OCR Text |
Show W; An Interview With Shakespeare LET me present to you Mr. Shakes- peare," said Ben Jonson, pointing W to a long-haired, lofty-browed gentle- H?, man who ,was a composite likeness of Jm; all the Shakespearian portraits I had m ever seen. W "What edition?" I replied, absent- E mindedly, and then I checked myself, Wri for -I saw that Jonson was uncom- K fortable. . "The original!" he whispered, excit- m odly, in my ear. fX "You don't mean it!" I exclaimed; tV then I forgot myself again, as in my enthusiasm I added: "I've always ft wanted to see a 1623 folio." !F "But you don't understand," said Jonson, rather excited; "this is Shakes-s Shakes-s peare himself. Look!" i Ho held out a visiting card, on M which appeared the familiar scrawl of Ev the alleged authenic autograph: "Wil-W "Wil-W Ham Shakespeare." p "That's not the way to spell his ic name," I objected. The zealous schol-r' schol-r' ar In me made me appear rude, but t-' Jonson's discretion saved the situa-L situa-L tion. U, "Ah, I see." He smiled as he drew P some visiting cards from the lace ruffe ruf-fe fie of his sleeve, and spread them fan-f fan-f like before me. "Take your choice." I ran quickly through them ? Shakspeare, Shakespere, Shaksper, ; & and all the other countless spellings, i fL until I found the one I wanted. 1 ' "Glad to meet you," I said, at last, H' ..shaking hands with the intangible i ' composite. "I've read all those nice 1 v things Jonson wrote about you. Neatly Neat-ly put hey?" I waved toward Jon- i i son, wJlo grew visibly embarrassed, j f "Really," he protested, "I didn't in- i i tend them for the press simply a few I J( lines-" I I "Won't you be seated, gentlemen?" i I pointed to chairs, and as host was I f cordial to a degree. !i "Though we have never met before, I I know you quite well through your j& work, Mr. Shakespeare," I said. ; K "Do you?" he replied, with a rising ' R inflection of doubt. Jonson understood M the sarcasm and chuckled audibly. I "Yes, I have you in five or six edi- f. i tions; which one did you use in writ- I jj ing?" I queried. I f "Why I wrote the plays without l& the help of anything," he said, forget- ilt ting his sources, and looking rather jlt astonished. Now that I come to think RIs of it, such a question was very foolish j of me to ask; whether or not it was j I that my head was gradually being I) f turned because I was talking with Q I ( Shakespeare, I do not know, but I a $ sank into deeper water. J! c- "Then your text is not authorita- i tlve," I said, decisively. fi f. "Your text may not bo," rejoined 1 Shakespeare, "but mine is I can P f vouch for that so can Ben. Of course, 1 B there are typographical errors in that t first folio I didn't have time to look I W over the proofs. I died, seven years j & before the book came out. But the i, edition sold very well it's entirely exhausted!" I "See this," I said, holding up a varl- K orum volume "here's one of your lii plays rescued by modern scholarship "Um," said Shakespeare, running his thumb along the edges of five hundred hun-dred pages, and glancing here and there at the notes. "What is it all about?" "Why, it's this way," I explained, for I could see that the poet was hunting hunt-ing for his play; I realized now for the first time the truth of the statement state-ment that in the work of "Shakespearian "Shakes-pearian scholarship" the true Shakespeare Shakes-peare is often hard to find. "You see," I continued, "this book tells what people think you mean. From traces of you they are trying to find you." Shakespeare and Jonson exchanged knowing glances, and shifted uncomfortably uncom-fortably in their chairs. "When I wrote my plays," remarked re-marked Shakespeare, fingering his ear-rings, which seemed to annoy him, "I wrote them for the stage, and not for the critics." "Did you write them?" I queried, really with no malice aforethought. "Of course, " answered the poet, puzzled at my question. He seemed to be in total ignorance of the Bacon theory. "I think I struck a new vein in the drama." "Undoubtedly, undoubtedly !" asserted as-serted Jonson. "Who revised you for the stage?" I asked. Irving and Daly have made pretty good editions of you with cuts." "With what?" "Cuts omissions. You couldn't be played in your Elizabethan shape, you know." "Now, look here, young man," said Shakespeare, growing impatient, "what do you take me for?" "For a true poet," I replied, becoming becom-ing enthusiastic; "in your poetic period, per-iod, rich in fancy; in your philosophic period, deep in discernment." I paused, thinking I had saved myself. "I'm not looking for praise I can get that from the shelves yonder." He pointed to the books along the walls, and shifted his chair closer to mine. "What kind of a man do you think me?" "Oh, It depends upon what book I use. Rolfe leaves all your bad parts out. There's the Temple Shakespeare, the Furness Shakespeare, the " "I should like to meet them," said Shakespeare, nonchalantly, interrupting interrupt-ing me. "They probably know me better than I know myself. I think," he added, "I'll dictate 'Hamlet' to the stenographer, and see if I can't sell it. Hemminge and Condoll won't object now that their edition is sold. Mine will be the text without other people's comments just me!" There was an audible sigh of relief around from those to whom notes are a constant source of conscience-dread. "I am glad you are in town," I said. "We have been putting a great many of your plays upon the stage." "That's good!" said Shakespeare. "Give mo the managers' addresses, and I'll go and see them about royalties." royal-ties." "Ha, ha!" I laughed; "you are common com-mon property now-a-days. But they'll be pleased to see you, and although they insist your name spoils failure, some of them contrive to make good money out of you. If you'll give me a few facts about your life, and a new photograph, I'll get up a fine story and sell it to one of the papers." "That's very kind of you," replied Shakespeare; "It's presuming on a Btranger." "But I've known you for a number of years." There was a loud crash. A large volume of "The Complete Shakespeare" Shakes-peare" fell to the floor, and I woke up. |