Riddle Parables
Taken from The Power of the Parable
Description
chapter 1
Riddle Parables
So That They May Not Understand
Nessun dorma— “Nobody sleeps tonight”— proclaims the Princess Turandot in Giacomo Puccini’s final opera, Turandot, unfinished at his death in 1924. Nobody can sleep because a riddle must be solved before the dawn. Here is Princess Turandot’s tale.
In the long distant past, her ancestor, the Princess Lo- u- Ling, ruled wisely and well until she was raped and killed by an invading prince. In revenge, her descendant, Princess Turandot, decreed that any man who wished to marry her must answer three riddles— failure would entail beheading, and success, betrothing. Even as the opera opens, the handsome young Prince of Persia goes to his execution with Princess Turandot’s gleeful consent. Despite that, the newly arrived Prince of Tartary declares himself ready for the three riddles...