The full text of Boiardo's newly translated Orlando Innamorato will be published by Parlor Press in August 2003 in a new translation with an introduction and notes by Charles Stanley Ross, the book will appear in print and ebook versions. If you would like to be notified of its availablity, please let us know. Email editor@parlorpress.com or sign our guestbook.
Trufaldino: The Evil King of Baghdad
A hypertext episode from . . .
Orlando Innamorato
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Newly Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Charles Ross
Trufaldino first appears in the poem, briefly, among the Middle Eastern forces that surprise King Agricane's northern armies, which have set siege to Albraca (a city beyond the Caspian Sea, possibly Bukhara or Samarkand). Trufaldino shows his fraudulent character and cowardice from the beginning:
You may have heard of
Baghdad and
a
region known as Babylon:
The
traitorous ruler of that land
was
the deceitful Trufaldino.
That
king directed ranks that numbered
at
least one hundred thousand soldiers.
Agrican met the
king of Baghdad
who, finding no
way to retreat,
confronted
Agrican and said:
"What will
you have of which to brag
if you should
knock me off this nag?
Your steed is
unsurpassed on earth!
Leave your
advantage, as you should;
I challenge you
to fight on foot!"
King Agrican, who
longed for fame,
quickly
dismounted on the field
and gave a
nobleman his steed
to keep it safe
from any thief.
Villainous
Trufaldino seized
his chance—he
reined and swung his heels.
Before King
Agrican could mount,
he had merged in
among the crowd.
Title Page | Introduction | Start | 
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Matteo Maria Boiardo
Trans. Charles Ross
© 2003 by Parlor Press
