22 By heart

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。