5. Seneca the Younger (4BC – AD 65)

　　5. 小塞内卡(4BC-AD65)

　　Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman philosopher anddramatist, as well as an advisor to the emperor Nero. He wasone of the leading intellectual figures during his life in Rome. Hisworks include philosophical essays, letters dealing with issues ofmorality, and satire. He’s also been thought of as the inspirationfor the development of the Revenge Tragedy, influencing workssuch as Agamemnon, Medea and Octavia.

　　小塞内卡是罗马的哲学家、剧作家同时也是尼禄的顾问。他是古罗马知识分子领军人物之一，他的作品包括哲学文章、道德文学、讽刺作品。他同时被认为是发展复仇剧的先驱。影响了《阿伽门农》、《米迪亚》、《奥克塔维亚》等作品的诞生。

　　Seneca, as a character, also appears in works written by Dante, Chaucer and others. After Seneca’sretirement, he was accused of being involved in a plot to assassinate Nero. Historians believe thatSeneca was not truly involved in this plan. However, Nero took the accusation seriously andordered that Seneca kill himself. The tradition was that Seneca would sever his own veins, whichhe did, but the blood loss was slow and the pain from the wounds was excruciating. He wascounseled to lay in a warm bath that would ease the pain and quicken the blood flow until hedied.

　　塞内卡，作为一个角色，也被写进了但丁、乔叟等文学大家的作品中。塞内卡退休后，被指控计划谋杀尼禄。历史学家们相信，他没有计划谋杀尼禄。但是尼禄对这件事看得很重，并命令他自杀。按照传统，塞内卡应该割腕自杀，他也确实这么做了，但是因为血流的太慢，伤口的痛苦特别折磨人。最终他被允许躺在温水池中，这样痛苦会稍微轻点，血流的也会快点。他就一直躺在那里直至死去。

　　4. Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

　　4. 西尔维娅·普拉斯(1932-1963)

　　Sylvia Plath was first published right after high school in the Christian Science Monitor. In 1950,she began Smith College where she excelled academically while struggling with depression. Sheattempted suicide in 1953, but went on to graduate summa cum laude in 1955. After graduationshe received a Fulbright Scholarship.

　　西尔维娅·普拉斯 ，高中毕业后就在《基督教科学箴言报》上出版了自己的第一部作品。1950年，她进入史密斯学院学习，学习成绩突出，也是这段时间内，她一直受到抑郁症的折磨。1953年，她自杀未遂，2年后她得到了最优等的文科学士学位。毕业后，她拿到了富布莱特奖学金。

　　Plath’s first collection, Colossus and Other Poems, was published in England in 1960 where shemoved with her husband, poet Ted Hughes. Her children were born in 1960 and 1962. After thebirth of her second child, her husband left her for another woman. After the separation, Plathcontinued to work on Ariel, one of her most famous books of poems. The Bell Jar, her only novel– a semi-biographical work that highlights her experiences with depression, was published under apseudonym shortly before her death.

　　西尔维娅·普拉斯的第一本诗集《巨人及其他》1960年在英国出版，她和她的诗人丈夫泰德休斯也搬到了英格兰。1960到1962年间，他们的孩子相继出生。生完第二个孩子后，他的丈夫就为了另一个女人抛弃了她。分开后，普拉斯继续创作她的最著名的诗集之一《艾丽尔》。她唯一的半自传体小说《钟形罩》描述的是她抑郁症这段生活，在她死后不久就用她的笔名出版了。

　　On February 11th 1963, Plath’s nurse arrived at the home Plath lived at with her children. Thenurse found Plath had sealed herself in the kitchen and placed wet towels and cloths along thedoors to where the children were asleep, as a means to protect them. Plath was found dead inthe kitchen with her head in the oven. She was 30.

　　1963年2月11日，普拉斯的护士到了普拉斯和孩子们住的地方时发现，普拉斯把自己关在了厨房。为了保护孩子们，在他们熟睡时，普拉斯用湿毛巾、湿衣服把孩子卧室的门缝塞紧。她被发现时，头伸在厨房的烤炉里。年仅30岁。

　　3. Yukio Mishima (1925-1970)

　　3. 三岛由纪夫(1925-1970)

　　Considered one of the most important Japanese authors of our time, Mishima was nominated forthe Nobel Prize in Literature three times. His greatest work is considered The Sea of Fertility, afour-volume epic on Japanese life in the 20th century. Mishima was also known for his extremepolitical beliefs in which he preferred pre-World War II Japan and disapproved of Western values.

　　三岛由纪夫被认为是我们这个时代最重要的日本作家之一。3次入围诺贝尔文学奖。他最著名的作品是《丰饶之海》，这是一部四卷叙事诗，讲述的是20世纪日本人的生活。三岛由纪夫同时也因极端激进的政治信仰而闻名。他热爱二战前的日本并反对西方的价值观。

　　After his final work was delivered to his publisher he went to the general’s office with several of hisfollowers where he attempted to size control. From the balcony he gave a speech to over 1,000servicemen where he urged them to take up arms, which had been recently forbidden in Japan.The soldiers failed to take action, and so Mishima committed seppuku, ritual suicide with a swordwhere he disemboweled himself.

　　他把最后一部作品交给出版社后，和一些他的支持者来到了将军办公厅，想掌控局面。他在办公厅的阳台上对着1000多个军人演讲，号召他们拿起武器准备作战。这在当时的日本是不允许的。军人们没有采取任何行动。所以最后三岛剖腹自杀了，切腹是日本人自杀的一贯方式。

　　2. Sarah Kane (1971-1999)

　　2. 萨拉·凯恩(1971-1999)

　　Sarah Kane was a provocative English playwright. Her plays dealt with ideas of love, sexuality,torture, mental illness and death. Her body of work includes a short film, several articles, and herplays – Blasted, Skin, Phaedra’s Love, Cleansed, Crave, and her final work 4:48 Psychosis.

　　萨拉·凯恩是位具有煽动性的剧作家。她创作的剧本主题大多与爱情、性、折磨、精神病、死亡相关。她主要作品包括一部短片、几篇文章和剧本—《摧毁》《皮肤》《费德拉的爱》《清洁》《渴求》以及最后一部作品《4：48精神崩溃》。

　　Kane was a young playwright in London when she shocked theatergoers and critics with her firstplay Blasted that portrayed rape, mutilation and cannibalism. Some described the play as filthwhile others praised her brilliance and proclaimed a new talent had been discovered. In spite ofher growing success, Kane suffered from depression and received treatment as both an in-patientand out-patient.

　　当时卡恩是伦敦年轻的剧作家，她第一部充斥着强奸、肢解、食人等剧情的剧本《摧毁》就震撼了观众和评论家。有人说这部剧太肮脏，而有人则称赞她有才，认为诞生了一位新晋天才。尽管事业越来越成功，卡恩一直饱受抑郁症的折磨，住院和非住院期都未停止治疗。

　　During one suicide attempt she had taken over 200 pills but a friend contacted an ambulance andsaved her life. This angered Kane who threatened she would try to kill herself again. While in herlast in-patient treatment she slipped out of her room, unseen by nurses, and hung herself in thebathroom with a shoelace.

　　有次，她试图一次性服用200片药片自杀，被朋友发现后，叫了救护车，挽救了她的生命。卡恩特别恼火，扬言还会自杀的。在她最后一次的住院期间，她趁护士不注意偷偷跑出去，用鞋带在浴室上吊自杀了。

　　1. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

　　1. 欧内斯特·海明威(1899-1961)

　　Ernest Hemingway is as legendary for his adventurous lifestyle as he is for his award-winningnovels, short stories and journalism. Some of his famous works include The Sun Also Rises, AFarewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway served in World War I, spent time inEurope, Chicago, Toronto, Key West and Cuba. Hemingway’s prose was clean and simplistic, butpowerful.

　　欧内斯特·海明威是一位生活充满冒险的传奇人物，写了很多备受赞誉的小说、短篇小说和新闻稿。其中很著名的有：《太阳依旧升起》《永别了武器》《老人与海》。海明威参加了一战，在欧洲、芝加哥、多伦多、基韦斯特和古巴等地到处辗转。他的文章简洁干练充满力量。

　　In 1960, Hemingway’s wife Mary was concerned because of Hemingway’s growing silence,paranoia, and refusal to leave his home. In April 1961, Mary took him to the Mayo Clinic fortreatment where he was checked in anonymously. It was during that initial stay that it’s believedHemingway received as many as 15 electroconvulsive therapy sessions. Hemingway was alsoprescribed a combination of drugs to treat depression. In January of that year, Hemingway shothimself with a double-barreled shotgun.

　　1960年，海明威的妻子玛丽开始担忧他，因为他变得孤言寡语、偏执，从不走出房间。1961年的4月，玛丽带着海明威去梅奥诊所接受匿名治疗。就是在那里海明威接受了15次的电休克疗法。他也通过服药来治疗抑郁症。那年的7月，海明威用一把双管猎枪饮弹自尽了。

　　The death was initially ruled an accident, but was reclassified as suicide. Hemingway’s father, sisterand brother committed suicide and their deaths were believed caused by hemochromatosis, agenetic condition that deteriorates mental and physical health. In 1991, Hemingway’s medicalrecords were released to the public and it was revealed that he too suffered fromhemochromatosis.

　　他的死亡一开始被认为是事故，后来被认作自杀。海明威的爸爸、姐姐、弟弟都是自杀身亡。公认的原因是家族的血色沉着病，这种基因病会给患者生理和心理都造成伤害。1991年，海明威的病例史被公开，并显示他也是受到了血色沉着病的折磨。

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（编辑：何莹莹）