[00:00.51]Lesson 22
[00:02.55]By heart
[00:09.44]Which actor read the letter in the end, the aristocrat or the gaoler?
[00:17.32]Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end.
[00:22.41]In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.
[00:32.97]One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter.
[00:39.12]Yet this is not always the case.
[00:42.81]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.
[00:54.25]In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.
[01:03.38]Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that it should be written out in full.
[01:12.81]One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if,
[01:18.41]after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart.
[01:25.45]The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell.
[01:35.16]Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands.
[01:40.55]He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat.
[01:45.36]But the copy he gave him had not been written out in full as usual.
[01:50.50]It was simply a blank sheet of paper.
[01:54.14]The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines.
[02:02.23]The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds.
[02:07.45]Then, squinting his eyes, he said: 'The light is dim. Read the letter to me.'
[02:16.04]And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.
[02:20.49]Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either,
[02:24.83]the gaoler replied: 'The light is indeed dim, sire. I must get my glasses. '
[02:32.56]With this, he hurried off the stage.
[02:36.38]Much to the aristocrat's amusement,
[02:38.83]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.
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。