In the myddest of the palace is a place made that they call the Monture[3] for the great Caane, that is well made with precious stones and great hanging about, and at the foure corners of that Montour are foure nedders[4] of golde, & under that mountour and about are conduites of bevrage that they drink in the Emperour's courte. And the hall of that palayce is richly dight and wel, and firste at the upper ende of the hall is the throne of the Emperour right hie where he sitteth at meate (at a) table that is well bordered with gold and that bordure is full of precious stones and great pearles, and the greces on which he goeth up are of diverse precious stones bordred with golde.
At the left syde of his throne is the sege of his wife a degree lower than he sitteth and that is of Jasper bordred with gold and the sege of his seconde wife is a degree lower than the fyrste, and that is also of good Jasper bordred with golde and the sege of the thyrd wife is a degree lower than the seconde for alwaye he hathe three wives with him wheresoeuer he is, besyde these wives on the same side setteth other ladies of his kin eche one lower than other, as they are of degree, and all those that are wedded, haue a counterfaite[5] of a man's foote uppon their heads a cubite long and all made with precious stones, & about they are made with shining fethers of pecockes or such other in tokening that they are in subjection to man & under men's feete, & they that are not wedded haue none such. On the right side of the Emperour sitteth fyrste his sonne the which shall be Emperour after him, and he sitteth also a degree lower than the Emperour in such maner of seges as the Emperour sitteth, and by him sitteth other lordes of his kyn, eche one lower than other as they are of degree. And the Emperour hath his table by himselfe alone that is made of golde and precious stones, or of white Crystal or yelowe, bordred with golde, and eche one of his wyves hath a table by hirselfe. And under the Emperours table sitteth foure clerkes at his feete that wryteth all that the Emperour sayth be it good or ylle. And at great feastes about the Emperours table, and all other tables in the hall is a vine made of gold that goeth all about the hall, and it hath many braunches of grapes lyke to grapes of the vine, some are white, some are yelowe, some red, some grene, and some blacke, all the red are of rubies of cremes[6] or allabonce, the white are of cristall or byrall,[7] the yelowe are of topaces, the grene are of Emeraudes & Crysolytes, and the blacke are of Quickes and Gerandes, & this vyne is made thus of precious stones so properly that it seemeth that it were a vyne growinge. And before the borde of the Emperour standeth great lordes and no man is so hardy to speke unto hym, except it be musicians for to solace the Emperour. And all the vessell that is served in his hall or chambres, are of precious stones and namely at tables where great lordes eate, that is to say, of Jasper, crystall, amatyst, or fyne golde, and the cuppes are of Emeraudes, saphyres, topaces, and many other maner of stones; and (of) silver haue they no vessell, for they praise silver but little to make vessell of, but they make of silver greces, pylers & paviments of halles & chambres. And ye shall understande that my felaw & I were in wages with him xvi moneths against the Kinge of Mancy,[8] uppon whome he made warre, and the cause was we had so great desire to see the nobilitye of his court, if it were suche as we heard speake of, and forsoth we founde it more richer & solempne than ever we harde speake of, and we should neuer haue beleved it, had we not seene it. But ye shall understande the meat and drinke is more honest among us than it is in those countreys, for all the comons eate upon skines of beastes on theyr knees and eate but fleshe of all maner of beastes, & when they haue all eate they wipe theyr handes on their skirtes & they eate but once in the day & eate but little bread but the maner of the lordes is full noble and richly.
[1:] Others call it Sugarmago or Eugarmago.
[2:] Pynson says seven.
[3:] This is a curious term, which can scarcely be translated. A French edition has Mountaynette, which Cotgrave says is a little mountain. A Latin edition says Ascensorium.
[4:] Serpents.
[5:] Representation.
[6:] I have up to the present failed in finding equivalents for these two words, also for Quickes (spelt in Pynson Onichez, which may probably mean onyxes,) and Gerandes. This latter word is spelt in one MS. Garantez, and may mean garnet. Cotgrave gives Alabandique, "a kinde of blacke stone mingled with purple."
[7:] Beryl.
[8:] Marco Polo gives a graphic description of the invasion and subjection of Manzi, or Southern China, in the year 1268, by Kublai's great general Bayan (great or noble) Hundred eyes. If, therefore, there is any truth in Mandeville, he and his "felaw" may have helped to put down an insurrection in the kingdom of Manzi.
CAP. LXVIII.
Wherefore that the Emperour of Cathay is called the great Caane.
AND ye shall understande why he is called ye great Caane, ye knowe yt all the worlde was destroied with Noes floud but Noe his wife & children. Noe had three sons, Sem, Cham & Japhet. Cham when he saw his father naked when he slept, scorned him & therefore he was cursed and Japhet covered him againe. These three brethrene hadde all the land. Cham toke the best parte eastward that is called Asia. Sem toke Afryke and Japhet toke Europe. Cham was the mightiest and richest of his bretherne and of him are come the Paynim folke & divers maner of men of the yles, some headlesse, and other men disfigured, and for this Cham the Emperour there called him Cham and Lord of all. But ye shall understande that the Emperour of Cathay is called Caane, and not Cham, & for this cause, it is not long ago that all Tartary was in subjection and thrall to other nations about, and they were made herdemen to kepe beastes, and among them was vii linages[1] or kindes, the firste was called Tartary that is the best, the second linage is called Tamghot,[2] the third Furace,[3] the fourth Valaire, the fifth Semoth,[4] the sixth Menchy,[5] the seventh Sobeth.[6] These are all holding of the great Caane of Cathay. Now it befell so that the first linage was an olde man & hee was not ryche and men called him Chanius. This man lay and slept on a nighte in his bedde, and there came to him a knighte, all white, sitting uppon a white hors, and sayde to him, Caane slepeste thou? God that is almighty sent me to thee, & it is his will that thou saye to the vii linages yt thou shalt be theyr Emperour, for ye shall conquere all the lande about you, and they shall be in your subjection as you have bene in theirs. And when morow came he rose up and sayde it to the vii linages, and they scorned him and sayde he was a fole, and the next night the same knighte came to the vii linages and bad them of gods behalfe to make Chanius their Emperour, and they shold be out of all subjection. And on the morow they chose Chanius to be Emperour, and dyd him all worship that they might do, & called him Caane as the white knighte called him, and they sayde they would doe as he badde them. Then he made many statutes and lawes, the which he called Ysakan.[7] The firste statute was, that they shoulde be obedient to God almyghtie, and beleve that he should deliver them out of thraldome, and that they shoulde call on him in all their workes. Another statute was, yt all men that might beare armes shoulde be nombred, and to eche x shoulde be a master, and to a hundred a master, and to a thousand a master. Then he commaunded to all the greatest and principallest of the vii linages, that they should forsake all that they had in heritage or lordship, and that they should hold them payed of that he wold give them of his grace, and they did so. And also he bad them yt eche man should bringe his eldest sonne before him, and sleay his owne sonne with his owne handes, and smyte of their heads, and as sone they did his bidding. And when he saw they made no letting[8] of what he bad them, then bad he them folow his baner, and then he put in subjection all the landes about him.
[1:] People or tribes.
[2:] Tangut, or Tanghút, is the name given to certain tribes of Thibetan extraction, who lived on the north-west frontier of China.
[3:] Called variously Eurache, Semoche, Megly and Coboghe, whose relative positions can scarcely now be defined accurately.
[4:] As Footnote 3.
[5:] As Footnote 3.
[6:] As Footnote 3.
[7:] Others write it Ysya-Chan.
[8:] Hindrance.