Lesson 74 Out of the limelight 舞台之外

An ancient bus stopped by a dry river bed and a party of famous actors and actresses got off. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special precautions so that no one should recognize them. But as they soon discovered, disguises can sometimes be too perfect.

'This is a wonderful place for a picnic,' said Gloria Gleam.

'It couldn't be better, Gloria,' Brinksley Meers agreed. 'No newspaper men, no film fans! Why don't we come more often?'

Meanwhile, two other actors, Rockwall Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried two large food baskets to a shady spot under some trees. When they had all made themselves comfortable, a stranger appeared. He looked very angry. 'Now you get out of here, all of you!' he shouted. 'I'm sheriff here. Do you see that notice? It says "No Camping" -- in case you can't read!'

'Look, sheriff,' said Rockwall, 'don't be too hard on us. I'm Rockwall Slinger and this is Merlin Greeves.'

'Oh, is it?' said the sheriff with a sneer. 'Well, I'm Brinksley Meers, and my other name is Gloria Gleam. Now you get out of here fast!'

参考译文

一辆古旧的汽车停在一条干涸的河床边，一群著名男女演员下了车。他们戴着墨镜，穿着旧衣裳，特别小心以防别人认出他们。但他们很快就发觉，化装的效果有时过分完美了。

“在这个地方野餐简直太妙了，”格格利亚.格利姆说。

“是再好不过的了，格格利亚。”布林克斯利.米尔斯表示同意，“没有记者，没有影迷!我们为什么不经常来这里呢?”

“此时，另外两位演员，罗克沃尔.斯林格和默林.格里夫斯，已经把两个大食品篮子提到了一片树荫下。当他们都已安排舒适时，一个陌生人出现了。他看上去非常气愤。“你们都从这里走开，全都走开!”他大叫着，“我是这里的司法长官。你们看到那个布告牌了吗?上面写着‘禁止野营’--除非你们不识字!”

“好了，好了，司法官，”罗克沃尔说，“别使我们难堪。我是罗克沃尔.斯林格，这位是默林.格里夫斯。”

“噢，是吗?”那位司法长官冷笑一声说道，“好，我就是布林克斯利.米尔斯。我还有一个名字叫格格利亚.格利姆。现在你们赶快滚吧!”

New words and expressions

• limelight n. 舞台灯光
  • be in the limelight 受...瞩目，受...关注
• precaution n. 预防措施
  • take an umbrella just as a precaution
  • fire precautions
  • take the precaution of doing
• fan n. 迷
  • turn on the fan (风扇)
  • toast 吐司
  • cheese 奶酪
  • sause 酱
  • mousse 慕斯
• shady a. 遮阴的
• shade n. 荫
  • in the shade 呆在阴凉处
  • a shady yard
  • a shady corner of the garden
• sheriff n. 司法长官
• notice n. 通知，告示
• notice board
• sneer n. 冷笑，讥笑
  • I sneered at his clothes.

注释

• by + 地点 靠着
• disguise oneself + as
• make
• keep
• find
• be hard on sb 对...太严厉
  • be very strict with