Unit Nine  Hamlet

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Session 3

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Act III, Scene I

1 To be, or not to be, that is the question,

 Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

5 And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep;

 No more; and by a sleep to say we end

 The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

 That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation

 Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep.

10 To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;

 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

 Must give us pause. There’s the respect

 That makes calamity of so long life;

15 For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

 Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

 The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,

 The insolence of office, and the spurns

 That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,

20 When he himself might his quietus make

 With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

 To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

 But that the dread of something after death,

 The undiscovered country from whose bourn

25 No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

 And makes us rather bear those ills we have

 Than fly to others that we know not of?

 Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

 And thus the native hue of resolution

30 Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

 And enterprises of great pith and moment

 With this regard their currents turn away,

 And lose the name of action.

Glossary

perchance /pə'tʃɑːns/ adv. 偶然；可能

scorn /skɔːn/ n. 轻蔑；嘲笑

contumely /'kɔntju:mili/ n. 侮辱；无礼；傲慢

pang /pæŋ/ n. （肉体上）剧痛；苦闷（精神上）一阵极度的痛苦

spurn /spɜːn/ n. 藐视；摒弃；踢开

quietus /kwaɪ'iːtəs/ n. 偿清；生命的终止

fardels /'fɑːd(ə)l/ n. 负担

grunt /grʌnt/ n. 呻吟；咕哝

bourn /bɔːn/ n. 界限

conscience /'kɒnʃ(ə)ns/ n. 思考；良心

pith /pɪθ/ n. 精髓；核心