Her imagination was somewhat affected, and, had she been of a softer moral and intellectual fibre, would have been still more so, by the strange and solitary anguish of her life. Walking to and fro, with those lonely footsteps, in the little world with which she was outwardly connected, it now and then appeared to Hester- if altogether fancy, it was nevertheless too potent to be resisted- she felt or fancied, then, that the scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense. She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts. She was terror-stricken by the revelations that were thus made. What were they? Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was but a lie, and that, if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne's? Or, must she receive those intimations- so obscure, yet so distinct-as truth? In all her miserable experience, there was nothing else so awful and so loathsome as this sense. It perplexed, as well as shocked her, by the irreverent inopportuneness of the occasions that brought it into vivid action. Sometimes the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb, as she passed near a venerable minister or magistrate, the model of piety and justice, to whom that age of antique reverence looked up, as to a mortal man in fellowship with angels. "What evil thing is at hand?" would Hester say to herself. Lifting her reluctant eyes, there would be nothing human within the scope of view, save the form of this earthly saint! Again, a mystic sisterhood would contumaciously assert itself, as she met the sanctified frown of some matron, who, according to the rumour of all tongues, had kept cold snow within her bosom throughout life. That unsunned snow in the matron's bosom, and the burning shame on Hester Prynne's- what had the two in common? Or, once more, the electric thrill would give her warning- "Behold, Hester, here is a companion!"-and, looking up, she would detect the eyes of a young maiden glancing at the scarlet letter, shyly and aside, and quickly averted, with a faint, chill crimson in her cheeks; as if her purity were somewhat sullied by that momentary glance. O Fiend, whose talisman was that fatal symbol, wouldst thou leave nothing, whether in youth or age, for this poor sinner to revere?- such loss of faith is ever one of the saddest results of sin. Be it accepted as a proof that all was not corrupt in this poor victim of her own frailty, and man's hard law, that Hester Prynne yet struggled to believe that no fellow-mortal was guilty like herself.
奇特而孤独的生活的折磨,已经在一定程度上影响了她的思绪,设若她精神上怯懦些,心理上脆弱些,这种影响就会更加严重。当地在这个与她表面上保持着联系的小小天地中迈着孤独的步伐走来定去时,海丝特似乎时时觉得,——如果全然出于幻觉,其潜在的力量也是不可抗拒的——她感到或者说想象着,那红字赋予了她一种新的体验。她战战兢兢又不由得不去相信,那字母让她感应到别人内心中隐藏着的罪孽。她对这些启示诚惺诚恐。这些启示意昧着什么呢?如若不是那个邪恶的天使的阴险的挑动,难道还能是别的吗?他一心想说服这个目前还只是他的半个牺牲品的、劳苦挣扎着的女人:表面的贞洁不过是骗人的伪装,如果把一处处真情全都暴露在光天化日之下的话,除去海丝特·白兰之外,好多人的胸前都会有红字闪烁的。或许,她应该把那些如此含糊又如此明晰的暗示当作真理来接受吧?在她所有的不幸遭遇中,再没有比这种感受更使她难堪和厌恶的了。这种感受总是不合时宜地涌上心头,令她既困惑又震惊。有时候,当她走过一位德高望重的长官或牧师身边时,她胸前的红色耻辱就会感应出一种悸动——这些人可都是虔诚的楷模和正义的化身,在那个崇尚古风的年代,他们都是人间天使,令人肃然起敬的。每逢这种时刻,海丝特总会自忖:“我又遇到什么魔障了吗?”可是,在她勉强抬起的眼睛前面,除去那位活圣人的身形之外,却看不到别人!也有时候,当她遇到某位太太时,望着她们那神圣凛然的面孔,心中便会油然生出一种神秘的妹妹之感,而那位太太却是被众口一词地公认为从来都是冷若冰霜的。那位太太胸中的未见阳光的冰雪和海丝特·白兰胸前的灼热逼人的耻辱,这二者之间有何共同之处呢?还有时候,她周身通电似的战栗会警告说;“看啊,海丝特,这位可是你的伙伴!”而她抬头一看,就会发现一双少女的眼睛,羞怯地对红字一瞥,便连忙榴开,脸上迅速泛起一片隐隐可见的冰冷的赧颜,似乎她的女贞因这刹那的一瞥就此受到某种珐辱。啊,用那个致命的象征为护符的恶魔,你无论在青年人还是老年人身上,难道不肯给这个可怜的罪人留下一点值得祟敬的东西吗?——象这样的丧失信仰从来都是罪恶的一种最悲惨的结果咽。所幸,海丝特·白兰仍在竭力使自己相信,世人还没有象她那样罪孽深重;如果承认这一点,就足以证明:这个自身脆弱和男人的严酷法律的可怜的牺牲品,还没有彻底堕落。

The vulgar, who, in those dreary old times, were always contributing a grotesque horror to what interested their imaginations, had a story about the scarlet letter which we might readily work up into a terrific legend. They averred, that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the night-time. And we must needs say, it seared Hester's bosom so deeply, that perhaps there was more truth in the rumour than our modern incredulity may be inclined to admit.
在那个压抑人性的古老年月里,凡夫俗子们对他们感兴趣的事情,总要涂上一层荒诞恐怖的色彩,他们就此杜撰了一篇关于红字的故事,我们完全可以随手写成一个骇人的传说。他们曾经断言,那个象征不仅是人间的染缸中染出来的红布,而且还由炼狱之火烧得通红,每逢海丝待·白兰夜间外出,那红字便闪闪发光。而我们应该说,那红字深深烙进海丝特的胸膛,因此在那个传说中包含着比我们如今将信将疑的更多的真理。

①《旧约.创世记》中说,该隐是亚当及夏接之长于,固妒嫉而杀死弟弟亚伯。