OF THE LAW AND CUSTOMS OF THE TARTARS IN CATHAY; AND HOW MEN DO
WHEN THE EMPEROR SHALL DIE, AND HOW HE SHALL BE CHOSEN.
The people of that country use all long clothes, without furs; and they
are clothed with precious cloths of Tartary, and cloths of gold. And
their clothes are slit at the side, and fastened with silk lace; and
they clothe them also with pilches[399], the hide outside. And they use
neither cap nor hood. And the women go in the same dress as the men; so
that we can hardly distinguish the men from the women, except only that
the women that are married bear upon their heads the token of a man's
foot, in sign that they are under man's foot, and under the subjection
of man. And their wives dwell not together, but each of them by herself;
and the husband may lie with which of them he likes. Each has a separate
house, both man and woman; and their houses are made round with staves,
with a round window above, which gives them light, and also serves for
the escape of smoke. And the roofing of their houses, and the walls, and
the doors, are all of wood.
When they go to war, they take their houses with them upon chariots, as
men do tents or pavilions. They make their fires in the middle of their
houses. And they have a great multitude of all manner of beasts, except
swine, which they do not breed. And they believe in one God, who made
and formed all things; yet they have idols of gold and silver, and of
wood, and of cloth, to which they offer always the first milk of their
beasts, and also of their meats and drinks before they eat. And they
frequently offer horses and beasts. They call the god of nature Yroga.
Their emperor, whatever name he has, they add always to it chan; and,
when I was there, their emperor's name was Thiaut, so that he was called
Thiaut Chan; and his eldest son was called Tossue; and when he shall be
emperor, he shall be called Tossue Chan. And at that time the emperor
had twelve other sons, named Cuncy, Ordii, Chahaday, Buryn, Negu, Nocab,
Cadu, Siban, Cuten, Balacy, Babylan, and Garegan. And of his three
wives, the first and the principal, who was Prester John's daughter, was
named Serioche Chan; and the other Borak Chan; and the other Karanke
Chan.
The people of that country begin all undertakings in the new moon; and
they worship much the moon and the sun, and often kneel towards them.
All the people of the country ride commonly without spurs; but they
carry always a little whip in their hands to urge their horses. And they
hold it for a great sin to cast a knife in the fire, and to draw flesh
out of a pot with a knife, and to smite a horse with the handle of a
whip, or to smite a horse with a bridle, or to break one bone with
another, or to cast milk or any liquor that men may drink upon the
earth, or to take and slay little children; and the greatest sin that
any man may do is to water in their houses that they dwell in. And
whosoever does so, they slay him. And of every one of these sins they
must be shriven by their priests, and pay a great sum of silver for
their penance. The place they have thus defiled must be purified before
any one dare to enter it. And when they have paid their penance, men
make them pass through a fire, or through two, to cleanse them of their
sins. And also when any messenger comes and brings letters, or any
present, to the emperor, he must pass, with the thing that he brings,
through two burning fires, to purge them, that he bring no poison nor
venom, nor any wicked thing, that might be grievance to the lord. And
also, if any man or woman be taken in adultery or fornication, anon they
slay them. The people of that country are all good archers, and shoot
right well, both men and women, as well on horseback, riding, as on
foot, running. And the women do all things, and exercise all manner of
trades and crafts, as of clothes, boots, and other things; and they
drive carts, ploughs, wagons, and chariots; and make houses, and all
manner of things, except bows and arrows, and armour, which are made by
men. And all the women wear breeches, as well as men. All the people of
that country are very obedient to their sovereign, and fight not nor
chide with one another. And there are neither thieves nor robbers in
that country, but every man respects the other; but no man there doth
reverence to strangers, except they are great princes. And they eat
dogs, lions, leopards, mares and foals, asses, rats, and mice; and all
kinds of beasts, great and small, except only swine, and beasts that
were forbidden by the old law. They eat but little bread, except in
courts of great lords; and they have not, in many places, either peas or
beans, nor any other pottage but the broth of the flesh; for they eat
little else but flesh and the broth. And when they have eaten they wipe
their hands upon their skirts; for they use no napkins nor towels,
except before great lords. And when they have eaten, they put their
dishes, unwashed, into the pot or cauldron, with the remnant of the
flesh and broth, till they eat again. The rich men drink milk of mares,
or camels, or of asses, or other beasts. And they are easily made drunk
with milk, or with another drink made of honey and water sodden
together; for in that country is neither wine nor ale. They live full
wretchedly, and eat but once in the day, and that but little, either in
courts or other places. Indeed one man alone, in our country, will eat
more in a day than they will eat in three. And if any foreign messenger
come there to a lord, men make him to eat but once a day, and that very
little.
When they make war they proceed with great prudence, and always do their
best to destroy their enemies. Every man there bears two or three bows,
and great plenty of arrows, and a great axe; and the gentlemen have
short and large spears, very sharp on the one side; and they have plates
and helmets made of cuirbouilli[400]; and their horses' coverings are of
the same. And whoever flies from battle, they slay him. And when they
hold a siege about a castle or town, which is walled and defensible,
they promise them that are within to do all the profit and good, that it
is marvellous to hear; and they grant also to them that are within all
that they will ask them; and after they have surrendered, they slay them
all, and cut off their ears, and they pickle them in vinegar, and
thereof make great service for lords. All their desire, and all their
imagination, is to reduce all countries under their subjection; and they
say that they know well, by their prophecies, that they shall be
overcome by archers; but they know not of what nation, nor of what law,
they shall be who shall overcome them.
When they will make their idols, or an image of any one of their
friends, to have remembrance of him, they always make the image naked,
without any kind of clothing; for they say that in good love there
should be no covering, that man should not love for the fair clothing,
nor for the rich array, but only for the body such as God hath made it.
And you shall understand that it is very perilous to pursue the Tartars
when they fly in battle; for in flying they shoot behind them, and slay
both men and horses. And when they fight, they close together in a body,
so that, if there be twenty thousand men, you would not think there were
ten thousand. They can conquer land of strangers, but they cannot keep
it; for they like better to lie in tents without, than in castles or in
towns. They despise all other people. Amongst them oil of olives is very
dear; for they hold it for a very noble medicine. All the Tartars have
small eyes and little beard, and a paucity of hair. They are false and
traitorous, never keeping their promises. They are a very hardy people,
and able to endure much labour, more than any other people; for they are
accustomed thereto in their own country from youth.
And when any man shall die, they set a spear beside him; and when he
draws towards death, every man flies out of the house till he is dead;
and after that they bury him in the fields. And when the emperor dies,
they place him in a chair in the centre of his tent, with a clean table
before him, covered with a cloth, and thereon flesh and divers viands,
and a cup full of mare's milk. And men put a mare beside him, with her
foal, and a horse saddled and bridled; and they lay upon the horse great
quantities of gold and silver, and they put about him great plenty of
straw, and they make a great and large pit, and, with the tent and all
these other things, they put him in the earth; and they say that when he
shall come into another world, he shall not be without a house, nor
without a horse, nor without gold and silver; and the mare shall give
him milk, and bring him forth more horses, till he be well stored in the
other world; for they believe that, after their death, they shall be
eating and drinking in that other world, and solacing themselves with
their wives, as they did here. And after the emperor is thus interred,
no man shall be so hardy as to speak of him before his friends. Many
cause themselves to be interred privately by night, in wild places, and
the grass put again over the pit, to grow; or they cover the pit with
gravel and sand, that no man shall perceive where the pit is, to the
intent that never after may his friends have mind or remembrance of him.
Then they say that he is ravished into another world, where he is a
greater lord than he was here. And then, after the death of the emperor,
the seven lineages assemble together and choose his eldest son, or the
next after him of his blood; and thus they say to him:—"We will, and we
pray and ordain, that you be our lord and our emperor." And then he
answers, "If you will that I reign over you as lord, each of you do as I
shall command him, either to abide or go; and whomsoever I command to be
slain, that anon he be slain." And they answer all, with one voice,
"Whatsoever you command, it shall be done." Then says the emperor, "Now
understand well that my word from henceforth is sharp and biting as a
sword." After, they set him upon a black steed, and so bring him to a
chair full richly arrayed, and there they crown him. And then all the
cities and good towns send him rich presents, so that at that day he
shall have more than sixty chariots laden with gold and silver, besides
jewels of gold and precious stones, that lords give him, that are beyond
estimation; and also horses and cloths of gold, and camakas, and cloth
of Tartary, that are innumerable.