Not only is Shakespeare the English language’s greatest playwright, but one of its greatest lyric poets. Some of the sonnets he wrote contain lines as well known as any in the plays. One of the perennial themes of Western literature–the brevity of life–is given poignantly personal and highly original expression in many of these poems. In the first sonnet he compares the aging process to the onset of winter, to the fading of daylight and to the dying down of a fire so powerfully that one is surprised at the conclusion to realize that this is after all a love poem, expressing in a fresh way the old theme of tempus fugit (“time flies”), to tell his beloved that love can be more intense when one realizes that it is doomed to be brief. The second theme takes up another classic theme,ars longa, vita brevis (“art last long, though life is short”) in a way that shows Shakespeare was confident of his own greatness. He clearly believed his poetry would last, and used that fact as an argument for love. In the final lines he states, as a Christian, that the lover will live again on Judgment Day, but between this day and the end of the world, will live on through the poem. Shakespeare evidently addressed these poems to a young man, but they have been used to express the longings of lovers of all kinds.

Sonnet 55 maintains that the beloved will be remembered because of this poem, but what does the sonnet actually tell us about the lover?

Sonnet 73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake aganst the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, (1) where late the sweet birds sang
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

William Shakespeare: Sonnet 55

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme; (2)
but you shall shine more bright in these contents (3)
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils (4) root out the work of masonry,
Nor (5) Mars his (6) sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
‘Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even if the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out (7) to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.

(1) The empty tree branches are compared to choir stalls, or benches. where late the sweet birds sang.

(2) Poem.

(3) The contents of these poems written about you.

(4) Fights, disturbances.

(5) Neither.

(6) Mars’ (the god of war).

(7) Outlast.

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This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

Try Chambal:
http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155674257/ (vol. 1)
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Of the good fortune which the valiant Don Quixote had in the Terrible and Undreamed-of Adventure of the Windmills, with Other Occurrences Worthy to be Fitly Recorded

Don Quixote is typical of the Renaissance in the way that it satirizes the chivalric traditions of the Middle Ages as absurdly old-fashioned. The crazed and impoverished Spanish noble who sets out to revive the glory of knighthood has been romanticized in the popular modern musical, The Man of La Mancha; but Cervantes has little compassion for the “impossible dreams” of his protagonist, who refuses to face facts even when he is hit over the head with them. Even though his relatives have taken away the chivalric romances which they think have driven him mad and tried to confine him, he has escaped with his squire Sancho Panza who is much less learned but a good deal saner than his master.

How does Don Quixote seem to think a knight should behave?

At this point they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that are on that plain.

“Fortune,” said Don Quixote to his squire, as soon as he had seen them, “is arranging matters for us better than we could have hoped. Look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants rise up, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes. For this is righteous warfare, and it is God’s good service to sweep so evil a breed from off the face of the earth.”

“What giants?” said Sancho Panza.

“Those you see there,” answered his master, “with the long arms, and some have them nearly two leagues (1) long.”

“Look, your worship,” said Sancho. “What we see there are not giants but windmills, and what seem to be their arms are the vanes that turned by the wind make the millstone go.”

“It is easy to see,” replied Don Quixote, “that you are not used to this business of adventures. Those are giants, and if you are afraid, away with you out of here and betake yourself to prayer, while I engage them in fierce and unequal combat.”

So saying, he gave the spur to his steed Rocinante, heedless of the cries his squire Sancho sent after him, warning him that most certainly they were windmills and not giants he was going to attack. He, however, was so positive they were giants that he neither heard the cries of Sancho, nor perceived, near as he was, what they were.

“Fly not, cowards and vile beings,” he shouted, “for a single knight attacks you.”

A slight breeze at this moment sprang up, and the great vanes began to move.

“Though ye flourish more arms than the giant Briareus, (2) ye have to reckon with me!” exclaimed Don Quixote, when he saw this.

So saying, he commended himself with all his heart to his lady Dulcinea, imploring her to support him in such a peril. With lance braced and covered by his shield, he charged at Rocinante’s fullest gallop and attacked the first mill that stood in front of him. But as he drove his lance-point into the sail, the wind whirled it around with such force that it shivered the lance to pieces. It swept away with it horse and rider, and they were sent rolling over the plain, in sad condition indeed.

Sancho hastened to his assistance as fast as the ass could go. When he came up and found Don Quixote unable to move, with such an impact had Rocinante fallen with him.

“God Bless me!,” said Sancho, “did I not tell your worship to watch what you were doing, because they were only windmills? No one could have made any mistake about it unless he had something of the same kind in his head.”

“Silence, friend Sancho,” replied Don Quixote. “The fortunes of war more than any other are liable to frequent fluctuations. Moreover I think, and it is the truth, that the same sage Frestón who carried off my study and books, has turned these giants into mills in order to rob me of the glory of vanquishing them, such is the enmity he bears me. But in the end his wicked arts will avail but little against my good sword.”

“God’s will be done,” said Sancho Panza, and helping him to rise got him again on Rocinante, whose shoulder was half dislocated. Then, discussing the adventure, they followed the road to Puerto Lápice, for there, said Don Quixote, they could not fail to find adventures in abundance and variety, as it was a well-traveled thoroughfare. For all that, he was much grieved at the loss of his lance, and said so to his squire.

“I remember having read,” he added, “how a Spanish knight, Diego Pérez de Vargas by name, having broken his sword in battle, tore from an oak a ponderous bough or branch. With it he did such things that day, and pounded so many Moors, that he got the surname of Machuca (3) and his descendants from that day forth are called Vargas y Machuca. I mention this because from the first oak I see I mean to tear a branch, large and stout. I am determined and resolved to do such deeds with it that you may deem yourself very fortunate in being found worthy to see them and be an eyewitness of things that will scarcely be believed.”

“Be that as God wills,” said Sancho, “I believe it all as your worship says it. But straighten yourself a little, for you seem to be leaning to one side, maybe from the shaking you got when you fell.”

“That is the truth, said Don Quixote, “and if I make no complaint of the pain it is because knights-errant are not permitted to complain of any wound, even though their bowels be coming out through it.”

“If so,” said Sancho, “I have nothing to say. But God knows I would rather your worship complained when anything ailed you. For my part, I confess I must complain however small the ache may be, unless this rule about not complaining applies to the squires of knights-errant also.”

Don Quixote could not help laughing at his squire’s simplicity, and assured him he might complain whenever and however he chose, just as he liked. So far he had never read of anything to the contrary in the order of knighthood.

Sancho reminded him it was dinner time, to which his master answered that he wanted nothing himself just then, but that Sancho might eat when he had a mind. With this permission Sancho settled himself as comfortably as he could on his beast, and taking out of the saddlebags what he had stowed away in them, he jogged along behind his master munching slowly. From time to time he took a pull at the wineskin with all the enjoyment that the thirstiest tavern-keeper in Málaga might have envied. And while he went on in this way, between gulps, he never gave a thought to any of the promises his master had made him, nor did he rate it as hardship but rather as recreation going in quest of adventures, however dangerous they might be.

Finally they settled down for the night among some trees. From one of them Don Quixote plucked a dry branch to serve as a lance, fixing on it the head he had removed from the broken one. All that night Don Quixote lay awake thinking of his lady Dulcinea, in conformity with what he had read in his books, how many a night in the forests and deserts knights used to lie sleepless, borne up by the memory of their mistresses.

Sancho Panza spent it thus: having his stomach full of something stronger than chicory water he slept straight through. If his master had not called him, neither the rays of the sun beating on his face nor all the cheery notes of the birds welcoming the approach of day would have had power to waken him.

Translated by John Ormsby (1895)

(1) Several miles.

(2) A hundred-armed giant from Greek mythology.

(3) Meaning “he who crushes.”

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This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Michael Blair, Douglas Hughes, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Paul Brians Department of English Washington State University Pullman 99164-5020This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2. Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.Try Chambal: http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155674257/ (vol. 1) http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155128262/ (vol. 2)

So famous is the wildly obscene humor of Gargantua and Pantagruel that its author’s name has given rise to an adjective–“Rabelaisian”–to describe just such humor. Rabelais was a monk and a physician, but in his writings he celebrated his real loves: scholarship and drinking, with the latter often serving as a symbol of the former. As a beneficiary of the age of the printing press, he was intoxicated by the sudden availability of all manner of books. As much as any of the Renaissance Humanists, it is Rabelais who articulates their view that a new age has dawned. If his portrait of the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance and superstition is grossly exaggerated (and it is), it nevertheless helps to convey the excitement of the Humanists during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This passage, a letter from father to son advising him on his education, is written in the elaborate, balanced style of formal prose in the period, quite unlike the tumbling, bawdy narrative that surrounds it. Read aloud, with appropriate pauses at the punctuation marks, it conveys a grand rhythmic majesty.

Of what invention of the Renaissance does Gargantua not approve?

But even though my late father Grandgousier, of blessed memory, strove with all his ability that I should profit from and learn political knowledge, and even though my labors and studies matched or even surpassed his desires, nevertheless, as you can well understand, the times were not fit or favorable for learning as is the present; and I did not have the abundance of such instructors as you have had. The times were still dark (1), and reflected the misery and calamity of caused by the Goths (2) who had destroyed all good scholarship. But, through divine grace, during my life light and dignity have been restored to learning; and we witness in them so much improvement that now I would have trouble being accepted into a children’s beginning class, I who in my maturity was reputed (and not wrongly) the most learned man of the time. I do not say this out of vain boasting–even though I could properly do so in writing to you as you may understand by the authority of Marcus Tullius Cicero in his book Old Age, and the teachings of Plutarch in his book titled How to Praise Oneself Honorably (3)–but to inspire in you the desire to strive for the highest achievements.

Now all the disciplines have been restored, languages revived: Greek, without which it is shameful for a person to call himself learned: Hebrew, Chaldean (4), and Latin. Elegant and correct printed editions are available, the result of a divinely-inspired invention of my time, as are in contrast guns–the product of diabolical suggestion. The world is full of learned men, fine teachers, ample libraries; and it is my opinion that neither in the time of Plato (5), nor of Cicero (6), nor of Papinian (7) were there such opportunities for study as we see today; and no one should now go out in public who has not been well polished in Minerva’s workshop (8). I see the robbers, hangmen, freebooters and grooms of today more learned than the theologians and preachers of my day. What can I say? Even women and girls (9) aspire to the honor and celestial manna of good learning. Things have changed so much that at my advanced age I have had to learn Greek, which I had not rejected like Cato, but which I had not had the leisure to learn in my youth; and I delight in reading the Morals of Plutarch, the beautiful Dialogues of Plato, the Monuments of Pausanias, and the Antiquities of Athenaeus as I await the hour at which it may please God, my Creator, to summon and order me to leave this world.

Translated by Paul Brians

Notes

(1) The Humanists were fond of referring to the Middle Ages as dark, but this must not be confused with later definitions of the Dark Ages which ended centuries before the Renaissance.

(2) The Goths, headed by Alaric, sacked Rome in 410. This invasion is often considered to have marked the end of the classical world and the beginning of the Dark Ages (although many historians reject this latter term). The Humanists used the term broadly to mean barbaric, and considered the artistic styles which sprung up in their wake barbaric as well, calling the great cathedrals of the High Middle Ages Gothic as an insult.

(3) Like the other Humanists, Rabelais delights in making references to ancient Latin works.

(4) The language of the Biblical Babylonians, famed for their astronomical and astrological studies.

(5) 5th Century BCE, Greece.

(6) 1st Century BCE, Rome.

(7) 3rd Century CE, Rome. Papinian was a great authority on Roman law.

(8) Minerva (Greek Athena) was the goddess of wisdom, so her workshop is scholarship.

(9) Rabelais was a great friend and admirer of the queen and writer, Marguerite de Navarre, to whom he dedicated one of his books.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by American Heritage Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

Try Chambal:
http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155674257/ (vol. 1)
http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155128262/ (vol. 2)

The sprawling, untidy collection of stories known throughout the Arab-speaking world as theThousand and One Nights (and in English long called The Arabian Nights) evolved over a long period of time, and it is impossible to say just when a particular story was written. Because the collection reached its more or less definitive form in the 16th century we have chosen to place this example here. Such tales of magic as “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” are actually quite unrepresentative of the bulk of the Nights. Most are decidedly adult tales of scandal and treachery, often involving faithless women. It is an irony that cultures which depict women as irrepressibly sexual (including European culture, with its Decameron and other story collections), simultaneously tend to portray them as highly intelligent; for in a repressive patriarchal society it takes a good deal of cleverness to break the rules successfully. This story stands out in depicting sympathetically a heroine who manages to cleverly make fools of her would-be lovers by developing her own unique defense against sexual harassment.

In what sense can this adulterous woman be called faithful?

A woman of the merchant class was married to a man who was a great traveler. Once he set out for a far country and was absent so long that his wife, out of sheer boredom, fell in love with a handsome young man, and they loved each other exceedingly. One day, the youth quarreled with another man, who lodged a complaint against him with the Chief of Police, and he cast him into prison. When the news came to the merchant’s wife, she nearly lost her mind. Then she arose and–putting on her richest clothes–went to the house of the Chief of Police. She Greeted him and presented him with a petition which read, “The man you have imprisoned is my brother So-and-So, who had a fight with someone; but those who testified against him lied. He has been wrongfully imprisoned, and I have no one else to live with or to support me; therefore I beg you graciously to release him.”

When the Chief had read the petition, he looked at her and immediately fell in love with her; so he said to her, “Go into my house, till I bring him out; then I will send for you and you may take him away.”

“O, my lord,” she replied, “I have no one to protect me except almighty God. I cannot enter any strange man’s home.”

The Chief said, “I will not let him go unless you come to my home and let me do what I will with you.”

She answered, “If it must be, you must come to my home and sleep through the afternoon and evening there.”

“And where is your home?” he asked; and she answered, “At such-and-such a place,” and arranged a time for him to come.

Then she left him, who had entirely fallen in love with her, and went to the Cadi of the city, to whom she said, “O, our lord the Cadi!”

He said, “Yes?” and she continued, “Examine my case and you will be rewarded God.”

He said, “Who has wronged you?” and she replied, “O my lord, I have a brother, my only brother, and it is on his behalf that I come to you, because the Chief has imprisoned him as a criminal and men have borne false witness against him, claiming that he is an evil man, and I beg you to intercede for him with the Chief of Police.”

When the Cadi gazed at her, he immediately fell in love with her and said, “Go into the house and rest awhile with the women in my harm while I send to the Chief to release your brother. If I knew how much his fine was, I would pay it myself out of my own purse sot that I could enjoy you, for your sweet speech greatly pleases me.:

She said, “If you, O my lord, are to behave in this way, we would not be able to blame others.”

Said he, “If you will not come in, go away.”

Then she said, “If you insist, O our lord, it will be better and more private at my place than in yours, for here there are slave-girls and eunuchs and people coming and going; and indeed I am not this sort of woman, but I see that I must give in.”

The Cadi asked, “And where is your house?” and she answered, “In such-and-such a place, and set for him the same day and time as the Chief of Police.

Then she went from him to the Vizier, to whom she offered her petition for the release from prison of her brother, who was absolutely necessary to her; but he also demanded she give herself to him, saying “Allow me to do what I will with you and I will set your brother free.”

She said, “If you insist, let it be in my house, for there we shall both have more privacy. It is not far away, and you I will wash and dress myself properly for you.

He asked, “Where is your house.”

“In such-and-such a place,” she answered, and set the same time for as for the two others.

Then she left him to go to the King and told him her story and sought her brother’s release. “Who imprisoned him?” he asked; and she replied, “It was the Chief of Police.” When the King heard her speech, it pierced his heart with arrows of love, and he asked her to enter this private chamber with him so that he might send to the Cadi to have her brother released.

But she said, “O King, everything is easy for you, whether I agree or not; and if the King indeed wants me, I am fortunate; but if he will come to my house he will do me more honor by entering it, as the poet says: “O my friends, have you seen or have you heard of his visit whose virtues I hold so high?”

The King said, “I do not disagree.” So she set for him the same time as the three others and told him where her house was.

Then she left him and sought out a carpenter, and told him “I want you to make me a cabinet with four compartments, one above the other, each with a door that can be locked. Let me know how much it will cost and I will pay it.”

He replied, “My price is four dinars; but, sweet lady, if you will grant me your favors, I will charge you nothing.”

She answered, “If it is absolutely necessary, I will agree; but in that case make five compartments with their padlocks,” and she told him to bring it exactly on the day required.

He said, “This is well; sit down, O my lady, and I will make it for you immediately, and then will come with you.” So she sat down by him while he began working on the cabinet; and when he had finished it she asked to have it carried home at once and set up in her sitting-room. Then she took four gowns and carried them to the dyer, who dyed each of them a different color; after which she prepared meat and drink, fruits, flowers, and perfumes.

Now when the appointed day came, she put on her costliest dress and adorned herself and scented herself, then spread the sitting-room with various kinds of rich carpets and sat down to await who should come.

The Cadi was the first to appear; and when she saw him, she rose to her feet and kissed the ground before him. Then, taking him by the hand, made him sit down by her on the couch and lay with him and fell to joking and toying with him. Soon he wanted to fulfill his desires with her, but she said, “O my lord, take off your clothes and turban and put on this yellow robe and bonnet(1), while I bring you food and drink, and then you shall do what you will.” So saying, she took his clothes and turban and dressed him in the robe and bonnet; but hardly had she done this when there was a knocking at the door.

He asked, “Who is that knocking at the door?” and she answered, “My husband!”

“What shall I do? Where shall I go?” the Cadi said.

“Have no fear,” she replied;” I will hide you in this cabinet;” and he answered, “Do whatever you think necessary.” So she took him by the hand, and pushing him into the lowest compartment, locked he door on him. Then she went to the door of the house, where she found the Chief; so she kissed the ground before him, and taking his hand, brought him into the sitting-room and said to him, “O my lord, make this house your own, this place you place, and I will be your servant. You shall spend all days with me; so take off your clothes and put on this red sleeping gown.” So she took away his clothes and made him put on the red gown and set on his head an old patched rag she happened to have; after which she sat by him on the divan and they toyed with each other until he reached to touch her intimately, whereupon she said to him, “O our lord, this is your day, and no one will share it with us; but first, if you will be so kind and generous, write me an order for my brother’s release from jail so that my heart can rest easy.”

He said, “I hear and obey, by my head and eyes!” and wrote a letter to his treasurer saying, “As soon as this communication reaches you, set So-and-so free, without delay. Do not even wait to give the messenger an answer.” Then he sealed it and she took it from him, after which she began to toy with him on the divan again when someone suddenly knocked at the door.

“Who is that?” he asked; and she answered, “My husband.” “What shall I do?” he asked, and she replied, “Enter this cabinet, till is end him away and return to you.”

So she set him up in the second compartment from the bottom and padlocked the door; and meanwhile the Cadi heard everything they said. Then she went to the house door and opened it, and in entered the Vizier. She kissed the ground before him and received him with all honor, saying “O my lord, you flatter us by coming to our house; may God never deprive us of the light of your countenance!”

Then she seated him on the divan and said to him, “O my lord, take off your heavy clothes and turban and put on these lighter garments.” So he took off his clothes and turban and she dressed him in a blue shirt and a tall red bonnet, and said to him, “Those were your official robes; so leave them be for their own time and put on this light gown which is more suitable for carousing and making merry and sleep.” Then they began to play with each other, and he was just about to take her when she put him off by saying, “We will get to that.”

As they were talking there came a knock at the door, and the Vizier asked her, “Who is that?” to which she replied, “My husband.” “What is to be done?” he said; and she answered, “Hide in this cabinet until I can get rid of him and come back to you; don’t be afraid.” So she put him in the third compartment and locked the door on him, after which she went out and opened the house door, and in came the King.

As soon as she saw him she kissed the ground before him, and taking him by the hand, led him into the sitting-room and seated him on the divan at the far end. Then she said to him, “Truly, O King, you honor us highly, and whatever we might give you of all the world contains would not be worth a single one of your steps toward us.” And when he had sat down on the divan she said, “Permit me to say one thing.”

“Whatever you wish,” he answered; and she said, “O my lord, relax and take off your robe and turban.” His clothes were worth a thousand dinars; but when he took them off she dressed him in a patched gown worth ten dirhams at the very most, and began talking and joking with him. All this time the men in the cabinet heard everything that went on but did not dare to say a word. Soon the King placed his hand on her breast and sought to fulfill his desire for her; but she said “We will do this soon, but first I promised myself that I would entertain you properly in this room, and I have something to please you.”

As they were speaking, someone knocked at the door and he asked her, “Who is that? “My husband,” she answered; and he said, “Make him go away voluntarily, or I will go out and force him to go away.”

She replied, “No, O my lord, be patient while I send him away using my cleverness.” “And what shall I do?” asked the King; whereupon she took him by the hand and, making him enter the fourth compartment of the cabinet, locked it upon him.

Then she went out and opened the house door to the carpenter, who entered and greeted her. She said, “What kind of a cabinet is this you’ve made me?” “What’s wrong with it, O my lady?” he asked; and she answered, “The top compartment is too narrow.” He replied, “No it isn’t,” and she answered, “Get in yourself and see; you cannot fit in it.”

He answered, “it is wise enough for four,” and entered the fifth compartment, whereupon she locked the door on him.

Then she took the letter of the Chief of Police and carried it to the treasurer who, having read and understood it, kissed it and delivered her lover to her. She told him all she had done and he said, “But what shall we do now?” She answered, “We will move away to another city, for after all this we cannot remain here.” So the two of them packed up what possessions they had and, loading them on camels, set out immediately for another city.

Meanwhile, the five men remained each in his compartment of the cabinet without eating or drinking for three whole days, during which time they held their water, until at last the carpenter couldn’t hold back any longer, so he pissed on the King’s head, and the King pissed on the Vizier’s head, and the Vizier pissed on the Chief, and the Chief pissed on the Cadi, whereupon the Cadi shouted, “What filth is this? Isn’t it bad enough that we are trapped like this that you have to piss all over us?”

The Chief of Police recognized the Cadi’s voice and answered, “May God reward you, O Cadi!” And when the Cadi heard him, he knew it was the Chief. Then the Chief shouted, “What’s the meaning of this filth?” and the Vizier replied, “May God reward you, O Chief!” so that he recognized him as the Vizier. Then the Vizier shouted “What is this nastiness?” But when the King heard his Vizier’s voice he recognized it, so he kept silent to conceal his plight.

Then the vizier said, “May God curse this woman for the way she has dealt with us. She has brought together here all the chief officials of the state, except the King. Said the King, “Silence! For I was the first one to be entrapped by this shameless whore.”

At this the carpenter cried out, “And what have I done? I made her a cabinet for four gold pieces, and when I came to get my pay, she tricked me into entering this compartment and locked the door on me.” And they began talking with each other, diverting the King and reducing his shame.

Soon, however, the neighbors came by the house and noticed it was deserted. They said to one another, “Only yesterday, our neighbor the wife of So-and-so was home; but no we cannot hear or see anyone. Let’s break down the doors and see what is the matter; or news of the case may come to the Chief of the King, and we will be thrown into prison to regret that we had not taken action earlier.”

So they broke down the doors and entered the sitting room, where they saw a large wooden cabinet and heard the men in it groaning with hunger and thirst. Then one of them said, “Is there a Genie (2) in this cabinet?” and another said, “Let’s pile fuel around it and burn it up.”

When the Cadi heard this, he cried out, “Don’t!” and they said to each other, “The Genies pretend they are mortals and speak with the voices of men.” Thereupon the Cadi recited a passage from the Blessed Qur’an, and said to the neighbors, “Come closer to the cabinet.”

So they came closer, and he told him, “I am So-and-so the Cadi, and you are so and so, and here we are all together.” The neighbors said, “Who put you in here?” And he told them the whole story from beginning to end. They brought a carpenter to open the five doors and let out the Cadi, the Vizier, the Chief, the King and the carpenter in their bizarre robes; and each one, when he saw how the others were dressed, began laughing at them. She had taken away all their clothes; so all of them sent to their homes for fresh clothing and put it on and went out, shielding themselves from people’s eyes.

(1) It was customary for party guests to put on special garments supplied by the host.

(2) Magic spirit.

Translated by Richard Burton, revised by Paul Brians

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

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In general, novelists and story-tellers enjoyed little respect in China. While philosophical or annalistic literature was highly esteemed, fiction was called “small talk” (“hsiao shuo”) and neither writing nor reading it was considered worthwhile. P’u Sung-ling (1640-1715) and his collection of about 400 stories collected and published under the title “Liao-chai chih yi” (“strange stories from the liao-studio”) are an exception. Having passed only one of the three Civil Service examinations, P’u spent most of his life in his native village in Shantung under dire conditions. He devoted his time to the collection and reiteration of folk tales. During P’u’s lifetime the “Liao-chai chih yi”-collection was circulated in manuscript since he was too poor to have it printed. In 1740, his grandson had them printed for the first time, and P’u’s collection subsequently became famous. The stories themselves, though “strange”, are not unusual within the context of Chinese fiction. What makes this collection of stories unique is the exquisiteness of P’u’s style.

When Meng Lung-t’an, a native of Kiang-si, was strolling around in the capital with a Second-Degree-Graduate (1) named Chu, they came upon a Buddhist temple. Its halls were not spacious and only one monk was residing there.

Having caught sight of the visitors, the monk adjusted his robe and stepped forward to greet them and show them around. In the main hall stood a statue of Lord Zhi Lord Chih, a.k.a. Shih Pao-kung, was a Buddhist monk of the Zen (chin. Chan)-School, who was later on worshiped as a bodhisattva. , and on the walls on both sides people and animals were so skillfully painted that they seemed to be alive. On the eastern wall, in a scene depicting the Celestial Maiden scattering flowers there was the image of a girl with her hair in two girlish buns on both sides of her head, holding a flower and smiling. Her cherry lips seemed about to move, her glistening eye seemed about to overflow. Chu fixed his eyes upon her for so long that his mind began to waver. He lost all his determination, and dazed he sank into deep contemplation. Suddenly, he floated up as if riding on clouds and mist and up he went into the wall.

Now he saw halls and pavilions of all kinds, so beautiful that they resembled heaven. Nothing like it could be seen on earth.

An old priest on a high seat was preaching a Buddhist sermon, surrounded by a crowd of listeners in Buddhist attire, and Chu joined them. Yet suddenly he felt someone tugging at his robe. Turning around he beheld the smiling girl with her hair in buns just as she laughingly slipped away. Without thinking for even a moment Chu followed her as she passed along a balustrade. Yet when she entered a small chamber, Chu hesitated, not daring to enter. But the girl turned around and waving the flower in her hand seemed to beckon him. Swiftly he stepped into the room.

The chamber was empty, and Chu immediately embraced the girl. And since she offered no resistance, they consumated their passion. Later, when she left the room, cautiously closing the door, she told Chu not even to cough and promised to come back at night.

After two days had passed in this manner, the girl’s sisters began to suspect something and following her discovered the scholar. Jokingly they teased the girl: “How can you still wear your hair in these maiden-buns while there is a baby already growing in your belly?” They brought enameled hairpins and jeweled ornaments and went about binding her hair in a matron’s knot. She obediently lowered her head but said nothing. They went on teasing her for a while until one of the girls said with a smile: “Sisters, let us stay no longer, certain people don’t want our company!” Giggling, they left.

Chu looked at the girl with her hair piled high like clouds and with phoenix-ornaments dangling, and she seemed even more bewitching than with her hair worn in girlish buns. No one was around, and again they slowly and lovingly embraced each other, inflamed by musk and the orchid’s sweet fragrance. Their pleasure had not yet reached its height, when suddenly there arose an uproar: boots tramped, chains clanked, and above all was the noise of angry voices. Terrified, the girl leaped up, and the two stealthily peeped outside. They saw a herald in golden armour, with a face like black laquer, and in his hands were chains and a hammer! As the other girls surrounded him, he asked: “Is everyone here yet?” “Yes, we are all here” they replied.

“It seems as if a man from the lower world is being hidden here,” the herald went on. “If so, bring him here or you shall be sorry!” “There is no one here,” the girls replied.

The envoy turned around and, scrutinizing everything like an eagle, seemed about to begin a search. The girl grew pale as death with fear. In panic she entreated Chu to hide under the bed. Then she opened a small screen-door in the wall and disappeared. In his hiding-place under the bed Chu did not even dare to breathe. Soon he heard the sound of boots enter the room and leave. Eventually, voices seemed to fade away into the distance, yet he still heard people come and go outside the door. Having been in such cramped position for so very long, Chu felt increasingly uncomfortable. His ears seemed to buzz as if locusts were nesting inside, and his eyes seemed to be on fire. It was almost too much to bear. Yet he kept quiet, straining his ears for the girl’s return and giving no thought to whence he had come and where he was.

Meanwhile, Meng Lung-t’an in the temple noticed that Chu had disappeared and asked the monk where he could be. The monk smiled and said: “He has gone to listen to the preaching of the Doctrine!” “But where is that?” Meng asked. “Not far,” the monk answered, and tapping with his finger against the painting on the wall, he called out: “Friend Chu, why does it take you so long to return?” At once there appeared on the wall a portrait of Chu, cocking his ear as if he were eagerly listening. Again the monk called out: “You have kept your companion waiting for quite some time!” And suddenly Chu floated down from the wall. And there he stood: stiff as wood, his heart turned to lead, eyes staring and legs trembling. Meng was startled but quietly asked Chu what had happened. Well, what had happened was that Chu, while hiding under the bed, had heard a noise like thunder and rushed outside to find out what it was.

Now they all looked at the girl in the painting holding a flower: And see, her hair was piled into a matron’s knot and no longer fixed in the buns of a maiden!

Chu was dumbfounded and, bowing to the old monk, begged for an explanation. With a chuckle, the monk replied: “Illusions are born in those who see them. How can this old monk possibly offer an explanation?” Upon hearing this, Chu was thoroughly dejected and Meng was greatly alarmed. They stumbled down the stairs and slowly walked away.

The “Teller of Strange Tales” says: “Illusions are born in those who see them” – this seems to be true. If a man turns his mind to lust, then filthy scenes will appear. If a man turns his mind to dirt, terrifying scenes will appear. When a bodhisattva teaches those without knowledge, a thousand illusions will appear. Yet it is the mind itself that creates them. The monk was too keen on seeing results. (2) Translated by Lydia Gerber

Notes

(1) A Second-Degree-Graduate or Chu-jen is a Chinese scholar who has passed both the local and provincial examinations and is waiting to take the examination in the Capital.

(2) According to the Teaching of Zen, being “too keen on seeing results” may lead to failure. But it is sad indeed that having heard the monk’s words Chu did not become enlightened, loosen his hair and retire to the mountains!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

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In 1670, when the K’ang Hsi emperor was sixteen years old? he issued a list of sixteen principles that briefly illustrate how he expected his subjects to conduct themselves in order to ensure their goodness, happiness and prosperity. These so_called “Sacred Edicts” were to be read aloud twice a month in every village and town of the empire. Both the literati and the common people were expected to attend these lectures. The practice of “expounding the Sacred Edicts” was still in use after 1900, yet it was observed that only those that had to attend would be present. The original Edicts translated here were written in literary Chinese style and are more concise than this translation suggests: each maxim consists of seven Chinese characters, and they all show the same construction. The first three characters represent a command. The fourth and central character is always identical and could be translated as “in order to,” “so that” or briefly “to.” The last three characters represents the means and ends of the proposed action. It is typical for the Chinese style of rule and the image of the ruler as a benevolent father, that no law or command should be given without a reason. Following the publication of the original edicts , several versions in the Chinese vernacular were published, some with detailed commentaries or illustrations, to make sure that people of all backgrounds were able to fully understand the contents and implications of these imperial commands. The ” Sacred Edicts” do not only provide a digest of the practical side of Confucian rule. Some of them also give insights into the “darker side” of China, for example the incapability of its legal system to guarantee a fair trial.

What values do these teachings reflect? What is considered valuable? Dangerous? Explain how some of these edicts are especially advantages to the ruler.

1. Highly esteem filial piety and the proper relations among brothers (1) in order to give due importance to social relations.

2. Give due weight to kinship in order to promote harmony and peace.

3. Maintain good relations within the neighborhood in order to prevent quarrels and lawsuits.

4. Give due importance to farming and the cultivation of mulberry trees (2) in order to ensure sufficient clothing and food.

5. Be moderate and economical in order to avoid wasting away your livelihood.

6. Make the most of schools and academies in order to honor the ways of scholars.

7. Denounce strange beliefs (3) in order to elevate the true doctrine.

8. Explain laws and regulations in order to warn the ignorant and obstinate.

9. Show propriety and courtesy to improve customs and manners.

10. Work hard in your professions in order to quiet your ambitions.

11. Instruct sons and younger brothers in order to prevent their committing any wrong.

12. Put a stop to false accusations in order to protect the good and honest.

13. Warn against giving shelter to deserters in order to avoid punishment with them.

14. Promptly and fully pay your taxes in order to avoid forced requisition.

15. Get together in groups of ten or a hundred in order to put an end to theft and robbery.

16. Free yourself from resentment and anger in order to show respect for your body and life.

Translated by Lydia Gerber

Notes

(1) Since brothers usually remained in the same household, it was not always easy to maintain harmonious relationships. The commentaries mention that very often their wives would start sowing dissent among them.

(2) Mulberry trees were cultivated to provide food for silkworms.

(3) Besides Christianity and witchcraft, Buddhism and Taoism are also listed as strange beliefs. According to these Edicts, only Confucianism counted as a true doctrine.

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This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

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This union with the guru, O Kabir,
Sets me free; like salt mingled
With flour, I am no more I!

Now I have no caste, no creed,
I am no more what I am!

O dear brother!
By what name would you call me?

I do not quote from the scriptures;
I simply see what I see.

When the bride is one
with her lover,
who cares about
the wedding party?

I am not a Hindu,
Nor a Muslim am I!

I am this body, a play
Of five elements; a drama
Of the spirit dancing
With joy and sorrow.

A drop
Melting into the sea,
Everyone can see.
But the sea
Absorped
In a drop–
A rare one
can follow!

I am looking at you,
You at him,
Kabir asks, how to solve
This puzzle–
You, he, and I?

Dying, dying, the world
Is dying only.
But lo! None knows how to die
In such a way
That he dies never again.

Man, here is your worth:
Your meat is of no use!
Your bones cannot be sold
For making ornaments,
And your skin cannot be played
On an instrument!

Translated by Azfar Hussain

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This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

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English merchants at the Royal Court of Benin

The Portuguese were the first to begin trading with various West African empires, including the famous royal court of Benin, whose brilliant sculpture has been famous in Europe ever since. The English, however, were soon looking for profit in the same area. This account of one trading voyage depicts their insatiable desire for gold, or what was almost as good: pepper. Under the guidance of an impoverished Portuguese guide named Captain Pinteado, Captain Windham and several English merchants made their way to Benin. This voyage was to end disastrously, with both captains and many of the crew dying of the tropical diseases which for so long prevented Europeans from penetrating far into Africa.

What evidence is there that the King of Benin was used to dealing with Europeans?

They were brought with a great company to the presence of the king, who, being a black Moor (1) (although not so black as the rest), sat in a great huge hall, long and wide, the walls made of earth without windows, the roof of thin boards, open in sundry places, like unto louvers to let in the air.

And here to speak of the great reverence they give to their king, it is such that, if we would give as much to Our Savior Christ, we should remove from our heads many plagues which we daily deserve for our contempt and impiety.

So it is, therefore, that, when his noblemen are in his presence, they never look him in the face, but sit cowering, as we upon our knees, so they upon their buttocks with their elbows upon their knees and their hands before their faces, not looking up until the king command them. And when they are coming toward the king, as far as they do see him they do show such reverence, sitting on the ground with their faces covered as before. Likewise, when they depart from him, they turn not their backs toward him, but go creeping backward with like reverence.

And now to speak somewhat of the communication that was between the king and our men, you shall first understand that he himself could speak the Portugal tongue, which he had learned of (2) a child. Therefore, after he had commanded our men to stand up, and demanded of them the cause of their coming into the country, they answered by Pinteado that they were merchants, traveling into those parts for the commodities of his country for exchange of wares, which they had brought from their countries, being such as should be no less commodious for him and his people. The king, then, having of old lying in a certain storehouse 30 or 40 quintals of pepper (every quintal being a hundred weight), willed them to look upon the same, and again to bring him a sight of such merchandise as they had brought with them. And thereupon sent with the captain and the merchants certain of his men to conduct them to the waterside with others to bring the wares from the pinnace to the court. Who, when they were returned and the wares seen, the king grew to this end with the merchants to provide in 30 days the lading of all their ships with pepper. And in case their merchandise would not extend to the value of so much pepper, he promised to credit them to their next return, and thereupon sent the country round about to gather pepper, causing the same to be brought to the court. So that within the space of 30 days, they had gathered fourscore tons of pepper.

In the mean season, our men, partly having no rule of themselves, but eating without measure of the fruits of the country and drinking the wine of the palm trees, that drop in the night from the cut of the branches of the same, and in such extreme heat running continuously into the water, not used before to such sudden and vehement alterations (than the which nothing is more dangerous), were thereby brought into swellings and agues: (3) insomuch that the latter time of the year coming on caused them to die sometimes three and sometimes 4 or 5 in a day. Then Windham, perceiving the time of the 30 days to be expired and his men dying so fast, sent to the court in post to Captain Pinteado and the rest to come away and to tarry no longer. But Pinteado with the rest wrote back to him again, certifying him of the great quantity of pepper they had already gathered and looked daily for much more, desiring him furthermore to remember the great praise and name they should win if they came home prosperously, and what shame of the contrary. With which answer Windham, not satisfied, and many of their men dying daily, willed and commanded them again either to come away forthwith or else threatened to leave them behind. When Pinteado heard this answer, thinking to persuade him with reason, he took his way from the court toward the ships, being conducted thither with men by the king’s commandment.

In the meantime, Windham, all raging, broke up Pinteado’s cabin, broke open his chests, spoiled such provision of cold stilled waters and suckets (4) as he had provided for his health, and left him nothing, neither of his instruments to sail by, nor yet of his apparel; and in the meantime, falling sick, himself died also.

The Adornment of West Africans

The merchants wanted pepper because it could be turned into gold in Europe, of course; and they were fascinated by the quantity of gold and ivory they found circulating along the coast of West Africa.

Among other things . . . touching the manners and nature of the people, this may seem strange, that their princes and noblemen used to pounce (5) and raise their skins with pretty knots in diverse forms, as it were branched damask, thinking that to be a decent ornament. And albeit they go in manner all naked, yet are many of them, and especially their women, in manner laden with collars, bracelets, hoops and chains, either of gold, copper, or ivory. I myself have one of their bracelets of ivory, weighing two pound and six ounces of troy weight, which make eight and thirty ounces. This one of their women did wear upon her arm. It is made of one whole piece of the biggest part of the tooth, (6) turned and somewhat carved, with a hole in the midst, wherein they put their hands to wear it on their arm. Some have on every arm one, and as many on their legs, wherewith some of them are so galled that, although they are in manner made lame thereby, yet will they by no means leave them off. Some wear also on their legs great shackles of bright copper, which they think to be no less comely. They wear also collars, bracelets, garlands and girdles, of certain blue stones like beads. Likewise, some of their women wear on their bare arms certain foresleeves made of the plates of beaten gold. On their fingers also they wear rings, made of golden wires, with a knot or wreath, like unto that which children make in a ring of a rush. Among other things of gold, that our men bought of them for exchange of their wares, were certain dog-chains and collars.

They are very wary people in their bargaining, and will not lose one spark of gold of any value. They use weights and measures, and are very circumspect in occupying the same. (7) They that shall have to do with them, must use them gently; for they will not traffic (8) or bring in any wares, if they be evil used.

(1) That is, a black man, not actually Moorish.

(2) As.

(3) Aches and fevers.

(4) Candies.

(5) Prick.

(6) Tusk.

(7) Very precise in using their scales.

(8) Trade.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books. The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.

Reading About the World is now out of print. You can search for used copies using the following information:Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 1, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-567425-0 or Paul Brians, et al. Reading About the World, Vol. 2, 3rd edition, Harcourt Brace College Publishing: ISBN 0-15-512826-4.

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El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati was born in the Moorish city of Granada in 1485, but was expelled along with his parents and thousands of other Muslims by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Settling in Morocco, he studied in Fez, and as a teenager accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa and and to the Sub-Saharan kingdom of Ghana. Still a young man, he was captured by Christian pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to the great Renaissance pope, Leo X. Leo freed him, baptised him under the name “Johannis Leo de Medici,” and commissioned him to write in Italian the detailed survey of Africa which provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries. At the time he visited the Ghanaian city of Timbuktu, it was somewhat past its peak, but still a thriving Islamic city famous for its learning. “Timbuktu” was to become a byword in Europe as the most inaccessible of cities, but at the time Leo visited, it was the center of a busy trade in African products and in books. Leo is said to have died in 1554 in Tunis, having reconverted to Islam.

What evidence does he provide that suggests the importance of learning in Timbuktu?

The name of this kingdom is a modern one, after a city which was built by a king named Mansa Suleyman in the year 610 of the hegira [1232 CE] around twelve miles from a branch of the Niger River. (1)

The houses of Timbuktu are huts made of clay-covered wattles with thatched roofs. In the center of the city is a temple built of stone and mortar, built by an architect named Granata, (2) and in addition there is a large palace, constructed by the same architect, where the king lives. The shops of the artisans, the merchants, and especially weavers of cotton cloth are very numerous. Fabrics are also imported from Europe to Timbuktu, borne by Berber merchants. (3)

The women of the city maintain the custom of veiling their faces, except for the slaves who sell all the foodstuffs. The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country; so much so that the current king (4) has given two of his daughters in marriage to two brothers, both businessmen, on account of their wealth. There are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu; and in addition, when the Niger is in flood canals deliver the water to the city. Grain and animals are abundant, so that the consumption of milk and butter is considerable. But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots. One of these ingots weighs 970 pounds. (5)

The royal court is magnificent and very well organized. When the king goes from one city to another with the people of his court, he rides a camel and the horses are led by hand by servants. If fighting becomes necessary, the servants mount the camels and all the soldiers mount on horseback. When someone wishes to speak to the king, he must kneel before him and bow down; but this is only required of those who have never before spoken to the king, or of ambassadors. The king has about 3,000 horsemen and infinity of foot-soldiers armed with bows made of wild fennel [?] which they use to shoot poisoned arrows. This king makes war only upon neighboring enemies and upon those who do not want to pay him tribute. When he has gained a victory, he has all of them–even the children–sold in the market at Timbuktu.

Only small, poor horses are born in this country. The merchants use them for their voyages and the courtiers to move about the city. But the good horses come from Barbary. They arrive in a caravan and, ten or twelve days later, they are led to the ruler, who takes as many as he likes and pays appropriately for them.

The king is a declared enemy of the Jews. He will not allow any to live in the city. If he hears it said that a Berber merchant frequents them or does business with them, he confiscates his goods. There are in Timbuktu numerous judges, teachers and priests, all properly appointed by the king. He greatly honors learning. Many hand-written books imported from Barbary are also sold. There is more profit made from this commerce than from all other merchandise.

Instead of coined money, pure gold nuggets are used; and for small purchases, cowrie shells which have been carried from Persia, (6) and of which 400 equal a ducat. Six and two-thirds of their ducats equal one Roman gold ounce. (7)

The people of Timbuktu are of a peaceful nature. They have a custom of almost continuously walking about the city in the evening (except for those that sell gold), between 10 PM and 1 AM, playing musical instruments and dancing. The citizens have at their service many slaves, both men and women.

The city is very much endangered by fire. At the time when I was there on my second voyage, (8) half the city burned in the space of five hours. But the wind was violent and the inhabitants of the other half of the city began to move their belongings for fear that the other half would burn.

There are no gardens or orchards in the area surrounding Timbuktu.

Translated by Paul Brians

(1) Mansa Suleyman reigned 1336-1359. The city was in fact probably founded in the 11th century by Tuaregs, but became the chief city of the king of Mali in 1324.

(2) Ishak es Sahili el-Gharnati, brought to Timbuktu by Mansa Suleyman.

(3) By camel caravan across the Sahara Desert from NorthAfrica.

(4) ‘Omar ben Mohammed Naddi, not in fact the king, but representative of the ruler of the kingdom of Songhai.

(5) Such fabulous nuggets are commonly mentioned by Arab writers about Africa, but their size is probably grossly exaggerated.

(6) Cowrie shells, widely used for money in West Africa, sometimes came in fact from even farther away, from the Maladive Islands of Southeast Asia.

(7) A Sudanese gold ducat would weigh .15 oz.

(8) Probably in 1512.

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This is an excerpt from Reading About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:

Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020

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