Act 3 — [2]Scene I: An anteroom in the harem. Night.
Reading edition
[2]Scene I: An anteroom in the harem. Night.
In the centre of the columned room is a table, on which—softly illumined—stands a large crystal bowl, filled with swimming gold fishes.
Nearby, Turandot sits weeping, Zelima beside her. Outside, the shrill voice of Punchinello is heard singing to the twang of stringed instruments:
O Lady, Lady, let fall your tears
No more, no more, for foolish fears,
But let in your true playfellow;
For Sorrow’s a thief
Brings Love to grief,
But a merry heart makes him mellow,
And a merry heart, O, a merry heart
Never yet kept fond lovers apart,
Nor pinched the shoe of their Punchinello.
TURANDOT
[Savagely]
Drive them away, Zelima! Drive them away!
84PUNCHINELLO, SCARAMOUCHE, AND PANTALOON
[Singing together outside]
And a merry heart, O, a merry heart
Never yet kept fond lovers apart!
ZELIMA
[Going to the door, puts her head out]
Begone!
[She returns to Turandot. The twanging outside decreases, but still continues]
Take courage, Lady.
TURANDOT
Oh, I have lost
Courage and faith and kindness. All is dark—
Dark and disgrace.
ZELIMA
’Tis no disgrace to win
A husband.
TURANDOT
Win him!—To be tricked and sold
In slavery to one I love not—lose
The one I love, and truckle to the word
Of an upstart—a false, masquing popinjay
Of an emperor!—Yet, no disgrace! Ah me,
85Why did your little dagger fail me? Now
I have no pluck of soul to try once more.
ZELIMA
The gods forbid! ’Twere very wicked, Lady:
And him, that saved you, and gave back your freedom
So gentlemanly!
TURANDOT
Ha! and caught me again
With his own riddle! Heaven, I hate him. Yet—
Zelima, did you see his eyes?
ZELIMA
[Nodding]
Most strangelike
They were.
TURANDOT
I must not think upon his eyes,
Or I might hate him less. No, only one
Of all men wears the gazes which I love,
And he is lost to me.
ZELIMA
Why lost, my Lady?
The emperor promised you to search the city
And find your beggar.
86TURANDOT
Capo’s promises
Are like himself—all lies. Nay, I must answer
This false Khan’s riddle, or be doomed to-morrow.
But how?—“His true-born name, his father’s fame—”
Where shall I find the clue? Ah, heartless fate
And stony hearted men!
THE VOICE OF PUNCHINELLO
[Sings outside to the instruments]
O Lady, Lady, lift up your moan
No more, no more ’gainst hearts of stone,
But let in your blithe playfellow!
TURANDOT
[Wildly]
Go! Stop them!
THE VOICE OF PUNCHINELLO
For a stubborn will
Makes Love to be ill,
But a merry heart makes him well, O!
And a merry heart—
ZELIMA
[Opening the door]
Stop
Your noises!
87PUNCHINELLO
[Outside]
—O, a merry heart
Never yet kept fond lovers apart,
Nor tweaked the nose of their Punchinello.
ZELIMA
Cease! Her royal highness orders—
PUNCHINELLO, SCARAMOUCHE AND PANTALOON
[Pushing past Zelima, enter the room bearing bright Chinese lanterns, and singing in chorus]
A merry heart, O, a merry heart
Never yet kept fond lovers apart!
[Joined by Harlequin, they pause together before Turandot and, pointing simultaneously their left toes, strike sharply their instruments with a sweeping bow]
TURANDOT
What fresh presumption of your brazen lord
Is this?
PUNCHINELLO
This is our homage, Lady, Lady!
88[Thrumming their instruments again,
they accompany a dance of Harlequin,
who by his pantomime indicates
to Turandot the bowl of gold fishes,
while Punchinello lilts shrilly:]
And thus our Harlequin: He’s showing
How all our hearts be overflowing
With little, lovely, golden wishes
For your delight—as fine as fishes!
TURANDOT
Go—go!
[Harlequin draws back]
Why have you come?
PUNCHINELLO
To celebrate
Our lord Sir Capo’s great discovery.
PANTALOON
[Mysteriously]
He’s found.
TURANDOT
Who’s found?
SCARAMOUCHE
[Darkly]
By the yawn of Jonah’s whale,
We have disbellied him from Pekin’s maw
And blackest hollowness.
89PUNCHINELLO
He’s trapped, my Lady!
TURANDOT
[Chafing]
Will you tell who?
PUNCHINELLO
[In a loud whisper]
The beggar.
SCARAMOUCHE AND PANTALOON
[Sepulchrally]
Hush!
TURANDOT
[Faintly]
A beggar!
SCARAMOUCHE
[Speaks at her ear]
The louse-gray mongrel with the chalkish beard—
We’ve got him kennelled, ha!
TURANDOT
An old man?
PANTALOON
[Nodding]
Pickled!
90TURANDOT
Alas! What are these tidings? Have you searched
Only to find an old poor man?
CAPO.
[Who has entered behind them]
They found
Your beggar’s gaffer, Lady.—Barak he
Is called, and lies imprisoned now below,
Where I will learn from him about your lover.
TURANDOT
[Bitterly]
So you come too. Have you, then, come to break
Once more the vow you made?
CAPO.
[Quietly]
A single day,
Lady, you swore me faith and loyalty;
Yet in one little hour you cast away
Your faith, to call me traitor.
TURANDOT
Had I cause,
Or no?
CAPO.
Is there good cause to break an oath?
91TURANDOT
You broke your own. You vowed to achieve for me
Joy—joy, and perfect marriage with my love.—
Am I, then, joyful? Am I with my love?
CAPO.
A single day; a single day, I said!
TURANDOT
So by to-morrow I must wed this Khan,
This nameless prince—unless I guess his name.
CAPO.
Why not, then, guess it?
TURANDOT
[Glancing quickly]
How?
CAPO.
[Indulgently]
Will you renew
Your broken allegiance?
TURANDOT
I am desperate.
I will do anything to free myself.—
What shall I do?
CAPO.
First swear me faith again.
92TURANDOT
I swear it. Now tell!
CAPO.
How easily ladies swear
When they are in love!—Prime-Minister, retire!
[The four Maskers, bowing, withdraw to the background, where they are entertained by Zelima, whom they instruct to play upon their instruments with a low strumming]
In the general practice of my specialties,
Lady, I often recommend for love
A sleeping-charm—like this.
[Capo takes from his sleeve a small vial and hands it to Turandot]
TURANDOT
What should I do
With this?
CAPO.
This, if ’tis poured upon the sleeping lips
Of man by a maid, or maiden by a man,
Will make the sleeper murmur in his dream
Whatever secret thing his soul conceals
When it is asked of him.
93TURANDOT
[After a pause, gives a sudden cry of joy]
Ah, now I see!—
But how can I find access to this Khan
When he is sleeping?
CAPO.
I am emperor,
And by my new régime, at midnight, all
The guards retire, and in the men’s hall, men
May pass unnoticed by the others.
TURANDOT
[Searchingly]
Men?
CAPO.
[Calls, beckoning]
Here, Harlequin!—I pray you, princess, stand
Back to back with this boy.
[Turandot looks puzzled, and then turns and stands back to back with Harlequin. Capo measures their heights with his flattened hand. They separate and Capo indicates Harlequin]
A hair’s breadth higher.
[With a questioning glance at Turandot]
A hair’s breadth! Will you risk it—by a hair?
94TURANDOT
[Growing suddenly radiant]
O wonderful!—At midnight, did you say?
CAPO.
[Smiling]
Now are we friends—and may I kiss your hand?
TURANDOT
[Ardently]
No, I will kiss yours!
[She seizes Capo’s hand and kisses it. He laughs softly]
Curtain
95