So Pearl--the elf-child,--the demon offspring, as some people, up to that epoch, persisted in considering her--became the richest heiress of her day, in the New World. Not improbably, this circumstance wrought a very material change in the public estimation; and, had the mother and child remained here, little Pearl, at a marriageable period of life, might have mingled her wild blood with the lineage of the devoutest Puritan among them all. But, in no long time after the physician's death, the wearer of the scarlet letter disappeared, and Pearl along with her. For many years, though a vague report would now and then find its way across the sea,--like a shapeless piece of driftwood tost ashore, with the initials of a name upon it,--yet no tidings of them unquestionably authentic were received. The story of the scarlet letter grew into a legend. Its spell, however, was still potent, and kept the scaffold awful where the poor minister had died, and likewise the cottage by the sea-shore, where Hester Prynne had dwelt. Near this latter spot, one afternoon, some children were at play, when they beheld a tall woman, in a gray robe, approach the cottage-door. In all those years it had never once been opened; but either she unlocked it, or the decaying wood and iron yielded to her hand, or she glided shadow-like through these impediments,--and, at all events, went in.
于是，小珠儿——那个小精灵，那个直到那时人们还坚持认为是恶魔的后裔，就成了当年新大陆的最富有的继承人。自然，这种景况引起了公众评价的很实际的变化；如果母女俩留在当地，小珠儿在到达结婚年龄之后，很可能会把她那野性的血液，同那里最虔诚的清教徒的血统结合起来。但是，医生死后不久，红字的佩戴者就消失了，而珠儿也跟她走了。多年之中，虽然不时有些模糊的传闻跨过大洋——犹如一块不成形的烂木头漂到岸上，上面只有姓氏的第一个字母，但从未接到过有关她们的可靠消息。红字的故事渐渐变成了传说。然而，它的符咒的效力依旧，使那可怜的牧师死在上面的刑台和海丝特·白兰居住过的海边茅屋都令人望面生畏。一天下午，有些孩子正在那茅屋的近旁玩耍，他们忽然看见一个身穿灰袍的高个子女人走进了屋门；那些年来，屋门从来没有打开过一次；不知是那女人开了锁，还是那腐朽了的木头和铁页在她手里散落了，或是她象影子一般穿过这重重障碍。反正她是进了屋。

On the threshold she paused,--turned partly round,--for, perchance, the idea of entering, all alone, and all so changed,  the home of so intense a former life, was more dreary and desolate than even she could bear. But her hesitation was only for an instant, though long enough to display a scarlet letter on her breast.
她在门限处停下了脚步，还侧转了身体，或许，只身一人走进以往过着提心吊胆生活、如今已经面貌全非的家，连她都受不了那种阴森凄凉的劲头。但她只迟疑了片刻，不过人们还是来得及看到她胸前的红字。

And Hester Prynne had returned, and taken up her long-forsaken shame. But where was little Pearl? If still alive, she must now have been in the flush and bloom of early womanhood. None knew--nor ever learned, with the fulness of perfect certainty--whether the elf-child had gone thus untimely to a maiden grave; or whether her wild, rich nature had been softened and subdued, and made capable of a woman's gentle happiness. But, through the remainder of Hester's life, there were indications that the recluse of the scarlet letter was the object of love and interest with some inhabitant of another land. Letters came, with armorial seals upon them, though of bearings unknown to English heraldry. In the cottage there were articles of comfort and luxury, such as Hester never cared to use, but which only wealth could have purchased, and affection have imagined for her. There were trifles, too, little ornaments, beautiful tokens of a continual remembrance, that must have been wrought by delicate fingers, at the impulse of a fond heart. And, once, Hester was seen embroidering a baby-garment, with such a lavish richness of golden fancy as would have raised a public tumult, had any infant, thus apparelled, been shown to our sobre-hued community.
海丝特·白兰又回来了，又拣起了久已抛弃的耻辱！可是小珠儿在哪里呢？如果她还活着，如今应该是个楚楚动人的少女了。谁也不知道，谁也没有得到十足确切的消息，那个小精灵般的孩于是不是早已过早地埋进了少女的坟墓，还是她那狂野而多彩的本性已经被软化和驯服，从而得以享受一个女人的温雅的幸福。不过，从海丝特后半世的生活来看，有迹象表明，这位佩戴红字的幽居者是居住在另一片国度里的某个人热爱和关怀的对象。寄来的信件上印有纹章，不过那是英格兰家系上所没有记载的。在那间茅屋里，有一些奢侈的享受品，这些东西海丝特是从来不屑一用的，但这些东西只有富人才能买得起，只有对她充满感情的人才会想得到。还有一些小玩艺儿，一些小小的饰物，以及一些表示持续的怀念的精美的纪念品，想必是一颗爱心冲动之财，用一双纤手制作的。有一次，人们看到海丝特在刺绣一件婴儿的袍服，那种华美的样式和奢侈的色彩，如果有哪个婴儿穿在身上在我们这晦暗的居民区中招摇，一定会引起轩然大波的。

In fine, the gossips of that day believed,--and Mr. Surveyor Pue, who made investigations a century later, believed,--and one of his recent successors in office, moreover, faithfully believes,--that Pearl was not only alive, but married, and happy, and mindful of her mother; and that she would most joyfully have entertained that sad and lonely mother at her fireside.
总而言之，当年的那些爱讲闲话的人相信，一个世纪后对此作过调查的海关督察普先生相信，而最近接替他职务的一个人益发忠实地相信，珠儿不但活在世上，而且结了婚，生活很幸福，一直惦记着她母亲，要是她孤凄的母亲能够给接到她家里，她将无比高兴。