and I may tell you that in acquiring this knowledge he spent in those various parts of the world good six and twenty years. Now being thereafter an inmate of the Prison at Genoa, he caused Messer Rusticiano of Pisa, who was in the said Prison likewise to reduce the whole to writing; and this befell in the year 1298 from the birth of Jesus.
It came to pass in the year of Christ 1260 ... that Messer Nicolas Polo, the father of my lord Mark, and Messer Maffeo Polo, the brother of Messer Nicolas, were at the city of Constantinople, whither they had gone from Venice with their merchant’s wares. Now these two ... took counsel together to cross the Greater Sea (Black Sea) on a venture of trade; so they laid in a store of jewels and set forth from Constantinople, crossing the sea to Soldaia ... and travelled till they came to the court of a certain Tartar Prince ... whose residences were at Sara and at Bolgara [Sarai and Bolghar] and by reason of ... war no one could travel ... on the road by which the Brothers had come ... so the Brothers, finding that they could not retrace their steps, determined to go forward ... and passing the River Tigris they travelled across a desert which extended for 17 days journey and wherein they found neither town nor village, falling in only with the tents of Tartars occupied with their cattle at pasture (p. 9).... They arrived at a very great and noble city called Bocara [Bokhara]. The city is the best in all Persia ... there came Envoys on their way to the court of the Great Khan.... “In truth,” said the Envoys, “the Great Khan hath never seen any Latins, and he hath a great desire so to do. Wherefore if ye will keep us company to his court, ye may depend upon it that he will be right glad to see you and will treat you with great honour and liberality; whilst in our company ye shall travel with perfect security, and need fear to be molested by nobody!” So they set out and journeyed for a whole year, going northward and north-eastward.... When the two brothers got to the Great Khan at Karakoram, he received them with great honour ... asking them a great number of questions. [They return with a message from him to the Pope, and young Marco, aged 15, accompanies them back to China, learns 4 eastern languages, and is employed on embassies by the great Kublai Khan for 17 years. They are then sent by sea via Java and Trebizond to the Levant].