Without a word more spoken- neither he nor she assuming the guidance, but with an unexpressed consent- they glided back into the shadow of the woods, whence Hester had emerged, and sat down on the heap of moss where she and Pearl had before been sitting. When they found voice to speak, it was, at first, only to utter remarks and inquiries such as any two acquaintances might have made, about the gloomy sky, the threatening storm, and, next, the health of each. Thus they went onward, not boldly, but step by step, into the themes that were brooding deepest in their hearts. So long estranged by fate and circumstances, they needed something slight and casual to run before, and throw open the doors of intercourse, so that their real thoughts might be led across the threshold.
他俩没再多说,况且哪一个也没有引路,只是凭着一种默契,便一起退到海丝特刚才走出的树荫中,双双坐在她和珠儿坐过的那堆青苔上。他们好不容易才开口讲话,起初只是象两个熟人那样搭汕两句,说说天空阴沉,就要有暴风雨了,后来便谈到各自的健康情况。他们就这样谈下去,小心翼翼地,一步一步地,扯到深深埋藏在心底的话题。由于命运和环境这多年来将他们相互隔绝,他们就需要些轻松的阔谈来开头,然后再敞开交谈的大门,把他们的真实思想领进门限。

After a while, the minister fixed his eyes on Hester Prynne's.
过了一会,牧师的目光紧紧盯住海丝特·白兰的眼睛。

"Hester," said he, "hast thou found peace?"
“海丝特,”他说,“你得到平静了吗?”

She smiled drearily, looking down upon her bosom.
她凄楚地笑了笑,垂下眼睛看着自己胸前。

"Hast thou?" she asked.
“你呢?”她反问……

"None!- nothing but despair!" he answered. "What else could I look for, being what I am, and leading such a life as mine? Were I an atheist- a man devoid of conscience- a wretch with coarse and brutal instincts- I might have found peace, long ere now. Nay, I never should have lost it! But, as matters stand with my soul, whatever of good capacity there originally was in me, all of God's gifts that were the choicest have become the ministers of spiritual torment. Hester, I am most miserable."
“没有!——除了绝望再无其它!”他回答说。“作为我这样一个人,过着我这样的生活,我又能指望什么呢?如果我是一个无神论者,——一个丧尽良心的人,——一个本性粗野的恶棍,——或许我早就得到了平静。不,我本来就不该失去它的!不过,就我的灵魂而论,无论我身上原先有什么好品质,上帝所赐予的一切最精美的天赋已经全都变成了精神折磨的执行者。海丝特,我实在太痛苦了!”

"The people reverence thee," said Hester. "And surely thou workest good among them! Doth this bring thee no comfort?"
“人们都尊重你,”海丝特说。“而且说实在的,你在他们中间确实做着好事!这一点难道还不能给你带来慰藉吗?”

"More misery, Hester!- only the more misery!" answered the clergyman, with a bitter smile. "As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a delusion. What can a ruined soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls?- or a polluted soul, towards their purification? And as for the people's reverence, would that it were turned to scorn and hatred! Canst thou deem it, Hester, a consolation, that I must stand up in my pulpit, and meet so many eyes turned upward to my face, as if the light of heaven were beaming from it!- must see my flock hungry for the truth, and listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecost were speaking!- and then look inward, and discern the black reality of what they idolise? I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am! And Satan laughs at it!"
“益发痛苦,海丝特!——只能是益发痛苦!”牧师苦笑着回答说。“至于我表面上做的那些好事,我也毫无信念可言。那不过是一种幻觉罢了。象我这样一个灵魂已经毁灭的人,又能为拯救他人的灵魂做出什么有效之举呢?——或者说,一个亵渎的灵魂能够净化他人吗?至于别人对我的尊重,我宁愿统统变成轻蔑与愤懑!我不得不站在布道坛上,迎着那么多仰望着我的面孔的眼睛,似乎我脸上在发散天国之光!我不得不看着我那群渴望真理的羔羊聆听我的话语,象是一只‘火焰的舌头’在讲话!可是我再向自己的内心一看,却辨出了他们所崇拜的东西中丑陋的真相!海丝特,你能认为这是一种慰藉吗?我曾在内心的极度辛酸悲苦之中,放声嘲笑我的表里不一!撒旦也是这样嘲笑的!”