Chapter 10 THE LEECH AND HIS PATIENT
第十章　醫(yī)生和病人

Before Roger Chillingworth could answer, they heard the clear, wild laughter of a young child's voice, proceeding from the adjacent burial-ground. Looking instinctively from the open window- for it was summer-time- the minister beheld Hester Prynne and little Pearl passing along the footpath that traversed the enclosure. Pearl looked as beautiful as the day, but was in one of those moods of perverse merriment which, whenever they occurred, seemed to remove her entirely out of the sphere of sympathy or human contact. She now skipped irreverently from one grave to another; until, coming to the broad, flat, armorial tombstone of a departed worthy- perhaps of Isaac Johnson himself- she began to dance upon it. In reply to her mother's command and entreaty that she would behave more decorously, little Pearl paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock which grew beside the tomb. Taking a handful of these, she arranged them along the lines of the scarlet letter that decorated the maternal bosom, to which the burrs, as their nature was, tenaciously adhered. Hester did not pluck them off.
羅杰·齊靈渥斯還沒有來得及回答，就聽到從鄰近的墓地里傳來了一個小孩子的清澈而狂野的笑聲。當時正是夏天，牧師不自主地從打開的窗子向外面望去，看到海絲特·白蘭和小珠兒在穿越圍欄的小徑上走著。珠兒的模樣如白晝一般美麗，但處于那種調皮任性的興致之中，每當此刻，她便象完全脫離了人性的共鳴與交往的范圍。此時她正大不敬地從一個墳墓跳到另一個墳墓；終于來到一位逝去的大人物——說不定正是艾薩克，約翰遜本人——的寬大、平整、帶紋章的墓石跟前，在那上面跳起舞來。聽到她母親又是命令又是懇求地要她放規(guī)矩些，小珠兒才不再跳舞，從長在墓旁的一株高大的牛蒡上采集多刺的果實。她摘了滿滿一把之后，便在綴在母親胸前的紅字周圍，沿著筆畫一一插滿，這些帶刺的牛蒡便牢牢地扎在上面了。海絲特并沒有把它們取下。

Roger Chillingworth had by this time approached the window, and smiled grimly down. "There is no law, nor reverence for authority, no regard for human ordinances or opinions, right or wrong, mixed up with that child's composition," remarked her, as much to himself as to his companion. "I saw her, the other day, bespatter the Governor himself with water, at the cattle-trough in Spring Lane. What, in Heaven's name, is she? Is the imp altogether evil? Hath she affections? Hath she any discoverable principle of being?"
羅杰·齊靈渥斯這時已走到窗前，面帶獰笑地向下望著?！霸谀呛⒆拥臍赓|中，根本沒有法律，沒有對權威的敬重，對于人類的法令或意向，不管正確與否，也不屑一顧，”他這樣講著，與其說是在同他的同伴談話，倒更象是自言自語?！坝幸惶欤铱吹剿诖合锏男蟛圻?，竟然往總督身上潑水。我的天，她究竟是個什么東西呢？這小鬼是不是徹頭徹尾地邪惡了？她有感情嗎？在她身上能看到什么人性原則嗎？

"None- save the freedom of a broken law," answered Mr. Dimmesdale, in a quiet way, as if he had been discussing the point within himself. "Whether capable of good I know not."
“完全沒有——只有把法律破壞得支離破碎的自由，”丁梅斯代爾先生回答說，其態(tài)度之安詳，簡直象是對此自問自答。“至于能否為善，我可就不得而知了。

The child probably overheard their voices; for, looking up to the window, with a bright, but naughty smile of mirth and intelligence, she threw one of the prickly burrs at the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. The sensitive clergyman shrunk, with nervous dread, from the light missile. Detecting his emotion, Pearl clapped her little hands, in the most extravagant ecstasy. Hester Prynne, likewise, had involuntarily looked up; and all these four persons, old and young, regarded one another in silence, till the child laughed aloud, and shouted, "Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!"
那孩子可能是遠遠聽到了他倆的聲音；因為她抬頭看著窗戶，面帶歡快而聰明的頑皮笑容，朝丁梅斯代爾牧師先生扔上一顆帶刺的牛蒡。那敏感的牧師懷著神經質的恐懼，將身子一縮，躲開了那輕飄的飛彈。珠兒發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的激動，在極度狂喜之中，拍起了小手。海絲特·白蘭也同樣禁不住始眼來看；于是這老老少少四個人便默默地互相瞅著；后來，孩子出聲笑了，還大叫著——“走吧，媽媽！走吧，要不，那老黑人就抓住你了！他已經抓住了牧師。走吧，媽媽，要不他就抓住你了！可他抓不住小珠兒！