牛津书虫2级 1WillIam Shakespeare.docx

1、牛津书虫2级 1WillIam ShakespeareWillIam Shakespeare1 Toby remembersMy name is TobyIm an old man，eighty-three this springMy house is right in the middle of Stratford-upon-Avon，and I can watch the street market from my windowBut I live very quietly nowIm just an old man，sitting in a chairI once knew the gr

2、eatest man in EnglandFor thirty years I was his friendI worked with him in the theatre，through the good times and the bad timeHe was a good friend to meHe was also the best playwright，the best poet，that ever lived in EnglandWill Shakespeare was his nameI saw all his plays in the theatrePeople loved

3、themThey shouted，laughed and cried，ate oranges，and called for moreAll kinds of peopleKings，Queens，Princes，great lords and ladies，poor people，the boys who held the horseseveryoneWill Shakespeare could please them allHe put me in a play onceWell，he used my name-TobyTwelfth Night was the play，I remembe

4、rSir Toby BelchHe was a big fat man，who liked drinking too much and having a good timeQueen Elizabeth the First watched that play-on Twelfth Night，the 6th of January，1601She liked it，tooWills dead now，of courseHes been dead more than thirty years，and no one sees his plays nowThe Puritans have closed

5、 all the theatresTheres no singing，no dancing，no playsIt wasnt like that in my young daysWe had a good time in London，Will and IIve no teeth now，and my hair has all fallen out，but I can still thinkand rememberI remember when Will and I were young，just boys really2 Stratford-upon-AvonIt was a sunny d

6、ay in October 1579 when I first met Will，just outside Stratford，near a big field of apple treesI saw a boy up in one of the treesHe had red hair and looked about two years older than meWhat are you doing up there？I calledJust getting a few apples，he said，smilingThose are Farmer Nashs apples，I said，a

7、nd hell send his dogs after you if he sees youMr Nash has gone to market，the boy saidCome on！Theyre good applesThe next minute I was up the tree with himBut Will was wrongFarmer Nash wasnt at the market，and a few minutes later we saw his angry red face above the wall on the far side of the fieldWill

8、 and I ran like the wind and only stopped when we reached the riverWe sat down to eat our applesWill was fifteen，and lived in Henley Street，he told meHis father was John Shakespeare，and he had a sister，Joan，and two younger brothers，Gilbert and RichardThere was another sister who died，I learnt laterA

9、nd the next year he had another brother，little Edmundthe baby of the familyNow，what about you？he askedTheres only me and my sister，I saidMy parents are dead，and we live with my mothers brother：Hes a shoe-maker in Ely Street and I work for himWhat do you do？I go to Mr Jenkins school in Church Street，

10、Will saidEvery day，from seven oclock until five oclockNot Sundays，of courseI was sorry for himIsnt is boring？I askedSometimesUsually its all rightHe lay back and put his hands behind his headBut we have to read and learn all these Latin writersI want to read modern writers，and Eng-lish writers，like

11、Geoffrey ChaucerCan you read？he askedOf course I can read！I saidI went to schoolWill sat up and began to eat another appleI want to be a writer，he saidA poetI want that more than anything in the worldWe were friends from that day，until the day he diedWe met nearly every day，and he taught me a lot ab

12、out books and poetry and writersHe always had his nose in a bookWhen Will left school，he worked for his father in Henley StreetJohn Shakespeare was a glove-maker，and he had other business too，like buying and selling sheepBut Will wasnt interestedWhat are we going to do，Toby？he said to me one dayWe c

13、ant spend all our lives making shoes and gloves！Well，I said，we could run away to sea and be sailorsSail round the world，like Francis DrakeDrake sailed back to Plymouth in 1581，after his three-year journey round the world，but we were still in StratfordWe made lots of plans，but nothing ever came of th

14、emWill was still reading a lot and he was already writing poems himselfHe sometimes showed them to me，and I said they were very goodI didnt really know anything about poetry then，but he was my friendWill was not happy with his writingIve got so much to learn，Toby，he saidSo much to learnPoor WillHe h

15、ad a lot to learn about women，tooOne day in October 1582 he came to my house with a long faceIll never leave Stratfordhe saidWhy not？I askedWell get away one dayYoull seePerhaps you will，he said，but Im going to be married in a few weeks timeTo Anne HathawayMy mouth fell open and stayed openMarried！T

16、o Anne Hathaway？Is that the Hathaways over at Shottery？Yes，Will saidI was working on some shoes on the table，and Will picked one up and looked at itWell，er，shes a fine girl，of course，I said uncomfort-ablyButbut，Will，shes twenty-six and youre only eighteen！I know，Will saidBut Ive got to marry herOh n

17、o！I saidYou mean，shesThats right，said WillIn about six months time Im going to be a father3 The actors come to townWill married Anne Hathaway in November，and she came to live in Henley StreetJohn Shakespeare was pleased that his oldest son was married，but I dont think Wills mother wanted him to marr

18、y so youngFamilies cost a lot of money，and John Shakespeare was having a lot of money troubles in those daysTimes were hard in Henley StreetSusanna was born the next MayAll babies look the same to me，but Will was very pleased with herLook，Toby，shes got my eyes，he said happilyShes going to be as beau

19、tiful as the Queen of Egypt，and as clever as King SolomonOh yes？I saidAll parents talk like that about their childrenI dont believe a word of itI didnt see much of Wills wifeI knew she didnt like meTo her，I was one of Wills wild friends，who got him into troubleShe came from a very serious，Puritan fa

20、milyLots of church-going，and no singing or dancingSoon there was another baby on the way，and one evening in February 1585 I hurried round to Henley Street to hear the newsWills sister，Joan，opened the door，and then Will came running down the stairsIts two of them！he saidTwins！A girl and a boyIsnt tha

21、t wonderful！Will had some good friends，Hamnet and Judith Sadler，and he called the twins after themJohn Shakespeare was very pleased to have his first grandson，and everyone was happyFor a whileWill and I still went around together when we couldHe was still reading，and writing，and soon I could see a c

22、hange in himHe was twenty-three now，and he was not happy with his lifeStratfords too small，Toby，he saidToo slowToo quietToo boringIve got to get awayYes，but how？I askedYouve got a familythree young children，rememberHe didnt answerIn the summer months companies of players often came to small towns，an

23、d in 1587 five different companies cameWill and I always went to see the playsWill loved to talk to the actors and to listen to all their stories of LondonThe Queens Men came to Stratford in June，and we went to see the playI dont remember what it wasI know that I laughed a lot，and that Will said it

24、was a stupid play，with not a word of poetry in itWhy dont you write a play yourself？I told himWrite a play？He laughedAnne would never speak to me againI didnt say anything，and Will looked at me and laughed againIt happened a few months laterI walked into the Shakespeares kitchen one evening，and ther

25、e was Anne，with a red，angry face，shouting at the top of her voiceHow can you do this to me？And what about the childrenThen she saw me and stoppedWill was sitting at the table，and looked pleased to see meIve told Anne，he said quietly，that Im going to live in LondonI want to be an actor，and to write p

26、lays，if I canPlays！screamed AnneActing！Actors are dirty，wicked people！Theyre all thieves and criminals！They drink all day and they never go to churchDont be stupid，AnneYou know thats not trueListenIll come home when I can，but I must go to LondonI cant do anything in StratfordHe looked at me across t

27、he roomAre you coming with me，Toby？How soon can we start？I said4 A new life in LondonIts two days journey to London by horse，and Will talked all the wayHis eyes were bright and excitedHe was full of plans，and poems，and a love of lifeI talked to one of the Queens Men，he told meHe said that he could f

28、ind me work in the theatreActing，perhapsOr helping to write some playsI showed him some of my writing，and he was very interestedWhen we rode into London，I began to feel afraidThis was a big，big city，and we were just two unimportant young men from a small townIll never forget the noise，and the smells

29、，and the crowdsThere were 200，000 people living in the City of LondonI never saw so many people before in my lifeWe went down to the river Thames and saw the famous London Bridge，with all its shops and housesDown the river was the Tower of LondonEnemies of the Queen went into the Tower through the r

30、iver gate，and mostly came out without their headsWe found a small inn in Eastcheap，not too expensive，and had some bread，meat，and beer for our supperWell，were here！Will saidAt last！Mmm，I saidWhat do we do next？He laughedEverything！The next day we began to look for workThose early years were wonderfulWe didnt have much money，of course，and we had to work very hardA new actor only got six shillings a week