"Let her see nothing strange- no passion nor eagerness- in thy way of accosting her," whispered Hester. "Our Pearl is a fitful and fantastic little elf, sometimes. Especially, she is seldom tolerant of emotion, when she does not fully comprehend the why and wherefore. But the child hath strong affections! She loves me, and will love thee!"
“你跟她搭話的時(shí)候，別讓她看出什么不同尋常的地方，既不要太熱情，也不要太急切，”海絲特輕聲說(shuō)。“我們的珠兒有時(shí)候是個(gè)一陣陣讓人捉摸不定的小精靈。尤其是在她不大明白緣由的時(shí)候，很難接受別人的激情。不過(guò)，這孩子有著強(qiáng)烈的愛(ài)！她愛(ài)我，而且也會(huì)愛(ài)你的！”

"Thou canst not think," said the minister, glancing aside at Hester Prynne, "how my heart dreads this interview, and yearns for it! But, in truth, as I already told thee, children are not readily won to be familiar with me. They will not climb my knee, nor prattle in my ear, nor answer to my smile; but stand apart, and eye me strangely. Even little babes, when I take them in my arms, weep bitterly. Yet Pearl, twice in her little lifetime, hath been kind to me! The first time- thou knowest it well! The last was when thou ledst her with thee to the house of yonder stern old Governor."
“你難以想象，”牧師說(shuō)著，偏過(guò)頭來(lái)瞥了一眼海絲特·白蘭，“我又害怕這次見(jiàn)面，又盼著這次見(jiàn)面的那種心理！不過(guò)，說(shuō)實(shí)話，就象我剛才跟你說(shuō)的，孩子們是不大樂(lè)于同我親近的。他們不會(huì)爬上我的膝頭，不肯和我說(shuō)悄悄話，也不愿回報(bào)我的微笑，而只是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地站著，奇怪地打量著我。連小小的嬰兒都一樣；我把他們抱在懷里時(shí)，他們就使勁哭?？芍閮洪L(zhǎng)這么大，竟有兩次對(duì)我特別好！頭一次，——你知道得很清楚！第二次就是你領(lǐng)她到板著面孔的老總督的那所房子里去的時(shí)候。”

"And thou didst plead so bravely in her behalf and mine!" answered the mother. "I remember it; and so shall little Pearl. Fear nothing! She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee!"
“那次你大膽地為了她和我進(jìn)行了申辯！”做母親的回答?！拔矣浀们迩宄≈閮阂矔?huì)記得的。別怕！她開(kāi)頭也許會(huì)認(rèn)生、害躁，但很快就會(huì)愛(ài)起你來(lái)的！”

By this time Pearl had reached the margin of the brook, and stood on the farther side, gazing silently at Hester and the clergyman, who still sat together on the mossy tree-trunk, waiting to receive her. Just where she had paused, the brook chanced to form a pool, so smooth and quiet that it reflected a perfect image of her little figure, with all the brilliant picturesqueness of her beauty, in its adornment of flowers and wreathed foliage, but more refined and spiritualised than the reality. This image, so nearly identical with the living Pearl, seemed to communicate somewhat of its own shadowy and intangible quality to the child herself. It was strange, the way in which Pearl stood, looking so steadfastly at them through the dim medium of the forest-gloom; herself, meanwhile, all glorified with a ray of sunshine, that was attracted thitherward as by a certain sympathy. In the brook beneath stood another child- another and the same- with likewise its ray of golden light. Hester felt herself, in some indistinct and tantalising manner, estranged from Pearl; as if the child, in her lonely, ramble through the forest, had strayed out of the sphere in which she and her mother dwelt together, and was now vainly seeking to return to it.
這時(shí)，珠兒已經(jīng)來(lái)到小溪對(duì)岸，站在那兒不出聲地瞅著海絲特和牧師，他倆依舊并肩坐在長(zhǎng)滿青苔的樹(shù)干上，等著見(jiàn)她。就在她停下腳步的地方，小溪恰好聚成一個(gè)池塘，水面平靜而光滑，把珠兒那小小的身影完滿地映硯出來(lái)：她腰纏嫩枝編的花帶，使她的美貌絢麗如畫，比本人還要精美，更象仙女。那映象幾乎與真的珠兒分毫不爽，似乎將其自身的某種陰影般莫測(cè)的品性傳遞給孩子本人了。奇妙的是，珠兒站在那里，不錯(cuò)眼珠地透過(guò)林中的幽暗盯視著他們；與此同時(shí)，她全身都沐浴在仿佛是被某種感應(yīng)吸引到她身上的一道陽(yáng)光中。在她腳下的小溪中站著另一個(gè)孩子——是另外一個(gè)，但又一模一樣——身上同樣灑滿陽(yáng)光。海絲特模糊而痛心地感到，她自己好象同珠兒變得陌生起來(lái)；好象那孩子獨(dú)自在森林中游蕩時(shí)，走出了她和她母親同居的范圍，如今正在徒勞地想回來(lái)。