牛津書蟲系列 威廉·莎士比亞 08 蘇格蘭來的英國國王

　　8 A Scottish King for England

　　Will's father died in September 1601.In his last years John Shakespeare was a happy man.His son was famous，and the Shakespeare family was important again in Stratford.But there weren't many children in the family.Will's sister Joan wasmarried and had a little boy，but Will's brothers didn't have any children.

　　Susanna，Will's older daughter，was now eighteen，and Will said to her one day：

　　‘We must find you a husband soon，Susanna.’

　　But Susanna shook her head.‘Oh，I don't want to be married，F(xiàn)ather，thank you.’

　　We all smiled at that，because there was already a young man who was often a visitor at New Place.That was John Hall，a clever young doctor.Will liked him.

　　Back in London，the theatres were always full，and actors were now important people in the city.Will and I were now living in very fine lodgings in Silver Street，with the Mountjoy family.The Globe and the Lord Chamberlain's Men were doing very well，and the older actors in the company were making money，and buying houses and land.But some people still thought that actors were dangerous，wicked people.

　　Then Queen Elizabeth died，on the 24th of March 1603，at Richmond.I remember the day well.The theatres were closed —you can't have plays when a queen is dying—and we were all at Henry Condell's house.He and John Heminges lived verg near our lodgings in Cripplegate.

　　We were all very worried.The new King of England was James the First.He was already King of Scotland，and he had a young wife，Queen Anne of Denmark，and three young children.But what was he like?Would he be a good king?And，most importantly，did he like plays?

　　‘If King James doesn't like plays，’said Henry Condell，‘we're finished.There are already a lot of Puritans on the London City Council，and they'd love to close the theatres down.’

　　Henry always looked at the black side of everything.

　　‘Well，he's written a lot of books himself，’said Will ‘Perhaps he'll be interested in plays，too We'll just have to wait and see.’

　　We didn't have to wait long.On the 19th of May I was underneath the stage in the Globe.I was trying to mend a bro-ken door in the floor of the stage.We used this door when a ghost came on or went off in a cloud of smoke.Suddenly，I heard feet running across the stage.I looked up through the hole，and saw Will and John Heminges and Richard Burbage.They were all very excited.

　　‘Listen to this，Toby，’said Will.He was holding a piece of paper in his hand.‘It's a letter from King James!From today，we are the King's Men!We're working for the King himself，and he wants to see all the plays.’

　　‘We're going to have new red coats to wear when we go to court，’Richard said.

　　‘And，’John said，‘he's going to pay us 20 for every play at court.What do you think about that，Toby?’

　　We were all laughing and smiling now.‘Well，John，’I said.‘If we're so rich，can I have a new door?I can't mend this one again—it's too old.’

　　That summer the plague came back.By July a thousand people were dying every week in London.One of them was the little son of Will's friend，Ben Jonson.By the end of the year there were 33，000 dead in England.The theatres closed，and the King's Men went on tour.

　　Will and I spent the summer at Stratford.When Christmas came，the King's Men put on a lot of plays at court.The King was at Hampton Court Palace that year，which was outside London，well away from the plague.I couldn't go because I fell off my horse one day and broke my leg.Stupid thing to do!I had to stay at home，but Will told me all about it when he came back.

　　‘The new King and Queen like to enjoy themselves，Toby，’he said.‘They're a happy family.Prince Henry，Who's nine，is very a nice little boy，and his sister Elizabeth is beautiful.Little Prince Charles is only two.’He was silent for a minute.Perhaps he was thinking about Hamnet.Then he went on，‘Qieen Anne likes plays very much.She likes music and dancing，too—she showed her legs in one dance!’

　　‘My word!’I said.‘Things like that never happened at court in Queen，Elizabeth's days.’

　　‘We live in different times，Toby.A lot of things are going to change.’

　　But change only comes slowly.The King's Men went from one success to another.At the King's court at Christmas 1604，there were twenty-two plays，and eight of them were Will's.In 1605 there were thirteen plays at court—and ten of them were Will's.

　　We always did the plays at the Globe first，before we took them to court.Will was writing more slowly now，but during these years he wrote some of his best plays：Othello，Macbeth，and King Lear.That was a sad，dark play.When King Lear carried his dead daughter Cordelia on to the stage…Well，every man，woman，and child in the Globe was crying.It's true.Richard Burbage played Lear，of course.What an actor he was!

　　8 蘇格蘭來的英國國王

　　1601年9月威爾的父親過世了。約翰·莎士比亞安然愉快地度過了晚年。他的兒子出了名，自然莎士比亞家族在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)又風(fēng)光起來。只是這個(gè)家族子嗣不多，威爾的妹妹瓊結(jié)婚后只生了一個(gè)小男孩，而威爾的幾個(gè)兄弟都后繼無人。

　　如今，威爾的大女兒，蘇姍娜已是一個(gè)十八歲的大姑娘。一天，威爾問她：

　　“蘇珊娜，我們很快該給你物色丈夫啦。”

　　蘇姍娜拼命搖頭，“哦，我還不想結(jié)婚呢，爸爸，謝謝你。”

　　我們會(huì)意地笑了起來，其實(shí)有個(gè)青年早已成為“新地方”的?？?。他叫約翰·霍爾，是個(gè)聰明的青年醫(yī)生。威爾很喜歡他。

　　再回到倫敦，形勢已明顯好轉(zhuǎn)，劇院經(jīng)常爆滿，演員在市里已成為舉足輕重的人物。威爾和我住進(jìn)了銀街的豪華住所，同住的是芒特喬伊家。“環(huán)球劇院”和“宮內(nèi)大臣劇院”事業(yè)興隆，劇團(tuán)中老資格的演員賺了錢，開始買地置產(chǎn)。不過，還有少數(shù)人始終認(rèn)為演員既危險(xiǎn)又齷齪。

　　1603年3月24日，伊麗莎白女王死于里士滿宮。這天我記憶猶新，各家劇院關(guān)門息演——女王快要駕崩時(shí)，是不許演出的——于是大家都聚到亨利·康德爾家。他和約翰·海明就住在我們住處附近的“克里普勒門”大街。

　　大家都憂心忡忡。新繼位的英國國王是詹姆士一世。他已經(jīng)是蘇格蘭國王了，年輕的妻子是丹麥的安妮王后，膝下有三個(gè)孩子。不知這國王為人怎么樣?他是不是位好國王呢?最重要的是，他是否愛看戲?

　　“萬一詹姆士國王不愛看戲，”亨利·康德爾說道，“那我們?nèi)炅恕惗厥姓⒆h會(huì)中有許多清教徒，他們巴不得關(guān)閉劇院呢。”

　　亨利總是想到事情的陰暗面。

　　“然而，國王他自己也曾寫過許多書，”威爾說，“或許他也會(huì)對(duì)戲劇感興趣的。我們只能等著瞧。”

　　我們并沒等多久。5月19日，我正在“環(huán)球劇院”的舞臺(tái)下面修理舞臺(tái)場地的一扇破門，這扇門是演出時(shí)，讓幽靈駕著一團(tuán)煙霧進(jìn)出用的。突然，我聽到一陣腳步聲跑過舞臺(tái)，透過洞眼，向上一看，原來是威爾，約翰·海明和理查·白貝芝，他們欣喜若狂。

　　“聽著，托比，”威爾手中攥著一張紙條說道，“這是詹姆士國王的親筆信。從今天起，我們屬于“國王劇團(tuán)”，要專為國王陛下服務(wù)，他想看我們所有的戲劇的演出。”

　　“這次進(jìn)宮演出，我們將穿上新的紅色大衣。”理查說。

　　“還有，”約翰說，“宮里演出費(fèi)每場20英磅。托比，你覺得這事怎么樣?”

　　這回我們都開懷大笑。“嗨，約翰，”我說道，要是我們有了錢，可得給我買一扇新門啦?這扇破門再也不能修了——它太舊了。”

　　那年夏天，瘟疫卷土重來。到7月，倫敦每星期都有上千人瀕臨死亡。其中就有威爾好友本·瓊生的小兒子。時(shí)至年底，英國有3萬3千人死于瘟疫。劇院被封，“國王劇團(tuán)”開始下鄉(xiāng)演戲。

　　那年夏天，威爾和我返回斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)。到圣誕節(jié)來臨，“國王劇團(tuán)”入宮演出了很多出戲。那年，國王到倫敦境外的漢普敦宮躲避瘟疫。由于我不幸落馬摔斷腿而不能入宮。真是倒霉!只得呆在家里，不過，威爾一回來就會(huì)告訴我入宮演出的情況：

　　“托比，新國王和王后真懂得生活，”他說道，“他們家庭幸福美滿，亨利王子，9歲，招人喜愛，女兒伊麗莎白公主長相姣好，還有一個(gè)才兩歲的查爾斯小王子。”他沉默了片刻，或許又想起愛子哈姆奈特。然后他繼續(xù)說道，“安妮王后非常愛看戲，還喜愛音樂和舞蹈——一次舞會(huì)中居然露出雙腿呢!”

　　“真沒想到!”我說，“伊麗莎白女王在位時(shí)，宮中從未發(fā)生過這種事呀!”

　　“我們已生活在不同的時(shí)代了，托比。許多事都將不斷變化。”

　　但變化只是姍姍而來。“國王劇團(tuán)”一次又一次取得成功。1604年圣誕節(jié)，我們?nèi)雽m演出了22部戲劇，其中八部是威爾的劇本。1605年，入宮演出了13部戲劇——10部是威爾的劇本。

　　入宮演出前，我們通常先在“環(huán)球劇院”試演。盡管威爾創(chuàng)作速度已不如當(dāng)年，但這些年間，他又創(chuàng)作了一些著名的劇本——《奧賽羅》、《麥克佩斯》和《李爾王》?！独顮柾酢肥且徊扛裾{(diào)低沉的悲劇。當(dāng)李爾王抱著死去的女兒考迪莉亞走上舞臺(tái)時(shí)……哇，“環(huán)球劇院”內(nèi)不論男女老少都失聲痛哭。這可一點(diǎn)不假。當(dāng)然，還是由理查·白貝芝扮演李爾王，他真是一個(gè)了不起的演員