ROMEO AND JULIET

T he two chief families in Verona were the rich Capulets and the Montagues. There had been an old quarrel between these families, which was grown to such a height, and so deadly was the hatred between them, that it extended to the remotest relatives, and even the servants．

One evening, old Lord Capulet made a great supper, to which many fair ladies and many noble guests, provided they were not of the house of Montague, were invited. At this feast,Romeo, son to the old Lord Montague, was present, although masked in order to hide his identity. He had been encouraged to attend by his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, who, knowing so many beautiful women would be there, wanted to convince their friend that his failed relationship with the current love of his life, Rosaline, was no terribly grave matter．

While looking over the crowd, Romeo was suddenly struck with the exceeding beauty of a lady who was dancing. To his friends he described her as a snowy dove trooping with crows,so richly did her beauty and perfections shine above the ladies her companions. These praises were overheard by Tybalt,a nephew of Lord Capulet, who knew him by his voice to be Romeo. And this Tybalt, being of a fiery and passionate temper, stormed and raged exceedingly, and would have struck young Romeo dead. But his uncle, the old Lord Capulet, prevented him out of respect to his guests and because Romeo had borne himself like a gentleman．

The dancing being done, Romeo approached his lady and took her by the hand, calling it a shrine which he sought to pay respects to with a kiss．

The young lady seemed charmed by the man’s words; but their conversation was quickly cut short by the voice of her mother calling her away. Romeo, inquiring who her mother was,discovered that the lady he was so much struck with was young Juliet, daughter and heir to the Lord Capulet, the great enemy of the Montagues. This troubled him, but it could not stop him from loving．

Similarly, Juliet, when she found that the gentleman that she had been talking with was Romeo and a Montague, submitted to the same hasty and inconsiderate passion for him．

It being midnight, Romeo with his companions departed;but they soon missed him, for, unable to stay away from the house where he had left his heart, he leaped the wall of an orchard which was at the back of Juliet’s house. Here he had not been long, thinking on his new love, when Juliet appeared above at a window. She, thinking herself alone, fetched a deep sigh, and exclaimed．

“O! Romeo, Romeo. Where are you, Romeo? Deny your father and refuse your name, for my sake; or if you will not, be but my sworn love, and I no longer will be a Capulet.”

Romeo, having this encouragement, said that she may call him by whatever name she pleased, for he was no longer Romeo, if that name was displeasing to her．

Juliet, although initially alarmed to hear a man’s voice in the garden, soon knew the voice to be that of young Romeo,and a blush came over her face. She wanted, like most women,to hide her true feelings for Romeo; for the difficulty of attainment increases the value of the object. But Romeo had already heard from her own tongue a confession of her love.Thus, she begged him to forgive the ease with which her love came to him．

From this loving conference she was called away by her nurse, who slept with her and thought it time for her to be in bed, for it was near to daybreak; but, before leaving one another,they both proclaimed their desire to marry, and it was arranged that the following day they would be wedded．

And thus they parted, wishing mutually sweet sleep and rest for that night．

However, Romeo, instead of going home, visited Father Lawrence and revealed to him his desire to marry Juliet the next day. The holy man, a close friend to both the Capulets and Montagues, thinking this marriage a possible means of making up the long breach between the two families, consented to facilitate the wedding．

And so the following morning, in the cell of Father Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet were secretly joined in holy marriage．

The ceremony being over, Juliet hastened home, where she stayed, impatient for the coming of night, at which time Romeo promised to come and meet her in the orchard．

That same day, about noon, Romeo and his friends,Benvolio and Mercutio, while walking through the streets of Verona, were met by a party of the Capulets with the impetuous Tybalt at their head．

Seeing Romeo, Tybalt accused him bluntly of being a villain. Romeo, who wished to avoid a quarrel with Tybalt above all men, because he was a relative of Juliet, tried to reason with him; but Tybalt would hear no reason, but drew his weapon; and Mercutio, who knew not of Romeo’s secret motive for desiring peace with Tybalt, provoked Tybalt and the two fought till Mercutio fell, receiving his death’s wound. Mercutio being dead,Romeo kept his temper no longer, but drew his sword and killed Tybalt outright.

Soon a crowd formed on the street around the dead. Romeo had fled long before their arrival. Only Benvolio remained to explain to the Prince of Verona, whose brother was Mercutio,what had happened. The prince then, on a careful examination of the facts, pronounced that Romeo was from that moment banished from Verona．

When the tidings reached Juliet, she at first gave way to rage against Romeo, who had slain her dear cousin. But in the end love got the mastery. Then came fresh tears, and they were altogether of grief for Romeo’s banishment. That word was more terrible to her than the death of many Tybalts．

Romeo, after the fight, had taken refuge in Father Lawrence’s cell, where he was first made acquainted with the prince’s sentence, which seemed to him far more terrible than death. Father Lawrence suggested that he go that night and secretly take his leave of Juliet, and then proceed straightway to Mantua, at which place he should stay till the father found fit occasion to publish his marriage, which might be a joyful means of reconciling their families; and then he did not doubt but the prince would be moved to pardon him, and he would return with twenty times more joy than he went forth with grief．

Romeo, convinced by these wise counsels, spent that night with his dear wife, gaining secret admission to her chamber from the orchard. The pleasures of this night and the delight which these lovers took in each other’s society were sadly diminished with the prospect of parting and the fatal adventures of the past day. The unwelcome daybreak seemed to come too

soon, and Romeo had to take leave of his dear wife, which he did with a heavy heart．

This was but the beginning of the tragedy of this pair of star - crossed lovers. Romeo had not been gone many days before the old Lord Capulet proposed a match for Juliet. The husband he had chosen for her, not dreaming that she was married already, was Count Paris, a gallant, young, and noble gentle man．

The terrified Juliet was in a sad perplexity at her father’s offer. She pleaded her youth unsuitable to marriage and the death of her cousin too fresh in her mind, but Lord Capulet ignored her excuses and pronounced that the following Thursday she should be married to Paris．

In this extremity Juliet went to Father Lawrence. Seeing her in such a state of anxiety, he told her to pretend to accept the match with Paris. He then gave her a small bottle and directed her to drink its contents on the following night. After drinking it, she would appear cold and lifeless for forty-two hours. Thus her family would believe her dead. Meanwhile,he would inform Romeo of their plan, who could then come and take her away with him once she awakened. Love, and the dread of marrying Paris, gave young Juliet strength to undertake this horrible adventure; and she took the bottle,promising to observe his directions．

Everything went according to plan. She agreed to marry Paris, and her father became very pleased. Immediately, the family launched into wedding plans, sparing no expense．

On Wednesday night Juliet drank the contents of the bottle. Thus, when young Paris came early in the morning with music to awaken his bride, instead of a living Juliet, her chamber presented the dreary spectacle of a lifeless corpse．

What confusion then reigned through the whole house!Poor Lord and Lady Capulet, having their one poor loving child snatched away from sight by cruel death．

Bad news, which always travels faster than good, now brought the dismal story of Juliet’s death to Romeo, before the messenger could arrive who was sent from Father Lawrence．

Romeo ordered horses to be got ready, for he determined that night to see his lady in her tomb. On his way, he stopped at a local chemist’s and, offering him gold, easily obtained a poison, which he intended to swallow at the sight of his dear lady in her tomb．

He reached Verona at midnight, and found the churchyard in the midst of which was situated the ancient tomb of the Capulets. He was proceeding to break open the monument when he was interrupted by a voice, which by the name of “Vile Montague”, ordered him to cease from his unlawful business. It was the young Count Paris, who believed Romeo had come to insult the dead．

Romeo urged Paris to leave him, but the count in scorn refused to listen, and laid hands on him as a criminal, which,Romeo resisting, they fought, and Paris fell. Though much grieved by this second murder on his part, Romeo then proceeded to open the tomb．

There lay his lady, still fresh and blooming, as if she were simply sleeping. Next to her laid the body of Tybalt in his bloody shroud. Romeo kissed his lady’s lips, and then swallowed the poison, which was fatal, unlike that which induced sleep upon Juliet．

Indeed, Juliet soon awoke out of her spell, and, seeing the cup closed in her true love’s hands, she guessed that poison had been the cause of his end, and she would have swallowed the remainder if any had been left, and she kissed his still warm lips to try if any poison yet did hang upon them; then hearing a noise of people coming, she quickly took out a dagger which Romeo wore, and, stabbing herself, died by her true Romeo’s side．

The servant of Paris, as his master had not returned,coming upon the tragic scene, quickly spread the news of what had happened. Soon the prince, and Lords Montague and Capulet were at the tomb inquiring into the causes of the disturbance. Before them, was brought Father Lawrence, who had been caught on the grounds of the tomb by the watchman.He had come to make sure Juliet had awakened．

He faithfully related the story of the two Lords’ children’s fatal love, the part he took in promoting their marriage, hoping to end the long quarrels between their families. A servant then delivered to Lord Montague letters written by his son, Romeo,indicating his plan to poison himself in Juliet’s tomb．

And the prince, turning to the old Lords, rebuked them for their brutal and irrational disputes, and showed them how Heaven had found means to punish their unnatural hate. And these old rivals, no longer enemies, agreed to bury their long strife in their children’s graves; and Lord Capulet requested Lord Montague to give him his hand, calling him by the name of brother, as if in acknowledgment of the union of their families by the marriage of the young Capulet and Montague．

Lord Montague said he would raise a statue of Juliet made from pure gold. And Lord Capulet in return said that he would raise another statue to Romeo. Thus were removed the rooted hates and jealousies of the noble families．

noble /ˈnəʊbl/ adj . 高贵的；贵族的

convince /kənˈvɪns/ vt. 说服；使信服

snowy /ˈsnəʊɪ/ adj . 雪白的

shrine /ʃraɪn/ n. 神龛，神殿，圣地，庙宇

confession /kənˈfeʃn/ n. 表白；坦白

hasten /ˈheɪsən/ vi. 赶紧，赶快

impetuous /ɪmˈpetjʊəs/ adj . 冲动的；鲁莽的

outright /ˈaʊtraɪt/ adv. 立即，当场

admission /ədˈmɪʃən/ n. 允许进入

star-crossed /ˈst a :krɒst / adj. 不幸的，命运不佳的

gallant /ˈgælənt/ adj . 英勇的

match /mætʃ/ n. 婚姻

launch /lɔ:ntʃ/ vi. 积极投入

monument /ˈmɒnjʊmənt/ n. 墓碑

rebuke /rɪˈbju:k/ vt. 训斥，指责，斥责