莎翁逝世400年后仍然颇受欢迎

AS IT IS 2016-05-18 400 Years After His Death, Shakespeare Still Popular 莎翁逝世400年后仍然颇受欢迎

Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon, about 160 kilometers from London.

1564年，莎士比亚出生于距伦敦约160公里的埃文河畔的斯特拉特福。

People all around the world still read his plays. His works have been translated into hundreds of languages.

全世界的人们都在看他的剧本，他的作品已被翻译成数百种语言。

Georgianna Ziegler organized the exhibit at the library. She explained that immigrants to America brought Shakespeare’s writings with them to their new home. One of the pieces in the exhibit is a list of the books one immigrant brought with him.

乔治亚娜·齐格勒（Georgianna Ziegler）是这场图书馆展览的发起人。她解释说，移民美国的人把莎士比亚的作品带到了新家。所展作品之一就是移民所携带书籍的清单。

“He came over to this country around 1650 and he brought with him a copy of Shakespeare’s Second Folio and that is one of the earliest references³ to a Shakespeare edition actually coming into the New World. People had Shakespeare in their houses when they crossed the country as they moved West with the Gold Rush and so on. They often had a copy of the Bible and of Shakespeare.”

“这位移民在1650年左右来到美国，他带着莎士比亚的《第二对开本》的抄本，这是最早进入美洲大陆的莎士比亚作品集文献之一。当美国掀起淘金热潮时，人们西迁过程中会随身携带莎士比亚作品集。他们一般带着圣经和莎士比亚作品的抄本。”

The exhibit shows portraits, photos, videos and costumes of famous actors who have played Shakespearean characters. The exhibit also has copies of his works published in different languages.

这次展览还展出了曾饰演过莎士比亚作品角色的著名演员的画像、照片、视频以及服装。该展览还展出了以不同语言出版的莎士比亚的作品。

The exhibit even has the first edition of Shakespeare’s works. It is called the “First Folio.’” It is a collection of 36 of his plays, including “Hamlet,” “Twelfth Night” and “The Tempest.”

这次展览甚至还出现了莎士比亚作品的第一版，被称为《第一对开本》。这是莎士比亚36部戏剧的作品集，其中包括《哈姆雷特》、《第十二夜》以及《暴风雨》。

Experts believe Shakespeare became interested in theater when he was a young man. He decided⁴ to try acting⁵ in London. They say this experience helped him improve his plays. Experts say that by the time Shakespeare was 30 years old, his plays were being produced.

专家认为莎士比亚年少时就对剧场产生浓厚感兴趣。他决定在伦敦尝试演出。他们说，这样的经历有助于他撰写剧本。专家称，莎士比亚30岁的时候，他的作品开始搬上舞台。

Ziegler said that people like Shakespeare’s plays because the characters in them show real human emotions.

齐格勒表示，人们之所以喜欢莎士比亚的戏剧，是因为其中角色展示了人类真实的情感。

“There’s something basically human about Hamlet, who has problems -- he’s a student and has problems making up his mind. Romeo and Juliet, who are young lovers and they don’t quite know how to get ahead with their lives. And they disagree with their parents. There are all these stories that Shakespeare tells and creates these individuals who, when you take them out of the Renaissance⁶ period, really speak to almost any time and place.”

“命途多舛的哈姆雷特有着人性化的一面。他是个学生，性格多疑。罗密欧和朱丽叶是一对年轻情侣，他们完全不知道该如何战胜生活，他们也不认同自己的父母。这就是莎士比亚讲述和创作的故事，当你把这些人物角色从文艺复兴时期中剥离出来后，会发现他们几乎适合任何时间和地点。”

Shakespeare earned a lot of money from his works. He became a land owner and one of the owners of the Globe Theater. A copy of the theatre has been built in London.

莎士比亚凭作品得到丰厚的收入。他成为一名地主，也成为环球剧院的老板之一。现代仿造的环球剧院已经在伦敦建成。

Four hundred years after he died, his plays are still performed in theaters all over the world -- more than those of any other playwright⁷.

莎士比亚去世四百年后，他的作品仍在世界各大剧场上演，这一成就是任何剧作家都难以企及的。

Words in This Story

playwright – n. a person who writes plays

translate – v. to change words from one language into another language

reference² – n. the act of mentioning something in speech or in writing; the act of referring to something or someone

Gold Rush – n. a situation in which many people go quickly to a place where gold has been discovered because they hope to find more gold and become rich; there was a gold rush in California in the mid¹ 1800s

portrait – n. a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person’s head and shoulders

costume – n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie or television show

works – n. something (such as a book, song, or painting) that is produced by a writer, musician, artist, etc.

edition – adj. a particular version of a product

make up your mind – expression decide

Renaissance period – n. the period of European history between the 14th and 17th centuries when there was a new interest in science and in ancient art and literature -- especially in Italy

speak to – expression are relevant to; are an example of

1 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

2 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

3 references   

n.参考( reference的名词复数 )；证明书；（为方便查询所用的）标记；（帮助或意见的）征求

参考例句：

• Applications with a full curriculum vitae and two references should reach the Principal by June 12th. 申请书连同完整个人简历和两份推荐信必须在6月12日以前送达校长处。
• The book is full of references to growing up in India. 这本书谈到许多在印度怎样长大成人的事。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

7 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。