His court to
undertake the job, promising them a Captain and other help,
"Cheveitain et aide." This has fairly puzzled the Tuscan, who
converts these (p. 186) into two Tartar tribes, "quegli d' Aide
e quegli di Caveita."
So also we have lievre for hare transferred without change; lait,
milk, appearing as laido instead of latte; tres, rendered as
"three"; bue, "mud," Italianised as buoi, "oxen," and so forth.
Finally, in various places when Polo is explaining Oriental terms we
find in the Tuscan MS. "cioe a dire in Francesco."
The blunders mentioned are intelligible enough as in a version from
the French; but in the description of the Indian pearl-fishery we
have a startling one not so easy to account for. The French says, "the
divers gather the sea-oysters (hostrige de Mer), and in these the
pearls are found." This appears in the Tuscan in the extraordinary
form that the divers catch those fishes called Herrings (Aringhe),
and in those Herrings are found the Pearls!
[5] As examples of these Italianisms: "Et ont del olio de la lanpe dou
sepolchro de Crist"; "L'Angel ven en vision pour mesajes de Deu a
un Veschevo qe mout estoient home de sante vite"; "E certes il
estoit bien beizongno"; "ne trop caut ne trop fredo"; "la crense"
(credenza); "remort" for noise (rumore) "inverno"; "jorno";
"dementique" (dimenticato); "enferme" for sickly; "leign" (legno);
"devisce" (dovizia); "ammalaide" (ammalato), etc. etc.
Professor Bianconi points out that there are also traces of Venetian
dialect, as Pare for pere; Mojer for wife; Zabater, cobbler;
cazaor, huntsman, etc.
I have not been able to learn to what extent books in this kind of
mixed language are extant. I have observed one, a romance in verse
called Macaire (Altfranzosische Gedichte aus Venez. Handschriften,
von Adolf Mussafia, Wien, 1864), the language of which is not unlike
this jargon of Rustician's, e.g.: -
"'Dama,' fait-il, 'molto me poso merviler
De ves enfant quant le fi batecer
De un signo qe le vi sor la spal'a droiturer
Qe non ait nul se no filz d'inperer.'" - (p. 41)
[6] As examples of such Orientalisms: Bonus, "ebony," and calamanz,
"pencases," seem to represent the Persian abnus and kalamdan; the dead
are mourned by les meres et les Araines, the Harems; in speaking
of the land of the Ismaelites or Assassins, called Mulhete, i.e. the
Arabic Mulahidah, "Heretics," he explains this term as meaning "des
Aram" (Haram, "the reprobate"). Speaking of the Viceroys of
Chinese Provinces, we are told that they rendered their accounts
yearly to the Safators of the Great Kaan. This is certainly an
Oriental word. Sir H. Rawlinson has suggested that it stands for
dafatir ("registers or public books"), pl.
