红死魔的假面舞会the masque of the red death

The masque of the red death

It was a huge and extraordinary castle, built to Prince Prospero's own plan. It had strong high walls and great gates of heavy metal. Now when the Prince and his friends arrived at the castle gates they went inside, locked the gates carefully and threw away the keys. In that way no one would be able to enter or escape. They were all there together, far away from the Red Death. Now they could forget the world outside and think only of themselves. They had everything they needed to amuse themselves, because the Prince had forgotten nothing. He had brought in food and wine, actors, musicians, and dancers. All of this, and life itself, was inside the castle. Outside lay the Red Death.

Towards the end of the fifth or sixth month, while the Red Death was at its most deadly outside, the Prince gave a wonderful masked ball for his friends. It was a wild and wonderful ball, but first let me tell you about the rooms in which he gave the ball. There were seven rooms in all. In most castles, of course, the rooms for great parties or dances join each other end to end. In this way, when the doors at the end of each room are opened, the seven rooms become one huge room, and you can see from the first room right through to the last one. In prospero's castle, it was different. Each room turned suddenly round a corner into the next, so if you were standing in one room it was impossible to see into the other rooms.

这座城堡规模宏大，非同凡响，是按照普洛斯佩罗亲王亲自设计的蓝图建造的，它有着巍然高耸的坚固城墙以及沉甸甸的金属大门。现在，亲王和他的朋友们来到城堡的大门前；他们进入城堡，仔细地锁好大门，然后将钥匙扔掉。这样一来，就没有一个人能够进入或是逃走了；他们都在一起，远远地避开红死魔，并且得以忘掉外面的世界，仅仅关注他们自己。供自己取乐用的东西他们样样都有，因为亲王什么都没忘了带。他带来了食物、美酒、演员、乐师和舞者。所有这一切，再加上生命本身，均处于城堡内部；城堡外面则是红死病的天下。

到了第五或第六个月的末尾，外面正是红死病最为猖獗的时候，亲王却举办了一个盛大的假面舞会招待他的朋友们。舞会开得热烈奔放、精彩绝伦，不过首先让我来向诸位介绍一下举办舞会的场地。总共有七间屋子。当然，在大多数城堡里，举行大型宴会或舞会的房间都是彼此衔接、首尾相连的。按照这种布局，每一间屋子两端的门一开，七间屋子就会变成一个大房间，你可以从第一间屋子径直望见最后一间。然而在普洛斯佩罗的城堡里，情形就有所不同了，每一个房间要绕过一个拐角才突然转而成为下一个房间。这样，如果你站在其中一个房间里，你是不可能望见其他几个房间的。

In the middle of each wall, on the right and left, there was a tall, narrow window opening onto the closed passage which ran along beside all seven rooms. Each window was made of different coloured glass, and the colour of the glass was the same as the colour of the room that it opened onto. The first room, for example, was blue, and so its windows were also a deep blue. The second room was purple, and so the windows, too, were purple. The third was green, with green windows, the fourth orange, the fifth white, and the sixth violet. The seventh room was black. Its walls were black, its thick, heavy carpet was also black. But its windows were red - a deep blood-red.

There were no candles in any of the rooms. The only light came from fires, in hanging metal baskets, which were in the passages outside the rooms. Each fire was opposite a window, and so the light from the fire shone through the coloured glass and filled each