by Charles
And when they were alone together, the spirit broke silence, and told him that he was the ghost of Hamlet, his father, who had been cruelly murdered, and he told the manner of it; that it was done by his own brother Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, as Hamlet had already but too much suspected…
CHARLES AND MARY LAMB
Tales from
SHAKESPEARE
INTRODUCED BY
DAME JUDI DENCH
PUFFIN
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First published 1807
Published in Puffin Books 1987
Published in Puffin Classics 1994
Reissued in this edition 2010
Introduction copyright © Dame Judi Dench, 2010
Endnotes copyright © Penguin Books, 2010
All rights reserved
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
ISBN: 978-0-14-196359-4
INTRODUCTION BY
DAME JUDI DENCH
Tales from Shakespeare is a unique anthology containing twenty of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays adapted into stories for children of all ages. It was written over two hundred years ago in 1807 and yet it has remained in print to this day. One could say that Tales from Shakespeare really has become a classic book in its own right. The beauty of this collection lies in the ability of its authors, Charles and Mary Lamb, to bring Shakespeare’s stories to life as they skilfully weave his original language into their own readable prose, capturing the richness of Shakespeare’s characters and imagery, and guiding young readers through the intricacies of his plots in a simple and easy manner.
Charles and Mary Lamb originally wrote the tales for children as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, preparing them for when they were older and able to learn about the complexities of life through the original plays. It was their wish that children be enriched by such virtues as courtesy, kindness, generosity and humanity – all of which can be found within Shakespeare’s plays, be they of fairy-tale magic, romance, humour or tragedy.
Mary Lamb wrote fourteen of the twenty stories in Tales from Shakespeare and the book opens with ‘The Tempest’ – a tale about a young woman whose destiny is in the hands of her much-adored father – and it ends with ‘Pericles, Prince of Tyre’ about a lost and broken father, brought back to the joys of life by his independent daughter. The relationship between fathers and daughters is just one of the many themes to explore. And in between these two stories there are romances and comedies – ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘Measure for Measure’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Twelfth Night’ and more – all written by Mary Lamb. Mary’s brother Charles chose to retell the tragedies: that of King Lear, driven to madness by two of his scheming daughters, Goneril and Regan, and blind to the true love of his third, youngest daughter, Cordelia; Macbeth, whose burning ambition to become king leads to a trail of bloody murders and evil witches; the tormented soul of Hamlet following the murder of his father; and the sad story of Othello, compelled by jealousy to kill his own wife.
In Tales from Shakespeare, you will find heroes and villains, heroines and deceivers, kings, queens, fairies and magic – the same ingredients that all the very best stories are made of. This is why Shakespeare has endured for hundreds of years: his themes are timeless, his characters universal and they still speak to each and every one of us.
Today, William Shakespeare is as alive as ever, thanks to organizations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company of actors, directors, writers and technicians who perform Shakespeare’s plays throughout the UK and raise awareness in schools. Nothing can compare to seeing a much-loved Shakespeare story performed live on stage. It is important for a child to see a Shakespeare production that is exciting, because a bad production will put a child off for life and they will never want to see another. I was lucky enough to see my brothers act in productions of The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth when I was a child. It is a wonderful experience for a child to see a well-acted play that tells a story. One of the best places to experience Shakespeare is at the Globe theatre on the south bank of the River Thames in London, recreated just a short way from the original Globe theatre built in 1599, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. Charles and Mary, whose retellings have inspired generations of young readers to embrace Shakespeare, would have loved it!
Contents
Preface
The Tempest
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Winter’s Tale
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like It
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Merchant of Venice
Cymbeline
King Lear
Macbeth
All’s Well That Ends Well
The Taming of the Shrew
The Comedy of Errors
Measure for Measure
Twelfth Night; or, What You Will
Timon of Athens
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Othello
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Preface
The following Tales are meant to be submitted to the young reader as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, for which purpose his words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in; and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced into our language since his time have been as far as possible avoided.
In those Tales which have been taken from the Tragedies, the young readers will perceive, when they come to see the source from which these stories are derived, that Shakespeare’s own words, with little alteration, recur very frequently in the narrative as well as in the dialogue; but in those made from the Comedies the writers found themselves scarcely ever able to turn his words into the narrative form: therefore it is feared that, in them, dialogue has been made use of too frequently for young people not accustomed to the dramatic form of writing. But this fault, if it be a fault, has been caused by an earnest wish to give as much of Shakespeare’s own words as possible: and if the ‘He said,’ and ‘She said,’ the question and the reply, should sometimes seem tedious to their young ears, they must par
don it, because it was the only way in which could be given to them a few hints and little foretastes of the great pleasure which awaits them in their elder years, when they come to the rich treasures from which these small and valueless coins are extracted; pretending to no other merit than as faint and imperfect stamps of Shakespeare’s matchless image. Faint and imperfect images they must be called, because the beauty of his language is too frequently destroyed by the necessity of changing many of his excellent words into words far less expressive of his true sense, to make it read something like prose; and even in some few places, where his blank verse is given unaltered, as hoping from its simple plainness to cheat the young reader into the belief that they are reading prose, yet still his language being transplanted from its own natural soil and wild poetic garden, it must want much of its native beauty.
It has been wished to make these Tales easy reading for very young children. To the utmost of their ability the writers have constantly kept this in mind; but the subjects of most of them made this a very difficult task. It was no easy matter to give the histories of men and women in terms familiar to the apprehension of a very young mind. For young ladies too, it has been the intention chiefly to write; because boys being generally permitted the use of their fathers’ libraries at a much earlier age than girls are, they frequently have the best scenes of Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are permitted to look into this manly book; and, therefore, instead of recommending these Tales to the perusal of young gentlemen who can read them so much better in the originals, their kind assistance is rather requested in explaining to their sisters such parts as are hardest for them to understand: and when they have helped them to get over the difficulties, then perhaps they will read to them (carefully selecting what is proper for a young sister’s ear) some passage which has pleased them in one of these stories, in the very words of the scene from which it is taken; and it is hoped they will find that the beautiful extracts, the select passages, they may choose to give their sisters in this way will be much better relished and understood from their having some notion of the general story from one of these imperfect abridgements; – which if they be fortunately so done as to prove delightful to any of the young readers, it is hoped that no worse effect will result than to make them wish themselves a little older, that they may be allowed to read the Plays at full length (such a wish will be neither peevish nor irrational). When time and leave of judicious friends shall put them into their hands, they will discover in such of them as are here abridged (not to mention almost as many more, which are left untouched) many surprising events and turns of fortune, which for their infinite variety could not be contained in this little book, besides a world of sprightly and cheerful characters, both men and women, the humour of which it was feared would be lost if it were attempted to reduce the length of them.
What these Tales shall have been to the young readers, that and much more it is the writers’ wish that the true Plays of Shakespeare may prove to them in older years – enrichers of the fancy, strengtheners of virtue, a withdrawing from all selfish and mercenary thoughts, a lesson of all sweet and honourable thoughts and actions, to teach courtesy, benignity, generosity, humanity: for of examples, teaching these virtues, his pages are full.
The Tempest
There was a certain island in the sea, the only inhabitants of which were an old man, whose name was Prospero, and his daughter Miranda, a very beautiful young lady. She came to this island so young, that she had no memory of having seen any other human face than her father’s.
They lived in a cave or cell, made out of a rock; it was divided into several apartments, one of which Prospero called his study; there he kept his books, which chiefly treated of magic, a study at that time much affected by all learned men: and the knowledge of this art he found very useful to him; for being thrown by a strange chance upon this island, which had been enchanted by a witch called Sycorax, who died there a short time before his arrival, Prospero, by virtue of his art, released many good spirits that Sycorax had imprisoned in the bodies of large trees, because they had refused to execute her wicked commands. These gentle spirits were ever after obedient to the will of Prospero. Of these Ariel was the chief.
The lively little sprite Ariel had nothing mischievous in his nature, except that he took rather too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban, for he owed him a grudge because he was the son of his old enemy Sycorax. This Caliban, Prospero found in the woods, a strange misshapen thing, far less human in form than an ape: he took him home to his cell, and taught him to speak; and Prospero would have been very kind to him, but the bad nature which Caliban inherited from his mother Sycorax, would not let him learn anything good or useful: therefore he was employed like a slave, to fetch wood, and do the most laborious offices; and Ariel had the charge of compelling him to these services.
When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work, Ariel (who was invisible to all eyes but Prospero’s) would come slyly and pinch him, and sometimes tumble him down in the mire; and then Ariel, in the likeness of an ape, would make mouths at him. Then swiftly changing his shape, in the likeness of a hedgehog, he would lie tumbling in Caliban’s way, who feared the hedgehog’s sharp quills would prick his bare feet. With a variety of such-like vexatious tricks Ariel would often torment him, whenever Caliban neglected the work which Prospero commanded him to do.
Having these powerful spirits obedient to his will, Prospero could by their means command the winds, and the waves of the sea. By his orders they raised a violent storm, in the midst of which, and struggling with the wild sea-waves that every moment threatened to swallow it up, he showed his daughter a fine large ship, which he told her was full of living beings like themselves. ‘O my dear father,’ said she, ‘if by your art you have raised this dreadful storm, have pity on their sad distress. See! the vessel will be dashed to pieces. Poor souls! they will all perish. If I had power, I would sink the sea beneath the earth, rather than the good ship should be destroyed, with all the precious souls within her.’
‘Be not so amazed, daughter Miranda,’ said Prospero; ‘there is no harm done. I have so ordered it, that no person in the ship shall receive any hurt. What I have done has been in care of you, my dear child. You are ignorant who you are, or where you came from, and you know no more of me, but that I am your father, and live in this poor cave. Can you remember a time before you came to this cell? I think you cannot for you were not then three years of age.’
‘Certainly I can, sir,’ replied Miranda.
‘By what?’ asked Prospero; ‘by any other house or person? Tell me what you can remember, my child.’
Miranda said: ‘It seems to me like the recollection of a dream. But had I not once four or five women who attended upon me?’
Prospero answered: ‘You had, and more. How is it that this still lives in your mind? Do you remember how you came here?’
‘No, sir,’ said Miranda, ‘I remember nothing more.’
‘Twelve years ago, Miranda,’ continued Prospero, ‘I was duke of Milan, and you were a princess, and my only heir. I had a younger brother, whose name was Antonio, to whom I trusted everything: and as I was fond of retirement and deep study, I commonly left the management of my state affairs to your uncle, my false brother (for so indeed he proved): I, neglecting all worldly ends, buried among my books, did dedicate my whole time to the bettering of my mind. My brother Antonio being thus in possession of my power, began to think himself the duke indeed. The opportunity I gave him of making himself popular among my subjects awakened in his bad nature a proud ambition to deprive me of my dukedom: this he soon effected with the aid of the king of Naples, a powerful prince, who was my enemy.’
‘Wherefore,’ said Miranda, ‘did they not that hour destroy us?’
‘My child,’ answered her father, ‘they durst not, so dear was the love that my people bore me. Antonio carried us on board a ship, and when we were some leagues out at sea, he forced us into a small boat, without
either tackle, sail, or mast: there he left us, as he thought, to perish. But a kind lord of my court, one Gonzalo, who loved me, had privately placed in the boat, water, provisions, apparel, and some books which I prize above my dukedom.’
‘O my father,’ said Miranda, ‘what a trouble must I have been to you then!’
‘No, my love,’ said Prospero, ‘you were a little cherub that did preserve me. Your innocent smiles made me bear up against my misfortunes. Our food lasted till we landed on this desert island, since when my chief delight has been in teaching you, Miranda, and well have you profited by my instructions.’
‘Heaven thank you, my dear father,’ said Miranda. ‘Now pray tell me, sir, your reason for raising this sea-storm?’
‘Know then,’ said her father, ‘that by means of this storm, my enemies, the king of Naples, and my cruel brother, are cast ashore upon this island.’
Having so said, Prospero gently touched his daughter with his magic wand, and she fell fast asleep; for the spirit Ariel just then presented himself before his master, to give an account of the tempest, and how he had disposed of the ship’s company, and though the spirits were always invisible to Miranda, Prospero did not choose she should hear him holding converse (as would seem to her) with the empty air.
‘Well, my brave spirit,’ said Prospero to Ariel, ‘how have you performed your task?’
Ariel gave a lively description of the storm, and of the terrors of the mariners; and how the king’s son, Ferdinand, was the first who leaped into the sea; and his father thought he saw his dear son swallowed up by the waves and lost. ‘But he is safe,’ said Ariel, ‘in a corner of the isle, sitting with his arms folded, sadly lamenting the loss of the king, his father, whom he concludes drowned. Not a hair of his head is injured, and his princely garments, though drenched in the sea-waves, look fresher than before.’
