In all the seven bygone years, Hester Prynne had never before been false to the symbol on her bosom. It may be that it was the talisman of a stern and severe, but yet a guardian spirit, who now forsook her; as recognising that, in spite of his strict watch over her heart, some new evil had crept into it, or some old one had never been expelled. As for little Pearl, the earnestness soon passed out of her face.
在過去的七今年頭中，海絲特·白蘭還從來沒有就她胸前的標(biāo)記說過假話。很可能，那紅字雖是一個嚴(yán)苛的符咒，但同時也是一個守護(hù)神，不過現(xiàn)在那守護(hù)神拋棄了她，正是由于看到了這一點，盡管紅字依然嚴(yán)格地守在她心口，但某個新的邪惡已經(jīng)鉆了進(jìn)去，或者說某個舊的邪惡始終沒有被驅(qū)逐出來。至于小珠兒呢，那種誠摯的神情很快就從她臉上消失了。?

But the child did not see fit to let the matter drop. Two or three times, as her mother and she went homeward, and as often at suppertime, and while Hester was putting her to bed, and once after she seemed to be fairly asleep, Pearl looked up, with mischief gleaming in her black eyes.
但那孩子仍不肯就此罷休。在她母親領(lǐng)她回家的路上，她又問了兩三次，在吃晚飯時和海絲特送她上床時又問了兩三次，在她象是已經(jīng)入睡之后又問了一次：珠兒抬起頭來，黑眼睛中閃著搗蛋的光芒。

"Mother," said she, "what does the scarlet letter mean?"
“媽媽，”她說，“這紅字到底是什么意思？”

And the next morning, the first indication the child gave of being awake was by popping up her head from the pillow, and making that other inquiry, which she had so unaccountably connected with her investigations about the scarlet letter-
第二天一早，那孩子醒來的第一個表示，就是從枕頭上猛地把頭一抬，問起另外那個問題，不知為什么她總是把那個問題同探詢紅字的問題攪在一起——?

"Mother!- mother!- why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?"
“媽媽！——媽媽！——牧師于嘛總用手捂住心口呢？”

"Hold thy tongue, naughty child!" answered her mother, with an asperity that she had never permitted to herself before. "Do not tease me; else I shall shut thee into the dark closet!"
“閉嘴，調(diào)皮鬼！”她母親回答說，語氣之嚴(yán)厲，是她以前從來不準(zhǔn)自己有的。“別纏我了，要不我就把你關(guān)進(jìn)櫥柜里去了！”