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Will The Real Shakespeare Please Stand Up? 莎翁本尊有分身？

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本  

William Shakespeare is the greatest playwright of the English language, and perhaps of any language. But did he actually write the plays which have become so famous? In 2002 book Shakespeare, Co-Author, Professor Brian Vickers presents startling evidence that Shakespeare had help writing some of his plays. Professor Vickers proves his case by showing that some of the rhetorical devices, word choices, and meter within five minor Shakespeare plays are typical of the work of lesser-known authors.

威廉莎士比亚是英文史上，或许在任何语言中，最伟大的剧作家。但真是他写了那些脍炙人口的剧本吗？布莱恩伟克斯教授在他2002年出的书「莎士比亚──集体创作者」一书中发表惊人的证据，指出莎士比亚有些剧本是他人合作而成。伟克斯教授拿莎士比亚五部比较不出名的剧本来左证他的理论，其中所用的修辞技巧、选字和诗歌韵律都是其他比较不知名作者的典型手法。

However, not everyone is willing to accept Professor Vickers’s theories. On one side of the co-authorship debate are scholars, like Vickers, who use linguistic methods to dissect the plays in their search for clues of co-authorship. Opposing them are the conservators, scholars who scoff at any claim of co-authorship and passionately insist that the entire Shakespeare canon was written by the English genius himself.

不过不是全部人都接受伟克斯教授的理论。集体创作理论这一边的支持学者，像是伟克斯教授等人，用的是语言学方法来分析剧本、寻找证据。另一边保守派的学者则嘲笑任何有关集体创作的说法，死忠地坚持所有莎翁作品都是这位英文泰斗自己写的。

Professor Vickers’s textual proof leaves little doubt that Shakespeare had help with at least five of his lesser plays, such as Titus Andronicus and Pericles. The real question involves the nature of the co-authorship: Did the two writers work together? Or did the second author work on the play after Shakespeare had already completed his version? Whatever the case, there is certainly fuel for future debate.

伟克斯教授依原文索骥的强力证据几乎可以证明至少五部较次要的莎翁剧，譬如「泰特斯安德洛尼克」和「培里克利斯」是有人帮忙写成。问题症结在于集体创作的内涵为何？是两个作者一起写吗？或是莎翁已经完成他的剧本后第二位作者才改写？无论情况如何，未来还有很多辩论的空间。

Vocabulary

单词发音

playwright [ˋple͵raɪt] n. 剧作家

rhetorical [rɪˋtɔrɪk!] adj. 修辞的﹐ 与修辞有关的

device [dɪˋvaɪs] n. 手段

meter [ˋmitɚ] n.（诗歌等的）韵律

linguistic [lɪŋˋgwɪstɪk] adj. 语言的；语言学的

dissect [dɪˋsɛkt] v. 仔细分析；细心研究

conservator [ˋkɑnsɚ͵vetɚ] n. 保护者；管理员

scoff [skɔf] v.  嘲笑, 藐视.[(+at)]

canon [ˋkænən] n.（公认的）重要作家和作品

textual [ˋtɛkstʃʊəl] adj. 按原文的，逐字的; 〔书﹑杂志等〕正文的﹐原文的

fuel [ˋfjʊəl] n. 刺激因素[U][（+for/of）]

Sentence of the Day

Shakespeare has “pride of place” amongst English writers.

莎士比亚是英国首屈一指的伟大作家。

pride of place  最突出的位置, 最重要的位置

课文讲解

Hanna and Eli, college students, are discussing their literature class over a couple of pints of ale at the student pub:  汉纳和艾力是大学同学，两人正在学生酒吧里一边喝麦芽啤酒、一边讨论文学课程：

E: Can you believe that stuff Professor Bloom was telling us in class today about Shakespeare’s plays?

妳相信彭博教授今天在课堂上告诉我们的那些有关莎士比亚剧本的事吗？

H: I must admit, I was surprised to learn that Shakespeare had help writing some of his plays.

老实说，我听到莎士比亚有些剧本是别人帮忙写的这件事，感到很惊讶。

E: Yeah, Shakespeare is a literary god. It seems like a tabloid scandal to discover that the Bard was cheating the public with his writing.

是啊，莎士比亚是文学泰斗。感觉有点像是小报丑闻揭露莎翁【注】作品在欺骗大众一样。

H: That’s a bit harsh! People collaborate on artistic projects all the time. Many movie scripts have been written by more than one author.

那讲得太严重了！从古到今都有人进行集体的艺术创作。很多电影脚本都是集众人之力合作完成的。

E: I see your point. Books are co-written, too. So I guess it’s really not that strange that Shakespeare had help writing some of his play – after all, he sure did write a lot of them.

我懂妳的意思。很多书也是集体创作写成的。所以我想莎士比亚有些剧本有别人帮忙写并实在勿须大惊小怪──毕竟，他写成了那么多剧本。

H: What’s strange is the way that some literary types get so worked up over this co-authorship debate. Prof. Bloom said that next week he’d discuss the anti-Stratfordians.

奇怪的是有些文学界人士对于他是否与别人合写的这种辩论大为光火。彭博教授说他下周会讨论反对派的意见。

E: Now that’s another kettle of fish. They claim that Shakespeare was just a front for a ghostwriter who actually wrote all his plays!

那又是另外一番话题了。他们宣称莎士比亚只是个幌子，另外实际上有一位捉刀人才是那些剧本的真正作者。

H: Hey, no matter who put the words to paper, the plays are still incredible.

嘿，不管是谁写的，那些剧本都棒极了。

E: Let’s drink to that!

我们来为此干杯！

【注】：Bard是莎翁的绰号。

－by Jason Smith

Vocabulary

单词发音

pint [paɪnt] n.（啤酒等的）一品脱的量[（+of）]

ale [el] n.（含酒精较一般啤酒多的）麦芽（啤）酒

literary [ˋlɪtə͵rɛrɪ] adj. 文学的，文艺的

tabloid [ˋtæblɔɪd] n.（以轰动性报导为特点的）小报

collaborate [kəˋlæbə͵ret] v. 共同工作；合作

type [taɪp] n.【口】具有某种特点的人

worked up【非正式】〔对某事〕非常不安的; 激动的 to arouse the emotions of; excite.

kettle of fish【口】截然不同的人(或事物) if you say that something or someone is a different kettle of fish, you mean that they are completely different from something or someone else that has been talked about

front [frʌnt] n. (非法或秘密的组织或活动的)掩护，幌子

ghostwriter [ˋgost͵raɪtɚ] n. 为人捉刀的作者

Sentence of the Day

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“玫瑰不叫玫瑰，依然芳香如故。” – 莎翁剧本「罗密欧与朱丽叶」第二幕第二场