_Of a great citie named Cadon therein is the great Caanes
palaice and sege._
IN the province of Cathay towards the East, is an olde citie & beside
that citie the Tartariens have made an other citie that men call
Cadon,[1] y^t hathe xii[2] gates, and betwene eche two gates is a
great myle, so those two cities the olde and the new is round about
xx myle. In this citie is the palaice and sege of y^e great Caane in
a full faire place and great, of which the wals about is two myle, and
within that are many fayre places, and in the gardeyne of that palaice
is a right greate hill on the which is an other palaice, and it is the
fayrest that may bee founde in any place, and all about that hyll
are many trees berynge divers fruites, and about that hyll is a great
dyche, and there nere are many rivers on eche syde, and in those are
many wylde foules that he may take and not go out of the palayce.
Within y^e hall of that palaice are xxiiii pillers of gold and all the
walks are covered with rych skynnes of beastes that men call Panthera.
Those are fayre beastes and well smelling and of the smell of those
skynnes, none evyll smell may come to the palayce, those skynnes are
as redde as bloude, and they shine so against the Sonne that a man can
scarcely beholde them and those skynnes are estemed there as much as
golde.
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.
[Footnote 1: Others call it Sugarmago or Eugarmago.]
[Footnote 2: _Pynson_ says seven.]
[Footnote 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_.]
[Footnote 4: Serpents.]
[Footnote 5: Representation.]
[Footnote 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."]
[Footnote 7: Beryl.]
[Footnote 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.]
[Decoration]