Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream《仲夏夜之夢》
威廉‧莎士比亞（William Shakespeare, 1564-1616）在世界文壇上是個家喻戶曉的作家。莎翁生於 1564 年 4 月，日期不詳，據推算是 21 日或 23 日，死於 1616 年 4 月 23 日，享年 52 歲。其作品計劇本三十七部、詩集三部。一般將莎劇分為喜劇、悲劇、歷史劇三種，並且將他的寫作生涯按年代分為 1590—1595，1595—1600，1600—1608，1608—1612 等四個階段。《仲夏夜之夢》可以算是第一個階段最圓熟的一部喜劇。
Theseus, Duke of Athens, is to wed Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, in four days. He has ordered Philostrate, his master of revels, to "stir up the Athenian youths to merriment."1 Meanwhile, a group of Athenian craftsmen is preparing to entertain the royal couple with a play entitled Pyramus and Thisbe; they agree to meet for rehearsal at the Duke's oak.2
But not all Athenian youths are happy.3 Lysander and Demetrius both love Hermia; she favors Lysander, but Demetrius has her father Egeus' permission to marry her. Egeus insists that she marry Demetrius or be put to death in the name of Athenian law.4 Demetrius takes his case to Theseus and demands that the law be invoked.5 To the alternative of death, Theseus adds another, life in a nunnery, as a punishment for Hermia for defying her father's will.6 But she swears that she would rather enter a convent than consent to become Demetrius' bride.7
To escape the Athenian law, Lysander and Hermia arrange to meet in the same wood where the craftsmen are to rehearse their play, and to flee thence8 to a place of safety. The lovers, however, err in revealing their plan to Hermia's friend Helena.9 Demetrius has formerly been betrothed to Helena, and although he has switched his love to Hermia, he is still desperately loved by the jilted Helena.10 She is willing to do anything to gain even a smile from Demetrius, and she tells him of his rival's plan to elope with Hermia.11
The wood in which the lovers and the craftsmen have planned to meet is haunted by fairies.12 But even with the fairies not all is harmonious.13 Oberon, king of the fairies, is quarreling with his queen Titania over the possession of a little Indian prince.14 Loving the prince like a son, the queen refuses to give him up to her husband.15 To force her to do his bidding, Oberon sends his mischievous page to get the juice of "Love-in-idleness." This juice, when squeezed into the eyes of anyone sleeping, will cause that person to fall in love with the first creature that he sees on awakening.16
While Puck is on his errand, Demetrius and Helena enter the woods trying to find the fleeing lovers Lysander and Hermia.17 Making himself invisible, Oberon watches over the quarreling couple. Helena pleads her love for Demetrius, and yet received nothing but scorn from him. Pitying Helena, Oberon determines to help her.18 When Puck returns, therefore, Oberon orders him to anoint the eyes of "the disdainful youth" with "Athenian garments," so that he will love the girl who dotes on him.19
Puck goes to do as he is ordered while Oberon himself finds the sleeping Titania and squeezes the juice into her eyes.20 Puck's mission is not well carried out, however. He mistakes Lysander's Athenian dress for that of Demetrius and pours the charmed juice into Lysnader's eyes. Thus, when Helena (still pursuing Demetrius) finds and awakens Lysander, the charm works perfectly: he falls in love with her and pursues her into the wood, leaving Hermia alone.21 When Hermia awakens, she fears that Lysander has been killed, for she believes that he would never have deserted her otherwise.22
The craftsmen meet somewhere near the sleeping fairy queen to rehearse their play. Puck has been spying on them and picks on Bottom, who is to play th leading role in Pyramus and Thisbe, as his victim.23 He claps on Bottom's shoulders the head of an ass; the other players flee in terror.24 He then starts a merry chase until Bottom comes to the spot where Titania lies sleeping and awakens her. She falls instantly in love with him and orders the fairies to wait upon him.25
While Puck is reporting this prank26 to Oberon, Hermia and Demetrius come quarreling through the wood. Hermia accuses him of having murdered Lysander; and he, exhausted, lies down to sleep.27 Oberon soon discovers that Puck has made a mistake in anointing the eyes of Lysander. He tries to right the wrong by placing the juice also in Demetrius' eyes, and sends Puck to bring Helena in.28 However, this adds much to the comic discord, because when Helena comes in (with Lysander following), she will find that she is loved by two men.29 Helena, puzzled, thinks that both men are taunting and ridiculing her while Hermia accuses her of having stolen her lover's devotion.30
Again Oberon manages to set matters straight.31 He orders Puck to lead the two men in circles until weariness forces them to lie down and fall asleep.32 Then another potion is applied to Lysander's eyes to remove the charm, and to make the whole affair seem like a dream.33 Thus the young people are united in proper pairs.34 Titania, too, has her enchantment removed after she has given up the prince to her husband who taunts her about loving an ass.35 Puck also removes the ass's head from Bottom's shoulders so that he may join his fellows in time to put on their play for the Duke's wedding.36
The sun rises. Thereus, Hippolyta, and their train37 come into the wood to hunt. They find the sleeping lovers and awaken them with the hunting horns.38 Egeus again demands that his daughter marry Demetrius, but that youth, now in love with Helena, gives up to Lysander all claim to Hermia.39 The Duke is so pleased at this solution of the disagreement that he invites the lovers to marry on the day set for his own wedding.40
A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first of Shakespeare's plays that can be described, without qualification, as a masterpiece.41 The play is well- designed. It is able to present a sequence of scenes in the woodland as well as within the city of Athens. The play develops and resolves dramatic conflicts.42 In the woods, the lovers are unaware of the presence of the craftsmen or the fairies. On the one hand, Shakespeare creates several groups of characters that relate and contrast; on the other hand, he provides them with some stable relationship to unite in culminating ensemble.43
Shakespeare is also interrelating planes of appearance and reality, the imagined and the actual, illusion and kinds of truth; but he neither equates them nor discounts any of them.44 On one level Athens is the real world, a world to which one returns from the fairy otherworld in the wood.45 One can thus think of the woodland drama as a dream. But, is it? On what grounds can one distinguish dream from reality?46 Prospero reminds us in The Tempest that "We are such stuff/As dreams are made on."47 Here in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Demetrius rightly48 thinks that
These things [dream and reality] seem small and undistinguishable,49
Like far-off mountains turned into clouds.
… Are you sure
That we are awake? It seemd to me
That yet we sleep, we dream.50
注釋
1 雅典公爵 Theseus 將於四天內與 Amazons 族女皇 Hippolyta 完婚，公爵命令他掌管歡宴（revel）的大臣要「激起雅典年輕人的歡樂」（分享喜氣）。Stir up someone to merriment： 令某人高興、歡樂。Amazons 是希臘神話中驍勇善戰的女人族，特洛依戰爭（Trojan War）中，曾與希臘人交鋒，並打敗希臘人。本劇中所根據的場合卻是 Amazons 敗於雅典人之手，公爵以聯婚來化解仇恨。
2 craftsmen： 技工，以手藝維生的人。同時候，有一群技工正準備要以一齣名叫 Pyramus and Thisbe 的戲來為這對皇室的新人助興：技工們相約在公爵的橡樹林預演。entitled：（書本、戲曲、歌謠）名為……。royal：皇家的。rehearsal：預演、綵排；動詞作rehearse。
3（儘管公爵要雅典的年輕人同感歡樂），但是並非所有的年輕人都快樂。（理由詳下文說明。）
4 Lysander 及 Demetrius 同時愛上 Hermia，她卻獨對 Lysander 青睞，但是 Demetrius 則得到他父親E的許可要聚她。Egeus 堅持女兒嫁 Demetrius，否則便依雅典法律處死。In the name of：憑……之名。
5 Demetrius 向 Theseus 告發。Take one's case to someone：將自己的案子呈交某人處理。demand：要求；子句中的動詞用原形。invoke：call upon the power of law for help or protection 祈求法律的力量幫助或保護。古典文學作品中詩人向 Muse（繆司）祈靈也叫 invoke（名詞為 invocation）。
6 alternative 指兩者之中擇其一。事實上，Egeus 堅持要他女兒嫁 Demetrius，否則便將她處死。可是 Theseus 又增加了另一個選擇，那就是死罪可免，但必須在修道院（nunnery, convent）終生監禁。Punishment on someone for…：當作犯……錯的懲罰。defy：違抗。will：旨意。
7 Hermia 宣稱，她寧可進修院，也不願嫁給 Demetrius。Would rather…than：寧可……而不願……（兩者均可接動詞原形）。
8 thence = from that place。
9 然而，這對戀人錯在將他們的計劃告訴了 Helena。
10 早先 Demetrius 與 Helena 已訂婚（betrothed），雖然他移情別戀，可是被拋棄的 (jilted) Helena 卻仍然不顧一切地愛著他。
11 她甚至於只為了得到 Demetrius 的歡顏，而任何事情都願意做，因此，她告訴 Demetrius 關於他的對手（指 Lysander）要和 Hermia 一起私奔的計劃。
12 haunted：鬼常出沒於某一地方，則稱該處為 a haunted place。Haunted by fairies：神仙經常在那裡出現。
13 但是，即使在神仙（精靈）的世界，也並非一切都和諧。harmonious：和諧的；名詞為 harmony。
14 仙王和仙后正在為擁有一個印度王子而爭奪不休。Quarrel with someone over an issue，注意介系詞的用法。
15 仙后視印度王子如己出，不願意將他拱手讓給她的丈夫。
16 為了迫使她照他的吩咐行事，仙王要他那位惡作劇的僕童（page）去取得「癡情花」的汁，這種汁液，一旦擠入任何熟睡的人眼裡，將會使那個人愛上了他醒來時睜眼看到的第一個人物。idle 在莎士比亞的英文中，作「癡迷」解。
17 on one's errand：當差、辦事。Demetrius 與 Helena 進森林來想要找那一對逃跑的戀人 Lysander 及 Hermia。
18 make oneself invisible：使自己不被發現。Invisible：看不見的。Watch over=keep an eye on：監視。Plead (for)…：為……辯護。意思是說，Helena 信誓旦旦，表明她對 Demetrius 的愛，卻衹招來輕蔑。仙王同情她，決心要幫助她。
19 因此，Puck (the page) 回來的時候，仙王要他在那穿著「雅典人服飾」的「可鄙的年輕人」眼裡塗上（anoint）那汁液，讓他愛上那個對他癡迷的女孩。Dote on：癡情。
20 Puck 依命去行事，而仙王本人則找到正在熟睡的仙后，將汁液（擠）入她眼裡。
21 Puck 的任務並未完美地達成。Lysander 身上穿的雅典服飾讓 Puck 錯將他當作 Demetrius，而把癡情汁注入他眼裡。因此，當 Helena 追逐 Demetrius 過來，發現 Lysander，並且叫醒他時，癡情液的功效發揮到了至極：Lysander 愛上了她，而撇下了 Hermia 一個人。
22 Hermia 醒來時，擔心 Lysander 已經被殺，因為她相信他要是活著，是絕不會拋棄她的。otherwise：在別的方面，在不同的情況下。
23 Bottom 在技工要演出的戲中是扮演主角（leading role）；Puck 挑中了他當犧牲者。Spy on someone：窺伺、監視某人。
24 Puck 在 Bottom 肩上套了一個驢子頭，其他的演員都嚇跑了。
25 然後，Puck 帶動了一場嬉鬧追逐，直到 Bottom 靠近 Titania 熟睡之處，讓她一眼瞧見了他而立即愛上他。仙后還命令精靈服待（wait upon 或 on）他。
26 prank：開玩笑、惡作劇。
27 accuse someone of…：控告某人犯了……罪。exhausted：精疲力竭。
28 right the wrong：矯正錯誤。
29 仙王將癡情液注入 Demetrius 眼中，徒增了喜劇性雕不和諧，因為這一來 Lysander 及 Demetrius 都中了癡情液之蠱雙雙愛上了 Helena。
30 Helena 困惑著，以為兩人都有揶揄（taunt）她、嘲弄（ridicule）她，而另一方面，Hermia 卻指控她偷走了 Lysander 的摯愛（devotion）。
31 set matters straight：將事情整頓就緒。
32 仙王命令 Puck 使兩位男人窮繞圈子打轉，直到疲倦逼使他們倒地睡著。
33 Lysander 的眼睛被敷上另一種藥液（potion）袪除癡情液的蠱，而且使他覺得整件事彷彿是一場夢一般。
34 因此，四個年輕人找到如意的匹配。In proper pairs：配對適切。
35 仙后被她丈夫嘲罵說她愛上了一隻驢子，衹好將印度王子讓給她丈夫，因此，也解除了蠱咒。
36 Puck 卸下 Bottom 肩上扛著的驢子頭，讓他及時趕回去參加演出。Put on a play：演出一齣戲。
37 train：隨從人員。
38 狩獵的號角吵醒了熟睡的戀人。
39 Demetrius 現在愛上了 Helena，於是將一切對 Hermia 的權利要求讓給 Lysander。
40 公爵對這一樁不和諧事件如此的解決深感滿意，乃邀請兩對年輕的戀人在他婚禮的同一天完婚。
41 without qualification：毫無限制條件地。Describe…as a masterpiece：稱……為佳作。
42 此劇精心設計，呈現出一系列發生在林木中和在雅典市內的場景，裨發展戲劇性的衝突，並予以解決。
43 在樹林中，兩對戀人絲毫不知道技工或神仙的存在。莎翁一方面創造了好幾組相關而對稱的人物，一方面也為這些人物提供了某種穩定的關係，好讓他們在最後的（culminating）大會串中結合。ensemble：通常指樂隊的合奏。
44 莎翁也使表象與真實、想像的與實在的、幻象與各種真相等層面（planes）產生相互關係（interrelate），但是既不將這些層面視為同等重要，亦不低估其中任何一面。
45 在某個層次來看，雅典是「真實的」世界，是人們從樹林中神仙的另一個世界所必須賦歸之處。
46 據此，樹林中所發生的戲劇化事件（drama）就大可當成一場夢了。然而，定完全是一場夢嗎？人究竟憑哪些理由去區別夢與現實？
47 《暴風雨》劇中的 Prospero 提醒我們說：「構成我們的料子也正是那夢幻的料子。」（簡單地說，就是「人生如夢」。）
48 rightly：正確地。
49 這些事情（指如夢似真，如真似幻）似乎微瑣而無從分辨，好像化為雲的遠山一般。
50 ……你們真的確定我們現在是醒著嗎？我覺得我們還是在睡著，做著夢呢！
by Dr. Yuan-huang Tsai