Early Travels in Palestine Part 20

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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d loveth them for their good deeds. They believe well in G.o.d 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 G.o.d made it, they do great sin; for man should not devise nor ask greater beauty than G.o.d 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 n.o.bleness, 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 n.o.bleness, 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 n.o.ble 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 Sat.u.r.day 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.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

OF THE HILLS OF GOLD THAT ANTS KEEP; AND OF THE FOUR STREAMS THAT COME FROM TERRESTRIAL PARADISE.

Towards the east of Prester John's land is a good and great isle called Taprobane, and it is very fruitful; and the king thereof is rich, and is under the obeisance of Prester John. And there they always make their king by election. In that isle are two summers and two winters; and men harvest the corn twice a year; and in all seasons of the year the gardens are in flower. There dwell good people, and reasonable; and many Christian men among them, who are so rich that they know not what to do with their goods. Of old time, when men pa.s.sed from the land of Prester John unto that isle, men made ordinance to pa.s.s by ship in twenty-three days or more; but now men pa.s.s by ship in seven days. And men may see the bottom of the sea in many places; for it is not very deep.

Beside that isle, towards the east, are two other isles, one called Orille, the other Argyte, of which all the land is mines of gold and silver. And those isles are just where the Red Sea separates from the Ocean Sea. And in those isles men see no stars so clearly as in other places; for there appears only one clear star called Canopus. And there the moon is not seen in all the lunation, except in the second quarter.

In the isle, also, of this Taprobane are great hills of gold, that ants keep full diligently[415].

And beyond the land, and isles, and deserts of Prester John's lordship, in going straight towards the east, men find nothing but mountains and great rocks; and there is the dark region, where no man may see, neither by day nor night, as they of the country say. And that desert, and that place of darkness, lasts from this coast unto Terrestrial Paradise, where Adam, our first father, and Eve were put, who dwelt there but a little while; and that is towards the east, at the beginning of the earth. But this is not that east that we call our east, on this half, where the sun rises to us; for when the sun is east in those parts towards Terrestrial Paradise, it is then midnight in our parts on this half, on account of the roundness of the earth, of which I have told you before; for our Lord G.o.d made the earth all round, in the middle of the firmament. And there have mountains and hills been, and valleys, which arose only from Noah's flood, that wasted the soft and tender ground, and fell down into valleys; and the hard earth and the rock remain mountains, when the soft and tender earth was worn away by the water, and fell, and became valleys.

Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there. It is far beyond; and I repent not going there, but I was not worthy. But as I have heard say of wise men beyond, I shall tell you with good will.

Terrestrial Paradise, as wise men say, is the highest place of the earth; and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle of the moon there, as the moon makes her turn. For it is so high that the flood of Noah might not come to it, that would have covered all the earth of the world all about, and above and beneath, except Paradise. And this Paradise is inclosed all about with a wall, and men know not whereof it is; for the wall is covered all over with moss, as it seems; and it seems not that the wall is natural stone. And that wall stretches from the south to the north; and it has but one entry, which is closed with burning fire, so that no man that is mortal dare enter. And in the highest place of Paradise, exactly in the middle, is a well that casts out the four streams, which run by divers lands, of which the first is called Pison, or Ganges, that runs throughout India, or Emlak, in which river are many precious stones, and much lignum aloes, and much sand of gold. And the other river is called Nile, or Gyson, which goes through Ethiopia, and after through Egypt. And the other is called Tigris, which runs by a.s.syria, and by Armenia the Great. And the other is called Euphrates, which runs through Media, Armenia, and Persia. And men there beyond say that all the sweet waters of the world, above and beneath, take their beginning from the well of Paradise; and out of that well all waters come and go. The first river is called Pison, that is, in our language, a.s.sembly; for many other rivers meet there, and go into that river. And some call it Ganges, from an Indian king, called Gangeres, because it ran through his land. And its water is in some places clear, and in some places troubled; in some places hot, and in some places cold. The second river is called Nile, or Gyson, for it is always troubled; and Gyson, in the language of Ethiopia, is to say Trouble, and in the language of Egypt also. The third river, called Tigris, is as much as to say, Fast Running; for it runs faster than any of the others.

The fourth river is called Euphrates, that is to say, Well Bearing; for there grow upon that river corn, fruit, and other goods, in great plenty.

And you shall understand that no man that is mortal may approach to that Paradise; for by land no man may go for wild beasts, that are in the deserts, and for the high mountains, and great huge rocks, that no man may pa.s.s by for the dark places that are there; and by the rivers may no man go, for the water runs so roughly and so sharply, because it comes down so outrageously from the high places above, that it runs in so great waves that no ship may row or sail against it; and the water roars so, and makes so huge a noise, and so great a tempest, that no man may hear another in the ship, though he cried with all the might he could.

Many great lords have a.s.sayed with great will, many times, to pa.s.s by those rivers towards Paradise, with full great companies; but they might not speed in their voyage; and many died for weariness of rowing against the strong waves; and many of them became blind, and many deaf, for the noise of the water; and some perished and were lost in the waves; so that no mortal man may approach to that place without special grace of G.o.d; so that of that place I can tell you no more.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

OF THE CUSTOMS OF KINGS AND OTHERS THAT DWELL IN THE ISLES BORDERING ON PRESTER JOHN'S LAND.

From those isles that I have spoken of before, in the land of Prester John, that are under earth as to us, and of other isles that are further beyond, whoever will pursue them may come again right to the parts that he came from, and so environ all the earth; but what for the isles, what for the sea, and what for strong rowing, few people a.s.say to pa.s.s that pa.s.sage. And therefore men return from the isles beforesaid by other isles, coasting, from the land of Prester John. And then come men, in returning, to an isle called Ca.s.son, which is full sixty days in length, and more than fifty in breadth. This is the best isle, and the best kingdom, that is in all those parts, except Cathay; and if the merchants used that country as much as they do Cathay, it would be better than Cathay in a short time. This country is well inhabited, and so full of cities and good towns, and inhabited with people, that when a man goes out of one city he sees another city before him. In that isle is great plenty of all goods to live with, and of all manner of spices; and there are great forests of chestnuts. The king of that isle is very rich and mighty; and yet he holds his land of the great chan, and is subject to him; for it is one of the twelve provinces which the great chan has under him, besides his own land, and other less isles, of which he has many.

From that kingdom come men, in returning, to another isle, called Rybothe, which, also, is under the great chan. It is a full good country, and rich in all goods, and wine and fruit, and all other riches. And the people of that country have no houses; but they dwell and lie all under tents made of black fern. And the princ.i.p.al city, and the most royal, is all walled with black and white stone; and all the streets, also, are paved with the same stones. In that city is no man so hardy as to shed blood of any man, nor of any beast, for the reverence of an idol that is worshipped there. And in that isle dwells the pope of their law, whom they call loba.s.sy. This loba.s.sy gives all the benefices, and other dignities, and all other things that belong to the idol. In that isle they have a custom, in all the country, that when any man's father is dead, and the son wishes to do great honour to his father, he sends to all his friends, and to all his kin, and for religious men and priests, and for minstrels also, in great plenty; and then they bear the dead body unto a great hill, with great joy and solemnity; and when they have brought it thither, the chief prelate smites off the head, and lays it upon a great platter of gold and silver, if he be a rich man; and then he gives the head to the son; and then the son and his other kin sing and say many prayers; and then the priests, and the religious men, smite all the body of the dead man in pieces; and then they say certain prayers. And the birds of prey of all the country about know the custom for a long time before, and come flying above in the air, as eagles, kites, ravens, and other birds that eat flesh. And then the priests cast the bits of flesh, and each fowl takes what he may, and goes a little thence and eats it; and they do so whilst any piece of the dead body remains. And after that the priests sing with high voice, in their language, "Behold how worthy a man, and how good a man this was, that the angels of G.o.d came to seek him, and to bring him into Paradise." And then it seems to the son that he is highly worshipped when many birds, and fowls, and ravens, come and eat his father; and he that has most number of fowls is most worshipped. Then the son brings home with him all his kin, and his friends, and all the others, to his house, and makes a great feast; and then all his friends make their boast how the fowls came thither, here five, here six, here ten, and there twenty, and so forth; and they rejoice greatly to speak thereof. And when they are at meat the son brings forth the head of his father, and thereof he serves of the flesh to his most special friends, as a dainty. And of the skull he makes a cup, and drinks out of it with his other friends in great devotion, in remembrance of the holy man that the angels of G.o.d had eaten. And that cup the son shall keep to drink out of all his lifetime, in remembrance of his father.

From that land, in returning by ten days through the land of the great chan, is another good isle, and a great kingdom, where the king is full rich and mighty. And amongst the rich men of his country is a pa.s.sing rich man, that is neither prince, nor duke, nor earl; but he has more that hold of him lands and other lordships; for he has every year, of annual rent, more than three hundred thousand horses charged with corn of divers grains and rice; and so he leads a full n.o.ble and delicate life, after the custom of the country; for he has every day fifty fair damsels, all maidens, that serve him evermore at his meat, and to lie by him at night, and to do with them what he pleases. And when he is at the table, they bring him his meat at every time, five and five together; and in bringing their service they sing a song. And after that they cut his meat, and put it in his mouth; for he touches nothing, nor handles nought, but holds evermore his hands before him upon the table; for he has such long nails that he may take nothing, nor handle any thing. For the n.o.bleness of that country is to have long nails, and to make them grow always to be as long as men may; and there are many in that country that have their nails so long that they environ all the hand; and that is a great n.o.bleness. And the n.o.bleness of the women is to have small feet; and therefore, as soon as they are born, they bind their feet so tight that they may not grow half as nature would. And always these damsels, that I spoke of before, sing all the time that this rich man eateth; and when he eateth no more of his first course, then other five and five of fair damsels bring him his second course, always singing, as they did before; and so they do continually every day, to the end of his meat. And in this manner he leads his life; and so they did before him that were his ancestors; and so shall they that come after him, without doing of any deeds of arms, but live evermore thus in ease, as a swine that is fed in a sty to be made fat. He has a full fair and rich palace, the walls of which are two miles in circuit; and he has within many fair gardens, and many fair halls and chambers; and the pavement of his halls and chambers are of gold and silver. And in the middle of one of his gardens is a little mountain, where there is a little meadow; and in that meadow is a little house, with towers and pinnacles, all of gold; and in that little house will he sit often to take the air and sport himself.

And you shall understand that of all these countries and isles, and of all the divers people that I have spoken of before, and of divers laws, and of divers beliefs that they have, there is none of them all but they have some reason and understanding in them, and they have certain articles of our faith, and some good points of our belief; and they believe in G.o.d that created all things and made the world; but yet they cannot speak perfectly (for there is no man to teach them), but only what they can devise by their natural understanding; for they have no knowledge of the Son nor of the Holy Ghost; but they can all speak of the Bible, namely of Genesis, of the Prophets' laws, and of the books of Moses. And they say well that the creatures that they worship are no G.o.ds; but they worship them for the virtue that is in them. And of simulacres, and of idols, they say that there are no people but that they have simulacres; and they say that we Christian men have images, as of our lady, and of other saints, that we worship; not the images of wood or of stone, but the saints in whose name they are made; for right as the books of the Scripture teach the clerks how and in what manner they shall believe, right so the images and the paintings teach the ignorant people to worship the saints, and to have them in their minds, in whose name the images are made. They say, also, that the angels of G.o.d speak to them in those idols, and that they do many great miracles.

And they say truth, that there is an angel within them; for there are two manner of angels, a good and an evil; as the Greeks say, Cacho and Calo. This Cacho is the wicked angel, and Calo is the good angel: but the other is not the good angel, but the wicked angel, which is within the idols to deceive them and maintain them in their error.

There are many other divers countries, and many other marvels beyond, that I have not seen; wherefore I cannot speak of them properly. And, also, in the countries where I have been are many diversities of many wonderful things, more than I make mention of; for it were too long a thing to devise you the manner of them all. And therefore now that I have devised you of certain countries, which I have spoken of before, I beseech your worthy and excellent n.o.bleness that it suffice to you at this time; for if I told you all that is beyond the sea, another man, perhaps, who would labour to go into those parts to seek those countries, might be blamed by my words in rehearsing many strange things; for he might not say any thing new, in the which the hearers might have either solace or pleasure.

And you shall understand that, at my coming home, I came to Rome, and showed my life to our holy father the pope, and was absolved of all that lay in my conscience of many divers grievous points, as men must need that are in company, dwelling amongst so many divers people, of divers sects and beliefs, as I have been. And, amongst all, I showed him this treatise, that I had made after information of men that knew of things that I had not seen, myself; and also of marvels and customs that I had seen myself, as far as G.o.d would give me grace; and besought his holy fatherhood that my book might be examined and corrected by advice of his wise and discreet council. And our holy father, of his special grace, gave my book to be examined and proved by the advice of his said council, by the which my book was proved for true, insomuch that they showed me a book, which my book was examined by, that comprehended full much more, by an hundredth part, by the which the _Mappa Mundi_ was made. And so my book (albeit that many men list not to give credence to any thing but to what they see with their eye, be the author or the person ever so true) is affirmed and proved by our holy father in manner and form as I have said.

And I, John Maundeville, knight, abovesaid, (although I be unworthy,) that went from our countries, and pa.s.sed the sea, in the year of Grace 1322, have pa.s.sed many lands, and many isles and countries, and searched many full strange places, and have been in many a full good and honourable company, and at many a fair deed of arms, (albeit that I did none myself, for my insufficiency,) now I am come home (in spite of myself) to rest; for rheumatic gouts, that distress me, fix the end of my labour, against my will (G.o.d knoweth). And thus, taking comfort in my wretched rest, recording the time pa.s.sed, I have fulfilled these things, and written them in this book, as it would come into my mind, the year of Grace 1356, in the thirty-fourth year that I departed from our country. Wherefore I pray to all the readers and hearers of this book, if it please them, that they would pray to G.o.d for me, and I shall pray for them.

FOOTNOTES:

[285] An allusion to the legal forms of conveying and bequeathing property in the middle ages.

[286] Dismas and Jestes, or Jesmas, were, according to the vulgar legend, the names of the two thieves who were crucified at the same time with the Saviour, Dismas being the one who reproved his companion for his unbelief. Maundeville has introduced more of the popular superst.i.tious and religious legends of the middle ages than the previous travellers.

[287] See, on this popular legend, the editor's note on the "Chester Plays" (or Mysteries), vol. i. p. 239. It was derived from one of the apocryphal books of the eastern church.

[288] The beautiful chapel built by St. Louis, and now known as the Sainte Chapelle.

[289] There is an old Greek iambic to this effect:-"????? ?a??pte?

p?e??? ?e??a? ???."

[290] Maundy-Thursday is the day of Christ's commandment on inst.i.tuting the Lord's Supper, the Thursday before Easter. It was also called Shere-Thursday. The ceremony observed on the day was called holding or making the Maundy.

[291] The period during which Maundeville was in the east was that when the question of reuniting the Greek and Latin churches was in agitation, which is probably the cause he enters so largely into their differences of belief.

[292] Long before our author's time, the text, in John xxi. 22, 23, in the vulgar Latin, happened to be changed in favour of this notion; for Jesus' answer to Peter's question about John, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" is there, "Sic eum volo manere donec veniam," the conjunction _si_ being dropped, by means of _sic_ following.

[293] Lango is but another name of the isle of Cos, where Hippocrates, (commonly called by the medieval writers Ypocras,) the famous physician, was born. See before, p. 33.

[294] The two orders, the Templars and Hospitalers, having been expelled from Palestine by the Mohammedans, on the capture of Acre in 1291, the first retired to Cyprus; but in 1310 the Hospitalers made themselves masters of the isle of Rhodes, which became the chief place of the order until it was taken by the Turks, on the 1st of January, 1523, when they removed to Malta.

[295] See before, p. 33 of the present volume, where the same blunder is made by Saewulf.

[296] This story, or one very similar to it, is found in the chronicle of John of Brompton. The bay of Satalia was notoriously dangerous to navigators, who attempted to account for it by legends like these. We have already seen an earlier traveller, Saewulf, narrowly escape shipwreck in pa.s.sing it (p. 49). John of Brompton gives two legends to account for the stormy character of the bay, according to one of which the head of the monster alluded to in the text lay at the bottom; and when it was turned with the face upwards, this position caused a perilous tempest.

[297] These were a kind of large wild dogs. Jacobus de Vitriaco ("Hist.

Orient.," lib. iii.), speaking of the animals of Judea, says, "Sunt ibi cameli et bubali abundanter, et _papiones_ quos appellant, canes silvestres, acriores quam lupi."

[298] Song of Solomon, iv. 15.

[299] Luke, xi. 27.

[300] Our author has picked up a strange version of the cla.s.sic story of Perseus and Andromeda, and has even mistaken Andromeda for the monster that was to have devoured her. The mark of the chain is mentioned by Solinus.

[301] A similar description is found in Geoffrey de Vinsauf (Itin. Reg.

Ric. I. lib. i. c. 32), who, however, states that it is a mere story taken from Solinus, and he does not a.s.sert that there was such a foss in his time. It may be further observed that Maundeville has fallen into another blunder in confounding the foss alluded to with the pretended sepulchre of Memnon.

[302] It is curious that Maundeville should thus confound Babylon of Chaldea with Babylon of Egypt.

[303] Sirkouk, or Siracon, was the vizir of Noureddin, sultan of Aleppo, and was uncle, not father, of Saladin. He dethroned the last Fatimite khalif of Egypt, and brought that country under the power of the sultans, which was soon after usurped by Saladin, who reigned from 1173 to 1193. The other sultans mentioned by Maundeville may easily be identified by a reference to the ordinary histories.

[304] This was the sultan Koutchouc-Ascraf, who was chosen successor to his brother in 1341, and, after reigning about six months, was deposed on the 11th of January, 1342. This fixes Maundeville's departure from Egypt to the latter months of the year 1341.

[305] See Maundeville's explanation of this word in a subsequent chapter.

[306] This account of Babylon is taken chiefly from Pliny and the ancient geographers.

[307] Bagdad.

[308] Gen. xii. 1.