Những tuyệt tác của Shakespeare

by E. Nesbit, Hàn Băng Vũ (Translator)

Tập hợp 20 vở kịch nổi tiếng của Shakespeare được kể lại dưới dạng truyện kể sinh động, thú vị dành cho thiếu nhi

“Tác phẩm của Shakespeare là ‘các tác phẩm phong phú nhất, thuần khiết nhất, tuyệt đẹp nhất mà một thiên tài có thể viết ra một cách không mệt mỏi’…

Chắc hẳn trong nền văn học thế giới, Shakespeare đã quen thuộc với với tất cả các hình thức hình ảnh đẹp đẽ, với tất cả những gì ngọt ngào hoặc hùng vĩ trong những khía cạnh đơn giản của thiên nhiên, của tình yêu không thể phá hủy đối với hoa và hương thơm, sương và nước trong vắt, không khí và âm thanh êm dịu, bầu trời trong sáng và sự tĩnh lặng nơi rừng sâu, ánh trăng sáng dưới những lùm cây – những yếu tố hữu hình của thơ ca – và với cảm giác tinh tế về mối quan hệ không thể xác định của chúng với cảm xúc tinh thần, vốn là bản chất và linh hồn sống động của nó. Và điều đó, ở giữa những cảnh náo động và bi thảm nhất, giống như những tia nắng lấp lánh trên đá và đống đổ nát – tương phản với tất cả những gì gồ ghề hoặc ghê tởm, và nhắc nhở chúng ta về sự tồn tại của những yếu tố thuần khiết, tươi sáng hơn.

Tuy nhiên, những vở kịch của Shakespeare viết “cho những người trưởng thành, cho đàn ông và phụ nữ bằng ngôn từ mà những người nhỏ tuổi không thể hiểu được”. Do đó mà có cuốn sách “Những tuyệt tác của Shakespeare – Tuyển tập 20 vở kịch được chuyển thể thành truyện cho thiếu nhi”, để tái tạo những câu chuyện thú vị có trong các vở kịch của Shakespeare, dưới hình thức đơn giản đến mức trẻ em có thể hiểu được và thưởng thức chúng, là mục tiêu mà cuốn sách này hướng tới.

Genres: Classics, Shakespeare, Literature, Childrens, Fiction, Short Stories, Plays

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.

Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.

At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.

Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).

In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.

Reviews

[Nayra.Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

[جهاد محمد · Rating 5 out of 5]

كان شكسبير يُعلم قُرَّاءه عن طريق إسعادهم. تحتوي مسرحياته (إذا نحَّينا الجانب العلمي البحت) على حكمة حقيقية أكثر من كل أشكال التعلُّم الإنجليزية. إنه معلم لكلِّ أشكال الفضائل؛ الرحمة، والكرم، والشجاعة الحقيقية، والحب. لقد تشكَّلت براعته المُضيئة «على هيئة نجوم صغيرة». وتجسَّدت معارفه الغزيرة العميقة عبر عبارات مَرِحة وأمثال، وبتوزيعها بهذه الطريقة، لا يوجد اليوم في العالم المتحدث بالإنجليزية ركن لم يُنرْه هو بضيائه أو كوخ لم يُثرِهِ بعلمه. إن عطاءه يُشبه البحر، نحس به في كل مكان حولنا، رغم كوننا لا نعترف له بالفضل. وكما قال عنه صديقه بن جونسون، «إنه ليس ابنًا لعصر معيَّن وإنما لكل العصور.» لقد التزم شكسبير دائمًا بالطريق الرئيسي في الحياة البشرية، ذلك الطريق الذي يسير عليه الجميع. ولم يختر المسارات الفرعية في المشاعر والأحاسيس. ففي أعماله، ليس لدينا قُطَّاع طرق ذَوُو خلق، ولا لصوص عاطفيون، ولا أشرار ظرفاء، ولا نساء مُستهتِرات لطيفات وراقيات؛ لا توجد تعقيدات رقيقة للمواقف تُقدم فيها الصور البغيضة للعقل مُتخفية تحت الجاذبية الظاهرية للأسلوب والعاطفة. إنه لا يُجمِّل العواطف السيئة، ولا يُخفي الرذائل في ثوب الفضائل، ولا يعبث بأيِّ مبدأ عادل وكريم. وبينما يجعلنا نضحك على الحماقة، ونَرتعِد من الجريمة، يجعلنا نحافظ على حبِّنا للآخرين واحترامنا لأنفسنا.
كان شكسبير مُحيطًا بكل الأشكال والصور الرائعة؛ بكل ما هو جميل وساحر في الجوانب البسيطة للطبيعة؛ من ذلك الحب الراسخ للزهور وعبيرها، وللندى، والينابيع الصافية، والنسائم العليلة، والأصوات الناعمة، والسماوات البرَّاقة، لعُزلة الغابات والأكواخ الغارقة في ضوء القمر، والتي تعدُّ العناصر المادية التي يُبنى عليها الشعر؛ وبهذا الشعور الرقيق بعلاقتها الغامضة بالحياة العاطفية والنفسية للبشر، والتي تعد جوهرها ورُوحها الحية، والتي تسقط في وسط مَشاهدِه الأكثر تراجيدية وزخمًا بالمشاعر، مثل ومضات من ضوء الشمس على الصخور والأطلال؛ مما يتناقض مع كل ما هو قاسٍ أو قبيح، ويُذكرنا بوجود عناصر أكثر نقاءً وإشراقًا.
"جزء من مقدمة الكتاب"

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this with my student over a couple year period. He drew posters or pictures of the characters and plot while I read. He loves Shakespeare and this book helped a lot along with my own love of Shakespeare :)

My student wants to read all the rest of the plays now!

[Amy Moll · Rating 5 out of 5]

We slowly worked our way through this all school year and the boys loved it. The language is challenging but not too hard, and a couple plays we read twice to really soak in the story. I own an old discarded library copy with the loveliest illustrations. I’m sure we’ll read this again in the future.

[Trish Bachman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get acquainted with Shakespeare's beautiful stories in this easy to read/ easy to listen to book.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a second or third try on this book, I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it so much! We had attempted it for school in the past and struggled with it, somehow feeling like it was the same story which kept repeating with minor variations and we couldn't keep anything straight (especially all the tragedies where everyone dies at the end). Perhaps we read them too close together or something (though we only read one story per week. 🤔). We also found the illustrations to be ill-fitting and odd, since the characters were (nearly) all depicted as children.

This time, I utilized the audio recording and prescribed myself only one of the stories per day (more or less) to allow each one to sink in and not become muddled in my mind with the rest. I really came to look forward to this, and while I occasionally found the retellings somewhat confusing (due to oversimplification, I think), I began to really appreciate them. I've only read a handful or so of Shakespeare plays in their entirety, so am hoping this will prove helpful for familiarizing me with the plotlines enough to successfully tackle each full play, in the due course of time (long-term goal!).

I liked not looking at the pictures. 😂

Anyway, it's possible that, as with the d'Aulaire's Greek myths, these are better suited to be read slowly from childhood as a bedtime storybook, several times over the years, rather than as a solitary reading during school. Or maybe as a combination of the two. 🤷

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a writer, who is distilling down Shakespeare to the basic stories for children, begins her version of Macbeth with these words "When a person is asked to tell the story of Macbeth, he can tell two stories. One is of a man who came to the throne of Scotland by a crime in the year 1039, and reigned justly and well, on the whole, for fifteen years or more. This story is part of Scottish history. The other story issues from a place called Imagination; it is gloomy and wonderful, and you shall hear it." She has won me over COMPLETELY. This book should sit right next to a Complete Works of Shakespeare and the Lambs' Shakespeare stories in every home.

[Salma Abdelwahab · Rating 4 out of 5]

احببت الكتاب حقًا ، بالأخص اني لطالما أردت ان اعرف الكثير عن اعمال شيكسبير، بالطبع ان القصص مختزله ومختصرة كثيراً لكني احببت هذا لان الكاتبه اعطتني فرصه انا القي نظره على هذا كله يعتبر في عالم الكتب ليس كبير ، احببت انها في نهاية الكتاب وضعت بعضًا من أقوال شيكسبير المشهورة واين ذكرت بالتحديد.. عمل رائع يستحق الاشادة 👌🏽

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: It was evening. The fire burned brightly in the inn parlour. We had been that day to see Shakespeare's house, and I had told the children all that I could about him and his work. Now they were sitting by the table, poring over a big volume of the Master's plays, lent them by the landlord. And I, with eyes fixed on the fire, was wandering happily in the immortal dreamland peopled by Rosaline and Imogen, Lear and Hamlet. A small sigh roused me--
"I can't understand a word of it," said Iris.
"And you said it was so beautiful," Rosamund added, reproachfully. "What does it all mean?"

Premise/plot: E. Nesbit has adapted fifteen of Shakespeare's plays into short stories for children. The plays she's chosen to adapt are as follows: "The Tempest," "Romeo and Juliet," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," "As You Like It," "King Lear," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Cymbeline," "Twelfth Night," "The Winter's Tale," "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," "The Comedy of Errors," "Macbeth," "Othello," and "The Merchant of Venice." Nesbit chose to adapt a few of his comedies and a few of his tragedies but none of his history plays.

The Tempest

Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was a learned and studious man, who lived among his books, leaving the management of his dukedom to his brother Antonio, in whom indeed he had complete trust. But that trust was ill-rewarded, for Antonio wanted to wear the Duke's crown himself, and, to gain his ends, would have killed his brother but for the love the people bore him. However, with the help of Prospero's great enemy, Alonso, King of Naples, he managed to get into his hands the dukedom with all its honour, power, and riches. For they took Prospero to sea, and when they were far away from land, forced him into a little boat with no tackle, mast, or sail. In their cruelty and hatred they put his little daughter, Miranda (not yet three years old), into the boat with him, and sailed away, leaving them to their fate.

Romeo and Juliet

Once upon a time there lived in Verona two great families named Montague and Capulet. They were both rich, and I suppose they were as sensible, in most things, as other rich people. But in one thing they were extremely silly. There was an old, old quarrel between the two families, and instead of making it up like reasonable folks, they made a sort of pet of their quarrel, and would not let it die out.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I was familiar with about half of these stories. There are still some of Shakespeare's plays I haven't read yet.

I'm not convinced that Shakespeare's plays make for the best stories for children. His plays usually have quite adult content. But these stories, of course, do not.

Reading these stories back to back one sees how similar Shakespeare's plays can be to one another.

I do wish she'd chosen to adapt some of the history plays. I would LOVE to find a collection that does include the history plays adapted for a younger audience.

[A B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of how weird and delightful Shakespeare can be, but I was also amused to see how many tropes he uses. Namely:

- women disguised as men
- men disguised as women (and occasional donkeys)
- people falling in love with the disguised
- women loving complete and utter jackasses (in one case, literally)
- lots and lots of shipwrecks

I am a strong advocate of children's versions of classic tales. I absolutely loved reading "Classics Illustrated" - books and comics - growing up and I feel they helped mold my appreciation of literature. Same logic applies to library class (anyone else remember that from grade school?) when the librarian would show a filmstrip that told most or all of a book, then provided copies of the book for students. The objective was to get kids excited about reading.

The only drawback would be spoilers. This is where I am torn. Is it really spoiling a story to hear a tamed version of it? Some content is also questionable. I still shudder at the memory of the first time I saw the illustration of crying puppies with docked tails and ears from "Black Beauty".

It's true that dumbing down Shakespeare into elementary school age-appropriate writing, plus leaving out the more adult bits, takes away some of the impact. On the other hand, Shakespeare is pretty confusing. I remember seeing "Cymbeline" performed live without reading it first and being completely lost.

This compilation does a good job of leaving in important quotes, like Othello's terrifying "Have you prayed to-night?" question, while paraphrasing the rest. I liked the illustrations because I found them amusing. Seriously, they look like Hummel statues.

The choice of plays is a bit odd. The big names are there, as well as a handful of others that translate well to prose. They wisely left out "Titus Andronicus". I'm embarrassed to say that I'd never heard of "The Winter's Tale" or "Pericles", both of which I found delightful. However, some of the play-to-prose doesn't work, as in "The Comedy of Errors", "The Merchant of Venice", and "Measure for Measure".

This would be a nice gift for a child's library.

[Vy Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Những tuyệt tác của Shakespeare” là một tuyển tập các câu chuyện được kể lại từ các vở kịch nổi tiếng của William Shakespeare, được biên soạn bởi Edith Nesbit. Cuốn sách này đã biến những tác phẩm phức tạp và đầy ngôn từ hoa mỹ của Shakespeare thành những câu chuyện đơn giản và dễ hiểu hơn, phù hợp cho trẻ em nhưng vẫn giữ nguyên được tinh thần và thông điệp của các vở kịch gốc.

Điều đầu tiên khiến mình ấn tượng là cách mà Edith Nesbit đã rất khéo léo trong việc chuyển tải những giá trị về mặt nội dung của các tác phẩm Shakespeare vào một hình thức gần gũi hơn với trẻ em. Shakespeare nổi tiếng với ngôn ngữ phong phú và những chủ đề khá sâu sắc, thường sẽ khó mà được các độc giả nhỏ tuổi hứng thú tìm hiểu. Tuy nhiên, trong “Những tuyệt tác của Shakespeare”, các câu chuyện được kể lại một cách ngắn gọn, rõ ràng mà vẫn giữ được sức cuốn hút của nguyên tác. Những câu chuyện như “Romeo và Juliet”, “Hamlet”, và “Macbeth” được kể lại với một giọng điệu nhẹ nhàng, phù hợp với trẻ em hơn.

Bản thân mình cũng từng đọc qua cuốn Tuyển Tập Tác Phẩm William Shakespeare thì mình thấy rằng cuốn “Những tuyệt tác của Shakespeare” sẽ là bước đệm nhẹ nhàng hơn cho những ai muốn tìm hiểu sơ bộ trước khi đọc tác phẩm gốc. Mình cảm thấy dù các câu chuyện đã được giản lược, chúng vẫn chứa đựng những bài học đạo đức sâu sắc và những cảm xúc phong phú. Một điểm mạnh nữa của cuốn sách mà mình cảm nhận được và thấy ưng ý là cách tác giả Nesbit dành sự tôn trọng cho các vở kịch gốc. Mặc dù đã được đơn giản hóa, những câu chuyện vẫn giữ được chất thơ và sự uyển chuyển trong cách kể. Do đó, nếu mọi người không thích kịch cho lắm nhưng vẫn muốn biết về nội dung các vở kịch của Shakespeare thì có thể thử tìm đọc cuốn sách này hén.

[Saphraneet · Rating 4 out of 5]

In honor of April being the month of William Shakespeare's birth and death, I thought it was time to read some of his works. I haven't read much Shakespeare since H.S. English class so I thought that perhaps by reading abridged versions I would become familiar with the characters and plots and then more wisely choose which of his plays to tackle first.

This book by E. Nesbit was a charming abridgement of Shakespeare's plays that had the feel of an old fashioned storybook. This particular copy I read had sweet illustrations of young people as the characters of the stories. Each page of the text was surrounded by a decorative border. The author wrote what she deemed to be the most pertinent information for each play in story form.

I also read Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb at the same time as the Nesbit book since they both conveniently contained the same 20 plays. The authors seemed to have done a great job in retelling the plays and "translating" Shakespeare's Elizabethan English without losing too much of the feel of the originals. (Of course, I know it would be richer to read the real things.)

I was glad that I read both together to receive a more complete picture of what each play was about. Of the two, perhaps the book by E.Nesbit was for a younger audience.

[Featherglass · Rating 5 out of 5]

To write the storyline behind a Shakespearean work without detracting from the beauty of the play is difficult. For example, how does one tell the already-cliched story of thwarted love (Romeo and Juliet) without sounding sentimental and schmaltzy? But E. Nesbit does, in simple language and a well-thought out structure to the storyline she plots out of the massive works of the Bard.

Beyond the storyline, she weaves in her views on the heros and heroines that meander in and out of Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and even lesser-known (to me anyway) plays like Pericles. Each is a gem unto itself and does the 14th century playwright justice.

This book is not just for children but for anyone who wanted to read Shakespeare in story form to appreciate his ideas about humanity and the human condition. Nesbit's book does what every good writer of the great works aims to do: To make you want to read the original for yourself.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, the title says it all. This is about a dozen or so of Shakespeare's plots outlines and simplified for children (probably ages 10 and over I would think). It was done by one of my favorite children's writers, E. Nesbit who has a wonderful way of relating to the little ones among us. Having read many of Shakespeare's plays (and at least aware of the plots of most of them) I still enjoyed the simple and enchanting was Mrs Nesbit relates these timeless stories. It was also a great way to keep some of Shakespeare's plots in order in my mind (let's face it, some of them are a bit complicated). If you have preteen children at home, I would recommend this book to get them some wonderful exposer to the bard.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars & 3/10 hearts. This was an interesting bunch of retellings of Shakespeare’s stories. Since Nesbit writes for younger children, she takes out a lot more of the plot and detail than Charles & Mary Lamb, but she does have some details that Tales of Shakespeare doesn’t have. For the most part, if not every time, she cleans up the plots a lot too. I found the pictures representing the characters as kids a little disturbing/confusing, but overall it was a pretty good help to understanding the tales. I recommend reading both Nesbit and Lamb before or after reading each play; it’s very helpful.

[Dodo P · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to read through brief synopsis type breakdowns of Shakespeare's works. Some are hard to understand (unless you enjoy reading Olde English, and some of us still exist lol), so the simplicity of each story is indeed, easy enough for a child to understand - and offers a look into the stories for those adults who may struggle with Shakespeare in it's native form. While I will still read the original, I could easily give this version to my children to possibly awaken a desire to read the real stuff ;)! I also like that there are quotes listed in the back, by topic, so that the reader can whet their appetite with the beauty of Shakespeare in his own tongue.

[forthefamilyssake Hailey White · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book! Nesbit's retold stories are written well for reading aloud. This book was a great introduction to Shakespeare and we look forward to the original plays now that we are familiar with plots, The illustrations are perfectly delightful, each character depicted as a child.

[Mariah Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read bits of pieces of this to the kids over the years, but this year I read through the whole thing with my youngest.

He gives it four stars.

[Sophia White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a WONDERFUL way to share Shakespeare with young children! Older readers know that much of the beauty of Shakespeare is in the language and turn of phrase rather than the story/plot, (I often find that if I only hear of a play by a summary of the plot, they almost all sound extremely boring) and may argue that Shakespeare should not be told in a watered-down form. But this is not watered-down, these are the stories of Shakespeare written out in a beautiful, entertaining set of tales. Especially if you would like to take a younger child to a play, I recommend reading Nesbit's version of the play in question to them beforehand (also, Mary and Charles Lamb's adaptations of Shakespeare are great for kids!). I enjoy these so much!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edith Nesbitt (Railway Children fame) was a favorite author of J.K. Rowling. (Ironically, Nesbitt was never popular in America because some of her fantasy books were perceived as promoting witchcraft) She first wrote this around 1900. She had told her children of the wonders of Shakespeare, and when she read it to them they were less than thrilled. She decided to write her own version for her children. She did William proud.

[Bookish Devil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of Shakespeare's works narrated in a lucid manner.
What's more?! There are plenty illustrations an also a section containing a big bunch of handpicked beautiful quotes from the original version of these stories.

This book came as a blessing to me as I always wanted to read shakespeare's works but was discouraged by the complexity of his language.
This is a must read for people of all ages. :)

[Daniel Sadicario · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect introduction to the Bard, at least for those under about eight. The stories are short enough and language accessible enough for a five year old (the stories read like regular mythology), while still wading in the artful poetry of Shakespeare and themes of each play. In other words, my antsy boys (five and seven) enjoy it.

[Andria Harriman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to Audrey on our way to Shakespeare's birthplace and found it was a really good introduction to some of his more popular and entertaining plays. I liked that it didn't sugar coat the plot (romeo and Juliet still kill themselves) but it wasnt graphic and did make the stories easier for kids (and grownups!) to understand.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty of Shakespeare's plays re-shaped to be easily understood by children. A great introduction to the plays of the Bard for younger readers. A fantastic book to use for bedtime stories. The illustrations are gorgeous, with all the characters portrayed as children. A masterful classic work every parent should own and read to their children.

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on a librivox audio edition though I cannot find that listed as an edition.

This was a great introduction to the story lines of Shakespeare even for an adult. My plan is to listen to this again as I read through (or listen to) all of Shakespeare's plays so that I can start off having some idea of who everyone is and the basic outline of the play.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that some of Shakespeare's plays lent themselves better to a short story format than others. However, this book is a great way to become familiar with the plot of one of his plays before actually reading it or seeing it, especiall for children.

[Gracia Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite story was Romeo and Juliet. I liked all the other stories too. I also like Midsummer Night's Dream because the fairy king put magic juice on the fairy queen and she fell in love with a clown with a donkey head.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children and I are currently reading through this collection. Each story is written as a narrative (not as a play). This book it is giving the kids a firm understanding of the story lines which accompany Shakespearean comedies and tragedies.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I was supposed to like this more than I did. The plays are condensed down to basic characters/events, but with so much going on in Shakespeare's plays, these read like Cliffs Notes. I had to draw pictures as we read to keep characters apart. That said, Isaiah loved them.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

E. Nesbit did an admirable job in converting Shakespeare stories into children's stories, but there will always be a bit missing from them. You cannot truly enjoy Shakespeare without reading his own words. No matter how many times we change his work, it is never better than its original form.