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", MAGICIANS & IDOLATERS .75. has done and is killed by the government of the land, • that condemned elan is given to LT VB them & they take him and have him cooked and eat him; but if he were to die of his own natural death they never eat him for anything in the world. And of this race VB VB of charniers there is so great a number that it is a marvel. • Besides the abovesaid name they are R also called bacsi, that is, of such a religion or order, as they would say Brothers Preachers or Minors; and they are so trained and expert in this magical or devilish art that they do almost anything that they wish. And again you may know quite truly that these bacsi of whom y I tell you above, who know so many enchantments, do among the rest so great R marvel past all belief as I shall tell you. For I tell you that when the great Kaan sits R L at dinner or at supper in his chief hall in his capital city, at his great table, which table v FB LT VB set apart for the eating of the lord is more than eight cubits high, as will be said in the R next book, and the golden • drinking cups are after their manner • on a table in the middle of P v VB P the pavement on the other side of the hall quite ten paces away from the table and are TA full of wine and of milk and of other good drinks for the lord, then these wise charmers VB of whom I have told you above, who are named bacsi, they do so much by their enchantments and by their arts that those full cups are lifted of themselves from the pavement where they were and go away by themselves alone • through the air to be VB R L presented before the great Kaan when he shall wish to drink, without anyone touching L them. And when he has drunk, the said cups go back to the place from which they set out. R And they do this sometimes while ten thousand men look on, and in the presence of L R whomsoever the lord wishes to see it; and this is most true & trustworthy with no lie, L for it is done at the table of the lord every day. And indeed we shall tell you the wise VB men of our land who know necromancy say that it can well be done.' Again I tell you FB that [33b] these bacsi, when the feasts of their idols come which they wish to celebrate, they v go off to the great Kaan and say to him, Sir, we tell you that on such a day such a feast v of such an idol of ours is coming, and name the name of that idol that they please; and then they say to him, You know, fair Sir, that this idol knows how to make bad weather and plagues come and loss of our things and of the beasts and of corn, R if they have not been honoured with offerings and holocaust . And therefore we pray R you, fair Sir, that you have given to us so many sheep which have black heads—and FB they say what number of them they please—and we wish you to let us have also so much incense FB and so much lign aloe and so much of such a thing and so much of such, as it seems FB good to them at their will, that we might be able to do great honour and great sacrifice | ~f ,} | |||
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| 1 TA3: if" Others: " l0000" bien uoç diron ... dient FB: Car hie,: vous en diront les sages So B. (perhaps rightly) omits dient. | ||||
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