From Shakespeare to Cultural Exchanges
從紀念莎翁說開去

Toast at the Luncheon of Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations
在莎士比亞誕辰紀念午宴上的致辭

Straford-upon-Avon, 24 April 2009
埃文河畔斯特拉特福， 2009年4月24日

Sir Donald Sinden[ Renowned British drama, film and TV actor
英國著名話劇、電影、電視演員],

My Lords,Madam Mayor,My Diplomatic Colleagues,Ladies and Gentlemen,
唐納德·辛登爵士，各位上院議員，市長女士，各位使節(jié)同事們，女士們、先生們：

I am sure you have deep sympathy for me. It is daunting to 1. Renowned British drama, speak after Donald and after all those jokes.
此刻你們一定對我深感同情，在唐納德風趣幽默的講話之后，再上臺來發(fā)言確實讓人很有壓力。

Many years ago, when I was savouring the masterpieces of Shakespeare as a university student, I would never have dreamed of one day standing here in Stratford speaking on behalf of many distinguished guests to a gathering of Shakespeare lovers. So I want to thank you very much for giving me this honour.
很多年前，當我還是學生、在教室里閱讀莎翁大作時，怎么也不會想到有一天自己會在莎翁故鄉(xiāng)與眾多的莎翁粉絲一起暢談。能夠代表來賓致辭，我感到十分榮幸。

First of all, let me express, on behalf of all the visitors and guests, our sincere appreciation to the organisers of this event, as well as all those who work in the background, for making it possible for us, here and now, to pay tribute to Shakespeare, whose timeless influence goes beyond the boundaries of age, race and border.
首先，請允許我代表所有的來賓向這次活動的組織者以及所有工作人員表示誠摯的謝意，正是你們的辛勤工作，使得我們有條件聚集在這里，超越年齡、種族和國界，共同品味莎翁永恒的魅力。

I also want to thank Donald for his excellent chairmanship.
我也要感謝唐納德精彩的主持。

Shakespeare was first introduced to China in the mid19th century and in 1904, a Chinese writer named Lin Shu translated the Tales from Shakespeare adapted by Charles and Mary Lamb into Chinese. There’s more to it than that. Mr. Lin did not know a word of English. So he had an assistant read and explain the stories to him, and he then rewrote them in his own words.
莎士比亞自19世紀中葉起被介紹到中國。1904年，中國作家林紓將查爾斯·蘭姆兄妹改編的《莎士比亞故事集》翻譯成中文，很有意思的是，林紓本人并不懂英文，主要是憑翻譯講解，他融會貫通后用自己的語言表達出來。

You can imagine how impossible it was to keep close to the original work, but it was an important step that paved the way for the initial spread and popularity of Shakespeare’s works in China, eventually leading to the first Chinese translation of Hamlet in 1921.
你們可以想象，他的譯文不可能十分忠實于原作，但他對莎士比亞作品在中國早期的傳播和流行功不可沒。1921年，《哈姆雷特》首次被完整地翻譯成中文。

Many more translations followed, including during the difficult war years, as Chinese readers were attracted to Shakespeare and his works for his humanism and idealism. Along with the parallels they saw their own lives, as it was a turbulent period in China’s history. The country was in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state and Chinese intellectuals were on one hand embracing the new ideas coming from the West and on the other resisting subjugation by foreign powers.
自此之后，包括在艱難的戰(zhàn)爭歲月，莎士比亞的更多著作被陸續(xù)翻譯成中文。中國讀者為莎翁作品字里行間浸透的人文主義和理想主義精神所吸引，他們從中看到了許多與自己生活的共通之處。因為當時正值中國歷史上的動蕩年代，國家正處在半殖民地半封建社會時期，知識分子一方面受到來自西方的新思想的吸引，一方面又要反抗來自帝國主義的壓迫。

Shakespeare, along with Western Enlightenment ideals, nurtured the political and cultural awakening of the Chinese youth in the early 20th century and influenced the intellectual modernisation of China.
莎士比亞戲劇同西方啟蒙思想一道，喚起了20世紀初中國青年的政治文化覺醒，對推動中國知識分子的思想革新產(chǎn)生了影響。

The theatrical appeal of Shakespearean plays is still going strong in China after all these years since their first debut, fulfilling the careers of generations of Chinese actors and actresses. Many of the heroes and heroines in his plays are now household names in my country, and many of his lines have almost become authentic Chinese expressions.
莎士比亞戲劇從第一次登上中國的話劇舞臺開始，就不斷地被一代又一代的戲劇工作者演繹。戲劇中很多主人公在中國成為家喻戶曉的名字，劇中的臺詞也為很多人耳熟能詳。

Some years ago I was often involved in diplomatic negotiations. When we were locked in a stalemate and going nowhere, I often liked to quote from Hamlet, with a small adaptation though. Instead of “To be, or not to be, that is the question,” I would say, “To move on or to fall back, that is the question.” (Laughter)
記得幾年前，我經(jīng)常參加外交談判，當雙方僵持不下時，我常借用一句哈姆雷特的名言“是生存還是毀滅，這是個問題”，我會說：“是前進還是后退，這是個問題?！保ㄐβ暎?/div>

我發(fā)現(xiàn)這一措詞非常巧妙，大家都熟悉，因而都樂于接受，我可以借此來表達促成妥協(xié)或共識的態(tài)度，但又不顯得生硬。

With the success of economic progress in recent years and with the growing public demand for cultural entertainment, adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays are growing in popularity. His plays are being adapted into different art forms, including theatrical plays, movies and even local operas.
近年來，隨著經(jīng)濟的發(fā)展和人民對文化需求的增長，莎劇的改編在中國也越來越風靡，改編的形式多種多樣，有話劇、電影甚至是地方戲曲。

In the play The Banquet, the Chinese version of Hamlet, performed during the celebrations here, you could find Hamlet not only having a Chinese face, but also a Chinese name and living in an ancient Chinese imperial court.
例如，在此次慶?；顒又醒莩龅闹袊妗豆防滋亍贰兑寡纭分校蠹視吹焦防滋亻L了一副中國面孔，還起了個中國名字，他的故事也被移植到了中國古代的宮廷。

I want to mention here that, in the time of Shakespeare, there was also a great Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu and both men actually passed away in the same year.
我還想告訴大家，在莎士比亞生活的年代，中國也同樣有一名偉大的劇作家湯顯祖，他和莎士比亞同一年逝世。

Tang Xianzu wrote The Peony Pavilion, which has long been an inspiration to generations of Chinese playwrights and novelists, and is highly regarded as a world-class play. Nevertheless, I wonder how many in this country have heard of him, or of his work. (Many in the audience shaking their heads)
湯顯祖所著的《牡丹亭》影響了中國幾代劇作家和小說家，被譽為世界級戲劇精品。但是，我不知道英國有多少人聽說過湯顯祖或他的作品？（臺下許多人搖頭）

The Peony Pavilion tells much the same story as Romeo and Juliet. It combines drama and fairy tale and presents a sweet and sorrow legend of love that defies the limits of heaven and earth. It is very long, spanning ten nights in ten episodes. A shortened three-night version was staged by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre at Sadler’s Wells last summer and was extremely well received by the British audience who filled the theatre each and every time.
《牡丹亭》講的是如同《羅密歐與朱麗葉》那樣凄美的愛情故事，以虛實交融的藝術手法描述了一段跨越兩界的生死之戀，充滿了甜蜜和悲傷。這部劇非常長，全本十集要演十個晚上。去年夏天，蘇州昆劇院帶來的精簡版三集昆曲《牡丹亭》（分三個晚上演完）在薩德勒之泉劇院連續(xù)上演，場場爆滿，受到了英國觀眾的熱情歡迎。

However, it is disappointing to note that Tang’s name and his play are little known in the UK, a country which loves history and has a taste for good plays. Is it all right if we conclude that it is time the West made efforts to learn more about China? (Standing Ovation)
但同時，我想說的是，在英國這樣一個熱愛歷史、對戲劇有高雅品味的國度里，湯顯祖的名字和作品卻鮮為人知。是不是可以認為，現(xiàn)在是西方作出努力來了解中國的時候了？（長時間掌聲）

The Western culture is widely taught and learnt in China. But I think it is now time that China and its culture became better known to the Western world.
在中國，西方文化被廣泛地傳播和吸收，我想，若西方能了解中國文化也有助于更好地了解中國。

I have had an enjoyable two years working and living in Britain, but I have also had some difficult times. I often find that many of the problems in our relations are caused or made worse by a lack of knowledge and understanding of each other, making it very hard to communicate as we should have.
我在英國工作生活的兩年時間里很愉快，但也遇到過一些困難。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，雙方關系出現(xiàn)困難往往是因為缺乏了解而導致交流出現(xiàn)障礙或者加深了矛盾。

Last August I was in Beijing. One day, as I was walking in the street it started to rain and I popped into a bookshop. You know why. I was quite amazed at the rows after rows of bookshelves full of original books in English. But here in Britain, it is very hard to find any book on China today written by a Chinese author. Even in university libraries you won’t find a good supply of books as such.
去年8月的一天，我在北京街頭漫步，突然下起雨來，我匆忙躲進了一家書店避雨，驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)有好幾個書架上擺得滿滿的都是英文原版書。但在英國的書店里，卻很難找到中國人自己寫的介紹當代中國的書籍，即使在大學圖書館里也并不多見。

This may partly explain why there is such an imbalance of information between China and the West. However, the good news is that there is now a growing interest on both sides to know more about each other.
或許，這也從某種程度上反映出中西方之間信息的不平衡。幸運的是，現(xiàn)在中國越來越有興趣了解西方，西方也越來越有興趣了解中國。

The Olympics has brought the world closer to China and China closer to the world and I am sure cultural programmes such as what we have here today will help to build bridges of friendship and understanding between our two great nations, little by little. And every little helps.
奧運會讓世界更貼近中國，也讓中國更貼近世界。文化交流最能“潤物細無聲 ”，相信像今天這樣的文化交流活動能夠有助于架起兩國間友誼和理解的橋梁。

Today, on behalf of all my diplomatic colleagues in the UK whom I represent, I give you our word that we will continue to support your programme and support cultural exchanges between the UK and the countries we represent.
今天，作為駐英各國使節(jié)的代表，我以同事們的名義向大家承諾，我們各國使館會一如既往支持你們的活動，支持我們各自國家與英國之間的文化交流。

In conclusion, it gives me great pleasure to propose a toast to William Shakespeare, our man of the world.
最后，我非常高興地提議，讓我們?yōu)閷儆谑澜绲耐ど勘葋喐杀?/div>

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