Without a word more spoken- neither he nor she assuming the guidance, but with an unexpressed consent- they glided back into the shadow of the woods, whence Hester had emerged, and sat down on the heap of moss where she and Pearl had before been sitting. When they found voice to speak, it was, at first, only to utter remarks and inquiries such as any two acquaintances might have made, about the gloomy sky, the threatening storm, and, next, the health of each. Thus they went onward, not boldly, but step by step, into the themes that were brooding deepest in their hearts. So long estranged by fate and circumstances, they needed something slight and casual to run before, and throw open the doors of intercourse, so that their real thoughts might be led across the threshold.
他倆沒再多說，況且哪一個也沒有引路，只是憑著一種默契，便一起退到海絲特剛才走出的樹蔭中，雙雙坐在她和珠兒坐過的那堆青苔上。他們好不容易才開口講話，起初只是象兩個熟人那樣搭汕兩句，說說天空陰沉，就要有暴風(fēng)雨了，后來便談到各自的健康情況。他們就這樣談下去，小心翼翼地，一步一步地，扯到深深埋藏在心底的話題。由于命運和環(huán)境這多年來將他們相互隔絕，他們就需要些輕松的闊談來開頭，然后再敞開交談的大門，把他們的真實思想領(lǐng)進(jìn)門限。

After a while, the minister fixed his eyes on Hester Prynne's.
過了一會，牧師的目光緊緊盯住海絲特·白蘭的眼睛。

"Hester," said he, "hast thou found peace?"
“海絲特，”他說，“你得到平靜了嗎？”

She smiled drearily, looking down upon her bosom.
她凄楚地笑了笑，垂下眼睛看著自己胸前。

"Hast thou?" she asked.
“你呢？”她反問……

"None!- nothing but despair!" he answered. "What else could I look for, being what I am, and leading such a life as mine? Were I an atheist- a man devoid of conscience- a wretch with coarse and brutal instincts- I might have found peace, long ere now. Nay, I never should have lost it! But, as matters stand with my soul, whatever of good capacity there originally was in me, all of God's gifts that were the choicest have become the ministers of spiritual torment. Hester, I am most miserable."
“沒有！——除了絕望再無其它！”他回答說?！白鳛槲疫@樣一個人，過著我這樣的生活，我又能指望什么呢？如果我是一個無神論者，——一個喪盡良心的人，——一個本性粗野的惡棍，——或許我早就得到了平靜。不，我本來就不該失去它的！不過，就我的靈魂而論，無論我身上原先有什么好品質(zhì)，上帝所賜予的一切最精美的天賦已經(jīng)全都變成了精神折磨的執(zhí)行者。海絲特，我實在太痛苦了！”

"The people reverence thee," said Hester. "And surely thou workest good among them! Doth this bring thee no comfort?"
“人們都尊重你，”海絲特說。“而且說實在的，你在他們中間確實做著好事！這一點難道還不能給你帶來慰藉嗎？”

"More misery, Hester!- only the more misery!" answered the clergyman, with a bitter smile. "As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a delusion. What can a ruined soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls?- or a polluted soul, towards their purification? And as for the people's reverence, would that it were turned to scorn and hatred! Canst thou deem it, Hester, a consolation, that I must stand up in my pulpit, and meet so many eyes turned upward to my face, as if the light of heaven were beaming from it!- must see my flock hungry for the truth, and listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecost were speaking!- and then look inward, and discern the black reality of what they idolise? I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am! And Satan laughs at it!"
“益發(fā)痛苦，海絲特！——只能是益發(fā)痛苦！”牧師苦笑著回答說?！爸劣谖冶砻嫔献龅哪切┖檬拢乙埠翢o信念可言。那不過是一種幻覺罷了。象我這樣一個靈魂已經(jīng)毀滅的人，又能為拯救他人的靈魂做出什么有效之舉呢？——或者說，一個褻瀆的靈魂能夠凈化他人嗎？至于別人對我的尊重，我寧愿統(tǒng)統(tǒng)變成輕蔑與憤懣！我不得不站在布道壇上，迎著那么多仰望著我的面孔的眼睛，似乎我臉上在發(fā)散天國之光！我不得不看著我那群渴望真理的羔羊聆聽我的話語，象是一只‘火焰的舌頭’在講話！可是我再向自己的內(nèi)心一看，卻辨出了他們所崇拜的東西中丑陋的真相！海絲特，你能認(rèn)為這是一種慰藉嗎？我曾在內(nèi)心的極度辛酸悲苦之中，放聲嘲笑我的表里不一！撒旦也是這樣嘲笑的！”