Tales from Shakespeare (2nd Edition) (Penguin Readers: Level 5)[莎士比亚传说]

WilliamShakespearewasanEnglishpoetandplaywright,widelyregardedasthegreatestwriterintheEnglishlanguageandtheworld'spreeminentdramatist.HeisoftencalledEngland'snationalpoetandthe"BardofAvon".Hissurvivingworks,includingsomecollaborations,consistof38plays,154sonnets,twolongnarrativepoems,andseveralotherpoems.Hisplayshavebeentranslatedintoeverymajorlivinglanguageandareperformedmoreoftenthanthoseofanyotherplaywright.ShakespearewasborninStratford-upon-AvoninWarwickshireandwasbaptisedon26April1564.Thoughttohavebeeneducatedatthelocalgrammarschool,hemarriedAnneHathaway,withwhomhewentontohavethreechildren,attheageofeighteen,beforemovingtoLondontoworkinthetheatre.Twoeroticpoems,VenusandAdonisandTheRapeofLucrecewerepublishedin1593and1594andrecordsofhisplaysbegintoappearin1594forRichardIIIandthethreepartsofHenryVI.Shakespeare'stragicperiodlastedfromaround1600to1608,duringwhichperiodhewroteplaysincludingHamletandOthello.Thefirsteditionsofthesonnetswerepublishedin1609butevidencesuggeststhatShakespearehadbeenwritingthemforyearsforaprivatereadership.ShakespearespentthelastfiveyearsofhislifeinStratford,bynowawealthyman.Hediedon23April1616andwasburiedinHolyTrinityChurchinStratford.Thefirstcollectededitionofhisworkswaspublishedin1623.威廉·莎士比亚（WilliamShakespeare，1564年4月23日－儒略历1616年4月23日或公历1616年5月3日，华人社会常尊称为莎翁；清末民初鲁迅在摩罗诗力说（1908年2月）称莎翁(为“狭斯丕尔”)是英国文学史上最杰出的戏剧家，也是西方文艺史上最杰出的作家之一，全世界最卓越的文学家之一。他流传下来的作品包括38部戏剧、155首十四行诗、两首长叙事诗和其他诗歌。他的戏剧有各种主要语言的译本，且表演次数远远超过其他任何戏剧家的作品。