作曲 : Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick
Ritter:I didn't know what to do or where to go,
and somehow,
my feet started walking down the street,
across the bridge,
past the Metropol Cinema,
and do you know where?
Sipos:Where?
Ritter:Right into a library.
Sipos:The library?
Ritter:Can you imagine?
Sipos:How did you like it?
Ritter:Oh,you've never seen such a place.
So many books! (hhhhh
And so much marble.
And so quiet.
Ritter:
And suddenly,all of my confidence,
dribbled away with a pitiful plop.
My head was beginning to swim.
And my forehead was covered with cold perspiration.
I started to reach for a book.
And my hand automatically came to a stop.
I don’t know how long I stood frozen.
A victim of panic and mortification.
Oh,how I wanted to flee.
When a kindly voice,
a gentle voice,
whispered,”Pardon me.”
Sipos:Oh,”Pardon me.”
Ritter:
Uh-huh~
And there was this dear,sweet,clearly respectable,
thickly-bespectacled man,
who stood by my side.
And quietly said to me,
“Ma’am,don’t mean to intrude,
but I was just wondering,
are you need of some help?”
I said”No..Yes,I am~”
Oh~
The next thing I know,
I’m sipping hot chocolate,
and telling my troubles to Paul.
Whose tender brown eyes,
kept sending compassionate looks.
A trip to the library.
Has made a new girl of me.
For,suddenly,I can see.
The magic of books!
I have to admit,in the back of my mind.
I was praying he wouldn’t get fresh.
And all of the while,I was wondering.
Why an illiterate girl should attract him.
Then,all of a sudden,he said,
I couldn’t go wrong,with “The Way Of All Flesh.”
Of course,it’s a novel,but I didn’t know.
Or I certainly wouldn’t have smacked him.
Well,he gave me a smile that I couldn’t resist.
And I knew at once how much I liked this,
optometrist.
Sipos:Optometrist?
Ritter:
Op-to-me-trist.
You know what this dear,sweet,
slightly-bespectacled gentleman said to me next?
He said he could solve this problem of mine.
I said,”How~“
He said,If I’d like,
he’d willingly read to me,
some of his favorite things.
I said,”When~”
He said,”Now.”
His novel approach seemed highly suspicious.
And possibly dangerous,too.
I told myself,
”Wait!Think!Dare you go up to his flat?“
What happens if things go wrong?
It’s obvious he’s quite strong.
He read to me all night long.
Now,how about that?
It’s hard to believe how truly domestic.
And happily hopeful I feel.
I picture my Paul there,reading aloud as I cook.
As long as he’s there to read,
there’s quite a good chance,indeed.
A chance that I’ll never need.
To open a book.
Unlike someone else.
Someone I dimly recall.
I know he’ll only have eyes for me.
My optometrist,
Paul!
【END】