Chapter 40 Mirrors and Drama Dora is a well-known name in the city of Saint-Dawdin. If you ask passers-by who the mayor of the city is, he may not be able to answer, but he will definitely know Dora. One of the Sisters of the Lake, a famous musical queen in the City of Steam that Never Sleeps! There are two sisters in the lake, Medea and Dora. Their beauty intoxicates all the gentlemen, and their singing and dancing drive the people of the whole city crazy. But a month ago, Dora suddenly announced that she would withdraw from the Sisters of the Lake and perform solo from then on. This explosive news naturally attracted attention from all parties, but from the few words of the troupe's owner, it seemed that all the responsibility for the dissolution was directed at Dora. It is said that she had serious mental problems. She started to be suspicious from one day and imagined that there were demons lurking around her waiting for an opportunity to contaminate and devour her. No one knew whether the news was true or not, but this kind of gossip gradually spread more and more widely as a topic of conversation after dinner. Dora was deeply affected and had not performed on stage for a month. The theater managers were worried about her mental state and afraid of offending Medea. Finally, it was the Red Workshop that accepted her. Although the Red Workshop was well-known, it was no less famous than the several major dance theaters in the city.
But the performance here is, after all, somewhat... explicit. Therefore, Dora's "condescension" this time also had a bit of decadence in its meaning. Many playboys in the city got the news and came early today to show their support, determined to get close to her. Marquette only heard the news after entering the city today. In order to please Liu Yonglu, he immediately arranged an itinerary for the evening. At this time, there is a separate dressing room backstage at the Red Workshop Theater. The makeup artist had stopped her work, and Dora was sitting in a chair checking the makeup on her face. She didn't look in the mirror, but instead groped around little by little with her hands. "There are too many glitters on your eyelashes. Take some off." "But Miss Dora, if the light shines on your face, it won't bring out your charming eyes. Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see if..." "Mirror! Don't... don't look at me in the mirror!" Dora's voice was sensitive and sharp. She clenched her fists, and her decorated nails dug into her flesh. The entire dressing room was fully equipped with all the cosmetic tools except for a mirror. The mirror that was originally installed on the dressing table had long been removed by the manager. This is a necessary condition for Dora to agree to perform in the Red Workshop. There must be no mirrors in any space where she is! Dora's chest rose and fell, and she kept adjusting her breathing as she thought of that horrible memory again. Everything happened a month and a half ago. She and Medea rehearsed until very late that day. Medea was a fanatical art fanatic. Dora was attracted by this potential in her and became her partner. It was already late at night and most of the theater staff had left long ago. Dora was tired and dizzy. When she reached the theater door, she realized that her handbag was still in the dressing room. Walking through the empty theater corridor, the sound of my shoes tapping on the dry carpet made a long, echoing "tapping" sound. Dora suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness in her body. It was not a fear of a specific signal or image, but more like a biological instinctive fear. Her first reaction was to trust her body and turn around and leave the theater, but her reason quickly told her not to be suspicious because the key to the apartment was still in her handbag. When I opened the door to the dressing room, I saw Medea sitting in front of the dressing table.
In front of her was a yellowed papyrus. Dora had some impression of it. It was a fragment of a play that the two of them had bought together at an auction a few days ago. The fragment is called "The Song of Cassiluda" and is selected from the play "The King in Yellow". "On the shore of the lake, the clouds and waves surged and broke, the two suns sank behind the lake, and the shadows gradually lengthened. This is Carcosa..." Medea's singing was ethereal and unreal. Dora could not bear to interrupt her. She stood stupidly at the door, completely forgetting the purpose of her coming in. Gradually, she realized something was wrong, because that was not Medea's voice at all... The voice is hard to describe, with a neutral beauty. When the words are read quickly, the voice is as high-pitched and sharp as that of a little boy; when the words are read slowly, the voice is as hoarse and low as that of an old woman. Dora turned her gaze to Medea again, but this time she noticed that the face in the mirror was not Medea's face! It was a pure white mask, was it a mask? She was not sure, but if it was not a mask, why was there such a pale, indescribable, old-fashioned face? Two strands of mercury-like liquid appeared at Medea's shoulders, and the liquid spread upward in a trajectory that violated the laws of physics. Finally, the liquid formed the outline of a pair of skinny human hands, tightly strangling Medea's neck. She was completely unaware of this and just continued her low singing, enjoying it and completely immersed in a song that transcended all art forms. Dora had never heard that melody before. It was different from any of Moses Sadeh's plays. The arrangement of the syllables was unconventional, but it made sense when you listened to it carefully. Pale face, silver withered hands, she should have run away. But she could only stand there and tremble while singing, with a sticky bitter taste filling her mouth. These were the longest three minutes Dora had ever experienced. Finally, the singing stopped and Medea turned to look at her. The silver hand gradually faded away, as if it had never appeared, and the white face in the mirror also disappeared. Dora felt regretful that she could not see the true face under the mask. Medea said nothing, but walked slowly towards Dora. Dora regained her clarity of mind at this time, snatched the handbag from the coat rack and ran out of the theater. I must be crazy, what did I hear and see just now! ? In the few days after returning home, she often saw that pale face in the mirror. In the bathroom, bedroom, dressing room, whenever she looked at the mirror, she would uncontrollably recall the scene of that day. The face in the mirror was wearing a yellow hood with messy dry branches stuck on it. She wanted to free her sight from control, but instead she was deeply trapped in it. During one incident, she even felt that she was about to see through the white mask, but fortunately, the neighbor knocked on the door in time, interrupting her bold transgression. Neighbors said they could hear her rehearsing in the house every night, which had disturbed other people's rest. Rehearsal? Dora's eyes widened. She couldn't remember when she had rehearsed in the apartment. The next second she woke up with a start and collapsed to the ground. The silver hand seemed to have appeared on her body. When she stared at the pale mask in the mirror, the mask was also bewitching her. "Miss Dora, Miss Dora, are you ready to go on stage? Mr. Chapman is urging us." The makeup artist's call brought Dora back to reality. She shook her head and stood up. …… The stage curtain was drawn again, and all the lights in the empty venue went out. The next second, several vertical spotlights lit up behind the curtain, allowing the audience to see a dark figure behind the curtain.
The black shadow was high in the sky, and she kept changing her movements to show the beautiful original lines of her body. Her body slowly fell along with the machine that hung her, music started, and Dora's lazy and beautiful singing voice came out from the curtain. The audience in the audience was screaming and whistling. They couldn't wait to see Dora's extraordinary performance. What an ingenious way to appear on the stage. Chapman lit a cigar and smiled with satisfaction. Dora will be the cash cow of the Red Workshop in the future and people will be fascinated by her. Isn't this the case with Mr. Richie in front of me? My mouth is watering. When the song reached its climax, the curtain opened and Dora appeared on the stage wearing an exotic yellow dancer's robe. She was followed by a dozen dancers, all of whom were wearing more revealing, direct and suggestive clothes. But no matter how they danced or how they flirted, they could not divert the audience's attention at all. Dora is the center of attention. She may have some flaws in her appearance, but the audience will see those as expected flaws in her performance. Her body was faintly visible under her dress, and the crazy gazes of the men in the audience made them want to tear her clothes to pieces. The second round of cheers came again, and even Liu Yonglu, who was sitting in the VIP seat, stood up. "Yu (fourth tone)..." Liu Yonglu's shout startled Marquette beside him. He thought to himself, where did you learn to cheer like that? It's really distracting. Liu Yonglu didn't care about that. He stared at Dora on the stage and cheered. Dora finished her song and was waiting for the next one to start when she heard someone shouting loudly not far from the audience: "One more! Oh! One more!" Another one? Dora felt contemptuous. This place was indeed not as good as the biggest dance theaters in the city, where anyone could come to watch her performance. She glanced at the audience and saw Liu Yonglu jumping up and down. Humph, he really looked like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. I don’t know if it was influenced by Liu Yonglu, but the arrogance and contempt in her heart actually overcame the neurosis and fear that remained in her heart, and Dora’s performance in the second half was even better. An hour later, the show officially ended, and the dozen or so dancing girls used prop hats to pick up the banknotes thrown onto the stage. Dora regained her former elegance and bowed frequently to thank the audience. "Mr. Chapman, would it be convenient for you to arrange for Miss Dora to have a private chat later?" Marquette asked, leaning forward slightly. He could see that Liu Yonglu really liked Miss Dora, so he wanted to do him every favor. "Well..." Chapman hesitated. It is true that Marquette had some connections in St. Dodds, but Dora's premiere was so successful that there was no shortage of social interactions after the show. Marquette and Ricky beside him are not that good at ranking... But just as he was thinking about how to refuse. "Ah!" A scream was heard, and Dora on the stage suddenly screamed neurotically and collapsed to the ground! The weekend is here, let's have some fun (End of this chapter)