_How the great Caan is the mightiest lord of all the worlde._
THIS great Caane is the myghtiest lorde of the worlde, for prester[1]
John is not so great a lorde as he, nor the Sowdan of Babilon, ne y^e
Emperour of Percy. In this lande a man hath a hundred wives & some
xi,[2] some more some lesse, & they take of their kin to wives, all
saue their sisters, their mothers & daughters and they take also wel
theyr stepmother if their father be dead, and men & women haue all one
maner of clothing, so that they may not bee knowne, but y^t women that
are wedded beare a token on theyr heads, & they dwell not with their
housbandes, but he may lye by which he will. They have plenty of all
maner of beastes save swine, and forsoth they wyll (_have_) none, and
they beleve well in God that made all thing, & yet have they ydoles of
golde and sylver, and to those Idols they offer theyr fyrst mylke of
beastes.
[Footnote 1: In the 12th and 13th centuries there was a firm
belief that ruling over a vast population in the far East was
a most wealthy and powerful monarch of that name, who claimed
to be descended from one of the three kings who adored the
infant Christ.]
[Footnote 2: Others say 60.]