牛津書(shū)蟲(chóng)系列 威廉·莎士比亞 03 演員來(lái)到鎮(zhèn)上

　　3 The actors come to town

　　Will married Anne Hathaway in November，and she came to live in Henley Street.John Shakespeare was pleased that his oldest son was married，but I don't think Will's mother wanted him to marry so young.Families cost a lot of money，and John Shakespeare was having a lot of money troubles in those days.Times were hard in Henley Street.

　　Susanna was born the next May.All babies look the same to me，but Will was very pleased with her.

　　‘Look，Toby，she's got my eyes，’he said happily.‘She's going to beas beautiful as the Queen of Egypt，and as clever as King Solomon.’

　　‘Oh yes?’I said.‘All parents talk like that about their children.I don't believe a word of it.’

　　I didn't see much of Will's wife.I knew she didn't like me.To her，I was one of Will'swild friends，who got him into trouble.She came from a very serious，Puritan family.Lots of church-going，and no singing or dancing.

　　Soon there was another baby on the way，and one evening in February 1585 I hurried round to Henley Street to hear the news.Will's sister，Joan，opened the door，and then Will came running down the stairs.

　　‘It's two of them!’he said.‘Twins!A girl and a boy.Isn't that wonderful!’

　　Will had some good friends，Hamnet and Judith Sadler，and he called the twins after them.John Shakespeare was very pleased to have his first grandson，and everyone was happy.For a while.

　　Will and I still went around together when we could.He was still reading，and writing，and soon I could see a change in him.He was twenty-three now，and he was not happy with hislife.

　　‘Stratford's too small，Toby，’he said.‘Too slow.Too quiet.Too boring.I've got to get away.’

　　‘Yes，but how?’I asked.‘You've got a family—three young children，remember.’

　　He didn't answer.

　　In the summer months companies of players often came to small towns，and in 1587 five different companies came.Will and I always went to see the plays.Will loved to talk to the actors and to listen to all their stories of London

　　The Queen's Men came to Stratford in June，and we went to see the play.I don't remember what it was.I know that I laughed a lot，and that Will said it was a stupid play，with not a word of poetry in it.

　　‘Why don't you write a play yourself?’I told him.

　　‘Write a play?’He laughed.‘Anne would never speak to me again.’

　　I didn't say anything，and Will looked at me and laughed again.

　　It happened a few months later.I walked into the Shakespeares' kitchen one evening，and there was Anne，with a red，angry face，shouting at the top of her voice.

　　‘How can you do this to me?And what about the children—’Then she saw me and stopped.

　　Will was sitting at the table，and looked pleased to see me.‘I've told Anne，’he said quietly，‘that I'm going to live in London.I want to be an actor，and to write plays，if I can.’

　　‘Plays!’screamed Anne.‘Acting!Actors are dirty，wicked people!They're all thieves and criminals!They drink all day and they never go to church—’

　　‘Don't be stupid，Anne.You know that's not true.Listen.I'll come home when I can，but I must go to London.I can't do anything in Stratford.’He looked at me across the room.‘Are you coming with me，Toby?’

　　‘How soon can we start?’I said.

　　3 演員來(lái)到鎮(zhèn)上

　　11月威爾和安·哈瑟維結(jié)婚了，安就住進(jìn)了亨里街。約翰·莎士比亞見(jiàn)長(zhǎng)子成家心里很高興，可我覺(jué)得威爾的母親并不想他這么早就結(jié)婚。結(jié)婚花了家里不少錢(qián)，再加上約翰·莎士比亞那段時(shí)間財(cái)運(yùn)不濟(jì)，這樣一來(lái)，日子過(guò)得有點(diǎn)艱難。

　　次年5月女兒蘇珊娜出世。對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，所有的孩子沒(méi)什么不一樣，但威爾欣喜若狂。

　　“托比，你瞧，她的眼睛長(zhǎng)得真像我，”他高興地說(shuō)著，“長(zhǎng)大后，她會(huì)美麗如埃及艷后，聰明如所羅門(mén)國(guó)王。”

　　“是嗎?”我說(shuō)，“所有父母都是這么說(shuō)自己的孩子。我可不信。”

　　我不常見(jiàn)到威爾夫人，也清楚她不喜歡我。對(duì)她而言，我是威爾的一個(gè)粗野朋友，這種朋友只會(huì)讓他出麻煩。她出生于一個(gè)虔誠(chéng)的清教徒家庭，除了去教堂外根本不懂音樂(lè)和舞蹈。

　　不久，又一個(gè)孩子要出世了。1585年2月的一個(gè)夜晚我急匆匆地趕到亨里街去打聽(tīng)消息。威爾的妹妹瓊為我開(kāi)了門(mén)，接著就見(jiàn)威爾跑下樓梯。

　　“一胎兩個(gè)呢!”他說(shuō)道，“是雙胞胎!一女一男。真是妙極了!”

　　威爾根據(jù)好友哈姆奈特和珠迪絲·塞德勒的名字給孿生子女起了名。約翰·莎士比亞見(jiàn)第一個(gè)孫子出世，由衷地高興，有一段時(shí)間，每一個(gè)人都很快樂(lè)。

　　只要有機(jī)會(huì)威爾和我仍然經(jīng)常來(lái)往，他依然讀書(shū)寫(xiě)作，但是不久，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他變了。當(dāng)時(shí)他23歲，但對(duì)生活不再知足。

　　“托比，斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)實(shí)在太小了，”他說(shuō)道，“發(fā)展緩慢，生活寧?kù)o，日子又單調(diào)，我必須離開(kāi)此地。”

　　“是啊，可怎么離開(kāi)呢?”我問(wèn)道，“別忘了，你已經(jīng)成家——還有三個(gè)孩子。”

　　他沒(méi)有答話(huà)。

　　夏天經(jīng)常有劇團(tuán)到小鎮(zhèn)巡回演出，1587年分別來(lái)了五個(gè)劇團(tuán)。威爾和我總是結(jié)伴去看戲。威爾愛(ài)找演員們交談，聽(tīng)他們講發(fā)生在倫敦的故事。

　　6月“女王劇團(tuán)”來(lái)到斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)，我們又去看戲。這出戲的內(nèi)容我已記不清楚，只記得當(dāng)時(shí)看了直笑，但是威爾說(shuō)這戲很糟糕，沒(méi)有一句像樣的詩(shī)歌。

　　“那你為什么不自己動(dòng)手寫(xiě)劇本呢?”我告訴他。

　　“寫(xiě)劇本?”他大笑，“這樣的話(huà)，安可再也不理我了。”

　　我不再說(shuō)什么，威爾看看我又笑了。

　　幾個(gè)月后事情就發(fā)生了。一天晚上我走進(jìn)莎士比亞家的廚房，只見(jiàn)安漲紅著臉，氣呼呼地，她高聲在嚷著：

　　“你怎么能這樣對(duì)我?孩子怎么辦?”這時(shí)她瞧見(jiàn)我就將話(huà)止住了。

　　威爾坐在桌旁，見(jiàn)我來(lái)很高興。“我已經(jīng)告訴安了。”他平靜地說(shuō)道，“我打算到倫敦去謀生。我想當(dāng)一名演員，如果行的話(huà)，寫(xiě)寫(xiě)劇本。”

　　“寫(xiě)劇本!”安尖聲叫起來(lái)，“去演戲!做演員既丟臉又齷齪，他們都是小偷和罪犯!整天只知道喝酒行樂(lè)，也從來(lái)不去教堂——”

　　“別犯傻了，安。你知道事實(shí)并不是這樣。聽(tīng)著，一有機(jī)會(huì)我就回家探望，但我非去倫敦不可。呆在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)我不會(huì)有作為的。”他看了看房間對(duì)面的我，“托比，你想一起去嗎?”

　　“什么時(shí)候動(dòng)身?”我說(shuō)道。