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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
a
84
MARCO POLO BOOK II.
particular sign of sanctity." The like practice is ascribed to the rude Moslem of Gilghit ; and such allegations must have been current in Europe, for they are the motive of Southey's St. Romuald:
" But,' quoth the Traveller, ` wherefore did he leave A flock that knew his saintly worth so well ?'
" ` Why, Sir,' the Host replied,
` We thought perhaps that he might one day leave us ;
And then, should strangers have
The good man's grave,
A loss like that would naturally grieve us ;
For he'll be made a saint of, to be sure.
Therefore we thought it prudent to secure
His relics while we might ;
And so we meant to strangle him one night."
(See Sindh, pp. 86, 388 ; Ind. Antiq. I. 13 ; Southey's Ballads, etc., ed. Routledge, P. 330.)
[Captain Gill (I. p. 323) says that he had made up his mind to visit a place called Li-fan Fu, near Ch'êng-tu. " I was told," he writes, " that this place was inhabited by the Man-Tzű, or Barbarians, as the Chinese call them ; and Monseigneur Pinchon told me that, amongst other pleasing theories, they were possessed of the belief that if they poisoned a rich man, his wealth would accrue to the poisoner ; that, therefore, the hospitable custom prevailed amongst them of administering poison to rich or noble guests ; that this poison took no effect for some time, but that in the course of two or three months it produced a disease akin to dysentery, ending in certain death."—H. C.]
CHAPTER L.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ZARDANDAN.
WHEN you have left Carajan and have travelled five
days westward, you find a province called ZARDANDAN.
The people are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan.
The capital city is called VocHAN.1
The people of this country all have their teeth gilt ;
or rather every man covers his teeth with a sort of
golden case made to fit them, both the upper teeth and
the under. The men do this, but not the women.'
[The men also are wont to gird their arms and legs
with bands or fillets pricked in black, and it is done thus ;
they take five needles joined together, and with these
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