Turandot

The Chinese Sphinx

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About this book

At the gates of Peking, the refugee Prince Kalaf meets Barak, his former tutor, and learns of the princess Turandot's rule for choosing a husband. A suitor must answer three riddles, and a wrong answer costs him his life. Barak's warnings carry particular weight because his wife, Skirina, serves the princess. Yet a portrait of Turandot draws Kalaf toward the very trial his old tutor wants him to avoid.

Sabilla Novello's English version presents this predicament in four acts of rhyming dialogue. The court's officials, including the prime minister Pantaloon, the chancellor Tartaglia, and the captain Brighella, bring puns and comic exchanges into a story governed by pride and dangerous choices. Published in London in 1872, the translation carries the subtitle The Chinese Sphinx. Readers can expect a fairy-tale court drama whose serious marriage contest shares the stage with verbal comedy and Barak's anxious efforts to protect Kalaf.

About the author

Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) was a German poet, playwright, and historian, and with Goethe a founder of Weimar classicism. His dramas of freedom and moral struggle, and his Ode to Joy set to music by Beethoven, made him one of the most beloved writers in the German language.