Turandot, Princess of China: A Chinoiserie in Three Acts

What man is this again, who fondly hopes To penetrate the darkness of my riddles In spite of warnings manifold and grim? What man comes speeding after dead men's heels, And asks...

When your ill-fated army fought and lost Before the gates of Astrakhan, and fled Close followed by the Sultan of Taschkent, Who, barbarous, o'er the battlefield careered, I in m...

(_The gate is thrown open._ TRUFFALDINO, _leading the eunuchs_; _then, between_ PANTALONE _and_ TARTAGLIA, _the_ PRINCE OF SAMARKAND; _behind them, at the head of his pages,_ BR...

TURANDOT, ADELMA, ZELIMA, TRUFFALDINO, EUNUCHS, SLAVES. _The foregoing._ (_To the strains of a gloomy march_ TURANDOT _appears_. _Before her proceed eunuchs._ _Her whole escort...

Sire, The edict serves not save for sons of Kings. If I by help of Heaven should solve the riddles, And then were found to be of base extraction, Let my head pay for it. My body...

O moment I have sighed for long! O love, That lendest cunning courage unto me! And Fortune, thou that through all obstacles Hast led me hither: help a lovesick maid! Oh, bring m...

Torture me not. That is the very reason... I am ashamed to say that it is so.... But there are other feelings strange to me.... I seem to shiver both with heat and frost.... No,...

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-fortun...

(_To the strains of music enter from the left the Imperial Guards, thereupon the eight doctors, behind them_ PANTALONE, TARTAGLIA, _finally_ ALTOUM, _at whose entrance all prost...

Well, thank God! he's gone to sleep at last. 'Sh! 'Sh! (_In the front of the stage before the footlights._) As my poor old mother used to say, "A good name is worth a fortune."...

The sublime Divan will assemble immediately, and then they'll all sit on 'em--the Emperor on the Great Throne, the Princess on the Little Throne, and the Doctors on the eight cu...

I tell you: woman's loveliness hath never Fettered even for a second's space my eyes, Much less my heart: I mean the loveliness Of _living_ women. And now a daub or so, Cast on...

By your leave, my dearest Royal Highness, I had not previously noticed that there was any screw loose under your turban. Your conduct so far had led me, I trust not misled me, t...

_The great hall of the imperial Divan. In the "background, covered by a curtain, an altar with a Chinese idol; two priests standing beside it._ ALTOUM _on his throne, the doctor...

(_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,...

You speak the truth. And yet: you are the first That ever touched it. You believe me not, And yet it is quite true. She says she hates you, And she already loves you. May the ea...

Ass! you're going to have a fine time of it, you old baa-baa. And I'll help you. Against all the rules of etiquette and good breeding, I condescend to introduce you alive into t...

Dost thou on all my misery Heap reprimands, Hassan! I have done my duty To the uttermost. I might, indeed, have summoned His father hither, if there _had_ been time; But there w...

There still is time. I offer you again This dish of gold, if you will speak the names. If you refuse, I'll have you whipped to death. Come hither, slaves!

(_From the right the sounds of a march with kettledrums and tambourines._ _First appears_ TRUFFALDINO, _shouldering his broadsword, at the head of his eunuchs_. _After them a tr...

What orders? Eh? I haven't got any orders. The only order I've got is to escort you to the Divan. Double quick! The Emperor has already combed his beard and may appear in the Di...

Why, For sheer delight because the unknown Prince Had won the game; a little, too, because I itched to hear how the proud tigress took it, I ran to see Zelima in the harem.

(_Stepping in front of the footlights._) I am Prince Calaf, 'sh! Nobody must know my name. Calaf--I don't mind telling _you_. My father is Timur, once the mighty King of Astrakh...

But seeing that in all Pekin no man Knows me, save you, and since my country lies A hundred days of journeying from here, And when you think we have been wanderers O'er the eart...

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 f...

My poverty has nothing else to show Its gratitude. I pray you, if you will, Give something of it to the Heavenly Powers That they protect me. And something to the poor, That the...

What is this fellow warning me against? Who is to visit me? Well, I can fight, Yea, fight the very devil, if he come. My thoughts are all for her. Short time remains Of fearing...