014 愚弄观众

旁白 neutral

The next evening, after we tied up the raft, I went into a nearby town with the king and the duke

第二天晚上，我们把木筏拴好后，我便跟着国王和公爵去了附近的一个小镇。

旁白 neutral

Nearly everyone was at an outdoor religious meeting, and the king immediately thought of a way to make money from it

几乎所有人都在参加一个户外的宗教集会，国王立刻就想到了一个从中赚钱的办法。

旁白 neutral

The king and I stood at the back of the crowd and listened for a while as the townspeople sang some hymns

国王和我站在人群后面，听了一会儿镇上的人们唱赞美诗。

旁白 neutral

Then the preacher said that anyone who had sinned should come forward and promise to live a better life

然后牧师说，任何犯过罪的人都应上前来，承诺要过更好的生活。

旁白 neutral

The king leaped up and ran to the front of the meeting

国王一跃而起，跑到了集会的前面。

旁白 neutral

He said that he had been a pirate in the Indian Ocean for thirty years

他说自己在印度洋当了三十年的海盗。

旁白 neutral

Now he understood that this was a bad way to live

现在他明白了，那种日子不是一种好的生活方式。

旁白 neutral

" All I want now," he said," is to go back to the ocean and tell all the other pirates to stop their evil ways and live a good life."

“我现在唯一想做的，”他说，“就是回到海上，告诉其他所有的海盗，停止邪恶的行径，过善良的生活。”

旁白 neutral

Then he began to cry with shame. Many people in the crowd believed him and began to cry too

接着，他羞愧地哭了起来。人群中的许多人相信了他，也纷纷开始哭泣。

旁白 neutral

" Let's collect some money for him to help him do his good work!" yelled someone in the crowd

“咱们给他募捐些钱，帮助他做善事吧！”人群中有人喊道。

旁白 neutral

The townspeople passed a hat around to collect money and gave all of it to the king. He hugged them and thanked them

镇上的人传了一圈帽子募捐，把所有钱都给了国王。国王拥抱他们，连连道谢。

旁白 neutral

When we got back to the raft, we found that he had collected 87 dollars and 75 cents

等我们回到木筏，发现他总共收到了八十七美元七十五美分。

旁白 neutral

The duke had been busy in town too

公爵在镇上也没闲着。

旁白 neutral

He had thought of a clever way that we could travel in the daytime

他想出了个聪明的办法，能让我们白天也赶路。

旁白 neutral

He showed us a poster he had printed

他给我们看他印好的一张告示。

旁白 neutral

It said " Two-Hundred Dollar Reward " in big letters; underneath, it described a black slave who had escaped from a plantation near New Orleans

上面用大字写着“悬赏二百美元”，底下描述了一名从新奥尔良附近种植园逃走的黑奴。

旁白 neutral

If other boats on the river came too close to our raft, we could tie Jim up so it would look as if he was our prisoner

要是有别的船靠我们木筏太近，我们就可以把吉姆捆起来，让他看起来像我们的囚犯。

旁白 neutral

Then we could show people the poster and tell them we were taking Jim south to New Orleans to get the reward

然后我们可以给人看告示，说我们正押送吉姆去南边的新奥尔良领取赏金。

旁白 neutral

For the next two days, as we continued south on the river, the king and the duke rehearsed their play on the raft

接下来的两天，我们沿河继续向南，国王和公爵就在木筏上排练他们的戏。

旁白 neutral

The duke had two wooden swords in his suitcase, and the two men practiced a fight scene

公爵的箱子里有两把木剑，两个人就练起了对决场面。

旁白 neutral

On the third day, we arrived at a place in Arkansas called Bricksville

第三天，我们来到了阿肯色州一个叫布里克斯维尔的地方。

旁白 neutral

A circus would be putting on a show in the afternoon, and the town was crowded with people who had come from the countryside to see it

下午会有马戏团表演，镇上挤满了从乡下来看表演的人。

旁白 neutral

The duke rented a hall where the play could be staged that evening

公爵租了一间大厅，当晚可以在那里演出戏剧。

旁白 neutral

He also got some posters printed, announcing the play, and walked around town handing them out

他还印了一些海报，为戏剧做宣传，并到镇上四处散发。

旁白 neutral

The charge would be 25 cents for each adult and 10 cents for each child

票价是成人每人25美分，儿童每人10美分。

旁白 neutral

In the afternoon, I snuck under the edge of the tent to watch the circus

下午，我偷偷从帐篷边缘钻进去看马戏。

旁白 neutral

I saw handsome men, and women who looked like queens, with glittering jewels all over their costumes

我看到了英俊的男人，还有像女王一样的女人，她们的戏服上缀满了闪闪发光的珠宝。

旁白 neutral

They stood up on the backs of horses that galloped around and around the circus ring

他们站在马背上，马儿绕着马戏场一圈圈地奔跑。

旁白 neutral

It was the most amazing sight I had ever seen

这是我见过的最惊人的场面。

旁白 neutral

That night, the king and duke put on their Shakespearean play, but only 12 people came

那天晚上，国王和公爵上演了他们的莎士比亚戏剧，但只有12个人来看。

旁白 neutral

They laughed through the whole play, which wasn't supposed to be funny

他们全程笑个不停，可这出戏本来不是逗乐的。

旁白 neutral

Afterward, the duke said that the people of Arkansas were too stupid to appreciate Shakespeare

事后，公爵说阿肯色人太蠢，欣赏不来莎士比亚。

旁白 neutral

" Tomorrow night," he said." We'll give them the show they deserve — the Royal Nonesuch."

"明晚，"他说，"我们给他们演一场配得上他们的戏——皇家非凡秀。"

旁白 neutral

The duke got new posters printed with the name of the show and the new price: fifty cents

公爵让人印了新海报，写上戏名和新票价：五十美分。

旁白 neutral

At the bottom, the poster said," No women and children admitted."

海报最底下写着："女士与儿童谢绝入场。"

旁白 neutral

That evening, the theater was packed with men

那天晚上，戏园子里挤满了男人。

旁白 neutral

The duke stood in front of the crowd and announced," You are about to see the most thrilling performance in the history of theater!"

公爵站在众人面前宣布："诸位即将目睹戏剧史上最惊心动魄的表演！"

旁白 neutral

Then the king hurried onto the stage on all fours

接着国王四肢着地，匆忙登上了台。

旁白 neutral

He wore no clothes, and his skin was painted all over with stripes of different colors

他一丝不挂，身上涂满了五颜六色的条纹。

旁白 neutral

The crowd roared with laughter and clapped. The king hopped off the stage and the duke reappeared

人群哄堂大笑，鼓起掌来。国王跳下舞台，公爵再次现身。

旁白 neutral

If they had enjoyed the show, he said, they should tell their friends to come the next night

他说，要是大家喜欢这出戏，就应该告诉朋友们明晚也来看。

旁白 neutral

People in the audience shouted angrily," Is the show over already? You charged us fifty cents for this?"

观众气愤地大喊："这就演完了？就这你们收我们五十美分？"

旁白 neutral

Then a tall man in the audience stood up and said," Yes, we've been tricked, gentlemen, but we don't want the whole town laughing at us

这时观众里一个高个子男人站起身说："是啊，我们被耍了，先生们，可咱们不能让全镇的人笑话咱们。

旁白 neutral

Let's leave here and tell all the other men in town to see the show

咱们离开这儿，去跟镇上其他男人说，让他们都来看这出戏。

旁白 neutral

Then we'll all be fools, and no one will be laughing at anyone else."

这样一来，大家都是傻瓜，也就没人笑话别人了。"

旁白 neutral

Everyone must have followed his advice because our theater was filled again the next night

大家肯定都听了他的主意，因为第二天晚上我们的戏园子又坐满了。

旁白 neutral

Once again, the king hopped around for a couple of minutes

国王再次蹦蹦跳跳了几分钟。

旁白 neutral

But on the third night, the people arriving at the theater were angry men who had already seen the show

但到了第三晚，来到戏园子的都是些已经看过戏、怒气冲冲的男人。

旁白 neutral

I watched them as they came inside and I saw that they were bringing rotten eggs and cabbages to throw at the stage

我看着他们进场，发现他们带着臭鸡蛋和卷心菜，准备往台上砸。

旁白 neutral

I ran backstage and told the king and duke that they should get out of town at once

我跑到后台，告诉国王和公爵，他们得立刻离开这个镇子。

旁白 neutral

We all ran back to the raft where Jim was waiting

我们都跑回木筏上，吉姆正在那儿等着。

旁白 neutral

By the time the audience realized we were gone, we had started down the river

等观众发现我们跑了的时候，我们早已顺流而下了。

旁白 neutral

We didn't light our lantern until we were ten kilometers south

直到往南走了十公里，我们才点亮灯笼。

旁白 neutral

Then we had our supper on the raft, while the king and duke counted their earnings

然后我们在木筏上吃晚饭，国王和公爵则在那儿数他们挣的钱。

旁白 neutral

They had 465 dollars. I had never seen so much money

他们有整整四百六十五美元。我从没见过这么多钱。