新概念英語第三冊
Lesson 22 By heart
1 . The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines.獄卒熱切地觀察著，急於想瞭解他的同事是否記熟了台詞。
2 . With this, he hurried off the stage.他一邊說著，一邊匆匆下台。
3 . 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.有一位名演員曾在一出極為成功的劇目中扮演一個貴族角色，這個貴族已在巴士底獄被關押了20年。
4 . The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds.貴族盯著紙看了幾秒鐘，
5 . But the copy he gave him had not been written out in full as usual.但這回獄卒給貴族的信沒有像往常那樣把全文寫全，
6 . Yet this is not always the case.但情況卻並不總是這樣。
7 . It was simply a blank sheet of paper.而是一張白紙。
8 . the gaoler replied: 'The light is indeed dim, sire, I must get my glasses.'「陛下，這兒光線的確太暗了，我得去眼鏡拿來。」
9 . One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter.人們以為，這些演員一定會把台詞背得爛熟，絕不會臨場結巴的，
10 . 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.一會兒工夫，獄卒重新登台，拿來一副眼鏡以及平時使用的那封信，然後為那囚犯念了起來。
11 . Much to the aristocrat's amusement,貴族感到非常好笑的是
12 . He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat.獄卒走進牢房，將信交給貴族。
13 . In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.這樣一來，可憐的演員們可倒霉了。因為他們需要一夜連著一夜地重複同樣的台詞。
14 . And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.說完，他一下子把信遞給獄卒。
15 . Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end,有些劇目十分成功，以致連續上演好幾年。
16 . In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.在最後一幕中，獄卒手持一封信上場，然後將信交給獄中那位貴族。
17 . 'The light is dim.Read the letter to me'.「光線太暗，請給我讀一下這封信。」
18 . Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his bands.這時獄卒上場，手裡拿著那封珍貴的信。
19 . Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either,獄卒發現自己連一個字也記不住，
20 . Then, squinting his eyes, he said:接著，他斜著眼，說：
21 . Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance,儘管那個貴族每場戲都得念一遍那封信。
22 . he always insisted that it should be written out in full.但他還是堅持要求將信的全文寫在信紙上。
23 . The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell.大幕拉開，最後一幕戲開演，貴族獨自一人坐在鐵窗後陰暗的牢房裡。
24 . 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.一天晚上，獄卒決定與他的同事開一個玩笑，看看他反覆演出這麼多場之後，是否已將信的內容記熟了。