Chapter 07 THE GOVERNOR'S HALL
第七章 总督的大厅

HESTER PRYNNE went, one day, to the mansion of Governor Bellingham, with a pair of gloves, which she had fringed and embroidered to his order, and which were to be worn on some great occasion of state; for, though the chances of a popular election had caused this former ruler to descend a step or two from the highest rank, he still held an honourable and influential place among the colonial magistracy.
一天,海丝特·白兰到贝灵汉总督的宅邸去交他订做的手套,这副绣了花并镶了边的手套是总督要在某个重大的庆典上戴的;因为这位前任统治者虽然在一次普选中从最高的品级上降了一两级,但他在殖民地的行政长官中仍然保持着举足轻重和受人尊崇的地位。

Another and far more important reason than the delivery of a pair of embroidered gloves impelled Hester, at this time, to seek an interview with a personage of so much power and activity in the affairs of the settlement. It had reached her ears, that there was a design on the part of some of the leading inhabitants, cherishing the more rigid order of principles in religion and government, to deprive her of her child. On the supposition that Pearl, as already hinted, was of demon origin, these good people not unreasonably argued that a Christian interest in the mother's soul required them to remove such a stumbling-block from her path. If the child, on the other hand, were really capable of moral and religious growth, and possessed the elements of ultimate salvation, then, surely, it would enjoy all the fairer prospect of these advantages, by being transferred to wiser and better guardianship than Hester Prynne's. Among those who promoted the design, Governor Bellingham was said to be one of the most busy. It may appear singular, and, indeed, not a little ludicrous, that an affair of this kind, which, in later days, would have been referred to no higher jurisdiction than that of the selectmen of the town, should then have been a question publicly discussed, and on which statesmen of eminence took sides. At that epoch of pristine simplicity, however, matters of even slighter public interest, and of far less intrinsic weight, than the welfare of Hester and her child, were strangely mixed up with the deliberations of legislators and acts of state. The period was hardly, if at all, earlier than that of our story, when a dispute concerning the right of property in a pig, not only caused a fierce and bitter contest in the legislative body of the colony, but resulted in an important modification of the framework itself of the legislature.
此时,还有比呈递一副绣好的手套远为重要的另一个原因,促使她去谋求晋见一位在殖民地事务中有权有势的人物的一次机会。她耳闻,有几位力主在宗教和政府的原则上要严加治理的头面人物,正在谋划夺走她的孩子。前面已经暗示过,珠儿既然可能是妖魔的孽种,这些好心肠的人们就不无理由地主张:为了对做母亲的灵魂表示基督教的关怀,他们应该从她的道路上搬掉这样一块绊脚石。反之,如果这孩子当真能够接受宗教和道德的教化,并且具备最终获救的因素,那么,把孩子移交给比海丝特·白兰更高明的监护人,珠儿就可以更充分地发挥这些条件,从而肯定享有更美好的前途。在推进这一谋划的人们当中,据说贝灵汉总督是最为热心奔走的一个。这类事情如果推迟若干年,最多交由市镇行政管理委员会这一级去裁处,而在当时,居然要兴师动众地加以讨论,而且还要有显要人物来参与,看来未免稀奇,也确实有点荒唐可笑。然而,在早年的纯朴时期,哪怕对公众利益来说,比起海丝特和她孩子的安置问题还要次要的事情,都要由立法者审议并由政府立法,岂不妙哉。就在我们这个故事发生之前并不很久的时期,曾经发生过涉及一日猪的所有权的争议,其结果,不仅在这块殖民地的立法机构中引起了不可开交的激烈辩论,而且还导致了该机构组织上的重大变更。