- A rough
draft which it was intended afterwards to reduce to better form, and which
was so reduced (after a fashion) in French copies of another type,
regarding which we shall have to speak presently?[20] And, if this be the
true answer, why should Polo have used a French jargon in which to tell
his story? Is it possible that his own mother Venetian, such as he had
carried to the East with him and brought back again, was so little
intelligible to Rusticiano that French of some kind was the handiest
medium of communication between the two? I have known an Englishman and a
Hollander driven to converse in Malay; Chinese Christians of different
provinces are said sometimes to take to English as the readiest means of
intercommunication; and the same is said even of Irish-speaking Irishmen
from remote parts of the Island.
It is worthy of remark how many notable narratives of the Middle Ages have
been dictated instead of being written by their authors, and that in cases
where it is impossible to ascribe this to ignorance of writing. The
Armenian Hayton, though evidently a well-read man, possibly could not
write in Roman characters. But Joinville is an illustrious example. And
the narratives of four of the most famous Mediaeval Travellers[21] seem to
have been drawn from them by a kind of pressure, and committed to paper by
other hands. I have elsewhere remarked this as indicating how little
diffused was literary ambition or vanity; but it would perhaps be more
correct to ascribe it to that intense dislike which is still seen on the
shores of the Mediterranean to the use of pen and ink. On certain of those
shores at least there is scarcely any inconvenience that the majority of
respectable and good-natured people will not tolerate - inconvenience to
their neighbours be it understood - rather than put pen to paper for the
purpose of preventing it.
[1] 232 chapters in the oldest French which we quote as the Geographic
Text (or G. T.), 200 in Pauthier's Text, 183 in the Crusca Italian.
[2] The MS. has been printed by Baldelli as above, and again by Bartoli in
1863.
[3] This is somewhat peculiar. I traced a few lines of it, which with Del
Riccio's note were given in facsimile in the First Edition.
[4] The Crusca is cited from Bartoli's edition.
French idioms are frequent, as l'uomo for the French on;
quattro-vinti instead of ottanta; etc.
We have at p. 35, "Questo piano e molto cavo," which is nonsense,
but is explained by reference to the French (G. T.) "Voz di qu'il est
celle plaingne mout chaue" (chaude).
The bread in Kerman is bitter, says the G. T. "por ce que l'eive hi
est amer," because the water there is bitter. The Crusca mistakes the
last word and renders (p. 40) "e questi e per lo mare che vi
viene."
"Sachies de voir qe endementiers," know for a truth that whilst - - ,
by some misunderstanding of the last word becomes (p. 129) "Sappiate
di vero sanza mentire."
"Mes de sel font-il monoie" - "They make money of salt," becomes (p.
168) "ma fannole da loro," sel being taken for a pronoun, whilst
in
another place sel is transferred bodily without translation.
"Chevoil," "hair" of the old French, appears in the Tuscan (p. 20)
as cavagli, "horses." - "La Grant Provence Jereraus," the great
general province, appears (p. 68) as a province whose proper name is
Ienaraus. In describing Kublai's expedition against Mien or Burma,
Polo has a story of his calling on the Jugglers at 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)
