Some say I’m the greatest traveller in history, but I wasn’t a brave adventurer. I was just a simple boy from Venice. I wanted to see new places, meet new people and learn about new things. But once I started, I couldn’t stop! From the start, I was a curious child, My father left Venice when I was six and my mother died shortly after that, so my aunt and uncle raised me. At that time, Venice was the centre of the world. Gondolas moved in the canals under bridges and between beautiful buildings. Merchant ships crossed the Mediterranean Sea to bring clothes and food from France and North Africa. But I knew there was a bigger world out ther, over the sea. I went to school, but the lessons there were never enough for me! I was interested in every subject: languages, commerce, religion, animals, architecture and more. I wanted to know everything. I made my poor aunt and uncle crazy and they didn’t know what to do with me. And then, one day, when I was 17, I got a big surprise. It changed my life entirely. I travelled home from school on a gondola and went up the stairs to my house. Inside, two men were waiting for me. They had beards and wore colourful clothes. I didn’t recognise them, and thought they could be thieves.
“Who are you?” I asked, ready to fight. One of them started to laugh. ” Relax, boy!” he said. “I’m your father, Niccolo. And this is your uncle Maffeo.” “Father?” I shouted. “Is it really you?” “Yes, son, it’s me,” he said, and put his arms around me. “But you left eleven years ago” I said. ” I thought you were dead. Where were you?”. Uncle Maffeo said, “It’s a long story!” Their story was almost impossible to believe!
My father and uncle left Venice for Constantinople when I was a small boy. They only wanted to visit for a short time, to buy and sell jewels. But when they arrived there, a war began. They sold all their jewels and travelled quickly to the Black sea. They wanted to return to Venice, but the army blocked the roads, so they changed direction to avoid the battle. They didn’t have another safe option, so they travelled east. They crossed the Tigris River and rode on horseback for 17 days until theu came to Buckhara in Uzbekistan. There, they met an ambassador for the great Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan.
“Can I take you to my leader? He would love to meet you,” the ambassador said. “I’m sure he will give you many treasures if you visit him.” “Why sould Kublai Khan want to meet us?” Uncle Maffeo asked. “Because you are Europeans,” the ambassador said, ” The Emperor never met any real Westerners before.”
“That’s crazy,” Uncle Maffeo said. “The Mongol Empire is too far from here.” “Come on, it’s an adventure,” my father said. “We’ll do it!” So the three of them travelled all the way to Dadu, the capital of China. When they arrived, they were very nervous. They knew many terrible stories about the Khan emperors. “What will happen if the Emperor decides he doesn’t like Europeans?” Uncle Maffeo said. “Maybe he’ll suddenly decide to kill us. We’ll never see Venice again” “Don’t worry,” my father said. “The Khan is going to love us.”
And it happened exactly like that! Kublai Khan was very happy to meet them. My father and uncle were Europeans and the Khan was very curious about Europe. He asked many questions: How did the Venetians fight wars? Did they ever meet the Pope? What did Christians believe? My father and uncle answered every question clearly and honestly. The Khan was impressed and offered them a job as his advisors. They stayed in China for many uears until finally, the Khan said, “You will be my ambassadors. Travel back to Venice, and when you arrive there, go to see the Pope. He must send me 100 intelligent Christian men. You must escort these men to Dhina. Maybe they can prove to me that Christianity is the greatest religion.”
My father and uncle agreed to do this. Khan continued. “On your way back, bring me some oil from the holy lamp in Jerusalem.” Kublai Khan gave my father a letter to the Pope and a special gold tablet. “This gold tablet belongs to one dynasty,” he explained. “Show it on your journey and you will not pay horses, accomodation, food and guides for your entire way home, and on your return to China.” My father and uncle said goodbye to Kublai Khan and then came back to Venice.
