【經(jīng)典名著閱讀】《紅字》第二十三章(上)
作者:Nathaniel Hawthorne
2011-09-17 10:00
How fared it with him then? Were there not the brilliant particles of a halo in the air about his head! So etherealised by spirit as he was, and so apotheosised by worshipping admirers, did his footsteps, in the procession, really tread upon the dust of earth?
那么他本人又如何呢?他頭上的空中不是有光環(huán)在光芒四射嗎?他既然被神靈感化得如此空靈,為崇拜者奉若神明,他那在隊(duì)伍中移動(dòng)著的腳步,當(dāng)真是踏在塵埃之上嗎?
As the ranks of military men and civil fathers moved onward, all eyes were turned towards the point where the minister was seen to approach among them. The shout died into a murmur, as one portion of the crowd after another obtained a glimpse of him. How feeble and pale he looked, amid all his triumph! The energy- or say, rather, the inspiration which had held him up, until he should have delivered the sacred message that brought its own strength along with it from heaven- was withdrawn, now that it had so faithfully performed its office. The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on his cheek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelessly among the late-decaying embers. It seemed hardly the face of a man alive, with such a deathlike hue; it was hardly a man with life in him, that tottered on his path so nervelessly, yet tottered, and did not fall!
軍人和文官的隊(duì)伍向前行進(jìn)的時(shí)候,所有的目光全都投向牧師在大隊(duì)中慢慢走來的方向。隨著人群中一部分又一部分的人瞥見了他的身影,歡呼聲漸漸乎息為一種喃喃聲。他在大獲全勝之際,看起來是多么虛弱和蒼白啊!他的精力——或者毋寧說,那個(gè)支撐著他傳達(dá)完神圣的福音并由上天借此賦予他該福音本身的力量的神啟——在他忠誠地克盡厥責(zé)之后,已經(jīng)被撤回去了。人們剛才看到的在他面頰上燒灼的紅光已經(jīng)黯淡,猶如在余燼中無可奈何地熄滅的火焰。他臉色那樣死灰,實(shí)在不象一個(gè)活人的面孔;他那樣無精打采地踉蹌著,實(shí)在不象一個(gè)體內(nèi)尚有生命的人;然而他還在跌跌撞撞地前進(jìn)著,居然沒有倒下!
One of his clerical brethren- it was the venerable John Wilson- observing the state in which Mr. Dimmesdale was left by the retiring wave of intellect and sensibility, stepped forward hastily to offer his support. The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. He still walked onward, if that movement could be so described, which rather resembled the wavering effort of an infant, with its mother's arms in view, outstretched to tempt him forward. And now, almost imperceptible as were the latter steps of his progress, he had come opposite the well-remembered and weather-darkened scaffold, where, long since, with all that dreary lapse of time between, Hester Prynne had encountered the world's ignominious stare. There stood Hester, holding little Pearl by the hand! And there was the scarlet letter on her breast! The minister here made a pause; although the music still played the stately and rejoicing march to which the procession moved. It summoned him onward- onward to the festival!- but here he made a pause.
他的一位擔(dān)任教職的兄弟,就是年長的約翰,威爾遜,觀察到了丁梅斯代爾先生在智慧和敏感退潮之后陷入的狀態(tài),慌忙邁步上前來攙扶他。而丁梅斯代爾牧師卻哆里哆嗦地?cái)嗳煌崎_了那老人的胳臂。他還繼續(xù)朝前“走”著——如果我們還把那種動(dòng)作說成是“走”的話,其實(shí)更象一個(gè)嬰兒看到了母親在前面伸出雙手來鼓勵(lì)自己前進(jìn)時(shí)那種播搖晃晃的學(xué)步。此時(shí),牧師已經(jīng)茫茫然,不知移步邁向何方,他來到了記憶猶新的那座因風(fēng)吹日曬雨淋而發(fā)黑的刑臺(tái)對面,在相隔許多凄風(fēng)苦雨的歲月之前,海絲特·白蘭曾經(jīng)在那上面遭到世人輕辱的白眼?,F(xiàn)在海絲特就站在那兒,手中領(lǐng)著小珠兒!而紅字就在她胸前!牧師走到這里停下了腳步,然而,音樂依然莊嚴(yán)地演奏著,隊(duì)伍合著歡快的進(jìn)行曲繼續(xù)向前移動(dòng)。樂聲召喚他向前進(jìn),樂聲召喚他去赴宴!但是他卻停了下來。