The Story - Page 3 of 4

During their visit to King Linceus, Florante saw Laura, the daughter of the king.  He was mermerized by Laura's beauty.  He became speechless and stuttered a lot in the presence of Laura.  After talking about Laura, Florante's mind drifts toward horrible thoughts about Laura's unfaithfulness.

Before setting off to war, King Linceus threw a feast for Florante.  The celebration lasted for three days and within this period, he did not get to see Laura.  The day before he set of to war, Florante saw Laura and he professed his love.  Laura did not give him a straight answer, instead she cried and Florante took this as a sign of Laura's reciprocation of his feelings.

General Osmalic and Florante finally meet and they battled for five hours until Florante was able to defeat the general.

Florante was able to save Croton from the hands of the enemy with the help of Menandro and his troupes.  The people rejoiced their victory especially when they learned that Florante is the king's grandson.  But Florante and the king did not rejoice with them for they remembered Princess Floresca and mourned for her death.  Five months had passed when Florante decided to return to Albania to be with Laura again.  On his journey back, Florante became weary when he saw the Muslim flag swaying in Albania.

Florante hid on the outskirts at the foot of the mountain to observe what is happening.  He saw a woman tied and blindfolded who is about to be beheaded.  He remembered Laura and hastily went to rescue the woman.  He fought the Muslims and rescued the woman who happened to be Laura herself.  Laura told Florante about that Albania had been conquered.  They went back and redeemed the country from the invaders.  Florante freed the captives including King Linceus, Duke Briseus, and Count Adolfo.  The king honored Florante for his bravery and Florante won Laura's affection.  With the victory of Florante, Adolfo's hatred and envy deepened and he planned to take revenge against Florante.

A few months have passed since Albania was last invaded when the Persian army, headed by Miramolin disturbed its peace.  But the Turkish invaders did not succeed because Florante had defeated him.  After this, Florante successfully won many battles which earned him the respect of thirteen kings.  One day, while Florante was in the middle of a war, he received a letter ordering him to return immediately to Albania.  He left the war under the command of Menandro and set off to return to Albania.  Upon arriving, he was surprised to be welcomed by 30,000 soldiers who abducted him.  Here he learned that Adolfo had ordered for his father, Duke Briseus, and King Linceus to be beheaded.  He also learned that Laura was engaged to Count Adolfo.  Florante was imprisoned for 18 days then was transferred to the forest where he was tied to an Acacia tree.  He had been in the forest for two days when the Muslim soldier found and rescued him.

After Florante narrated his story, the Muslim soldier introduces himself as Aladdin, son of Sultan Ali-Adab of Persia.  Aladdin tells Florante that he will tell his own story in due time because he needs some time to collect himself.