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第47章

红字-the scarlet letter(英文版)-第47章

小说: 红字-the scarlet letter(英文版) 字数: 每页4000字

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truments; perhaps imperfectly adapted to one another; and playedwith no great skill; but yet attaining the great object for which theharmony of drum and clarion addresses itself to the multitude… thatof imparting a higher and more heroic air to the scene of life thatpasses before the eye。 Little Pearl at first clapped her hands; butthen lost; for an instant; the restless agitation that had kept her ina continual effervescence throughout the morning; she gazedsilently; and seemed to be borne upward; like a floating sea…bird;on the long heaves and swells of sound。 But she was brought back toher former mood by the shimmer of the sunshine on the weapons andbright armour of the military pany; which followed after the music;and formed the honorary escort of the procession。 This body ofsoldiery… which still sustains a corporate existence; and marches downfrom past ages with an ancient and honourable fame… was posed of nomercenary materials。 Its ranks were filled with gentlemen; who feltthe stirrings of martial impulse; and sought to establish a kind ofCollege of Arms; where; as in an association of Knights Templars; theymight learn the science; and; so far as peaceful exercise wouldteach them; the practices of war。 The high estimation then placed uponthe military character might be seen in the lofty port of eachindividual member of the pany。 Some of them; indeed; by theirservices in the Low Countries and on other fields of European warfare;had fairly won their title to assume the name and pomp of soldiership。The entire array; moreover; clad in burnished steel; and withplumage nodding over their bright morions; had a brilliancy ofeffect which no modern display can aspire to equal。  And yet the men of civil eminence; who came immediately behind themilitary escort; were better worth a thoughtful observer's eye。 Evenin outward demeanour; they showed a stamp of majesty that made thewarrior's haughty stride look vulgar; if not absurd。 It was an agewhen what we call talent had far less consideration than now; butthe massive materials which produce stability and dignity of charactera great deal more。 The people possessed; by hereditary right; thequality of reverence; which; in their descendants; if it survive atall; exists in smaller proportion; and with a vastly diminished force;in the selection and estimate of public men。 The change may be forgood or ill; and is partly; perhaps; for both。 In that old day; theEnglish settler on these rude shores… having left king; nobles; andall degrees of awful rank behind; while still the faculty andnecessity of reverence were strong in him… bestowed it on the whitehair and venerable brow of age; on long…tried integrity; on solidwisdom and sad…coloured experience; on endowments of that grave andweighty order which gives the idea of permanence; and es underthe general definition of respectability。 These primitive statesmen;therefore… Bradstreet; Endicott; Dudley; Bellingham; and theirpeers… who were elevated to power by the early choice of thepeople; seem to have been not often brilliant; but distinguished bya ponderous sobriety; rather than activity of intellect。 They hadfortitude and self…reliance; and; in time of difficulty or peril;stood up for the welfare of the state like a line of cliffs againsta tempestuous tide。 The traits of character here indicated were wellrepresented in the square cast of countenance and large physicaldevelopment of the new colonial magistrates。 So far as a demeanourof natural authority was concerned; the mother country need not havebeen ashamed to see these foremost men of an actual democracyadopted into the House of Peers; or made the Privy Council of thesovereign。  Next in order to the magistrates came the young and eminentlydistinguished divine; from whose lips the religious discourse of theanniversary was expected。 His was the profession; at that era; inwhich intellectual ability displayed itself far more than in politicallife; for… leaving a higher motive out of the question… it offeredinducements powerful enough; in the almost worshipping respect ofthe munity; to win the most aspiring ambition into its service。Even political power… as in the case of Increase Mather… was withinthe grasp of a successful priest。  It was the observation of those who beheld him now; that never;since Mr。 Dimmesdale first set his foot on the New England shore;had he exhibited such energy as was seen in the gait and air withwhich he kept his pace in the procession。 There was no feebleness ofstep; as at other times; his frame was not bent; nor did his hand restominously upon his heart。 Yet; if the clergyman were rightly viewed;his strength seemed not of the body。 It might be spiritual; andimparted to him by angelic ministrations。 It might be the exhilarationof that potent cordial; which is distilled only in the furnace…glow ofearnest and long…continued thought。 Or; perchance; his sensitivetemperament was invigorated by the loud and piercing music; thatswelled heavenward; and uplifted him on its ascending wave。Nevertheless; so abstracted was his look; it might be questionedwhether Mr。 Dimmesdale even heard the music。 There was his body;moving onward; and with an unaccustomed force。 But where was his mind?Far and deep in its own region; busying itself; with preternaturalactivity; to marshal a procession of stately thoughts that were soonto issue thence; and so he saw nothing; heard nothing; knew nothing;of what was around him; but the spiritual element took up the feebleframe; and carried it along; unconscious of the burden; and convertingit to spirit like himself。 Men of unmon intellect; who have grownmorbid; possess this occasional power of mighty effort; into whichthey throw the life of many days; and then are lifeless for as manymore。  Hester Prynne; gazing steadfastly at the clergyman; felt a drearyinfluence e over her; but wherefore or whence she knew not;unless that he seemed so remote from her own sphere; and utterlybeyond her reach。 One glance of recognition; she had imagined; mustneeds pass between them。 She thought of the dim forest; with itslittle dell of solitude; and love; and anguish; and the mossytree…trunk; where; sitting hand in hand; they had mingled their sadand passionate talk with the melancholy murmur of the brook。 Howdeeply had they known each other then! And was this the man? Shehardly knew him now! He; moving proudly past; enveloped; as it were;in the rich music; with the procession of majestic and venerablefathers; he; so unattainable in his worldly position; and still moreso in that far vista of his unsympathising thoughts; through which shenow beheld him! Her spirit sank with the idea that all must havebeen a delusion; and that; vividly as she had dreamed it; therecould be no real bond betwixt the clergyman and herself。 And thus muchof woman was there in Hester; that she could scarcely forgive him…least of all now; when the heavy footstep of their approaching Fatemight be heard; nearer; nearer; nearer!… for being able sopletely to withdraw himself from their mutual world; while shegroped darkly; and stretched forth her cold hands; and found him not。  Pearl either saw and responded to her mother's feelings; orherself felt the remoteness and intangibility that had fallen aroundthe minister。 While the procession passed; the child was uneasy;fluttering up and down; like a bird on the point of taking flight。When the whole had gone by; she looked up into Hester's face。  〃Mother;〃 said she; 〃was that the same minister that kissed me bythe brook?〃  〃Hold thy peace; dear little Pearl!〃 whispered her mother。 〃Wemust not always talk in the market…place of what happens to us inthe forest。〃  〃I could not be sure that it was he; so strange he looked;〃continued the child。 〃Else I would have run to him; and bid him kissme now; before all the people; even as he did yonder among the darkold trees。 What would the minister have said; mother? Would he haveclapped his hand over his heart; and scowled on me; and bid mebegone?〃  〃What should he say; Pearl?〃 answered Hester; 〃save that it was notime to kiss; and that kisses are not to be given in the market…place?Well for thee; foolish child; that thou didst not speak to him!〃  Another shade of the same sentiment; in reference to Mr。 Dimmesdale;was expressed by a person whose eccentricities… or insanity; as weshould term it… led her to do what few of the townspeople would haveventured on; to begin a conversation with the wearer of the scarletletter; in public。 It was Mistress Hibbins; who; arrayed in greatmagnificence; with a triple ruff; a broidered stomacher; a gown ofrich velvet; and a gold…headed cane; had e forth to see theprocession。 As this ancient lady had the renown (which subsequentlycost her no less a price than her life) of being a principal actorin all the works of necromancy that were continually going forward;the crowd gave way before her; and seemed to fear the touch of hergarment; as if it carried the plague among its gorgeous folds。 Seen inconjunction with Hester Prynne… kindly as so many now felt towards thelatter… the dread inspired by Mistress Hibbins was doubled; and causeda general movement from that part of the market…place in which the twowomen stood。  〃Now; what mortal imagination could conceive it!〃 whispered theold lady; confid

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