But Still It Does Seem
Reasonable To Believe That The Main Fact Of Marco's Command Of A Galley At
Curzola, And Capture There, Was Derived From A Genuine Tradition, If Not
From Documents.
Let us then turn to the words which close Rusticiano's preamble (see
post, p. 2):
- "Lequel (Messire Marc) puis demorant en le charthre de
Jene, fist retraire toutes cestes chouses a Messire Rustacians de Pise que
en celle meissme charthre estoit, au tens qu'il avoit 1298 anz que Jezu
eut vesqui." These words are at least thoroughly consistent with Marco's
capture at Curzola, as regards both the position in which they present
him, and the year in which he is thus presented.
There is however another piece of evidence, though it is curiously
indirect.
The Dominican Friar Jacopo of Acqui was a contemporary of Polo's, and was
the author of a somewhat obscure Chronicle called Imago Mundi.[29] Now
this Chronicle does contain mention of Marco's capture in action by the
Genoese, but attributes it to a different action from Curzola, and one
fought at a time when Polo could not have been present. The passage runs
as follows in a manuscript of the Ambrosian Library, according to an
extract given by Baldelli Boni: -
"In the year of Christ MCCLXXXXVI, in the time of Pope Boniface VI., of
whom we have spoken above, a battle was fought in Arminia, at the place
called Layaz, between xv. galleys of Genoese merchants and xxv. of
Venetian merchants; and after a great fight the galleys of the Venetians
were beaten, and (the crews) all slain or taken; and among them was
taken Messer Marco the Venetian, who was in company with those
merchants, and who was called Milono, which is as much as to say 'a
thousand thousand pounds,' for so goes the phrase in Venice. So this
Messer Marco Milono the Venetian, with the other Venetian prisoners, is
carried off to the prison of Genoa, and there kept for a long time. This
Messer Marco was a long time with his father and uncle in Tartary, and
he there saw many things, and made much wealth, and also learned many
things, for he was a man of ability. And so, being in prison at Genoa,
he made a Book concerning the great wonders of the World, i.e.,
concerning such of them as he had seen. And what he told in the Book was
not as much as he had really seen, because of the tongues of detractors,
who, being ready to impose their own lies on others, are over hasty to
set down as lies what they in their perversity disbelieve, or do not
understand. And because there are many great and strange things in that
Book, which are reckoned past all credence, he was asked by his friends
on his death-bed to correct the Book by removing everything that went
beyond the facts. To which his reply was that he had not told one-half
of what he had really seen!"[30]
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