English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500; Great Britain -- History -- 14th century -- Sources
Now schall I seye ȝou sewyngly of contrees and yles þat ben
beȝonde the contrees þat I haue spoken of. Wherfore {135} I seye
ȝou, in passynge be the lond of Cathaye toward the high Ynde, and
toward Bacharye, men passen be a kyngdom þat men clepen 'Caldilhe', þat
is a full fair contré. And þere groweth a maner of fruyt, as þough it
weren gowrdes; and whan þei ben rype, men kutten hem ato, and men fynden
{140} withinne a lytyll best, in flesch, in bon, and blode as þough it
were a lytill lomb, withouten wolle. And men eten bothe the frut and the
best: and þat is a gret merueylle. Of þat frute I haue eten, allþough
it were wondirfull: but þat I knowe wel, þat God is merueyllous in his
werkes. And natheles I tolde {145} hem of als gret a merueyle to hem,
þat is amonges vs: and þat was of the Bernakes. For I tolde hem þat in
oure contree weren trees þat baren a fruyt þat becomen briddes fleeynge;
and þo þat fellen in the water lyuen; and þei þat fallen on the erthe
dyen anon; and þei ben right gode to mannes mete. And hereof {150} had
þei als gret meruaylle þat summe of hem trowed it were an inpossible
thing to be. In þat contré ben longe apples of gode sauour, whereof
ben mo þan an hundred in a clustre, and als manye in another: and þei
han grete longe leves and large, of two fote long or more. And in þat
contree, and in {155} oþer contrees þere abouten, growen many trees, þat
beren clowe gylofres, and notemuges, and grete notes of Ynde, and of
canell, and of many oþer spices. And þere ben vynes þat beren so grete
grapes þat a strong man scholde haue ynow to done for to bere o clustre
with all the grapes. In {160} þat same regioun ben the mountaynes of
Caspye þat men clepen 'Vber' in the contree. Betwene þo mountaynes the
Iewes of ten lynages ben enclosed, þat men clepen Goth and Magoth; and
þei mowe not gon out on no syde. Þere weren enclosed twenty two kynges
with hire peple, þat dwelleden {165} betwene the mountaynes of Sy_t_hye.
Þere Kyng Alisandre chacede hem betwene þo mountaynes; and þere he
thoughte for to enclose hem þorgh werk of his men. But whan he saugh
þat he myghte not don it, ne bryng it to an ende, he preyed to God of
Nature þat He wolde parforme þat þat he {170} had begonne. And all were
it so þat he was a payneme, and not worthi to ben herd, ȝit God of
His grace closed the mountaynes togydre; so þat þei dwellen þere, all
faste ylokked and enclosed with high mountaynes alle aboute, saf only
on o syde; and on þat syde is the See of Caspye. Now {175} may sum men
asken: sith þat the see is on þat o syde, wherfore go þei not out on the
see syde, for to go where þat hem lyketh? But to this questioun I schal
answere: þat See of Caspye goth out be londe, vnder the mountaynes, and
renneth be the desert at o syde of the contree; and after it streccheth
vnto the endes {180} of Persie. And allþough it be clept a see, it is no
see, ne it toucheth to non oþer see; but it is a lake, the grettest of
the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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