「還我馬來」：莎士比亞劇作《亨利四世第一部》中的馬

“Give Me My Horse”: Horses in Shakespeare’s I Henry IV

莎士比亞的《亨利四世第一部》開場時，英國國王描繪了英格蘭被戰爭摧毀的悲慘景象，他希望自己的國家不再受苦，其中提到「武裝的蹄子／敵對的步伐」(1.1.8-9)，這指的是馬。在莎士比亞所屬的前工業時代中，馬是主要的動力來源，在歷史決戰時刻扮演關鍵角色。本文旨在探討《亨利匹世第一部》中的馬，主張雖然馬並未在舞台上實際出現，但卻存在於劇中人物的台詞裡，社會上層或下層者皆談到馬。劇中上演一齣惡作劇，福斯塔(Falstaff)的坐騎遭遷走藏匿，引發這位胖騎士大聲詛咒：「還我馬來，你們這些無賴！還我馬來，你們該被吊死！」(JH4 2.2.10-30)。不管是劇中的嚴肅情節或是喜劇橋段中，雖然馬不在舞台上，卻仍具有重要份量。本文主張，霍斯伯(Hotspur)在其預期與哈爾王子(PrinceHal)的「熱馬對戰」(hot horse to horse)中，結果卻是根本沒有任何馬，而劇裡對沒有馬這件事並未提供隻字片語的解釋，正好彰顯出霍斯伯為何戰敗，且如此的安排可解讀為莎翁跟霍斯伯開了一個玩笑。藉由分析馬在該劇中的份量，以及考量當馬應該出現時卻缺席所帶來的效果，不但能增強我們對該劇的欣賞，亦可使我們更進一步理解莎翁的藝術、他的世界及他對歷史世界的想像。

As soon as Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV begins, the English King invokes a sorrowful image of England devastated by war. While wishing his country would not suffer again, he mentions the wrecking force of“the armed hoofs / Of hostile paces”(1.1.8-9), which refers to horses. Horses, the main source of muscle power in the preindustrial world of Shakespeare, can be considered critical in history-defining wars. This paper explores the significance of horses in Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV by showing that though the design of the play does not present horses physically on stage, these animals are verbally present in the lines of characters from both the high and low tiers of society. A prank that deprives Falstaff of his horse makes the fat knight curse comically:“Give me my horse, you rogues; give me my horse and be hanged!”(1H4 2.2.10-30). In both serious incidents and comic moments, horses, albeit offstage, are crucial constituents of the actions of the play. The lack of a horse for Hotspur in his expected“hot horse to horse”confrontation with Prince Hal and the lack of any explanation for that, we argue, justify Hotspur’s defeat and can be considered a joke that the playwright plays on him. Recognizing the significant role of horses in the play, as well as where they are absent when expected to be present, enhances our appreciation of the play in relation to Shakespeare’s art, his world, and his imagination of the historical world.