莎士比亚怎么这样受欢迎？为什么有些人认为这些戏剧并不是莎士比亚写的

今天的这段对话，在讨论莎士比亚，

莎士比亚怎么这样受欢迎？为什么有些人认为这些戏剧并不是莎士比亚写的

来听今天的讲解:

A: I've been reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Julier but I find it really tough going as the language is so difficult to understand.

我一直在看莎士比亚的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》，但我发现读起来真的很困难，因为文字太难懂。

B: That's true for native speakers too. I know that when I read one of his plays I am always gjancing at the glossary and notes so that I can understand che words.

对本国人来说也是一样难懂。我记得我读他的剧本时也总是翻看词汇表和注释，这样才能看懂词汇。

A: So how did Shakespeare become so popular if people can't understand what he wrote?

那如果人们连他写的东西都看不懂，他又怎么这样受欢迎呢？

B: People in his time understand his plays because they were meant to be heard not read. It wasn't until seven years after his death that his plays were published in printed form.

莎士比亚那个年代的人们能明白他的戏剧是因为那些剧本是写给人听的而不是写给人看的。他的戏剧在他死后7年才被印刷出版。

A: But I read somewhere that Shakespeare invented about 2, 000 new words. How did they understand these new words if they'd never heard them before?

但我看别的地方写到莎士比哑创造了2000个左右的新词。如果那时的人们以前没听过这些新词，他们是如何理解的呢？

B: Well some nouns he used as verbs, as adverbs and as adjectives. He also created new compound words such as "baby-faced" and smooth-faced”. He also brought into common use words that had appeared in the last half of the 16th century.

是这样，他把一些名词用作动词、副词和形容词。他还创造了一些新的合成词，比如“生着娃娃脸的”、“脸上没胡须的”。此外，他还把16世纪后半期出现的词当成普通的词来用。

A: Perhaps it is the phrases he is most remembered for such as "To be or not to be, that is the question" and "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

让人铭记最深的也许是他的名句，如：“生存还是毁灭，这是个问题”，以及“罗密欧，罗密欧，你为什么是罗密欧啊？”

B: Perhaps my favourite is "the milk of human kindness" , but I'm sure everyone has their own favourite.

也许我最喜欢的还是”人性善良的乳汁”这个说法，但我相信每个人都有自己最喜欢的语句。

A: I know that some people don't think that Shakespeare wrote the plays. Why is that?

我听说有些人认为这些戏剧并不是莎士比亚写的。为什么会这么说？

B: Primarily because he never went to university so some critics don't think that he received a higb enough education to be able to write such great literature.

主要是因为他从没上过大学，所以有些评论家认为他没有接受足够的高等教育，也就写小出如此伟大的文学作品。

A: So if Shakespeare didn't write them, who did?

那如果不是莎士比亚写的，会是谁写的呢？

B: Variuus candidares have been put forward but perhaps the best is Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford  ( 1550-1604 ) .

人们提出了很多个人选，但最可能的还是第17世牛津伯爵爱德华·德维尔(1550 -1604)。

A: Why is that?

为什么？

B: In the sonnets and the playsthcre are frequent references to events that are paralleled in Oxford's life. Personally. I agree with the majority of Shakespearean academics who think Shakespeare was the author.

十四行诗和戏剧巾不断提及跟牛津生活相关的事。就我个人而言，我同意大多数的莎士比亚研究者的看法，认为莎士比亚才是原作者。

A: Well "a rose by another name would still smell as sweet"?

嗯，“玫瑰换个名字闻起来还是一样香”，是不是？

B: That's right. One thing is for sure and thac is that the world's greatest plays luve enriched the English Language ever since and his plays are among the finest literature the world has ever seen.

一点不错！可以肯定的一件事就是，从此以后，达些世界上最伟大的戏剧作品大大丰富英语语言，莎剧被列入世界上迄今为止最优秀的文学作品之列。