And at the left side of the emperor's seat is the seat of his first wife, one degree lower than the emperor; and it is of jasper, bordered with gold and precious stones. And the seat of his second wife is also another seat more lower than his first wife; and it is also of jasper, bordered with gold, as that other is. And the seat of the third wife is also more low, by a degree, than the second wife. For he has always three wives with him, where that ever he be. And after his wives, on the same side, sit the ladies of his lineage yet lower, after that they be of estate. And all those that be married have a counterfeit made like a man's foot upon their heads, a cubit long, all wrought with great pearls, fine and orient, and above made with peacocks' feathers and of other shining feathers; and that stands upon their heads like a crest, in token that they be under man's foot and under subjection of man. And they that be unmarried have none such.[14] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 5: From the "Travels," the earliest extant book written in English. In this specimen the spelling has been in part modernized. First printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1429. "Mandeville" has been called the "Father of English Prose."] [Footnote 6: An old name for Hungary.] [Footnote 7: Now known as Livonia, one of the Baltic provinces of Russia.] [Footnote 8: Now Oedenburg, a city of Hungary.] [Footnote 9: The Morava, one of the chief rivers of Servia.] [Footnote 10: Philippolis.] [Footnote 11: Adrianople.] [Footnote 12: An old form of the word Byzantium, a town founded by Megariaus in the seventh century B.C. When Constantine founded the city to which he gave his own name, Byzantium, lying east of it, was included within the city limits.] [Footnote 13: From the "Travels."] [Footnote 14: The quaint words in which "Mandeville" concludes his book are these: "And I, John Mandeville, knight, above said (altho I be unworthy), that departed from our countries and passed the sea, the year of grace a thousand three hundred and twenty-two, that have passed many lands and many isles and countries, and searched many full strange places, and have been in many a full good honorable company, and at many a fair deed of arms (albeit that I did none myself, for mine unable insuffisance), now I am come home, in spite of myself, to rest, for gouts arthritic that me distrain, that define the end of my labor; against my will (God knows)."] JOHN WYCLIF