The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 / Page 674 (Color Image)

0674	The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1

364 MARCO POLO BOOK II.

beasts and birds, knights and idols, and sundry other

subjects. And on the ceiling too you see nothing but

gold and silver and painting. [On each of the four

skies there is a great marble staircase leading to the top

of the marble wall, and forming the approach to the

Palace.] 8

The Hall of the Palace is so large that it could

easily dine 6000 people ; and it is quite a marvel to see

how many rooms there are besides. The building is

altogether so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no

man on earth could design anything superior to it.

The outside of the roof also is all coloured with vermilion

and yellow and green and blue and other hues, which

are fixed with a varnish so fine and exquisite that they

shine like crystal, and lend a resplendent lustre to the

Palace as seen for a great way round.9 This roof is

made too with such strength and solidity that it is fit to

last for ever.

[On the interior side of the Palace are large build-

ings with halls and chambers, where the Emperor's

private property is placed, such as his treasures of gold,

silver, gems, pearls, and gold plate, and in which reside

the ladies and concubines. There he occupies himself

at his own convenience, and no one else has access.]

Between the two walls of the enclosure which I have

;I described, there are fine parks and beautiful trees bear-

ing a variety of fruits. There are beasts also of sundry

kinds, such as white stags and fallow deer, gazelles and

roebucks, and fine squirrels of various sorts, with

numbers also of the animal that gives the musk, and

all manner of other beautiful creatures,10 insomuch that

the whole place is full of them, and no spot remains

void except where there is traffic of people going and

coming. [The parks are covered with abundant grass ;

and the roads through them being all paved and raised

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