牛津書蟲系列 威廉·莎士比亞 05 瘟疫流行時期

　　5 The plague years

　　Will wrote his play Richard Ⅲ for Richard Burbage，and it was a great success.Richard the Third 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 eighteen，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 fifty-nine 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 favourite.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，eh?’I said，surprised.‘My word!Do you really call him Henry?NotLord Suthampton?’

　　‘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 thirty 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 plague 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 Bishopsgate.A lot of the poems were about a woman，a terrible，black-haired，black-eyed woman.She was cold 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 shipsailing into war.She looked wild，and angry，and very，very beautiful.

　　‘Whew!’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.

　　‘Emilia，’he said.‘Emilia Bassano.Now Emilia Lanier，wife to Alphonso Lanier.Before that，she lived with the old Lord Chamberlain.She was not 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 Emilia 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 Emilia Lanier was Will's Dark Lady，or perhaps Will was just trying to help his friend Lord Southampton.Nobody will ever know now.

　　5 瘟疫流行時期

　　威爾為理查·白貝芝編寫了劇本《理查三世》，獲得巨大成功。劇中的理查三世是個虛偽狡詐的暴君——一個謀權篡位的兇手——由于白貝芝雄渾的嗓音和精彩的表演使這一形象在舞臺上活靈活現(xiàn)。不久全倫敦傳遍了理查王在戰(zhàn)場上由于戰(zhàn)馬挨了一刀而摔倒時高喊的那句名言：

　　“來一匹馬!來一匹馬吧!我的王位換一匹馬!”

　　形形色色的人慕名來看戲，威爾也因此結交了許多新朋友。一天，演出結束后，我看見在“玫瑰劇院”外他正和一個年輕人交談。這人年少英俊，或許有點像女孩，不過依然相貌堂堂。后來，我向威爾問起這個人。

　　“他是索桑普敦伯爵，”威爾說道，“他年僅18歲，酷愛詩歌和戲劇。”

　　“他是不是愛塞克斯伯爵的朋友?”我問他。愛塞克斯伯爵無人不曉。他年輕英俊——有人說伊麗莎白女王也愛著他。

　　這件事我倒不清楚。女王年已59歲，是個非常非常聰明的女人。但是女王喜歡年輕的、面目俊俏的男人陪伴左右是千真萬確的，而愛塞克斯伯爵最得寵。不過后來一切都變了。

　　“他的確是這樣的人，”威爾說道，“但我認為愛塞克斯是個危險的人物，亨利需要結交比他更好的朋友。”

　　“哦，亨利?”我詫異地說道，“真沒想到!你真的叫他亨利嗎?而不叫索桑普敦伯爵。”

　　“只有別人不在時才叫的，”威爾笑了起來，“托比，畢竟我還只是從斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)來的一個演員而已，無足輕重。我們回去吧，順便到公豬頭酒吧喝一杯。”

　　威爾這人就是這樣，處世穩(wěn)重，從不對世人標榜自己。

　　在公豬頭酒吧我們遇見幾位朋友，便開始高談闊論起來。話題都是關于倫敦這次卷土重來的瘟疫。

　　“你是否聽說了最新消息?”有人說道，“他們說，現(xiàn)在每星期都有30多人瀕臨死亡的危險。”

　　“還聽說市政參議會，”又有人說道，“準備關閉所有劇院。每回倫敦流行瘟疫他們都這么做。我們這些演員要失業(yè)了。”

　　“但是我們可以巡回演出嗎?”威爾建議道。

　　“這主意不錯，”第一個開口的人說道，“但生活太苦。我們每晚要顛沛輾轉(zhuǎn)，不同的村莊、不同的旅社、不同的劇目，與其過這種生活，倒不如呆在倫敦。”

　　其實，各地瘟疫都很嚴重，只不過倫敦尤其厲害。狹窄的街道、擁擠的房屋，街道中心污水橫流，人們又怎能幸免。瘟疫一來，勢不可擋，迅速傳遍全城。一旦哪家有人染上了瘟疫，就被封閉房門，貼上紅十字。任何人不準踏出房門。只得呆在家里與病魔作斗爭——或者等死。如果家境富裕，還是盡早搬離倫敦才為上策。

　　1592年9月市政參議會封閉了劇院。

　　“威爾，我們是去巡回演出呢?還是回斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)?”有一天我問起他，“倫敦不能久留了。”

　　“托比，你回斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)吧，”他緩緩地說道，“我暫時到漢普郡的索桑普敦勛爵家住一陣。他已經(jīng)邀我和他同住。在那兒我可以搞搞創(chuàng)作，看看書，會會客人。”

　　我看著他說道：“此外也多少有點因為一個女人，是吧?幾個星期來，你神情總有點怪怪的。”

　　威爾笑起來，但沒有回答我的問話。

　　倫敦的劇院到1594年6月才重新開放。威爾常去拜訪索桑普敦勛爵，偶爾我們也隨劇團到各地巡回演出，或者干脆呆在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)家中。威爾開始花更多的時間呆在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)，因為小鎮(zhèn)的寧靜，他可以安心搞創(chuàng)作。我從沒聽到安對此作何想法。

　　這些年間威爾創(chuàng)作了大量的詩歌。他寫了詩體綺麗的長詩《維納斯與阿童尼》獻給好友索桑普敦勛爵，而且也創(chuàng)作了許多著名的短詩，十四行詩。但這些詩歌并沒有編輯成書，只供朋友賞讀。

　　我們又回到倫敦后的一天，威爾出門去了，我一個人呆在“畢曉普門街”的公寓里，翻閱著他最新創(chuàng)作的一些十四行詩。這組詩大都描寫一個女人，一個黑頭發(fā)、黑眼睛的可怕的女人。她性情乖張善變，一會兒冷若冰霜，冷酷無情，一會兒又熱情洋溢，真誠多情。

　　“因為我曾賭咒說你美，說你璀粲，

　　你卻是地獄一般黑，夜一般暗。”

　　威爾詩中寫的是自己嗎?我不禁納悶。這女人是誰?這個黑女人會是誰呢?

　　我這人總喜歡將事情弄個水落石出。于是我仔細觀察他的每位異性朋友。

　　于是有一天我碰見了她。那天我正走進公寓大門，正巧她下樓，只見她一頭秀發(fā)烏黑發(fā)亮，一雙眼睛銳利有神，耳朵上戴著金耳環(huán)，脖子上掛著金項鏈。我往后退了幾步為她讓路，而她猶如一艘負有使命的戰(zhàn)艦奔赴戰(zhàn)場般風風火火地走過我身旁?？茨铀偪癫涣b、一腔怒氣，但長得豐姿綽約。

　　“哎呀!”我心里想，“如果這就是威爾詩中的那位黑女人，那他的生活就不得安寧了。”

　　這女人看上去像意大利人，我便去問約翰·佛羅里歐。佛羅里歐是索桑普敦勛爵的意大利語教師。那些日子我們時常見面。

　　我把這女子描述了一番，他立即想起來了。

　　“是埃米莉亞，”他說道，“埃米莉亞·巴塞諾?，F(xiàn)在叫埃米莉亞·拉尼爾夫人，阿爾索·拉尼爾的妻子。這之前，她曾與那個老的宮內(nèi)大臣同居。你也清楚她不是他的夫人。但我的朋友，你怎么打聽起她來了?”

　　“如果她是有夫之婦，那么現(xiàn)在她沒有情人吧?”

　　佛羅里歐大笑起來。“情人!你還不了解埃米莉亞·拉尼爾的為人吧!我的朋友，她可是個壞女人，一個壞透了的女人。”這時他語氣輕緩了下來，“曾有一段時間她和索桑普敦來往甚密。不過不是現(xiàn)在，一切都結束了。”

　　我不再向他打聽威爾的情況?；蛟S埃米莉亞·拉尼爾就是威爾的黑女人，或許威爾只是想幫助他的好友索桑普敦勛爵。現(xiàn)在也無從確知了。