原文 (英语)

EDITOR’S PREFACE. “It was an ancestor of my husband who brought out the famous Shakspeare.” These words were really spoken, and were repeated in conversation as most ridiculous.  Certainly such was very far from the lady’s intention; and who knows to what extent they are true? The frolic of Shakspeare in deer-stealing was the cause of his Hegira; and his connection with players in London was the cause of his writing plays.  Had he remained in his native town, his ambition had never