 The Iraqi National Theater is preparing to turn a romantic novel apparently written by President Saddam Hussein into a musical touted as the country's biggest ever production.
Al-Mawed, a weekly state-run tabloid, said Monday Iraqi artists were rehearsing scenes from ``Zabiba and the King,'' a patriotic parable depicting a ruler who falls in love with an unhappily married woman. ``It will be the largest production in the long history of Iraqi theater. This is an epic teaching to love one's homeland despite all danger,'' the paper said. It said the play would open before the end of the year. Babil, a newspaper owned by Saddam's son Uday, last month said the president was the most likely author of the 160-page ''Zabiba,'' which went on sale several months ago and has been heavily promoted by the official press. In the story, the king's lover Zabiba is raped on January 17 -- the same day U.S.-led forces launched the 1991 offensive that drove Iraq out of Kuwait, forcing subsequent Iraqi surrender and a sharp economic decline, which Iraq blames on the U.N. sanctions regime. The king dies after capturing the rapists and avenging Zabiba's honor. Besides the love story, the novel is dominated by talk of how to succeed the king. It prompted speculation that 64-year-old Saddam, who has ruled Iraq since 1979, is preparing to hand over power to one of his sons. (Agencies) | 伊拉克國(guó)家劇院正準(zhǔn)備將浪漫愛情小說《扎比巴與國(guó)王》改編成音樂劇，并放出消息稱此劇將成為伊拉克有史以來最大的劇目。而《扎比巴與國(guó)王》一書的作者很可能就是伊拉克現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)薩達(dá)姆-侯賽因。 據(jù)伊拉克Al-Mawed報(bào)報(bào)道，周一伊拉克的藝術(shù)家們排演了《扎比巴與國(guó)王》劇中的幾幕戲，這部音樂劇講述了國(guó)王愛上了一個(gè)婚姻不幸的女子的故事，故事充滿了愛國(guó)主義的寓意。  這份報(bào)紙稱："這部音樂劇將是伊拉克劇院上映的最大劇目。它像一部史詩(shī)，教育人們無論在多么危險(xiǎn)的情況下都要熱愛自己的祖國(guó)。"據(jù)報(bào)道，這部音樂劇將在今年年底之前公演。
薩達(dá)姆之子烏代所辦的報(bào)紙《巴比爾》上個(gè)月也曾報(bào)道，薩達(dá)姆最有可能是這部長(zhǎng)達(dá)160頁(yè)的小說--《扎比巴與國(guó)王》--的作者。這本浪漫愛情小說幾個(gè)月前上市，并且成為官方出版社強(qiáng)力推薦的書目。 在這個(gè)故事中，國(guó)王的情人扎比巴在1月17日這天被人強(qiáng)奸--而就在1991年的這一天以美國(guó)為首的聯(lián)合部隊(duì)展開攻勢(shì)，將伊拉克趕出科威特，并迫使伊拉克投降。伊拉克國(guó)內(nèi)經(jīng)濟(jì)嚴(yán)重滑坡，而伊拉克將此歸咎于美國(guó)的對(duì)伊制裁。 此書中的國(guó)王在臨終前將強(qiáng)奸扎比巴的罪犯繩之以法，為扎比巴報(bào)了仇，恢復(fù)了扎比巴的清白。 除了愛情故事之外，小說以對(duì)話的方式講述了如何繼承王位，作一位好國(guó)王。人們由這部小說推測(cè)64歲的薩達(dá)姆正準(zhǔn)備將政權(quán)移交給他的一個(gè)兒子。薩達(dá)姆自1979年開始成為伊拉克的統(tǒng)治者，（至今已統(tǒng)治伊拉克20多年）。 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯) |
Updated: 2001-08-15 01:00
