8 A Scottish King for England
第8章 苏格兰来的英国国王
Will’s father died in September 1601.
1601年9月威尔的父亲过世了。
In his last years John Shakespeare was a happy man.
约翰·莎士比亚安然愉快地度过了晚年。
His son was famous, and the Shakespeare family was important again in Stratford.
他的儿子出了名，自然莎士比亚家族在斯特拉福镇又风光起来。
But there weren’t many children in the family.
只是这个家族子嗣不多，
Will’s sister Joan was married and had a little boy, but Will’s brothers didn’t have any children.
威尔的妹妹琼结婚后只生了一个小男孩，而威尔的几个兄弟都后继无人。
Susanna, Will’s older daughter, was now eighteen, and Will said to her one day:
如今，威尔的大女儿，苏姗娜已是一个十八岁的大姑娘。一天，威尔问她：
‘We must find you a husband soon, Susanna,’
“苏珊娜，我们很快该给你物色丈夫啦。”
But Susanna shook her head.
苏姗娜拼命摇头，
‘Oh, I don’t want to be married, Father, thank you.’
“哦，我还不想结婚呢，爸爸，谢谢你。”
We all smiled at that, because there was already a young man who was often a visitor at New Place.
我们会意地笑了起来，其实有个青年早已成为“新地方”的常客。
That was John Hall, a clever young doctor.
他叫约翰·霍尔，是个聪明的青年医生。
Will liked him.
威尔很喜欢他。
Back in London, the theatres were always full, and actors were now important people in the city.
再回到伦敦，形势已明显好转，剧院经常爆满，演员在市里已成为举足轻重的人物。
Will and I were now living in very fine lodgings in Silver Street, with the Mountjoy family.
威尔和我住进了银街的豪华住所，同住的是芒特乔伊家。
The Globe and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men were doing very well, and the older actors in the company were making money, and buying houses and land.
“环球剧院”和“宫内大臣剧院”事业兴隆，剧团中老资格的演员赚了钱，开始买地置产。
But some people still thought that actors were dangerous, wicked people.
不过，还有少数人始终认为演员既危险又龌龊。
Then Queen Elizabeth died, on the 24th of March 1603, at Richmond.
1600年3月24日，伊丽莎白女王死于里士满宫。
I remember the day well.
这天我记忆犹新，
The theatres were closed —you can’t have plays when a queen is dying— and we were all at Henry Condell’s house.
各家剧院关门息演——女王快要驾崩时，是不许演出的——于是大家都聚到亨利·康德尔家。
He and John Heminges lived very near our lodgings in Cripplegate.
他和约翰·海明就住在我们住处附近的“克里普勒门”大街。
We were all very worried.
大家都忧心忡忡。
The new King of England was James the First.
新继位的英国国王是詹姆士一世。
He was already King of Scotland, and he had a young wife, Queen Anne of Denmark, and three young children.
他已经是苏格兰国王了，年轻的妻子是丹麦的安妮王后，膝下有三个孩子。
But what was he like?
不知这国王为人怎么样？
Would he be a good king?
他是不是位好国王呢？
And, most importantly, did he like plays?
最重要的是，他是否爱看戏？
‘If King James doesn’t like plays,’ said Henry Condell, ‘we’re finished.
“万一詹姆士国王不爱看戏，”亨利·康德尔说道，“那我们全完了。
There are already a lot of Puritans on the London City Council, and they’d love to close the theatres down.’
伦敦市政参议会中有许多清教徒，他们巴不得关闭剧院呢。”
Henry always looked at the black side of everything.
亨利总是想到事情的阴暗面。
‘Well, he’s written a lot of books himself,’ said Will.
“然而，国王他自己也曾写过许多书，”威尔说，
‘Perhaps he’ll be interested in plays, too. We’ll just have to wait and see.’
“或许他也会对戏剧感兴趣的。我们只能等着瞧。”
We didn’t have to wait long.
我们并没等多久。
On the 19th of May I was underneath the stage in the Globe.
5月19日，我正在“环球剧院”的舞台下面，
I was trying to mend a broken door in the floor of the stage.
修理舞台场地的一扇破门，
We used this door when a ghost came on or went off in a cloud of smoke.
这扇门是演出时，让幽灵驾着一团烟雾进出用的。
Suddenly, I heard feet running across the stage.
突然，我听到一阵脚步声跑过舞台，
I looked up through the hole, and saw Will and John Heminges and Richard Burbage.
透过洞眼，向上一看，原来是威尔，约翰·海明和理查·白贝芝，
They were all very excited.
他们欣喜若狂。
‘Listen to this, Toby,’ said Will.
“听着，托比，”
He was holding a piece of paper in his hand.
威尔手中攥着一张纸条说道，
‘It’s a letter from King James!
“这是詹姆士国王的亲笔信。
From today, we are the King’s Men!
从今天起，我们属于“国王剧团”，
We’re working for the King himself, and he wants to see all the plays.’
要专为国王陛下服务，他想看我们所有的戏剧的演出。”
‘We’re going to have new red coats to wear when we go to court,’ Richard said.
“这次进宫演出，我们将穿上新的红色大衣。”理查说。
‘And,’ John said, ‘he’s going to pay us 20 for every play at court.
“还有，”约翰说，“宫里演出费每场20英磅。
What do you think about that, Toby?’
托比，你觉得这事怎么样？”
We were all laughing and smiling now.
这回我们都开怀大笑。
‘Well, John,’ I said. ‘If we’re so rich, can I have a new door?
“嗨，约翰，”我说道，要是我们有了钱，可得给我买一扇新门啦？
I can’t mend this one again—it’s too old.’
这扇破门再也不能修了——它太旧了。”
That summer the plague came back.
那年夏天，瘟疫卷土重来。
By July a thousand people were dying every week in London.
到7月，伦敦每星期都有上千人濒临死亡。
One of them was the little son of Will’s friend, Ben Jonson.
其中就有威尔好友本·琼生的小儿子。
By the end of the year there were 33,000 dead in England.
时至年底，英国有3万3千人死于瘟疫。
The theatres closed, and the King’s Men went on tour.
剧院被封，“国王剧团”开始下乡演戏。
Will and I spent the summer at Stratford.
那年夏天，威尔和我返回斯特拉福镇。
When Christmas came, the King’s Men put on a lot of plays at court.
到圣诞节来临，“国王剧团”入宫演出了很多出戏。
The King was at Hampton Court Palace that year, which was outside London, well away from the plague.
那年，国王到伦敦境外的汉普敦宫躲避瘟疫。
I couldn’t go because I fell off my horse one day and broke my leg.
由于我不幸落马摔断腿而不能入宫。
Stupid thing to do!
真是倒霉！
I had to stay at home, but Will told me all about it when he came back.
只得呆在家里，不过，威尔一回来就会告诉我入宫演出的情况：
‘The new King and Queen like to enjoy themselves, Toby,’ he said.
“托比，新国王和王后真懂得生活，”他说道，
‘They’re a happy family.
“他们家庭幸福美满，
Prince Henry, who’s nine, is very a nice little boy, and his sister Elizabeth is beautiful.
亨利王子，9岁，招人喜爱，女儿伊丽莎白公主长相姣好，
Little Prince Charles is only two.’
还有一个才两岁的查尔斯小王子。”
He was silent for a minute.
他沉默了片刻，
Perhaps he was thinking about Hamnet.
或许又想起爱子哈姆奈特。
Then he went on, ‘Queen Anne likes plays very much.
然后他继续说道，“安妮王后非常爱看戏，
She likes music and dancing, too—she showed her legs in one dance!’
还喜爱音乐和舞蹈——一次舞会中居然露出双腿呢！”
‘My word!’ I said.
“真没想到！”我说，
‘Things like that never happened at court in Queen Elizabeth’s days.’
“伊丽莎白女王在位时，宫中从未发生过这种事呀！”
‘We live in different times, Toby.
“我们已生活在不同的时代了，托比。
A lot of things are going to change.’
许多事都将不断变化。”
But change only comes slowly.
但变化只是姗姗而来。
The King’s Men went from one success to another.
“国王剧团”一次又一次取得成功。
At the King’s court at Christmas 1604, there were twenty-two plays, and eight of them were Will’s.
1604年圣诞节，我们入宫演出了22部戏剧，其中八部是威尔的剧本。
In 1605 there were thirteen plays at court—and ten of them were Will’s.
1605年，入宫演出了13部戏剧——10部是威尔的剧本。
We always did the plays at the Globe first, before we took them to court.
入宫演出前，我们通常先在“环球剧院”试演。
Will was writing more slowly now, but during these years he wrote some of his best plays: Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear.
尽管威尔创作速度已不如当年，但这些年间，他又创作了一些著名的剧本——《奥赛罗》、《麦克佩斯》和《李尔王》。
That was a sad, dark play.
《李尔王》是一部格调低沉的悲剧。
When King Lear carried his dead daughter Cordelia on to the stage…
当李尔王抱着死去的女儿考迪莉亚走上舞台时……
Well, every man, woman, and child in the Globe was crying.
哇，“环球剧院”内不论男女老少都失声痛哭。
It’s true.
这可一点不假。
Richard Burbage played Lear, of course.
当然，还是由理查·白贝芝扮演李尔王，
What an actor he was!
他真是一个了不起的演员！
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