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I want to mention here that, in the time of Shakespeare, there was also a great Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu and both men actually passed away in the same year.
我想在这里提一下，在莎士比亚时代，还有一位伟大的中国剧作家，他的名字叫汤显祖，二人是同年去世的。
Tang Xianzu wrote The Peony Pavilion, which has long been an inspiration to generations of Chinese playwrights and novelists, and is highly regarded as a world-class play. Nevertheless, I wonder how many in this country have heard of him, or of his work.
汤显祖创作的《牡丹亭》一直是数代中国剧作家和小说家心中的模范之作，还被誉为世界一流的剧本。然而，我想知道在这个国家有多少人听说过他或他的作品。
The Peony Pavilion tells much the same story as Romeo and Juliet. It combines drama and fairy tale and presents a sweet and sorrow legend of love that defies the limits of heaven and earth. It is very long, spanning 10 nights in 10 episodes. A shortened three-night version was staged by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre at Sadler's Wells last summer and was extremely well received by the British audience who filled the theatre each and every time.
《牡丹亭》和《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的故事大致相同。它结合了戏剧与童话，展现了一段甜蜜而悲伤的爱情故事，打破了天堂与人间的界限。这出戏剧很长，一共有10节，需要10个晚上才能演完。去年夏天，苏州昆剧院在赛德勒斯维尔斯剧院演出了本剧的缩略版，花了3个晚上演完，英国观众对这部戏剧好评如潮，并且场场爆满。
However, it is disappointing to note that Tang's name and his play are little known in the UK, a country which loves history and has a taste for good plays. Is it all right if we conclude that it is time the West made efforts to learn more about China?
然而令人失望的是，在英国，汤显祖的名字和他的作品鲜为人知，尽管英国人对历史和优秀剧作都很感兴趣。是不是可以认为，现在是西方努力来更加了解中国的时候了？
