02-01-威廉·莎士比亚 [7]
．The house in Henley Street was strangely quiet，and I went round the back and up to Will's room—his writing room， we called it．He was just sitting there not doing anything，just sitting．
‘What's the matter，Will？I said．‘Where is everybody？’
‘At church．His face was grey，and his eyes looked empty，dead．
‘What's happened？’I asked．‘What is it？’
He looked at me．‘Hamnet… ’he began．‘Hamnet was ill last week，and…and he died，yesterday．He was only eleven，Toby，and he's dead．My boy．My only son．He's dead，Toby．Dead．’He put his face in his hands．
What Can you say to a man when something like that happens to him？I sat down next to him and put my hand on his arm．We sat together，silently．I knew that Will loved that boy of his—red-haired，bright as a new penny，full of life．Just like his father．
After a while I said，‘You'll have other sons
‘Anne's forty already．’Will's voice was tired．‘She's had no children since the twins．’
‘Well，now，you've got two fine girls in Susanna and Judith．They'll marry before long，and then you'll have more grandsons than you can count．You'll see．There'll be boys running up and down stairs，shouting for their Granddad Will！’
He smiled sadly，but his eyes were not so empty now．Pleased，I went on quickly：
‘And there are all your brothers—Gilbert，Richard，Edmund．They'll have sons too．The Shakespeare family will never die out．Think of the family，Will，the family！’
And he did．He was already a famous poet and playwright，but he was a family man，too．The next year，1597，he bought a new house for his family．It was a big，grand house，called New Place，right in the middle of Stratford．It cost ￡60—a lot of money—and the townspeople began to say‘Mr Shakespeare’，not‘Young Will the actor’or‘John Shakespeare's boy’．They were happy to do business with him，and to borrow money from him．
Anne was very pleased with the new house．The wife of Mr Shakespeare of New Place was an important person in Stratford．But she still didn't like Will's work．
‘Actors are wild，dangerous people，’she often said to him．‘I'm not interested in plays or the theatre，and I don't want to know anything about your work．’
But she liked the money，and the new house，and the new dresses—and the six fields of apple trees and the big farm north of Stratford that came a few years later．
Will never talked much about Hamnet．Life goes on and Will was busier than ever．But I know he thought about his son a lot；his grief was very deep inside him．A year or two later，I was talking to John Heminges abut the costumes for Will's new play，King John．John Heminges was a family man—he had fourteen children in the end．The noise is his house！Shouting and laughing，coming and going…
John was looking at the playbook．‘You see this bit here，Toby，’he said．‘Will's writing about his son，isn't he？’
I read the words slowly，and remembered Will's empty eyes that day in August．
Grief fills the room up of my absent child，
Lies in his bed，walks up and down with me，
Puts on his pretty looks，repeats his words…
Richard Burbage said once that Will's writing changed after Hamnet's death．Will still laughed at people in his plays，but he also felt sorry for them—sorry for all the world，good and bad，rich and poor，young and old．And his people were real．No one was all good， or all bad．
There was a man called Shylock in his play The Merchant of Venice．This Shylock was a money-lender and a cruel man —everyone hated him．But in the end，when Shylock lost everything，you had to feel sorry for him．He was just a sad old man．
Perhaps Richard was right．And if anyone understood Will，it was Richard Burbage．
■ 6 幼子夭折
瘟疫流行过后的几年，我们一直忙个不停。市里又有了几家新剧团，如今威尔属于“宫内大臣剧团”。宫内大臣身居要职，与女王关系亲密。这样一来，我们经常有机会被召进女王的宫廷演戏，或者到英国达官显贵的府邸演戏。我们剧团不乏出色的演员。其中有威尔，理查·白贝芝，约翰·海明，奥古斯丁·菲利普斯，亨利·康德尔和托马斯·蒲伯。当然还有其他演员，只是这六个人是剧团的台柱。他们已经一起合作了20多年，也赚了不少的钱。
我仍为“宫内大臣剧团”做戏装和道具。约翰·海明说我是伦敦市里最出色的道具师。
威尔就不同凡响了——因为他会创作剧本。而且写出的剧本让人叫绝！他总能标新立异，与众不同，笔头又快，而且从不像有些作家那样创作雷同的剧本。
约翰·海明一直感到纳闷。“威尔，你怎会写得这么快？”他问道，“并且你从未出过差错或是改动只言片语。”
说实在，威尔自己也说不清楚。“一切都已在我的头脑里。”他说，“我一想到，立刻就能跃然纸上。”
1595年他创作了一部爱情剧，讲述一对年轻的恋人，这就是《罗密欧与朱丽
‘What's the matter，Will？I said．‘Where is everybody？’
‘At church．His face was grey，and his eyes looked empty，dead．
‘What's happened？’I asked．‘What is it？’
He looked at me．‘Hamnet… ’he began．‘Hamnet was ill last week，and…and he died，yesterday．He was only eleven，Toby，and he's dead．My boy．My only son．He's dead，Toby．Dead．’He put his face in his hands．
What Can you say to a man when something like that happens to him？I sat down next to him and put my hand on his arm．We sat together，silently．I knew that Will loved that boy of his—red-haired，bright as a new penny，full of life．Just like his father．
After a while I said，‘You'll have other sons
‘Anne's forty already．’Will's voice was tired．‘She's had no children since the twins．’
‘Well，now，you've got two fine girls in Susanna and Judith．They'll marry before long，and then you'll have more grandsons than you can count．You'll see．There'll be boys running up and down stairs，shouting for their Granddad Will！’
He smiled sadly，but his eyes were not so empty now．Pleased，I went on quickly：
‘And there are all your brothers—Gilbert，Richard，Edmund．They'll have sons too．The Shakespeare family will never die out．Think of the family，Will，the family！’
And he did．He was already a famous poet and playwright，but he was a family man，too．The next year，1597，he bought a new house for his family．It was a big，grand house，called New Place，right in the middle of Stratford．It cost ￡60—a lot of money—and the townspeople began to say‘Mr Shakespeare’，not‘Young Will the actor’or‘John Shakespeare's boy’．They were happy to do business with him，and to borrow money from him．
Anne was very pleased with the new house．The wife of Mr Shakespeare of New Place was an important person in Stratford．But she still didn't like Will's work．
‘Actors are wild，dangerous people，’she often said to him．‘I'm not interested in plays or the theatre，and I don't want to know anything about your work．’
But she liked the money，and the new house，and the new dresses—and the six fields of apple trees and the big farm north of Stratford that came a few years later．
Will never talked much about Hamnet．Life goes on and Will was busier than ever．But I know he thought about his son a lot；his grief was very deep inside him．A year or two later，I was talking to John Heminges abut the costumes for Will's new play，King John．John Heminges was a family man—he had fourteen children in the end．The noise is his house！Shouting and laughing，coming and going…
John was looking at the playbook．‘You see this bit here，Toby，’he said．‘Will's writing about his son，isn't he？’
I read the words slowly，and remembered Will's empty eyes that day in August．
Grief fills the room up of my absent child，
Lies in his bed，walks up and down with me，
Puts on his pretty looks，repeats his words…
Richard Burbage said once that Will's writing changed after Hamnet's death．Will still laughed at people in his plays，but he also felt sorry for them—sorry for all the world，good and bad，rich and poor，young and old．And his people were real．No one was all good， or all bad．
There was a man called Shylock in his play The Merchant of Venice．This Shylock was a money-lender and a cruel man —everyone hated him．But in the end，when Shylock lost everything，you had to feel sorry for him．He was just a sad old man．
Perhaps Richard was right．And if anyone understood Will，it was Richard Burbage．
■ 6 幼子夭折
瘟疫流行过后的几年，我们一直忙个不停。市里又有了几家新剧团，如今威尔属于“宫内大臣剧团”。宫内大臣身居要职，与女王关系亲密。这样一来，我们经常有机会被召进女王的宫廷演戏，或者到英国达官显贵的府邸演戏。我们剧团不乏出色的演员。其中有威尔，理查·白贝芝，约翰·海明，奥古斯丁·菲利普斯，亨利·康德尔和托马斯·蒲伯。当然还有其他演员，只是这六个人是剧团的台柱。他们已经一起合作了20多年，也赚了不少的钱。
我仍为“宫内大臣剧团”做戏装和道具。约翰·海明说我是伦敦市里最出色的道具师。
威尔就不同凡响了——因为他会创作剧本。而且写出的剧本让人叫绝！他总能标新立异，与众不同，笔头又快，而且从不像有些作家那样创作雷同的剧本。
约翰·海明一直感到纳闷。“威尔，你怎会写得这么快？”他问道，“并且你从未出过差错或是改动只言片语。”
说实在，威尔自己也说不清楚。“一切都已在我的头脑里。”他说，“我一想到，立刻就能跃然纸上。”
1595年他创作了一部爱情剧，讲述一对年轻的恋人，这就是《罗密欧与朱丽