王尔德

THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE

Part One: The Student in Love

In a nest, in a tree, in a garden a nightingale sang. Her song was beautiful: she sang of love and happiness. One day she saw a young student in the garden.

"She says she will dance with me if I give her a red rose," said the Student, "but in my garden there is no red rose." And when he said this his eyes filled with tears. "Every day I study philosophy and I read all the things that wise men say about happiness. Now my happiness depends on a red rose!"

The Nightingale heard this and said to herself, "Finally, here is a true lover.

Every night I sing of love and this young man suffers for love."

The Student continued: "I love the Professor's daughter and tomorrow there is a ball at the Prince's palace. My love will be there. If I take her a red rose she will dance with me. If I have no red rose she will not speak to me."

The young student looked around the garden. There were yellow roses and white roses but no red roses. "Poor me," he said. "I need one red rose but I cannot see any in this garden."

"Ah," said the Nightingale, "Love is a wonderful thing: it is more precious than emeralds , opals and pearls, you cannot buy love in the market place with gold coins."

"The musicians will play their violins and my love will dance to their music. But she will not dance with me. I have no red rose to give her." The Student fell onto the grass and started to cry.

A butterfly heard him and asked, "Why is he crying?"

A daisy asked her friend, "Why is he crying?"

"Why is he crying?" said a little green lizard.

"He is crying for a red rose," said the Nightingale.

"A red rose?" they all replied. "That's ridiculous!"

The other animals laughed but the Nightingale understood. She watched the student sadly and thought of the mystery of love.

Part Two: The Nightingale’s Sacrifice

In the middle of the garden there was a beautiful rose tree. The Nightingale flew to the rose tree and said, "Give me a red rose," she cried,"and I will sing you my sweetest song."

"I'm sorry, my roses are white like the snow on the mountain and the foam of the sea," he answered. "Ask my brother who grows round the sundial. Perhaps he can help you."

The Nightingale flew to the sundial and said to the rose tree, "Give me a red rose,' she cried, 'and I will sing you my sweetest song."

"I'm sorry, my roses are yellow like the daffodil," he answered. "Ask my brother who grows under the Student's window. Perhaps he can help you."

The Nightingale flew to the window and asked the rose, "Give me a red rose," she cried, "and I will sing you my sweetest song."

"I'm sorry, my roses are red like the coral in the sea but the winter was cold and my branches are broken. This year I have no flowers."

"But I only need one red rose. Is there nothing I can do?"

"There is one thing you can do but I won't tell you. It is a terrible thing."

"Tell me what it is. I am not afraid," said the Nightingale.

"If you want a red rose you must build it by moonlight with music and color it with your own blood. You must sing to me all night and press your heart against one of my thorns. All night you must sing and your blood will become my blood."

"Death is a big price to pay for a rose," said the Nightingale. "Everybody likes life. I like life. I like to fly and to look at the flowers and to smell their perfumes in the wind. But love is better than life ... and the heart of a man is much more important than the heart of a bird. The Student will have his rose."

Part Three: The Red Rose

The Nightingale flew back to the garden and saw the student lying on the grass. His eyes were full of tears. "Be happy," the bird said. "You will have your red rose and tomorrow night you will dance with your love at the Prince's ball. I will make the rose for you by moonlight, with music and with my own heart's blood. I ask you just one thing, you must promise to be a true lover."

The Student looked up and listened but he didn't understand what the Nightingale was saying: he only understood things in books. But the oak tree understood and he said, "Sing me your sweetest song, little Nightingale.

I will be sad when you are not here." The Nightingale sang for the oak tree.

The Student heard the song and said, "Yes, this music is very beautiful but can a bird really understand love? She sings well but she is like an artist and everybody knows that artists are not sincere . She thinks only of music and could never do anything practical to help anybody." He got up, went into his house, lay on his bed and slept.

When night came and the moon shone, the Nightingale flew to the rose tree. She pressed her heart against one of his thorns. All night she sang her sweetest songs. The cold crystal moon listened and the Nightingale's blood slowly left her. At the top of the rose tree a flower started to grow. First it was pale, silver like the new day. But the tree cried "Come closer!"

The Nightingale came closer and sang louder, then the rose became pink like a red rose in a silver mirror.

"Come closer, little Nightingale," said the rose bush. "Come closer. If not,

the day will come before the rose is finished." The Nightingale came closer and as the thorn pierced her heart she sang of a love that never dies. She felt a strong pain and her voice became softer and softer. Finally the rose was ready, a marvelous red rose, red like the eastern skies.

Then the little Nightingale sang her most beautiful final song. The white moon heard it and she forgot the sun in the East and stayed in the sky to listen. The red rose heard the song and opened her petals in the cold morning air. The sleeping shepherds woke up when they heard it and the river carried its message to the sea. The rose tree heard the song and cried, "Look, little Nightingale, look. The rose is finished."

But the Nightingale didn't hear because she was dead on the grass with the thorn in her heart.

歌剧魅影

Chapter Six: A Masked Ball 

After the disaster at the Opera House, Christine disappeared once again.

She no longer performed, and Raoul did not know where she was. Then, late one evening, he was walking home when he heard a carriage coming towards him in the darkness.

He turned to look, and he saw Christine inside. She was sitting with her head against the window. Raoul rushed forward and shouted her name.

'Christine!'

Suddenly he heard a man's voice inside the carriage. The man gave a quick command, and the carriage moved away quickly.

Raoul looked sadly at the carriage as it moved down the street. He was now convinced that Christine was in love with another man .He went home in despair.

The next morning Raoul's valet came to him with a letter.

Dear,

The day after tomorrow there is a masked ball at the Opera. Go there,

and wear a white domino . I will meet you at midnight.

Christine All at once Raoul's hope came back to him. He read the letter excitedly,

and he made his decision while he was reading.

'I'll go,' he thought. 'I'll go to the ball!'

Raoul tried to think clearly before the ball. Who was this mysterious Angel of Music? Was Christine in love with him? Or was she his prisoner?

He could not be sure what to believe, and he suffered terribly because he doubted Christine.

The masked ball at the Opera was a grand affair. The whole of Paris society was there. Raoul arrived just before midnight.

Almost as soon as he entered the building a masked figure in black came up to him. The figure touched his hand and made a signal with its head. It was Christine! Then the figure moved away quickly through the crowd.

Raoul followed.

His doubts had gone now. He was happy to be with Christine again, and he was in love. He believed in her completely.

As they moved through the crowded rooms, Raoul noticed a group of people standing around a large man. The man was dressed in red. He was wearing an enormous hat, and his mask was a skull.

He wore a large red cloak with some words written on it: 'Do not touch me!

I am Red Death!' The people around him were admiring his costume .

Somebody in the crowd around the man stepped forward and tried to touch him. A skeleton hand jumped out of the cloak and took hold of the woman's hand. The woman screamed in terror, and ran away from Red Death.

Christine came to the end of the hall, and started to go up the stairs. Raoul followed her into one of the boxes.

Christine put her ear to the wall and began to listen intently .

'It's all right,' she said quickly. 'He doesn't know where we are.'

The door of the box was open, and Raoul looked over Christine's shoulder into the corridor. He could see a man in a red cloak coming down the corridor. It was Red Death.

'He's out there!' Raoul cried, and he moved towards the door.

Christine threw herself in front of him and blocked the way.

‘Who?' she asked him.

'Red Death,' Raoul answered. 'Your friend, your Angel of Music. I'm going out there. I'm going to take off his mask. I want to see his face!'

'No!' Christine cried in horror. 'If you love me, don't do it.'

Raoul stood still. All his doubts came rushing back to him.

She wanted to help the mysterious man to escape. Suddenly he was angry with her, angrier than he had ever been in his whole life.

'You love him, don't you?' he cried. 'Go to him, then, I won't stop you. But you have treated me badly, Christine. I hate you.'

Christine looked sadly at him.

'One day you'll understand,' she said softly. 'I have to go now. Please don't follow me.'

Christine walked out of the box and went down the corridor.

Raoul left the box a few minutes later, and walked downstairs to the hall.

The ball was still in progress, but he did not want to take part in the fun.

He walked miserably around the Opera House for a while, then he went to Christine's dressing room. He knocked softly on the door, but there was no reply. He pushed the door open and went in. Suddenly he heard a noise in the corridor outside. He went into the inner room and hid himself.

The door of the outer room opened and Christine came in.

She took off her black gloves. Raoul noticed that she was wearing a gold ring on one of her fingers.

'A wedding-ring,' he said to himself. 'What does that mean? Who gave it to her?'

Now Christine took off her mask and sat at the table. She put her head in her hands and sighed deeply.

'Poor Erik,' she said. 'Poor Erik!'

'Erik,' Raoul thought. 'Who is this Erik? And why is Christine sorry for him?'

Christine sat very still. She seemed to be listening. Raoul listened as well.

Then he heard something faintly ... the sound of singing. It was coming from the walls. The singing grew stronger. He could hear a voice, a man's voice. Now the voice was very clear. It seemed to be inside the room where Christine was. Raoul looked, but there was no one except the girl in the room.

Christine stood up. She was smiling happily now. 'Erik!' she cried softly.

'You're late.'

The voice continued singing. Raoul had never heard such beautiful singing before. It was singing 'The Wedding-night Song' from Romeo and Juliet.

The voice sang passionately .

Raoul began to understand how Christine had made such progress in her own singing — the voice he was listening to was very beautiful.

Christine walked to the back of the room. There was a large mirror on the wall, and she walked towards it.

Raoul followed her. Suddenly he felt a cold wind, and the room began to spin round. He saw two, four, eight images of Christine flying around in front of him. He tried to touch one of them, but there was nothing there.

Then Christine disappeared — and he stood alone in the dressing room.

Chapter Seven: Love and Terror Raoul next saw Christine at the Opera House. She seemed happier and pleased that he had come. They talked about Raoul's plans for the future. He told her that he would leave Paris in a month. Suddenly Christine looked thoughtful.

'What's the matter?' he asked her.

'We'll say goodbye in a month's time,' she said sadly, 'and we'll never see each other again.'

'We could be true to each other,' Raoul said. 'We could promise to be loyal to each other, Christine!'

'I can never marry you, Raoul,' she told him suddenly.

There were tears in her eyes when she spoke. She thought for a moment,

and then she clapped her hands together happily. 'But we can be engaged!'

she cried. 'That wouldn't harm anybody. No one would know except us,

Raoul! Let's be engaged for this month.'

Raoul smiled now. He agreed to play Christine's game for a month.

There now followed a time of great happiness for Raoul. He and Christine spent every day together at the Opera House. They talked and they were happy at last.

There were many exciting places to see inside the building. Christine knew all of them. One day they were walking over the main stage near a trap-

door . Raoul stopped and looked down at the open trap-door.

'You've shown me some wonderful places,' Raoul told her one day. 'But we've never explored the underground places. Why don't we go there one day?'

Christine looked horrified .

'We can't go down there,' she said. 'Everything down there belongs to him.'

'So Erik lives down there, does he?' Raoul asked her. 'Don't talk about it,'

Christine said. 'Let's enjoy our time together! '

She led him away from the trap-door. As they walked away, Raoul heard a noise on the stage. He turned back, and saw that the trap-door was now closed.

'Do you think that was him?' he asked Christine.

Christine walked on without answering him. Raoul took hold of Christine.

'Listen to me,' he said quickly. 'I know you're afraid of him.

I can help you if you tell me everything. I can take you away from here,

Christine. He'll never find you. Let me help you!'

Christine looked at Raoul with great hope.

'Do you think it's really possible?' she asked him softly.

Then she led him quickly up through the great building to the roof. They were above the whole of Paris, and they could see the whole city below them.

'We can talk safely here,' she said. 'I'll tell you everything, Raoul. I want you to understand.'

She paused for a moment, and then she went on.

'It began with the voice,' she told him. 'You know that I never had a really good voice, Raoul. It was impossible for me to be really successful as a singer — I just didn't have the voice. Then one night I heard that wonderful voice through the walls. I thought it was the Angel of Music that my father had told me about. One night I was listening to the voice, and I asked if he was the Angel of Music. "I am," he told me. We became great friends from then on. He began to teach me singing — he was a wonderful teacher, and my voice became wonderful too. I never saw him. And then, one evening,

was singing on stage and I saw you in the audience, Raoul. I knew immediately that I was in love with you. When I told the voice about you, he was jealous. He said I had to choose between him and you. That's why I

pretended not to know you when you came to me the first time. I was frightened of losing the Angel of Music, do you understand?'

Raoul nodded his head .

'Go on,' he encouraged her. 'Tell me what happened next.'

Christine looked around quickly. She seemed to be afraid that someone was following them. Then she turned back to Raoul.

'You remember the terrible night that the chandelier fell onto the audience?' Christine asked. 'I was frightened like everyone else. I went to my dressing room, and a strange thing happened. The room seemed different somehow. I moved towards the mirror, and suddenly the mirror disappeared and I was in a strange place. I didn't know where I was! It was dark.'

Raoul remembered the evening he had seen Christine disappear in front of his eyes in the dressing room. He nodded again.

'A dark figure wearing a mask came out of the darkness and picked me up.

I was terrified but I could not scream. The man lifted me onto a horse. I

recognised Cesar who had disappeared from the Opera stables. The man climbed up behind me, and we rode through the darkness. We went down and down through the Opera cellars, and then we came to a lake. There was a boat on the edge of the lake. The man put me into the boat. He took the boat into the middle of the lake, where there was a house.

'Then he picked me up and carried me into the house. I could see him now,

but I could not see his face because of his mask. He put me down on a sofa,

then he told me not to be afraid.

'He knelt on the floor in front of me and spoke very quietly.

His voice sounded very strange behind the mask.

"'I lied to you before. I'm not the Angel of Music. I'm not a genius ; I'm not a ghost. I'm just Erik, and I love you. Stay with me, Christine; stay here with me for five days. Then I'll let you go, I promise — but you must never see my real face. Everything will be alright if you don't see my face!'"

Christine paused in her story.

'Then I did something stupid, Raoul,' she said. 'I took away his mask. He screamed in anger and tried to turn away from me — but I had seen his face.

It was terrible — it's not a human face at all. It's a skull with terrible, burning eyes! He screamed, and then he shouted at me.

"'Look at me, Christine! I'm ugly, ugly, and you wanted to see me. Now I'll never let you leave this house. I know you'll never come back because you've seen my face now. No one can bear to look at me, I know that.'"

'What happened then?' Raoul asked.

'I was terrified of him,' Christine said, 'but at the same time I was sorry for him. He loves me so much, you see, and he's so sad. I decided to show him that I wasn't afraid of his face. I wanted my freedom. It was difficult, Raoul,

but I succeeded. At last he trusted me. He let me go.'

'But you still went back to him, again,' Raoul said. 'Why did you go back?'

'I feel sorry for him,' the girl said simply.

Suddenly Raoul and Christine heard a noise on the roof. It was dark now,

and they looked up to see a hideous shape coming towards them. They ran in terror.