After the first week of fasting, the lady ceased from coming to the oratory, and to give meat and drink, so that we had nothing but brown bread, and paste boiled in melted snow or ice, which was exceedingly bad. My companion was much grieved at this diet, on which I acquainted David, the teacher of the khans eldest son, with our necessities, who made a report to the khan, and we were then supplied, with wine, flour, and oil. The Nestorians and Armenians eat no fish in Lent; but the monk had a chest under the altar, with almonds, and raisins, and dried prunes, and other fruits, on which he fed when alone.
About the middle of Lent, the goldsmiths son came from Caracarum, bringing a silver cross made in the French fashion, with an image of Christ, as a present for Bulgai, the chief secretary of the court; and the young man informed Mangu, that the great work he had commanded to be made by his father, was completed. In the neighbourhood of Caracarum, Mangu has a large court, inclosed with a brick wall like our priories. Within that court is a great palace, in which the khan holds feasts twice a-year, once in Easter, and the other in summer; but the latter is the greater, as all the nobles meet then at the court, when the khan distributes garments among them, and displays all his magnificence. Beside the palace there are many great buildings like our barns, in which the victuals and treasures belonging to the khan are stored. Because it was indecent to have flaggons going about the hall of the palace, as in a tavern, William, the goldsmith, constructed a great silver tree, just without the middle entrance of the great hall, at the root of which were four silver lions, having pipes discharging pure cows milk. Four pipes were conveyed up the body of the tree to its top, which spread out into four great boughs, hanging downwards; on each of these boughs was a golden serpent, all their tails twining about the body of the tree, and each of these formed a pipe, one discharging wine, a second caracosmos, a third ball, or mead made of honey, and the fourth teracina or drink made of rice; each particular drink having a vessel at the foot of the tree to receive it. On the top, between the four pipes, there stood an image of an angel with a trumpet. Under the tree there was a vault, in which a man was hidden, and from him a pipe ascended to the angel; and when the butler commands to sound the trumpet, the man below blows strongly, and the trumpet emits a shrill sound. In a chamber without the palace, the liquors are stored, and servants who are waiting, pour the liquors each in its proper pipe, at the signal, when they are conveyed by concealed pipes up the body of the tree, and discharged into, their appropriate vessels, whence they are distributed by the under butlers to the visitors. The tree is all ornamented with silver boughs, and leaves and fruit all of silver. The palace is like a church, having a middle aisle and two side ones, beyond two rows of pillars, and has three gates to the south, and before the middle gate stands the silver tree. The khan sits at the north wall, on a high place, that he may be seen of all, and there are two flights of steps ascending to him, by one of which his cup-bearer goes up, and comes down by the other. The middle space between the throne and the silver tree is left vacant for the cup-bearers and the messengers who bring presents; on the right side of the khan the men sit, and the women on the left. One woman only sits beside him, but not so high as he.
About Passion Sunday, the khan went before with his small houses only, leaving the great ones behind, and the monk and we followed. On the journey we had to pass through a hilly country309 where we encountered high winds, extreme cold, and much snow. About midnight the khan sent to the monk and us, requesting us to pray to God to mitigate the severity of the weather, as the beasts in his train were in great jeopardy, being mostly with young, and about to bring forth. Then the monk sent him incense, desiring him to put it on the coals, as an offering to God: Whether he did this or no, I know not, but the tempest ceased, which had lasted two days. On Palm Sunday we were near Caracarum, and at dawn of day we blessed the willow boughs, on which, as yet, there were no buds. About nine o'clock we entered the city of Caracarum, carrying the cross aloft with the banner, and passing through the street of the Saracens, in which the market is held, we proceeded to the church, where the Nestorians met; us in procession. We found them prepared to celebrate the mass, and they all communicated; but I declined this, having already drank, and the sacrament should always be received lasting. After mass, being now evening, William Bouchier, the goldsmith, brought us to sup at his lodging. He had a wife, born in Hungary, of Mahometan parents, who spoke French, and the language of the Comanians. We found here also one Basilicus, the son of an Englishman, likewise born in Hungary, who was likewise skilled in these languages. After supper we retired to our cottage, which, with the oratory of the monk, were placed near the Nestorian church; which is of considerable size, and very handsomely built, and all the ceiling is covered with silk, wrought with gold.
I much deliberated with myself, whether I should continue in communion with the monk and the Nestorians, because I saw their actions full of idolatry and sorcery; but I feared to give offence to the khan in separating from the other Christians, as I saw that my presence pleased him, for which reason I always accompanied them to court; but when there I did not join in their mummeries, praying always in a loud voice for the church, and that God would direct the khan in the right way of salvation. On one occasion the khan promised to come to the church next day; but he departed on his journey to the northward, desiring the priests to excuse him, because he had learnt that the dead were carried thither. But we remained behind, that we might celebrate the festival of Easter. There were a vast multitude of Hungarians, Alans, Rutenians or Russians, Georgians, and Armenians, who had not received the sacrament since they were taken prisoners, as the Nestorians would not admit them into their church unless they were rebaptized; yet they offered their sacrament freely to us, and allowed me to see their manner of consecration; on the vigil of Easter I saw their ceremony of baptism. They pretend to have the ointment with which Mary Magdalen anointed the feet of Jesus, and they put in so much of that oil in kneading their sacramental bread; for all the people of the east use butter, or oil, or fat from a sheeps tail, in their bread, instead of leaven. They pretend also to have of the flour of which the bread was made which was consecrated by our Lord at his Last Supper, as they always keep a small piece of dough from each baking, to mix up with the new, which they consecrate with great reverence. In administering this to the people, they divide the consecrated loaf first into twelve portions, after the number of the apostles, which they afterwards break down into smaller pieces, in proportion to the number of communicants, giving the body of Christ into the hand of every one, who takes it from his own palm with much reverence, and afterwards lays his hand on the top of his head.
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From this circumstance, it would appear that Rubruquis had found the court of the khan in the country of the Eluts, to the south of the Changai mountains, perhaps about latitude 44° N. and longitude 103° E, the meridian of the supposed site of Karakum on the Orchon. And it may be presumed, that the imperial suite was now crossing the Changai chain towards the north. –E.