Full of concern, therefore- but so conscious of her own right that it seemed scarcely an unequal match between the public, on the one side, and a lonely woman, backed by the sympathies of nature, on the other- Hester Prynne set forth from her solitary cottage. Little Pearl, of course, was her companion. She was now of an age to run lightly along by her mother's side, and, constantly in motion, from morn till sunset, could have accomplished a much longer journey than that before her. Often, nevertheless, more from caprice than necessity, she demanded to be taken up in arms; but was soon as imperious to be set down again, and frisked onward before Hester on the grassy pathway, with many a harmless trip and tumble. We have spoken of Pearl's rich and luxuriant beauty; a beauty that shone with deep and vivid tints; a bright complexion, eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown, and which, in after years, would be nearly akin to black. There was fire in her and throughout her; she seemed the unpremeditated offshoot of a passionate moment. Her mother, in contriving the child's garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play; arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic, of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of gold thread. So much strength of colouring, which must have given a wan and pallid aspect to cheeks of a fainter bloom, was admirably adapted to Pearl's beauty, and made her the very brightest little jet of flame that ever danced upon the earth.
眼前涉及海丝特·白兰自身权利的这件事，虽然一方面是广大公众，另一方面是只以自然的同情为后盾的弧身女人，双方众寡悬殊，难以对垒，但她还是忧心仲仲地从她那孤零零的小茅屋中出发去力争了。不消说，小珠儿仍然陪伴着她。珠儿如今已经长到能够在母亲身边轻快跑动的年龄，一天到晚不肯闲着，就是比这再远的路也能走到了。不过，她经常还要母亲抱着走，其实并不是因为走不动，而是想撒娇；可是没抱几步就又迫不及待地要下来，蹦蹦跳跳地在海丝特前面走着，跑着，不时还在长草的小路上磕磕绊绊，不过绝不会摔出伤来。我们曾经谈到珠儿洋溢着光彩照人的美丽，是个浓墨重彩、生动活泼的小姑娘：她有晶莹的皮肤，一双大眼睛既专注深沉又炯炯有神，头发此时已是润泽的深棕色，再过几年就几乎是漆黑色的了。她浑身上下有一团火，向四下发散着，象是在激情时刻不期而孕的一个子嗣。她母亲在给孩子设计服装时呕心沥血，充分发挥了华丽的倾向，用鲜红的天鹅绒为她裁剪了一件式样独特的束腰裙衫，还用金丝线在上面绣满新奇多采的花样。这种强烈的色调，如果用来衬托一个不够红润的面颊，会使容貌显得苍白黯淡，但却与珠儿的美貌相得益彰，使她成了世上前所未有的活跳跳的一小团焰目的火焰。

But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb, and, indeed, of the child's whole appearance, that it irresistibly and inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life! The mother herself- as if the red ignominy were so deeply scorched into her brain that all her conceptions assumed its form- had carefully wrought out the similitude; lavishing many hours of morbid ingenuity, to create an analogy between the object of her affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture. But, in truth, Pearl was the one, as well as the other; and only in consequence of that identity had Hester contrived so perfectly to represent the scarlet letter in her appearance.
然而，这身衣裙，老实讲，还有这孩子的整个外貌，实在引人注目，使目睹者不可遏止也难以避免地想到海丝特·白兰胸前注定要佩戴的那个标记。孩子是另一种形式的红字，是被赋予了生命的红字！做母亲的头脑中似乎给这红色的耻辱所深深印烙，她的一切观念都采取了它的形式，才精心制作出来了这个相仿的对应物；她不借花费许多时间，用病态的才智创造出这个既象她的慈爱的对象又象她的罪孽和折磨的标志的作品。然而，事实上，恰恰是珠儿集二者于一身；而且，也正因为有了这个同一性，海丝特才能如此完美地用孩子的外表率象征她的红字。

As the two wayfarers came within the precincts of the town, the children of the Puritans looked up from their play- or what passed for play with those sombre little urchins- and spake gravely one to another-
当这两个行路人来到镇区之时，那些清教徒的孩子们停下了游戏——那些闷闷不乐的小家伙们其实也没什么可玩的，抬起眼来，一本正经地互相议论着：

"Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter; and, of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side! Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them!"
“瞧，还真有个戴红字的女人；还且，一点不假，还有个象红字似的小东西在她身边跑着呢！这下可好啦，咱们朝她们扔泥巴吧！”