THE WONDERFUL STORY OF MARCO POLO.
MARCO POLO.
"What do you make out of Marco Polo's book?" said the Doctor to the boys, after they had devoted a sufficient time to its perusal.
"We find it very interesting," Frank replied. "The style is quaint, and the information it contains is curious. Evidently it is a true story, and the man must have actually gone over the ground he describes, or it would never be so accurate."
"It is some time since I read it," responded Doctor Bronson, "and perhaps you had best tell me about it. By so doing you will refresh my memory, and at the same time fix the information in your own minds."
Thus encouraged, the boys proceeded to tell the story of Marco Polo to Doctor Bronson, just as though he had never heard it. The Doctor was a patient listener, and both Frank and Fred showed, by the completeness of their account, that they had thoroughly read the book.
"To begin with," said Frank, "Marco Polo was a Venetian adventurer. His father was named Nicolo Polo, and he—Marco—had an uncle named Maffeo. Marco was born in the year 1254, and six years later his father and uncle started on a journey to Constantinople and the southern part of Russia. They were merchants, and their business carried them into Central Asia, and then to Cathay, where they spent some time with the khan, or emperor, of that country."
"And what is Cathay?" said Dr. Bronson, with a smile.
"Cathay is the ancient name for China," Fred answered, "and even to-day it is sometimes called so. Do you remember how Tennyson, in one of his poems, says,
"'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay;'
"and I am sure you once told me that the Russian name of China is 'Kitie,' with the accent on the last syllable. That is pretty near the sound of Cathay, and undoubtedly came from it."
"Quite correct," the Doctor responded; "you have a good memory both for facts and poetry."
"Kublai-Khan, the Emperor of Cathay," Frank continued, "had never before seen a gentleman from Europe. He was delighted with the Venetians, and greatly interested in the stories they told him about Europe and its countries and customs. How long they remained there we do not know, but it is certain that the emperor, Kublai-Khan, determined to send them as ambassadors to the Pope, who was then the greatest monarch of Europe. Accordingly, he wrote letters to the Pope asking him to send a large number of educated missionaries to Cathay to convert the people to Christianity. These he intrusted to the two Polos, and sent with them an officer of his own court.
THE GREAT KHAN DELIVERING A TABLET TO THE ELDER POLO BROTHERS.
(From a Miniature of the Fourteenth Century.)
"Before they started on their mission he gave them a golden tablet, upon which there was inscribed an order for them to receive everything they might desire for their comfort and convenience in the countries through which they might pass; and his last order to them was 'to bring back to him some oil of the lamp which burns on the sepulchre of our Lord at Jerusalem.' On the road the Tartar prince who accompanied them fell sick, and they were obliged to leave him behind. If the truth were known, it is quite probable he did not wish to make the journey, and was glad of an excuse for avoiding it.
ARMS OF THE POLO FAMILY.
"In 1269 the brothel's arrived at Acre, in Palestine, and found that the Pope, Clement IV., had died the year before, and no new one had been chosen. So they went to Venice to see how matters stood in that city, and to get some news of their families. Nicolo found that his wife had died during his absence, and his son Marco was a fine youth of fifteen years.
"They waited at Venice for two years; but the College of Cardinals could not agree on a new Pope, and consequently the Church was without any head to whom they could deliver their letters. Fearing that the Great Khan would be displeased at their long absence, and believe them faithless to their trust, they determined to return to him and explain the state of affairs. Accordingly, they started in 1271, taking young Marco with them, and in due time were once more at Acre. Before they left the coast for the interior, they learned that a new Pope had been chosen. The man on whom the choice fell was then in Syria, and so they were able to carry out the khan's commission, and get a reply. But he was only able to give them two priests to accompany them to Cathay, and these soon found a reason for declining to go to the strange land. So the three Polos set out alone for the dominions of the Great Khan.
NICOLO POLO, FATHER OF MARCO.
"With the letters, presents from the Pope to the khan, and the holy oil from Jerusalem, they took the route by Sivas, Mosul, and Bagdad to Hormuz, where they turned north and went through Bokhara, Persia, and by way of Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khoten. Then they went to the desert of Gobi, and, after crossing it, reached the territories of the khan near the great wall of China. They had been three years and a half on the journey, and the date of their arrival at the khan's court is supposed to be 1275.
"The khan was greatly pleased to see them, and he was especially delighted with young Marco, to whom he seemed to take very kindly. Marco, in his turn, sought to win the favor of the emperor by making himself as useful as possible; he studied the Oriental languages, and in a little while he could speak and write no less than four of them.
"The emperor soon began to employ him in the public service, and he acquitted himself so well that he was sent in charge of missions to distant countries. His first mission was to the province of Yunnan, and in going there he was obliged to pass through several other provinces. He had noticed, during his stay at court, that the emperor was very fond of hearing about strange countries and their manners and customs, and so he took good care to bring back as much information as possible. The khan complimented him for his learning, and found him a great contrast to the commissioners, who could never tell anything except the business on which they had gone.
"We don't know much about the details of his employment while he was at the court of the emperor," said Frank, "but we are told that he was for three years governor of the great city of Yangtchoo; and we also learn that he was in Tangut for a year or more, and that he went on missions to Mongolia, to Cochin China, and other regions, and commanded expeditions to the Indian seas. What his father and uncle were doing all this time we do not know, except that the evidence shows they were making themselves rich. Perhaps they were able to obtain good contracts through the influence of Marco; and if they could get a monopoly of government contracts for a few years, they would have no difficulty in piling up a large fortune.
"Thus they remained at the court of the khan for eleven years, and by-and-by they wanted to go home and enjoy their wealth. But the khan would not listen to it, and perhaps they would never have been heard of again if it had not been for an accident.
"Arghun-Khan of Persia, a great-nephew of Kublai-Khan, had lost his wife, and her dying injunction was that her place should be filled by a lady of her own kin—the Mongol tribe of Bayaut. An embassy came to Kublai's court with the request, and the choice fell on Lady Kukachin, who is described as a most beautiful woman. The overland road to Persia was considered dangerous, and it was determined to send her by sea. Accordingly, the khan fitted out an expedition in fine style, and, as the Venetians were well acquainted with navigation, while the Tartars were ignorant of it, the khan concluded to send the Polos with the fleet. He was reluctant to let them go; but having once determined to do so, he gave them a great many fine presents, and intrusted them with messages to the various sovereigns of Europe, including the King of England. They appear to have sailed from the Port of Zayton in the early part of 1292. The voyage was long and unfortunate, and the greater part of the embassy and suite perished on the way. The lady and the three Venetians arrived safely in Persia, where it was found that her intended husband had died, and so she was compelled to marry his son.
PORTRAIT OF KUBLAI-KHAN.
(From a Chinese engraving.)
"As soon as their mission had ended, the Polos proceeded to Venice, which they reached in the year 1295. Their long absence had caused them to be well-nigh forgotten, and very few people could be found who remembered anything about the Polos. They had changed much in their complexions, had almost forgotten their own language; all their utterances had a decidedly Tartar accent; and they were so travel-stained and shabby that they had difficulty in being received in their own house, which was now occupied by relatives.
"In order to establish their identity, the wanderers invited their relatives to a grand banquet. When the time came for sitting down at table, the three appeared in robes of crimson satin; a little later they exchanged these for robes of crimson damask, and these again for the richest velvet of the same color. Afterwards they dressed in clothing like that of the rest of the company, and each of the crimson robes, as soon as it was laid aside, was cut up and given to the servants.
"Just as the dinner was breaking up, Marco rose from the table and retired for a moment. When he returned, he brought the shabby dresses they had worn on their arrival, and the three Polos then went to work with knives to rip open these apparently worthless garments. As they cut away the seams, showers of great diamonds of the purest water, and also emeralds, pearls, rubies, sapphires, and carbuncles, fell on the table.
"There could be no further doubt about the relationship; everybody at table was ready to swear that he was father, son, and brother all at once to any of the trio. Relatives poured in on them in great numbers, and all Venice rushed to do them honor. They were appointed to offices of high trust, and the young men of Venice came to hear Marco tell of the wonders he had seen in his long absence. They were the most popular men in the city, and received more invitations to dinner than they could accept.
"There is a tradition that the wife of one of the Polos one day gave a beggar an old coat belonging to her husband, as she considered it too shabby for him to wear any longer. When he asked for it the next day, in order to put away the jewels it contained, she told him she had given it to a poor man whom she did not know. The tradition says, 'He went to the Bridge of Rialto, and stood there turning a wheel, to no apparent purpose, but as if he were a madman; and to all who crowded around to see what prank was this, and asked him why he did it, he answered, "He'll come, if God pleases." So, after two or three days, he recognized his old coat on the back of one of those who came to stare at his mad proceeding, and got it back again.
MARCO POLO'S GALLEY IN BATTLE.
"Soon after his return, an expedition was sent from Venice against Genoa, and Marco was placed in command of one of the ships or galleys. A great battle was fought; the Venetians were defeated; Marco was captured, placed in irons, and lodged in a prison at Genoa. While in captivity, he told the story of his travels to a fellow-prisoner named Rusticiano or Rustichello, of Pisa, and the latter committed it to writing. It was fortunate for us, though not so for him, that Marco Polo was in prison, as otherwise we might never have had an account of his travels. After his release, he led a quiet life at Venice, and seems to have died not far from the year 1325. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo; but all trace of his tomb was lost when that edifice was rebuilt.
"Now it is Fred's turn," said Frank; "I have told the history of Marco Polo, and shown why and how he went to the East; Fred will give you an account of what the great traveller saw in his absence from Europe of nearly twenty years."
Fred drew his note-book from his pocket and proceeded to his share of the entertainment.
"Marco Polo's work," said Fred, "consists of four divisions or books and a prologue. The prologue opens as follows:
"'Great princes, emperors, and kings, dukes and marquises, counts, knights, and burgesses, and people of all degrees, who desire to get knowledge of the various races of mankind, and of the diversities of the sundry regions of the world, take this book and cause it to be read to you. For ye shall find therein all kinds of wonderful things, and the divers histories of the great Hermenia, and of Persia, and of the land of the Tartars, and of India, and of many another country of which our book doth speak particularly, and in regular succession, according to the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble citizen of Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes. Some things, indeed, there be therein which he beheld not; but these he heard from men of credit and veracity. And we shall set down things seen as seen, and things heard as heard only, so that no jot of falsehood may mar the truth of our book; and that all who read it or hear it read may put full faith in the truth of all its contents.'
"It is hardly worth while to read the whole prologue to you," Fred remarked, "as it is long, and we can only give a general glance at the contents of the whole work. A great many editions of the travels of Marco Polo have been published; the most valuable of all is the latest, which is by Colonel Yule, an English officer who spent a long time in India. He has made a careful study of the subject, and his work, with explanatory notes, is as complete as years of labor could make it. Indeed, there are more pages taken up with the explanatory notes than with the original text of Marco Polo.
"The four divisions or books give an account of the various countries he visited in his years of wandering, and of the wonderful sights he beheld. The route he followed can be traced by geographers without difficulty, and the cities he visited have most of them been identified. Many have had their names changed, and some have disappeared altogether, so that in a few instances the localities are in dispute. But, taken as a whole, the story is a truthful one, and shows Marco Polo to have been the greatest traveller of his time.
"Some of the stories that seem at first to be the wildest fiction are known to be founded in fact, if not literally correct. In speaking of Syria, he says: 'There is a great lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this lake are found no fish, great or small, throughout the whole year till Lent comes. On the first day of Lent they find in it the finest fish in the world, and great store, too, thereof; and these continue to be found till Easter-eve. After that they are found no more till Lent comes round again; and so 'tis every year.'
"Colonel Yule is unable to locate the particular lake mentioned, but says there are several lakes in different parts of the East that are deserted by the fish for certain periods of the year. It would not be at all strange if such were the case, and a very little exaggeration of the story would make the fish appear in Lent, and go away at other times.
ALAU SHUTS UP THE CALIPH OF BAUDAS IN HIS TREASURE-TOWER.
"While describing Baudas—the modern Bagdad—he tells how an army, under Prince Alau, captured the city, and found the greatest accumulation of treasure that ever was known. The prince was enraged at seeing so much wealth, and asked the caliph why he did not take the money to hire soldiers to defend the city. 'The caliph,' says Marco, 'wist not what to answer, and said never a word. So the prince continued, "Now then, caliph, since I see what a love thou hast borne thy treasure, I will e'en give it thee to eat." So he shut the caliph up in the treasure-tower, and bade that neither meat nor drink should be given him, saying, "Now, caliph, eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it, for never shalt thou have aught else to eat!"'
"So the caliph lingered four days in the tower, and then died. The story has been used by several poets both in England and America, and it has been made the basis of an Eastern romance.
"Some of the more fanciful stories he tells are about the men of Lambri, and of Angamanain. Here is what he says of the former:
"'Now you must know that in this kingdom of Lambri there are men with tails; these tails are of a palm in length, and have no hair on them. These people live in the mountains, and are a kind of wild men. Their tails are about the thickness of a dog's. There are also plenty of unicorns in the country, and abundance of game in birds and beasts.'
"The story is not very definite," Frank suggested, "as there is a great difference in the size of dogs' tails. The range from a terrier or pug to a mastiff or a Siberian blood-hound is pretty wide. It reminds me of the stone thrown at a man, that was described by a witness as about the size of a piece of chalk."
"By the island of Angamanain," Fred continued, "Polo probably meant the Andaman Islands. Here is what he says of them:
DOG-HEADED MEN OF ANGAMANAIN.
"'The people are without a king, and are idolaters, and no better than wild beasts. And I assure you that all the men of this island of Angamanain have heads like dogs, and teeth and eyes likewise! In fact, in the face they are just like big mastiff dogs! They have a quantity of spices; but they are a most cruel generation, and eat everybody they can catch, if not of their own race. They live on flesh and rice and milk, and have fruits different from ours.'
"Now, the fact is," Fred explained, "that the natives of the Andaman Islands have a bad reputation. Down to the present time they have been repeatedly charged with murdering the crews of ships that were wrecked there; and it is only recently that their cannibalism has been denied. They are very black, and not at all handsome in face or figure; and out of these facts I suppose the story came that they had heads like dogs.
"He describes a fountain in the kingdom of Mosul, 'from which oil springs in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred ship loads might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not good to use with food, but 'tis good to burn, and is also used to anoint camels that have the mange.' Evidently they had petroleum in Asia six hundred years ago, as we have it in America to-day, and thought we had made a new discovery.
"He speaks of oxen 'that are all over white as snow, and very large and handsome. When they are to be loaded they kneel like the camel; once the load is adjusted, they rise. Then there are sheep as big as asses; and their tails are so large and fat that one tail shall weigh more than thirty pounds. They are fine fat beasts, and afford capital mutton.' These fat-tailed sheep are known in Asia and Africa, and the weight he gives is said not to be excessive.
"In one place there is an account of the posting system of the Great Khan of Tartary, which seems to have been more perfect than the posting system of Europe at the same date. From Kambaluc, the capital—now known as Peking—the roads branched in all directions, and 'each road,' says Marco, 'is known by the name of the province to which it leads. And the messengers of the emperor, in travelling from Kambaluc, be the road whichsoever they will, find at every twenty-five miles of the journey a station which they call Yamb, or, as we would say, the Post-horse-house. And at each of those stations used by the messengers there is a large and handsome building for them to put up at, in which they find all the rooms furnished with fine beds, and all other necessary articles in rich silk, and where they are provided with everything they can want. If even a king were to arrive at one of these, he would find himself well lodged. At some of these stations there shall be posted more than 400 horses, standing ready for the use of messengers; and at some 200, according to the requirements.... There are more than 300,000 kept at all these posts, and more than 10,000 great buildings for the use of messengers.'"
"How much China has declined since the days of Marco Polo," Frank remarked. "The great buildings and the silk beds do not exist; and as for the horses, we were unable to find them at the posting-stations, or even to find any stations where they might be kept."
Fred took breath during this interruption, and then went on with the story of what Marco Polo claimed to have seen.
MEDIÆVAL TARTAR HUTS AND WAGONS.
"'The houses of the Tartars,' says Marco, 'are made of wands covered with felt. These are carried along with them whithersoever they go. They also have wagons covered with black felt so efficaciously that no rain can get in. These are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women and children travel in them. They eat all kinds of flesh, including horses and dogs and Pharaoh's rats. Their drink is mares' milk.' This account is confirmed by other writers; and the houses of the Tartars are made to-day as Polo describes, though they are not drawn about on wheels. One ancient writer says that he measured one of the Tartar wagons, and found that the wheels were twenty feet apart, and it was drawn by twenty-two oxen, eleven abreast.
THE ROC, FROM A PERSIAN DRAWING.
"He has a good deal to say," Fred continued, "about the famous bird known as the roc, or rukh. He does not claim to have seen one of these birds, but was informed by persons who had done so. According to his account, 'It was for all the world like an eagle, but one, indeed, of enormous size; so big, in fact, that its wings covered an extent of thirty paces, and its quills were twelve paces long, and thick in proportion; and it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him up in the air and drop him, so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure.'
ROC'S EGG, NOW IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
"In a note explaining this story, Colonel Yule says there was once a bird in Madagascar, where Polo places the roc, that was much larger than any known bird of the present day. Its eggs have been found in a fossil state, and one of them is preserved in the British Museum. It measures thirteen and a quarter by six and a half inches (length and width), and the capacity of the shell is nearly three and a half gallons. It was undoubtedly from this bird that the fable of the roc arose."
Frank ventured to ask Fred if he had found from Marco Polo's book what kind of money was used in China at the time he visited that country.
CHINESE BANK-NOTE OF THE MING DYNASTY.
"I am just coming to that," Fred answered. "Polo says that the great emperor, Kublai-Khan, was a wonderful man. 'He transformed the bark of the mulberry-tree into something resembling sheets of paper, and these into money, which cost him nothing at all, so that you might say he had the secret of alchemy to perfection. And these pieces of paper he made to pass current universally, over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his sovereignty extended; and nobody, however important he thought himself, dared to refuse them on pain of death."
"History repeats itself," said Doctor Bronson; "for many a modern government has made the same laws in order to compel the circulation of its promises to pay."
"And with the same result," Fred responded; "for we learn farther on from Marco Polo that, in spite of the death penalty, the legal-tender issue of the Great Khan was only worth half its nominal value in silver; and the more money he issued, the greater was the depreciation. But the khan was not the inventor of paper-money, for it was known at least four centuries before his time. Its origin is disputed, but the probabilities are that it came from the East.
"Some of the stories that are told about supernatural appearances are very interesting," continued Fred. "In the desert of Gobi, Polo says that the traveller who lags behind his party at night will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his comrades. Sometimes the spirits will call him by name, and thus shall a traveller oft-times be led astray, so that he never finds his party; and in this way many have perished. And sometimes you shall hear the sound of a variety of musical instruments, and still more commonly the sound of drums.
"He says, in another place, 'When the Great Khan, seated on a platform some eight cubits above the pavement, desires to drink, cups filled with wine are moved from a buffet in the centre of the hall, a distance of ten paces, and present themselves to the emperor without being touched by anybody.'
CHINESE CONJURING EXTRAORDINARY.
"Polo describes other magical performances, some of which are partially explained by Colonel Yule. Another traveller relates that a juggler performed some remarkable tricks in his presence; and among them is the following: 'He took a wooden ball with several holes in it, through which loose thongs were passed, and, laying hold of one of these, slung it into the air. It went so high that we lost sight of it altogether. There now remained only a little of the end of a thong in the conjurer's hand, and he desired one of the boys who assisted him to lay hold of it and mount. He did so, climbing by the thong, and we lost sight of him! The conjurer then called to him three times; but getting no answer, he snatched up a knife as if in a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and disappeared also. By-and-by he threw down one of the boy's hands; then a foot; then the other hand, and then the other foot; then the trunk; and, last of all, the head. Then he came down himself, all puffing and panting, and, with his clothes all bloody, kissed the ground, and said something in Chinese. Then he took the lad's limbs, laid them together, gave a kick, when, presto! there was the boy, who got up and stood before us.'"
"The Indian jugglers are said to do the same trick, or one very much like it," said Doctor Bronson. "I have read a description of one of their performances, in which they took a long chain and threw one end of it in the air, where it remained as if fastened to something. A dog was then brought forward, and ran up the chain and disappeared in the air. In the same way a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were sent up the chain one after the other, and all disappeared at its upper end. Finally they took down the chain, rolled it up and put it in a bag, no one being able to discover how the trick was performed."
"We must come to a stop now," said Fred, "though we haven't heard a tenth part of the strange things in Marco Polo's story of his travels. His account of the Court of Kublai-Khan would take a long time to tell, and perhaps you would get tired of it before I came to the end. So, if you want to know more, you must do as I have done—read for yourself."
The interesting session of the party over the travels of the famous Venetian were brought to a close. The Doctor complimented the boys on the excellent work they had done in making a condensed account of the book, and said he was so pleased with them that he would give them a similar piece of employment whenever the opportunity occurred.
"It is a capital way," said Fred, "to fix in mind what we have read. I find that I read with greater care when I know I must make a summary of a book than if I am to throw it down when through and think no more of it. I'm very glad we had to go through Marco Polo's history in this way."
"And I too," Frank added. "But it is what we used to dislike so much at school."
"What was that?" Fred asked.
"Why, writing compositions, to be sure," Frank responded. "Don't you remember how we used to detest it?"
"Of course I do," was the answer; "but we always did it without an object. The teacher told us to write something about 'spring,' or 'the beauties of nature,' or some other subject that was not at all definite. Now if he had given us an interesting book to read, and said he wanted us to do with it as we have done with this, we should have 'written a composition' with some relish."
"It will be eight bells soon," the captain interrupted, "and if you want to see me take the sun you had better come forward."
CAPTAIN CLANCHY AT WORK.
The boys had familiarized themselves with the process of finding a ship's position; but anything at sea that varies the monotony is always welcome. So they went forward with Captain Clanchy, and stood by the rail till that brief performance was ended. Then they retired to the cabin, and watched the operation of working up the steamer's position; and by the time this was over, the steward announced that dinner was ready.
COME TO DINNER!