Travels Of Marco Polo: Sixty One

After the termination of these wild pathless tracts is a large and noble city called Mein, the capital of the province.  The people are all idolators, with a language peculiar to themselves and are subject to the great Khan.

About this city I will tell you a very remarkable thing. Its rich and powerful king was about to die. As his last wish, he commanded that two towers - one gold and the other silver - to be erected on his tomb.  They must be of ten paces high, with suitable thickness.  The first must be built of stones, and covered with gold to the thickness of one finger, so that the persons seeing it should think that it is built of gold.  The summit must be of round and filled with little golden bells, which when the wind strikes begins to ring, the other tower to be built on same lines but with silver covering and silver bells.  By these towers the king wanted to display to the world of his greatness, dignity and aesthetic sense.  Between them he caused a sepulchre to be constructed, where he is buried now.  When the great Khan conquered the city he brought all buffoons, jesters, poets and other entertainers to propogate his glory.  When these people came to the city they admired it greatly of its beauty and strength, and asked whether the city should be demolished and the gold and silver retrieved.  Nothing doing, the great Khan said, they shall not be destroyed.  It was built to commemorate his greatness, and no Tartar touches anything belonging to a dead man.  The province had elephants, wild oxen, beautiful stags, deer and other animals.  Now I am going to tell you of another province, called Bangla.

____________________________________
1. Mein: there is diverse opinion as to the identification of Mein. There seems to be a complete agreement that Bengal lays south of Mien. That means Bengal lays between Himalayas and Mein. A probable place seems to be Cooch Behar or Koch Behar formerly a princely state, and before that a tribal kingdom.

End of the Section 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Sailing Around Erethraean Sea: Three

Updated 29/11/2024 Below the Calf-Eaters there is a little market-town on the shore after sailing about four thousand stadia from Berenice, called Ptolemais of Hunts, from which the hunters started for the interior under the dynasty of Ptolemies. This market town has true land to rtoise in small quantities; it is white and smaller in the shells. And here also is found a little ivory, like that of Adulis. But the place has no harbour, and is reached by small boats. 1. Calf-Eaters: Cattle rearing nomadic tribes. 2. Stadia is the plural of stadion. Ten  stadia= one mile. 3. Ptolemais of Hunts: Ptolemies Theron is the exact Greek term,  located at the Bay of Anfile or Amphila Bay on the coast of Eritrea. Facing the bay is Hando island. It is, in fact, a double bay, an inner bay within, between promontories M'edr and Lelisa. End of the Section 
Read more

Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Seven

In Section six the unknown sailor was at Zula (ancient Adulis). He had been giving an account of imports and exports to Zula and other ports he covered earlier. From this place the Arabian Gulf trends toward the east and become narrow just before the Gulf of Avalites.  After about four thousand stadia [about four hundred miles or six hundred and forty kilometres] for those sailing eastward along the same coast there are other Berber market-towns, known as the "far-side ports; lying at intervals one after the other without harbours but having roadsteads where ships can anchor and lie in good weather. The first is called Avalites; to this place the voyage from Arabia to far-side coast is shortest. Here there is a small market-town called Avalites, which must be reached by boats and rafts. There are imported into this place, flint glass assorted, juice of sour grapes from Diospolis,  dressed cloth assorted, made for the Berbers; wheat, wine and a little tin. There are exported f...
Read more