"Ask me not!" replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. "That thou shalt never know!"
“不要问我！”海丝特·白兰定睛望着他的面孔回答说。“这一点你永远不会知道的！”
 

"Never, sayest thou?" rejoined he, with a smile of dark and self-relying intelligence. "Never know him! Believe me, Hester, there are few things- whether in the outward world, or, to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere of thought- few things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery. Thou mayest cover up thy secret from the prying multitude. Thou mayest conceal it, too, from the ministers and magistrates, even as thou didst this day, when they sought to wrench the name out of thy heart, and give thee a partner on thy pedestal. But, as for me, I come to the inquest with other senses than they possess. I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!"
“永远不，你是这么说的吗？”他接口说，脸上露出阴沉和自信的笑意。“永远不会知道他！相信我吧，海丝特，还没有什么事情，——无论是在外部世界上的，还是在不可见的某种思想深处之中的——都没有什么事情能够逃过一个对解决神秘问题孜孜以求的人的眼睛。你可以对那些刨根问底的群众隐藏你的秘密。你也可以对那些牧师和大人们掩饰你的秘密，即使在他们象今天所作的那样，竭力想把那人的名字从你心中挤轧出来，让你们结伴示众的时候，也是枉然。至于我呢，我要用他们所不具备的其它感觉来寻求答案。我要象我在书本中探索真理、用炼金术提炼黄金那样去找出这个男人。我可以靠一种共同感应来觉察出他来。我要看着他浑身战抖。我会突然而不自主地感到自己在颤栗。或迟或早，他必将落入我的掌握之中！”
 

The eyes of the wrinkled scholar glowed so intensely upon her, that Hester Prynne clasped her hands over her heart, dreading lest he should read the secret there at once.
那个满脸皱纹的学者的眼睛，亮闪闪地死盯住海丝特·白兰，直逼得她用双手紧紧捂住胸口，唯恐他马上从那儿读到她的秘密。

"Thou wilt not reveal his name? Not the less he is mine," resumed he, with a look of confidence, as if destiny were at one with him. "He bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou dost; but I shall read it on his heart. Yet fear not for him! Think not that I shall interfere with Heaven's own method of retribution, or, to my own loss, betray him to the gripe of human law. Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life; no, nor against his fame, if, as I judge, he be a man of fair repute. Let him live! Let him hide himself in outward honour, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine!"
“你不想说出他的名字吗？反正他逃不出我的手心，”他接着说，露出得意的神情，似乎是他在主宰命运。“他的衣服上没有象你一样缝着耻辱的字毋；但我仍可以洞察他的内心。不过不必为他担心！不要以为我会扰乱上天的惩治方法，或者，把他揭露出来，诉请人间的法律去制裁，那样我会得不偿失。你也不要猜想我会设法勾消他的生命；不，我也不会诋毁他的名誉的，要是我判断得对，他是一个颇有名望的人。让他活着吧！反正他逃不出我的手心！”
 

"Thy acts are like mercy," said Hester, bewildered and appalled. "But thy words interpret thee as a terror!"
“你的行动象是在发慈悲，”海丝特困惑面惊恐地说。“可你的言辞只能让人感到害怕！”

"One thing, thou that wast my wife, I would enjoin upon thee," continued the scholar. "Thou hast kept the secret of thy paramour. Keep, likewise, mine! There are none in this land that know me. Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband! Here, on this wild outskirt of the earth, I shall pitch my tent; for, elsewhere a wanderer, and isolated from human interests, I find here a woman, a man, a child, amongst whom and myself there exist the closest ligaments. No matter whether of love or hate; no matter whether of right or wrong! Thou and thine, Hester Prynne, belong to me. My home is where thou art, and where he is. But betray me not!"
“既然你曾经是我的妻子，我要求你必须做到一点，”那学者继续说。“你始终不肖泄露你的奸夫。那就也为我保密吧！这地方没人认识我。绝对不要对任何人露一点口风，说我曾经是你的丈夫？这里，在地球的这块蛮荒野地里，我要扎下我的帐篷，因为在别的地方我也是一个飘泊者，与世人的兴趣隔绝，但在这里我发现了一个女人、一个男人、一个孩子，我和他们之间存在着最紧密的联系。不管是爱还是恨；也不管是对还是错！你和你的人，海丝特·白兰，都属于我。你在哪儿，他在哪儿，我的家就安在哪儿。但你别把我泄露出去！”