高中英语 晨读英语美文60篇 32 The MonsterRichard Wagner素材.doc

the monsterrichard wagner00:08.62he was an undersized little man,00:11.49with a head too big for his body 00:14.03a sickly little man.00:15.69his nerves were bad.00:17.72and he had delusions of grandeur.00:20.85he believed himself to be one of the greatest dramatists in the world,00:25.68one of the greatest thinkers,00:27.57and one of the greatest composers.00:29.90he wrote operas,00:31.80and no sooner did he have the synopsis of a story,00:35.36but he would inviteor rather summon 00:38.27a crowd of his friends to his house and read it aloud to them.00:43.11not for criticism, but for applause.00:45.66when the complete poem was written,00:48.38the friends had to come again,00:49.93and hear that read aloud.00:51.94he played the piano by the hour like a composer,00:56.19in the worst sense of what that implies,00:59.29before parties including some of the finest pianist of his times.01:04.30he was almost innocent of any sense of responsibility.01:08.65not only did he seem incapable of supporting himself,01:12.86but it never occurred to him that he was under any obligation to do so.01:17.57he was convinced that the world owed him a living.01:22.11in support of this belief,01:24.78he borrowed money from everybody who was good for a loan 01:28.10men, women, friends, or strangers.01:31.99i have found no record of his ever paying or repaying money to anyone01:37.74who did not have a legal claim upon it.01:40.65the name of this monster was richard wagner.01:44.79he was one of the most stupendous musical geniuses that,01:48.91up to now,01:49.92the world has ever seen.01:51.86when you consider what he wrote-01:54.30thirteen operas and music dramas,01:56.99eleven of them still holding the stage,01:59.67eight of them unquestionably worth ranking02:02.91among the worlds great music- dramatic masterpiece.02:06.56when you listen to what he wrote,02:09.14you will agree that a few thousand dollars02:11.89worth of debts were not too heavy a price to pay for the ring trilogy.02:17.13listening to his music, one does not forgive him for what he may or may not have been.02:23.45it is not a matter of forgiveness.02:26.04it is a matter of being dumb with wonder that his poor brain and body didnt burst02:32.42under the torment of the demon of creative energy that lived inside him,02:37.31struggling, clawing,02:39.75scratching to be released;02:41.60tearing, shrieking at him to write the music that was in him.02:46.06the miracle is that what he did in the little space of