我大学时曾以25块钱买了一套朱生豪翻译的莎士比亚全集，我到现在还认为这很值。现在这套书放在北京我父母的家里。恐怕多年没有人碰了，而当年我曾将我喜欢的几部看了好几遍，至今还记忆犹新。记得当我心情好时我爱看亨利四世，而当我心情很差的时候我爱读哈姆雷特。虽然有人评论说朱生豪的译文和原著相差甚远，但说实在的，能翻译成如此就很好， 起码形似了。比起如今那些几乎和机器翻译没什么区别的翻译作品来比，可以说是精品了。
诗歌是不能翻译的，如果我只看过国人翻译的惠特曼的草叶集， 我是无法想象惠特曼的诗为什么会在美国诗坛享有如此声誉。对于那些喜好诗歌而又很挑剔的人，学习洋文是唯一的途径。
很多年前，我也曾尝试读莎士比亚的原作，但可惜发现我的英文功力不足以理解和欣赏莎士比亚， 所以在把那段最有名的“to be or not to be" 看明白后， 就再也没去尝试。
最近我找到了1989年版的亨利五世， 看后我感到要想欣赏莎士比亚还正是要到剧场，一个好的演员就像一个好乐师一样，把大师的作品表达出来，从而感染观众。而观众所能体会的则远比自己去读这些作品要深的多。这也许就是艺术的魅力吧。起码我在听这段台词是很感动的。
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
