Marco Polo - Laurence Bergreen [78]
When he raised his eyes to the sky, he saw more wonders, which presaged the grandeur of the Forbidden City. “The roofs above are all red and green and azure and peacock blue and yellow and of all colors, and are glazed so well and so cleverly that they are bright like crystal, so that they shine very far round the palace. And you may know that the roof is so strong and so firmly put together that it lasts many years.” He displays a thorough knowledge of the interior as well, writing, “In the part behind the palace there are large houses, rooms, and halls, in which are the private things of the lord, that is, all his treasure, gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls, and his vessels of gold and of silver; where his ladies and concubines stay, and where he has his affairs done conveniently and when he pleases; into which other people do not enter.”
The grounds of this precursor to the Forbidden City offered a spectacular complement to the buildings. Where Venice consisted of treacherous canals and narrow, refuse-filled streets, the Mongol capital offered broad, clean, safe avenues; a sophisticated drainage system to channel rainwater for irrigation; and lakes and rivers generously stocked with fish—all combined with pleasing prospects at every turn. No wonder that Marco raves about “very beautiful large lawns and gardens and beautiful and good trees of different sorts of fruits in which are many kinds of strange beasts.” To these creatures he gives special attention: “These are white stags, the animals that make the musk, roe-deer, fallow deer, and squirrels, and ermines, and many kinds of other strange beautiful animals in great abundance.”
The landscape within the city walls also receives his praise: “The meadows have grass in abundance, because all the streets are paved and raised two cubits above the ground, so that no mud ever collects on them nor is the rain water caught there, but running through the meadows it fattens the land and makes the grass grow abundantly. At one corner…is a very large lake (of the earth from which was made the hill mentioned below), in which are many kinds of fish…and every time the great lord [Kublai Khan] wishes some of those fish he has them at his will.”
There seemed no end to Cambulac’s marvels. “Moreover,” he writes, “I tell you that a great river flows in there and makes a kind of fish pond; and there the animals go to drink; and flows out of the lake afterwards, passing through a conduit near the said hill…. It is so planned that no fish can escape, and this is done and is closed with nets of iron wire and of brass both at the entry of the river into the lake and also at the exit…. There are also swans and other waterfowl.”
The sights were marvelous, and Marco insisted that his audience believe his account down to the smallest detail.
THE SCIENCE OF urban planning, Marco hastens to inform his readers, was far advanced in China. He points out how the city of Cambulac consisted of broad main streets “drawn out straight as a thread,” running from one gate to the next, and bordered by “stalls and shops of every kind.” Wherever he looked, he saw beautiful inns, houses, and palaces. Behind it all, a rigorous logic ruled. “The city is laid out by squares, as a chessboard is, and is so beautiful and so skillfully planned that in no way would it be possible to tell of it.” The plan was not merely esthetically pleasing; it was also intended to discourage criminal activity. Gates could be swung shut to isolate