Il Milione: an Italian graded reader at level B2
Marco Polo · adapted by Alessio Insegnante · CEFR level B2
Marco Polo's classic (~1298), rewritten for learners of Italian at level B2: calibrated sentences, footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions in every chapter.
Ebook $4.99 · also in 6×9 paperback
Look inside: the first page
CAPITOLO 1
La prigione di Genova
The Prison of Genoa
L'anno era il 1298, e la guerra tra Venezia e Genova durava da un pezzo. In una battaglia navale al largo di Curzola i genovesi presero una galea veneziana, e in quella galea c'era un uomo di nome Marco Polo, mercatante di quarantaquattro anni, tornato appena tre anni prima da un viaggio di ventiquattro anni in Oriente.1
Fu portato a Genova incatenato con gli altri. La sua prigionia cominciò così: senza pompa, come per ogni prigioniero d'importanza media in una guerra fra due repubbliche marinare.
mercatante = merchant, trader · prigionia = captivity, imprisonment
1 Marco è tornato a Venezia nel 1295 dopo ventiquattro anni assenti; nel 1298 combatte contro Genova come sopracomito di una galea. Tre anni: giusto il tempo per riabituarsi. E poi la battaglia lo separa di nuovo dalla città che aveva riconquistato.
Chapter 1 · CEFR B2 · 16 words of the real textGet the book on Amazon ↗︎
The plot of Il Milione
In 1271 the young Marco Polo leaves Venice with his father and uncle, both merchants, bound for the East. After years of travel along the Silk Road he reaches the court of Kublai Khan, Great Khan of the Mongols, who takes him into his service for almost twenty years.
Deserts, fabulous cities, paper money, stones that burn: Marco dictates his memories to his fellow prisoner Rustichello da Pisa, in a cell in Genoa. Thus was born the most famous travel book of the Middle Ages, part chronicle, part wonder.
Why read Il Milione to learn Italian
The short chapters work like travel cards: each one a city, a people, a wonder, perfect for focused reading sessions. The vocabulary of geography and trade is useful and concrete, and the passato remoto is introduced in consistently clear contexts.
Inside the glossary
Glossary
- Cambaluc · Cambaluc, Khanbaliq, Beijing ((sin. Khanbaliq, Pechino))
- Nome medievale di Khanbaliq («la città del Kane») , la capitale imperiale che sorgeva dove oggi è Pechino.
- Medieval name of Khanbaliq, the imperial capital that stood where Beijing is today.
- Kublai had it built in stone as a sign of his power. Marco describes it square, with twelve gates, huge markets, a palace at the centre. It is not a steppe city: it is a sedentary capital that a nomad wanted, to leave a trace. Kublai's paradox in a single name.
- Catai · Cathay, northern China ((sin. Cina del nord, Catay))
- Nome medievale della Cina del nord, sotto il dominio mongolo. Deriva dai Khitani, popolo di steppa che governò la regione prima dei mongoli.
- Medieval name of northern China under Mongol rule; became for Europe a synonym for China.
- Cathay for Marco is the country of Kublai, his seat of power. For Europe it becomes synonymous with China. For centuries cartographers will draw «Cathay» to the north and «Mangi» (southern China) as two different countries. They were one and the same: only, Marco had known them separated.
- Chandu · Xanadu, Shangdu ((sin. Xanadu, Shangdu))
- Xanadu, la residenza estiva di Coblai. Un palazzo di canne dorate, smontabile, dentro un parco murato di quindici miglia.
- Kublai's summer residence, a palace of gilded canes within a walled park of fifteen miles.
- In the West the name has become legend: Coleridge in 1797, in a dream, turned it into poetry. Marco had seen it for real: white horses, hunting with the leopard, the ceremony of milk poured to the wind for the spirits. The first Xanadu in European history is his.
- Cinghis Kane · Genghis Khan ((sin. Gengis Khan, condottiero))
- Il primo grande Kane dei mongoli, fondatore dell'impero (1162 ca.–1227). Nel testo italiano medievale il nome ha molte grafie: Cinghis, Cinghiscan, Chinghis.
- The first great Khan of the Mongols, founder of the empire (c. 1162–1227).
- Marco cites Genghis as the ancestor of Kublai: from him comes the empire the book describes. By the thirteenth century his figure was already legend, and Marco receives him as a told story: he never saw him. The many spellings in the medieval text (Cinghis, Cinghiscan, Chinghis) show a name travelling by ear, from mouth to mouth, before it ever reached paper.
The glossary contains 60 entries in all
Inside this reader
CEFR adaptation
The text is fully rewritten for level B2, with controlled vocabulary and syntax, while staying faithful to the original plot.
Footnotes and glossary
Footnotes on difficult words and a final glossary, so you can read independently without a dictionary.
Comprehension questions
Every chapter ends with questions to check understanding, just like in class.
Paperback and ebook
6×9 paperback on cream paper, or Kindle ebook. The same text also lives in the ti app.
Language focus: what you practise
In this level-B2 edition you mainly practise the imperfect and past subjunctive, hypothetical clauses of possibility, the passive and indirect speech. The vocabulary revolves around travel, trade and geography: the key words, with translations, are in the glossary below and recur throughout the text, so you learn them in context.
About the author: Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254–1324), a Venetian merchant, crossed Asia all the way to China and came back to tell the tale. For centuries readers wavered between belief and doubt: today Il Milione is considered a precious source on the medieval world.
Details and difficulty level
B2 is upper-intermediate Italian: complex syntax, subjunctive and conditional structures, shades of register. This reader suits learners who already read in Italian and want to tackle the great classics with structured support. Format: 6×9 paperback on cream paper or Kindle ebook; 20 chapters with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions. Paperback ISBN: 9798187928996. All level B2 books →︎
Essential glossary (Italian · English · Dutch)
| Italian | English | Dutch |
|---|---|---|
| il mercante | merchant | de koopman |
| il viaggio | journey | de reis |
| la seta | silk | de zijde |
| il deserto | desert | de woestijn |
| la corte | court | het hof |
| la meraviglia | wonder | de verwondering |
| la moneta | coin | de munt |
| la prigione | prison | de gevangenis |
Frequently asked questions
What level of Italian do I need to read Il Milione?
This edition of Il Milione is rewritten for CEFR level B2. B2 is upper-intermediate Italian: complex syntax, subjunctive and conditional structures, shades of register. This reader suits learners who already read in Italian and want to tackle the great classics with structured support.
Is this Marco Polo's original text?
No, it is an adaptation: the plot and spirit of Marco Polo's original remain, but vocabulary and syntax are rewritten for level B2, with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions at the end of every chapter.
Which formats is it available in?
Paperback (6×9, cream paper) and Kindle ebook on Amazon. The ebook is $4.99. The same text also lives in the 
amo Italian app, with vocabulary translated into 17 languages.
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Il Milione also lives inside the ti app, with tap-to-translate vocabulary in 17 languages and animated scenes. On the site you'll also find 700+ free Italian exercises and the blog for Italian learners.
