游兴既阑,庄湜请于其婶曰:“今夕不归别业,可乎?”
其婶曰:“不归,固无不可,但旅馆太不洁净。”
庄湜曰:“有西人旅舍曰圣乔治,颇有幽致。如阿婶愿之,吾今夕当请阿婶观泰西歌剧。”
其婶即曰:“今夕闻歌,是大佳事,但汝须恭请燕小姐为我翻译。”
庄湜曰:“善。”
向晚,余等遂往博物院剧场。至则泰西仕女云集,盖是夕所演为名剧也。莲佩一一口译之,清朗无异台中人,余实惊叹斯人灵秀所钟。余等已观至两句钟之久,而莲佩犹滔滔不息。忽一乌衣子弟登台,怒视坐上人,以凄丽之音言曰:
“What the world calls Love,I neither know nor want. I know God's love,and that is not weak and mild. That is hard even unto the terror of death,it offers caresses which leave wounds. What did God answer in the olive grove,when the Son lay sweating in agony,and prayed and prayed:‘Let this cup pass from me!’Did he take the cup of pain from his mouth? No,child,he had to drain it to the depth.”