莎士比亚的“To be, or not to be,that is the question”的全文

Answer 1

“To be or not to be”出自莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》里的“王子复仇记”篇章里。

《哈姆雷特（Hamlet）》是由威廉·莎士比亚创作于1599年至1602年间的一部悲剧作品，戏剧讲述了叔叔克劳狄斯谋害了哈姆雷特的父亲，篡取了王位，并娶了国王的遗孀乔特鲁德；哈姆雷特王子因此为父王向叔叔复仇。

《哈姆雷特》是莎士比亚所有戏剧中篇幅最长的一部，本剧是前身为莎士比亚纪念剧院的英国皇家莎士比亚剧团演出频度最高的剧目。 

莎士比亚创作的艺术特色可以归纳为如下几点：

坚持现实主义创作原则，认为戏剧是反映人生的一面镜子；

追求自然的表演理论，认为演剧要真实，切忌过火；

情节生动丰富，一个剧里常有几条交织在一起的复杂线索，悲喜剧因素结合在一起；

塑造了一系列具有鲜明个性的艺术形象。如哈姆雷特、福斯塔夫；

人物语言性格化，如哈姆雷特的话富有哲理和诗意，御前大臣波洛涅斯的语言矫揉造作，伊阿古的语言充满秽言秽语。

Answer 2

这是哈姆莱特中的一句，全文的话老长了。下面是含有这句话的部分。

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: aye, 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 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.

翻译为
生存或毁灭, 这是个必答之问题:
是否应默默的忍受坎苛命运之无情打击,
还是应与深如大海之无涯苦难奋然为敌,
并将其克服。
此二抉择, 就竟是哪个较崇高?
死即睡眠, 它不过如此!
倘若一眠能了结心灵之苦楚与肉体之百患,
那么, 此结局是可盼的!
死去, 睡去...
但在睡眠中可能有梦, 啊, 这就是个阻碍:
当我们摆脱了此垂死之皮囊,
在死之长眠中会有何梦来临?
它令我们踌躇,
使我们心甘情愿的承受长年之灾,
否则谁肯容忍人间之百般折磨,
如暴君之政、骄者之傲、失恋之痛、法章之慢、贪官之侮、或庸民之辱,
假如他能简单的一刃了之?
还有谁会肯去做牛做马, 终生疲於操劳,
默默的忍受其苦其难, 而不远走高飞, 飘於渺茫之境,
倘若他不是因恐惧身后之事而使他犹豫不前?
此境乃无人知晓之邦, 自古无返者。
所以,「理智」能使我们成为懦夫,
而「顾虑」能使我们本来辉煌之心志变得黯然无光, 像个病夫。
再之, 这些更能坏大事, 乱大谋, 使它们失去魄力。

Answer 3

Hamlet's endurance has reached the breaking point. His father has been murdered. His mother, who he loves dearly, has married her dead husband's brother. Moreover his sweetheart, Ophelia, has been acting very strangely. He senses that she does not love him any more. Now, he's all alone. The world that he knew is shattered. His black mood of despair is deepened by his inability to act - to do something to change the situation.

Now he ponders whether to continue living - or to take his own life.

Hamlet:

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 heartache, 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 these 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.

参考资料：：http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/listening/shakespeare/hamletframes.htm