Cap. lxxxviii.—Of the churches at Court, and how they travel, and how the altar stones are reverenced, and how Prester John shows himself to the people each year.
Prester John rarely travels in a straight direction, nor does anyone know where he is going. This multitude of people travels along the road until they find a white tent pitched, and there they settle down each in their own places. Frequently Prester John does not come to this tent, but sleeps in the monasteries and large churches which are in the country. In the tent which is thus pitched they do not neglect to make solemn observances of instrumental music and chaunts, yet not so perfect as when the lord is there: moreover, the churches always travel with the Court, and there are thirteen of them. They travel by the straight road, although Prester John goes off the road. The altar stone or stones of all the churches are conveyed with much reverence, and are only carried by mass priests, and always four priests go with each stone, and four others outside of these to do them reverence; they carry these stones on a trestle[173] raised on men’s shoulders, and covered with rich cloths of brocade and silk. In front of each altar or stone, for all go together, walk two deacons, with thurible and cross, and another with a bell ringing it. And every man, or woman, who is going on the road, as soon as he hears the bell goes off the road, and makes room for the church; and if he is riding a mule he dismounts and lets the church go by. Also, whenever the Prester travels with his Court, four lions always go before him, these too travel by the straight road, and they go bound with strong chains, that is to say, with two chains, one behind and one before, and many men conduct them; to these also people give up the road, but it is from fear. We travelled on our road, with various halts, till the 20th of December, when we stopped at the great gullies which have the gates, where we passed in coming,[174] and there they gave us quarters in large fields, when Prester John’s tents were pitched. They at once began to make a very high platform in one of the tents for Prester John to show himself on Christmas-day, because he generally shows himself three times a year, that is, once at Christmas, another time at Easter, and another on Holy Cross day in September. They say that he makes these three exhibitions of himself because his grandfather, the father of his father, who was named Alexander, was kept by his courtiers hidden for three years when dead, and they were masters of his kingdoms and lordships: for up to that time no one of the people ever saw their king, and he was not seen except by a very few of his servants and courtiers; and at the request of the people the father of this David showed himself these three days, and so does this one. They say that if he goes to war, he goes uncovered in the sight of all, and even when travelling, as will be related further on, where we saw him.
Cap. lxxxix.—How Prester John sent to call me to say mass for him on Christmas-day, and of confession and communion.
Whilst we were thus a good way off from the tents of Prester John in our tents, and our church pitched close by, we said mass every day. On the vigil of Christmas, already midday or more, Prester John sent to call me, and asked me what festival we made next day. I told him how we celebrated the birth of Christ, and he asked me what solemnity we observed. I told him the manner which we followed with respect to that, and how we said three masses. He said that they did all as we did, but that they did not say more than one mass, and of the three masses that we were used to say, he asked me to say one for him, whichever I wished. I replied that I would say whichever His Highness commanded. Then he told me to say the mass of tierce, that he would be very glad to hear it, and also the office we were accustomed to use. He ordered that our church tent should at once be brought close to his tent. It was brought and he ordered two tents to be taken away from his tent, and our church to be pitched at the principal entrance of his tent, so that there would not be more than two fathoms between the church and the tent: he also said that at cock-crow he would send to call us to come to the church, that so his priests chaunted, and that we were to do everything as we were accustomed to do in our country, as he wished to hear us. When our church tent was thus pitched we at once sung in it vespers and compline, which the Prester heard inside his tent, and I say that he heard them, because we saw him there, as it was so close as has been said. Then we went to our tents, and as soon as the cocks crew, he summoned us, and we went six of us who understood church matters and could sing well: these were, Manuel de Mares, a servant of the Marquis of Vilareal, and player on the organ, Lazaro d’Andrade, painter, a native of Lisbon,[175] Joan Escolar the clerk of the embassy, mestre Joam, Nicolas Catelam, and mestre Pedro a Genoese. I took there as many books as I had got, although they were apart from the feast, but only to make up a number, because they are much given to asking for books; and I opened them all upon the altar, and we began our matins as well as we were able, and certainly it appeared that our Lord assisted us and gave us grace. At the commencement Prester John sent twenty candles, as he thought we had few, for we had not got more than four candles. We prolonged these matins a good deal with prose, hymns and canticles which we introduced, for we could not do anything else, as we had nothing prepared and marked out, and we sought what could be best chaunted or intoned. I continued the matins in their order whilst the others sung, and in all this office as long as it lasted, Prester John never moved from the edge of his tent, which as I have said was close to the church. Two messengers never ceased coming and going to ask what we were singing, whenever they heard a change in the sound of psalms, hymns, responses, prose, or canticles. I feigned what I did not know, and told them they were books of Jeremiah, which spoke of the birth of Christ; and so of the psalms of David, and other prophets. He was pleased and praised the books. When our service, which was rather long, was finished, there came an old priest who had been and they say still is the master of Prester John, and asked us if we had finished, or why we were silent. I told him we had finished. He replied that he would have rejoiced if the service had reached to next morning, and it had seemed to him that he had been in paradise with the angels. I told him that until mass we had no other office, and that I wanted to hear the confessions of some who wished to receive the Lord’s body. Then there came another message to ask where confession was to be made: when it came I was already hearing confessions upon a drum which they had sent to strike for matins, and this old priest having come with this message, and finding me already seated and hearing confessions, lit a blazing torch and placed it in front of me as if for them to see me from the tent; and he sat down on the ground close to me with his elbow on my knees, and the penitent on the other side; and he did not rise from that place until I had heard two persons in confession, and the morning became altogether light. At the end of this, this honourable priest said: would that God were pleased that the Neguz should give me leave to remain with you for all my life, for you are holy men and do things completely. This priest went away and soon returned, saying that Prester John desired me to hear confessions, that he wished to see our mode, which they had related to him, for hearing confessions. I sent word that it was getting late for saying mass at the hour which His Highness had ordered. He sent to tell me to go on confessing, and to say mass when I chose or was able to do so, for he would not hear any other mass this day than ours. I returned again to hear confessions on the drum where he could well see me sitting dressed in my surplice, and the penitent with his hat on his head, kneeling, with as much decorum as was possible. When this confession was finished, I sent to tell him that we would say mass as it was getting late. He said that whenever we pleased, for he was not weary with seeing and hearing, and was ready to hear mass. We got ready for our procession with the cross raised up, and a picture of our Lady in our hands, and all with lighted tapers and two torches near the cross. And as we made or began our procession inside the circuit of our church tent, the Prester sent to say that he saw the procession well, but that we should make it outside the mandilates of his tent, that is to say, the curtains which surround his tents, so that all the people might see it, and he sent fully four hundred tapers of white wax from his tents for us to carry lighted in our hands, beginning with the Portuguese and white men, and going on with his people as far as the tapers went. Thus we did it with as much decorum as we were able. When the procession was finished, which was very late on account of the great circuit we made, we began our aspersions of holy water, and went to sprinkle Prester John with it, which could be thrown upon him without stirring from the church: there were with him, as they said, the Queen his wife, the Queen his mother, who is Queen Helena, and the Cabeata and other courtiers. Inside our church were all the great men of the Court that there was room for, and those that could not find room stood outside, because from the altar as far as the Prester’s tent all was clear down the middle in order that His Highness might see the office of the mass. All remained thus until the end, and we gave the communion to those that had confessed, with great reverence (according to our custom) they on their knees with their napkins in their hands divided in two rows, so that they might be seen from the Prester’s tent. On ending, with the cross uplifted, we returned to sprinkle holy water on Prester John, because it is the custom of the two churches which are nearest his tents, that is the churches of our Lady and Holy Cross, to sprinkle him with holy water every day at the end of mass: and they cast this water from a distance of more than two games of ball; and they threw it in this manner. One like a deacon goes with the priest who says the mass, and carries a pitcher in his hand, and pours water into the priest’s hand, and the priest only makes a sign with his hand and the water towards the tent. We sprinkled it with hyssop in his face. The Franks and interpreters, and chiefly Pero de Covilham, who now was with us, and all who understood the language of the country, said that the people very much praised our customs and offices, and said that we did them with great devotion, and principally the communion, which was administered with great purity. The Prester also sent to say that our services seemed to him very good and very complete.
Cap. xc.—How the Prester gave leave to go to the ambassador and the others, and ordered me to remain alone with the interpreter, and of the questions about Church matters, and how we all sang compline, and how Prester John departed that night.
When all was concluded, that is to say procession, mass, and communion, the Prester desired the ambassador and all the Franks to go and dine, and that I should remain alone with one interpreter. Remaining alone, the old priest came and said that Prester John said that we observed Church matters very well, but what reason had we for allowing laymen to come into the church the same as the clergy, and that also he had heard tell that women entered it? I answered that the church of God was not closed to any Christian, and that Christ was always with arms open for every Christian who approached and came to him, and since he received them in glory in Paradise, how should we not receive them in church, which is the road to the church of Paradise. With respect to women, although in former time they did not enter into the Sanctuary,[176] the deserts of Our Lady were and are so great, that they had sufficed to make the feminine gender deserving to enter into the house of God. And as to ministering at the altar, that men in orders ministered. They came to say that my reasons seemed good to him, but he wished to know why, as I was the only priest, and he who carried the thurible was not a priest, how it was he carried it, because the incense ought to go in the hand of a priest, and of no other person? I answered that the person who served as a deacon was a zagonay, what they call of the gospel, and that his office was to carry the thurible. There came another message asking if we had that in a book, as our books were better than theirs, because our books contained all things. I answered that our books were very perfect, because since the time of the apostles we had always had learned men and doctors in the holy mother Church, who never did, nor now do, anything else but compile and bring together those things which are scattered about in the Holy Scriptures, both by the prophets, apostles, or evangelists, and by Jesus Christ our Saviour. They again told me that they had eighty-one books of the Old and New Testaments, had we any more? I told them we had the eighty-one books, and more than ten times eighty-one drawn from those, with many declarations and perfections. They said they well knew that we had more books than they had, on this account they desired that I should tell them of books not seen by or known to them. Thus they kept questioning me, without the two messengers ever ceasing to go and come, nor I able to sit down, but only to lean upon a staff until the hour of vespers; and if these questions and answers had to be written down, two hands of paper would not suffice, neither could memory retain them for the haste they made. Some answers went and other questions came, each in their own fashion, and in much disorder, because they were not all questions from Prester John, for some were from his mother, and others from his wife, and also from Queen Helena. I answered as God helped me, I was in such a state of weakness and hunger that I could not endure it, and instead of an answer, I sent to ask His Highness to have pity for an old man, who had neither eat nor drunk since yesterday at midday, nor had slept, and could not stand for weakness. He sent to say, that since he rejoiced to converse with me, why did not I rejoice too. I replied that old age, hunger, and weakness, did not allow of it. He sent to say that if I wished to eat he would send it to me, that he had already sent a great deal to eat to our tent, and if I wished to eat there I might go, or if I wished to eat here he would order food to be given me. I told him I wished to eat at our tent, to rest myself: then they gave me leave. While I was on the road, a page reached me half dead with running; when I heard him come, I thought it was my sins come to make me turn back. He told me the Prester sent him to beg me to send back the hat I had on my head, and to pardon him, and not be angry at having been so long without eating, and as soon as I had eaten to come back at once, as he wished to learn more things from me. On reaching our tent I was seized with a giddiness, that the sight left my eyes, and I became quite cold. An hour and a half had not passed before he sent to call me, and as it was already late, those who knew church matters went with me, and we sung compline, only because there was no place at our tent, and when compline was finished, there came a message to strike our church tent, because Prester John was going away that night, as in effect he did do, in order to pass the bad passages without anyone knowing of it. While we were lying sleeping in our tent, a little more or less than midnight, we heard a great tramping of mules and people passing close to us, and then we heard say that the Neguz was travelling; and as it seemed to us that we should be left without people, we made ready quickly; and when we arrived at the first pass, there was no remedy for it, and our people made way for us with their lances, and we travelled thus that day with lances in front and lances behind, and we in the middle, not allowing anyone to come among us; because otherwise we should never have got together again. We went and found the King’s tent pitched in the middle of the ravines in sight between the meadows, where I before related that the friar ordered the beans to be pulled out, and there slept all the people who were able to pass, and we did not sleep much, for before midnight we heard say that the Negus was travelling, and we went after him at once: and we got out of the bad passes before morning. We heard say that in this night there died in these passes, men, women and many mules, asses, ponies, and pack oxen; we found many dead. This is the pass which is named Aquia fagi, which means death to asses, by which we passed in coming. It was certain that a great lady died this night, and with her a man who led her mule by the halter, and two who went close to her, and the mule, all of them went over a rock, and were dashed to pieces before they reached the bottom: it could not be otherwise, because the cliffs are, as I before said, something incredible: and whoever sees them, they appear to him more like hell than anything else. So we made our journey without observing the octaves of Christmas, which they do not observe in this country. And I before said that the Court did not finish moving in four or five days; here they spent more than three weeks in getting through these gates, and the baggage of the Prester was more than a month passing every day.