The painter，who wanted to get to Paradise，had to go up a staircase which he had himself painted，but which no man could mount. That was to expiate his sins against perspective. All the plants and buildings，which the propertyman had placed，with infinite pains，in countries to which they did not belong，the poor fellow was obliged to put in their right places before cockcrowcockcrow n.黎明，破晓，if he wanted to get into Paradise. Let Herr Fabs see how he would get in himself，but what he said of the performers，tragedianstragedian n.悲剧演员，悲剧作家 and comedianscomedian n.喜剧演员，singers and dancers，that was the most rascally of all. Mr. Fabs，indeed！—Flabs！ He did not deserve to be admitted at all，and our aunt would not soil her lips with what he said. And he said，did Flabs，that the whole was written down，and it should be printed when he was dead and buried，but not before，for he would not risk having his arms and legs broken.
布景画家如果想上天，他就得爬着他自己绘的梯子，但是这样的梯子是谁也爬不上的。这可以说是犯了违反透视规则的错误。舞台木工假如想上天，他就得把他花了许多气力放错了地方的那些房子和树木搬回到准确的地方来，而且必须在鸡叫以前就搬好。法布先生如果想上天，也必须留神。至于他所形容的那些悲剧和喜剧中的演员，歌唱和舞蹈的演员，他们真是糟糕得很。法布先生！佛拉布先生！他真不配坐在台顶上。姑妈永远不愿意把他的话传达给任何人听。可是佛拉布这东西，竟然说他已经把这些话都写下来了，并且还要印出来——不过这要在他死了以后，不在他死去以前，因为他害怕人家活扒他的皮。
Once our aunt had been in fear and trembling in her temple of happiness，the theatre. It was on a winter day，one of those days in which one has a couple of hours of daylight，with a gray sky. It was terribly cold and snowy，but aunt must go to the theatre. A little opera and a great ballet were performed，and a prologueprologue n.序言 and an epilogueepilogue n.结语，尾声，[戏］收场白 into the bargain； and that would last till late at night. Our aunt must needs go； so she borrowed a pair of fur boots of her lodgerboots with fur inside and out，and which reached far up her legs.
姑妈只有一次在她的幸福的神庙——戏院——里感到恐惧和苦恼。那是在冬天——那种一天只有两个钟头的清冷的阳光的日子里。这时天气又寒冷又下雪，但是姑妈不得不到戏院里去。除去一个小型歌剧和一个大型芭蕾舞。一段开场白和一段收场白以外，主戏是《赫尔曼·冯·翁那》，这出戏一直能演到深夜。姑妈必须去。她的房客借给她一双里外都有毛的滑雪靴。她连小腿也伸进靴子里去了。
She got to the theatre，and to her box； the boots were warm，and she kept them on. Suddenly there was a cry of “Fire！” Smoke was coming from one of the side scenes，and streamedstream v.流，涌，流注n.溪，川，流，一股，一串，河流 down from the flies，and there was a terrible panic. The people came rushing out，and our aunt was the last in the box，“On the second tier，lefthand side，for from there the scenery looks best.” she used to say. “The scenes are always arranged that they look best from the Kings side.” Aunt wanted to come out，but the people before her，in their fright and heedlessness，slammed the door of the box； and there sat our aunt，and couldnt get out，and couldnt get in； that is to say，she couldnt get into the next box，for the partitionpartition n.分割，划分，瓜分，分开，隔离物vt.区分，隔开，分割 was too high for her. She called out，and no one heard her； she looked down into the tier of boxes below her，and it was empty，and low，and looked quite near，and aunt in her terror felt quite young and light. She thought of jumping down，and had got one leg over the partition，the other resting on the bench. There she sat astride，as if on horseback，well wrapped up inwrapped up in 酷爱 her flowered cloak with one leg hanging out—a leg in a tremendous fur boot. That was a sight to behold，and when it was beheld，our aunt was heard too，and was saved from burning，for the theatre was not burned down.
她走进戏院，在包厢里坐下来。靴子是很温暖的，因此她没有脱下来。突然间，有一个喊“起火”的声音叫起来了。烟从舞台边厢和顶楼上冒出来了，这时马上起了一阵可怕的骚动。大家都在往外乱跑。姑妈坐在靠门最远的一个包厢里。“布景从第二层楼的左边看最好，”她这样说过，“因为它是专为皇家包厢里的人的欣赏口味而设计的。”姑妈想走出去，可是她前面的人已经在害怕中无意地把门关上了。姑妈坐在那里面，既不能出，也不能进——也就是说，走不到隔壁的一个包厢里去，因为隔板太高了。她大叫起来，谁也听不见。她朝下面的一层楼望，那儿已经是空荡荡了。这层楼很低，而且隔她不远。姑妈在恐怖中突然觉得自己变得年轻和活跃起来。她想跳下去。她一只腿跨过了栏杆，另一只腿还抵在座位上。她就是这么骑马似的坐着，穿着漂亮的衣服和花裙子，一条长腿悬在外面——一条穿着巨大的滑雪靴的腿。这副样儿才真值得一看呢！她真的被人看见了，因此她的求救声也被人听见了。她被人从火中救出来了，因为戏院毕竟还是没有被烧毁。
That was the most memorable evening of her life，and she was glad that she could not see herself，for she would have died with confusionconfusion n.混乱，混淆。
她说这是她一生中最值得纪念的一晚。她很高兴她当时没有办法看见自己全貌，要不然她简直要害羞死了。
Her benefactor in the machinery department，Herr Sivertsen，visited her every Sunday，but it was a long time from Sunday to Sunday. In the latter time，therefore，she used to have in a little child “for the scraps”，1 that is to say，to eat up the remains of the dinner. It was a child employed in the ballet，one that certainly wanted feeding. The little one used to appear，sometimes as an elf，sometimes as a page. the most difficult part she had to play was the lions hind leg in the “Magic Flute”； but as she grew larger she could represent the forefeet of the lion. She certainly only got half a guilder for that，whereas the hind legs were paid for with a whole guilder； but then she had to walk bent，and to do without fresh air. “That was all very interesting to hear.” said our aunt.
她的恩人——舞台装置部的西凡尔生先生——经常在礼拜天来看她。但从这个礼拜天到下个礼拜天是一段很长的时间。所以近来一些时日里，在每个星期三前后，她就找一个小女孩来吃“剩饭”——也就是说，把每天午饭后剩下的东西给这女孩子当作晚饭吃。这个女孩子是一个芭蕾舞班子里的一员，她确实需要吃东西。她每天在舞台上作为一个小妖精出现。她最难演的一个角色是当《魔笛》中那只狮子的后腿。但她慢慢长大了，能演狮子的前腿。演这个角色，她只能获得三毛钱，而演后腿的时候，她却能得到一块钱——在这种情形下，她得弯下腰，并且呼吸不到新鲜空气。姑妈觉得能了解到这种内幕也是很有意思的事情。
She deserved to live as long as the theatre stood，but she could not last so long，and she did not die in the theatre，but respectablyrespectably adv.体面地 in her bed. Her last words were，moreover，not without meaning. She asked，她的确值得有跟戏院同样长久的寿命，可是她却活不了那么久。她也没有在戏院里死去，她是在她自己的床上平静地、庄严地死去的。她临终的一句话是很有意义的。她问：“What will the play be tomorrow？”
“明天上演什么戏？”
At her death she left about five hundred dollars. We presume this from the interest，which came to twenty dollars. This our aunt had destined as a legacylegacy n.遗赠（物），遗产（祖先传下来） for a worthy old spinsterspinster n.[律］未婚妇女，老处女 who had no friends，it was to be devoted to a yearly subscription for a place in the second tier，on the left side，for the Saturday evening，“For on that evening two pieces were always given.” it said in the will，and the only condition laid upon the person who enjoyed the legacy was，that she should think，every Saturday evening，of our aunt，who was lying in her grave.
她死后也许留下了五百块钱。这件事我们是从她所得到的利息推测出来的——二十元。姑妈把这笔钱作为遗产留给一位无家、正派的老小姐。这笔钱是专为每年买一张二层楼上左边位子的票而用的，而且是星期六的一张票，因为最精彩的戏都是在这天上演的，同时她每星期六在戏院的时候必得默念一下躺在坟墓里的姑妈。
This was our aunts religionreligion n.宗教，信仰。
这即是姑妈特有的宗教。