New concept English Lesson 22
By heart 熟记台词
by heart，背得出，靠记忆，背诵
Which actor read the letter in the end, the aristocrat or the gaoler?
哪一个演员最终读这封信，贵族还是看守？
aristocrat ，贵族
gaoler，（监狱）看守
Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end,
有些戏剧如此叫座，以至于年复一年地持续（演出）
run，持续；延续
on end，连续地
years on end，年复一年
successful，（在这里）叫座。

多义词，颇有建树（的作家），飞黄腾达（的银行家），大受欢迎（的影片）
In many ways
在很多方面,
this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.
这对倒霉的演员来说是不幸的，他们需要一晚接一晚重复说同样的台词
require，需要
be required，被要求
go on repeating，不断重复做……事情
line，台词，对白
One would expect them to know their parts台词by heart and never have cause to falter.
人们期待他们用心记住他们的台词，绝没有理由去结结巴巴的
expect，期待
part，台词，角色
falter，结巴地说
Yet this is not always the case.
然而，情况并不总是这样
yet，但是，然而
be the case，是这样，是这种情况
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.
一个著名的演员在一个叫座的戏剧中被分配扮演一个贵族的角色，（贵族）在巴士底监狱被关押了20年cast，分配角色；选派角色（cast A as B，分配演员A去演B这个角色）
be cast in the role of，被分配扮演……角色
aristocrat [ˈærɪstəkræt]，贵族
imprison，关押，监禁
Bastille，巴士底监狱
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，一个看守会拿着一封信来到台上，他会将信交给贵族
stage，（多指剧场中的）舞台
Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance,
尽管这个贵族每次演出都必须读这封信
Even though，尽管
be expected to，必须
noble，贵族
he always insisted that it should be written out in full.
但他总是要求信要全文的写出来
insist，要求、命令，后面接虚拟语气
in full，完整=completely
One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if,
一天晚上，看守决定跟他的同事开个玩笑，看看是否
play a joke on sb，开某人（善意的）玩笑
colleague，同事
after so many performances,
经过这么多的演出以后
he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart.
他设法用心记住了信的内容
The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. 幕布在戏剧的最后一幕升起，贵族出现，他独自坐着铁窗的后面，在阴暗的牢房里
curtain ，（舞台上的）幕，幕布，帷幕
go up，上升
behind bars=in prison，在狱中，被囚禁
不确定是不是该译成：他独自坐着，被囚禁在阴暗的牢房里，毕竟behind bars是词组
Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands.
这时，看守出现，手里拿着那封珍贵的信
precious，珍贵的
He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat.
他走进牢房，把信交给贵族
But the copy he gave him had not been written out in full as usual.
但他给他的这封信没有像往常那样全文写出
It was simply a blank sheet of paper.
这就是一张白纸
The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious（前面省略and he was）to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. 看守热切地的旁观，他很急迫的想知道他的同伴最终是否记住了台词
look on旁观
eagerly，渴望地；热切地；急切地
anxious，焦虑的，渴望，非常希望
fellow actor，同伴
The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds.
贵族盯着那张白纸看了几秒钟
stare at，盯着看
Then, squinting his eyes, he said:
然后，他眯着眼睛，说：
squint，瞇着眼睛看；斜视
'The light is dim. Read the letter to me'.
“灯太暗了，给我读这封信”
dim，昏暗的
And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.
他迅速把那张纸递给看守
promptly，迅速地
Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied:
发现信中的字他也一个都记不住，看守回答：
reply，回答，答复
'The light is indeed dim, sire陛下, I must get my glasses.'
“灯确实太暗，陛下，我得取我的眼镜”
With this一边……一边, he hurried off the stage.
一边说，一遍赶快离开舞台
With this，一边……一边
hurry off，赶快离开
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.
让贵族开心的是，看守很快返回舞台，带着一副眼镜和往常的那封信，然后他为囚犯读信
much to sb. sth. 给谁带来什么样的感觉
proceeded to=then，然后
prisoner，囚犯。