八喜电子书 > 文学名著电子书 > 红字-the scarlet letter(英文版) >

第18部分

红字-the scarlet letter(英文版)-第18部分

小说: 红字-the scarlet letter(英文版) 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!



f the eyes。  Once; this freakish; elvish cast came into the child's eyes; whileHester was looking at her own image in them; as mothers are fond ofdoing; and; suddenly… for women in solitude; and with troubled hearts;are pestered with unaccountable delusions… she fancied that shebeheld; not her own miniature portrait; but another face; in the smallblack mirror of Pearl's eye。 It was a face fiend…like; full of smilingmalice; yet bearing the semblance of features that she had knownfull well; though seldom with a smile; and never with malice inthem。 It was as if an evil spirit possessed the child; and had justthen peeped forth in mockery。 Many a time afterwards had Hester beentortured; though less vividly; by the same illusion。  In the afternoon of a certain summer's day; after Pearl grew bigenough to run about; she amused herself with gathering handfuls ofwild…flowers; and flinging them; one by one; at her mother's bosom;dancing up and down; like a little elf; whenever she hit the scarletletter。 Hester's first motion had been to cover her bosom with herclasped hands。 But; whether from pride or resignation; or a feelingthat her penance might best be wrought out by this unutterable pain;she resisted the impulse; and sat erect; pale as death; lookingsadly into little Pearl's wild eyes。 Still came the battery offlowers; almost invariably hitting the mark; and covering the mother'sbreast with hurts for which she could find no balm in this world;nor knew how to seek it in another。 At last; her shot being allexpended; the child stood still and gazed at Hester; with thatlittle laughing image of a fiend peeping out… or; whether it peeped orno; her mother so imagined it… from the unsearchable abyss of herblack eyes。  〃Child; what art thou?〃 cried the mother。  〃Oh; I am your little Pearl!〃 answered the child。  But; while she said it; Pearl laughed; and began to dance up anddown; with the humorsome gesticulation of a little imp; whose nextfreak might be to fly up the chimney。  〃Art thou my child; in very truth?〃 asked Hester。  Nor did she put the question altogether idly; but; for the moment;with a portion of genuine earnestness; for; such was Pearl's wonderfulintelligence; that her mother half doubted whether she were notacquainted with the secret spell of her existence; and might not nowreveal herself。  〃Yes; I am little Pearl!〃 repeated the child; continuing her antics。  〃Thou art not my child! Thou art no Pearl of mine!〃 said the mother;half playfully; for it was often the case that a sportive impulse cameover her; in the midst of her deepest suffering。 〃Tell me; then;what thou art; and who sent thee hither?〃  〃Tell me; mother!〃 said the child seriously; ing up to Hester;and pressing herself close to her knees。 〃Do thou tell me!〃  〃Thy Heavenly Father sent thee!〃 answered Hester Prynne。  But she said it with a hesitation that did not escape theacuteness of the child。 Whether moved only by her ordinaryfreakishness; or because an evil spirit prompted her; she put up hersmall forefinger; and touched the scarlet letter。  〃He did not send me!〃 cried she positively。 〃I have no HeavenlyFather!〃  〃Hush; Pearl; hush! Thou must not talk so!〃 answered the mother;suppressing a groan。 〃He sent us all into this world。 He sent even me;thy mother。 Then; much more; thee! Or; if not; thou strange and elfishchild; whence didst thou e?〃  〃Tell me! Tell me!〃 repeated Pearl; no longer seriously; butlaughing; and capering about the floor。 〃It is thou that must tellme!〃  But Hester could not resolve the query; being herself in a dismallabyrinth of doubt。 She remembered… betwixt a smile and a shudder… thetalk of the neighbouring townspeople; who; seeking vainly elsewherefor the child's paternity; and observing some of her old attributes;had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as;ever since old Catholic times; had occasionally been seer; on earth;through the agency of their mother's sin; and to promote some foul andwicked purpose。 Luther; according to the scandal of his monkishenemies; was a brat of that hellish breed; nor was Pearl the onlychild to whom this inauspicious origin was assigned among the NewEngland Puritans。                             VII。                      THE GOVERNOR'S HALL。  HESTER PRYNNE went; one day; to the mansion of GovernorBellingham; with a pair of gloves; which she had fringed andembroidered to his order; and which were to be worn on some greatoccasion of state; for; though the chances of a popular election hadcaused this former ruler to descend a step or two from the highestrank; he still held an honourable and influential place among thecolonial magistracy。  Another and far more important reason than the delivery of a pair ofembroidered gloves impelled Hester; at this time; to seek an interviewwith a personage of so much power and activity in the affairs of thesettlement。 It had reached her ears; that there was a design on thepart of some of the leading inhabitants; cherishing the more rigidorder of principles in religion and government; to deprive her ofher child。 On the supposition that Pearl; as already hinted; was ofdemon origin; these good people not unreasonably argued that aChristian interest in the mother's soul required them to remove such astumbling…block from her path。 If the child; on the other hand; werereally capable of moral and religious growth; and possessed theelements of ultimate salvation; then; surely; it would enjoy all thefairer prospect of these advantages; by being transferred to wiser andbetter guardianship than Hester Prynne's。 Among those who promoted thedesign; Governor Bellingham was said to be one of the most busy。 Itmay appear singular; and; indeed; not a little ludicrous; that anaffair of this kind; which; in later days; would have been referred tono higher jurisdiction than that of the selectmen of the town;should then have been a question publicly discussed; and on whichstatesmen of eminence took sides。 At that epoch of pristinesimplicity; however; matters of even slighter public interest; andof far less intrinsic weight; than the welfare of Hester and herchild; were strangely mixed up with the deliberations of legislatorsand acts of state。 The period was hardly; if at all; earlier than thatof our story; when a dispute concerning the right of property in apig; not only caused a fierce and bitter contest in the legislativebody of the colony; but resulted in an important modification of theframework itself of the legislature。  Full of concern; therefore… but so conscious of her own right thatit seemed scarcely an unequal match between the public; on the oneside; and a lonely woman; backed by the sympathies of nature; on theother… Hester Prynne set forth from her solitary cottage。 LittlePearl; of course; was her panion。 She was now of an age to runlightly along by her mother's side; and; constantly in motion; frommorn till sunset; could have acplished a much longer journey thanthat before her。 Often; nevertheless; more from caprice thannecessity; she demanded to be taken up in arms; but was soon asimperious to be set down again; and frisked onward before Hester onthe grassy pathway; with many a harmless trip and tumble。 We havespoken of Pearl's rich and luxuriant beauty; a beauty that shonewith deep and vivid tints; a bright plexion; eyes possessingintensity both of depth and glow; and hair already of a deep; glossybrown; and which; in after years; would be nearly akin to black。 Therewas fire in her and throughout her; she seemed the unpremeditatedoffshoot of a passionate moment。 Her mother; in contriving the child'sgarb; had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination theirfull play; arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic; of a peculiarcut; abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of goldthread。 So much strength of colouring; which must have given a wan andpallid aspect to cheeks of a fainter bloom; was admirably adapted toPearl's beauty; and made her the very brightest little jet of flamethat ever danced upon the earth。  But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb; and; indeed; ofthe child's whole appearance; that it irresistibly and inevitablyreminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed towear upon her bosom。 It was the scarlet letter in another form; thescarlet letter endowed with life! The mother herself… as if the redignominy were so deeply scorched into her brain that all herconceptions assumed its form… had carefully wrought out thesimilitude; lavishing many hours of morbid ingenuity; to create ananalogy between the object of her affection and the emblem of herguilt and torture。 But; in truth; Pearl was the one; as well as theother; and only in consequence of that identity had Hester contrivedso perfectly to represent the scarlet letter in her appearance。  As the two wayfarers came within the precincts of the town; thechildren of the Puritans looked up from their play… or what passed forplay with those sombre little urchins… and spake gravely one toanother…  〃Behold; verily; there is the woman of the scarlet letter; and; of atruth; moreover; there is the likeness of the scarlet letter runningalong by her side! e; therefore; and let us fling mud at them!〃  But Pearl; who was a dauntless child; after frowning; stamping herfoot; and shaking her little hand with a variety of threateninggestures; suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies; and putthem all to flight。 She resembled; in her fierce pursuit of them; aninfant pestilence… the scarlet fever; or some such half…fledgedangel of judgment… whose mission was to punish the sins of therising generation。 She screamed and shouted; too; with a terrificvolume of sound; which; doubtless; caused the hearts of thefugitives to quake within them。 The victory acplished; Pearlreturned quietly to her mother; and looked up; smiling; into her face。  Without further adventure; they reached the dwelling of GovernorBellingham。 This was a large wooden house; built in a fashion of whichthere are specimens still extant in the streets of our elder towns;now moss…grown; crumbling to decay; and melancholy at heart with themany sorrowful or joyful occurrences; remembered or forgotten; thathave happened; and passed away; within their dusky chambers。 Then;however; there was the freshness of the passing year on itsex

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的