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the above period there reigned a wealthy and powerful Emperor of the Tartars, in the regions of the east. He had a number of tributary kings and princes; and a fair empress whom he had not long before espoused according to the fashion of his country. Now this great princess had often heard from the lips of her lords and ambassadors great praises of the manners and customs of the Christian world—how noble and commendable they were. That such indeed was the magnanimity and devotion both of its princes and its people, that they were not only ready to shed their blood, but even to lay down their lives in defence of their religion and their honor.

Thus repeatedly hearing this high character of the Christian princes and nobility, with the excellent government of their states and cities, she gradually imbibed the strongest desire to visit them, and frequently solicited the Emperor Batus for his permission so to do. But her royal consort invariably refused to comply, apprehensive of the dangers she would have to encounter; though he was unable to