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William Shakespeare by Jennifer Bassett

单词提示

1.court 王室人员
2.grief 悲伤

原文

Chapter 6: Death in the family

After the plague years, we were busy all the time.
There were new companies of players, and Will now belonged to the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
The Lord Chamberlain was a very important man, close to the Queen.
And we often put on plays for the Queen's Court and in the houses of the Great Lords of England.
We had some very good actors.
There was Will and Richard Burbage, of course, and John Hemmings.
And there was Augustine Phillips, Henry Condell, and Thomas Pope.
There were other actors too, but those six were the real company.
They worked together for more than 20 years, and made a lot of money too.
I did the costumes and properties for the Chamberlains.
John Hemmings said I was the best properties man in the city.
Will was special, because he wrote the plays, and what plays they were.
He never wrote the same play twice like some writers, he was always trying something new, something different, and he wrote fast too.
John Hemmings could never understand that.
“How can you write so fast, Will?” he asked him, “and you never make a mistake or change a word?”
Will didn't really understand it himself.
“It's all in my head.” he said, “I think about it, and then it just comes out on paper.”
He wrote a play about love in 1595, young love.
It was Romeo and Juliet.
It was a very sad play, because the young lovers die at the end, but the playgoers loved it.
They wanted to see it again and again.
Will played the part of old Capulet, Juliet's father,
One of the boy actors, played the part of Juliet.
There were no women actors, so boys played all the women's parts.
Of course, Will never put real love making on stage.
He did it all with words, clever, beautiful words, and you forgot that the women and girls were really boys in dresses.
Some of the boy actors were very good and went on to play men's parts when they were older.
We played Romeo and Juliet at Richmond Palace that year.
We always played before the Queen at Christmas.
She liked to see the new plays and she paid us £10 a play.
We often had to work through the night to get the stage ready in time, but it was exciting to be in one of the Queen's palaces at Christmas.
There was a lot of singing and dancing and eating and drinking.
Some years, Christmas began in November and didn't finish until February or March.
The year 1596 began well, but that summer the weather was really bad, cold, wet, it never stopped raining, and the plague began to come back into London.
We were in Stratford for the summer, but I went down to Hampshire for a few weeks to do some business for Will about some sheep.
Will didn't need me at home, because he was busy writing his new play—A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I came back to Stratford one wet August evening.
The house in Henley Street was strangely quiet, and I went round the back and up to Will's room, his writing room, we call it.
He was just sitting there, not doing anything, just sitting.
“What's the matter, Will?” I said, “Where is everybody?”
“At church?”
His face was gray and his eyes looked empty, dead.
“What's happened?” I asked, “What is it?”
He looked at me.
“Hamlet,”he began, “Hamlet was ill last week and he died yesterday. He was only 11, Toby,and he's dead. My boy, my only son, He's dead, Toby, dead.”
He put his face in his hands.
What can you say to a man when something like that happens to him?
I sat down next to him and put my hand on his arm.
We sat together silently.
I knew that Will loved that boy of his red haired, bright as a new penny, full of life, just like his father.
After a while, I said, “You'll have other sons.”
“Anne's 40 already.” Will's voice was tired, “She's had no children since the twins.”
“Will, now you've got two fine girls in Susanna and Judith, they'll marry before long, and then you'll have more grandsons than you can count. You'll see there'll be boys running up and downstairs shouting for their granddad, Will.”
He smiled sadly, but his eyes were not so empty now.
“Pleased,”I went on quickly, “and there are all your brothers, Gilbert, Richard, Edmund,they'll have sons too. The Shakespeare family will never die out. Think of the family, Will, the family.”
And he did, he was already a famous poet and playwright, but he was a family man too.
The next year, 1597, he bought a new house for his family.
It was a big grand house called New Place, right in the middle of Stratford.
It cost £60, a lot of money, and the townspeople began to say Mr. Shakespeare, not young Will, the actor or John Shakespeare's boy.
They were happy to do business with him and to borrow money from him.
Anne was very pleased with the new house.
The wife of Mr. Shakespeare of New Place was an important person in Stratford, but she still didn't like Will's work.
“Actors are wild, dangerous people.” she often said to him, “I'm not interested in plays or the and I don't want to know anything about your work.”
But she liked the money, and the new house, and the new dresses, and the 6 fields of apple trees, and the big farm north of Stratford that came a few years later.
Will never talked much about Hamnet.
Life goes on and Will was busier than ever, but I know he thought about his son a lot.
His grief was very deep inside him.
A year or two later, I was talking to John Hemmings about the costumes for Will's new play——King John.
John Hemmings was a family man, he had 14 children.
In the end, the noise in his house, shouting and laughing, coming and going.
John was looking at the playbook.
“You see this bit here, Toby.” he said, “Will's writing about his son, isn't he?”
I read the words slowly, and remembered Will's empty eyes that day in August.
“Grief fills the room. Up of my absent child, lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words…”
Richard Burbage said once that Will's writing changed after Hamlet's death.
“Will still laughed at people in his plays,but he also felt sorry for them, sorry for all the world, Good and bad, rich and poor, young and old. And his people were real. No one was all good or all bad. There was a man called Shylock in his play—The Merchant of Venice. This Shylock was a money lender and a cruel man. Everyone hated him. But in the end, when Shylock lost everything, you had to feel sorry for him. He was just a sad old man.”
Perhaps Richard was right, and if anyone understood Will, it was Richard Burbage.

翻译

第六章：家中的变故

瘟疫过后，我们便一直忙个不停。
伦敦涌现了许多新的剧团，而威尔此时加入了“宫内大臣剧团”。
宫内大臣是个举足轻重的大人物，深得女王信任。
我们经常在女王的宫廷里，或是英格兰各大贵族的府邸中登台演出。
我们有一批非常出色的演员。
当然，有威尔和理查德·伯比奇，还有约翰·赫明斯。
此外还有奥古斯丁·菲利普斯、亨利·康德尔和托马斯·波普。
虽然还有其他演员，但这六个人才是剧团真正的核心。
他们在一起合作了二十多年，也赚了不少钱。
我为宫内大臣剧团打理服装和道具。
约翰·赫明斯说，我是全城最棒的道具师。
威尔更是个特殊的人才，因为剧本都是他写的，而且写出的都是怎样的杰作啊！
他从不像有些作家那样千篇一律，总是不断尝试新的题材和风格，而且下笔如飞。
约翰·赫明斯怎么也想不通这是怎么做到的。
“威尔，你怎么能写得这么快？”他问，“而且从不犯错，连一个字都不改？”
其实威尔自己也说不清。
“全在我的脑子里，”他说，“我在心里构思好，然后它们就自然而然地落在纸上了。”
1595年，他写了一出关于爱情的戏，一段青涩的爱恋。
那就是《罗密欧与朱丽叶》。
这是一出极其悲伤的戏，因为年轻的爱人最终双双殉情，但观众们却爱极了它。
他们看了一遍又一遍。
威尔在戏里饰演朱丽叶的父亲老凯普莱特。
而朱丽叶则由一个少年演员反串。
那时候没有女演员，所有女性角色都由男孩来演。
当然，威尔从不在舞台上展现真实的亲热场面。
他全靠文字来表达，那些巧妙而绝美的词句，会让你完全忘记，台上的少女其实只是穿着裙子的男孩。
有些少年演员演得极好，长大后便顺理成章地开始饰演男性角色。
那年，我们在里士满宫演了《罗密欧与朱丽叶》。
我们每年圣诞节都会为女王演出。
她喜欢看新戏，每演一出就付给我们10英镑。
为了及时搭好舞台，我们经常得熬夜赶工，但在圣诞节期间能身处女王的宫殿里，那种感觉真是令人兴奋。
宫里到处是歌声、舞蹈，还有无尽的美食与美酒。
有些年份，圣诞节的庆祝活动从11月就开始了，一直要持续到次年二三月才结束。
1596年开局不错，但那年夏天天气糟透了。阴冷潮湿，雨下个不停，瘟疫也开始在伦敦卷土重来。
整个夏天我们都在斯特拉特福，但我曾去汉普郡待了几个星期，替威尔处理一些关于羊群的生意。
威尔在家里倒不需要我帮忙，因为他正忙着写他的新戏——《仲夏夜之梦》。
8月的一个雨夜，我回到了斯特拉特福。
亨利街的那栋房子安静得有些反常。我绕到屋后，走上楼来到威尔的房间——我们管那叫他的书房。
他就那么坐在那里，什么也没做，只是呆呆地坐着。
“怎么了，威尔？”我说，“大家都在哪儿？去教堂了吗？”
他的脸色灰白，眼神空洞，仿佛失去了所有生气。
“出什么事了？”我问，“到底怎么了？”
他看着我。
“哈姆内特，”他开口说，“哈姆内特上周病了，昨天走了。他才11岁啊，托比，他死了。我的儿子，我唯一的儿子，他死了，托比，死了。”
他把脸深深埋进了双手里。
当一个人遭遇这样的变故，你还能说什么呢？
我在他身边坐下，把手搭在他的手臂上。
我们就这样默默地坐着。
我知道威尔有多爱那个男孩。他红头发，朝气蓬勃，像崭新的便士一样闪闪发光，就像他父亲当年一样。
过了好一会儿，我说：“你以后还会再有儿子的。”
“安妮都已经40岁了。”威尔的声音透着深深的疲惫，“自从生了双胞胎之后，她再也没怀上过。”
“威尔，你现在有苏珊娜和朱迪思两个好女儿，她们很快就会嫁人，到时候你的孙子会多到数不过来。你会看到一群男孩在楼上楼下跑着，大声喊着要爷爷抱的，威尔。”
他苦涩地笑了笑，但眼神不再那么空洞了。
“而且，”我急忙接着说，“你还有你的弟弟们，吉尔伯特、理查德、埃德蒙，他们也会有儿子的。莎士比亚家族绝不会断绝。想想你的家族吧，威尔，想想你的家人。”
他听进去了。他那时已经是一位声名显赫的诗人兼剧作家，但他骨子里同样是个顾家的人。
第二年，也就是1597年，他为家人买下了一栋新房子。
那是位于斯特拉特福镇中心的一栋宏伟的大宅，名叫“新地”。
这栋房子花了60英镑，在当时是一笔巨款。
镇上的人们也开始尊称他为“莎士比亚先生”，而不再叫他“年轻的威尔”、“那个演员”或是“约翰·莎士比亚的儿子”了。
人们很乐意和他做生意，也愿意把钱借给他。
安妮对这栋新房子非常满意。
作为“新地”的莎士比亚太太，她在斯特拉特福成了一位重要人物，但她依然不喜欢威尔的工作。
“演员都是一群狂野、危险的人。”她经常对他说，“我对戏剧不感兴趣，也不想了解你的那些工作。”
但她喜欢钱，喜欢这栋大宅，喜欢那些漂亮的新衣服，喜欢那六片苹果树林，还有几年后买下的斯特拉特福北边的那座大农场。
威尔很少再提起哈姆内特。
生活还在继续，威尔比以往任何时候都要忙碌，但我知道，他常常在思念他的儿子。
那份悲痛，被他深深地埋在了心底。
一两年后，我和约翰·赫明斯在讨论威尔的新戏《约翰王》的服装。
约翰·赫明斯是个顾家的人，他有14个孩子。
他家里总是吵吵闹闹的，充满了孩子们的喊叫和笑声，人来人往，好不热闹。
当时约翰正在看剧本。
“托比，你看这里，”他说，“威尔是在写他的儿子，对吧？”
我慢慢地读着那些词句，想起了8月那天威尔空洞的眼神。
“悲痛填满了我失去的孩子的房间，
他仿佛躺在他的床上，与我一同踱步，
露出他可爱的模样，重复着他的话语……”
理查德·伯比奇曾说过，哈姆内特死后，威尔的写作风格变了。
“威尔依然会在戏里嘲笑世人，但他也开始悲悯他们，悲悯这世上的芸芸众生。无论善恶、贫富、老幼。他笔下的人物都是真实的。没有绝对的善，也没有绝对的恶。比如他戏里的夏洛克，那个《威尼斯商人》里的放贷人，残忍刻薄，所有人都恨他。但当夏洛克最终失去一切时，你却又忍不住要同情他。他不过是个悲哀的老人罢了。”
也许理查德说得对。如果说这世上有谁真正懂威尔，那一定是理查德·伯比奇。

61.
was a college student two years ago.
我两年前是一名大学生。

62.
He stopped smoking last year.
他去年戒烟了。

63.
Do you like hot dogs?
你喜欢热狗吗？

64.
Are those your dogs?
那是你的狗狗吗？

65.
There was a car accident in front of my house.
我家门口发生了车祸。

66.
Are you free tomorrow afternoon?
你明天下午有空吗？

67.
I don't know when she will finish her homework.
我不知道她什么时候才能完成作业。

68.
Which car is ours?
哪辆车是我们的？

69.
Is he busy now?
他现在很忙吗?

70.
Charlie can run the fastest in his school.
查理在学校里跑得最快。

听前提示
一、每期提供10个单词，每个单词都会有2-3个例句，方便理解记忆。
二、每个单词和句子都会重复5遍，其中第2遍为慢速，有助于识别。
三、本材料的整体难度较低，可以用来听力磨耳朵和单词查漏补缺。

Day 176

1751.
Prior
a.优先的，在前的

The contract was canceled without prior notice.
合同在没有事先通知的情况下被取消。
Please give us prior notice if you need to check in early.
如果您需要提早入住，请提前通知我们。

1752.
Priority
n.先，前；优先，优先权

Make this a priority!
把这个当作优先事项！
Family is my number one priority.
家庭是我的首要任务。
Customer satisfaction is our number one priority.
客户的满意是我们的首要任务。

1753.
prison
n.监狱

She is in prison, awaiting trial.
她正在监狱里等待审判。
No one has ever escaped from this prison.
从来没有人逃出过这座监狱。
The judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
法官判处他五年徒刑。

1754.
Prisoner
n.囚犯

These prisoners were set free yesterday.
这些囚犯昨天被释放了。
The judge concluded that the prisoner was innocent.
法官得出结论，这名囚犯是无辜的。

1755.
Private
a.私人的，个人的，秘密的，私下的

It's a private matter.
这是私事。
Can we talk in private?
我们可以私下谈谈吗?
I'm looking for a private English teacher.
我在找一位私人英语老师。

1756.
Privately
adv.私下地；秘密地

I'd like to talk to you privately.
我想私下和你谈谈。
Their children were educated privately.
他们的孩子在私立学校接受教育。

1757.
Prize
n.奖赏，奖品v.珍视，珍惜

He deserves the prize.
他应该得到这个奖品。
She was awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
她被授予诺贝尔和平奖。
To our surprise, he won the grand prize.
令我们惊讶的是，他赢得了大奖。

1758.
Probable
a.很可能的，大概的；有希望的，可能的

It is probable that she will come.
她很可能会来。
It is probable that he will be back tomorrow.
他很可能明天会回来。

1759.
Probably
adv.大概，或许

He's probably sleeping.
他可能在睡觉。
It's probably a warning.
这可能是个警告。
I'm from a tiny town that you've probably never heard of.
我来自一个你可能从未听说过的小镇。

1760.
Problem
n.问题，难题；思考题，讨论题

He solved the problem with ease.
他轻松地解决了这个问题。
It's a fairly complicated problem.
这是一个相当复杂的问题。
I think it's time for me to confront that problem.
我认为现在是我面对这个问题的时候了。

2024年1月九省联考英语听力

第一节(共5小题;每小题1. 5分，满分 7. 5分)
听下面5 段对话。每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的 A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。

1.What will Chris do next?
A.Drink some coffee.
B.Watch the World Cup.
C.Go to sleep.
2.What is the probable relationship between the speakers?
A.Strangers.
B.Classmates.
C.Relatives.
3.What is the woman’s attitude to the man’s suggestion?
A.Favorable.
B.Tolerant.
C.Negative.
4.What can we learn about Tom?
A.He’s smart for his age.
B.He’s unwilling to study.
C.He’s difficult to get along with.
5.What did Kevin do yesterday?
A. He went swimming.
B. He cleaned up his house.
C. He talked with his grandparents.

第二节(共15小题;每小题1. 5分，满分22. 5 分)
听下面5段对话或独白。每段对话或独白后有几个小题，从题中所给的 A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。听每段对话或独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题5秒钟;完后，各小题给出5 秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。

听第6段材料，回答第6、7题。
6.Who is arranging the meeting?
A.Peter.
B. David.
C. Janet.
7.When does the man prefer to have the meeting?
A.This Wednesday.
B. This Friday.
C.Next Monday.

听第7段材料，回答第8、9题。
8.What are the speakers talking about?
A.Travel experiences.
B. Vacation plans.
C. Favorite seasons.
9.What does the man want to do?
A. Go to the beach.
B. Find a summer job.
C. Move to Washington.

听第8段材料, 回答第10至12题。
10.What does the news say about big online spenders in the US?
A.The number of them grows slowly.
B.There are more men than women.
C.They make up half of all shoppers.
11.How much did Americans spend shopping online last year?
A.$453 billion.
B. $990 billion.
C. $1,500 billion.
12.What did George buy online last Sunday?
A. An adventure novel.
B. A software package.
C. A note by Mark Twain.

听第9段材料，回答第13至16题。
13.What has Richard been doing?
A.Visiting a museum.
B. Watching TV.
C.Studying.
14.Why does Susan call Richard?
A. To ask for help.
B. To give thanks.
C.To make an appointment.
15.What does Susan want to do?
A.See an exhibition.
B. Buy a new cell phone.
C. Take pictures of the snow.
16.What will the speakers probably do?
A. Go to a park.
B. Play football.
C.Attend a party.

听第10段材料，回答第17至20题。
17.Where did the speaker learn about college?
A.From the movies.
B. From her family.
C. From the books.
18.What helped change the speaker’s attitude towards study?
A.Her professor’s advice.
B. Her graduate program.
C. Her trip to Africa.
19.How does the speaker feel when she talks about her past experiences?
A.Regretful.
B. Relieved.
C. Grateful.
20.Who is the speaker probably talking to?
A.Conservation workers.
B. High school students.
C. College teachers.
参考答案
1-5 AACBC 6-10 CBBAB
11-15 ACBAC 16-20 AABCB

听力原文
(Text 1)
W: Hey, Chris,you’re alright?
M: Yeah, I’m just a bit sleepy.The World Cup final last night, you know.
W: Sure. Want some coffee?
M: I wouldn’t say no.

(Text 2)
W: Excuse me, could you possibly move your car forward a bit, so I can get mine out.
M: Just a second. Is it okay now?Do you need any help?

(Text 3)
M: Wow, these dogs are so adorable. Can we take one? My friend Joy has a cat.
W: No, Bill, I’m afraid we can’t.We live in a small apartment.

(Text 4)
W: Well, is Tom doing well in school these days?
M: Oh, well, like boys at his age, you know, I can’t get him to do his homework without a struggle.

(Text 5)
W: Hi, Kevin. I didn’t see you at the pool yesterday. What happened?
M: Oh, my grandparents came over to my place for a visit. I got the idea to interview them, and I saw how much they loved being listened to.

(Text 6)
W: Peter, I don’t know if Janet has told you, but Wednesday afternoon’s sales meeting is cancelled.
M: Oh, yeah? When is our next meeting then?
W: Either this Friday morning or next Monday afternoon. Janet is checking David’s schedule.
M: Why don’t we have it this Friday? I’ll be away on a business trip next week.

(Text 7)
W: I just bought a ticket to New York. I’m so excited to see the city.
M: Good for you. When are you leaving?
W: Next week. I’m taking the red-eye flight. It’s cheaper.
M: New York City is a magical place. You’ll have so much fun.
W: I hope so. I’ll stay for a week and then take the train down to Washington, D.C.
M: That sounds like a great vacation. I’m looking forward to a week at the beach for my summer vacation. I just want to relax.

(Text 8)
W: Hi, George. I’ve just heard the news. Americans are not just shopping online, they are buying expensive products on the Internet. Nearly three out of ten online shoppers in the United States have bought a product that costs $1,000 or more. Those big online spenders are much more likely to be men than women.
M: I’m not surprised. You know,men are usually the early adopters when it comes to technology.
W: I can’t imagine that back in the 1990s, online shopping wasn’t just awkward, it felt risky. People were afraid to give out their credit card numbers. They worried if products didn’t arrive in time.
M: But now people are talking about the explosion in Internet shopping.
W: Yes, indeed. Last year, U.S.shoppers spent $453 billion in shopping online, and many of them went big. What did they buy? Just about anything.
M: Well, I am no exception. Last Sunday, I purchased a short note that Mark Twain had written regarding a missing package, and I paid about $1,500 for it.
W: You’re really a more adventurous online shopper than me.

(Text 9)
W: Hi, Richard. This is Susan.
M: Hi, Susan.
W: What are you doing?
M: Just watching TV. Pretty bored. You?
W: Well, I was planning to go to the Science Museum today with Elaine, but it snowed.
M: I hope it snows all night,because I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.
W: Do you know anyone who has a camera? I left mine at home. I want to take pictures of all this snow.
M: No, I don’t. But why don’t you use your cell phone to take pictures?
W: Well, I don’t think cellphones do a good job. I want to take some really nice pictures of this wonderful snow scene. You know, the college is preparing a photography exhibition next month. I hope my pictures will be selected. Oh, I know now.Have you seen Sarah today? She has a camera.
M: No, she hasn’t been around lately. But do you know Mike? He has a camera. In fact, I know he’s interested in photography.
W: Mike? You mean that tall boy,captain of our school football team? Okay, let’s ask him to go with us.
M: Well, I don’t mind doing something interesting. We can go to Waterloo Park, a good place to take pictures.

(Text 10)
W: Hey, everyone. I’m really excited to be here to share my experiences since graduation. When I was leaving here about 10 years ago, I decided to go to college, which, when I think about it, is a little strange, because I come from a family where no one had ever gone to college. Everything I knew about college came from the movies.Once in college, I got a classic case of too much fun and too little class time. At the end of my second year, my major professor warned me, you’re never going to graduate unless something big changes. But it wasn’t until I entered my graduate program in conservation ecology that I felt I was on the right path. My conservation work has brought me joy, excitement, and adventure. I’ve done some research in the remote mountains of California. I’ve had dinners with important politicians. I’ve even stepped over snakes in Africa. But most important of all, it gave me something bigger than myself to fight for. When I look back, I feel fortunate to have chosen college and particularly science,through which I have rediscovered myself and achieved liberation. And I’m sure you all can do the same.

William Shakespeare by Jennifer Bassett

单词提示

1.Earl 伯爵
2.plague 瘟疫
3.council 议会，委员会
4.sonnets 十四行诗
5.lodgings 暂住的房间
6.sworn 发誓
7.thee 第二人称，你

原文

Chapter 5: The plague years

Will wrote his play Richard Iii for Richard Burbage, and it was a great success.
Richard Iii was a wicked king, a murderer, but he was wonderful on the stage with Burbage's,great voice and fine acting.
Soon all London was saying King Richard's famous words when his horse is killed in war, “A horse, a horse. My kingdom for a horse.”
All kinds of people came to see plays, and Will was making a lot of new friends.
One day after the play, he was talking to a young man outside the Rose.
He was a very beautiful young man, a bit like a girl perhaps, but still very good looking.
Later,I asked Will who he was.
“The Earl of Southampton.” Will said, “he's only 18, but he loves poetry and plays.”
“Isn't he a friend of the Earl of Essex?” I asked.
Everybody knew the Earl of Essex.
He was young and good looking, and some people said that Queen Elizabeth was in love with him.”
I don't know about that.
The Queen was 59 years old and a very, very clever woman.
But it was true that she liked to have good looking young men around her, and the Earl of Essex was her favorite.
Then it all changed later, of course.
“Yes,he is.” said Will, “but I think Essex is a dangerous man, Henry needs better friends than him.”
“Henry?” I said surprised, “my word, do you really call him Henry, not Lord Southampton?”
“Only when other people aren't there.” Will laughed,“I'm still just an actor from Stratford, Toby, not very important. Let's go and have a drink at the Boar's Head on our way home.”
Will was always like that, quiet, never shouting about himself to the world.
In the Boar's Head, we met some friends and started talking.
The talk was all about the plague, which was coming back again into London.
“Have you heard the latest news?” said one man, “They say that more than 30 people are dying every week now, and the city council said another man wants to close all the theatres. They always do that. When the play comes to London, there'll be no work for any of us actors.”
“But the players can go on tour surely,” said Will.
“Yes,”said the first man, “But it's a hard life, a different town, a different inn, a different play every night. I think I'll stay in London.”
The plague is terrible in any place, but it was worst in London, in those narrow streets with houses so close together and the dirty water running down the middle of the street.
There was no escape.
When the plague came, it ran like fire through the town.
If someone in a house got the plague, then the doors were shut and locked and a big red cross was put on the door.
Nobody could leave the house.
You had to stay inside and fight or die.
If you were rich, you left London as fast as you could.
In September 1592, the city council closed the theatres.
“Are we going on tour, Will?.” I said to him one day, “or back to Stratford?”
“We can't stay in London. You go back to Stratford, Toby.” he said slowly, “I'm going to Lord Southampton's home in Hampshire for a while. He's asked me to go and stay with him. I can do some writing there, read his books, meet a few people.”
I looked at him, “There's a woman in this somewhere, isn't there? You've had a strange look in your eyes for weeks.”
Will laughed, but didn't answer my question.
The theatres in London didn't open again until June 1594.
Will often visited Lord Southampton, but sometimes we went on tour with the company or spent time at home in Stratford.
Will began to spend more time in Stratford, because it was quiet there and he could do his writing.
I never heard what Anne thought about it all.
During those years, Will wrote a lot of poetry.
He wrote his beautiful long poem Venus and Adonis for his friend Lord Southampton, and he wrote many of his famous short poems, the sonnets.
But they didn't go in a book, they were only for his friends to read.
One day, when we were back in London, I was reading some of his latest sonnets.
Will was out somewhere, and I was at home in our lodgings in Bishop's Gate.
A lot of the poems were about a woman, a terrible black haired, black eyed woman.
She was cruel and cruel, then she was true and loving, and then she was cruel again.
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
“Was Will writing about himself here?” I asked myself, “And who was this woman, this dark lady?”
I always like to know what's going on, so I listened and watched and looked at all his women friends.
Then one day I saw her, I was coming in the door at our lodgings, and she was coming downstairs.
She had black hair and great stormy black eyes, and there was gold at her ears and round her neck.
I stood back and she went past me like a ship sailing into war.
She looked wild and angry and very, very beautiful.
“Woo,”I said to myself, “if that's Will's dark lady, he'll never have a quiet, easy life.”
The woman looked Italian, so I went and asked John Florio about her.
Florio was Lord Southampton's Italian teacher.
We saw a lot of him in those days.
I described the woman, and he knew her at once.
“Amelia,”he said. “Amelia Bassano. Now Amelia Lanier, wife to Alfonso O Lanier. Before that, she lived with the old Lord Chamberlain. She wasnot his wife, you understand, but why do you want to know, my friend?”
“If she's a married lady, she doesn't have a lover now then.”
Florio laughed loudly, “Lovers, you don't know Amelia Lanier, she's a bad woman, my friend, a bad woman.”
Now he spoke very quietly for a time, “She was the friend of Lord Southampton, but not now.”
That is all finished.
I didn't ask him about Will, perhaps Amelia Lanier was Will's dark lady, or perhaps Will was just trying to help his friend Lord Southampton.
Nobody will ever know now.

翻译

第五章：瘟疫岁月

威尔为理查德·伯比奇创作了剧本《理查三世》，并取得了巨大的成功。
理查三世是个邪恶的暴君、一个杀人犯，但在舞台上，凭借伯比奇洪亮的嗓音和精湛的演技，这个角色被演绎得精彩绝伦。
很快，全伦敦的人都在传诵着国王理查在战马被杀时的那句名言：“马，马，一马换江山！”
形形色色的人都来看戏，威尔也因此结识了许多新朋友。
一天演出结束后，他在玫瑰剧院外和一个年轻人交谈。
那是个非常俊美的年轻人，或许带点阴柔之气，但依然十分英俊。
后来，我问威尔他是谁。
“是南安普顿伯爵，”威尔说，“他才18岁，但非常热爱诗歌和戏剧。”
“他不是埃塞克斯伯爵的朋友吗？”我问。
埃塞克斯伯爵可是个家喻户晓的人物。
他年轻俊美，有人说伊丽莎白女王都对他动了情。
我倒不觉得。
女王当时已经59岁了，是个极其聪明的女人。
不过，她确实喜欢让俊美的年轻人陪在身边，而埃塞克斯伯爵正是她最宠爱的一个。
当然，他们后来的关系还是变了。
“是的，他是。”威尔说，“但我觉得埃塞克斯是个危险人物，亨利需要比他更好的朋友。”
“亨利？”我惊讶地说，“天哪，你居然真的叫他亨利，而不是南安普顿勋爵？”
“只有没外人的时候才这么叫。”威尔笑着说，“托比，我毕竟只是个来自斯特拉特福的演员，没什么大不了的。走吧，我们回家路上去野猪头酒馆喝一杯。”
威尔总是这样，低调内敛，从不向世人张扬自己。
在野猪头酒馆里，我们遇见了几个朋友，大家开始闲聊起来。
话题全绕着瘟疫转，因为瘟疫又卷土重来，逼近伦敦了。
“你们听说最新消息了吗？”一个人说，“据说现在每周都有30多人丧命，市议会里又有人提议关闭所有剧院。他们总是这样。等瘟疫在伦敦蔓延开来，我们这些演员就都没饭吃了。”
“不过演员们肯定可以去外地巡演吧？”威尔说。
“是啊，”第一个人回答，“但那日子太苦了。每个晚上都要换一座城、换一家客栈、演一出不同的戏。我想我还是留在伦敦吧。”
瘟疫在任何地方都很可怕，但在伦敦却最为致命。那里街道狭窄，房屋紧紧挨在一起，肮脏的污水就在街道中央流淌。
根本无处可逃。
瘟疫一旦爆发，就像烈火般席卷全城。
如果一户人家有人染病，大门就会被死死锁住，门上还会画上一个大大的红十字。
谁也不许离开。
你只能待在里面，要么拼命活下去，要么等死。
如果你有钱，就会以最快的速度逃离伦敦。
1592年9月，市议会下令关闭了所有剧院。
“我们要去外地巡演吗，威尔？”有一天我问他，“还是回斯特拉特福？”
“我们不能留在伦敦了。托比，你回斯特拉特福吧。”他慢吞吞地说，“我要去汉普郡南安普顿伯爵的家里住一阵子。他邀请我去他那儿。我可以在那儿写点东西，读读他的藏书，再结交些人。”
我看着他：“这背后是不是有个女人？你这几个星期的眼神可不太对劲。”
威尔笑了笑，却没有回答我的问题。
直到1594年6月，伦敦的剧院才重新开门。
威尔经常去拜访南安普顿伯爵，但有时我们也会跟着剧团去巡演，或者回斯特拉特福的家里住上一阵。
威尔开始花更多时间待在斯特拉特福，因为那里很安静，适合他写作。
我从没听过安妮对此有什么想法。
在那几年里，威尔写了很多诗。
他为好友南安普顿伯爵写了那首优美的长诗《维纳斯与阿多尼斯》，还写了许多著名的十四行诗。
但这些诗并没有结集出版，只是拿给朋友们私下传阅。
有一天，当我们回到伦敦时，我正在读他最新写的几首十四行诗。
威尔出门去了别的地方，我一个人待在主教门我们租住的屋子里。
他有很多首诗都在写一个女人，一个有着可怕的黑发、黑眼睛的女人。
她时而残忍冷酷，时而深情专一，接着又再次变得冷酷无情。
“我曾发誓说你美丽，以为你光彩照人，谁知你黑如地狱，暗似长夜。”
“威尔这是在写他自己吗？”我自问，“而这个女人，这位‘黑女士’，到底是谁？”
我一向喜欢打听个究竟，所以我留心观察着他身边的所有女性朋友。
后来有一天，我终于见到了她。
当时我正走进我们租住的屋子，而她正从楼上走下来。
她有着黑色的头发和一双如暴风雨般深邃的黑眼睛，耳朵和脖子上都戴着金饰。
我退到一旁，她从我身边走过，就像一艘驶向战场的战船。
她看起来狂野、愤怒，却又美得惊心动魄。
“天哪，”我心里暗想，“如果这就是威尔的‘黑女士’，那他这辈子都别想过上安稳舒心的日子了。”
那个女人看起来像意大利人，于是我去找了约翰·弗洛里奥打听。
弗洛里奥是南安普顿伯爵的意大利语老师。
那阵子我们经常见到他。
我向他描述了那个女人的模样，他立刻就知道是谁了。
“是艾米莉亚，”他说，“艾米莉亚·巴萨诺。现在叫艾米莉亚·拉尼尔，是阿方索·德·拉尼尔的妻子。在那之前，她曾和老宫廷大臣住在一起。你明白的，她并不是他的妻子。不过，我的朋友，你打听她做什么？”
“如果她是个有夫之妇，那她现在应该没有情夫了吧？”
弗洛里奥大声笑了起来：“情夫？你还不了解艾米莉亚·拉尼尔啊，我的朋友，她是个坏女人，是个坏女人。”
接着，他压低声音，沉默了一会儿才说：“她曾是南安普顿伯爵的情人，但现在不是了。一切都结束了。”
我没有再向他打听威尔的事。
也许艾米莉亚·拉尼尔就是威尔诗中的“黑女士”，又或许威尔只是在帮他的朋友南安普顿伯爵打掩护。
事到如今，再也没有人知道了。