莎士比亞《李爾王》簡介
英文來源：SpakNotes
中文翻譯：陳宇佑、談玉儀
Plot Overview: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/summary.html
Lear, the aging king of Britain, decides to step down from the throne and divide his kingdom evenly among his three daughters. First, however, he puts his daughters through a test, asking each to tell him how much she loves him. Goneril and Regan, Lear’s older daughters, give their father flattering answers. But Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and favorite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has no words to describe how much she loves her father. Lear flies into a rage and disowns Cordelia. The king of France, who has courted Cordelia, says that he still wants to marry her even without her land, and she accompanies him to France without her father’s blessing.
年老的英國國王李爾王，決定退出王位，將王國版圖平均劃分給三個女兒。首先，他測試他的女兒，請求其中每一位告訴他她們多麼愛慕他。李爾王的兩位長女貢內瑞兒和蕾根，皆以恭維答覆諂媚父親，贏得歡心，但國王的最年輕且最鍾愛的女兒可多利雅卻保持沈默，表示她沒有話語可適切地表達她對父親的愛意。李爾王勃然大怒並聲明要和可多利雅斷絕父女關係。此時，曾向可多利雅求婚的法國國王說他仍然想要娶她，即便沒有她的土地作為嫁妝，於是，在沒有父親的祝福之下，她伴隨著法國國王到了法國。
Lear quickly learns that he made a bad decision. Goneril and Regan swiftly begin to undermine the little authority that Lear still holds. Unable to believe that his beloved daughters are betraying him, Lear slowly goes insane. He flees his daughters’ houses to wander on a heath during a great thunderstorm, accompanied by his Fool and by Kent, a loyal nobleman in disguise.
李爾王即刻了解到他做出了個失策的決定，因為兩位女兒貢內瑞兒和蕾根早就迅速地暗自破壞李爾王僅有的權力，李爾王萬萬沒想到他心愛的女兒居然背叛他，因而逐漸地地瘋了。他逃出女兒的城堡，徘徊在雷雨交加的荒地上，只有弄臣及喬裝的忠誠伯爵肯特，一路伴隨著李爾王渡過險境。
Meanwhile, an elderly nobleman named Gloucester also experiences family problems. His illegitimate son, Edmund, tricks him into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Fleeing the manhunt that his father has set for him, Edgar disguises himself as a crazy beggar and calls himself “Poor Tom.” Like Lear, he heads out onto the heath.
同時，副線故事敘述年長的貴族格洛斯特，也歷經了相同的家庭問題。他的私生子艾德蒙欺騙他，使他相信他合法的兒子愛德加企圖殺害他。愛德加開始逃離他父親的追捕，偽裝成發瘋的乞丐，稱自己是「可憐的湯姆」。他與李爾王遭遇相似的窘境，也逃向荒地。
When the loyal Gloucester realizes that Lear’s daughters have turned against their father, he decides to help Lear in spite of the danger. Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside. He ends up being led by his disguised son, Edgar, toward the city of Dover, where Lear has also been brought.
當忠誠的格洛斯特意識到李爾王的女兒反抗他們的父親，即使自身已陷入險境之中，仍然決定助李爾王一臂之力，不幸卻被蕾根和她的丈夫孔沃爾發現，遂以謀反之罪名逐出，流浪於鄉間之中，在都佛巧遇喬裝乞丐的兒子愛德加而得到幫助，同時，李爾王也來到都佛。
In Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father. Edmund apparently becomes romantically entangled with both Goneril and Regan, whose husband, Albany, is increasingly sympathetic to Lear’s cause. Goneril and Edmund conspire to kill Albany.
在都佛，可多利雅帶領法國軍隊登陸英國，企圖拯救她的父親。 艾德蒙明顯地沉浸於與貢內瑞兒和蕾根的三角愛情糾纏之中，而貢內瑞兒的丈夫阿爾巴尼越來越同情李爾王的境遇，因此惹來其妻貢內瑞兒與艾德蒙私下密謀殺害他的危機。
The despairing Gloucester tries to commit suicide, but Edgar saves him by pulling the strange trick of leading him off an imaginary cliff. Meanwhile, the English troops reach Dover, and the English, led by Edmund, defeat the Cordelia-led French. Lear and Cordelia are captured.
In the climactic scene, Edgar duels with and kills Edmund; we learn of the death of Gloucester; Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy over Edmund and then kills herself when her treachery is revealed to Albany; Edmund’s betrayal of Cordelia leads to her needless execution in prison; and Lear finally dies out of grief at Cordelia’s passing. Albany, Edgar, and the elderly Kent are left to take care of the country under a cloud of sorrow and regret.
失志的格洛斯特試圖要自殺，但兒子愛德加以智力將他從想像的峭壁中拯救下來。同時，英國軍隊抵達都佛，在艾德蒙親自率領之下，擊潰可多利雅所帶領的法國軍隊，李爾王和可多利雅都淪為浮虜。
全劇在高潮迭起的場景中結束：愛德加與兄弟艾德蒙決鬥，並殺死了艾德蒙為父報仇;兩兄弟的父親知格洛斯特也身亡;貢內瑞兒則因忌妒蕾根與艾德蒙之間的戀情而殺了妹妹，但當其夫阿爾巴尼發現她與艾德蒙之間不可告人的姦情時，她便自殺了;艾德蒙背叛可多利雅，將她私下處死;李爾王最後也因愛女可多利雅死亡而哀傷致死。只剩下阿爾巴尼、愛德加和年長的肯特伯爵，他們在哀痛和遺憾之餘，還得繼續地關注國家的未來。
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