_ 378 _ game at which they are so good that they amaze foreigners who come to play. They are so also very musical and like singing. They are well turned-out and wear clothes of silk, camel-hair, brocade and cotton. They always, both in peace and war, carry dangerous weapons. The merchants, many of whom are very rich and powerful, sell their merchandise by weight, even linen, and anyone who falsifies the weight or measure is punished without mercy, this crime being regarded as so great that it is abhorred above all others, as it is said to be against the interests of the State. There are so many concerned with learning that a house has been specially built in the city, where every day a man of letters come to read the Chronicles and History of Alexander and Darius and others, both ancient and modern, as well as books of doctrine. Many men, old and young, come to listen to these readings which is most praise worthy. It would seem that the venetians have adopted the idea, or perhaps they took the idea from the Venetians, as in Venice, which is no more than five leagues from Padua, that famous university, the same thing is done with two readings a day being made in public places, one on philosophy and the other in the humanities and history.
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