The Travels of Marco Polo Audio Book With Subtitles

Welcome to another session of IntelliQuest's The World's 100 Greatest Books. In this session we'll explore a very unique book in our series, the only work that can be termed a travelogue, although it's also an autobiography, a history, and a sociological study. The book is The Travels of Marco Polo, published in 1299 in Genoa, Italy. It tells of Marco Polo's life and his travels from his home in Venice, across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, to the court of Kublai Khan, located in an area we now know as Beijing, China. Marco Polo's book is generally considered non-fiction, although as you'll see the writer's imagination and tendencies to exaggerate make it a blend of both non-fiction and fiction. For 13th century readers who were unfamiliar with the places and people Polo described, it was difficult to discern fact from fantasy, but today with our vast knowledge of history and geography, it's somewhat easier to tell when the author was striving more for effect than for accuracy. Fantasies aside, The Travels of Marco Polo was an extremely important book for its time and still offers an enchanting and rich glimpse into far-off exotic lands, and a period of history that no one else of his era had the opportunity to describe. It also ushered in the age of exploration, inspiring many adventurers, including Christopher Columbus, to seek new worlds and to discover the new in the old. Marco Polo traveled for 26 years in the near and far east, and for 20 of those years he was in the service of Kublai Khan, the mighty Mongol emperor, who was a descendant of Genghis Khan. When he returned to Italy, he recorded the memories of his travels with the help of a romance writer from Pisa named Rustacello. Those records, almost 400 pages of them, are a valuable and mesmerizing account of the cultural, political, and social life in the many lands he visited. His vivid and detailed descriptions include dress and costumes, food, religious beliefs and rituals, marital customs, funeral rites, housing and architecture, monuments and shrines, transportation, trade and commerce, agriculture, plants and animals, geography and topography, government, class structure, and arts and crafts. His book is also peppered with anecdotes, folk tales, legends, and oral histories he'd heard from the people he met. Because he became a trusted friend and emissary of the great Kublai Khan, a special feature of the book is his colorful descriptions of the Khan himself, of his palace, his wives and concubines, his servants, his wealth, and his regal, opulent lifestyle. Polo traveled in the countries and regions we know today as Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Tibet, and China. It was an extraordinary journey for its time. No other European had ever traveled so far. There were no books, no chronicles, no firsthand accounts of the lands in the Far East. Everything the 13th century European knew about these areas, which was very little, was based on distant rumor. Ever since the days of Alexander the Great, the Western world had had some knowledge of India, but north and east of India lay parts unknown. Though great quantities of Chinese silk were carried along the caravan trails of Central Asia for sale in the Roman Empire, no one seemed to have any knowledge of the countries from which it had come, nor of the countries it had passed through. Christian merchants took the risk of trading with Moslems, whom they considered infidels, but they seldom traveled beyond the seaports of the Mediterranean or the Black Sea. East and West were two different worlds. Marco Polo became a window through which one civilization took its first tentative peek at another. These civilizations were vastly different. On the surface, they had almost nothing in common. The Westerner's view of the East was filled with prejudice, ignorance, and condescension. Any civilization that was not European or Christian was backwards and barbarian. The people in the East likewise had little knowledge of the West, but they were interested. Kublai Khan and others were delighted with Marco Polo and loved to hear about life in this strange, distant world to the West. The Khan made Polo his official ambassador in his travels and sent him on many special missions. Marco Polo became a living link between two cultures that had never before felt any connection or had any reliable information on each other. He opened the eyes and broadened the horizons of both populations, and he paved the way for trade and commerce between the two lands. This was one of his goals in writing his travels, for he was careful to map out and describe trade routes and to enumerate the valuables that could be found along the way. He focused chiefly on the most profitable of these goods, such as jewels, silks, and spices. Because the journey itself was so expensive and hazardous, only luxury items brought a return on the merchant's investment. But the travels of Marco Polo became far more than a guidebook for the daring and ambitious merchant. And it's more than an adventure tale or a lively autobiography, although it is those things too. Most importantly, it is a priceless piece of history, a one-of-a-kind documentation of life in the Far East during the 13th century. It also offers, by nature of its author, an insightful glimpse into the European mind of the 13th century. For although Marco Polo was unusually worldly and more tolerant than most, he also reflects some of the biases and opinions of his European contemporaries. His descriptions and judgments are colored simply by who he is, and from them we gain perspective on what a typical Western point of view was. Over the centuries, there have been numerous translations of the travels of Marco Polo in many languages. It has been popular ever since its publication and has served as a guide to various explorers and adventurers. Christopher Columbus, who sailed to the New World two centuries later, was well acquainted with the text. He treasured a well-thumbed manuscript of In Marco Polo's own days, descriptive tales such as his were immensely popular. But no matter how objective they were, they were always regarded as fiction. People simply couldn't accept that such fantastic places and peoples, with customs and beliefs so different from theirs, could really exist. Ironically, although there are exaggerations in Polo's writing, the most incredible stories are indeed based on fact. On his deathbed, Polo was pressured to admit he'd made up some of the stories, but instead he replied, I have not told the half of it. And as travel to the East increased, more and more of his stories were verified. Today we accept, as a matter of fact, some of the descriptions his contemporaries found most incredible and unbelievable. In spite of its journalistic merits, the style of the book, in keeping with the times, is romanticized. It often has the tone of fiction, whether or not it is. There are many versions of the book available. Each editor is chosen to delete different sections that seem repetitive. But the excitement and adventure of the story never vary. And to this day, the name Marco Polo is synonymous with adventure, travel to exotic oriental lands, and fabulous discoveries. Polo's sense of adventure and passion for travel was inherited. His father, Niccolo Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo, were also merchants. In 1254, the two wealthy gentlemen set out from Venice, leaving Marco, who was an infant, in the care of his aunt. They journeyed to the court of Kubla Khan, where they became highly favored. When the Khan heard of this unusual Christian religion practiced in the West, he sent the Polos back to Italy with his own envoys, whom he hoped would meet with the Pope. His wish was that the Pope would send a hundred scholars to his court to prove that the law of Christ, in the words of the book, was most agreeable. If they succeeded at this task, the Khan vowed that he and all his subjects would become Christians. The Polos sailed back into Italy in 1269, only to discover that the Pope had died. They decided to wait until a new Pope was selected, but after three years, when this still hadn't been accomplished, they decided to make their way back to Kubla Khan's court, this time taking young Marco with them. Before the three could set out on their journey, Pope Gregory was anointed, and so they approached him with Kubla Khan's request. The new Pope reluctantly agreed, but instead of 100 scholars, he sent only two priests to accompany them. Both priests soon became discouraged with the hardships and privations of the journey, and turned back. The three explorers, Marco Polo, his father Niccolo Polo, and his uncle Maffeo Polo, forged ahead. We know very little of Marco Polo's life before and after his travels, and there are no detailed descriptions of him as a man. He was born in the year 1254 in Venice, two years before the beginning of the famous Hundred Years' War between Venice and Genoa. Marco Polo's involvement in this war would later result in his imprisonment, a lucky event as it turned out, because this is where he wrote his travels. Marco Polo's times were the times of Saint Thomas Aquinas, of Dante, author of the Divine Comedy, and the great Persian poets Rumi and Hafiz. It was a period that saw the end of the Crusades, the founding of the Ottoman Empire, and intensification of the Inquisition, including the use of torture. Most importantly to Marco Polo, it was also the age of the Mongol conquerors. In 1206, 48 years before Polo was born, the Mongol tribes gathered at their holy place in the plain of Karakorum, and elected a ruler, or Khan. Under his rule, they conquered the northern region of China, known as Cathay, and then decided to conquer the world. Within two generations, they succeeded in conquering almost the entire landmass of Eurasia, excluding only India, Arabia, Western Europe, and parts of Indochina. This stupendous empire was unequaled either before or since in terms of sheer size, and the entire eastern part of it was under the rule of the Khan and his successors. The rest was divided up between three lords who were members of the Khan's family. The passage of the Mongol army left devastation and death in its path. To Christians, it seemed the legions of Satan were on the march. Christians referred to the Mongols as Tartars because it reminded them of the word Tartarus, a mythological term for hell. Still, Christians were not terribly upset because the only Christian victims of the Mongols were the Russians, who were rebel followers of the Greek church. The victims who really suffered under the Mongols were the Moslems, who had long been enemies of the Christians. It was in this setting that Marco Polo's father and uncle set out for the east, in spite of their friend's warning against it, in the year 1260, when Marco Polo was only six years old. They were seeking a more profitable market for their wares, but when asked by a Mongol lord to take a message for him to Kublai Khan's court, they couldn't resist. At that point, they became the first Europeans to penetrate China, and when they marched their little caravan into Cathay, they also marched right into the history books. Kublai Khan was a very different man from his more savage ancestors. He had absorbed something of Chinese culture, including the humanitarian spirit of Buddhism. In many ways, he was a simple, vigorous common nomad, but he was also a visionary and a remarkably efficient ruler. It was at this time that Kublai Khan sent the Polos back to Italy to recruit Christian missionaries. They returned instead with the 17-year-old Marco, and remained in the east for over 20 years. What the Polos did during these 20 years is largely unknown. The book doesn't detail all those years, and only describes certain events from the period, or general situations. What is obvious is that they enjoyed the freedom of travel throughout the empire, although where they exactly went is still a matter of debate. It's generally believed that they were cut off from all communication with the west, although even this isn't certain. In 1292, the Polos began their journey back to the west, taking the long sea route through the Malay Straits. After their arrival in Venice in 1295, there are almost no accounts of their lives. One story has it that their families and friends failed to recognize them, and that the Polos dramatically tore open their shabby travel garments, and let fall a stream of rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. In 1298, at the age of 44, Marco Polo was a prisoner of war at Genoa. He had been captured while serving as the commander of a Venetian galley in the long war between Genoa and Venice, who were competitors in sea trade. He was probably released under the terms of a peace treaty signed in 1299. During his imprisonment, he entertained fellow prisoners with the stories of his travels, and one of them, a writer and professional storyteller named Rustacello, recognized the potential of an epic narrative. He convinced Marco Polo to send to his father in Venice for his notes on his travels. This was the start of a literary partnership that would produce an enduring classic. It is Rustacello who gave the book its romantic flourish, and perhaps also some of its fable and fiction. Marco Polo dictated four books to him, which were later published as one volume. It remained the only source of information about the Far East until the late 19th century. Marco Polo died 26 years after its release in 1324 at the age of 70. He left a detailed will in which he freed his tartar slave and left the bounty of his travels to his three daughters. Although history has left us no descriptions of Marco Polo, we can determine a lot about him just by reading his book. Obviously, he had great enterprise, resourcefulness, stamina, and fortunately for his readers, an amazingly retentive memory. He noticed things with the eyes of a practical merchant and traveler, which is why there are so many references to food and water along the routes, means of transport, and the marketable products in every district. He's true to his age in that he classifies people mainly on the basis of religion rather than race or culture. They are either Christians, Jews, Saracens, or idolaters. He's hostile towards Muslims whom he refers to as worshippers of Muhammad, but he's more tolerant toward idolaters who include basically Buddhists and Hindus. He had a special respect for their holy men and even compared the Buddha to a Christian saint, quite a leap of faith for a man of his time. The outstanding feature of Marco Polo's book is its description of the people he encounters. He provides abundant and picturesque details of the Persians, Turks, Tartars, Chinese, Tibetans, and Indians, including all the particulars of their dress, physical features, customs, and mannerisms. He fully met the goal he set for himself in the introduction to his book when he, through the voice of co-writer Rustacello, said, here you will find all the great wonders and curiosities of greater Armenia and Persia, of the Tartars and of India, and of many other territories. For I would have you know that from the time when our Lord God formed Adam, there has been no man who has known or explored so many various parts of the world and of its great wonders as Marco Polo. For this reason he made up his mind that it would be a great pity if he did not have a written record made of all the things he had seen and had heard by true report, so that others who have not seen and do not know them may learn them from this book. Polo's claim that he had traveled more extensively than any man since the creation may be boastful, but it really is a statement of fact, or at least it's a fact as near as we can judge, since there are no other written records of anyone having traveled so far. When the book was first released, it was called A Description of the World, and although we know today that the world is much bigger than 13th century humankind imagined it, it's still a description of a surprisingly large part of that world, from the polar sea to Java, from Zanzibar to Japan. Polo had no rival in the field of travel until two generations later, and some of the trails he blazed were not traveled again by a European for 600 years. Still others may have remained unexplored until the opening of the Burma Road in World War II. The task of mapping out Marco Polo's travels in detail has yet to be completed, and probably never will be, since parts of his journeys are unaccounted for. The parts of the journey that are accounted for make up one of the most stirring and inspiring true life adventures in the history of literature. The first part of the book contains Polo's descriptions of his three and a half year journey to Kubla Khan's court. It's a fascinating narrative with vivid renditions, not only of geography and traveling distances and conditions, but of specifics like food preparation and production, trade, religious practices, and customs and oral traditions among the many tribes and civilizations he encountered. He passes through the area we now know as Turkey, and offers a description of what we call today Mount Ararat. In the heart of Greater Armenia is a very high mountain, shaped like a cube on which Noah's Ark is said to have rested, whence it is called the Mountain of Noah's Ark. It is so broad and long that it takes more than two days to go around it. On the summit, the snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it. This snow never entirely melts, but new snow is forever falling on the old so that the level rises. But on the lower slopes, thanks to the moisture that flows down from the melting snow, the herbage is so lush and luxuriant that in summer, all the beasts from near and far resort here to batten on it, and yet the supply never fails. This flow of moisture also has the effect of making the hillsides very boggy. In some versions of the book, Marco Polo also says that the Ark is actually visible as a black patch among the snow on the mount, although it cannot be seen at close quarters. The natives seldom mention it, but on being questioned, they answer, it is said that the black patch is the ship of the world. Polo continues through the Middle East, providing descriptions of many villages and peoples along the way. He is particularly impressed by Baghdad, and says, In Baghdad, which is a very large city, the Caliph of all the Saracens in the world has his seat, just as the head of all Christians in the world has his seat in Rome. Through the midst of the city flows a very large river, by which travelers may go to the Indian sea. By this route merchants come and go with their merchandise. You should know that from Baghdad to the sea is a journey of fully eighteen days. Merchants traveling to India follow this river to a city called Caiz, where they enter the Indian sea. On the river between Baghdad and Caiz there is a large city named Basra, and in groves all around Basra grow the best dates in the world. It is in Baghdad that most of the pearls are pierced, that are imported from India into Christendom. Here too are woven many fabrics of cloth of gold and silk, very richly decorated with beasts and birds. It is a great center for the study of the law of Muhammad, and of necromancy, natural science, astronomy, geomancy, and physiognomy. It is the largest and most splendid city in all these parts. In his description of Baghdad, Polo presents an Arab city that can easily rival the greatest cities of Europe. He points out its cultural, scientific, and commercial achievements, and of course recognizes its importance to the merchant, not only through its strategic location, but in the many exquisite wares to be found there. In the 13th century, Baghdad was an important crossroads and the religious spiritual center of the Muslim world. His reference to Muhammad is a reference to Mohammed, he refers to the prophet of Islam by the name Muhammad throughout the book. He also uses the term Saracens interchangeably with Muslims. Polo travels on and offers a description of another important Arab city, Tabriz, which he says is the most splendid city in a province called Iraq. Today, of course, Tabriz is in Iran. His description of Tabriz is notable, not just because it demonstrates his consistent awareness of merchandise and trade, but because it also reflects the Christian bias he carried with him while traveling through Islamic territories. The people of Tabriz live by trade and industry, for cloth of gold and silk is woven here in great quantity and of great value. The city is so favorably situated that it's a market for merchandise from India and Baghdad, from Mosul and Hormuz, and from many other places. And many Latin merchants come here to buy precious stones, which are found here in great abundance. It's a city where good profits are made by traveling merchants. The inhabitants are a mixed lot, and good for very little. There are Armenians and Nestorians, Jacobites and Georgians and Persians, and there are also worshippers of Muhammad, who are the natives of the city and are called Tabrizis. The city is entirely surrounded by attractive orchards full of excellent fruit. The Saracens of Tabriz are wicked and treacherous. The law which their prophet Muhammad has given them lays down that any harm they may do to one who does not accept their law and any appropriation of goods is no sin at all. And if they suffer death or injury at the hands of Christians, they are accounted martyrs. For this reason they would be wrongdoers if it were not for the government. And all the other Saracens in the world act on the same principle. When they are on the point of death, up comes their priest and asks whether they believe that Muhammad was the true messenger of God. If they answer yes, then he tells them they are saved. That is why they are converting the Tartars and many other nations to their law, because they are allowed great license to sin, and according to their law, no sin is forbidden. Throughout the book, Polo measures distance in terms of days of travel. A day's ride, or ten days' ride, or forty days' ride is the only means for measuring distance he had. But it was also more relevant to the merchants of the time, who rode from place to place and would have had little use for measurements in miles or kilometers. After several days, Polo reaches the Persian Gulf and stops at a city on the coast called Hormuz. He's mostly concerned about the torrid, hot, and unhealthy climate here, and tells a gruesome story to make his point. In summer, the people do not stay in the cities, or they would all die of the heat. But they go out to their gardens, where there are rivers and sheets of water. It is a fact that several times in the summer there comes a wind from the direction of the sandy wastes that lie around this plain— a wind so overpoweringly hot that it would be deadly if it did not happen that, as soon as men are aware of its approach, they plunge neck deep into the water and so escape its heat. To show just how hot this wind can be, here is an account of something that happened when Messer Marco was in these parts. A king resolved to seize the opportunity when the men of Hormuz were living outside the city in the open. He mustered sixteen hundred horses and five thousand foot soldiers, and sent them across the plain to make a surprise attack. One day, having failed through faulty guidance to reach the place appointed for the night's halt, they bivouacked in a wood not far from Hormuz. Next morning, when they were on the point of setting out, the hot wind came down on them and stifled them all, so that not one survived to carry back the news to their lord. The men of Hormuz, hearing of this, went out to bury the corpses, so they would not infect the air. When they gripped them by the arms to drag them to the graves, they were so parched by the tremendous heat that the arms came loose from the trunk, so that there was nothing for it but to dig the graves beside the corpses and heave them in. Polo often includes sensational stories like these in his narrative, and, apparently afraid people wouldn't believe him, adds postscripts assuring the reader that what he says is true. He also reports superstitions, miracles, magic, and occult events, and beliefs, such as this story about a great desert he encountered in Turkestan. The truth is this. When a man is riding by night through this desert, and something happens to make him loiter and lose touch with his companions by dropping asleep, or for some other reason, and afterwards he wants to rejoin them, then he hears spirits talking in such a way that they seem to be his companions. Sometimes, indeed, they even hail him by name. Often these voices make him stray from the path, so that he never finds it again, and in this way many travellers have been lost and have perished. And sometimes, in the night, they are conscious of a noise, like the clatter of a great cavalcade of riders away from the road, and, believing that these are some of their own company, they go where they hear the noise, and when day breaks find they are victims of an illusion, and in an awkward plight. And there are some who, in crossing this desert, have seen a host of men coming towards them, and, suspecting that they were robbers, have taken flight. So, having left the beaten track, and not knowing how to return to it, they have gone hopelessly astray. Yes, and even by daylight men hear these spirit voices. And often you fancy you are listening to the strains of many instruments, especially drums, and the clash of arms. For this reason bands of travellers make a point of keeping very close together. Before they go to sleep they set up a sign pointing in the direction in which they have to travel, and round the necks of all their beasts they fasten little bells, so that by listening to the sound they may prevent them from straying off the path. Polo proceeds on the road to Cathay, towards the court of Kubla Khan, and takes this opportunity to talk about the historic lineage of Khan. Historians have found many errors in Polo's account of the rise and fall of Mongol rulers, but his descriptions of their customs are a treasury of information, previously unknown to the world, and unknown to us today if not for his book. Here is part of his description of the funeral rituals when one of the Khans has died. You should know that all the great lords who are of the lineage of the Khan are conveyed for burial to a great mountain called Alti. When one of them dies, even if it be at a distance of a hundred days' journey from this mountain, he must be brought here for burial. And here is a remarkable fact. When a body of a great Khan is being carried to this mountain, be it forty days' journey, or more, or less, all those who are encountered along the route by which the body is being conveyed are put to the sword by the attendants who are escorting it. Go, they cry, and serve your lord in the next world. For they truly believe that all of those whom they put to death must go and serve the Khan in the next world. And they do the same thing with horses. When the Khan dies, they kill all his best horses, so that he may have them in the next world. It is a fact that when Mangu Khan died, more than twenty thousand men were put to death, having encountered his body on the way to burial. The second section of the Travels of Marco Polo tells of life in the court of Kubla Khan. Polo had extreme admiration for the ruler, and never tires of pointing out his attributes. He describes him physically as of good stature, neither tall nor short, but of a middle height. He has a becoming amount of flesh, and is very shapely in all his limbs. His complexion is white and red, the eyes black and fine, the nose well formed and well set on. He depicts the Khan's palaces, his vast court, his government, and armies. He also gives an account of a battle led by the great Khan himself. He reports that, when all were in battle array, one could hear a sound arise of many instruments of various music, and of the voices of the whole of the two hosts loudly singing. For this is the custom of the Tartars. Polo spends much time describing the women of the court, the Khan's wives and concubines. He says, He has four consorts, who are all accounted his lawful wives, and his eldest son by any of these four has a rightful claim to be emperor on the death of the present Khan. The wives are called empresses, each by her own name. Each of these ladies holds her own court. None of them has less than three hundred ladies in waiting, all of great beauty and charm. They have many eunuchs, and other men and women in attendance, so that each one of these ladies has in her court ten thousand persons. Polo then gives a detailed account of how concubines are chosen for the Khan. Every two years the Khan sends his emissaries into the provinces to bring back the most beautiful maidens. They are assessed further by noble women in the court when they arrive at the palace, and only the very best are chosen for the Khan. Polo makes a special point of saying that the men in the provinces don't resent the taking of their women, since it's an honor for a woman to be chosen to serve the Khan. This section also includes eloquent descriptions of court affairs, such as the marking of the calendar, and the celebration of thousands of festivals and hunting trips. Record keeping was very important to the Chinese. Each household kept near its front door a list of the names of all the home's inhabitants, and innkeepers were required to record the names of all travelers, and the dates of their visits. Certain chapters also tell about the marvelous inventions Marcos saw while serving the Khan. These include the use of paper money, a system of express messengers, rather like the Pony Express, and efficient highway systems. Some of the remains of these can still be seen today. Polo is very amazed when he discovers an unfamiliar source of fuel, which we know by his description is coal. Let me tell you next of the stones that burn like logs. It is a fact that throughout the province of Cathay there is a sort of black stone, which is dug out of veins in the hillsides and burns like logs. These stones keep a fire burning better than wood. I assure you that if you put them on the fire in the evening and see that they are well alight, they will continue to burn all night, so that you will still find them glowing in the morning. They do not give off flames, except a little when they are first kindled, just as charcoal does, and once they have caught fire they give out great heat. For all the fantastic inventions he stumbles upon, Polo gives credit to Kublai Khan, whom he sees as a man of wisdom and benevolence. One of the delights of the travels of Marco Polo is to see how the 13th century traveler describes and interprets things which are completely new to him, but which are very familiar to us today. His description of coal is one example. Here's another. This time a strange new animal he discovered on his way from Beijing to Bengal. In this province live huge serpents of such a size that no one could help being amazed even to hear of them. They are loathsome creatures to behold. Let me tell you just how big they are. You may take it for a fact that there are some of them ten paces in length that are as thick as a stout cask, for their girth runs to about ten palms. These are the biggest. They have two squat legs in front near the head, which have no feet, but simply three claws, two small and one bigger, like the claws of a falcon or lion. They have enormous heads and eyes so bulging that they are bigger than loaves. Their mouth is big enough to swallow a man at one gulp. Their teeth are huge. All in all, the monsters are of such inordinate bulk and ferocity that there is neither man nor beast but goes in fear of them. Here the explorer has obviously come across his first crocodile. At the end of this section of the book in the Khan's court, Marco Polo has become fluent in four different languages and is now a valuable ambassador for the emperor. He describes some of the different missions he sent on. In the next section of the book, Marco Polo recounts in detail the many travels he made on behalf of the Khan, to places like Japan, Indochina, southern India, and what he calls the coast and islands of the Indian Sea, including Ethiopia. After 17 years at the court of the Khan, the wealthy Polos, surrounded by envious princes, decided that if they ever wanted to return to Venice, they would most easily do so under the protection and safety of the Khan. They resolved to go while the ruler, already an old man, was still alive. They asked his permission to return home, but at first he refused. The emperor enjoyed their company and services too much to let them go. After a time, however, he was persuaded to let them leave. Fourteen ships were prepared for the voyage home, and during that voyage, 600 crew members were lost in storms. While still en route, they heard news of Kublai Khan's death. Polo writes of the exotic regions they visited on their way back. He talks of camel caravans gathered by fountains of oil, hauling off this strange black liquid, which is an amazing source of heat and light. He tells of the city of Min, with its two great towers, one of silver, the other of pure gold. He describes the utopian Chinese city of Kinsai, with 12,000 bridges spanning its rivers and canals, its stone paved streets, and its hundreds of beautiful carvings. He marvels over the magical Lhok province, where people commonly lived to the age of 150. He also describes strange characters and mystical tribes. A miserly ruler unwilling to provide for his kingdom's protection, who was captured and locked in a tower, where, surrounded by piles of gold, he starved to death. A diabolical band of robbers, which had the power to call down the powers of darkness upon the caravans they attacked. Tribes where fathers took care of newborn babies, while the mother was allowed to move freely about. An ancient drug dealer, who used his trance-induced followers to commit murders. And various sorcerers and cannibals. He includes fantastic tales of natives who made their living by selling pickled monkeys, which they passed off as pygmies and sold to naive sailors as souvenirs. There are also stories of men with tails, and more believably, brutal pirates. On his way home, Marco Polo also ran into tribes who used gold, silver, pearls, diamonds, and rubies as common barter, and who wore rich silks and embroidery for work and play. He saw asbestos, musk scent, and salt all used as money. He became acquainted with exotic spices, sugar, strange drugs, and pungent incense. He discovered bizarre animals. A bird with talons large enough to seize an elephant. Chickens covered with hair, and unicorns, which in his words, have hair like that of water buffalo, and feet like those of an elephant, an ugly beast to behold. He was in fact describing his first rhinoceros. Polo devotes a long section of this book to his travels in India, where he found the customs and religious beliefs bizarre, but fascinating. He undoubtedly shocked the people back home with his stories like the following. When a man is guilty of a capital offense, and the king has decreed his death, the offender declares that he wishes to kill himself out of respect to some particular idol. The king expresses his approval. Then all the offenders, kinsfolk, and friends take him and set him on a chair, and give him fully a dozen swords, and carry him through the city, proclaiming aloud, This brave man is going to kill himself for love of such and such an idol. In this way they carry him through the whole city. When they have reached the place where justice is done, then the offender takes a knife, and cries in a loud voice, I kill myself for love of such and such an idol. Having spoken these words, he takes two swords, and thrusts them into his thighs at one stroke. Then he thrusts two into his arms, two into his belly, two into his chest, and so he thrusts them all in, crying aloud at each stroke, I kill myself for love of such and such an idol. Another custom is this. When a man is dead, and his body is being cremated, his wife flings herself into the same fire, and lets herself be burnt with her husband. And I assure you that there are many who do as I have told you. Yet these stories of what Christians would consider pagan and barbaric customs, are well balanced by Polo's tolerance for what he called the idolaters of India, and by his respect for their sense of justice, their great kingdoms and splendid cities, their beautiful products, their yogis and holy men, and their deep faith, even though it's a faith that defied western understanding. From India, Marco Polo travels through Zanzibar, where he's stunned by the size and strength of the natives, on to Abyssinia, where the citizens brand themselves with hot irons, and back into Turkestan, at which point he gives detailed accounts of the Tartar Wars, sometimes accurate, sometimes not. He ends the book with battle stories of these wars, but adds a postscript about his departure from the east that says, For our part, as to how we took leave of the great Khan, you have heard in the prologue of this book, in the chapter that tells of the troubles encountered by Messer Mafio and Messer Niccolo and Messer Marco in getting his leave to depart, and of the happy chance that led to our departure. And you must know that but for this chance we might never have got away for all our pains, so that there is little likelihood that we should ever have returned to our own country. But I believe it was God's will that we should return, so that men might know the things that are in the world. Since, as we have said in the first chapter, there was never man yet, Christian or Saracen, Tartar or pagan, who explored so much of the world as Messer Marco, son of Messer Niccolo Polo, great and noble citizen of the city of Venice. In this conclusion to his lengthy, detailed narrative of his exotic travels in the middle and far east, Marco Polo seems to have recognized his destiny. His extensive and daring adventures didn't bring him great wealth, for he died as wealthy as he'd begun life. They didn't bring him great eminence or a position of power at home, although his book did bring him popular fame. What those travels did bring him was a unique and priceless role in history, for he became the communicator and the enlightener, who was able to make two vastly different civilizations aware of each other. He increased their mutual understanding and interest. He inspired further trade and travel that eventually formed a solid link between east and west, and he launched the age of exploration. The paths these future travelers and merchants would follow were first blazoned by Marco Polo himself. But they are only the geographical paths, the path that connected the western mind with the eastern mind, and that led brave men and women into new uncharted territories, was his greatest achievement of all. This is the end of the session.