[短篇閱讀]THE LADY OR THE TIGER?

［Blue Ivy 輸入的噢,如果有錯誤請提出,以便更正]

THE LADY OR THE TIGER?

Adapted from the story by Frank Stockton

A long, longtime ago, there was a semi-barbaric king. I call him semi-barbaric because the modern world, with its modern ideas, had softened his barbarism a little. But still, his ideal was large, wild, and free. He had a wonderful imagination. Since he was also a king of the greatest powers, he easily turned the dreams of his imagination into facts. He greatly enjoyed talking to himself about ideas. And, when he and himself agreed upon a thing, the thing was down. He was a very pleasant man when everything in his world moved smoothly. And when something went wrong, he became even more pleasant. Nothing, you see, pleased him more than making wrong things right.
One of this semi-barbaric king』s modern ideas was the idea of a large arena. In this arena his people could watch both men and animals in acts of bravery.
But even this modern idea was touched by the king』s wild imagination. In his arena, the people saw more than soldiers fighting soldiers, or men fighting animals. They enjoyed more than the sight of blood. In the king』s arena, the people saw the laws of the country at work. They saw good men lifted up and bad men pushed down. Most important, they were able to watch the working of the first law of Chance.
Here is what happened when a man was accused of a crime. If the king was interested in the crime, then the people were told to come to the arena. They came together and sat there, thousands of them. The king sat high up in his king』s chair. When he gave a sigh, a door below him opened. The accused man stepped out into the arena. Across from him, on the other side of the arena, were two other doors. They were close together and they looked the same. The accused man would walk straight to these doors and open one of them. He could choose either one of the doors. He was forced by nothing and led by no one. Only chance helped him―or didn』t help him.
Behind one of the doors was a tiger. It was the wildest, biggest, hungriest tiger that could be found. Of course, it quickly jumped on the man. The man quickly―or not so quickly―died. After he died, sad bells rang, women cried, and the thousands of people walked home slowly.
But, if the accused man opened the other door, a lady would step out. She was the finest and most beautiful lady that could be found. At that moment, there in the arena, she would be married to the man. It didn』t matter if the man was already married. It didn』t matter if he was in love with another woman. The king did not let little things like that get in the way of his imagination. No, the two were married there in front of the king. There was music and dancing. The happy bells rang, women cried, and the thousands of people walked home singing.
This was the way the law worked in the king』s semi―barbaric country. Its fairness is clear. The criminal could not know which door the lady was behind. He opened either door as he wanted. At the moment he opened the door, he did not know if he was going to be eaten or married.
The people of the country thought the law was good one. They went to the arena with great interest. They never know if they would see a bloody killing or a lovely marriage. This uncertainty gave the day its fine and unusual taste. And they liked the fairness of the law. Wasn』t it true that the accused man held his life in his own hands?
[/COLOR]

(未完待續)

大家請跟貼說說你會選:THE LADY OR THE TIGER?  說說自己的看法.