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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
192
Boox II.
MARCO POLO
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particularly. For you must know its demesne bath a
compass of ten miles, all enclosed with lofty battlemented
walls ; and inside the walls are the finest and most
delectable gardens upon earth, and filled too with the
finest fruits. There are numerous fountains in it also,
and lakes full of fish. In the middle is the palace itself,
a great and splendid building. It contains 20 great and
handsome halls, one of which is more spacious than the
rest, and affords room for a vast multitude to dine. It is
all painted in gold, with many histories and representa-
tions of beasts and birds, of knights and dames, and
many marvellous things. It forms a really magnificent
spectacle, for over all the walls and all the ceiling you
see nothing but paintings in gold. And besides these
halls the palace contains woo large and handsome
chambers, all painted in gold and divers colours.
Moreover, I must tell you that in this city there are
I 6o /mans of fires, or in other words 16o /mans of
houses. Now I should tell you that the loman is 10,000,
so that you can reckon the total as altogether 1,600,000
houses, among which are a great number of rich palaces.
There is one church only, belonging to the Nestorian
Christians.
There is another thing I must tell you. It is the
custom for every burgess of this city, and in fact for every
description of person in it, to write over his door his own
name, the name of his wife, and those of his children,
his slaves, and all the inmates of his house, and also the
number of animals that he keeps. And if any one dies
in the house then the name of that person is erased, and
if any child is born its name is added. So in this way
the sovereign is able to know exactly the population of
the city. And this is the practice also throughout all
Manzi and Cathay.14
And I must tell you that every hosteler who keeps
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