关于莎士比亚你不知道的10件事(英汉)

关于莎士比亚你不知道的10件事

The relatively few facts we know about the world's greatest poet and dramatist, William Shakespeare, have made him an enigmatic figure. Some imaginative people have even concluded that he wasn't who he was after all.我们对威廉·莎士比亚所知甚少，以至这位世界上最伟大的诗人兼剧作家几乎成了一位神秘人物。有些颇具想象力的人甚至得出结论：莎士比亚根本不是我们所了解的那个人！

But what we do know about the man and his works is intriguing enough. Snap up these unconsidered trifles:

不过，我们对莎士比亚及其作品的了解也足够精彩纷呈了。以下就是莎士比亚不为人知的方面：

1. Shakespeare wasn't the only Shakespeare in the theatre.

莎士比亚不只是家里唯一投身剧场的人。

His brother Edmund, sixteen years his junior, became an actor in London too, though without making much of a mark. His death at the age of twenty-seven was followed by a funeral in St Saviour's Church, Southwark, which was an expensive one - indicating a local relative with money. Which brings us to...

尽管并未成什么大气候，比他小16岁的弟弟埃德蒙也在伦敦做演员。埃德蒙27岁就命丧黄泉，葬礼在南华克的圣救世主教堂举行，葬礼颇有排场——说明家境还不错。由此我们可以推断……

2. Shakespeare was a fat cat.

莎士比亚是个阔佬。

From his career in the theatre, which included acting, play-writing, and being a "sharer" in the profits of his company, Shakespeare amassed a comfortable fortune. By the age of 33 he was able to buy New Place, the second largest house in

Stratford-upon-Avon. Later he bought property in London as well as Stratford.

莎士比亚在剧院工作，不仅负责表演、写剧本，也参与公司利润分红，因此他积累了一笔可观的财富。到了33岁，莎士比亚就能买得起埃文河畔斯特拉特福的第二大宅“新宫”了。后来，他在伦敦和斯拉特福都置了产业。

In his will he was able to bequeath to his second daughter Judith - not even his main beneficiary - the sum of three hundred pounds. Converting Elizabethan money isnotoriously tricky, but £50,000 would about do it today.

在遗嘱中，他可以留给二女儿朱迪斯300英镑的财产，何况朱迪斯还不是最大受益人。换算伊丽莎白时代的货币并不难，这笔钱在今天应该值5万英镑吧。

By contrast, his fellow playwright Thomas Dekker was in and out of debtors' prison his whole life. At his death in 1632 his widow renounced administration of his estate - meaning there was nothing to administer.

相比之下，他的同辈剧作家托马斯·德克尔一生都为了债务而不断进出监狱。1632年托马斯去世时，他的遗孀甚至不愿接管他的宅子——说明里面也确实没什么好管的。

3. Shakespeare was a co-writer.

莎士比亚是联合作家。

It was common for playwrights of Shakespeare's time to collaborate. Sometimes three or four writers would have a hand in a single play. While Shakespeare seems to have liked working alone, there are passages aplenty in the plays that were written by someone else.

在莎士比亚时代，联合写剧本很常见。有时一部剧本会是三四个作家共同创作的。虽然莎士比亚貌似喜欢独自创作，但有些剧本中的有很多篇章是其他人写的。

He worked with Thomas Middleton on Timon of Athens, and with John Fletcher on Henry VIII. As for some of the most famous parts of Macbeth - the witchy bits - it's