Kathay, who, by the size of his body, appeared to be only three years old, yet was capable of reasoning, and knew how to write, and who affirmed that he had passed through three several bodies. Even one of the wisest of the Nestorians demanded of me whether the souls of brutes could fly to any place after death where they should not be compelled to labour. To the before-mentioned question of the Kathayan, I answered: "Friend, this ought hot to be the commencement of our conference. All things are of God, who is the fountain and head of us all; and therefore we ought first to speak concerning God, of whom you think otherwise than you ought, and Mangu desires to know which of us hath the better belief." The arbitrators allowed this to be reasonable, and I proceeded: "We firmly believe that there is but one God in perfect unity; what believe you?" He said, "Fools say there is but one God, but wise men say there are many. There are great lords in your country, and here is still a greater, even Mangu-khan. So it is of the Gods, as in divers countries there are divers gods." To this I answered: "You make a bad comparison between God and men; for in this way every mighty man might be called a God in his own country." And when I meant to have dissolved the similitude, he prevented me, by asking, "What manner of God is yours, who you say is but one?" I answered: "Our God, beside whom there is no other, is omnipotent, and therefore needeth not the help of any other; whereas all have need of his help. It is not so with men, as no man can do all things; wherefore there must be many lords on earthy as no one can support all. God is omniscient, or knoweth all things; and therefore hath no need of any counsellor, for all wisdom is from him. God is perfectly good; and needs not therefore any good from us. In God we live and move and have our being. Such is our God, and you must not hold that there is any other." "It is not so," said he; "for there is one highest in heaven, whose origin or generation we know not, and there are ten under him, and on earth they are infinite in number." To this he would have added other fables. I asked him respecting the highest God, of whom he had spoken, whether he were omnipotent, or if any of the inferior Gods were so? And fearing to answer this, he demanded, "Why, since our God was perfectly good, he had made the half of all things evil?" To this I answered, that this was false; for whosoever maketh any evil is no God, and all things whatsoever are good. At this all the Tuiuians were astonished, and set it down in writing as false or impossible. He then asked me, "Whence cometh evil?" "You ask amiss," said I, "for you ought first to inquire what evil is, before you ask whence it comes: But let us return to the first question, whether do you believe that any God is omnipotent? and when that is discussed, I will answer whatever you may demand." On this he sat a long time without speaking, and the judges appointed by the khan