莎士比亚逝世400周年

 This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, which is marked with celebrations, performances, lectures and discussions all around the globe.

An event organized by the British Council, China Radio International NewsPlusRadio & Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press has been held at the China Millennium¹ Monument in Beijing to launch Shakespeare's Folio In Translation.

Carma Elliot, Director of the British Council in China says the book launch has been eagerly anticipated.

"The folio contains a complete translation of Shakespeare's works in 39 volumes, containing 12 tragedies, 14 comedies, 10 histories, with 2 plays which were not in the First Folio, poems and sonnets³. It has been translated by some of the most eminent⁴ translators in China, and we know that it will play an important part in the ongoing⁵ conversation about Shakespeare this year."

莎士比亚逝世400周年

Shakespeare Lives is a major global programme for 2016, celebrating Shakespeare's works and his influence on culture, education and the global society.

The program will run in more than 70 countries, led by the British Council and the "GREAT Britain" campaign.

Carma Elliot says this programme aims to enhance cultural, educational and economic exchanges.

"It's something very close to our hearts in the British Council, as 2016 marks a year-long programme called Shakespeare Lives here in China and around the world, which is an innovative⁶ showcase of the UK's rich cultural heritage and contemporary UK creativity in China. This year will be an incredible opportunity for millions of people of all ages in China to actively⁷ experience Shakespeare's works through brand new productions of his plays, through film, music, public talks, educational resources and online. The programme is sparking cultural, educational and economic exchange, through the shared language and shared love of Shakespeare."

Shakespeare played a critical role in shaping the modern English language and helping⁸ to make it the world's language.

Three thousand new words and phrases all first appeared in print in Shakespeare's plays.

Many famed Chinese scholars such as Zhu Shenghao and Liang Shiqiu devoted⁹ their whole lives to translating Shakespeare's works.

Professpr Gu Zhengkun of Peking University, Chief Editor of the Chinese version of William Shakespeare: Complete Works, elaborates on the differences of this new edition of translation compared to previous ones.

"The most outstanding feature of this version of translation is that it translates Shakespeare's poems in the form of poems and prose in the form of prose. We all know poetry is the crown of literature. Shakespeare is a poet before he is a playwright¹⁰. The project is also a proof that the Chinese reading public has reached a turning point in appreciating Shakespeare's works. That is from the level of enjoying them as merely vernacular¹¹ dialogues and stories to the level of appreciating them as elegant poetic¹² creations."

Nick Marchand, Director of Arts and Creative Industries of the British Council in China, also highlights the role of translation in distributing Shakespeare's works in China.

"Shakespeare's has been translated into over 100 languages already. I suppose if we think about the arts, the act of translation occurs every time and presented in many forms. Think about it. Shakespeare, even though he's been dead for four hundred years, we have one thousand film credits to his name as well. The active translation is continuous. I think what is particularly special is that four hundred years later we have come here together with passion to share that experience of Shakespeare."

Beside language, one of the most notable legacies¹³ of Shakespeare is his capacity to educate.

Deng Zhulang, a reader who has come all the way from Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province to Beijing, shares his experience with Shakespeare's works.

"I get to know Shakespeare by a sentence familiar to many people: 'To be, or not to be, that is the question'. I wondered many times in my life and found this sentence very magical. When we try to do something, we should think before we act. And when I read his poem the Sonnet² 18, I realize he expresses something deep about love, about life. So I really want to know more about Shakespeare. "

Thanks to the Bard's supreme¹⁴ ability to capture the essence of the human condition, Shakespeare's work is as vital and relevant today as it was 400 years ago.

As one of his contemporaries Ben Jonson wrote, Shakespeare is not of an age, but for all time.

For CRI, this is Yu Yang.

1 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

2 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

3 sonnets   

n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Keats' reputation as a great poet rests largely upon the odes and the later sonnets. 作为一个伟大的诗人，济慈的声誉大部分建立在他写的长诗和后期的十四行诗上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He referred to the manuscript circulation of the sonnets. 他谈到了十四行诗手稿的流行情况。 来自辞典例句

4 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

10 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

11 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

12 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

13 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。