IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
| |||||||||
|
| IIIF Color HighRes |
| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citation Information
a
4d■
130
MARCO POLO ROOK I.
The same trees are alluded to in an ancient Low German poem in honour of St.
Anno of Cologne. Speaking of the Four Beasts of Daniel's Vision :-
" The third beast was a Libbard ;
Four Eagle's Wings he had ;
This signified the Grecian Alexander,
Who with four Hosts went forth to conquer lands
Even to the World's End,
Known by its Golden Pillars.
In India he the Wilderness broke through
With Trees twain he there did speak," etc.
(In Schilteri Thesaurus Antiq. Teuton. tom. i. *)
These oracular Trees of the Sun and Moon, somewhere on the confines of India, appear in all the fabulous histories of Alexander, from the Pseudo-Callisthenes downwards. Thus Alexander is made to tell the story in a letter to Aristotle : " Then came some of the towns-people and said, ` We have to show thee something passing strange, O King, and worth thy visiting ; for we can show thee trees that talk with human speech.' So they led me to a certain park, in the midst of which were the Sun and Moon, and round about them a guard of priests of the Sun and Moon. And there stood the two trees of which they had spoken, like unto cypress trees ; and round about them were trees like the myrobolans of Egypt, and with similar fruit. And I addressed the two trees that were in the midst of the park, the one which was male in the Masculine gender, and the one that was female in the Feminine gender. And the name of the Male Tree was the Sun, and of the female Tree the Moon, names which were in that language Muthu and EinaZisae. t And the stems were clothed with the skins of animals ; the male tree with the skins of he-beasts, and the female tree with the skins of she-beasts. . . . And at the setting of the Sun, a voice, speaking in the Indian tongue, came forth from the (Sun) Tree ; and I ordered the Indians who were with me to interpret it. But they were afraid and would not," etc. (Pseudo- Callisth. ed. Müller, III. 17.)
The story as related by Firdusi keeps very near to the Greek as just quoted, but does not use the term " Tree of the Sun." The chapter of the Sháh Námeh containing it is entitled Dídan Sikandar dirakht-i goyára, " Alexander's interview with the Speaking Tree." (Livre des Rois, V. 229.) In the Chanson d'Alixandre of Lambert le Court and Alex. de Bernay, these trees are introduced as follows :-
" ` Signor,' fait Alixandre, ` je vus voel demander,
Se des merveilles d'Inde me saves rien conter.'
Cil li ont respondu : ` Se tu vius escouter
Ja te dirons merveilles, s'es poras esprover.
La sus en ces desers pues ii Arbres trover
Qui c pies ont de haut, et de grossor suut per.
Li Solaus et La Lune les ont fait si serer
Que sevent tous langages et entendre et parler.' "
(Ed. 1861 (Dinan), p. 357.)
Ma.undevile informs us precisely where these trees are : "A 15 journeys in lengthe, goynge be the Deserts of the tother side of the Ryvere Beumare," if one could only
b
* " Daz dritte Dier was ein Lebarte
Vier arin Vederich her havite ;
Der beceichnote den Criechiskin Alexanderin,
Der mit vier Herin vür aftir Landin,
Unz her die Werilt einde,
Iii giildinin Siulin bikante.
In India her die Wusti durchbrach,
Mil zwein Boumin /ter sich da gesj5rach," etc.
t It is odd how near the word EmaÜZecte comes to the E. African Mwezi ; and perhaps more odd
that " the elders of U-nya-Mwezi (` the Land of the Moon ') declare that their patriarchal ancestor
became after death the first Tree, and afforded shade to his children and descendants. According to
the Arabs the people still perform pilgrimage to a holy tree, and believe that the penalty of sacrilege
in cutting offa twig would be visited by sudden and mysterious death." (burton in F. R. G. S. XXIX.
07-168.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2019 National Institute of Informatics and The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.