OF THE GOODNESS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLE OF BRAGMAN.—OF KING
ALEXANDER, AND WHY THE EMPEROR OF INDIA IS CALLED PRESTER JOHN.
And beyond that isle is another isle, great and rich, where are good and
true people, and of good living after their belief, and of good faith.
And although they are not christened, yet by natural law they are full
of all virtue, and eschew all vices; for they are not proud, nor
covetous, nor envious, nor wrathful, nor gluttonous, nor lecherous; nor
do they to any man otherwise than they would that other men did to them;
and in this point they fulfil the ten commandments of God. And they care
not for possessions or riches; and they lie not, nor do they swear, but
say simply yea and nay; for they say he that sweareth will deceive his
neighbour; and therefore all that they do, they do it without oath. And
that isle is called the isle of Bragman, and some men call it the Land
of Faith; and through it runs a great river called Thebe. And in general
all the men of those isles, and of all the borders thereabout, are truer
than in any other country thereabout, and more just than others in all
things. In that isle is no thief, no murderer, no common woman, no poor
beggar, and no man was ever slain in that country. And they be as
chaste, and lead as good a life, as though they were monks; and they
fast all days. And because they are so true, and so just, and so full of
all good conditions, they are never grieved with tempests, nor with
thunder and lightning, nor with hail, nor with pestilence, nor with war,
nor with famine, nor with any other tribulation, as we are many times
amongst us for our sins; wherefore it appears evident that God loveth
them for their good deeds. They believe well in God that made all
things, and worship him; and they prize no earthly riches; and they live
full orderly, and so soberly in meat and drink, that they live right
long. And the most part of them die without sickness, when nature
faileth them for old age. And it befell, in king Alexander's time, that
he purposed to conquer that isle; but when they of the country heard it,
they sent messengers to him with letters, that said thus:—"What may we
be now to that man to whom all the world is insufficient? Thou shalt
find nothing in us to cause thee to war against us; for we have no
riches, nor do we desire any; and all the goods of our country are in
common. Our meat, with which we sustain our bodies, is our riches; and
instead of treasure of gold and silver, we make our treasure of acorns
and peas, and to love one another. And to apparel our bodies we use a
simple cloth to wrap our carcase. Our wives are not arrayed to make any
man pleased. When men labour to array the body, to make it seem fairer
than God made it, they do great sin; for man should not devise nor ask
greater beauty than God hath ordained him to have at his birth. The
earth ministereth to us two things; our livelihood, that cometh of the
earth that we live by, and our sepulchre after our death. We have been
in perpetual peace till now that thou art come to disinherit us; and
also we have a king, not to do justice to every man, for he shall find
no forfeit among us; but to keep nobleness, and to show that we are
obedient, we have a king. For justice has among us no place; for we do
to no man otherwise than we desire that men do to us, so that
righteousness or vengeance have nought to do among us; so that thou
mayest take nothing from us but our good peace, that always hath endured
among us." And when king Alexander had read these letters, he thought
that he should do great sin to trouble them.
There is another isle called Oxidrate, and another called Gymnosophe,
where there are also good people, and full of good faith; and they hold,
for the most part, the same good conditions and customs, and good
manners, as men of the country above mentioned; but they all go naked.
Into that isle entered king Alexander, to see the customs; and when he
saw their great faith, and the truth that was amongst them, he said that
he would not grieve them, and bade them ask of him what they would have
of him, riches or any thing else, and they should have it with good
will. And they answered that he was rich enough that had meat and drink
to sustain the body with; for the riches of this world, that is
transitory, are of no worth; but if it were in his power to make them
immortal, thereof would they pray him, and thank him. And Alexander
answered them that it was not in his power to do it, because he was
mortal, as they were. And then they asked him why he was so proud, and
so fierce, and so busy, to put all the world under his subjection,
"right as thou wert a God, and hast no term of this life, neither day
nor hour; and covetest to have all the world at thy command, that shall
leave thee without fail, or thou leave it. And right as it hath been to
other men before thee, right so it shall be to others after thee, and
from hence shalt thou carry nothing; but as thou wert born naked, right
so all naked shall thy body be turned into earth, that thou wert made
of. Wherefore thou shouldst think, and impress it on thy mind, that
nothing is immortal but only God, that made all things." By which answer
Alexander was greatly astonished and abashed, and all confused departed
from them.
Many other isles[414] there are in the land of Prester John, and many
great marvels, that were too long to tell, both of his riches and of his
nobleness, and of the great plenty also of precious stones that he has.
I think that you know well now, and have heard say, why this emperor is
called Prester John. There was some time an emperor there, who was a
worthy and a full noble prince, that had Christian knights in his
company, as he has that now is. So it befell that he had great desire to
see the service in the church among Christians; and then Christendom
extended beyond the sea, including all Turkey, Syria, Tartary,
Jerusalem, Palestine, Arabia, Aleppo, and all the land of Egypt. So it
befell that this emperor came, with a Christian knight with him, into a
church in Egypt; and it was the Saturday in Whitsuntide. And the bishop
was conferring orders; and he beheld and listened to the service full
attentively; and he asked the Christian knight what men of degree they
should be that the prelate had before him; and the knight answered and
said that they were priests. And then the emperor said that he would no
longer be called king nor emperor, but priest; and that he would have
the name of the first priest that went out of the church; and his name
was John. And so, evermore since, he is called Prester John.