By heart

vocabulary

1 aristocrat 贵族

2 gaoler 监狱长，看守

3 falter 支吾，结巴说

4 cast 选派……扮演角色

5 curtain 幕布

6 eagerly 渴望地，热切地

7 anxious 焦急的，渴望的

8 squint 瞄，眯着（眼）看

9 promptly 迅捷滴，立即地

10 proceed 继续进行

writting

1 One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so many performmances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart.

2 Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands.

3 In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night.