IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
| |||||||||
|
| IIIF Color HighRes |
| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citation Information
1*/
~ •
~
a
. I
« ,. J t ~ a~
L N. VIP~ ~ ~ek 44r
.. ♦
et
fht ,._
.
.
. ~.
MARCO POLO Boox IV.
~ ~► t
ikt •
.,
494
CHAPTER XXV.
OF THE WAR THAT AROSE BETWEEN ALAU AND BARCA, AND THE BATTLES THAT THEY FOUGHT.
A•,
41.
•
•
i
•
I T was in the year 1261 of Christ's incarnation that there
arose a great discord between King Alau the Lord of
the Tartars of the Levant, and Barca the King of the
Tartars of the Ponent ; the occasion whereof was a
province that lay on the confines of both.1
in (They exchange defiances, and make vast prepara-
tions.)
And when his preparations were complete, Alau the
Lord of Levant set forth with all his people. They
marched for many days without any adventure to speak
of, and at last they reached a great plain which extends
between the IRON GATES and the SEA OF SARAIN.2 In
this plain he pitched his camp in beautiful order ; and I
can assure you there was many a rich tent and pavilion
therein, so that it looked indeed like a camp of the wealthy.
Alau said he would tarry there to see if Barca and his
people would come ; so there they tarried, abiding the
enemy's arrival. This place where the camp was pitched
was on the frontier of the two kings. Now let us speak
of Barca and his people.'
NOTE I.—" Que marcesoit á le un et a le autre ; " in Scotch phrase, " which marched with both."
*i
NOTE 2.—Respecting the Iron Gates, see vol. i. p. 53. The Caspian is here
called the Sea of Sarain, probably for Sarai, after the great city on the Volga. For
we find it in the Catalan Map of 1375 termed the Sea of Sarra. Otherwise Sarain
might have been taken for some corruption of Shipwán. (See vol. L p. 59, note 8.)
NOTE 3.—The war here spoken of is the same which is mentioned in the very
beginning of the book, as having compelled the two Elder Polos to travel much
further eastward than they had contemplated.
Many jealousies and heart-burnings between the cousins Hulaku and Barka had
existed for several years. The Mameluke Sultan Bibars seems also to have stimulated Barka to hostility with Hulaku. War broke out in 1262, when 30,000 men from
4
•
M
r
~-~
•
l y
4 'OEIPti
y
å • .' •
IF ••
~ . ~
-1► ~ ~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2019 National Institute of Informatics and The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.