Chapter XXIX.
OF THE GOODNESS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLE OF BRAGMAN.—OF KING ALEXANDER, AND WHY THE EMPEROR OF INDIA IS CALLED PRESTER JOHN.
And beyond that isle is another isle, great and rich, where are good and true people, and of good living after their belief, and of good faith. And although they are not christened, yet by natural law they are full of all virtue, and eschew all vices; for they are not proud, nor covetous, nor envious, nor wrathful, nor gluttonous, nor lecherous; nor do they to any man otherwise than they would that other men did to them; and in this point they fulfil the ten commandments of God. And they care not for possessions or riches; and they lie not, nor do they swear, but say simply yea and nay; for they say he that sweareth will deceive his neighbour; and therefore all that they do, they do it without oath. And that isle is called the isle of Bragman, and some men call it the Land of Faith; and through it runs a great river called Thebe. And in general all the men of those isles, and of all the borders thereabout, are truer than in any other country thereabout, and more just than others in all things. In that isle is no thief, no murderer, no common woman, no poor beggar, and no man was ever slain in that country. And they be as chaste, and lead as good a life, as though they were monks; and they fast all days. And because they are so true, and so just, and so full of all good conditions, they are never grieved with tempests, nor with thunder and lightning, nor with hail, nor with pestilence, nor with war, nor with famine, nor with any other tribulation, as we are many times amongst us for our sins; wherefore it appears evident that God loveth them for their good deeds. They believe well in God that made all things, and worship him; and they prize no earthly riches; and they live full orderly, and so soberly in meat and drink, that they live right long. And the most part of them die without sickness, when nature faileth them for old age. And it befell, in king Alexander's time, that he purposed to conquer that isle; but when they of the country heard it, they sent messengers to him with letters, that said thus:—"What may we be now to that man to whom all the world is insufficient? Thou shalt find nothing in us to cause thee to war against us; for we have no riches, nor do we desire any; and all the goods of our country are in common. Our meat, with which we sustain our bodies, is our riches; and instead of treasure of gold and silver, we make our treasure of acorns and peas, and to love one another. And to apparel our bodies we use a simple cloth to wrap our carcase. Our wives are not arrayed to make any man pleased. When men labour to array the body, to make it seem fairer than God made it, they do great sin; for man should not devise nor ask greater beauty than God hath ordained him to have at his birth. The earth ministereth to us two things; our livelihood, that cometh of the earth that we live by, and our sepulchre after our death. We have been in perpetual peace till now that thou art come to disinherit us; and also we have a king, not to do justice to every man, for he shall find no forfeit among us; but to keep nobleness, and to show that we are obedient, we have a king. For justice has among us no place; for we do to no man otherwise than we desire that men do to us, so that righteousness or vengeance have nought to do among us; so that thou mayest take nothing from us but our good peace, that always hath endured among us." And when king Alexander had read these letters, he thought that he should do great sin to trouble them.
There is another isle called Oxidrate, and another called Gymnosophe, where there are also good people, and full of good faith; and they hold, for the most part, the same good conditions and customs, and good manners, as men of the country above mentioned; but they all go naked. Into that isle entered king Alexander, to see the customs; and when he saw their great faith, and the truth that was amongst them, he said that he would not grieve them, and bade them ask of him what they would have of him, riches or any thing else, and they should have it with good will. And they answered that he was rich enough that had meat and drink to sustain the body with; for the riches of this world, that is transitory, are of no worth; but if it were in his power to make them immortal, thereof would they pray him, and thank him. And Alexander answered them that it was not in his power to do it, because he was mortal, as they were. And then they asked him why he was so proud, and so fierce, and so busy, to put all the world under his subjection, "right as thou wert a God, and hast no term of this life, neither day nor hour; and covetest to have all the world at thy command, that shall leave thee without fail, or thou leave it. And right as it hath been to other men before thee, right so it shall be to others after thee, and from hence shalt thou carry nothing; but as thou wert born naked, right so all naked shall thy body be turned into earth, that thou wert made of. Wherefore thou shouldst think, and impress it on thy mind, that nothing is immortal but only God, that made all things." By which answer Alexander was greatly astonished and abashed, and all confused departed from them.
Many other isles[414] there are in the land of Prester John, and many great marvels, that were too long to tell, both of his riches and of his nobleness, and of the great plenty also of precious stones that he has. I think that you know well now, and have heard say, why this emperor is called Prester John. There was some time an emperor there, who was a worthy and a full noble prince, that had Christian knights in his company, as he has that now is. So it befell that he had great desire to see the service in the church among Christians; and then Christendom extended beyond the sea, including all Turkey, Syria, Tartary, Jerusalem, Palestine, Arabia, Aleppo, and all the land of Egypt. So it befell that this emperor came, with a Christian knight with him, into a church in Egypt; and it was the Saturday in Whitsuntide. And the bishop was conferring orders; and he beheld and listened to the service full attentively; and he asked the Christian knight what men of degree they should be that the prelate had before him; and the knight answered and said that they were priests. And then the emperor said that he would no longer be called king nor emperor, but priest; and that he would have the name of the first priest that went out of the church; and his name was John. And so, evermore since, he is called Prester John.