03-01-07-神秘及幻想故事集 [10]
．In that strange light，faces became wild and frightening，and few people were brave enough to enter the room at all．
In this room，against the farthest wall，stood a huge black clock Every hour it chimed loud and deep and clear，filling the castle with its long，gloomy sound．And while the clock chimed，the musicians stopped playing and even the wildest dancers stood still，in silence and fear，listening to the passing of another hour hour…But when the chiming stopped，people looked at each other and laughed，trying hard to pretend that they had not been frightened．Happiness came into the castle again，until the clock chimed the passing of the next hour，and the same fear returned．
Prince Prospero's ball，although given in these strange rooms，was wild and happy．The Prince had planned every-thing-the colours，the paintings on the walls，even the cloaks and masks worn by each one of his friends．He had chosen all the clothes with the greatest of care，putting together the beautiful and the ugly，the strange and the fantastic，the surprising and the frightening．
Each man and woman was dressed like a terrible dream．And in and out of the rooms these dreams walked and danced，their clothes changing colour each time they entered a different room．But no one was brave enough now to enter the black room．As the night passed and the fires burned brighter，the colours and shapes in this room became more horrible than ever．The black carpet and walls seemed full of gloom，and the deep chimes of the black clock sounded even more frightening．
But the other six rooms were full of life and pleasure．People were dancing and singing，talking and laughing，and the wild noise of a thousand happy men and women rang through the castle．Then came the hour of midnight，and once again dancers and musicians became still and silent，as the clock slowly rang the twelve long chimes of midnight．And because the twelve chimes took a long time to ring，each person had more time to think，and feel uncomfortable．They also had time，before the last chime had sounded，to notice a masked figure who had not been there before．The first person who saw the stranger told the next person，who told another，and in a few minutes a cry of fear and horror rose up from the crowd．
Now you will remember that everyone at the ball was wearing strange cloaks and masks，which belonged more to the world of dreams and wild imagination than to everyday life．So why，you may ask，this horror，and this fear？But even in the cruellest heart there are some fears too terrible to laugh at The tall thin figure of the stranger was dressed from head to foot in the white clothes of the dead．And the mask over the face was frighteningly real-it was the face of a dead man．Worse still，the face and the body were covered with red，horrible blood！Here，in the middle of all that dancing and happiness was a living picture of the Red Death！
When Prince Prospero saw the masked stranger，his face became white with fear．Then his fear turned to anger and he shouted out，‘Who is that？Who is mad enough to play games with us，and with death，in this way？Take hold of him，and pull off his mask．I want to see the face of the man who，tomorrow，will hang from the castle roof．’
The Prince was in the blue room as he said these words．They rang loudly and clearly through the seven rooms．Many of the Prince's friends started to run towards the masked figure，but they were all too frightened to touch him．With slow and silent steps，the stranger walked slowly towards the Prince，passing very near to him．Then he continued walking，and went from the blue room into the purple one，from the purple into the green，and then into the orange room，the white room and then the violet room．No one tried to stop him．
Then Prince Prospero，mad with anger，hurried through the six rooms，with a sword in his hand．As the masked figure entered the black room，the Prince was close behind him，hold-ing his sword up high．At that moment the stranger turned suddenly to look at the Prince． There was a loud cry-and the sword fell upon the black carpet，followed by the dead body of the fearless Prince Prospero
In this room，against the farthest wall，stood a huge black clock Every hour it chimed loud and deep and clear，filling the castle with its long，gloomy sound．And while the clock chimed，the musicians stopped playing and even the wildest dancers stood still，in silence and fear，listening to the passing of another hour hour…But when the chiming stopped，people looked at each other and laughed，trying hard to pretend that they had not been frightened．Happiness came into the castle again，until the clock chimed the passing of the next hour，and the same fear returned．
Prince Prospero's ball，although given in these strange rooms，was wild and happy．The Prince had planned every-thing-the colours，the paintings on the walls，even the cloaks and masks worn by each one of his friends．He had chosen all the clothes with the greatest of care，putting together the beautiful and the ugly，the strange and the fantastic，the surprising and the frightening．
Each man and woman was dressed like a terrible dream．And in and out of the rooms these dreams walked and danced，their clothes changing colour each time they entered a different room．But no one was brave enough now to enter the black room．As the night passed and the fires burned brighter，the colours and shapes in this room became more horrible than ever．The black carpet and walls seemed full of gloom，and the deep chimes of the black clock sounded even more frightening．
But the other six rooms were full of life and pleasure．People were dancing and singing，talking and laughing，and the wild noise of a thousand happy men and women rang through the castle．Then came the hour of midnight，and once again dancers and musicians became still and silent，as the clock slowly rang the twelve long chimes of midnight．And because the twelve chimes took a long time to ring，each person had more time to think，and feel uncomfortable．They also had time，before the last chime had sounded，to notice a masked figure who had not been there before．The first person who saw the stranger told the next person，who told another，and in a few minutes a cry of fear and horror rose up from the crowd．
Now you will remember that everyone at the ball was wearing strange cloaks and masks，which belonged more to the world of dreams and wild imagination than to everyday life．So why，you may ask，this horror，and this fear？But even in the cruellest heart there are some fears too terrible to laugh at The tall thin figure of the stranger was dressed from head to foot in the white clothes of the dead．And the mask over the face was frighteningly real-it was the face of a dead man．Worse still，the face and the body were covered with red，horrible blood！Here，in the middle of all that dancing and happiness was a living picture of the Red Death！
When Prince Prospero saw the masked stranger，his face became white with fear．Then his fear turned to anger and he shouted out，‘Who is that？Who is mad enough to play games with us，and with death，in this way？Take hold of him，and pull off his mask．I want to see the face of the man who，tomorrow，will hang from the castle roof．’
The Prince was in the blue room as he said these words．They rang loudly and clearly through the seven rooms．Many of the Prince's friends started to run towards the masked figure，but they were all too frightened to touch him．With slow and silent steps，the stranger walked slowly towards the Prince，passing very near to him．Then he continued walking，and went from the blue room into the purple one，from the purple into the green，and then into the orange room，the white room and then the violet room．No one tried to stop him．
Then Prince Prospero，mad with anger，hurried through the six rooms，with a sword in his hand．As the masked figure entered the black room，the Prince was close behind him，hold-ing his sword up high．At that moment the stranger turned suddenly to look at the Prince． There was a loud cry-and the sword fell upon the black carpet，followed by the dead body of the fearless Prince Prospero