导读
在16世纪的欧洲,美貌女子被迫献身以保全亲人的性命是很常见的故事。《一报还一报》最主要的故事来源是英国剧作家汇斯东(George Whetstone)于1578年所著的《波莫思与卡珊卓》(Promos and Cassandra)。这个既不受欢迎也不曾演出的剧本,灵感得自于意大利的辛提欧(Giraldi Cinthio)所撰写的《百则故事》(Gli Hecatommithi)。这两位作者分别将这个故事写了小说与戏剧两种版本。莎翁根据这两个版本,自创了玛利安娜一角,并决定让公爵伪装,且目睹整个事件的过程。
据记载,1604年12月26日,本剧曾在英国国王詹姆士一世御前演出,当时为全新的剧作。1603年5月至来年4月,伦敦的剧院因瘟疫被迫关闭,所以一般推测此剧完成的年代是1604年。这出戏虽然在第一版的莎翁全集第一对开本(the First Folio)里被列为喜剧,但是直到最后“喜剧”收场为止,剧情的发展都缺乏喜剧感。当此时期,是莎翁创作悲剧的登峰时期:他在1603~1604年创作了《奥赛罗》,1604~1605年写就《李尔王》,1606年又推出《麦克白》。故依常理判断,他应该不会在这段期间写出如此受争议的剧本,因此有部分学者认为,可能是莎翁自己在此时遭逢了人生的巨大创痛。
历史纪录显示,本剧首演之后,经过了一甲子,才有机会重新搬演。而且这出戏自18世纪开始,一直到20世纪为止,在舞台上的评价都不甚优良,剧本也鲜少获得批评家的赞赏。主要的原因是情节不合常理,结局又显得突兀。
这个剧作和《终成眷属》一样看了使人很不好受。因为其中充满了尘世的丑恶,而善恶的界线又不如早期喜剧中的那么清晰。可以说作者对越来越不尽如人意的现实失去了得心应手的控制。像许多莎剧剧本一样,《一报还一报》(Measure For Measure)取材于旧的剧本和故事,而其剧名则来自《圣经·马太福音》第七章第二节:“你们不要论断人,免得你们被论断。你们用什么量器(measure)量给人,也必用什么量器量给你们。”按照更仁慈善良的圣训,要以德报怨。这里虽用《圣经》词语,却非宣传教义。以暴易暴,牙眼相报,是现实世界的法则。《一报还一报》在中国上演,取名《请君入瓮》,就是这个意思。(Measure for Measure在中国有三种中译本:《知法犯法》(邱存真译,1944年),《量罪记》、《一报还一报》(朱生豪译,1947年,1954年),《请君入瓮》(英若诚译,1981年)。)
故事发生在维也纳公国。这里的公爵文森修一贯性情宽厚,垂拱而治,在深受臣民爱戴的同时,也助长了国内的一些不良风气。以前曾有过一条法律规定,如果一个男人跟他的妻子以外的女人同居,就得被处死刑。现在因公爵行无为之治,这一类的犯罪愈益增多,使公爵很不安。他想恢复法制,又担心从宽容一下子变为严厉,人们受不了,把他看成一个暴君,影响他的声誉和国家的安定。因此,他决定暂时离开维也纳,另派一个人代行职权,整肃法纪。他和许多廷臣都认为素有“圣人”之称的安哲鲁最能胜任。公爵也想借此机会考验一下他的品行。这样,安哲鲁代理执政,公爵出巡。但公爵没走多远就乔装打扮成修道士返回维也纳。
年青人克劳狄奥与未婚妻同居并使她怀孕违反了那条刑律。安哲鲁上任伊始为儆效尤判他死刑。克劳狄奥的姐姐依莎贝拉向执政求情,安哲鲁起初坚持法律的公正和无私,说,判克劳狄奥罪的不是他,而是法律。即便这是他儿子,他兄弟,也不能徇私情。而且决定第二天就执法。依萨贝拉则强调仁慈的重要性和它对于人世的好处:“请老爷相信吧,凡是大人物的装饰,不论是国王的王冠,摄政的宝剑,元帅的军杖,还是法官的礼袍,都一半也比不上仁慈那样能表示他们的高贵风度。”
但后来安哲鲁为她的美貌所打动,心里转起不良的念头。他的内心是极其矛盾的。几次要转身离去,都停住了脚步,因为他太想再看看依莎贝拉美丽的容颜,再听听她天仙一般温柔的话语。终于邪恶占了上风,他提出以依莎贝拉的贞操换取她弟弟的性命。依莎贝拉当然不从。这件事被隐藏在城内的公爵知道了,就订了一个移花接木计,让依莎贝拉答应下安哲鲁的要求。原来公爵早已掌握了安哲鲁以前的一些不光彩的隐秘,他因为未婚妻玛利安娜家道中落而无情地将她抛弃。公爵就让玛利安娜冒充依莎贝拉赴约。安哲鲁不知是计,在满足了性欲之后,还出尔反尔要坚持法律的“正义”,下令将克劳狄奥处死。危急时刻公爵命令狱卒用另一名死囚的首级替代。公爵到法庭上揭穿了事件的真相,亮明了自己的身份。安哲鲁,这个一贯被人们称为道德卫士的人原来是个伪君子。因为玛利安娜和依莎贝拉求情,公爵赦免了他,命他与玛利安娜成婚。公爵本人呢,在这件事中爱上了依莎贝拉,现在也比翼双飞。而维也纳的风气从此也更加淳厚了。
然而达到这种淳厚状态,获得这个团圆结局的手段却是不淳厚、不光明正大的。许多莎剧批评家都认为这是所有37部戏中最让人厌恶、给人不舒服感的剧作。我们在《威尼斯商人》中曾看到了快乐世界中的一团阴云,即夏洛克身上所有的矛盾。在《一报还一报》中,这阴云的面积更大了,不愉快的事物愈益增多,法律松弛,社会混乱,道德沦丧,有虚伪和欺诈,有盗窃和奸淫,有监狱和妓院等等,总之,龌龊的东西比比皆是。
安哲鲁这个人物和夏洛克一样是复杂的,他有伪善和卑鄙的一面;但他追求依莎贝拉也部分地出于对她的赞赏和爱慕,我们也看到了他为了自己这种行为良心上受的折磨。我们也应该注意到依莎贝拉在为弟弟求情时说的一段话:“老爷,请您扪自己的良心问问,看您会不会犯跟我弟弟同样的罪过。要是您的心窝里也有这种犯罪的念头,那就请您不要杀我弟弟吧!”既然依莎贝拉认为弟弟与心上人同居是不超越人情的可以宽恕的,那么安哲鲁向依莎贝拉求爱除了手段不正当之外,不也可以原谅,至少应予以理解吗?
一些正面人物形象也值得推敲。克劳狄奥与未婚妻同居犯罪,急急地去找姐姐,让她无论如何要去向安哲鲁求情,先就动机不纯。当他知道了安哲鲁对姐姐的无理要求,不但不安慰她,反而为了自己活命,劝姐姐答应这要求并竭力为安哲鲁的行为开脱。开始他的犯罪,是置法律于不顾,这不算怎么严重,因为法律自有它的毛病,而后来他却犯更重的罪,乃是道德的败坏和廉耻的丧失。
公爵文森修实际上是个伪君子。他想整顿社会风气而又不愿得罪人,于是躲起来让安哲鲁当替罪羊。他本来对安哲鲁就不放心,故采用欲擒故纵法,当众盛赞他品德高尚,表示对他很信任,实际上早已掌握了他的隐私,藏在暗处伺机揭穿底细。他没有资格扮演一个正义的守护神的角色。一报还一报,这个半斤,那个八两,这里没有公平的衡量者。《马太福音》里还有一段话是:“为什么看见你弟兄眼中有刺,却不想自己眼中有梁木呢。你自己眼中有梁木,怎能对你弟兄说,容我去掉你眼中的刺呢。”正可以用在公爵身上。
19世纪文人兼批评家柯立芝,则称此剧为“讨厌的戏”,是莎翁“唯一令人痛苦的戏”。剧中的喜剧情节让人生厌,悲剧情节让人害怕:安哲鲁可以说是犯了谋杀与强暴未遂两项罪行,但剧终的正义却完全只由宽恕取代;依莎贝拉也不怎么讨人喜欢,她重视贞操的程度远胜于亲兄弟的性命;依莎贝拉的弟弟则是个懦弱青年,自己犯错却期望姐姐牺牲贞操来换取自己的性命。
剧中涉及诸多概念,包括道德、性欲、死亡、公权力的运用与滥用以及人在关键时期所流露的本性及情感。本剧的剧名典出于新约《马太福音》第七章:“不要审判,免得你们受审判。你们用什么审判审判人,也必受什么审判;你们用什么量器量别人,也必用什么量器被量。”如剧中,安哲鲁即使魔高一尺,也终究要由道高一丈的公爵以其人之道,还治其人之身。
安哲鲁虽然享有无瑕盛名,但当依莎贝拉为被判死刑的弟弟求情时,他竟向依莎贝拉提出以贞节作为换取条件,暴露他双重的违法倾向,知法犯法(无夫妻之实而发生性行为者,依法必须处死),以及渎职(因个人因素而未执行法律,使克劳狄奥免于一死)。然而一夜温存之后,他又残暴地下令将克劳狄奥处死,因而犯下了道义上的诳骗之罪和未婚性交的死罪。
但这一切并不证明他就是个不折不扣的伪君子,他为自己的色欲备受煎熬,一方面憎恶自己丑陋的罪行,另一方面又强烈受到纯洁的依莎贝拉所吸引,最后还受到一股莫名的力量驱使他杀害克劳狄奥,以掩饰自己的贪欲。事发之后,他也不求宽容,只想以死抵罪。但他就像《终成眷属》的勃特拉姆及《无事生非》的克劳狄奥一样,都犯下大错,却在剧终时获得宽恕。
依莎贝拉和安哲鲁虽然处于对立的立场,却有巧合的雷同之处:崇尚精神与修行,过着与世隔绝的生活。安哲鲁的行为与声誉背道而驰,依莎贝拉表里如一,但她一样无法获得众人的掌声。一般人之所以对她不表示全然赞同,并不是因为她提倡慈悲或是矜持守节,而是因为性命不保的弟弟乞求她时,她仍给予无情的教训。
依莎贝拉在圣克莱儿修道院时,就希望院方能有更严谨的清规,事实上那已是罗马天主教中最严格的教堂了。安哲鲁要求她以身相报时,她被迫在“凛然赴死”与“含辱救弟”之间做一抉择,她毫不考虑就选择前者,并义正词严教训弟弟,甚至怀着仇恨似的要临死的弟弟也应抱持相同的看法。
她和安哲鲁一样,对人性只有善恶对立的二分法。她请求公爵饶恕安哲鲁,展现了高尚情操,但或许她并非恳求公爵原谅她的敌人,而是请求他饶玛利安娜的未婚夫一命。
伪装成修道士的公爵,目睹纯洁、沉沦和绝望的全部过程,然后在悲剧即将一发不可收拾之时,及时介入,挽救依莎贝拉的贞节和克劳狄奥的性命。他还试验他所观察的人,如安哲鲁、依莎贝拉等,俨然像是无所不在的上帝。
公爵一角具有许多争议:他爱民却爱得不得其法,使得维也纳城道德败坏;他玩忽职守却不加以改进,反而决定由代理人安哲鲁代为导正,以逃避自己执法时可能招致的批评及抗拒;他企图操控所有的角色,怀疑安哲鲁只是“看似圣人”,似乎早料到他会出错;克劳狄奥即将处死,充满恐惧,他却只能提供基督教的思想教诲,劝诫他平和安详地告别这个世界;更令人不可置信的是,公爵竟然以“床上把戏”(bed trick)作为解决方法,要玛利安娜代替依莎贝拉与安哲鲁共度一夜,等于又犯下克劳狄奥与朱丽叶犯过的罪。因此,虽然他在剧终时仿佛是从天而降的正义之神,对相关的人施予惩罚及宽恕,但因代理事件而引发的种种痛苦、羞辱、愤怒与恐惧,他实则要负最大的责任。
大臣爱斯卡勒斯是本剧里头的折中角色,他不像依莎贝拉和安哲鲁,对道德抱持极端严厉的态度,也不像公爵采取完全放任的立场。他的所作所为合情合理,以现实的眼光衡量事件的严重程度与处理方式,并以耐心和毅力解决政务问题。他赞成公爵的改革,又为克劳狄奥所处的境况求情。虽然如此,他没有相对的权力执法,也无法使恶行因此而减少。法律规范期望的是能以外在的惩处,净化内在的想法,而不应该一味要求人人都成为圣人,或永无止境地原谅罪人。
时至20世纪初,开始有批评家认为不应再以19世纪自然主义的阅读习惯来看待《一报还一报》,而应将其视为以戏剧面貌呈现的寓言故事,用以宣扬基督教高贵的精神。
少数不赞同上述说法的学者,纷纷将此剧归类为“悲喜剧”(tragi-comedy),认为剧中的宗教意义、戏剧表现、人物塑造等等,都接近莎翁的戏剧风格及当时的民俗故事,而非单纯的宣扬教义之作。
与莎翁同时期的人,也可能将《一报还一报》视为悲喜剧。意大利剧作家郭里尼(Giambattista Guarini)曾在1601年出版的著作《悲喜诗学概述》(Compendium of Tragi-Comic Poetry)中提到:悲喜剧是分别由悲剧与喜剧中撷取适当的成分,组合而成的第三种戏剧类型,具有悲剧的情节及险境,却不包括悲剧的痛楚与死亡,同时又含有喜剧中的欢笑、娱乐、喜剧式逆转和愉快结局。由开场时克劳狄奥的处境、依莎贝拉的恳求或安哲鲁的铁石心肠来检视本剧,将其归为悲喜剧似乎并无不妥。
此外,当代也有评论家将此剧与《终成眷属》一起视为“问题剧”(problem play)或“阴郁喜剧”(dark comedy)。最早提出这个概念的是宝斯(F.S.Boas),他在1896年将此剧视为问题剧,并加以解释:戏中营造的“不是全然的欢愉也非全然的痛苦,但我们却为之振奋、着迷、困惑”,而剧中的问题,到最后也获得令人满意的结果。
ISABELLA
Could great men thunder
As Jove himself does,Jove would ne'er be quiet,
For every pelting,petty officer
Would use his heaven for thunder;
Nothing but thunder! Merciful Heaven,
Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt
Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak
Than the soft myrtle: but man,proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured,
His glassy essence,like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep; who,with our spleens,
Would all themselves laugh mortal.
依莎贝拉
世上的大人先生们倘使都能够兴雷作电,那天上的神明将永远得不到安静,因为每一个微僚末吏都要卖弄他的威风,让天空中充满了雷声。上天是慈悲的,它宁愿把雷霆的火力,去劈碎一株杈枒状硕的橡树,却不去损坏柔弱的郁金香;可骄傲的世人掌握到暂时的权力,却会忘记了自己琉璃易碎的本来面目,像一头盛怒的猴子一样,装扮出种种丑恶的怪相,使天上的神明们因为怜悯他们的痴愚而流泪;其实诸神的脾气如果和我们一样,他们笑也会笑死的。
ISABELLA
To whom should I complain?
Did I tell this,Who would believe me?
O perilous mouths,
That bear in them one and the self-same tongue,
Either of condemnation or approof;
Bidding the law make court'sy to their will:
Hooking both right and wrong to the appetite,
To follow as it draws! I'll to my brother:
Though he hath fallen by prompture of the blood,
Yet hath he in him such a mind of honour.
That,had he twenty heads to tender down
On twenty bloody blocks,he'ld yield them up,
Before his sister should her body stoop
To such abhorr'd pollution.
Then,Isabel,live chaste,and,brother,die:
More than our brother is our chastity.
I'll tell him yet of Angelo's request,
And fit his mind to death,for his soul's rest.
依莎贝拉
我将向谁诉说呢?把这种事情告诉别人,谁会相信我?凭着一条可怕的舌头,可以操纵人的生死,把法律供自己的驱使,是非善恶,都由他任意判断!我要去看我的弟弟,他虽然因为一时情欲的冲动而堕落,可是他是一个爱惜荣誉的人,即使他有二十颗头颅,他也宁愿让它们在二十个断头台上被人砍落,而不愿让他姐姐的身体遭受如此的污辱。依莎贝拉,你必须活着做一个清白的人,让你的弟弟死去吧,贞操是比兄弟更为重要的。我还要去把安哲鲁的要求告诉他,叫他准备一死,使他的灵魂得到安息。
CLAUDIO
Sweet sister,let me live: What sin you do to save a brother's life,Nature dispenses with the deed
So far That it becomes a virtue.
ISABELLA
O you beast! O faithless coward!
O dishonest wretch!
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is't not a kind of incest,to take life
From thine own sister's shame?
What should I think?
Heaven shield my mother play'd my father fair!
For such a warped slip of wilderness
Ne'er issued from his blood.
Take my defiance! Die,perish!
Might but my bending down
Reprieve thee from thy fate,it should proceed:
I'll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,
No word to save thee.
克劳狄奥
好姐姐,让我活着吧!你为了救你弟弟而犯的罪孽,上天不但不会责罚你,而且会把它当做一件善事。
依莎贝拉
呀,你这畜生!没有信心的懦夫!不知廉耻的恶人!你想靠着我的丑行而活命吗?为了苟延你自己的残喘,不惜让你的姐姐蒙污受辱,这不简直是伦常的大变吗?我真想不到!愿上帝保障我母亲不曾失去过贞操;可是像你这样一个下流畸形的不肖子,也太不像我父亲的亲骨肉了!从今以后,我和你义断恩绝,你去死吧!即使我只需一举手之劳可以把你救赎出来,我也宁愿瞧着你死。我要用千万次的祈祷求你快快死去,却不愿说半句话救你活命。
ISABELLA
Most strange,but yet most truly,will I speak:
That Angelo's forsworn; is it not strange?
That Angelo's a murderer; is 't not strange?
That Angelo is an adulterous thief,
An hypocrite,a virgin-violator;
Is it not strange and strange?
DUKE VINCENTIO
Nay,it is ten times strange.
ISABELLA
It is not truer he is Angelo
Than this is all as true as it is strange:
Nay,it is ten times true; for truth is truth
To the end of reckoning.
DUKE VINCENTIO
Away with her! Poor soul,She speaks this in the infirmity of sense.
ISABELLA
O prince,I conjure thee,as thou believest
There is another comfort than this world,
That thou neglect me not,with that opinion
That I am touch'd with madness!
Make not impossible
That which but seems unlike: 'tis not impossible
But one,the wicked'st caitiff on the ground,
May seem as shy,as grave,as just,as absolute
As Angelo; even so may Angelo,
In all his dressings,characts,titles,forms,
Be an arch-villain; believe it,royal prince:
If he be less,he's nothing; but he's more,
Had I more name for badness.
依莎贝拉
我要说的话听起来很奇怪,可是的的确确是事实。安哲鲁是一个背盟毁约的人,这不奇怪吗?安哲鲁是一个杀人的凶手,这不奇怪吗?安哲鲁是一个淫贼,一个伪君子,一个蹂躏女性的家伙,这不是奇之又奇的事情吗?
公爵
呣,那真是太奇怪了。
依莎贝拉
奇怪虽然奇怪,真实却是真实,正像他是安哲鲁一样无法抵赖。真理是永远蒙蔽不了的。
公爵
把她撵走了吧!可怜的东西,她因为失去了理智才说出这样的话来。
依莎贝拉
啊!殿下,假使您希望来世能得到超度,请不要以为我是个疯子而不理我。似乎不会有的事,不一定不可能。世上最恶的坏人,也许瞧上去就像安哲鲁那样拘谨严肃,正直无私;安哲鲁在庄严的外表、清正的名声、崇高的位阶的重重掩饰下,也许就是一个罪大恶极的凶徒。相信我,殿下,我绝不是诬蔑他,要是我有更坏的字眼可以用来形容他,也决不会把他形容得过分。
ISABELLA
In brief,to set the needless process by,
How I persuaded,how I pray'd,and kneel'd,
How he refell'd me,and how I replied,—
For this was of much length,—the vile conclusion
I now begin with grief and shame to utter:
He would not,but by gift of my chaste body
To his concupiscible intemperate lust,
Release my brother; and,after much debatement,
My sisterly remorse confutes mine honour,
And I did yield to him: but the next morn betimes,
His purpose surfeiting,he sends a warrant
For my poor brother's head.
依莎贝拉
我怎样向他哀求恳告,怎样向他长跪泣请,他怎样拒绝我,我又怎样回答他,这些说来话长,也不必细说。最后的结果,一提起就叫人羞愤填膺,难于启口。他说我必须把我这清白的身体,供他发泄他的兽欲,方才可以释放我的弟弟。在无数次反复思忖以后,手足之情,使我顾不得什么羞耻,我终于答应了他。可是到了下一天早晨,他的目的已经达到,却下了一道命令要我可怜的弟弟的首级。
ANGELO
Always obedient to your grace's will,I come to know your pleasure.
DUKE VINCENTIO
Angelo,There is a kind of character in thy life.
That to the observer doth thy history
Fully unfold.Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues,they on thee.
Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us,'twere all alike As if we had them not.
Spirits are not finely touch'd
But to fine issues,nor
Nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence
But,like a thrifty goddess,she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor,
Both thanks and use.
But I do bend my speech
To one that can my part in him advertise;
Hold therefore,Angelo:—
In our remove be thou at full ourself;
Mortality and mercy in Vienna
Live in thy tongue and heart: old Escalus,
Though first in question,is thy secondary.
Take thy commission.
安哲鲁
听见殿下的召唤,小臣特来恭听谕令。
公爵
安哲鲁,在你的生命中有一种与众不同的地方,使人家一眼便知道你的全部的为人。你自己和你所有的一切,倘不拿出来贡献于人世,仅仅一个人独善其身,那实在是一种浪费。上天生下我们,是要把我们当做火炬,不是照亮自己,而是普照世界;因为我们的德行倘不能推及他人,那就等于没有一样。一个人有了才华智慧,必须使它产生有益的结果;造物是一个工于算计的女神,她所给予世人的每一分才智,都要受赐的人知恩感激,加倍报答。可是我虽然这样对你说,也许我倒是更应该受你教益的;所以请你受下这道诏书吧,安哲鲁;(以诏书授安哲鲁)当我不在的时候,你就是我的全权代表,你的片言一念,可以决定维也纳人民的生死,年高的爱斯卡勒斯虽然先受到我的嘱托,他却是你的辅佐。
CLAUDIO
Thus stands it with me: upon a true contract
I got possession of Julietta's bed:
You know the lady; she is fast my wife,
Save that we do the denunciation lack
Of outward order: this we came not to,
Only for propagation of a dower
Remaining in the coffer of her friends,
From whom we thought it meet to hide our love
Till time had made them for us.
But it chances
The stealth of our most mutual entertainment
With character too gross is writ on Juliet.
LUCIO
With child,perhaps?
CLAUDIO
Unhappily,even so.
And the new deputy now for the duke—
Whether it be the fault and glimpse of newness,
Or whether that the body public be
A horse whereon the governor doth ride,
Who,newly in the seat,that it may know
He can command,lets it straight feel the spur;
Whether the tyranny be in his place,
Or in his emmence that fills it up,
I stagger in:—but this new governor
Awakes me all the enrolled penalties
Which have,like unscour'd armour,hung by the wall
So long that nineteen zodiacs have gone round
And none of them been worn; and,for a name,
Now puts the drowsy and neglected act
Freshly on me: 'tis surely for a name.
克劳狄奥
事情是这样的:我因为已经和朱丽叶互许终身,和她发生了关系;你是认识她的;她就要成为我的妻子了,不过没有举行表面上的仪式而已,因为她还有一注嫁妆在她亲友的保管之中,我们深恐他们会反对我们相爱,所以暂守秘密,等到那注嫁妆正式到她自己手里的时候,方才举行婚礼,可是不幸我们秘密地交欢,却在朱丽叶身上留下了无法遮掩的痕迹。
路西奥
她有了身孕了吗?
克劳狄奥
正是。现在这个新任的摄政,也不知道是因为不熟悉向来的惯例;或是因为初掌大权,为了威慑人民起见,有意来一次下马威;不知道这样的虐政是在他权限之内,还是由于他一旦高升,擅自作为——这些我都不能肯定。可是他已经把这十九年来束诸高阁的种种惩罚,重新加在我的身上了。他一定是为了要博取名誉才这样做的。
ISABELLA
O,let him marry her.
LUCIO
This is the point.
The duke is very strangely gone from hence;
Bore many gentlemen,myself being one,
In hand and hope of action: but we do learn
By those that know the very nerves of state,
His givings-out were of an infinite distance
From his true-meant design.
Upon his place,
And with full line of his authority,Governs Lord Angelo; a man whose blood
Is very snow-broth; one who never feels
The wanton stings and motions of the sense,
But doth rebate and blunt his natural edge
With profits of the mind,study and fast.
He—to give fear to use and liberty,
Which have for long run by the hideous law,
As mice by lions—hath pick'd out an act,
Under whose heavy sense your brother's life
Falls into forfeit: he arrests him on it;
And follows close the rigour of the statute,
To make him an example.
All hope is gone,
Unless you have the grace by your fair prayer
To soften Angelo: and that's my pith of business
'Twixt you and your poor brother.
依莎贝拉
啊,那么让他跟她结婚好了。
路西奥
问题就在这里。公爵突然离开本地,许多人信以为真,准备痛痛快快地玩一下,我自己也是其中的一个;可是我们从熟悉政界情形的人们那里知道,公爵这次的真正目的,完全不是他向外边所宣布的那么一回事。代替他全权综理政务的是安哲鲁,这个人的血就像冰雪一样冷,从来不觉得感情的冲动,欲念的刺激,只知道用读书克制的工夫锻炼他的德性。他看到这里的民风习于淫佚,虽然有严刑峻法,并不能使人畏惧,正像一群小鼠在睡狮的身旁跳梁无忌一样,所以决心重整法纪;令弟触犯刑章,按律例应处死刑,现在给他捉去,正是要杀一儆百,给众人看一个榜样。他的生命危在旦夕,除非您肯去向安哲鲁婉转求情,也许有万一之望;我所以受令弟之托前来看您的目的,也就在于此。
ANGELO
What's this,what's this? Is this her fault or mine?
The tempter or the tempted,who sins most?
Ha! Not she: nor doth she tempt: but it is
I That,lying by the violet in the sun,
Do as the carrion does,not as the flower,
Corrupt with virtuous season.
Can it be
That modesty may more betray our sense
Than woman's lightness?
Having waste ground enough,
Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary
And pitch our evils there?
O,fie,fie,fie!
What dost thou,or what art thou,
Angelo?
Dost thou desire her foully for those things
That make her good?
O,let her brother live!
Thieves for their robbery have authority
When judges steal themselves.
What,do I love her,
That I desire to hear her speak again,
And feast upon her eyes?
What is't I dream on?
O cunning enemy,that,to catch a saint,
With saints dost bait thy hook!
Most dangerous
Is that temptation that doth goad us on
To sin in loving virtue: never could the strumpet,
With all her double vigour,art and nature,
Once stir my temper; but this virtuous maid
Subdues me quite.Even till now,
When men were fond,
I smiled and wonder'd how.
安哲鲁
免受你和你的德行的引诱!什么?这是从哪里说起?是她的错处?还是我的错处?诱惑的人和受诱惑的人,哪一个更有罪?嘿!她没有错,她也没有引诱我。像芝兰旁边的一块臭肉,在阳光下蒸发腐烂的是我,芝兰却不曾因为枯萎而失去了芬芳,难道一个贞淑的女子,比那些狂花浪柳更能引动我们的情欲吗?难道我们明明有许多荒芜的旷地,却必须把圣殿拆毁,种植我们的罪恶吗?呸!呸!呸!安哲鲁,你在干些什么?你是个什么人?你因为她的纯洁而对她爱慕,因为爱慕她而必须玷污她的纯洁吗?啊,让她的弟弟活命吧!要是法官自己也偷窃人家的东西,那么盗贼是可以振振有词的。啊!我竟是这样爱她,所以才想再听见她说话、饱餐她的美色吗?我在做些什么梦?狡恶的魔鬼为了引诱圣徒,会把圣徒作他钩上的美饵;因为爱慕纯洁的事物而驱令我们犯罪的诱惑,才是最危险的。娼妓用尽她天生的魅力,人工的狐媚,都不能使我的心中略起微波,可是这位贞淑的女郎却把我完全征服了。我从前看见人家为了女人发痴,总是讥笑他们,想不到我自己也会有这么一天!
DUKE VINCENTIO
Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter.
Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee,I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
That dost this habitation,where thou keep'st,
Hourly afflict: merely,thou art death's fool;
For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun
And yet runn'st toward him still.
Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear'st
Are nursed by baseness.
Thou'rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm.
Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear'st
Thy death,which is no more.
Thou art not thyself;
For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust.
Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not,still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast,forget'st.
Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
After the moon.
If thou art rich,thou'rt poor;
For,like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear's thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee.
Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels,which do call thee sire,
The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout,serpigo,and the rheum,
For ending thee no sooner.
Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But,as it were,an after-dinner's sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
Becomes as aged,and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou hast neither heat,affection,limb,nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant.
What's yet in this
That bears the name of life?
Yet in this life
Lie hid moe thousand deaths:
yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.
公爵
能够抱着必死之念,那么活果然好,死也无所惶虑。对于生命应当做这样的譬解:要是我失去了你,我所失去的,只是一件愚人才会加以爱惜的东西,你不过是一口气,寄托在一个多灾多难的躯壳里,受着一切天时变化的支配。你不过是被死神戏弄的愚人,逃避着死,结果却奔进他的怀里,你并不高贵,因为你所有的一切配备,都沾濡着污浊下贱。你并不勇敢,因为你畏惧着微弱的蛆虫的柔软的触角。睡眠是你所渴慕的最好的休息,可是死是永恒的宁静,你却对它心惊胆战。你不是你自己,因为你的生存全赖着泥土中所生的谷粒。你并不快乐,因为你永远追求着你所没有的事物,而遗忘了你所已有的事物。你并不固定,因为你的脾气像月亮一样随时变化。你即使富有,也和穷苦无异,因为你正像一头不胜重负的驴子,背上驮载着金块在旅途上跋涉,直等死来替你卸下负荷。你没有朋友,因为即使是你自己的骨血,嘴里称你为父亲尊长,心里也在诅咒着你不早早伤风发疹而死。你没有青春也没有年老,两者都只不过是你在餐后的睡眠中的一场梦景;因为你在年轻的时候,必须像一个衰老无用的人一样,向你的长者乞讨周济;到你年老有钱的时候,你的感情已经冰冷,你的四肢已经麻痹,你的容貌已经丑陋,纵有财富,也享不到丝毫乐趣。那么所谓生命这东西,究竟有什么值得宝爱呢?在我们的生命中隐藏着千万次的死亡,可是我们对于结束一切痛苦的死亡却那样害怕。
CLAUDIO
Ay,but to die,and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods,or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: 'tis too horrible!
The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age,ache,penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
ISABELLA
Alas,alas!
CLAUDIO
Sweet sister,let me live:
What sin you do to save a brother's life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.
克劳狄奥
是的,可是死了,到我们不知道的地方去,长眠在阴寒的囚牢里发霉腐烂,让这有知觉有温暖的、活跃的生命化为泥土;一个追求着欢乐的灵魂,沐浴在火焰一样的热流里,或者幽禁在寒气砭骨的冰山,无形的飙风把它吞卷,回绕着上下八方肆意狂吹;也许还有比一切无稽的想象所能臆测的更大的惨痛,那太可怕了!只要活在这世上,无论衰老、病痛、穷困和监禁给人怎样的烦恼苦难,比起死的恐怖来,也就像天堂一样幸福了。
依莎贝拉
唉!唉!
克劳狄奥
好姐姐,让我活着吧!你为了救你弟弟而犯的罪孽,上天不但不会责罚你,而且会把它当做一件善事。
DUKE VINCENTIO
He who the sword of heaven will bear
Should be as holy as severe;
Pattern in himself to know,
Grace to stand,and virtue go;
More nor less to others paying
Than by self-offences weighing.
Shame to him whose cruel striking
Kills for faults of his own liking!
Twice treble shame on Angelo,
To weed my vice and let his grow!
O,what may man within him hide,
Though angel on the outward side!
How may likeness made in crimes,
Making practise on the times,
To draw with idle spiders' strings
Most ponderous and substantial things!
Craft against vice I must apply:
With Angelo to-night shall lie
His old betrothed but despised;
So disguise shall,by the disguised,
Pay with falsehood false exacting,
And perform an old contracting.
公爵
愿您平安!
欲代上天行惩,
先应玉洁冰清;
持躬唯谨唯慎,
孜孜以德自绳;
诸事扪心反省,
待人一秉至公;
决不滥加残害,
对己放肆纵容。
安哲鲁则反之,
实乃羊皮虎质;
严谴他人小过,
自身变本加厉!
貌似正人君子,
企图一手遮天;
使尽狡猾伎俩,
索得名誉金钱。
何不以诈易诈,
令其弄假成真?
弱女虽遭遗弃,
亦可旧约重申;
即以其人之道,
还治其人之身。
POMPEY
I am as well acquainted here as
I was in our house of profession:
One would think it were
Mistress Overdone's own house,
For here be many of her old customers.
First,here's young Master Rash;
He's in for a commodity of brown paper and old ginger,ninescore and seventeen pounds; of which
He made five marks,ready money:
Marry,then ginger was not much in request,for the old women were all dead.
Then is there here one Master Caper,at the suit of Master
Three-pile the mercer,for some four suits of peach-coloured satin,which now peaches him a
Beggar.
Then have we here young Dizy,and young Master Deep-vow,
And Master Copperspur,and Master Starve-lackey the rapier and dagger man,
And young Drop-heir that killed lusty Pudding,
And Master Forthlight the tilter,
And brave Master Shooty the great traveller,
And wild Half-can that stabbed Pots,and,
I think,forty more; all great doers in our trade,
And are now 'for the Lord's sake.'
庞贝
我在这里倒是很熟悉,就像回到妓院里一样。人们很可能错认这是咬弗动太太开的窑子,因为她的许多老主顾都在这儿。头一个是纨袴少爷,他借了人家一笔债,是按实物付给的——全是些废纸和生姜——折合一百九十七镑;可是脱手的时候才卖了五马克现钱;这也是没办法的事,因为当时生姜赶上滞销,爱吃姜的老婆子们全都死了。还有一个舞迷少爷,是让锦绣商店的老板告下来的,前后共欠桃红色缎袍四身,这会儿他可成为衣不蔽体的叫花子了。还有傻大爷,风流哥儿,贾黄金,喜欢拿刀动剑的瓷公鸡,专给人闭门羹吃的浪荡子,在演武场上显手段的快马先生,周游列国、衣饰阔绰的鞋带先生,因为醉酒闹事把白干扎死的烧酒大爷……此外还有不知多少;原来都是挥金如土的阔少,这会儿只能向囚窗外面的过路人哀求施舍了。
ANGELO
This deed unshapes me quite,makes me unpregnant
And dull to all proceedings.
A deflower'd maid!
And by an eminent body that enforced
The law against it! But that her tender shame
Will not proclaim against her maiden loss,
How might she tongue me!
Yet reason dares her no;
For my authority bears of a credent bulk,
That no particular scandal once can touch
But it confounds the breather.
He should have lived,
Save that riotous youth,with dangerous sense,
Might in the times to come have ta'en revenge,
By so receiving a dishonour'd life
With ransom of such shame.
Would yet he had lived!
A lack,when once our grace we have forgot,
Nothing goes right: we would,and we would not.
安哲鲁
这件事情害得我心神无主,做事也变成毫无头脑。一个失去贞操的女子,奸污她的却是禁止他人奸污的堂堂执法大吏!倘不是因为她不好意思当众承认她的失身,她将会怎样到处宣扬我的罪恶!可是她知道这样做是不聪明的,因为我的地位威权得人信仰,不是任何诽谤所能摇动;攻击我的人,不过自取其辱罢了。我本来可以让他活命,可是我怕他年轻气盛,假如知道他自己的生命是用耻辱换来的,一定会图谋报复。现在我倒希望他尚在人世!唉!我们一旦把羞耻放在脑后,所作所为,就没有一件事情是对的;又要这么做,又要那么做,结果总是一无是处。
DUKE VINCENTIO
She,Claudio,that you wrong'd,look you restore.
Joy to you,Mariana! Love her,Angelo:
I have confess'd her and I know her virtue.
Thanks,good friend Escalus,for thy much goodness:
There's more behind that is more gratulate.
Thanks,provost,for thy care and secrecy:
We shill employ thee in a worthier place.
Forgive him,Angelo,that brought you home
The head of Ragozine for Claudio's:
The offence pardons itself.
Dear Isabel,I have a motion much imports your good;
Whereto if you'll a willing ear incline,
What's mine is yours and what is yours is mine.
So,bring us to our palace; where we'll show
What's yet behind,that's meet you all should know.
公爵
克劳狄奥,你应当好好补偿你那位为你而受苦的爱人。玛利安娜,愿你从此快乐!安哲鲁,你要待她好一点,我曾经听过她的忏悔,知道她是一位贤淑的女子。爱斯卡勒斯,我的好朋友,谢谢你的贤劳,我以后还要重重酬答你。狱官,因为你的谨慎机密,我要给你一个好一点的官职。安哲鲁,他把拉戈静的首级冒充为克劳狄奥的,把你蒙混过去,你不要见怪于他,这完全是出于好意。亲爱的依莎贝拉,我心里有一种意思,对于你的幸福大有关系;你要是愿意听我的话,那么我的一切都是你的,你的一切也都是我的,来,打道回宫,我还要慢慢地把许多未了之事让你们大家知道。