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
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.7 2 • THE PRODUCTS BIRDS AND PEOPLE OF ERGIUUL ri MARCO POLO
for when one has taken it he finds on it at the navel in the middle under the belly VB between the skin and the flesh a pustule of blood which grows on this animal when the VB moon is full, which one cuts off with the whole skin' and takes it out, and they dry
it in the sun. And that blood is the musk from which comes so great [pa] odour. VB And from this country is the finest musk that is found. The flesh of this animal is very good
to eat, & they are taken in great numbers. And you may know that in this country it2
L V exists in very great quantity and so good as I have told you. The men of this province FB they live by trade and by crafts both of cloth of gold and of silk, and have abundance of
V P L all corn. And the province it is twenty-five' days marches in size & is very fertile. • And VB there are in this province most beautiful pheasants twice as large as those of our country P V V VB in Italy, for they are about of the size of peacocks, a little less. And they have most beautiful tails ten palms long at the most, and there are many of nine, & of eight,
L and of seven at the least. Yet there are also pheasants of another sort which are of the
L L VA same size and altogether of the fashion of those of our country.' Of the other birds
P there are many most beautiful of many different kinds with very beautiful feathers and VA P V VA very well coloured with very beautiful variety of colours. But the people of this region VB P P VB V are all idolaters and followers of lust, and they are commonly • tall and •very fat and have
V VB L Z small noses and the hair of the head black. And they have no beard except only so R many' hairs on the chin. The honourable ladies have no hair except on the top of
V the head; nowhere else have they any hair. The women are very white and have very z fair flesh, • and in all the members they are very well made in all respects. And you may z know that the nien they delight themselves much in sensuality and take wives
enough, because their religion nor their usage does not hinder them, but they can
take as many' of them as they wish and as they have the power to keep . Moreover
Z I tell you that the men seek fcr beautiful wives rather than for noble, for if there is a very
1 L: cum parte pellis sibi correspondente
2 TA,LT,V refer, as here, to the musk; FA,FB,VA,P: "of these animals"; L is ambiguous.
3 TA3: xv
4 de la grande & de faisonz des nostres pais TA': al modo di queste paese L: fasiani alterius modi qui sunt totaliter similes nostris et eiusdem magnitudinis VA: de grandeKa de queli dele nostre chontra
VB:... chome questi nostri Perhaps we should omit pais, or read grande de faisant, or, with B., & de faisonz des faisans des nostres pais.
5 quant FA,FB: aucuns L: aliquantulos P: imberbes suet set pilos solum circa labia habent Z:
i i i j V: quatro R: quattro TA, LT have no corresponding word. Possibly. we should read quatre
After "idolaters" V adds: e trouasse chauali negri although it retains e li chaueli negri below.
6 toutes FA,FB: assez TA, V, VB: tante LT: quot R: quante Z: multas, very much shortening the passage. Perhaps read tantes.
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