Why should you read "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: janice zhu 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

趁着月色，

a group of youths sneak into the woods,

一群年轻人悄悄溜进树林，

where they take mind-altering substances,

在那里，他们服下迷魂剂，

switch it up romantically,

离奇地移情换爱，

and brush up against creatures from another dimension.

并意外碰到来自另一个世界的生灵。

"A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream" sees Shakespeare get psychedelic –

《仲夏夜之梦》呈现出 莎士比亚的迷幻——

and the result is a treat in the theatre and on the page.

为读者和观者带来 一场美妙的视觉盛宴。

First performed in the 1590's,

该剧于 16 世纪 90 年代首次上演，

this play is one of Shakespeare’s friskiest works,

是莎士比亚最喧闹的作品之一，

filled with trickery, madness and magic.

充满了诡计、疯狂和魔力。

Set over the course of one night,

《仲夏夜之梦》设定在一个夜晚，

Midsummer progresses at a rollicking pace.

整部剧在欢快的节奏中进行。

The plot is structured around patterns of collision and dissolution,

情节按冲突与瓦解的模式构造，

where characters from different worlds are thrown together and torn apart.

来自不同世界的角色 相遇相识、分离分裂。

Shakespeare uses these patterns to mock the characters’ self-obsession

莎士比亚用这些模式讽刺角色的自恋，

and question authority with a comic twist.

并用一个喜剧性转折质疑权威。

The action is set in Ancient Greece,

故事发生于古希腊，

but like many of Shakespeare’s plays it reflects his contemporary concerns.

但和莎士比亚的众多戏剧一样， 它反映出作者对现实的担忧。

The magical setting of the woods at night

夜间森林的魔法环境，

disrupts the boundaries between separate groups, with bizarre results.

打破族群间界限， 产生离奇效应。

Here, the bard plays with the rigid class system of his own time,

在剧中，诗人拿当时的 刻板等级制度大做文章，

taking three distinct groups and turning their society upside-down

将三个不同族群带入一个 凡人无法控制的世界里，

in a world where no mortal is in control.

在那里他们的等级社会被彻底颠覆。

The play opens with young Hermia

戏剧一开场，年轻的赫米娅

raging at her father Egeus and Theseus, the King of Athens,

因为父亲伊吉斯和雅典大公忒修斯

who have forbidden her to marry her lover Lysander.

阻挠她嫁给心上人拉山德而大发雷霆。

Hermia has no interest in her father's choice for her of Demetrius –

赫米娅对父亲选定的 狄米特律斯毫无兴趣——

but her best friend Helena definitely does.

但她最好的朋友海伦娜却钟情于他。

Furious at their elders, Hermia and Lysander elope under cover of darkness,

由于对长辈不满， 赫米娅和拉山德趁着夜色私奔，

with Demetrius in hot pursuit.

狄米特律斯也紧追过来。

This is further complicated by Helena’s decision

事情变得愈发复杂，

to follow them all into the woods, in the hope of winning Demetrius’ heart.

因为海伦娜决定跟踪他们到树林， 希望以此赢得德米特吕斯的欢心。

At this point, the woods are getting crowded,

这时树林拥挤起来，

as the lovers are sharing the space with a group of “rude mechanicals”—

因为还有一群“粗鲁的工人”——

a troupe of workers drunkenly rehearsing a play, led by the jovial Nick Bottom.

开朗的尼克 · 波顿正领着 一群醉醺醺的工人排练戏剧。

Unbeknownst to them, the humans have entered into the world of the fairies.

他们这些人类还不知道 自己已经闯入了精灵世界。

Despite their magical splendor, Oberon and Titania,

即便有迷人的光彩， 奥布朗和提泰妮娅，

the king and queen of the fairies, have their own romantic problems.

精灵世界的仙王和仙后， 也有自己的爱情难题。

Furious at his inability to control Titania, the jealous Oberon

因为无法控制提泰妮娅， 生性妒忌的奥布朗震怒不已，

commands the trickster Puck to squeeze the juice of a magical flower over her eyes.

命令小淘气帕克将一种魔法花的汁液 滴在仙后的眼皮上。

When she wakes up, she’ll fall in love with the first thing she sees.

当她醒来时， 就会爱上第一眼看到的人或物。

On his mission,

执行任务时，

Puck gleefully sprinkles the juice over the eyes of the napping Demetrius

帕克顺便恶作剧地在把汁液 滴在了打盹的狄米特律斯

and Lysander, and transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey for good measure.

和拉山德眼皮上， 又把波顿的头变成驴头。

As eyes flicker open,

当所有人的眼睛眨动着睁开，

a night of chaos commences that includes broken hearts, mistaken identity,

一个混合着心碎、错认、

and transformations.

变身的混乱夜晚开始了。

Out of all the characters, Bottom probably fares the best –

在所有角色中， 波顿的境遇也许最好的——

when the bewitched Titania lays eyes on him,

中了魔法的提泰妮娅一看到他，

she calls on her fairies to lavish him with wine and treasures

就召唤精灵重赏他美酒和珍宝,

and sweeps the transfigured donkeyman off his feet:

把这个变身驴人迷的神魂颠倒：

“pluck the wings from painted butterflies/

“摘下蝴蝶斑斓的彩色翅膀，

To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.

扇去他睡眼上的莹莹月光。

Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.”

小精灵们，来，给他鞠躬。”

While magic is the catalyst to the action,

虽然魔法推动了情节发生，

the play reflects the real drama of the things we do for love –

但这部剧却真实展示出 我们为了爱情做的事——

and the nonsensical behavior of the people under its spell.

还有中了爱情魔咒后的荒谬举止。

The moon overlooks the action “like a silver bow,”

月亮在天上俯瞰一切， “如同一弯银弓，”

signifying erratic behavior, the dark side of love,

寓意古怪的行为， 爱情的黑暗面，

and the bewitching allure of a world where the usual rules don’t apply.

以及一个秩序颠倒的世界 带来的致命诱惑。

Although the characters eventually come to their senses,

尽管角色最终都恢复理智，

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" raises the question

《仲夏夜之梦》却引出一个问题：

of how much agency we have over our own daily lives.

我们对自己的日常生活有多少控制权？

But it’s not the more realistically rendered lovers, rulers or workers

不是更为真实的角色， 恋人、统治者或者工人

who have the last word,

说出了结束语，

but the impish Puck who queries whether we can ever truly trust what we see:

而是小淘气帕克问我们 是否能深信自己看到的：

If we shadows have offended,

“若我们精灵有所得罪，

Think but this and all is mended:

只要这么想，一切好解决：

That you have but slumbered here

您不过在这儿打了个瞌睡，

While these visions did appear.

当这些幻象如实显现。”

And in so doing,

如此一来，

he evokes the effect of entering into the magical world of great theatre

他制造出一种效果， 让人感觉进入了大剧院里的魔法世界，

that plays with the boundary between illusion and reality –

那个世界玩弄虚实之间的界限——

and dramatizes the possibility that life is but a dream.

戏剧化地展现人生可能只是一场梦。