“To be or not to be: that is the question”

2016/04/28 08:41:34 網誌分類: 生活

28 Apr

         Last Saturday was the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, regarded by most people as the world’s best writer in the English language. He was a?playwright, poet, and actor. A playwright is a person who writes?plays?(stage shows). Shakespeare is often called The Bard. A bard?is a poet. He was nicknamed The Bard?because he is regarded as the world’s best poet. Shakespeare wrote many famous?plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice. The one I like best is Romeo and Juliet. It is a beautiful but?tragic?(sad) story. Shakespeare was such a good writer that many of the expressions in his?plays?have become famous quotes. A famous quote, as I have explained before, is a group of words said by a famous person that is often repeated by others.

        　　Shakespeare’s most memorable?(worth remembering, unforgettable)?quote?is: “To be or not to be: that is the question”. It is from his famous?play?Hamlet. This?quote?is not easy to understand unless you read Hamlet. Its simple meaning is to die or not to die. Hamlet was so sad because of the murder of his father that he asked himself whether it is better to live or to commit suicide. He, therefore, asked himself: “To be or not to be: that is the question”. Another famous Shakespeare?quote?that I like is: “All that glitters is not gold”. It is from his?play?The Merchant of Venice. Its simple meaning is what looks good and valuable may not be valuable if you look at it clearly. The word “glitters” means shines.

        　　Shakespeare used the word “glisters” instead which has the same meaning but the word “glitters” is more commonly used nowadays. The Shakespeare?quote?I like the best is: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. It is from his play?Romeo and Juliet. The simple meaning is that it doesn’t matter what something is called. The name is not important. For example, even if a rose has another name, it would still smell very nice.

        *****

        莎士比亞被大多數人認為是世上最好的英語作家，上星期六是他逝世四百周年的日子。他是劇作家（playwright）、詩人和演員。A playwright 就是撰寫劇作（plays）的人。莎士比亞也被稱為The Bard。A Bard 就是詩人，他被稱為The Bard，因他被譽為世上最佳詩人。莎士比亞寫過許多著名劇作（plays），包括《哈姆雷特》、《馬克白》以及《威尼斯商人》。我最喜歡的是《羅密歐與茱麗葉》，它是個美麗但悲哀（tragic）的故事。莎翁是個優秀的作家，他劇作（plays）中有許多對白都變成名言（quotes）。正如我以前解釋過，a famous quote 就是名人曾說過的話，常被後世引用。

        　　莎翁最令人難忘（memorable）的一句名言是：“To be or not to be: that is the question”。這句話來自他著名劇作（play）《哈姆雷特》。除非你有讀過《哈姆雷特》，否則此名句（quote）不易明白。它最簡單的意思是，應該一死了之抑或活下去呢？哈姆雷特因為他父親被殺害而難過，他就問自己，是活着好呢，還是該自殺呢。因此他問自己：“To be or not to be: that is the question”。我很喜歡的另一句莎翁名言也是家喻戶曉：“All that glitters is not gold”，這來自他的劇作（play）《威尼斯商人》。它最簡單的意思是，看來美好和貴重的，仔細察看其實未必都是那麼珍貴。“Glitters” 即閃閃發光的意思。

        　　莎翁用的字是“glisters”，意思一樣，但今日“glitters” 一字較常用。但我最喜歡的莎翁名句（quote）要數這個：“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”，來自劇作（play）《羅密歐與茱麗葉》。其簡單意思是，一樣事物怎樣被稱呼都沒關係，名字是不重要的。譬如，即使玫瑰喚作另一個名字，它仍然芳香如故。mickchug@gmail.com

        Michael Chugani褚簡寧

        中譯：七刻

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