Chapter 12 THE MINISTER'S VIGIL
第十二章　牧師的夜游

Carried away by the grotesque horror of this picture, the minister, unawares, and to his own infinite alarm, burst into a great peal of laughter. It was immediately responded to by a light, airy, childish laugh, in which, with a thrill of the heart- but he knew not whether of exquisite pain, or pleasure as acute- he recognised the tones of little Pearl.
牧師的神思隨著這一荒唐可怖的畫面馳騁，在不知不覺之中突然爆發(fā)出一陣狂笑，一連他自己都大吃一驚。這狂笑立刻得到一聲輕靈的童稚笑聲的響應(yīng)，隨著一陣心悸——不過他弄不清到底是出于劇烈的痛楚抑或極度的歡樂——，他從笑聲中辨出了小珠兒的腔調(diào)。

"Pearl! Little Pearl!" cried he, after a moment's pause; then, suppressing his voice- "Hester! Hester Prynne! Are you there?"
“珠兒！小珠兒！”他稍停片刻就喊道；然后，他壓低了嗓音說：“海絲特！海絲特·白蘭！是你在那兒?jiǎn)幔俊?/div>

"Yes; it is Hester Prynne!" she replied, in a tone of surprise; and the minister heard her footsteps approaching from the sidewalk, along which she had been passing. "It is I, and my little Pearl."
“是的；我是海絲特·白蘭！”她應(yīng)答著，語(yǔ)調(diào)中充滿驚奇；接著牧師聽到了她走下便道，逐漸接近的腳步聲?！笆俏遥€有我的小珠兒。

"Whence come you, Hester?" asked the minister. "What sent you hither?"
“你從哪里來，海絲特？”牧師問道?！澳阍趺吹竭@兒來啦？”

"I have been watching at a death-bed," answered Hester Prynne- "at Governor Winthrop's death-bed, and have taken his measure for a robe, and am now going homeward to my dwelling."
“我剛剛守護(hù)在一個(gè)死者的床邊，”海絲特·白蘭回答說，“是在溫斯洛普總督床邊，給他量了袍子的尺寸，現(xiàn)在我正往家里走。”

"Come up hither, Hester, thou and little Pearl," said the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. "Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!"
“上這兒來吧，海絲特，你，還有小珠兒，”可敬的丁梅斯代爾先生說。“你們母女倆以前已經(jīng)在這兒站過了，可是我當(dāng)時(shí)沒和你們?cè)谝黄稹Ｔ偕蟻硪淮伟?，我們?nèi)杖艘黄鹫局桑　?/div>

She silently ascended the steps, and stood on the platform, holding little Pearl by the hand. The minister felt for the child's other hand, and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain.
她默默地踏上臺(tái)階，并且站到了臺(tái)上，手中一直牽著小珠兒。牧師夠著孩子的另一只手，也握住了。就在他這么做的瞬間，似有一般不同于他自己生命的新生命的激越之潮，急流般涌入他的心房，沖過他周身的血管，仿佛那母女倆正把她們生命的溫暖傳遞給他半麻木的軀體。三人構(gòu)成了一條閉合的電路。