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Old Montague拜托Benvolio去探问儿子Romeo何以如此悲伤。深陷爱河却得不到回应的Romeo道出了原委。Benvolio便提议，忘掉旧爱的方法就是去找寻更美的女子。
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Romeo and Juliet
– Chapter 3 –
Scene II.
Paris was a nobleman(贵族) of Verona—a Count to be exact.
He was also young, rich, handsome, and well-connected, being a relative of Escalus, the Prince(亲王) of Verona.
He was talking to the leader of the Capulet family, Old Capulet.
“The Prince made me promise not to allow any more fighting between the two families,” Old Capulet was saying.
“But he made Old Montague promise the same thing, and after all, it is not hard for old men such as us to keep the peace.”
“You are both honorable men from honorable families, and it is a great shame that you have been at odds(有矛盾) for so long,” said Paris.
“But now—what do you say to my suit?”
“As I have said before, I think that she is still too young,” said Old Capulet.
“She is still not yet fourteen. Two more summers must pass before she is ready to be a bride.”
“There are many mothers in Verona younger than her,” said Paris.
“There are indeed,” said Old Capulet.
“But I believe becoming a wife and a mother so young has spoiled(毁掉) their youth and innocence.
The earth has swallowed all my hopes but her;
She is the hopeful lady of my earth.
Now get to know her, Paris, win her heart;
For her consent(同意) is the important part.
If she agrees, and freely makes her choice,
To that agreement I will join my voice.
“Tonight I am holding a great feast(宴会), to which I have invited many of my closest friends.
Please come and join us, friend!
There will be much entertainment(娱乐) there, and many women so beautiful that they will seem like heavenly stars coming down to earth.
Among them will be my daughter Juliet.
And I am sure that all the men there, including yourself, will be feeling lively and full of the joys of spring.
If you still feel that my daughter Juliet stands out even in such lively company,
you may take the opportunity to get to know her a little better.”
Then he gave a servant a list of the guests to be invited, and told him,
“Go through all Verona, find these people, and invite them to this evening’s feast!”
The servant left to invite the guests.
But there was a problem, “The people on this list?” thought the servant.
“It is said that the shoemaker(鞋匠) should stick to(一心放在) his needle and the tailor to his leather(皮革), the fisherman to his brushes, and the painter to his nets.
But how can I find these people if I cannot read their names?
First, I need to find an educated person to help me.
Ah, just in time!” Because Romeo and Benvolio had just appeared.
Benvolio was still trying to make the same points as before: “You can stop one fire by starting another.
You can cure dizziness(头晕目眩) from turning too fast by turning the opposite(相反的) way.
In the same way, new troubles can cure the pain caused by your old ones.”
At that moment the servant approached them and said, “Good day, kind sirs(先生), can you read?”
Romeo told the servant that he could read, took the paper from the servant’s hand, and read the list:
Signior Martino and his wife and daughters;
Count Anselmo and his beautiful sisters;
The lady widow(寡妇) of Vitruvio;
Signior Placentio and his lovely nieces;
Mercutio and his brother Valentine;
My uncle Capulet, his wife, and daughters;
My fair nieces Rosaline and Livia;
Signior Valentio and his cousin Tybalt;
Lucio and the lively Helena.
“Your master has good taste in guests.
Where are they supposed to meet?” said Romeo.
“On the second floor of my master’s house.
My master is the head of the house of Capulet, and unless you are Montagues, you are also very welcome to come.
Goodbye for now!” the servant replied.
“Your dearest Rosaline will be at that feast, with many other ladies of Verona admired for their beauty.
So let us go there, and make a fair comparison between your Rosaline’s face and some others that I will show you.
By the end of the evening, I shall make you think your ‘swan(天鹅)’ a crow(乌鸦).”
But Romeo of course replied,
One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun
Never saw her equal since the world begun.
“You think that because you always saw her on her own,” Benvolio replied,
“but if you get the chance to compare her with the other shining beauties at the feast, I think you may change your mind.”
“I will go with you,” said Romeo, “but only to make me appreciate Rosaline’s beauty all the more.”
Scene III.
Old Capulet’s wife knew about the discussions that Paris and Old Capulet had been having.
So she decided that it was time to talk to her daughter Juliet about marriage, and also about Count Paris himself.
She found Juliet’s nurse and said to her, “Nurse, where is my daughter? Bring her to me!”
But Juliet herself came running.
“Here I am, mother,” she said.
“What do you want with me?”
“What I would like to talk to you about is . . .” said Juliet’s mother.
Then she turned to the nurse and said, “Please leave us for a while. Juliet and I need to have a private talk.”
But just as the nurse turned to go, Juliet’s mother had second thoughts and said,
“Nurse, perhaps it is best if you hear this too.
You know my daughter is now of a certain age . . .”
“I know her age to the very hour,” the nurse replied.
“She is not quite fourteen,” said Juliet’s mother.
“She was born on the Lammas(英国的收获节) harvest festival, and it is a little over two weeks until the festival.
So in a little over two weeks, she will be fourteen.
She and my daughter Susan were the same age—but Susan is with God now, she was too good for me.
But as I say, at Harvest Festival this year Juliet will be fourteen.
It has been eleven years now since the earthquake, but I still remember that day as if it were yesterday,
because it was the day she was weaned(断奶).
“I was sitting in the sun next to the wall of the dove-house, and I had placed some wormwood(苦艾) on my nipples(乳头).
My lord and you were away in Mantua that day—you see how good my memory(记性) is!
When she went to suck(吮吸), and tasted the bitterness, she turned angrily away from my nipple and never sucked it again.
She was already walking and running by then—I remember because the day before,
she fell while she was running and hurt her forehead.
“God bless you!” said the nurse to Juliet.
“And if I can see you happily married, I will have nothing else to wish for.”
“Her marriage—that is exactly what I want to talk about,” said Juliet’s mother.
“Juliet, how do you feel about marriage?”
“I do not feel I am ready for such an honor,” Juliet replied.
“An honor?” said the nurse.
“I would say that you learned wisdom with your mother’s milk, if I had not been your only nurse.”
“Well, it is time to think of marriage now,” said Juliet’s mother.
“In Verona, many respectable ladies of your age are already mothers.
I myself was already a mother at about your age.
The point is this: the noble Count Paris seeks your love.”
“Such a wonderful and admirable man, as all the world knows!” said the nurse.
“Well, what do you say? Do you think you can love him?” asked Juliet’s mother.
“You shall see him at the feast tonight.
Read his handsome face to see what is written there—all this great man needs is a wife to make him complete.
You can help him become an even better man, and help yourself at the same time.”
“I will look at him and see if I can find him attractive,” said Juliet,
“but of course I will do nothing without your agreement.”
At that moment a servant arrived, flustered(慌张的) and in a hurry.
He said to Juliet’s mother, “The guests have already arrived, dinner is served,
you and Juliet are wanted at table, the nurse is wanted in the kitchen, and everything must be done in a rush!
I must go to wait at table.
I beg you all, please come quickly!”
“We are coming!” Juliet’s mother replied.
“Juliet, remember that Paris will be there!”
“Juliet, may your nights soon be as happy as your days!” added the nurse.
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