The Boy Who Walked to China

Have you ever heard about the boy who walked all the way from Europe to China? It may sound impossible, but such a boy really existed. His name was Marco Polo. He was born in Venice in 1254. His father and uncle had already been to China once, and when they decided to go there again, they took Marco with them. He was about fifteen years old at the time.

They had to travel across high mountains, through hot deserts and regions where the cold was terrible.

For more than three years, they journeyed through those dangerous places until at last they reached China. Kublai Khan, the great ruler of China, already knew Marco's father and uncle and was glad to see them again.

Kublai Khan liked Marco very much because he was quick, clever and curious. He learned fast and remembered everything he saw. There was a lot to see in China. At that time, people in China already used paper money and knew how to print books.

When Marco Polo returned to Europe, he wrote a book about what he had seen in China. Many people in Europe did not believe him. They could not imagine such a large and rich country with millions of people.

In China, Marco saw coal for the first time. In his book he wrote, "In China there are stones that can burn." "If you put these stones on the fire, the room becomes as warm as in summer."

He also described powdered milk: "People in China know how to make milk dry." "They leave it in the sun and after a few days it becomes a grey powder." "When someone is away from home for a long time, he takes this powder with him." "When he is hungry, he mixes the powder with water and it becomes milk again."

Marco Polo learned quickly and within a few years could speak five languages. He was so able that Kublai Khan began to send him as an ambassador to other countries. Each time Marco returned, he told the Khan everything about the places he had visited — how people lived and how they worked. The emperor had never had such a clever envoy before, and he rewarded Marco, his father and his uncle with riches.

They lived and worked in China for twenty-three years, but eventually they wanted to go home to Venice. Kublai Khan was sorry to let them go, but he gave them many valuable gifts and allowed them to leave. The journey back to Venice was long and dangerous. To protect their treasures, the three men sewed many diamonds into the linings of their old and dirty clothes.

When they returned to Venice, people did not want to believe that they had been to China. Nobody wanted to listen to their stories. Even Marco's mother was angry because they talked about their riches while wearing old, shabby clothes.

One morning, Marco's father came home in a panic: his wife had given the old Chinese clothes — with the diamonds sewn inside — to a poor man. Marco's father sat on a stone in the busiest street of Venice and began to sing, "If God wills, he will come. If God wills, he will come."

People thought Marco Polo was mad, and crowds came to see him. On the third day, an old man wearing those clothes appeared. Marco recognized him at once, took him home, and at a dinner that night, Marco, his father and his uncle cut open their coats. Diamonds fell out and filled the table.

After that evening, people began to listen to Marco Polo's stories about China, though some details still seemed unbelievable. Today we know that most of Marco Polo's accounts were true, and his book remains an important record of the world he visited.