Puccini: Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing

People of Peking!

This is the law:

Turandot the pure will be the bride

of the man of royal blood,

who solves the three enigmas that she shall ask him.

But whoever faces the trial and is defeated

must bow to the axe his haughty head!

The Prince of Persia

had Fate against him:

when the moon rises,

at the executioner's hand he must die!

He must die! We want the executioner! Quickly! Death!

The punishment! If you don't appear, we'll waken you!

Pu-Tin-Pao! To the palace!

To the palace!

Stand back, dogs!

Ah, cruel ones!

Stop, by Heaven!

Oh, my mother!

My babies!

Stop cruel ones! Be human! Don't hurt us!

Who can help me lift him up?

This old man has fallen! Have pity! Pity!

Father! My Father!

Oh, Father, yes, I've found you!

Look at me! It's not a dream!

- My Lord! -Father!

Listen to me! Father! It is I!

And may grief itself be blessed,

for this joy given us by a pitying God.

Oh, my son! You! Alive?

Silence!

The usurper of your crown seeks me and pursues you!

There's no hiding place for us in the world, Father!

I sought you, my son, and I thought you were dead!

I wept for you, Father; now I kiss these sainted hands!

Oh, my son, found again!

Here are the executioner's men!

To the death!

When the battle was lost,

an old King without realm, fleeing,

I heard a voice saying to me:

"Come with me, I'll be your guide..."

It was Lin]!

Bless her!

When I fell exhausted,

she would dry my tears,

and she begged for me!

Lin, who are you'?

I'm nothing...

- A slave, my Lord. -Hone the blade!

Why did you share such anguish?

Why did you share such anguish?

Because, one day,

Because, one day,

in the palace,

in the palace,

you smiled at me.

You smiled at me.

Grind the Whetstone! Grind it!

Grind the Whetstone! Grind it!

Oil it, sharpen it, let the blade gleam! Splatter fire and blood!

Oil it, sharpen it, let the blade gleam! Splatter fire and blood!

Work is never dull for us

Work is never dull for us

where Turandot reigns!

Where Turandot reigns!

Sweet lovers, come forward! Come!

Sweet lovers, come forward! Come!

With our hooks and our knives

With our hooks and our knives

we're ready to embroider your skins!

We're ready to embroider your skins!

Whoever strikes that gong

Whoever strikes that gong

will see her appear!

Will see her appear!

White as jade,

White as jade,

cold as that sword,

cold as that sword,

is the beautiful Turandot!

Is the beautiful Turandot!

When the gong clangs, the executioner is happy!

When the gong clangs, the executioner is happy!

Love is in vain if luck isn't there!

Love is in vain if luck isn't there!

The enigmas are three, but death is one!

The enigmas are three, but death is one!

- Why does the moon delay? -Wan face!

Show yourself in the sky! Quickly! Come! Rise!

Oh, lopped off head!

Oh, mean one!

Come!

Bloodless!

Taciturn'.!

Pale lover of the dead!

How the cemeteries await

your funereal light!

Come quickly!

Over there a glimmer

is spreading out in the sky

its deathly light!

The moon has risen! Pu-Tin-Pao!

The moon has risen!

There, on the eastern mountains,

the stork sang.

But April blossomed no more.

And that snow didn't thaw.

From the desert to the sea can't you hear

a thousand voices sighing?

Princess, come down to me!

All will blossom again!

All will be resplendent! Ah!

Oh, the youth!

Mercy! Mercy!

How steady is his step!

How sweet is his face!

Ecstasy is in his eyes!

Joy is in his eyes!

Ah, mercy on him!

Have pity on him!

Pity! Princess!

Mercy! Pity!

Let me see you,

and curse you!

Cruel one!

Princess!

Have mercy!

Oh, divine beauty! Oh, marvel!

Oh, dream!

Oh, great Kouang-tze!

May the dying man's spirit

come to you!

My son, what are you doing?

Can't you feel it?

Her perfume is in the air! It's in my spirit!

- You're lost! -Oh, divine beauty! Oh, marvel!

I'm suffering, Father, suffering!

No! No! Let me clasp you!

Lin, you speak to him'.!

There's no safety here.

Take his hand in your hand!

My Lord, let's go far away!

Life is awaiting us there!

This is life, Father!

- Life is awaiting us there! -I'm suffering, Father, suffering!

- There's no safety here! -Life is here, Father!

Turandot!

Do you want to die thus?

To conquer, Father, in her beauty!

- Do you want to end thus? -To conquer gloriously in her beauty!

Wait! What are you doing? Stop! What do you want?

Go away! This is the door to the great butcher's shop!

Madman, go away!

They garrotte you! impale you! Cut your throat! Skin you alive!

Knife and pollard you! Saw you up and disembowel you!

Quickly, hastily, go back to your country to die!

But not here! Go away, go away!

- Madman, go away! -Let me by!

- Here the graveyards are all full! -Our madmen are enough!

We don't want any more foreign madmen!

Run off, or else your funeral will be prepared for you!

Let me by!

For a princess?

What's that?

A female with a crown on her head!

- And a cloak with some fringe! -But if you strip her naked...

- She's flesh! -She's raw flesh!

It's inedible stuff!

- Ha! Ha! Ha! -Let me by!

Give up women! Or else take a hundred wives!

After all, the most sublime Turandot in the world

has a face, two arms and two legs, yes!

Lovely, imperial, yes, yes, lovely, but still only legs!

With a hundred wives, you fool, you'll have a surplus of legs!

Two hundred arms, and a hundred soft bosoms.

Scattered in a hundred beds! In a hundred beds!

- In a hundred beds! Ha! Ha! -Let me by!

Madman, go away! Go!

Hola, silence!

Who's talking down there?

Silence!

This is the sweet hour for sleeping!

Sleep is grazing her eyes! It's scenting the darkness around her!

Go away, chattering females!

Watch out for the gong!

It is scenting the darkness around her!

- Look at him, Pong! -Look at him, Ping!

Look at him, Pang!

He's gone deaf! He's dazed! He's bedazzled!

He's not listening to them, alas!

Come! Let's all three speak to him!

- A night without a bit of light... -A chimney's blackened throat...

They are still clearer than Turandot's enigmas!

- Iron, bronze, walls, rocks... -Your obstinate hard head...

They are less hard than Turandot's enigmas!

- So then, go! Bid us all goodbye! -Scale the mounts, ford the streams!

And stay well away from Turandot's enigmas!

Don't hesitate!