IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
CfIAI. XXIII.
CITY AND TRAFFIC OF CAMBALUC
415
I
for the sovereign, some for the court, some for the city
which is so great, some for the crowds of Barons and
Knights, some for the great hosts of the Emperor which
are quartered round about ; and thus between court and
city the quantity brought in is endless.
As a sample, I tell you, no day in the year passes
that there do not enter the city woo cart-loads of silk
alone, from which are made quantities of cloth of silk
and gold, and of other goods. And this is not to be
wondered at ; for in all the countries round about there
is no flax, so that everything has to be made of silk. It
is true, indeed, that in some parts of the country there is
cotton and hemp, but not sufficient for their wants. This,
however, is not of much consequence, because silk is so
abundant and cheap, and is a more valuable substance
than either flax or cotton.
Round about this great city of Cambaluc there are
some 200 other cities at various distances, from which
traders come to sell their goods and buy others for their
lords ; and all find means to make their sales and pur-
chases, so that the traffic of the city is passing greåt.
•
NOTE I.—It would seem to have been usual to reckon twelve suburbs to Peking down to modern times. (See Deg atig nes, III. 38. )
NOTE. 2.--The word here used is Fondaco, often employed in medieval Italian in the sense nearly of what we call a factory. The word is from the Greek iravboKeîov, but through the Arabic Fandúk. The latter word is used by Ihn Batuta in speaking of the hostelries at which the Mussulman merchants put up in China.
CHAPTER XXIII.
[CONCERNING THE OPPRESSIONS OF ACHMATH THE BAILO, AND THE PLOT THAT WAS FORMED AGAINST HIM.1
You will hear further on how that there are twelve persons
appointed who have authority to dispose of lands, offices,
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