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英语故事美女还是老虎弗兰克斯托克顿1The Lady,or theTiger byFrank R.Stockton1•Long ago,in thevery oldentime,there liveda powerfulking.2•Some ofhis ideaswere progressive.3•But otherscaused peopleto suffer.4•One of the kingsideas was a public arena asan agentofpoetic justice.5•Crime waspunished,or innocencewas decided,by theresultof chance.6•When aperson was accused ofa crime,his futurewould bejudgedin thepublic arena.7•All the people wouldgather inthis building.8•The kingsat highup onhis ceremonialchair.9•He gavea sign.10•A doorunder himopened.The accusedperson steppedout into the arena.•Think ofit not as if the decisionof thequestion dependeduponyourself.96•But asif itdepended upon that hot-blooded princess,hersoul ata whiteheat under the firesof sadnessand jealousy.97•She hadlost him,but whoshould havehim98•How often,in herwaking hoursand inher dreams,had shestartedin wildterror,and coveredher facewith her hands99•She thought of herlover openingthe door on the other sideofwhich waited the sharpteeth of the tiger!100•But howmuch oftenerhad sheseen himopen theotherdoor101•How hadshe groundher teeth,and tornher hair,when shehad seen hishappy faceas heopened thedoor of the lady!102•How hersoul hadburned inpain whenshe hadseen himrunto meetthat woman,with herlook ofvictory.103•When she hadseenthe twoof themget married.•And whenshe hadseen themwalk awaytogether upon theirpath offlowers,followed bythe happyshouts of the crowd,inwhich herone sadcry waslost!105•Would itnot bebetter forhim todie quickly,and goto waitforher inthat blessedplace of the future106•And yetthat tiger,those cries,that blood!z107•Her decisionhad beenshown quickly.108•But ithad beenmade afterdays andnights ofthought.109•She hadknown shewould beasked.110•And shehad decidedwhat shewould answer.in•And shehad movedherhandto the right.112•The questionof herdecision isone notto belightlyconsidered.113•And it is notfor meto setmyself upas theone personableto answerit114•And soI leaveit with all ofyou:•Which came out of the opendoor-the lady,or the tiger•Directly oppositethe kingwere twodoors.13•They wereside byside,exactly alike.14•The personon trialhad towalk directlyto thesedoors andopenone of them.15•He couldopen whicheverdoor he pleased.16•If the accused manopened onedoor,out camea hungrytiger,the fiercestin the land.17•The tigerimmediately jumpedon himand torehim topiecesas punishmentfor hisguilt18•The caseof thesuspect wasthus decided.19•Iron bellsrang sadly.Great crieswent upfrom thepaidmourners.20•And thepeople,with headshanging lowand sadhearts,slowly madetheir wayhome.21•They mournedgreatly thatone soyoung andfair,or sooldand respected,should havedied thisway.•But,iftheaccused opened theotherdoor,there cameforthfrom ita woman,chosen especiallyfor theperson.23•To thislady he was immediatelymarried,in honorof hisinnocence.24•It wasnotaproblem thathe mightalready havea wifeandfamily,or thathe mighthave chosento marryanother woman.25•The kingpermitted nothingto interferewith hisgreatmethod ofpunishment andreward.26•Another dooropened underthe king,and aclergyman,singers,dancers andmusicians joinedthe manand the lady.27•The marriageceremony wasquickly completed.28•Then thebells madecheerful noises.29•The peopleshouted happily.30•And theinnocent manled thenew wifeto hishome,following childrenwho threwflowers ontheir path.31•This wasthe kingsmethod ofcarrying outjustice.•Its fairnessappeared perfect.•The accusedperson couldnot knowwhich doorwas hidingthe lady.34•He openedeither as hepleased,without havingknowingwhether,in thenext minute,hewasto bekilled ormarried.35•Sometimes thefierce animalcame outof onedoor.36•Sometimes itcameoutof theother.37•This methodwasapopular one.38•When thepeople gatheredtogether onone ofthe greattrialdays,they neverknew whetherthey wouldsee abloody killingora happyending.39•So everyonewas alwaysinterested.40•And thethinking partofthecommunity wouldbring nochargeof unfairnessagainst thisplan.41•Did nottheaccusedperson havethe wholematter inhis ownhands42•The kinghad abeautiful daughterwho waslike himin manyways.•He lovedher aboveall humanity.44•The princesssecretly loveda young man whowas thebest-looking andbravest in theland.45•But hewasacommoner,not partof animportant family.46•One day,the kingdiscovered therelationship betweenhisdaughter and the youngman.47•The man was immediatelyput inprison.48•A daywas setfor histrial in the kingspublic arena.49•This,of course,was anespecially importantevent50•Never beforehad acommon subjectbeen braveenough tolovethe daughterofthe king.51•The kingknew that the youngman wouldbe punished,evenif heopenedthe right door.52•And theking wouldtake pleasurein watchingthe seriesofevents,which wouldjudge whetheror notthe manhad donewrongin lovingthe princess.•The dayofthetrial arrived.54•From farand nearthepeoplegathered inthe arenaandoutside itswalls.55•The kingand hisadvisers werein theirplaces,opposite thetwodoors.56•All wasready.57•The signwas given.58•The doorundertheking openedand thelover ofthe princessentered the arena.59•Tall,beautiful andfair,his appearancewas metwithasoundof approvaland tension.60•Half thepeople hadnot knownso perfecta youngman livedamongthem.61•No wonderthe princessloved him!What aterrible thingforhim to be there!62•As the youngmanenteredthepublicarena,he turned tobend to theking.•But hedid notat allthink ofthe greatruler.64•The youngmans eyesinstead werefixed onthe princess,who sattotheright ofher father.65•From theday itwas decidedthatthesentence ofher lovershouldbe decidedinthe arena,shehadthoughtofnothing butthisevent.66•The princess had morepower,influence andforce ofcharacterthan anyonewho hadever beforebeen interestedinsuch acase.67•She haddone whatno otherperson haddone.68•She hadpossessed herselfofthesecret ofthe doors.69•She knew behind which door stoodthetiger,and behindwhichwaited the lady.70•Gold,andthepower ofa womanswill,had broughtthesecret tothe princess.71•She alsoknew whotheladywas.72•The ladywas oneoftheloveliest inthe kingdom.•Now andthen the princesshadseen herlooking atandtalking tothe youngman.74•The princesshated thewoman behindthat silentdoor.75•She hatedher withall theintensity ofthe bloodpassed toherthrough longlines ofcruel ancestors.76•Her loverturnedtolook atthe princess.77•His eyemet hersas shesat there,paler andwhiter thananyoneinthelarge oceanof tensefaces aroundher.78•He sawthat sheknewbehindwhichdoorwaitedthetiger,and behindwhich stoodthelady.79•He hadexpected herto knowit.80•The onlyhope fortheyoungmanwasbased onthe successoftheprincessin discoveringthis mystery.81•When helooked ather,he sawthat shehad beensuccessful,asheknew shewould succeed.82•Then hisquick andtense lookasked thequestion:Which”Itwas asclear toher asif heshouted itfrom wherehe stood.•There wasnot timetobelost.84•The princessraised herhand,and madea short,quickmovement towardtheright85•No onebut herlover sawit86•Every eyebut hiswas fixedontheman inthearena.87•He turned,and witha firmand quickstep hewalked acrosstheempty space.88•Every heartstopped beating.89•Every breathwas held.90•Every eyewas fixeduponthatman.91•He wenttothedoorontherightand openedit.92•Now,the pointofthestory isthis:Did thetiger comeout ofthatdoor,or didthelady93•The morewe thinkabout thisquestion,the harderitistoanswer.94•It involvesa studyofthehuman heart.。