By heart
原文
Lesson 22
By heart
Which actor read the letter in the end, the aristocrat or the gaoler?
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.
译文
第22课
牢记在心；熟记
最后是谁读了那封信——是那位贵族，还是狱卒？
有些剧目非常成功，以至于可以连续上演多年。
在很多方面，这对那些可怜的演员来说确实很不公平——他们不得不夜复一夜地重复同样的台词。
人们会以为他们早就把台词背得滚瓜烂熟，永远不会有结巴的时候。
然而，情况并不总是如此。
一位在非常成功的戏剧中表现出色的著名演员，曾饰演过这样一个角色：一位被关押在巴士底狱长达二十年的贵族。
在最后一幕中，总是会有一个狱卒走上舞台，递给囚犯一封信。
尽管人们期望这位贵族在每次演出时都能宣读这封信，但他始终坚持要求必须把信的内容完整地写出来。
一天晚上，狱卒决定捉弄他的同事，想看看经过这么多次表演后，他是否已经把信的内容背下来了。
经过这么多次表演后，他已经能够将那封信的内容牢记在心了。
戏剧的最后一幕开始了：那位贵族独自坐在黑暗的牢房里，被关在铁栅栏后面。
就在这时，狱卒出现了，他手里拿着那封珍贵的信。
他走进牢房，将那封信交给了那位贵族。
但他递给他的那份信并没有像往常一样写满字。
那只是一张空白的纸而已。
狱卒热切地注视着，急于想知道他的搭档演员是否终于记住了台词。
那位贵族盯着那张空白的纸张看了几秒钟。
然后，他眯起眼睛说：“光线太暗了。把那封信读给我听吧。”
然后他立刻把那张纸交给了狱卒。
结果狱卒发现自己也一个字都记不起来。
狱卒回答说：“光线确实很暗，大人。我得去拿我的眼镜。”
说完这些，他便匆忙走下了舞台。
让贵族觉得好笑的是，
过了一会儿，狱卒拿着一副眼镜和那封熟悉的信回来了，然后开始把信的内容读给囚犯听。