英語(yǔ)新概念第三冊(cè)第二十二講Lesson22 By heart

英語(yǔ)全能提升訓(xùn)練新概念3選修課

22Some

plays

are

so

successful

that

they

run

foryears

on

end.

In

many

ways,

this

is

unfortunate

forthe

poor

actors

who

are

required

to

go

onrepeating

the

same

lines

night

after

night.

Onewould

expect

them

to

know

their

parts

by

heartand

never

have

cause

to

falter.

Yet

this

is

notalways

the

case.Lesson22

By

heartA

famous

actor

in

a

highly

successful

play

wasonce

cast

in

the

role

of

an

aristocrat

who

hadbeen

imprisoned

in

the

Bastille

for

twenty

years.In

the

last

act,

a

gaoler

would

always

come

on

tothe

stage

with

a

letter

which

he

would

hand

tothe

prisoner.

Even

though

the

noble

wasexpected

to

read

the

letter

at

each

performance,he

always

insisted

that

it

should

be

written

out

infull.One

night,

the

gaoler

decided

to

play

a

joke

onhis

colleague

to

find

out

if,

after

so

manyperformances,

he

had

managed

to

learn

thecontents

of

the

letter

by

heart.

The

curtain

wentup

on

the

final

act

of

the

play

and

revealed

thearistocrat

sitting

alone

behind

bars

in

his

darkcell.

Just

then,

the

gaoler

appeared

with

theprecious

letter

in

his

hands.He

entered

the

cell

and

presented

the

letter

to

thearistocrat.

But

the

copy

he

gave

him

had

not

beenwritten

out

in

full

as

usual.

It

was

simply

a

blanksheet

of

paper.

The

gaoler

looked

on

eagerly,anxious

to

see

if

his

fellow-actor

had

at

last

learnthis

lines.

The

noble

stared

at

the

blank

sheet

ofpaper

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

thegaoler.Finding

that

he

could

not

remember

a

word

of

theletter

either,

the

gaoler

replied:

'The

light

is

indeeddim,

sire.

I

must

get

my

glasses.'

With

this,

hehurried

off

the

stage.

Much

to

the

aristocrat'samusement,

the

gaoler

returned

a

few

momentslater

with

a

pair

of

glasses

and

the

usual

copy

of

theletter

which

he

proceeded

to

read

to

the

prisoner.Some

plays

are

so

successful

that

they

run

for

years

on

end.

Inmany

ways,

this

is

unfortunate

for

the

poor

actors

who

arerequired

to

go

on

repeating

the

same

lines

night

after

night.有些劇目十分成功，以致連續(xù)上演好幾年。這樣一來(lái)，可憐的演員們可倒霉了。因?yàn)樗麄冃枰灰惯B著一夜地重復(fù)同樣的臺(tái)詞。One

would

expect

them

to

know

their

parts

by

heart

and

neverhave

cause

to

falter.

Yet

this

is

not

always

the

case.人們以為，這些演員一定會(huì)把臺(tái)詞背得爛熟，絕不會(huì)臨場(chǎng)結(jié)巴的，但情況卻并不總是這樣。A

famous

actor

in

a

highly

successful

play

was

once

cast

in

therole

of

an

aristocrat

who

had

been

imprisoned

in

the

Bastille

fortwenty

years.有一位著名演員曾在一出極為成功的劇目中扮演一個(gè)貴族角色，這個(gè)貴族已在巴士底獄被關(guān)押了20年。In

the

last

act,

a

gaoler

would

always

come

on

to

the

stage

with

aletter

which

he

would

hand

to

the

prisoner.最后一幕中，獄卒手持一封信上場(chǎng)，然后將信交給獄中那位貴族。Even

though

the

noble

was

expected

to

read

the

letter

at

eachperformance,

he

always

insisted

that

it

should

be

written

out

infull.盡管那個(gè)貴族每場(chǎng)戲都得念一遍那封信。但他還是堅(jiān)持要求將信的全文寫(xiě)在信紙上。One

night,

the

gaoler

decided

to

play

a

joke

on

his

colleague

tofind

out

if,

after

so

many

performances,

he

had

managed

to

learnthe

contents

of

the

letter

by

heart.一天晚上，獄卒決定與他的同事開(kāi)一個(gè)玩笑，看看他反復(fù)演出這么多場(chǎng)之后，是否已將信的內(nèi)容記熟了。The

curtain

went

up

on

the

final

act

of

the

play

and

revealed

thearistocrat

sitting

alone

behind

bars

in

his

dark

cell.大幕拉開(kāi)，最后一幕戲開(kāi)演，貴族獨(dú)自一人坐在鐵窗后陰暗的牢房里。Just

then,

the

gaoler

appeared

with

the

precious

letter

in

hishands.這時(shí)獄卒上場(chǎng)，手里拿著那封珍貴的信。He

entered

the

cell

and

presented

the

letter

to

the

aristocrat.

Butthe

copy

he

gave

him

had

not

been

written

out

in

full

as

usual.

Itwas

simply

a

blank

sheet

of

paper.獄卒走進(jìn)牢房，將信交給貴族。但這回獄卒給貴族的信沒(méi)有像往常那樣把全文寫(xiě)全，而是一張白紙。The

gaoler

looked

on

eagerly,

anxious

to

see

if

his

fellow-actorhad

at

last

learnt

his

lines.獄卒熱切地觀察著，急于想了解他的同事是否記熟了臺(tái)詞。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

letterto

me.'貴族盯著紙看了幾秒鐘，然后，眼珠一轉(zhuǎn)，說(shuō)道：“光線太暗，請(qǐng)給我讀一下這封信?！盇nd

he

promptly

handed

the

sheet

of

paper

to

the

gaoler.說(shuō)完，他一下子把信遞給獄卒。Finding

that

he

could

not

remember

a

word

of

the

letter

either,the

gaoler

replied:

'The

light

is

indeed

dim,

sire.

I

must

get

myglasses.'

With

this,

he

hurried

off

the

stage.獄卒發(fā)現(xiàn)自己連一個(gè)字也記不住，于是便說(shuō)：“陛下，這兒光線的確太暗了，我得去把眼鏡拿來(lái)?！彼贿呎f(shuō)著，一邊匆匆下臺(tái)。Much