19 - The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Volume 2.

19 - The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Volume 2.  
19 - Book Fourth, Chapters 13 to 22. How Argon was delivered from prison. How Argon got the Sovereignty at last. How Acomat was slain by order of his nephew. How Argon was recognized as sovereign. How Kiacatu seized the sovereignty after Argon's death. How Baidu seized the sovereignty after the death of Kiacatu. Concerning king Conchi. Concerning the land of darkness. Description of Rosia and its people.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section nineteen of the Book of Sir Marco Polo, the
Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volume two.
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Book of Sir Marco Polo,

(00:21):
the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East,
Volume two by Rusticello d'a pisa, translated by Henri Yole,
Book fourth, Chapters thirteen to twenty two. Chapter thirteen, How
Argon was delivered from prison? Now it befell that there
was a great tartar baron, a very aged man, who

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took pity on Oragon, saying to himself that they were
doing an evil and disloyal deed in keeping their lawful
lord a prisoner. Wherefore he resolved to do all in
his power for his deliverance. So he tarried not, but
went incontinently to certain other barons and told them his mind,
saying that it would be a good deed to deliver

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Argon and make him their lord, as he was by right.
And when the other barons had heard what he had
to put before them. Then, both because they regarded him
as one of the wisest men among them, and because
what he said was the truth, they all consented to
his proposal and said that they would join with all
their hearts. So when the barons had assented, Boga, which

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was he who had set the business going, and with
him El Chadai, Togan, Tigana, tagachar Ulatai, and Samagar, all
those whom I have now named, proceeded to the tent
where Argon lay a prisoner. When they had got thither, Boga,
who was the leader in the business, spoke first, and

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to this effect, good my lord Argon said he, We
are well aware that we have done ill in making
you a prisoner, and we come to tell you that
we desire to return to right and justice. We come
therefore to set you free and to make you our
liege lord, as by right you are. Then Boga ceased
and said no more. Chapter fourteen, How Argon got the

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sovereignty at last. When Argon heard the words of Boga,
he took them in truth for an untimely jest, and replied,
with much bitterness of soul, good my lord, quoth he
you do ill to mock me? Thus surely it suffices
that you have done me so great wrong already, and
that you hold me, your lawful lord, here a prisoner

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and in chains. Ye know well as I cannot doubt
that you are doing an evil and a wicked thing.
So I pray you go your way and cease to
flout me. Good my lord, Argon said Boga, be assured,
we are not mocking you, but are speaking in sober earnest,
and we will swear it on our law. Then all

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the barons swore fealty to him as their lord, and
Argon too swore that he would never reckon it against
them that they had taken him prisoner, but would hold
them as dear as his father before him had done.
And when these oaths had passed, they struck off Argon's
fetters and hailed him as their lord. Argon then desired

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them to shoot a volley of arrows into the tent
of the Melek, who had held them prisoners and was
in command of the army, that he might be slain
at his word. They tarried not, but straightway shot a
great number of arrows at the tent, and so slew
the Melek. When that was done, Argon took the supreme command,
and gave his orders a sovereign, and was obeyed by all.

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And you must know that the name of him who
was slain, whom we have called the Melk, was sol done,
and he was the greatest lord after Akamat himself. In
this way that you have heard, Argon recovered his authority.
Chapter fifteen, how Akamat was taken prisoner. A messenger breaks
in upon Acamat's festivities with the news that Saldan was

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slain and Argon released and marching to attack him. Akamat
escapes to seek shelter with the Sultan of Babylon I
E of Egypt, attended by a very small escort. The
officer in command of a pass by which he had
to go, seeing the state of things, arrests him and
carries him to the court, probably Tabreez, where Argon was

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already arrived. Chapter sixteen, How Akamat was slain by order
of his nephew, And so when the officer of the
pass came before Argon, bringing Akamat captive, he was in
a great state of exultation and welcomed his uncle with
a malediction saying that he should have his deserts. And
he straightway ordered the army to be assembled before him,

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and without taking counsel with any one, commanded the prisoner
to be put to death and his body to be destroyed.
So the officer appointed to this duty took Akamat away
and put him to death and through his body where
it never was seen again. Chapter seven. How Argon was
recognized as sovereign. And when Argon had done as you

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have heard and remained in possession of the throne and
of the royal palace, all the barons of the different
provinces who had been subject to his father Abagah, came
and performed homage before him and obeyed him as was
his due. And after Argon was well established in the sovereignty,
he sent Kassan, his son, with thirty thousand horse to

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the arbor sac, I mean, to the region so called,
to watch the frontier. Thus, then Argon got back the government.
And you must know that Argon began his reign in
the year twelve eighty six of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Akamat had reigned two years, and Argon reigned six years.
And at the end of those six years he became

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ill and died. But some say twas of poison. Chapter
eighteen how Kihakatu seized the sovereignty after Argon's death and
immediately on Argon's death, an uncle of his who was
own brother to Abaga his father, seized the throne as
he found it easy to do owing to Casan's being

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so far away as the arbor sac When Kassan heard
of his father's death, he was in great tribulation, and
still more when he heard of Kiakatu's seizing the throne.
He could not then venture to leave the frontier for
fear of his enemies, but he vowed that when time
and place should suit, he would go and take as
great vengeance as his father had taken on a kamat.

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And what shall I tell you? Kiakatu continued to rule
and all obeyed him, except such as were along with Kasan.
Kiakato took the wife of Argon for his own and
was always dallying with women, for he was a great letcher.
He held the throne for two years, and at the
end of those two years he died, for you must
know he was poisoned. Chapter nineteen. How Baidu seized the

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sovereignty after the death of Kihakatu. When Kihakato was dead, Baidu,
who was his uncle, and was a Christian seized the throne.
This was in the year twelve ninety four of Christ's incarnation.
So Baidu held the government and all obeyed him, except
only those who were with Kassan. And when Kasan heard

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that Kihakatu was dead and Baidu had seized the throne,
he was in great vexation, especially as he had not
been able to take his vengeance on Kihakatu. As for Baidu,
Kasan swore that he would take such vengeance on him
that all the world should speak thereof. And he said
to himself that he would tarry no longer, but would

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go at once against Baidu and make an end of him.
So he addressed all his people and then set out
to get possession of his throne. And when Baidu had
intelligence thereof, he assembled a great army and got ready
and marched ten days to meet him, and then pitched
his camp and awaited the advance of Kasan to attack him,
meanwhile addressing many prayers and exhortations to his own people.

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He had not been halted two days when Kasan with
all his followers arrived, and that very day a fierce
battle began. But Baidu was not fit to stand long
against Kasan, and all the less that soon after the
action began, many of his troops abandoned him and took
sides with Kasan. Thus Baidu was discomfited and put to death,
and Kasan remained victor and master of all. For as

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soon as he had won the battle and put Baidu
to death, he proceeded to the capital and took possession
of the government, and all the barons performed homage and
obeyed him as their liege. Lord Kasan began to reign
in the year twelve ninety four of the incarnation of Christ. Thus,
then you have had the whole history from Abaga to Kasan.
And I should tell you that Alaou, the conqueror of

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Baodak and the brother of the great Khan Kublai, was
the progenitor of all those I have mentioned, for he
was the father of Abaga, and Abaga was the father
of Arragon, and Argon was the father of Kasan, who
now reigns. Now, as we have told you all about
the Tartars of the Levant, we will quit them and
go back and tell you more about Great Turkey. But

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in good sooth we have told you all about Great
Turkey and the history of Kaidu, and there is really
no more to tell, so we will go on and
tell you of the provinces and nations in the Far North.
Chapter twenty, concerning King Kanchi, who rules the Far North.
You must know that in the Far North there is
a king called Kanchi. He is a Tartar and all

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his people are Tartars, and they keep up the regular
Tartar religion, a very brutish one, it is, but they
keep it up just the same as Chinghas Khan and
the proper Tartars did. So I will tell you something
of it. You must know then that they make them
a god of felt and call him Natagai, and they
also make him a wife. And then they say that

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these two divinities are the gods of the earth, who
protect their cattle and their corn and all their earthly goods.
They pray to these figures, and when they are eating
a good dinner, they rub the mouths of their gods
with the meat, and do many other stupid things. The
king is subject to no one, although he is of
the imperial lineage of Chingas Khan and a near kinsman

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of the great Khan. This king has neither city nor castle.
He and his people live always either in the wide
plains or among great mountains and valleys. They subsist on
the milk and flesh of their cattle, and have no corn.
The king has a vast number of people, but he
carries on no war with anybody, and his people live

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in great tranquility. They have enormous numbers of cattle, camels, horses, oxen, sheep,
and so forth. You find in their country immense bears,
entirely white and more than twenty palms in length. There
are also large black foxes, wild asses, and abundance of sables,
those creatures I mean from the skins of which they

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make those precious robes that cost one thousand bazants each.
There are also veirs in abundance, and vast multitudes of
the pharaoh's rat, on which the people live all the
summer time. Indeed, they have plenty of all sorts of
wild creatures. For the country they inhabit is very wild
and trackless. And you must know that this king possesses

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one tract of country which is quite impassable for horses,
for it abounds greatly in lakes and springs, and hence
there is so much ice as well as mud and mire,
that horses cannot travel over it. This difficult country is
thirteen days in extent, and at the end of every
day's journey there is a post for the lodgment of

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the couriers who have to cross this tract. At each
of these post houses they keep some forty dogs of
great size, in fact, not much smaller than donkeys. And
these dogs draw the couriers over the day's journey from
post house to post house. And I will tell you
how you see. The ice and mire are so prevalent

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that over this tract, which lies for those thirteen days
journey in a great valley between two mountains, no horses,
as I told you, can travel, nor can any wheeled
carriage either. Wherefore they make sledges, which are carriages without wheels,
and made so that they can run over the ice
and also over mire and mud without sinking too deep

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in it. Of these sledges, indeed, there are many in
our own country, for tis just such that are used
in winter for carrying hay and straw, when there have
been heavy rains and the country is deep in mire.
On such a sledge. Then they lay a bear skin
on which the courier sits, and the sledge is drawn
by six of those big dogs that I spoke of.

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The dogs have no driver, but go straight for the
next post house, drawing the sledge famously over ice and mire.
The keeper of the post house, however, also gets on
a sledge drawn by dogs, and guides the party by
the best and shortest way. And when they arrive at
the next station, they find a new relay of dogs
and sledges ready to take them on, whilst the old

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relay turns back, And thus they accomplish the whole journey
across that region allays drawn by dogs. The people who
dwell in the valleys and mountains adjoining that tract of
thirteen days journey are great huntsmen, and catch great numbers
of precious little beasts, which are sources of great profit
to them. Such are the sable, the ermine, the verir,

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the erculan, the black fox, and many other creatures, from
the skins of which the most costly furs are prepared.
They use traps to take them, from which they can't escape.
But in that region the cold is so great that
all the dwellings of the people are underground, and underground
they always live. There is no more to say on
this subject, so I shall proceed to tell you of

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a region in that quarter in which there is perpetual darkness.
Chapter twenty one, concerning the land of Darkness. Still further north,
and a long way beyond that kingdom of which I
have spoken, there is a region which bears the name
of darkness, because neither sun, nor moon, nor stars appear,
but it is always as dark as with us in

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the twilight. The people have no king of their own,
nor are they subject to any foreigner, and live like beasts.
They are dull of understanding, like half witted persons. The tartars, however,
sometimes visit the country, and they do it in this way.
They enter the region riding mares that have foals, and
these foles they leave behind after taking all the plunder

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that they can get. They find their way back by
help of the mares, which are all eager to get
back to their foals, and find the way much better
than their riders could do. Those people have vast quantities
of valuable peltry. Thus they have those costly sables of
which I spoke, and they have the ermine, the arculan,
the verre, the black fox, and many other valuable furs.

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They are all hunters by trade, and a mass amazing
quantities of those furs. And the people who are on
their borders where the light is, purchase all those furs
from them. For the people of the land of darkness
carry the furs to the light country for sale, and
the merchants who purchase these make great gain thereby. I
assure you the people of this region are tall and shapely,

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but very pale and colorless. One end of the country
borders upon Great Russia, and as there is no more
to be said about it, I will now proceed, and
first I will tell you about the province of Russia.
Chapter twenty two, Description of Russia and its people. Province
of Lac Russia is a very great province lying towards

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the north. The people are Christians and follow the Greek doctrine.
There are several kings in the country, and they have
a language of their own. They are a people of
simple manners, but both men and women very handsome, being
all very white and tall with long fair hair. There
are many strong defiles and passes in the country, and

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they pay tribute to nobody except to a certain Tartar
king of the Ponen, whose name is Toctai. To him, indeed,
they pay tribute, but only a trifle. It is not
a land of trade, though, to be sure, they have
many fine and valuable furs, such as sables in abundance,
and ermine. There ercoline and fox skins, the largest and

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finest in the world, and also much wax. They also
possess many silver mines, from which they derive a large
amount of silver. There is nothing else worth mentioning. So
let us leave Rossia and I will tell you about
the Great Sea and what provinces and nations lie round
about it, all in detail, and we will begin with
Constantinople first. However, I should tell you of a province

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that lies between north and northwest. You see, in that
region that I have been speaking of, there is a
province called Loch, which is conterminous with Russia and has
a king of its own. The people are partly Christians
and partly Saracens. They have abundance of furs of good quality,
which merchants export many countries. They live by trade and handicrafts.

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There is nothing more worth mentioning. So I will speak
of other subjects. But there is one thing more to
tell you about Russia that I had forgotten. You see,
in Russia there is the greatest cold that is to
be found anywhere, so great as to be scarcely bearable.
The country is so great that it reaches even to
the shores of the Ocean Sea. And tis in that

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sea that there are certain islands in which are produced
numbers of gerfalcons and Peregrine falcons, which are carried in
many directions from Russia also to Ourowitch. It is not
very far, and the journey could be soon made were
it not for the tremendous cold, But this renders its
accomplishment almost impossible. Now, then let us speak of the

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Great Sea as I was about to do. To be sure,
many merchants and others have been there, but still there
are many again who know nothing about it. So it
will be well to include it in our book. We
will do so, then, and let us begin first with
the Strait of Constantinople. End of section nineteen. Recording by

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Karen