calaf

Updated: May 9, 2025

It is always the same old story year after year; the same eager rush to Paris from the provinces; the same, not to say a growing, number of beardless, ambitious boys, who advance, head erect, and the heart that Princess Tourandocte of the Mille et un Jours each one of them fain to be her Prince Calaf. But never a one of them reads the riddle.

Honoré de Balzac - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

It is always the same old story year after year; the same eager rush to Paris from the provinces; the same, not to say a growing, number of beardless, ambitious boys, who advance, head erect, and the heart that Princess Tourandocte of the Mille et un Jours each one of them fain to be her Prince Calaf. But never a one of them reads the riddle.

Honoré de Balzac - Lost Illusions