Blest
Heroic fire to make him do and dare,
And tidings from the Land of Heart's Desire.
Name, cunning stranger, name this tender pair.

(_Sits down again._)

CALAF.

(_Gazes upwards for a moment in meditation,
then makes a bow to_ TURANDOT _and
lifts his hand to his brow_.)

Two doves, thou sayest, doves so tender-hearted
That they are always paired and never parted;
Scarce grown enough to bear their weight aloft,
And yet already plump, and firm, and soft;
Two smooth, white doves to which my yearning wings,
To which by night my secret dreaming sings.
These two white doves which hold me free from scaith,
These doves my fortune--they are: HOPE and FAITH.

PANTALONE.

He's hit the mark, my dear Lord Chancellor!

TARTAGLIA.

Hit the bull's-eye.

THE EIGHT DOCTORS.

(_Open the first of the sealed papers._ _All
together._)

Optime. Hope and Faith! Hope and Faith!
Hope and Faith!

ALTOUM (_joyfully_).

Heaven help thee farther, my beloved son!

ZELIMA (_aside_).

Ye gods, protect him!

ADELMA (_aside_).

Blind him, O ye gods!
O give him not to her, or I shall die!

TURANDOT (_aside, indignantly_).

Can it be possible that _he_ should win?

(_To_ CALAF, _aloud_.)

Listen, poor fool! And solve this riddle now:

(_She stands up, and continues in her didactic tone._)

Come, stranger, name those slender pillars twain
Which bear a bristling fortress on their summit,
A fort which still is in my sire's domain,
Although thy heart burns high to overcome it;
Pillars in strength and beauty smooth and rounded,
On which thy Hope and Faith are firmly founded:
These pillars holding Heaven upon their height--
Tell me the names, now, of these pillars white.

CALAF.

(_After some meditation, and with the same
bow as before._)

These two white pillars soaring to the skies,
That bear a kingdom and all Paradise;
That bear the magic land my dreams divine,
Which are as slender as a forest pine;
Of every prince the very noblest aim;
Thine empire's fairest ornament and fame,
To which my hope clings like a climbing flower--
I call these pillars twain: KNOWLEDGE and POWER.

PANTALONE.

(_Joyfully_.) Hits the bull right in the eye,
my dear Lord Chancellor!

TARTAGLIA.

Centre. Centre.

THE EIGHT DOCTORS.

(_In chorus, after unsealing the second leaf._)

Optime. Knowledge and Power! Knowledge
and Power! Knowledge and Power!

ALTOUM (_excitedly_).

O joy! O joy!--Gods