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, WHICH THEY CALL WHITE •89
year their lord may have treasure enough to spend and that he may have joy and R
happiness. And again I tell you that the barons and the knights and all the Tartar VA
people give one to another white things and embrace and kiss one another and make FB
themselves very great joy and feasting, saying one to another (as also is said with us), FB R
Good luck to you this year and may everything which you do turn out well. And they do this
that all the year they may take their good and that they may have good luck.
And again you may know quite truly that on this day there come from different places FB
which have received orders more than i00000' white camels and horses very beautiful LT
and fine and dear, given to the great Kaan. And if they are not altogether white, they are LT R
at least white for the greater part; and very many white horses are found in those countries.
Then it is a custom among them, that in making of presents to the great Kaari all the provinces
which can do so observe this way, that of each present nine times they present nine head; that
is, if it is a province which sends horses, it presents nine times nine head of horses, that is
eighty-one; if it presents gold, nine times it sends nine pieces of gold; if cloths, nine times nine
pieces of cloths; and so with all the other things, so that sometimes he will have by this count a
hundred thousand horses.2 And again on that day come all his own elephants, which L
are quite five thousand,' all covered with beautiful cloths worked artificially and R
richly in gold and in silk with many other beasts and with birds and lions• embroidered; and y V R
each' elephant has on his back two great [4ob] coffers like safes, very good 6- beautiful VA VA VA VA
and rich, and they are full of the great lord's gold and silver plate and of rich trappings L LT
which are needed for that white feast court. And in the same way a very great number of FB FB L
camels come there also, covered too with very beautiful cloth of white silk, and they FB VL
are all loaded with the things needed for that court and white feast, and they all FB VA
pass in front of the great lord adorned like this, and it is the most wonderful and R P
beautiful sight to see that was ever seen in the world. • The coffer means to say in our Fa TA
language a safe. And again I tell you that the morning of that festival, before the
tables are set, all the kings and princes and all the dukes and marquesses and all the L FB
counts, and barons, and knights, and astrologers, and philosophers, and physicians, and FB R FB FB R
falconers, and many other officials of the king, captains and rulers of people and of VA
' FA, FB, VA: 100000 TA': mow TA': 12 000 LT: 5000 P, V, R: no number.
2 The text of R seems to have some error and, as it has been differently printed by BALDELLI-BONI and by B., part of the original text of 1559 is here quoted: Adunque è consuetudine appresso di loro nel far di presenti al gran Cane, che tutte le prouincie, che lo possono far osseruino questo modo, che di ciascuno presente, noue volte noue, presentano noue capi, cioè se gli è vna &c.. The second noue seems to be superfluous, and is omitted in the version. So V. LAZARI Marco Polo p. 240.
3 TA: 500 P: 105000 Others 5000 or omit.
4 TA, LT: "one"
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