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霍桑的「红字」
HAWTHORNE'S "THE SCARLET LETTER"

作者简介
霍桑(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804～1864)出身望族。但早年丧父而致家道中落。年轻时依赖舅舅为生。廿四岁大学毕业，不愿依照舅舅之意从商或从政，决心埋头写作。三十二岁时出版「旧事重述」(Twice-told Tales)一书，逐渐崭露头角。但似乎时运不济，多半时间仍然生活清苦，甚至有时贫病交加。直到一八五○年间出版红字(The Scarlet Letter)一书，才轰动文坛，也使生活脱离困境。此后写作和生活都算步入坦途。一八六四年逝世于新罕布什尔，享年六十岁。
In the early 1600s, in Boston, a young woman named Hester Prynne was found to be guilty of adultery. Because of this crime, she had to wear a scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown. She also had to stand on the stocks for three hours with her baby in her arms so all the people could see her shame.

Some people said she would have been condemned to death if the kind Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale hadn't spoken in her behalf.

As she stood on the platform, a strange-looking man came out of the nearby forest. Hester appeared upset, and the man put his finger to his lips as a sign of silence.

Hester was known in the community to be from a good family in Antwerp, Belgium. She had married a scholar and had been sent by him to the New World. Her husband was to follow shortly, but his ship was lost at sea. She had lived quietly in Boston until the time of this disgrace. Now, standing on the stocks, the local dignitaries called on her to name the man who shared her guilt. Reverend Dimmesdale spoke to her the most about this. Nevertheless, she refused. She was taken back to prison.

In prison again, Hester became very disturbed. A call sent out for a doctor, and a man who called himself Roger Chillingworth came forth. He told the jailer he'd just arrived in town after living with Indians for a year. He was the man Hester had seen while she stood on the scaffold, and she recognized him as her missing husband.

He too wanted Hester to name the child's father, but again she refused. He swore he'd find out for himself, and he asked her not to reveal that he was her husband. She agreed.

Hester finally settled down with her daughter in a small cottage near the town. She named the girl Pearl, and she dressed her colorfully. She earned her living doing needlework, and always she wore the A on her breast. Pearl was a spry and lively child, and some church members wanted to take her away from Hester, whom they saw as an unfit mother. When Hester went to the governor to ask him to help her keep Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale spoke in her behalf. The governor agreed to let them stay together.

Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale were living in the same boarding house, and they became very close. As Chillingworth got to know the Reverend better, he discovered that the Reverend suffered greatly from guilt. Most people thought the Reverend was only being righteous, but Chillingworth suspected that Dimmesdale himself might be Pearl's father.

One night Dimmesdale couldn't sleep, so he went for a walk. When he got to the stocks, he climbed up to find out what it felt like. Just then Hester and Pearl walked by, and the Reverend called them to join him. When all three stood there, Dimmesdale cried out in shame that he was indeed Pearl's father. Chillingworth, in the shadows, watched the entire scene.

Hester recognized that Dimmesdale was very sick, and she believed that Chillingworth was driving him ever deeper into ill health. When she encountered her former husband in the forest, she begged him to leave the Reverend alone. He refused, so she told him she'd tell Dimmesdale of her relationship with Chillingworth. When she did this, Dimmesdale made plans with her to leave the colony together, with Pearl, in secret. They would leave in four days and would return to Europe.

The day they were to sail, Hester learned that Chillingworth had also made plans to leave and would, in fact, be on the same ship. Hester was filled with despair.

After the Reverend gave what would be his final sermon, he weakly left the church with others of his congregation. They proceeded down the street until they approached Hester and Pearl, who were standing near the stocks. Dimmesdale then took them by the hands and climbed upon the scaffold. There he confessed all in front of the entire town, and he tore off his minister's band. He sank to the platform, dying. Some said they noticed a scarlet A on his exposed breast.

Chillingworth also died shortly afterward, and he left much money to Pearl. Hester left the colony for a while, but years later she returned. She moved back into her cottage and continued to wear the scarlet letter. Now, however, the letter was a symbol of her goodness rather than her shame. In old age, she asked that the only mark on her tombstone be the letter A.

注解。
The Scarlet Letter 「红字」
guilty of 犯……罪。
adultery 通奸。
gown 长上衣。
stocks 木台。
condemned to death 被判死刑。
in her behalf 为她；替她。
strange-looking 外貌奇怪的。
upset 不安；烦躁。
as a sign of silence 示意不要出声。
the New World 新世界(指当今的美国)。
disgrace 耻辱；丢脸。
dignitaries 高官显贵。
guilt 罪。
this 指她的共犯姓名。
sent for a doctor 请医生来。
scaffold 刑台。
reveal 泄露。
settle down 定居下来。
spry and lively 活泼。
suffer greatly from guilt 因罪恶(感)而使内心大受折磨。
righteous 正直的；正义的。
what it felt like (站在刑台上)的滋味如何。
ill health 生病。
encounter 碰到；遇到。
leave…alone 不再打扰…
despair 失望。
sermon 宣道。
congregation 会众；教会。
band 宽领带
exposed breast 露出的胸口。
afterward 事后。
tombstone 墓碑。