牛津书虫系列《威廉莎士比亚》Chapter9 附中英双语文本

9 The Mermaid Tavern
9 美人鱼酒店
During the next few years the plague was always with us．Some years it was bad，other years not so bad．When the theatres in London closed，we went on tour．Well，the King's Men did．Will and I were mostly at home in Stratford in the summers．Will was usually writing，and I did bits of business for him when I could．
随后的几年里，瘟疫流行不断，有些年份情况很糟，有些年份也好不了多少。只要伦敦内剧院关门停业，我们就下乡巡回演出。当然，国王剧团一直这么做。威尔和我夏天多半呆在斯特拉福镇的家中。威尔通常搞创作，而我则尽可能帮助他打理零碎的生意。
Susanna married Dr John Hall in June，1607，and Will's granddaughter Elizabeth was born in February the next year．We had a very cold winter that year．The river Thames in London froze right up to Westminster．People had parties and cooked sheep over fires on the ice．
1607年6月，苏姗娜嫁给约翰·豪尔医生。翌年2月威尔的外孙女伊丽莎白出世。那年冬天，天寒地冻，泰晤士河伦敦河段到西敏斯特河段大面积结冰。人们就在冰上举行盛会，还生起篝火烤羊吃。
Will's brother Edmund died that winter—he was only twenty-seven—and Will's mother died in September the next year．
那年冬天，威尔的弟弟埃德蒙去世——年仅27岁——第二年9月，威尔的母亲又不幸过世。
Will was writing a different kind of play at this time．John Heminges said they were dark，cruel plays，and that Will was only looking at the black side of people．But that was the thing about Will．He was still changing，trying new kinds of poetry and stories in his plays all the time．And suddenly，there was a new kind of play，full of laughing and spring flowers and love：The Winter's Tale．
这一时期，威尔创作风格大有变化。约翰·海明说威尔只看到人们丑陋的一面，使得戏剧带上沉郁、残暴的色彩。不过，他的创作风格一直在变，不断尝试在戏剧中运用新格调的诗歌的故事。出人意料，他又创作出一部新剧本《冬天的故事》，这部戏剧充满欢笑，春天的鲜花和爱情。
When we were in London，we often went in the evenings to the Mermaid Tavern in Cheapside it was a very good inn，with good beer，and all the writers and poets in London went there．
在伦敦时，我们晚上经常到切普塞特街的美人鱼酒店。这家酒店环境舒适，备有好酒，是伦敦文人墨客聚会喝酒的好去处。
We were there one evening in the winter of 1610，I think it was．A lot of Will's friends were there—actors，writers．Ben Jonson was there，of course．He was a great drinker all his life．He was writing a lot of plays now and was doing very well．But he never had any money—Will always paid for the beer．
1610年冬天的一个晚上，我们来到这家酒店，我记得没错。威尔的许多朋友——演员和剧作家都在场，当然少不了平生很能喝酒的本·琼生。虽然他创作了大量的剧本，也小有名气，但他还是身无分文——连喝啤酒的钱通常都要威尔掏腰包。
At first，the talk was all about King James and his court．We didn't like the King so much now—he was more interest-ed in horses than in plays．Then Ben remembered something about The Winter's Tale．He knew，really，that Will's plays were the best，but he always liked to find mistakes if he could．
开始，议题总是关于詹姆士国王和他的宫廷大臣。说实在的，我们现在不大喜欢这位国王了——他爱看赛马已胜过爱看戏。这时，本想起《冬天的故事》剧本中的一些情节。尽管他确实承认威尔的戏剧是最优秀的，不过，他这人就喜欢鸡蛋里挑骨头。
‘Now，Why did you put Bohemia by the sea，Will？’he said．‘Bohemia's in the middle of Europe！There's no sea for a hundred miles，you stupid man！’
“嗨，威尔，你怎么把波希米亚这地方说成是在海边呢？”他说道，“波希米亚可是在欧洲中部呀！方圆一百英里根本就没有海，你真糊涂！”
‘Your plays are very clever，Ben，’Richard Burbage said，‘but they smell of the schoolbook，don't they，Will？’
“本，你创作的剧本确实很妙，”理查·白贝芝说，“不过太书卷气，威尔，你说呢？”
Will laughed．‘How many people are going to worry about that，Ben？What does it matter？They liked the play at court．The Queen said it was a very sweet play，and the King—’
威尔笑道：“本，会有几个人去深究那些细节呢？这有什么关系呢？在宫廷他们喜欢这部戏。王后说，这部戏剧很甜蜜，而国王——”
‘The King！’Ben said loudly．His face was red and angry．King James sometimes fell asleep during Ben's plays．‘The King，’he went on excitedly，‘is a very stupid man！I told him，I said it to his face：“Sir，you don't understand poetry！”’