TURANDOT.
TURANDOT.
What will Adelma do? If I should win,
Who would be greater then than Turandot?
Who then would dare to challenge her again?
Ah! what a joy, to cast the names to-morrow
Into his face, and drive him from my presence,
Shamed, disappointed! Not pure joy, perhaps....
I see him weeping, sad, depressed.... I feel
Something like pity at the thought of it....
Stay, Turandot, thou little soul, what thought
Is this thou harbourest now! Did he show pity,
When he in the Divan had solved the riddles?
Did he not make thee red with rage and shame?
Heaven, help Adelma now, and help me, Heaven,
To annihilate him utterly! Help me now
To guard my virgin freedom, succour me
Against the coarse and domineering sex!
SCENE VIII
ALTOUM, PANTALONE, TARTAGLIA, GUARDS, TURANDOT.
ALTOUM (meditatively, aside, reading letter).
So Fate at last has stricken that bloody robber,
The Sultan of Tashkent. And the same fate
Brings, by strange dispensation, Timur's son,
Calaf, to us, and to a great good-fortune.
Who dares to penetrate Thy mysteries,
Just Heaven?
PANTALONE (whispering to TARTAGLIA).
What the devil is the old gentleman always
drivelling about now?
TARTAGLIA (whispering).
A secret messenger has arrived. Hell's loose somewhere.
ALTOUM (stepping up to TURANDOT).
Child, the night is almost gone,
And, sleepless yet, you wander to and fro,
Seeking to know-something you cannot know.
I, who have nowise sought, have found it out:
You seek, and know it not.
(Shows her the letter.)
Both names are writ
Upon this sheet. From countries far away
A secret rider bore it even now,
With other tidings, grave and full of joy.
The messenger I hold in custody
Until to-morrow night. Your unknown suitor
Is of a truth a prince, and a King's son.
You will not, cannot guess the names. My child,
It is a father's pity brings me here:
Why will you once again, this day that dawns,
Have yourself put to shame before a crowd,
Suffering the cruel malice of their hate?
(Makes signs to PANTALONE and TARTAGLIA
to leave him alone. Exeunt both with
the GUARDS.)
Leave us alone! I hold it in my hand
To spare you all.
TURANDOT (wavering).
To spare me what? I thank you,
Father. I have no need of any help.
In my own wits I have my best defence.
ALTOUM.
You are now at your wits' end; you know it, too.
A desperate confusion fills your eyes.
We are alone with one another now.
Come, tell your father! Do you know the names?
TURANDOT.
You will know that in the Divan to-morrow.
ALTOUM.
Listen, my child. You do not know these names.
But if you do, trust in my love and say.
Then I will let the poor man know, and see
That he shall quit my lands without delay,
And we will have it noised abroad that you
Have conquered him, and spared him public shame.
Thus you escape the hatred of the crowd.
Will you deny your father this light boon?
TURANDOT.
I know the names.... I do not know the names....
Did he show any pity when he won?
Now let him bear what I myself have borne.
If I do know the names, I shall announce them
To-morrow to the crowd in the Divan.
ALTOUM (makes first a gesture of impatience and
then forces himself to be calm.)
All that he did was done in love, my daughter,
And in a game played for his head. Now bid
Ambition leave your heart, and anger too,
And let me show you how a father loves.
I pledge my head you do not know the names.
I have them here—and I will tell you them.
To-morrow then you may in the Divan
Put him to shame and contumely, and see
His anguish and his torture call for death,
Because with you he loses all he loved.
And only one thing do I crave: when you
Have fed your vengeance on him to the full,
Reach him your hand and be his willing wife.
Swear it; we are alone. Then have the names.
And all shall be a secret, mine and yours.
TURANDOT (uncertain and excited, aside).
What shall I do? Depend upon Adelma?
Or shall I let my father tell the names,
And bow my head to the yoke?... Less is the shame,
Beyond all doubt, to yield to one's own father.
But what if wise Adelma had succeeded
Already, and my oath had been too soon?
ALTOUM.
Why will you rack your brains when all is clear?
Let not irresolution harry you!
Would you still have me think you know the names?
Child, be persuaded!
TURANDOT (aside).
No, I will wait for Adelma.
My father urges me. This is a sign
The mystery is not impenetrable.
He is in league with that strange man, and seeks
To talk me over.
ALTOUM.
Hesitate no longer!
Make up your mind! Rein in your rearing pride!
Torture yourself no more.
TURANDOT.
I am resolved.
Call the Divan together in good time.
I have no more to say.
ALTOUM.
You are resolved
Rather to yield to force than to your father!
TURANDOT.
I am resolved to fight.
ALTOUM (in a rage).
Fool without heart!
I will indeed call the Divan together
To be your temple and your altar too.
And I will summon priests, to celebrate
Your marriage while a crowd looks on and mocks.
Yea, have your will, you stupid fool! Good night.
(Exit.)
SCENE IX
Scene shifted. A magnificent apartment with several doors. In the middle of the room an Oriental divan, which serves CALAF as a bed. Deep night.
BRIGELLA, CALAF.
BRIGELLA.
(With a candlestick in his hand.) Three hundred
and seventy-seven, three hundred and
seventy-eight, three hundred and seventy-nine.
It's already three o'clock in the morning, your
Royal Highness, and you've walked now exactly
three hundred and eighty times from one corner
of the room to the other. To be quite frank, I'm
done up, and if you would lie down a little,
it would do us both good. You're in safety here.
CALAF.
Yes, you are right. But my excited mind
Gives me no peace. Forgive me! Leave me!
Go!
BRIGELLA.
I should like to give you a piece of advice,
my dearest Royal Highness: if a ghost pays
you a visit, be prudent, be prudent; try to be prudent.
CALAF.
Ghosts, do you say? What ghosts? Is the place haunted?
BRIGELLA.
Well.... H'm.... We have the most
stringent orders to admit nobody, under penalty
of death. H'm.... Poor servants we are, poor
servants! The Emperor is the Emperor, you
understand, but the Princess, she is the Empress,
so to speak. Poor servants... it's hard to have
to pick your way between two puddles. Not
half! If you only knew it, we've always got
our heads between the hammer and the anvil.
We don't want to get into anybody's bad graces.
I'm sure you understand me. And a man wants
to put something aside for his old days. And
so you see we poor devils are in the hell of a
hole. Not half!
CALAF.
What are you driving at? Is my life in danger?
BRIGELLA.
I won't say that; but you are aware of the
blessed interest people about here take in your
name. By way of example it might possibly
happen that a hobgoblin or a fairy steps in
through the keyhole and leads you into temptation.
Keep a tight rein on your five senses, that's
all. You see what I mean, don't you? Poor
servants we people! Poor devils! Not half!
CALAF.
Go. Have no fear. I stand upon my guard.
BRIGELLA.
(Slapping him on the back.) That's right, your
Highness, that's right. I commend myself to
your most gracious protection. (Aside.) I have
heard that some people can find it in their hearts
to refuse a purse of florins. I have done my
very best, but I can't find it in my heart. So
help me, God! A man can only do what he can
do. I can't do it; no, I can't do it.
(Exit.)