_Of divers countreys kingedomes & yles, and marvayles beyond
the land of Cathay._
NOW haue I sayd and spoken of many things on this side of the great
Kingedome of Cathay, of whome many are obeysant[1] to the great Caane.
Now shall I tell of some landes, countreys & yles that are beyond the
lande of Cathay. Whoso goeth from Cathay to Inde the high and the
low, he shal go through a kingdome that men call Cadissen[2] & it is
a great lande, there groweth a maner of fruite as it were gourdes, &
when it is ripe men cut it a sonder, and men fynde therein a beast
as it were of fleshe and bone and bloud, as it were a lyttle lambe
without wolle, and men eate the beast & fruite also, and sure it
semeth very strange. Neverthelesse I sayd to them that I held y^t for
no marvayle, for I sayd that in my countrey are trees y^t beare
fruit y^t become byrds flying, and they are good to eate, & that that
falleth on the water liveth & that that falleth on earth dyeth, & they
marvailed much thereat. In this countrey & many other thereabout
are trees that beareth cloves, & nutmigs and canel[3] and many other
spyces, & there be vines that beare so great grapes that a strong man
shall enough to beare a cluster of grapes. In that same lande are the
hils of Caspy that men cal Uber & amonge those hilles are the Jewes of
the x kindes[4] enclosed therein, that men call Gog & Magog & they may
not come out on no syde. There were inclosed xxii kynges with theyr
folke that dwelled betwene y^e hills of Syche,[5] and King Alexander
chased them thither among those hilles, for hee trusting for to haue
enclosed them there through the working of men, but he might not, and
when he saw he might not, he prayed to God that he woulde fulfyll that
which hee had begun. God heard his prayer and enclosed the hilles all
about them but[6] at the one side, and there is the sea of Caspy. Here
some men mighte aske, there is a sea on one side, why go they not out
there, for thereto aunswered I that all if it be called a sea, it is
not a sea, but a stange[7] standing among hyls, and it is the greatest
stange of all the world, and all if they went over the sea, they wot
not wher to arive, for they can no speach[8] but their own. And ye
shall understand that the Jewes haue no law[9] of their owne in all
the world, but they dwell in those hils, and yet they pay tribute for
their land to the quene of Armony[10] & sometime it is so that some of
the Jewes go over the hils but many men may not passe there togither,
for the hils are so great and high. Neverthelesse men say in that
countrey therby, that in the time of Antechrist they shall doe much
harme to Christen men and therefore all the Jewes that dwell in
diverse partes of the worlde lerne for to speake Ebrew, for they hope
that the Jewes that dwel among the hils aforesayde, shall come out
of the hils and speake all Ebrew and nought else, & then shall these
Jewes speake Ebrew to them and lede them into Christendome for
to destroye Christen men. For these Jewes say they know by their
prophecies that those Jewes y^t are among those hils of Caspy shall
come out, and Christen men shall be in their subjection, as they
bee under christen men. And if ye wyll know how they shall finde the
passage out, as I have understand I shall tell you. In the time of
Antechriste a foxe shall make his denne in the same place wher King
Alexander dyd make the gates & he shall dyg in the earth so long til
he pearce it through and come among the Jewes, and when they see the
Foxe, they shall haue great marvaile[11] of him, for they saw neuer
such a beast, for other beastes have they among them many, and they
shall chase this foxe and pursue him until y^t he be fled againe to
his hole that he came from, & then shall they dig after him untill
they come to y^e gates y^t Alexander did make of great stones well
dight[12] with siment, then shall they brake these gates, and they
shall find the issue.
[Illustration]
[Footnote 1: Obedient, or under the rule of.]
[Footnote 2: Other editions say Caldithe.]
[Footnote 3: Cinnamon.]
[Footnote 4: Tribes.]
[Footnote 5: Scythia.]
[Footnote 6: Except.]
[Footnote 7: Lake or pool.]
[Footnote 8: Can only speak their own language.]
[Footnote 9: Misprint for _land_.]
[Footnote 10: Other editions say Amazony.]
[Footnote 11: Be astonished at him.]
[Footnote 12: Well cemented.]