远超过同时代的其他所有人。⑥然而，尽管有数以千计的书在研究这位旷世罕见的天才作家，但是关于他个人生活的每一个细节都只是推测，而非事实。⑦从历史的角度来看，莎士比亚生活的时代距离现在并不遥远，但是他的活动就像同时代的几乎所有剧作家一样，都非常模糊，以至于有人认为他很可能出生在罗马人入侵和占领时期。 ①Shakespeare?s birthplace, the little town of Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, had made a thriving business out of its most famous citizen for a long time. ②It is a popular place for tourists from all over the world, even though many of them would have the greatest of difficulty in understanding Shakespeare?s Elizabethan English.③However, he has such a fine reputation that it is well worth the journey just to be able to look at the swans that swim on his river, and gaze at the cottage where Anne, his wife, lived before their marriage, and then to see his plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
①莎士比亚的出生地，英国中部的沃里克郡埃文河畔的小镇Stratford因为出了莎士比亚这样一个著名人物长期以来收益颇丰。②对于来自世界各地的旅游者而言，这个地方深受欢迎，即使他们中有很多人根本无法理解莎士比亚创作时所使用的伊莉莎白一世时代（1558至1603年，译者注）的英语。③然而，莎士比亚的名气是如此之大，以至于旅游者认为只要能看到埃文河上游弋的天鹅，瞻仰莎士比亚的妻子Anne婚前住过的小屋，然后到皇家莎士比亚剧院观看他的戏剧作品，就会觉得不虚此行。
①To plot Shakespeare?s life is to become involved in a kind of detective story where there are plenty of clues but very little else. ②Nobody even knows the exact date of his birth, although the register of the Parish Church confirms that William Shakespeare was baptized there on April 26th, 1564. ③Nor can it be proved that he went to the excellent local grammar school, although he probably did as there was nowhere else for him to go. ④At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years older than himself, and they had three children.⑤Then in 1585 this young married man apparently left
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Stratford and his family, for there is absolutely no record of him for seven long years.
①搞清楚莎士比亚的生平就像是研究某个仅有很多线索而无其他有力佐证的侦探故事。②虽然莎士比亚所在教区的教堂的登记表证实他的确在一五六四年四月二十六日在那里受洗过，但是没有人知道他出生的确切日期。③也无法证实他曾经就读过当地那所很好的文法学校，但是很可能是这样，因为他没有别的地方可去。④莎士比亚十八岁那年娶了一个名叫Anne Hathaway的女人；她比他大八岁，他们生了三个孩子。⑤一五八五年，莎士比亚很显然离开了Stratford和他的家人，因为在此后长达七年的时间里没有关于他的任何记录。 ①Exactly what happened to William Shakespeare during those seven years has puzzled scholars ever since. ②There are different theories, but of all the probabilities the most likely one is that he travelled abroad, spending a good deal of time at sea. ③Shakespeare wrote with great conviction about storms and shipwrecks and eating the hard ship?s biscuits “with aching teeth”.
①莎士比亚在那七年间究竟做过些什么？②学者们一直以来都一无所知。③现在有不同的说法，但是在所有的可能性中，最有可能的就是他出国旅行了，在海上呆了很长时间，因为莎士比亚曾经很肯定地写过暴风雨、海难，他还写过吃坚硬的海员饼干时“咯得牙疼”。 ①What is quite certain is that, during the time Shakespeare lived there, Stratford-upon-Avon was visited by a great number of theatrical companies. ②It can never be proved, but it seems quite possible that the young Shakespeare saw some of these performances, realized in a flash that this was the life for him and talked one of the managers into giving him a job.③At least nobody questions the fact that he can next be traced in 1592 in London, earning his living as a dramatist and generally getting well known in the theatre.④Whatever else had happened during the lost years, plays that followed, such as Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew, were proof that the greatest literary career of all time had begun.⑤Shakespeare soon became sufficiently well known for managers and
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other influential people to refer to him in writing.⑥We know that as well as working on old plays he rapidly made a name for himself as an author of entirely new ones and also performed as an actor at court.⑦During his fifteen years as a working man of the theatre, Shakespeare wrote more than thirty plays as well as marvellous verse.
①现在可以肯定，莎士比亚在家乡Stratford生活期间，他们那里曾经去过许多剧团。②虽然这根本无法证实，但是年轻的莎士比亚很可能观看过其中的一些演出，就在那一刹那，他意识到那就是他想要的生活，于是他说服了一位剧院经理给他一个职位。③至少现在没有人怀疑莎士比亚一五九二年在伦敦，靠做编剧谋生，后来逐渐在戏剧界小有名气。④无论这些空白年份里究竟发生过什么，诸如《查理三世》和《驯悍记》等剧作表明莎士比亚已经开始了人类历史上前所未有的戏剧创作。⑤莎士比亚很快就大名鼎鼎，剧院经理和其他有影响的人都知道他，常常在写作中提到他。⑥我们知道，莎士比亚除改变旧剧外，自己还创作了新剧本，很快就声誉鹊起；他还在宫廷里演出过。⑦在剧院工作的十五年里，他创作了三十多部戏剧和许多诗。 ①After his death on April 23rd, 1616, Shakespeare left behind a mass of questions that experts have been trying to answer ever since.②What was the source of Shakespeare?s amazingly detailed knowledge of so many different subjects?③Who was the beautiful but apparently heartless “dark lady” who seemed to have first inspired him and then caused him a lot of sadness?④So far we do not know.⑤There have even been foolish attempts to prove that William Shakespeare?s plays were in fact written by someone else.
①一六一六年四月二十三日，莎士比亚逝世。②他身后留下了许多疑问，专家们一直以来都希望能找到答案。③例如，究竟是什么使得莎士比亚对如此众多的领域有着惊人地深刻洞察？④那个一开始给莎士比亚以灵感，后来又带给他很多痛苦的美丽而又无情的“神秘女人”是谁？⑤到目前为止，我们都不得而知。⑥曾经有人甚至想要证明威廉.莎士比亚的作品实际上是其他人写的。
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①When one remembers that he lived in an age when printing was still very expensive and that it was rare for anything written to be thrown away, it seems astonishing that nothing remains of the busy writer?s own handwriting but the signature. ②Sooner or later someone may discover a bundle of letters that will answer the question that have puzzled so many people for so long.
①我们知道在莎士比亚生活的时代，印刷依然非常昂贵，所以那个时候的人们很少会扔掉手写的东西，因而像莎士比亚这样高产的作家其手迹存留于世的只有签名似乎就显得匪夷所思了。②也许将来有一天，有人会发现一捆书信，这些书信可以回答长期以来困扰这么多人的问题。
From an article in the magazine Look and Learn
选自Look and Learn杂志 结 束
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Unit 4[II] [见教材P44] William Shakespeare
威廉.莎士比亚
①Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote. ②However, not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway. ③We know nothing of his school life. ④We do not know, for example, how long it lasted, but we presume that he attended the local grammar school, where the principal subject taught was Latin.
①大多数人都听说过莎士比亚，也很可能对他创作的戏剧有所了解。②然而，并不是每个人都非常了解这位大文豪的生平，可能只是知道他出生在埃文河畔的小镇Stratford，以及他娶过一个名叫Anne Hathaway的女人。③我们对他的学生时代一无所知。④例如，我们不知道他读了多久的书，但是我们推定他读过当地那所非常好的文法学校，那里教授的主要课程是拉丁文。
①Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure for London.②According to a local legend, he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of a neighbouring landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy.③It is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place.④A different legend says that he was apprenticed to a Stratford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Stratford.
①在离开学校之后到去伦敦之前这段时间里，莎士比亚究竟做过些什么，我们现在的人一无所知。②根据当地的一个说法，莎士比亚曾经盗窃邻居地主Thomas Lucy爵士的庄园里的兔子和鹿被暴打，甚至被投入监狱。③据说，因为这个原因，他被迫逃离家乡。④另外一个说法讲，莎士比亚曾经在Stratford镇上的一个屠户那里做学徒，但是他不喜欢那样的生活，因此决定离开Stratford。
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