The women who were now standing about the prison-door stood within less than half a century of the period when the man-like Elizabeth had been the not altogether unsuitable representative of the sex.

当时在牢门附近站着的妇女们,和那位堪称代表女性的男子气概的伊丽莎白相距不足半个世纪。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

They were her country-women; and the beef and ale of their native land, with a moral diet not a whit more refined, entered largely into their composition.

她们是那位女王的乡亲:她们家多的牛肉和麦酒,佐以未经提炼的精神食粮,大量充实进她们的躯体。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

The bright morning sun, therefore, shone on broad shoulders and well-developed busts, and on round and ruddy cheeks,

因此,明亮的朝阳所照射着的,是宽阔的肩膀、发育丰满的胸脯和又圆又红的双颊

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

They had ripened in the far-off island, and had hardly yet grown paler or thinner in the atmosphere of New England.

她们都是在通远的祖国本岛上长大成人的,远还没有在新英格兰的气氛中变得白皙与瘦削些。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

There was, moreover, a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons, as most of them seemed to be, that would startle us at the present day, whether in respect to its purport or its volume of tone.

尤其令人瞩目的是,这些主妇们多数人一开口便是粗喉咙、大嗓门,要是在今天,她们的言谈无论是含义还是音量,都足以使我们瞠目结舌。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

The door of the jail being flung open from within, there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and grisly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand.

牢门从里面给一下子打开了,最先露面的是狱吏,他腰侧挎着剑,手中握着权杖,那副阴森可怖的模样象个暗影似的出现在日光之中。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

This personage prefigured and represented in his aspect the whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law, which it was his business to administer in its final and closest application to the offender.

这个角色的尊容便是清教徒法典全部冷酷无情的象征和代表,对触犯法律的人最终和最直接执法则是他的差事。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew forward;

此时他伸出左手举着权杖,右手抓着一个年轻妇女的肩头,挽着她向前走

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

Until, on the threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will.

到了牢门口,她用了一个颇能说明她个性的力量和天生的尊严的动作,推开狱吏,象是出于她自主的意志一般走进露天地。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day;

她怀里抱着一个三个月左右的婴儿,那孩子眨着眼睛,转动她的小脸躲避着过分耀眼的阳光

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquainted only with the grey twilight of a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison.

--自从她降生以来,还只习惯于监狱中的土牢或其它暗室那种昏晦的光线呢。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

When the young woman-the mother of this child-stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom;

当那年轻的妇女--就是婴儿的母亲--全身伫立在人群面前时,她的第一个冲动似乎就是把孩子抱在胸前

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress.

她这么做与其说是出于母爱的激情,不如说可以借此掩盖钉在她衣裙上的标记。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another,

然而,她很快就醒悟过来了,用她的耻辱的一个标记来掩盖另一个标记是无济于事的

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours.

于是,索兴用一条胳膊架着孩子,她虽然面孔红得发烧,却露出高傲的微笑,用毫无愧色的目光环视着她的同镇居民和街坊邻里。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.

她的裙袍的前胸上露出了一个用红色细布做就、周围用金丝线精心绣成奇巧花边的一个字母A。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore;

这个字母制作别致,体现了丰富面华美的匠心,佩在衣服上构成尽美尽善的装饰

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

and which was of a splendour in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony.

而她的衣服把她那年月的情趣衬托得恰到好处,只是其艳丽程度大大超出了殖民地俭补标准的规定。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale.

那年轻妇女身材颀长,体态优美之极。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-

She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam,

她头上乌黑的浓发光彩夺目,在阳光下说说熠熠生辉。

属类：文学表达-英语名著-