"Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what- for my own heavy sin and miserable agony- I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me! Thy strength, Hester; but let it be guided by the will which God hath granted me! This wretched and wronged old man is opposing it with all his might!- with all his own might, and the fiend's! Come, Hester, come! Support me up yonder scaffold!"The crowd was in a tumult. The men of rank and dignity, who stood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken by surprise, and so perplexed as to the purport of what they saw- unable to receive the explanation which most readily presented itself, or to imagine any other- that they remained silent and inactive spectators of the judgment which Providence seemed about to work. They beheld the minister, leaning on Hester's shoulder, and supported by her arm around him, approach the scaffold, and ascend its steps; while still the little hand of the sin-born child was clasped in his. Old Roger Chillingworth followed, as one intimately connected with the drama of guilt and sorrow in which they had all been actors, and well entitled, therefore, to be present at its closing scene.
“海絲特·白蘭，”他以令人撕心裂肺的真誠呼叫道，“上帝啊，他是那樣的可畏，又是那樣的仁慈，在這最后的時(shí)刻，他已恩準(zhǔn)我——為了我自己沉重的罪孽和悲慘的痛楚——來做七年前我規(guī)避的事情，現(xiàn)在過來吧，把你的力量纏繞到我身上吧！你的力量，海絲特；但要讓那力量遵從上帝賜于我的意愿的指導(dǎo)！這個(gè)遭受委屈的不幸的老人正在竭力反對(duì)此事！竭盡他自己的，以及魔鬼的全力！來吧，海絲特，來吧！扶我登上這座刑臺(tái)吧！”人群嘩然，騷動(dòng)起來。那些緊靠在牧師身邊站著的有地位和身分的人萬分震驚，對(duì)他們目睹的這一切實(shí)在不解：既不能接受那顯而易見的解釋，又想不出別的什么涵義，只好保持沉默，靜觀上天似乎就要進(jìn)行的裁決。他們眼睜睜地瞅著牧師靠在海絲特的肩上，由她用臂膀攙扶著走近刑臺(tái)，跨上臺(tái)階；而那個(gè)由罪孽而誕生的孩子的小手還在他的手中緊握著。老羅杰·齊靈渥斯緊隨在后，象是與這出他們幾人一齊參加演出的罪惡和悲傷的戲劇密不可分，因此也就責(zé)無旁貸地在閉幕前亮了相。

"Hadst thou sought the whole earth over," said he, looking darkly at the clergyman, "there was no one place so secret- no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me- save on this very scaffold!"
“即使你尋遍全世界，”他陰沉地望著牧師說，“除去這座刑臺(tái)，再也沒有一個(gè)地方更秘密——高處也罷，低處也罷，使你能夠逃脫我了！”

"Thanks be to Him who hath led me hither" answered the minister.
“感謝上帝指引我來到了這里！”牧師回答說。

Yet he trembled, and turned to Hester with an expression of doubt and anxiety in his eyes, not the less evidently betrayed, that there was a feeble smile upon his lips.
然而他卻顫抖著，轉(zhuǎn)向海絲特，眼睛中流露著疑慮的神色，嘴角上也同樣明顯地帶著一絲無力的微笑。

"Is not this better," murmured he, "than what we dreamed of in the forest?"
“這樣做，”他咕噥著說，“比起我們?cè)跇淞种兴鶋?mèng)想的，不是更好嗎？”

"I know not! I know not!" she hurriedly replied. "Better? Yea; so we may both die, and little Pearl die with us!"
“我不知道！我不知道！”她匆匆回答說?！笆歉脝?？是吧；這樣我們就可以一起死去，還有小珠兒陪著我們！”

"For thee and Pearl, be it as God shall order," said the minister; "and God is merciful! Let me now do the will which He hath made plain before my sight. For, Hester, I am a dying man. So let me make haste to take my shame upon me!"
“至于你和珠兒，聽?wèi){上帝的旨意吧，”牧師說；“而上帝是仁慈的！上帝已經(jīng)在我眼前表明了他的意愿，我現(xiàn)在就照著去做。海絲特，我已經(jīng)是個(gè)垂死的人了。那就讓我趕緊承擔(dān)起我的恥辱吧！”