評論
打印
It sounds like the sort of character who would have been deeply unpopular in one of his plays. William Shakespeare was a 'ruthless businessman' and tax dodger, researchers have claimed.
研究人員近日聲稱，恰似莎翁戲劇中那些令人深惡痛絕的角色——莎翁本人就是“冷酷無情的商人和偷稅漏稅的家伙”。
Although he wrote plays that championed the rights of the poor and the needy, archived documents show the playwright was actually a wealthy landowner repeatedly dragged before the courts and fined for illegally stockpiling food and threatened with jail for evading taxes.
盡管莎翁筆下維護窮苦貧弱民眾的權利，但檔案資料顯示，莎翁本人卻是個富有的地主，多次被揪上法庭、因非法囤積糧食而罰款，甚至因偷稅漏稅差點蹲監獄。
He 'stored grain, malt and barley for resale at inflated prices to neighbours and local tradesmen' at a time when Europe was suffering famines, the academics said, and channelled the profits into land purchases.
研究人員說，莎翁囤積谷物、麥芽和大麥，等歐洲饑荒遍野時，再以高價轉售給鄰居及當地商人，以此牟取高額利潤。
They added that Shakespeare did all he could to 'avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable – while writing plays about their plight'. And his approach of 'combining both illegal and legal activities' meant he could retire after a working life of only 24 years.
他們還說，莎翁一邊創作有關弱勢群體的戲劇，一邊卻又用盡一切辦法逃稅、從弱勢群體身上盡可能地壓榨利益。通過此類非法牟利手段，莎翁僅僅工作了24年便不勞而獲、坐享其成了。
Researchers at Aberystwyth University carried out an academic study looking into Shakespeare's 'other life' as one of Warwickshire's biggest landowners and have uncovered the less than savoury side to Britain's greatest playwright.
在阿伯里斯特威斯大學，研究人員組織了一項學術研究，旨在挖掘莎翁作為沃里克郡大財主的“別樣生活”，揭秘英國最偉大的文豪不為人知的陰暗一面。
The allegation he exploited famine has also led to suggestions that his Coriolanus, for years regarded as a plea for the starving poor, was in fact his way of trying to expunge a guilty conscience.
莎翁利用饑荒大發橫財的推測恰好也表明，一直被認為是替窮苦民眾伸張正義的《科利奧蘭納斯》，實不過是莎翁自己欲蓋彌彰的良心不安作品罷了。
Jayne Archer, a researcher in Renaissance literature at Aberystwyth University, said in the Sunday Times: 'There was another side to Shakespeare besides the brilliant playwright — as a ruthless businessman who did all he could to avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable — while also writing plays about their plight to entertain them.
杰恩-阿徹在阿伯里斯特威斯大學研究文藝復興時期的文學。他對《星期日泰晤士報》說：“除了偉大的劇作家身份外，莎士比亞還有另外一面——即逃稅避稅、無情壓榨他人、欺凌弱勢群體的商人，盡管他筆下盡是些伸張正義的故事。”
'Shakespeare is remembered as a playwright, but there was no copyright then and no sense that his plays could generate future income. That drove him to dodge taxes, illegally hoard [food] and act as a money-lender.
“莎翁是家喻戶曉的劇作家。但當時還沒有版權保護，因此他的戲劇作品并不能帶來收入。所以，莎翁便靠逃稅、非法囤積牟利，完全是個高利貸商人。”
Coriolanus depicts a famine created and exploited by rich merchants and politicians to maximise the price of food and includes the lines: 'They ne'er cared for us yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses crammed with grain.'
《科利奧蘭納斯》講述了富商和政治家哄抬物價而造成大饑荒的故事，其中有句臺詞就是：“他們才不會管我們的死活呢。我們在這里忍饑挨餓，他們的店鋪里卻堆滿了糧食。”
It has now emerged that as Shakespeare wrote the play at the height of the 1607 food riots, he was himself hoarding grain. As one of the biggest landowners in Warwickshire, he was ideally placed to push prices up and then sell at the top of the market.
如今看來，莎翁在戲劇中寫到1607年糧食危機時，他本人正在囤積糧食。作為沃里克郡的大財主，莎翁占盡地利之便，抬高物價后又在市場上售賣。
In a paper, the academics wrote: 'Over a 15-year period Shakespeare purchased and stored grain, malt and barley for resale at inflated prices to neighbours and local tradesmen.
學者在文獻中寫道：“大概有15年之久，莎士比亞購買并囤積谷物、麥芽及大麥，然后再以高價轉售給鄰居和本地商人。”
'In February 1598 he was prosecuted for holding 80 bushels of malt or corn during a time of shortage. He pursued those who could not pay him in full for these staples and used the profits to further his own money-lending activities ...
“1598年2月，莎士比亞因在糧食短缺時囤積了640加侖的麥芽或玉米而被告上法庭。他通過向貧弱的民眾收購主要糧食來牟取利潤，然后進行高利貸交易……”
'Profits were channelled into land purchases. He also acquired tithes on local produce, including "corn, grain and hay", allowing him to cream off the profits from others' manual work.
“獲得的盈利用來購置土地。他還從玉米、谷物、干草等農產品中牟取什一稅，也就是從他人的血汗中榨取利潤。”
'By combining both illegal and legal activities, Shakespeare was able to retire in 1613 as the largest property owner in his home town, Stratford-upon-Avon. His profits — minus a few fines for illegal hoarding and tax evasion — meant he had a working life of just 24 years.'
“通過正當或不正當的買賣，莎士比亞很快就在家鄉埃文河畔的斯特拉特福積累了巨大財富，扣除少數因非法囤積和逃稅而繳納的罰款，他可謂獲利匪淺。早在1613年僅僅工作了24年，莎翁便可坐享其成了。”
Shakespeare's experience as a rich landowner at a time of famine may be reflected in plays such as King Lear, which depicts an ageing monarch trying to divide his lands, and the food they produce, between his daughters.
莎翁在大饑荒時期的大財主經歷在《李爾王》等戲劇中可見一斑——年邁的君王試圖在兩個女兒之間劃分土地和生產的糧食。
Professor Jonathan Bate, the Shakespeare scholar and provost of Worcester College, Oxford, said Archer and her colleagues had performed a valuable service in setting Shakespeare's work in the context of the famines and food shortages of the period.
喬納森-貝特是牛津大學伍斯特學院的教務長，同時也是研究莎士比亞的學者。他說，阿徹女士及其團隊的發現對研究莎翁筆下大饑荒與糧食短缺時期的作品很有價值。
