The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 / Page 410 (Color Image)

0410	The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2

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354

13OOK III.

MARCO POLO

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Christians who go thither in pilgrimage take of the earth

from the place where the Saint was killed, and give a

portion thereof to any one who is sick of a cluartan or a

tertian fever ; and by the power of God and of St.

Thomas the sick man is incontinently cured.' The earth,

I should tell you, is red. A very fine miracle occurred

there in the year of Christ, 1288, as I will now

relate.

A certain Baron of that country, having great store of

a certain kind of corn that is called rice, had filled up with

it all the houses that belonged to the church, and stood

round about it. The Christian people in charge of the

church were much distressed by his having thus stuffed

their houses with his rice ; the pilgrims too had nowhere to

lay their heads ; and they often begged the pagan Baron

to remove his grain, but he would do nothing of the kind.

So one night the Saint himself appeared with a fork in

his hand, which he set at the Baron's throat, saying : " I f

thou void not my houses, that my pilgrims may have

room, thou shalt die an evil death," and therewithal

the Saint pressed him so hard with the fork that he

thought himself a dead man. And when morning carne

he caused all the houses to be voided of his rice, and

told everybody what had befallen him at the Saint's hands.

So the Christians were greatly rejoiced at this grand

miracle, and rendered thanks to God and to the blessed

St. Thomas. Other great miracles do often come to pass

there, such as the healing of those who are sick or de-

formed, or the like, especially such as be Christians.

[The Christians who have charge of the church have

a great number of the Indian Nut trees, whereby they

get their living ; and they pay to one of those brother

Kings six groats for each tree every month.*]

Now, I will tell you the manner in which the Christian

* Should be "year" no doubt,

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