(Genoa, Italy, Summer 1299)

"You’ve not included some the stories you’ve told me," Rustichello commented to his merchant friend and fellow prisoner.

Three years after returning successfully to Venice from China, the very wealthy and now influential merchant had been appointed to command a war galley in a conflict between his own great mercantile city and its arch rival, Genoa. Unfortunately, he had subsequently been captured and imprisoned. However, his incarceration had not been too unpleasant, as he had been afforded amenities commensurate with his high rank.

Rustichello, who was from Pisa and was a noted writer of romances, had shared the now 45 year-old merchant’s imprisonment and they had become friends. The romanticist had also been enthralled by the Venetian’s tales of his time in China, so much so that he suggested that they be recorded for posterity.

Consequently, the merchant had dictated many of his remembrances to a scribe and Rustichello had just read the finished manuscript, which had been completed just in time for their imminent release after a year’s imprisonment. The war between Genoa and Venice was over and a peace treaty had been agreed, one of the terms of which had been the exchange of prisoners.

"I have not told half of what I saw," the merchant remarked in reply to Rustichello’s comment, echoing what would be the last words he would ever utter a quarter of a century later. "Why?" asked his friend from Pisa.

"There are various reasons," the merchant answered. "For example, I’ve omitted some anecdotes," he continued, "because they might, in critical European eyes, create a repulsion against the Chinese and their current Mongol overlords that would be undeserved. Our civilisations have different cultural perspectives, with ours also including a fair degree of barbarism, despite our supposed Christian ethics. Certain events that involved me when I was in the East therefore need to be put into such a perspective but I don’t believe that our hypocritical society would do so and the aim of my memoirs is not to create antipathy towards the peoples of the Orient. Some incidents also embarrassingly reflect badly on me."

"Let me tell you about one of them," the merchant suggested, "and you should be able to see why it has been excluded from my dictated history."

(Imperial palace, Cambaluc, [or ‘Khanbalig’, meaning ‘city of the Khan’, in Mongol, & 'Tatu' in Chinese, which is modern Beijing], China, almost 23 years previously, Autumn 1276)

"As you know from my dictation, Rustichello," the merchant commented, "I was first introduced to the Great Khan, Kublai, Mongol Emperor of China, at his summer residence in Shang-tu in May 1275, when I was just over 20 and he was almost 60. My father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo, had already visited his court once and on their return journey back to the East, which took over 3½ years to complete, they took me."

"I was a teenager when I left Venice but arrived in Shang-tu as a young man. However, as was soon to be proved, any increased maturity I had experienced on the way was probably limited to my physique rather than brain."

"Kublai Khan, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan and who had completed his grandfather’s conquest of northern China, had assumed the Imperial throne 16 years before our arrival. As he had done during their previous visit, he received my father and uncle with great hospitality and interest. He also took an instant liking towards me."

"Even though I say so myself, I was a very handsome and gregarious young man, with whom the Great Khan liked to attempt to chat on a regular basis. However, our discourse was, of course, initially hampered by a lack of common tongue. Nevertheless, I had already discovered during my European schooling that I possessed a natural talent for languages and I was soon proficient in Kublai’s dialect, as well as that of the Chinese court hierarchy. This development increased the favour the first Emperor of the Yuan dynasty kindly exhibited towards me."

"Over a year after my arrival in China, during which I had spent most of my time learning about the country and the people, the Great Khan summoned me to his presence in his magnificent palace at Cambaluc, which he had newly built as his winter capital. The huge residence was largely made of marble, with walls and the many statues gilded with silver and gold and other precious materials. The dining hall could accommodate 6000 guests."

"The Great Khan then shocked me by appointing me, amidst much obsequious formal ceremonial within his ornate audience chamber, as one of his court diplomats. The Emperor then despatched me on my first mission, whilst my father and uncle continued to pursue their lucrative trading activities."

"The Great Khan was expanding his influence into the non-Chinese lands of the south and, in order to cement an alliance, he had agreed to take as a minor wife one of the two daughters of a regional ruler. My diplomatic mission involved choosing the particular princess Kublai was to marry."

The merchant smiled but otherwise ignored the ribald remark that now emerged from Rusticello’s lips, in response to learning about the nature of the assignment, and instead simply proceeded with his narrative.

"Subsequently, some of the Great Khan’s Chinese officials provided more detail about my remit. ‘The Son of Heaven’, the most senior of these bureaucrats declared, ‘requires a dutiful minor wife, no more. He does not need a great beauty and artist in sexual pleasures for his bed, as he has many concubines to fulfil such a role. He also does not require anyone who’ll regularly proffer her views, as he already has enough court advisers. He definitely does not seek anyone with a desire to increase her influence at court, as he has more than sufficient ambitious family members!’"

(Royal palace of a small mountain kingdom, Indo-China, 2 months later, Winter 1276-7)

"In the presence of royal eunuchs, attendant to ensure that the utmost decorum was maintained," the merchant continued, "I met the two princesses in the small but ornate royal palace of the little but strategically important Indo-Chinese mountain kingdom. One was 18 and the other 22 years of age."

"The younger princess was exceptionally beautiful. Her long straight silky black hair encompassed a sensuous face of utter perfection, whilst her tight silk robes appeared to encase a slim but buxom body absolutely oozing sexuality. During our interview, this 18 year-old girl spoke with great confidence and, whilst regularly alluringly fluttering her long eyelashes, immense suggestiveness. I was immediately smitten, with my hidden cock throbbing within the confines of my own rich Chinese garments."

"By this time, I was not unused to the female form. With my father’s permission, I took pleasure with the girls, all exceedingly attractive and skilled in the sexual arts, regularly provided by the Great Khan for his favoured guests. I had also established, in a residence kindly provided by Kublai not far from his winter palace, my own household, which included my own special concubine."

"The elder princess was, in contrast to her younger sister, rather plain and withdrawn. Her face was chubby, whilst the silk robes covering her body could not disguise the presence of superfluous fat there too. During our interview, this 22 year-old also barely spoke in response to questions, preferring to giggle nervously and stare shyly at her feet."

"In my opinion, albeit mainly that of my cock rather than my brain, there was really only one princess whom I could recommend to be the Great Khan’s next minor wife."

(Residence of the Venetian merchant, Cambaluc, China, 2 months later, Winter 1276-7)

"I had just returned to Cambalac with the 18 year-old princess," the merchant continued, "and the formal invitation from the Imperial palace arrived in written form. However, fortunately, by now, I was also reasonably proficient at the written as well as the verbal court dialect. ‘I wonder why the Great Khan wants me to judge a choral contest?’ I subsequently asked the beautiful girl who was my personal concubine as well as principal housekeeper."

(Imperial palace, Cambaluc, China, next day)

"‘You are to judge the two finalists,’ I was advised by the same senior court official who had briefed me for my first diplomatic mission," the merchant continued, "‘and your decision should be based entirely on the quality of the singing and no other factors. The prize for the winners is to become the Son of Heaven’s principal boy choristers for the year ahead’. I immediately realised that such positions would be financially immensely well rewarded."

"The two choirs concerned comprised a dozen boys apiece, all aged between 11 and 14. They had reached this concluding stage of the choral contest via many heats, both in Cambalac and the provinces. However, to me, one group appeared much more professional than the other. This situation appeared to be confirmed when, before their performances, the official provided me with a verbal résumé of their respective backgrounds."

"The first choir consisted of twelve rather plain and chubby boys, dressed in matching rich and colourful trousered silk uniforms with hats. They somehow reminded me of the elder princess whom I had recently rejected to be the nominee to become Kublai Khan’s next minor wife."

"‘The first choir,’ the court official informed, ‘is from a major city to the south and consists of young eunuchs who sing for a living’. I shuddered on hearing this revelation, knowing that, in line with Chinese practice, the poor boys would have been deprived of the whole of their genitalia during the emasculation process, which had undoubtedly been undertaken to maintain and enhance their singing skills. However, my pity was short-lived when the bureaucrat went on to describe their many successes in other choral competitions throughout the Empire, which would have seriously enriched them and their parents or guardians, as well as their management."

"The subsequent singing of this first choir of chubby and plain but rich young eunuchs was certainly exemplary and clearly superior to that of the other choir. However, I was attracted to the second, less well-presented group of boys for two reasons."

"First, the boys, all still genitally intact, were all very pretty, and I have to confess that, like the Great Khan, I can appreciate young male beauty almost as much as feminine. Second, they were not professionals but had been identified as possessing gifted voices and gathered together by an inspired rural choirmaster. They came from poor peasant farming backgrounds and had never yet won a valuable prize or received commercial commissions. If they lost the current contest, the stigma associated with such a defeat would probably compel the group to be dissolved, with the individuals involved returning penniless and shamed whence they came."

"My ultimate rather charitable judgement was therefore in favour of honouring and enriching the second choir, which despite its excellence had nevertheless been inferior to the first."

(Imperial palace, Cambaluc, China, next day)

"I had been invited," the merchant continued, "to dine privately with the Great Khan himself. During our meal of many courses, discreetly served by many efficient servants, I followed court etiquette by allowing the bearded Emperor to dictate the topics of and lead our conversation. My patience was maintained even though I desperately wanted to receive feedback from him about my first diplomatic mission, as well as the strange requirement to judge a choral contest."

"After much trivial chatter, Kublai Khan finally referred to my recently completed diplomatic mission. I could not help but subsequently request: ‘Son of Heaven, may I ask how do you think I did?’"

"‘Poorly!’ was the Great Khan’s blunt and disappointing one-word answer, in respect of which I naturally sought clarification. In response, Kublai waved at a servant, who immediately brought forth a large, round, covered golden dish, which was placed at my feet."

"‘You did not follow your remit, my friend’, the Great Khan then suggested, ‘and have presented me not with a dutiful wife but with someone who’ll cause much trouble in my court if I allowed her to do so. You allowed other emotions rather than duty and prudence to affect your judgement. Happily, the position is retrievable, as I am swapping the younger for the elder sister, having already earlier decided that I wanted the latter. Your embassy was not the first fact-finding mission to my new ally’s court and was, in fact, merely a test of your judgement, which you failed!’"

"‘The situation, however, is less retrievable for the choir you judged to be the superior in yesterday’s contest,’ the Great Khan then added, ‘and, if you remove the lid from the dish, you’ll discover why!’ My face now became ashen and my hand began to tremble, not at Kublai’s rebuke but in acute fear as to what the golden cover might be hiding. Nevertheless, I reluctantly obeyed the Emperor’s command."

"As the golden lid subsequently rose upwards, I immediately recognised the horrific contents of the dish. Lying in a little pool of blood were twelve sets of smooth boyish genitalia!"

(Genoa, Italy, over 22 years later, Summer 1299)

"My unwise biased judgement," the merchant advised Rustichello, "had caused twelve pretty peasant boys to win a choral competition but lose their masculinity in the process, whereas the rightful winners were already so amended. I didn’t, of course, appreciate at the time that all choirs appointed to the Imperial court comprised only eunuchs. I also didn’t know that, if the choristers had lost the contest, the generous Khan would not have allowed the still genitally-intact losers to return to their villages in disgrace and without significant reward for their efforts."

"The Great Khan was, of course, teaching me a lesson. Having ignored my remit and delivered a biased judgement in my first mission, he allowed me immediately to follow up my mistake with another similar prejudiced ruling, one that would haunt me forever and encourage me never to neglect my true duty in future."

"The lesson was learnt well. I believe that I became one of the Great Khan’s most dutiful and accomplished diplomats, serving throughout his vast Empire for another fifteen years and more until eventually deciding to return home, where I can never hear a choirboy sing without experiencing great melancholy."

Rusticello thought about his friend’s latest anecdote for a while before commenting "I can see why you’ve not told half of what you saw!" However, the Venetian merchant said nothing in reply.

Marco Polo simply responded with a sad smile.

THE END

of

‘THE MERCHANT OF VENICE’

By Pueros