Hitherto,
I Had Understood Our Interpreter, But He Was Now Drunk And Could Not Make
Out Any Perfect Sentence, And It Appeared To Me That The Khan Was Drunk
Likewise; Wherefore I Held My Peace.
Then he made us rise and sit down
again, and after a few words of compliment, we withdrew from
The presence.
One of the secretaries, and the interpreter, who had the charge of
educating one of his daughters, went with us, and were very inquisitive
about the kingdom of France, particularly inquiring whether it had plenty
of sheep, cattle, and horses, as if they meant to make it all their own;
and I had often to bridle my indignation and anger at their presumptuous
boastings.
They appointed one to take care of us, and we went to the monk; and when we
were about to return to; our lodging, the interpreter came to us, saying,
that Mangu-khan gave us two months to stay, till the extreme cold were
past; and we might either go ten day's journey from thence to the city of
Caracarum, or might remain with the court. Then I answered, "God preserve
Mangu-khan, and grant him a long and happy life: We have found this monk,
whom we think a holy man, and we would willingly remain, and pray along
with him for the prosperity of the khan." We then went to our dwelling,
which we found very cold, as we had no fuel, and we were yet fasting,
though it was then night; but he who had the care of us provided us some
fuel and a little food; and our guide, who was now to return to Baatu,
begged a carpet from us which we had left in that court, which we gave him,
and he departed in peace.
SECTION XXXIII.
Of a Woman of Lorain, and a Goldsmith of Paris, and several other
Christians, whom they found at the Court of Mangu-kkan.
We had the good fortune to meet with a woman, named Pascha, from Metz in
Lorain, who belonged to the court of Cerina, who told us of the strange
poverty she had endured before she came to this court, but who now lived
well, as she had a young Russian husband, who was a skilful builder, and
much esteemed among them, by whom she had three fine children, and this
woman contributed all in her power to our comfort. She told us, that there
was a goldsmith at Caracarura, one William Bouchier from Paris, the son of
Lawrence Bouchier, and who had a brother, Roger Bouchier, yet living upon
the Great Bridge. She told me likewise, that he had a son who was an
excellent interpreter; but that Manga-khan had delivered to the goldsmith
300 jascots of silver, equal to 3000 marks, and fifty workmen, to make a
certain piece of work, so that she feared he would not then be able to
spare his son to interpret for us. I wrote to this goldsmith, requesting
him to send his son to me; he said in answer, that he could not at the
time, but would send him next moon, when his work would be finished. At the
court of Baatu no intercourse could be had with other ambassadors, as each
was under the charge of a particular Jani; but in that of Mangu, all were
under one Jani, and might see and converse with each other. We found here a
certain Christian from Damascus, who said that he came from the sultan of
Mons Regalis and Crax, who desired to become the ally and tributary of the
great khan.
The year before I came thither, there was a certain clerk of Aeon or
Ptolemais in Syria, who called himself Raimund, but his true name was
Theodolus. This man went with friar Andrew from Cyprus into Persia, and
procured certain instruments from Amoricus, who remained in Persia after
Andrew returned. Theodolus went forwards with these instruments to the
khan, pretending that a certain bishop had received letters from heaven in
gold characters, saying that the khan should be king of the whole earth,
but that his horse had fled from him among woods and mountains, so that he
had lost all. And Theodolus engaged to conduct ambassadors from the khan to
the Pope and the king of France. Then Mangu caused an exceedingly strong
bow to be made, which two men could hardly bend, and two arrows made of
silver, full of holes in their heads, which whistled when they were shot;
and he chose a Moal to accompany Theodolus as his ambassador, ordering him
to present these things to the king of France, and to say, if he would have
peace with the Tartars, they would conquer the country of the Saracens, and
would grant him ail the other countries of the west. But if the king
refused, the Moal was to bring back the bow and arrows, and to inform the
king that the Tartars shot far and sharp with such bows. The khan then
caused Theodolus to go out, and the son of William Bouchier, who acted as
interpreter for Theodolus, heard the khan order the Moal, who was to
accompany him, to mark well all the ways, and the castles, and the people,
and the mountains, in the course of his journey. And the young man blamed
Theodolus for engaging to conduct the Tartar messengers, as they went only
to spy the land. But Theodolus said he would take them by sea, so that they
should not know the way. Mangu gave to his Moal a golden bull or tablet of
an hand breadth, and half a cubit long, inscribed with his orders; and
whoever bears this, may everywhere command what he pleases. On their
journey through the dominions of Vestacius, whence Theodolus meant to pass
over to the Pope, that he might deceive him as he had done Mangu. Vestacius
demanded of him whether he had letters for the Pope; but having none to
show, Vestacius concluded he was an impostor, and cast him into prison.
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