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The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1

by Marco Polo & da Pisa Rusticiano (1254–1324)

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  • 25 hours to read
  • 120 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1" by Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa is a 13th-century travelogue written between 1298-1299. This legendary account chronicles Polo's epic journey through Asia from 1271 to 1295 and his remarkable experiences at the court of Kublai Khan. Dictated by the Venetian explorer to romance writer Rustichello while imprisoned in Genoa, the book blends adventure with observation, revealing distant lands Europeans had never imagined. From its first appearance, readers have debated its authenticity—wondering whether these tales of marvels are truth or fantasy.

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  • Voyages and travels
  • Asia · Description and travel · Early works to 1800
  • Mongols · History
  • Polo, Marco, 1254-1323?

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Volume I: Containing the first Volume of the 1903 edition

* * * *
Ed è da noi sì strano,
Che quando ne ragiono
I’ non trovo nessuno,
Che l’abbia navicato,
* * * *
Le parti del Levante,
Là dove sono tante
Gemme di gran valute
E di molta salute:
E sono in quello giro
Balsamo, e ambra, e tiro,
E lo pepe, e lo legno
Aloe, ch’è sì degno,
E spigo, e cardamomo,
Giengiovo, e cennamomo;
E altre molte spezie,
Ciascuna in sua spezie,
E migliore, e più fina,
E sana in medicina.
Appresso in questo loco
Mise in assetto loco
Li tigri, e li grifoni,
Leofanti, e leoni
Cammelli, e dragomene,
Badalischi, e gene,
E pantere, e castoro,
Le formiche dell’oro,
E tanti altri animali,
Ch’io non so ben dir quali,
Che son sì divisati,
E sì dissomigliati
Di corpo e di fazione,
Di sì fera ragione,
E di sì strana taglia,
Ch’io non credo san faglia,
Ch’alcun uomo vivente
Potesse veramente
Per lingua, o per scritture
Recitar le figure
Delle bestie, e gli uccelli....

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Contents

Show all 120 chapters
  1. Volume I: Containing the first Volume of the 1903 edition
  2. Book First
  3. Part I
  4. Book First
  5. Book Second. — Part First
  6. Book Second. — Part First
  7. Prologue
  8. Chapter I
  9. Chapter II
  10. Chapter III
  11. Chapter IV
  12. Chapter V: How the Two Brothers Arrived at the Court of the Great Kaan
  13. Chapter VI
  14. Chapter VII: How the Great Kaan Sent the Two Brothers As His Envoys to the Pope
  15. Chapter VIII
  16. Chapter IX
  17. Chapter X
  18. Chapter XI: How the Two Brothers Set Out from Acre, and Mark Along with Them
  19. Chapter XII: How the Two Brothers Presented Themselves Before the New Pope
  20. Chapter XIII
  21. Chapter XIV
  22. Chapter XV
  23. Chapter XVI: How Mark Returned from the Mission Whereon He Had Been Sent
  24. Chapter XVII
  25. Chapter XVIII
  26. Book I
  27. Chapter I: Here the Book Begins; and First It Speaks of the Lesser Hermenia
  28. Chapter II
  29. Chapter III
  30. Chapter IV
  31. Chapter V
  32. Chapter VI
  33. Chapter VII
  34. Chapter VIII
  35. Chapter IX: How the One-Eyed Cobler Was Desired to Pray for the Christians
  36. Chapter X: How the Prayer of the One-Eyed Cobler Caused the Mountain to Move
  37. Chapter XI
  38. Chapter XII
  39. Chapter XIII: Of the Great Country of Persia; with Some Account of the Three Kings
  40. Chapter XIV: What Befell When the Three Kings Returned to Their Own Country
  41. Chapter XV: Of the Eight Kingdoms of Persia, and How They Are Named
  42. Chapter XVI
  43. Chapter XVII
  44. Chapter XVIII
  45. Chapter XIX
  46. Chapter XX: Of the Wearisome and Desert Road That Has Now to Be Travelled
  47. Chapter XXI: Concerning the City of Cobinan and the Things That Are Made There
  48. Chapter XXII
  49. Chapter XXIII
  50. Chapter XXIV
  51. Chapter XXV
  52. Chapter XXVI
  53. Chapter XXVII
  54. Chapter XXVIII: Of Taican, and the Mountains of Salt. Also of the Province of Casem
  55. Chapter XXIX
  56. Chapter XXX
  57. Chapter XXXI
  58. Chapter XXXII
  59. Chapter XXXIII
  60. Chapter XXXIV
  61. Chapter XXXV
  62. Chapter XXXVI
  63. Chapter XXXVII
  64. Chapter XXXVIII
  65. Chapter XXXIX
  66. Chapter XL
  67. Chapter XLI
  68. Chapter XLII
  69. Chapter XLIII
  70. Chapter XLIV
  71. Chapter XLV
  72. Chapter XLVI
  73. Chapter XLVII: Of Chinghis, and How He Became the First Kaan of the Tartars
  74. Chapter XLVIII: How Chinghis Mustered His People to March Against Prester John
  75. Chapter XLIX
  76. Chapter L
  77. Chapter LI
  78. Chapter LII
  79. Chapter LIII
  80. Chapter LIV
  81. Chapter LV
  82. Chapter LVI
  83. Chapter LVII
  84. Chapter LVIII
  85. Chapter LIX
  86. Chapter LX
  87. Chapter LXI
  88. Book Second
  89. Part I. — The Kaan, His Court and Capital
  90. Chapter I
  91. Chapter II
  92. Chapter III
  93. Chapter IV
  94. Chapter V
  95. Chapter VI
  96. Chapter VII
  97. Chapter VIII
  98. Chapter IX
  99. Chapter X
  100. Chapter XI
  101. Chapter XII
  102. Chapter XIII
  103. Chapter XIV
  104. Chapter XV: Of the Great Festival Which the Kaan Holds on New Year’s Day
  105. Chapter XVI
  106. Chapter XVII: How the Great Kaan Enjoineth His People to Supply Him with Game
  107. Chapter XVIII
  108. Chapter XIX: Concerning the Two Brothers Who Have Charge of the Kaan’s Hounds
  109. Chapter XX
  110. Chapter XXI: Rehearsal of the Way the Year of the Great Kaan Is Distributed
  111. Chapter XXII: Concerning the City of Cambaluc, and Its Great Traffic and Population
  112. Chapter XXIII
  113. Chapter XXIV
  114. Chapter XXV
  115. Chapter XXVI
  116. Chapter XXVII
  117. Chapter XXVIII: How the Great Kaan Causes Trees to Be Planted by the Highways
  118. Chapter XXIX
  119. Chapter XXX
  120. Chapter XXXI
  121. Chapter XXXII
  122. Chapter XXXIII: [Concerning the Astrologers in the City of Cambaluc.]
  123. Chapter XXXIV

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About this edition

This free edition of The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo & da Pisa Rusticiano comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #10636, released 2004-01-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Adventure, Travel Writing, History - Medieval/Middle Ages.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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