I know I can do it!" So he went
back to Lisbon to try.
Certain it is that Columbus's absorbing interest in the unknown,
mysterious west dates from his returning to Lisbon to live. Not only did
he talk earnestly with men who had interests in the Atlantic isles, he
studied all the available geographical works. Before the time came to
leave for Spain he had read the wonderful "Relation" (or Narrative) of
Marco Polo; the "Imago Mundi" (Image of the World) by Cardinal d'Ailly;
the "Historia Rerum" (History of Things) by Pope Pius II.; and he had
studied Ptolemy's "Geography." From this small library came all the
scientific knowledge, true and false, that Christopher ever had. From
these he built up whatever theories of the universe he may have laid
before the sovereigns of Spain.
Marco Polo, the Venetian, had traveled, as every one knows, across Asia
to Cathay (China) in the thirteenth century and had visited the Great
Khan or Emperor. On his return he wrote the "Relation," a most
exaggerated but fascinating account of the wealth of that remote land
and of Cipango (Japan) also, which the Chinese had told him about. The
"Imago Mundi" was certainly better reading for him, because less
exaggerated; whatever myths and fables it contained, it was not the sort
of book to turn a young man's thoughts toward amassing wealth.
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