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 thesame lines night after night. One would expect them to know their parts by heartand 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 anaristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for 20 years. In the lastact, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter which he wouldhand to the prisoner. Even though the noble was expected to read the letter ateach 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 outif, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of theletter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealedthe aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaolerappeared with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the cell andpresented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not beenwritten out in full as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaolerlooked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt hislines. 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 hepromptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could notremember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied: 'The light is indeeddim, sire. I must get my glasses.' With this, he hurried off the stage. Much tothe aristocrat's amusement, the gaoler returned a few minutes later with a pairof glasses and the usual copy of the letter which he proceeded to read to theprisoner.

New words and expressions 生词与短语

run (ran, run)

v. (戏剧，电影等)连演，连映

lines

n. (剧本中的)台词

part

n. 剧中的角色，台词

falter

v. 支吾，结巴说

cast (cast, cast)

v. 连派……扮演角色新概念培训

role

n. 角色

aristocrat

n. 贵族

imprison

v. 关押

Bastille

n. 巴士底狱

gaoler

n. 监狱长，看守

colleague

n. 同事

curtain

n. (舞台上的)幕布

reveal

v. 使显露

cell

n. 单人监房，监号

本文参考译文

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。狱卒走进牢房，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。

(兼职编辑：张博)