66 Epilogue

Epilogue The theatre, in the heart of Milan, was unbelievably beautiful. The six rows of balconies, arranged in a giant horseshoe around the stalls, gave every single person in the audience, all two thousand of them, a perfect view of the stage. Tonight, La Scala's world-famous ballet company was dancing Swan Lake. Mr Stone, wearing a black suit, sat in the centre of the front row. He turned to the woman sitting on his left. "Tracey darling," he whispered. "Do you understand what's going on? I'm a bit lost, I'm afraid." A dancer was spinning across the stage, perfectly executing a dizzying run of fouettés. "Well," said Peanut's mum, "she is the nasty black swan.

尾声 位于米兰市中心的这座剧院美得不可思议。 六排包厢围着正厅前排围成巨大的马蹄形，在场整整两千名观众，人人都能拥有绝佳的舞台视野。 今晚，斯卡拉大剧院举世闻名的芭蕾舞团正在上演《天鹅湖》。 斯通先生穿着黑西装，坐在前排正中央。 他转向坐在自己左手边的女士。 “亲爱的特蕾西，”他低声说。 “你看懂现在演的是什么了吗？ 恐怕我有点没弄明白。” 一名舞者正旋转着穿过舞台，完美完成了一连串令人眼花缭乱的挥鞭转。 “好吧，”皮纳特的妈妈说，“她就是邪恶的黑天鹅。

And she's pretending to be the white swan, that we saw earlier. You know, the nice one that the prince is in love with. It's confusing because they're played by the same dancer." Mr Stone's pale grey eyes glinted. Ah, so it's an old- fashioned good versus evil story, is it? Right up my street, he said. Nerys, sitting in the row behind them, looked up from her knitting. "That's just one of the themes," whispered Tracey. "It's also about how power can destroy a person, and how having control over everything doesn't necessarily make you happy. "Yes, well, I'm not sure about that said Mr Stone. Nerys's eyes narrowed. "But mainly," continued Tracey, "the story shows us that people are often hurt the most by those that they're closest to." Mr Stone smiled, revealing a set of perfectly straight white teeth. "Never a truer word spoken, Tracey darling. Throughout history, humans have come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to destroy their enemies, but one simple fact remains..." He put on his white fedora, grabbed her hand, and looked her straight in the eye. "There is no weapon more powerful than love." To be continued...

她现在假装成我们之前见过的白天鹅。 你知道的，就是王子爱上的那只好天鹅。 之所以容易搞混，是因为两个角色都是同一个舞者扮演的。” 斯通先生浅灰色的眼睛闪了闪。 啊，原来这是老套的善恶对抗故事，对吗？ 正对我的胃口，他说。 坐在他们后排的内里斯停下织针，抬眼看了过来。 “这只是其中一个主题，”特蕾西轻声说。 “它还讲了权力会如何毁掉一个人，掌控一切未必能让你快乐。 “好吧，我对这点倒不怎么认同，斯通先生说。 内里斯眯起了眼睛。 “不过最重要的是，”特蕾西继续说道，“这个故事告诉我们，人往往最容易被自己最亲近的人伤害。” 斯通先生笑了笑，露出一口整齐完美的白牙。 “说得再对不过了，亲爱的特蕾西。 古往今来，人类想出了各种各样巧妙的法子对付敌人，但有一个简单的事实始终不变……” 他戴上白色软呢帽，握住她的手，直直看向她的眼睛。 “没有比爱更强大的武器了。” 待续……