城市上空有 個氣球

2007年12月11日 星期二

重遇 ... 古老的問題



下決心,沒那麼難的,是嗎?
會不會迷失在出走跟復返的迴圈裡?

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 consumation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil1
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,2,3
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,4
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make5
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardles bear6,7
To grunt and sweat under a weary life --
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn8
No traveler 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 pitch and moment,
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action..

Definitions & Notes
1 coil: Turmoil, confusion (mortal coil = troublesome life)
2 oppressor's wrong: Claudius' wrong.
3contumely: Taunts, contemptuous treatment
4dispriz'd : undervalued.
(However, you may notice that in the quarto version,
the word "despiz'd" or 'despised' is used, which also
works well in this context. For me, "dispriz'd"
feels ironic, whereas despised feels more bitter.
Hey, it's your choice which to use. Go for it.
5quietus: A final account, or settlement.
An audit. (Ooh, death and taxes...)
6bodkin: A sharp instrument to make holes with
i.e. as in leather (works good for skin and muscle, too...)
7fardles: (One of my favorite words) A backpack, a bundle.
8bourn: Boundary.

(excerpt from http://www.themonologueshop.com: Hamlet Act III Scene 1
)

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