Chapter 14 HESTER AND THE PHYSICIAN
第十四章 海丝特和医生

HESTER bade little Pearl run down to the margin of the water, and play with the shells and tangled seaweed, until she should have talked awhile with yonder gatherer of herbs. So the child flew away like a bird, and, making bare her small white feet, went pattering along the moist margin of the sea. Here and there she came to a full stop, and peeped curiously into a pool, left by the retiring tide as a mirror for Pearl to see her face in. Forth peeped at her, out of the pool, with dark, glistening curls around her head, and an elf-smile in her eyes, the image of a little maid, whom Pearl, having no other playmate, invited to take her hand, and run a race with her. But the visionary little maid, on her part, beckoned likewise, as if to say, "This is a better place! Come thou into the pool!" And Pearl, stepping in, mid-leg deep, beheld her own white feet at the bottom; while, out of a still lower depth, came the gleam of a kind of fragmentary smile, floating to and fro in the agitated water.Meanwhile, her mother had accosted the physician.
海丝特打发小珠儿跑到水边去玩贝壳和缠结的海藻,好让她同那边那采药人谈一会儿话。那孩子便象鸟儿般地飞了开去,她那双赤裸着的白白的小脚丫,一路拍着水在潮湿的海边跑着。她不时停下身来,把退潮留下的水洼当作镜子,好奇地朝里面照着她自己的面孔。水洼里,一个满头长着乌黑闪亮的鬃发、眼中露着小精灵般微笑的小姑娘,在朝她窥视,珠儿由于没有别的玩伴,便伸手邀她同自己进行一场赛跑。但那映象的小鼓娘,也同样和她伸手招呼,仿佛在说:“这地方更好些!你到水洼里来吧!”珠儿一脚踏进去,水没到了膝盖,她看见的只是水底的自己的白脚丫;同时,从更深的一层水下,映出了一种支离破碎的微笑,在动荡的水中上下漂浮闪动。与此同时,她母亲已和那医生搭话了。 

"I would speak a word with you," said she- "a word that concerns us much."
“我想跟你谈一谈,”她说,“谈谈同我们至关紧要的事。”

"Aha! and is it Mistress Hester that has a word for old Roger Chillingworth?" answered he, raising himself from his stooping posture. "With all my heart! Why, mistress, I hear good tidings of you, on all hands! No longer ago than yester-eve, a magistrate, a wise and godly man, was discoursing of your affairs, Mistress Hester, and whispered me that there had been question concerning you in the council. It was debated whether or no, with safety to the common weal, yonder scarlet letter might be taken off your bosom. On my life, Hester, I made my entreaty to the worshipful magistrate that it might be done forthwith!"
“啊哈!原来是海丝特太太有话要和老罗杰·齐灵渥斯说么?”他直起腰来回答说。“高兴之极!噢,太太,我从各处都听到有关你的好消息!就在昨天晚上,一位长官,一位圣明的人,还谈起了你的事,海丝特太太,他悄悄告诉我,在议会中曾经提及有关你的问题:大家议论起,要是把你胸前的红字取下来,会不会对公众的好运有妨碍。我敢发誓,海丝特,我当即恳求那可敬的长官,这事应予立即施行!”

"It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge." calmly replied Hester. "Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport."
“那些长官们可不乐于取下这徽记,”海丝特平静地应道。“要是我有资格把这玩艺儿取下来,它就会自然而然地落下去,或是变成表示别的意思的东西了。”

"Nay, then, wear it, if it suit you better," rejoined he. "A woman must needs follow her own fancy touching the adornment of her person. The letter is gaily embroidered, and shows right bravely on your bosom!"
“那就别取下来啦,既然你觉得合适,就继续戴下去吧,”他接着说。“触及女人的装饰一事,那可得随着她自己的心气儿。那字母绣得那么鲜艳,戴在你胸前,恰到好处地显示了你的勇敢!”