来自莎士比亚作品的十个常用短语（2）

　　How Shakespeare used it:

　　In Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy, "ay, there's the rub" is the tormented prince's acknowledgement that death may not end his difficulties because the dead may perhaps still be troubled by dreams. (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)

　　莎士比亚原文：在《哈姆雷特》那句著名的“生存或者死亡”独白中，“唉，这就是问题所在”表示饱受折磨的王子认识到，死亡并不能结束他的痛苦，因为死人可能仍然会被梦境困扰。(《哈姆雷特》，第3幕第1场)

　　现代例句：

　　"There's the rub. What does a progressive institution like Smith [College] do when Barbara decides to become Bert? It's a problem." — Roger Kimball, The New Criterion, May 2005

　　7. Cruel to Be Kind: 要想善良，必先残忍;忠言逆耳

　　How Shakespeare used it:

　　"I must be cruel only to be kind; / Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind," says the tormented Hamlet. He has just mistakenly killed Polonius, and it's clear that he doesn't know how bad things are going to get. (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4)

　　饱受折磨的哈姆雷特说：“要想善良，必先残忍，坏事开了头，更糟糕的还在后面。”他刚刚误杀了波洛尼厄斯，而且很明显他根本不知道事情会糟糕到什么程度。(《哈姆雷特》，第3幕第4场)

　　现代例句：

　　"The government has portrayed the cull [of 400 kangaroos] as a necessary case of being cruel to be kind, but the international focus has been mostly on the cruelty." — Tim Johnston, New York Times, Mar. 14, 2008

　　8. Wild Goose Chase: 复杂又无果的追寻或搜索;徒劳无果

　　How Shakespeare used it:

　　In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio likens the rapid exchange of jokes between Romeo and himself to the cross-country horse race of Shakespeare's time, known as the wild goose chase, in which any number of riders tried to keep up with and accurately follow the lead rider's course:

　　"Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou / hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I / have in my whole five." (Act 2, Scene 4)

　　莎士比亚原文：在《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中，马库修将他和罗密欧之间机智的笑话比拼比做莎士比亚时期的跨境赛马，即“追野鹅”，比赛中所有骑手都要尽力追上并精准跟随在骑手领袖的阵型中：“不行啊，如果咱们俩的智商比拼像追野鹅那样的话，我就完蛋了，因为你任何一个智慧阵型中的野鹅都比我全部5个阵型里的多。”(第2幕第4场)

　　现代例句：

　　"Seriously just went on a wild goose chase for a place to study. Everything is packed so I found an empty classroom in the math building." — TheHeartquake on Twitter, May 11, 2009

　　9. Dogs of War: 战争的恐惧之处

　　How Shakespeare used it:

　　In Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, a grief-stricken Mark Antony predicts that the instability following Caesar's murder will result in civil war: "Cry 'havoc!' And let slip the dogs of war!"

　　("Cry havoc" was the military order for soldiers to seize plunder from an enemy.)

　　莎士比亚原文：在《凯撒大帝》第3幕第1场中，悲伤过度的马克•安东尼预言称，凯撒大帝被谋杀后的不稳定局势会导致内战：“下令抢劫!让战争的恐惧溜走吧!”(Cry havoc是军队中的命令用语，指下令让士兵从敌人手中抢掠。)

　　现代例句：

　　"If you doubt that Obama is about to let slip the dogs of war, you need only look back at what he said as a long-shot presidential hopeful in a controversial August 2007 foreign policy speech." — James Gordon Meek, New York Daily News, May 10, 2010

　　10. Strange Bedfellows: 不可能结盟的两个人;同床异梦

　　How Shakespeare used it:

　　When Trinculo seeks shelter from a storm under the cloak of a creature he's very unsure about – he wonders if it's a man or a fish – he comments "misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows." (The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 2)

　　莎士比亚原文：特林鸠罗在一个他不知为何物的生物的斗篷下躲避暴风雨时，他不知道那是个人还是条鱼，他说：“处于悲惨境地，人可以跟任何东西结成联盟。”(《暴风雨》，第2幕第2场)

　　现代例句：

　　"But there's another key reason Philip Morris lobbied hard for FDA regulation, aligning itself with strange bedfellows like the Campaign for Smoke-Free Kids [and] the American Lung Association ..." — Kate Pickert, Time, June 12, 2009