OF THE LAND OF JOB, AND OF HIS AGE.—OF THE ARRAY OF MEN OF
CHALDEA.—OF THE LAND WHERE WOMEN DWELL WITHOUT COMPANY OF MEN.—OF
THE KNOWLEDGE AND VIRTUES OF THE TRUE DIAMOND.
After leaving Cornaa, we enter the land of Job, a very fair country, and
abounding in all goods; and men call it the land of Sweze (Susiana). In
that land is the city of Theman. Job was a pagan, and he was son of Are
of Gosre, and held the land as prince of the country; and he was so rich
that he knew not the hundredth part of his goods. And, although he was a
pagan, still he served God well, after his law; and our Lord took
his service in satisfaction. And when he fell in poverty he was
seventy-eight years of age. And afterwards, when God had tried his
patience, which was so great, he brought him again to riches, and to
higher estate than before. And after that he was king of Idumea, after
king Esau. And when he was king he was called Jobab. And in that kingdom
he lived afterwards one hundred and seventy years[362]; and so he was of
age, when he died, two hundred and forty-eight years. In that land of
Job there is no want of any thing needful to man's body. There are
hills, where they get manna in greater abundance than in any other
country. This manna is called bread of angels; and it is a white thing,
very sweet and delicious, and sweeter than honey or sugar; it comes of
the dew of heaven, that falls upon the herbs in that country; and it
congeals, and becomes white and sweet; and they put it in medicines for
rich men, for it cleanseth the blood, and putteth out melancholy. This
land of Job borders on the kingdom of Chaldea. This land of Chaldea is
very extensive; and the language of that country is greater in sounding
than it is in other parts beyond the sea. We pass it to go to the Tower
of Babylon the Great, of which I have spoken, where all the languages
were first changed; and that is four days from Chaldea. In that realm
are fair men, and they go full nobly arrayed in cloths of gold,
orfrayed, and apparelled with great pearls and precious stones full
nobly; but the women are very ugly, and vilely arrayed; and they go
barefoot, and clothed in evil garments, large and wide, but short to the
knees, and long sleeves down to the feet, like a monk's frock, and their
sleeves are hanging about their shoulders; and they are black women,
foul and hideous; and truly they are as bad as they are foul. In that
kingdom of Chaldea, in a city called Ur, dwelt Terah, Abraham's father;
and there was Abraham born, which was in the time that Ninus was king of
Babylon, of Arabia, and of Egypt. This Ninus made the city of Nineveh,
which Noah had begun; and because Ninus completed it, he called it
Nineveh, after his own name. There lies Tobit the prophet, of whom Holy
Writ speaketh. And from that city of Ur Abraham departed, by the
commandment of God, after the death of his father, and led with him
Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, because he had no child.
And they went to dwell in the land of Canaan, in a place called Shechem.
And this Lot was he who was saved, when Sodom and Gomorrah and the other
cities, where the Dead Sea now is, were burnt and sunk down to hell, as
I have told you before.
Beside the land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, in which is all
women, and no man; not, as some men say, because men may not live there,
but because the women will not suffer men amongst them, to be their
sovereigns[363]. This land of Amazonia is an island surrounded by the
sea, except in two places, where are two entrances. And beyond the
water dwell the men who are their paramours, where they go to solace
them when they will. Beside Amazonia is the land of Tarmegyte, a great
and very pleasant country, and for the goodness of which king Alexander
made there the city of Alexandria: he made twelve cities of the same
name, but that city is now called Celsite. And from that other side of
Chaldea, toward the south, is Ethiopia, a great country, which extends
to the extremity of Egypt. Ethiopia is divided into two principal parts,
the east and the south, the latter part being called Mauritania. And the
people of that country are blacker than in the other part, and are
called Moors. In that country is a well, which in the day is so cold
that no man may drink thereof, and in the night it is so hot that no man
may suffer his hand therein. Towards the south, to pass by the Ocean
Sea, is a great country, but men may not dwell there, for the fervent
burning of the sun. In Ethiopia all the rivers and waters are troubled,
and somewhat salt, for the great heat that is there. And the people of
that country are easily intoxicated, and have but little appetite for
meat. And they are afflicted with dysenteries, and live not long. In
Ethiopia, the children, when young, are all yellow; and when they grow
older that yellowness turns to black. In Ethiopia is the city of Saba
and the land where one of the three kings reigned who came to our Lord
in Bethlehem.
From Ethiopia they go to India through many different countries; and men
call the higher India Emlak. India is divided into three principal
parts: the Greater, which is a very hot country; and India the Less,
which is a temperate country, extending to the land of Media; and the
third part, toward the north, is so cold, that for continual frost the
water becomes crystal; and upon those rocks of crystal grow the good
diamonds, that are of troubled colour. Yellow crystal draws colour like
oil. And they are so hard that no man may polish them; and men call them
diamonds in that country, and _hamese_ in another country. Other
diamonds are found in Arabia, but they are not so good; they are browner
and more tender. And other diamonds also are found in the island of
Cyprus, which are still more tender, and may easily be polished; and
they find diamonds also in Macedonia; but the best and most precious are
in India. And they often find hard diamonds in a mass which comes out
of gold, when they break the mass in small pieces, to purify it and
refine it, out of the mine. And it sometimes happens that they find some
as great as a pea, and some less; and they are as hard as those of
India. And although men find good diamonds in India, yet nevertheless
men find them more commonly upon the rocks in the sea, and upon hills
where the mine of gold is. They grow many together, one little, another
great; and there are some of the greatness of a bean, and some as great
as a hazel nut. They are square and pointed of their own kind, both
above and beneath, without work of man's hand; and they grow together,
male and female, and are nourished by the dew of heaven; and they
engender commonly and bring forth small children, that multiply and grow
all the year. I have oftentimes tried the experiment, that if a man keep
them with a little of the rock, and wet them with May-dew often, they
shall grow every year, and the small will grow great[364]; for right as
the fine pearl congeals and grows great by the dew of heaven, right so
doth the true diamond; and right as the pearl of its own nature takes
roundness, so the diamond, by virtue of God, takes squareness. And a man
should carry the diamond on his left side, for it is of greater virtue
than on the right side[365]; for the strength of their growing is toward
the north, that is the left side of the world; and the left part of man
is, when he turns his face towards the east. And if you wish to know the
virtues of the diamond (as men may find in the "Lapidary,"[366] with
which many men are not acquainted), I shall tell you, as they beyond the
sea say and affirm, from whom all science and philosophy comes. He who
carries the diamond upon him, it gives him hardiness and manhood, and it
keeps the limbs of his body whole. It gives him victory over his enemies
in court and in war, if his cause be just; and it keeps him that bears
it in good wit; and it keeps him from strife and riot, from sorrows and
from enchantments, and from phantasies and illusions of wicked spirits.
And if any cursed witch or enchanter would bewitch him that bears the
diamond, all that sorrow and mischance shall turn to the offender,
through virtue of that stone; and also no wild beast dare assail the man
who bears it on him. Also the diamond should be given freely, without
coveting and without buying, and then it is of greater virtue; and it
makes a man stronger and firmer against his enemies; and heals him that
is lunatic, and those whom the fiend pursues or torments. And if venom
or poison be brought in presence of the diamond, anon it begins to grow
moist and sweat. There are also diamonds in India that are called
violastres (for their colour is like violet, or more brown than
violets), that are very hard and precious, but some men like them not so
well as the others. Also there is another kind of diamonds that are as
white as crystal; but they are a little more troubled; and they are good
and of great virtue, and they are all square and pointed of their own
nature; and some are six-square, some four-square, and some three, as
nature shapes them; and, therefore, when great lords and knights go to
seek honour in arms, they gladly bear the diamond upon them.
I shall speak a little more of the diamonds, that they who know them not
may not be deceived by chapmen who go through the country selling them;
for whoever will buy the diamond, it is needful that he know them,
because men counterfeit them often with crystal, which is yellow; and
with sapphires of citron colour, which is yellow also; and with the
sapphire loupe, and with many other stones. But these counterfeits are
not so hard; and the points will break easily, and men may easily polish
them. But some workmen, for malice, will not polish them, to that
intent, to make men believe that they may not be polished. But men may
assay them in this manner; first cut with them or write with them in
sapphires, in crystal, or in other precious stones. Also take the
adamant[367], that is, the shipman's stone, that draws the needle to it,
and lay the diamond on it, and lay the needle before the adamant; and if
the diamond be good and virtuous, the adamant draws not the needle,
while the diamond is there present. This is the proof that they beyond
the sea use. Nevertheless it happens often that the good diamond loses
its virtue by sin, and for incontinence of him that bears it; and then
it is needful to make it recover its virtue again, or else it is of
little value.