The son of Timurtasch was somewhat surprised to see so charming a lady alone in his apartment in the middle of the night. He would not have looked upon her without admiration had he not seen Tourandot, but could a lover of that princess have eyes for another? As soon as the lady per­ceived Calaf, she rose from the sofa on which she was seated, and on which she had placed her veil, and, after having bowed rather low:

‘Prince,’ she said, ‘I do not doubt but that you are very astonished to find a woman here, for you doubtless know that it is forbidden under pain of very rigorous punishment, to the men and women who inhabit this palace to have any communica­tion with each other, but the importance of what I have to tell you has made me despise all dangers. I have been skilful and fortunate enough to remove all the obstacles which presented themselves to me. I have won over the eunuchs who serve you; finally, I got into your apartment. There only remains for me to tell you what brings me and that is what you are going to hear.’

This preface interested Calaf; he did not doubt but that the lady, since she had taken so dangerous a step, had things to tell him worthy of his attention. He begged her to reseat herself on the sofa; they both sat down, then the lady con­tinued thus:

‘My lord, I think I had better begin by telling you that I am the daughter of a khan, tributary to Altoun-Khan. My father, several years ago, was bold enough to refuse to pay the ordinary tribute; and trusting a little too much to his experience in the art of war as well as to the valour of his soldiers, he put himself on the defensive in case of attack. The attack did not fail to come. The king of China, irritated at his audacity, sent against him the most skilful of his generals with a powerful army; my father, although less strong, went to meet him. After a bloody combat, which took place on the bank of a river, the Chinese general remained victorious. My father, pierced with a thousand wounds, died during the action; but dying, he ordered that his wives and children should be thrown into the river, to preserve them from slavery. Those whom he entrusted with the carrying out of this generous but inhuman order, executed it. They threw me into the water with my mother, my sisters, and two brothers, who were kept with us on account of their youth. The Chinese general arrived at that moment at that part of the river where they had thrown us in, and where we were perishing miser­ably. This sad and horrible spectacle excited his compassion; he promised a reward to those of his soldiers who should save some remnant of the family of the vanquished khan. Several Chinese horsemen, in spite of the rapidity of the river, immediately entered it and urged their horses in every direction in which they saw our expiring bodies floating. They rescued some of them, but their succour was only of avail to me. I was still breathing when they carried me ashore; the remainder were lifeless. The general took great care of me, as though it were necessary to his glory, and my captivity had given fresh honour to his victory. He brought me to this town and presented me to the king, after having given him an account of his doings. Altoun-Khan placed me about the princess his daughter, who is two or three years younger than I. Although I was little more than a child, I did not cease thinking that I was a slave, and that I ought to behave in accordance with my unfortunate position; so I studied the temper of Tourandot. I set myself to please her, and I was so oblig­ing and attentive that I gained her friendship. Since that time I share her confidence with a young person of illustrious birth, who has been reduced to slavery by the misfortunes attending her birth. Pardon me, my lord,’ she continued, ‘this story, which has nothing to do with the subject of my visit. I thought it my duty to acquaint you with the fact that I am of noble birth, to inspire you with more confidence in me, for the important story I have to tell you is such that, coming from a simple slave, it might find little credit in your mind. I do not know even whether, although a khan’s daughter, I shall be able to persuade you; will a prince, charmed with Tourandot, put faith in what I am going to tell him of her?’

‘Princess,’ interrupted the son of Timurtasch at this moment, ‘do not keep me longer in suspense. Tell me, I beg, what you have to say about the Princess of China.’

‘My lord,’ replied the lady, ‘Tourandot, the barbarous Tourandot, has formed the design of having you assassinated.’

At these words, Calaf, throwing himself back on his sofa, remained in a state of horror and astonishment.

The slave-princess, who had anticipated the surprise of the young prince, said to him: ‘I am not astonished that you have received this terrible news thus, and I see I was right in doubting your willingness to believe it.’

‘Just Heaven!’ cried Calaf, when he had recovered from his prostration, ‘have I heard aright? Can the Princess of China be capable of so sinister an attempt? How can she have conceived it?’

‘Prince,’ said the lady to him, ‘this is how she took this horrible resolution. This morning when she left the divan, where I was behind her throne, she was furious at what had passed; she returned to her apartment, agitated with the most violent rage and hate. She thought for a long time over the question you put to her, and not being able to reply as she wished, she gave way to despair. I and the other favourite slave have spared nothing to calm her violence. We even did all we could to inspire in her feelings favourable to yourself; we praised your beauty and intelligence to her, and we represented to her that instead of grieving immoderately, she should rather resolve to give you her hand. But she silenced us with a torrent of insults against men, of whom the most amiable does not make more impression on her than the ugliest and most deformed. “They are all,” she said, “contemptible objects, for whom I shall never have anything but aversion. As for the one who now presents himself, I hate him more than the others, and since I cannot free myself from him but by an assassination, I shall have him assas­sinated.” I opposed this hideous design,’ con­tinued the slave; ‘I represented to Tourandot its terrible consequences. I represented to her the wrong she would do herself, and the just horror that future centuries would have of her memory. On her side, the other slave did not fail to add her arguments to mine; but all our talking has been useless, we have not been able to turn her from her enterprise. She has charged some faithful eunuchs to take your life to-morrow morning when you leave your palace to go to the divan.’

‘O inhuman princess, perfidious Tourandot!’ cried the Prince of the Nogaïs. ‘Is it thus you prepare to reward the love of the unhappy son of Timurtasch? Calaf is so horrible to you then that you prefer to rid yourself of him by a crime which will dishonour you, rather than join your destiny to his. Great God! of what strange adventures is my life made up? Sometimes I seem about to enjoy enviable happiness and some­times I am plunged in an abyss of woe.’

‘My lord,’ said the slave to him, ‘if Heaven sends you misfortunes it does not, at least, wish you to succumb to them, since it warns you of the dangers which threaten you. Yes, prince, it is Heaven who has inspired me with the thought of saving you, for I not only come to reveal to you a plot against your life, I come to give you means of avoiding it. By the agency of some devoted eunuchs I have gained over some soldiers of the guard, who will facilitate for you the exit from the palace. As after your flight they will not fail to make inquiries and learn that I am the author of it, I have resolved to fly with you, to leave this fatal court where I have more than one source of annoy­ance; my slavery makes me hate it, and you make it more odious to me. There are,’ she continued, ‘in a place in the town horses awaiting us; let us go and reach, if possible, the lands of the tribe of Berlas. I have blood-ties with the Prince Alinguer who is sovereign over them; he will be extremely rejoiced to see his relation escaped from the haughty Altoun-Khan, and he will receive you as my liberator. We will both live beneath his tents more tranquilly and more happily than here; I, freed from the bonds of my captivity, shall enjoy a gentler fate, and you, my lord, you may find there some princess beautiful enough to merit being loved, and who, far from attempting your life to escape being your wife, will only be careful of pleasing you if she can make happy such a prince as you. Let us lose no time, let us go, and may the sun on beginning its course to-morrow find us far from Pekin!’

Calaf replied: ‘Beautiful princess, I have to thank you a thousand times for having wished to deliver me from the danger I am in. Would that I could out of gratitude take you from slavery and conduct you to the horde of the Khan of Berlas, your relation! What pleasure I should have in placing you in his care! Thereby I should acquit myself of some obligations under which I am to him. But tell me, princess, ought I to disappear thus from the eyes of Altoun-Khan? What would he think of me? He would think I had only come to his court to carry you off, and whilst I was only flying to save his daughter from crime, he would accuse me of having violated the laws of hospitality. Moreover, I must confess to you, barbarous as is the Princess of China, my heart will not let me hate her. What am I saying? Hate her? I adore her; I am devoted to her every whim, and since she wishes to sacrifice me, the victim is quite ready.’