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A group of youths sneak into the woods, where they take mind-altering substances,
趁着月色，一群年轻人悄悄溜进树林，在那里，他们服下迷魂剂，
switch it up romantically, and brush up against creatures from another dimension.
离奇地移情换爱，并意外碰到来自另一个世界的生灵。
"A Midsummer's Night's Dream" sees Shakespeare get psychedelic -- and the result is a treat in the theatre and on the page.
《仲夏夜之梦》呈现出莎士比亚的迷幻--为读者和观者带来一场美妙的视觉盛宴。
First performed in the 1590's, this play is one of Shakespeare's friskiest works, filled with trickery, madness and magic.
该剧于16世纪90年代首次上演，是莎士比亚最喧闹的作品之一，充满了诡计、疯狂和魔力。
Set over the course of one night, Midsummer progresses at a rollicking pace.
《仲夏夜之梦》设定在一个夜晚，整部剧在欢快的节奏中进行。
The plot is structured around patterns of collision and dissolution,
情节按冲突与瓦解的模式构造，
where characters from different worlds are thrown together and torn apart.
来自不同世界的角色相遇相识、分离分裂。
Shakespeare uses these patterns to mock the characters' self-obsession and question authority with a comic twist.
莎士比亚用这些模式讽刺角色的自恋，并用一个喜剧性转折质疑权威。
The action is set in Ancient Greece, but like many of Shakespeare's plays it reflects his contemporary concerns.
故事发生于古希腊，但和莎士比亚的众多戏剧一样，它反映出作者对现实的担忧。
The magical setting of the woods at night disrupts the boundaries between separate groups, with bizarre results.
夜间森林的魔法环境，打破族群间界限，产生离奇效应。
Here, the bard plays with the rigid class system of his own time,
在剧中，诗人拿当时的刻板等级制度大做文章，
taking three distinct groups and turning their society upside-down in a world where no mortal is in control.
将三个不同族群带入一个凡人无法控制的世界里，在那里他们的等级社会被彻底颠覆。
The play opens with young Hermia raging at her father Egeus and Theseus, the King of Athens, who have forbidden her to marry her lover Lysander.
戏剧一开场，年轻的赫米娅因为父亲伊吉斯和雅典大公忒修斯阻挠她嫁给心上人拉山德而大发雷霆。
Hermia has no interest in her father's choice for her of Demetrius -- but her best friend Helena definitely does.
赫米娅对父亲选定的狄米特律斯毫无兴趣--但她最好的朋友海伦娜却钟情于他。
Furious at their elders, Hermia and Lysander elope under cover of darkness, with Demetrius in hot pursuit.
由于对长辈不满，赫米娅和拉山德趁着夜色私奔，狄米特律斯也紧追过来。
This is further complicated by Helena's decision to follow them all into the woods, in the hope of winning Demetrius' heart.
事情变得愈发复杂，因为海伦娜决定跟踪他们到树林，希望以此赢得德米特吕斯的欢心。
At this point, the woods are getting crowded, as the lovers are sharing the space with a group of "rude mechanicals"
这时树林拥挤起来，因为还有一群“粗鲁的工人”正在和情侣们共享这一空间
a troupe of workers drunkenly rehearsing a play, led by the jovial Nick Bottom.
开朗的尼克·波顿正领着一群醉醺醺的工人排练戏剧。
Unbeknownst to them, the humans have entered into the world of the fairies.
他们这些人类还不知道自己已经闯入了精灵世界。
Despite their magical splendor, Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, have their own romantic problems.
即便有迷人的光彩，奥布朗和提泰妮娅，精灵世界的仙王和仙后，也有自己的爱情难题。
Furious at his inability to control Titania, the jealous Oberon commands the trickster Puck to squeeze the juice of a magical flower over her eyes.
因为无法控制提泰妮娅，生性妒忌的奥布朗震怒不已，命令小淘气帕克将一种魔法花的汁液滴在仙后的眼皮上。
When she wakes up, she'll fall in love with the first thing she sees.
当她醒来时，就会爱上第一眼看到的人或物。
On his mission, Puck gleefully sprinkles the juice over the eyes of the napping Demetrius and Lysander,
执行任务时，帕克顺便恶作剧地在把汁液滴在了打盹的狄米特律斯和拉山德眼皮上，
and transforms Bottom's head into that of a donkey for good measure.
又把波顿的头变成驴头。
As eyes flicker open, a night of chaos commences that includes broken hearts, mistaken identity, and transformations.
当所有人的眼睛眨动着睁开，一个混合着心碎、错认、变身的混乱夜晚开始了。
Out of all the characters, Bottom probably fares the best -- when the bewitched Titania lays eyes on him,
在所有角色中，波顿的境遇也许最好的--中了魔法的提泰妮娅一看到他，
she calls on her fairies to lavish him with wine and treasures and sweeps the transfigured donkeyman off his feet:
就召唤精灵重赏他美酒和珍宝，把这个变身驴人迷的神魂颠倒：
"pluck the wings from painted butterflies. To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies."
“摘下蝴蝶斑斓的彩色翅膀，扇去他睡眼上的莹莹月光。小精灵们，来，给他鞠躬。”
While magic is the catalyst to the action, the play reflects the real drama of the things we do for love
虽然魔法推动了情节发生，但这部剧却真实展示出我们为了爱情做的事，
and the nonsensical behavior of the people under its spell.
还有中了爱情魔咒后的荒谬举止。
The moon overlooks the action "like a silver bow," signifying erratic behavior, the dark side of love,
月亮在天上俯瞰一切，“如同一弯银弓，”寓意古怪的行为，爱情的黑暗面，
and the bewitching allure of a world where the usual rules don't apply.
以及一个秩序颠倒的世界带来的致命诱惑。
Although the characters eventually come to their senses,
尽管角色最终都恢复理智，
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" raises the question of how much agency we have over our own daily lives.
《仲夏夜之梦》却引出一个问题：我们对自己的日常生活有多少控制权？
But it's not the more realistically rendered lovers, rulers or workers who have the last word,
不是更为真实的角色，恋人、统治者或者工人说出了结束语，
but the impish Puck who queries whether we can ever truly trust what we see:
而是小淘气帕克问我们是否能深信自己看到的：
If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended: That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear.
“若我们精灵有所得罪，只要这么想，一切好解决：您不过在这儿打了个瞌睡，当这些幻象如实显现。”
And in so doing, he evokes the effect of entering into the magical world of great theatre
如此一来，他制造出一种效果，让人感觉进入了大剧院里的魔法世界，
that plays with the boundary between illusion and reality -- and dramatizes the possibility that life is but a dream.
那个世界玩弄虚实之间的界限--戏剧化地展现人生可能只是一场梦。
