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

第2部分

红字-the scarlet letter(英文版)-第2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!



ed so pleasantly through the willow branches; on the westernside of the Old Manse。 But now; should you go thither to seek him; youwould inquire in vain for the Locofoco Surveyor。 The besom of reformhas swept him out of office; and a worthier successor wears hisdignity; and pockets his emoluments。  This old town of Salem… my native place; though I have dwelt muchaway from it; both in boyhood and maturer years… possesses; or didpossess; a hold on my affections; the force of which I have neverrealised during my seasons of actual residence here。 Indeed; so far asits physical aspect is concerned; with its flat; unvaried surface;covered chiefly with wooden houses; few or none of which pretend toarchitectural beauty… its irregularity; which is neither picturesquenor quaint; but only tame… its long and lazy street; loungingwearisomely through the whole extent of the peninsula; with GallowsHill and New Guinea at one end; and a view of the alms…house at theother… such being the features of my native town; it would be quite asreasonable to form a sentimental attachment to a disarrangedchecker…board。 And yet; though invariably happiest elsewhere; there iswithin me a feeling for old Salem; which; in lack of a betterphrase; I must be content to call affection。 The sentiment is probablyassignable to the deep and aged roots which my family has struckinto the soil。 It is now nearly two centuries and a quarter sincethe original Briton; the earliest emigrant of my name; made hisappearance in the wild and forest…bordered settlement; which has sincebee a city。 And here his descendants have been born and died; andhave mingled their earthy substance with the soil; until no smallportion of it must necessarily be akin to the mortal framewherewith; for a little while; I walk the streets。 In part; therefore;the attachment which I speak of is the mere sensuous sympathy ofdust for dust。 Few of my countrymen can know what it is; nor; asfrequent transplantation is perhaps better for the stock; need theyconsider it desirable to know。  But the sentiment has likewise its moral quality。 The figure of thatfirst ancestor; invested by family tradition with a dim and duskygrandeur; was present to my boyish imagination; as far back as I canremember。 It still haunts me; and induces a sort of home…feelingwith the past; which I scarcely claim in reference to the presentphase of the town。 I seem to have a stronger claim to a residence hereon account of this grave; bearded; sable…cloaked and steeple…crownedprogenitor… who came so early; with his Bible and his sword; andtrod the unworn street with such a stately port; and made so large afigure; as a man of war and peace… a stronger claim than for myself;whose name is seldom heard and my face hardly known。 He was a soldier;legislator; judge; he was a ruler in the Church; he had all thePuritanic traits; both good and evil。 He was likewise a bitterpersecutor; as embered him in theirhistories; and relate an incident of his hard severity towards a womanof their sect; which will last longer; it is to be feared; than anyrecord of his better deeds; although these were many。 His son; too;inherited the persecuting spirit; and made himself so conspicuous inthe martyrdom of the witches; that their blood may fairly be said tohave left a stain upon him。 So deep a stain; indeed; that his olddry bones; in the Charter Street burial…ground; must still retainit; if they have not crumbled utterly to dust! I know not whetherthese ancestors of mine bethought themselves to repent; and ask pardonof Heaven; for their cruelties; or whether they are now groaning underthe heavy consequences of them; in another state of being。 At allevents; I; the present writer; as their representative; hereby takeshame upon myself for their sakes; and pray that any curse incurred bythem… as I have heard; and as the dreary and unprosperous condition ofthe race; for many a long year back; would argue to exist… may benow and henceforth removed。  Doubtless; however; either of these stern and black…browedPuritans would have thought it quite a sufficient retribution forhis sins; that; after so long a lapse of years; the old trunk of thefamily tree; with so much venerable moss upon it; should have borne;as its topmost bough; an idler like myself。 No aim; that I have evercherished; would they recognise as laudable; no success of mine… ifmy life; beyond its domestic scope; had ever been brightened bysuccess… would they deem otherwise than worthless; if not positivelydisgraceful。 〃Where is he?〃 murmurs one grey shadow of myforefathers to the other。 〃A writer of story…books! What kind of abusiness in life… what mode of glorifying God; or being serviceable tomankind in his day and generation… may that be? Why; the degeneratefellow might as well have been a fiddler!〃 Such are the plimentsbandied between my great…grandsires and myself; across the gulf oftime! And yet; let them scorn me as they will; strong traits oftheir nature have intertwined themselves with mine。  Planted deep; in the town's earliest infancy and childhood; by thesetwo earnest and energetic men; the race has ever since subsisted here;always; too; in respectability; never; so far as I have known;disgraced by a single unworthy member; but seldom or never; on theother hand; after the first two generations; performing anymemorable deed; or so much as putting forward a claim to publicnotice。 Gradually; they have sunk almost out of sight; as oldhouses; here and there about the streets; get covered half…way tothe eaves by the accumulation of new soil。 From father to son; forabove a hundred years; they followed the sea; a grey…headedshipmaster; in each generation; retiring from the quarter…deck tothe homestead; while a boy of fourteen took the hereditary placebefore the mast; confronting the salt spray and the gale; which hadblustered against his sire and grandsire。 The boy; also; in duetime; passed from the forecastle to the cabin; spent a tempestuousmanhood; and returned from his world…wanderings; to grow old; and die;and mingle his dust with the natal earth。 This long connection of afamily with one spot; as its place of birth and burial; creates akindred between the human being and the locality; quite independent ofany charm in the scenery or moral circumstances that surround him。It is not love; but instinct。 The new inhabitant… who came himselffrom a foreign land; or whose father or grandfather came… has littleclaim to be called a Salemite; he has no conception of the oyster…liketenacity with which an old settler; over whom his third century iscreeping; clings to the spot where his successive generations havebeen imbedded。 It is no matter that the place is joyless for him; thathe is weary of the old wooden houses; the mud and dust; the dead levelof site and sentiment; the chill east wind; and the chillest of socialatmospheres; all these; and whatever faults besides he may see orimagine; are nothing to the purpose。 The spell survives; and just aspowerfully as if the natal spot were an earthly paradise。 So has itbeen in my case。 I felt it almost as a destiny to make Salem myhome; so that the mould of features and cast of character which hadall along been familiar here… ever; as one representative of therace lay down in his grave; another assuming; as it were; hissentry…march along the main street… might still in my little day beseen and recognised in the old town。 Nevertheless; this very sentimentis an evidence that the connection; which has bee an unhealthy one;should at least be severed。 Human nature will not flourish; any morethan a potato; if it be planted and replanted; for too long a seriesof generations; in the same worn…out soil。 My children have hadother birthplaces; and; so far as their fortunes may be within mycontrol; shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth。  On emerging from the Old Manse; it was chiefly this strange;indolent; unjoyous attachment for my native town; that brought me tofill a place in Uncle Sam's brick edifice; when I might as well; orbetter; have gone somewhere else。 My doom was on me。 It was not thefirst time; nor the second; that I had gone away… as it seemed;permanently… but yet returned; like the bad halfpenny; or as ifSalem were for me the inevitable centre of the universe。 So; onefine morning; I ascended the flight of granite steps; with thePresident's mission in my pocket; and was introduced to the corpsof gentlemen who were to aid me in my weighty responsibility; as chiefexecutive officer of the Custom…House。  I doubt greatly… or; rather; I do not doubt at all… whether anypublic functionary of the United States; either in the civil ormilitary line; has ever had such a patriarchal body of veteransunder his orders as myself。 The whereabouts of the Oldest Inhabitantwas at once settled; when I looked at them。 For upwards of twentyyears before this epoch; the independent position of the Collector hadkept the Salem Custom…House out of the whirlpool of politicalvicissitude; which makes the tenure of office generally so fragile。A soldier… New England's most distinguished soldier… he stood firmlyon the pedestal of his gallant services; and; himself secure in thewise liberality of the successive administrations through which he hadheld office; he had been the safety of his subordinates in many anhour of danger and heartquake。 General Miller was radicallyconservative; a man over whose kindly nature habit had no slightinfluence; attaching himself strongly to familiar faces; and withdifficulty moved to change; even when change might have broughtunquestionable improvement。 Thus; on taking charge of my department; Ifound few but aged men。 They were ancient sea…captains; for the mostpart; who; after being tossed on every sea; and standing up sturdilyagainst life's tempestuous blast; had finally drifted into thisquiet nook; where; with little to disturb them; except theperiodical terrors of a Presidential election; they one and allacquired a new lease of existence。 Though by no means less liable thantheir fellow…men to age and infirmity; they had evidently sometalisman or other that kept death at bay。 Two or three of theirnumber; as I was assured; being gouty and rheumatic; or perhapsbed…ridden; never dreamed of making their appearance at theCustom…House during a large part of the year; but; after a tor

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的