第四册第9篇：哈姆雷特

9 Hamlet 哈姆雷特

The seeming inconsistencies in the conduct and character of Hamlet have long exercised the
conjectural¹ ingenuity² of critics; and, as we are always loth to suppose that the cause of defective³ apprehension⁴ is in ourselves, the mystery has been too commonly explained by the very easy process of setting it down as in fact inexplicable⁵, and by resolving the phenomenon into a misgrowth or lusus of the capricious and irregular genius of Shakespeare. The shallow and stupid arrogance⁶ of these vulgar and indolent decisions I would fain do my best to expose.
哈姆雷特的行动和性格似乎很不一致。长期以来，这已使文艺评论家绞尽脑汁，加以推测；而由于我们总是不愿设想，理解上存在缺陷的原因在于我们自身，所以通常都以一种非常简单的方式来解释这个奥秘，即把它看成实际上是无法说明的现象，并把这一现象归之于莎士比亚的变幻莫测和不同寻常的天才的畸形发展。对于这些卑俗和怠惰导致的结论所表现出来的浅薄而愚昧的狂妄态度，我愿尽力予以揭露。
 
I believe the character of Hamlet may be traced to Shakespeare’s deep and accurate science in mental philosophy. Indeed, that this character must have some connection with the common fundamental laws of our nature may be assumed from the fact, that Hamlet has been the darling of every country in which the literature of England has been fostered. In order to understand him, it is essential that we should reflect on the constitution of our own minds. Man is distinguished⁷ from the brute⁸ animals in proportion as thought prevails over sense: but in the healthy processes of the mind, a balance is constantly maintained between the impressions from outward objects and the inward operations of the intellect; for if there be an overbalance in the contemplative faculty⁹, man thereby¹⁰ becomes the creature of mere¹¹ meditation¹², and loses his natural power of action.
我相信哈姆雷特的性格根植于莎士比亚对心理学准确而深刻的认识。在每个受过英国文学熏陶的国家里，哈姆雷特都是人们心爱的人物；从这个事实我们可以设想：哈姆雷特这个人物和我们性格中的共同基本规律，一定有某种联系。为了理解他，我们必须思考我们自己的心理构造。人和野兽的区别，同思想驾驭感官知觉的程度成正比。可是，在正常的思维活动过程中，外界事物所产生的印象和内心的智力活动之间经常保持平衡；因为，如果思维的机能占了优势，人就会变成思索的中心，而丧失了行动的本能。

Now one of Shakespeare’s modes of creating characters is, to conceive any one intellectual or moral faculty in morbid¹³ excess, and then to place himself, Shakespeare, thus mutilated or diseased, under given circumstances. In Hamlet he seems to have wished to exemplify the moral necessity of a due balance between our attention to the objects of our senses, and our meditation on the workings of our minds, -- an equilibrium¹⁴ between the real and the imaginary worlds.
莎士比亚塑造人物的方式之一是：设想任何一种智能或精神官能处于不健康的过度发展状态，接着就把因此变得带有心理伤残或病态的他自己――莎士比亚――至于特定的环境之中。他似乎想以哈姆雷特为例，说明对感觉对象的注意和对心理活动的深思研究之间，也就是现实世界和想象世界之间，保持应有的平衡在精神上的必要性。

In Hamlet this balance is disturbed: his thoughts, and the images of his fancy are far more vivid than his actual perceptions, and his very perceptions, instantly passing through the medium of his contemplations, acquire, as they pass, a form and a colour not naturally their own. Hence we see a great, an almost enormous, intellectual activity, and a proportionate aversion to real action consequent upon it, with all its symptoms and accompanying qualities.
在哈姆雷特身上，这种平衡被破坏了：他的思想，以及他幻想的形象，比他实际感觉到的东西生动得多；而他所感觉到的那些东西本身，因为要立即通过一种媒介，即他的种种沉思，所以在通过的时候便获得了一种非其自身天然具有的形状和色彩。因此，我们见到一种巨大的、甚至是庞大无比的理性活动，我们还见到了随此理性活动产生，并与之成正比例的，对采取具体行动反感，以及此反感的种种表现和固有特点。
 
This character Shakespeare places in circumstances, under which it is obliged to act on the spur of the moment: -- Hamlet is brave and careless of death; but he vacillates from sensibility, and procrastinates¹⁵ from thought, and loses the power of action in the energy of resolve. Thus it is that this tragedy presents a direct contrast to that of "Macbeth;" the one proceeds with the utmost slowness, the other with a crowded and breathless rapidity.
莎士比亚将这个人物置于特定的使他不能不在一时的冲动下行动的环境之中：哈姆雷特是勇敢的，他把生死置于度外，可是他由于过分敏感而动摇，由于思虑太多而拖延，由于致力于下决心而失掉了行动的力量。这就是这个悲剧和麦克佩斯的悲剧形成截然相反对照的缘故：前者的发展过程极其缓慢，而后者则头绪纷繁，并且是以令人透不过气的速度展开的。

1 conjectural   

adj.推测的

参考例句：

• There is something undeniably conjectural about such claims.这类声明中有些东西绝对是凭空臆测。
• As regarded its origin there were various explanations,all of which must necessarily have been conjectural.至于其来源，则有着种种解释，当然都是些臆测。

2 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

3 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

4 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

5 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

6 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

8 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

9 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

10 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

11 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

12 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

13 morbid   

adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的

参考例句：

• Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

14 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

15 procrastinates   

拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He always procrastinates in doing things, he isn't agile at all. 他办事拖三落四，一点都不利索。
• She always procrastinates when a paper is due. 每次交课程论文，她总是一拖再拖。