BIRON
佩隆
Studies my lady? mistress, look on me;
Behold the window of my heart, mine eye,
What humble suit attends thy answer there:
Impose some service on me for thy love.
我的佳人你在想什么？望着我，望着我心灵的窗户，我的眼睛，告诉我，我怎样才能赢得你的爱，我甘愿为你效劳。
ROSALINE
Oft have I heard of you, my Lord Biron,
Before I saw you; and the world’s large tongue
Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks,
Full of comparisons and wounding flouts,
Which you on all estates will execute
That lie within the mercy of your wit.
To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain,
And therewithal to win me, if you please,
Without the which I am not to be won,
You shall this twelvemonth term from day to day
Visit the speechless sick and still converse
With groaning wretches; and your task shall be,
With all the fierce endeavor of your wit
To enforce the pained impotent to smile.
罗塞林
佩隆大人，认识你之前，我早已听闻你的大名，人们提到你，都说你极尽嘲讽之能事，挖苦人自有一套，开口不留情面，只要你灵感一来，王公大臣都得领教你的尖酸刻薄。为了把这恶习从你身上除去，也只有如此你才能赢得我的芳心，接下来一年，你必须每天去探望痛苦到说不出话的病患，去和不停呻吟的可怜人交谈。而你的任务，正是竭力抖你的机灵，把那些伤心绝望的人逗笑。
BIRON
To move wild laughter in the throat of death?
It cannot be; it is impossible:
Mirth cannot move a soul in agony.
佩隆
让那被死亡扼住的喉咙发笑？这不可能，这办不到。深陷苦难的灵魂怎会为插科打诨所动？
ROSALINE
Why, that’s the way to choke a gibing spirit,
Whose influence is begot of that loose grace
Which shallow laughing hearers give to fools:
A jest’s prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it: then, if sickly ears,
Deaf’d with the clamours of their own dear groans,
Will hear your idle scorns, continue then,
And I will have you and that fault withal;
But if they will not, throw away that spirit,
And I shall find you empty of that fault,
Right joyful of your reformation.
罗塞林
没错，但唯有这样才能改变你爱嘲讽的本性。挖苦人的蠢货之所以沾沾自喜，正是因为浅薄的听者哈哈大笑。是听者的耳朵让玩笑话受欢迎，绝非讲者的如簧巧舌。那些病人耳朵里早已塞满自己的呻吟声，要是他们愿意听你无聊的笑话，那你无需改变，我不但会接受你，就连你这缺点也一并收下。可要是他们无动于衷，那你就不要再以讽刺挖苦为乐，改掉这个毛病，我也定会欣然接受全新的你。
BIRON
A twelvemonth! well; befall what will befall,
I’ll jest a twelvemonth in an hospital.
佩隆
一整年！好，一言为定，我去给病人讲一整年笑话。
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《爱的徒劳》结尾处罗塞林和佩隆这段对话让我回味良久。罗塞林看透佩隆以什么为自己的荣耀和骄傲，尽管佩隆为自己妙语连珠而沾沾自喜，罗塞林却知道，耍嘴看似是出于顽皮的小事，实际上却反映了内心的残忍和冷漠，而她开出的“药方”也是极具智慧的釜底抽薪之策，只有拿掉让他受追捧的环境，没有了那些煽风点火的听众，他才有可能把注意力从自己的荣耀和骄傲上移开，对别人的痛苦处境略微有所体会。而佩隆在听完罗塞林一席话之后，没有挥舞自己口中的利剑，而是勇于面对自己的缺点，大方接受挑战，这是迈向成熟的一次飞跃。
我想到另外两段男女之间的对话，一个和上面类似，女人作为肋骨守护了男人的内心，保守他的脚脱离网罗；一个和上面相反，女人如同毒蛇挑起了男人的罪念，牵引他的脚走向深渊。第一个是圣经《撒母耳记上》记载亚比该求大卫饶恕拿八，她劝大卫不要凭血气行事，不要亲手报仇犯流人血的罪，只有这样才会蒙耶和华赐福，不至于心里不安觉得良心有亏。另一个是莎士比亚另一部伟大作品《麦克白》里的麦克白夫人，她怂恿犹豫不决的麦克白弑君篡位，结果麦克白从此在罪恶的泥潭里越陷越深，疑心重重，杀害无辜，结果两个人都在永恒里遭受咒诅。