‘He is right,’ cried the doctors. ‘It is the sun.’

‘Who is the mother,’ asked the princess, ‘who, after having given birth to her children, devours them all when they have grown up?’

‘It is the sea,’ replied the Prince of the Nogaïs, ‘because the rivers which discharge themselves into the sea draw from it their source.’

Tourandot, seeing that the young prince replied correctly to her questions, was so piqued at it that she resolved to spare nothing to bring about his destruction.

‘What is the tree,’ she said, ‘the leaves of which are white on one side and black on the other?’

She did not content herself with proposing this question. The malignant princess, in order to dazzle and confuse Calaf, lifted her veil at the same time and let all the assembly see the beauty of her face, to which rage and shame added fresh charms. Her head was adorned with natural flowers, arranged with infinite art, and her eyes appeared more brilliant than the stars. She was as beautiful as the sun when it shows itself in all its splendour through an opening in a dark cloud.

The amorous son of Timurtasch, at the sight of this incomparable princess, instead of replying to the question put to him, remained silent and immovable.

Immediately the whole divan, which was inter­ested on his behalf, was seized with a mortal terror. The king himself grew pale and thought the young prince was done for.

But Calaf, recovering from the surprise which the beauty of Tourandot had suddenly caused him, soon reassured the assembly by these words: ‘Charming princess, I beg you to pardon me if I have remained confused for a few moments: I thought I saw one of those heavenly objects which form the most beautiful adornment of the abode promised to the faithful after death. I could not see so many attractions without being troubled. Have the kindness to repeat the question you put to me, for I do not remember it. You have made me forget everything.’

‘I asked you,’ said Tourandot, ‘what the tree was, all the leaves of which are white on one side and black on the other?’

‘That tree,’ replied Calaf, ‘represents the year, which is composed of days and nights.’

This answer again received applause in the divan; the mandarins and doctors said it was correct, and bestowed much praise on the young prince.

Then Altoun-Khan said to Tourandot:

‘Come, my daughter, confess yourself con­quered, and consent to marry your vanquisher. The others were not able to answer even one of your questions, and he, as you see, explains them all.’

‘He has not yet won the victory,’ replied the princess, putting on her veil again to hide her con­fusion and the tears she could not help shedding. ‘I have other questions to put to him, but I shall put them to-morrow.’

‘Oh, as for that, certainly not!’ replied the king. ‘I shall not allow you to put questions to him eternally; all that I can allow is that you put another to him presently.’

The princess protested, saying she had only prepared those which had just been interpreted, and she begged the king her father not to refuse her permission to interrogate the prince on the following day.

‘I will not grant it you,’ cried the Chinese monarch in anger. ‘You only seek to put the young prince at fault, and I only think of freeing myself from the frightful oath which I was impru­dent enough to make. Ah! cruel woman, you only thirst for blood; the death of your lovers is a pleasant spectacle for you. The queen, your mother, affected by the first misfortunes you caused, died of grief at having given birth to so barbarous a daughter; and, as for myself, as you know, I am plunged in a melancholy nothing can dissipate since I have seen the fatal consequences of my complaisance towards you. But, thanks to the spirits which preside in Heaven, in the sun, and in the moon, and to whom my sacrifices have been agreeable, no more of those horrible execu­tions which make your name execrable shall take place in my palace. Since this prince has replied well to what you have put to him, I ask all this assembly whether it is not just that he should be your husband?’

The mandarins and doctors broke out into murmurs, and the chancellor said: ‘My lord, your majesty is no longer bound by the oath which you took to have this rigorous edict exe­cuted. It is for the princess now to perform her part of it. She promised her hand to him who should reply correctly to her questions. A prince has just answered them in a manner which has satisfied all the divan. She must keep her promise, or, without doubt, the spirits charged with the punishment of perjurers will punish her soon.’

Tourandot kept silence during this time. Her head on her knees, she appeared absorbed in deep grief.

Calaf, perceiving it, prostrated himself before Altoun-Khan and said to him: ‘Great king, whose justice and goodness make the vast empire of China to flourish, I ask pardon of your majesty. I see that the princess is in despair at my having had the good fortune to answer her questions. She would doubtless much rather I had merited death. Since she has such an aversion to men that, in spite of her given word, she refuses herself to me, I readily renounce the rights I have over her, on condition that in her turn she replies correctly to a question I am going to put to her.’

The whole assembly was somewhat surprised at this speech. ‘Is this young prince mad?’ they said low to one another, ‘to risk losing what he has just won at the peril of his life? Does he think he can put a question which will embarrass Touran­dot? He must have lost his wits.’ Altoun-Khan was also very much astonished at what Calaf dared to ask him.

‘Prince,’ he said, ‘have you well weighed the words you have just spoken?’

‘Yes, my lord,’ replied the Prince of the Nogaïs, ‘and I implore you to grant me this favour.’

‘I will,’ replied the king; ‘but whatever may result from it I declare I am no longer bound by the oath that I have made, and that henceforth I shall have no prince put to death.’

‘Divine Tourandot,’ replied the son of Timurtasch, addressing the princess, ‘you have heard what I have said. Although in the judg­ment of this learned assembly your hand is due to me; although you belong to me, I give you back to yourself; I abandon marriage with you; I deprive myself of so precious a possession, pro­vided you reply precisely to the question I am going to put to you; but on your side swear that if you do not reply correctly to it, you will consent with a good grace to my happiness and will crown my love.’

‘Yes, prince,’ said Tourandot, ‘I accept the condition. I swear it by all that is most sacred, and call upon this assembly to witness my oath.’

All the divan was in a state of expectancy as to the question Calaf was going to put to the princess, and there was not one of them but blamed the young prince for exposing himself unneces­sarily to losing the daughter of Altoun-Khan; they were all shocked at his boldness.

‘Beautiful princess,’ said Calaf, ‘what is the name of the prince, who, after having suffered endless fatigue and begged his bread, is at this moment crowned with glory and joy?’

The princess remained some time reflecting, then she said: ‘It is impossible for me to reply to that immediately, but I promise to tell you to-morrow the name of that prince.’

‘Madam,’ cried Calaf, ‘I did not ask for delay, and it is not just to grant it you; however, I will give you this satisfaction as well; I hope after that you will be too pleased with me to make any difficulty about marrying me.’

‘She must make up her mind to it then,’ said Altoun-Khan, ‘if she does not reply to the question proposed. Let her not attempt, by falling ill, or feigning to do so, to escape her lover; if my oath did not engage me to grant her to him, and if she were not his according to the edict, I would rather let her die than dismiss this young prince. What more amiable man can she ever encounter?’

Thus saying, he rose from his throne and dis­missed the assembly. He entered the inner palace with the princess, whence she retired to her own palace.

As soon as the king had left the divan, all the doctors and mandarins complimented Calaf on his intelligence. ‘I admire,’ said one, ‘your prompt and easy conception.’ ‘There is not,’ said another, ‘either a bachelor, master, or even a doctor more pene­trating than yourself. All the princes who have presented themselves up till now had nothing like your merit: and we are extremely rejoiced that you have succeeded in your enterprise.’ The Prince of the Nogaïs was not a little occupied in thanking all those who hastened to felicitate him.

Finally the six mandarins who had conducted him to the council led him back to the same palace whence they had fetched him, whilst the others, with the doctors, went away, not without uneasiness as to the answer which the daughter of Altoun-Khan would make to his question.