牛津書蟲系列 威廉·莎士比亞 09 美人魚酒店

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　　During the next few years the plague was always with us.Some years it was bad，other years not so bad.When the theatres in London closed，we went on tour.Well，the King's Men did.Will and I were mostly at home in Stratford in the summers.Will was usually writing，and I did bits of business for him when I could.

　　Susanna married Dr John Hall in June，1607，and Will's granddaughter Elizabeth was born in February the next year.We had a very cold winter that year.The river Thames in London froze right up to Westminster.People had parties and cooked sheep over fires on the ice.

　　Will's brother Edmund died that winter—he was only twenty-seven—and Will's mother died in September the next year.

　　Will was writing a different kind of play at this time.John Heminges said they were dark，cruel plays，and that Will was only looking at the black side of people.But that was the thing about Will.He was still changing，trying new kinds of poetry and stories in his plays all the time.And suddenly，there was a new kind of play，full of laughing and spring flowers and love：The Winter's Tale.

　　When we were in London，we often went in the evenings to the Mermaid Tavern in Cheapside it was a very good inn，with good beer，and all the writers and poets in London went there.

　　We were there one evening in the winter of 1610，I think it was.A lot of Will's friends were there—actors，writers.Ben Jonson was there，of course.He was a great drinker all his life.He was writing a lot of plays now and was doing very well.But he never had any money—Will always paid for the beer.

　　At first，the talk was all about King James and his court.We didn't like the King so much now—he was more interest-ed in horses than in plays.Then Ben remembered something about The Winter's Tale.He knew，really，that Will's plays were the best，but he always liked to find mistakes if he could.

　　‘Now，Why did you put Bohemia by the sea，Will?’he said.‘Bohemia's in the middle of Europe!There's no sea for a hundred miles，you stupid man!’

　　‘Your plays are very clever，Ben，’Richard Burbage said，‘but they smell of the schoolbook，don't they，Will?’

　　Will laughed.‘How many people are going to worry about that，Ben?What does it matter?They liked the play at court.The Queen said it was a very sweet play，and the King—’

　　‘The King!’Ben said loudly.His face was red and angry.King James sometimes fell asleep during Ben's plays.‘The King，’he went on excitedly，‘is a very stupid man!I told him，I said it to his face：“Sir，you don't understand poetry!”’

　　John Heminges laughed.‘Oh my word!’he said.‘What a terrible man you are，Ben!I don't know how you've lived so long!’

　　Will laughed too，but he said，‘Ben，you must be careful.You don't want the King to be your enemy.Don't forget that he pays twice as much as Queen Elizabeth did—and sees twice as many plays.’

　　‘Money?'shouted Bed.He loved to argue about anything.‘We're poets and actors，not businessmen!What does money matter?’

　　‘It puts bread and meat in your stomach，and a coat on your back，’said Will，drinking his beer.‘And you're the first to shout if you haven't got any money.’

　　Ben banged his beer glass on the table.‘Now listen，Mr William Shakespeare of Stratford，with your fine big house and your expensive horses，you wrote in your play King Lear that money was—’

　　‘Oh，do stop it，you two!John Heminges said.He turned to talk to me，but a few minutes later Ben was arguing about another of Will's plays.

　　‘And what about Antony and Cleopatra?What kind of writing is that?You never know which place you're in!One minute you're in Egypt，the next minute you're in Rome，then you're at sea on a ship，then back in Egypt again—’

　　Richard Burbage didn't like that.‘You're wrong again，Ben.It's only you who can't follow the play.You think Londoners are stupid，but they understand more than you do!And another thing…’

　　I decided to go home to bed.Ben's a fine man，but he does talk so much.He goes on and on.When I left，he was calling for more beer.I knew they would be there in the Mermaid for most of the night.

　　9 美人魚酒店

　　隨后的幾年里，瘟疫流行不斷，有些年份情況很糟，有些年份也好不了多少。只要倫敦內(nèi)劇院關(guān)門停業(yè)，我們就下鄉(xiāng)巡回演出。當(dāng)然，國王劇團(tuán)一直這么做。威爾和我夏天多半呆在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)的家中。威爾通常搞創(chuàng)作，而我則盡可能幫助他打理零碎的生意。

　　1607年6月，蘇姍娜嫁給約翰·豪爾醫(yī)生。翌年2月威爾的外孫女伊麗莎白出世。那年冬天，天寒地凍，泰晤士河倫敦河段到西敏斯特河段大面積結(jié)冰。人們就在冰上舉行盛會，還生起篝火烤羊吃。

　　那年冬天，威爾的弟弟埃德蒙去世——年僅27歲——第二年9月，威爾的母親又不幸過世。

　　這一時期，威爾創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格大有變化。約翰·海明說威爾只看到人們丑陋的一面，使得戲劇帶上沉郁、殘暴的色彩。不過，他的創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格一直在變，不斷嘗試在戲劇中運用新格調(diào)的詩歌的故事。出人意料，他又創(chuàng)作出一部新劇本《冬天的故事》，這部戲劇充滿歡笑，春天的鮮花和愛情。

　　在倫敦時，我們晚上經(jīng)常到切普塞特街的美人魚酒店。這家酒店環(huán)境舒適，備有好酒，是倫敦文人墨客聚會喝酒的好去處。

　　1610年冬天的一個晚上，我們來到這家酒店，我記得沒錯。威爾的許多朋友——演員和劇作家都在場，當(dāng)然少不了平生很能喝酒的本·瓊生。雖然他創(chuàng)作了大量的劇本，也小有名氣，但他還是身無分文——連喝啤酒的錢通常都要威爾掏腰包。

　　開始，議題總是關(guān)于詹姆士國王和他的宮廷大臣。說實在的，我們現(xiàn)在不大喜歡這位國王了——他愛看賽馬已勝過愛看戲。這時，本想起《冬天的故事》劇本中的一些情節(jié)。盡管他確實承認(rèn)威爾的戲劇是最優(yōu)秀的，不過，他這人就喜歡雞蛋里挑骨頭。

　　“嗨，威爾，你怎么把波希米亞這地方說成是在海邊呢?”他說道，“波希米亞可是在歐洲中部呀!方圓一百英里根本就沒有海，你真糊涂!”

　　“本，你創(chuàng)作的劇本確實很妙，”理查·白貝芝說，“不過太書卷氣，威爾，你說呢?”

　　威爾笑道：“本，會有幾個人去深究那些細(xì)節(jié)呢?這有什么關(guān)系呢?在宮廷他們喜歡這部戲。王后說，這部戲劇很甜蜜，而國王——”

　　“國王!”本大嚷起來，臉氣得發(fā)紅。因為詹姆士國王看本的戲劇有時打瞌睡。“國王，”他仍然很激動，“簡直笨得透頂!我曾告訴他，當(dāng)面對他說過：‘陛下，你壓根不懂詩歌!’”

　　約翰·海明聽了此話大笑。“噢，真沒想到!”他說，“本，你真是無可救藥!我真不知道你怎么還能活這么長命!”

　　威爾也笑了起來，但他說道：“本，你可要小心呀。你不想與國王為敵吧!別忘了，國王付的報酬是伊麗莎白女王的兩倍——看的戲也是她的兩倍。”

　　“錢?”本大叫起來，他很愛爭論事情。我們是詩人，是演員，不是生意人!錢有什么用?”

　　“錢可以使你有面包和肉果腹，有衣穿，”威爾喝了一口啤酒，說道，“要是沒錢的話，你會第一個破口大罵的!”

　　本把啤酒杯砰地放在桌上。“現(xiàn)在聽著，斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)的威爾·莎士比亞先生，你不就擁有堂皇的居宅，高價的馬匹嗎?你在《李爾王》一劇中不是寫道錢是——”

　　“嘔，你們兩個都住嘴吧!”約翰·海明勸道，然后便轉(zhuǎn)身和我談話。不過幾分鐘后，本又在評論威爾的另一部戲劇。

　　“《安東尼與克莉奧佩特拉》這部劇怎么樣?到底寫些什么呀?你根本就不知道自己呆在何處!一會兒在埃及，一會兒在羅馬，接著坐船在海上，然后又回到埃及——”

　　理查·白貝芝漸生厭惡之情。“本，你又搞錯了，只有你才不懂這部戲。你認(rèn)為倫敦人都傻乎乎的，他們可比你清楚得多。還有……”

　　我還是決定回家睡覺。本是個好人，除了話太多之外。他講得沒完沒了。在我抽身離開時，他又要了一些啤酒。我知道他們肯定又會在酒店呆上多半夜。