But the sea in those old times, heaved, swelled, and foamed, very much at its own will, or subject only to the tempestuous wind, with hardly any attempts at regulation by human law. The buccaneer on the wave might relinquish his calling, and become at once, if he chose, a man of probity and piety on land; nor, even in the full career of his reckless life, was he regarded as a personage with whom it was disreputable to traffic, or casually associate. Thus, the Puritan elders, in their black cloaks, starched bands, and steeple-crowned hats, smiled not unbenignantly at the clamour and rude deportment of these jolly seafaring men; and it excited neither surprise nor anim-adversion, when so reputable a citizen as old Roger Chillingworth, the physician, was seen to enter the market-place, in close and familiar talk with the commander of the questionable vessel.
但是那时候的大海,汹涌澎湃、掀浪卷沫,很大程度上是我行我素,或仅仅臣服于狂风暴雨,从来没有道接受人类法律束缚的念头。那些在风口浪尖上谋生的海盗们,只要心甘情愿,可以洗手不干,立刻成为岸上的一名正直诚实的君子;面即使在他们任意胡为的生涯中,人们也并不把他们视为不屑一颐或与之稍打交道就有损自己名声的人。因此,那些穿着黑色礼服、挺着浆过的环状皱领、戴着尖顶高帽的清教徒长者们,对于这帮快活的水手们的大声喧哗和粗野举动,反倒报以不无慈爱的微笑;而当人们看到老罗杰·齐灵渥斯这样一个德高望重的居民和医生走进市场、同那艘形迹可疑的船只曲船长亲密面随便地交谈的时候,既没有引起惊讶之感,也没有议论纷纷。

The latter was by far the most showy and gallant figure, so far as apparel went, anywhere to be seen among the multitude. He wore a profusion of ribbons on his garment, and gold lace on his hat, which was also encircled by a gold chain, and surmounted with a feather. There was a sword at his side, and a sword-cut on his forehead, which, by the arrangement of his hair, he seemed anxious rather to display than hide. A landsman could hardly have worn this garb and shown this face, and worn and shown them both with such a galliard air, without undergoing stern question before a magistrate, and probably incurring fine or imprisonment, or perhaps an exhibition in the stocks. As regarded the shipmaster, however, all was looked upon as pertaining to the character, as to a fish his glistening scales.
就那位船长的服饰而论,无论他出现在人群中的什么地方,都是一个最显眼、最英武的人物。他的衣服上佩戴着备色奢华的缎带,帽子上缠着一圈金色丝绦,还缀着一根金链,上面插着一根羽毛。他胁下挎着一柄长剑,额头上留着一块伤疤——从他蓄的发式来看,似乎更急切地要显露出来而不是要加以掩盖。一个陆地上的人,若是周身这股穿戴、露出这副尊容,而且还得意洋洋地招摇过市,恐怕很难不被当宫的召去传讯,甚至会被课以罚金或判处监禁,也许会枷号示众。然而,对于这位船长而言,这一切都和他的身份相依相附,犹如鱼身上长着闪光的鳞片。

After parting from the physician, the commander of the Bristol ship strolled idly through the market-place; until, happening to approach the spot where Hester Prynne was standing, he appeared to recognise, and did not hesitate to address her. As was usually the case wherever Hester stood, a small vacant area- a sort of magic circle- had formed itself about her, into which, though the people were elbowing one another at a little distance, none ventured, or felt disposed to intrude. It was a forcible type of the moral solitude in which the scarlet letter enveloped its fated wearer; partly by her own reserve, and partly by the instinctive, though no longer so unkindly, withdrawal of her fellow-creatures. Now, if never before, it answered a good purpose, by enabling Hester and the seaman to speak together without the risk of being overheard; and so changed was Hester Prynne's repute before the public, that the matron in town most eminent for rigid morality could not have held such intercourse with less result of scandal than herself.
准备开往布利斯托尔的那艘船的船长,和医生分手后,就悠闲地踱过市场;后来他刚好走近海丝特·白兰站立的地方,他好象认识她,径直上前去打招呼。和通常一样,凡是海丝特所站之处,周围就会形成一小块空地,似乎有一种魔圈围着,圈外的人尽管在附近摩肩擦背地挤作一团,也没人甘冒风险或乐于闯进那块空地。这正是红字在注定要佩戴它的人四周所形成的一种强制性的精神上的孤立;这固然是由于她自己的回避,但也是由于她的同胞们的本能的退缩,尽管这种退缩早已不那么不友好了。如果说这种隔离圈以前毫无裨益的话,此时倒是大有好处,因为海丝特能够同那位船长交谈而不致冒被人听到的风险j何况海丝特·白兰在众人间的声名已经大有改变,即使是镇上以恪守妇道最为著称的妇人进行这种谈话,都不会比她少受风言风语的指责。