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over eastern territories. “In a fierce and bloody battle,” says Marco, “Hülegü was victorious, in consequence of which, the roads being rendered unsafe, the brothers could not return by the way they came.” They were told that the best way to reach Constantinople in wartime was to “skirt the limits of Barka’s territories,” and in following this advice, they incurred considerable hardship. They reached a desert, “the extent of which was seventeen days’ journey, wherein they found neither town, castle, nor any substantial building, but only Mongols with their herds, dwelling in tents on the plain.”

During the trek, they became familiar with the circular gers, felt tents, in which the Mongols lived, and with koumiss, the fermented mare’s milk they drank. Koumiss has a strong, sour taste, and the brothers resisted it at first. (When they did consent to drink, the Mongol who had offered it violently pulled their ears to make sure that they imbibed deeply.) In the same spirit of accommodation, the brothers learned to adapt to the Mongols’ aversion to bathing. True, Venetians of that era rarely bathed, but the Mongols’ abhorrence of water, combined with their proximity to animals, rendered them and their odors profoundly repugnant to Westerners who wandered into their midst. In time, the Polos mastered their revulsion and began to feel at home with their rough-hewn hosts. Even more important, they learned to converse with the Mongols, and that, more than any amount of koumiss they drank, established a bond between the merchants and their hosts.

THE BROTHERS POLO made their way to Bukhara, located in today’s Uzbekistan and the capital of several empires from the ninth to the thirteenth century. The Polo company found Bukhara and its varied population hospitable; the city had long been a crossroads for traders from the East and the West trading in silk, porcelain, spices, ivory, and rugs. But beyond Bukhara’s ramparts, chaos ruled. Strife between various tribes rendered the local branches of the Silk Road impassable, and the Polos found to their dismay that they could not reach home anytime soon. Marco tersely comments, “Unable to proceed further, they remained here three years.” The delay made all the difference in their fortunes.

During their extended stay in Bukhara, Niccolò and Maffeo encountered “a person of consequence and gifted with great talents.” He was, as it happened, an ambassador from Hülegü on his way east to visit Kublai Khan, “the supreme chief of all the Mongols, who lived at the far edge of the continent.” If the Polo brothers were skillful in their negotiations, the ambassador could open the way to the entire Mongol Empire for them.

CHAPTER TWO

The Golden Passport

And soon the fragments dim of lovely forms

Come trembling back, unite, and now once more

The pool becomes a mirror.

NICCOLÒ AND MAFFEO POLO spent days immersed in conversation with the Mongol ambassador, earning his confidence and respect. “Never having had an opportunity of seeing any natives of Italy,” Marco comments, “he was highly gratified at meeting and conversing with these brothers, who had become proficient in the Mongol language.” Those difficult days on the Silk Road, during which they had troubled to learn Mongolian dialects, greatly benefited the Venetians. The ambassador—never named—offered to introduce them to the Great Khan, exactly as they had hoped. To make the prospect still more attractive, the ambassador “added assurances that they would be honorably received and rewarded with many gifts.”

Niccolò and Maffeo believed they had no other choice, because the return to Venice “would expose them to the gravest risks.” In contrast, the ambassador offered his assurance that they would be safe—if he accompanied them. So it was that they agreed to venture farther east than they had ever expected, to meet the leader who was hated and feared throughout Europe, and, in particular, by the pope.

The journey to the court of Kublai Khan occupied a full year. Although the location of their meeting is not specified,