Will's father died in September 1601．In his last years John Shakespeare¹ was a happy man．His son was famous，and the Shakespeare family was important again in Stratford．But there weren't many children in the family．Will's sister Joan was married² and had a little boy，but Will's brothers didn't have any children．

1601年9月威尔的父亲过世了。约翰·莎士比亚安然愉快地度过了晚年。他的儿子出了名，自然莎士比亚家族在斯特拉福镇又风光起来。只是这个家族子嗣不多，威尔的妹妹琼结婚后只生了一个小男孩，而威尔的几个兄弟都后继无人。

Susanna，Will's older daughter，was now eighteen，and Will said to her one day：

如今，威尔的大女儿，苏姗娜已是一个十八岁的大姑娘。一天，威尔问她：

‘We must find you a husband soon，Susanna．’

“苏珊娜，我们很快该给你物色丈夫啦。”

But Susanna shook her head．‘Oh，I don't want to be married，Father，thank you．’

苏姗娜拼命摇头，“哦，我还不想结婚呢，爸爸，谢谢你。”

We all smiled at that，because there was already a young man who was often a visitor at New Place．That was John Hall，a clever young doctor．Will liked him．

我们会意地笑了起来，其实有个青年早已成为“新地方”的常客。他叫约翰·霍尔，是个聪明的青年医生。威尔很喜欢他。

Back in London，the theatres were always full，and actors were now important people in the city．Will and I were now living in very fine lodgings³ in Silver⁴ Street，with the Mountjoy family．The Globe⁵ and the Lord⁶ Chamberlain's Men were doing very well，and the older actors in the company were making money，and buying houses and land．But some people still thought that actors were dangerous，wicked people．

再回到伦敦，形势已明显好转，剧院经常爆满，演员在市里已成为举足轻重的人物。威尔和我住进了银街的豪华住所，同住的是芒特乔伊家。“环球剧院”和“宫内大臣剧院”事业兴隆，剧团中老资格的演员赚了钱，开始买地置产。不过，还有少数人始终认为演员既危险又龌龊。

Then Queen⁷ Elizabeth died，on the 24th of March 1603，at Richmond．I remember the day well．The theatres were closed —you can't have plays when a queen is dying—and we were all at Henry Condell's house．He and John Heminges lived verg near our lodgings in Cripplegate．

1603年3月24日，伊丽莎白女王死于里士满宫。这天我记忆犹新，各家剧院关门息演——女王快要驾崩时，是不许演出的——于是大家都聚到亨利·康德尔家。他和约翰·海明就住在我们住处附近的“克里普勒门”大街。

We were all very worried．The new King of England was James the First．He was already King of Scotland，and he had a young wife，Queen Anne of Denmark，and three young children．But what was he like？Would he be a good king？And，most importantly，did he like plays？

大家都忧心忡忡。新继位的英国国王是詹姆士一世。他已经是苏格兰国王了，年轻的妻子是丹麦的安妮王后，膝下有三个孩子。不知这国王为人怎么样？他是不是位好国王呢？最重要的是，他是否爱看戏？

‘If King James doesn't like plays，’said Henry Condell，‘we're finished．There are already a lot of Puritans on the London City Council，and they'd love to close the theatres down．’

“万一詹姆士国王不爱看戏，”亨利·康德尔说道，“那我们全完了。伦敦市政参议会中有许多清教徒，他们巴不得关闭剧院呢。”

Henry always looked at the black side of everything．

亨利总是想到事情的阴暗面。

‘Well，he's written a lot of books himself，’said Will ‘Perhaps he'll be interested in plays，too We'll just have to wait and see．’

“然而，国王他自己也曾写过许多书，”威尔说，“或许他也会对戏剧感兴趣的。我们只能等着瞧。”

We didn't have to wait long．On the 19th of May I was underneath⁹ the stage in the Globe．I was trying to mend a bro-ken door in the floor of the stage．We used¹⁰ this door when a ghost came on or went off in a cloud of smoke．Suddenly，I heard feet running across the stage．I looked up through the hole，and saw Will and John Heminges and Richard Burbage．They were all very excited．

我们并没等多久。5月19日，我正在“环球剧院”的舞台下面修理舞台场地的一扇破门，这扇门是演出时，让幽灵驾着一团烟雾进出用的。突然，我听到一阵脚步声跑过舞台，透过洞眼，向上一看，原来是威尔，约翰·海明和理查·白贝芝，他们欣喜若狂。

‘Listen to this，Toby，’said Will．He was holding a piece of paper in his hand．‘It's a letter from King James！From today，we are the King's Men！We're working for the King himself，and he wants to see all the plays．’

“听着，托比，”威尔手中攥着一张纸条说道，“这是詹姆士国王的亲笔信。从今天起，我们属于“国王剧团”，要专为国王陛下服务，他想看我们所有的戏剧的演出。”

‘We're going to have new red coats to wear when we go to court，’Richard said．

“这次进宫演出，我们将穿上新的红色大衣。”理查说。

‘And，’John said，‘he's going to pay us 20 for every play at court．What do you think about that，Toby？’

“还有，”约翰说，“宫里演出费每场20英磅。托比，你觉得这事怎么样？”

We were all laughing and smiling now．‘Well，John，’I said．‘If we're so rich，can I have a new door？I can't mend this one again—it's too old．’

这回我们都开怀大笑。“嗨，约翰，”我说道，要是我们有了钱，可得给我买一扇新门啦？这扇破门再也不能修了——它太旧了。”

That summer the plague¹¹ came back．By July a thousand people were dying⁸ every week in London．One of them was the little son of Will's friend，Ben Jonson．By the end of the year there were 33，000 dead in England．The theatres closed，and the King's Men went on tour．

那年夏天，瘟疫卷土重来。到7月，伦敦每星期都有上千人濒临死亡。其中就有威尔好友本·琼生的小儿子。时至年底，英国有3万3千人死于瘟疫。剧院被封，“国王剧团”开始下乡演戏。

Will and I spent the summer at Stratford．When Christmas came，the King's Men put on a lot of plays at court．The King was at Hampton Court Palace that year，which was outside London，well away from the plague．I couldn't go because I fell off my horse one day and broke my leg．Stupid¹² thing to do！I had to stay at home，but Will told me all about it when he came back．

那年夏天，威尔和我返回斯特拉福镇。到圣诞节来临，“国王剧团”入宫演出了很多出戏。那年，国王到伦敦境外的汉普敦宫躲避瘟疫。由于我不幸落马摔断腿而不能入宫。真是倒霉！只得呆在家里，不过，威尔一回来就会告诉我入宫演出的情况：

‘The new King and Queen like to enjoy themselves，Toby，’he said．‘They're a happy family．Prince¹³ Henry，Who's nine，is very a nice little boy，and his sister Elizabeth is beautiful．Little Prince Charles is only two．’He was silent¹⁴ for a minute．Perhaps he was thinking¹⁵ about Hamnet．Then he went on，‘Qieen Anne likes plays very much．She likes music and dancing，too—she showed her legs in one dance！’

“托比，新国王和王后真懂得生活，”他说道，“他们家庭幸福美满，亨利王子，9岁，招人喜爱，女儿伊丽莎白公主长相姣好，还有一个才两岁的查尔斯小王子。”他沉默了片刻，或许又想起爱子哈姆奈特。然后他继续说道，“安妮王后非常爱看戏，还喜爱音乐和舞蹈——一次舞会中居然露出双腿呢！”

‘My word！’I said．‘Things like that never happened at court in Queen，Elizabeth's days．’

“真没想到！”我说，“伊丽莎白女王在位时，宫中从未发生过这种事呀！”

‘We live in different times，Toby．A lot of things are going to change．’

“我们已生活在不同的时代了，托比。许多事都将不断变化。”

But change only comes slowly．The King's Men went from one success to another．At the King's court at Christmas 1604，there were twenty-two plays，and eight of them were Will's．In 1605 there were thirteen plays at court—and ten of them were Will's．

但变化只是姗姗而来。“国王剧团”一次又一次取得成功。1604年圣诞节，我们入宫演出了22部戏剧，其中八部是威尔的剧本。1605年，入宫演出了13部戏剧——10部是威尔的剧本。

We always did the plays at the Globe first，before we took them to court．Will was writing more slowly now，but during these years he wrote some of his best plays：Othello，Macbeth，and King Lear．That was a sad，dark play．When King Lear carried his dead daughter Cordelia on to the stage…Well，every man，woman，and child in the Globe was crying．It's true．Richard Burbage played Lear，of course．What an actor he was！

入宫演出前，我们通常先在“环球剧院”试演。尽管威尔创作速度已不如当年，但这些年间，他又创作了一些著名的剧本——《奥赛罗》、《麦克佩斯》和《李尔王》。《李尔王》是一部格调低沉的悲剧。当李尔王抱着死去的女儿考迪莉亚走上舞台时……哇，“环球剧院”内不论男女老少都失声痛哭。这可一点不假。当然，还是由理查·白贝芝扮演李尔王，他真是一个了不起的演员！