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许多剧目因为大获成功，会连续几年一直上映。从很多方面讲，这对那些可怜的演员来说是件非常不幸的事情，他们要一晚上接一晚上地重复同样的台词。人们可能会以为他们能够把台词熟记于心，毫不犹豫。但实际上并不总是如此。 一位著名的演员在一部成功的剧目中扮演一名贵族，这名贵族被囚禁在巴士底狱20年。在最后一幕中，一位狱卒总会带着一封信走到台上递给囚犯。虽然这位贵族每次表演的时候都要念这封信，但他总是要求把信的内容全部写出来。 一天晚上，狱卒想和他的同事开个玩笑，看看他在演了这么多场戏之后，能否把信的内容熟记于心。最后一幕的幕布拉开了，贵族独自坐在黑暗的监狱里头。就在这时，狱卒拿着那封珍贵的信出现了。他走进牢房，把信递给贵族。但是这封信和以往写出全部内容的信不一样，只是一张白纸。狱卒非常期待，急切地想知道他的演员同事到底有没有记住台词。 那位贵族打开那张白纸看了几秒钟后，斜了斜眼睛说道：“光线很暗。你来读给我听吧。”然后迅速地把这张白纸递给了狱卒。狱卒发现他连一个字都记不得了，回答道：“大人，这里光线的确很暗。我得去戴上眼镜。”说完后便匆匆地走下台去了。 让那位贵族感到好笑的是，过了一会儿，狱卒回来了，手上拿着一副眼镜，还有平时那封信，开始读给囚犯听。 By Heart 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. |
