22_By_Heart

22 By Heart

原文译文

Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter.Yet this is not always the case.

A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter (which he would hand to the prisoner). Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy (he gave him) had not been written out in full as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then, squinting his eyes, he said: 'The light is dim. Read the letter to me.' And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied: 'The light is indeed dim, sire. I must get my glasses. With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat's amusement, the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the usual copy of the letter which he proceeded to read to the prisoner.

有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。这样一来，可怜的演员们可倒霉了。因为他们需要一夜连着一夜地重复同样的台词。人们以为，这些演员一定会把台词背得烂熟，绝不会临场结巴的，但情况却并不总是这样。

有一位名演员曾在一出极为成功的剧目中扮演一个贵族角色，这个贵族已在巴士底狱被关押了20年。在最后一幕中，狱卒手持一封信上场，然后将信交给狱中那位贵族。尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那封信。但他还是坚持要求将信的全文写在信纸上。

一天晚上，狱卒决定与他的同事开一个玩笑，看看他反复演出这么多场之后，是否已将信的内容记熟了。大幕拉开，最后一幕戏开演，贵族独自一人坐在铁窗后阴暗的牢房里。这时狱卒上场，手里拿着那封珍贵的信。他走进牢房，将信交给贵族。但这回狱卒给贵族的信没有像往常那样把全文写全，而是一张白纸。狱卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否记熟了台词。贵族盯着白纸看了几秒钟，然后，眼珠一转，说道："光线太暗，请给我读一下这封信。"说完，他一下子把信递给狱卒。狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不住，于是便说："陛下，这儿光线的确太暗了，我得去眼镜拿来。"他一边说着，一边匆匆下台。贵族感到非常好笑的是：一会儿工夫，狱卒重新登台，拿来一副眼镜以及平时使用的那封信，然后为那囚犯念了起来。

Words

• poor /pʊr/ 可怜的
• repeating /rɪˈpitɪŋ/ the /ðə/ same /sem/ lines /laɪnz/ n. 台词
  1. The actors were forced to repeat the same lines over and over again.（L20）
  2. The actor changed his mind and refused to repeat the same lines.
  3. It astounded me that he repeat the same lines for 2 hours.
• parts /pɑrts/ n. 角色
  1. He has a small part in the school play.
  2. It’s true that he is a very famous actor, but he doesn’t know his parts in the play at all.
• falter /ˈfɔltɚ/ v. 结巴地说
  1. He attempted to thank him, but his voice began to falter.
  2. He went to the police, but his voice faltered when he tired to tell them what had happened.
• cast /kæst/ v. 分配角色
  1. It is said that he cast a young woman in the role of the captain.
• aristocrat /əˈrɪstəˌkræt/ n. 贵族
  1. It looked as if the aristocrat would be offering a prize of 1000 to him.
  2. The idea that aristocrat should live a better life is mistaken.
  3. Little is known about that aristocrat.
• imprisoned /ˌɪmˈprɪzənd/ v. 关押
  1. He fled to Paris because they
  2. If you do not allow this, they will imprison him.
• act /ækt/ 一幕
• gaoler /ˈdʒelɚ/ jailer, n. 监狱长
  1. Imagine the jailer’s dismay when he found no one in the cell.
  2. The jailer leads an orderly life.
  3. The jailer was greeted by an awful smell when he entered the cell.
• noble /ˈnobəl/ 贵族
• curtain /ˈkɝtən/ n. 幕布
• revealed /rɪˈvild/ v. 露出
  1. It astounded Leo that the door opened to reveal a nice little room.
• eagerly /ˈiɡɚli/ 渴望地
• fellow /ˈfɛlo/ 同事
• squinting /ˈskwɪntɪŋ/ v. 眯起眼睛
  1. She squinted at the sign but couldn't see what it said.
  2. Squinting his eyes, Leo let out a cry.
• dim /dɪm/ adj. 昏暗的
  1. In the dim light, Leo told me about the story.
  2. Everything looked grey in the dim light of the oil lamp.
• promptly /ˈprɑmptli/ 迅速地
• sire /ˈsaɪɚ/ 陛下
• amusement /əˈmjuzmənt/ 乐趣
• proceeded /prəˈsidɪd/ v. 继续
  1. As soon as he came in, he proceeded to tell us all his troubles.
  2. Having said she wasn't hungry, she then proceeded to order a large pizza.

Expressions

• play the role of 扮演……的角色
• sb. be cast in the role of = cast sb. in the role of 扮演角色
• the curtain goes up / rises / comes down falls 开幕/落幕
• a blank sheet of paper 一张白纸
• squinting at 眯着眼看
  1. At last, they turned against me.
  2. At last, they told me about that.
  3. At last, she let out a cry and ran out of the room.
• In the dim light 在昏暗的灯光下
• proceed to do sth. 接着做某事
• on end 连续地；竖着
  1. Sometimes he would not leave his room for days on end.
  2. He used to roam the streets for hours on end.
  3. Leo was astonished to find they had talked with each other for hours on end.
  4. It is clear that my mother and I are alike in many ways.
  5. Leo is different from Berlin in many ways.
  6. In many ways, you can fulfill your dreams in this city.
• In many ways 在许多方面
• be required to do sth. 被要求做某事
  1. You are required by law to wear a seat belt.
  2. Students are required to bring a blank sheet of paper with them.
• expect sb. to do sth. 期望某人做某事
  1. I didn’t expect him to stay so long.
  2. We didn’t expect him to win a prize of $1000.
  3. They didn’t expect her to pay a ransom of $1000.
• be expected to do sth. 被期望做某事
• learn/know sth. by heart... 牢记...
  1. After a few days, he still knew her number by heart.
  2. I made it very clear, and you knew that by heart, but you still change your mind.
• have cause to do sth. 有理由做某事
  1. Joe’s father had good cause to be proud of him.
  2. I've never had any cause to complain about my doctor.
• sb. insisted that + 句子(should do). 坚持要求...
• be written out in full 全文写出
• play a joke on sb. 开某人的玩笑
  1. A man named Wakefield decides to play a joke on his wife.
  2. Technically speaking, it was you who played a joke on him, not me.
  3. Not only did he play a joke on Leo,...
• present sth. to sb. 把某物送给某人
  1. Students are expected to be quiet in the classroom.
  2. He's a former champion and is expected to win the game.
• look on 旁观
  1. Only one man tried to help us, the rest just looked on in silence.
  2. A lot of people just looked on while the robbery happened.
• at last 最后
  1. At last, they turned against me.
  2. At last, they told me about that.
  3. At last, she let out a cry and ran out of the room.
• be anxious to do sth. 急于做某事
• stare at 盯着看
  1. What are you staring at? Why are you staring at that?
  2. Susan realized to her horror that Leo was staring at himself in the mirror.
• read sth. to sb. 把某物读给某人听
  1. He glanced at the letter and began to read it to his daughter.
  2. He was genuinely sorry that he couldn’t read the story to his daughter last night.
  3. To his horror, a stranger is reading a letter to his daughter.
• much to sb’s sth. 令某人特别...