【经典名著阅读】《红字》第十二章(中)
Chapter 12 THE MINISTER'S VIGIL第十二章 牧师的夜游
Carried away by the grotesque horror of this picture, the minister, unawares, and to his own infinite alarm, burst into a great peal of laughter. It was immediately responded to by a light, airy, childish laugh, in which, with a thrill of the heart- but he knew not whether of exquisite pain, or pleasure as acute- he recognised the tones of little Pearl.牧师的神思随着这一荒唐可怖的画面驰骋,在不知不觉之中突然爆发出一阵狂笑,一连他自己都大吃一惊。这狂笑立刻得到一声轻灵的童稚笑声的响应,随着一阵心悸——不过他弄不清到底是出于剧烈的痛楚抑或极度的欢乐——,他从笑声中辨出了小珠儿的腔调。
"Pearl! Little Pearl!" cried he, after a moment's pause; then, suppressing his voice- "Hester! Hester Prynne! Are you there?"“珠儿!小珠儿!”他稍停片刻就喊道;然后,他压低了嗓音说:“海丝特!海丝特·白兰!是你在那儿吗?”
"Yes; it is Hester Prynne!" she replied, in a tone of surprise; and the minister heard her footsteps approaching from the sidewalk, along which she had been passing. "It is I, and my little Pearl."“是的;我是海丝特·白兰!”她应答着,语调中充满惊奇;接着牧师听到了她走下便道,逐渐接近的脚步声。“是我,还有我的小珠儿。
"Whence come you, Hester?" asked the minister. "What sent you hither?"“你从哪里来,海丝特?”牧师问道。“你怎么到这儿来啦?”
"I have been watching at a death-bed," answered Hester Prynne- "at Governor Winthrop's death-bed, and have taken his measure for a robe, and am now going homeward to my dwelling."“我刚刚守护在一个死者的床边,”海丝特·白兰回答说,“是在温斯洛普总督床边,给他量了袍子的尺寸,现在我正往家里走。”
"Come up hither, Hester, thou and little Pearl," said the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. "Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!"“上这儿来吧,海丝特,你,还有小珠儿,”可敬的丁梅斯代尔先生说。“你们母女俩以前已经在这儿站过了,可是我当时没和你们在一起。再上来一次吧,我们三日人一起站着吧!”
She silently ascended the steps, and stood on the platform, holding little Pearl by the hand. The minister felt for the child's other hand, and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain.她默默地踏上台阶,并且站到了台上,手中一直牵着小珠儿。牧师够着孩子的另一只手,也握住了。就在他这么做的瞬间,似有一般不同于他自己生命的新生命的激越之潮,急流般涌入他的心房,冲过他周身的血管,仿佛那母女俩正把她们生命的温暖传递给他半麻木的躯体。三人构成了一条闭合的电路。
"Minister!" whispered little Pearl.“牧师!”小珠儿悄声说。
"What wouldst thou say, child?" asked Mr. Dimmesdale.“你要说什么啊,孩子?”丁梅斯代尔先生问道。
"Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?" inquired Pearl.“你愿意在明天中午的时候,跟妈妈和我一块站在这儿吗?”珠儿询问着。
"Nay; not so, my little Pearl," answered the minister; for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which- with a strange joy, nevertheless- he now found himself. "Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow."“不成;不能那样,我的小珠儿,”牧师回答说;由于那瞬间的新精力,长期以来折磨着他生命的对示众的种种恐惧,又重新回到他心头;而且,他对目前的这种团聚——虽说也有一种陌生的欢偷——已经颤栗不安了。“那样不成,我的孩子。真的,终有一天,我一定同你妈妈和你站在一起,不过明天还不成。”珠儿笑着,想抽出她的手。但牧师紧紧地握住了。
Pearl laughed, and attempted to pull away her hand. But the minister held it fast. "A moment longer, my child!" said he.珠儿笑着,想抽出她的手。但牧师紧紧地握住了。“再稍待一会儿,我的孩子!”他说。
"But wilt thou promise," asked Pearl, "to take my hand, and mother's hand, to-morrow noontide?"“可你一定要答应,”殊儿问道,“明天中午握着我的手和妈妈的手,好吧?”
"Not then, Pearl," said the minister, "but another time."“明天还不成,珠儿,”牧师说着,“得换换时间。”
"And what other time?" persisted the child.“那在什么时候呢?”孩子一劲地追问。
"At the great judgment day," whispered the minister- and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled him to answer the child so. "Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I, must stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!"“在最后审判日,”牧师耳语说——说来奇怪,是他身为传播真理的牧师的职业感迫使他这么答复孩子的。“到了那一天,在审判座前面,你妈妈,你,还有我,应该站在一起。但这个世界的光天化日是不会看到我们在一起的!”
Pearl laughed again.珠儿又笑了。
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