王子复仇记(b)

The bell of the castle was ringing. It was exactly midnight. Suddenly a ghost in the form of the late king appeared in the darkness. It looked pale and sad. Looking at the ghost, the two guards of the castle and Horatio, Hamlet's best friend, were surprised and terrified. They wondered if something bad was going to happen in Denmark. They decided to tell their prince what they had seen.

The next day they went to Hamlet and told him that they had seen the ghost of the late king. Hamlet doubted it at first, but wanted to make sure himself. He asked them to take him to see the ghost that night. They agreed.

Late at night Hamlet, Horatio and one of the guards went to the top of the wall. It was very cold and dark there. Some time after they got there, the ghost in armor suddenly appeared out of the darkness. As his friends had told him, Hamlet saw that the ghost was exactly like his dead father.

He called out, "King, Father! Why did you come here out of the grave?"

The ghost did not answer him, but looked at him sadly and made a sign for him to follow. His friends did not want to let Hamlet follow the ghost because they thought it might be an evil spirit and do something bad to him. But he did follow the ghost. While Hamlet and the ghost walked away into the darkness, his friends had to wait there, anxiously worrying about his safe return.

At the end of the wall of the castle the ghost stopped and began to talk to Hamlet, "I am the ghost of your father. I wanted to rule Denmark peacefully until you grew up and became king after me. But two months ago, while I was sleeping in the beautiful garden of the castle, my brother Claudius came and put poision into my ear. I was instantly killed. Hamlet! Be brave and kill him for me. But never kill or hurt my wife, for she is your mother. Let her repent for what she has done. That is enough for her. What I have told you is true. I tell you again. I was not killed by a poisonous snake, but by my brother Claudius. Never forget what I have told you, my dear son. Good-bye, Hamlet!"

Then the ghost disappeared into the mist of the dark sky. Upon hearing this, Hamlet was even more furious with Claudius, his mother. He made up his mind to kill his uncle and let his mother repent for her sins.

Hamlet's friends were anxious about him and came to look for him. They found Hamlet kneeling down and looking up at the dark sky praying to God. Hamlet noticed them coming to him. He stood up and sincerely asked them not to tell anyone what had happened that night. They all agreed and made a firm promise not to tell anyone about it, swearing on Hamlet's sword.

That very night Hamlet decided to pretend that he had gone mad in order to have a better chance to kill Claudius. He decided not to tell his plan to any of his friends except Horatio.

城堡里的钟声响起，此刻正是午夜。突然间一个外形很像已故国王的鬼魂在暗处出现。它的脸色看起来很苍白、悲伤。城堡的两个卫兵和哈姆雷特的挚友荷瑞修看到这鬼魂时，感到非常吃惊害怕。他们怀疑是否有不祥的事会在丹麦发生。他们决定把亲眼所看到的事告诉王子。

隔天，他们去见哈姆雷特并且告诉他，他们曾看见过已故国王的鬼魂。哈姆雷特起先对这件事感到怀疑，但他想要亲自去证实这件事。他要他们当晚带他去看那个鬼魂。他们同意了。

深夜，哈姆雷特、荷瑞修和一名守卫三人来到城墙顶。那里非常寒冷、阴暗。就在他们到达后不久，这个身穿盔甲的鬼魂突然从黑暗之中出现。哈姆雷特看到这个鬼魂跟他死去的父亲简直是一模一样，就如他的朋友告诉他的。

他大声叫道：『父王啊！您为什幺离开坟墓到这里来？』

鬼魂没有回答他的话，但却很悲伤地看着他，并对他做了个手势，示意他跟着它去。哈姆雷特的朋友不想让他跟着鬼魂走，因为他们认为它可能是个邪恶的鬼魂，而且会对他不利。但是哈姆雷特仍然跟着鬼魂而去。当哈姆雷特和鬼魂离去走入黑暗之中时，他的朋友们只得在那儿焦虑地等待，并担忧他能否平安归来。

在城墙的尽头，鬼魂停下脚步，开始对哈姆雷特说：『我是你父亲的鬼魂，我本想和平地统治丹麦直到你长大成人继承我的王位。但是两个月前，当我在城堡里美丽的花园中睡觉时，我的弟弟克劳迪斯走到我身边，把毒药塞入我的一只耳朵里，我立即就被他毒死。哈姆雷特！勇敢点替我杀了他。但是绝不要杀害或伤害我的妻子，因为她是你的母亲。让她去为她所做的事忏悔，这对她来说已经够了。我所告诉你的都是事实。我再告诉你一遍，我不是被毒蛇咬死的，而是被我的弟弟克劳迪斯害死的。一定要记住我告诉你的事，我亲爱的儿子。再见了，哈姆雷特。』
然后鬼魂在雾气迷蒙的夜空中消失不见。一听到这个秘密，哈姆雷特对克劳迪斯和他的母亲更加愤恨不已。他决定要杀死他的叔叔，并让他的母亲为她的罪行忏悔。

哈姆雷特的朋友们很担心他的安危就来寻找他，他们发现哈姆雷特跪在地上，仰望着黑暗的天空向上帝祈祷。哈姆雷特注意到他们来了，便站了起来，很诚挚地要求他们不要把当晚所发生的事告诉任何人。他们全都答应了，并且对着哈姆雷特的剑发誓，许下坚定的承诺绝不把这件事告诉任何人。

就在那天晚上，哈姆雷特决定装疯，以便有更好的机会去杀克劳迪斯。除了荷瑞修之外，他决定不把他的计划告诉他的任何朋友。