牛津書蟲系列 威廉·莎士比亞 07 女王、國王和王子們

　　7 Queens，Kings，and Princes

　　Every year we took more and more plays to court at Christmas.In 1598 one of Will's plays was Henry IV.A lot of the play was about the King's son and his friend，Sir John Falstaff.Sir John was old，fat，lazy，drank too much，talked too much，laughed too much.But you had to love him.He was a great favourite with the London playgoers，and there were a lot of Falstaff jokes going round at the time.

　　After the play，the Queen wanted to speak to Will.

　　‘Why?What have We done wrong?’John Heminges said to me in a very quiet voice.

　　‘We'll find out in a minute，’I said.

　　We all watched while Will walked over to the Queen's chair.She was an old woman，she wore a red wig，and she had black teeth.But she was still a very great queen.And if the Queen was not pleased…

　　She had a good，strong voice—an actor's voice.We could hear her easily.

　　‘Mr Shakespeare，she began.Then she smiled，and suddenly you knew why allEnglishmen loved the Queen.It was like the sun coming out on a spring morning.

　　‘Mr Shakespeare，you are the best playwright in England.I enjoyed your play，and I thought that Sir John Falstaff was very funny.I have known many Englishmen like him.Will you write me another play?I would like to see Sir John in love.’

　　When Will came back to us，his eyes were bright，but he was already thinking about it.

　　‘Don't talk to me，’he said.‘I've got a play to write.’

　　He wrote it in two weeks，and we took it down to Richmond Palace and played it before the Queen on February the 20th.She laughed and laughed at The Merry Wives of Windsor.

　　She didn't have much to laugh about in 1599.There was a lot of trouble in Ireland，and the Queen sent the Earl of Essex with 20，000 men to fight a war.Lord Southampton，Will's friend，went with him.All London came out on to the streets to watch when Essex and his men left for Ireland.Will wrote an exciting play about war that summer，and he put in a word or two about Ireland.That was Henry V，about a very famous English King who fought a war in France.

　　But Essex was not Henry the Fifth.He didn't know how to fight a war，and he ran away back to England later that year.The Queen never spoke to him again.

　　In September we opened the Globe theatre.It was a grand，new building near the Rose.Will，Richard Burbage，and the others paid for it themselves.It was the best playhouse in London，and soon the most famous.The other companies had good theatres and some good actors，but we had the famous Richard Burbage—and the best plays.

　　We put on three new plays by will in the next year，and some plays by other writers.One of the new playwrights was Ben Jonson.He was a clever man and he wrote clever plays，but people still liked Will's plays best.Ben couldn't understand it.He was always arguing with Will about how to write plays.He argued with everyone.He went to prison once because he killed a man in a fight.He was eight years younger than Will，but he and Will were very good friends.

　　Will's next play was Hamlet，Prince of Denmark.We all met one day in the Boar's Head to talk about it.There were six of us—me and Will，Richard Burbage，Henry Condell，John Heminges，and Augustine Phillips.

　　Will put his pile of papers on the table and sat down.

　　‘Well，’he said.‘You've all read it.What do you think?’

　　‘It's very good，’John Heminges began，‘but it's too long.It'll take about four hours in the theatre.’

　　‘We don't have to use it all，’Will said.‘We can cut it down to three hours，perhaps two and a half.’

　　Henry Condell picked up one of the paper from the table.‘Look at this bit，when Ophelia is talking about Hamlet，’he said.‘Hamlet sounds like the Earl of Essex to me.Were you thinking of Essex when you wrote this?’

　　Will smiled.‘Perhaps，’he said.‘And perhaps not.’

　　‘Richard will play Prince Hamlet，yes?’said Augustine.

　　‘Of course!’Will said.‘I wrote the part for him.He's our star actor.I'll play the ghost of Hamle's father.’He looked at me.‘Hamlet will wear black，Toby，and Ophelia will wear white.’

　　Henry finished his beer.‘It's a good story，Will，with good parts for us all.But will the playgoers like it?It moves very slowly，and they like a play to be fast and exciting.Prince Hamlet knows that his uncle Claudius murdered the king his father.But he doesn't do anything about it for a long time.He just talks about it.And in the end nearly everybody dies，one way or another.’

　　Augustine didn't agree with that.‘You haven't understood the play，Henry.It is exciting，very exciting.The play is inside Hamlet himself.He wants to kill his uncle，but he can't Murder is wrong.But he must kill him，because of his father.We can all understand how he feels.’

　　All this time Richard Burbage was silent.He was reading bits of the play again.Now he put down the paper in his hand and looked up His eyes were bright，excited.

　　‘Have any of you really listened to the language of this play?This is your best play yet，Will—the best of them all.Just listen to the language，the poetry!’He stood up，and his great voice filled the room.

　　To be，or not to be—that is the question…

　　We sat and listened，silently，while that wonderful voice brought the words to life.Will watched him，smiling.He knew that Richard，like him，was in love with words.…To die，to sleep—

　　To sleep—perchance to dream.Ay，theer's the rub.

　　For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

　　When we have shuffled off this mortal coil

　　Must give us pause.

　　Richard Burbage was right，of course.The people loved the play，they loved Burbage as Hamlet，they cried for poor Ophelia's death，and they shouted for the murderer Claudius to die.I think it was Will's most famous play.

　　7 女王、國王和王子們

　　每年圣誕節(jié)我們要安排愈來愈多的戲劇進宮演出。1598年上演了威爾的一部歷史劇《亨利四世》。劇中大多描寫亨利四世之子和他的朋友約翰·福斯泰夫爵士兩人。約翰爵士已是垂暮之年，身體肥胖，游手好閑，只會酗酒聊天、尋歡作樂，但這個角色挺招人喜歡。他一度成為最受倫敦觀眾歡迎的人物，那時街頭巷尾到處流傳著關于福斯泰夫的種種笑料。

　　演完戲后，女王傳令召見威爾。

　　“怎么啦?我們是否做錯事啦?”約翰·海明輕聲問我。

　　“我們一會兒就知道了。”我說道。

　　我們目不轉睛地看著威爾走到女王的座椅前。女王已是垂暮之年，戴著紅色假發(fā)，一口黑齒，但又不失女王風度。如果女王一不高興……

　　女王天生一副演員般的好嗓子，鏗鏘有力，我們可以很容易地聽到她講話。

　　“莎士比亞紳士，”她開口說道，接著啟齒一笑，這微笑猶如春天早晨的旭日，我恍然明白，為什么全英國人民如此愛戴女王。

　　“莎士比亞紳士，你不愧為英國最杰出的劇作家，我非常欣賞你這部戲劇。我覺得劇中的約翰·福斯泰夫非?；溨C，我認識不少這樣的英國人。你能否為我續(xù)寫一部喜劇?我想看看福斯泰夫談情說愛。”

　　威爾回到了我們身邊，雙眼閃閃發(fā)亮，看得出他已在構思了。

　　“暫且別來找我說話，”他說道，“我得著手續(xù)寫一部戲劇。”

　　兩星期后他就把劇本趕寫了出來。2月20日我們便到里士滿宮為女王演出此劇《溫莎的風流娘兒們》，逗得女王開懷大笑。

　　但1599年時就沒多少事能令她開心了。愛爾蘭經常發(fā)生動亂，女王派遣愛塞克斯伯爵率兵2萬去征戰(zhàn)，隨同出征的還有威爾的好友索桑普敦勛爵。當愛塞克斯率兵出征愛爾蘭時，所有的倫敦市民都走上街頭夾道歡送。那年夏天，威爾寫了一部關于戰(zhàn)爭的鼓舞斗志的歷史劇《亨利五世》，其中有一兩處提到了愛爾蘭的動亂。這部歷史劇描繪了一位在法國征戰(zhàn)的功名顯赫的英國君主形象。

　　愛塞克斯畢竟不是亨利五世，他壓根不懂如何作戰(zhàn)，不久就逃回英國，女王也從此不再理他。

　　9月我們開放“環(huán)球劇院”。這座富麗堂皇的新劇院緊鄰“玫瑰劇院”，由威爾，理查·白貝芝和其他股東出資建成，是倫敦當時最好的一座劇院，不久就成為最負盛名的劇院。盡管其它劇團的劇院設備和演員配備都不錯，但是我們有著名的理查·白貝芝和最好的劇本。

　　第二年我們上演了威爾的三部新劇本和其他劇作家創(chuàng)作的一些劇本。其中一位就是剛出道的劇作家本·瓊生。這人機智聰明，劇本也寫得好，但人們還是推崇威爾的作品。本真不明白，他時常和威爾就如何創(chuàng)作劇本而爭論不休，不過這人就愛與別人辯論。有一次因決斗殺了人，他還蹲過監(jiān)獄。他比威爾小八歲，但兩人是很好的朋友。

　　威爾的又一部劇是《丹麥王于哈姆雷特》。一天，我、威爾、理查·白貝芝、亨利·康德爾、約翰·海明和奧古斯丁·菲利普六個人一起聚在公豬頭酒吧討論劇本。

　　威爾將那堆手稿放在桌上，坐了下來。

　　“好吧，”他說，“劇本大家都看了，談談看法吧?”

　　“內容很好，”約翰·海明帶頭說道，“不過劇情太長，在劇院上演要演四個多小時。”

　　“我們并不需要全部劇情，”威爾說，“我們可以將劇本刪減到三個小時，或者兩個半小時也行。”

　　亨利·康德爾從桌上拿起一張手稿：“看這一段，奧菲利亞談論哈姆雷特，”他說道，“我感覺劇中的哈姆雷特酷似愛塞克斯伯爵。你在寫這段時是否想到愛塞克斯呢?”

　　威爾笑了起來。“或許有，”他說道，“或許也沒有。”

　　“理查扮演哈姆雷特王子，對吧?”奧古斯丁說。

　　“那當然啦!”威爾說道，“這個角色專為他而寫的。他是我們劇團的明星。我將扮演哈姆雷特父親的幽靈。”他看看我，又說，“托比，哈姆雷特要穿黑衣服，而奧菲莉亞就準備白衣吧。”

　　亨利喝干了啤酒。“這故事取材不錯，威爾，你為大家準備了好角色。不過，劇情進展太慢，觀眾會喜歡嗎?他們看慣了劇情進展快而令人振奮的戲劇。哈姆雷特王子明知道叔父殺了他的父王，但他長時間只是用空話泄氣，卻沒有采取任何行動，再說故事最終人物幾乎都這樣或那樣地死去了。”

　　奧古斯丁并不同意這看法。“亨利，你還未真正理解這部戲，它會令人振奮，振奮不已的。這部戲的關鍵就在于哈姆雷特的內心活動。他想殺死叔父，但卻不能，謀殺是不赦之罪，可他為了父王又必須殺死他。我們完全可以理解他的感受。”

　　理查·白貝芝一直一言不發(fā)。他重新看了看劇本的部分章節(jié)，然后放下手中的稿紙，抬起頭，雙眼奕奕放光、溢著興奮之情。

　　“你們當中有誰真正領會劇中的語言呢?威爾，這是你寫的最好的劇本了——所有戲劇中最好的一部。聽聽劇中的語言，劇中的詩歌吧!”他站起來，頓時整個房間回蕩起他雄厚的嗓音。

　　“活著還是死亡，這是問題……”

　　我們默默地坐著，傾聽那絕妙的聲音將紙上的文字賦予了生命。威爾望著他，會意地微笑著。他知道，只有理查能如他一樣，深深地迷戀著語言的妙處。

　　“……死亡，就是睡眠——

　　睡眠——也許要做夢，這就麻煩了。

　　我們一旦擺脫了塵世的牽纏，在死的睡眠里，還會做些什么夢呢?

　　一想到就不能不躊躇。”

　　理查真的說對了。觀眾迷上了這部悲劇，他們迷上了白貝芝扮演的哈姆雷特，他們?yōu)榭蓱z的奧菲莉亞的死而哭泣，他們怒吼著讓兇手克勞狄斯死去。我認為這的確是威爾最負盛名的戲劇。