國王和音樂家的故事

It happened in Lucknow1 in the time of Vajid Ali Shah.

He was the king of Lucknow， a very crazy man，a drunkard， but a lover of music， art， sculpture， painting， a lover of beauty. He used to invite all kinds of dancers， singers， musicians， poets， to his court.

One musician was constantly refusing to come. Vajid Ali Shah went to him -- that was a rare gesture from him， he had never gone to anybody. His invitation was enough， and he was ready to pay as much as demanded or more. But the musician was reluctant2 to come.

When Vajid Ali Shah went to him he said， \"I can come， but you will have to fulfill3 my condition. I have only one single condition and that is: when I am playing or singing， nobody can move his head.\"

Vajid Ali Shah said， \"That is not a difficult thing， don't be worried. I will inform the people who are going to come to listen that 'If you move your head， your head will be chopped4 off!'\"He was a crazy man -- he could have done that，and he actually prepared for it. He informed the whole capital of Lucknow: \"Those who want to come， they should be aware that it is risky. Soldiers will be standing with naked swords５ and whoever moves his head， nods his head in appreciation6， his head will be chopped off!\"

Lucknow had at least ten thousand music lovers -- only one hundred people turned up.It was dangerous!You may be simply moving your head because a mosquito has been torturing7 you， or for some other reason...you may forget because the musician is great and to remember it continuously will be difficult. Even snakes start moving， dancing -- it will be difficult. So people avoided， but ahu-ndred people came. Theywere real lovers of music，they risked their lives -- it was worth it. And the people were standing with naked swords. It was a strange gathering!

The musician started playing， and he was such a great musician that within fifteen minutes' time a few heads started moving.Vajid Ali Shah became very much worried because it was not only one head: a few heads， then a few more joined in， then a few more. Then he became very much concerned: \"Is he going to kill all these one hundred people? And these are the most appreciative people in the whole capital!\" He knew them: they were lovers of music.

By the time the musician finished in the middle of the night， all the hundred people were swaying８. Vajid Ali asked，\"Now what do you say? Should I cut these people's heads? My soldiers are ready， anti because I have given you my promise I am ready to fulfill it.\"

The musician laughed and he said，\"Don't be worried!This condition was made only so that people who are real lovers would come. One who is ready to risk his life must be a passionate9 lover. Now these are the people I would like to sing and play for. Withdraw10 your soldiers! I was waiting: if there had been a few people whose heads had not moved， then those people would have had to be removed11 from the gathering. Now is the right gathering I have waited for my whole life. These are the people who forgot completely， forgot even the question of life -- it was a question of life and death.\"

注釋

１. Ｌｕｃｋnow 勒克瑙[印度北部城市] （北方邦首府）

2. reluctant ａｄｊ. 不情愿的，勉強(qiáng)的

３. fulfill ｖｔ. 滿足

４. ｃｈｏｐ ｖｔ. 砍，劈，斬，剁

５.naked sword 出鞘的劍

６. appreciation ｎ. 欣賞、鑒賞

７. torture ｖｔ. 折磨，使痛苦

８. sway ｖｉ. 搖擺，擺動(dòng)

９. passionate ａｄｊ. 出自強(qiáng)烈感情的，情緒激昂的

１０. withｄｒａｗ ｖｔ. 撤退，撤離，使退出

１１. remove ｖｔ. 逐出，開除

故事發(fā)生在印度北方邦首府勒克瑙城，正值瓦吉德·阿里·沙當(dāng)政的時(shí)代。

瓦吉德·阿里·沙是勒克瑙的國王，是 一個(gè)非常瘋狂的人，嗜酒如命。但是他愛好音樂、藝術(shù)、雕刻、繪畫，熱愛美的事物。他曾經(jīng)把各種各樣的舞蹈家、歌唱家、音樂家、詩人邀請到他的宮廷。

有一位音樂家卻一直拒絕露面。瓦吉德·阿里·沙親自去請音樂家——這是他少有的舉動(dòng)，他從未求過任何人。他的邀請足夠盛情，除了滿足對方的要求外，還愿意多付報(bào)酬。但是，這位音樂家還是不情愿去宮廷。

當(dāng)瓦吉德·阿里·沙去見他時(shí)，他說：“我可以去，但是您將不得不滿足我的條件。我只有一個(gè)條件，就是當(dāng)我演奏或歌唱時(shí)，誰也不能晃動(dòng)他的頭。”

瓦吉德·阿里·沙說：“這件事情不難辦，不必?fù)?dān)心。我將通告那些來聽演奏的人們，‘如果你們晃動(dòng)頭，你們的頭將被砍掉!’”他是一個(gè)瘋狂的人，說到就會(huì)做到，并真的做了準(zhǔn)備。他通告整個(gè)勒克瑙城：“那些想來聽演奏的人們務(wù)必請注意，他們將冒生命的危險(xiǎn)。士兵將會(huì)寶劍出鞘，侍立一旁。凡因欣賞之興而搖頭、點(diǎn)頭者，頭將被砍掉!”

勒克瑙至少有一萬名音樂愛好者，卻只有一百人出席音樂會(huì)。那多危險(xiǎn)啊!從們會(huì)僅僅因?yàn)橐恢晃米拥尿}擾或其他什么原因而晃頭……也許會(huì)由于音樂家的出色表演而忘乎所以，時(shí)刻都記住這個(gè)條件并不容易。甚至蛇都會(huì)應(yīng)聲搖擺起舞——要想不動(dòng)簡直太難了。所以，除這一百人外，別的人都避開不來。他們是真正的音樂愛好者，不惜以生命為代價(jià)——那是值得的，加上手持利刃的人們在一旁站立，這真是一次奇異的聚會(huì)啊!

音樂家開始演奏。他演奏的音樂出神入化，15分鐘內(nèi)就有幾個(gè)頭開始晃動(dòng)。瓦吉德·阿里·沙開始憂心忡忡，因?yàn)椴恢挥幸粋€(gè)頭在動(dòng)：先是幾個(gè)在動(dòng)，接著多了幾個(gè)，然后更多的頭開始動(dòng)。后來，他變得焦慮不安：“他要?dú)⒌羲羞@一百人嗎?他們可是整個(gè)首府最有欣賞力的人啊!”他了解他們，他們都酷愛音樂。

午夜時(shí)分，音樂家結(jié)束了演奏，所有一百人都在擺動(dòng)。瓦吉德·阿里問道： “現(xiàn)在你還有什么要說的嗎?是不是我要砍下這些人的頭?我的士兵做好了準(zhǔn)備，因?yàn)槲以S下諾言，我就要說話算數(shù)。”音樂家笑了，他說：“用不著擔(dān)心!我之所以提出這個(gè)條件，就是想要召來那些真正愛好音樂的人們。愿意冒著生命危險(xiǎn)而來的人，必定是感情最投入的音樂愛好者?，F(xiàn)在這些人正是我愿意為之歌唱和演奏的人們。撤去你的士兵吧!我一直等待著，如果有幾個(gè)人的頭沒有晃動(dòng)，就把這些人從聚會(huì)中請出去。這正是我一生都在等待的聚會(huì)。這些人是完全忘我的人們，甚至忘記了性命，那可是生死攸關(guān)的考驗(yàn)??！”