王尔德的故事

THE STAR-CHILD

Part One: The Baby

One winter night in a big forest of pine trees, two woodcutters were walking home.

It was very, very cold and there was snow on the ground.

The trees were cold, the birds were cold and the animals were cold.

The rabbits stayed in their rabbit holes and the squirrels stayed in the trees.

But the two woodcutters continued their journey.

They prayed to Saint Martin the protector of travelers and finally they saw the lights of their little village in the distance.

They were very happy and laughed.

The Earth now seemed like a flower of silver and the moon seemed like a flower of gold.

But soon they became sad again.

"Why were we so happy?" asked one woodcutter.

"Life is for rich people, not poor people like us. It is better if we die in the snow or if a wild animal eats us."

Suddenly, something very strange happened.

A very bright and beautiful star fell from the sky into the snow.

"Look," said one of the woodcutters to his friend, "perhaps we will find a pot of gold.

Let's go and see!"

When they arrived they found a thing of gold on the white snow.

But it wasn't the treasure they wanted.

It was a golden cloak with golden stars on it.

They opened the cloak and inside they saw a little baby, sleeping.

Round the baby's neck was a chain of amber.

"This is not good," said one of them.

"Let's leave the baby here.

We have too many children and not enough money to buy food.

I don't want another child."

"But we can't leave this little baby here alone." said the other woodcutter.

"He will surely die. I will take him home with me.

We have many children and not enough food, but my wife will look after him."

And the good woodcutter took the baby in his arms and continued his journey home.

When they arrived at their village the first woodcutter said, "You have the child so you must give me the cloak of gold."

But his friend answered, "No, this cloak is not yours or mine.

It is the baby's cloak.

It must stay with him."

The woodcutter's wife was very happy to see her husband.

She put her arms round him and kissed him.

"I found something in the forest and I brought it home for you," he said.

"Good, what is it? We are very poor and we need many things."

But she was very angry when she saw the baby.

"We have too many children already and not enough money to buy food. I don't want another child," she said.

But then she looked at the baby and her heart was full of pity.

"He is a Star-Child," said her husband.

"We must love him." So the woman put the baby in a little bed to sleep.

She put the cloak and the chain into a chest.

"Yes, we will love him," she answered.

Part Two: The Mother

The Star-Child lived with the woodcutter and his family but he was very different from them.

Every year the Star-Child became more beautiful:

his skin was white like ivory,

his hair was gold like the daffodils,

his lips were like the petals of a red flower and his eyes were blue like the violets near a

river.

The other people in the village had black hair and black eyes and they watched the Star-Child in wonder.

The Star-Child was very beautiful but very cruel, arrogant and selfish.

He laughed at the other children in the village and said,

"Your parents are poor but I am noble, I come from a star."

He had no pity for poor people.

He laughed at ugly people and ill people.

He hurt animals and he laughed when they suffered.

He was very vain and loved his beauty.

In summer he often went to the well in the priest's orchard and looked at the reflection of his face in the water. Then he was happy.

The woodcutter and his wife treated the boy well but they were very sad.

They often said to him, "We were good to you.

We felt pity for you.

Why are you so cruel?

Why do you act in this way?"

The priest was very worried and said to him, "You must respect all God's creatures !

Even the fly is your brother.

Why do you cause pain to others?"

But the Star-Child didn't listen.

He continued to hurt animals and laugh at the problems of other people.

The other children followed him because he was beautiful and could dance and make music.

They followed his orders.

He was their leader and they became cruel and hard like him.

One day a poor beggar woman arrived in the village.

Her clothes were very old and torn and she had no shoes on her feet.

She was very tired and sat under a tree to rest.

The Star-Child saw her and said to his friends, "Look at that ugly woman.

We don't want her here," and they started to throw stones at the poor woman.

She was terrified but she didn't stop looking at the Star-Child.

"What are you doing?" shouted the woodcutter when he saw this.

"Stop immediately. Why do you have no pity for this poor woman?"

"I will not listen to you. You are not my father," replied the Star-Child.

"This is true, but when I found you in the forest I had pity for you."

The old woman was listening and when she heard these words she screamed and fainted.

The woodcutter carried her into his house and his wife put meat and drinks on the table for her.

But she did not eat or drink.

She asked, "Did this child come from the forest?

Did he have a gold cloak with stars on it?

Did this happen about ten years ago?"

The woodcutter was very surprised.

"Yes," he replied.

"And did he have an amber chain round his neck?"

"Yes he did," said the woodcutter.

"Come with me and I will show you the cloak and the chain."

'The woman looked at these things and started to cry with joy.

"He is my little son. I am his mother," she said.

"I lost him in the forest ten years ago and I looked all over the world for him.

Now I have him again."

The woodcutter was very surprised and called the boy.

"Come into the house and you will find your mother."

The Star-Child was very happy and ran in but when he saw her he said,"Where is my mother?

I can see no-one, only a horrible beggar woman."

"I am your mother," she said.

"You are mad.

I am not your son: you are dressed in old clothes, you are a beggar woman and I am a Star-Child!"

"But I recognized you when I saw you and I recognized your cloak of gold and your chain of amber.

Robbers stole you from me.

Come to me, my son.

Your love is very important for me.

" She opened her arms to him but he was very angry and closed the doors of his heart to her.

The woman cried.

"Kiss me before I go because I travelled all over the world and I suffered much to find you."

"Never. You are very ugly.

I prefer to kiss a toad or a snake."

The woman stood up and went out of the house.

She was crying very much.

The Star-Child was very happy when she went. He then went to play with his friends.

Part Three: The Punishment

The Star-Child went to his friends but when they saw him they laughed at him.

"We don't want to play with you now because you're ugly," they said.

"Why do they say these things to me?" he thought.

He went to the well to look at his reflection.

He was different now: he had a face like a toad and skin like a snake.

Then the Star-Child understood and started to cry.

"This is my punishment," he said.

"I am very cruel and my mother suffered. Now I must find her and say sorry."

The woodcutter's little daughter said to him, "It's not important if you're ugly. Please stay.

I will not laugh at you."

"No, this is my punishment," he replied.

"I treated my mother very badly and now I must find her."

He ran into the forest calling, "Mother! Mother! I'm sorry, please come back."

All day he called but nobody answered.

When night came he slept on a bed of leaves, but when the animals saw him they ran away.

They knew that he was a cruel boy.

He said to the mole, "You can go under the ground.

Tell me if my mother is there?"

"I don't know if your mother is there. I

cannot see because you hurt my eyes," replied the mole.

He said to a little bird, "You can fly over the trees.

Tell me if you can see my mother."

"I don't know if your mother is there.

I cannot fly because you hurt my wings," replied the bird.

He saw a little squirrel and asked, "Where is my mother?"

"I don't know," replied the squirrel.

"You killed my mother. Do you want to kill your mother too?"

The Star-Child heard all these things and he cried and prayed to God to forgive him.

He travelled to many different villages to find his mother, and the children of these villages laughed at him and threw stones at him.

Nobody had pity for the Star-Child.

歌剧魅影

Chapter Two: A Gala Performance 

The gala performance for the two managers continued. Everyone in the audience was pleased with the music and the singing.

One of the singers in particular gave great pleasure. This was Christine Daae. She was new to the Opera, and she had not sung many important roles before. She was not one of the best singers at the Opera House. That night,

however, she sang some short pieces from the famous operas Romeo and Juliet and Faust. Her voice was strong and pure. No one had heard anything like it before. They were astonished by the beauty of her voice.

There was one man in the audience who listened to Christine Daae with special intensity . This was the young Vicomte de Chagny, Raoul. He had come to the performance with his older brother the Comte de Chagny,

Philippe.

'She never sang like that before,' Raoul said quietly to his brother. 'But she looks so ill!'

Raoul went backstage after the performance. He made his way to Christine Daae's dressing room. He knocked and entered the room. The singer looked at him with a strange expression on her face. She did not look well.

'Monsieur ,' she said very quietly, 'who are you?'

Raoul went over to the singer's sofa and kissed her hand.

'I am the little boy who went into the sea for your scarf ,' he said softly .

Christine began to laugh at his words. Raoul became red with anger and stood up.

'I can see that you do not want to remember me,' he said coldly. 'But I have something important to tell you — very important.'

'Please come back when I am better,' Christine said.

Raoul walked out of the dressing room. He stood for a few moments in the corridor outside. He was in love, and he did not know what to do. He approached the door once again. He was about to knock on it when he heard a man's voice in the room.

'You must love me, Christine!' the voice said.

'How can you say that?' Christine's voice replied. 'I only sing for you, you know that!'

'Are you tired?' the man asked her tenderly .

'I gave you my soul tonight,' Christine said. 'I'm very tired now.'

'It was beautiful,' the man's voice said. 'The angels wept to hear you sing this evening.'

Raoul moved away from the door. He was suffering very badly.

Suddenly he decided that he wanted to see the man that Christine loved.

He waited in the corridor.

After a few minutes the singer came out of the dressing room.

The corridor was dark, and she did not see him. Raoul pushed open the door and looked inside. The room was empty!

Monsieur Debienne and Monsieur Poligny were the two managers who were retiring from the Opera. They had attended the gala performance, and they were now having dinner with some of the staff. The room was a large one, and there were many people around the table. The conversation was lively and joyful.

Suddenly people at the table began to whisper excitedly to each other,

and to point at a strange figure who was standing at one end of the table. He was wearing a dress-suit, and his face was yellow and thin. It looked like a skull.

'The Opera ghost!' people were whispering to each other. 'It's the Phantom of the Opera!'

The strange figure took no notice of the remarks that people were making.

After a few minutes, he looked up.

'The ballet girls are right,' he announced loudly. 'The death of poor Buquet was not suicide .'

Debienne and Poligny were shocked. They had not heard of the scene-

shifter's death. They looked at the strange man, and then they stood up hurriedly . They made a quick sign to the two new managers to join them,

and then they left the room.

Soon Debienne and Poligny were sitting in their office talking to the new managers, Monsieur Richard and Monsieur Moncharmin.

'We've given you all the help we can, gentlemen,' Monsieur Debienne said to the new managers. 'There is just one final thing you need to know about the Opera. It's the question of the ghost.'

Monsieur Richard smiled. He did not believe in the stories about the ghost,

and he thought Monsieur Debienne was joking .

'What does the ghost want?' he joked.

'It's simple really,' Monsieur Poligny replied. He showed the two new managers a document. 'It's all written down here.'

Monsieur Richard looked at the document. It was the lease for the Opera House. He passed it to Monsieur Moncharmin and they read it together.

The Managers of the opera must pay the opera ghost 20000 francs a month —240000 francs a year.

They must also keep box 5 available for him for every performance.

'That's why we're leaving,' Monsieur Debienne explained. 'We can't bear the ghost.'

'That's right,' Monsieur Poligny agreed. 'It's hard enough managing the Opera — but it's impossible with the ghost here!'

The new managers were convinced that all the talk of the ghost was simply a joke. They smiled politely. They were soon very busy with their new responsibilities, and they forgot about the ghost. A few days later they received a very surprising letter in the post. The handwriting was childlike,

and the letter was written in red ink.

You have not kept box 5 for me as we agreed . If you want to live in peace. You must give me back my box.

'Opera Ghost'

The next day the managers received another letter from the ghost. There was the same childlike handwriting and the same red ink. This time he demanded his monthly payment of 20,000 francs.

'It's just Debienne and Poligny,' Monsieur Richard told his colleague.

'They've started this stupid joke about the ghost, and they're continuing with it. We'll ignore it, that's all.'

The two managers decided to sell Box 5.

Chapter Three: The Mystery of Box 5

The next event occurred a few days after the new managers received the ghost's second letter. The members of the audience sitting in Box 5 began laughing and shouting during the performance. The managers sent a guard to find out what was happening. He went to Box 5, and asked the people to be quiet.

The guard then went away, but the people began to make a noise again.

The guard returned, and told them to leave the box.

Monsieur Moncharmin and Monsieur Richard decided to investigate. They called the guard into their office.

'What happened last night in Box 5?' they asked.

'It was nothing,' the guard said. 'The people there behaved badly from the start. They went into the box, and then they came out again. They said that they had heard a voice saying, "The box is taken". We looked inside, but there was no one there. Then they went back in, and they started making a noise.'

'What did the box-keeper say?' the managers asked.

The guard smiled.

'She said it was the Opera ghost.'

'Bring the box-keeper here immediately!' Monsieur Richard ordered. 'This joke about the ghost is beginning to irritate me.'

A few minutes later the box-keeper came in. This was Meg's mother. She smiled in a friendly way when she entered the managers' office.

'I'm happy you asked to see me, gentlemen,' she said. 'I can explain everything about the ghost.'

'Never mind the ghost !' Monsieur Richard said impatiently. 'We want to talk to you about what happened last night in Box 5.'

'It was the ghost, sir,' the box-keeper said quietly. 'He was angry again,

you see.'

Monsieur Moncharmin now interrupted the conversation. 'Have you ever talked to the ghost?' he asked with a smile.

'Of course I have, sir.' the box-keeper replied.

'When he speaks to you, what does he say?' Monsieur Moncharmin asked.

'He asks for a footstool .' the woman said quietly.

The managers laughed loudly. The idea of a ghost who wanted a footstool was ridiculous.

'Then, you see, he always leaves me some money when he goes.

Sometimes two francs, sometimes five or even ten francs. Sometimes he leaves me chocolates, too,' the box—keeper said with a smile. 'He's very kind, really.'

The managers listened to the box-keeper for a little longer. When they were alone again, they made two decisions. First they decided to sack the box-keeper who was obviously mad. Second, they decided to investigate Box 5 for themselves.