His stories are full of delightful exaggerations. […]
The Venetian traveler Marco Polo said he had the “gift of business, but not of the pen”.
Maybe that’s why he outsourced the writing of his book. The travelswhose stories were dictated to Rustichello da Pisa, a novelist whom Marco Polo met in prison, after a naval battle between the Genoese and the Venetians.
Let’s let the story be there. And have an imagination.
Between 1271 and 1295, Marco Polo traveled together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Matteo, crossing several cities under the command of the Great Khan, on the Silk Road, an ancient trade route between Europe and the Far East.
And since your book became best sellerthe traveler is just securities.
Your The travelswritten by ghost writer of Pisa, is considered one of the most important works of travel literature, perhaps of the Middle Ages, and would inspire none other than Christopher Columbus, before his arrival in America.
The Venetian traveler was also known as the only European merchant of the time to record impressions of the East, and the trio would be the first Europeans to set foot in Beijing, China.
“I’ve had millions and millions of adventures. What I told you isn’t even half of what I’ve seen.”
MARCO POLO
However, the numbers described in the work, such as the palace with a thousand rooms and 160 thousand fireplaces, warranted the subtitle The million (“Il Milione”), due to the exaggerated reports which, even today, make us wonder whether they were actually described by the author or whether they were “improvements” by Rustichello.
In Quinsai, now Hangzhou, for example, Marco Polo described a city with 12,000 stone bridges and three thousand public toilets.
Not to mention the stories of the trained leopards, the three meter thick snake and the unicorn he saw on the Indian border (which would, in reality, be a rhinoceros, an animal still unknown in Europe).
The “million” also includes the lion bowing at the feet of Kublai Khan, whose summer palace was dismantled and preserved when this grandson of Genghis Khan left.
Marco Polo died on January 8, 1324, but his stories continue to seem imaginative. And today’s reader doesn’t care about this, he just wants to travel.
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Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
