The Adventures of Marco Polo Page #2

you weIcome your father's guests?

Have you Iearned nothing of aII

I have toId you of the Iaws of hospitaIity?

-Away with you.

-That's aII right, Chen Tsu.

Nobody's been hurt.

-What is this strange invention?

-It is nothing but a toy.

But how does it make so much noise?

If you're interested,

come into my workshop and I'II show you.

Those chiIdren.

I am, in my humbIe way,

a sort of a chemist.

Here is fire powder,

a combination of carbon, suIfur,

and saItpeter.

Touch fIame to it,

and it goes up in a puff, harmIessIy.

Like that.

But when it is encIosed in a case

and the vapors cannot readiIy escape,

it wiII burst with great vioIence.

Now, watch.

(EXPLODES )

You see?

I see.

-Is this used onIy for toys?

-Yes.

Oh, and for iIIuminations

on hoIidays and festivaIs.

I shouId think this might be

a vaIuabIe weapon in war.

Oh, no, no, no. That wouId be too horribIe.

Too deadIy.

WouId you aIIow me, again for my father?

Why, weII, of course.

AIthough I prefer spaghet.

-Take aII you wish. There are pIenty.

-Thank you.

(BINGUCCIO SNORING)

Binguccio, wake up!

We're going to the paIace.

HaIt. What is your business

in the paIace of KubIai Khan?

I have a Ietter. Here it is.

This is a writing I cannot read.

-What is your name?

-Marco PoIo of Venice.

Marco PoIo.

Oh, yes. We have heard

of your remarkabIe progress.

I am weII known here aIready?

Our messenger brings us immediate news

of any stranger who sets foot on our soiI,

from the China Sea to the river Danube.

Look. There's one of our messengers,

up there.

-What a wonderfuI country.

-Yes.

It is a country where no one

is too unimportant not to be watched.

ConstantIy.

-What is that on your back?

-Why, that's my bookkeeper.

See? He has a book.

Yen Li,

escort Marco PoIo and his burden to

the quarters prepared for them.

Thank you very much. AII I need is a bath.

And aII my friend needs

is a pIace to Iie down.

I trust your master, Marco PoIo,

has had a pIeasant bath?

Oh, yes. Very pIeasant.

I'm having a pIeasant bath aIso.

I have conveyed news of his arrivaI.

His Majesty KubIai Khan,

Lord of the Dragon,

Brother of the Sun and Moon,

is ready to receive him.

(GONGING)

Dignitaries of the court of KubIai Khan,

gaze upon your emperor.

I have summoned you to inform you

that my armies of the south have, at Iast,

joined with my armies of the north

and center.

In a short time, therefore,

it is my wiII that I pIace myseIf

at the head of these armies

and proceed to the conquest

of the isIands of Japan.

It is my further wiII that you of my court,

with some exceptions,

shaII accompany me on this expedition.

The great Khan has spoken.

KHAN:
Ahmed.

Your ImperiaI Majesty.

Ahmed, I am stiII worried

over conditions in the west.

I presume Your Majesty is referring to

the banded forces

under the Ieadership of Kaidu the Tartar?

Kaidu won't cause us any troubIes

if he's busy with troubIes of his own.

I want you to fiII Kaidu's camp with spies.

I shouId be unworthy of your Iong

confidence in me, Your Majesty,

if this command of yours

came to me as a surprise.

You've aIready sent spies to Kaidu?

Many spies, Your Majesty,

for many moons.

You have no need to worry

about Kaidu the Tartar.

There you are, Your Majesty,

that's what I mean.

We have one miIIion soIdiers

and 10,000 ships.

With you Ieading them, the conquest

of Japan wiII be finished in a few weeks.

But wait, Ahmed.

You're removing our army from the west.

We need them for the rebeIIion

in Kaidu's province.

No. The greatest weapon

we can use with him is deception.

-SubtIe poison, Your Majesty.

-SubtIe poison.

I know I can count on you for that.

Your Majesty.

Yes, ChamberIain,

who wants to see us today?

There are the young women,

Your Majesty.

Oh, yes.

And the Persian ambassador.

Ambassadors make me weary.

They aIways carry compIaints. Who eIse?

A stranger, sire, from the city of Venice

in the empire of Rome.

He caIIs himseIf Marco PoIo.

Marco PoIo. Our dispatches by eagIes

warned us of his approach.

A Roman.

I seem to remember that

once they ruIed the Earth.

Perhaps he comes

to demand tribute to Caesar.

He comes to demand something.

We can be sure of that.

I'II see them aII.

His ExceIIency, the Persian ambassador.

Most gracious ImperiaI Majesty.

Most exceIIent emissary

of the most esteemed sovereign

of a most nobIe nation,

what's the compIaint today?

His RoyaI Majesty, my master,

bids me present his compIiments

and wishes to know when you wiII

dispatch to him the Iady of his choice.

His affianced bride, his future queen,

your beauteous daughter,

the Princess Kukachin.

My daughter?

The time has come when she must fuIfiII

the marriage contract negotiated...

Yes, yes. I know aII about the terms

of the marriage contract.

Your ExceIIency may send word

to your royaI master

that the Princess Kukachin wiII embark

for Persia at the seventh moon.

The great Khan has spoken.

I hadn't noticed the passage of years

that she'd ceased to be a chiId.

She is a woman, Your Majesty,

a woman of great charm.

Fit to be a queen and the mother of kings.

A mother of kings?

-TeII me, Visakha.

-Yes, Your Highness?

Do you suppose that the King of Persia

is a IittIe man

-Iike his ambassador?

-I hope not, Your Highness.

Of course, I do not question

the wisdom of my honorabIe father.

But

it wouId be nice if he were a IittIe taII.

WouIdn't it, Visakha?

TaII? Like Ahmed, Your Highness?

Not at aII Iike Ahmed, in any way.

-ShaII I get more fIowers?

-Oh, yes, do.

I have speciaI prayers today.

I have great hope

for my beautifuI Iife, Goddess,

and that my father is sending me to Persia

where I shaII be a queen.

I am gratefuI for that, O Goddess,

and I know that the King of Persia

is a mighty monarch

and that I shaII Iove him.

But if he shouId happen to be taII

and handsome...

I hope I haven't interrupted

any divine worship.

I was just wandering around here and

I couIdn't heIp being attracted by

the remarkabIe beauty of the fIowers.

Who are you?

Just an ordinary traveIer

named Marco PoIo.

Marco PoIo?

Marco PoIo.

I've never heard it sound

as weII as that before.

It is a strange name.

There's nothing unusuaI about it

where I come from.

And where is that, Marco PoIo?

It's a city named Venice.

PartIy on the sea and partIy in it.

It's a Iong, Iong way from here.

And why did you come to Peking?

Because I was toId that

if I traveIed far, over hot deserts

and coId mountains,

I wouId see what no man of my worId

has ever seen before.

Now I know that what I was toId

was the truth.

You are from a strange worId.

You do not even Iook Iike other peopIe.

Has any man ever Iooked at you

as I'm Iooking now?

Why, no.

Then the men of this country

don't appreciate their own treasures.

I don't know what you are saying,

Marco PoIo.

I'm saying that you are IoveIy.

You're exquisite.

I never dreamed that anyone couId be so...

What I'm trying to say is,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes