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红字(牛津简读版)|The Scarlet Letter(Oxford Version)

1．赫斯特·普林的耻辱|1.Hester Prynne's shame

属类： 双语小说 【分类】双语小说 -[作者: 霍桑] 阅读：[4689]
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这是17世纪中期一个6月的早上，当时波士顿的监狱刚刚建成不久，但是看上去已经很旧了。这是一个阴暗、丑陋的地方，四周杂草丛生。唯一美丽的是门旁的一株野玫瑰，它那鲜艳的花朵散发出甜美气息，好像在向那些入狱的犯人或出监赴死的可怜囚徒善意地微笑着。

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On that June morning, in the middle years of the seventeenth century, the prison in Boston was still a new building. But it already looked old, and was a dark, ugly place, surrounded by rough grass. The only thing of beauty was a wild rose growing by the door, and its bright, sweet-smelling flowers seemed to smile kindly at the poor prisoners who went into that place, and at those who came out to their death.

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一大群人等候在监狱外的小道上。男人们都留着胡须，穿着灰暗的衣服，戴着灰色的高顶帽。人群中也有妇女，所有人的视线都集中在监狱那扇沉重的木门上。人们的脸上没有一丝同情，女人们似乎对即将发生的事更有兴致。她们都是些乡下女人，早上明媚的阳光照着她们强壮的肩膀、宽松的裙子和饱满、红润的脸。她们当中的很多人都出生在英格兰，在20年前和最先来到这里的家庭一起横渡大海，在新英格兰这片土地上共同创建了波士顿城。她们带来了英格兰本土的风俗和宗教——也带来了那个时代英格兰妇女特有的响亮嗓门和强烈偏见。

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A crowd of people waited in Prison Lane. The men all had beards, and wore sad-coloured clothes and tall grey hats. There were women, too, in the crowd, and all eyes watched the heavy wooden door of the prison. There was no mercy in the faces, and the women seemed to take a special interest in what was going to happen. They were country women, and the bright morning sun shone down on strong shoulders and wide skirts, and on round, red faces. Many of them had been born in England, and had crossed the sea twenty years before, with the first families who came to build the town of Boston in New England. They brought the customs and religion of old England with them—and also the loud voices and strong opinions of Englishwomen of those times.

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一个五十多岁、一脸刻薄相的女人说：“如果能让我们这些正直、理智、行事符合教规的女性来审判赫斯特·普林就更好了。我们会像治安官那样给她那么轻的判决吗？不会！”

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It would be better,’ said one hard-faced woman of fifty, ’if we good, sensible, church-going women could judge this Hester Prynne. And would we give her the same light punishment that the magistrates give her? No!’

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“大家都说，”另一个女人说，“丁梅斯代尔先生，就是她的牧师，因为这个女人给他的教众带来的耻辱，简直伤心透啦。”

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People say,’ said another woman, ’that Mr Dimmesdale, her priest, is deeply saddened by the shame that this woman has brought on his church.’

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“那帮治安官真是太宽大了，”第三个女人说道，“他们应该用烧红的烙铁把那个字母烙在她脑门上，而不是让她戴在胸口。”

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The magistrates are too merciful,’ said a third woman. ’They should burn the letter into her forehead with hot metal, not put it on the front of her dress!’

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“她应该去死！”另一个女人叫嚷着，“她把我们大家的脸都丢尽了！啊——她来了！”

6
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She ought to die!’ cried another woman. ’She has brought shame on all of us! Ah—here she comes!’

7
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牢门打开了，监狱长像一道出现在日光下的黑影似的走了出来。他右手抓着一个女人的肩头，拽着她向前走，但是她推开了他，自己走了出来。她怀里抱着个孩子——一个三个月大的婴儿。那孩子闭上眼睛，转过头去，好避开那耀眼的阳光。

7
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The door of the prison opened and, like a black shadow coming out into sunshine, the prison officer appeared. He put his right hand on the shoulder of a woman and pulled her forward, but she pushed him away and stepped out into the open air. There was a child in her arms—a baby of three months—which shut its eyes and turned its head away from the bright sun.

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在众目睽睽之下，那个女人脸上突然泛起红晕，但她却露出高傲的微笑，用目光环视着街坊邻里和同镇居民。她的衣服的前胸上露出了一个用红色细布做成、周边用金线绣成精巧花边的字母“A”。

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The woman’s face was suddenly pink under the stares of the crowd, but she smiled proudly and looked round at her neighbours and the people of her town. On the bosom of her dress, in fine red cloth and surrounded with fantastic patterns of gold thread, was the letter A.

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那年轻妇女身材高挑，体态优美，乌黑的长发在阳光下熠熠生辉。她面容姣好，眸如点漆，走起路来的仪态就像一位淑女。那些原先期待着看她流露出悲惨、羞耻的人，都为她在不幸中所焕发的美丽感到有些意外。

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The young woman was tall and perfectly shaped. She had long dark hair which shone in the sunlight, and a beautiful face with deep black eyes. She walked like a lady, and those who had expected her to appear sad and ashamed were surprised how her beauty shone out through her misfortune.

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但是，吸引所有人目光的还是在她衣服上绣得精妙绝伦的那个红字。

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But the thing that everyone stared at was the Scarlet Letter, sewn so fantastically on to her dress.

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“她倒做得一手好针线，”一个女人说，“但是居然用这种方法来卖弄！让她佩戴这个字是一种惩罚，而不是什么拿来炫耀的东西。”

11
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She is clever with her needle,’ said one of the women. ’But what a way to show it! She is meant to wear that letter as a punishment, not as something to be proud of!’

12
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监狱长走上前来，人们向后退去，让出了一条路，让这个女人走过去。从牢门到市场没几步路。在市场西端，波士顿最古老的教堂前，竖立着那座绞刑台。就在那里，犯人在众目睽睽下被处死，但是这座刑台也被用作犯人示众之地。在上帝眼中犯了过错的人被带到这里，将他们可耻的面孔展现给世人。

12
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The officer stepped forward and people moved back to allow the woman to walk through the crowd. It was not far from the prison to the market-place, where, at the western end, in front of Boston’s earliest church, stood the scaffold. Here, criminals met their death before the eyes of the townspeople, but the scaffold platform was also used as a place of shame, where those who had done wrong in the eyes of God were made to stand and show their shameful faces to the world.

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赫斯特·普林勇敢地接受了这个惩罚。她踏着木阶走上刑台，转过身面对着众人的注视。

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Hester Prynne accepted her punishment bravely. She walked up the wooden steps to the platform, and turned to face the stares of the crowd.

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千百双眼睛盯着她，望着她胸前的红字。这一场景也许会令今天的人们发笑，但是在新英格兰创建之初，宗教的影响十分强大，因此赫斯特·普林的耻辱罪恶深深地震撼着全镇老少。

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A thousand eyes fixed on her, looking at the scarlet letter on her bosom. People today might laugh at a sight like this, but in those early years of New England, religious feeling was very strong, and the shame of Hester Prynne’s sin was felt deeply by young and old throughout the town.

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她站在那儿，感到每只眼睛都盯着自己。她真想尖叫，想从刑台上跳下去，或者马上疯掉。过去的记忆一幕幕浮现在脑海里：故国英格兰的小村，她那已经去世的父母——父亲长着白胡子的面容，母亲担忧而关爱的表情。还有她自己的面孔——在她经常照的那面昏暗的镜子中那个小姑娘的脸。她还想到了另一张脸，那是一个年老男人的面孔，瘦削而苍白，带着一种大多数时间都埋头书卷的人特有的严肃表情。只要这个男人愿意，他那双眼睛似乎就能看到别人的灵魂深处。他左肩比右肩稍高。她脑海里接下来出现的是阿姆斯特丹那高大的灰色房屋和宏伟教堂，在那里她和那个老男人开始了一种崭新的生活。

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As she stood there, feeling every eye upon her, she felt she wanted to scream and throw herself off the platform, or else go mad at once. Pictures from the past came and went inside her head: pictures of her village in Old England, of her dead parents—her father’s face with his white beard, her mother’s look of worried love. And her own face—a girl’s face in the dark mirror where she had often stared at it. And then the face of a man old in years, a thin, white face, with the serious look of one who spends most of his time studying books. A man whose eyes seemed to see into the human soul when their owner wished it, and whose left shoulder was a little higher than his right. Next came pictures of the tall grey houses and great churches of the city of Amsterdam, where a new life had begun for her with this older man.

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接着，突然之间，她又回到了波士顿的市场，站在绞刑台上。

16
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And then, suddenly, she was back in the Boston market-place, standing on the platform of the scaffold.

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这一切都是真的吗？她把胸前的孩子抱得太紧，孩子一下哭了。她低头注视着那猩红的字母，还用指头触摸了一下，以证实婴儿和耻辱都确实存在。是的——这些都是现实——其余的一切幻境全都消失了。

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Could it be true? She held the child so close to her bosom that it cried out. She looked down at the scarlet letter, touched it with her finger to be sure that the child and the shame were real. Yes—these things were real—everything else had disappeared.

18
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不久，这个女人注意到人群边上站着两个人。一个是印第安人，在他身边是一个白人，那人身材矮小，看上去很有智慧。他的穿着显示出曾去荒蛮之地游历过。虽然他已经用衣服做了掩饰，赫斯特·普林还是看出这个男人的肩膀一边高一边低。

18
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After a time the woman noticed two figures on the edge of the crowd. An Indian was standing there, and by his side was a white man, small and intelligent-looking, and wearing clothes that showed he had been travelling in wild places. And although he had arranged his clothes to hide it, it was clear to Hester Prynne that one of the man’s shoulders was higher than the other.

19
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她再一次把婴儿紧紧搂在胸前，孩子疼得哭起来。但作母亲的好像根本没听到。

19
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Again, she pulled the child to her bosom so violently that it cried out in pain. But the mother did not seem to hear it.

20
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站在人群边上的那个男人，在赫斯特·普林看到他之前，便已经紧紧盯了她好一会儿了。起初，他满脸怒气——但就只有那么一会儿，后来就恢复了平静。不久，他发现赫斯特凝望着他，就知道她已经认出他来了。

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The man on the edge of the crowd had been looking closely at Hester Prynne for some time before she saw him. At first, his face had become dark and angry—but only for a moment, then it was calm again. Soon he saw Hester staring, and knew that she recognized him.

21
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“请问，”他问站在旁边的一个男人，“这个女人是谁？为什么要站在那里当众受辱？”

21
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Excuse me,’ he said to a man near him. ’Who is this woman, and why is she standing there in public shame?’

22
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“你肯定不是本地人吧，朋友，”那个人一边回答，一边打量着提问的人和他的印第安同伴，“要不然，你一定听说过这个罪孽深重的普林太太。她使丁梅斯代尔先生的教堂蒙受了奇耻大辱啊。”

22
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You must be a stranger here, friend,’ said the man, looking at the questioner and his Indian companion, ’or you would know about the evil Mistress Prynne. She has brought great shame on Mr Dimmesdale’s church.’

23
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“您算说对了，”那人说，“我刚到此地，我在陆上和海上遭遇了很多风险，在南方，我还成了野蛮人的囚徒。这个印第安人帮我获得了自由。请问这位赫斯特·普林是因为什么被押上绞刑台的呢？”

23
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It is true,’ said the stranger. ’I am new here. I have had many accidents on land and at sea, and I’ve been a prisoner of the wild men in the south. This Indian has helped me get free. Please tell me what brought this Hester Prynne to the scaffold.’

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“那女人的丈夫是个英国人，原来住在阿姆斯特丹，”镇上的这个人说，“他决定搬到马萨诸塞来，可是还有生意没完，因此他先把妻子送来了。这女人在波士顿住了两年，那位普林先生始终没有一点儿音讯；而他这位年轻的老婆，你看……”

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She was the wife of an Englishman who lived in Amsterdam,’ said the townsman. ’He decided to come to Massachusetts, and sent his wife ahead of him as he had business matters to bring to an end before he could leave. During the two years that the woman has lived here in Boston, there has been no news of Master Prynne; and his young wife, you see...’

25
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“啊！我明白了。”外地人冷笑着说，“那她抱着的那个孩子的父亲是谁呢？”

25
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Ah! I understand,’ said the stranger, with a cold smile. ’And who is the father of the child she is holding?’

26
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“那还是一个谜呢。”另一个说，“赫斯特·普林不肯说出他的名字。”

26
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That remains a mystery,’ said the other man. ’Hester Prynne refuses to speak his name.’

27
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“她的丈夫应该来找出那个男人。”外地人又冷笑着说。

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Her husband should come and find the man,’ said the stranger, with another smile.

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“要是他还活着，是该这么做。”镇上那人回答说，“你看，我们的长官决定从宽处理。她犯的显然是通奸罪，对通奸的惩罚通常是死刑。但是普林太太年轻漂亮，而且她的丈夫可能已经葬身海底了。所以，那些长官大发慈悲，只命令普林太太在绞刑台上站三个小时，不过在她的有生之年，胸前要永远佩戴那个代表通奸的‘A’字。”

28
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Yes, indeed he should if he is still alive,’ replied the townsman. ’Our magistrates, you see, decided to be merciful. She is obviously guilty of adultery, and the usual punishment for adultery is death. But Mistress Prynne is young and good-looking, and her husband is probably at the bottom of the sea. So, in their mercy, the magistrates have ordered her to stand on the scaffold for three hours, and to wear the scarlet "A" for adultery for the rest of her life.’

29
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“合理的判决！”那外地人说，“这可以告诫人们不要再犯这样的罪。不过，孩子的父亲也犯下了罪过，却没有和她一起站在绞刑台上，这可不对。不过他会被发现的！他一定会被发现的！”

29
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A sensible punishment,’ said the stranger. ’It will warn others against this sin. However, it is wrong that the father of her child, who has also sinned, is not standing by her side on the scaffold. But he will be known! He will be known!’

30
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他谢过镇上那个人，又跟他的印第安同伴耳语了几句，然后两人便穿过人群离开了。

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The stranger thanked the townsman, whispered a few words to his Indian companion, and then they both moved away through the crowd.

31
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他们谈话的这段时间里，赫斯特·普林一直盯着那外地人——她很庆幸他们当中隔了一群旁观者。这样站着，总比他们俩单独相对要好受一些，她很怕跟他会面的时刻。她想得出了神，甚至一开始都没有听到身后传来的声音。

31
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During this conversation, Hester Prynne had been watching the stranger—and was glad to have the staring crowd between herself and him. It was better to stand like this, than to have to meet him alone, and she feared the moment of that meeting greatly. Lost in these thoughts, she did not at first hear the voice behind her.

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“听我说，赫斯特·普林！”那声音又说道。

32
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Listen to me, Hester Prynne!’ the voice said again.

33
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这个声音发自德高望重的约翰·威尔逊牧师——波士顿最年长的牧师，一位和蔼可亲的人。他与镇上其他的牧师和官员站在议事厅的阳台上，就在绞刑台的后面。

33
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It was the voice of the famous John Wilson, the oldest priest in Boston, and a kind man. He stood with the other priests and officers of the town on a balcony outside the meeting-house, which was close behind the scaffold.

34
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“我已经请我这位年轻的朋友”——威尔逊先生把手放在身旁那位面色苍白的青年牧师的肩膀上——“再问你一次，请坦白说出那个男人的名字，是他给你带来了奇耻大辱。丁梅斯代尔先生是你的牧师，让他来问你最合适不过了。规劝这个女人吧，丁梅斯代尔先生。这对拯救她的灵魂至关重要；对你也是，因为是你为她的灵魂负责。规劝她说出真相吧！”

34
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I have asked my young friend’ —Mr Wilson put a hand on the shoulder of the pale young priest beside him— ’to ask you once again for the name of the man who brought this terrible shame upon you. Mr Dimmesdale has been your priest, and is the best man to do it. Speak to the woman, Mr Dimmesdale. It is important to her soul, and to you, who cares about her soul. Persuade her to tell the truth!’

35
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这位青年牧师有一双忧郁的棕色大眼睛，说话的时候他嘴唇颤抖。他看上去羞涩而敏感，脸上流露出一种紧张而近乎惊恐的神色。但是当他说话的时候，他那简练的语句和优美的声音直达人的内心深处，经常使人热泪盈眶。

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The young priest had large, sad brown eyes, and lips that trembled as he spoke. He seemed shy and sensitive, and his face had a fearful, half-frightened look. But when he spoke, his simple words and sweet voice went straight to people’s hearts and often brought tears to their eyes.

36
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他在阳台上迈步向前，俯视着下面的那个女人。

36
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He stepped forward on the balcony and looked down at the woman below him.

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“赫斯特·普林，”他说，“如果你觉得这样做可以使你的灵魂得到平静，并且使你离通向天堂之路更加接近，就说出那个男人的名字！不要因为对他抱有怜悯而保持沉默。相信我吧，赫斯特，虽然那样会令他跌下高位，和你并肩站在这耻辱的高台上，但这总比让他终生隐藏着一颗罪恶的心灵要好得多。上天让你承受这种公开的污辱，同时也给了你机会，让你战胜内心的罪恶和外在的悲哀。你不想给他相同的机会吗？也许他自己过于胆怯，不敢主动接受这样的机会。”

37
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Hester Prynne,’ he said. ’If you think it will bring peace to your soul, and will bring you closer to the path to heaven, speak out the name of the man! Do not be silent because you feel sorry for him. Believe me, Hester, although he may have to step down from a high place and stand beside you on the platform of shame, it is better to do that than to hide a guilty heart through his life. Heaven has allowed you public shame, and the chance to win an open battle with the evil inside you and the sadness outside. Do you refuse to give him that same chance—which he may be too afraid to take himself?’

38
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赫斯特摇了摇头，此刻她的脸变得和那个青年牧师一样苍白。

38
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Hester shook her head, her face now as pale as the young priest’s.

39
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“我不会说出他的名字。”她说，“我的孩子一定会在天堂找到父亲。她永远不会知道她人世间的父亲。”

39
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I will not speak his name,’ she said. ’My child must find a father in heaven. She will never know one on earth!’

40
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她再一次遭到问询，再一次拒绝回答。那位最年长的牧师对人群发表了一通论述世间所有罪恶的演讲，其中包括招致那个红字的罪恶。在长达一个多小时的演讲中，赫斯特·普林始终独自站在耻辱台上。

40
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Again she was asked, and again she refused. Then the oldest priest spoke to the crowd about all the evil in the world, and about the sin that brought the mark of the scarlet letter. For an hour or more he spoke, but Hester Prynne kept her place alone upon the platform of shame.

41
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数小时的惩罚结束后，她被带回监狱。一些人盯着她的背影窃窃私语，说看到她胸前的红字在监狱大门内的黑暗中投下了一道可怕而诡异的闪光。

41
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When the hours of punishment were over, she was taken back to the prison. And it was whispered by those who stared after her that the scarlet letter threw a terrible, ghostly light into the darkness inside the prison doors.

序号 英文/音标 中文解释 更多操作

kindly

['kaɪndli]

adj.和蔼的;温和的;爽快的

mercy

['mɜːsi]

n.仁慈;怜悯;恩惠;宽恕

customs

['kʌstəmz]

n.海关

magistrate

['mædʒɪstreɪt]

n.地方法官;行政官

sadden

['sædn]

v.(使)黯淡;(使)悲伤

bosom

['bʊzəm]

n.胸部;胸怀;内部;内心

misfortune

[ˌmɪs'fɔːtʃuːn]

n.不幸;灾祸

sew

[səʊ]

v.缝合;缝纫

fantastically

[fæn'tæstɪkli]

adv.空想地;非常地

earliest

['ɜːliɪst]

n.最早

scaffold

['skæfəʊld]

n.鹰架;绞刑台;脚手架

felted

['feltɪd]

v. 把 ... 制成毡(使 ... 粘结)

past

[pɑːst]

a. 过去的;

wearing

['weərɪŋ]

adj.穿用的;使疲惫的;磨损的

Mistress

['mɪstrəs]

n.主妇;女主人;情妇

Massachusetts

[ˌmæsə'tʃuːsɪts]

n.马萨诸塞(美国州名)

townsman

['taʊnzmən]

n.城镇居民;同镇的人

conversation

[ˌkɒnvə'seɪʃn]

n.谈话;会话

fearful

['fɪəfl]

adj.担心的;可怕的;非常的

sadness

['sædnəs]

n.悲哀

shook

[ʃʊk]

n.(装配木桶或箱;盒等的)一套现成板料

ghostly

['ɡəʊstli]

adj.幽灵的;鬼似的;可怕的;灵魂的

ghostly

['ɡəʊstli]

adj.幽灵的;鬼似的;可怕的;灵魂的

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