History
Arrogance of an All-Conquering Tyrant
“I am glorious, I am great, I am mighty, I have arisen, I am Chief, I am a Prince, I am a warrior, I am great and I am glorious.” […]
Orient
History
Etiquette for the Great Khan
“Next, every baron or nobleman continually carries with him a little vessel of pleasing design into which he spits so long as he is in the hall, so that no one may make so bold as to spit on the floor; and when he has spat he cover it and keeps it.” […]
Orient
To Answer Before Osiris
“I have not dammed a flowing stream,
I have not quenched a needed fire.
I have not neglected the days of meat offerings,
I have not detained cattle belonging to the god,
I have not stopped a god in his procession.
I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!” […]
History
The Charity of the Great Khan
“When he learns that some family of honest and respectable people have been impoverished by some misfortune or disabled from working by illness, so that they have no means of earning their daily bread, he sees to it that such families (which may consist of six to ten persons or more) are given enough to cover their expenses for the whole year.” […]
Orient
Gates to the Unknown
“One of them climbs a ladder, which is leaning against the door, and when he reaches the tops step, he strikes the bolt with his hammer. Then, if one applies one’s ear to the door, one hears a muted sound like a nest of wasps. Then everything falls silent again.” […]
History
Justice of a Feared Emperor
“The right, that is my desire. To the man who is a follower of the lie I am no friend. I am not hot-tempered. What things develop in my anger, I hold firmly under control by my thinking power.” […]
History
The Medieval Postmen of Mongolia
“For it takes these runners no more than a day and a night to cover a ten day’s journey, or two days and two nights for a twenty days’ journey. So in ten days they can transmit news over a journey of a hundred days. ” […]
Orient
The Mutants of the Mountains
“When he beheld their uncleanness, he marveled. They ate every nauseous thing, such as gnats, flies, cats, and serpents. They did not bury their dead, but at them, along with the fruits of abortions and all sorts of impure beasts. On beholding this, Alexander was afraid lest, as they multiplies, they might corrupt the earth.” […]
Human Affairs
What To Do After a Wet Dream
“One day, when I was the guest of the sister of this amir, she said to her brother: “Lying with my husband, he ejaculated in his sleep. Ask this man if I ought to perform the ritual ablutions.”” […]
Human Affairs
Facial Hair Diplomacy
“The adult men of the land of Gog and Magog are beardless. When a man with a full beard enters their country, the king, who is of the line of Gog and Magog, orders his beard plucked out.” […]