Stratford-Upon-Avon

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29th April
The National Coach, which was supposed to have started at 9 a.m. at London, came at 11:05 a.m. about twenty minutes late.　I asked the driver whether the bus went to Stratford, and I got into it.　 There weren't so many passengers.　I took a window seat.
It took an hour and ten minutes from London to Oxford by train, while it seems to take about two hours by bus.
The driver said at Stratford that the fare was one pound and fifteen pence.　I took out all the coins from my pocket.　Two 5ps, two 2ps and a halfpenny.　I was a halfpenny short!　 But he said OK.
This is my second visit.　The first one was on 16th April by bus from Bournemouth.　So Nando's Wychway Guest House was easily found at 18 Eversham Place.　When I was led to the room, I was very pleased at finding it very light.　Mr. Francisco Garcia, the landload of this guesthouse, looked kind-hearted.　Compared with the guesthouse where I stayed last time, this house seemed more comfortable.
When I registered in the guesthouse book, I found Barry's signature.　I got acquainted with him at Bath on my trip to Bristol.　Mr. Barry Isaac said that he was a teacher at an elementary school in America and was now travelling all over the world on sabbatical leave.　He told me this guesthouse.　He wrote in the booklet,"I think I was treated like a king."　I also found several Japanese signatures.　They stayed here on the 23rd of April, Shakespeare's birthday and deathday.　There were many kinds of words written with a thankful heart.
I was very pleased to get a ticket of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on 3rd May. A stall seat of £4.　I'll be able to achieve the main purpose of my second visit.　I also bought a standing ticket of "Macbeth" tonight.
I looked in Royal Shakespeare Theatre Picture Gallary at about 2 p.m.　The portraits of Shakespeare and the persons of the dramas were displayed in chronological order.
There was a shower when I went out at about 3:30 p.m.　It was raining and hailing.　I thought it would stop raining soon, but I ran into the shower and to the guesthouse.　　The landload opened the door for me.　 I was drenched to the skin.　I shivered a little with the cold.　So I took a warm shower at once.　I felt relaxed in a chair and looked out of the window.　It had already stopped raining.
I went out to the theater a little past 6 p.m.　It was very fine.　I didn't take an umbrella with me.　It wouldn't rain tonight.
The "Macbeth" seemed to be played normally.　I was very tired because of my standing.　Any tickets except the standing ticket of 80ps weren't left...
I went out of the theater.　A lot of stars were shining bright.　I didn't feel hungry. Why would I go to a restaurant alone?　I took a short way to the guesthouse.　I saw few pedestrians, but I found restaurants lighted brightly.　Chatting might have been heard to get out.
I reached the guesthouse at about half past ten.


30th April
I visited Anne Hathaway's Cottage.　It took less than thirty minutes on foot from American Fountain.　On the way I found a few students playing tennis at a grass court of Grammar School for Girls.
On the hill at the back of the Cottage I could look over Shottery and far beyond get sight of Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the spire of Holly Trinity Church.　Going back to Stratford, I saw little boys playing football in a field.　It's Saturday today.

I entered Holly Trinity Church last visit.　So I passed it and walked southward along River Avon.　Why does the sun go on shining?... Why am I walking alone?... Did I sleep a sound sleep in a double bed last night?...　 I was walking in desolation, asking myself such silly questions without finding any answers.　I did get sentimental, perhaps because I was tired after the long walk.　I wondered what I would feel in Haworth.
I came back to Royal Shakespeare Theatre and sat down on a bench for resting my legs.　When I was looking vacantly, two dogs came into my sight.　A dog was running after the other persistently.

[It is now 5:30 a.m. on 1st May.　I came back at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday.　After eating sandwich, I began to read "A Midsummer Night's Dream".　It seemed that I fell asleep soon.　I woke up at about half past four, and I wrote as aforementioned.]


1st May
I visited Shakespeare's birthplace again.　I observed more carefully today.　I came across an interesting copy displayed as follows:

CHETTLE'S REBUKE TO SHAKESPERE, 1603.
Chettle's poem　Englandes Mourning Garment

Nor doth the silver tonged Melicert,
Drop from his honied muse one sable teare
To mourne her death that graced his desert,
And to his laies opened her Royall eare.

These lines are considerd to refer to Shakespeare.
...contains a rebuke to a poet for not having written an elegy on that event.
　　　　　(that event = the death of Queen Elizabeth)


I began to walk at noon, seeking for the Forest of Arden.　I passed by the Welcombe Monument for the dead in the war and went westward.　I felt uneasy because I saw nobody, I got relieved when I caught sight of a running car, I was growled at by a big dog, I was kindly told the way back by a girl riding on horseback and so on...　That was small walking adventures of mine for about three hours.
After I took a rest for a while sitting on a bench in the park near the guesthouse, I went into Hall's Croft, the home of Shakespeare's elder daughter Susanna and her husband Dr. John Hall.　When I was sitting on a bench in the flowering garden, an English man in his fifties spoke to me.　He said that he was now travelling with his wife.　When he knew I was a student, he told me that he had a son who was a student at Leeds University.　They were very pleasing in their ways.
"I understand your English very well because you are speaking slowly."
"Oh, yes.　I could understand French very little when we went on a trip to France," he said. "for it was spoken in a normal speed."　His wife nodded at me with a warm smile on her face.
The talk with them for a short time relaxed me.　This impressive encounter with them will remain in my memory.


2nd May
I visited Mary Arden's House.　It took five minutes by train from Stratford St. to the next station Wilmcote.　Shakespeare's mother Mary Arden was born in a manor house, where agricultural implements and so on used in those days were displayed now.　I was the first visitor today and seemed to be welcomed.　I was explained in detail.　But I wondered how much I could understand.
I got an impression that Wilmcote was a very quiet town(or village?).　Very few cars on the road nor pedestrians on the street were seen.


There was a canal along the railway.　I came across a boat on the canal.　Two or three young men were on deck.　The name of it read Lady Irane.　I supposed from the word HIRE that they hired the boat and that they were going on a boat trip.　I remember reading in a book that there is a network of canals all over England and you can go on a trip by boat.　I think it's one of Englishman's hobbies to go boating on a canal.　 I should have spoken to them.
I got on the train at 3:04 p.m. and came back.
I went into New Place Gardens.　There wasn't the house which Shakespeare bought in 1597 and in which he died on the 23rd of April in 1616.　We can't see the Mulberry Tree which Shakespeare is said to have planted, for it was cut down in the 18th century.


3rd May
After breakfast, Mr. Garcia advised me to go to Warwick if I didn't have any plans.　I remembered the large picture of Warwick Castle photographed from the sky at the imformation center.　It looked like rain, but I made up my mind to go there.　It began to rain on the way.　The fine rain stopped when I came back at before 5 p.m.　I think I had a good trip today.
I paid £1 admission.　I thought it a little expensive.　But the Castle was now under repair.
I observed the interior of a medieval castle.　I didn't see a dungeon in Edinbough Castle when I went on a sightseeing trip to Edinbough with a few friends on the Easter holidays.　I could observe the dungeon today.　 Various kinds of instruments of torture, that damp underground prison, the luxurious rooms of the lord and so on ...
I looked in a secondhand bookshop near Nash's House & New Place.　I got "Charles Dickens" by G. Gissing, first edition(£8) and "In The Year of Jubilee"(£4) published in 1895 at D. APPLETON AND COMPANY in New York.
The shopkeeper showed me the first editions published at Richard Bently & Son: "The Unclassed�J.�K.�L"(£165), "Demos�J.�K.�L"(£85),"The Nether Word�J.�K.�L"(£120), "The Emancipated�J.�K.�L"(£65), "New Grub Street �J.�K.�L"(£65).　I couldn't buy such expensive books!　He gave me his card: ROBERT VAUGHAN Antiquarian Bookseller 20 Chapel Street Stratford-Upon-Avon Tel. 0789-5312.

I watched "A Midsummer Night's Dream".　Its director was John Barton with Gillian Lynne.　The play was directed in an orthodox manner, very different from Peter Brook's production.
I got interested in the fairies' world in the forest for a moment and enjoyed watching the costumes in those days.　But I sometimes compared the play with that directed by Peter Brook, for I was given immense pleasure four years before.　Watching the movements of loves and lovers, I wanted to reaffirm that Brook's talent as a director was very excellent.　But I watched the villagers act very impressively.　I found Bottom, Richard Griffiths especially outstanding.


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