IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
THE DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD, & THEIR GREAT HARDINESS
army and a small.' And when the lord with the troops go to do anything, to get cities v v
or kingdoms, whether they are on a plain or in mountains and valleys, they always send LT LT
two hundred men or more two days marches before for spies to spy out the roads and P LT
the country, and he leaves • as many also behind and at the sides, that is so that they have v LT V
outposts in four directions. And they do this that the army cannot be attacked from y
any side without knowing it. And when they go a long way to war they carry nothing
of kit, especially of those things which are needed for sleeping. They live at most times on milk R
(as has been said), and of horses and mares there are about eighteen for each man, and when any
horse is tired by the road another is taken in exchange. For they carry no food but •one or two v VB
bags of leather in which they put their milk which they drink, and they carry each VA
a small pignate, that is an earthen pot, in which they cook their meat. But if they L
had not this, •when they find some animal they kill it and take out the belly and empty it and v
then fill it with water; and take the flesh which they wish to cook and cut it in pieces and put it
inside this belly so filled with water, and then put it over the fire and let it cook; and when it is
cooked they eat the flesh cauldron and all. And they carry with them also a small tent of felt v R
in which they stay for the rain. Moreover I tell you another thing, that sometimes R
when there is need and the press of some enterprise • requires that they go a great way in haste, R VA
they ride quite ten days marches without eating any cooked food and without lighting VA P
fire, in case their journey may chance to be delayed by cooking of food, • and without fruits, but P LT
often, for want of wine or water, they live on the blood2 of their horses; for each pricks P
the vein of his horse and puts his mouth to the vein and drinks of the blood till he is FB FB
satisfied; then they stop it up. •And again they carry blood with them, & when they wish to eat vB
they take some water & put some of it in the water & leave it to dissolve, & then they drink it.
And in the same way they have their dried mares milk too which is solid like paste. v
And it is dried in this way. They make the milk boil, and then the cream which floats on top R
is put in another vessel, & of that butter is made; because as long as it stays in the milk it
could not be dried. Then the milk is put in the sun, and so it is dried. And when they go to
war they carry about ten pounds of this milk. And in the morning they take some of that R
milk (each man takes half a pound of it) and put it in a little leather flask, made like a bottle, R R
with water & stir it with a stick and carry it until that [2,9c] milk in the flask is dissolved P R
being beaten up and made like syrup as they ride, and then they drink it when a convenient R L
time conies, • and this is their breakfast . • So that in this way they go against their enemies, & R V
o•
7
1 & les por tuilier & por centener &por desine P (in slightly different context, and quite omitting tuc and toman): Sic enim uniuersus exercitus ordinatur per mille centum & decent In B. p. 55, the lacuna is supplied by the words toman se poent conter. V,L omit the sentences. VB: he cuxi ua se mando de.x.in.x.
2 dun sanc and so below. But FB: du sang LT: de sanguine
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