評論
打印
Even now, when every Park official, city administrator, and police officer tells us that the Park is safe during the day,
即使是現在，每位公園管理人員、城市管理者和警察都告訴我們，中央公園白天是安全的，
they all agree in this: only a fool goes there at night.
他們都同意下列觀點：只有傻瓜才會在夜晚去那里。
Or a purse snatcher, loon, prostitute, drug dealer, murderer—not to mention bully, garrotter, highway robber.
否則就是個搶劫犯、瘋子、娼妓、毒品販子、 殺人犯——更不用說惡棍、勒殺犯和勒索犯了。
I arrived at nine-fifteen and made for the only nocturnal spot I knew: the Delacorte Theatre.
我在九點十五分到達中央公園，走向我所知道的唯一一處有夜間活動的場所：德拉科特劇院。
Tonight's show was The Taming of the Shrew.
今天晚上演出的劇目是《馴悍記》。
Lights out, applause, and the audience began exiting.
不一會兒，燈光滅了，觀眾一陣掌聲，然后他們開始退場。
So far, so normal, and this could have been an outdoor summer-stock Shakespeare production anywhere in America,
到目前為止，一切正常，這和美國其他任何地方在室外上演的一場莎士比亞戲劇沒什么兩樣，
except in one respect: a police car was now parked conspicuously in view, its roof light slowly rotating.
只有一點不同：一輛警車此時引人注目地停在人們的視野中，車頂的燈緩緩地旋轉著。
The police were there to reassure the audience that it was being protected;
警察呆在那里是讓觀眾放心，劇場正在受到保護；
the rotating red light was like a campfire in the wild, warning what's out there to stay away.
旋轉的紅燈就像野外的篝火，警告那些在這里游蕩的人或動物不要靠近。
During my first hour or so, I wandered around the Delacorte, reassured by the lights, the laughter,
在來到公園一個小時左右，我徜徉在德拉科特劇場周圍，舞臺的燈光、觀眾的笑聲，
the lines of Shakespeare that drifted out into the summer night.
還有回蕩在仲夏夜的莎士比亞詩句，這些都讓我感到安心。
I was feeling a certain exhilaration, climbing the steps of Belvedere Castle all alone,
我有一種心曠神怡的感覺，獨自一人爬上了眺望臺城堡的臺階，
peeking through the windows of the Henry Luce Nature Observatory, identifying the herbs in the Shakespeare Garden,
透過窗戶從亨利·盧斯天文臺向外窺視，在莎士比亞花園里辨認著草本植物。
when, after turning this way and that, I was on a winding trail in impenetrable foliage, and, within minutes, I was lost.
我轉來轉去，突然走到了一條密不透風的樹葉遮蔽的羊腸小道上，在幾分鐘內我竟然迷路了。
