王子复仇记-8

The king suggested that Laertes should use a sharp sword with poison on the tip of it. Such a sword was very dangerous, so, of course, it was not allowed in a friendly fight. If Laertes struck Hamlet hard with the sword, he would be killed within a few minutes. Laertes was so good at fencing that the king was sure that he would kill Hamlet during the match. The king intended to have Hamlet use a blunt sword. However, in case Hamlet should win the contest, he prepared a glass of poisoned wine. He was going to offer it to Hamlet, pretending to admire his victory. He hoped Hamlet would drink it and die.

One of the king's men came to Hamlet to tell him about the contest between Hamlet and Laertes the next day. He accepted the proposal at once, as he thought it was just a friendly contest.

The next day a number of people came to the hall where the contest was to be held. They had been  looking forward to seeing the contest between the two young men. The king and queen sat at the table on which the glass of poisoned wine had been placed.

Before the contest, Hamlet asked Laertes to forgive him for killing his father by accident. They shook hands with each other. At first Hamlet seemed to be winning. He fought more skillfully than Laertes, but both of them seemed to become very tired. The king said, "Stop the fight. Have a rest for a while." They stopped fighting. All the people watching gave them a big hand. Hamlet's mother was very glad to see how strong her son was. Claudius offered the glass of the poisoned wine to Hamlet, saying, "Have a drink, Hamlet."

"No, thank you. I will drink it after the contest," said Hamlet. After a short while, they began to fight again.

This time Laertes seemed to fight better and at last he struck Hamlet slightly on the shoulder with his sharp sword. Seeing this, the queen became very excited. She felt so thirsty that she picked up the poisoned glass of wine from the table and drank half of it. The king was too absorbed in watching the fight to notice her drinking the poisoned wine. To his deep regret, he had not said anything to her about the poisoned wine.

During the second half of the fight, the two men dropped their swords and each man happened to pick up the other man's sword. Soon Hamlet gave Laertes a deadly blow with the poisoned sword. No sooner had Laertes fallen to the floor than the queen fell from her chair, crying,  "I have been poisoned! The wine was poisoned! The poisoned drink! Oh, my dear Hamlet!" Gertrude soon lay dead. Laertes was still alive, though he was mortally wounded.

He cried, "The king planned everything. He is responsible for this unfair sword contest and the poisoned wine. He is to blame. I am very sorry, Hamlet." Soon after saying this, he died.

Hamlet now knew about Claudius's evil plan. He also realized that his own life was slipping away because of the poisoned sword. With the last ounce of his strength, Hamlet rushed to the king and struck him with the poisoned sword, saying, "You wicked man!You are sure to go to hell." He also forced the king to drink the rest of the poisoned wine. At last he carried out his promise to his father's ghost.

Hamlet was barely able to breathe. Then he became aware that Horatio was trying to kill himself with his own sword. Horatio wanted to join the prince in death.

"Stop it, Horatio! Listen! You must live to tell this sad story to the world," cried Hamlet gaspingly.

Horatio threw away the sword when he heard the last words of Hamlet and said, "Yes, Hamlet. I will, my dear Prince of Denmark."

He firmly promised that he would tell the true story of Hamlet to the world. As soon as Hamlet heard these words from Horatio, he felt happy and his noble heart stopped beating. Everyone present at this terrible scene prayed to God that Hamlet might rest in peace.

国王建议莱尔提斯使用一把尖端涂有剧毒的利剑。这种剑相当危险，因此友谊赛中当然是不可以使用这种剑的。如果莱尔提斯用这种剑把哈姆雷特杀成重伤，那幺他在几分钟之内就会丧命。莱尔提斯是一位剑术高手，因此国王相信他一定能在比赛中杀死哈姆雷特。国王想让哈姆雷特使用一把钝剑。然而，万一哈姆雷特赢了这场比赛，国王已准备了一杯毒酒。他会假装庆贺哈姆雷特的胜利，把这杯毒酒赐给他。国王希望哈姆雷特喝了这杯酒后就死去。

国王的一位手下来见哈姆雷特，告诉他关于隔天他和莱尔提斯之间的比赛。哈姆雷特立刻接受这个提议，因为他认为那只是一场友谊赛而已。

隔天一群人来到即将举行比赛的大厅。他们一直期望能欣赏到这两位年轻人的比赛。国王和皇后坐在放有那杯毒酒的这一桌。

比赛开始之前，哈姆雷特为意外杀死莱尔提斯的父亲，请求莱尔提斯原谅他。他们彼此互相握手。起初，哈姆雷特似乎会打赢。他的剑术比莱尔提斯更加高明，但他们两人似乎都显得非常疲累。国王开口说：『比赛暂停，休息一会儿。』他们便停止打斗。所有在场观看的人都对他们两人报以热烈的掌声。哈姆雷特的母亲看到她儿子如此地强壮，感到非常高兴。克劳迪斯赐给哈姆雷特那杯毒酒说：『喝杯酒吧，哈姆雷特。』

『不必了，多谢。比赛结束后我再喝。』哈姆雷特说。片刻之后，他们又开始比赛。

这一次莱尔提斯似乎表现得比较好，最后他用利剑轻微地刺伤哈姆雷特的肩膀。皇后看到这一幕显得很激动。她觉得很口渴因此顺手拿起桌上的毒酒喝了半杯。国王太专注观看这场比赛了，所以没有注意到她喝了那杯毒酒。令国王深感后悔的是，他没有把关于毒酒的事告诉她。

在下半场的比赛中，两个人的剑都掉在地上，而碰巧的是他们各自都捡到对方的剑。不久哈姆雷特用这把毒剑给莱尔提斯致命的一击。莱尔提斯

一被刺倒在地上，皇后同时也从椅子上跌倒在地，大叫说：『我中毒了！这酒有毒！是杯毒酒！啊！我亲爱的哈姆雷特！』葛楚德很快就倒在地上死了。莱尔提斯虽然受了致命的剑伤，但他仍然活着。

莱尔提斯叫着说：『这一切都是国王的计谋。他必须为这场不公平的剑击比赛和这杯毒酒负责。他应该受到责罚。我感到非常抱歉，哈姆雷特。』说完这些话不久他就死了。

哈姆雷特如今已经知道克劳迪斯恶毒的计谋，他也知道由于这把毒剑他的生命即将结束。哈姆雷特用尽最后的一点力气，冲向国王用这把毒剑刺杀他，并说：『你这个恶毒的人！你一定会下地狱。』他也逼国王喝下剩余的毒酒。终于他实现对父亲的鬼魂所做的承诺。

哈姆雷特快要断气了。接着他知道荷瑞修企图用自己的剑自杀。荷瑞修想追随王子而死。

『住手，荷瑞修！听着！你必须活着把这个悲惨的故事告诉全世界的人。』哈姆雷特喘息地叫说。

当荷瑞修听到哈姆雷特说的最后一句话时，便把剑丢掉说：『好的，哈姆雷特。我会的，我亲爱的丹麦王子。』

他坚定地承诺一定会将哈姆雷特的真实故事告诉世人。哈姆雷特听到荷瑞修说的话，感到很欣慰，他那颗高贵的心也停止跳动了。每一个目睹此一悲惨情景的人都向上帝祷告，祈求哈姆雷特能得到安息。