牛津書(shū)蟲(chóng)系列 威廉·莎士比亞 11 退隱的晚年

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　　Will did write another play，of course.That was Henry VIII and he wrote it because the King's daughter，Princess Elizabeth，was getting married.The King's Men had to have a new play for a special day like that.

　　We were in London for rehearsals at the Globe，and the actors put on the new play for the first time on the 29th of June，1613.I remember the date well.

　　It happened soon after the play began.Richard Burbage was on stage and he suddenly looked up and stopped in the middle of a word.

　　‘Fire!’he shouted.‘The theatre's on fire!’

　　Wooden buildings burn fast，and Henry Condell shouted，‘Everybody out!Quickly!’

　　The crowd of playgoers began to hurry to the doors，and I ran round to open them.We could all see the smoke now，and John Heminges shouted to Will，‘The playbooks!We must get the playbooks out!’

　　Everybody got out and no one was hurt.One man's coat caught fire and his friend put the fire out with a bottle of beer.But the Globe burnt right down to the ground in an hour.Poor old John Heminges just stood there and cried.

　　But you can't kill a theatre that easily.A year later there was a new blobe in the same place.Bigger and better than the old one.People said it was the finest playhouse in England.

　　We didn't often go to London in those last years.Will was happy at home in Stratford with his family.He had time for his garden，time to talk to his Stratford friends，time to play with hisgranddaughter Elizabeth.He read his plays again，and he and I talked and laughed about the old days.

　　Judith got married at last in February 1616.She was thirty-one then，and married a man called Thomas Quiney，who was twenty-six.Will wasn't too happy about it.

　　‘Judith loves him very much，’he said quietly to me.‘But I'm not sure about him.I think she's making a mistake.’

　　He was right，of course.Will was usually right about people.Thomas Quiney was lazy，drank too much，and went with other women.

　　But Will didn't live to find that out.In March he went to London for a party at theMermaid Tavern.Ben Jonson was now the play wright for the court of King James.The King was paying him some money every year，and Ben wanted to give a party for his friends.

　　It was a good party，I heard.But Will caught a fever and then rode home through the cold spring rain.When he got back to New Place，he was not a well man.

　　He died on the 23rd of April，in the year 1616.

　　They put his body in Holy Trinity Church，down by the river Avon.It was a bright，windy day，I remember.Ben Jonson came down from London，and cried in the church.He was a wild man，was Ben，always fighting and arguing about plays and poetry.But he loved his friend.He came up to me outside the church.

　　‘Toby，’he said.‘Will was a good，true man，and I loved him.We'll never see anotherpoet like him in England.’

　　11 退隱的晚年

　　威爾又編寫(xiě)了一部戲劇《亨利八世》。此劇是為了慶祝國(guó)王之女伊麗莎白公主結(jié)婚大典而寫(xiě)的。像這樣特殊的日子，“國(guó)王劇團(tuán)”非得推出一部新劇本。

　　1613年6月29日，在倫敦的“環(huán)球劇院”，我們首次登臺(tái)預(yù)演這一新劇。這個(gè)日子我記得一清二楚。

　　演出開(kāi)出不久，意外事故就發(fā)生了。理查·白貝芝正在臺(tái)上演出。突然，他抬起頭，臺(tái)詞說(shuō)到一半。

　　“著火啦!”他大嚷起來(lái)，“劇院著火啦!”

　　木制的房子火勢(shì)蔓延很快，于是亨利·康德?tīng)柎蠼兄?ldquo;大家趕快出去!快出去!”

　　看戲的人群開(kāi)始拼命向門(mén)口擠，我趕著打開(kāi)所有大門(mén)疏散人群。這時(shí)我們都能看見(jiàn)煙霧彌漫，約翰·海明對(duì)威爾喊道，“那些劇本!我們必須把劇本搶出來(lái)!”

　　最后大家都安然無(wú)恙地脫險(xiǎn)。有人衣服著了火，但他朋友用一瓶啤酒就給澆滅了。不過(guò)“環(huán)球劇院”一小時(shí)后全部燒毀，夷為平地?？蓱z的老約翰·海明只能站在那兒，頓足痛哭。

　　但是讓劇院就此消失并不是輕而易舉的事。一年后，在原地又蓋起一座新的“環(huán)球劇院”，比原來(lái)的更大更氣派。人們都說(shuō)這是英國(guó)最好的一家劇院。

　　在威爾生前的最后幾年中，我們不常去倫敦。在斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)，他很高興和家人呆在一起。這樣一來(lái)，他就有時(shí)間搞搞園藝，和斯特拉福鎮(zhèn)的朋友聊天，和外孫女伊麗莎白玩耍。他還重讀他的劇本，而且與我一回憶起過(guò)去的歲月就談笑風(fēng)生。

　　1616年2月，珠迪絲終于嫁給了一位名叫托馬斯·奎尼的男人，當(dāng)時(shí)她31歲，丈夫26歲。威爾為此悶悶不樂(lè)。

　　“珠迪絲非常愛(ài)他，”他平靜地對(duì)我說(shuō)，“但我覺(jué)得這青年不可靠，我想她犯了一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤。”

　　他確實(shí)說(shuō)準(zhǔn)了。威爾對(duì)人的直覺(jué)通常沒(méi)錯(cuò)。托馬斯·奎尼游手好閑，縱酒，還和其他女人勾勾搭搭。

　　但是威爾生前未能知道真相。同年3月，他去倫敦美人魚(yú)酒店參加一個(gè)聚會(huì)。本·瓊生這時(shí)已成為詹姆士國(guó)王的宮廷劇作家，國(guó)王每年付給他一些薪水，于是本決定宴請(qǐng)朋友。

　　聽(tīng)說(shuō)這次聚會(huì)很熱鬧，但威爾不幸感冒發(fā)燒，后來(lái)騎馬回家又淋了雨。當(dāng)他回到“新地方”家中，人就垮了。

　　他于1616年4月23日去世。

　　人們將他安葬在艾汶河畔的“圣三一”教堂。我記得，那天天氣晴朗，微風(fēng)習(xí)習(xí)。本·瓊生從倫敦趕來(lái)，在教堂內(nèi)失聲痛哭。他真是個(gè)古怪的人，唯有本才敢攻擊和評(píng)論戲劇和詩(shī)歌。但他打心底里愛(ài)這位朋友。在教堂外面，他走到我身邊。

　　“托比，”他說(shuō)道，“威爾是個(gè)真正了不起的男子漢，我喜歡他。英國(guó)再也不會(huì)有像他那樣的詩(shī)人了。”