Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/242

230 230 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. near him, was young and rather handsome ; and she had with her one of her daughters, named Cyrina, of a mar- riageable age, but ugly enough, and there were several little children lying on a bed near them. The Khan ordered kumys to be brought as well as mead, and rice wine from China, and he seemed to take a pleasure in regaling his guests, and himself did great honour to all these liquors, which, though not very pleasant to the taste, are very heady, especially the kumys. After a good deal had been drunk, a long con- versation began ; the Tartar sovereign, addressing a crowd of questions to Kubruk, concerning the object of his journey, and the intentions of the Pope and the Christian kings ; but with regard to the Tartars, unfor- tunately the kumys had so muddled the brains and thickened the speech of the interpreter, that hardly any- thing of what he said could be understood, and the questions and answers got into the wildest confusion. " For my part," says Rubruk, " I understood nothing from what our interpreter said, except that he was very drunk, and the emperor, in my opinion, not much better."* The people of Mangou questioned the Franciscans with the most eager curiosity, and asked for all kinds of details concerning the kingdom of France, and especially whether there were in it plenty of oxen, sheep, and camels, " as if," says the monk, " they had nothing to do but to come and take them. Many times I could hardly repress my anger and indignation." During their stay at this court, the envoys observed that Mangou-Khan and the members of his family were present equally at the religious ceremonies of the
 * Bergeron, p. 140.