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
8 2 • THE SONS OF CUBLAI KAAN & HIS CONCUBINES riMARCO POLO
It is true that every three days and three nights six' of these girls are sent to wait on
the lord when he goes to rest & when he gets up, both in the room and in the bed and for all that he needs; and the great Kaan does with them what he pleases. And at the
FB V end of these three days and of three nights come the second six girls in exchange for
FB these, • and those depart. And so it goes all the year that every three days and three
LT nights they are changed from six to six girls until the number of those hundred is
R completed, • & then they begin again another turn. It is true that while one party remains in the chamber of the lord, the others stay in another room near there so that if the lord has need of anything extraordinary, as drink and food and other things, the girls who are in the lord's chamber order those in the other room what they must prepare, and they prepare it immediately. And so the lord is not waited upon by other persons but by the girls. And the other girls who were valued at less carats stay with the other women of the lord in the palace, and they teach them to sew and to cut out gloves and to do other genteel work. And when any gentleman is looking for wives, the great Kaan gives him one of them with a very great dowry, and in this way he finds them all husbands of good position.
And it could be said, Are not the men of the said province annoyed that the great Kaan takes away their daughters from there? Certainly not. Rather they think it a great favour and honour, and are very glad that they have pretty daughters which he deigns to accept, because they say, If my daughter is born under a good planet and with good fortune, the lord will be able to satisfy her better and will marry her into a good position, which thing I should not have been able to do with satisfaction. And if the daughter does not behave well or has bad fortune, then the father says, this has happened to her because her planet was not good.
g3 ERE HE TELLS OF THE SONS OF THE GREAT KAAN. And again you may
VA V VA know that Cublai the great Kaan has indeed of these his four wives twenty-
v P two male children. And the elder son of the first had for name Cinchim
FB for the love of the good Cinghis2 Kaan, the first lord; and this one ought to have LT been great Kaan and lord of the whole empire after the death of Cublai his father.. R And he had been already confirmed as lord while his father was alive. Now it happened VA P that he died, this Cinchim, • before the father; but there remains a son of his who has VA Temur for name, and this Temur ought to be great Kaan and lord after the death of Cublai; and it is [37a] right because he was son of the eldest son of the great R VA R Kaan, that is of Cinchirn. Moreover I tell you that this Temur is a valiant man, full VA of kindness, wise, and prudent, and has often already behaved very well & has had many victories in battle. And you may know that the great Kaan has also quite twenty-five
I R: cinque
2 cinchin . . . cinchin VA: chinchim . . . chinchis
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