To be or not to be ?
這句出於《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet)的名句,
通俗的翻譯是「活好,還是死」(To be, or not tobe…)。
在那大段獨白,Hamlet王子嘗試解釋對於「自殺」的恐懼與不確定性。
但他也不是真的怕「自殺」,他其實是怕「死」。
但他也不是真的怕「死了」,他其實是怕「熟睡」。
但他也不是真的怕「熟睡」,他其實是怕「會作夢」。
接著,像是倒轉時鐘一樣,他把整個過程翻轉回來 ──
對,就是因為怕「會作夢」,人們才不敢勇敢地去「自殺」。
這個一切建立在虛構中前進的過程,確實造成了某種說服力。
於是乎,這段獨白種種的不確定性,成為膾炙人口的獨白,
人們用以描述身處兩難境地、進退猶豫時的窘境。
有褻瀆文學嫌疑的我,姑且認定 "To be, or not to be" 這大概是用得最妙的部份,
英文中 "being" 的意思就是生命,引述朗道英漢字典的說法:
being
*['bi:iŋ]
n. 存在, 性質, 生命, 人, 生物, be的現在分詞
相關詞組:
come into being
for the time being
in being
所以我們可以發現,如果翻譯成「生死存亡」就太辜負莎士比亞的措辭了,
整個的重心在於那種存在感,就是 Halmet 王子面臨「自殺」的恐懼,
以及在那樣的情境下,嘗試探索生命存在的推理過程。
我沒有看過這個歌劇表演,但是在我手頭查到的資料,這個音節是很令人玩味的。
中間的逗號可以看作樂譜上的速度標記,不是 Adagio (柔板),也非 Andante (行板),
而是 Lento (慢板)。說到這,先閉目,讓自己心思沈澱。
現在,Hamlet 進入沉思狀態,開始獨白時,語言節奏該是緩慢的。
Hamlet 輕聲念出的 "To be" 和 "or not to be"之間有一個無聲的間歇,
逗號好比是個休止符,敲響生命終止的冥鍾。
徬徨、猶豫、摸索中步伐並不會跨得又急又大。
有生的煩惱,人生的困惑、生命的沉重,接著相繼而來,形成了一個個沒有解答的問號。
在一片困惑中又陷入了一片茫然。
又是一番徬徨、摸索,徘徊在生死邊緣。
思緒的波動,起伏很小,還沒充分進入意識領域,
理性活動還處在半明半暗、被壓抑的狀態。
這不是在思索,而是順著意識流在向前浮動。
隨著情緒波動逐漸的增強,下意識的情緒逐漸上升為半透明的思緒...
接著,在這幕獨白中,試圖向人生尋找一個終極的答案的瞬間,
理性的光芒逐漸照亮了整個意識領域,
是此,思維活動越來越活躍,
面對著一場嚴重的精神危機,作出對人生的哲理性思考。
此際,心坎已經徐徐道出 "To be, not to be..." 了。
William Shakespeare - To be, or not to be (from Hamlet 3/1)
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd
To be or not to be , That is a question .
做 還是 不做 呢 ?
|