His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the Church in which he had been born and bred. In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders; laughing bitterly at himself the while, and smiting so much the more pitilessly because of that bitter laugh. It was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast- not, however, like them, in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination, but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance. He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness; sometimes with a glimmering lamp; and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it. He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify, himself. In these lengthened vigils, his brain often reeled, and visions seemed to flit before him; perhaps seen doubtfully, and by a faint light of their own, in the remote dimness of the chamber, or more vividly, and close beside him, within the looking-glass. Now it was a herd of diabolic shapes, that grinned and mocked at the pale minister, and beckoned him away with them; now a group of shining angels, who flew upward heavily, as sorrow-laden, but grew more ethereal as they rose. Now came the dead friends of his youth, and his white-bearded father, with a saint-like frown, and his mother, turning her face away as she passed by. Ghost of a mother- thinnest fantasy of a mother- methinks she might yet have thrown a pitying glance towards her son! And now, through the chamber which these spectral thoughts had made so ghastly, glided Hester Prynne, leading along little Pearl, in her scarlet garb, and pointing her forefinger, first at the scarlet letter on her bosom, and then at the clergyman's own breast.
他內(nèi)心的煩惱，驅(qū)使著他的行動(dòng)坐臥與古老腐敗的羅馬天主教的信條暗相嚙合，反倒背離了自他生來便哺育他的新教的較好的靈光。在丁梅斯代爾先生深鎖的密室中，有一條血淋淋的刑鞭。這位新教和清教的牧師，時(shí)常一邊對(duì)自己苦笑，一邊鞭打自己的肩膀，而隨著那苦笑，就鞭打得更加無情。他也象許多別的虔誠(chéng)的清教徒一樣，有齋戒的習(xí)慣——不過，別人齋戒是為了凈化肉體，使之更適合于天光照耀，他的齋戒則不同，他嚴(yán)格地當(dāng)作一種自我懲罰，直到雙膝在下面顫抖為止。他還徹夜不眠地祈禱，一夜接著一夜，有時(shí)在一片漆黑之中，有時(shí)只伴著一盞昏燈，有時(shí)則在臉上照著最強(qiáng)的光線面對(duì)一面鏡子。他就這樣不斷地自省，其實(shí)只是在自我折磨，絲毫得不到自我凈化。在長(zhǎng)夜不眠的祈禱之中，他的頭腦時(shí)常暈眩，似乎有許多幻象在他眼前飛舞；這些幻象有時(shí)在內(nèi)室的昏暗中自身發(fā)著微光，看著似有似無，有時(shí)則出現(xiàn)在鏡子之中，近在咫尺，顯得更清晰些。這些幻象時(shí)而是一群兇暴的惡魔，對(duì)著這位牧師獰笑嘲弄，呼喚他隨他們而去；時(shí)而是一伙閃光的天使，象是滿載哀傷的重荷，沉重地向上飛去，但隨著越飛越高，而變得輕靈起來；時(shí)而又來了他年輕時(shí)那些夭折的朋友，還有他那面帶圣者般的蹙容、須發(fā)花白的父親，以及在走過時(shí)卻扭轉(zhuǎn)面孔不理睬他的母親。在我看來，一個(gè)母親的幽靈——一個(gè)母親的最淡漠的幻影——也會(huì)對(duì)她兒子投以憐憫的目光吧！隨之，在被這些光怪陸離的奇思異想弄得十分陰森可怖的內(nèi)室中，海絲特·白蘭領(lǐng)著身穿猩紅袍服的珠兒飄然而過，那孩子伸出食指，先指指母親胸前的紅字，然后又指指牧師本人的胸膛。