Of Daftar.

This seems probable, and in that case the true reading may have been dafators.

[7] Luces du Gast, one of the first of these, introduces himself thus: - "Je Luces, Chevaliers et Sires du Chastel du Gast, voisins prochain de Salebieres, comme chevaliers amoureus enprens a translater du Latin en Francois une partie de cette estoire, non mie pour ce que je sache gramment de Francois, ainz apartient plus ma langue et ma parleure a la maniere de l'Engleterre que a celle de France, comme cel qui fu en Engleterre nez, mais tele est ma volentez et mon proposement, que je en langue francoise le translaterai." (Hist. Litt. de La France, xv. 494.)

[8] Hist. Litt. de la France, xv. 500.

[9] Ibid. 508.

[10] Tyrwhitt's Essay on Lang., etc., of Chaucer, p. xxii. (Moxon's Ed. 1852.)

[11] Chroniques Etrangeres, p. 502.

[12] "Loquuntur linguam quasi Gallicam, scilicet quasi de Cipro." (See Cathay p. 332.)

[13] Page 138.

[14] Hammers Ilchan, II. 148.

[15] After the capture of Acre, Richard orders 60,000 Saracen prisoners to be executed: -

"They wer brought out off the toun, Save twenty, he heeld to raunsoun. They wer led into the place ful evene: Ther they herden Aungeles off Hevene:

They sayde: 'SEYNYORS, TUEZ, TUEZ! 'Spares hem nought! Behedith these!' Kyng Rychard herde the Aungelys voys, And thankyd God, and the Holy Croys." - Weber, II. 144.

Note that, from the rhyme, the Angelic French was apparently pronounced "Too-eese! Too-eese!"

[16] [Refer to the edition of Mr. George F. Warner, 1889, for the Roxburghe Club, and to my own paper in the T'oung Pao, Vol. II., No. 4, regarding the compilation published under the name of Maundeville. Also App. L. 13 - H. C.]

[17] L'Ystoire de li Normand, etc., edited by M. Champollion-Figeac, Paris, 1835, p. v.

[18] "Porce que lengue Frenceise cort parmi le monde, et est la plus delitable a lire et a oir que nule autre, me sui-je entremis de translater l'ancien estoire des Veneciens de Latin en Franceis." (Archiv. Stor. Ital. viii. 268.)

[19] "Et se aucuns demandoit por quoi cist livres est escriz en Romans, selonc le langage des Francois, puisque nos somes Ytaliens, je diroie que ce est por. ij. raisons: l'une, car nos somes en France; et l'autre porce que la parleure est plus delitable et plus commune a toutes gens." (Li Livres dou Tresor, p. 3.)

[20] It is, however, not improbable that Rusticiano's hasty and abbreviated original was extended by a scribe who knew next to nothing of French; otherwise it is hard to account for such forms as perlinage (pelerinage), peseries (espiceries), proque (see vol. ii. p. 370), oisi (G.T. p. 208), thochere (toucher), etc. (See Bianconi, 2nd Mem. pp. 30-32.)

[21] Polo, Friar Odoric, Nicolo Conti, Ibn Batuta.

X. VARIOUS TYPES OF TEXT OF MARCO POLO'S BOOK.

[Sidenote: Four Principal Types of Text. First, that of the Geographic, or oldest French.]

55. In treating of the various Texts of Polo's Book we must necessarily go into some irksome detail.

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