This spring marks the 400th anniversary of the death of British playwright William Shakespeare. His plays have had a major influence on the world's literature and drama. That influence is shown in a new exhibit at Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.
今年春天迎来了英国剧作家威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）逝世400周年。他的剧本对世界文学和戏剧都产生了重大影响。这种影响在华盛顿特区福尔杰·莎士比亚图书馆一场新的展览上得到了展现。
Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon, about 160 kilometers from London.
莎士比亚于1564年生于埃文河畔的斯特拉特福，距离伦敦大约160公里。。
People all around the world still read his plays. His works have been translated into hundreds of languages.
世界各地的人们仍在读他的剧本，他的作品已经被翻译成数百种语言。
Georgianna Ziegler organized the exhibit at the library. She explained that immigrants to America brought Shakespeare's writings with them to their new home. One of the pieces in the exhibit is a list of the books one immigrant brought with him.
乔治亚娜·齐格勒（Georgianna Ziegler）组织了图书馆的这场展览。她解释说，到美国来的移民把莎士比亚的作品带到了他们的新家。展览作品之一就是某位移民所携带书籍的清单。
"He came over to this country around 1650 and he brought with him a copy of Shakespeare's Second Folio and that is one of the earliest references to a Shakespeare edition actually coming into the New World. People had Shakespeare in their houses when they crossed the country as they moved West with the Gold Rush and so on. They often had a copy of the Bible and of Shakespeare."
“这位移民在1650年左右来到美国，他带着莎士比亚的《第二对开本》的抄本，这是莎士比亚作品集真正进入美洲大陆的最早文献之一。人们在西部淘金热穿越美国时家里就有莎士比亚作品集。他们通常带着圣经和莎士比亚作品的抄本。”
The exhibit shows portraits, photos, videos and costumes of famous actors who have played Shakespearean characters. The exhibit also has copies of his works published in different languages.
这次展览展出了曾经扮演过莎士比亚作品角色的著名演员的画像、照片、视频以及服装。该展览还展出了以不同语言出版的莎士比亚的作品。
The exhibit even has the first edition of Shakespeare's works. It is called the "First Folio.'" It is a collection of 36 of his plays, including "Hamlet," "Twelfth Night" and "The Tempest."
这次展览甚至有莎士比亚作品的第一版，它被称之为《第一对开本》。这是莎士比亚36部戏剧的作品集，其中包括《哈姆雷特》、《第十二夜》以及《暴风雨》。
Experts believe Shakespeare became interested in theater when he was a young man. He decided to try acting in London. They say this experience helped him improve his plays. Experts say that by the time Shakespeare was 30 years old, his plays were being produced.
专家认为莎士比亚年轻时开始对剧场感兴趣。他决定在伦敦尝试表演。他们说，这样的经历帮助他提高了他的剧本。专家称，到莎士比亚30岁的时候，他的作品开始上演。
Ziegler said that people like Shakespeare's plays because the characters in them show real human emotions.
齐格勒表示，人们喜欢莎士比亚的戏剧，因为其中的角色展示了真实的人类情感。
"There's something basically human about Hamlet, who has problems -- he's a student and has problems making up his mind. Romeo and Juliet, who are young lovers and they don't quite know how to get ahead with their lives. And they disagree with their parents. There are all these stories that Shakespeare tells and creates these individuals who, when you take them out of the Renaissance period, really speak to almost any time and place."
“存在诸多问题的哈姆雷特有着一些基本人性。他是一个学生，性格多疑。罗密欧和朱丽叶是一对年轻情侣，他们不太知道如何超越他们的生活，他们也不认同自己的父母。这就是莎士比亚讲述和创作的故事，当你把这些人物角色从文艺复兴时期中剥离出来，他们几乎适合任何时间和地点。”
Shakespeare earned a lot of money from his works. He became a land owner and one of the owners of the Globe Theater. A copy of the theatre has been built in London.
莎士比亚从他的作品中赚到了很多钱。他成为了一个地主，也成为了环球剧院的老板之一。该剧场的仿造品已经在伦敦建成。
Four hundred years after he died, his plays are still performed in theaters all over the world -- more than those of any other playwright.
在他去世四百年后，他的戏剧仍然在世界各地的剧场表演，超过了任何其他剧作家。
I'm Ashley Thompson.
我是阿什利·汤普森。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)