A Midsummer Night's Dream 3：The Language

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A Midsummer Night's Dream - Part 3 - “Think you have but slumbered here”

《仲夏夜之梦》--第3部分--“只想到你们只是在此睡了一场”

In episode two, we talked about the extraordinary lyricism of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the way it mixes humor with some surprising dark undertones -- especially around friendship and love. In this episode, we speak with Tiffany Stern, professor of Shakespeare and early modern drama at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford, about the moments in the play that particularly dramatize these points.

在上一集节目中，我们探讨了《仲夏夜之梦》中独特的音韵美，以及戏剧将幽默融入某些暗黑寓意，尤其是那些有关友谊和爱情的暗黑寓意中的方式。本集节目，我们将继续对话斯特拉特福莎士比亚研究院的莎士比亚与早期现代戏剧教授——蒂法尼·斯特恩，与她探讨剧中将这些内容高度戏剧化的精彩片段。

Our first speech comes from Act Two, after Titania has described all the chaos in the natural world that has resulted from the discord between herself and Oberon. Oberon tells her she can mend this quarrel just by giving him the young Indian boy that she has taken charge of. In this speech, Titania explains why she will not give up the boy.

第一段台词选自第二幕，此前提泰妮娅刚刚讲述完大自然中那些由于自己与奥布朗的矛盾而出现的种种混乱状况。奥布朗表示，只要提泰妮娅同意把手中的那个印度男孩交给自己，就可以结束这一切纷乱。提泰妮娅在下面这段台词中，解释了自己不愿放弃这个男孩的原因。

a. Titania, 2.1.125-142, “Set your heart at rest … I will not part with him.”

a. 提泰妮娅，第二幕，第一场，第125-142行，“请你死了心吧......我不愿舍弃他。”

TITANIA Set your heart at rest:

提泰妮娅：请你死了心吧，

The Fairyland buys not the child of me.

整个仙境谁也不能从我手里换得这个孩子。

His mother was a vot’ress of my order,

他的母亲是我神坛前的一个信徒，

And in the spicèd Indian air by night

在芬芳的印度的夜晚，

Full often hath she gossiped by my side

她常常在我身旁闲谈，

And sat with me on Neptune’s yellow sands,

陪我坐在海边的黄沙上，

Marking th’ embarkèd traders on the flood,

凝望着水面的商船；

When we have laughed to see the sails conceive

我们一起笑看着那些船帆，因狂荡的风而怀孕，

And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind;

一个个凸起了肚皮；

Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,

她那时也正怀孕着这个小宝贝，

Following (her womb then rich with my young

squire),

便学着船帆的样子，

Would imitate and sail upon the land

美妙而轻快地凌风而行，

To fetch me trifles and return again,

为我往岸上寻取各种杂物，

As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.

回来时就像航海而归，带来了无数的商品。

But she, being mortal, of that boy did die,

但因为她是一个凡人，所以在产下这孩子时便死了。

And for her sake do I rear up her boy,

为着她的缘故我才抚养她的孩子，

And for her sake I will not part with him.

也为着她的缘故我不愿舍弃他。

So this is a speech in which Titania explains the backstory to the Indian boy that she has acquired and loves -- or so it seems at this moment. But I'm interested in how it starts by saying “The Fairyland buys not the child of me.” And I'm interested in the term “buys,” because this is strangely mercantile. This is to do with merchandising. And actually, a lot of this speech is to do with merchandising. So Titania talks of how she and her votaress, then pregnant with this little boy, used to sit together mocking the embarked traders on the flood, which is to say, observing the trading boats on the sea, so that we have trade again, “buying” the child. The background of she and the pregnant mother, watching the traders, and then the pregnant mother would bring her gifts as from a “voyage rich with merchandise” -- so as though she were a returning ship. So throughout this speech, there is oddly the language of merchandising.

提泰妮娅在这里介绍了印度男孩的身世背景。她抚养着这个孩子，也深爱着他，至少，剧情发展到这里的时候确实是这样的。不过我感兴趣的是，一开始她就表示：“整个仙境谁也不能从我手里换得这个孩子。”我觉得“换得”这个表达很有意思，带着点儿怪异的商业气息，让我们联想到商业买卖。实际上，这段台词中，还有很多与商业贸易有关的内容。提泰妮娅回忆着和怀孕的女信徒坐在一起笑看着海浪中的商人的日子，那时她们认真地看着海上的商船，这又是一个与经商有关的场景，与前面“换得这个孩子”遥相呼应。她们看着出海的商人，那位怀孕的女信徒还会去到岸上，回来时“就像航海而归，带来了无数的商品”作为送给提泰妮娅的礼物。整段台词中，充斥着与商业贸易相关的语言。

I think that's one of the key things about the speech and one of the awkward things about the speech, not least because we're talking about India and the “spiced Indian air” -- India, the home of spices that were coming to England, exotic spices. And here we're seeing the association between India and trading. Now, what later happens is the Dutch East Indian company is set up just for such trading. But here, firstly, we see the connection between India and trade. And then secondly, we see the connection between the little boy and trade. On one level, this says something a little bleak about the kind of colonializations that we were embarking on, all driven by merchandise. And on another, we see a little boy who both Oberon and Titania will fight to own him, and, kind of, they're fighting to own that bit of exotic merchandise. So he, horrifyingly, becomes a bit like one of the other traded goods.

商业是这段台词的一个关键要素，同时也是令人难以理解的一个要素。尤其是对话中，还谈到了印度，说它是“芬芳的印度”。当时，印度为英国提供了大量香料，大量充满异国情调的香料。从这一点上，我们也可以感受到印度和贸易之间的关联。而之后的“荷兰东印度公司”也是出于贸易这个目的而成立的。不过在这里，我们首先关注到的是印度和贸易之间的联系。之后，我们又看到了这个小男孩与贸易之间的关系。一方面，这寓意着当时英国正在开展的殖民前景暗淡，因为这完全是由贸易驱动的。另一方面，我们看到奥布朗与提泰妮娅在抢夺这个小男孩，这就像是在争夺一小块外国贸易。很可怕，这个小男孩似乎是一件物品，可以用作贸易交换。

Another thing I find interesting in the speech is the source of the humor between Titania and the votaress -- “ When we have laughed to see the sails conceive / And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind.” So they sat together, and they laughed because the sails were getting filled with wind. And it looks like they were pregnant. And you think, Oh, that's quite weird. It's quite weird to see boats and immediately think that they're conceiving with the wind. That's going to a very naughty place quite quickly -- and only then, having heard about all of that, are we told that she, the votaress, “with pretty and with swimming gait, / Following (her womb then rich with my young squire), / Would imitate.” So then we're told the humor is, in fact, that she, too, is pregnant, and she'll pretend to go swimming along the shore, and she'll imitate a boat, and it'll be hilarious, because the boats are pregnant, and she is pregnant. So, as I say, you know, some jokes are better than others.

这里，另一个让我感兴趣的地方是提泰妮娅与女信徒的那快乐来源，她说“我们一起笑看着那些船帆，因狂荡的风而怀孕，一个个凸起了肚皮”。她们坐在一起，看着船帆被风吹得鼓起，欢快地放声大笑。鼓起来的帆就像怀孕了一样。你一定会觉得，哦，这太怪了。看到鼓起的船帆，就想着它们是因为风而怀了孕，真的很怪。接着提泰妮娅立马又转到了一个非常古灵精怪的内容上，在回忆完那些怀孕的“船帆”后，提泰妮娅告诉我们那位女信徒，“那时也正怀孕着这个小宝贝，便学着船帆的样子，美妙而轻快地凌风而行，为我往岸上寻取各种杂物”。此刻，我们恍然大悟，她们之所以这么高兴快活，是因为女信徒也怀孕了，她会向帆船那样，游回岸上。这一切都令人欢乐愉悦，帆船怀孕了，女信徒也怀孕了。有的玩笑话比另一些更为有意思。

But we are put here that the metaphor of the pregnant boat, which we then see ties in both with the merchandising, you know, it's going to team with money -- but it also ties in with the theme of pregnancy, which sits very oddly on this play more generally, because Titania and Oberon are fighting for the little boy who is born as a result of this, and they don't seem to have any kids of their own. So there is their lack of their own children. And the bigger story itself will end with all the lovers in their marriage beds, for their marriage nights. And we're told that at least one of them is going to conceive, and that various wishes are made for the pregnancies that will then ensue. So pregnancy is a theme throughout this play. And here it is.

但在这里我们还发现，怀孕的帆船这个隐喻其实与金钱有关，我们刚刚也分析了它既与商品贸易有关，同时也与怀孕这个主题有关。这个主题在这剧中的地位十分不一般，虽然提泰妮娅和奥布朗在争夺女信徒生下的这个小男孩，但是他们俩似乎没有孩子，没有属于自己的孩子。在戏剧结尾处，在新婚之夜，恋人们去到了婚床上。我们知道他们中至少有一位将会怀孕，那些怀孕的美好祝愿也将成真。所以说，怀孕这个主题从始至终贯穿了整部戏剧。就是这样。

And it interestingly goes, boat first, then the laughing women, one of whom we now learn is pregnant. And shortly after we learn she is hilariously pregnant -- then in a sentence we learn, “but she being mortal, of that boy to die.” And you say, Oh, my word. We had a friendship. Two laughing ladies on the shore. But one was mortal and childbirth actually killed her. And that's a little horrifying vignette in what seems like a charming story. And I quite like, in modern punctuation, we put it between commas -- “being mortal,” “but she, being mortal, of that boy did die.” This is being spoken by Titania, who is not mortal. So she herself doesn't die. But a mortal person can die of childbirth. That did indeed happen here. And that also throws something rather strange onto us, the audience, because we are also mortal and we will also die. And so this story, which is a story of pregnancy and life, is also a story of mortality and death, and all that is here in this speech as well.

这真的很有趣，先是帆船，再是欢笑着的女性，而且我们了解到其中一位已经怀孕了。然而，就在我们了解到她怀了孕后不久，我们又听到了这样一句话，“但因为她是一个凡人，所以在产下这孩子时便死了”。你一定会觉得，天呀，我们刚刚才目睹了岸上两位欢乐的女性之间的友谊呢。但是其中一位是个凡人，她因生产而死。在这部欢乐的戏剧中，这算是一个有点儿恐怖的小插曲。在这里我想利用现代的标点符号来断一下句，我要在“她是一个凡人”前后加上逗号，读起来就是“但因为她”，“是一个凡人”， “所以在产下这孩子时便死了”。这句话是提泰妮娅说的，提泰妮娅是仙后不是凡人，所以她不会死去。但凡人会因为生孩子而死，剧中也的确发生了这样的不幸。同时，这也让我们戏剧观众感受到了一些非常奇怪的内容，因为我们也是凡人，也会死。所以这个故事，这个有关孕育与生命的故事，同时也是一个有关死亡与终结的故事，在这小小一段台词中，我们可以看到了所有的这一切。

And then we end up with the insistent “And for her sake do I rear up her boy, / And for her sake I will not part with him.” Ends on “him,” “boy” and “him,” the two ends of those lines -- “For her sake,” the two beginnings of those lines. We feel very powerfully that she loves this woman. As a consequence, she loves this boy, she wants this boy. And she looks after the boy as a memento of that extraordinary friendship. Now, the fact that, in the play, she then hands over the boy to her husband once they get over that quarrel -- remembering this speech, makes that moment more horrific and raises more questions about the strangeness of this friendship here, which, as I say, is always put in rather mercantile terms.

台词结尾又一次呼应了这一点“为着她的缘故我才抚养她的孩子，也为着她的缘故我不愿舍弃他”。最后以表示孩子的代词“他”结尾，“孩子”和“他”分别是最后两行的最后一个单词，“为着（表示女信徒的）她的缘故”则又是最后两行的开头。从中我们可以深刻地体会到提泰妮娅深爱着那位女信徒。所以，她也深爱着这个男孩，不愿舍弃这个男孩。她照顾这个男孩是为了纪念这段非凡的友谊。然而，在后续的剧情中，提泰妮娅刚同丈夫的合好后，就把这个男孩交给了丈夫。再回忆起这段台词，我们一定会觉得她的做法很可怕，同时也让我们对于她和女信徒之间的友谊的古怪之处产生了更多疑惑和不解，就像我之前说的那样，作者在刻画这段友谊的时候用了很多与商业有关的表达。

Our next speech comes from Act Five. Oberon has removed the flower’s magic from Titania’s eyes so that she no longer loves the ass-headed Bottom. Puck has restored Bottom to normal, and Titania has gone off and left Bottom asleep. Now he wakes up and starts to ponder what has happened -- or, he wonders, did it only happen in a dream?

接下来的这段台词选自戏剧的第四幕。当时奥布朗已经消除了提泰妮娅眼睛上的魔法，她不再痴迷于长着驴头的波顿了。同时迫克也把波顿变回了原来的模样，提泰妮娅留下熟睡的波顿起身离开了。波顿醒了过来，开始思考发生了些什么，或者说，他在思考，之前的那些真的只是一场梦吗？

b. Bottom, 4.1.210-229, “When my cue comes … at her death.” (Bottom’s Dream)

b. 波顿，第四幕，第一场，第210-229行，“轮到咱的尾白的时候......或者还是等咱死了之后再唱吧。”（波顿的梦）

BOTTOM When my cue comes, call me,

波顿：轮到咱的尾白的时候，请你们叫咱一声，

and I will answer. My next is “Most fair Pyramus.”

咱就会答应；咱下面的一句是，“最美丽的皮拉摩斯。”

Hey-ho! Peter Quince! Flute the bellows-mender!

嘿吼！有人吗！彼得·昆斯！弗鲁特，修风箱的！

Snout the tinker! Starveling! God’s my life! Stolen

斯诺特，补锅子的！斯塔佛林！他妈的！他们悄悄地

hence and left me asleep! I have had a most rare

溜走了，把咱撇下在这儿一个人睡觉吗？咱做了一个奇怪得了不得

vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say

的梦。没有人说得出

what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about

那是怎样的一个梦；要是谁想把这个梦

to expound this dream. Methought I was – there

解释一下，那他一定是一头驴子。咱好像是--没有人

is no man can tell what. Methought I was and

说得出那是什么东西。咱好像是--

methought I had -- but man is but a patched fool if

咱好像有--但要是谁敢说出来

he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of

咱好像有什么东西，那他一定是一个蠢材。咱那个梦啊，人们的眼睛

man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen,

从来没有听到过，人们的耳朵从来没有看见过，

man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to

人们的手也尝不出来是什么味道，人们的舌头

conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream

也想不出来是什么道理，人们的心也说不出来究竟那是怎样的一个梦。

was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this

咱要叫彼得·昆斯给咱写一首歌儿咏一下这个梦，

dream. It shall be called “Bottom’s Dream” because

题目就叫做“波顿的梦”，因为

it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the

这个梦可没有底儿，咱要在演完戏之后

latter end of a play, before the Duke. Peradventure,

在公爵大人的面前唱这个歌--或者还是

to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her

等咱死了之后

death.

再唱吧。

So this is a speech when Bottom wakes up from what he thinks has been a dream. What he thinks he dreamt is that he had an ass’shead and made love to the Queen of the Fairies in that form. Now, we know that that wasn't a dream, that did, in fact, happen. However, he wakes up and the first thing he says is, “When my cue comes, call me and I will answer.” He is thinking back to his rehearsal. He's waiting for the three words that will proceed his speech. And he's waiting for the three words “Most fair Pyramus.” This is hilarious on a number of levels. One is that his dream is reality. He really has been at a rehearsal. And another is that his cue will be “Most fair Pyramus,” very beautiful Pyramus. And we've just seen him being an ass, you know, notably ridiculously ugly. So that is funny.

波顿醒过来时，说了这段台词。他认为自己刚刚只是做了一个梦。在梦中，他的头变成了驴头，在那种模样下他还和仙后发生关系。我们观众都知道，这一切其实不是梦，是真实发生了的事情。但是，他醒来时说的第一句话却是“轮到咱的尾白的时候，请你们叫咱一声，咱就会答应。”此刻，他竟然还在惦记着自己的排演。他还在等前一个演员的尾白，好继续说自己的台词呢。他在等“最美丽的皮拉摩斯”这句话。从各个方面看，这段台词都十分滑稽有趣。一方面，他的梦其实是真实的。他当时的确是在彩排。另一方面，他的尾白是“最美丽的皮拉摩斯”，那无比美丽的皮拉摩斯，可我们看到的却是长着驴头的丑陋模样。这太有趣了。

“Hey-ho” -- “Hey-ho” is a transliteration of how a sigh sounds. But here it is funnier still because, as Bottom was an ass, then he can also go “Hee-ho” in a kind of, you know, donkey-like ass-y way. So it's kind of both a sigh, and he's still got a bit of donkey in him. Okay. Then he says, “I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was.” He can't make sense of the dream he's had. Now, this is actually one of the themes of the whole play, which bits of the play are dreams and whose dream is this play? Is it our dream, is it my dream? So we see Bottom struggling with one of the themes of the play, his strange, strange dream.

波顿还说了句：“嘿吼！”“嘿吼！”是一句叹气声。但这里，这个表达却是很滑稽的，因为波顿之前被变成了一头驴子，他会发出“诶哦诶哦”的驴叫声，听上去和“嘿吼！嘿吼！”很像。所以，这既是一声叹息，但也展现出了他身上的那些驴子的特性。接着他继续说：“咱做了一个奇怪得了不得的梦。没有人说得出那是怎样的一个梦。”他自己也想不明白自己刚刚做了个什么梦。实际上，这也是整部戏剧的一个主题——戏剧中哪些是梦？这部戏剧是谁的梦？是我们的梦还是我的梦吗？我们看到波顿在苦苦思考着这个问题，这个古怪奇异的梦。

And then he says -- and these are all kind of funny internal references like “Hey-ho” -- “Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was -- there is no man can tell what. Methought I was and methought I had” -- people act this in various different ways. “Methought I was and methought I had.” So he thought he was an ass. “Methought I had” -- and then an actor can choose which bit of himself to touch to indicate what it -- so a more Victorian-leaning actor will go “Methought I had” and touch his head, because he thought he had big ears. But oh no, I didn't have big ears anymore, thank goodness for that. A naughtier actor will touch himself lower down -- I thought I had a great big -- oh well, oh well, that was just a dream.

接着，他又继续说了下面这些类似于“嘿吼！”的有趣的内心想法：“要是谁想把这个梦解释一下，那他一定是一头驴子。咱好像是没有人说得出那是什么东西。咱好像是--咱好像有。”演员们对这一段的表演各不相同。说着“咱好像是--咱好像有。”的时候，他认为自己是头驴子。所以在演绎“咱好像有”这句台词的时候，演员会自己决定摸一摸身体的哪个部分来向观众们表明究竟“有”什么。偏维多利亚式的演员在表演“咱好像有”的时候，往往会摸摸自己的头，因为他想表现出“咱好像有大耳朵”。摸的时候，他还会想“哦，不，我那对大耳朵不见了，正是谢天谢地。”如果是那些淘气不规矩的演员，他们在表演时，会摸摸自己的下身，说：“咱好像有大大的那个家伙呢，不过，好吧好吧，那只是一个梦呀。”

Then what's weird is he goes into this little bit of synesthesia. Synesthesia, when you muddle one sense with another sense: “The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report.” On one level, that's all jokes. That is funny, but on a second level, that’s what A Midsummer Night's Dream is about. It's about sensory confusion. The play appeals to the emotions, but muddles the way you rationalize them.

再接着，他的台词带了点儿通感的状态。通感指的就是混淆两种不同的感觉。波顿说：“咱那个梦啊，人们的眼睛从来没有听到过，人们的耳朵从来没有看见过，人们的手也尝不出是什么味道，人们的舌头也想不出来是什么道理，，人们的心也说不出来究竟那是怎样的一个梦。”从表面上看，这些都是作者的玩笑话，为了逗我们开心。但再深入往下看的话，这其实表达出了《仲夏夜之梦》所关注的那种感官的混乱。虽然这部剧探讨的是情绪和情感，但是它却又打乱了我们合理化这些情绪情感的方式。

But a third thing, which is intensely odd, is that this is also a bit of a muddled reference to Corinthians: “the eye hath not seen and the ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.” So why on earth are we getting a sudden confused biblical reference here? We have been in this place far, far, far away from Christianity, and the land of fairies and Cupids and strange bits of Greek mythology, and suddenly, but not in clear form, in confused form, we've got something that reminds us of St. Paul. So I think this funny speech is also meant to have depth that we might not quite have expected. It asks us actually about the dream theme of the play. It brings us to Christianity when we're about to think about marriage.

再继续深入到第三个层面，我们还会看到更加奇怪的一点。我们会发现波顿刚刚说的那段话，与圣经《哥林多前书》中的一段内容十分相似：“神为爱他的人所预备的是眼睛未曾看见，耳朵未曾听见，人心也未曾想到的。”谈到这里，大家也许会感到奇怪，我们怎么突然又开始聊圣经了呢？戏剧的故事背景离基督教可是很遥远的。那可是一片仙境呀，有小精灵，有丘比特，有隐隐约约、点点滴滴的希腊神话元素。可突然，我们听到了一些台词，让我们联想到基督教中那著名的圣保罗，虽然没有明说，但我们都可以隐约感觉出来。所以我觉得，这段滑稽有趣的台词也是有意想要探讨我们意料之外的一些有深度的内容。它向我们发问，问出了戏剧有关梦境的那个主题，它让我们刚准备要思考婚姻的时候，感受到了基督教的内容。

And then finally, it's got this nice end to the speech: “I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’ because it hath no bottom.”So the playwright Peter Quince is the prompter and, it seems, the playwright of the internal play-in-the-play that we've been watching. Now he'll be asked to write a ballad of Bottom’s dream. I think the theater does actually sell this ballad of Bottom’s dream, particularly its -- Bottom says that he'll sing it in the latter end of play. And actually, in the latter end of the play, they don't. They put on their play-in-a-play, and then they dance a Burgomask. But that means that the latter end of the play is the latter end of the play of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where we can perhaps buy this ballad as we go out of the theater.

最后，台词完美地收尾：“咱要叫彼得·昆斯给咱写一首歌儿咏一下这个梦。题目就叫做“波顿的梦”，因为这个梦可没有底儿。”从这几句台词中，我们了解到剧作家彼得·昆斯是表演时的提词人，同时也是创作“剧中剧”的作家。此时，波顿还要去找他写一首有关那个梦的歌儿。我想剧院实际上也把这首有关波顿的梦的歌儿作为一个吸引观众的卖点，尤其是波顿还说，他会在戏剧的后半部分把这首歌唱出来。不过，实际上，在戏剧的后半部分，他们并没有唱这首歌。他们表演完那部“剧中剧”后，就跳起了贝格摩舞。但这意味着“剧中剧”的结局就是《仲夏夜之梦》的结局，也许我们在走出剧院时可以欣赏到这首歌儿。

I'm also intrigued, at the very end of the play here, of this speech where he says, “To make it the more gracious I shall sing this ballad at the death of Thisbe in the play.” I’m quite interested that we get death, and that we get the Bible in there and we get death in there. So in this light-hearted, prosy, easy, funny speech, we get some of the more trenchant and serious themes strangely confusedly in that. And we could say the same of the play-in-the-play, which also has serious themes in a funny way. So I think this speech does a lot more work than we might have thought to identify and crystallize some of the themes and to throw the business of working them out back onto us, the audience.

同时，我还很好奇在这段台词最后，波顿说“或者更好些，还是等提斯柏死了之后再唱吧。”我们在这段台词中听到了“死亡”，我们在这段台词中既听到了有关圣经的内容，也听到了有关死亡的内容。这段轻松普通、简单有趣的台词中其实也混杂着了一些鲜明严肃的主题。可以说，那部“剧中剧”也是如此，它也是在用一种滑稽搞笑的方式探讨了一些严肃的话题。因此，我认为这段台词远比我们想象的还要丰富，它明确并具体化了一些主题，激发着我们观众去解决理清这些问题。

Lastly, we have the final two speeches of the play. The performance of Pyramus and Thisbe has ended, the lovers have gone off to bed to enjoy their wedding nights, and Puck, Oberon, Titania, and the fairies have arrived onstage to bless the couples’ beds and bid goodbye to the audience.

最后，我们要欣赏的是戏剧的最后两段台词。此时，皮拉摩斯和提斯柏的那部“剧中剧”已经演完，恋人们都去睡觉享受新婚之夜了。迫克、奥布朗、提泰妮娅，以及一些小精灵走上舞台，他们祝福新婚夫妇们早生贵子，最后向观众道别。

Oberon and Puck, 5.1.418-455, “Now, until the break of day … And Robin shall restore amends.”

奥布朗和迫克，第五幕，第一场，第418-455行，“趁东方没有发白......多谢多谢！”

OBERON Now, until the break of day,

奥布朗：趁着东方没亮堂，

Through this house each fairy stray.

精灵速速充满房；

To the best bride-bed will we,

先去看一看新床，

Which by us shall blessèd be,

祝福它吉利祯祥。

And the issue there create

这三对新婚伉俪，

Ever shall be fortunate.

愿他们永不分离；

So shall all the couples three

生下男孩和女娃，

Ever true in loving be,

无妄无灾福气大；

And the blots of Nature’s hand

一个个相貌堂堂；

Shall not in their issue stand.

没有一点儿破相，

Never mole, harelip, nor scar,

不生黑痣不缺唇，

Nor mark prodigious, such as are

更没有半点瘢痕。

Despisèd in nativity,

凡是不祥的胎记，

Shall upon their children be.

不会在身上发现。

With this field-dew consecrate

用这神圣的野露，

Every fairy take his gait,

你们去浇洒门户，

And each several chamber bless,

祝福屋子

Through this palace, with sweet peace.

的主人，永享着

And the owner of it blest,

福禄

Ever shall in safety rest.

康宁。

Trip away. Make no stay.

快快去，莫犹豫；

Meet me all by break of day.

天明时我们重聚。

（All but Robin exit.）

（除迫克外皆下。）

PUCK If we shadows have offended,

迫克：要是我们这辈影子

Think but this and all is mended:

有拂了诸位的尊意，

That you have but slumbered here

就请你们这样思量，

While these visions did appear.

一切便可得到补偿；

And this weak and idle theme,

这种种幻景的显现，

No more yielding but a dream,

不过是梦中的妄念；

Gentles, do not reprehend.

这一段无聊的情节，真同诞梦一样无力。

If you pardon, we will mend.

倘蒙原谅，定当补报，

And, as I am an honest Puck,

先生们，请不要见笑！

If we have unearnèd luck

万一我们幸而免脱

Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,

这一遭嘘嘘的指斥，

We will make amends ere long.

我们决不忘记大恩，

Else the Puck a liar call.

我迫克生平不会骗人。否则尽管骂我混蛋。

So good night unto you all.

再会了！

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

肯赏个脸儿的话，就请拍两下手，

And Robin shall restore amends.

多谢多谢！

The first thing I want to say is that its form, it's not iambic pentameter, which is what we associate very much with Shakespeare. But it's trochaic tetrameter. That is to say, it has four stresses, tetrameter, rather than five stresses in each line, pentameter. And the stress is on the first syllable rather than the second. “Now, until the break of day / Through this house, each fairy stray.”This has been identified as a kind of fairy sound. In this play, Shakespeare is interestingly giving different, different characters, different ways of speaking. This seems to be a fairy way of speaking, rhyming and speaking in this particular form.

首先，我想聊一聊这段台词的结构形式，这段台词使用的并不是莎士比亚常用的五步抑扬格，而是四步扬抑格。也就是说，每句台词里会有四个重音，它不像五步格诗那样每句有五个重音。四步扬抑格的重音落在第一个音节，而不是第二个音节上。“趁着东方没（有）亮堂，精灵速速充（盈）满房。”这听着就像是精灵的语调。在这部中，莎士比亚还别具一格地为不同角色赋予了不同的说话方式。这一段台词似乎就运用了精灵的说话方式，这种说话方式的押韵和语气很特殊。

So it's already a bit magical. And this is what Oberon says he’ll do. But it's quite interesting. He asks all the fairies to go about the house bestowing blessings. And he says “To the best bride-bed will we, / Which by us shall blessèd be.” So, you fairies all bless the other bridal beds -- and these are the beds where the marital couples are having sex -- I will bless the best one myself. And that makes us ask which of these couples is therefore the best one? Is the best one Theseus and Hippolyta, because they are the most elevated, or is the best one Hermia and Lysander, because they were naturally in love before the play started. They're the only actual love couple, given that Theseus has forced Hippolyta.

带着些许其妙的魔法意味。这里，奥布朗讲述了自己将要做的事情，很有趣的是，他让所有的精灵满屋溜达，给新人们送去祝福。他说“先去看一看新床，祝福它吉利祯祥。”他让精灵快快去祝福其他的那些婚床，在这些婚床上新婚夫妇们交织缠绵，而他自己将要去祝福最好的那张婚床。我们不禁要问，在这些新婚夫妇中，哪一对才是最好的呢？是忒修斯和希波吕忒吗？因为他们的地位最高。还是说是赫米娅和拉山德吗？因为他们在戏剧开始之前就是真心相爱的。毕竟比起希波吕忒被迫嫁给忒修斯，赫米娅和拉山德是剧中唯一一对真心相爱的恋人。

So I quite like the way this blessing also asks some questions. Oberon then goes on, he's still talking about the best bride bed, the one he himself is blessing, and this is what he will bring about -- “The issue there create / Ever shall be fortunate.” So as he blesses the bridal bed, so there'll be a very fortunate kid born -- “So shall all the couples three / Ever true in loving be.”

我很喜欢这个祝福提问题的方式。奥布朗继续谈论着那张最好的婚床，那张他祝福的最好的婚床，他祝愿“这三对新婚伉俪”生下幸运的孩子，“愿他们永不分离。”

Now he says that, because of these fairy blessings, all three couples will have true love forever. What's problematic about that is that Oberon and Titania, we've seen in the play, they do not have a true love marriage. So can they bestow it when they can't have it? I mean, maybe, they're fairies. Maybe they can do anything. But we also have one of the three couples, as I say, only Hermia and Lysander seem to have a comfortable, genuine sort of love match. One of those couples, Demetrius, still has juice on his eyes to keep him in love. So it wasn't genuine to him. So do we trust this true love ending? Then here’s an unfortunate bit where Oberon returns to the issue, and part of the blessing is that the issue will not have any deformities -- “mole, harelip, nor scar, / Nor mark prodigious, such as are / Despisèd in nativity, / Shall upon their children be.” So they won't have anything awful and despised, like any kind of birth defect. I think these days we find that a little bit tricky, particularly the idea that if you have them, then you'd be kind of despised. And he's sort of thinking this, I'm a fairy, I can make sure that none of that happens. What I do think is interesting, though, quite apart from our modern sensitivity, is that there are three lines focusing on the terrible things that your children won't have, which actually makes those things the defects quite a focus of that speech.

他表示，由于有了精灵的祝福，这三对新婚夫妇将永远真爱着彼此。可问题是，就像剧中所透露的，奥布朗和提泰妮娅自己的婚姻中就根本没有所谓的真爱。既然如此，他们的祝福真的能给这几位新人带去无忧无虑的真爱吗？好吧，也许可以吧。因为他们是精灵，也许他们可以做成任何事情吧。但就像我之前说的，这三对新人中，只有一对，只有赫米娅和拉山德才是真心相爱的。狄米特律斯的眼皮上还留着爱懒花的花汁，他之所以还爱着海丽娜完全是因为花汁的缘故。所以，他的爱并非出自真心。我们还会相信这个所谓的真爱结局吗？然后奥布朗再次回到对新婚夫妇未来孩子们的祝福上，这里有着些许不幸的描述，奥布朗的祝福中有一些是祝愿孩子不会有任何的畸形，“没有一点儿破相，不生黑痣不缺唇，更没有半点瘢痕。凡是不祥的胎记，不会在身上发现。”他祝愿这些孩子身上不会出现任何可怕、令人厌恶的事物，不会有天生的畸形。我觉得，如今的读者可能会觉得奥布朗所说的那种“畸形”不大好理解，我们尤其会不理解，为什么一个人有了上面那些情况，就会被人瞧不起呢？奥布朗可能认为，“我是一个精灵，可以保证上面的那些不幸事情都不会发生。”除了我们的现代敏感度之外，我还感兴趣的一点是，这三句台词重点关注的是即将降生的孩子不会拥有的那些可怕事物，但实际上，这反而使这些缺陷成为了台词的焦点内容。

So, as I say, the speech certainly says, “I'm going to bless everyone and the children will be great.” But when we read the speech, we may not take out of it quite that -- we may think that the speech is more problematic than it thinks it is.

这段台词看起来是在说“我要祝福所有人，我要祝福你们的孩子健康又优秀。”但是，我们在读台词的时候，也许并不能体会这一点，也许还会觉得这段台词比它本身所认为的还要令人疑惑。

Now the fictional story is over, we have the epilogue, and the purpose of an epilogue at the end of a play was basically this: that the epilogue tries to force the audience to applaud the play. So Puck here speaks the epilogue. But Puck is partly Puck, but partly an actor playing Puck, in that he says, “If we shadows have offended.” So now, are “we shadows” “we fairies” or are “we shadows” “we actors pretending to be fairies in this play”? And he's also directly addressing the audience. This is actually to you and me. If we've offended, then think this, “That you have but slumbered here / While these visions did appear.” Look, if you don't like the play, just basically, you were asleep. So, he addresses you and says something very strange -- that he says A Midsummer Night's Dream was your dream. But he also says that's only the case if you didn't like the play. If you did like the play, then it was the play. So actually, he does something very odd about, Well, was that my dream or not? Whose dream was it? So he does all of that while addressing us.

到此为止，戏剧的故事情节算是告一段落了。接着我们听到的是戏剧的收场白，戏剧结尾的收场白主要就是为了呼唤观众们为戏剧鼓掌叫好。这里的收场白是迫克说的。但这里的“迫克”只有部分是剧中的“迫克”，同时他还是作为扮演“迫克”的演员在说收场白，他说：“要是我们这辈影子，有拂了诸位的尊意。”“我们这辈影子”指的是谁呢？是“我们这些精灵”，还是 “我们这些在剧中扮演精灵的演员”呢？他这其实是在直接与观众们对话，这段话就是对着我和你说的。如果“有拂了诸位的尊意”，我们就要“这样思量，这种种幻景的显现，不过是梦中的妄念。”也就是说，如果你不喜欢这部戏剧，那就可以说你其实是在梦中。这段话里面包含了一些很奇怪的信息，他说《仲夏夜之梦》就是你的梦。但这也是有前提条件的，如果你不喜欢这部剧，那么它就是你的梦。但如果你喜欢这部剧，那它就还是实实在在的一部戏剧。这就让我们产生了一种玄妙的感觉，我们都有点儿分不清，这部戏剧究竟是不是我自己的一场梦呢。我也分不清这究竟是谁的梦？他一边说着收场白，一边就让我们产生了这种感觉。

“Do not reprehend,” you know, “Gentles, do not reprehend.” Don't be nasty. “If you pardon, we will mend.” If you pardon this play, forgive it, let it pass, we'll make it better -- epilogues were generally spoken after a first performance when you didn't know if the play would take, if the audience would approve it or not. And if it didn't take, you'd never perform it again. And you'd have wasted lots of time and money putting that production together. So another thing he's saying, literally, as an actor, addressing an audience, is kind of, “Look, if you sort of liked it, but you didn't love it, we will make it better.” And that would also be a good reason for you A) to applaud it and B) to come back.

“请不要见笑”，“先生们，请不要见笑”。他让我们不要表现出恶意，“倘蒙原谅，定当补报。”如果你原谅这部剧，宽恕它，放过它，那么我们会改进我们表演，更好地为观众们呈现这部戏剧。收场白一般是在第一次演出后说的，当时大家还不知道这部戏剧能否成功，也不知道观众是否会认可它。如果戏剧没能成功，剧团就不会再上演这部剧了。而制作这样一部剧，就已经浪费了大量的时间和金钱。此外，他还在以一位演员的身份对观众们说：“如果你们喜欢这部剧，但还没有到爱上它的地步的话，我们还是会继续把它进一步完善。”这让观众们愿意为戏剧一是鼓掌喝彩，二还愿意以后再来剧院看这部剧。

“Give me your hands, if we be friends, / And Robin shall restore amends.” So on a friend level, “Give me your hands,” let's shake hands. But on a guy-to-audience level, Come on, give me your applause. Give me your hands, and I’ll make everything okay. I’m a fairy, I’ll magic everything better. So maybe now, the mending, having said, “Look, the playwright will mend the play, he’s kind of saying, you know, I'll do the same magic like what Oberon has just done, I'll just make everything good.” As I say, in the play itself, we haven't been sure that the fairies always make everything good, but this is a great feel-good way to leave the theater, having heartily applauded A Midsummer Night's Dream.

“肯赏个脸儿的话，就请拍两下手，多谢多谢！”而这几句话他又是站在朋友的角度对观众说的，“就请拍两下手”，这句话在英语里也有“让我们握握手”这个意思。不过，如果从演员和观众关系的角度看，这里的意思应该就是“快点儿呀，快为我鼓掌吧。”为我鼓掌，我们会把一切都变好。我是一个精灵，我会用魔法把一切都变好。也许迫克说的“补偿”的观众意思就是“哦，剧作家会改进完善戏剧的”，但同时我们也可以认为，迫克的意思是“我会使出奥布朗刚刚施的那种魔法，把一切都变好。”就戏剧情节本身，我们不能肯定精灵总是真的可以把一切都变好，但是在离开剧院之前，由衷地为《仲夏夜之梦》鼓起掌来，的确会是一种很棒的感觉。