, but not so high as he.
About Passion Sunday, the khan went before with his small houses only,
leaving the great ones behind, and the monk and we followed. On the journey
we had to pass through a hilly country[7] where we encountered high winds,
extreme cold, and much snow. About midnight the khan sent to the monk and
us, requesting us to pray to God to mitigate the severity of the weather,
as the beasts in his train were in great jeopardy, being mostly with young,
and about to bring forth. Then the monk sent him incense, desiring him to
put it on the coals, as an offering to God:
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