ABSTRACT
[314/1] After leaving the City of Gelasor we made our way with considerable difficulty, owing to the heavy mud and the swamps we met with on the road, so that, though it was only seven leagues from Gelasor, we were unable to reach the City of Narangor that evening, and had to pass the night in a small Heathen village a little off our direct route. Moreover, as we were people of a different faith, [314/2] who eat 2 fowls, as well as cow's and pig's flesh, they were unable to admit us to their houses, since according to their Pagan religion they would then have become ipso facto unclean and impure. We were therefore obliged to seek refuge in a cowshed, which was by no means overclean, though this was not our worst complaint, since multitudes of mosquitoes gave us no chance of resting our weary, way-worn bodies: still, in spite of these drawbacks, we were plentifully supplied with rice,ghī, and other food made with milk, at a very low price. Each of [315/1] us, however, before he could increase his supply of fresh blood through this food, was obliged to let these importunate insects extract with their delicate lancets the old blood which was perhaps present in excess. This, together with their harsh, unmelodious harmony, forced us to pass the 106whole night without our much-wishcd-for slumber; so, perforce keeping watch, we eagerly awaited the arrival of Aurora. She arrived at last, but only to increase our woes, as she appeared with a salvo of thunder and lightning accompanied by such heavy rain that this very flat country was, as we saw, covered with water in a few hours. We were therefore obliged to arm ourselves with patience and wait there till the next day, when we should find some one to lead us by a drier road. Meanwhile, as our enemies of the night had retired before the light of day into their obscure retreats, we all of us had an opportunity of giving rein to the sleep we so badly wanted, and thus pay the accustomed tribute to our frail nature. But to our misfortune, fate decided that we should pay for these few hours of ease by twice as many of restlessness. Now, as the bovine palace we inhabited was little, or indeed not at all, in good repair as regarded its doors and windows, peacocks, doves, and pigeons used to enter and take every advantage [315/2] of the ample privileges accorded by that Heathen sect to wild animals, which thus become tame and enter into their houses. These Barbarians thus prove, by the security with which these animals enter, how observant and punctilious they are in adhering to their false dogmas.
