It then describes Armein Bec (Little Armenia), Armein Mor (Great Armenia), Musul, Taurisius, Persida, Camandi, and so forth. The last chapter is that on Abaschia:—
“ABASCHIA also is an extensive country, under the government of Seven Kings, four of whom worship the true God, and each of them wears a golden cross on the forehead; and they are valiant in battle, having been brought up fighting against the Gentiles of the other three kings, who are Unbelievers and Idolaters. And the kingdom of ADEN; a Soudan rules over them.
“The king of Abaschia once took a notion to make a pilgrimage to the Sepulchre of Jesus. ‘Not at all,’ said his nobles and warriors to him, ’for we should be afraid lest the infidels through whose territories you would have to pass, should kill you. There is a Holy Bishop with you,’ said they; ’send him to the Sepulchre of Jesus, and much gold with him’”—
The rest is wanting.
[1] In the following citations, the Geographic Text
(G. T.) is quoted by
page from the printed edition
(1824); the Latin published in the same
volume (G. L.) also by
page; the Crusca, as before, from Bartoli’s
edition of 1863. References
in parentheses are to the present
translation:—
A. Passages showing the G. L.
to be a translation from the Italian,
and derived from the same Italian text as the
Crusca.
Page
(1). G.T. 17 (I. 43). Il hi se
laborent le souran tapis
dou monde.
Crusca, 17 .. E quivi si fanno
i sovrani tappeti
del mondo.
G.L. 311 .. Et ibi fiunt
soriani et tapeti
pulcriores de mundo.
(2). G.T. 23 (I. 69). Et adonc
le calif mande par tuit les
cristiez ... que
en sa tere estoient.
Crusca, 27 .. Ora mando lo
aliffo per tutti gli
Cristiani ch’
erano di la.
G.L. 316 .. Or misit califus
pro Christianis
qui erant ultra
fluvium
(the last words being
clearly a
misunderstanding of
the Italian di la).
(3). G.T. 198 (II. 313). Ont sosimain
(sesamum) de coi il
font le olio.
Crusca, 253 .. Hanno sosimai
onde fanno l’ olio.
G.L. 448 .. Habent turpes
manus (taking sosimani
for sozze mani
“Dirty hands"!).
(4). Crusca, 52 (I. 158). Cacciare e
uccellare v’ e lo migliore
del mondo.
G.L. 332 .. Et est ibi optimum
caciare et ucellare.
(5). G.T. 124 (II. 36). Adonc treuve
... une Provence qe est
encore de le confin
dou Mangi.
Crusca, 162-3 .. L’ uomo
truova una Provincia ch’ e
chiamata ancora