The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume III (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland I
General
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume III (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland I
Literature -- Collections
And the King of Hungary is a great lord and a mighty, and holds great
lordships and much land in his hand. For he holds the kingdom of
Hungary, Sclavonia, and of Comania a great part, and of Bulgaria that
men call the land of Bougiers, and of the realm of Russia a great
part, whereof he has made a duchy, that lasts unto the land of
Nyfland,[7] and marches to Prussia. And men go through the land of
this lord, through a city that is called Cypron,[8] and by the castle
of Neasburghe, and by the evil town, that sit toward the end of
Hungary. And there pass men the river Danube. This river of Danube is
a full great river, and it goeth into Almayne, under the hills of
Lombardy, and it receives into him forty other rivers, and it runs
through Hungary and through Greece and through Thrace, and it enters
into the sea, toward the east so rudely and so sharply, that the water
of the sea is fresh and holds its sweetness twenty mile within the
sea.
And after, go men to Belgrade, and enter into the land of Bourgiers;
and there pass men a bridge of stone that is upon the river of
Marrok.[9] And men pass through the land of Pyncemartz and come to
Greece to the city of Nye, and to the city of Fynepape,[10] and after
to the city of Dadrenoble,[11] and after to Constantinople, that was
wont to be called Bezanzon.[12] And there dwells commonly the Emperor
of Greece. And there is the most fair church and the most noble of all
the world; and it is of Saint Sophie. And before that church is the
image of Justinian the emperor, covered with gold, and he sits upon a
horse crowned. And he was wont to hold a round apple of gold in his
hand; but it is fallen out thereof. And men say there, that it is a
token that the emperor has lost a great part of his lands and of his
lordships; for he was wont to be Emperor of Roumania and of Greece, of
all Asia the less, and of the land of Syria, of the land of Judea in
the which is Jerusalem, and of the land of Egypt, of Persia, and of
Arabia. But he has lost all but Greece; and that land he holds all
only. And men would many times put the apple into the image's hand
again, but it will not hold it. This apple betokens the lordship that
he had over all the world, that is round. And the other hand he lifts
up against the East, in token to menace the misdoers. This image
stands upon a pillar of marble at Constantinople.
II
AT THE COURT OF THE GREAT CHAN[13]
The men of Tartary have let make another city that is called Caydon.
And it has twelve gates, and between the two gates there is always a
great mile; so that the two cities, that is to say, the old and the
new, have in circuit more than twenty mile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account