There Was, Therefore, A Twofold Reason Why Friar
Andrew Carpini Was Made To Pass Between The Fires; Both Because He Brought
Presents, And Because Con-Khan, For Whom These Had Been Brought, Was Dead:
But As I Brought Nothing, This Was Not Required Of Me.
Once on a time, some very costly furs were presented at the court of the
Christian lady, whom Pascha, the good woman of Metz served, and the
soothsayers, in passing them between the fires, took more than was their
due.
Another woman, who had the custody of the treasures belonging to that
lady, accused them of the fraud to her mistress, who reproved them severely
for their conduct. Sometime afterwards the lady fell sick, and the
soothsayers accused the servant, who had detected their fraud, of having
bewitched her. She received the bastinado for seven days successively, and
other tortures, to make her confess; and on hearing of her mistress's
death, begged to be killed that she might follow her, for that, in truth,
she had never done her the smallest injury. But, as she confessed nothing,
Mangu-khan commanded that she should live. After this the soothsayers
accused the daughters nurse of the deceased lady, which nurse was a
Christian, and wife to the chief of the Nestorian priests. She and her
servant-maid were tortured to make a confession, and the maid answered,
that the nurse had sent her to receive responses from a certain horse. The
nurse also confessed that she had used some spells to procure the love of
her lady, but had never done any thing to hurt her. On being demanded to
say whether her husband knew of her incantations, she excused him, saying
that he had burnt the characters which she had made. Then she was put to
death, and the husband was sent to be judged by his bishop in Kathay.
It happened that the principal wife of Mangu brought forth a son, and the
soothsayers were brought to foretell the destiny of the infant, when they
prophesied that he should live long and prosperously, and become a great
lord; but he died in a few days. On being reproached for their falsehood,
they said that the nurse of Cerina, who had been lately put to death, had
killed the boy, and pretended to have seen her carrying him away. There
were then in the camp a son and daughter of the nurse, whom the lady
immediately sent for in a rage, and ordered them to be put to death. Some
time afterwards this came to the ears of Mangu-khan, who was much enraged
at the conduct of his wife. He caused the man to be beheaded who had slain
the nurses son, and made his head to be hung round the neck of the woman
who had killed her daughter, ordering her to be cudgelled with burning
fire-brands, through among all the tents, and then put to death. He would
also have put his wife to death if it had not been for the sake of the
children he had by her; but he commanded her to be shut up for seven days
without food, and went out from his court for a whole, moon.
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