LESSON 1 THE GOOD READER 一名優秀的朗讀者

1.It is told of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, that, as he was seated one day in his private room, a written petition^[1] was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately read.The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause, had so dazzled his eyes that he found it diffi cult to make out a single word of the writing.

2.His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read.There was a page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called.The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor reader.

3.In the first place, he did not articulate^[2] distinctly.He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible.His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate^[3] his voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read.Every sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony^[4] of voice, as if it did not diff er in any respect from that which preceded it.

4.“Stop!” said the King, impatiently.“Is it an auctioneer’s list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send your companion to me.” Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave the petition.The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in such an aff ected^[5] manner that the King jokingly asked him whether he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before.

5.The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the King’s jest.He determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made.So he commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and prolonging the articulation of every syllable.But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, “Stop! are you reciting a lesson in the elementary sounds? Out of the room! But no: stay! Send me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain.”

6.The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the laborers employed by the royal gardener; and she had come to help her father weed the flower beds.It chanced that, like many of the poor people in Prussia, she had received a good education.She was somewhat alarmed when she found herself in the King’s presence, but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were weak.

7.Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her father’s house to hear her; those who could not read themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well.

8.The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly glanced through the opening lines to get some idea of what it was about.As she read, her eyes began to glisten, and her breast to heave.“What is the matter?”asked the King; “don’t you know how to read?” “Oh, yes! sire,”she replied, addressing him with the title usually applied to him: “I will now read it, if you please.”

9.The two pages were about to leave the room.“Remain,” said the King.The little girl began to read the petition.It was from a poor widow, whose only son had been drafted^[6] to serve in the army, although his health was delicate and his pursuits had been such as to unfi t him for military life.His father had been killed in battle, and the son had a strong desire to become a portrait painter.

10.The writer told her story in a simple, concise^[7] manner, that carried to the heart a belief of its truth; and Ernestine read it with so much feeling, and with an articulation so just, in tones so pure and distinct, that when she had fi nished, the King, into whose eyes the tears had started, exclaimed, “Oh! now I understand what it is all about; but I might never have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning had I trusted to these young gentlemen, whom I now dismiss from my service for one year, advising them to occupy their time in learning to read.”

11.“As for you, my young lady,” continued the King, “I know you will ask no better reward for your trouble than the pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her son’s immediate discharge^[8].Let me see whether you can write as well as you can read.Take this pen, and write as I dictate^[9].” He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he signed.Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that the order was obeyed.

12.How much happiness was Ernestine the means of bestowing through her good elocution, united to the happy circumstance that brought it to the knowledge of the King! First, there were her poor neighbors, to whom she could give instruction and entertainment.Then, there was the poor widow who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son, but received through Ernestine an order for him to paint the King’s likeness; so that the poor boy soon rose to great distinction^[10], and had more orders than he could attend to.Words could not express^[11] his gratitude, and that of his mother, to the little girl.

13.And Ernestine had, moreover, the satisfaction of aiding her father to rise in the world, so that he became the King’s chief gardener.The King did not forget her, but had her well educated at his own expense.As for the two pages, she was indirectly the means of doing them good, also; for, ashamed of their bad reading, they commenced studying in earnest, till they overcame the faults that had off ended the King.Both fi nally rose to distinction, one as a lawyer, and the other as a statesman; and they owed their advancement in life chiefl y to their good elocution.

NOTES.—Fredorick II.of Prussia (b.1712, d.1788), or Frederick the Great, as he was called, was one of the greatest of German rulers.He was distinguished for his military exploits, for his wise and just government, and for his literary attainments.He wrote many able works in the French language.Many pleasant anecdotes are told of this king, of which the one given in the lesson is a fair sample.

【中文閱讀】

1.有一天，普魯士國王腓特烈大帝坐在他的私人房間里，士兵呈上一份請愿信，呈請國王立即審閱。當時，國王剛剛從狩獵場返回，刺眼的陽光，或是其他一些原因，影響了他的視力，他發現自己看不清信上的任何一個字。

2.他的私人秘書正巧不在場，而為他送來這份請愿信的士兵也不識字。當時，有一個男侍，或者不如說一位乖巧侍童，正等候在大廳里，于是腓特烈大帝召喚了他。這個男侍是一位宮廷貴族的兒子，但國王很快發現，他是個糟糕的朗讀者。

3.首先，他的發音不夠清晰。他吐字很含糊，聽起來，有些詞語音節應該很長，可他總是急不可耐地含糊讀完。他的發音也很糟糕，并沒有根據這封請愿信的意思而調整他的語調。他所表述的每個句子都是令人沮喪的單調聲音，毫無抑揚頓挫之感或音調變化，似乎句子之間不存在任何差別。

4.“夠了！”國王不耐煩地打斷了他，“這難道是一份你急著賣掉的拍賣貨物清單？叫你的同伴過來見我。”于是，正站在門口等候的另一名男侍進來了，國王將請愿書交給他。這個男侍做作地清了清嗓子，然后才開始朗讀。國王詼諧地問他，昨晚是不是雖然沒在公園里過夜，但睡覺時門卻整晚沒關。

5.這個男侍相當自負，對國王的俏皮話，似乎不太在意。他決定避免犯下他的同伴所犯的錯誤，于是，他開始慢慢地、莊重地讀這封請愿書，強調每一個字，拉長每一個發音，但他讀得如此乏味造作，國王不禁大聲呵斥：“夠了！你難道是在按基本發音背誦課文嗎？給我滾出去！不，等等，留下來！把那個坐在噴泉旁的小女孩給我叫來。”

6.國王說的這名女孩，是宮廷花師所雇傭人的女兒，那天，她是來幫助父親給宮廷花圃除草的。碰巧的是，像許多普魯士的窮人一樣，她接受過良好的教育。當發現自己正站在國王面前時，她多少有點驚慌，但國王告訴她，由于他眼睛看不清，只希望她能為自己讀一封請愿信，她才稍稍鼓起了勇氣。

7.歐絲婷（小女孩名字）喜歡大聲朗讀，她的許多鄰居經常聚集在她家中來聽她讀書；那些不識字的人，會帶著他們遠方朋友或孩子的來信來找她幫忙。她因此養成了朗讀各種各樣手寫信件的習慣，讀得既快速又好聽。

8.國王將請愿書交給她，她迅速瀏覽了開篇幾行字，很快理解了信里的意思。當她看這封信的時候，她眼中淚光閃爍，呼吸急速。“怎么了？”國王問，“難道你不知道該怎么讀？”“哦，我知道！陛下，”她回答道，用尊敬的語氣對他說，“如果您愿意的話，我現在就開始為您讀這封信。”

9.那兩名男侍想退出房間。“留下。”國王下令。小女孩開始讀這封請愿信。這封信是一位窮苦的寡婦寫的，她唯一的兒子被征募去軍隊服役，盡管他身虛體弱，志向亦不在行伍。他的父親已經在戰場上犧牲了，而這個少年還有個夢寐以求的愿望，想成為一名肖像畫家。

10.這個寡婦在信里用質樸簡潔的語言講述了她的遭遇，文字中流露出的真切情感令人動容。歐絲婷滿懷深情地讀著它，她的發音如此清晰，語調如此純正，抑揚頓挫，以至于當她讀完的時候，國王也忍不住流淚了，他驚呼道：“天哪！現在我才明白這封信里說的是什么。但是，如果聽信那些年輕貴族的話，我將永遠無從了解，準確地說，永遠不會像現在這樣感受到這封信的深刻含義。現在，我要將那些家伙辭退一年，讓他們好好學學如何朗讀。”

11.“至于你，我的孩子，”國王繼續說，“我要派你去向這位窮苦的寡婦傳達我的旨意：她的兒子不用服兵役了。我想，為她傳達這樣一個令人高興的消息，大概是對你為我讀信的最好獎賞。來吧，讓我看看你是否能準確書寫，像你的閱讀那么棒。拿著這支筆，寫下我的口諭。”接著，他口述了一份命令，歐絲婷將它寫下來，國王隨后簽上了自己的名字。他叫來一個衛兵，吩咐他跟著這個女孩去傳達國王的旨意。

12.通過感情真摯的閱讀，讓國王獲悉了民情，歐絲婷簡直快樂極了！首先，那些貧困的鄰居們從她那兒得到了指導與安慰。其次，呈送請愿信的可憐寡婦不僅重新與兒子一起生活，而且還從歐絲婷那里得到國王的旨意，安排她的兒子為國王畫像。這個窮苦孩子很快就出人頭地，得到很多讓他畫像的訂單，忙都忙不過來了，千言萬語都無法表達出這位少年和他的寡母對小姑娘歐絲婷的深深感激之情。

13.不僅如此，歐絲婷的父親后來被提拔為國王的首席園丁，在世界園林界贏得了聲譽，這一點，讓歐絲婷非常自豪。國王沒有忘記她，花錢讓她接受了良好的教育。至于那兩名男侍，他們也間接從她身上受益。由于為自己糟糕的朗讀能力而感到羞愧，他們開始認真學習，直到克服了原先觸怒國王的那些閱讀障礙。他們最終也出人頭地了，一位做了律師，另一位成了政治家，他們將所獲得的成就歸功于良好的演說能力。

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【注釋】

[1] Petition, a formal request.

[2] Articulate, to utter the elementary sounds.

[3] Modulate, to vary or infl ect.

[4] Monotony, lack of variety.

[5] Aff ected, unnatural and silly.

[6] Drafted, selected by lot.

[7] Concise, brief and full of meaning.

[8] Discharge, release.

[9] Dictate, to utter so that another may write down.

[10] Distinction, honorable and notable position.

[11] Express, to make known the feelings of.