"Are you fully aware that my daughter - for reasons that make sense to her alone - has stipulated that any suitor must correctly answer three riddles of her posing before she will marry? And that any man who fails." Here the Emperor leaned forward and lowered his voice, "will be put in chains and delivered to the place of execution." "Son, you are clearly of noble, perhaps royal birth," said the Emperor. "Sire," said Prince Calaf, "with all due respect I believe I can win the hand of your daughter." "Can it be true," sighed the Emperor, "that the dust has barely settled outside from the procession and yet another suitor stands before me to seek the hand of my daughter?" At the far end of the room was a high throne made of pure silver in the shape of a dragon, and perched on a silken cushion was the Emperor himself. The door opened to a magnificent royal hall draped on all sides with shimmering rich silks from floor to ceiling. At that moment the door opened, and two pages led Prince Calaf down a wide corridor that ended at a golden double door. He answered, saying, "The two Stationaries are Heaven and Earth and the two Moveables are the Sun and the Moon the two Conjoineds are Night and Day and the twain which are eternal foes are Life and Death." Said she, "Inform me of the two Stationaries and the two Moveables and the two Conjoineds and the twain which are eternal Foes." He thought for a moment, then said, "Now that tree is the year, and its twelve branches are the dozen months, while the thirty leaves upon each of these are the thirty light days and the thirty dark nights." "Then," said she, "my lady directs you to inform her what may be the tree bearing a dozen branches, each branch covered with thirty leaves and each leaf having two colors, one half white and the other black?" If you are not, you will be permitted to leave now and no harm will come to you. "You must first answer two preliminary questions to see if you are worthy to appear in the royal throne room before the Emperor and the Princess and receive her three riddles. "I am a maidservant of the Princess Turandot," said the old woman with pride. After awhile, the chamberlain returned and led the young prince through a wide hallway to a room where an old woman sat. Prince Calaf announced that he would answer the princess' three riddles. With fire in his heart, he strode to the castle door and knocked.Ī chamberlain wearing a golden helmet opened the door. "Not you, too! I should have known better than to show this to you! I beg you, do not dare to approach this princess, for she has already slain fourscore and nineteen others!"īut Prince Calaf was never more certain of anything. "Oh, no!" said the old man, snatching back the portrait. He was seized with a feeling of confidence that if 99 other suitors had failed before him, that he would be the one to succeed. Calaf sensed in the eyes of Princess Turandot something deeper, something riveting. "See for yourself!" said he, and he took from his pocket a small water-color portrait of the princess. "Is she really as wonderful as all that?" said Prince Calaf. Such a waste of young life, and for what?" And the 99th just passed before us, all of them sons of kings and other noblemen. If the poor soul cannot answer her riddles correctly, he is put in chains and led to the place of execution. His daughter is no doubt the most magnificent young woman of the land, yet she has taken it upon herself never to marry, unless to someone who can answer three riddles that she poses to them. Here in this city we are fortunate to be ruled by a king of exalted dignity. "You must be a stranger," said the old man, "or you would know. "What do you mean?" said Calaf, as the procession passed. "Ah, to see this happen yet again!" wailed the man, dabbing his eyes with his handerchief. "What's going on?" whispered Calaf to an old man beside him as the procession passed to a slow marching drumbeat. Leading the procession was a man whose hands were bound in chains behind him, and whose head was bowed low. So he journeyed eastward until he arrived at China, He went straightaway to its capital city, called Peking in those days, and today is known as Beijing.Īs he approached the castle gates, a procession approached from the distance. In the meantime, young Calaf decided to seek adventure in faraway lands.
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