24. The Great Dramatist 24. Der große Dramatiker 24. The Great Dramatist 24. El gran dramaturgo 24. Le grand dramaturge 24. Il grande drammaturgo 24.偉大なるドラマティスト 24. De grote dramaturg 24. Wielki Dramaturg 24. O Grande Dramaturgo 24. Великий драматург 24. Büyük Tiyatro Yazarı 24. Великий драматург 24. 伟大的戏剧家 24. 偉大的戲劇家

"Thou who didst the stars and sunbeams know, Self-schooled, self-scanned, self-honoured, self-secure, Didst tread on earth unguessed at." "Thou who didst the stars and sunbeams know, Self-schooled, self-scanned, self-honoured, self-secure, Didst tread on earth unguessed at." "Tú, que conocías las estrellas y los rayos del sol, autodidacta, autoescaneado, honrado, seguro de ti mismo, pisaste la tierra sin ser adivinado". "Ty, który znałeś gwiazdy i promienie słońca, samouczony, samoskanowany, samouhonorowany, samobezpieczny, stąpałeś po ziemi nieodgadniony". —M. ARNOLD ARNOLD

Of all the great men who added to the glory of Elizabeth's England, William Shakspere was the greatest, though neither the queen nor her people realised how great. Ze wszystkich wielkich ludzi, którzy przyczynili się do chwały Anglii Elżbiety, William Shakspere był największy, choć ani królowa, ani jej lud nie zdawali sobie sprawy, jak wielki. Of the man himself the world knows nothing; with his work the Old and New Worlds ring even to-day. Dell'uomo in sé il mondo non sa nulla; con la sua opera il Vecchio e il Nuovo Mondo risuonano ancora oggi. O samym człowieku świat nic nie wie; dzięki jego pracy Stary i Nowy Świat rozbrzmiewają nawet dziś. Just a poor lad, born of farmer parents at Stratford-on-Avon, he made his way to London as an actor and play-writer, and though he became popular, yet no one knew how great he really was till long years after he had died. Povero ragazzo, nato da genitori contadini a Stratford-on-Avon, si fece strada a Londra come attore e scrittore di commedie e, pur essendo diventato popolare, nessuno sapeva quanto fosse veramente grande fino a molti anni dopo la sua morte. Apenas um rapaz pobre, nascido de pais fazendeiros em Stratford-on-Avon, ele foi para Londres como ator e escritor, e apesar de ter se tornado popular, ninguém sabia como ele era realmente grande, até anos depois morreu.

Now we know that he was one of the great "world-voices," "far-seeing as the sun," "the upper light of the world,"—one of the greatest men that the world has ever seen. He had little enough book-learning, "small Latin and less Greek"; but he knew mankind, he understood human nature, as rare a gift then as it is now. Aveva studiato poco, "poco latino e poco greco"; ma conosceva l'umanità, capiva la natura umana, un dono raro allora come oggi. And by this great gift he could make the people of Elizabeth's days laugh and cry at will. Men cared about human life: he showed them human life, showed them men and women as they really are, with all their smiles and all their sorrows, all their actions and all their thoughts. Os homens se importavam com a vida humana: ele mostrava a eles a vida humana, mostrava a eles homens e mulheres como eles realmente são, com todos os seus sorrisos e todas as suas tristezas, todas as suas ações e todos os seus pensamentos. From

"The whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school." "Lo scolaretto piagnucoloso, con la cartella e la faccia lucida del mattino, che striscia come una lumaca senza volerlo verso la scuola". "O estudante choramingando, com sua mochila E cara brilhante de manhã, rastejando como um caracol Sem vontade de ir à escola." The lonely exile crying to his king—

"Your will be done: this must my comfort be, The sun that warms you here shall shine on me." "Sia fatta la tua volontà: questo deve essere il mio conforto, il sole che ti riscalda qui risplenda su di me". He tells his hearers of warriors and generals, of kings and statesmen, Racconta ai suoi ascoltatori di guerrieri e generali, di re e statisti,

"Of old, unhappy, far-off things, And battles long ago." There is a whole play about Julius Cæsar and another about Coriolanus. Like Spenser, too, this poet can take us into the fairy world. His fairy queen is called Titania, and the kingdom of the fairies is away in the Indies, where the fairy Puck and his comrades circle the earth. These fairies have all the secrets of nature: they dance in the moonbeams, and they sleep in the flowers, fanned by the wings of painted butterflies. Shakspere's fun breaks out in the endless blunderings of the "Comedy of Errors" as well as in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," which he wrote for Queen Elizabeth herself. Though only a country-born lad, he caught up the spirit of the times, and wrote such tragedy and comedy as had not been written since the days of olden Greece.

Let us take one of his stories and tell it shortly. Vamos pegar uma de suas histórias e contar em breve.

There was a rich Jew called Shylock living at Venice. There was also a man named Antonio, "one in whom the ancient Roman honour more appeared than any that drew breath in Italy." There was also a man called Bassanio, a friend of Antonio's, who wanted to marry a wealthy lady at Venice called Portia. Would Antonio lend him some money so that he could marry? Now, Antonio was expecting some ships back from the East laden with merchandise. So the two friends went to Shylock, the rich Jew, and asked him to advance some money which should be repaid on the arrival of the ships. Shylock offered a large sum of money, making only one condition, half in jest, half in earnest, that if the money were not paid on the appointed day, Shylock should exact a pound of Antonio's flesh, to be cut where it pleased him. Shylock ofereceu uma grande quantia em dinheiro, fazendo apenas uma condição, metade em tom de brincadeira, meio a sério, que se o dinheiro não fosse pago no dia marcado, Shylock deveria exigir um quilo de carne de Antonio, para ser cortado onde quisesse. Antonio signed the bond, thinking it was only "merry sport," and took the money. So Bassanio married Portia. But that very same day they heard the sad news that Antonio's ships had been lost at sea, and that he could never now repay Shylock. He had therefore been cast into prison.

At once Bassanio and Portia set out in all haste for Venice, to save, if possible, the friend who was suffering for them. Portia knew how Bassanio loved his friend, how he would sacrifice "his life itself, his wife, and all the world" for him, and she now made a plan. She wrote to her cousin, who was going to judge Antonio at the trial, and begged to be allowed to plead instead. She dressed up in his robes of law and entered the court. Looking round, she saw the merciless Shylock, she saw Bassanio standing by Antonio in an agony of distress. Nobody recognised her, and the trial began. Her famous plea for mercy is one of Shakspere's finest passages, that mercy which "droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath." But Shylock would have no mercy.

Antonio's bosom was bared for the knife, and the scales were ready to weigh the pound of flesh, when Portia cried,— Il seno di Antonio era scoperto per il coltello e la bilancia era pronta a pesare la libbra di carne, quando Porzia gridò. "Tarry a little; there is something else. "Aspettate un po'; c'è qualcos'altro. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are, a pound of flesh." Questo vincolo non ti dà un briciolo di sangue; le parole sono espressamente: una libbra di carne". Now Shylock could not possibly take a pound of flesh without shedding blood, so by her clever action Portia saved the life of Antonio, her husband's friend. Ora Shylock non poteva prendere una libbra di carne senza spargere sangue, quindi con la sua astuta azione Porzia salvò la vita di Antonio, l'amico di suo marito. Shylock escaped, Antonio's ships came in after all, and the play ends happily with the joy of Portia and Bassanio. Shakspere went on writing long after the death of Elizabeth. His plays grew very serious and thoughtful as life went on. In 1610 he returned from the noisy London theatres to the peace of Stratford-on-Avon, where a few years later he passed to Nel 1610 tornò dai chiassosi teatri londinesi alla pace di Stratford-on-Avon, dove qualche anno dopo passò a 1610年、彼は騒々しいロンドンの劇場からストラトフォード・オン・エイボンの平穏な場所に戻り、数年後、彼はこの劇場に移り住んだ。

"The undiscover'd country from whose bourne No traveller returns." "Il paese inesplorato dal quale nessun viaggiatore fa ritorno". "旅人の帰らぬ国" "Неоткрытая страна, из которой не возвращается ни один путешественник".