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第37章

红字-the scarlet letter(英文版)-第37章

小说: 红字-the scarlet letter(英文版) 字数: 每页3500字

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rm; imparting ahard; metallic lustre to the child's character。 She wanted… whatsome people want throughout life… a grief that should deeply touchher; and thus humanise and make her capable of sympathy。 But there wastime enough yet for little Pearl。  〃e; my child!〃 said Hester; looking about her from the spot wherePearl had stood still in the sunshine。 〃We will sit down a littleway within the wood; and rest ourselves。〃  〃I am not aweary; mother;〃 replied the little girl。 〃But you may sitdown; if you will tell me a story meanwhile。〃  〃A story; child!〃 said Hester。 〃And about what?〃  〃Oh; a story about the Black Man;〃 answered Pearl; taking hold ofher mother's gown; and looking up; half earnestly; half mischievously;into her face。 〃How he haunts this forest; and carries a book withhim… a big; heavy book; with iron clasps; and how this ugly BlackMan offers his book and an iron pen to everybody that meets him hereamong the trees; and they are to write their names with their ownblood。 And then he sets his mark on their bosoms! Didst thou ever meetthe Black Man; mother?〃  〃And who told you this story; Pearl?〃 asked her mother;recognising a mon superstition of the period。  〃It was the old dame in the chimney…corner; at the house where youwatched last night;〃 said the child。 〃But she fancied me asleepwhile she was talking of it。 She said that a thousand and a thousandpeople had met him here; and had written in his book; and have hismark on them。 And that ugly…tempered lady; old Mistress Hibbins; wasone。 And; mother; the old dame said that this scarlet letter was theBlack Man's mark on thee; and that it glows like a red flame when thoumeetest him at midnight; here in the dark wood。 Is it true; mother?And dost thou go to meet him in the night…time?〃  〃Didst thou ever awake; and find thy mother gone?〃 asked Hester。  〃Not that I remember;〃 said the child。 〃If thou fearest to leaveme in our cottage; thou mightest take me along with thee。 I would verygladly go! But; mother; tell me now! Is there such a Black Man? Anddidst thou ever meet him? And is this his mark?〃  〃Wilt thou let me be at peace if I once tell thee?〃 asked hermother。  〃Yes; if thou tellest me all;〃 answered Pearl。  〃Once in my life I met the Black Man!〃 said her mother。 〃Thisscarlet letter is his mark!〃  Thus conversing; they entered sufficiently deep into the wood tosecure themselves from the observation of any casual passenger alongthe forest track。 Here they sat down on a luxuriant heap of moss;which; at some epoch of the preceding century; had been a giganticpine; with its roots and trunk in the darksome shade; and its headaloft in the upper atmosphere。 It was a little dell where they hadseated themselves; with a leaf…strewn bank rising gently on eitherside; and a brook flowing through the midst; over a bed of fallenand drowned leaves。 The trees impending over it had flung down greatbranches; from time to time; which choked up the current; andpelled it to form eddies and black depths at some points; while; inits swifter and livelier passages; there appeared a channel…way ofpebbles; and brown; sparkling sand。 Letting the eyes follow alongthe course of the stream; they could catch the reflected light fromits water; at some short distance within the forest; but soon lost alltraces of it amid the bewilderment of tree…trunks and underbrush;and here and there a huge rock covered over with grey lichens。 Allthese giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on making amystery of the course of this small brook; fearing; perhaps; that;with its never…ceasing loquacity; it should whisper tales out of theheart of the old forest whence it flowed; or mirror its revelations onthe smooth surface of a pool。 Continually; indeed; as it stole onward;the streamlet kept up a babble; kind; quiet; soothing; but melancholy;like the voice of a young child that was spending its infancywithout playfulness; and knew not how to be merry among sadacquaintance and events of sombre hue。  〃O brook! O foolish and tiresome little brook!〃 cried Pearl; afterlistening awhile to its talk。 〃Why art thou so sad? Pluck up a spirit;and do not be all the time sighing and murmuring!〃  But the brook; in the course of its little lifetime among theforest…trees; had gone through so solemn an experience that it couldnot help talking about it; and seemed to have nothing else to say。Pearl resembled the brook inasmuch as the current of her life gushedfrom a well…spring as mysterious; and had flowed through scenesshadowed as heavily with gloom。 But; unlike the little stream; shedanced and sparkled; and prattled airily along her course。  〃What does this sad little brook say; mother?〃 inquired she。  〃If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own; the brook might tell thee ofit;〃 answered her mother; 〃even as it is telling me of mine! Butnow; Pearl; I hear a footstep along the path; and the noise of oneputting aside the branches。 I would have thee betake thyself toplay; and leave me to speak with him that es yonder。〃  〃Is it the Black Man?〃 asked Pearl。  〃Wilt thou go and play; child?〃 repeated her mother。 〃But do notstray far into the wood。 And take heed that thou e at my firstcall。〃    〃Yes; mother;〃 answered Pearl。 〃But if it be the Black Man; wiltthou not let me stay a moment; and look at him; with his big bookunder his arm?〃  〃Go; silly child!〃 said her mother impatiently。 〃It is no Black Man!Thou canst see him now; through the trees。 It is the minister!〃  〃And so it is!〃 said the child。 〃And; mother; he has his hand overhis heart! Is it because; when the minister wrote his name in thebook; the Black Man set his mark in that place? But why does he notwear it outside his bosom; as thou dost; mother?〃  〃Go now; child; and thou shalt tease me as thou wilt anothertime;〃 cried Hester Prynne。 〃But do not stray far。 Keep where thoucanst hear the babble of the brook。〃  The child went singing away; following up the current of thebrook; and striving to mingle a more lightsome cadence with itsmelancholy voice。 But the little stream would not be forted; andstill kept telling its unintelligible secret of some very mournfulmystery that had happened… or making a prophetic lamentation aboutsomething that was yet to happen… within the verge of the dismalforest。 So Pearl; who had enough of shadow in her own little life;chose to break off all acquaintance with this repining brook。 Sheset herself; therefore; to gathering violets and wood…anemones; andsome scarlet columbines that she found growing in the crevices of ahigh rock。  When her elf…child had departed; Hester Prynne made a step or twotowards the track that led through the forest; but still remainedunder the deep shadow of the trees。 She beheld the ministeradvancing along the path; entirely alone; and leaning on a staff whichhe had cut by the wayside。 He looked haggard and feeble; andbetrayed a nerveless despondency in his air; which had never soremarkably characterised him in his walks about the settlement; nor inany other situation where he deemed himself liable to notice。 Hereit was woefully visible; in this intense seclusion of the forest;which of itself would have been a heavy trial to the spirits。 Therewas a listlessness in his gait; as if he saw no reason for takingone step farther; nor felt any desire to do so; but would have beenglad; could he be glad of anything; to fling himself down at theroot of the nearest tree; and lie there passive; for evermore。 Theleaves might bestrew him; and the soil gradually accumulate and form alittle hillock over his frame; no matter whether there were life in itor no。 Death was too definite an object to be wished for; or avoided。  To Hester's eye; the Reverend Mr。 Dimmesdale exhibited no symptom ofpositive and vivacious suffering; except that; as little Pearl hadremarked; he kept his hand over his heart。                             XVII。                 THE PASTOR AND HIS PARISHIONER。  SLOWLY as the minister walked; he had almost gone by; beforeHester Prynne could gather voice enough to attract his observation。 Atlength; she succeeded。  〃Arthur Dimmesdale!〃 she said; faintly at first; then louder; buthoarsely: 〃Arthur Dimmesdale!〃  〃Who speaks?〃 answered the minister。  Gathering himself quickly up; he stood more erect; like a mantaken by surprise in a mood to which he was reluctant to havewitnesses。 Throwing his eyes anxiously in the direction of thevoice; he indistinctly beheld a form under the trees; clad in garmentsso; sombre; and so little relieved from the grey twilight into whichthe clouded sky and the heavy foliage had darkened the noontide;that he knew not whether it were a woman or a shadow。 It may be;that his pathway through life was haunted thus; by a spectre thathad stolen out from among his thoughts。  He made a step nigher; and discovered the scarlet letter。  〃Hester! Hester Prynne!〃 said he。 〃Is it thou? Art thou in life?〃  〃Even so!〃 she answered。 〃In such life as has been mine theseseven years past! And thou; Arthur Dimmesdale; dost thou yet live?〃  It was no wonder that they thus questioned one another's actualand bodily existence; and even doubted of their own。 So strangelydid they meet; in the dim wood; that it was like the firstencounter; in the world beyond the grave; of two spirits who hadbeen intimately connected in their former life; but n

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