At the place where the carriage stopt, there stood an ancient temple,
esteemed to be the largest in the whole kingdom, which, having been
polluted some years before by an unnatural murder, was, according to the
zeal of those people, looked upon as profane, and therefore had been
applied to common use, and all the ornaments and furniture carried
away. In this edifice it was determined I should lodge. The great gate,
fronting to the north, was about four feet high, and almost two feet
wide, through which I could easily creep. On each side of the gate was a
small window, not above six inches from the ground; into that on the
left side the king's smith conveyed four score and eleven chains, like
those that hang to a lady's watch in Europe, and almost as large, which
were locked to my left leg with six-and-thirty padlocks.
[Illustration]
Over against this temple, on the other side of the great highway, at
twenty feet distance, there was a turret at least five feet high. Here
the emperor ascended, with many principal lords of his court, to have an
opportunity of viewing me, as I was told, for I could not see them. It
was reckoned that above an hundred thousand inhabitants came out of the
town upon the same errand; and, in spite of my guards, I believe there
could not be fewer than ten thousand, at several times, who mounted my
body, by the help of ladders.
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