And the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale's best discerning friends, as we have intimated, very reasonably imagined that the hand of Providence had done all this, for the purpose- besought in so many public, and domestic, and secret prayers- of restoring the young minister to health. But- it must now be said- another portion of the community had latterly begun to take its own view of the relation betwixt Mr. Dimmesdale and the mysterious old physician. When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often so profound and so unerring, as to possess the character of truths supernaturally revealed. The people, in the case of which we speak, could justify its prejudice against Roger Chillingworth by no fact or argument worthy of serious refutation. There was an aged handicraftsman, it is true, who had been a citizen of London at the period of Sir Thomas Overbury's murder, now some thirty years agone; he testified to having seen the physician, under some other name, which the narrator of the story had now forgotten, in company with Doctor Forman, the famous old conjurer, who was implicated in the affair of Overbury. Two or three individuals hinted, that the man of skill, during his Indian captivity, had enlarged his medical attainments by joining in the incantations of the savage priests; who were universally acknowledged to be powerful enchanters, often performing seemingly miraculous cures by their skill in the black art. A large number- and many of these were persons of such sober sense and practical observation that their opinions would have been valuable in other matters- affirmed that Roger Chillingworth's aspect had undergone a remarkable change while he had dwelt in town, and especially since his abode with Mr. Dimmesdale. At first, his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to sight, the oftener they looked upon him. According to the vulgar idea, the fire in his laboratory had been brought from the lower regions, and was fed with infernal fuel; and so, as might be expected, his visage was getting sooty with the smoke.
我们已经提及，阿瑟·丁梅斯代尔牧师那些最明智的朋友于是便顺理成章地认为，是上天接受了人们在公开场合、在家中以及私下的许多祈祷，才安排了这一切，以达到恢复年轻牧师健康的目的。但是，我们现在必须说明的是，后来另外一部分居民开始对丁梅斯代尔先生和那神秘的老医生之间的关系持有异议了。当没有受过教育的人们试图用自己的眼光来看问题时，是极其容易上当的。不过，当他们通常凭自己伟大面温暖的心胸的直觉来形成自己的判断时，他们的结论往往深刻无误，具有超自然表象的真理的特征。就我们所谈的这些人而论，他们对罗杰·齐灵渥斯的偏见，其事实或理由都不值认真一驳。有一个上年纪的手艺人，在三十多年以前托玛斯·奥佛白利爵士⑤被害的时代，确曾是伦敦的一个市民；他出面证明说，他曾经看见这位医生——当时叫的是另外一个名字，笔者如今已经忘了，陷着那位著名的老术士福尔曼博士⑥，而那个老博士涉嫌与奥佛白利被害一事有关。还有两三个人暗示说，这位医术高明的人在被印第安人俘获的时期，曾经参与野蛮人法师的念咒活动，以此来增加其医学上的造诣；那些印第安法师的法力无边，这是众所周知的，他们时常用邪门歪道奇迹艇地把人治好。还有一大批人——其中不少都是头脑拎静、观察务实的，他们在别的事情上：的见解一向颇有价值——肯定地说，罗杰·齐灵渥斯自从在镇上定居，尤其是和丁梅斯代尔先生伙居一宅以来，外貌上发生了明显的变化。起初，他外表安详而沉思，一派学者模样；而如今，他的险上有一种前所末见的丑陋和邪恶，而且他们对他看得越多，那丑陋和邪恶就变得越明显。按照一种粗俗的说法，他实验室中的火来自下界，而且是用炼狱的柴薪来燃烧的；因此，理所当然地，他的面孔也就给那烟熏得越来越黑了。

To sum up the matter, it grew to be a widely diffused opinion, that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, like many other personages of especial sanctity, in all ages of the Christian world, was haunted either by Satan himself, or Satan's emissary, in the guise of old Roger Chillingworth. This diabolical agent had the Divine permission, for a season, to burrow into the clergyman's intimacy, and plot against his soul. No sensible man, it was confessed, could doubt on which side the victory would turn. The people looked, with an unshaken hope, to see the minister come forth out of the conflict, transfigured with the glory which he would unquestionably win. Meanwhile, nevertheless, it was sad to think of the perchance mortal agony through which he must struggle towards his triumph.
总而言之，有一种广为流传的看法，认为阿瑟·丁梅斯代尔牧师和基督教世界各个时期特别圣洁的许多其他人一样，脑海中萦绕着的不是撒旦本人，就是扮作老罗杰·齐灵渥斯的撒旦的使者。这个恶魔的代理人获得神圣的特许，在一段时问里，钻入牧师的内心，阴谋破坏他的灵魂。人们断言，任何有理智的人都不会怀疑哪一方会得到胜利。人们都怀着不可动摇的希望，等着看到牧师焕发着必胜的荣光，走出这场争斗。然而，一想到他为了赢得胜利而在挣扎中所经受的致命的折磨，同时又令人神伤。

Alas! to judge from the gloom and terror in the depths of the poor minister's eyes, the battle was a sore one, and the victory anything but secure.
天啊！从这可怜的牧师眼睛深处的阴郁和恐怖来判断，这场争斗极其剧烈，而且远不能说胜利在握。

②15世纪时法国的一著名染织家族所建的同名织锦及壁毯场。

③《旧约·撤母耳记下》言，以色列王大卫杀死乌利亚，并夺其美妻拔示巴，面拿单则预言大卫必自取其祸。

④犹太教教士，基督教的诞生与古犹太教有渊源，战古犹太教拉比的著述有基督教古文献价值。

⑤奥佛白利爵士(1581一1613)英国诗人和散文家后因反对其恩主之婚姻，被投入伦敦塔监禁，并被慢性毒药毒死。

⑥福尔曼博士(Drrorman)，生平不详，可能是作者假托的人物。