Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	life_n	live_v	world_n	13,510	5	4.9137	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B00052	A discouerie of the countries of Tartaria, Scithia, & Cataya, by the northeast: with the maners, fashions, and orders which are vsed in those countries. / Set foorth by Iohn Frampton merchaunt.	Frampton, John, fl. 1577-1596.	1580 (1580)	STC 11255; ESTC S92572	34,080	90

yet for all this they are very vicious no more nor lesse then the Sarasens Moores And the wife which they take they ●●lde her not for theyr lawfull wise neither 〈◊〉 they receiue her dowrie vntil she bring ●●rth children and therfore it is lawfull b● them to put away such as are barren 〈◊〉 haue no children and to take an other in ●●r steede And it is to be wondred at that al●●it many women haue but one husband yet ●●ey neuer fall out vnles it be great maruel Notwithstanding that some of them be preferred and made more of then others sometimes the goodman keepeth companie with one of his wiues sometimes with an other but euery one haue their family and habitation asunder and they liue very chast for if they be taken in adulterie as well the man as the woman by their law shall suffer death presently When the men haue no warres they keepe their cattell go a hunting exercise them selues in wrastling and do nothing els all the rest of their affayres remayneth in the charge and ouersight of the women They haue a care of that is necessary for their foode apparell and all other thinges apperteining to the house These people vse many superstitions and witchcraftes chiefly they take it for a haynous matter to cast a knife into the fire or touch the fire therewith or take the meate out of the pot with a knife There can no straunger be admitted to the kinges presence though he be of great dignitie and haue waightye affayres with him but first he must purge him selfe And if anye mans feete do smell and come into the place where the Emperour is although he be any of the Captaines forthwith he is commaunded to be slaine and besides this if any when he is eating take a mouthfull that hee cannot swallow but is forced to vomit it immediately they runne all to him a●d make a hoale vnder the place where he is and that way they plucke him out and kill him cruelly There are many other thinges that these holde for sinne without redemption and in other respects they account it a small matter to kill men to take other mens landes and to rob the goodes of others against al right and iustice and set light by the commandements of God and with all this they beleeue that they shall liue after this life for euer in an other worlde but they knowe not how to declare it and beleeue that there they shall receiue rewarde according to their desertes Immediately after that one of them falleth sicke and is neere the poynt of death they take a launce and pich it in the tent where he is and set vpon the top of the same a blacke cloth in token that none which passeth that ●ay should enter in there this being seene ●one dare go in vnlesse hee be called And when the sicke person is dead all the hous●olde ioyne together and take the body out 〈◊〉 the shoppe or shedde and carrieth it to a ●lace that they haue appoynted for this cause 〈◊〉 making there a hollow place long and broad they rayse vp a small cotage or stall and put a table therevppon full of meate and set the deade body leaning to it very richly apparelled and so couer it altogether with earth they likewise bury with him one of his Cattell and a Horse with all thinges apperteining to him And suche as are of moste power and riches when they are lyuing doe choose one of their seruaunts and marke him with his Yron and marke whome they cause to bee buryed with his maister to the ende that in the other worlde they may haue one too doe them seruice After this the friendes of the deceased take an other Horse and kill him and eate his fleshe and fill the skinne full of hay and sowing it togeather rayse him vppe with foure peeces of timber vppon the Sepulchre in token that there is one buried and the women doe burne the bones saying that they are for the purgation of the Soule They which are of greatest authoritie doe an other thing with the skinne namely they cut it small into very little strings and stretching them round about the Sepulchre measure the earthe and beleeue that the dead body shall haue so much in the other worlde as his friendes do measure with his skinne and at the 30. dayes ende they make an ende of their crying and lamentation There are of the Tartars certaine that are Christians although contrary to true christianitie These take after their fathers when they waxe olde because they should dye the sooner make an end of themselues and after their deceases burne them and gather diligently the ashes which they keepe as a precious thing and therewith dayly dresse their meate And now it would be tedious to write any more of thē as also perhaps to reade with what ceremonies and solemnitie the Tartars doe choose their kinges After that any king dyeth I will shewe it you in fewe woordes all the Princes Captains and chiefe men and all the people of the realme assemble and meete together in a place appointed for that cause in the fieldes according to their custome and manner and then take him to whome the realme ought to come either by succession or election and place him in a Throne and Chaire of Gold and he sitting downe all the people with a loude voyce say in this maner We pray thee likewise wil commaund thee to be our souereigne Lord. Whervnto he aunswereth if you will haue me so it is necessary that you be redy to do any thing that I commaund you come when I cal you that you go whether so euer I send you And any that I commaund you to kill that forthwith it be done and that you put and leaue all the kingdome in our handes Immediately all aunswer So we are content Then the king saith From hence forwarde I will you to vnderstand that the word of my mouth be my sword all the people with great noyse and gladnesse confirme the same Immediatly the principal and chiefe men of the people take the king and bring him down from the royall chayre and cause him to sit vppon the ground vpon a felt layd abroade and say vnto him these wordes Looke vpwarde and knowe God and then looke downe vpon the-felt whervpon thou sittest Thou shalt vnderstand if thou gouerne the Realme well thou shalt haue all that thou wilt at thy will and if thou gouerne it ill thou shalt bee throwne down and dispossessed in such sort that that thou shalt not remaine with this poore felte where vppon thou sittest and in saying this they place him one of his wiues neere to him that is best beloued and lifting them both vp with the felt they salute and reuerence him as Emperour of all the Tartars and she as Empresse Then the new Emperour and Empresse are presented with many gifts by al the people that are vnder their Empire and

the body they put three pieces of timber leauing one to the other round about him vpon the which they hang certeine woll The men of Scithia wash not them selues but the women wash their bodyes with water and rub them selues with a plain stone shut within a peece of wood of Cypres or Ceder or incēse After they haue so washed thē selues that they begin to smel they annoynt all their body face with oyntments so they remaine very cleane shining The maner of the othe that they sweare is by the kings chayr And if they find any periured which they knowe by the diuines that haue the knowledge therof immediatly without any longer tarrying they behead him and he loseth all his goods which is giuen to such as accused him of periury There are in Scithia other people called the Massagetas towards the part of Asia neere to the Caspian sea which are like to the people of Scithia in apparell also in life by the which many beleeue that they are Scithians These fight both on horseback on foote eyther way are almost inuincible In battayle they vse arrowes launces short swords that they always carry with thē They vse much gold in their girdels in the trimming of their heads vnder their armepits in the breasts of their horses The heades of their launces arrowes be of copper There is neither Iron nor siluer among them Euery of them taketh out wife but afterward shee is common to all Howe long they liue no man hitherto could set downe any certaintie for as soone as any of them beginneth to waxe olde his kinsfolkes and friendes ●eete together and kill him and then seethe him and after sacrifice him with certeyne ●heepe and then eate of that fleshe at a ban●et which they make And this manner of death they accompt a happy kind of death And if he dye of any disease they eate him ●ot but rather bury him hold it for a gret s●me losse that he was not killed sacrifi●ed They sowe nothing in the earth but liue ●f the cattel fishes that are taken in the ●●uer Araxes and for the most parte drinke ●ilke They worship the Sunne and to it they offer sacrifice with horses saying it is the ●ightest planet therfore the lightest beast ●ight to be sacrifised to him There is ano●her sort of people called Seres who are a●ong themselues very quiet tame they 〈◊〉 from the company of al men in so much ●hat they wil haue no trafique with any strange ●eople Howbeit merchants may passe vpō●heir riuer in the same without any other ●●●ling put their merchandize to exchange ● that they buy nothing but by way of bar●●y exchange one cōmoditie for another Among this last sort there is no woman brought to answer in iudgement nor otherwise touched although shee be a wicked woman an adulteresse or theefe And as it is reported there hath beene no man put to death among them at any time for the feare reuerence which they haue to their lawes is of more strength then any other constellation or sinne They dwell at the beginning of the roundnesse of the worlde and because they liue chaste they be not afflicted with Caterpiller nor worme nor hayle nor pestilence nor any other euils The woman after shee is conceiued is neither touched nor desired of any Vncleane fleshe or forbidden none eate thereof Euery one is Iudge for him selfe according to the righteousnes of Iustice and therefore they are not chastened nor afflicted with those plagues that are vsed to come to others for their sinnes and so they liue long and ende their life without any disease There are others which are called Tauroscythas of the mountayne Tauro neare to the which they inhabite These offer in sacrifice to the virgin Ephigenia all those that come sayling to them by sea and are lost and al maner of Greekes that repaire thither and the sacrifice is in this manner After they haue made certein prayers they wound the head of the man and so kill him Others say they cast the body headlong from a great rocke because her temple standeth vpon a high rocke and they set the head vpon a stake And some say that the body is not cast downe from the rocke but that they bury it This diuell to whome they offer this sacrifice they say is Ephigenia that was daughter to king Agamemnon Their enimies whome they take they vse in this sort euery one cutteth off the head of his enimie and carryeth it to his house and setteth it vpon a staffe the greatest that he can get and then setteth it vpon his house commonly vppon the chimney and say that they set them so high to the ende their enimies may be keepers of all the house They of this coūtrey liue by robberies warres There are others called Agatirsos which are very politike vse to weare vpon their bodies great store of golde All their women are common among them for they say ●hey are al brethren of one house There is not among them any enuye nor contenti●● but are like in manners to the people of Tracia There are others called Neuros which vse the maners and lawes of the Scithians These were constrayned to leaue their countrey one yeare before the conquest of king Darius by reason of the multitude of Serpentes that breede in it They holde for a certaine trueth and sweare that euery yeare in certeine dayes they were conuerted into Wolues and afterwarde returned into the forme and shape that they were first of There are others which are called Antropophagis because they eate mens flesh whose manners and lawes are the moste rude and beastly of all others which are among men They liue vnder no maner of lawe All their trade is in cattell Their apparel is like to theirs of Scithia They haue a language proper to them selues Ther are other called Melandenos which vse to weare all their apparell blacke and therefore are so called These onely among the Scithians do eate mans fleshe In the rest they haue the manners and lawes of the people of Scithia The Budinos are another great nation and all these haue fayre eyes and the collours of their bodyes are white and red The citie that these possesse is called Gelona of the which they are called Gelonas and this is the head place of that realme They make their feastes in the honour of the god Bacchus which are called Trietericas Bacchanales from three yeares to three yeares These were Greeks in tymes past but going out of their countrey came to this region where they made their abode and euen at this daye vse parte of the Greeke language and part of the Scithians The Budinos do differ from the Gelones in their language life for these Budinos are naturalles of this countrey and al their liuing dependeth vpō the trade of cattell and these of that region vse to eate lyce

then one woman In the other they haue as many as they list or can get The manner of their buryals is not alike in all the India but diuerse and differing one from another The foremost India exceedeth the others in sumptuousnesse of their burials for they make vaultes vnder the grounde wel and cunningly wrought lay the dead body in a bed costly decked with golde and clothes verye precious In the middlemost India they burne the bodyes the firste and bestbeloued wife of him that dyeth is burned with her husbande They weepe and bewayle them that dye dyuerse kindes of wayes The Indians which are farthest within the countrey couer their heads with a sacke and some put bowes of trees by the wayes with verses written painted papers These play vpon Instruments feede the poore others there be that weepe three days for him that is dead and the kinsfolkes neighbours goe to the ●●use of the deceased and carry meate with ●hem in such sort that ther is nothing dres●●d in the dead mans house in these iii. dayes Such as bury father or mother carry a ●●tter leafe in their mouth and for the space ●f a whole yeare neuer change their appa●ell neither eate nor drinke but once a day ●either pare their nayles nor hayre of their ●ead nor beard The women bewaile such ●s dye by striking themselues vppon their ●reastes Some put in certaine vessels of gold siluer the ashes of their Princes The priestes which are called Bachales eate of 〈◊〉 beast especialy of the Oxe saying that ●e is very profitable for mā They eat ryce ●earbs fruites They take but one wife who is burned with her husbande when he ●●●th Throughout all India are founde one ●ind of Philosophers which are caled Bragmanes Astronomers also diuines They liue long yea so long vntil they come to be 300. yeares of age They vse great superstitions imaginatiōs Throughout all India they worship idols haue churches verye much like to ours paynted within with diuers figures There are in them idols of stone of gold siluer Iuorie som are 60. foote long When they enter into their temple they washe them selues with cleane water and lye downe vppon the ground and holding vp their feete and handes they praye and after kisse the earth They insence their sacrifices offer meates to their gods and after distribute them among the poore to be eaten The Chambaytas onely write in paper all the rest in leaues of trees and of them they make bookes very faire to the sight they write from aboue downewarde There are among the Indians many and diuers sortes of languages They haue a great nomber of slaues The debtor vnable to pay is driuen to serue the creditour He that is accused of any crime hauing no witnesse doth cleare him selfe by his othe only There is no pestilence in the Indias nor any other contagious diseases and for that cause there is a great multitude of people There are many kings which make an armie of more then of one Milleon of men It is sayed that in the realme of Lambry are men hauing fethers about their secrete parts both great and long like vnto Geese And in Fansur is a kinde of great trees which haue a thin rynde and vnder it is ful of meale very good of the which they make meate very excellent In all these Ilands because there is want of wine they make it of certeine trees like to Date trees of the which they breake the bowes where commeth out certeine white and red licour like 〈◊〉 wine and is very excellent to drinke and there is great store of it All those people liue beastly and haue no manner of lawe They worship the first thing that they see in the morning They eate of all dead flesh good or euill and flesh of mankinde not hauing care howe it dye In the realme of Bisina are Munkeis of diuers sortes and Vnicornes little lesser then Elephants hauing heads like to a Pigg and a long black horne in their forehead and their tongues sharpe and thornie with thornes long and great The Apes are little and haue their faces like to young children they flea them and then seeth them and dresse them with spices in such sort that there remaine no euill smell and so eate them There are in this countrey blacke valiant hawkes like to Crowes and good for the game In the same countrie when any dieth his kinsfolks eate him keepe the bones in a chest They kill all the strangers that they take and forthwith eat them if they be not redeemed The people of Nicuneya liue like beastes and go naked both men and women They vse them selues like beastes in all thinges In Nangama the people are idolaters they liue beastly and eate mans fleshe They are very cruell they haue heads like to great mastiues and teeth like to dogges teethe There is in this Ilande great quantitie of spices And departing from this countrey declyning towards the West one thousand myles which are two hundred and fiftie leages you shall come to the Iland called Saylan or Zaylan which cōtayneth in compasse three thousande myles and is the best Iland of the worlde and the richest The people are Idolaters They haue aboundance of Ryce and cattell and wine made as we haue sayde There are in it the best Rubies of the worlde and many other precious stones as Topacios Amatistas and others of diuerse sortes The king of this Ilande hath a Rubie the best of the world a spanne long and as great as an arme and as redd as fire shining without any soyle or spot The people of this countrie are very lecherous and nothing worth for the warres Neere to this Iland toward the West fourtie myles which are tenne leages there is a great prouince called Mohobar which is called the greater India This is the greatest and the best prouince in the worlde there are in it Pearles very great and fine and it is deuided into fiue realmes and all the men and women go naked sauing they carry a linnen cloth wherewith they couer their secrete places Also the king goeth naked sauing because he will be knowen he carryeth a string at his necke full of precious stones which are in nomber 54. in remembrance of so many prayers which he is bound to saye in the honour of their gods morning and euening and vpon his armes legges and feet he carryeth as manye precious stones as ●enne riche cities are worth This king hath eyght hundred women In this realme are faire women according to there fashion they paynt their faces and bodyes When the king dyeth they burne him and all such with him as kept him company in his life There is a custome in this lande that such as are condemned to death kill themselues for the loue they beare to their Idols In this countrey euery one hath as manye wyues as he can mayntayne And when the husband dyeth they