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William Shakespeare
莎士比亞
Of all the famous English writers,probably the best known is William Shakespeare.
在所有舉世聞名的英文作家中，最著名的的也許要數莎士比亞了。
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 on April the 23rd.
莎士比亞于1564年4月23日出生在埃文河畔的斯特拉特福德鎮。
His father was an important man in town so Shakespeare had a good upbringing.
其父親在該鎮是個重要人物，所以他接受過良好的教育。
Shakespeare probably went to school(although no records survive to prove this) but not university.
莎士比亞很可能上過學，盡管沒有記錄能考證這點，但沒有上過大學。
He got married when he was 18 to Anne Hathaway and the couple had 3 children.
他18歲時和安妮?海瑟薇結婚，婚后育有3個孩子。
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets.
莎士比亞寫了38部戲劇和154首十四行詩。
He began working in his home town of Stratford but by 1592 was writing in London.
他在自己的家鄉斯特拉特福德鎮開始工作，但到1592年他去了倫敦開始寫作。
He became rich enough to buy a house in the capital and one in Stratford.
他富裕起來后就在首都和斯特拉特福德買了房子。
He wrote sad stories called tragedies,like Romeo and Juliet,funny stories or comedies, romantic stories and stories about historical figures such as Julius Caesar.
莎士比亞寫的悲慘故事，被稱為悲劇，如《羅密歐與朱麗葉》，他還寫有趣的故事或喜劇，浪漫的故事以及有關歷史人物的歷史劇，如《尤里烏斯·愷撒》。
Shakespeare died on his birthday in 1616,almost 400 years ago.
莎士比亞死于400年前，也就是1616年他生日那天。
But why is his work still popular today?
但為何他的作品如今仍受歡迎呢？
His work looked at common human themes,such as betrayal, murder, lust, power, ambition and love.
莎翁的作品著眼于大眾主題，諸如背叛，謀殺，性欲，權力，野心以及愛情。
These themes are as much a part of human nature today as they were all those years ago and are the themes we see in modern soap operas and Hollywood films.
這些主題從古到今都是人性的一部分，而且它們還經常貫穿于現代的肥皂劇和好萊塢電影當中。
Even though his theatre, The Globe, burned down in 1613 it was rebuilt in London in 1997 and you can still see his plays performed there today.
盡管他的環球劇院在1613年被燒毀，但于1997年在倫敦得到重建，如今你仍然可以在那里欣賞他創作的戲劇。
Shakespeare's influence on the English language can still be felt today.
時至今日，我們仍然能感受到莎士比亞在英文語言中的影響力。
We talk about "fair play", meaning honest behaviour but this phrase was first used by Shakespeare.
我們說公平競爭，那意味著正當的行為舉止，而最先使用這個詞的卻是莎士比亞。
He coined the phrase "you can have too much of a good thing".
他用短語杜撰了這樣的表達—你能夠從一個好的事物中得到許多好的東西（啟示或啟迪）。
And it was Shakespeare who came up with the expression to disappear "into thin air"which we still use today when we lose something.
當我們丟失某樣東西時，我們現在仍然在用莎士比亞創造的短語:消失的無影無蹤。
Shakespeare's work has been translated into every major language in the world.
莎士比亞的作品被翻譯為世界上各種主要的語言。
And perhaps we'll still be as fascinated by his work 400 years from now as we've been for almost the last 400.
或許在往后的400年里也跟過去這400年來一樣，莎翁的作品仍會讓世人為之傾倒。
