whenever an opportunity presented itself, displayed his good will
towards me, and if in turn I showed him any sign of attention, he
received it with marked gratitude.
About this time he met with an accident. He was returning home from the
Divan, and had arrived at the turn of the road, where it was his habit
to bid his colleagues farewell. There he chanced to wheel his horse
round too sharply, and, while engaged in giving them a parting salute,
bowed low with his whole weight on his steed’s neck. The horse, which
had not yet got its foothold, being unequal to the weight, fell with
its rider to the ground.
When I heard of this, I ordered my servants to visit him and inquire
if he had received any harm from the accident. He was gratified by the
attention, and after thanking me replied, ‘he was nowhere injured, and
it was not strange if an old worn-out soldier was liable to fall.’
Then turning to the bystanders, he said, ‘I cannot tell you how much
kindness that Christian always shows me.’
Sometimes he used to tell me that riches, honour, and dignities had
fallen in abundance to his lot, and that now his only object in life
was to show kindness to every one, and thus to hand down to posterity a
grateful recollection of his name.
When we had been already engaged for some time in peace negotiations,
and I was in great hopes of obtaining the result I desired, an accident
occurred, which might have upset and ruined everything.
A Greek by birth, whom they honoured with the title of Despot,[241]
invaded Moldavia, under the protection of the Emperor’s troops who
were guarding the Hungarian frontier, and occupied it, after driving
out the Voivode, who was then in possession of that country. The
Turks were greatly disturbed by this event, which was serious enough
in itself, and might, they feared, be only the first step to further
enterprises, but they deemed it wise to conceal their anxiety, and not
to make bad worse by unseemly alarm. But Ali thought he ought not to
let it pass without communicating with me, and ascertaining my views. I
received information from one of his domestics that in the course of a
few hours I should be summoned to him about this affair. I must confess
I was seriously alarmed by this message. Our negotiations were well
nigh completed, in fact we were like players who are about to conclude
their piece, of which only the last act remains. I was in great fear
that this new event would disturb everything, and carry us away again
from the harbour which was just in sight. I was summoned to Ali Pasha,
as I had been warned. He received me with his usual politeness, and
conversed with me on various topics, especially those relating to the
conclusion of peace, without showing either in his words or expression
any change from his usual demeanour, till I was just preparing to go,
and had risen to bid him farewell. Then, as if he had just recollected
the subject of Moldavia, he told me to sit down again and said, just
as one does when some trifle has come into one’s head, ‘Indeed I had
almost forgotten one thing I wanted to tell you. Have you heard that
your Germans have come into Moldavia?’ ‘Into Moldavia!’ said I; ‘no,
indeed I have not, and what is more, it seems to me most improbable.
For what could Germans have to do with so distant a country as
Moldavia?’ ‘Yet it is true,’ said he, ‘and you will find it to be so.’
He then began to repeat at greater length what he had told me, and to
assure me that the news which had arrived was certain. ‘To conclude,’
said he, ‘to prevent your having any doubt about it, we will catch a
German and send him to you that you may find out the truth from him.’
I then took the line of saying, that in any case I felt quite certain
that nothing had been done by the Emperor’s orders or authority. The
Germans were a free nation, and in the habit of taking foreign service.
Perhaps some of those who had served under the Emperor’s generals
had after their discharge enlisted as mercenaries under some one who
required such troops, and in my judgment he would not be far wrong in
attributing the cause of this disturbance to the neighbouring Hungarian
magnates, who, wearied of the wrongs which were heaped on them every
day by the Turks, had planned to pay them back in their own coin, and
if I might express what I felt, ‘I do not see,’ said I, ‘on what ground
they can be blamed, if, when harassed so often and goaded on by their
wrongs, they remembered they were men and ventured to retaliate. Is
there anything that your soldiers have not for many years past thought
they might not perpetrate in Hungary? What species of outrage or what
acts of hostility are there that they have abstained from inflicting
on the Emperor’s subjects? Here indeed hopes of peace are put forward,
but there war in all its worst forms is to be found. I have now been
detained here as a prisoner for many years, and no one at home knows
for certain whether I am alive or dead. The men who have borne your
insults so long deserve, in my opinion, praise, not blame, if they
avail themselves of any opportunity of revenge that presents itself.’
‘Be it so,’ said Ali; ‘let them do their worst, provided they keep
within the borders of Hungary itself or the adjoining districts; but
that they should invade Moldavia, which is only a few days’ journey
from Adrianople, that indeed is more than we can put up with.’
I replied, ‘Men accustomed to war, and more experienced in wielding
arms than in law, should not be expected to make nice or fine-drawn
distinctions. They seized the first opportunity that offered, and
thought it was not for them to consider where or how far they had leave
to go.’ Thus I left him without his being at all angry, as far as I
could judge; and in fact he did not show himself on the following days
a bit more hard to deal with in the peace negotiations.
While we were in the midst of this business, I received a great
kindness, for so I interpret it, from the Ambassador of the most
Christian King (the King of France). There were in the Sultan’s prisons
at Constantinople thirteen men, most of them young, including some of
noble birth, partly Germans and partly Netherlanders, who had been
reduced to that state by a curious accident. They had embarked at
Venice in the ship, by which pilgrims to the holy city of Jerusalem
are conveyed every year to Syria with passports from the Republic of
Venice. Some were making the pilgrimage from religious motives, and
others were travelling for pleasure; the journey, however, was destined
to be disastrous to all. They landed at a most unfortunate time, as
the knights of Malta had just made a descent upon that part of the
coast of Palestine, and had carried off many prisoners. The Syrians,
whose parents, children, and relations had been kidnapped, finding that
they had no other means of revenging themselves and recovering their
friends, laid hands on the travellers who were under the protection
of Venetian passports, and accused them of belonging to the pirates,
saying, ‘You must either get our kinsfolk restored to us, or like them
be reduced to the condition of slaves.’ They showed their passports
from the Venetian government, they appealed to the treaties and
engagements of the Porte. It was all of no use; might proved stronger
than right, and they were carried off to Constantinople in chains.
Their youth also was much against them, as it prevented even the Pashas
thinking it likely that they were _bonâ fide_ pilgrims, because, as a
general rule, it is only the older Turks who make religious pilgrimages.
When I obtained information of these events, I left no stone unturned
to deliver them from their miserable condition; but my endeavours were
wholly unsuccessful. The Venetian Baily[242] was appealed to, because
they were under the protection of his Republic when they had fallen
into misfortune. He frankly admitted their claim to his assistance,
but pointed out the difficulty of his doing them any service when he
had to deal with such insolent barbarians as the Turks. Meanwhile I
did what I could to lighten their misfortunes. However, to my great
surprise and joy they one day came to me in a body and told me they
were sent home, thanks to the Ambassador of the most Christian King;
through his good offices they had obtained their freedom. I was indeed
delighted at this unhoped-for event, and had my warmest thanks conveyed
to the Ambassador. The said Ambassador, Lavigne, being about to leave,
had managed, when he was having a farewell audience of Solyman and was
kissing his hand according to the established etiquette, to thrust
into it a paper, in which he asked that those men, whose calamity had
been caused by their undertaking a pilgrimage, should be granted their
liberty as a favour to his King. Solyman complied with his request and
ordered them to be instantly released.[243] I provided them with means
for their journey, and having put them on board ship, sent them to
Venice, and thence to their own country.
This Lavigne had at first made himself troublesome to me in many ways,
and, whenever he could, tried to impede my negotiations, and did his
best, without any fault of mine, to prejudice the Pashas against me.
He used to say I was a subject of the King of Spain, as I was born in
the Netherlands, and was as much that King’s servant as the Emperor’s.
He told them King Philip was informed through me of everything that
went on at Constantinople; that I had suborned men for that purpose,
who disclosed to me all the greatest secrets, among whom Ibrahim, the
first dragoman of the Sultan, about whom I shall speak later on, played
the principal part. All this had happened before peace had been made
between the Kings of Spain and France; and when peace was concluded he
seems to have sought an opportunity to make amends for what he had done.
Lavigne was a man of a rude and brutal frankness; he always said what
was uppermost in his mind, quite regardless of the feelings of his
hearer. The consequence was that Roostem himself shrank from meeting
him, although other people were afraid of conversing with Roostem
on account of the rudeness of his language. Lavigne would send his
dragomans to demand an audience for himself; Roostem would make
excuses, and tell him to communicate what he wanted through them, and
spare himself the trouble, assuring him that it could be done just
as well without his coming. But this used to be all in vain, for he
would presently come and say such things as seldom failed to give
offence to Roostem. To take an instance, he one day complained that
they did not have as much regard for his master as they ought to have.
‘For what is your opinion?’ said he; ‘perhaps you think Buda, Gran,
Stuhlweissenburg, and the other towns of Hungary were taken by your
valour, but you are quite mistaken. It is through us you hold them.
For had it not been for the quarrels and perpetual wars, which have
existed between our Kings and those of Spain, you would have been so
far from being able to get possession of those towns, that scarcely at
Constantinople itself would you have been safe from Charles V.’ Roostem
bore this no longer, but burst into a violent passion, and exclaimed,
‘Why do you talk to me of your Kings and those of Spain? Such is the
power of my master that, if all your Christian princes were to unite
their forces and make war on him at once, he would not care a straw for
it, and would win an easy victory over them all.’ With these words he
retreated to his chamber in a rage, after ordering the Ambassador to
leave.
I cannot here omit what I learnt about a tribe[244] which still dwells
in the Crimea, which I had often heard showed traces of a German origin
in their language, customs, and lastly in their face and habit of body.
Hence I had long been eager to see one of that tribe, and, if possible,
to procure from them something written in that language; but in this
I was unsuccessful. However, at last an accident in some measure
satisfied my wishes, as two men had been sent to Constantinople from
those parts, to lay before the Sultan some complaints or other in the
name of that tribe. My dragomans fell in with them, and recollecting
my orders on the subject, they brought them to me to dinner.
One of them was about the middle height, and had an air of superior
breeding—you might have taken him for a Fleming or Batavian; the other
was shorter, more strongly built, and of a dark complexion, being
by birth and language a Greek, but by having traded there for some
time he had acquired a fair acquaintance with their tongue; while the
other man had lived and associated so much with the Greeks that he
had picked up their language and forgotten his own. When questioned
about the nature and customs of these people he answered my inquiries
in a straightforward manner. He said the tribe was warlike, and even
now inhabited numerous villages, from which the chief of the Tartars
raised, when expedient, 800 infantry, armed with fire-arms, the
mainstay of his army. Their chief towns are called Mancup and Scivarin.
He told me also much about the Tartars and their barbarism, among whom,
however, he said a good many men of remarkable ability might be found.
For when asked about matters of importance they answered shortly and to
the purpose. On this account the Turks, not without reason, say that
all other nations have their wisdom written in books, but the Tartars
have devoured their books, and so have it stored up in their breasts,
and consequently are able to bring it out when needful, and talk like
men inspired. They are very dirty in their habits; if any broth is
served at table they require no spoons, but use instead the palm of
the hand. They devour the flesh of slaughtered horses without cooking
it in any way; all they do is to spread the pieces under their horses’
saddles, this warms them slightly, and they then proceed to eat the
meat, as if it had been dressed after the most dainty fashion. The
chief of the nation eats off a silver table. The first and also the
last dish served is a horse’s head, as among us butter is honoured with
the first and last place.
Now I will write down a few of the many German words, which he
repeated, for the form of quite as many was totally different from
ours, whether because this is due to the genius of that language, or
because his memory failed him, and he substituted foreign for the
native words. To all words he prefixed the article ‘_tho_’ or ‘_the_.’
The words which were the same as ours, or only a little different, were
these:[245]
Gothic. English. Flemish.
Broe Bread Brood
Plut Blood Bloed
Stul Stool Stoel
Hus House Huys
Wingart Vine Wijngaert
Reghen Rain Regen
Bruder Brother Broeder
Schwester Sister Zuster
Alt Old Oud
Wintch Wind Wind
Silvir Silver Zilver
Goltz Gold Goud
Kor Corn Koren
Salt Salt Zout
Fisct Fish Visch
Hoef Head Hoofd
Thurn Door Deure
Stern Star Star
Sune Sun Zon
Mine Moon Maen
Tag Day Dag
Oeghene Eyes Oogen
Bars Beard Baert
Handa Hand Hand
Boga Bow Bogen
Miera Ant Mier
Rinck or Ringo Ring Ring
Brunna Spring Bron
Waghen Waggon Wagen
Apel Apple Appel
Schieten To shoot Schieten
Schlipen To sleep Slapen
Kommen To come Komen
Singhen To sing Zingen
Lachen To laugh Lachen
Criten To cry Kryten
Geen To go Gaen
Breen To roast Braên
Schwalch Death
Knauen Tag meant good day. Knauen signified good, and he used many
other words which did not agree with our tongue, for example:
Iel, life or health │ Stap, a goat
Ieltsch, alive or well │ Gadeltha, beautiful
Iel uburt, be it well │ Atochta, bad
Marzus, marriage │ Wichtgata, white
Schuos, a bride │ Mycha, a sword
Baar, a boy │ Lista, too little
Ael, a stone │ Schedit, light
Menus, flesh │ Borrotsch, a wish
Rintsch, a mountain │ Cadariou, a soldier
Fers, a man │ Kilemschkop, drink up your cup
Statz, the earth │ Tzo warthata, thou didst
Ada, an egg │ Ies varthata, he did
Ano, a hen │ Ich malthata, I say
Telich, foolish │
Being told to count he did so thus: _Ita_, _tua_, _tria_, _fyder_,
_fyuf_, _seis_, _sevene_, precisely as we Flemings do. For you men of
Brabant, who pretend you talk German, are, on this point, in the habit
of lauding yourselves to the skies, and ridiculing us on account of
what you are pleased to call our abominable pronunciation of that word,
which you pronounce _seven_. He went on thus: _athe_, _nyne_, _thiine_,
_thiinita_, _thunetua_, _thunetria_. Twenty he called _stega_, thirty
_treithyen_, forty _furderthien_, a hundred _sada_, a thousand
_hazer_. He also repeated a song in that language, which began as
follows,
Wara, wara ingdolou;
Scu te gira Galizu
Hæmisclep dorbiza ea.
Whether they are Goths or Saxons I cannot decide. If Saxons, I think
they were transported thither in the time of Charlemagne, who dispersed
that nation through various regions of the world, as the cities in
Transylvania,[246] which are to this day inhabited by Saxons, bear
witness. And perhaps it was decided that the bravest of them should be
removed yet further, as far as the Tauric Chersonese, where, though in
the midst of enemies, they still retain the Christian religion. But
if they are Goths, I am of opinion that even in ancient times they
occupied those tracts, which adjoin the Getæ. And perhaps one would not
be wrong in thinking that the greatest part of the country which lies
between the island of Gothland and what is now called Perekop was at
one time inhabited by Goths.
Hence came the various clans named Visigoths and Ostrogoths; hence they
started on their career of victory, all over the world; this was the
vast hive of that barbarian swarm. Now you have heard what I learnt
about the Tauric Chersonese from these men of Perekop.
Now listen to what I heard from a Turkish pilgrim about the city and
country of Cathay (China). He belonged to the sect who hold it a
religious duty to wander through distant regions, and to worship God on
the highest mountains and in wild and desert places. He had traversed
almost the whole of the East, where he had made acquaintance with the
Portuguese; and then, excited by the desire of visiting the city and
kingdom of Cathay, he had joined some merchants who were setting out
thither, for they are accustomed to assemble in large numbers, and
so journey in a body to the frontiers of that realm. Few reach their
destination safely, as the risk is great. There are many intervening
tribes who are treacherous to travellers, and whose attacks are to be
feared every moment.
When they had travelled some distance from the Persian frontier, they
came to the cities of Samarcand, Bokhara, and Tashkend, and to other
places inhabited by Tamerlane’s successors. To these there succeeded
vast deserts or tracts of country, sometimes inhabited by savage
and inhospitable clans, and sometimes by tribes of a more civilised
description; but everywhere the country is so poor that there is
great difficulty in getting provisions. On this account every man had
provided himself with food and the other necessaries of life, and great
numbers of camels were loaded with these supplies. A large party of
this kind is called a caravan.
After many months of toil they arrived at the passes, which may be
termed the keys of the kingdom of Cathay (for a great part of the
dominions of the King of Cathay is inland, and surrounded by wild
mountains and precipitous rocks, nor can it be entered except by
certain passes which are held by the King’s forces). At this point the
merchants were asked, what they brought, where they came from, and how
many of them there were? This information the King’s garrison troops
transmit by smoke in the day time, and by fire at night, to the next
beacon, and that in turn to the next, and so on, till news of the
merchants’ arrival is forwarded to the King of Cathay, which otherwise
could not be done for the space of several days. In the same manner
and with equal speed he sends back word what his pleasure is, saying
whether he chooses them all to be admitted, or part of them to be
excluded, or their entrance delayed. If admitted, they are conducted by
appointed guides by halting-places established at proper stages, where
the necessaries of food and clothing are supplied at a fair price, till
they reach Cathay itself. Here they first declare what each of them has
brought, and then, as a mark of respect, present the King with whatever
gift they think proper. In addition to receiving the gift, he has
also the right of purchasing at a fair valuation whatever articles he
pleases.
The rest they sell or barter as they choose, a day for their return
being fixed, up to which they have the power of carrying on business,
for the Cathayans do not approve of foreigners sojourning too long, for
fear their national customs should be corrupted by foreign manners.
They are then courteously sent back by the same stages by which they
came.
The same pilgrim described that nation as very ingenious, and said they
were civilised and well governed. They have a religion of their own,
distinct from Christianity, Judaism, or Mahomedanism, but more like
Judaism without its ceremonies. For many centuries back the art of
printing has been in use among them, as is sufficiently proved by the
books printed in that country. For this purpose they use paper made of
silkworms’ cocoons, so thin, that it will only bear the impression of
the type on one side; the other is left blank.
There are numerous shops in that city which sell the scent they call
musk. It is the secretion of a beast the size of a kid.
No article of merchandise is more prized among them than a lion; this
beast being uncommon in those countries is exceedingly admired, and
nothing fetches a higher price.
These statements about the kingdom of Cathay I learned from the mouth
of this wanderer, for which their author must be responsible. For
indeed it is quite possible, that, when I was asking him about Cathay,
he might have been answering me about some other neighbouring country,
and according to the proverb, when I was asking for a sickle, have
answered me about a spade.
When I heard this story from him, I thought it well to ask, whether
he had brought from any place he had visited any rare root, or fruit,
or stone. ‘Nothing at all,’ said he, ‘except that I carry about this
root for my own use, and if I chew and swallow the least particle of
it, when I am suffering from languor or cold, I am stimulated and get
warm.’ As he spoke he gave it me to taste, warning me at the same time
that it must be used very sparingly. My physician, William Quacquelben,
who was at that time still alive, tasted it, and from the heat with
which it inflamed his mouth, pronounced it to be true Napellus or
Aconite.[247]
This, I think, is the proper place to tell you of the miracle wrought
by another Turkish pilgrim and monk. He went about in a shirt and white
mantle reaching down to the feet, and let his hair grow long, so that
he resembled the apostles as they are usually depicted by our painters.
Under an engaging appearance was concealed the mind of an impostor; but
the Turks venerated him as a man famous for his miracles. They urged
my dragomans to bring him to me that I might see him. He dined with me,
behaving soberly and modestly, and then went down into the courtyard of
the house, and returned soon afterwards carrying a stone of enormous
weight, with which he struck himself on his bare breast several blows
that had well nigh felled an ox. Then he laid his hand on an iron which
had been made white hot in a fire lighted for the purpose. He put this
into his mouth, and turned it about in every direction so that his
saliva hissed. The iron he took into his mouth was oblong, but thicker
at either end and rectangular, and so heated by the fire that it was
just like a glowing coal. When he had done this, he put the iron back
in the fire and departed, after bidding me farewell, and receiving a
present.