Zelima. How my heart beats!

Adelma (aside.) Mine art thou yet, beloved, I'll save thee yet. Love will find out the way.

Pantalon (to Calaf.) O, for the love of heaven, let not his

senses

Take leave of him! Courage, look up, my Prince-
O woe is me, I fear me all is over!

Tartaglia (with mock gravity to himself.)
Would dignity permit, we'd fly in
To fetch him vinegar.

person

Turandot (looking with a steady countenance on the Prince, who still stands immovable.) Unfortunate ! Thou wouldst provoke thy ruin, take it then.

Calaf (who has recovered his composure, turns with a calm smile and obeisance to Turandot.)

It was thy beauty only, heavenly Princess,
That with its blinding and o'erpowering beam
Burst on me so, and for a moment took
My senses prisoners. I am not vanquished.
That iron weapon prized of few, yet gracing
The hand of China's emperor itself,

On the first day of each returning year;

That weapon, which, more harmless than the sword,
To industry the stubborn earth subjected;-
Who, from the wildest wastes of Tartary,
Where only hunters roam, and shepherds pasture,
Could enter here, and view this blooming land,
The green and golden fields that wave around us,
Its many hundred many-peopled towns,

Blest in the calm protection of the law;

Nor reverence that goodliest instrument,

That gave these blessings birth, the gentle PLOUGH.

Pantalon. O God be praised at last! Let me embrace thee; I scarcely can contain myself for joy.

Tartaglia. God bless his majesty the Emperor! All

Is over; sorrow has an end at last.

Doctors (breaking open the packet.) The Plough, the Plough, it is the Plough!

[All the instruments join in a loud crash. Turandot sinks upon her throne in a swoon. Zelima (employed about Turandot.) Look up, my Princess. O compose thyself.

The prize is his, the lovely Prince has conquered.

Adelma. (aside,) The prize is his, and he is lost to me. Lost, said I? No. Yet there is room for hope.

[Altoum, overpowered with joy, descends from his throne, assisted by Pantalon and Tartaglia. The Doctors rise from their seats, and retire towards the background. All the doors are opened, and the people are seen without. The music continues.] Altoum (to Turandot.) No more, thank heaven, shalt thou remain my torment,

Unnatural child. The fearful penalty

Of the law is paid. Misfortune hath an end.

Come to my heart, beloved prince. With joy
I hail thee as my son-in-law.

Turandot (who has recovered her senses, rushes in desperation
from her throne, and throws herself between them.)
Stay, stay.
Let him not dare to hope to be my husband!
The trial was too easy. He must solve
Three riddles here in the divan anew.
They took me by surprise, vouchsafed me not
Time to prepare as I had wished to do.

Altoum. No, cruel daughter-thou art caught, and hope not By artful doubles to escape the toil.

The law's condition is fulfilled, and so

The assembled council shall pronounce their sentence.

Pantalon. Nay, by your leave, most stony-hearted Princess, No need to coin new riddles, nor to cut

New heads off. There-there stands your man! In brief,
The law hath had its course. The banquet waits
To have its course. What says my learned colleague?

Tartaglia. The law has had its course. No more beheading. Joy follows grief. Let marriage follow both.

Altoum. Let the procession towards the temple move; The stranger tell his name, and on the spot

The nuptials be performed.

Turandot (throwing herself in his way.) Delay, O father, A brief delay!

Altoum.

Not for an hour. I am Resolved. Ungrateful girl! Too long already, To mine own grief and torment, have I yielded A forced obedience to thy cruel will.

Thy sentence is pronounced, it stands recorded;
Writ in the blood of those ten sacrifices,

Whom thy remorseless pride hath doomed to death.
I have kept my word, do thou keep thine, or by
The sacred head of Fo, I swear-

Turandot (throws herself at his feet.) O father!
Allow me but a day.

Altoum.

No, not an hour! I'll hear no further; to the temple-on.

Turandot (despairingly). Then shall the temple be to me a grave!

I cannot, and I will not, be his bride.

I'd sooner die a thousand deaths than bend
In sad submission to this haughty man.
The very name, the very thought of being
His slave, seems in itself annihilation.

Calaf. Thou pitiless, inexorable being,
Rise up-what mortal could withstand thy tears?
(To Altoum.) Sire, be entreated. I myself implore
This favour. Grant her the delay she asks.
How could I e'er be happy while she hates me?
I love her far too tenderly to bear

Her grief, her agony. O thou insensible,
If the true love of a true heart avail not

To touch thy heart, thine let the triumph be;
Mine thou shalt never be against thy will.
But couldst thou look into this bleeding heart,
I know thou wouldst feel pity. Dost thou still
Thirst for my blood? So be it. Let the trial,
Sire, recommence. Welcome to me is death,
For now I am aweary of existence.

Altoum. No, no, it is resolved. Forth-to the temple;
Tempt me no more with prayers, imprudent youth.

Turandot. To the temple, then, but at the altar will Thy daughter know the way to die.

Calaf
Die! heavens !
No! Ere it come to that-hear me, O Emperor,
This only favour let thy kindness yield.
Let me in turn, in this august divan,
Prescribe for her a riddle to interpret.
'Tis this: What is the name and race of him,
The Prince, who, to preserve a weary life,
Was doom'd a while to drudge a lowly slave,
And now, upon the pinnacle of hope,

Is yet more hapless than he was before?
To-morrow, cruel one, in this divan
Declare this Prince's and his father's name.
If thou canst not, here let my sufferings end.
Let this dear hand be mine; but if thou canst,
Then with my life I pay the penalty.

Turandot. I am contented, Prince. On this condition
I am yours.

Zelima. I begin again to tremble.
Adelma. And I to hope anew.

Altoum.
Contented. I permit it not. The law
Shall have its due fulfilment.

Calaf (falls at his feet.) Mighty Emperor!
If prayers may move thee-if thy daughter's life
And mine be dear to thee, oh, grant the prayer!
May Heaven forbid that I in aught oppose
Her pleasure: If she wills it, let me die.
To-morrow, if she can, in the divan
Let her resolve my riddle.

Turandot.

Heavens! he dares To mock me, dares to set me at defiance!

Altoum. Unthinking youth, thou know'st not what thou ask'st; Know'st not her depth and subtilty of soul. But be it so. Let this new trial be!

I free her of her pledge, if that to-morrow
In the divan she can declare those names.

But come what may, at least no more of murder.
Let her succeed or fail, thou shalt depart

In peace; too much of blood has flowed already.
Follow me, thoughtless Prince-what hast thou done?

[The march recommences._ ALTOUм goes out majestically by one door, with the PRINCE, PANTALON, TARTAGLIA, the DOCTORS, and the GUARD; TURANDOT, ADELMA, ZELIMA, and the female slaves on the other.

Gozzi's Turandot.

1893.]
rects her to use every effort to get
possession of the secret. She even
resists the entreaties of her father,
to whom, in the meantime, the infor-
mation of Calaf's name and rank has
been accidentally communicated,
and who offers to impart to her the
secret, so as to ensure her triumph
in the divan, if she will only pledge
herself to give her hand to Calaf at
last. Pride still prevails over affec-
tion, she rejects her father's offer,
and throws herself upon the inven-
tion and enterprise of Adelma.

cuses Turandot of a plot to murder him next morning on his way to the divan. Even this cannot cure the passion of the unfortunate Prince; he continues to love, even while he shudders at the supposed barbarity of his beautiful idol. But, in the vehemence of his agonized feelings, the names of his father and himself

With this view every scheme is
put in requisition. For security's
sake, Calaf has been by the Empe-
ror's directions removed to the pa-
lace, and strict orders given that no
one should be admitted to his apart-
ments. He has laid himself weary
and anxious on his couch, in hopes
of being able, by rest, to compose
himself for the agitating scene of the
morrow. His rest, however, is soon
broken, for the guards have been
corrupted by the agency of Adelma.
First Skirina endeavours to extract
the secret from him by a feigned
tale of his father's danger, and his
anxiety to receive from him a note
written with his own hand. This
shallow device, however, Calaf im-
mediately penetrates, and Skirina is
soon dismissed. Her daughter Ze-
lima, who succeeds her, fares no
better. The poor tormented Prince
has again thrown himself on his
couch, when his slumbers are in-
terrupted a third time by the en-
trance of a more formidable tempter,
Adelma. She discloses her name,
her rank, her passion, and urges
every possible motive to induce
Calaf to abandon his hopeless pas-
sion; but in vain. Calaf feels gra-
titude to her, but to love his heart is
inaccessible. She even at last ac-

the hapless Timur, and yet more hapless Calaf-escape him. Adelma is now in possession of his secret. Finding every argument vain, she leaves him to communicate it to her mistress. And now, as Calaf fondly hopes that his interruptions are at an end, and that tired nature's sweet restorer is to be his for an hour or two, the officers of the seraglio enter, to say that daybreak is at hand, and that he must prepare for the divan. A rapid and almost breathless interest pervades this act, from which we should have most willingly quoted, if we had not already indulged at such length, and if the catastrophe of the story-the scene in the divan did not yet remain.

The fifth act opens in the divan. Calaf expresses his surprise that he has reached it without the threatened attempt being made upon his life; but a deep feeling of anxiety and despondency rests on his mind, which all his efforts, and the encouragement of the Emperor, cannot enable him to shake off. Some presentiment within seems to forewarn him that Turandot has discovered his secret. At this moment a melancholy march is heard, and the Princess, with her attendants, all in the deepest mourning, enter the hall. Turandot ascends her throne, amidst profound silence and deep anxiety among the audience, then turns to Calaf, and speaks.

These mourning garments, UNKNOWN PRINCE-the grief
That clouds the countenances of my train,
To thee may seem a welcome spectacle.
I see the altar all bedeck'd, the priest
Stand ready for the bridal. I can read
Scorn in each look, and I could weep for bitterness.
What art and deepest science could effect,
To win the conquest from thee,-to avert
This hour which shames my glory, I have tried
In vain, and now I bend me to my fate.

Calaf. Could Turandot but read my heart, and see
How much her sorrow overcasts my joy,
Her wrath would be disarmed. Was it a crime
To strive for such a prize? Would it not be
A greater still to yield it like a coward?

Altoum. She is unworthy of thy condescension,
O Prince. 'Tis now her turn to yield; and whether
She yield with graceful dignity, or struggle
With all her sex's waywardness-the nuptials
Shall straight proceed. What, ho! Let joyful music
Proclaim to all-
Turandot.

[Rising and turning to Calaf.

Patience, not quite so fast.
My triumph is complete. I did but raise
Thy heart unto the pinnacle of hope,
That I might plunge it deeper in despair.
[Slowly, and with an elevated voice.

Hear, CALAF, TIMUR'S SON;-Quit this divan.
Both names my deep invention hath discovered.
Go seek another bride, and woe to thee
And all that dare contend with Turandot.

Calaf. O miserable me!
Altoum.

Gods! is it possible?

Pantalon. O holy Catharine!
Tartaglia.

By the head of Fo,

My wits are at a stand.

Calaf. All lost-all hope for ever gone!-Ah! where,
Where shall I turn for comfort? None can help me.
I am myself the suicide; I lose

My love because I loved her all too well.
Why did I not, of purpose, fail to solve

The enigmas? Then my head to-day had found
A quiet pillow on the lap of death,
This suffocating heart a breathing room.
Why, gracious Emperor, wouldst thou mitigate
For me the bloody ordinance of the law,

That with my head I might have paid the forfeit,
If she had solved the enigma. Then at last

She had been satisfied, and I at rest.

[A murmur of disapprobation among the people in the background. Altoum. Calaf, my tottering age can bear no more;

This unexpected thunderstroke has crushed me.

Turandot (aside to Zelima.) His silent anguish moves me, Zelima, No longer can I steel my heart against him.

Zelima (aside to Turandot.) O yield thee, then, at once. See

there the people

Already grow impatient.

Adelma (in extreme agitation.) Life and death Depend upon this moment.

Calaf.

But what needs
The sword of the law to end a life already
Intolerable?

[He advances to the throne of Turandot. Yes, relentless Princess!

Here stands that Calaf whom thou knowest,-that Calaf
Whom as a nameless stranger thou didst hate.
And now, no longer nameless, hatest still.
Now, cruel Princess, thou shalt have thy will.
I will no longer with my presence darken
The sun to thee. Here-at thy feet-

[Draws a dagger and is about to stab himself. At the same moment ADELMA makes a motion to prevent him, and Turandot rushes from her throne.

Turandot, (falling upon his arm with a look of terror and love.) Oh! Calaf!

[Both continue for some time immovable, and gazing on each other. Altoum. What do I see?