要在所有知名英語作家中選壹個,最出名的大概是威廉沙士比亞.
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 on April the 23rd. His father was an important man in town so Shakespeare had a good upbringing.
1564年4月23日他出生在斯特拉斯福德（Stratford-upon-Avon）。他的父親是小鎮的重要人物因而沙士比亞得到了良好的教養.
Shakespeare probably went to school (although no records survive to prove this) but not university. He got married when he was 18 to Anne Hathaway and the couple had 3 children.
沙士比亞可能進過學校(盡管沒有現存檔案來證明)不過並不是大學.當他18歲時他和Anne Hathaway結婚並生下了3個孩子.
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets (a sonnet is a kind of poem). He began working in his home town of Stratford but by 1592 was writing in London. He became rich enough to buy a house in the capital and one in Stratford.
沙翁寫了38部戲劇和154首14行詩(14行詩是詩歌的壹種).他在他的家鄉Stratford小鎮開始工作,直到1592年他去倫敦寫作.他變得富有,並能夠在首都和Stratford各買了壹座房子.
He wrote sad stories called tragedies, like Romeo and Juliet, funny stories or comedies, romantic stories and stories about historical figures such as Julius Caesar.
他寫的傷感的故事被稱做悲劇,如羅密歐與朱利葉,好笑的故事或稱做戲劇,還有浪漫的故事和關於歷史人物的故事如凱撒.
Shakespeare died on his birthday in 1616, almost 400 years ago. But why is his work still popular today?
沙翁在1616年他的生日那天逝世,至今已近400年了.但是為什麽他的作品在今天依然流行呢?
His work looked at common human themes, such as betrayal, murder, lust, power, ambition and love. These themes are as much a part of human nature today as they were all those years ago and are the themes we see in modern soap operas and Hollywood films. Even though his theatre, The Globe, burned down in 1613 it was rebuilt in London in 1997 and you can still see his plays performed there today.
他的作品關註的是普通的人性主題,像出賣,謀殺,欲望,權力,野心和愛情.今天這些主題做為人的本性的壹部分,與過去那些年代的情形是相似的,也類似於我們在現代肥皂劇和好萊屋電影中所看到的主題.盡管他的環球劇場在1613年被燒毀,1997年卻又在倫敦重建,今天妳仍可以看到他的戲劇在那裏上演.
Shakespeare's influence on the English language can still be felt today. We talk about "fair play", meaning honest behaviour but this phrase was first used by Shakespeare. He coined the phrase "you can have too much of a good thing". And it was Shakespeare who came up with the expression to disappear "into thin air" which we still use today when we lose something.
Shakespeare’s work has been translated into every major language in the world. And perhaps we'll still be as fascinated by his work 400 years from now as we've been for almost the last 400.
沙翁對英語語言的影響在今天仍能感受到.我們今天講的"fair play",意思是有誠實的行為,這個短語就是沙翁首次使用的.他杜撰了"you can have too much of a good thing"著個短語.還有如沙翁提出的"to disappear into thin air"(消失得無影無蹤)這樣的表達,今天當我們丟東西的時候仍會用到它.
沙翁的作品被翻譯成世界上所有的主要語言.並且我們可能壹直會對他的400年前的作品著迷,就像400年以來那樣.