IIIF Color HighRes
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
174.- THE LIGHT SUSPENDED CANE BEDS OF MAABAR ."MARCO POLO
move the god and goddess to joy and to reconcile them, and thus they say as they make entertainment, O Master, why are you vexed with the goddess and do not care for her? Is she not beautiful, is she not pleasing? May you thus truly be pleased to be reconciled together and to take pleasure with her, for truly she is very pleasant. And then she who has said so will lift her leg above her neck and will spin round for the pleasure of the god and goddess. And when they have solaced enough they go home. And in the morning the priest of the idols will announce as a great joy that he has seen the god and goddess together and that peace has been made between them, and then all rejoice and are thankful. These maidens indeed while they are maidens are so firm in
flesh that none can by any means take hold of them or pinch them in any part. And for a small coin they will allow a man to pinch them as much as he can. When they are married they are also firm of iesh, but not so much. On account of the firmness their breasts do not hang down but stand up raised and prominent. And girls like this, there are plenty of them through-z out this kingdom who do all the things which I have told vou. The men have their very light beds of canes so contrived that while they are inside, when they wish to sleep they draw themselves up with cords near to the ceiling and tie themselves there. They do this indeed for the sake of escaping from the aforesaid tarantulas which bite much and fleas and other insects, R Z and also for the sake of catching the air to do away with the heat • which reigns in those parts. • Not
all indeed do this, but only nobles and masters of the house, for others sleep on the ways. And we will tell you, concerning the great justice of the king, that when men are travelling in the night and may wish to sleep (for on account of the lower heat they make their journey by night rather than by day), [if they]have a bag of pearls or of other treasure they will put the bag of pearls under the head and will sleep there, nor does anyone ever lose anything by theft or otherwise. And if he does lose, it is made good to him immediately provided that he has slept on the street; because if it is off the street, no. Indeed evil is presumed against him. For the government says,
Why didst thou sleep off the street unless because thou hadst proposed to rob others? And then he is punished, and the loss is not returned to him. Now we have told you of this kingdom
FB which is in the province of Maabar a great part of their customs and of their habits
FB and of their doings. Then we will leave it, while I shall pass over the other kingdoms which are there, and will tell you onwards of another kingdom which is called Mutifili.
175 • ERE HE TELLS OF THE KINGDOM OF MUTIFILI. Mutifili is a kingdom
p which one finds when one departs from Maabar' and goes by the wind
LT which is called tramontaine [8ic] about i0002 miles. And this realm
belongs to a queen who is a very wise lady. For I tell you that it was quite forty
1 menebar FB,Z: maabar z R: 500
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