Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end.
有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。
In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.
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。
One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter.
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，
Yet this is not always the case.
但情况却并不总是这样。
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。
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。
Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance,
尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那封信。
he always insisted that it should be written out in full.
但他还是坚持要求将信的全文写在信纸上。
One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if,
一天晚上，狱卒决定与他的同事开一个玩笑，
after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart.
看看他反复演出这么多场之后，是否已将信的内容记熟了。
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。
Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his bands.
这时狱卒上场，手里拿着那封珍贵的信。
He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat.
狱卒走进牢房，将信交给贵族。
But the copy he gave him had not been written out in full as usual.
但这回狱卒给贵族的信没有像往常那样把全文写全，
It was simply a blank sheet of paper.
而是一张白纸。
The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines.
狱卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否记熟了台词。
The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds.
贵族盯着纸看了几秒钟，
Then, squinting his eyes, he said: \'The light is dim. Read the letter to me\'.
然后，眼珠一转，说道：“光线太暗，请给我读一下这封信。”
And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.
说完，他一下子把信递给狱卒。
Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either,
狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不住，
the gaoler replied: \'The light is indeed dim, sire. I must get my glasses.\'
于是便说：“陛下，这儿光线的确太暗了，我得去眼镜拿来。”
With this, he hurried off the stage.
他一边说着，一边匆匆下台。
Much to the aristocrat\'s amusement,
贵族感到非常好笑的是：
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。
7 insisted that it should be written out in full, insist后面所接的宾语从句，常用虚拟语气“should +动词原形”，而should又经常可以省略。
8 play a joke on…，拿……开玩笑。
9 sire是古代仆人对国王的一种尊称，现在仅用于故事和剧本。
10 Much to the aristocrat\'s amusement，使贵族感到非常可笑的是……。
much为副词，此处修饰其后的介词短语 to the aristocrat\'s amusement. much to＋sb. \'s sth. 是一个常见的状语短语，有“给某人带来很大的……”的意思。
Lesson 23 One man\'s meat is another man\'s poison 各有所爱
People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten.
在决定什么能吃而什么不能吃的时候，人们往往变得不合情理。
If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider octopus a great delicacy.
比如，如果你住在地中海地区，你会把章鱼视作是美味佳肴，
You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive.
同时不能理解为什么有人一见章鱼就恶心。
On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat -- the normally accepted practice in many northern countries.
另一方面，你一想到动物油炸土豆就会反胃，
The sad truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we stick to them all our lives.
不无遗憾的是， 我们中的大部分人，生来就只吃某几种食品，而且一辈子都这样。
No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail.
没有一种生物所受到的赞美和厌恶会超过花园里常见的蜗牛了。
Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world.
蜗牛加酒烧煮后，便成了世界上许多地方的一道珍奇的名菜。
There are countless people who, ever since their early years, have learned to associate snails with food.
有不计其数的人们从小就知道蜗牛可做菜。
My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised.
但我的朋友罗伯特却住在一个厌恶蜗牛的国家中。
As his flat is in a large town, he has no garden of his own.
他住在大城市里的一所公寓里，没有自己的花园。
For years he has been asking me to collect snails from my garden and take them to him.
多年来，他一直让我把我园子里的蜗牛收集起来给他捎去。
The idea never appealed to me very much,
一开始，他的这一想法没有引起我多大兴趣。
but one day, after heavy shower,
后来有一天，一场大雨后，
I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants.
我在花园里漫无目的散步，突然注意到许许多多蜗牛在我的一些心爱的花木上慢悠悠的蠕动着。
Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag, and took them to Robert.
我一时冲动，逮了几十只，装进一只纸袋里，带着去找罗伯特。
Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my little gift.
罗伯特见到我很高兴，对我的薄礼也感到满意。
I left the bag in the hall and Robert and I went into the living room where we talked for a couple of hours.
我把纸袋放在门厅里，与罗伯特一起进了起居室，在那里聊了好几个钟头。
I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert suddenly said that I must stay to dinner.
我把蜗牛的事已忘得一干二净，罗伯特突然提出一定要我留下来吃晚饭，这才提醒了我。
Snails would, of course, be the main dish.
蜗牛当然是道主菜。
I did not fancy the idea and I reluctantly followed Robert out of the room.
我并不喜欢这个主意，所以我勉强跟着罗伯特走进了起居室。
To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere:
使我们惊愕的是门厅里到处爬满了蜗牛：
they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete possession of the hall!
它们从纸袋里逃了出来，爬得满厅都是！
I have never been able to look at a snail since then.
从那以后，我再也不能看一眼蜗牛了。
New words and expressions 生词和短语
poison (title)
n. 毒药
illogical
adj. 不合逻辑的，无章法的
octopus
n. 章鱼
delicacy
n. 美味，佳肴
repulsive
adj. 令人反感的，令人生厌的
stomach
n. 胃
turn
v. 感到恶心，翻胃
fry
v. 油炸
fat
n. （动物，植物）油
abuse
n. 辱骂，责骂
snail
n. 蜗牛
luxury
n. 奢移品，珍品
associate
v. 联想到
despise
v. 鄙视
appeal
v. 引起兴致
shower
n. 阵雨
stroll
n. 溜达，散步
impulse
n. 冲动
dozen
n. 12个，一打
fancy
v. 喜爱，喜欢
Notes on the text课文注释
1 One man\'s meat is another man\'s poison. 这是英语的一句谚语，意思是“对一方有利的未必对另一方也有利”。有时可译作“各有所爱”，同时也有汉语俗语“萝卜青菜各有所爱”的意思。
2 would turn at the idea of…， turn此处作“恶心”、“作呕”解。 at the idea of…是“想到……”的意思。
3 to be brought up，养育，抚养，stick to有“坚持”的意思。
4 Cooked in wine， snails…，用酒烹调的蜗牛……，这是过去分词作状语，表示条件。
5 I happened to be walking in the garden．我碰巧在花园里散步。happen后面加不定式表示“碰巧做……”
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years.
在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家庭，却有着某种多年不为人所知的骇人听闻的秘密。
The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation.
英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。
The terrible secret is called \'a skeleton in the cupboard\'.
惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。
At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
在小说的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出来，接着便是某人的声誉扫地。
The reader\'s hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
当读者到小说最后几页了解到书中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可爱的老妇人年轻时一连毒死了她的5个丈夫时，不禁会毛骨悚然。
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard.
尽管我们人人都有各种大小秘密。连最亲密的朋友都不愿让他们知道，但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。
The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact.
我所认识的唯一的在柜中藏骷嵝的人便是乔治.卡尔顿，他甚至引以为自豪。
George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories.
乔治年轻时学过医，然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。
I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house.
有一次，我在他家里度周末，过得很不愉快。这事我永远不会忘记。
George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used.
乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
他让我打开行装后下楼吃饭。
After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
然后我想把随身带来的两套西服中的一套挂到大衣柜里去。
I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，
The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me.
由于柜门突然打开，它也随之轻微摇晃起来，让我觉得它好像马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。
Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
This was worse than \'a terrible secret\'; this was a real skeleton!
这是比“骇人听闻的秘密”更加惊人的东西，这是一具真正的骷髅啊！
But George was unsympathetic. \'Oh, that,\' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend.
但乔治却无动于衷。“噢，是它呀！他笑着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。
That\'s Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.
“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是学医的了。”
New words and expressions 生词和短语
skeleton
n. 骷髅
seemingly
adv. 表面上地
respectable
adj. 体面的，雅观的
conceal
v. 隐藏，隐瞒
vivid
adj. 生动的
dramatic
adj. 令人激动的，扣人心弦的
ruin
v. 毁坏
heroine
n. 女主人公
fiction
n. 小说
varying
adj. 不同的
medicine
n. 医学
guestroom
n. （家庭中的）来客住房
unpack
vt. （从箱中）取出
stack
v. （整齐地）堆放，排放
underclothes
n. 内衣
drawer
n. 抽屉
petrify
v. 使惊呆
dangle
v. 悬挂
sway
v. 摇摆
unsympathetic
adj. 不表同情的，无动于衷的
medical
adj. 医学的
Notes on the text课文注释
1 A skeleton in the cupboard，直译为“柜中骷髅”，此系一成语，作“家丑”解。
2 conceal sth, from sb. 作“对某人隐瞒某事”解。
3 The reader\'s hair stands on end，读者感到毛骨悚然。
4 to varying degrees，在不同程度上。
5 stood in front of it petrified，站在柜前吓呆了。
stand此处表示处于某种状态，起系动词的作用，后面常接形容词、介词短语或过去分词，表示主语处于某种状态中的特征，可视作表语。
6 the impression that it was about to leap out…，
that引导的从句作impression的同位语。be about to do sth. ，表示按照计划即将做的动作。
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