评论
打印
I must have made the acquaintance of Shylock and Satan about the same time, for the two characters were long associated in my mind. I remember that I was sorry for them. I felt vaguely that they could not be good even if they wished to, because no one seemed willing to help them or to give them a fair chance. Even now I cannot find it in my heart to condemn them utterly. There are moments when I feel that the Shylocks, the Judases, and even the Devil, are broken spokes in the great wheel of good which shall in due time be made whole.
回想起来，我一定是在同一个时期熟悉夏洛克和撒旦的，在我的意识里，总会把这两个人物联系在一起。我记得我当时还为他们难过了一阵子，我模模糊糊地感觉到，即使他们愿意也不可能成为好人，因为似乎没有人肯帮助他们，或者给他们一个公平的机会。直到现在，我也无法做到无条件地谴责他们的不义。曾经有那么一个瞬间，我觉得像夏洛克，犹大，乃至魔鬼之流就像一根根折断的辐条——但不管轮子被毁坏得多么厉害，承载人类历史的巨大车轮总会被及时地修复如初。
It seems strange that my first reading of Shakespeare should have left me so many unpleasant memories. The bright, gentle, fanciful plays—the ones I like best now—appear not to have impressed me at first, perhaps because they reflected the habitual sunshine and gaiety of a child's life. But "there is nothing more capricious than the memory of a child: what it will hold, and what it will lose."
我第一次读莎士比亚时就留下了那么多令人不快的回忆，这似乎显得有些奇怪。明快、柔美而充满幻想的戏剧——也就是我目前最喜欢的戏剧类型——最初并没有给我留下什么深刻的印象，这或许是因为它们所反映的不过是一个小孩子的无忧无虑的快乐生活而已。但是“没有什么东西能比一个小孩子的记忆更反复无常的了：哪些是该拥有的，哪些又是该失去的，我无从说清”。
I have since read Shakespeare's plays many times and know parts of them by heart, but I cannot tell which of them I like best. My delight in them is as varied as my moods. The little songs and the sonnets have a meaning for me as fresh and wonderful as the dramas. But, with all my love for Shakespeare, it is often weary work to read all the meanings into his lines which critics and commentators have given them. I used to try to remember their interpretations, but they discouraged and vexed me; so I made a secret compact with myself not to try any more.
后来，我曾多次阅读莎士比亚戏剧，可以说对其中的部分章节熟稔于心，可是我却无法说出我最喜欢哪出戏。我对这些作品的喜爱层次是广泛的，就像我的情绪一样变化多端。在我看来，短小的民谣和十四行诗能够传达出同戏剧一样的神韵。但是另一方面，对莎士比亚的喜爱也增加了我阅读上的困难——读懂评论家和注释者们对每一行诗的阐释确实是一项十分劳累的工作。我试图记住别人的评论，但是那些（蹩脚的）评论每每令我气恼不已，所以，我悄悄地同自己签订了一份“协议”——不再看那些评论。
