I answered him: “Those princes are nobles of the first rank and vassals of my master; and, if he see that your army attacks them, be will send to them aid which will enable them to annihilate your forces and to take away those two provinces which are yours beyond the sea.” Then, swelling like a toad and -very angry: “Go away,” be said; ” by myself, by my parents who engendered me such as I am, I will make your master think of other things than of protecting rebellious slaves.”
Bysantius of Bari
As I was going away, he ordered the interpreter to invite me to table; and summoning the brother of those two princes, and Bysantius of Bari, he ordered them to give vent to gross insults against yourselves and against the Latin and the Teuton race. But as I was going away from the foul meal, they sent word to me secretly through messengers and swore that what they had growled out bad been said not of their own will, but because of the wishes and threats of the emperor. But Nicephorus himself asked me at that meal if you bad parks and if in your parks you had wild asses and other animals.
When I had answered him that you had parks and animals in the parks, but no wild asses, he said: “I will take you into our park and you will be surprised to see its size and to look at the wild asses.” I was led therefore into a park which was rather large, hilly and fruitful, but -not at all pleasing to the view; and as I was riding along with my hat on and the marshal of the court saw me from afar, he quickly, dispatched his son to me to say that it was wrong for any one to be with his bat on where the emperor was and that I must wear the Teristra. I answered: ” With us the women wear hoods and veils; the men ride with their hats on.
And you have no right to compel me here to change the custom of my country, considering that we permit your envoys who come to us to keep to the custom of theirs, For with long sleeves, swathed, spangled, with long hair, clad in tunics down to their ankles, they ride, walk and sit at table with us; and, what to all of us seems too disgraceful, they alone kiss our emperors with uncovered heads.”-” May God not allow it to be done any longer ” I said to myself.-” you must turn back, then,” he said.
Read More about Report of his Mission to Constantinople part 44
