Hawthorne, Nathaniel ``The Scarlet Letter``-Xx-En-Sp

Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
5
10
Summaries of THE SCARLET LETTER
(ver página final)
LA LETRA ROJA
by
de
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
February, 1997 [Etext #33]
tr. de A. Ruste
[Most recently updated: May 14, 2002]
Espasa Calpe, Madrid., (1952) 1995
15
20
autobiography: memoirs of one’s life
written by oneself
The Scarlet Letter
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40
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60
THE CUSTOM-HOUSE
LA ADUANA
INTRODUCTORY TO “THE SCARLET LETTER”
INTRODUCCIÓN A «LA LETRA ROJA»
It is a little remarkable,
that—though disinclined to
talk overmuch of myself and
my affairs at the fireside, and
t o m y p e r s o n a l friends—an
autobiographical impulse should
twice in my life have taken
possession of me, in addressing
the public. The first time was three
or four years since, when I
favoured
the
reader—
inexcusably, and for no earthly
reason that either the indulgent
reader or the intrusive author
could
imagine—with
a
description of my way of life in
the deep quietude of an Old
Manse. And now—because,
beyond my deserts, I was happy
enough to find a listener or two
on the former occasion—I again
seize the public by the button, and
talk of my three years’ experience
in a Custom-House. The example
of the famous “P. P. , Clerk of this
Parish,” was never more faithfully
followed. The truth seems to be,
however, that when he casts his
leaves forth upon the wind, the
author addresses, not the many
who will fling aside his volume,
or never take it up, but the few
who will understand him better
than most of his schoolmates or
lifemates. Some authors, indeed,
do far more than this, and indulge
themselves in such confidential
depths of revelation as could
fittingly be addressed only and
exclusively to the one heart and
mind of perfect sympathy; as if the
Es algo notable el que,
aun poco inclinado a hablar
de mí y de mis asuntos domésticos, dos veces en mi vida,
al dirigirme al público se haya
apoderado de mi ser un impulso autobiográfico . F u e l a
primera vez hace tres
o cuatro años, cuando
favorecí
al
lector
( i n e x c usablemente y sin la
razón terrenal que tanto el indulgente lector como el autor
intruso pudiesen imaginar)
con una descripción de mi
modo de vivir en la profunda
tranquilidad de una vieja mansión. Y ahora (porque, aparte mis
merecimientos, tuve la suerte de
hallar uno o dos oyentes en la
primera ocasión) me agarro de
nuevo a los fondillos del público y le
hablo de mis tres años de experiencia en una aduana. El ejemplo del famoso «P. P., clérigo de esta parroquia», jamás fue seguido tan fielmente. La verdad parece ser, no
obstante, que cuando el autor
arroja sus cuartillas al viento,
no se dirige a los muchos que
tirarán a un lado su libro o no lo cogerán jamás, sino a los pocos que le han
de comprender mejor que la mayoría
de sus condiscípulos o compañeros de
vida. Algunos autores, sin embargo,
hacen mucho más que esto y se permiten tales profundidades confidenciales
de revelación, como si propiamente pudieran ser dirigidas, única y exclusivamente, a un solo corazón y entendimiento de [27] [28] perfecta simpatía
1
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
decorous: proper and seemly
10
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso,
jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
talented, brilliant, great, fantastic, funny,
witty /temper, nature, disposition,
spirit, initiative
15
20
methinks v. intr. (past methought) 25
archaic it seems to me.
prolix: wordy and long-winded
printed book, thrown at large on
the wide world, were certain to
find out the divided segment of
the writer ’s own nature, and
complete his circle of existence by
bringing him into communion
with it. It is scarcely decorous,
however, to speak all, even where
we speak impersonally. But, as
thoughts are frozen and
utterance benumbed, unless
t h e speaker stand in some true
relation with his audience, it may
be pardonable to imagine that a
friend, a kind and apprehensive,
though not the closest friend, is
listening to our talk; and then, a
native reserve being thawed by this
genial consciousness, we may prate
of the circumstances that lie
around us, and even of ourself,
but still keep the inmost Me
behind its veil. To this extent, and
within these limits, an author,
methinks, may be autobiographical,
without violating either the reader’s
rights or his own.
tr. de A. Ruste
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como si el libro impreso, al desparramarse por el ancho mundo, estuviese seguro de hallar el segmento dividido de la naturaleza propia del
autor, y completar su círculo de la
existencia, trayéndole a comunión
con él. Es poco decoroso, sin embargo, hablarlo todo, aun cuando hablemos impersonalmente. Pero como los
pensamientos están congelados y la
expresión entorpecida, a menos que
quien habla esté en alguna relación
verdadera con su auditorio, quizá sea
perdonable imaginar que un amigo cariñoso y aprensivo, si bien no el más
cercano, está escuchando nuestra charla; y entonces, deshelándose una reserva nativa, por medio de esta conciencia genial, hablemos de las circunstancias que están a nuestro alrededor, y aun de nosotros mismos, pero guardando todavía tras su velo su más íntimo
Yo. Soy de parecer que en esta extensión, y dentro de estos límites, un autor _____ puede ser autobiográfico,
sin que viole ni los derechos del lector ni los suyos.
It will be seen, likewise, that
30 this Custom-House sketch has a
certain propriety, of a kind always
recognised in literature, as
explaining how a large portion of
the following pages came into my
35 possession, and as offering proofs
of the authenticity of a narrative
therein contained. This, in fact—a
desire to put myself in my true
position as editor, or very little
40 more, of the most prolix among the
tales that make up my volume—
this, and no other, is my true reason
for assuming a personal relation
with the public. In accomplishing
45 the main purpose, it has appeared
allowable, by a few extra touches,
to give a faint representation of a
mode of life not heretofore
described, together with some of
50 the characters that move in it,
among whom the author happened
to make one.
Se verá asimismo que el
bosquejo de esta aduana tiene cierta
propiedad, de una especie siempre
reconocida en literatura; la de explicar cómo una gran parte de las
siguientes páginas vinieron a mis
manos, y ofrecer pruebas de la autenticidad del relato en ellas contenido. Ésta es, en realidad (un deseo
de colocarme en mi verdadera posición, o poco más alto, como editor de los más prolijos, entre los
cuentos que componen mi volumen), y no otra, mi verdadera razón para atribuirme una personal
relación con el público. Al cumplir
el propósito, me ha parecido admisible, por medio de unos pocos retoques, dar una pálida presentación
de una clase de vida, hasta ahora
no descrita, juntamente con algunos personajes que en ella se mueven, y entre los cuales se cuenta el
autor.
In my native town of Salem, at
55 the head of what, half a century ago,
in the days of old King Derby, was
a bustling wharf—but which is now
burdened with decayed wooden
warehouses, and exhibits few or no
60 symptoms of commercial life;
En mi ciudad natal de Salem, a
cuya entrada, hace medio siglo, en los
días del viejo rey Derby, existía un
animado muelle (hoy agobiado con
deteriorados alma [29] cenes de madera y que da poca o ninguna señal
de vida comercial, excepto sí, quizás,
2
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
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10
unthrifty pródigo, improvident, impróvido (desprevenido, desapercibido, falto de lo necesario), manirroto not
providing for the future ;
illconsidered, ill-judged, shortsighted
1 careless, not given careful
consideration;
15
Synonyms: extravagant, heedless,
imprudent, inconsiderate, lavish, negligent,
prodigal, profligate, profuse, reckless,
shiftless, short-sighted, spendthrift,
thoughtless, thriftless, uneconomical,
unthrifty, wasteful
Antonyms: careful, cautious
2 : wasteful, uneconomical
careless, cavalier, destructive,
dissipative, extravagant, immoderate,
improvident, incontinent, lavish, liberal,
overdone, overgenerous, pound-foolish*,
prodigal, profligate, profuse, reckless,
ruinous, spendthrift, squandering,
thriftless, uneconomical, unthrifty, wanton,
wild
Synonyms:
20
Antonyms: economical, thrifty, unwasteful
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truculency: fierceness
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except, perhaps, a bark or brig, halfway down its melancholy length,
discharging hides; or, nearer at
hand, a Nova Scotia schooner,
pitching out her cargo of
firewood—at the head, I say, of this
dilapidated wharf, which the tide
often overflows, and along which,
at the base and in the rear of the
row of buildings, the track of many
languid years is seen in a border of
unthrifty grass—here, with a view
from its front windows adown this
not very enlivening prospect, and
thence across the harbour, stands a
spacious edifice of brick. From the
loftiest point of its roof, during
precisely three and a half hours of
each forenoon, floats or droops, in
breeze or calm, the banner of the
republic; but with the thirteen
stripes turned vertically, instead of
horizontally, and thus indicating
that a civil, and not a military, post
of Uncle Sam’s government is here
established. Its front is ornamented
with a portico of half-a-dozen
wooden pillars, supporting a
balcony, beneath which a flight of
wide granite steps descends towards
the street Over the entrance hovers
an enormous specimen of the
American eagle, with outspread
wings, a shield before her breast,
and, if I recollect aright, a bunch of
intermingled thunder- bolts and
barbed arrows in each claw. With
the customary infirmity of temper
that characterizes this unhappy
fowl, she appears by the fierceness
of her beak and eye, and the general
truculency of her attitude, to
threaten mischief to the inoffensive
community; and especially to warn
all citizens careful of their safety
against intruding on the premises
which she overshadows with her
wings. Nevertheless, vixenly as she
looks, many people are seeking at
this very moment to shelter
themselves under the wing of the
federal eagle; imagining, I presume,
that her bosom has all the softness
and snugness of an eiderdown
pillow. But she has no great
tenderness even in her best of
moods, and, sooner or later—
oftener soon than late—is apt to
fling o f f h e r n e s t l i n g s w i t h
a s c r a t c h o f h e r c l a w, a
tr. de A. Ruste
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una barca o bergantín, a la mitad de
su melancólica longitud, se oculta
para descargar, o, más cerca de tierra, una goleta de Nueva Escocia lanza su cargamento de leña); a la entrada, digo, de este muelle dilatado que
la marea cubre con frecuencia, y a
lo largo del cual, en su base y en la
parte posterior de la hilera de edificios, se adivina la huella de muchos años lánguidos, por la hierba
poco lozana que los bordea; allí, con
la poco vivificante perspectiva que se
aprecia desde sus ventanas fronteras y a
lo largo de la bahía, se alza un espacioso
edificio de ladrillo. Desde el punto más
elevado de su techumbre, precisamente durante tres horas y media de
cada tarde, flota o cae, con brisa o
con calma, la bandera de la República; pero con las trece franjas vueltas
vertical en lugar de horizontalmente,
indicando así que hay allí establecido un puesto civil, y no militar, del
gobierno del tío Sam. Su fachada
está ornamentada con un pórtico de
media docena de pilastras de madera que sostienen un balcón, bajo
el cual una tramada de anchos escalones de granito desciende hacia la calle. Sobre la entrada, extiende sus alas una enorme especie de águila americana, con una
rodela ante su pechuga y, si no
recuerdo mal, con un manojo de
rayos mezclados con flechas
lengüetadas en cada garra. Con la
acostumbrada inseguridad de temperamento que caracteriza a esta_____
ave, parece, por la ferocidad de su
pico y sus ojos, y por la general
truculencia de su actitud, que
amenaza con daños a la inofensiva comunidad, y, especialmente, que advierte a todos los ciudadanos, cuidadosa
de su seguridad, de no entrometerse
en las premisas que sombrea con sus
alas. No obstante lo colérica que
aparenta ser, mucha gente solicita, en este mismo momento, guarecerse bajo el ala del águila federal, imaginando, supongo, que
su seno tiene la suavidad y abrigo de un edredón. Pero ella no
tiene gran ternura, [30] aun en el
mejor de sus modos, y más temprano o más tarde (más bien
pronto que tarde) está dispuesta
a lanzarle fuera de su nidada
con un rasguñazo de su garra,
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
sudden blow
tarnish 1 a a loss of lustre. b a film of
colour formed on an exposed surface
of a mineral or metal. 2 a blemish; a
stain. empañar, deslustrar,
gracious :1 amable, cortés, gentil,
benevolente, indulgente [lenient]
2 elegante, de buen gusto, grato
gracious 1 kind; indulgent and
beneficent to inferiors. 2 (of God)
merciful, benign. 3 poet. kindly,
courteous. 4 a polite epithet used
of royal persons or their acts (the
gracious speech from the throne).
Amable, cordial.
benign 1 gentle, mild, kindly. 2 fortunate,
salutary. 3 (of the climate, soil, etc.)
mild, favourable. 4 Med. (of a
disease, tumour, etc.) not malignant.
benigno 1. adj. Afable, benévolo, piadoso. 2. fig. Templado, suave, apacible
gracioso : funny,witty, amusing, charming
graceful : lleno de gracia, con mucho
garbo, elegante, digno
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
(Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
tr. de A. Ruste
d a b o f h e r beak, or a rankling
wound from her barbed arrows.
un picotazo o una grosera herida
de sus flechas.
The pavement round about
5 the above-described edifice—
which we may as well name at
once as the Custom-House of the
port—has grass enough growing
in its chinks to show that it has
10 not, of late days, been worn by
any multitudinous resort of
business. In some months of the
y e a r, h o w e v e r, t h e r e o f t e n
chances a forenoon when affairs
15 move onward with a livelier
tread. Such occasions might
remind the elderly citizen of that
period, before the last war with
England, when Salem was a port
20 by itself; not scorned, as she is
now, by her own merchants and
ship-owners, who permit her
wharves to crumble to ruin while
their ventures go to swell,
25 needlessly and imperceptibly,
the mighty flood of commerce at
New York or Boston. On some
such morning, when three or
four vessels happen to have
30 arrived at once usually from
Africa or South America—or to
b e o n t h e v e rg e o f t h e i r
departure thitherward, there is
a sound of frequent feet passing
35 briskly up and down the granite
steps. Here, before his own wife
has greeted him, you may greet
the sea-flushed ship-master, just
in port, with his vessel’s papers
40 under his arm in a tarnished tin
box. H e r e , t o o , c o m e s h i s
o w n e r, c h e e r f u l , s o m b r e ,
gracious or in the sulks,
accordingly as his scheme of the
45 now accomplished voyage has
been realized in merchandise that
will readily be turned to gold, or has
buried him under a bulk of
incommodities such as nobody will
50 care to rid him of. Here, likewise—
the germ of the wrinkle-browed,
agobiado
grizzly-bearded, careworn merchant—
we have the smart young clerk, who gets
the taste of traffic as a wolf-cub does
55 of blood, and already sends
adventures in his master ’s ships,
when he had better be sailing
mimic boats upon a mill-pond.
Ano t h e r f i g u r e i n t h e s c e n e i s
60 t h e o u t w a r d - b o u n d s a i l o r , i n
En las resquebrajaduras del
pavimento que rodea el descrito
edificio, que muy bien pudiéramos llamar aduana de este puerto, ha crecido la hierba,
_________ demostrando que en los
últimos tiempos no ha sido raída por
ninguna numerosa concurrencia de
negocios. A pesar de esto, en algunos meses del año, hay tardes en
que aquéllas se desenvuelven con
alguna mayor animación. Tales ocasiones pudieran recordar al antiguo
ciudadano de aquel período, antes
de la última guerra con Inglaterra,
cuando Salem era por sí un puerto,
no despreciado, como ahora, por
sus propios comerciantes y
armadores, quienes permiten que sus
muelles se desmoronen ruinosos,
mientras sus empresas van a acrecentar, innecesaria e imperceptiblemente, la poderosa afluencia comercial de Nueva York o de Boston.
En algunas de aquellas mañanas,
cuando ocurre que tres o cuatro
barcos llegan a un mismo tiempo
(generalmente de África o
Sudamérica) o están a punto de
zarpar, hay un frecuente sonido,
producido por los pies, al pasar
arriba y abajo sobre las escaleras
de granito. Aquí, antes de que su
propia mujer le salude, puedes saludar al curtido patrón, recién desembarcado, con la documentación
encerrada en una deslustrada caja de
cinc que lleva bajo el brazo. También
verás al armador, alegre o triste,
gracioso o huraño, según, por el
via j e r e a l i z a d o p o r s u b a r c o ,
trate de convertir la mercancía en oro, o enter r a r s e e n
un cúmulo de incomodidades del que nadie se tomará la molestia de sacarle.
Aparte el comerciante precavido, de frente rugosa y barba
grisácea, tenemos asimismo el
empleadillo joven y astuto que
le toma gusto al tráfico, como el
lobezno a la sangre, y envía aventureros [31] en los barcos de su jefe,
cuando debiera estar lanzando
barquichuelos de juguete en una balsa.
Otra de las figuras de esta escena es el marinero con rumbo a un
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Notas
tarpaulin:wateproof canvas, lona impermeable o impermiabilizada, used for
covering hatches, ships’ boats,
1 : a piece of material (as durable
plastic) used for protecting
exposed objects or areas
2 :slang for sailors
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
quest of a protection; or the
recently arrived one, pale and
feeble, seeking a passport to
the hospital. Nor must we
5 f o rget the captains of the rusty
little schooners that bring
firewood from the British
provinces; a rough-looking set
of tarpaulins, without the
10 a l e r t n e s s o f t h e Ya n k e e a s p e c t ,
but contributing an item of no
slight importance to our
decaying trade.
puerto extranjero, en busca de
protección, o el pálido y débil recién llegado que solicita pasaporte para un hospital. Tampoco hemos de olvidar los capitanes de
las pequeñas y mohosas goletas
que traen leña de las provincias
británicas, y una serie de toscos
erizos alquitranados que, sin tener el aspecto de los yanquis,
constituyen un artículo más, de no
poca importancia para nuestro tráfico decadente.
15
Cluster all these individuals
together, as they sometimes were,
with other miscellaneous ones to
diversify the group, and, for the
time being, it made the CustomHouse a stirring scene. More
frequently, however, on ascending
the steps, you would discern —
in the entry if it were summer
time, or in their appropriate rooms
if wintry or inclement weathers
row of venerable figures, sitting
in old-fashioned chairs, which
were tipped on their hind legs
back against the wall. Oftentimes
they were asleep, but occasionally
might be heard talking together,
ill voices between a speech and a
snore, and with that lack of energy
that distinguishes the occupants of
alms-houses, and all other human
beings who depend for subsistence
on charity, on monopolized
labour, or anything else but their
own independent exertions.
T h e s e o l d ge n t l e m e n —
seated, like Matthew at the
receipt of custom, but not very
liable to be summoned thence,
like him, for apostolic errands—
were Custom-House officers.
Amontonados todos estos individuos, como lo estaban algunas
veces, con otros diversos para matizar el grupo, componían una
agitada escena de la aduana por
aquel entonces. Con más frecuencia, sin embargo, podías ver, al subir las escaleras (en la entrada, si
era verano, o en sus apropiados departamentos, en tiempo ventoso o
inclemente) una fila de figuras venerables, sentadas en sillas de estilo antiguo, que, descansando sobre
las patas traseras, apoyaban el respaldo contra la pared. Muchas veces dormían, pero otras se les oía
hablar juntos, con voces que sonaban entre discurseo y ronquido, y con la falta de energía que
distingue a los ocupantes de los
asilos y a todos los seres humanos cuya subsistencia depende de
la caridad, de trabajos monopolizados y de cualquiera otra cosa
que no signifique sus funciones independientes. Estos viejos caballeros, sentados como Mateo, que recibían las mercancías, y no se hallaban muy dispuestos a salir de allí,
como él, para diligencias apostólicas, eran los vistas de la aduana.
Furthermore, on the left
hand as you enter the front door,
is a certain room or office, about
50 fifteen feet square, and of a lofty
height, with two of its arched
windows commanding a view of
the aforesaid dilapidated wharf,
and the third looking across a
55 narrow lane, and along a portion
of Derby Street. All three give
glimpses of the shops of grocers,
block-makers, slop-sellers, and
ship-chandlers, around the doors
60 of which are generally to be
Más adelante, a mano izquierda; entrando por la puerta principal, hay un cuarto u oficina de unos
quince pies en cuadro y de una gran
altura, dos de cuyas ventanas de
medio punto dan al mencionado
muelle, y la tercera mira a una estrecha callejuela, divisándose desde aquélla una parte de la calle de
Derby. Por las tres ventanas pueden contemplarse las [32] abacerías,
canterías, comercios de ropas hechas y cabuyerías; a las puertas
de estos establecimientos se ven,
20
25
30
35
liable responsable;
to be ~ FOR sth ser responsable
de algo
(likely): I’m ~ to forget es probable que
me olvide;
the earlier model was ~ to
overheat el modelo anterior tenía
tendencia a recalentarse
liable 1 responsable
to be liable for, ser responsable de
to hold sb liable, responsabilizar a
alguien [for, de]
2 (cosa) hotels are liable to 16%
VAT, los hoteles están sujetos al
16% del IVA
3 propenso,-a [to, a]
4 probable: it’s liable to rain, es
probable que llueva
Compound Forms:
be liable ser responsable
be liable for ser responsable de
make jointly liable obligar
solidariamente
tr. de A. Ruste
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45
5
Notas
dingy
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
seen, laughing and gossiping,
clusters of old salts, and such
other wharf-rats as haunt the
Wapping of a seaport. The room
itself is cobwebbed, and dingy
with old paint; its floor is strewn
with grey sand, in a fashion that
has elsewhere fallen into long
disuse; and it is easy to
conclude, from the general
slovenliness of the place, that
this is a sanctuary into which
womankind, with her tools of
magic, the broom and mop, has
very infrequent access. In the
way of furniture, there is a stove
with a voluminous funnel; an old
pine desk with a three-legged
stool beside it; two or three
wooden-bottom
chairs,
exceedingly decrepit and infirm;
and—not to forget the library—
on some shelves, a score or two
of volumes of the Acts of
Congress, and a bulky Digest of
the Revenue laws. A tin pipe
ascends through the ceiling, and
forms a medium of vocal
communication with other parts
of be edifice. And here, some six
months ago—pacing from
corner to corner, or lounging on
the long-legged tool, with his
elbow on the desk, and his eyes
wandering up and down the
columns of the morning
newspaper—you might have
recognised, honoured reader, the
same individual who welcomed
you into his cheery little study,
where the sunshine glimmered
so pleasantly through the willow
branches on the western side of
the Old Manse. But now, should
you go thither to seek him, you
would inquire in vain for the
Locofoco Surveyor. The besom
of reform hath swept him out of
office, and a worthier successor
wears his dignity and pockets his
emoluments.
generalmente, grupos de viejos
marineros que chismorrean y ríen,
y otras ratas de muelle que tienen
sus guaridas en los puertos. El cuarto está lleno de telarañas con sucia
y vieja pintura; el suelo se
halla cubierto de arena gris,
en tal forma que parece hacer
largo tiempo que no s e h a r e m o v i d o ; y, p o r l a g e n e ra l
suciedad de este sitio, es fácil llegar a la conclusión de que es un santuario al que la humanidad, con sus
utensilios mágicos, escoba y estropajo, ha tenido acceso muy raras
veces. En cuanto a mobiliario, hay
una estufa con una tubería voluminosa; un viejo pupitre de pino y,
junto a éste, un taburete alto, de tres
patas; dos o tres sillas con asiento
de madera, muy decrépitas e inseguras; y (para no olvidar la biblioteca) en algunos estantes uno o dos
pequeños rimeros de volúmenes de
las actas del Congreso y un abultado tomo de la Recopilación de leyes sobre rentas públicas. Un delgado tubo asciende atravesando el
techo, y forma un medio de comunicación vocal con otros departamentos de la oficina. Y allí, hace
unos seis meses, paseando de rincón a rincón, u holgazaneando sobre el alto taburete de tres patas, con
el codo apoyado sobre el pupitre y
recorriendo de arriba abajo las largas columnas del diario de la mañana, hubieses reconocido, honrado lector, al mismo individuo que
te dio la bienvenida en su alegre y
pequeño estudio, donde el sol brillaba tan agradablemente, entre las
ramas de los sauces, en la parte oeste de la Vieja Mansión. Pero si fueses allí ahora, para encontrarle, preguntarías en vano por el administrador de aduanas. El escobón de
las reformas le barrió de la oficina,
y un sucesor de más merecimientos ostenta su dignidad y se echa al
bolsillo sus emolumentos.
This old town of Salem—my
native place, though I have dwelt
55 much away from it both in
boyhood and maturer years—
possesses, or did possess, a hold
on my affection, the force of
which I have never realized
60 during my seasons of actual
La vieja población de Salem
(mi tierra natal, aunque he vivido
mucho fuera de ella, tanto en mi
niñez [33] como en mis años mayores) posee, o poseía, un arraigo
en mis afectos, cuya fuerza nunca
he sentido durante las temporadas
de mi actual residencia aquí. En
dirty-looking, drab, dull- 5
coloured.
10
sloven n. a person who is habitually
untidy or careless, coarse,
obnoxious, desliñado, desastrado,
cochambroso, desaseado, slattern
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
emoluments: profits from office, including
salary
tr. de A. Ruste
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residence here. Indeed, so far as
its physical aspect is concerned,
with its flat, unvaried surface,
covered chiefly with wooden
houses, few or none of which
pretend to architectural beauty—
its irregularity, which is neither
picturesque nor quaint, but only
tame—its long and lazy street,
lounging wearisomely through
the whole extent of the peninsula,
with Gallows Hill and New
Guinea at one end, and a view of
the alms-house at the other—
such being the features of my
native town, it would be quite as
reasonable to form a sentimental
attachment to a disarranged
checker-board. And yet, though
invariably happiest elsewhere,
there is within me a feeling for
Old Salem, which, in lack of a
better phrase, I must be content
to call affection. The sentiment
is probably assignable to the deep
and aged roots which my family
has stuck into the soil. It is now
nearly two centuries and a
quarter since the original Briton,
the earliest emigrant of my name,
made his appearance in the wild
and forest—bordered settlement
which has since become a city.
And here his descendants have
been born and died, and have
mingled their earthly substance
with the soil, until no small
portion of it must necessarily be
akin to the mortal frame
wherewith, for a little while, I
walk the streets. In part,
therefore, the attachment which
I speak of is the mere sensuous
sympathy of dust for dust.
Few of my countrymen can know
what it is; nor, as frequent
transplantation is perhaps better
for the stock, need they consider
it desirable to know.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
realidad, en cuanto concierne a su
aspecto físico, con su superficie
llana y monótona, cubierta mayormente por casas de madera, de las
cuales pocas o ninguna pretenden
tener belleza arquitectónica; su
irregularidad, que no es pintoresca ni curiosa, sino únicamente
insípida; su calle larga y perezosa, que se extiende pesadamente a
través de toda la extensión de la
península, con Gallows Hill y New
Guinea en un extremo y con el asilo en el otro; siendo éstas las características de mi población natal, hubiese sido mi apego a ella
tan razonable como el que hubiese tenido a un desarreglado tablero de damas. Y no obstante, aunque invariablemente he vivido más
contento en cualquier otro sitio,
siento por la vieja Salem una sensación que, a falta de mejor frase,
he de contentarme con llamarla
afecto. Quizá este sentimiento es
debido a las hondas y viejas raíces
que mi familia ha echado en su
suelo. Ahora hace cerca de dos siglos y cuarto desde que el original
Briton, el primer emigrante de mi
nombre, hizo su aparición en el
departamento extenso, bordeado
de bosques que, a partir de aquella fecha, se convirtió en ciudad.
Y aquí nacieron y murieron sus
descendientes y han mezclado su
subsistencia terrenal con su suelo;
hasta una no pequeña parte de ella
tiene necesariamente que ser consanguínea de la que, por poco espacio de tiempo, piso por las calles.
En parte, así pues, el apego de que
hablo es, simplemente, una ______
simpatía del polvo por el polvo.
Pocos de mis paisanos pueden saber lo que es, ni tienen necesidad
de desearlo conocer, ya que la
trasplantación es quizá mejor para
el injerto.
50
Pero el sentimiento tiene además su cualidad moral. La figura de
aquel primer antecesor, investido
por la tradición familiar con una
oscura y polvorienta grandeza, [34]
se hallaba presente en mi juvenil
imaginación y todavía me asalta y
me guía a una especie de afecto por
el pasado hogar, que escasamente
reclamo, en relación a la fase pre-
But the sentiment has likewise
its moral quality. The figure of that
first ancestor, invested by family
tradition with a dim and dusky
55 grandeur, was present to my boyish
imagination as far back as I can
remember. It still haunts me, and
induces a sort of home-feeling with
the past, which I scarcely claim in
60 reference to the present phase of
7
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bethink 1 cause oneself to consider
something 2 consider or ponder
something carefully; «She bethought
her of their predicament» Remember,
recalled
se acordaron
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45
50
the town. I seem to have a stronger
claim to a residence here on
account of this grave, bearded,
sable-cloaked, and steeplecrowned progenitor-who came so
early, with his Bible and his sword,
and trode the unworn street with
such a stately port, and made so
large a figure, as a man of war and
peace—a stronger claim than for
myself, whose name is seldom
heard and my face hardly known.
He was a soldier, legislator, judge;
he was a ruler in the Church; he
had all the Puritanic traits, both
good and evil. He was likewise a
bitter persecutor; as witness the
Quakers, who have remembered
him in their histories, and relate an
incident of his hard severity
towards a woman of their sect,
which will last longer, it is to be
feared, than any record of his better
deeds, although these were many.
His son, too, inherited the
persecuting spirit, and made
himself so conspicuous in the
martyrdom of the witches, that
their blood may fairly be said to
have left a stain upon him. So deep
a stain, indeed, that his dry old
bones, in the Charter-street burialground, must still retain it, if they
have not crumbled utterly to dust
I know not whether these ancestors
of mine bethought themselves to
repent, and ask pardon of Heaven
for their cruelties; or whether they
are now groaning under the heavy
consequences of them in another
state of being. At all events, I, the
present writer, as their
representative, hereby take shame
upon myself for their sakes, and
pray that any curse incurred by
them—as I have heard, and as the
dreary and unprosperous
condition of the race, for many a
long year back, would argue to
exist—may be now and henceforth
removed.
Doubtless, however, either of
these stern and black-browed
55 Puritans would have thought it
retribución no es retribution sino
quite a sufficient retribution for
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
his sins that, after so long a lapse
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
of years, the old trunk of the
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
family tree, with so much
divino
60 venerable moss upon it, should
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
8
sente de la población. Parezco tener un mayor apego a esta residencia a causa de este grave, barbudo
______________ y __________
coronado progenitor (que vino tan
avanzado, con su Biblia y su espada, y pisó la calle virgen con tan
soberbio porte, e hizo de sí tan gran
figura, como hombre de paz y de
guerra), un apego más fuerte que
por mí mismo, cuyo nombre rara
vez se oye, y cuya fisonomía escasamente es conocida. Fue soldado,
legislador y juez; fue un gobernante de la Iglesia y tenía todos los
rasgos puritanos, buenos y malos.
Fue, además, un buen persecutor,
como lo atestiguan los cuáqueros,
recordándole en sus historias y relatando un incidente de su férrea severidad contra una mujer de su secta, cuyo incidente durará más, es de
temer, que cualquier otro recuerdo
de sus mejores hechos, aunque éstos fueron muchos. Su hijo heredó
también el espíritu persecutorio, y
se hizo tan conspicuo en el martirio de los hechiceros que la sangre
de éstos puede muy bien decirse
dejó en él una mancha; mancha tan
honda, en efecto, que sus viejos y
secos huesos en el cementerio de
Charter-street deben conservarla
aún, si no se han deshecho por completo entre el polvo. Ignoro si estos antecesores míos pensaron en
el arrepentimiento y pidieron
perdón al cielo por sus crueldades, o si están ahora gruñendo
bajo sus pesadas consecuencias,
en otro estado de seres. De todos modos, yo, el actual escritor, como representante suyo,
me avergüenzo de su culpa y
ruego que cualquier maldición
por ellos originada (como las he
oído, y la triste e impróspera
situación de la raza ha hecho
que perdurasen desde muchos
años atrás) sea extirpada de hoy
en adelante.
Es indudable, sin embargo,
que cualquiera de estos severos y
sombríos puritanos hubiese creído
suficiente [35] retribución para
sus pecados el que, después de tan
largo lapso de tiempo, el viejo
tronco del árbol familiar, con tanto venerable musgo sobre sí, hu-
Notas
disgrace 1 the loss of reputation; shame;
ignominy (brought disgrace on his
family). 2 a dishonourable, inefficient,
or shameful person, thing, state of
affairs, etc.(the bus service is a
disgrace).1 bring shame or discredit
on; be a disgrace to. 2 degrade from
a position of honour; dismiss from
favour. Deshonra, verguenza, oprobio, ignominia,
in disgrace having lost respect or
reputation; out of favour.
disgrace y desgracia son dos mundos
diferentes, porque disgrace se ha
degradado para tomar un matiz
moral negativo de deshonra, vergüenza [shame], ignominia, caída
[downfall], mientras que desgracia
ha mantenido el sentido original de
misfortune [infortunio], tragedy, blow
/ setback [mala suerte], mishap [percance]; la expresión desgracias personales es casualty. De igual modo,
disgraced significa desacreditado,
deshonrado, mientras que desgraciado es unfortunate, unlucky,
unhappy, pero a veces toma un
matiz mis negativo, como
wretched, poor, y en algunas partes de América es un insulto serio,
bastard [cabrón]. To disgrace traduce deshonrar, avergonzar, desacreditar, mientras que desgraciar
es to damage, spoil, cripple [lisiarse].
disgraceful shameful, deshonrosa
bandy 1. bat to and fro (tennis) , toss 2.
difundir, hacer circular, rumorear 3.
cambiar (golpes, piropos) , replicar
4. estevar. 5. treat carelessly
bandy 2 1 (often foll. by about) a pass (a
story, rumour, etc.) to and fro. b throw
or pass (a ball etc.) to and fro. 2 (often
foll. by about) discuss disparagingly
(bandied her name about). 3 (often
foll. by with) exchange (blows, insults,
etc.) (don’t bandy words with me).
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
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have borne, as its topmost bough,
an idler like myself. No aim that I
have ever cherished would they
recognise as laudable; no
success of mine—if my life,
beyond its domestic scope, had
ever been brightened by
success—would they deem
otherwise than worthless, if not
positively disgraceful. “What is
he?” murmurs one grey shadow
of my forefathers to the other. “A
writer of story books! What kind
of business in life—what mode
of glorifying God, or being
serviceable to mankind in his day
and generation—may that be?
Why, the degenerate fellow might
as well have been a fiddler!”
Such are the compliments
bandied between my great
grandsires and myself, across the
gulf of time And yet, let them
scorn me as they will, strong traits
of their nature have intertwined
themselves with mine.
Planted deep, in the town’s
earliest infancy and childhood,
by these two earnest and
energetic men, the race has
ever since subsisted here;
always, too, in respectability;
never, so far as I have known,
disgraced by a single unworthy
member; but seldom or never,
on the other hand, after the
first
two
generations,
performing any memorable
deed, or so much as putting
forward a claim to public
notice. Gradually, they have
sunk almost out of sight; as old
houses, here and there about
the streets, get covered halfway to the eaves by the
accumulation of new soil.
From father to son, for above
a hundred years, they followed
the sea; a grey-headed
shipmaster, in each generation,
retiring from the quarter-deck
to the homestead, while a boy
of fourteen took the hereditary
place before the mast,
confronting the salt spray and
the gale which had blustered
against his sire and grandsire.
T h e b o y, a l s o i n d u e t i m e ,
passed from the forecastle to
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
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9
biese dado un brote en lo más alto
de su copa: un desocupado como
yo. Ningún intento de los que siempre he acariciado lo hubiesen reconocido como laudable; ninguno de
mis aciertos (si mi vida, más allá
de sus alcances domésticos, ha sido
abrillantada por los éxitos) lo hubiesen juzgado de otro modo que
de infructuoso, si no desgraciado.
«¿Qué es él?» —murmura una
sombra de mis abuelos a otra—.
«¡Un escritor de libros de cuentos!» ¡Vaya una clase de asunto en
la vida! ¡Qué modo de glorificar a
Dios o de ser útil a la humanidad
en su día y generación! ¿Puede ser
eso? ¡El tal individuo pudiera
igualmente haber sido un violinista!» ¡Tales son los cumplimientos
que me enlazan con mis grandes
señores antepasados, a través del
golfo del tiempo! Y, no obstante
sus desdenes, fuertes rasgos de
su naturaleza se han entretejido
con los míos!
¡Hondamente plantada por
estos dos hombres activos y
enérgicos, en la ______ infancia
y juventud de mi pueblo, la raza
ha subsistido desde entonces; ha
subsistido también en respetabilidad, sin que, por lo que yo he
sabido, se haya infamado por ningún miembro! Pero, por otra parte,
rara vez, o nunca, después de las
dos primeras generaciones ha
realizado ningún hecho memorable, ni siquiera dado motivo
para la notoriedad pública. Gradualmente se han ido hundiendo, perdiéndose de vista, como
las casas viejas lo hacen aquí y
allá, en las calles, cubriéndolas hasta el alero la acumulación del nuevo suelo. Durante
más de cien años, de padres a hijos, se lanzaron al mar; en cada
generación un patrón de cabellos
grises dejaba el castillo de popa
por su casa solariega y un muchacho de catorce años tomaba
el puesto hereditario ante el
mástil,
afrontando
las
espumeantes olas y los temporales que antes afrontaran su
padre y su abuelo. ‘También el
[36] muchacho a su debido tiempo pasó del castillo de proa al
disgrace 1 (= state of shame) deshonra f, ignominia f; to be in disgrace
[adult] estar totalmente desacreditado, haber caído en desgracia;
[pet, child] estar castigado; to
bring disgrace on deshonrar 2 (=
shameful thing) vergüenza f; it’s
a disgrace es una vergüenza;
you’re a disgrace! ¡lo tuyo es una
vergüenza!; to be a disgrace to
the school/family ser una deshonra para la escuela/la familia
Notas
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the cabin, spent a tempestuous
manhood, and returned from
his world-wanderings, to grow
old, and die, and mingle his
dust with the natal earth. This
long connexion of a family
with one spot, as its place of
birth and burial, creates a
kindred between the human
being and the locality, quite
independent of any charm in the
scenery or moral circumstances
that surround him. It is not love
but instinct. The new inhabitant—
who came himself from a foreign
land, or whose father or
grandfather came—has little
claim to be called a Salemite; he
has no conception of the oyster—
like tenacity with which an old
settler, over whom his third
century is creeping, clings to the
spot where his successive
generations have been embedded.
It is no matter that the place is
joyless for him; that he is weary
of the old wooden houses, the
mud and dust, the dead level of
site and sentiment, the chill east
wind, and the chillest of social
atmospheres;—all these, and
whatever faults besides he may
see or imagine, are nothing to the
purpose. The spell survives, and
just as powerfully as if the natal
spot were an earthly paradise. So
has it been in my case. I felt it
almost as a destiny to make
Salem my home; so that the
mould of features and cast of
character which had all along
been familiar here—ever, as one
representative of the race lay
down in the grave, another
assuming, as it were, his sentrymarch along the main street—
might still in my little day be seen
and recognised in the old town.
Nevertheless, this very sentiment
is an evidence that the connexion,
which has become an unhealthy
one, should at least be severed.
Human nature will not flourish,
any more than a potato, if it be
planted and re-planted, for too
long a series of generations, in the
same worn-out soil. My children
have had other birth-places, and,
so far as their fortunes may be
within my control, shall strike
tr. de A. Ruste
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10
camarote, llevó una juventud
tempestuosa y tornó de sus
andanzas por el mundo para hacerse viejo, morir y que se mezclase su polvo con el de la tierra
nativa. Esta larga conexión de
una familia con un sitio, sitio de
nacimiento y de sepelio, crea
una consanguinidad entre el ser
humano y la localidad completamente independiente de todo
encanto de la escena o circunstancias morales que le rodean.
No es amor, sino instinto. El
nuevo habitante (que vino de tierra extraña o de ella vinieron su
padre o abuelo) tiene poco derecho a que se le llame salemita;
no tiene concepto de la tenacidad, por decirlo así, ostrícola
con que el viejo poblador, sobre
quien trepa su tercera generación, se aferra al lugar donde sus
sucesivas generaciones encajaron. No importa que el sitio le
parezca triste, que le aburran las
casas de madera, el barro y el
polvo, el muerto nivel del panorama y del sentimiento, el helado viento Este y las más
heladoras atmósferas sociales;
todo esto y cuantos defectos
pueda ver o imaginar, nada significan para su propósito. La fascinación sobrevive tan poderosa como si su lugar nativo fuese
un paraíso terrenal. Tal sucedió
en mi caso. Lo percibía como si
fuese un sino el hacer de Salem
mi hogar; como si el molde de
las facciones y de la casta del
carácter que siempre habían sido
familiares allí (mientras un representante de la raza yace en su
tumba y otro le sucede pisando
su calle principal) se viese aún
en mis días y fuese reconocido
en la vieja ciudad. Con todo,
este mismo sentimiento es una
evidencia de que la conexión, que
se ha convertido en insalubre,
hubiese al fin de desunirse. La
naturaleza humana, como una
patata, no florecerá si se planta
y se replanta, durante generaciones demasiado largas, en el mismo suelo gastado. Mis hijos han
tenido otros sitios natales y,
mientras sus fortunas estén bajo
mi manejo, echarán sus raíces
Notas
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vicissitude: change of fortune
45
liberal 1 generoso, dadivoso,
magnánimo 2 liberal 3 abundante 4 libre
liberal 1 a). Generoso, desprendido,
desinteresado. Tolerante. 1 b) Que 50
ejerce una profesión liberal tradicionalmente de las artes o profesiones
que ante todo requieren el ejercicio
del entendimiento.
2. Favorable a las libertades intelectuales y profesionables del individuo y a
las políticas del Estado y a las Huma- 55
nidades.
(Nota: parece estarse perdiendo el
primer significado en favor del segundo.)
60
tr. de A. Ruste
their roots into accustomed earth.
en tierra desacostumbrada.
On emerging from the Old
Manse, it was chiefly this
strange, indolent, unjoyous
attachment for my native town
that brought me to fill a place in
Uncle Sam’s brick edifice, when
I might as well, or better, have
gone somewhere else. My doom
was on me, It was not the first
time, nor the second, that I had
gone away—as it seemed,
permanently—but yet returned,
like the bad halfpenny, or as if
Salem were for me the inevitable
centre of the universe. So, one
fine morning I ascended the
flight of granite steps, with the
President’s commission in my
pocket, and was introduced to the
corps of gentlemen who were to
aid me in my weighty
responsibility as chief executive
officer of the Custom-House.
[37] A1 salir de la Vieja Mansión ocurría con frecuencia que este
extraño, indolente y aburrido apego
por mi tierra natal me arrastraba a
llenar un puesto en el edificio de ladrillo del tío Sam, cuando lo mismo, o mejor, pudiera haberme ido a
cualquier otra parte. En mí estaba
mi destino. No era la vez primera
ni la segunda que, al parecer, me
había marchado permanentemente; pero, no obstante, volví como
vuelve la moneda falsa, como si
Salem fuera para mí el centro inevitable del universo. Así, una
mañana, subí el tramo de las escaleras de granito con la comisión del presidente en mi bolsillo, y fui presentado al cuerpo
de caballeros que habían de ayudarme en la pesada responsabilidad, como oficial-jefe-ejecutivo
de la aduana.
I doubt greatly—or, rather, I
do not doubt at all—whether any
public functionary of the United
States, either in the civil or
military line, has ever had such
a patriarchal body of veterans
under his orders as myself. The
whereabouts of the Oldest Inhabitant
was at once settled when I looked
at them. For upwards of twenty
years before this epoch, the
independent position of the
Collector had kept the Salem
Custom-House out of the whirlpool
of political vicissitude, which
makes the tenure of office generally so
fragile. A soldier—New England’s
most distinguished soldier—he stood
firmly on the pedestal of his
gallant services; and, himself
secure in the wise liberality of
the successive administrations
through which he had held
office, he had been the safety of
his subordinates in many an hour
of danger and heart-quake
General Miller was radically
conservative; a man over whose
kindly nature habit had no slight
influence; attaching himself
strongly to familiar faces, and
with difficulty moved to change,
even when change might have
brought
unquestionable
Dudo o, mejor dicho, no
dudo que otro funcionario público de los Estados Unidos
haya tenido bajo sus órdenes
otro cuerpo de veteranos tan
patriarcal como el que yo tenía. En seguida de verlos quedó solucionado el paradero
del más antiguo. Durante más
de veinte años antes de esta
época, la independiente posición del inspector había puesto a salvo a la aduana de
Salem d e l l a b e r i n t o d e l a s
vicisitudes políticas, que hacen
que sea tan frágil la tenencia del
cargo. Un soldado (de lo más distinguido de Nueva Inglaterra) se había mantenido firme en el pedestal de sus galantes servicios, y,
seguro de la sabia liberalidad
de las sucesivas administraciones
en que había ejercido el cargo, había sido el salvador de sus subordinados en muchas horas de peligro y de debilidad. El general
Miller era radicalmente conservador; un hombre sobre cuyo amable carácter la repetición no tenía
la menor influencia, fuertemente
aferrado a caras familiares, que con
dificultad sentíase inclinado a cambiar, aun cuando el cambio pudiese traer una mejora incuestionable.
11
gallant adj. 1 brave, chivalrous. 2 a (of
a ship, horse, etc.) grand, fine, stately.
b archaic finely dressed. 3 a markedly
attentive to women. b concerned with
sexual love; amatory. — n. 1 a ladies’
man; a lover or paramour. 2 archaic a
man of fashion; a fine gentleman. — v.
1 tr. flirt with. 2 tr. escort; act as a
cavalier to (a lady). 3 intr. a play the
gallant. b (foll. by with) flirt.
gallant 1 valiente, gallardo 2 cortés,
galante.
El vocablo suguiere cortés en ambas
lenguas, pero en cada una añade matices nuevos: gallant parece recalcar
la idea de valentía, como valiente, gallardo, espléndido mientras que galante da más peso a connotaciones de
cortesía y elegancia en castellano; en
inglés los flirteos se convierten en favores sexuales hasta el punto de ser
un eufemismo por prostitución.
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improvement. T h u s , o n t a k i n g
c h a rg e o f m y d e p a r t m e n t , I
found few but aged men.
They were ancient seacaptains, for the most part,
who, after being tossed on
every sea, and standing up
stur d i l y a g a i n s t l i f e ’s
tempestuous blast, had
finally drifted into this
q u i e t nook, where, with little
to disturb them, except the
periodical terrors of a
Presidential election, they one
and all acquired a new lease of
existence. Though by no means
less liable than their fellowmen to age and infirmity, they
had evidently some talisman or
other that kept death at bay.
Two or three of their number,
as I was assured, being gouty
and rheumatic, or perhaps bedridden, never dreamed of
making their appearance at the
Custom-House during a large
part of the year; but, after a
torpid winter, would creep out
into the warm sunshine of May
or June, go lazily about what
they termed duty, and, at their
own leisure and convenience,
betake themselves to bed
again. I must plead guilty to
the charge of abbreviating the
official breath of more than
one of these venerable servants
of the republic. They were
allowed, on my representation,
to rest from their arduous
labours, and soon afterwards—
as if their sole principle of life
had been zeal for their
country’s service—as I verily
believe it was—withdrew to a
better world. It is a pious
consolation to me that, through
my interference, a sufficient
space was allowed them for
repentance of the evil and
corrupt practices into which,
as a matter of course, every
Custom-House officer must be
supposed to fall. Neither the
front nor the back entrance of
the Custom-House opens on the
road to Paradise.
Así pues, al hacerme cargo de mi
departamento, encontré pocos
hombres que no fuesen viejos.
Eran antiguos capitanes de barcos
en su mayor parte, que, después
de [38] haberse curtido en todos
los mares y de haber permanecido vigorosamente en pie contra
las ráfagas tempestuosas de la
vida, habían caído finalmente en
aquel tranquilo escondrijo, en el
que con poco trastorno, salvo en
los períodos terribles de la elección
presidencial, todos ellos adquirían
un nuevo contrato de vida. Y aunque en modo alguno se hallaban
menos sujetos a la edad y a los
achaques que sus semejantes, poseían, indudablemente, algún talismán que tenía la muerte a raya.
Dos o tres de ellos, según me
aseguraron, siendo gotosos y
reumáticos o quizá hallándose
postrados en cama, jamás soña ron con aparecer por la
o f i c i n a durante gran pacte del
año; pero después de un invierno aletargado salían caracoleando
al calor solar de mayo o junio,
hacían perezosamente cuanto
ellos calificaban de obligación,
y a su propia voluntad y conveniencia volvían a meterse en
cama. Debo confesarme culpable por haber abreviado la respiración oficial de más de uno
de estos venerables servidores
de la República. Se les permitía, en representación mía, que
descansasen de sus arduas labores, y poco después (como si su
solo principio de vida hubiese
sido el celo en sus servicios a
la nación, como verdaderamente creo que lo fuese) partían
para otro mundo mejor. Es para
mí un piadoso consuelo el que
por mi intervención se les concediera un plazo suficiente para
que se arrepintiesen del daño y
prácticas corruptoras, en los
que, como cosa corriente, se supone que todo oficial de aduanas ha de caer. Ni la puerta principal ni la posterior de la aduana dan al camino que conduce
al paraíso.
The greater part of my
60 officers were Whigs. It was
La mayor parte de mis oficiales eran centralistas. L e v e -
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tr. de A. Ruste
well for their venerable
brotherhood that the new
Surveyor was not a politician,
and though a faithful Democrat
in principle, neither received
nor held his office with any
reference to political services.
Had it been otherwise—had an
active politician been put into
this influential post, to assume
the easy task of making head
a g a i n s t a W h i g C o l l e c t o r,
whose infirmities withheld him
from
the
personal
administration
of
his
office—hardly a man of the
old corps would have drawn
the breath of official life
within a month after the
exterminating angel had
come up the Custom-House
steps . According to the
received code in such matters,
it would have been nothing
short of duty, in a politician, to
bring every one of those white
heads under the axe of the
guillotine. It was plain enough
to discern that the old fellows
dreaded some such discourtesy
at my hands. It pained, and at
the same time amused me, to
behold the terrors that attended
my advent, to see a furrowed
cheek, weather-beaten by
half a century of storm, turn
ashy pale at the glance of so
harmless an individual as
myself; to detect, as one or
another addressed me, the
tremor of a voice which, in
long-past days, had been wont
to bellow through a speakingtrumpet, hoarsely enough to
frighten Boreas himself to
s i l e n c e . T h e y k n e w, t h e s e
excellent old persons, that, by
all established rule—and, as
regarded some of them,
weighed by their own lack of
efficiency for business—they
ought to have given place to
younger men, more orthodox in
politics, and altogether fitter
than themselves to serve our
common Uncle. I knew it, too,
but could never quite find in
my heart to act upon the
knowledge.
Much
and
deservedly to my own
nía bien para su venerable
hermandad el que el nuevo
administrador no fuese político,
y que, si bien en principio era un
fiel demócrata, no aceptase ni
mantuviese su cargo con cualquier
referencia a servicios políticos.
De no haber sido así (de haber
ocupado [39] este cargo influyente un político activo, para
asumir la fácil tarea de oponerse al recaudador centralista,
cuyas debilidades le alcanzaban, desde el punto de vista de
la administración personal de su
oficina), un hombre de los antiguos cuerpos escasamente hubiese podido sobrellevar la vida
oficial durante un mes, después
de que el ángel exterminador
hubiera ascendido las escaleras
de la aduana. Con arreglo al
código aceptado para tales asuntos, un político no hubiese hecho
más que cumplir con su deber,
poniendo cada una de aquellas cabezas blancas bajo la cuchilla de la
guillotina. Veíase claramente que
aquellos viejos abrigaban cierto
temor de que yo tuviese en mis
manos semejante descortesía.
Me apenaba, y, al mismo tiempo, me divertía, ver el terror
que produjo mi advenimiento;
ver mejillas arrugadas, abatidas por medio siglo de tempestades, tornarse lívidas ante la
mirada de un individuo tan inofensivo como yo; notar, cuando uno u otro se dirigía a mí el
temblor de su voz, que en tiempos remotos, al hablar a través
de una bocina, rudamente, hubiese asustado al propio Bóreas, haciéndole enmudecer.
Sabían estos viejos y excelentes sujetos que, para toda regla establecida (y, con referencia a algunas de ellas, pesadas
por su propia falta de eficacia
para los negocios), debieran
haber dado paso a hombres
más jóvenes, más ortodoxos
en política y, en suma, más aptos que ellos para servir a
n u e s t r o T í o c o m ú n . Ta m bién yo lo sabía, pero nunca pude hallar en mi corazón el medio de actuar sobre lo sabido. Así pues,
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discredit, therefore, and
considerably to the detriment
of my official conscience, they
continued,
during
my
5 incumbency, to creep about the
wharves, and loiter up and
down the Custom-House steps.
They spent a good deal of time, also,
asleep in their accustomed corners,
10 with their chairs tilted back
against the walls; aw a k i n g ,
however, once or twice in the
forenoon, to bore one another
with the several thousandth
15 repetition of old sea-stories
and mouldy jokes , that had
grown to be passwords and
countersigns among them.
continuaron caracoleando
por los muelles y subiendo y bajando las gradas de
la aduana, con mucho y
merecido descrédito y
considerable detrimento
de mi conciencia oficial.
Pasaron mucho tiempo durmiendo
en los rincones de costumbre,
c o n sus sillas inclinadas con el
respaldo hacia la pared, despertando,
sin embargo, dos o tres veces, durante la tarde, para a b u r r i r s e
unos a otros con la milésima
repetición de [40] sus historias del mar
y sus moldeadas chanzonetas, que ya
se habían hecho para ellos palabras pasadas y viejas canciones.
20
The discovery was soon made,
I imagine, that the new Surveyor
had no great harm in him. So, with
lightsome hearts and the happy
consciousness of being usefully
employed—in their own behalf at
least, if not for our beloved
country—these
good
old
gentlemen went through the
various formalities of office.
Sagaciously under their spectacles,
did they peep into the holds of
vessels Mighty was their fuss
about little matters, and
marvellous, sometimes, the
obtuseness that allowed greater
ones to slip between their fingers
Whenever such a mischance
occurred—when a waggon-load of
valuable merchandise had been
smuggled ashore, at noonday,
perhaps, and directly beneath their
unsuspicious noses—nothing
could exceed the vigilance and
alacrity with which they proceeded
to lock, and double-lock, and
secure with tape and sealing—
wax, all the avenues of the
delinquent vessel. Instead of a
reprimand for their previous
negligence, the case seemed rather
to require an eulogium on their
praiseworthy caution after the
mischief had happened; a grateful
recognition of the promptitude of
their zeal the moment that there
was no longer any remedy.
Pronto se hizo el descubrimiento, según imagino, de que el nuevo
inspector no era de temer. Así pues,
con corazones alegres y conciencia de ser empleados útiles
(para sí, ya que no para
nuestro amado país), estos
buenos ancianos intervinieron en las distintas formalidades
de
la
oficina.
¡Sagazmente, bajo sus gafas husmearon los contenidos de los barcos! ¡Fue poderoso su ajetreo
so b r e p e q u e ñ o s a s u n t o s, y
maravillosa, algunas veces, su
obtusidad para que otras mayores se les fueran entre los dedos!
Cuando tales anormalidades
ocurrían (cuando un vagón cargado de valiosa mercancía había
sido desembarcado de contrabando, en pleno día, quizá bajo
sus propias narices), nada podía
exceder a la vigilancia y celo con
que procedían a encerrarlo, con
doble llave, y a asegurar con precintos y lacres todas las entradas
del barco delincuente. En vez de
una reprimenda por su previa negligencia, el caso parecía más
bien requerir un elogio por su
precaución merecedora de alabanzas, después del perjuicio
ocasionado; un agradecido reconocimiento de su prontitud y
celo, un momento después de que
la cosa no tenía remedio.
Unless people are more than
commonly disagreeable, it is my
60 f o o l i s h h a b i t t o c o n t r a c t a
A menos que las gentes sean
más desagradables que lo son comúnmente, es costumbre recia te-
lightsome gracefully light, nimble, merry
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eulogium: praise
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torpeza
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genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso,
jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
Talented, brilliant, great, fantastic,
funny, witty / temper, nature,
disposition, spirit, initiative
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moulder v. intr. (US molder) 1 decay to
dust. 2 (foll. by away) rot or crumble.
3 deteriorate.
deleznable 1. adj. Que se rompe, disgrega o deshace fácilmente. 2. Que
se desliza y resbala con mucha facilidad. 3. fig. Poco durable, inconsistente, de poca resistencia.
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kindness for them. The better
p a r t o f m y c o m p a n i o n ’s
character, if it have a better part,
is that which usually comes
uppermost in my regard, and
forms the type whereby I
recognise the man. As most of
these old Custom-House officers
had good traits, and as my
position in reference to them,
being paternal and protective,
was favourable to the growth of
friendly sentiments, I soon grew
to like them all. It was pleasant
in the summer forenoons—when
the fervent heat, that almost
liquefied the rest of the human
family, merely communicated a
genial warmth to their half
torpid systems—it was pleasant
to hear them chatting in the back
entry, a row of them all tipped
against the wall, as usual; while
the frozen witticisms of past
generations were thawed out,
a n d c a m e b u b b l i n g with
laughter from their lips.
Externally, the jollity of aged
men has much in common with
the mirth of children; the
intellect, any more than a deep
sense of humour, has little to do
with the matter; it is, with both,
a gleam that plays upon the
surface, and imparts a sunny and
cheery aspect alike to the green
branch and grey, mouldering
trunk. In one case, however, it
is real sunshine; in the other, it
more
resembles
the
phosphorescent glow of
decaying wood. It would be sad
injustice, the reader must
understand, to represent all my
excellent old friends as in their
dotage. In the first place, my
coadjutors were not invariably
old; there were men among them
in their strength and prime, of
marked ability and energy, and
altogether superior to the
sluggish and dependent mode of
life on which their evil stars had
cast them. Then, moreover, the
white locks of age were
some t i m e s f o u n d t o b e t h e
thatch of an i n t e l l e c t u a l
t e n e m e n t i n g o o d r epair.
But, as respects the majority of
my corps of veterans, there will
tr. de A. Ruste
X
15
ner amabilidad con ellas. La mejor parte del carácter de mis compañeros, si es que tiene mejor parte, es la que, usualmente, llega antes a mi observación, formando el
distintivo por el cual conozco al
hombre. Como la mayoría de estos
oficiales de aduana tenían buenos
rasgos, y como mi posición respecto a ellos, paternal y protectora, era
favorable al acrecentamiento de los
sentimientos amistosos, pronto me
hice a quererlos a todos. Era agradable en las tardes de verano (cuando el ferviente calor que casi había
derretido el resto de [41] la familia
humana, escasamente comunicaba a sus medio aletargados cuerpos un g e n i a l c a l o r ) o í r l e s
charlar en la entrada posterior, donde formaban una larga fila, como de costumbre,
mientras los helados rasgos
de ingenio de sus generaciones pasadas salían de sus labios
entre risas burbujeantes. Exteriormente, la alegría de los viejos tenía mucho de común con el
regocijo de los niños; la inteligencia, no más que una profunda sensación de humor, tiene
poco que ver con esto; es, en ambos, un destello que juguetea sobre la superficie y les comunica
un aspecto resplandeciente y alegre, como las ramas verdes al grisáceo y desmoronado tronco. En
un caso, no obstante, es un verdadero resplandor solar; en el
otro se asemeja más al resplandor fosforescente del bosque en
decadencia. Sería una triste injusticia, ha de comprenderlo el
lector, presentar a todos mis excelentes viejos amigos en su
chochez. En primer lugar, mis
coadjutores no eran invariablemente viejos; los había en pleno poder y primavera de la
vida, con notoria habilidad y
energía y, en suma, superiores
al holgazán y dependiente medio de vida en que su mala estrella les había sumido. Además, los blancos rizos de la
edad eran, algunas veces, la
barda de un alojamiento intelectual en buena reparación.
Pero en cuanto a la mayor parte de mi cuerpo de veteranos, no
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smartly 1(= elegantly) [dressed,
furnished] con elegancia; elegantemente 2 (= cleverly) inteligentemente 3 (= briskly) rápidamente
— adv. smartly; in a smart manner.
(Esmeradamente, pulcramente, limpiamente, de golpe)
hale :drag or draw forcibly. HAUL, 50
PULL 2 : to compel to go
free from defect, disease, or
infirmity : SOUND ; also : retaining
exceptional health and vigor <a
hale and hearty old man> synonym
see HEALTHY
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tr. de A. Ruste
be no wrong done if I
characterize them generally as a
set of wearisome old souls, who
had gathered nothing worth
preservation from their varied
experience of life. They seemed
to have flung away all the golden
grain of practical wisdom, which
they had enjoyed so many
opportunities of harvesting, and
most carefully to have stored their
memory with the husks. They
spoke with far more interest and
unction of their morning’s
breakfast, or yesterday’s, to-day’s,
or tomorrow’s dinner, than of the
shipwreck of forty or fifty years
ago, and all the world’s wonders
which they had witnessed with
their youthful eyes.
haría mal en caracterizarlos
como una serie de almas viejas,
cansadas, que no habían reunido nada que valiese la pena de
su varia experiencia de la vida.
No parecía sino que habían
arrojado todo el grano de oro
de la sabiduría práctica, que
tantas oportunidades tuvieron
de cosechar, y habían suplido a
sus memorias, con el mayor cuidado, de las cáscaras. Hablaban
con mucho mayor interés y unción de su desayuno matutino,
o de la comida, de ayer, de hoy
o de mañana, que del naufragio
de hacía cuarenta o cincuenta
años, y de todas las maravillas
mundiales que habían visto sus
juveniles ojos.
The father of the CustomHouse—the patriarch, not only of
this little squad of officials, but,
I am bold to say, of the
respectable body of tide-waiters
all over the United States—was
a
certain
permanent
Inspector. He might truly be
termed a legitimate son of the
revenue system, dyed in the
wool, or rather born in the
purple; since his sire, a
Revolutionary colonel, and
formerly collector of the port,
had created an office for him, and
appointed him to fill it, at a period
of the early ages which few living
men can now remember. This
Inspector, when I first knew him,
was a man of fourscore years, or
thereabouts, and certainly one of
the most wonderful specimens of
winter-green that you would be
likely to discover in a lifetime’s
search. With his florid cheek, his
compact figure smartly arrayed
in a bright-buttoned blue coat,
his brisk and vigorous step, and
his hale and hearty aspect,
altogether he seemed—not
young, indeed—but a kind of
new contrivance of Mother
Nature in the shape of man,
whom age and infirmity had no
business to touch. His voice and
laugh, which perpetually reechoed through the CustomHouse, had nothing of the
tremulous quaver and cackle of
[42] El padre de la aduana,
el patriarca, no sólo de esta pequeña partida de oficiales, sino,
me atrevo a decir, de todo el respetable cuerpo de empleados de
aduanas de los Estados Unidos,
fue cierto inspector permanente.
Con más acierto pudiera
denominársele un hijo legítimo
del sistema de rentas del erario,
muerto en la lana, o, mejor, nacido en la púrpura; puesto que;
su señoría, un coronel revolucionario, y anteriormente recaudador del puerto, había creado un
cargo para él y se había indicado
para ocuparlo, en un período de
antiguos tiempos que hoy pocos
pueden recordar. Este inspector,
cuando le conocí, era un hombre
octogenario y, seguramente, de la
más maravillosa especie que pudiera descubrirse en la rebusca a
través de los tiempos. Con sus
coloreadas mejillas, su compacta figura, hábilmente envuelto en una levita azul de botonadura brillante, su breve y
vigoroso paso y su aspecto sano
y fuerte, en conjunto, si bien
no joven, parecía una especie
de nuevo artificio de la madre naturaleza en figura de
hombre, sobre quien la edad
y la debilidad no tenían derecho. Su voz y su risa, que perpetuamente resonaban en la
aduana, no tenían el tremolante temblor y crepitación
X
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habilmente1. f. Capacidad y disposición
para una cosa. 2. Gracia y destreza
en ejecutar una cosa que sirve de
adorno al sujeto; como bailar, montar a caballo, etc. 3. Cada una de las
cosas que una persona ejecuta con
gracia y destreza. 4. Enredo dispuesto con ingenio, disimulo y maña.
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sensibilities : susceptibilidad, sentimientos delicados, delicadeza
[sensibilidad corresponde a
sensitivity]
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an old man’s utterance; they
came strutting out of his lungs,
like the crow of a cock, or the
blast of a clarion. Looking at him
merely as an animal—and there
was very little else to look at—
he was a most satisfactory object,
from the thorough healthfulness
and wholesomeness of his
system, and his capacity, at that
extreme age, to enjoy all, or
nearly all, the delights which he
had ever aimed at or conceived
of. The careless security of his
life in the Custom-House, on a
regular income, and with but
slight
and
infrequent
apprehensions of removal, had
no doubt contributed to make
time pass lightly over him. The
original and more potent causes,
however, lay in the rare perfection
of his animal nature, the moderate
proportion of intellect, and the
very trifling admixture of
moral and spiritual ingredients;
these latter qualities, indeed,
being in barely enough measure
to keep the old gentleman from
walking on all-fours. He
possessed no power of thought
no depth of feeling, no
troublesome sensibilities: nothing,
in short, but a few commonplace
instincts, which, aided by the
cheerful temper which grew
inevitably out of his physical
well-being, did duty very
respectably, and to general
acceptance, in lieu of a heart. He
had been the husband of three
wives, all long since dead; the
father of twenty children, most of
whom, at every age of childhood
or maturity, had likewise returned
to dust. Here, one would suppose,
might have been sorrow enough
to imbue the sunniest disposition
through and through with a sable
tinge. Not so with our old
Inspector. One brief sigh sufficed to
carry off the entire burden of these
dismal reminiscences. The next
moment he was as ready for sport
as any unbreeched infant: far
readie r
than
the
C o l l e c t o r ’s j u n i o r c l e r k ,
w h o a t nineteen years was
much the elder and graver man
of the two.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
17
de la gente anciana, salía soberbia de sus pulmones, como
el canto de un gallo o el sonar
de un clarín. Mirándole simplemente como a un animal (y había poco que mirar), era un objeto
de la mayor satisfacción, puesto
que la completa salubridad y
entereza de su sistema, y su capacidad a aquella avanzada
edad eran para disfrutar todos
o casi todos los deleites que
siempre fueran sus aficiones.
La descuidada seguridad de su
vida en la aduana, con una regular renta y con ligeros y no
frecuentes temores de traslado,
contribuyeron a que el tiempo
pasase inadvertido para él. No
obstante, las causas originales
y principales estaban en la rara
perfección de su naturaleza
animal, en la moderada proporción de inteligencia y en la
propia mezcolanza trivial de
ingredientes [43] morales y
espirituales; en efecto, estas
últimas cualidades, en mucha
mayor medida, para evitar que
el viejo caballero anduviese a
cuatro patas. No poseía fuerza de pensamiento, hondos
sentimientos, ni inquietantes
sensibilidades; en una palabra,
con unos pocos que le daba su
ser físico, a falta de un corazón, cumplía muy respetablemente con su deber con el general beneplácito. Había sido
marido de tres esposas, todas
muertas hacía tiempo; padre
de veinte hijos, la mayoría de
los cuales, en distintas edades
de niñez o de madurez, volvieron a la tierra. Aquí pudiera
uno suponer que debiese haber estado lo bastante triste para
infiltrar la más sana disposición;
__________________ pero nada de
eso hizo nuestro viejo inspector. Un breve suspiro era suficiente para descargarle
de todo el peso de estas reminiscencias
funestas. Al siguiente momento se hallaba tan dispuesto a la diversión
como cualquier _______ chiquillo,
más dispuesto que el más joven
de los escribientes del inspector,
que, a los diez y nueve años, era
el hombre más viejo y grave de
los dos.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
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10
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25
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40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
I used to watch and study this
patriarchal personage with, I
think, livelier curiosity than any
other form of humanity there
presented to my notice. He was,
in truth, a rare phenomenon; so
perfect, in one point of view; so
shallow, so delusive, so
impalpable such an absolute
nonentity, in every other. My
conclusion was that he had no
soul, no heart, no mind; nothing,
as I have already said, but
instincts; and yet, withal, so
cunningly had the few materials
of his character been put together
that there was no painful
perception of deficiency, but, on
my part, an entire contentment
with what I found in him. It might
be difficult—and it was so—to
conceive how he should exist
hereafter, so earthly and sensuous
did he seem; but surely his
existence here, admitting that it
was to terminate with his last
breath, had been not unkindly
given; with no higher moral
responsibilities than the beasts of
the field, but with a larger scope
of enjoyment than theirs, and with
all their blessed immunity from
the dreariness and duskiness of
age.
Yo acostumbraba a vigilar y
estudiar este personaje patriarcal, creo que con más curiosidad
que cualquiera otra forma humana allí presente. Era, en verdad,
un raro fenómeno, perfecto, bajo
un punto de vista, somero, ilusorio, impalpable y absolutamente de poco valor para todos
los demás. Mi conclusión fue la
de que no tenía alma, ni corazón, ni inteligencia; nada, sino
instintos, como ya he dicho; y,
s i n e m b a rg o , t e n í a t a n
sagazmente reunidos los pocos
materiales de su carácter, que no
había penosa percepción o deficiencia, sino por mi parte, una
entera satisfacción por lo que en
él encontraba. Hubiera sido difícil, y lo era, concebir cómo podría existir de allí en adelante;
tan terreno y sensual parecía;
pero seguramente su existencia
allí, suponiendo que terminase
con su último aliento, no había
sido desagradable; sin más altas
responsabilidades morales que
las bestias salvajes del campo,
pero [44] con más alcance que
ellas para disfrutar, y con toda
su bendita inmunidad para con
la melancolía y oscuridad de la
edad.
One point in which he had
vastly the advantage over his fourfooted brethren was his ability to
recollect the good dinners which
it had made no small portion of
the happiness of his life to eat. His
gourmandism was a highly
agreeable trait; and to hear him
talk of roast meat was as
appetizing as a pickle or an oyster.
As he possessed no higher
attribute, and neither sacrificed nor
vitiated any spiritual endowment
by devoting all his energies and
ingenuities to subserve the delight
and profit of his maw, it always
pleased and satisfied me to hear
him expatiate on fish, poultry, and
butcher ’s meat, and the most
eligible methods of preparing them
for the table. His reminiscences of
good cheer, however ancient the
date of the actual banquet,
seemed to bring the savour of pig
Un punto en el que llevaba
ventaja grande a sus hermanos cuadrúpedos era su debilidad para recordar las buenas comidas, que
habíanle proporcionado no pequeña parte de satisfacción en su vivir para comer. Su glotonería era
un rasgo altamente agradable,
como lo era el oírle decir que la
carne asada era un aperitivo, como
un encurtido o una ostra. Como no
poseía más alto atributo, y no cultivaba ni viciaba ninguna dote espiritual por dedicar todas sus energías e ingenuidades a servir el deleite y provecho de su buche, me
agradaba y satisfacía oírle extenderse sobre los pescados, las aves,
las carnes, y sobre los métodos más
apropiados de prepararlos para la
mesa. Sus reminiscencias de los
buenos banquetes, por muy remota que su fecha fuese, parecían traer
a nuestras propias fosas nasales el
18
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
20
25
30
35
40
iinveterate
incurable; chronic,
confirmed, habitual, inveterate
having a habit of long standing; «a
chronic smoker»
inveterado 1. adj. Antiguo, arraigado,
empedernido
INVETERATE,
CONFIRMED,
CHRONIC mean firmly established.
INVETERATE applies to a habit,
attitude or feeling of such long
existence as to be practically
ineradicable or unalterable <an
inveterate smoker>. CONFIRMED
implies a growing stronger and
firmer with time so as to resist
change or reform <a confirmed
bachelor>. CHRONIC suggests
something that is persistent or
endlessly
recurrent
and
troublesome
<a
chronic
complainer>.
inveteracy impulso, obstinación, impulsión,
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
45
or turkey under one’s very
nostrils. There were flavours on
his palate that had lingered there
not less than sixty or seventy
years, and were still apparently
as fresh as that of the mutton
chop which he had just devoured
for his breakfast. I have heard
him smack his lips over dinners,
every guest at which, except
himself, had long been food for
worms. It was marvellous to
observe how the ghosts of
bygone meals were continually
rising up before him—not in
anger or retribution, but as if
grateful for his former
appreciation, and seeking to
repudiate an endless series of
enjoyment. at once shadowy and
sensual, A tender loin of beef, a
hind-quarter of veal, a spare-rib
of pork, a particular chicken, or a
remarkably praiseworthy turkey,
which had perhaps adorned his
board in the days of the elder
Adams, would be remembered;
while all the subsequent
experience of our race, and all the
events that brightened or
darkened his individual career,
had gone over him with as little
permanent effect as the passing
breeze. The chief tragic event of
the old man’s life, so far as I could
judge, was his mishap with a
certain goose, which lived and
died some twenty or forty years
ago: a goose of most promising
figure, but which, at table,
proved so inveterately tough,
that the carving-knife would make
no impression on its carcase,
and it could only be divided
with an axe and handsaw.
But it is time to quit this
sketch; on which, however, I
should be glad to dwell at
50 considerably more length,
because of all men whom I have
ever known, this individual was
fittest to be a Custom-House
officer. Most persons, owing to
55 causes which I may not have
space to hint at, suffer moral
detriment from this peculiar
mode of life. The old Inspector
was incapable of it; and, were he
60 to continue in office to the end
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
19
olor del cerdo o del pavo. Había
sabores en su paladar que perduraran durante sesenta o setenta años, y permanecían aún,
aparentemente, con la misma
frescura que el de la costilla de
carnero que acabase de comer
para su almuerzo. Le he oído
chasquear sus labios después de las comidas,
cuanto todos los comensales, salvo él,
hacía ya tiempo que se habían alimentado para los gusanos. Era maravilloso
observar cómo los fantasmas de las
pasadas c o m i l o n a s s e e l e v a b a n a n t e él continuamente, no
con rabia _________ , sino como
agradecidos por su anterior
aprecio, y aspirando a una interminable serie de disfrute, de
fruición, a la vez sombría y sensual. Un filete de vaca, una pierna de ternera, una chuleta de
cerdo, una gallina especial o un
pavo digno de alabanza, que hubiesen adornado quizá su mesa
en los viejos días de Adán, los
recordaría, mientras toda la subsecuente experiencia de nuestra
raza, y todos los sucesos que
abrillantaron u oscurecieron su
carrera individual, habrían pasado sobre él con efecto tan permanente como la brisa pasajera.
El [45] principal suceso trágico
de la vida de este viejo, por lo que
yo pude juzgar, fue su contratiempo con cierto pato que vivió y
murió hace unos treinta o cuarenta años, un pato del más prometedor aspecto, pero que, una vez en
la mesa, probó ser tan veterano,
que el trinchante no logró hacer
mella en su armazón, y no pudo
ser partido más que con un hacha y un serrucho.
Pero ya es hora de dejar este
bosquejo, sobre el que, no obstante, me gustaría insistir durante un
tiempo más considerable; porque,
de todos los hombres que he
conocido, este individuo fue el
más apropiado para ser un oficial
de aduanas. La mayoría de las personas, debido a causas en las que no tuve,
quizá, tiempo de fijarme, sufren un
detrimento moral por este peculiar
modo de vivir. De esto era incapaz el
viejo inspector, y, aunque continuase en su cargo hasta el fin de
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
of time, would be just as good as
he was then, and sit down to
dinner with just as good an
appetite.
sus días, sería precisamente tan
bueno como lo era entonces, y se
sentaría a la mesa con el mismo
buen apetito.
There is one likeness, without
which my gallery of CustomHouse portraits would be strangely
incomplete, but which my
10 comparatively few opportunities
for observation enable me to
sketch only in the merest outline.
It is that of the Collector, our
gallant adj. 1 brave, chivalrous. 2 a (of
gallant old General, who, after his
a ship, horse, etc.) grand, fine, stately.
b archaic finely dressed. 3 a markedly 15 brilliant military service,
attentive to women. b concerned with
subsequently to which he had ruled
sexual love; amatory. — n. 1 a ladies’
man; a lover or paramour. 2 archaic a
over a wild Western territory, had
man of fashion; a fine gentleman. — v.
come hither, twenty years before,
1 tr. flirt with. 2 tr. escort; act as a
cavalier to (a lady). 3 intr. a play the
to spend the decline of his varied
gallant. b (foll. by with) flirt.
and honourable life.
20
gallant 1 valiente, gallardo 2 cortés,
galante.
El vocablo suguiere cortés en ambas
The brave soldier had already
lenguas, pero en cada una añade manumbered,
nearly or quite, his
tices nuevos: gallant parece recalcar
la idea de valentía, como valiente, gathree-score years and ten, and was
llardo, espléndido mientras que galante da más peso a connotaciones de 25 pursuing the remainder of his
cortesía y elegancia en castellano; en
earthly march, burdened with
inglés los flirteos se convierten en fainfirmitie s w h i c h e v e n t h e
vores sexuales hasta el punto de ser
un eufemismo por prostitución.
martial music of his own spiritstirring recollections could do
lightning n. a flash of bright light
little towards lightening. The step
30
produced by an electric discharge
between clouds or between clouds
was
palsied [perlático] now, that
and the ground.
— attrib.adj. very quick (with lightning
had been foremost in the charge.
speed).
It was only with the assistance of
lightening n. a drop in the level of the
womb during the last weeks of
a servant, and by leaning his hand
pregnancy. aligeramiento
35 heavily on the iron balustrade, that
he could slowly and painfully
ascend the Custom-House steps,
and, with a toilsome progress
across the floor, attain his
40 customary chair beside the
fireplace. There he used to sit,
gazing with a somewhat dim
serenity of aspect at the figures that
came and went, amid the rustle of
casual
45 papers, the administering of oaths,
‹inspection› superficial;
the discussion of business, and the
a casual acquaintance = un conocido,
casual talk of the office; all which
una conocida;
casual sex = relaciones sexuales
sounds and circumstances seemed
promiscuas
but indistinctly to impress his
(chance) ‹visit/reader› ocasional
50 senses, and hardly to make their
(informal) ‹chat› informal;
‹clothes› de sport, informal
way into his inner sphere of
(unconcerned) ‹attitude/tone› despreocucontemplation. His countenance,
pado;
in this repose, was mild and kindly.
‹remark› hecho al pasar
(not regular) ‹employment/labor›
If his notice was sought, an
eventual, ocasional
55
expression of courtesy and interest
casual
1 (encuentro) fortuito
gleamed out upon his features,
2 (visita) ocasional
proving that there was light within
3 (persona) despreocupado, tranquilo
him, and that it was only the
4 (charla) informal, intranscendente
5 (trabajo) eventual / (Agr.) casual
outward medium of the intellectual
worker, jornalero temporal
60
lamp that obstructed the rays in
6 (ropa) (de) sport, informal
Hay una semblanza sin la
cual mi galería de retratos de la
aduana sería extrañamente incompleta, pero que mis pocas
oportunidades comparativas de
observación me permiten bosquejar simplemente con unas líneas. Es la del inspector, nuestro
viejo y galante general, quien,
después de su brillante servicio
militar, subsiguiente al cual había regido un vasto territorio del
Oeste, cayó allí, veinte años antes, para pasar el declive de su
vida varia y honorable.
5
X
X
20
El bravo soldado había
cumplido o estaba a punto de cumplir los setenta,
y seguía el resto de su
m a rcha terrenal cargado de
debilidades que ni la música marcial
de sus recuerdos de
e s p í r i t u a g i t a d o podía
a l i g e r a r.Su paso, que fue delantero
en la carga, era ahora paralítico.
Únicam e n t e c o n a y u d a
de un criado y apoyándose en el pasamanos
de la balaustrada, podía ascender, despacio y penosamente, los
escalones de la aduana, y llegar,
atravesando trabajosamente el
piso, a su silla [46] de costumbre junto a la chimenea. Allí
solía sentarse, mirando con aspecto de sombría serenidad a
cuantos iban y venían, entre el
crujido de los papeles, la prestación de juramentos, la discusión de los negocios y la charla
casual de la oficina; todos estos
sonidos y circunstancias no parecían impresionar sus sentidos más
que indistintamente, y escasamente lograban abrirse camino hacia
su profunda esfera de contemplación. Su continencia era suave y
amable en ese reposo. Si se llamaba su atención, sus rasgos adquirían una expresión de cortesía e interés, probando que había luz en
él y que solamente el medio externo de su lámpara intelectual
era lo que obstruía el paso de sus
Notas
cumbrous: burdensome
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
their passage. The closer you
penetrated to the substance of his
mind, the sounder it appeared.
When no longer called upon to
5 speak or listen—either of which
operations cost him an evident
effort—his face would briefly
subside into its former not
uncheerful quietude. It was not
10 painful to behold this look; for,
though dim, it had not the
imbecility of decaying age. The
framework of his nature,
originally strong and massive, was
15 not yet crumpled into ruin.
reflejos. Mientras más ahondaba
uno en la sustancia de su inteligencia, más honda parecía hallarse.
Cuando ya no se le pedía que hablase o escuchase, operaciones
que le costaban un esfuerzo evidente, su semblante volvía a adquirir la expresión de su primitiva y triste quietud. No apenaba
sostener aquella mirada, porque,
aun siendo triste, no tenía la
i m b e cilidad de la edad decadente.
La estructura de su carácter, fuerte
y corpulenta de origen, no se había
precipitado todavía a la ruina.
To observe and define his
character, however, under such
disadvantages, was as difficult a
20 task as to trace out and build up
anew, in imagination, an old
fortress, like Ticonderoga, from
a view of its grey and broken
ruins. Here and there,
25 perchance, the walls may remain
almost complete; but elsewhere
may be only a shapeless mound,
cumbrous with its very strength,
and overgrown, through long
30 years of peace and neglect,
with grass and alien weeds.
No obstante, el observar y definir este carácter, bajo tales desventajas, era tarea tan difícil
como trazar y edificar de nuevo
en la imaginación una vieja fortaleza, como la de Ticonderoga,
por la vista de sus ruinas grises y
rotas. Aquí y allá, por casualidad,
pudieran quedar muros casi completos, pero por todas partes no
había sino montones informes,
inaccesibles y c u b i e r t o s d e
vegetación durante largos
años de paz y negligencia
_____________________.
35
40
45
50
flicker 1 vislumbrar o brillar con luz mortecina, trémula, temblorosa; quiver,
waver. Vacilar, oscilar, titilar, centellear, flamear, fulgir, vislumbrar,
1 (of light) shine unsteadily or fitfully. 2
(of a flame) burn unsteadily,
alternately flaring and dying down. 3
a (of a flag, a reptile’s tongue, an
eyelid, etc.) move or wave to and fro;
quiver; vibrate. b (of the wind) blow
lightly and unsteadily. 4(of hope etc.)
increase and decrease unsteadily and
intermittently.
tr. de A. Ruste
55
60
X
X
Sin embargo, mirando con
afecto al viejo guerrero (porque,
aunque la comunicación entre nosotros era muy escasa, mis sentimientos hacia él, como la de los
bípedos y cuadrúpedos que le conocían no creían impropio llamarle así), pude discernir los principales [47] rasgos de su retrato. Estaba señalado con las cualidades nobles y heroicas que parecían, no por
mero accidente, sino por buen derecho, haberle conquistado un nombre distinguido. Su espíritu no pudo
haber sido caracterizado, creo, por
una inquieta actividad; debió, en
cualquier período de su vida, haber necesitado de un impulso
para ponerle en movimiento;
pero una vez en pie, y con un
objetivo adecuado a que atender,
no era hombre que se rindiese o
decayera por obstáculos que sobreviniesen. El calor que primitivamente llenase su naturaleza y
que aún no se había extinguido,
no fue nunca el que relampaguea
y flamea en la llama, sino, más
Nevertheless, looking at the
old warrior with affection—for,
slight as was the communication
between us, my feeling towards
him, like that of all bipeds and
quadrupeds who knew him,
might not improperly be termed
so,—I could discern the main
points of his portrait. It was
marked with the noble and
heroic qualities which showed it
to be not a mere accident, but of
good right, that he had won a
distinguished name. His spirit
could never, I conceive, have
been characterized by an uneasy
activity; it must, at any period
of his life, have required an
impulse to set him in motion; but
once stirred up, with obstacles
to overcome, and an adequate
object to be attained, it was not
in the man to give out or fail.
The heat that had formerly
pervaded his nature, and which
was not yet extinct, was never
of the kind that flashes and
flickers in a blaze; but
21
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
ponderous weighty
35
40
actuate : 1 communicate motion to (a
machine etc.). 2 cause the
operation of (an electrical device
etc.). 3 cause (a person) to act.
Animar, estimular, alentar, animar,
estimular, alentar activar 1. tr.
Avivar, excitar, mover, acelerar.
45
50
55
tr. de A. Ruste
r a t h e r a d e e p r e d g l o w, a s o f
i r o n i n a f u r n a c e . We i g h t ,
solidity, firmness—this was the
expression of his repose, even in
such decay as had crept untimely
over him at the period of which
I speak. But I could imagine,
even then, that, under some
excitement which should go
deeply into his consciousness—
roused by a trumpets real, loud
enough to awaken all of his
energies that were not dead, but
only slumbering—he was yet
c a p a b l e o f f l i n g i n g o ff h i s
infirmities like a sick man’s
gown, dropping the staff of age
to seize a battle-sword, and
starting up once more a warrior.
And, in so intense a moment his
demeanour would have still been
calm. Such an exhibition,
however, was but to be pictured
in fancy; not to be anticipated,
nor desired. What I saw in him—
as evidently as the indestructible
ramparts of Old Ticonderoga,
already cited as the most
appropriate simile—was the
features of stubborn and
ponderous endurance, which
might well have amounted to
obstinacy in his earlier days; of
integrity, that, like most of his
other endowments, lay in a
somewhat heavy mass, and was
just as unmalleable or
unmanageable as a ton of iron
ore; and o f b e n e v o l e n c e
which, fiercely as he led the
bayonets on at Chippewa or
Fort Erie, I take to be of quite
as genuine a stamp as what
actuates any or all the polemical
philanthropists of the age. He
had slain men with his own
hand, for aught I know—
certainly, they had fallen like
blades of grass at the sweep of
the scythe before the charge to
which his spirit imparted its
triumphant energy—but, be that
as it might, there was never in
his heart so much cruelty as
would have brushed the down
off a butterfly’s wing. I have not
known the man to whose innate
kindliness I would more
confidently make an appeal.
bien, el hondo calor rojo, como
el del hierro en un horno. Peso,
dolidez, firmeza; ésta era la expresión de su reposo, aun en la
decadencia que últimamente se
había apoderado de él, en el período a que me refiero. Pero, aun
entonces, pudo imaginarse que,
bajo alguna excitación que pudiera penetrar en lo profundo de su
conciencia, despierto por el toque
de una trompeta lo bastante fuerte para despertar todas sus energías que no estuviesen muertas,
sino sólo dormidas, era todavía
capaz de despojarse de sus debilidades, como un enfermo de su
bata, trocando el báculo de la vejez por la espada de guerra, y de
volver a ser, una vez más, guerrero. Y en tan intenso momento, su
porte seguiría siendo tranquilo.
Tal exposición, sin embargo, no
era sino para ser pintada en la imaginación, no para ser anticipada
ni deseada. Lo que vi en él, con tal
evidencia como las indestructibles
murallas del viejo Ticonderoga, ya
citado como su sonrisa más apropiada, eran los rasgos de obstinación y de imponderable perseverancia, que muy bien podían rayar en obstinación en sus primeros años: de integridad, que,
como la mayor parte de sus otras
dotes, permanecían como una masa
pesada, y eran tan poco maleables
y manejables como una tonelada
de mineral de hierro; y de benevolencia feroz, como si guiase las
bayonetas [48] contra Chippewa
o Fort Erie; sería una pintura tan
genuina como las que cualquiera o todos los polemistas filántropos
de la época pudieran hacer. Había matado hombres con su
propia mano, y por lo que
pude saber, habían caído como
briznas de hierbas al golpe de
la dalla, ante la acometida que
a su espíritu imprimía su
triunfante energía; pero fuera
lo que fuese, nunca hubo en su
corazón tanta crueldad como
para rozar y echar por tierra
una mariposa. No he conocido hombre a cuya innata amabilidad hubiese hecho mejor
una súplica confidencia.
60
22
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
Many characteristics—and
those, too, which contribute not
the least forcibly to impart
resemblance in a sketch—must
have vanished, or been obscured,
before I met the General. All
merely graceful attributes are
usually the most evanescent;
nor does nature adorn the
human ruin with blossoms of
new beauty, that have their
roots and proper nutriment only
in the chinks and crevices of
decay, as she sows wall-flowers
over the ruined fortress of
Ticonderoga. Still, even in respect
of grace and beauty, t h e r e w e r e
points well worth noting.
A ray of humour, now and then,
would make its way through the veil
of dim obstruction, and glimmer
pleasantly upon our faces. A trait
of native elegance, seldom seen in
the masculine character after
childhood or early youth, was
shown in the General’s fondness
for the sight and fragrance of
flowers. An old soldier might
be supposed to prize only the
bloody laurel on his brow; but
here was one who seemed to
have a young girl’s appreciation
of the floral tribe.
Muchas características, y aquellas, además, que contribuyen no
poco a imprimir parecido al bosquejo, debieron esfumarse u oscurecerse antes de que yo tropezara con el
general. Todos los atributos sencillamente graciosos son por lo común los que más desaparecen;
tampoco naturaleza adorna las ruinas humanas con florecimientos de
nueva belleza, que tienen sus raíces y propia nutrición en las
resquebrajaduras y grietas del decaimiento, como siembra alelíes
dobles sobre la ruinosa fortaleza de
Ticonderoga. Aun con respecto a
la gracia y la belleza había puntos que no merecían la pena.
De vez en cuando, un chispazo de
humor se abre camino a través del
velo oscuro de obstrucción y refleja agradablemente sobre nuestros
rostros. En el fondo del general se
advertía un tinte de nativa elegancia, poco común en el carácter masculino, después de la niñez o la juventud, para la vista y el perfume
de las flores. Se supone que un viejo soldado es capaz tan sólo de apreciar el sangriento laurel que ciña su
frente: pero éste era uno que, para
el grupo de la flora, parecía tener la
apreciación de una señorita.
There, beside the fireplace,
the brave old General used to sit;
while the Surveyor—though
seldom, when it could be avoided,
taking upon himself the difficult
task of engaging him in
conversation—was fond of
standing at a distance, and
watching his quiet and almost
slumberous countenance. He
seemed away from us, although
we saw him but a few yards off;
remote, though we passed close
beside his chair; unattainable,
though we might have stretched
forth our hands and touched his
own. It might be that he lived a
more real life within his thoughts
than amid the unappropriate
environment of the Collector’s
office. The evolutions of the
parade; the tumult of the battle;
the flourish of old heroic music,
heard thirty years before—such
scenes and sounds, perhaps, were
all alive before his intellectual
Allí, junto a la chimenea, solía sentarse el viejo y bravo general, mientras el inspector, aunque esto rara vez, si podía evitarse, tomándose la difícil tarea
de hacerle intervenir parte en la
conversación, se complacía en
permanecer de pie a distancia y
observar su tranquilo [49] y casi
soñoliento semblante. Parecía
estar lejos de nosotros, aunque
lo teníamos a pocos metros de
distancia; que estaba remoto, si
bien pasábamos rozando a su silla; impalpable, aunque extendiendo nuestras manos tocásemos las suyas. Debía vivir una
vida más real dentro de sus propios pensamientos que en el medio ambiente de la oficina del recaudador. Las evoluciones de la
parada, el tumulto de la batalla,
la vibración de la música antigua,
heroica, oído treinta años atrás;
tales escenas y sonidos quizás
estuviesen vivos ante su sentido
23
Notas
uncouth (= unrefined) zafio, burdo,
grosero, inculto; (= clumsy) torpe, desmañado
uncouth adj. 1 (of a person,
manners, appearance, etc.)
lacking in ease and polish;
uncultured, rough (uncouth voices;
behaviour was uncouth ) . 2
archaic not known; desolate; wild;
uncivilized (an uncouth place).
stalwart 1 strongly built, sturdy. 2
courageous, resolute, determined
(stalwart supporters).
a stalwart person, esp. a loyal
uncompromising partisan, inquebrantable.
hardihood n. boldness, daring. Osadía,
atrevimiento, audacia, arrojo
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
sense. Meanwhile, the merchants
and ship-masters, the spruce
clerks and uncouth sailors,
entered and departed; the bustle
5 of his commercial and CustomHouse life kept up its little
murmur round about him; and
neither with the men nor their
affairs did the General appear to
10 sustain the most distant relation.
He was as much out of place as
an old sword—now rusty, but
which had flashed once in the
battle’s front, and showed still a
15 bright gleam along its blade—
would have been among the
inkstands, paper-folde r s , a n d
mahogany rulers on the
Deputy Collector’s desk.
20
There was one thing that much
aided me in renewing and recreating the stalwart soldier of the
Niagara frontier—the man of true
25 and simple energy. It was the
recollection of those memorable
words of his—”I’ll try, Sir”—
spoken on the very verge of a
desperate and heroic enterprise,
30 and breathing the soul and spirit
of New England hardihood,
comprehending all perils, and
encountering all. If, in our country,
valour were rewarded by heraldic
35 honour, this phrase—which it
seems so easy to speak, but which
only he, with such a task of danger
and glory before him, has ever
spoken—would be the best and
40 fittest of all mottoes for the
General’s shield of arms. It
contributes greatly towards a
man’s moral and intellectual
health to be brought into
45 h a b i t s o f c o m p a n i o n s h i p
with individuals unlike
himself, who care little for
his pursuits, and whose
sphere and abilities he must
50 g o o u t o f h i m s e l f t o
appreciate. The accidents of my
life have often afforded me this
advantage, but never with more
fulness and variety than during my
55 continuance in office. There was
one man, especially, the observation
of whose character gave me a new
idea of talent. His gifts were
emphatically those of a man of
60 business; prompt, acute, clear-
tr. de A. Ruste
intelectual. Mientras tanto, los comerciantes y armadores, los garbosos
escribientes y los toscos marineros,
entraban y salían; la animación de
esta vida comercial y de aduana
conservaba su pequeño rumor en
derredor suyo, y ni con los hombres ni con sus negocios parecía
el general sostener la más remota
relación. Estaba tan fuera de lugar
como un viejo sable, ahora enmohecido, pero que hubo flameado,
en una época, en los campos de batalla, y que mostraba aún un brillante resplandor a lo largo de su
hoja, a pesar de hallarse entre los
tinteros, las plegaderas y las reglas de caoba del pupitre del
inspector delegado.
X
24
Había una cosa que me ayudó
mucho en la renovación y reconstitución del fornido soldado de la
frontera del Niágara, del hombre
de verdadera y sencilla energía.
Era el recuerdo de sus memorables palabras: «¡Probaré, señor!»,
dichas al borde de una empresa
desesperada y heroica, alentado
con el alma y el espíritu de la
temeridad de Nueva Inglaterra,
comprendiendo todos los peligros y afrontándolos todos. Si en
nuestro país se recompensase el
valor con honor heráldico, esta
frase (que parece tan fácil de decir, pero que él sólo con aquella
tarea de peligro y gloria ante sí
pronunció siempre) sería el mejor y más apropiado lema para
el escudo de armas del general.
Contribuye grandemente a la
salud moral e intelectual [50]
de un hombre el ser conducido
a los hábitos del compañerismo
con individuos distintos a él,
quienes se preocupan poco de sus
empeños, y cuya esfera y habilidades no podían ser apreciadas
por él sino saliéndose de su modo
de ser. Los accidentes de mi vida
me han proporcionado con frecuencia esta ventaja, pero nunca
tan plenamente y con tal variedad como cuando continué en mi
oficina. Sobre todo, había un
hombre cuyo carácter observado
me dio una nueva idea de talento. Sus mercedes eran enfáticamente las de un hombre de ne-
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
perforce unavoidably; necessarily
25
30
forbearance 1 a delay in enforcing rights
or claims or privileges; refraining from
acting; «his forbearance to reply was
alarming» 2 patience, longanimity
good-natured tolerance of delay or
incompetence
abstención, templanza, tolerancia, indulgencia, paciencia, perseverancia
esoteric: understandable only to the
initiated few
35
40
45
50
55
minded; with an eye that saw
through all perplexities, and a
faculty of arrangement that made
them vanish as by the waving of an
enchanter’s wand. Bred up from
boyhood in the Custom-House, it
was his proper field of activity; and
the many intricacies of business, so
harassing to the interloper,
presented themselves before him
with the regularity of a perfectly
comprehended system. In my
contemplation, he stood as the ideal
of his class. He was, indeed, the
Custom-House in himself; or, at all
events, the mainspring that kept its
variously revolving wheels in
motion; for, in an institution like
this, where its officers are appointed
to subserve their own profit and
convenience, and seldom with a
leading reference to their fitness for
the duty to be performed, they must
perforce seek elsewhere the
dexterity which is not in them.
Thus, by an inevitable necessity, as
a magnet attracts steel-filings, so
did our man of business draw to
himself the difficulties which
everybody met with. With an easy
condescension, and kind forbearance
towards our stupidity—which, to
his order of mind, must have
seemed little short of crime—would
he forth-with, by the merest touch
of his finger, make the
incomprehensible as clear as
daylight. The merchants valued him
not less than we, his esoteric
friends. His integrity was perfect;
it was a law of nature with him,
rather than a choice or a principle;
nor can it be otherwise than the
main condition of an intellect so
remarkably clear and accurate as
his to be honest and regular in
the administration of affairs. A
stain on his conscience, as to
anything that came within the range
of his vocation, would trouble such
a man very much in the same way,
though to a far greater degree, than
an error in the balance of an
account, or an ink-blot on the fair
page of a book of record. Here, in a
word—and it is a rare instance in
my life—I had met with a person
thoroughly adapted to the situation
which he held.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
60
25
gocios; pronto, agudo y despejado; con un ojo que veía a través
todas las perplejidades, y con una
facultad de disposición que las
hacía desvanecerse como por arte
de una varita mágica. Criado en
la aduana desde su niñez, aquél era
su verdadero campo de actividad,
y el laberinto de los negocios, tan
atormentador para el intruso, se le
presentaba con la regularidad de un
perfecto y comprendido sistema.
Según mi observación, era el
ideal en los de su clase. El era
por sí la aduana, o al menos el
resorte principal que ponía en
movimiento todas las ruedas del
mecanismo, porque en una institución como ésta, donde sus vistas dícese que no atienden más
que a su propio provecho y conveniencia, y rara vez con una guía
referente a cumplir con su deber,
tienen forzosamente que buscar
en cualquier parte la destreza de
que carecen. Así pues, por inevitable necesidad cargaba nuestro
hombre dé negocios con las dificultades con que todos los demás
tropezaban. Con amables condescendencias e indulgencias para
nuestra estupidez (que para su orden de imaginación debía parecerle poco menos que criminal) hacía que, con un simple toque de
su dedo, lo incomprensible fuese
tan claro como la luz del día. Los
comerciantes le apreciaban no
menos que nosotros _______
__ __. Su integridad era perfecta;
en él era ley de naturaleza más que
una elección o un principio; el ser
honrado y regular en la administración de los asuntos, tampoco [51]
podía ser más que la principal condición de una inteligencia notoriamente clara y aguda como la suya.
Una mancha en su conciencia,
como cualquiera otra cosa que cayese dentro del rango de su profesión, habría preocupado mucho más
a ese hombre, muchísimo más, que
un error en el balance de una cuenta o un borrón en la pulcra página
de un libro de registros. En una palabra (y es un raro ejemplo en mi
vida), había tropezado con una persona adaptada por completo al destino que desempeñaba.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
fastidious adj. 1 very careful in
matters of choice or taste; fussy.
2 easily disgusted; squeamish.
Dainty, delicada, esmerada, refinada, maniática, exigente, melindrosa, quisquillosa [sin matices
peyorativos]
25
30
35
40
45
Such were some of the
people with whom I now found
myself connected. I took it in
good part, at the hands of
Providence, that I was thrown
into a position so little akin to
my past habits; and set myself
seriously to gather from it
whatever profit was to be had.
After my fellowship of toil and
impracticable schemes with the
dreamy brethren of Brook Farm;
after living for three years within
the subtle influence of an
intellect like Emerson’s; after
those wild, free days on the
Assabeth, indulging fantastic
speculations, beside our fire of
fallen boughs, with Ellery
Channing; after talking with
Thoreau about pine-trees and
Indian relics in his hermitage at
Wa l d e n ;
after
growing
fastidious by sympathy with the
classic refinement of Hillard’s
culture; after becoming imbued
with poetic sentiment at
Longfellow’s hearthstone—it
was time, at length, that I should
exercise other faculties of my
nature, and nourish myself with
food for which I had hitherto
had little appetite. Even the old
Inspector was desirable, as a
change of diet, to a man who had
known Alcott. I looked upon it
as an evidence, in some measure,
of a system naturally well
balanced, and lacking no
essential part of a thorough
organization, that, with such
associates to remember, I could
mingle at once with men of
altogether different qualities,
and never murmur at the change.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
Literature, its exertions and
objects, were now of little
moment in my regard. I cared
50 not at this period for books; they
were apart from me. Nature—
except it were human nature—
the nature that is developed in
earth and sky, was, in one sense,
55 hidden from me; and all the
imaginative delight wherewith it
had been spiritualized passed
away out of my mind. A gift, a
f a c u l t y, i f i t h a d n o t b e e n
60 departed, was suspended and
Tales eran algunas de las personas con quienes me hallé entonces unido. A1 ser puesto en aquel
destino tan poco apropiado a mis
antiguos hábitos, me confié, en gran
parte, a las manos de la Providencia y me puse seriamente a sacarle
el mayor provecho posible. Después de mi confraternidad de trabajo e impracticables proyectos con
mis soñolientos hermanos de
Brook-Farm; después de vivir tres
años dentro de la sutil influencia de
una inteligencia como la de
Emerson; después de aquellos largos y libres días en el Assabeth,
condescendiente con fanáticas especulaciones, aparte el fuego hecho
con las ramas caídas para con
Ellery-Channing; después de
charlar con Thoreau sobre pinos
y reliquias indias en su ermita de
Walden; después de habérseme
hecho fastidiosa la simpatía por el
clásico refinamiento de la cultura
de Hillard; después de haberme
imbuido en su hogar Longfellow un
sentimiento poético, era tiempo ya
de que ejercitase otras facultades de
mi naturaleza y me nutriese de alimentos por los que hasta entonces
había tenido poco apetito. Hasta el
viejo inspector se sentía inclinado,
como cambio de régimen alimenticio, a un hombre que hubiese conocido a Alcott. Yo lo aprecié hasta cierto punto como evidencia de
un sistema bien equilibrado, en el
que no había falta alguna de una
completa organización, y que con
tales asociados podía mezclarme
desde luego con hombres de cualidades [52] completamente diferentes, sin que nunca hubiera de murmurar del cambio.
La literatura, su ejercicio y
objetivos, no estaba ni un momento en mi pensamiento. En
este período nada me importaban
los libros; eran para mí cosa aparte. La naturaleza (excepto la humana), que se desenvolvía en tierra y cielo, estaba, en cierto sentido, oculta para mí; y toda la
delicia imaginativa en que se había espiritualizado se había borrado de mi cerebro. Un don, una
facultad que no hubiese desaparecido, se hallaba suspensa e in-
26
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
inanimate within me. There
would have been something sad,
unutterably dreary, in all this,
had I not been conscious that it
lay at my own option to recall
whatever was valuable in the
past. It might be true, indeed,
that this was a life which could
not, with impunity, be lived too
long; else, it might make me
permanently other than I had
been, without transforming me
into any shape which it would
be worth my while to take. But I
never considered it as other than
a transitory life. There was
always a prophetic instinct, a
low whisper in my ear, that
within no long period, and
whenever a new change of
custom should be essential to my
good, change would come.
animada dentro de mí. Hubiese
habido algo triste, indeciblemente horroroso en todo esto, a no
estar consciente de que estaba a
mi alcance recordar todo cuanto
era valioso del pasado. Pudiera
ser cierto, en efecto, que ésta fuese una vida que impunemente no
podía ser larga en demasía; pudiera hacerme perpetuamente
otro hombre distinto de lo que
fui, sin transformarme en otro
aspecto que mereciese la pena
adoptar, pero nunca lo consideré
más que como una vida transitoria. Siempre había un instinto
profético, un apagado susurro a
mi oído que, dentro de no largo
período, y siempre que un nuevo
cambio de costumbres hubiera de
ser esencial para mi bien, ese
cambio vendría.
Meanwhile, there I was, a
25 Surveyor of the Revenue and, so
far as I have been able to
understand, as good a Surveyor
as need be. A man of thought,
fancy, and sensibility (had he ten
30 times the Surveyor’s proportion
of those qualities), may, at any
time, be a man of affairs, if he
will only choose to give himself
the trouble. My fellow-officers,
35 and the merchants and seacaptains with whom my official
duties brought me into any
manner of connection, viewed
me in no other light, and
40 probably knew me in no other
c h a r a c t e r. N o n e o f t h e m , I
presume, had ever read a page
of my inditing, or would have
cared a fig the more for me if
45 they had read them all; nor
would it have mended the
matter, in the least, had those
same unprofitable pages been
written with a pen like that of
50 Burns or of Chaucer, each of
whom was a Custom-House
officer in his day, as well as I. It
is a good lesson—though it may
often be a hard one—for a man
55 who has dreamed of literary
fame, and of making for himself
a r a n k a m o n g t h e w o r l d ’s
dignitaries by such means, to
step aside out of the narrow
60 circle in which his claims are
Entretanto allí estaba yo, un
director de aduanas, y por lo que
he podido comprender, un buen
administrador, como debía serlo.
Un hombre de pensamiento, fantasía y sensibilidad (aun teniendo diez veces la proporción de
estas cualidades del administrador) podía a cualquier hora ser
un hombre de negocios con sólo
tomarse el trabajo de decidirse a
serlo. Mis compañeros oficiales,
los comerciantes y los capitanes
de mar, con quienes mis deberes
oficiales me ponían en contacto,
no me veían bajo otro aspecto y,
probablemente, no me conocían
con otro carácter. Ninguno de
ellos, presumo, había jamás leído una página de mis escritos ni,
de haberla leído, les hubiera importado un higo de mí, [53] ni
hubiese cambiado el asunto en lo
más mínimo, el que esas mismas
páginas inútiles hubieran sido
escritas con la pluma de Burns o
de Chaucer, cada uno de los cuales fue en su día oficial de aduanas como yo. Es una buena lección (si bien puede ser frecuentemente una lección dura) para un
hombre que ha soñado con una
fama literaria y que ha intentado
crearse por ese medio un rango
entre los dignatarios del mundo,
salirse del estrecho círculo en
que sus reclamaciones son reco-
5
10
15
20
inditing: composing
tr. de A. Ruste
27
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
recognized and to find how
utterly devoid of significance,
beyond that circle, is all that he
achieves, and all he aims at. I
know not that I especially
needed the lesson, either in the
way of warning or rebuke; but
at any rate, I learned it
thoroughly: nor, it gives me
pleasure to reflect, did the truth,
as it came home to my
perception, ever cost me a pang,
or require to be thrown off in a
sigh. In the way of literary talk,
it is true, the Naval Officer—an
excellent fellow, who came into the
office with me, and went out only a
little later—would often engage me
in a discussion about one or the
other of his favourite topics,
Napoleon or Shakespeare. The
Collector’s junior clerk, too a young
gentleman who, it was whispered
occasionally covered a sheet of
Uncle Sam’s letter paper with what
(at the distance of a few yards)
looked very much like poetry—
used now and then to speak to me
of books, as matters with which I
might possibly be conversant. This
was my all of lettered intercourse;
and it was quite sufficient for my
necessities.
nocidas, y ver cuán completamente privado de significación es
todo cuanto intenta y adquiere
fuera de ese círculo. No sé que
yo necesitase esa lección especialmente, aun en el sentido de
advertencia o reproche; pero de
todos modos la aprendí bien, ya
me causase placer el reflexionar,
ya la verdad, al venir a mi conocimiento, me produjera una pena
o requiriese arrancármela con un
suspiro. En el aspecto de charla
literaria es cierto, el oficial naval (excelente individuo que entraba conmigo en la oficina y salía un poco más tarde) había de
entablar discusión con mi persona sobre uno de sus dos tópicos
favoritos:
Napoleón
o
Shakespeare. El más joven de los
empleados del inspector, un caballero de quien se murmuraba
que en ocasiones llenaba pliegos
del papel timbrado del tío Sam,
con lo que a distancia de unas
yardas se parecía mucho a la poesía, solía hablarme de libros de
vez en cuando, como asunto del
que pudiera yo posiblemente hablar. Éste era todo mi intercambio con las letras, y suficiente
para mis necesidades.
35
No longer seeking or caring
that my name should be blasoned
abroad on title-pages, I smiled to
think that it had now another kind
of vogue. The Custom-House
40 marker imprinted it, with a
stencil and black paint, on pepperbags, and baskets of anatto, and
cigar-boxes, and bales of all
kinds of dutiable merchandise,
45 i n t e s t i m o n y t h a t t h e s e
commodities had paid the
impost, and gone regularly through
the office. Borne on such queer vehicle
of fame, a knowledge of my existence,
50 so far as a name conveys it, was carried
where it had never been before, and, I hope,
will never go again.
Sin tratar de preocuparme de
que mi nombre blasonase por
ahí en páginas impresas, sonreía
al pensar que tenía ahora otra
clase de fama. El marcador de la
aduana la imprimió con un
estarcido y pintura negra en sacos de papel, cestas de achicoria y
cajas de cigarros, y en toda clase de mercancías sujetas a derechos, en testimonio de que éstas
habían pagado el impuesto y
habían pasado regularmente por
la aduana. Nacido a [54] tan extraño vehículo de fama, el conocimiento de mi nombre fue
adonde jamás fuera y espero que
nunca vuelva a ir.
But the past was not dead.
55 Once in a great while, the thoughts
that had seemed so vital and so
active, yet had been put to rest so
quietly, revived again. One of the
most remarkable occasions, when
60 the habit of bygone days awoke in
Pero el pasado no había muerto. Una vez, los pensamientos, que
habían sido tan vitales y activos
durante largo tiempo, revivieron de
nuevo. Una de las ocasiones más
notables, cuando la costumbre de
mis pasados días despertó en mí,
5
10
15
20
25
30
blason divagarse
anatto: a yellow-red dyestuff from the
Caribbean
tr. de A. Ruste
28
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
me, was that which brings it within
the law of literary propriety to offer
the public the sketch which I am
now writing.
fue aquella que cae dentro de la ley
de propiedad literaria, de ofrecer al
público el bosquejo que estoy ahora escribiendo.
In the second storey of the
Custom-House there is a large
room, in which the brick-work and
naked rafters have never been
covered with panelling and plaster.
The edifice—originally projected
on a scale adapted to the old
commercial enterprise of the port,
and with an idea of subsequent
prosperity destined never to be
realized—contains far more space
than its occupants know what to
do with. This airy hall, therefore,
over the Collector’s apartments,
remains unfinished to this day, and,
in spite of the aged cobwebs that
festoon its dusky beams, appears
still to await the labour of the
carpenter and mason. At one end
of the room, in a recess, were a
number of barrels piled one upon
another, containing bundles of
official documents. Large
quantities of similar rubbish lay
lumbering the floor. It was
sorrowful to think how many days,
and weeks, and months, and years
of toil had been wasted on these
musty papers, which were now
only an encumbrance on earth, and
were hidden away in this forgotten
corner, never more to be glanced
at by human eyes. But then, what
reams of other manuscripts—
filled, not with the dulness of
official formalities, but with the
thought of inventive brains and the
rich effusion of deep hearts—had
gone equally to oblivion; and that,
moreover, without serving a
purpose in their day, as these
heaped-up papers had, and—
saddest of all—without purchasing
for their writers the comfortable
livelihood which the clerks of the
Custom-House had gained by
these worthless scratchings of the
pen. Yet not altogether worthless,
perhaps, as materials of local
history. Here, no doubt, statistics
of the former commerce of Salem
might be discovered, and
memorials of her princely
merchants--old King Derby—old
Billy
Gray—old
Simon
En el piso segundo de la aduana hay una gran habitación, en la
que la obra de ladrillo y las desnudas vigas jamás fueron cubiertas
con paneles o yeso. El edificio (primeramente proyectado en una escala y con una idea adaptada al viejo tráfico comercial del puerto y
con la idea de subsiguiente prosperidad jamás destinada a realizarse) tiene mucho más espacio del
que sus ocupantes saben qué hacer
con él. Este vacío salón, por tanto,
está sin terminar a estas fechas, sobre los departamentos del inspector,
y, a pesar de las viejas telarañas, que
festonean sus polvorientas vigas,
parece esperar aún el trabajo de albañiles y carpinteros. A un extremo
del salón, en un hueco, había un
número de barriles, apilados unos
sobre otros, conteniendo legajos de
documentos oficiales. Gran cantidad
de trastos inútiles semejantes se hallaba esparcida por el suelo. Era
triste pensar en los días, semanas,
meses y años de trabajo que se habían malgastado en aquellos
rancios papeles, que no eran más
que un estorbo en la tierra y estaban ocultos en aquel olvidado rincón para no volver a ser vistos por
ojos humanos. ¡Pero cuántos
rimeros de otros manuscritos, llenos, no de la tristeza de las formalidades oficiales, sino con el
pensamiento de cerebros
inventivos y la rica efusión de corazones hondos, habían caído
igualmente en el olvido, y más
aún, sin que en su día sirviesen
un propósito, como lo hicieran
estos papeles apilados, y, lo más
[55] triste de todo, sin que aportasen a sus escritores la vida confortable que lograron empleados
de la aduana por aquel inútil arañar del papel! No obstante, quizá
no fueran del todo inútiles, como
materia de historia local. Tal vez
se descubriesen en ellos estadísticas del antiguo comercio de
Salem y memorables de sus comerciantes principescos, del viejo rey Derby, del viejo Billy Gray,
5
10
15
20
lumber 1 v. intr. (usu. foll. by along, past,
by, etc.) move in a slow clumsy noisy
way. Moverse pesadamente, avanzar
con ruido sordo
lumbering pesado, torpe
lumber 2 n. 1 disused articles of furniture
etc. inconveniently taking up space.
Trastos viejos 2 useless or
cumbersome objects. 3 US partly
prepared timber. Madera, maderamen
1 tr. a (usu. foll. by with) leave (a person
etc.) with something unwanted or
unpleasant (always lumbering me
with the cleaning). b (as lumbered
adj.) in an unwanted or inconvenient
situation (afraid of being lumbered).
2 tr. (usu. foll. by together) heap or
group together carelessly. Amontonar 3 tr. (usu. foll. by up) obstruct.
Obstruir 4 intr. cut and prepare forest
timber for transport. Aserrar, cortar
madera,
lumber-jacket a jacket, usu. of warm
checked material, of the kind worn
by lumberjacks. chaqueta de leñador
lumber-room a room where disused or
cumbrous things are kept.
dulness embotamiento
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
29
musty con olor a humedad
1 mouldy. 2 of a mouldy or
stale smell or taste. 3 stale,
antiquated (musty old
books).
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
dearth: scarcity
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
Forrester—and many another
magnate in his day, whose
powdered head, however, was
scarcely in the tomb before his
mountain pile of wealth began to
dwindle. The founders of the
greater part of the families which
now compose the aristocracy of
Salem might here be traced, from
the petty and obscure beginnings
of their traffic, at periods generally
much posterior to the Revolution,
upward to what their children look
upon as long-established rank.
Prior to the Revolution there is a
dearth of records; the earlier
documents and archives of the
Custom-House having, probably,
been carried off to Halifax, when
all
the
king’s
officials
accompanied the British army in
its flight from Boston. It has often
been a matter of regret with me;
for, going back, perhaps, to the
days of the Protectorate, those
papers must have contained many
references to forgotten or
remembered men, and to antique
customs, which would have
affected me with the same pleasure
as when I used to pick up Indian
arrow-heads in the field near the
Old Manse.
del viejo Simón Forrester, y muchos otros en su día magnates,
cuyas empolvadas cabezas, no
obstante, apenas se hallaban en la
tumba, cuando su apilamiento de
riqueza comenzaba a tambalearse. Los fundadores de la mayoría
de las familias que hoy forman la
aristocracia de Salem, pudieran
trazarse allí, desde el pobre y oscuro comienzo de su tráfico, en
períodos generalmente mucho más
posteriores a la Revolución, hasta lo
que sus hijos miran como un rango
ha mucho tiempo establecido. Allí
hay una falta de recuerdos con anterioridad a la Revolución; los más
antiguos documentos y archivos de
la aduana debieron ser enviados a
Halifax, cuando todos los oficiales del rey acompañaron al ejército británico en su huida de Boston.
Esto me causó sentimiento, porque
yendo hacia atrás, a los días del
Protectorado, aquellos papeles debían contener muchas referencias
a hombres olvidados o recordados
y a antiguas costumbres, que me
hubiesen afectado con el mismo
placer que cuando yo acostumbraba a coger puntas de flechas indias en los campos vecinos a la
Vieja Mansión.
But, one idle and rainy day, it
was my fortune to make a
discovery of some little interest.
Poking and burrowing into the
heaped-up rubbish in the corner,
unfolding one and another
document, and reading the names
of vessels that had long ago
foundered at sea or rotted at the
wharves, and those of merchants
never heard of now on ‘Change,
nor very readily decipherable on
their mossy tombstones; glancing
at such matters with the saddened,
weary, half-reluctant interest
which we bestow [grant] on the
corpse of dead activity—and
exerting my fancy, sluggish with
little use, to raise up from these
dry bones an image of the old
towns brighter aspect, when India
was a new region, and only Salem
knew the way thither—I chanced
to lay my hand on a small
package, carefully done up in a
piece of ancient yellow
Pero, un día perezoso y de lluvia, tuve la fortuna de hacer un
descubrimiento de cierto interés.
Revolviendo y husmeando en
aquella amontonada morralla,
desdoblando unos y otros documentos, leyendo los nombres de
los barcos que habían naufragado
en el mar o se habían estrellado
contra las rompientes, largo tiempo hacía, y los de los comerciantes, no oídos ahora e indescifrables
en sus losas sepulcrales, mirando
tales materias con el interés triste,
aburrido y [56] medio repugnante
que ponemos en todo cuerpo de
muerta actividad, y excitando mi
fantasía, perezosa por el poco uso,
para extraer de estos huesos secos una imagen del aspecto más
brillante de la vieja ciudad, cuando la India era una nueva región
y solamente Salem conocía su
ruta, fue a tropezar mi mano con
un pequeño paquete, cuidadosamente envuelto en un trozo de an30
Notas
chirography: skilled handwriting
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
parchment. This envelope had the
air of an official record of some
period long past, when clerks
engrossed their stiff and formal
chirography on more substantial
materials than at present. There
was something about it that
quickened an instinctive curiosity,
and made me undo the faded
red tape that tied up the package,
with the sense that a treasure
would here be brought to light.
Unbending the rigid folds of the
parchment cover, I found it to be
a commission, under the hand and
seal of Governor Shirley, in
favour of one Jonathan Pine, as
Surveyor of His Majesty’s
Customs for the Port of Salem, in
the Province of Massachusetts
Bay. I remembered to have read
(probably in Felt’s “Annals”) a
notice of the decease of Mr.
Surveyor Pue, about fourscore
years ago; and likewise, in a
newspaper of recent times, an
account of the digging up of his
remains in the little graveyard of
St. Peter’s Church, during the
renewal of that edifice. Nothing,
if I rightly call to mind, was left
of my respected predecessor, save
an imperfect skeleton, and some
fragments of apparel, and a wig
of majestic frizzle, which, unlike
the head that it once adorned,
was in very satisfactory
preservation. But, on examining
the papers which the parchment
commission served to envelop,
I found more traces of Mr. Pue’s
mental part, and the internal
operations of his head, than the
frizzled wig had contained of the
venerable skull itself.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
They were documents, in
short, not official, but of a private
nature, or, at least, written in his
50 private capacity, and apparently
with his own hand. I could
account for their being included
in the heap of Custom-House
lumber only by the fact that Mr.
55 Pine’s death had happened
suddenly, and that these papers,
which he probably kept in his
official desk, had never come to
the knowledge of his heirs, or
60 were supposed to relate to the
tiguo y amarillo pergamino. Este
sobre tenía el aire de un aviso oficial de algún período antiquísimo,
cuando los empleados engrosaban
su cargo y su carácter de letra
con materias más sustanciosas
que hoy. Había en él algo que
avivó mi instintiva curiosidad y
me hizo quitar la descolorida
cinta roja que ataba el paquete,
con la sensación de que iba a salir a luz algún tesoro. A1 desdoblar los rígidos dobleces de la
cubierta de pergamino, vi que era
una comisión, con la firma y sello del gobernador Shirley, a favor de Jonathan Pue, como administrador de aduanas de S. M. en
el puerto de Salem, en la provincia de la bahía de Massachusetts.
Recuerdo haber leído, probablemente en los Anales de Felt, una
noticia sobre la muerte del administrador Pue, hace unos sesenta
años; como también, en un periódico de época reciente, una noticia referente al hallazgo de sus
restos mortales en el pequeño cementerio de la Iglesia de San Pedro, durante la renovación de este edificio. Nada, que____ yo recordase,
quedaba de mi respetado predecesor, salvo un imperfecto esqueleto, algunos fragmentos de ropaje
y una peluca de rizado mayestático, que, lo contrario de la cabeza que adornó, se hallaba muy
bien conservada. Pero, al examinar los papeles que envolvía el
sobre de pergamino, encontré
más rasgos de la parte mental del
señor Pue y de las operaciones
internas de la cabeza, que contuviera la rizada peluca de su venerable calavera.
En una palabra, eran documentos extraoficiales, de un carácter
privado, o, por lo menos, escritos
con destino [57] particular y ______
por su propia mano. No comprendía estuviesen incluidos en el paquete hallado entre los documentos de la aduana, sino por el hecho de que la muerte del señor
Pue ocurrió repentinamente, y estos papeles, que, probablemente,
guardaría en su mesa del despacho oficial, eran ignorados por sus
herederos o creían se relaciona-
31
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
business of the revenue. On the
transfer of the archives to
Halifax, this package, proving to
be of no public concern, was left
5 behind, and had remained ever
since unopened.
ban con los asuntos de la aduana.
En el traslado de los archivos a
Halifax, este paquete, visto que no
contenía documentos oficiales,
fue dejado allí, y allí estaba, desde entonces, sin abrirse.
The ancient Surveyor—being
little molested, suppose, at that
10 early day with business pertaining
to his office—seems to have
devoted some of his many leisure
hours to researches as a local
antiquarian, and other inquisitions
15 of a similar nature. These supplied
material for petty activity to a
mind that would otherwise have
been eaten up with rust.
El antiguo administrador, con
poco trabajo en aquella temprana mañana, parece ser que dedicó algunas de sus horas de ocio
a la rebusca, como un anticuario
local, y a otras indagaciones
de n a t u r a l e z a s e m e j a n t e .
Este material proporcion ó a c t i v i d a d a s u c e r ebro,
q u e , d e o t r o m o d o , hubie ra
llegado a atrofiarse.
20
Una porción de datos me
sirvieron muy bien para preparar el artículo titulado «La
Calle Mayor», que va incluido en el presente volumen.
El resto quizá sea aplicado
después a iguales propósitos, o tal vez sirva para escribir una historia regular de
Salem, si la veneración por
mi tierra natal me impulsara
al guna vez a tan piadosa tarea.
Mientras tanto, quedarán a la
disposición de cualquier caballero competente e inclinado a
arrancar de mis manos esta infructuosa labor. Como disposición final, proyecto depositarlos en la Sociedad Histórica de
Essex. El objeto que más llamó mi atención en el misterioso paquete fue el hallazgo de
un fino paño de c o l o r r o j o ,
descolorido y muy usado. Había en él seña l e s d e b o r d a d o s
de oro, muy rozados y
deslucidos, de tal modo que ninguno, o
muy pocos, conservaban algo de brillo.
Fue bordado, según podía observarse fácilmente, con extremada habilidad, y el embaste (según me
han asegurado damas conocedoras de estos misterios) probaba estar ejecutado con un arte olvidado, imposible de reconstruir aun
siguiendo el procedimiento [58]
de sacar los hilos. Este andrajo de
paño rojo, pues el tiempo, el uso
y la sacrílega polilla lo habían
convertido en andrajo, al ser examinado cuidadosamente tomaba
25
30
35
40
45
glitter : brillo, oropel, tinsel, sparkle, glint;
relucir, centellear, fulgir, fulgente,
centelleante, chispeante,
50
55
60
A portion of his facts, by-theby, did me good service in the
preparation of the article entitled
“MAIN STREET,” included in the
present volume. The remainder
may perhaps be applied to
purposes equally valuable
hereafter, or not impossibly may
be worked up, so far as they go,
into a regular history of Salem,
should my veneration for the natal
soil ever impel me to so pious a
task. Meanwhile, they shall be at
the command of any gentleman,
inclined and competent, to take
the unprofitable labour off my
hands. As a final disposition I
contemplate depositing them with
the Essex Historical Society. But
the object that most drew my
attention to the mysterious
package was a certain affair of
fine red cloth, much worn and
faded, There were traces about it
of gold embroidery, which,
however, was greatly frayed and
defaced, so that none, or very
little, of the glitter was left. It had
been wrought, as was easy to
perceive, with wonderful skill of
needlework; and the stitch (as I
am assured by ladies conversant
with such mysteries) gives
evidence of a now forgotten art,
not to be discovered even by the
process of picking out the threads.
This rag of scarlet cloth—for
time, and wear, and a sacrilegious
moth had reduced it to little other
than a rag —on careful
examination, assumed the shape
32
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
sensibilities : susceptibilidad, sentimientos delicados, delicadeza
[sensibilidad corresponde a
sensitivity]
25
30
35
40
45
tr. de A. Ruste
of a letter.
la forma de una letra.
It was the capital letter A. By
an accurate measurement, each
limb proved to be precisely three
inches and a quarter in length. It
had been intended, there could be
no doubt, as an ornamental article
of dress; but how it was to be
worn, or what rank, honour, and
dignity, in by-past times, were
signified by it, was a riddle which
(so evanescent are the fashions of
the world in these particulars) I
saw little hope of solving. And yet
it strangely interested me. My
eyes fastened themselves upon the
old scarlet letter, and would not
be turned aside. Certainly there
was some deep meaning in it most
worthy of interpretation, and
which, as it were, streamed forth
from the mystic symbol, subtly
communicating itself to my
sensibilities, but evading the
analysis of my mind.
Era la letra capital A. Cada
palo, por una gran precisión de medida, tenía la dimensión exacta de
tres pulgadas y un cuarto de longitud. Indudablemente fue hecha con
la intención de servir como artículo
de adorno en un vestido; pero, como
son tan raras las modas del mundo
en este particular, confié muy poco
en poder resolver cómo hubo de
ser usado, o qué rango, honor y
dignidad pudiera significar en los
pasados tiempos. Sin embargo,
me interesó extrañamente. M i s
o j o s no se apartaban de
a q u e l l a v i e j a l e tra r o j a .
I n d u d a b l e mente había en ella
algún significado que merecía la
pena de ser interpretado; c o m o
si me hallase traído por
un símbolo místico que
se comunicase a mis
sensibilidades, pero evitando el
análisis de mi imaginación.
When thus perplexed—and
cogitating,
among
other
hypotheses, whether the letter
might not have been one of those
decorations which the white men
used to contrive in order to take
the eyes of Indians—I happened
to place it on my breast. It seemed
to me—the reader may smile, but
must not doubt my word—it
seemed to me, then, that I
experienced a sensation not
altogether physical, yet almost
so, as of burning heat, and as if
the letter were not of red cloth,
but red-hot iron. I shuddered,
and involuntarily let it fall upon
the floor.
Cuando me hallaba así,
perplejo, pensando, entre
otras hipótesis, si la letra pudiera haber sido uno de esos
adornos que solía adornar la
gente blanca ante los ojos de
los indios, me ocurrió colocármela sobre el pecho. Me
pareció (el lector tal vez se
ría, pero no debe dudar de mi
palabra) que experimenté una
sensación, no por completo
física, pero casi, casi, como
un calor abrasador, como si la
letra no fuese de paño rojo,
sino de hierro. Temblé y la
arrojé repentinamente sobre
el suelo.
X
In
the
absorbing
contemplation of the scarlet letter,
I had hitherto neglected to
50 examine a small roll of dingy
paper, around which it had been
twisted. This I now opened, and
had the satisfaction to find
recorded by the old Surveyor’s
55 pen, a reasonably complete
explanation of the whole affair.
There were several foolscap
sheets,
containing
many
particulars respecting the life and
60 conversation of one Hester
En la absorta contemplación de la letra roja no había
hasta entonces examinado un
mugriento rollito de papel, al
que había sido arrollada. Lo
abrí y tuve la satisfacción de
encontrar, de puño y letra del
viejo administrador, una completa explicación de todo el
asunto. Había varias hojas de
papel de escribir, de 35 por 43
pulgadas, conteniendo muchos
detalles referentes a la vida y
conversión de una tal Ester
33
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
pry 1 1 (usu. foll. by into) inquire
impertinently (into a person’s private
affairs, stick one’s nose in etc.). 2
(usu. foll. by into, about, etc.) look or
peer inquisitively.
U.S.= prise v. & n. (also prize) force
open or out by leverage (prised up
the lid; prised the box open).
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
Prynne, que parecía haber sido
personaje muy notable según
[59] nuestros antecesores. Parecía haber florecido en el período comprendido entre los primeros días de Massachusetts y
fin del siglo XVII. Los ancianos que vivieron en la época del
señor Pue, de cuyos testimonios
orales había sacado la narración, la recordaban como haber
sido en la juventud de ellos muy
anciana, pero no decrépita, sino
de un aspecto majestuoso y solemne. Desde fecha inmemorial
había sido su hábito recorrer el
país como una enfermera voluntaria, haciendo todo el bien que
p o d í a , y, a l p r o p i o t i e m p o ,
aconsejando en toda clase de
asuntos, especialmente en los
relativos al corazón, por lo que,
como tenía que sucederle a persona de tales propensiones, fue
mirada por muchas gentes con
la reverencia de un ángel; pero
supongo que por otras como
una intrusa y una entrometida.
Yendo más adelante en la inspección del manuscrito, encontré el relato de otros hechos y sufrimientos de esta
mujer singular, muchos de los
cuales hallará el lector referidos en la historia titulada La
letra roja, y ha de guardar cuidadosamente en la memoria el
que muchos de los principales
hechos están autorizados y
autenticados por el administrador Pue. Los papeles originales, juntamente con la letra
roja, la más curiosa reliquia, se
hallan todavía en mi poder y
serán exhibidos a cualquiera
que, inducido por el gran interés del relato, desee verlos. No
ha de entenderse que yo afirme que, al vestir la narración e
imaginándome los motivos y
formas de pasión de los personajes que en ella figuran, me
haya sujetado invariablemente
a los límites de la media docena de hojas de papel del viejo
administrador. Por el contrario,
me he permitido, hasta cierto
punto, tanta licencia como si los
hechos fueran enteramente de
mi invención. Lo que doy como
Prynne, who appeared to have
been rather a noteworthy
personage in the view of our
ancestors. She had flourished
during the period between the
early days of Massachusetts and
the close of the seventeenth
century. Aged persons, alive in the
time of Mr. Surveyor Pue, and
from whose oral testimony he had
made up his narrative,
remembered her, in their youth, as
a very old, but not decrepit
woman, of a stately and solemn
aspect. It had been her habit, from
an almost immemorial date, to go
about the country as a kind of
voluntary nurse, and doing
whatever miscellaneous good she
might; taking upon herself,
likewise, to give advice in all
matters, especially those of the
heart, by which means—as a
person of such propensities
inevitably must—she gained from
many people the reverence due to
an angel, but, I should imagine,
was looked upon by others as an
intruder and a nuisance. Prying
further into the manuscript, I
found the record of other doings
and sufferings of this singular
woman, for most of which the
reader is referred to the story
entitled “THE SCARLET
LETTER”; and it should be borne
carefully in mind that the main
facts of that story are authorized
and authenticated by the
document of Mr. Surveyor Pue.
The original papers, together with
the scarlet letter itself—a most
curious relic—are still in my
possession, and shall be freely
exhibited to whomsoever, induced
by the great interest of the
narrative, may desire a sight of
them I must not be understood
affirming that, in the dressing up
of the tale, and imagining the
motives and modes of passion that
influenced the characters who
figure in it, I have invariably
confined myself within the limits
of the old Surveyor’s half-a-dozen
sheets of foolscap. On the
contrary, I have allowed myself,
as to such points, nearly, or
altogether, as much license as if
the facts had been entirely of my
34
Notas
shortly dentro de poco
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
own invention. What I contend for
is the authenticity of the outline.
seguro es la autenticidad de las
líneas generales.
This incident recalled my
5 mind, in some degree, to its
old track. There seemed to be
here the groundwork of a tale.
It impressed me as if the
ancient Surveyor, in his garb
10 of a hundred years gone by,
and wearing his immortal
wig—which was buried with
him, but did not perish in the
grave—had bet me in the
15 d e s e r t e d c h a m b e r o f t h e
Custom-House. In his port was
the dignity of one who had borne
His Majesty’s commission, and
who was therefore illuminated by
20 a ray of the splendour that shone
so dazzlingly about the
throne. How unlike alas the
hangdog look of a republican
official, who, as the servant of
25 the people, feels himself less
than the least, and below the
lowest of his masters. With his
own ghostly hand, the
obscurely seen, but majestic,
30 figure had imparted to me the
scarlet symbol and the little roll
of explanatory manuscript.
With his own ghostly voice he
had exhorted me, on the
35 s a c r e d c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f m y
filial duty and reverence
towards him—who might
reasonably regard himself as
my official ancestor—to bring
40 h i s m o u l d y a n d m o t h - e a t e n
lucubrations before the
public. “Do this,” said the
ghost of Mr. Surveyor Pue,
emphatically nodding the
45 head that looked so imposing
within its memorable wig; “do
this, and the profit shall be all
your own. You will shor tly
need it; for it is not in your
50 days as it was in mine, when
a m a n ’s o f f i c e w a s a l i f e lease, and oftentimes an
heirloom. But I charge you, in
this matter of old Mistress
55 P r y n n e ,
give
to
your
p r e d e c e s s o r ’s m e m o r y t h e
credit which will be rightfully
due” And I said to the ghost of
Mr. Surveyor Pue—‘‘I will”.
60
En algún grado me recuerda este incidente su vieja Huella; parece tener aquí el fundamento de una historia. Me impresionó como si el viejo administrador, [60] con su vestimenta de hace un siglo y llevando su peluca inmortal (que
fue enterrada con él, pero que
no pereció en la tumba), me hubiese tropezado en el cuarto de
la Aduana. En su porte estaba
la dignidad de uno que había
mantenido la encomienda de
Su Majestad y que fue, así
pues, iluminado por un rayo
del esplendor que brilló tan
vulgarmente alrededor de su
trono. Qué distinta, ¡ay!, la
mirada camastrona de un vista
de la República que, como servidor del pueblo, se cree menos que el menor y por bajo del
más bajo de sus jefes. Con su
propia mano espiritual, la oscura, pero mayestática figura,
me había alargado el símbolo
rojo y el pequeño rollo del manuscrito explicatorio. Con su
propia voz espiritual me había
exhortado, en la consideración
sagrada de mi deber filial y reverencia hacia él (que pudo
considerarse razonablemente
como mi antecesor oficial), a
traer sus moldeadas y enmohecidas lucubraciones a conocimiento del público. «¡Haz
esto!, dijo el espíritu del administrador señor Pue, moviendo
enfáticamente la cabeza, que
parecía tan imponente dentro
de la memorable peluca; ¡haz
esto y el provecho será todo
tuyo! Escasamente lo necesitarás, porque no era en tus días,
sino en los míos, cuando el cargo de un hombre era un descanso en la vida, y con frecuencia
una herencia. ¡Pero te encargo,
en el asunto de la vieja señora
Prynne, que des a la memoria
de tu predecesor el crédito que
le sea debido!» Y yo le dije al
espíritu del señor Pue: «¡Lo
haré!»
X
X
35
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
tarnish 1 a a loss of lustre. b a film of
colour formed on an exposed surface
of a mineral or metal. 2 a blemish; a
stain. empañar, deslustrar,
40
45
kindle glow, light, encender,
encandecer, arouse, inspire,
despertar
50
grin : mueca o contorsión del rostro 1
a facial expression characterized
by turning up the corners of the
mouth; usually shows pleasure or
amusement
2 to draw back the lips and reveal
the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or
snarl.
1 intr. a smile broadly, showing the
teeth, smiled toothly, unrestrained,
or stupid smile.
2 tr. express by grinning (grinned his
satisfaction). Sonreír abiertamente: the little boy grinned from ear
to ear, el pequeño sonreía de oreja a oreja.
Sonreir con algún tipo de mueca o gesticulación facial (desdeñosa, burlona, etc.)
55
60
On Hester Prynne’s story,
therefore, I bestowed much
thought. It was the subject of my
meditations for many an hour,
while pacing to and fro across my
room, or traversing, with a
hundredfold repetition, the long
extent from the front door of the
Custom-House to the side
entrance, and back again. Great
were the weariness and
annoyance of the old Inspector
and the Weighers and Gaugers,
whose slumbers were disturbed by
the unmercifully lengthened
tramp of my passing and returning
footsteps. Remembering their
own former habits, they used to
say that the Surveyor was walking
the quarter-deck. They probably
fancied that my sole object—and,
indeed, the sole object for which
a sane man could ever put himself
into voluntary motion—was to get
an appetite for dinner. And, to say
the truth, an appetite, sharpened
by the east wind that generally
blew along the passage, was the
only valuable result of so much
indefatigable exercise. So little
adapted is the atmosphere of a
Custom-house to the delicate
harvest of fancy and sensibility,
that, had I remained there through
ten Presidencies yet to come, I
doubt whether the tale of “The
Scarlet Letter” would ever have
been brought before the public
eye. My imagination was a
tarnished mirror. It would not
reflect, or only with miserable
dimness, the figures with which I
did my best to people it. The
characters of the narrative would
not be warmed and rendered
malleable by any heat that I could
kindle at my intellectual forge.
They would take neither the glow
of passion nor the tenderness of
sentiment, but retained all the
rigidity of dead corpses, and
stared me in the face with a fixed
and ghastly grin of contemptuous
defiance. “What have you to do
with us?” that expression seemed
to say. “The little power you might
have once possessed over the tribe
of unrealities is gone You have
bartered it for a pittance of the
public gold. Go then, and earn
tr. de A. Ruste
X
36
En la historia de Ester
Prynne, pues, gasté mucho
pensamiento. Fue muchas horas objeto de mis meditaciones, mientras paseaba de un
lado a otro de mi cuarto, al
atravesar cien veces el espacio comprendido entre la
puerta principal de la aduana
y la entrada lateral. Grande
fue el aburrimiento y el estorbo que al viejo inspector,
a los pesadores y medidores
producían mis paseos inclementes y prolongados. Recordando [61] sus propias costumbres antiguas, decían que
el administrador paseaba por
el alcázar. Sin duda se imaginaban que mi solo objeto (y,
en efecto, lo es para un hombre sano el ponerse en movimiento voluntario) era el de
hacer apetito para comer. Y,
a decir verdad, sólo apetito
era lo que sacaba de aquel
ejercicio
infatigable
agudizado por el viento Este
que generalmente soplaba en
aquel pasaje. Tan poco adaptable es la atmósfera de una
aduana a la delicada cosecha
de fantasía y sensibilidad,
qu e , s i h u b i e s e p e r m a n e c i do allí a través de diez presidencias venideras, dudo
q u e « L a letra roja» fuera
puesta a la vista del público.
Mi imaginación era un espejo
empañado. No era capaz de reflejar, aun sólo con miserable
vaguedad, las figuras que procuraba firmemente que reflejase. Los personajes de mi narración no se caldeaban ni maleaban
por calor alguno que pudiese
aportar la fragua de mi inteligencia. No tomaban ni el tono de
la pasión, ni la blandura del sentimiento, sino que retenían la rigidez de los cuerpos muertos, y
me miraban fijamente a la cara
con sonrisa burlona, de agradable
desafío. «¿Qué tienes tú que hacer con
nosotros?», era la expresión que parecían decir. «¡El pequeño poder que en
alguna ocasión pudiste poseer sobre
la serie de irrealidades, ha pasado! ¡Tú
la has trujamaneado por un puñado de
oro público! ¡Ve, pues, y gana tus ho-
render
hacer inútil, resultar, dejar
(ciego), presentar, dar, rendir (cuentas), prestar (ayuda), enlucir, interpretar, traducir, verter
render v.tr. 1 cause to be or become;
make (rendered us helpless). 2 give
or pay (money, service, etc.), esp.
in return or as a thing due (render
thanks; rendered good for evil). 3
(often foll. by to) a give (assistance)
(rendered aid to the injured man).
b show (obedience etc.). c do (a
service etc.). 4 submit; send in;
present (an account, reason, etc.). 5
a represent or portray artistically,
musically, etc. b act (a role);
represent (a character, idea, etc.)
(the dramatist’s conception was
well rendered). c Mus. perform;
execute. 6 translate (rendered the
poem into French). 7 (often foll. by
down) melt down (fat etc.) esp. to
clarify; extract by melting. 8 cover
(stone or brick) with a coat of
plaster. 9 archaic a give back; hand
over; deliver, give up, surrender
(render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s). b show (obedience).
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
your wages” In short, the almost
torpid creatures of my own fancy
twitted me with imbecility, and
not without fair occasion.
norarios!» en una palabra, las casi aletargadas criaturas de mi propia fantasía me reprendían llamándome imbécil, y nunca con mejor ocasión.
It was not merely during the
three hours and a half which
Uncle Sam claimed as his share
of my daily life that this wretched
numbness held possession of me.
It went with me on my sea-shore
walks and rambles into the
country, whenever—which was
seldom and reluctantly—I
bestirred myself to seek that
invigorating charm of Nature
which used to give me such
freshness and activity of thought,
the moment that I stepped across
the threshold of the Old Manse.
The same torpor, as regarded the
capacity for intellectual effort,
accompanied me home, and
weighed upon me in the chamber
which I most absurdly termed my
study. Nor did it quit me when,
late at night, I sat in the deserted
parlour, lighted only by the
glimmering coal-fire and the
moon, striving to picture forth
imaginary scenes, which, the next
day, might flow out on the
brightening page in many-hued
description.
No era solamente durante
las tres horas y media que el
tío Sam reclamaba de mi vida
diaria, en las que estos desdichados entumecimientos se
apoderaban de mí; me acompañaban en mis paseos por la
playa y por el campo, cua n do, rara vez y a disgusto,
me permitía buscar el vigorizante encanto de la naturaleza, que tal frescura y actividad de pensamiento solía darme en cuanto pisaba el umbral
de la Vieja Mansión. El [62]
mismo entorpecimiento me embargaba, respecto a la capacidad de
mi esfuerzo intelectual, en casa, y
pesaba sobre mí en el cuarto que
lo más absurdamente llamaba mi
estudio. Tampoco me abandonaba
cuando, tarde por la noche, me sentaba en el desierto salón, alumbrado tan sólo por el reflejo del fuego
del carbón y por la luna, tratando
de arrancarme escenas imaginarias
que, al siguiente día, pudieran abrillantar la página de una matizada
descripción.
If the imaginative faculty
refused to act at such an hour,
it might well be deemed a
hopeless case. Moonlight, in
a familiar room, falling so
white upon the carpet, and
showing all its figures so
distinctly—making every
object so minutely visible,
yet so unlike a morning or
noontide visibility—is a
medium the most suitable for
a romance-writer to get
acquainted with his illusive
guests. There is the little
domestic scenery of the wellknown apartment; the chairs,
with each its separate
individuality; the centretable, sustaining a workbasket, a volume or two, and
an extinguished lamp; the
sofa; the book-case; the
picture on the wall—all these
details, so completely seen,
Si la facultad imaginativa rechazaba el actuar a aquellas horas, bien podía juzgarse como un
caso sin esperanza. La luz de la
luna en una habitación de casa
familiar, cayendo tan blanca sobre la alfombra y mostrando sus
dibujos tan claramente, haciendo
tan minuciosamente visibles todos los objetos, aun siendo una
mañana tan inapropiada o una visibilidad tan meridional, es un
medio de lo más a propósito para
que un novelista se relacione
con sus huéspedes ilusorios.
Allí está la pequeña escena doméstica de su bien conocido
cuarto: las sillas, cada una con
separada individualidad; la
mesa central, que sostiene un
cestillo, uno 0 dos volúmenes
y una lámpara apagada; el
sofá; la librería; el cuadro sobre
la pared; todos estos detalles tan
completamente vistos se hallan
5
10
bestir rouse, be active, exert onself,
agitar, darse prisa, incitar, menear,
mover, remover
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
37
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
streak 1 raya streak of lightning, rayo 2
fig (de locura, etc) vena fig (de suerte) racha 3 (en el pelo) reflejo, mechón 4 pequeña parte: there’s a
streak of French blood in her, tiene
su pizca de sangre francesa
1 rayar [with, con] 2 (el pelo) poner
mechas a
1 to streak past, pasar como un rayo
2 familiar correr desnudo,-a streak
1 an unbroken series of events; «had a
streak of bad luck»; «Nicklaus had a
run of birdies»
2 a distinctive characteristic; «he has a
stubborn streak»; «a streak of
wildness»
3 a marking of a different color or texture
from the background
4 a sudden flash (as of lightning)
1 move quickly in a straight line; «The
plane streaked across the sky»
2 run naked in a public place
3 mark with spots or blotches of different
color or shades of color as if stained
unobtrusive = inconspicuos, shrinking
from intuding, not readily
noticeable, discreto, moderado,
separado, distinto,
30
35
40
45
50
sensibilities : susceptibilidad, sentimientos delicados, delicadeza
[sensibilidad corresponde a
sensitivity]
55
encandencido
60
tr. de A. Ruste
are so spiritualised by the
unusual light, that they seem
to lose their actual substance,
and become things of
intellect. Nothing is too small
or too trifling to undergo this
change, and acquire dignity
thereby. A child’s shoe; the
doll, seated in her little
wicker carriage; the hobbyhorse—whatever, in a word,
has been used or played with
during the day is now
invested with a quality of
strangeness and remoteness,
though still almost as vividly
present as by daylight. Thus,
therefore, the floor of our
familiar room has become a
neutral territory, somewhere
between the real world and
fairy-land, where the Actual
and the Imaginary may meet,
and each imbue itself with
t h e n a t u r e o f t h e o t h e r.
Ghosts might enter here
without affrighting us. It
would be too much in
keeping with the scene to
excite surprise, were we to
look about us and discover a
form, beloved, but gone
hence, now sitting quietly in a
streak of this magic moonshine,
with an aspect that would make
us doubt whether it had returned
from afar, or had never once
stirred from our fireside.
tan espiritualizados por una luz
no usual, que parecen perder su
actual sustancia y convertirse en
cosas del intelecto. Nada es demasiado pequeño o demasiado
fútil para experimentar este cambio y adquirir dignidad de ese
modo. El zapatito de un niño,
la muñeca sentada en su pequeño y delicado cochecillo, el caballejo de cartón, cualquier
cosa, en suma, que se haya usado o con la que se haya jugado
durante el día, se ve entonces
investida de una cualidad de extrañeza y antigüedad más vivamente presente que a plena luz
del día. Así pues, por tanto, el
suelo de nuestro cuarto familiar
se ha convertido en un territorio neutral, de algún sitio entre
el mundo real y el imaginario,
donde pueden tropezarse [63] lo
Actual y lo Imaginario e imbuirse cada uno con la naturaleza del
otro. Los espíritus deben entrar
aquí sin asustarnos. Sería demasiado, al contemplar la escena
con sorpresa excitante, si mirásemos a nuestro alrededor y descubriésemos una forma amada,
pero desaparecida de allí, que
estuviese sentada tranquilamente en un rayo luminoso de la
luna, con un aspecto que nos
hiciera dudar si habría vuelto de
lejos o si jamás se había movido de nuestro hogar.
The somewhat dim coal fire
has an essential Influence in
producing the effect which I
would describe. It throws its
unobtrusive tinge throughout the
room, with a faint ruddiness upon
the walls and ceiling, and a
reflected gleam upon the polish of
the furniture. This warmer light
mingles itself with the cold
spirituality of the moon-beams,
and communicates, as it were, a
heart and sensibilities of human
tenderness to the forms which
fancy summons tip. It converts
them from snow-images into men
and women. Glancing at the
looking-glass, we behold—deep
within its haunted verge—the
smouldering glow of the halfextinguished anthracite, the white
El oscuro fuego del carbón
tiene una influencia esencial
para producir el efecto que he
de describir. Arroja sobre la habitación un tinte discreto, con
un débil resplandor rojizo sobre las paredes y el techo, y un
brillante reflejo sobre el pulimento del mobiliario. Esta luz,
más caldeada, se mezcla con la
fría espiritualidad de los rayos
lunares, y comunica, por decirlo así, corazón y sensibilidades
de ternura humana a las formas
que nuestra fantasía evoca. Las
convierte de imágenes de hielo, en hombres y mujeres. Mirando al espejo vemos, muy
dentro de su esfera encantada,
el rescoldo de la medio extinguida antracita, el blanco refle-
X
38
smouldering incandescente, latente, en
ascuas, abrasadora, encandecido,
rescoldo, en ascuas,
smoulder 1 burn slowly with smoke but
without a flame; slowly burn internally
or invisibly; burn withing, . 2 (of
emotions etc.) exist in a suppressed
or concealed state. 3 (of a person)
show silent or suppressed anger,
hatred, etc.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
moon-beams on the floor, and a
repetition of all the gleam and
shadow of the picture, with one
remove further from the actual,
5 and nearer to the imaginative.
Then, at such an hour, and with
this scene before him, if a man,
sitting all alone, cannot dream
strange things, and make them
10 look like truth, he need never try
to write romances.
jo de la luna sobre el suelo, y
una repetición de toda luz y
sombra de la pintura, más cerca de lo imaginativo que de lo
actual. Entonces, a tal hora, y
con esta escena ante él, un hombre que se halla sentado y solo
no es capaz de soñar cosas extrañas y hacer que parezcan reales, no debe jamás intentar escribir novelas.
But, for myself, during the
whole of my Custom-House
15 e x p e r i e n c e , m o o n l i g h t a n d
sunshine, and the glow of
firelight, were just alike in my
regard; and neither of them was
of one whit more avail than the
whit n. a particle; a least possible
amount (not a whit better). ápice,
20
twinkle
of a tallow-candle. An
pizca, brizna
entire class of susceptibilities,
and a gift connected with
them—of no great richness or
value, but the best I had—was
25 gone from me.
Pero, en cuanto a mí, durante toda mi experiencia en la
aduana, la luz de la luna y la del
resplandor del fuego eran semejantes, a mi modo de ver, y
ninguna de ellas tenía un
apéndice más de ventaja que el
parpadeo de una vela de sebo. Una
completa clase de susceptibilidades y un don con ellas relacionado, de no mayor riqueza o valor,
pero lo mejor que yo tenía, me
habían abandonado.
It is my belief, however, that
had I attempted a different order
of composition, my faculties
would not have been found so
pointless and inefficacious. I
might, for instance, have
contented myself with writing
out the narratives of a veteran
s h i p m a s t e r, o n e o f t h e
Inspectors, whom I should be
most ungrateful not to mention,
since scarcely a day passed that
he did not stir me to laughter and
admiration by his marvelous
gifts as a story-teller. Could I
have preserved the picturesque
force of his style, and the
humourous colouring which
nature taught him how to throw
over his descriptions, the result,
I honestly believe, would have
been something new in
literature. Or I might readily
have found a more serious task.
I t w a s a f o l l y, w i t h t h e
materiality of this daily life
pressing so intrusively upon me,
to attempt to fling myself back
into another age, or to insist on
creating the semblance of a
world out of airy matter, when,
at every moment, the impalpable
beauty of my soap-bubble was
broken by the rude contact of
Es mi creencia, sin embargo,
que de haber intentado [64] otro
orden de composición, mis facultades no hubiesen sido t a n
inciertas e ineficaces. Me
hubiera contentado, por
ejemplo, con escribir las narraciones de un veterano pat r ó n d e b a r c o , l a d e uno de
los inspectores, a quien sería
ingrato no mencionar, ya que
escasamente pasaba día sin que
me hiciese excitar de risa y admiración por su maravilloso
don como cuentista. Si pudiera
haber conservado su pintoresca fuerza de estilo y el colorido humorístico con que le
dotó la naturaleza para emplearlo en las descripciones,
creo honradamente que hubiese constituido una novedad en
la literatura, o quizás hubiera
encontrado prontamente una tarea
más seria. Era una locura, con la
materialidad de esta vida cotidiana que tan intrusamente pesaba
sobre mí, intentar lanzarme pasos
atrás a otras épocas, o insistir en crear la semblanza de
un mundo fuera de la ma teria etérea, cuando a cada momento, la impalpable belleza
de mi burbuja de jabón se
30
pointless varias, inútiles
35
40
45
50
55
60
39
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
import what is implied, sense,
importance, meaning, purport,
transcendence
flit / revolotear 1 move lightly, softly, or
rapidly (flitted from one room to
another). verb 1 flutter, fleet, dart
move along rapidly and lightly; skim
or dart ; fly lightly; make short flights,
(revolotear) (flitted from branch to
branch). 3 Brit. colloq. leave one’s
house etc. secretly to escape
creditors or obligations. 4 esp. Sc. &
N.Engl. change one’s home; move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
revolotear: the butterflies flitted around
the flowers, las mariposas revoloteaban alrededor de las flores
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
volatile 1 evaporating rapidly (volatile
salts). 2 changeable, fickle. 3 lively,
light-hearted (frívola) 4 apt to break
out into violence. 5 transient.
1. explosivo, inestable 2. voluble, veleidoso, insconstante, fugaz, transitorio, mudable
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
some actual circumstance. The
wiser effort would have been to
diffuse thought and imagination
through the opaque substance of
to-day, and thus to make it a
bright
transparency;
to
spiritualise the burden that
began to weigh so heavily; to
seek, resolutely, the true and
indestructible value that lay
hidden in the petty and
wearisome incidents, and
ordinary characters with which
I was now conversant. The fault
was mine. The page of life that
was spread out before me
seemed dull and commonplace
only because I had not fathomed
its deeper import. A better book
than I shall ever write was there;
leaf after leaf presenting itself to
me, just as it was written out by
the reality of the flitting hour,
and vanishing as fast as written,
only because my brain wanted
the insight, and my hand the
cunning, to transcribe it. At
some future day, it may be, I
shall remember a few scattered
fragments
and
broken
paragraphs, and write them
down, and find the letters turn
to gold upon the page.
r o m p í a a l rudo contacto de
cualquier circunstancia actual. El
más sabio esfuerzo hubiera sido difundir el pensamiento y la imaginación a través de la opaca sustancia del hoy, y así hacerla de una brillante transparencia, espiritualizar la
carga que comenzaba a hacerse tan
pesada, buscar resueltamente el valor verdadero e indestructible que
yacía oculto en los incidentes mezquinos y fastidiosos y en los caracteres ordinarios de los que conversaban conmigo. La culpa fue
mía. La página de vida que se hallaba extendida ante mí parecíame
oscura y vulgar, sólo porque no
había sondeado en su más honda significación. Allí estaba el
mejor libro que jamás escribiré, presentándose ante mí, hoja tras hoja,
como si propiamente estuviese escrito por la realidad de la hora fugaz y
se desvaneciera con la misma rapidez con que fue escrito, sólo porque
mi cerebro necesitaba su perspicacia y mi mano la agudeza para
transcribirlo. En algún día futuro
puede ser que recuerde algunos fragmentos [65] desparramados y párrafos incompletos, y los escriba y
vea cómo se convierten en oro las
letras de sus páginas.
These perceptions had come
too late. At the Instant, I was only
conscious that what would have
been a pleasure once was now a
hopeless toil. There was no
occasion to make much moan
about this state of affairs. I had
ceased to be a writer of tolerably
poor tales and essays, and had
become a tolerably good
Surveyor of the Customs. That
was all. But, nevertheless, it is
anything but agreeable to be
haunted by a suspicion that one’s
intellect is dwindling away, or
exhaling,
without
your
consciousness, like ether out of
a phial; so that, at every glance,
you find a smaller and less
volatile residuum. Of the fact
there could be no doubt and,
examining myself and others, I
was led to conclusions, in
reference to the effect of public
office on the character, not very
favourable to the mode of life in
Estas prescripciones han llegado muy tarde. En aquel momento no sabía más que lo que
una vez pudiera haber sido un
placer entonces era un trabajo
inútil. No había ocasión de lamentarse sobre aquel estado de
cosas. Había cesado de ser escritor tolerable de pobres cuentos y
ensayos literarios, y me había
convertido en un tolerable y buen
administrador de aduanas. Eso
era todo. Pero, no obstante, no
deja de ser desagradable el que
le asalte a uno la sospecha de que
la inteligencia se le va, o la exhalas, sin darte cuenta, como el
éter de una redoma, de tal modo
que, a cada mirada, ves un residuo menor y menos volátil. Del
hecho no podía haber duda y,
examinándome y examinando a
otros, llegué a conclusiones, con
relación al efecto del oficio público sobre el carácter, no muy
favorables en cuantro al modo de
40
Notas
enervated, unnerved deprivation
of strength or resolution,
enervado; enervante puede ser
eso (debilitado) y lo contrario
(nervioso)
throe n. (usu. in pl.) 1 a violent pang,
esp. of childbirth or death. 2 anguish.
Angustias, dolores, sobresaltos, ansias, agonía
in the throes of struggling with the
task of. estar subriendo todas las
molestias = en la AGONÍA de la
muerte (o de las contraciones del
parto) 1. f. Angustia y congoja del
moribundo; estado que precede a la
muerte. 2. fig. Pena o aflicción extremada. 3. Angustia o congoja provocadas por conflictos espirituales *
espasmo 2. Pat. Contracción
involuntaria de los músculos, producida generalmente por mecanismo
reflejo.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
question. In some other form,
perhaps, I may hereafter develop
these effects. Suffice it here to
say that a Custom-House officer
5 of long continuance can hardly
be a very praiseworthy or
respectable personage, for many
reasons; one of them, the tenure
by which he holds his situation,
10 and another, the very nature of
his business, which—though, I
trust, an honest one—is of such
a sort that he does not share in
the united effort of mankind.
15
An effect—which I believe to
be observable, more or less, in
every individual who has
occupied the position—is, that
20 while he leans on the mighty arm
of the Republic, his own proper
strength, departs from him. He
loses, in an extent proportioned to
the weakness or force of his
25 original nature, the capability of
self-support. If he possesses an
unusual share of native energy, or
the enervating magic of place do
not operate too long upon him, his
30 forfeited powers may be
redeemable. The ejected officer—
fortunate in the unkindly shove
that sends him forth betimes, to
struggle amid a struggling
35 world—may return to himself,
and become all that he has ever
been. But this seldom happens.
He usually keeps his ground just
long enough for his own ruin,
40 and is then thrust out, with
sinews all unstrung, to totter
along the difficult footpath of
life as he best may. Conscious
of his own infirmity —that
45 h i s t e m p e r e d s t e e l a nd
elasticity are lost—he for ever
afterwards looks wistfully about
him in quest of support external
to himself. His pervading and
50 continual hope —a hallucination,
which, in the face of all
discouragement, and making
light of impossibilities, haunts
him while he lives, and, I fancy,
55 like the convulsive throes of the
cholera, torments him for a brief
space after death—is, that
finally, and in no long time, by
some happy coincidence of
60 c i r c u m s t a n c e s , h e s h a l l b e
tr. de A. Ruste
vida en cuestión. En alguna otra
forma, quizá pudiese _____ desarrollar estos efectos. Baste decir aquí
que un oficial de aduanas de largo
ejercicio, escasamente puede ser un
personaje digno de alabanza o
respetable, por muchas razones;
una de ellas, la tenencia por la
cual sostiene su empleo, y otra
la propia naturaleza de su cargo,
que aunque yo lo creo honrado,
es de tal especie que aquél no
toma parte en el esfuerzo unido
de la humanidad.
X
41
Un efecto que creo puede observarse más o menos en todo individuo que haya ocupado el cargo, es el de que mientras él se apoya en el brazo de la República, le
abandonan sus propias fuerzas.
Pierde la capacidad de su propio
sostén en una extensión proporcionada a la debilidad o fuerza de su
carácter original. Si posee una parte poco común de su energía nativa, o si no opera sobre él por mucho tiempo la magia enervante
del lugar, sus fuerzas
p e r d i d a s p ueden recobrarse.
El [66] oficial expulsado (afortunado porque el áspero empujón le ha echado fuera, a tiempo de luchar entre el mundo luchador) quizá vuelva en sí y se
convierta en lo que siempre fue.
Pero esto ocurre rara vez.
Generalmente conserva su puesto el tiempo suficiente para labrar
su ruina, y se le arroja, con todas
sus fibras desencordadas, para
que vague por la difícil senda de
la vida, como mejor pueda. Conocedor de su propia debilidad, de
que su acero templado y su elasticidad se han perdido, continúa después mirando _______ siempre a
su alrededor en busca de apoyo
externo. Su continua y perseverante esperanza (una alucinación
que, a la cara de toda cobardía
y haciendo luz de imposibilidades le asalta, mientras vive,
y supongo que, com o l a s
a g ó n i c a s c o n v u l s i o n e s del
cólera, le atormenta por breve espacio después de la muerte) es
que, finalmente, y no tras largo
tiempo, por alguna feliz coincidencia o circunstancia, será
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
glitter : brillo, oropel, tinsel, sparkle, glint;
relucir, centellear, fulgir, fulgente,
centelleante, chispeante,
20
25
30
35
40
45
pry 1 1 (usu. foll. by into) inquire
impertinently (into a person’s private
affairs etc.). 2 (usu. foll. by into,
about, etc.) look or peer inquisitively.
U.S.= prise v. & n. (also prize)
force open or out by leverage (prised 50
up the lid; prised the box open).
accrue 1 grow by addition; «The
interest accrues» 2 come into the
possession of; «The house accrued
to the oldest son»
acumularse, proceder, derivarse, resultar, acumularse
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
restored to office. This faith,
more than anything else, steals
the pith and availability out of
whatever enterprise he may
dream of undertaking. Why
should he toil and moil, and be at
so much trouble to pick himself
up out of the mud, when, in a little
while hence, the strong arm of his
Uncle will raise and support him?
Why should he work for his living
here, or go to dig gold in
California, when he is so soon to
be made happy, at monthly
intervals, with a little pile of
glittering coin out of his
U n c l e ’s p o c k e t ? I t i s s a d l y
curious to observe how slight a
taste of office suffices to infect
a poor fellow with this singular
disease. Uncle Sam’s gold—
meaning no disrespect to the
worthy old gentleman—has, in
this respect, a quality of
enchantment like that of the
devil’s wages. Whoever touches
it should look well to himself,
or he may find the bargain to go
hard against him, involving, if
not his soul, yet many of its
better attributes; its sturdy
force, its courage and constancy,
its truth, its self-reliance, and all
that gives the emphasis to manly
character.
repuesto en su empleo. La fe,
más que cosa alguna, le roba la
energía y la probabilidad de cualquier empresa que pudiera soñar
o acometer. ¿Por qué había de
trabajar y enfangarse y hallarse
tan embarazoso para salir del fango, cuando, dentro de poco, el
fuerte brazo de su tío habrá de
alzarle y sostenerle? ¿Por qué
había de trabajar para su sustento aquí o ir a excavar oro a
California, cuando tan pronto va
a ser feliz, a intervalos mensuales, con una pequeña pilita de
monedas relucientes de la bolsa de
su tío?, es tristemente curioso observar cómo un ligero paladeo de
un empleo hasta para infeccionar
a un pobre sujeto con esta enfermedad singular. El oro del tío Sam
(sin que esto signifique falta de
respeto para el anciano caballero)
tiene en este respecto una cualidad de hechizo como la de los jornales del diablo. Cualquiera que
lo toque se mirará bien a sí propio,
o encontrará que el trato va duramente en contra suya, envolviendo,
si no su alma, muchos de sus mejores atributos; su fuerza vigorosa,
su valor y constancia, su [67]
verdad, su propia confianza, y
todo cuanto da énfasis al carácter
masculino.
Here was a fine prospect in
the distance. Not that the
Surveyor brought the lesson
home to himself, or admitted
that he could be so utterly
undone, either by continuance
in office or ejectment. Yet my
reflections were not the most
comfortable. I began to grow
melancholy and restless;
continually prying into my
mind, to discover which of its
poor properties were gone, and
what degree of detriment had
already accrued to the
remainder. I endeavoured to
calculate how much longer I
could stay in the CustomHouse, and yet go forth a man.
To confess the truth, it was my
greatest apprehension—as it
would never be a measure of
policy to turn out so quiet an
individual as myself; and it
¡Aquí había una hermosa perspectiva en lontananza!, no la de
que el administrador llevase la lección a casa para él, o admitiese que
pudiera dejar de cumplirla completamente bien continuando en el
cargo o siendo expulsado. Sin embargo, mis reflexiones no eran confortables. Comencé a volverme
m e l a n c ó l i c o e i n t r a n q u ilo,
atormentado continuamente mi
cerebro por descubrir cuáles de
sus pobres cualidades habían
desaparecido y qué grado de detrimento había ya penetrado en
las restantes. Traté de calcular
qué tiempo más podía permanecer en la aduana y, sin embargo, continuar siendo un hombre.
A decir verdad, fue mi mayor
aprensión (ya que nunca hubiese
sido una medida de policía despedir a un individuo tan tranquilo como yo y que tan poco im42
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
sensibilities : susceptibilidad, sentimientos delicados, delicadeza
[sensibilidad corresponde a
sensitivity]
25
30
35
irksome tedious, annoying, tiresome.
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
being hardly in the nature of a
public officer to resign—it was
my chief trouble, therefore,
that I was likely to grow grey
and
decrepit
in
the
Surveyorship, and become
much such another animal as
the old Inspector. Might it not,
in the tedious lapse of official
life that lay before me, finally
be with me as it was with this
venerable friend—to make the
dinner-hour the nucleus of the
day, and to spend the rest of it,
as an old dog spends it, asleep
in the sunshine or in the shade?
A dreary look-forward, this, for
a man who felt it to be the best
definition of happiness to live
throughout the whole range of
his faculties and sensibilities
But, all this while, I was giving
myself very unnecessary alarm.
Providence had meditated
better things for me than I could
possibly imagine for myself.
puesto se hallaba en el carácter
de oficial público, para resignarse), mi principal trastorno, así
pues, el que fuese probable que
encaneciera y me hiciese decrépito en la administración y me
convirtiera en un animal semejante al viejo inspector; como,
en el aburrido lapso de mi vida
oficial que tenía por delante, no
me ocurriera lo que a ese venerable amigo, hacer núcleo del
día la hora de comer y emplear
las horas restantes, como lo
hace un perro viejo, en dormir
al sol o a la sombra. ¡Pavorosa
perspectiva para un hombre que
la apreciaba como la mejor definición de felicidad a través
de toda la serie de facultades
y sensibilidades! Pero, durante
todo este tiempo, me estaba causando alarma innecesaria. La Providencia había pensado las cosas
mejor para mí que yo posiblemente pudiera haberlo hecho.
A remarkable event of the
third year of my Surveyorship—
to adopt the tone of “P. P. “—was
the election of General Taylor to
the Presidency. It is essential, in
order to a complete estimate of
the advantages of official life, to
view the incumbent at the incoming
of
a
hostile
administration. His position is
then one of the most singularly
irksome , and, in every
contingency, disagreeable, that a
wretched mortal can possibly
occupy; with seldom an
alternative of good on either
hand, although what presents
itself to him as the worst event
may very probably be the best.
But it is a strange experience, to
a man of pride and sensibility, to
know that his interests are within
the control of individuals who
neither love nor understand him,
and by whom, since one or the
other must needs happen, he
would rather be injured than
obliged. Strange, too, for one
who has kept his calmness
throughout the contest, to
observe the bloodthirstiness that
is developed in the hour of
triumph, and to be conscious that
Un suceso notable, en el tercer día de mi administración,
fue (para adoptar el tono de «P.
P.») la elección del general
Taylor para la Presidencia. Para
poder apreciar completamente
las ventajas de la vida oficial,
es esencial ver la obligación en
el ingreso de una administración [68] hostil. Su destino es
entonces uno de los más singularmente cargantes y desagradables que, en toda contingencia, pueda posiblemente ocupar
un mortal, con rara alternativa
de bien, aunque lo que se pretende como el suceso peor, pueda muy bien ser el mejor. Pero
para un hombre de orgullo y
sensibilidad, es una rara experiencia el saber que los intereses se hallan en manos de individuos que ni le aman ni le entienden, y por quienes, ya que
con uno u otro había de ocurrir
necesariamente, más bien sería injuriado que alabado. ¡Es
también extraño para quien ha
conservado su calma durante
la contienda observar la sed
de venganza que se desarrolla en la hora del triunfo, y tener la c o n v i c c i ó n d e q u e é l
43
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
he is himself among its objects!
There are few uglier traits of
human nature than this
tendency—which
I
now
witnessed in men no worse than
their neighbours—to grow cruel,
merely because they possessed
the power of inflicting harm. If
the guillotine, as applied to
office-holders, were a literal fact,
instead of one of the most apt of
metaphors, it is my sincere belief
that the active members of the
victorious party were sufficiently
excited to have chopped off all
our heads, and have thanked
Heaven for the opportunity! It
appears to me—who have been a
calm and curious observer, as
well in victory as defeat—that
this fierce and bitter spirit of
malice and revenge has never
distinguished the many triumphs
of my own party as it now did that
of the Whigs. The Democrats
take the offices, as a general rule,
because they need them, and
because the practice of many
years has made it the law of
political warfare, which unless a
different system be proclaimed,
it was weakness and cowardice
to murmur at. But the long habit
of victory has made them
generous. They know how to
spare when they see occasion;
and when they strike, the axe may
be sharp indeed, but its edge is
seldom poisoned with ill-will;
nor is it their custom
ignominiously to kick the head
which they have just struck off.
mis mo está en sus propósitos!
Hay pocos rasgos de la nat u r a l eza humana más ricos que
esta tendencia, que ahora veo en
hombres no peores que sus vecinos, de hacerse crueles,
simplemente porque poseen el
poder de infringir daño. ¡Si la
guillotina, aplicada por los que
tienen cargos, fuese un hecho
literal en vez de una de las
metáforas más adecuadas, es mi
creencia sincera que los activos
miembros de la partida victoriosa
estarían lo bastante excitados para
haber segado todas nuestras cabezas, y darían gracias al cielo por la
oportunidad! Yo, que he sido un
tranquilo y curioso observador,
tanto en la victoria como en la derrota, creo que un espíritu fiero y
amargo de malicia y venganza ha
distinguido el triunfo de mi propio partido, como lo hizo ahora
con el de los centralistas. Los demócratas, por regla general, aceptan los cargos porque realmente los
necesitan y porque la práctica de
muchos años lo ha convertido en
ley de lucha política, de la que, a
menos de proclamarse otro sistema, sería débil y cobarde murmurar. Pero el viejo hábito de la
victoria les ha hecho generosos.
Saben cómo parar cuando ven
ocasión de hacerlo; y cuando atacan, el hacha podrá estar afilada,
en efecto, pero su filo rara vez se
envenena con mala [69] voluntad, ni es su costumbre arrojar
ignominiosamente a puntapiés la
cabeza que acaban de cortar.
In short, unpleasant as was
45 my predicament, at best, I saw
much reason to congratulate
myself that I was on the losing
side rather than the triumphant
one. If, heretofore, l had been
50 none of the warmest of partisans
I began now, at this season of
peril and adversity, to be pretty
acutely sensible with which
party my predilections lay; nor
55 was it without something like
regret and shame that, according
to a reasonable calculation of
chances, I saw my own prospect
of retaining office to be better
60 than those of my democratic
En suma, siendo tan desagradable mi condición, a lo mejor,
vi mucha razón para congratularme de estar en la parte de la derrota mejor que en la del triunfo.
Si, en otro tiempo, no fui de los
mejores partidarios, en esta época de peligro y adversidad comienzo a sentirme agudamente
compenetrado con el partido de
mis predilecciones. Tampoco fue
sin algo de sentimiento y vergüenza, respecto al cálculo razonable de probabilidades, el que
yo viera mi propia probabilidad
de sostener mi cargo mejor que
aquellos de mis hermanos los
5
10
15
excited y excitado conllevan la
idea de alegre, entusiasta, pero
excited tiene más denotaciones,
como nervioso, agitado, acalorado, emocionante. To excite y
excitar se refieren a estimular,
entusiasmar, pero to excite significa además emocionar / con- 20
mover, poner nervioso / agitado, provocar [emociones], instigar [desórdenes], alborotar
[gente], y to get excited es acalorarse. A su vez, excitar se usa
para to raise [dudas], arouse
[curiosidad, apetito]. Excitedly
significa
agitadao 25
acaloradamente.
Don’t get excited = no te pongas
nervioso.
30
35
40
predicament apuro, aprieto, lío, dilema,
trance, situación difícil: having been
robbed on her trip abroad, she was in
a real predicament, como le robaron
durante su viaje al extranjero, se encontró en un auténtico aprieto
predicament n. 1 a difficult, unpleasant,
or embarrassing situation, quandary,
plight. 2 Philos. a category in (esp.
Aristotelian) logic.
predicamento prestige, influence, standing, reputation.
tr. de A. Ruste
44
sensible se refiere a cuerdo, razonable, acertado [gusto, idea,
plan], sensato, módico [precio],
prudente, lógico, consciente,
práctico / cómodo [ropa, calzado], mientras que el español sensible traduce sensitive, feeling,
sentient,
regrettable,
noticeable / marked, sizable,
deplorable, tender, sore [adolorido]. Sensibility es sensibilidad, en el sentido de habilidad
de sentir, receptividad, en el
mundo personal, y además precisión, en el mundo mecánico;
el plural sensibilities se usa para
susceptibilidad, sentimientos
delicados, delicadeza; a su vez,
sensibilidad traduce sensitivity,
como percepción por los sentidos, radio, TV, foto.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
brethren. But who can see an
inch into futurity beyond his
nose? My own head was the first
that fell
demócratas. Pero ¿quién puede
ver en lo futuro un palmo más
allá de sus narices? ¡Mi cabeza
fue la primera que cayó!
The moment when a man’s
head drops off is seldom or
never, I am inclined to think,
precisely the most agreeable of
his life. Nevertheless, like the
greater part of our misfortunes,
even so serious a contingency
brings its remedy and
consolation with it, if the
sufferer will but make the best
rather than the worst, of the
accident which has befallen
him. In my particular case the
consolatory topics were close at
hand, and, indeed, had
suggested themselves to my
meditations a considerable time
before it was requisite to use
them. In view of my previous
weariness of office, and vague
thoughts of resignation, my
fortune somewhat resembled
that of a person who should
entertain an idea of committing
suicide, and although beyond
his hopes, meet with the good
hap to be murdered. In the
Custom-House, as before in the
Old Manse, I had spent three
years—a term long enough to
rest a weary brain: long enough
to break off old intellectual
habits, and make room for new
ones: long enough, and too
long, to have lived in an
unnatural state, doing what
was really of no advantage nor
delight to any human being, and
withholding myself from toil
that would, at least, have stilled
an unquiet impulse in me. Then,
m o r e o v e r, a s r e g a r d e d h i s
unceremonious ejectment, the
late Surveyor was not
altogether ill-pleased to be
recognised by the Whigs as an
enemy; since his inactivity in
political affairs—his tendency
to roam, at will, in that broad
and quiet field where all
mankind may meet, rather than
confine himself to those narrow
paths where brethren of the
same household must diverge
from
one
another—had
Cuando la cabeza de un
hombre se humilla, me inclino a creer que, rara vez o
nunca, es el momento más
agradable de su vida. No
obstante, como la mayor parte de nuestras desgracias,
aun una contingencia tan seria trae su remedio y consuelo con ella, si el que sufre
hace lo mejor, y no lo peor,
d e l a c c i d e n t e q u e l e h a ocurrido. En mi caso particular,
los tópicos del consuelo se
hallan a mano y, efectivamente, me condujeron a largas
meditaciones antes de que
fuese un requisito el hacer
uso de ellas. En vista de mi
anterior aburrimiento en el cargo y de mis vagos pensamientos
de resignación, mi fortuna parecía la de una persona que abrigara
la idea de suicidarse y, aunque dentro de sus esperanzas, tropezase
con la buena suerte de ser asesinado. En la aduana, como antes en la
Vieja Mansión, había pasado tres
años; un tiempo lo bastante largo
para paralizar un cerebro aburrido, lo bastante largo para desechar
toda costumbre intelectual y hacer
puesto para otras nuevas; lo bastante largo, y demasiado largo,
para haber vivido en un estado
innatural, haciendo lo que en realidad no era útil ni agradable para ningún ser humano, y apartándome [70]
del trabajo que, al fin, hubiese acallado en mí un impulso inquieto. Entonces, además, no le desagradaba al
anterior administrador, en cuanto
a su inceremoniosa cesantía, que
le reconocieran los centralistas como un enemigo;
puesto que sus inactividades
en asuntos políticos (su tendencia a vaguear a su placer
en aquel campo ancho y
tranquilo donde puede encontrarse toda la humanidad,
mejor que confinarse en los
estrechos senderos, donde
los hermanos de un mismo
h o g a r h a n d e d i v e rg i r s e ) h a -
5
10
15
befall, happen, occur, or be the case in
the course of events or by chance
20
25
30
35
40
45
ejectment expulsión
50
55
60
45
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
sometimes made it questionable
with his brother Democrats
whether he was a friend. Now,
after he had won the crown of
martyrdom (though with no
longer a head to wear it on),
the point might be looked upon
a s s e t t l e d . F i n a l l y, l i t t l e
h e r o i c a s he was, it seemed
more decorous to be overthrown
in the downfall of the party
with whi c h h e h a d b e e n
content to stand than to remain
a forlorn survivor, when so many
worthier men were falling: and
at last, after subsisting for four
years on the mercy of a hostile
administration, to be compelled
then to define his position anew,
and claim the yet more
hu m i l i a t i n g m e r c y o f a
friendly one.
bían hecho discutible con
sus hermanos demócratas si
era un amigo. A h o r a , d e s p u é s d e h a b e r ga n a d o l a c o rona del martirio (aunque con
n o m a y o r c abeza para llevarla),
este punto pudiera considerarse
como solucionado. Finalmente,
siendo tan poco heroico, parecía
más decoroso ser arrastrado por
la caída del partido con el que había pretendido estar, que permanecer siendo un administrador olvidado, cuando cesaban tantos hombres de más merecimientos, y, por
fin, después de subsistir durante cuatro años por la merced de una administración hostil, estar obligado a
definir su posición de nuevo y reclamar la todavía más humillante merced de una administración
amistosa.
Meanwhile, the press had
25 taken up my affair, and kept
me for a week or two
careering through the public
prints, in my decapitated state,
like
I r v i n g ’s
Headless
30 Horseman, ghastly and grim, and
longing to be buried, as a
political dead man ought. So
much for my figurative self. The
real human being all this time,
35 with his head safely on his
shoulders, had brought himself to
the comfortable conclusion that
everything was for the best; and
making an investment in ink,
40 p a p e r, a n d s t e e l p e n s , h a d
opened his long-disused writing
desk, and was again a literary
man. Now it was that the
lucubrations of my ancient
45 predecessor, Mr. Surveyor Pue,
came into play. Rusty through long
idleness, some little space was
requisite before my intellectual
machinery could be brought to
50 work upon the tale with an effect in
any degree satisfactory. Even yet,
though my thoughts were ultimately
much absorbed in the task, it wears,
to my eye, a stern and sombre
55 aspect: too much ungladdened by
genial sunshine; too little relieved
by the tender and familiar
influences which soften almost
every scene of nature and real life,
60 and undoubtedly should soften
Mientras tanto había tomado
la prensa con empeño mi asunto, y me tuvo una dos semanas
recorriendo las imprentas públicas, en mi estado de decapitación, como El caballero decapitado, de Irving, pálido y ceñudo,
y deseando ser enterrado, como
debe ocurrirle a un muerto político. Esto en cuanto a mi ser figurativo. Durante todo este tiempo, el verdadero ser humano, con
la cabeza asegurada sobre los
hombros, se hizo a la conclusión
de que todo ocurrió para su bien,
y provisto de tinta, papel y plumas de acero abrió su mesa de
escritorio, que ha tiempo no empleaba, y volvió a ser un hombre
literario. Entonces fue cuando las
lucubraciones de mi antiguo predecesor el señor Pue vinieron a
juego. Enmudecido [71] por larga inactividad, fue necesario un
corto espacio de tiempo antes de
que mi maquinaria intelectual
pudiera ser puesta en movimiento. Aun entonces, si bien mis pensamientos estaban absortos en el
trabajo, llevaban a mis ojos un
aspecto severo y sombrío; demasiado entristecidos por la
genial luz solar, demasiado poco
consolados con las influencias
tiernas y familiares que suavizan
casi toda escena de la naturaleza
y de la vida real, y que, induda-
5
10
15
20
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso, jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
talented, brilliant, great, fantastic, funny,
witty /temper, nature, disposition,
spirit, initiative
tr. de A. Ruste
X
46
Notas
seethe 1 estar furioso 2 boil out, bullir, hervir: the square was seething
with tourists, la plaza rebosaba de
turistas 3 intr. (of a liquid) seethe,
foam violently (the churning sea). 4
tr. agitate or move (liquid) vigorously,
causing it to foam.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
tr. de A. Ruste
every picture of them. This
uncaptivating effect is perhaps
due to the period of hardly
accomplished revolution, and
still seething turmoil, in which
the story shaped itself. It is no
indication, however, of a lack of
cheerfulness in the writer’s mind:
for he was happier while straying
through the gloom of these
sunless fantasies than at any time
since he had quitted the Old
Manse. Some of the briefer
articles, which contribute to make
up the volume, have likewise been
written since my involuntary
withdrawal from the toils and
honours of public life, and the
remainder are gleaned from
annuals and magazines, of such
antique date, that they have gone
round the circle, and come back
to novelty again. Keeping up the
metaphor of the political guillotine,
the whole may be considered as the
blemente, habrían de suavizar cualquiera de sus pinturas. Este efecto de
desencanto es, debido, tal vez, al período de la casi realizada resolución
y a un agitado disturbio en que
se presentaba la historia en sí. No
indica, sin embargo, falta de jovialidad en el cerebro del escritor, puesto que se hallaba más
alegre, extraviándose en la neblina de estas fantasías sin luz, que
en tiempo alguno después de que
dejara la Vieja Mansión. Algunos
de los más breves capítulos que
contribuyeron a formar el volumen, han sido también escritos
después de mi involuntario abandono de las tareas y honores de
la vida pública, y el resto ha sido
extraído de anuarios y revistas,
de tan lejana época que han ido
alrededor del círculo y vuelto a
ser novedad (1). Conservando la
metáfora de la guillotina política, el conjunto puede considerarse como Papeles Póstumos de un
administrador decapitado; y el
bosquejo que ahora estoy a punto de concluir, si es demasiado
autobiográfico para publicarlo
una persona modesta durante su
vida, será perdonable en seguida
en un caballero que escribe en
ultratumba. ¡La paz sea con todo
el mundo! ¡Benditos sean mis
amigos! ¡Sean perdonados mis
enemigos! ¡Ya que estoy en el
reino del reposo!
The life of the Custom—
House lies like a dream behind
me. The old Inspector—who, bythe-bye, I regret to say, was
overthrown and killed by a horse
some time ago, else he would
certainly have lived for ever—he,
and all those other venerable
personages who sat with him at
the receipt of custom, are but
shadows in my view: whiteheaded and wrinkled images,
which my fancy used to sport
with, and has now flung aside for
ever. The merchants— Pingree,
Phillips, Shepard, Upton,
Kimball, Bertram, Hunt—these
and many other names, which had
such classic familiarity for my ear
six months ago,—these men of
traffic, who seemed to occupy so
[72] La vida de la aduana
queda tras de mí como un sueño. El viejo inspector (que siento decir fue despedido por un
caballo y murió hace algún
tiempo, de lo contrario hubiese
sido eterno), y todos los demás
personajes venerables que se
sentaban con él a la entrada de
la aduana, no son para mí más
que sombras, imágenes rugosas
de blancos cabellos, que alegraban mi fantasía y han desaparecido ya para siempre. Los comerciantes Pingree, Phillips,
Shepard, Upton, Kimball,
Bertram, Hunt, estos y otros
muchos nombres que tenían
tanta familiaridad para mi oído
hace seis meses; estos hombres
de tráfico que parecían ocupar
1. Al tiempo de escribir este artículo, el autor intentó publicar, a
la vez que La letra roja, varios
25
cuentos y bosquejos cortos, pero
POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF A
ha sido prudente diferirlos.
DECAPITATED SURVEYOR: and
the sketch which I am now
bringing to a close, if too
30 autobiographical for a modest
person to publish in his
lifetime, will readily be excused
in a gentleman who writes from
beyond the grave. Peace be with
35 all the world My blessing on my
friends My forgiveness to my
enemies For I am in the realm
of quiet
40
45
50
55
60
47
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
prolixity, prolixness, long-windedness,
wordiness boring verboseness
1 : unduly prolonged or drawn out :
too long 2 : marked by or using an
excess of words
20
25
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso,
jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
talented, brilliant, great, fantastic, funny,
witty /temper, nature, disposition,
spirit, initiative
30
35
important a position in the
world—how little time has it
required to disconnect me from
them all, not merely in act, but
recollection It is with an effort that
I recall the figures and
appellations of these few. Soon,
likewise, my old native town will
loom upon me through the haze
of memory, a mist brooding over
and around it; as if it were no
portion of the real earth, but an
overgrown village in cloud-land,
with only imaginary inhabitants to
people its wooden houses and
walk its homely lanes, and the
unpicturesque prolixity of its
main street. Henceforth it ceases
to be a reality of my life; I am a
citizen of somewhere else. My
good townspeople will not much
regret me, for—though it has been
as dear an object as any, in my
literary efforts, to be of some
importance in their eyes, and to
win myself a pleasant memory in
this abode and burial-place of so
many of my forefathers—there
has never been, for me, the
genial a t m o s p h e r e w h i c h a
literary man requires in order
to ripen the best harvest of his
mind. I shall do better
amongst other faces; and these
familiar ones, it need hardly
be said, will do just as well
without me.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
It may be, however—oh,
40 transporting and triumphant
thought I—that the greatgrandchildren of the present race
may sometimes think kindly of
the scribbler of bygone days,
45 when the antiquary of days to
come, among the sites
memorable in the town’s history,
shall point out the locality of
THE TOWN PUMP.
50
tan importante posición’ en el
mundo ¡qué poco tiempo ha
sido preciso para desligarme de
todos ellos, no solamente en los
actos, sino en el recuerdo! Es
con esfuerzo como recuerdo las
figuras y nombres de estos pocos.
Pronto también, mi vieja ciudad
natal se presentará ante mí entre
la niebla de la memoria, como si
no fuese un trozo de la tierra real,
sino una villa nacida en la región
de las nubes, con habitantes imaginarios que moren en sus casas de madera y paseen por sus
sendas
familiares
y
____________ ________por su
calle Mayor. De aquí en adelante
deja de ser una realidad de mi vida;
soy un ciudadano de cualquier parte. Mis buenos conciudadanos no lo
sentirán mucho, porque, aunque han
sido un objeto tan preciado como
otro cualquiera, en mis esfuerzos literarios, ser de alguna importancia
ante sus ojos y granjearme una agradable memoria en esta abadía y lugar de enterramiento de tantos de mis
antepasados, jamás ha habido para
mí la genial atmósfera que necesita un literato para madurar el
mejor fruto de su inteligencia.
Mejor he de hacerlo entre otras
caras; y estas que me fueron familiares, casi no es necesario que
lo pasarán exactamente tan bien
sin mí.
Puede ocurrir, no obstante,
¡oh pensamiento transportador y
triunfante!, que los tataranietos
de la presente raza piensen algunas veces, cariñosamente, en el
[73] escritor de pasados días,
cuando en la antigüedad de los
días venideros, entre los sitios
memorables de la historia de la
ciudad, señalen la localidad de
«¡La bomba de la ciudad!»
Detailed summaries
Chapter 1: The Prison-Door : In Chapter 1 a crowd is gathered at the prison-house door. They are gloomy people, taking a sad relish in the occasion that has brought them
together, the public punishment of a young woman for adultery. Hawthorne describes the prison building, which is dark, gloomy, and ugly. He tells us it is surrounded by
weeds, except for one wild rose-bush in bloom as the story opens.
55
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: In Chapter 1 Hawthorne is already using physical details to indicate some more abstract meaning: he tells us the rose-bush may have sprung up
under the footstep of ‘the sainted Ann Hutchinson’ who was imprisoned for her religious beliefs. He says, ‘it may serve, let us hope, to symbolise some sweet moral blossom
that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow’.
In this last sentence Hawthorne is establishing the predominant emotion, or tone, of the story. It is sad, but something in the moral lives of some characters will enliven that
sorrow and give it a purpose.
60
It is worth noticing that the opening chapter has not introduced the main characters. Rather, it has been used to set the scene for them. They enter in Chapters 2 and 3.
48
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Detailed summaries
5
I.
I
THE PRISON DOOR
LA PUERTA DE LA PRISIÓN
10
Isaac Johnson died in 1630, the same
year as his arrival with the first Boston
settlers. His land provided the site for the
prison, graveyard, and church
beetle-browed, scowling sullen or
unfriendly in appearance
A throng of bearded men, in
sad-coloured garments and grey
steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some
wearing hoods, and others
15 bareheaded, was assembled in
front of a wooden edifice, the
door of which was heavily
timbered with oak, and studded
with iron spikes.
20
The founders of a new
c o l o n y, w h a t e v e r U t o p i a o f
human virtue and happiness
they might originally project,
25 have invariably recognised it
among their earliest practical
necessities to allot a portion of
the virgin soil as a cemetery,
and another portion as the site
30 of a prison. In accordance with
this rule it may safely be
assumed that the forefathers of
Boston had built the first
prison-house somewhere in the
35 Vicinity of Cornhill, almost as
seasonably as they marked out
the first burial-ground, on Isaac
Johnson’s lot, and round about
his grave, which subsequently
40 became the nucleus of all the
congregated sepulchres in the old
churchyard of King’s Chapel.
Certain it is that, some fifteen or
twenty years after the settlement
45 of the town, the wooden jail was
already marked with weatherstains and other indications of
age, which gave a yet darker
aspect to its beetle-browed and
50 gloomy front. The rust on the
p o n d e ro u s [ w e i g h t y ] i r o n work of its oaken door looked
more antique than anything
els e i n t h e N e w Wo r l d .
55 L i k e a l l t h a t p e r t a i n s t o
crime, it seemed never to
h a v e k n o w n a y outhful era.
Before this ugly edifice, and
between it and the wheel-track
60 of the street, was a grass-plot,
Un tropel de hombres y mujeres, aquéllos con vestiduras de
colores tristones, barbudos, cubiertos con altos sombreros grises, y éstas cubriéndose la cabeza, en su mayoría, con capuchas,
hallábase reunido frente a un edificio de madera, cuya sólida
puerta de roble estaba tachonada
de clavos de hierro.
Los fundadores de una nueva
colonia, cualquiera que sea la utopía de virtud humana y felicidad
que puedan primeramente proyectar, han reconocido, invariablemente, entre sus primeras necesidades prácticas, señalar dos espacios de suelo virgen, uno para cementerio y otro como solar de una
prisión. Conforme a esta regla,
puede suponerse con acierto que
los antepasados de Boston edificaron la primera casaprisión en
algún lugar de la vecindad de
Cornhill, casi al mismo tiempo que
trazaron el primer cementerio en
un lote de terreno perteneciente a
Isaac Johnson, los alrededores de
cuya tumba vinieron a ser,
consiguientemente, el núcleo de
los sepulcros congregados en el
viejo patio de la capilla del rey.
Cierto es que unos quince o veinte años después del establecimiento de la población, la cárcel de
madera ostentaba ya las huellas de
la intemperie y otras indicaciones
del tiempo, que daban un aspecto
aún más oscuro a su ceñuda y
sombría fachada. La herrumbre
del poderoso herraje de su puerta d e r o b l e h a c í a l e p a r e c e r
más antiguo que [74] cualquiera otra cosa del Nuevo
Mundo. Como todas las pertenencias del crimen, parecía no haber conocido jamás
una era juvenil. Ante este
feo edificio, y entre él y el
a r r o y o de la calle, hallábase
49
Chapter 1: The Prison-Door : In Chapter
1 a crowd is gathered at the
prison-house door. They are gloomy
people, taking a sad relish in the
occasion that has brought them
together, the public punishment of a
young woman for adultery. Hawthorne
describes the prison building, which is
dark, gloomy, and ugly. He tells us it is
surrounded by weeds, except for one
wild rose-bush in bloom as the story
opens.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: In Chapter 1
Hawthorne is already using physical
details to indicate some more abstract
meaning: he tells us the rose-bush may
have sprung up under the footstep of
‘the sainted Ann Hutchinson’ who was
imprisoned for her religious beliefs. He
says, ‘it may serve, let us hope, to
symbolise some sweet moral blossom
that may be found along the track, or
relieve the darkening close of a tale of
human frailty and sorrow’.
In this last sentence Hawthorne is
establishing the predominant emotion,
or tone, of the story. It is sad, but
something in the moral lives of some
characters will enliven that sorrow and
give it a purpose.
It is worth noticing that the opening
chapter has not introduced the main
characters. Rather, it has been used to
set the scene for them. They enter in
Chapters 2 and 3.
Notas
congenial adj.1 (often foll. by with, to)
(of a person, character, etc.) pleasant
because akin to oneself in
temperament or interests. 2 (often
foll. by to) suited or agreeable. Simpático, agradable, amabel, atractivo,
afin.
congenial 1. adj. De igual genio. 2.
Dícese de la persona o cosa que, por
ir bien con el genio o carácter de alguien, le resulta atractiva o simpática. 3. congénito, connatural.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
much
o v e rg r own
with
burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern,
and such unsightly vegetation,
which evidently found something
5 congenial in the soil that had so
early borne the black flower of
civilised society, a prison. But on
one side of the portal, and rooted
almost at the threshold, was a wild
10 rose-bush, covered, in this month
of June, with its delicate gems,
which might be imagined to offer
their fragrance and fragile beauty
to the prisoner as he went in, and
15 to the condemned criminal as he
came forth to his doom, in token
that the deep heart of Nature could
pity and be kind to him.
un prado e n e l q u e h a b í a c r e c i d o l a bardana , l a c i z a ñ a y l a
d i s f o r m e vegetación que, evidentemente, encontró algo
congenial en el suelo donde tan temprano había nacido la flor negra de
la sociedad civilizada: una prisión.
Pero, a un lado de la puerta y arraigado casi en su umbral, había un rosal silvestre, cubierto, en aquel mes
de junio, con sus más delicadas gemas, que parecían ofrecer su fragancia y frágil belleza al prisionero que
entraba y al criminal condenado, al
salir para ser cumplida su sentencia,
en señal de que el profundo corazón
de la naturaleza podía compadecerle
y ser bondadoso con él.
20
Por rara casualidad,
a q u e l r o s a l h a b í a s e c o n s e rvado vivo a través de la historia, pero no podemos determinar si es que había sobrevivido simplemente a la
antigua y áspera selva, tanto tiempo después de la caída de los pinos gigantescos
o de los robles que lo
sombrearon, o si, como es
l ó g i c o c r e e r, b r o t ó b a j o l a
pisada de Santa Ana
Hutchinson al entrar en la
prisión. Encontrándolo tan
directamente en el umbral de
nuestro relato, que va a nac e r a h o r a d e t a n desfavorable
portal, casi no podíamos hacer
otra cosa que arrancar una de sus
flores y presentársela al lector. Quizá esto pudiera servir para simbolizar algún dulce florecimiento moral
que pudiera hallarse en el curso de
esta historia, o para aliviar el oscuro compendio de una novela de
humana fragilidad y tristeza.
25
30
Ann Hutchinson: she lived from 1591 to
1643, and preached a rejection of
‘salvation by works’ and a belief in the
intuitive revelation of God’s indwelling
‘grace’
35
inauspicious: unlucky
portal: doorway
40
45
This rose-bush, by a strange
chance, has been kept alive in
history; but whether it had
merely survived out of the stern
old wilderness, so long after the
fall of the gigantic pines and
oaks
that
originally
overshadowed it, or whether, as
there is far authority for
believing, it had sprung up
under the footsteps of the
sainted Ann Hutchinson as she
entered the prison-door, we
shall not take upon us to
determine. Finding it so
directly on the threshold of our
narrative, which is now about
to issue from that inauspicious
portal , we could hardly do
otherwise than pluck one of its
flowers, and present it to the
reader. It may serve, let us
hope, to symbolise some sweet
moral blossom that may be
found along the track, or relieve
the darkening close of a tale of
human frailty and sorrow
unsightly unpleasant to look at,
ugly, eyesore, horrible,.
Feo, disforme, antiestético, repulsivo
Chapter 2: The Market-Place: When Chapter 2 opens the women gathered at the prison door are talking among themselves. All but one feel the adultress is not being punished harshly
enough. The most severe wishes her to be condemned to death.Only one young wife says that the punishment, always to wear a scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown, must be very
humiliating: ‘not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but she has felt it in her heart’. Hester is led out of prison by the beadle; she carries her infant daughter. On her gown she has
embroidered the punishing letter A ‘with an 50
elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread’. The Puritan colonies required people to dress in sombre colours, so Hester’s
gown is the only one in town gaudily decorated. Hawthorne tells us that her dress ‘seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood, by its wild and
picturesque peculiarity’. The beadle leads her to stand on the pillory scaffold, where by custom wrongdoers were frequently condemned to stand in public view, for public abuse,
sometimes with hands and head locked into a wooden frame called the stocks. Hester is not in the stocks; she retains a natural dignity as she stands on the raised platform.
N0TES AND GLOSSARY: In Chapter 2 Hawthorne speaks directly to us, criticising any use of the stocks. Later he remarks that a Papist would have thought Hester looked like the
Madonna, Jesus’s mother, as she suffered her punishment. He thus reminds readers that the story is set in a time and place different from our own and in a different culture that we
must try to understand. He suggests that he himself does not share the values of the society he is writing about. Hawthorne will intrude into the story in this way from time to time,
although more often the story will simply proceed
without his commenting upon it. Certainly Hawthorne will not always reveal his attitude when the reader might expect him to;
55
however, he will make it plain that he is not in full agreement with the views of any of his main characters. This is one way in which Hawthorne’s writing can seem ‘ambivalent’, as
many critics have termed it. Ambivalence means the author’s exact attitude seems unsettled.
Hawthorne allows the reader to know what Hester is thinking as she stands holding her baby on the scaffold of the pillory. She endures the solemn stares of the crowd and of the
officials of Church and State as best she can. She vividly remembers scenes from her childhood and girlhood in England. She thinks of her parents who were part of the hereditary
aristocracy in England, but who had little money. She remembers her husband as he then seemed to her: . . . a pale, thin, scholar-like visage, with eyes dim and bleared by the
lamplight that had served them to pore over many ponderous books. Yet those same bleared optics had a strange, penetrating power, when it was their owner’s purpose to read the
60cloister, as Hester Prynne’s womanly fancy failed not to recall, was slightly deformed, with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right.
human soul. This figure of the study and the
50
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
She recollects going with him to ‘a Continental city’ (later we learn this was Amsterdam, a Protestant city in the Netherlands where many English Puritans resettled after leaving
England). However, her present suffering breaks through all these memories:
She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes! - these were her realities, all else had vanished!
5
10
15
20
physiognomies: faces, as revealing of
characters
25
30
bond-servant: one bound to service
without wages
Antinomian: one who holds that, under the
gospel dispensation, the moral law is of
no use or obligation, faith alone being
necessary to salvation
Quaker: one of a religious sect founded
by George Fox (1624-91), about 1650, the
members of which call themselves
Friends. The name Quaker was applied
in derision in 1650 by a judge to Fox, who
bade the justice tremble at the word of the
Lord
35
40
45
50
55
60
II.
II
THE MARKET-PLACE
[75] LA PLAZA DEL MERCADO
The grass-plot before the jail,
in Prison Lane, on a certain
summer morning, not less than
two centuries ago, was occupied
by a pretty large number of the
inhabitants of Boston, all with
their eyes intently fastened on the
iron-clamped oaken door.
Amongst any other population,
or at a later period in the history
of New England, the grim
rigidity that petrified the bearded
physiognomies of these good
people would have augured some
awful business in hand. It could
have betokened nothing short of
the anticipated execution of some
rioted culprit, on whom the
sentence of a legal tribunal had
but confirmed the verdict of
public sentiment. But, in that
early severity of the Puritan
character, an inference of this
kind could not so indubitably be
drawn. It might be that a sluggish
bond-servant, or an undutiful
child, whom his parents had
given over to the civil authority,
was to be corrected at the
whipping-post. It might be that
an Antinomian, a Quaker, or
other heterodox religionist, was
to be scourged out of the town,
or an idle or vagrant Indian,
whom the white man’s firewater
had made riotous about the
streets, was to be driven with
stripes into the shadow of the
forest. It might be, too, that a
witch, like old Mistress
Hibbins, the bitter-tempered
widow of the magistrate, was to
die upon the gallows. In either
case, there was very much the
same solemnity of demeanour
on the part of the spectators, as
befitted a people among whom
religion and law were almost
identical, and in whose character
both were so thoroughly
interfused, that the mildest and
Hace no menos de dos siglos,
en cierta mañana de verano, el
prado frontero a la cárcel de
Prison-lane hallábase ocupado
por un buen número de habitantes de Boston, cuyos ojos miraban fijamente a la puerta de roble tachonada de férreos clavos.
En otro pueblo o en un período
más moderno de la historia de
Nueva Inglaterra, la inflexible
rigidez que petrificaba las barbudas fisonomías de aquella buena
gente, hubiese augurado que se
preparaba algún horrendo asunto. Hubiese significado la anticipada ejecución de algún famoso
culpable, en quien la sentencia de
un tribunal legal había confirmado el veredicto del sentir público. Pero en aquella temprana severidad del carácter puritano, no
podía sacarse, tan indudablemente, una deducción de esta naturaleza. Pudiera muy bien ser que
un esclavo holgazán o un niño
desobediente, entregado por sus
padres a las autoridades civiles,
fuera a ser castigado en la picota. Pudiera ser que algún
antinomio, algún cuáquero u otro
religioso heterodoxo, hubiera de ser
azotado y arrojado de la población, o
que un indio vagabundo y perezoso
__________
___________
________ _ f u e r a a s e r i n ternado en las selvas con
el cuerpo lleno de carden a l e s . También pudiera ocurrir
que una hechicera, como la anciana señora Hibbins, la malhumorada viuda del magistrado,
fuese a morir en la horca. En
cualquier caso, era muy parecido el porte de solemnidad adoptado por los espectadores, como
cuadraba a gentes para quienes la
religión y la ley eran casi idénticas, y en cuyos caracteres se hallaban ambas tan completamente
mezcladas, que tanto el acto de
X
51
Notas
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
severest acts of public discipline
were alike made venerable and
awful. Meagre, indeed, and cold,
was the sympathy that a
5 transgressor might look for,
from such bystanders, at the
scaffold. On the other hand, a
penalty which, in our days,
would infer a degree of
10 mocking infamy and ridicule,
might then be invested with
almost as stern a dignity as the
punishment of death itself.
disciplina más suave, como el más
severo, era para ellas igualmente
venerable y horrendo. Débil y fría
en verdad era la simpatía que un
transgresor podía buscar en aquellos [76] espectadores estacionados
al pie del patíbulo. Por otra parte,
una penalidad que en nuestros días
podría inferir un grado de burla infamante y de ridículo, pudiera en
aquellos tiempos estar investida de
tanta dignidad mayestática como la
propia pena de muerte.
15
En la mañana de verano en
que da comienzo nuestro relato,
era de notarse la circunstancia de
que las mujeres que se hallaban
mezcladas en el grupo aparentaban tener un interés peculiar por
cualquier castigo penal que hubiera de aplicarse. La época no
era de tal refinamiento para que
cualquier sensación de impropiedad impidiera a quienes vestían
faldas y guardain f a n t e s s a l i r
a la vía pública y plantar
sus insustanciales personas,
si había ocasión, entre la
multitud más cercana al patíbulo, para presenciar una ejecución.
Moral y materialmente, había una
fibra más soez en aquellas esposas y solteras de antiguos origen
y educación ingleses, que en sus
rectos descendientes, separados
de ellas por seis o siete generaciones, puesto que, a través de
aquella cadena de ascendencia,
cada madre sucesiva había transmitido a su hija una floración
más débil, una belleza más delicada y breve y una constitución
física más ligera, si no un carácter de menor fuerza y solidez que
el suyo. Las mujeres que se hallaban entonces a la puerta de la
prisión, caían dentro del período
menor de medio siglo, desde que
la hombruna Isabel fuera la no
del todo impropia representante
del sexo. Eran sus campesinas; y
la carne de vaca y la cerveza de
su tierra natal, con un régimen
moral ni una pizca más refinado,
entraban grandemente en su composición. El brillante sol de la
mañana refulgía sobre los anchos
hombros y los bien desarrollados
bustos y sobre las redondas y
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
whit n. a particle; a least possible 55
amount (not a whit better). ápice,
pizca, brizna
60
It was a circumstance to be
noted on the summer morning
when our story begins its course,
that the women, of whom there
were several in the crowd,
appeared to take a peculiar interest
in whatever penal infliction
might be expected to ensue. The
age had not so much refinement,
that any sense of impropriety
restrained the wearers of petticoat
and farthingale from stepping
forth into the public ways, and
wedging their not unsubstantial
persons, if occasion were, into
t h e t h ro n g n e a r e s t t o t h e
s c a ff o l d a t a n e x e c u t i o n .
Morally, as well as materially,
there was a coarser fibre in those
wives and maidens of old
English birth and breeding than
in their fair descendants,
separated from them by a series
of six or seven generations; for,
throughout that chain of
a n c e s t r y, e v e r y s u c c e s s i v e
mother had transmitted to her
child a fainter bloom, a more
delicate and briefer beauty, and
a slighter physical frame, if not
character of less force and
solidity than her own. The
women who were now standing
about the prison-door stood
within less than half a century
of the period when the man-like
Elizabeth had been the not altogether
unsuitable representative of the sex.
They were her countrywomen: and
the beef and ale of their native
land, with a moral diet not a whit
more refined, entered largely into
their composition. The bright
morning sun, therefore, shone
on broad shoulders and welldeveloped busts, and on round
X
52
Notas
hussy n. (pl. -ies) derog. an impudent
or immoral girl or woman.
sinvergonona bribona, pícara, arpía
wince give a start or involuntary
shrinking movement showing pain
or distress.
[of revulsion] mueca
[of pain] mueca f de dolor
(= shudder) estremecerse
he winced in pain hizo una
mueca de dolor
flinch 1 1 draw back in pain or
expectation of a blow etc.; wince. 2
(often foll. by from) give way; shrink,
turn aside (flinched from his duty).
— n. an act or instance of flinching.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
and ruddy cheeks, that had
ripened in the far-off island,
and had hardly yet grown paler
or thinner in the atmosphere of
5 New England. There was,
m o r e o v e r, a b o l d n e s s a n d
rotundity of speech among
these matrons, as most of them
seemed to be, that would startle
10 us at the present day, whether
in respect to its purport or its
volume of tone.
coloreadas mejillas, que habían
madurado en la lejana isla y que,
escasamente aún, habían palidecido o adelgazado en la atmósfera de Nueva Inglaterra. Había,
además, una franqueza y
rotundidad en el lenguaje de
aquellas matronas, [77] como en
su mayoría parecían serlo, que
hoy nos alarmarían, tanto con
referencia a su significado, como
al volumen de su tono.
“Goodwives,” said a hard15 featured dame of fifty, “I’ll
tell ye a piece of my mind. It
would be greatly for the public
behoof if we women, being of
mature age and church20 m e m b e r s i n g o o d r e p u t e ,
should have the handling of
such malefactresses as this
Hester Prynne. What think ye,
gossips? If the hussy stood up
25 for judgment before us five, that
are now here in a knot together,
would she come off with such a
sentence as the worshipful
magistrates have awarded?
30 Marry, I trow not”
—Buenas esposas —dijo una
dama de cincuenta años, de duras facciones—. Voy a deciros
algo de lo que pienso. Sería de
gran provecho público el que
nosotras, siendo de edad madura
y bien reputadas como miembros
de la Iglesia, pudiéramos disponer de la maléfica mujer Ester
Prynne. ¿Qué pensáis de eso,
charlatanas? ¿Si la pícara hubiese de ser juzgada por las cinco
que nos hallamos juntas en este
corrillo, saldría con una sentencia como la que los honorables
magistrados han dictado? ¡No lo
creo!
“People say,” said another,
“that the Reverend Master
Dimmesdale, her godly pastor,
35 takes it very grievously to heart
that such a scandal should have
come upon his congregation. “
—Dice la gente —replicó
otro— que el reverendo Master
Dimmesdale, su piadoso pastor,
toma muy a pecho el que ese escándalo haya llegado a oídos de
su congregación.
“The magistrates are God40 f e a r i n g
gentlemen,
but
merciful overmuch—that is a
truth,” added a third autumnal
matron. “At the very least,
they should have put the brand
45 o f a h o t i r o n o n H e s t e r
Prynne’s forehead. Madame
Hester would have winced at
that, I warrant me. But she—
the naughty baggage— little
50 will she care what they put
upon the bodice of her gown
Why, look you, she may cover
it with a brooch, or such like.
heathenish adornment, and so
55 walk the streets as brave as
ever”
—Los magistrados son caballeros temerosos de Dios, pero
compasivos en demasía; ésta es
la verdad —añadió una tercera
matrona otoñal—. Por lo menos
debieran haber marcado la frente de Ester Prynne con un hierro
candente. La señora Ester hubiese dado un respingo ante eso, yo
os lo garantizo. ¡Pero a esa díscola ramera la :importará muy
poco lo que puedan colocarle
sobre el corpiño de su vestido!
¡Puede que lo cubra con un broche o con un adorno idólatra por
el estilo, y se pasee por las calles
con la misma desvergüenza de
siempre!
“Ah, but,” interposed,
m o r e s o f t l y, a y o u n g w i f e ,
60 holding a child by the hand,
—¡Ah! —interpuso, más dulcemente, una joven esposa, que
llevaba un niño de la mano—,
53
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
“let her cover the mark as she
will, the pang of it will be
always in her heart. “
¡dejad que cubra la marca con lo
que quiera; siempre tendrá la espina clavada en ca corazón!
5
“What do we talk of marks
and brands, whether on the
bodice of her gown or the
flesh of her forehead?” cried
another female, the ugliest as
10 well as the most pitiless of
these self-constituted judges.
“This woman has brought
shame upon us all, and ought
to die; Is there not law for it?
15 Tr u l y t h e r e i s , b o t h i n t h e
Scripture and the statutebook.
Then
let
the
magistrates, who have made it
of no effect, thank themselves
20 i f t h e i r o w n w i v e s a n d
daughters go astray”
—¿Para qué hablamos de
marcas y señales, bien las coloquen sobre el corpiño de su vestido o sobre la carne de su frente? —gritó otra hembra, la más
fea y despiadada de cuantas se
habían constituido en [78] jueces—. Esta mujer nos ha llenado
de vergüenza y debe morir... ¿No
hay ley para eso? Ciertamente
que sí, tanto en las Escrituras
como en el libro de los Decretos.
¡Dejad, pues, que los magistrados, quienes han hecho que aquéllas no tengan efecto, se den las
gracias, cuando sus esposas y sus
hijas se descarríen!
“Mercy on us, goodwife”
exclaimed a man in the crowd,
25 “is there no virtue in woman,
save what springs from a
wholesome fear of the
gallows? That is the hardest
word yet! Hush now, gossips
30 for the lock is turning in the
prison-door, and here comes
Mistress Prynne herself. “
—¡Piedad para nosotros,
buena esposa! —exclamó un
hombre del grupo—. ¿Es que no
hay más virtud en la mujer que
la que dimana de un edificante
miedo al cadalso? ¡Eso es lo
peor! ¡Y ahora callad,
murmuradoras! Ya descorren los
cerrojos de la prisión y sale la
señora Prynne en personó.
The door of the jail being
flung open from within there
appeared, in the first place, like
a black shadow emerging into
sunshine, the grim and gristly
presence of the town-beadle,
with a sword by his side, and his
staff of office in his hand. This
personage prefigured and
represented in his aspect the
whole dismal severity of the
Puritanic code of law, which it
was his business to administer in
its final and closest application
to the offender. Stretching forth
the official staff in his left hand,
he laid his right upon the
shoulder of a young woman,
whom he thus drew forward,
until, on the threshold of the
prison-door, she repelled him, by
an action marked with natural
dignity and force of character,
and stepped into the open air as
if by her own free will. She bore
in her arms a child, a baby of
some three months old, who
La puerta de la cárcel fue abierta de par en par, desde el interior,
apareciendo en primer término,
como una sombra negra que sale
a la luz del sol, el ceñudo y
espantoso macero, con una espada al cinto y la maza de su
oficio en la mano. Este personaje prefiguraba y representaba en su aspecto toda la lúgubre severidad del código de la
ley puritana que era su obligación administrar al ofensor
en su más estrecha y final aplicación. Alargando la maza con
su mano izquierda, colocó la
derecha sobre el hombro de
una mujer joven, guiándola así
hacia adelante; todavía en el
umbral de la puerta de la cárcel, la joven le rechazó, con un
gesto natural de dignidad y de
fuerza de carácter, y salió al
aire libre como si lo hiciese
por propia voluntad. Llevaba
en brazos una niña, una
criaturita de unos tres meses de
35
town-beadle: a minor parish official,
one of whose duties was to lead
processions
beadle n. 1 Brit. a ceremonial officer of
a church, college, etc. 2 Sc. a church
officer attending on the minister. 3
Brit. hist. a minor parish officer
dealing with petty offenders etc.
bedel 1. m. y f. En los centros de enseñanza, persona cuyo oficio es cuidar del orden fuera de las aulas,
además de otras funciones auxiliares.2. Por ext., ordenanza.
sacristán 1. m. El que en las iglesias
tiene a su cargo ayudar al sacerdote en el servicio del altar y cuidar de
los ornamentos y de la limpieza y
aseo de la iglesia y sacristía. 2. Dignidad eclesiástica a cuyo cargo estaba la custodia y guarda de los vasos, vestiduras y libros sagrados, y
la vigilancia de todos los dependientes de la sacristía. Hoy se conserva
en algunas catedrales, y en las órdenes militares.
macero 1. m. El que lleva la maza delante de los cuerpos o personas autorizadas que usan esta señal de
dignidad.
pertiguero 1. m. Ministro secular en las
iglesias catedrales, que asiste
acompañando a los que ofician en
el altar, coro, púlpito y otros ministerios, llevando en la mano una pértiga o vara larga guarnecida de plata.
muñidor: 1. Encargado de convocar a
los cofrades. 2. m. Criado de cofradía, que sirve para avisar a los hermanos las fiestas, entierros y otros
ejercicios a que deben concurrir. 3.
Persona que gestiona activamente
para concertar tratos o fraguar intrigas, o con cualquier otro fin semejante.
tr. de A. Ruste
40
45
50
55
60
54
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
winked and turned aside its little
face from the too vivid light of
day; because its existence,
heretofore, had brought it
5 acquaintance only with the grey
twilight of a dungeon, or other
darksome apartment of the
prison.
edad, que parpadeó y volvió la
carita ante la vivísima luz del
día, ya que su existencia hasta
entonces únicamente le había
familiarizado con la luz
grisácea del calabozo o con algún otro oscuro departamento
de la prisión.
10
When the young woman—the
mother of this child—stood fully
revealed before the crowd, it
seemed to be her first impulse to
clasp the infant closely to her
bosom; not so much by an
impulse of motherly affection, as
that she might thereby conceal a
certain token, which was wrought
or fastened into her dress. In a
moment, however, wisely
judging that one token of her
shame would but poorly serve to
hide another, she took the baby
on her arm, and with a burning
blush, and yet a haughty smile,
and a glance that would not be
abashed, looked around at her
townspeople and neighbours. On
the breast of her gown, in fine red
cloth, surrounded wi th an
elaborate embroidery and
fantastic flourishes of gold thread,
appeared the letter A. It was so
artistically done, and with so
much fertility and gorgeous
luxuriance of fancy, that it had all
the effect of a last and fitting
decoration to the apparel which
she wore, and which was of a
splendour in accordance with the
taste of the age, but greatly
beyond what was allowed by the
sumptuary regulations of the
colony.
Cuando la joven, madre de
aquella niña, apareció plenamente ante la multitud, su primera intención fue la de abrazar a la criaturita fuertemente
contra su pecho, no por un impulso de afecto maternal, sino
por ocultar cierta marca que llevaba escrita o sujeta a su [79]
vestido. A1 punto, sin embargo,
juzgando sabiamente que una
marca de su vergüenza pudiera
muy pobremente ocultarla otra,
colocó la niña sobre su brazo,
y con un rubor abrasador y, no
obstante, con sonrisa altanera y
una mirada imposible de abatir,
miró en su derredor a sus conciudadanos y vecinos. Sobre el
pechero de su vestido, sobre un
fino paño rojo, rodeada de un
complicado bordado de fantásticos floreos de hilo de
oro, apareció la letra A. Estaba tan artísticamente hecha y
con tanta fertilidad y alegre
lujo de la fantasía, que hacía
el efecto de un adorno final
y adecuado a la ropa que vest í a , y e r a d e t a l e s p l e n d o r,
con relación al gusto de la
época, que sobrepasaba grandemente a cuanto permitían
las suntuosas regulaciones
de la colonia.
The young woman was tall,
with a figure of perfect elegance
on a large scale. She had dark and
abundant hair, so glossy that it
50 threw off the sunshine with a
gleam; and a face which, besides
being beautiful from regularity of
feature and richness of
complexion [tez], had the
55 impressiveness belonging to a
marked brow and deep black
eyes. She was ladylike, too, after
the manner of the feminine
gentility of those days;
60 characterised by a certain state
La joven era alta, con una figura de perfecta elegancia en
gran escala. Tenía negros y abundantes cabellos, tan satinados
que rechazaban, en brillantes reflejos, la luz del sol, y una cara
que, siendo hermosa por la regularidad de sus facciones y la riqueza de su complexión, impresionaba con el arqueando de sus
cejas y la profundidad de sus
ojos negros. Era también elegante, a la manera de la femenina
gentileza de aquellos días, caracterizada por cierta majestad
15
20
25
elaborate adj. 1 carefully or minutely
worked out. 2 highly developed or
complicated.
v.tr. 1 a work out or explain in detail. b
(absol.) go into details (I need not
elaborate). 2 produce by labour. 3
(of a natural agency) produce (a
substance etc.) from its elements or
sources.
explicar, desarrollar, detallar, ampliar
explicación, trabajo detallado
rebuscado, acicalado, detallado, suntuoso
tr. de A. Ruste
30
35
40
sumptuary: relating to or regulating
expenditure
45
55
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
and dignity, rather than by the
delicate, evanescent, and
indescribable grace which is now
recognised as its indication. And
never had Hester Prynne
appeared more ladylike, in the
antique interpretation of the term,
than as she issued from the
prison. Those who had before
known her, and had expected to
behold her dimmed and obscured
by a disastrous cloud, were
astonished, and even startled, to
perceive how her beauty shone
out, and made a halo of the
misfortune and ignominy in
which she was enveloped. It may
be true that, to a sensitive observer,
there was some thing exquisitely
painful in it. Her attire, which
indeed, she had wrought for the
occasion in prison, and had
modelled much after her own
fancy, seemed to express the
attitude of her spirit, the
desperate recklessness of her
mood, by its wild and picturesque
peculiarity. But the point which
drew all eyes, and, as it were,
transfigured the wearer—so that
both men and women who had
been familiarly acquainted with
Hester Prynne were now
impressed as if they beheld her
for the first time—was that
SCARLET
LETTER,
so
fantastically embroidered and
illuminated upon her bosom. It
had the effect of a spell, taking
her out of the ordinary relations
with humanity, and enclosing her
in a sphere by herself.
y dignidad, más que por la gracia delicada, desvanecedora e
indescriptible que hoy se reconoce como su indicación. Y nunca había parecido tan elegante
Ester Prynne, en la vieja acepción del término, como cuando
sa l i ó d e l a p r i s i ó n . L o s q u e
la conocieron antes y creyeron hallarla ceñuda y oscurecida por una nube desastrosa, se asombraron y aun
se alarmaron ante su resplandeciente hermosura, e
hicieron una aureola de la
desgracia e ignominia en que
s e h allaba envuelta. Tal vez
para un observador sensible hubiera en esto algo exquisitamente doloroso. Su atavío, que, en
efecto, había preparado para
aquella ocasión en la cárcel, y
que en gran parte había modelado su fantasía, [80] parecía
demostrar la actitud de su espíritu, el desesperado atrevimiento de su talante, por su peculiaridad agreste y pintoresca.
Pero el punto que concentraba todas las miradas y transfiguraba a
la que lo llevaba de tal modo, que
hombres y mujeres que habían estado familiarmente relacionados con
Ester Prynne se hallaban entonces impresionados como si la vieran por
vez primera, era la letra rota, tan
fantásticamente bordada e iluminada sobre su pecho. Producía
el efecto de un hechizo que, separándola de las relaciones comunes con la humanidad, la encerrase en una esfera propia.
“She hath good skill at her
45 needle, that’s certain,” remarked
one of her female spectators; “but
did ever a woman, before this
brazen hussy, contrive such a
way of showing it? Why, gossips,
50 what is it but to laugh in the faces
of our godly magistrates, and
make a pride out of what they,
worthy gentlemen, meant for a
punishment?”
55
“It were well,” muttered the
most iron-visaged of the old
dames, “if we stripped Madame
Hester’s rich gown off her dainty
60 shoulders; and as for the red letter
—Fue habilidosa en la aguja, eso es cierto —hizo notar una
espectadora—; ¿pero hubo jamás
mujer alguna que antes de esta
fogosa buena pieza idease un
medio semejante de lucirla? ¿Qué
es eso sino un medio de reírse en
la cara de nuestros venerables
magistrados y convertir en orgullo lo que ellos pensaron fuese un
castigo?
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
despojar
tr. de A. Ruste
—No estaría mal —murmuró la vieja dama de cara más
dura— que arrancásemos a jirones de sus delicados hombros el
rico vestido; y en cuanto a la le56
Notas
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on
a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1: to put to use : APPLY <bestowed
his spare time on study> 2 : to put in a
particular or appropriate place : STOW 3
: to provide with quarters : PUT UP 4 : to
convey as a gift — usually used with on or
upon.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
which she hath stitched so
curiously, I’ll bestow [grant] a
rag of mine own rheumatic flannel
to make a fitter one!”
tra roja, que tan curiosamente ha
bordado, yo le daría un trozo de
mi franela contra el reuma para
que fuese más apropiado.
“Oh, peace, neighbours—
peace!” whispered their youngest
companion; “do not let her hear
you! Not a stitch in that
10 embroidered letter but she has felt
it in her heart. “
—¡Haya paz, vecinas, haya
paz! —añadió la compañera
más joven—. ¡Que no os oiga!
No hay puntada en esa letra
bordada que no la haya sentido en su corazón.
The grim beadle now
made a gesture with his staff.
“ M a k e w a y, g o o d p e o p l e —
m a k e w a y, i n t h e K i n g ’s
name!” cried he. “Open a
passage; and I promise ye,
Mistress Prynne shall be set
where man, woman, and child
may have a fair sight of her
brave apparel from this time
till an hour past meridian. A
blessing on the righteous
colony of the Massachusetts,
where iniquity is dragged out
into t h e s u n s h i n e ! C o m e
along, Madame Hester, and
show your scarlet letter in the
market-place!”
El lúgubre macero hizo entonces un gesto con la maza.
—¡Haced puesto, buena gente; haced puesto en nombre del
rey! —gritó—. ¡Abrid paso, y yo
os prometo que la señora Prynne
será colocada en sitio donde hombres, mujeres y niños puedan contemplarla en su brava apariencia,
desde este instante hasta una [81]
hora pasado el meridiano!
¡Bendita sea la honrada colonia de Massachusetts, donde la iniquidad es sacada a
l a l u z d e l s o l ! ¡ Ve n i d , s e ñ o r a E s t e r, y l u c i d v u e s t r a
letra roja en la plaza del
mercado!
A lane was forthwith opened
through the crowd of spectators.
Preceded by the beadle, and
attended by an irregular
procession of stern-bro w e d
men and unkindly visaged
women, Hester Prynne set forth
towards the place appointed
for her punishment. A crowd
of
eager
and
curious
schoolboys, understanding
little of the matter in hand,
except that it gave them a halfh o l i d a y, r a n b e f o r e h e r
progress, turning their heads
continually to stare into her
face and at the winking baby
in her arms, and at the
ignominious letter on her
breast. It was no great distance,
in those days, from the prison
door to the market-place.
M e a s u r e d b y t h e p r i s o n e r ’s
experience, however, it might
be reckoned a journey of some
length; for haughty as her
demeanour was, she perchance
underwent an agony from every
footstep of those that thronged
Se abrió camino entre el tropel de espectadores. Precedida
del macero y acompañada por
una irregular procesión de h o m bres ceñudos y mujeres de
rostros desagradables, dirigióse
Ester Prynner hacia el lugar designado para su castigo. Un grupo de jovenzuelos estudiantes,
impacientes y curiosos, no comprendiendo de lo que entre manos se llevaba más que el que les
habían concedido medio día de
vacación, corrían ante ella, volviéndose continuamente a mirar
a la castigada, al bebé que parpadeaba en sus brazos y a la ignominiosa letra que lucía sobre
su pecho. En aquellos tiempos
no era grande la distancia que
mediaba desde la cárcel a la
plaza del mercado. No obstante, medida por la experiencia de
la prisionera debió parecerla
un largo viaje, puesto que, a
pesar de su altiva actitud,
sentía una mortal agonía a
cada paso que daban los
q u e se estrujaban por con-
5
15
20
meridian: noonday
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
57
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
1 : to tread sharply or heavily upon : TRAMPLE
2 : to reject with disdain or contempt :
SCORN
5
10
ordeal se conserva en inglés y se
usa mucho actualmente para
prueba severa, experiencia pe- 15
nosa, dificultad tremenda.
ordalía o juicio de Dios alude al sometimiento ritual a prácticas destinadas a establecer la certeza,
principalmente con fines judiciales.
20
25
30
35
40
methinks v. intr. (past methought)
archaic it seems to me.
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
to see her, as if her heart had
been flung into the street for them
all to spurn and trample upon. In
our nature, however, there is a
provision, alike marvellous and
m e r c i f u l , t h a t t h e s u ff e r e r
should never know the intensity
of what he endures by its
present torture, but chiefly by
the pang that rankles after it.
Wi t h
almost
a
serene
deportment, therefore, Hester
Prynne passed through this
portion of her ordeal, and came
to a sort of scaffold, at the
western extremity of the
market-place. It stood nearly
beneath the eaves of Boston’s
earliest church, and appeared to
be a fixture there.
templarla, como si su corazón
hubiera sido arrojado al arroyo
para que fuese despreciado y pisoteado. Sin embargo, hay en
nuestra naturaleza una provisión, a la vez maravillosa y compasiva, por la que quien sufre no
conoce jamás la intensidad de lo
que padece por la tortura del
momento presente, sino principalmente por la angustia que
deja detrás. Así pues, Ester
Prynne pasó por aquella parte de
su prueba con serena actitud, y
llegó a una especie de patíbulo
establecido en el lado oeste de la
plaza del mercado. El tablado se
hallaba bajo el alero de la iglesia
más antigua de Boston, y parecía ser allí una cosa fija.
I n f a c t , t h i s s c a ff o l d
constituted a portion of a penal
machine, which now, for two or
three generations past, has been
merely
historical
and
traditionary among us, but was
held, in the old time, to be as
eff e c t u a l a n a g e n t , i n t h e
promotion of good citizenship,
as ever was the guillotine among
the terrorists of France. It was,
in short, the platform of the
pillory; and above it rose the
framework of that instrument of
discipline, so fashioned as to
confine the human head in its
tight grasp, and thus hold it up
to the public gaze. The very
ideal of ignominy was embodied
and made manifest in this
contrivance of wood and iron.
There can be no outrage,
methinks, against our common
nature—whatever
be
the
delinquencies of the individual--no
outrage more flagrant than to
forbid the culprit to hide his face
for shame; as it was the essence of
this punishment to do. In Hester
Prynne’s instance, however, as not
unfrequently in other cases, her
sentence bore that she should stand
a certain time upon the platform,
but without undergoing that gripe
about the neck and confinement of
the head, the proneness to which
was
the
most
devilish
characteristic of this ugly engine.
Knowing well her part, she
En realidad, este patíbulo
constituía una parte de la máquina de castigo que ahora, para dos
o tres generaciones ya pasadas,
ha sido meramente histórica y
tradicional entre nosotros, pero
que en los antiguos [82] tiempos fue mantenida como un
agente efectivo en la promoción
de los buenos ciudadanos, como
lo fue la guillotina entre los terroristas de Francia. Era, en suma,
la plataforma de la picota, y sobre ella se alzaba el marco de
ese instrumento de disciplina
tan en uso para aprisionar la
cabeza humana y mantenerla así
ante las miradas del público. La
propia. idea de la ignominia tomaba cuerpo y se hacía manifiesta en aquella invención de
hierro y madera. No puede haber ultraje, me parece (cualquiera que se a l a d e l i n c u e n cia del individuo), más flagrante que prohibir al culpable esconder su rostro a
la vergüenza, como era la
esencia de este castigo.
E n e l caso de Ester Prynne,
sin embargo, y no poco frecuente en otros, su sentencia era la de
permanecer de pie en la plataforma durante cierto tiempo, pero
sin que aquella abrazadera oprimiese su cuello y sujetase su cabeza, cuya propiedad era la más
diabólica característica de tan horrorosa máquina. Conociendo
58
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
ascended a flight of wooden steps,
and was thus displayed to the
surrounding multitude, at about the
height of a man’s shoulders above
5 the street.
Papist: a Roman Catholic, considered as
a partisan of the Pope
10
mien n. literary a person’s look
or bearing, as showing character
or mood. Catadura, aspecto,
porte, empaque , semblante,
talante
15
20
25
30
35
disgrace 1 (= state of shame) deshonra f, ignominia f; to be in disgrace
[adult] estar totalmente desacreditado, haber caído en desgracia; 40
[pet, child] estar castigado; to
bring disgrace on deshonrar 2 (=
shameful thing) vergüenza f; it’s
a disgrace es una vergüenza;
you’re a disgrace! ¡lo tuyo es una
vergüenza!; to be a disgrace to
the school/family ser una deshon- 45
ra para la escuela/la familia
50
55
60
Had there been a Papist
among the crowd of Puritans, he
might have seen in this beautiful
woman, so picturesque in her
attire and mien, and with the
infant at her bosom, an object to
remind him of the image of Divine
Maternity, which so many
illustrious painters have vied with
one another to represent;
something which should remind
him, indeed, but only by
contrast, of that sacred image of
sinless motherhood, whose
infant was to redeem the world.
Here, there was the taint of
deepest sin in the most sacred
quality of human life, working
such effect, that the world was
only the darker for this woman’s
beauty, and the more lost for the
infant that she had borne.
The scene was not without
a mixture of awe, such as must
always invest the spectacle of
guilt and shame in a fellowcreature, before society shall
have grown corrupt enough to
smile, instead of shuddering at
it. The witnesses of Hester
Prynne’s disgrace had not yet
passe d
beyond
their
simplicity. They were stern
enough to look upon her
death, had that been the
sentence, without a murmur at
its severity, but had none of
the heartlessness of another
social state, which would find
only a theme for jest in an
exhibition like the present.
Even had there been a
disposition to turn the matter
into ridicule, it must have been
repressed and overpowered by
the solemn presence of men no
less dignified than the
governor, and several of his
counsellors, a judge, a general,
and the ministers of the town,
all of whom sat or stood in a
balcony of the meeting-house,
looking down upon the
bien su papel, ascendió los escalones de madera, mostrándose a
la multitud que la rodeaba a la
altura de un hombre sobre el nivel de la calle.
X
X
59
De haber habido un pianista
entre el grupo de puritanos, hubiese visto en aquella hermosa
mujer, tan pinto r e s c a e n s u
atavío y p o r t e y c o n l a
niña al pecho, un objeto
q u e l e r e c o r d a s e l a Divina
Maternidad, que tantos pintores ilusorios rivalizaron entre
sí por representar; algo que le recordase, en efecto, pero sólo por
contraste, aquella imagen sagrada de maternidad sin pecado, cuyo
hijo había de redimir al mundo.
Allí estaba la mancha del más
hondo pecado en la más sagrada
cualidad de la vida humana, haciendo tal efecto, que solamente
el mundo era el que oscurecía la
belleza de aquella mujer y causaba la pérdida mayor a la criaturita
que había dado a luz.
En la escena no faltaba la
mezcla de pavor, que debe siempre investir el espectáculo de
culpa y vergüenza [83] en el prójimo, mientras la sociedad no se
haya corrompido lo bastante
para sonreír en vez de temblar
ante ella. Los testigos de la
desgracia de Ester Prynne no
habían pasado de su simplicidad. Hallábanse lo bastante serenos para haber presenciado su
muerte, si ésta hubiera sido su
sentencia, sin un murmullo por
su severidad; pero no poseía la
falta de corazón de otro estado
social que no hubiese encontrado en una exhibición como la
presente sino un tema de burla.
Aunque hubiera existido una
disposición para convertir el
asunto en ridículo, hubiese sido
reprimida y vencida por la solemne presencia de hombres no
menos dignificados que el gobernador y varios de sus consejeros, un juez, un general y los
ministros de la población; todos
los cuales hallábanse de pie o
sentados en el balcón del templo protestante, mirando a la
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
platform. When such personages
could constitute a part of the
spectacle, without risking the
majesty, or reverence of rank
and office, it was safely to be
inferred that the infliction of a
legal sentence would have an
earnest and effectual meaning.
Accordingly, the crowd was
sombre and grave. The unhappy
culprit sustained herself as best
a woman might, under the
heavy weight of a thousand
unrelenting eyes, all fastened
upon her, and concentrated at
her bosom. It was almost
intolerable to be borne. Of an
impulsive and passionate
nature, she had fortified herself
to encounter the stings and venomous
stabs of publi c c o n t u m e l y ,
wreaking itself in every variety
of insult; but there was a quality
so much more terrible in the
solemn mood of the popular
mind, that she longed rather to
behold all those rigid
countenances contorted with
scornful merriment, and herself
the object. Had a roar of
laughter burst from the
multitude—each man, each
woman, each little shrill-voiced
child, contributing their
individual
parts—Hester
Prynne might have repaid them
all with a bitter and disdainful
smile. But, under the leaden
infliction which it was her doom
to endure, she felt, at moments,
as if she must needs shriek out
with the full power of her lungs,
and cast herself from the
scaffold down upon the ground,
or else go mad at once.
plataforma. Cuando tales personajes podían constituir una parte del
espectáculo, sin arriesgar la majestad o reverencia de su rango o de
su cargo, podía seguramente deducirse que la imposición de una
sentencia legal habría de tener un
pronto y efectivo significado.
Consecuentemente, la multitud
se hallaba grave y sombría. La
infortunada culpable se sostenía,
lo mejor que una mujer podía
hacerlo, bajo la pesada mirada de
millares de ojos implacables, todos ellos fijos sobre ella y concentrados sobre su pecho. Se hacía as¡ intolerable el haber nacido. Su carácter impulsivo y apasionado habíala fortificado para
afrontar los aguijones y ponzoñosas puñaladas de la injuria pública,
coléricos en toda la variedad del
insulto; pero había una cualidad mucho más terrible en la
solemne forma de la imaginación popular, para que ella dilatase, más bien que mantuviese, todas aquellas rígidas continencias, retorcidas con insolente regocijo. Si de aquella
multitud saliese un rugido o una
carcajada, a los que cada hombre, cada mujer y cada
pequeñuelo de voz chillona contribuyesen individualmente,
Ester Prynne les hubiese [84]
pagado con una sonrisa amarga
y desdeñosa. Pero bajo la pesada pena que era su sino soportar, había momentos en que sentía como un deseo necesario de
gritar con toda la fuerza de sus
pulmones, y arrojarse sobre la
multitud desde el tablado, o volverse loca al punto.
Ye t t h e r e w e r e i n t e r v a l s
when the whole scene, in which
she was the most conspicuous
50 object, seemed to vanish from
her eyes, or, at least, glimmered
indistinctly before them, like a
mass of imperfectly shaped and
spectral images. Her mind, and
55 especially her memory, was
preternaturally active, and kept
bringing up other scenes than
this roughly hewn street of a
little town, on the edge of the
60 western wilderness: other faces
No obstante, había intervalos
en que toda la escena, de la que
era el objeto más conspicuo, parecía borrarse de sus ojos, o, por
lo menos, brillar confusamente
ante ellos, como una masa de
imágenes espectrales imperfectamente dibujadas. Su cerebro, y
especialmente su memoria, eran
preternaturalmente activos y
continuaban conservando otras
escenas distintas a aquella que se
desarrollaba en la calle de la pequeña población, al borde del bos-
5
10
15
20
contumely injuriosamente, ofensivamente
wreak v.tr. 1 (usu. foll. by upon) give
play or satisfaction to;to give free
course to; put in operation, inflingir
(vengeance or one’s anger etc.).
25
30
35
40
45
60
contumely n. contumelia = oprobio, injuria u ofensa dicha a una
persona
en
su
cara,
Injuriosamente, ofensivamente
insolent or reproachful language
or treatment. 2 disgrace.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
scafold patíbulo
pìllory picota
25
30
35
40
45
remonstrance n. 1 the act or an instance
of remonstrating. 2 an expostulation
or protest. Objection. The act of
expressing earnest opposition or
protest. Reprensión, reprimenda,
reprimand
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
than were lowering upon her
from beneath the brims of
t h o s e s t e e p l e - c rowned hats.
Reminiscences, the most trifling
and immaterial, passages of
infancy and school-days, sports,
childish quarrels, and the little
domestic traits of her maiden
years, came swarming back
upon her, intermingled with
recollections of whatever was
gravest in her subsequent life;
one picture precisely as vivid
as another; as if all were of
similar importance, or all alike
a p l a y. P o s s i b l y, i t w a s a n
instinctive device of her spirit to
relieve itself by the exhibition of
these phantasmagoric forms,
from the cruel weight and
hardness of the reality.
que del Oeste; otras caras que descendían sobre ella desde debajo de
las alas de aquellos altos sombreros.
Volvían a su memoria las reminiscencias más fútiles e
inmateriales, pasajes de su infancia y de los días del colegio, los
juegos, las riñas de chiquillos y
los pequeños castigos domésticos
de sus días de soltería, entremezclados con recuerdos de cuanto
constituyera mayor gravedad en
sucesivos días; una pintura era
tan precisamente viva como la
otra, como si todo fuese de igual
importancia. Es posible que fuera una invención de su espíritu
para aliviarse a sí propio, con la
exhibición de estas formas
fantasmagóricas, del peso y la
dureza de la realidad.
Be that as it might, the
scaffold of the pillory was a
point of view that revealed to
Hester Prynne the entire track
along which she had been
treading, since her happy
i n f a n c y. St a n d i n g o n t h a t
miserable eminence, she saw
again her native village, in Old
England, and her paternal home:
a decayed house of grey stone,
with a poverty-stricken aspect,
but retaining a half obliterated
shield of arms over the portal, in
token of antique gentility. She saw her
father’s face, with its bold brow, and
reverend white beard that flowed over
the old-fashioned Elizabethan ruff;
her mother ’s , t o o , w i t h t h e
look of heedful and anxious
love which it always wore
in her remembrance, and
which, even since her
d e a t h , h a d s o o f t e n laid the
impediment of a gentle
remonstrance [protest] in her
daughter’s pathway. She saw her
own face, glowing with girlish
beauty, and illuminating all the
interior of the dusky mirror in
which she had been wont to gaze
at it. There she beheld another
countenance, of a man well
stricken in years, a pale, thin,
scholar-like visag e , w i t h e y e s
dim and bleared by the
lamp-light that had served
them to pore over many
Pero aunque así fuese, el
tablado de la fiesta era un punto de vista que revelaba a Ester
Prynne la completa senda por la
que había caminado desde su
alegre niñez. De pie en aquella
miserable eminencia, vio de
nuevo su villa natal en la Vieja
Inglaterra, y el hogar de sus padres; una decaída casa de piedra
gris, con aspecto de haber venido a menos, pero manteniendo
sobre el portal un medio borrado escudo de armas, en señal de
su antigua nobleza. Vio la cara de
su padre, con su ancha frente y la
venerable barba blanca que [85]
flotaba sobre la gorguera usada
en los antiguos tiempos de Isabel;
la de su madre, también, con la
mirada de amor anhelante y cautelosa, que siempre conservaba en
su recuerdo y que, aun desde su
muerte, había sido, con tanta frecuencia, un impedimento de genti l p ro t e s t a e n l a s e n d a q u e
s e g u í a s u h i j a . Vi o s u p r o pia cara, brillando con belleza juvenil e iluminado
todo el interior del oscuro
espejo, al cual había desead o m i r a r. A p r e c i ó a l l í o t r o
rostro, el de un hombre bien
entrado en años, pálido,
d e l g a d o , c o n aspecto de letrado, con ojos legañosos y apagados por la luz de la lámpara, que
le sirvieron para caer sobre mu-
X
61
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
ponderous [weighty] books. Yet
those same bleared optics had a
s t r a n g e , p e n e t r a t i n g p o w e r,
w h e n i t w a s t h e i r o w n e r ’s
purpose to read the human soul.
This figure of the study and the
cloister, as Hester Prynne’s
womanly fancy failed not to
recall, was slightly deformed,
with the left shoulder a trifle
higher than the right. Next rose
before her in memory’s picturegallery, the intricate and narrow
thoroughfares, the tall, grey
houses, the huge cathedrals, and
the public edifices, ancient in
date and quaint in architecture,
of a continental city; where new
life had awaited her, still in
connexion with the misshapen
scholar: a new life, but feeding
itself on time-worn materials,
like a tuft of green moss on a
crumbling wall. Lastly, in lieu of
these shifting scenes, came back
the rude market-place of the
Puritan, settlement, with all the
townspeople assembled, and
levelling their stern regards at
Hester Prynne—yes, at herself—
who stood on the scaffold of the
pillory, an infant on her arm, and
the letter A, in scarlet,
fantastically embroidered with
gold thread, upon her bosom.
chos libros imponderables. No
obstante, aquellos ojos legañosos,
cuando su propietario se proponía
leer en el alma humana, tenían un
poder extraño y penetrante. Esta figura del estudio y del claustro, que
la fantasía femenina de Ester Prynne
no pudo menos de recordar, estaba
ligeramente deformada, con el hombro izquierdo un poquito más alto
que el derecho. Después se alzaron
ante ella, en la galería pictórica de
su memoria, las calles intrincadas y
estrechas, las altas casas grises, las
enormes catedrales y los edificios
públicos, antiguos por su fecha y
raros por la arquitectura, de la ciudad continental, donde una nueva
vida la hubiese aguardado, aun en
relación con el desgraciado letrado;
una nueva vida, pero alimentada con
materiales ganados al tiempo, como
el penacho de verde musgo sobre un
muro ruinoso. Por último, en lugar
de estas escenas mudables, volvió a
ver la plaza del mercado del establecimiento puritano, con todas las
gentes de la población reunidas en
ella, elevando hasta Ester Prynne sus
miradas severas; ¡sí, hasta ella, que
se hallaba de pie sobre el tablado de
la picota, con una criatura en brazos, y la letra A, en rojo, fantásticamente bordada con hilo de oro, sobre su pecho!
Could it be true? She
clutched the child so fiercely to
her breast that it sent forth a
40 c r y ; s h e t u r n e d h e r e y e s
downward at the scarlet letter,
and even touched it with her
finger, to assure herself that the
infant and the shame were real.
45 Yes these were her realities—
all else had vanished!
¿Podía ser aquello cierto? Tan
fieramente apretó a la criaturita
contra su pecho, que ésta lanzó un
grito; [86] volvió ella la vista hacia abajo, hacia la letra roja, y hasta
la tocó con su dedo, para convencerse de que aquella niña y aquella vergüenza eran reales. ¡Sí!
¡Aquéllas eran sus realidades; todo
lo demás se había desvanecido!
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Chapter 3: The Recognition: Chapter 3 introduces Chillingworth, Hester’s wronged husband. He is recognised by no one but Hester, who says nothing. Neither does she reveal her
lover’s name, when pressed to do so by the clergy. The distinguished Reverend Wilson then preaches to the crowd on the sin of adultery, dwelling on the horrors of sin and of the
punishment of sin so that the crowd comes to regard Hester almost with superstitious awe.
50
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: When we are introduced
to Chillingworth he has come to the edge of the crowd, in the company of an Indian. He seems himself to be ‘clad in a strange disarray
of civilized and savage costume’. Hawthorne tells us two contradictory things about his physical appearance, that ‘there was a remarkable intelligence in his features, as of a person who
had so cultivated his mental part that it could not fail to mould the physical to itself, and become manifest by unmistakable tokens’ and that ‘his face darkened with some powerful emotion,
which, nevertheless, he so instantaneously controlled by an effort of his will, that, save at a single moment, its expression might have passed for calmness’. This indicates a central feature
of this character: he is disguised, secretive. It seems natural that the first gesture we see of his in the story is his silent admonition to Hester to keep his identity secret: ‘When he found the
eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips.’ The
painful relationship between these two characters does not really change throughout the rest of the story. It is always characterised by secrecy and unhappiness.
It is matched by Nester’s other relationship with a man, also secret and unhappy. As Nester stands publicly for punishment, this man too will not acknowledge his bond
with her. He will not admit he is the father55
of her child. She keeps his identity secret just as she does her husband’s. Though Nester has known two men, she and the baby are
completely alone as the crowd watches them.
Nester is asked to identify her lover by the distinguished eldest clergyman of Boston, John Wilson. He is physically above Nester, as well as socially and morally, but
Hawthorne speaks directly again, to criticise him: ‘He looked like the darkly engraved portraits which we see prefixed to old volumes of sermons; and had no more right than one
of those portraits would have to step forth, as he now did, and meddle with a question of human guilt, passion, and anguish’.
His questioning does not bring a response and so he asks the local minister Dimmesdale to urge Nester to reveal her lover’s name. Hawthorne then introduces the third
main character; the reader sees him first as the crowd sees him:
The directness of this appeal drew the eyes of the whole crowd upon the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale; a young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English
universities, bringing all the learning of the60
age into our wild forest land. His eloquence and religious fervour had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession. He
was a person of very striking aspect, with a white, lofty, and impending brow, large, brown, melancholy eyes, and a mouth which, unless when he forcibly compressed it, was apt to
62
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
be tremulous, expressing both nervous sensibility and a vast power of self-restraint. Notwithstanding his high native gifts and scholar-like attainments, there was an air about this
young minister, - an apprehensive, a startled, a half-frightened look, - as of a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence, and could only be
at ease in some seclusion of his own. Therefore, so far as his duties would permit, he trod in the shadowy by-paths, and thus kept himself simple and childlike; coming forth, when
occasion was, with a freshness, and fragrance, and dewy purity of thought, which, as many people said, affected them like the speech of an angel.
He too speaks from the balcony but he speaks movingly of what the reader will later understand is Dimmesdale’s situation: ‘Be not silent from any mistaken pity and
tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide
a guilty heart through life’. He also points to what will be revealed as his own weaknesses, hypocrisy and moral cowardice. The baby lifts up her arms to him, but Hester will not tell
5 on his heart, as he says ‘Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart! She will not speak!’. This gesture is repeated many
her lover’s name. Dimmesdale puts his hand
times in the course of the story; it suggests hiding real emotions.
The main characters have now all adopted their first resolutions; Nester chooses dignity in isolation, Chillingworth a secretive revenge, and Dimmesdale a furtive
remorse. Against their private dramas is the reaction of the crowd - like a chorus in a Greek tragedy, they comment at every crucial phase. They listen to a sermon by the Reverend
Wilson on sin and are moved to regard Nester with horror. Hawthorne speaks sensitively of Nester’s suffering without magnifying it. In this way he keeps her before his reader’s
imagination as a real woman, and not just as a symbolic, suffering scapegoat.
10
III.
III
THE RECOGNITION
EL RECONOCIMIENTO
From
this
intense
consciousness of being the object
of severe and universal observation,
the wearer of the scarlet letter was
at length relieved, by discerning, on
the outskirts of the crowd, a figure
which irresistibly took possession
of her thoughts. An Indian in his
native garb was standing there;
but the red men were not so
infrequent visitors of the
English settlements that one of
them would have attracted any
notice from Hester Prynne at
such a time; much less would
he have excluded all other
objects and ideas from her
mind. By the Indian’s side,
and evidently sustaining a
companionship with him,
stood a white man, clad in a
stra nge disarray of civilized
and savage costume.
La portadora de la letra roja
sintió, por fin, alivio a su intensa pena por ser objeto de severa observación, al ver, entre
los más alejados del grupo, una
figura que irresistiblemente
tomó posesión de sus pensamientos. Un indio, vistiendo su
traje nativo, se hallaba allí de
pie; pero los hombres rojos no
eran visitantes tan infrecuentes
de los Estados ingleses, para
que uno de ellos hubiese llamado la atención de Ester
Prynne en aquella hora, y mucho menos para excluir todos
los demás objetos e ideas de
su imaginación. Junto al indio, e indudablemente sosteniendo compañerismo con él,
había un hombre blanco vistiendo, con extraño desgaire, un
traje civilizado de salvaje.
He was small in stature, with
40 a furrowed visage, which as yet
could hardly be termed aged.
There was a remarkable
intelligence in his features, as of
a person who had so cultivated his
45 mental part that it could not fail
to mould the physical to itself and
become manifest by unmistakable
tokens. Although, by a seemingly
careless arrangement of his
50 heterogeneous garb , h e h a d
endeavoured to conceal or
abate [disminuir] the peculiarity,
it was sufficiently evident to
Hester Prynne that one of this
55 man’s shoulders rose higher than
the other. Again, at the first instant
of perceiving that thin visage, and
the slight deformity of the figure,
she pressed her infant to her
60 bosom with so convulsive a force
Era pequeño de estatura, de
cara arrugada,, pero que aún no
podía considerarse vieja. Demostraban sus facciones una
notoria inteligencia, como la de
una persona que hubiese cultivado de tal modo su parte mental, que no hubiera podido por
menos de moldearla y hacerla
manifiesta con señales inconfundibles. Aunque por el aparente
descuido de su atavío heterogéneo había procurado ocultar o
disimular cierta característica,
advirtió Ester Prynne que uno de
los hombros de aquel hombre
levantaba más que el otro. En
cuanto percibió la enjuta fisonomía y la ligera deformidad de su
figura, oprimió Ester la
criaturita nuevamente contra
[87] su pecho, con fuerza tan
15
20
25
30
35
desgaire 1. m. Desaliño, desaire en el
manejo del cuerpo y en las acciones,
que regularmente suele ser afectado.
2. m. Ademán con que se desprecia
y desestima a una persona o cosa.
al desgaire . loc. adv. Con descuido, que
puede ser afectado.
visage: face
heterogeneous: having unlike kinds mixed
abate: lessen
63
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
that the poor babe uttered another
cry of pain. But the mother did not
seem to hear it,
convulsiva, que el pobre bebé
lanzó otro grito de dolor. Mas la
madre no pareció oírlo.
At his arrival in the marketplace, and some time before she
saw him, the stranger had bent
his eyes on Hester Prynne. It
was carelessly at first, like a
man chiefly accustomed to look
inward, and to whom external
matters are of little value and
import, unless they bear
relation to something within his
mind. Very soon, however, his
look b e c a m e k e e n a n d
penetrative. A writhing
horror twisted itself across
his features, like a snake
gliding swiftly over them,
and making one little pause,
with all its wreathed
intervolutions in open sight.
His face darkened with some
powerful emotion, which,
nevertheless,
he
so
instantaneously controlled by
an effort of his will, that, save
at a single moment, its
expression might have passed
for calmness. After a brief space,
the convulsion grew almost
imperceptible, and finally
subsided into the depths of his
nature. When he found the eyes
of Hester Prynne fastened on his
own, and saw that she appeared
to recognize him, he slowly and
calmly raised his finger, made a
gesture with it in the air, and laid
it on his lips.
Cuando llegó a la plaza del
mercado, y antes de que le viese,
el extranjero había puesto sus
ojos en Ester Prynne. A1 principio con descuido, como un hombre acostumbrado principalmente a mirar dentro de sí y para
quien los asuntos exteriores son
de poco valor e importancia, de
no tener relación con algo que
bullese en su cerebro. Muy pronto, sin embargo, su mirada se tornó aguda y penetrante. Un horror
doloroso se reflejó, retorciéndose en sus facciones, cual si una
culebra se escurriera suavemente sobre ellas, haciendo una pequeña pausa con todas sus trenzadas evoluciones a la vista. Su
cara se oscureció por efecto de
alguna emoción poderosa; mas,
no obstante, la dominó tan pronto con un esfuerzo de su voluntad que, salvo un solo momento, su expresión hubiese pasado
por la de la tranquilidad. Después de breve espacio, la convulsión se hizo casi imperceptible y, finalmente, perdióse en las
profundidades de su naturaleza.
Cuando vio los ojos de Ester
Prynne fijos en los suyos y que
ella parecía haberle reconocido,
alzó un dedo despacio, y, con
tranquilidad, hizo un gesto con
él en el aire y se lo llevó a los
labios.
Then touching the shoulder of
a townsman who stood near to
45 him, he addressed him in a formal
and courteous manner:
Entonces, tocando en el
hombro a un ciudadano próximo a él, preguntóle formal y
cortésmente:
“I pray you, good Sir,” said
he, “who is this woman? —and
50 wherefore is she here set up to
public shame?”
—Perdone usted, buen señor; ¿quién es esa mujer? ¿Por
qué la exponen a la vergüenza
pública?
“ Yo u m u s t n e e d s b e a
stranger in this region, friend,”
55 a n s w e r e d t h e t o w n s m a n ,
looking curiously at the
questioner and his savage
companion, “else you would
surely have heard of Mistress
60 H e s t e r P r y n n e a n d h e r e v i l
—Por fuerza debe ser usted
extraño a esta región, amigo mío
—respondió el ciudadano mirando con ansiedad a su interlocutor y a su salvaje compañero—, pues de lo contrario hubiese usted oído hablar de la señora Ester Prynne y de sus malas
5
10
import what is implied, sense,
importance, meaning, purport,
transcendence
15
20
25
30
35
40
64
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
doings. She hath raised a great
scandal, I promise you, in
godly Master Dimmesdale’s
church. “
hazañas. Ha promovido un gran
escándalo, se lo aseguro, en la
iglesia del venerable Master
Dimmesdale.
“You say truly,” replied the
other; “I am a stranger, and
have been a wanderer, sorely
against my will. I have met
10 with grievous mishaps by sea
and land, and have been long
held in bonds among the
heathen-folk to the southward;
and am now brought hither by
15 this Indian to be redeemed out
of my captivity. Wi l l i t
please you, therefore, to tell
me of Hester Prynne’s—
have I her name rightly? —
20 o f t h i s w o m a n ’s o f f e n c e s ,
and what has brought her to
y o n d e r s c a ff o l d ? ”
—Dice usted muy bien.
Soy forastero y he sido vagabundo, [88] tristemente, contra mi voluntad. He tropezado,
por mar y tierra, con desgracias desconsoladoras, y he
permanecido como cautivo
entre la gente atea del sur;
ahora me ha traído aquí este
indio para ser redimido de mi
cautivero. ¿Así pues, será usted tan amable que me cuente
algo de Ester Prynne, si es que
la he nombrado acertadament e ? ¿ A l g o d e l a s ofensas que
esa mujer haya causado y el motivo de verla ahí sobre la picota?
5
heart, after your troubles and
sojourn in the wilderness,” said
the townsman, “to find yourself
at length in a land where iniquity
is searched out and punished in
the sight of rulers and people, as
here in our godly New England.
Yonder woman, Sir, you must
know, was the wife of a certain
learned man, English by birth,
but who had long ago dwelt in
Amsterdam, whence some good
time agone he was minded to
cross over and cast in his lot
with us of the Massachusetts. To
this purpose he sent his wife
before him, remaining himself to
look after some necessary
affairs. Marry, good Sir, in some
two years, or less, that the
woman has been a dweller here
in Boston, no tidings have come
of this learned gentleman,
Master Prynne; and his young
wife, look you, being left to her
own misguidance—”
—Ciertamente, amigo mío;
y de fijo que alegrará su corazón después de sus trastornos
y de su permanencia en la selva —dijo el ciudadano—. Se
halla usted ahora en una tierra
donde se busca la iniquidad y
se castiga ante al vista de los
regidores y del pueblo: en
nuestra piadosa Nueva Inglaterra. Ha de saber usted, señor,
que esa mujer fue esposa de
cierto sabio, inglés de nacimiento, pero que vivió muchos
años en Amsterdam, hasta que
hace algún tiempo se le ocurrió
venir a probar fortuna entre
nosotros los de Massachusetts.
A este propósito envió por delante a su esposa, permaneciendo él allí para solventar
algunos asuntos necesarios.
Durante los dos años, o menos,
que esta mujer ha vivido en
Boston, no se han tenido noticias del sabio caballero, quedando ella, por tanto, abandonada a su propio cuidado.
“ A h ! — a h a! — I c o n c e i v e
you,” said the stranger with a
55 bitter smile. “So learned a man
as you speak of should have
learned this too in his books.
And who, by your favour, Sir,
may be the father of yonder
60 babe—it is some three or four
—¡Ah, ah! Os comprendo —
dijo el forastero con una amarga sonrisa—. El sabio caballero, como usted dice, debió haber aprendido también eso en
sus libros. ¿Y quién, si me hace
usted el favor, puede ser el padre de esa criatura, que supon-
“ Tr u l y,
friend;
and
methinks v. intr. (past methought) 25 m ethinks it must gladden your
archaic it seems to me.
30
35
40
45
50
65
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
months old, I should judge—
which Mistress Prynne is
holding in her arms?”
go tendrá unos tres o cuatro
meses, y que la señora Prynne
lleva en brazos?
“Of a truth, friend, that matter
remaineth a riddle; and the
Daniel who shall expound it is yet
a-wanting,” answered the
townsman. “Madame Hester
10 absolutely refuseth to speak, and
the magistrates have laid their
heads together in vain.
Peradventure the guilty one
stands looking on at this sad
15 spectacle, unknown of man, and
forgetting that God sees him. “
—En verdad, amigo, ese asunto ha resultado un enigma, y el
Daniel que haya de interpretarlo
es todavía desconocido contestó
el ciudadano—. La señora Ester
se negó a hablar en absoluto, y
los magistrados se han atormentado la cabeza en vano.
Afortunadamente, [89] la culpable está viendo este triste espectáculo, ocultando al hombre y
olvidando que Dios le ve.
5
behove : to be necessary or fitting for
example: it behoves me to arrest you
conviene, sería bueno, le incumbe,
to be necessary, proper, or advantageous
for, especially as a duty or obligation
<it behooves us to go>
to be necessary, fit, or proper
bethink 1 cause oneself to consider
something 2 consider or ponder
something carefully; «She bethought
her of their predicament» Remember,
recalled ; se acordaron ; se había
acordado
“The learned man,” observed
the stranger with another smile,
20 “should come himself to look
into the mystery. “
—El hombre sabio —observó el forastero con otra sonrisa—
debiera venir para indagar personalmente en el misterio.
“It behoves him well if he be
still in life,” responded the
townsman. “Now, good Sir, our
Massachusetts
magistracy,
bethinking themselves that this
woman is youthful and fair, and
doubtless was strongly tempted to
her fall, and that, moreover, as is
most likely, her husband may be
at the bottom of the sea, they have
not been bold to put in force the
extremity of our righteous law
against her. The penalty thereof
is death. But in their great mercy
and tenderness of heart they have
doomed Mistress Prynne to stand
only a space of three hours on the
platform of the pillory, and then
and thereafter, for the remainder
of her natural life to wear a mark
of shame upon her bosom. “
—Eso sería bueno
si viviese. Ahora, buen
señor, la magistratura
de
Massachusetts,
c o n s i d e r a n d o que esta mujer
es joven y bella y que indudablemente fue impelida por la fuerza a
su caída, y que además, como es lo
más probable, su marido puede estar en el fondo del mar, no han dudado en poner en ejecución contra
ella el mayor castigo de nuestra rigurosa ley. La pena, por consiguiente, es la de muerte. Pero su gran benignidad y ternura de corazón les ha
llevado a castigar a la señora Prynne
a permanecer, solamente durante
tres horas, sobre la plataforma de la
picota, y a llevar en ese acto y por
el resto de su vida, una señal infamante sobre su pecho.
45
“A
wise
sentence,”
remarked the stranger, gravely,
bowing his head. “Thus she will
be a living sermon against sin,
until the ignominious letter be
50 engraved upon her tombstone.
It irks me, nevertheless, that the
partner of her iniquity should
not at least, stand on the
scaffold by her side. But he will
55 b e k n o w n — h e w i l l b e
known!—he will be known!”
—¡Sabia sentencia! —hizo notar el forastero, bajando gravemente la cabeza—. Así pues, será un
sermón viviente contra el pecado,
hasta que la ignominiosa letra
sea esculpida sobre su tumba.
Me encocora, sin embargo,
que el partícipe de su iniquidad no se halle, al menos, junto a ella en el patíbulo. ¡Pero
se sabrá quién es! ¡Se conocerá! ¡Se conocerá!
He bowed courteously to
the communicative townsman,
60 and whispering a few words to
Saludó cortésmente al comunicativo ciudadano, y, diciendo
algunas palabras en voz baja al
25
30
35
40
ignominious:
humiliating
dishonourable
and
X
66
absolute es un adjetivo de moda en EEUU que no
solo traduce absoluto [independiente, decisivo,
ilimitado, terminante, categórico], sino otros conceptos más o menos similares, como total, completo, verdadero, pleno, perfecto, rotundo, incondicional, indiscutible, auténtico. El adverbio
absolutely es absolutamente, y sigue los pasos
del adjetivo en frecuencia y en significados.
An absolute idiot = un perfecto idiota.
An absolute goddess = toda una diosa.
Absolute nonsense = pura tontería.
This cathedral is an absolute jewel. = Esta catedral
es una verdadera joya.
The newlyweds enjoy absolute happiness. = Los
recién casados gozan de completa felicidad.
You can rely on my absolute support. = Cuenta con
mi apoyo incondicional.
He’s an absolute coward. = Es un perfecto cobarde.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
his Indian attendant, they both
made their way through the
crowd.
indio que le acompañaba,
internáronse ambos entre la multitud.
While this passed, Hester
Prynne had been standing on
her pedestal, still with a fixed
gaze towards the stranger—so
fixed a gaze that, at moments of
intense absorption, all other
objects in the visible world
seemed to vanish, leaving only
him and her. Such an interview,
perhaps, would have been more
terrible than even to meet him
as she now did, with the hot
mid-day sun burning down
upon her face, and lighting up
its shame; with the scarlet token
of infamy on her breast; with
the sin-born infant in her arms;
with a whole people, drawn
forth as to a festival, staring at
the features that should have
been seen only in the quiet
gleam of the fireside, in the
happy shadow of a home, or
beneath a matronly veil at
church. Dreadful as it was, she
was conscious of a shelter in the
presence of these thousand
witnesses. It was better to stand
thus, with so many betwixt him
and her, than to greet him face
to face—they two alone. She
fled for refuge, as it were, to the
public exposure, and dreaded
the moment when its protection
should be withdrawn from her.
Involved in these thoughts, she
scarcely heard a voice behind
her until it had repeated her
name more than once, in a loud
and solemn tone, audible to the
whole multitude.
Mientras esto había ocurrido, Ester Prynne permaneció de
pie sobre su pedestal, sin apartar la mirada del forastero; una
mirada tan fija que, en momentos de intensa absorción, todos
los demás objetos del mundo
visible parecían esfumarse, quedando solamente él y ella. Tal
entrevista hubiese sido quizá
más terrible que encontrarle,
como lo hizo ahora, con el ardiente sol de mediodía abrasando su rostro y alumbrando su
vergüenza, con la roja señal de
la infamia sobre su pecho, con la
criatura nacida en el pecado [90] en
sus brazos, con todo un pueblo,
arrastrado como a un festival,
contemplando la fisonomía que
debiera tan sólo ser contemplada
en la tranquila luz del hogar, en
la alegre sombra de su casa o bajo
el velo matronal, en la iglesia. A
pesar de ser esto tan espantoso
estaba consciente de un refugio
en presencia de aquel millar de
testigos. Era mejor permanecer
así con tantas gentes entremezcladas con él y ella, que encontrarse con él cara a cara, los dos
solos. Sintió como si volara a
refugiarse bajo la pública exposición, temiendo el momento en
que su protección le fuera retirada. Envuelta en estos , pensamientos, escasamente oyó una
voz tras ella, hasta que repitió su
nombre varias veces, en tono
fuerte y solemne, para que fuese
oído por toda la multitud.
“Hearken unto me, Hester
Prynne!” said the voice.
—¡Escúchame, Ester Prynne!
—dijo la voz.
It has already been noticed
that directly over the platform on
which Hester Prynne stood was
a kind of balcony, or open
gallery, appended to the meeting55 house. It was the place whence
proclamations were wont to be
made, amidst an assemblage of
the magistracy, with all the
ceremonial that attended such
60 public observances in those days.
Ya se ha dicho que, frente a
la plataforma en que se hallaba
la culpable, había una especie de
balcón o galería abierta del templo. Era el sitio desde donde debía ser hecha la proclamación,
entre una asamblea de magistrados, con todo el ceremonial que
reclamaban en aquellos tiempos
tales observancias públicas. Para
presenciar la escena que descri-
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
67
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
Richard Bellingham: Bellingham (15921672) was governor of the Massachusetts
colony in 1641, 1654, and 1665-72
halberds: long-handled
weapons
especially in use in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries
5
10
15
sagacity: wisdom
20
25
mien n. literary a person’s look or bearing,
as showing character or mood. Catadura,
aspecto, semblante, talante, porte,
empaque
30
35
mesh 1 a network fabric or structure. 2
each of the open spaces or
interstices between the strands of a
net or sieve etc. 3 (in pl.) a a network.
b a snare. 4 (in pl.) Physiol. an
interlaced structure.
1 intr. (often foll. by with) (of the teeth
of a wheel) be engaged (with others).
2 intr. be harmonious. 3 tr. catch in a
net.
in mesh (of the teeth of wheels)
engaged.
40
45
Here, to witness the scene which
we are describing, sat Governor
Bellingham himself with four
sergeants about his chair, bearing
halberds, as a guard of honour.
He wore a dark feather in his hat,
a border of embroidery on his
cloak, and a black velvet tunic
beneath—a gentleman advanced
in years, with a hard experience
written in his wrinkles. He was
not ill-fitted to be the head and
representative of a community
which owed its origin and
progress, and its present state of
development, not to the impulses
of youth, but to the stern and
tempered energies of manhood
and the sombre sagacity of age;
accomplishing
so
much,
precisely because it imagined and
hoped so little. The other eminent
characters by whom the chief
ruler was surrounded were
distinguished by a dignity of
mien, belonging to a period when
the forms of authority were felt
to possess the sacredness of
Divine institutions. They were,
doubtless, good men, just and
sage. But, out of the whole
human family, it would not have
been easy to select the same
number of wise and virtuous
persons, who should he less
capable of sitting in judgment on
an erring woman’s heart, and
disentangling its mesh of good
and evil, than the sages of rigid
aspect towards whom Hester
Prynne now turned her face. She
seemed conscious, indeed, that
whatever sympathy she might
expect lay in the larger and
warmer heart of the multitude;
for, as she lifted her eyes towards
the balcony, the unhappy woman
grew pale, and trembled.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
50
John Wilson: Wilson (c.1591-1667) was
an English Congregational minister who
came to Boston with the first settlers
The voice which had called
her attention was that of the
reverend and famous John
Wilson, the eldest clergyman
of Boston, a great scholar, like
55 most of his contemporaries in
the profession, and withal a
man of kind and genial spirit.
This last attribute, however,
had been less carefully
60 developed than his intellectual
X
68
bimos, sentábase allí el gobernador Bellingham en persona, con
cuatro alguaciles junto a su silla,
armados de alabardas, dándole
guardia de honor. Adornaba su
sombrero una pluma oscura, y la
capa que cubría su túnica de terciopelo negro tenía bordada un
cenefa; era un caballero de edad
avanzada, con una dura experiencia marcada en sus arrugas. Apropiado para ser cabeza y representante de una comunidad que debía su origen y progreso y su presente estado de desarrollo, no a
los impulsos de la juventud, sino
a las energías severas y templadas de la humanidad y a la sombría sagacidad de los años, que
realizaba aquello, porque, precisamente era tan poco lo que imaginaba y esperaba. Los otros personajes eminentes de quienes se
hallaba rodeado el regidor
[91] jefe se distinguían por un
empaque de dignidad perteneciente a cierto período en el que
la autoridad parecía poseer la
santidad de las instituciones divinas. Había allí, sin duda, hombres buenos, justos y sabios. Pero
entre toda la familia humana, no
hubiera sido fácil elegir igual número de personas sabias y virtuosas, que fuesen menos capaces de
sentarse a juzgar el extravío de
un corazón de mujer, y desenmarañar la mezcolanza del bien y
del mal, como los sabios de aspecto rígido hacia quienes Ester
Prynne volvía entonces sus ojos.
Abrigaba ésta la sensación de que
cualquier simpatía que pudiese
despertar yacía en el corazón más
grande y ardoroso de la multitud,
porque, al levantar la mirada hasta el balcón, la desgraciada mujer palideció y tembló.
La voz que había llamado su
atención era la del reverendo y
famoso Juan Wilson, el clérigo
más antiguo de Boston, gran letrado, como la mayoría de sus
contemporáneos en la profesión
y, además, hombre amable y de
espíritu genial. Este último atributo, sin embargo menos cuidadosamente desarrollado que sus
dones intelectuales, constituía,
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso,
jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
talented, brilliant, great, fantastic, funny,
witty /temper, nature, disposition,
spirit, initiative
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
gifts, and was, in truth, rather
a matter of shame than selfcongratulation with him. There
he stood, with a border of
5 grizzled locks beneath his
skull-cap, while his grey eyes,
accustomed to the shaded light
of his study, were winking, like
those of Hester ’s infant, in the
10 unadulterated sunshine. He
looked like the darkly engraved
portraits which we see prefixed
to old volumes of sermons,
and had no more right than
15 one of those portraits would
have to step forth, as he now
did, and meddle with a
question of human guilt,
passion, and anguish.
20
“Hester Prynne,” said the
clergyman, “I have striven with
my young brother here, under
whose preaching of the Word
25 you have been privileged to
sit”—here Mr. Wilson laid his
hand on the shoulder of a pale
young man beside him—”I
have sought, I say, to persuade
30 this godly youth, that he should
deal with you, here in the face
of Heaven, and before these
wise and upright rulers, and in
hearing of all the people, as
35 t o u c h i n g t h e v i l e n e s s a n d
blackness of your sin. Knowing
your natural temper better than
I, he could the better judge
what arguments to use, whether
40 of tenderness or terror, such as
might prevail over your
h a r d n e s s a n d o b s t i n a c y,
insomuch that you should no
longer hide the name of him
45 w h o t e m p t e d y o u t o t h i s
grievous fall. But he opposes
to me—with a young man’s
over-softness, albeit wise
beyond his years—that it were
50 wronging the very nature of
woman to force her to lay open
her heart’s secrets in such broad
daylight, and in presence of so
great a multitude. Truly, as I
55 sought to convince him, the
shame lay in the commission of
the sin, and not in the showing
of it forth. What say you to it,
once
again,
brother
60 Dimmesdale? Must it be thou,
en realidad, más una materia de
vergüenza que una propia congratulación. Allí estaba, en pie,
bordeando su casquete un círculo de cabellos blancos, mientras sus ojos grises, acostumbrados a la cernida luz de su
despacho, guiñaban, como los
de la niña de Ester, ante la
inadulterada luz solar. Se parecía a los oscuros retratos grabados que se ven antepuestos a los
volúmenes antiguos de sermones;
y no tenía más derecho que uno
de aquellos retratos pudiera tener, para adelantarse, como ahora lo hizo, entrometiéndose en
una cuestión de culpa humana, de
pasión y de angustia.
—Ester Prynne —dijo el clérigo—, he venido hasta aquí con
mi joven hermano, bajo cuya predicación has tenido el privilegio
de sentarte. —Entonces el señor
Wilson puso la mano sobre el
hombro de un joven pálido [92]
que se hallaba a su lado—. H e
tratado de persuadir a este
piadoso joven para que viniese a tratar contigo, aquí,
ante el cielo, ante estos
regidores sabios y justicieros, para que sean oídas por
t o d a s e s t a s g e n t e s l a vileza
y negrura de tu pecado. Conociendo tu natural temperamento mejor
que yo, podía juzgar con mayor
acierto los argumentos que debieran emplearse, ya de ternura o de
terror, para que prevalecieran sobre tu terquedad y obstinación,
para que no ocultes por más tiempo el nombre de aquel que te indujo a la falta dolorosa. Pero opone a mi parecer, con demasiada
suavidad para un joven, por muy
sabio que sea para su edad, que
sería equivocar la propia naturaleza de una mujer forzarla a abrir de
par en par los secretos de su corazón, ante tan plena luz del día, y
en presencia de una multitud tan
numerosa. Como es justo, he tratado de convencerle de que la vergüenza está en la comisión del pecado y no en hacerlo ver después.
¿Qué dices a esto, una vez más,
hermano Dimmesdale? ¿Has de ser
tú o he de ser yo quien haya de bre69
Notas
behoves: to be necessary for, especially
as a duty or obligation
behove U.S. behoove verb [tr; imp.]
(archaic)
to be necessary or fitting for example:
it behoves me to arrest you conviene, sería bueno, le incumbe,
to be necessary, proper, or advantageous
for, especially as a duty or obligation
<it behooves us to go>
to be necessary, fit, or proper
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
or I, that shall deal with this
poor sinner ’s soul?”
gar con el alma de esta pobre pecadora?
There was a murmur among
5 the dignified and reverend
occupants of the balcony; and
Governor Bellingham gave
expression to its purport,
speaking in an authoritative voice,
10 although tempered with respect
towards the youthful clergyman
whom he addressed:
Hubo un murmullo entre
los dignificados y reverendos
ocupantes del balcón, y el gobernador Bellingham dio expresión a este significado, diciendo con voz autoritaria, si
bien suavizada por el respeto
hacia el joven clérigo a quien
se dirigía:
“Good Master Dimmesdale,”
15 said he, “the responsibility of this
woman’s soul lies greatly with
you. It behoves you; therefore, to
exhort her to repentance and to
confession, as a proof and
20 consequence thereof. “
—Buen Master Dimmesdale,
la responsabilidad del alma de
esta mujer está grandemente en
sus manos. A usted le incumbe,
pues, exhortarla al arrepentimiento y a que confiese, como
prueba y consecuencia de él.
The directness of this appeal
drew the eyes of the whole crowd
upon the Reverend Mr.
Dimmesdale—young clergyman,
who had come from one of the
great English universities,
bringing all the learning of the
age into our wild forest land. His
eloquence and religious fervour
had already given the earnest of
high eminence in his profession.
He was a person of very striking
aspect, with a white, lofty, and
impending [imminent] brow;
large, brown, melancholy eyes,
and a mouth which, unless when
he forcibly compressed it, was
apt to be tremulous, expressing
both nervous sensibility and a vast
power of self restraint.
Notwithstanding his high native
gifts and scholar-like attainments,
there was an air about this young
minister—an apprehensive, a
startled, a half-frightened
look—as of a being who felt
himself quite astray, and at a loss
in the pathway of human
existence, and could only be at
ease in some seclusion of his
own. Therefore, so far as his
duties would permit, he trod in
the shadowy by-paths, and thus
kept himself simple and
childlike, coming forth, when
occasion was, with a freshness,
and fragrance, and dewy purity
of thought, which, as many
people said, affected them like
La rectitud de esta apelación
enderezó todas las miradas de la
multitud hacia el reverendo señor Dimmesdale, joven clérigo
que procedía de una de las grandes universidades inglesas, trayendo toda la ciencia de la época a nuestra extensa tierra selvática. Su elocuencia y fervor
religioso habíanle proporcionado una temprana y alta eminencia en su profesión. Era [93]
persona de aspecto atrayente, de
frente alta, blanca e inminente,
de grandes ojos castaños y melancólicos, y con una boca que,
a menos que forzosamente la
cerrase, era trémula, expresando una nerviosa sensibilidad y
un vasto poder de propio dominio. A pesar de sus altos dones
y de sus logros como hombre
sabio, había en el joven ministro un aire, una aprensión, una
alarma, una mirada medio temerosa, cual la de un ser que se sintiese extraviado por completo en
la senda de la vida humana y no
pudiera estar a sus anchas sino
en su propio retraimiento. Así
pues, hasta tanto se lo permitiesen sus deberes, caminaba por
las sendas cercanas y sombrías,
manteniéndose así sencillo y
pueril, adelantándose, cuando
era ocasión, con una frescura,
una fragancia y una ____ pureza
de pensamiento que, como mucha gente decía, impresionaba
25
30
35
40
capabilities, skills, accomplishments
45
50
55
dewy candorosa, pura, absoluta
60
X
70
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
the speech of an angel.
exhort: advise or warn earnestly
como la palabra de un ángel.
Such was the young man
whom the Reverend Mr. Wilson
5 and the Governor had introduced
so openly to the public notice,
bidding him speak, in the
hearing of all men, to that
mystery of a woman’s soul, so
10 sacred even in its pollution. The
trying nature of his position
drove the blood from his cheek,
and made his lips tremulous.
Tal era el joven a quien el
reverendo señor Wilson y el
gobernador habían presentado,
tan abiertamente, al público,
invitándole a hablar, al alcance de
todos los oídos, a aquel misterio
del alma de una mujer, tan sagrado aun en su corrupción . La
penosa naturaleza de su posición
hizo que sus mejillas palideciesen
y que sus labios temblasen.
15
“Speak to the woman, my
brother,” said Mr. Wilson. “It is
of moment to her soul, and,
therefore, as the worshipful
Governor says, momentous to
20 thine own, ill whose charge hers
is. Exhort her to confess the
truth!”
—¡Habla a la mujer, hermano mío —dijo el señor Wilson—
, si es el momento adecuado para
su alma y, como dice el honorable gobernador, trascendental
para la tuya, a cuyo cargo está la
de ela! ¡Exhórtala a que confiese la verdad!
The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale
25 bent his head, silent prayer, as it
seemed, and then came forward.
“Hester Prynne,” said he,
leaning over the balcony and looking
down steadfastly into her eyes,
30 “thou hearest what this good
man says, and seest the
accountability under which I
labour. If thou feelest it to be for
thy soul’s peace, and that thy
35 earthly punishment will thereby
be made more effectual to
salvation, I charge thee to speak
out the name of thy fellow-sinner
and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent
40 from any mistaken pity and
tenderness for him; for, believe
me, Hester, though he were to
step down from a high place, and
stand there beside thee, on thy
45 pedestal of shame, yet better were
it so than to hide a guilty heart
through life. What can thy silence
do for him, except it tempt him—
yea, compel him, as it were--to
50 add hypocrisy to sin? Heaven
hath granted thee an open
ignominy , that thereby thou
mayest work out an open triumph
over the evil within thee and the
55 sorrow without. Take heed how
thou deniest to him—who,
perchance, hath not the courage
to grasp it for himself—the bitter,
but wholesome, cup that is now
60 presented to thy lips!”
El
reverendo
señor
Dimmesdale humilló la cabeza,
en callada oración, al parecer, y
luego se adelantó, e inclinándose sobre el balcón y mirándola
fijamente a los ojos, dijo:
—¡Ester Prynne, ya oyes lo
que dice este buen hombre y ves
la responsabilidad bajo la que
obro! ¡Si crees que sea para la
paz de tu alma y para que tu castigo terrenal sea, por tanto, más
efectivo para tu [94] salvación,
te ordeno que digas el nombre
de tu compañero de pecado y
compañero de sufrimiento! No
calles por cualquier piedad equivocada o ternura hacia él; porque, créeme, Ester, aunque tuviese que descender desde un
alto puesto y permanecer de pie
junto a ti, sobre tu pedestal de
vergüenza, mejor sería así que
ocultar un corazón culpable durante toda la vida. ¿Qué puede
hacer por él tu silencio, sino tentarle, impulsarle a añadir hipocresía al pecado? El cielo te ha
concedido una ignominia patente
para que así puedas obtener un triunfo, patente también, sobre tu maldad, y sin ello la tristeza. Cuida
de cómo le rehúsas a él, que
por casualidad no tuvo el valor de cogerla para sí, la
amarga pero saludable copa
que ofrece a tus labios.
71
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
sympathy compasión, lástima
10
15
20
25
30
tr. de A. Ruste
The young pastor ’s voice
was tremulously sweet, rich,
deep, and broken. The feeling
that it so evidently manifested,
rather than the direct purport
of the words, caused it to
vibrate within all hearts, and
brought the listeners into one
a c c o r d o f s y m p a t h y. E v e n
t h e p o o r b a b y a t H e s t e r ’s
bosom was affected by the
same influence, for it
directed its hitherto vacant
gaze
towards
M r.
Dimmesdale, and held up its
little arms with a half-pleased,
half-plaintive murmur. So
powerful seemed the minister’s
appeal that the people could not
believe but that Hester Prynne
would speak out the guilty name,
or else that the guilty one himself
in whatever high or lowly place
he stood, would be drawn forth
by an inward and inevitable
necessity, and compelled to
ascend the scaffold.
La voz del joven pastor sera
temblorosamente dulce, rica,
honda y quebradiza. El sentimiento que tan evidentemente
manifestaba, más bien que el significado directo de las palabras,
hizo que vibrase en todos los corazones y llevó a todos los oyentes a un acuerdo de simpatía.
Hasta el pobrecito bebé, colgado
del pecho de su madre, sintióse
afectado con la misma influencia,
porque dirigió su hasta entonces
vaga mirada hacia el señor
Dimmesdale, y levantó los
bracitos con un murmullo medio
de complacencia y de súplica.
Tan poderosa pareció la apelación del ministro, que la gente no
podía sino creer que Ester Prynne
iba a pronunciar el nombre del
culpable, o que el mismo culpable, cualquiera que fuese su posición, sería impulsado a adelantarse por una necesidad interna e
inevitable, y ascendería las gradas del patíbulo.
Hester shook her head.
Ester movió la cabeza.
“Woman, transgress not
beyond the limits of Heaven’s
mercy!” cried the Reverend Mr.
35 Wilson, more harshly than before.
“That little babe hath been gifted
with a voice, to second and
confirm the counsel which thou
hast heard. Speak out the name!
40 That, and thy repentance, may
avail to take the scarlet letter off
thy breast. “
—¡Mujer, no traspases los
límites de la piedad del cielo!
—gritó el reverendo señor
Wilson, con más acritud que
antes—. Ese pequeñín ha sido
dotado de una voz para secundar y afirmar lo que has oído.
¡Pronuncia el nombre! Eso y tu
arrepentimiento podrán servir
para que sea arrancada de tu
pecho la letra roja.
“Never,” replied Hester
45 Prynne, looking, not at Mr.
Wilson, but into the deep and
troubled eyes of the younger
clergyman. “It is too deeply
branded. Ye cannot take it off.
50 And would that I might endure his
agony as well as mine!”
[95] —¡Jamás! —replicó
Ester, no mirando al señor
Wilson, sino a los profundos y
trastornados ojos del clérigo más
joven—. ¡Está marcada muy hondamente! ¡Tú no puedes arrancarla! ¡Y yo, si lo hiciese, sufriría
su agonía y la mía!
“Speak, woman!” said another
voice, coldly and sternly,
55 proceeding from the crowd about
the scaffold, “Speak; and give
your child a father!”
—¡Habla, mujer! —dijo
otra voz, fría y severamente,
que salió del grupo más cercano al patíbulo—. ¡Habla, y da
un padre a tu hijo!
“I will not speak!” answered
60 Hester, turning pale as death, but
—¡No hablaré! —respondió
Ester, tornándose pálida como la
72
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
responding to this voice,
which
she
too
surely
recognised. “And my child
must seek a heavenly father; she
5 shall never know an earthly one!”
muerte, pero contestando a aquella voz que también, seguramente, había reconocido—. ¡Y mi
niña buscará un padre celestial;
nunca conocerá uno terrenal!
“She will not speak!”
murmured Mr. Dimmesdale,
who, leaning over the balcony,
10 with his hand upon his heart, had
awaited the result of his appeal.
He now drew back with a long
respiration. “Wondrous strength
arid generosity of a woman’s
15 heart! She will not speak!”
—¡No hablará! —
murmuró el señor Dimmesdale,
quien, inclinándose fuera del
balcón, con la mano sobre su
pecho, había esperado la respuesta a su apelación—. ¡Maravillosa fortaleza y generosidad del corazón de una mujer! ¡No hablará!
Discerning the impracticable
state of the poor culprit’s mind,
the elder clergyman, who had
carefully prepared himself for
the occasion, addressed to the
multitude a discourse on sin,
in all its branches, but with
continual reference to the
ignominious
l e t t e r.
So
forcibly did he dwell upon this
symbol, for the hour or more
during which is periods were
rolling over the people’s heads,
that it assumed new terrors in
their imagination, and seemed to
derive its scarlet hue from the
flames of the infernal pit. Hester
Prynne, meanwhile, kept her
place upon the pedestal of
shame, with glazed [sheeny]
eyes, and an air of weary
indifference. She had borne that
morning all that nature could
endure; and as her temperament
was not of the order that escapes
from too intense suffering by a
swoon, her spirit could only
shelter itself beneath a stony
crust of insensibility, while the
faculties of animal life remained
entire. In this state, the voice of
the
preacher
thundered
remorselessly, but unavailingly,
upon her ears. The infant, during
the latter portion of her ordeal,
pierced the air with its wailings
and screams; she strove to hush
it mechanically, but seemed
scarcely to sympathise with
i t s t r o u b l e . Wi t h t h e s a m e
hard demeanour, she was led
back
to
prison,
and
vanished from the public
g a z e w i t h i n i t s i r o n - clamped
Discerniendo el impracticable
estado del cerebro de la pobre
culpable, el clérigo más anciano,
que se había preparado cuidadosamente para la ocasión, dirigió a
la multitud un sermón sobre el
pecado, en todas sus ramificaciones, pero con una continua referencia a la letra ignominiosa. Tan
tenazmente insistió sobre aquel
símbolo durante la hora o más
tiempo que sus períodos bullían
en los cerebros de las gentes, que
llevó nuevos terrores a sus imaginaciones y pareció que derivaba su resplandor rojo de las llamas del abismo infernal. Ester
Prynne, mientras tanto, mantuvo
su sitio sobre el pedestal de vergüenza, con ojos vidriados y aire
de fatigosa indiferencia. Había
dado aquella mañana todo cuanto
la naturaleza podía soportar; y
como su temperamento no era de
esa clase que escapa, por desmayo, a un intenso sufrimiento, su
espíritu no podía cobijarse más
que bajo una corteza pétrea de
insensibilidad, mientras permanecían intactas todas las facultades
de su vida animal. En este estado, la
voz [96] del predicador tronaba, sin
remordimiento, pero ineficazmente,
en sus oídos. La criaturita, durante
la última parte de su prueba, hirió el aire con sus gemidos y sus
gritos; ella se esforzó por acallarla, mecánicamente, pero parecía simpatizar muy poco con
su perturbación. Se la volvió a
llevar a la prisión en la misma
forma ruda, desapareciendo de
las miradas del público, tras el
portalón tachonado de clavos de
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
73
Notas
lurid escabroso, morboso, espeluzante,
horrendo [guesome], horripilante
[grisly]
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
portal. It was whispered by those
who peered [looked keenly]
after h er that the scarlet letter
threw a lurid gleam along the dark
5 passage-way of the interior.
hierro. Los que se acercaron a
husmear dijeron que la letra
roja, a lo largo del oscuro pasadizo interior, despedía un resplandor espeluznante.
Chapter 4: The Interview :Hawthorne uses Chapter 4 to clarify the new relationship between Hester and Chillingworth. Hester and the baby are distressed after their
10
ordeal; Chillingworth is sent for, as a physician.
He uses the chance to speak privately to Hester, demanding her lover’s name. She will not tell him, but he avows he will
discover it for himself, and take a private revenge.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: In this chapter, Hester begins in simple fear of her husband, but ends in greater fear and defiance. The medicine he prepares for herself and
the baby she fears may be poisoned. When she has drunk it safely they enter into conversation. Chillingworth admits she never loved him and freely says ‘we have
wronged each other’. He adds: Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. Therefore, as a man who
has not thought and philosophized in vain, I seek no vengeance, plot no evil against thee.
However, he wants to revenge himself on her lover, and asks her his name. She refuses to tell him; ‘That thou shah never know’. He replies ‘with a smile of dark and
self-relying intelligence. “Never know him!15Believe me, Hester, there are few things, - whether in the outward world, or, to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere of thought - few
things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery”‘. Hester responds with Dimmesdale’s own gesture of clasping her
hands over her heart. Chillingworth promises that he will neither harm nor denounce her lover once he has found him out, but adds: ‘Let him hide himself in outward honour, if
he may! Not the less he shall be mine!’. Hester senses this secret revenge as terrible. She shudders too when Chillingworth asks her to swear to keep his identity secret, but
she does as he asks. Throughout the story, Nester recognises the social code as a fact she must face, a burden she must bear, even though she does not agree with it; so when
her husband asks her for this oath, she obeys his wishes. By their marriage he has become someone with power over her, but Nester fears him and even compares him to the
devil, the personification of tempting evil. ‘Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?’
His strange reply suggests that he is almost pleased by the comparison: “‘Not thy soul,” he answered, with another smile. “No, not throe!”‘.
Chillingworth is the first character
20 in the story to become allegorised. The reader has watched him dedicate his life to revenge. This sole purpose has used his energy
to the exclusion of other purposes, and has thus reduced his personality to one emotion, schemed for and relished. Instead of seeming to have the simplicity that a figure in an
allegory or fairy tale has from the outset, this dark-minded alchemist has become a black magician before the reader’s eyes. Hawthorne describes this psychological process
so quickly or deftly in two chapters that it is necessary to stop and reflect that he has revealed not a bad person, but a strange person, becoming bad.
25
IV.
IV
THE INTERVIEW
LA ENTREVISTA
Después de su vuelta a la prisión, Ester Prynne hallábase en
tal estado de excitación nerviosa, que fue preciso ejercer sobre
ella una gran vigilancia para evitar que cometiera algún acto de
violencia contra sí misma o contra la pobre criatura. Como anocheciese y el carcelero juzgara
imposible reprimir su insubordinación con repulsas y amenazas de castigo, Master Brackett,
que así se llamaba el carcelero,
creyó prudente la presencia de un
médico. Brackett hizo la descripción de éste como hombre habilidoso en todas las modalidades
cristianas de la ciencia médica, así
como hallarse familiarizado con
cuanto la gente salvaje pudiera
enseñar respecto a hierbas medicinales y raíces crecidas en la selva. A decir verdad, había gran
necesidad de asistencia médica,
no solamente para Ester, sino,
con más urgencia, para la niña,
quien manteniéndose del seno
maternal, parecía haber ingerido
con aquella alimentación todo el
disturbio, toda la angustia y desesperación que llenaban el sistema de
la madre. La niña se retorcía con
After her return to the prison,
30 Hester Prynne was found to be
in a state of nervous excitement,
that
demanded
constant
watchfulness, lest she should
perpetrate violence on herself,
35 o r d o s o m e h a l f - f r e n z i e d
mischief to the poor babe. As
night approached, it proving
impossible to quell her
q u e l l V T [uprising] sofocar;
[opposition] sobreponerse a, doinsubordination
by rebuke or
minar; [fears] desechar
40 threats of punishment, Master
Brackett, the jailer, thought fit
to introduce a physician. He
described him as a man of skill
in all Christian modes of
45 physical science, and likewise
familiar with whatever the
savage people could teach in
respect to medicinal herbs and
roots that grew in the forest. To
50 say the truth, there was much
need
of
professional
assistance, not merely for
Hester herself, but still more
urgently for the child—who,
55 drawing its sustenance from
the maternal bosom, seemed to
have drank in with it all the
turmoil, the anguish and
despair, which pervaded the
60 m o t h e r ’s s y s t e m . I t n o w
74
Notas
forcible or forceful adj.1 vigorous,
powerful. 2 (of speech) compelling,
impressive. Vivo, enérgico, vigoroso,
convincente, effective
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
writhed in convulsions of pain,
and was a forcible type, in its
little frame, of the moral agony
which Hester Prynne had borne
5 throughout the day.
Indian sagamores: lesser tribal chieftains
de la agonía moral padecida por Ester Prynne durante todo el día.
Siguiendo de cerca al carcelero, penetró en el lúgubre departamento aquel individuo de
extraño aspecto, cuya presencia
entre el público tanto había interesado a la portadora de la letra roja. Fue alojado en la cárcel, no como sospechoso de
cualquier ofensa, sino como
medio más conveniente y apropiado para disponer de él en
tanto los magistrados hubiesen
co n f e r e n c i a d o c o n l o s
caciques indios respecto a su rescate. Anunciósele con el nombre
de Roger Chillingworth. El carcelero, después de hacerle entrar
en la celda, permaneció un momento maravillado ante la comparativa tranquilidad que siguió
a su entrada, puesto que Ester
Prynne quedó inmediatamente
como muerta, si bien la niña continuó quejándose.
“Prithee, friend, leave me
alone with my patient,” said the
practitioner. “Trust me, good
35 jailer, you shall briefly have peace
in your house; and, I promise you,
Mistress Prynne shall hereafter be
more amenable to just authority
than you may have found her
40 heretofore. “
—Le ruego, amigo me deje
a solas con la paciente —dijo
el médico—. Confíe usted en
mí, muy en breve reinará la
paz en su casa, y le prometo
que la señora Prynne será más
amable para su justiciera autoridad de lo que hasta ahora
lo haya sido.
“Nay, if your worship can
accomplish that,” answered
Master Brackett, “I shall own you
45 for a man of skill, indeed! Verily,
the woman hath been like a
possessed one; and there lacks
little that I should take in hand,
to drive Satan out of her with
50 stripes. “
—¡Si es usted capaz de realizar lo que dice —respondió
Brackett— le consideraré como
un hombre realmente hábil!
Esta mujer ha estado como poseída y ha faltado poco para
que no se decidiera a sacarla
los demonios del cuerpo a fuerza de latigazos.
The stranger had entered the
room with the characteristic
quietude of the profession to
55 which he announced himself as
belonging. Nor did his demeanour
change when the withdrawal of
the prison keeper left him face to
face with the woman, whose
60 absorbed notice of him, in the
El forastero penetró en la
celda con la tranquilidad característica de la profesión que había dicho tener. Su modo de
conducirse no cambió al salir
el carcelero, dejándole frente a
frente con la mujer que permaneciera absorta al notar su presencia entre el grupo, como si
15
20
25
30
amenable: yielding
dolorosas convulsiones, [97] y
X su cuerpecito era el . . . . . reflejo
Closely following the jailer
into the dismal apartment,
appeared that individual, of
singular aspect whose presence
in the crowd had been of such
deep interest to the wearer of the
scarlet letter. He was lodged in
the prison, not as suspected of
any offence, but as the most
convenient and suitable mode of
disposing of him, until the
magistrates
should
have
conferred [bestowed] with the
Indian sagamores respecting his
ransom. His name was
announced
as
Roger
Chillingworth. The jailer, after
ushering him into the room,
remained a moment, marvelling
at the comparative quiet that
followed his entrance; for Hester
Prynne had immediately become
as still as death, although the
child continued to moan.
10
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on
a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1: to put to use : APPLY <bestowed
his spare time on study> 2 : to put in a
particular or appropriate place : STOW 3
: to provide with quarters : PUT UP 4 : to
convey as a gift — usually used with on or
upon.
tr. de A. Ruste
75
Notas
trundle-bed: a low bed that may be
pushed under another bed
trundle empujar, rodar 1 a : to propel
by causing to rotate : ROLL b archaic :
to cause to revolve : SPIN 2 : to
transport in or as if in a wheeled vehicle
: HAUL, WHEEL intransitive senses 1 : to
progress by revolving 2 : to move on
or as if on wheels : ROLL
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
crowd, had intimated so close a
relation between himself and her.
His first care was given to the
child, whose cries, indeed, as she
5 lay writhing on the trundle-bed,
made it of peremptory necessity
to postpone all other business to
the task of soothing her. He
examined the infant carefully, and
10 then proceeded to unclasp a
leathern case, which he took from
beneath his dress. It appeared to
contain medical preparations, one
of which he mingled with a cup
15 of water.
tr. de A. Ruste
X entre
ambos hubiera habido
una relación íntima. Sus primeros cuidados fueron para la
niña, cuyos gritos, mientras se
retorcí a e n l a c a r r i o l a , h a cían de perentoria necesidad
posponer todo auxilio a la
madre. Examinó a la criatura
cuidadosamente, y después
comenzó a abrir una cartera
de cuero que extrajo de debajo de su [98] traje. Parecía contener preparados médicos, uno
de los cuales mezcló en una
taza con agua.
alchemy: medieval chemical science
simples: medicinal plants
“My old studies in alchemy,”
observed he, “and my sojourn, for
above a year past, among a people
20 well versed in the kindly
properties of simples, have made
a better physician of me than
many that claim the medical
degree. Here, woman! The child
25 is yours—she is none of mine—
neither will she recognise my
voice or aspect as a father ’s.
Administer this draught,
therefore, with thine own hand.”
30
Hester repelled the offered
medicine, at the same time gazing
with strongly marked apprehension
into his face. “Wouldst thou
35 avenge thyself on the innocent
babe?” whispered she.
—Mis antiguos estudios de alquimia observó— y mi permanencia durante más de un año entre gente muy versada en las buenas propiedades de la herborización, han
hecho de mí un médico mejor que
muchos de los que ostentan ese
título. ¡Ya ves, mujer! La niña es
tuya, no es nada mío, ni reconocerá mi voz ni mi aspecto como
los de un padre. Adminístrale,
pues, esta droga con tu propia
mano.
“Foolish
woman!”
responded the physician, half
40 coldly, half soothingly. “What
should ail me to harm this
misbegotten and miserable
babe? The medicine is potent
for good, and were it my
45 child—yea, mine own, as well
as thine! I could do no better
for it.”
—¡Oh, mujer loca! —respondió el médico, en un tono
mezcla de frialdad y de consuelo—. ¿Qué habría de inducirme
para hacerle daño a esa criatura bastarda y miserable? ¡La
medicina es buena, como si fuese para mi propia hija, tan mía
como tuya! Nada mejor podría
hacer por ella.
As she still hesitated, being,
50 in fact, in no reasonable state of
mind, he took the infant in his
arms, and himself administered
the draught. It soon proved its
eff i c a c y, a n d r e d e e m e d t h e
55 leech’s pledge. The moans of the
little patient subsided; its
convulsive tossings gradually
ceased; and in a few moments,
as is the custom of young
60 children after relief from pain,
Como todavía dudase, puesto que, realmente, no se encontraba Ester en buen estado de razón, cogió la criatura en sus brazos y él mismo le administró la
droga. Pronto probó su eficacia,
borrando toda aprensión. Se
apaciguaron los quejidos de la
enfermita, cesó gradualmente su
agitación convulsiva, y en pocos momentos, como ocurre con
los niños cuando se les’ alivia de
Ester rechazó la medicina
ofrecida, mirando al médico fijamente con marcada aprensión.
—¿Serías capaz de vengarte con la inocente niña? —
murmuró la madre.
76
intimate 2 v.tr. 1 (often foll. by that +
clause) state or make known. 2 imply,
hint.
intimate 2 vtr frml dar a entender, indicar: he intimated that he knew where
to find Tom, dejó caer que sabía dónde encontrar a Tom
peremptory áspero, brusco, dictatorial, autoritario, firme, dogmático, indiscutible, final (law), decisivo, irrebatible o autoritario
perentorio es urgente, concluyente,
determinante,
imperativo,
pressing, apremiante
peremptory adj. 1 (of a statement or
command) admitting no denial or
refusal. 2 (of a person, a person’s
manner, etc.) dogmatic; imperious;
dictatorial. 3 Law not open to appeal
or challenge; final. 4 absolutely
fixed; essential.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
dewy puro
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on
a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1: to put to use : APPLY <bestowed
his spare time on study> 2 : to put in a
particular or appropriate place : STOW 3
: to provide with quarters : PUT UP 4 : to
convey as a gift — usually used with on or
upon.
Lethe: in Greek mythology, a river of the
underworld whose water when drunk causes the dead to forget all life
tr. de A. Ruste
it sank into a profound and dewy
slumber. The physician, as he
had a fair right to be termed,
next bestowed his attention on
5 the mother. With calm and intent
s c r u t i n y, h e f e l t h e r p u l s e ,
looked into her eyes—a gaze
that made her heart shrink and
shudder, because so familiar,
10 and yet so strange and cold—
and, finally, satisfied with his
investigation, proceeded to
mingle another draught.
una pena, cayó en un profundo
y tranquilo sueño. El médico,
como tenía derecho a que se le
llamase, dedicóse después a
atender a la madre. Con calma y
detención tomóle el pulso, le
observó los ojos (mirada que
hizo desmayar y temblar su corazón, por serle tan familiar y,
sin embargo, tan extraña y fría)
y, por último, satisfecho de la
investigación, comenzó a mezclar otra droga.
15
—No conozco a Leteo ni a
Nepente —hizo notar—, pero he
aprendido muchos secretos
nuevos en las [99] selvas, y he
aquí uno de ellos; una receta
que me enseñó un indio a cambio de mis lecciones, que eran
tan viejas como Paracelso.
¡Bébela! Puede que sea menos
confortante que una conciencia sin pecado. Ésta no puedo
dártela. Pero calmará tu pasión
agitada, como el aceite arrojado sobre las olas de un mar tempestuoso
calma las iras de la tempestad.
“I know not Lethe nor
Nepenthe,” remarked he; “but
I have learned many new
secrets in the wilderness, and
here is one of them—a recipe
20 that an Indian taught me, in
requital of some lessons of my
Paracelsus: a Swiss alchemist and docown, that were as old as
tor (1493-1541)
Paracelsus. Drink it! It may be
less soothing than a sinless
25 conscience. That I cannot give
thee. But it will calm the swell
and heaving of thy passion,
heaving embravecido, palpitante;
like oil thrown on the waves of
jadear, palpitar, subir y bajar
heave A) (= lift) gran esfuerzo (para
a tempestuous sea.”
levantar etc); (= pull) tirón, jalón (LAm)
30
(on de); (= push) empujón m; (= throw)
echada, tirada
He presented the cup to
B) VT (= pull) tirar, jalar (LAm); (= drag)
Hester, who received it with a
arrastrar; (= carry) llevar; (= lift) levanslow, earnest look into his face;
tar (con dificultad); (= push) empujar;
(= throw) lanzar, tirar; he heaved
not precisely a look of fear, yet
himself to a sitting position se incor35 full of doubt and questioning as
poró con gran esfuerzo; to heave a
to what his purposes might be.
sigh dar or echar un suspiro, suspirar; to heave a sigh of relief suspirar
She looked also at her
aliviado
slumbering child.
C) VI 1 [chest, bosom] palpitar 2 (= pull)
Nepenthe: a potion or drug used by the
ancients to drown all pain or sorrow
tirar, jalar (LAm) (at, on de) 3 (= retch)
hacer arcadas; her stomach was
heaving le daban arcadas, se le revolvía el estómago 4 (Naut) (pt, pp
hove) (= move) virar; (= pitch) cabecear; (= roll) balancearse; to heave
in(to) sight aparecer
Presentó la taza a Ester, quien
la tomó, dirigiéndole una mirada
lenta e inquieta, no precisamente una mirada de temor, sino de
duda, interrogante, como si tratase de indagar cuál fuera su intento; también miró a su niña
dormida.
40
“I have thought of death,”
said she—”have wished for
it—would even have prayed for
it, were it fit that such as I
should pray for anything. Yet,
45 if death be in this cup, I bid
thee think again, ere thou
beholdest me quaff it. See! it
is even now at my lips.”
—He pensado en la muerte
—dijo ella—, la he deseado, hasta hubiese rezado pidiéndola, si
yo pudiera rezar por algo. Sin
embargo, si la muerte se encuentra en esta taza, te ruego de nuevo recapacites antes de que la
beba de un trago. ¡Mira! Aún está
apoyada en mis labios.
50
—¡Bébela! —replicó él con
la misma fría compostura—.
¿Tan poco me conoces, Ester
Prynne? ¿Tan triviales han de
ser mis propósitos? Aunque
imaginase un plan de venganza, ¿qué cosa mejor podía hacer para mi propósito que dejarte vivir, dándote las medicinas contra todo daño y peligro
de la vida, para que esta ver-
“Drink, then,” replied he,
still with the same cold
composure. “Dost thou know me
so little, Hester Prynne? Are my
purposes wont to be so shallow?
55 Even if I imagine a scheme of
vengeance, what could I do
better for my object than to let
thee live—than to give thee
medicines against all harm and
60 p e r i l o f l i f e — s o t h a t t h i s
77
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
burning shame may still blaze
upon thy bosom?” As he spoke,
he laid his long fore-finger on
t h e s c a r l e t l e t t e r, w h i c h
5 forthwith seemed to scorch into
Hester’s breast, as if it ad been
red hot. He noticed her
involuntary gesture, and smiled.
“Live, therefore, and bear about
10 thy doom with thee, in the eyes
of men and women—in the eyes
of him whom thou didst call thy
husband—in the eyes of yonder
child! And, that thou mayest
15 live, take off this draught.”
güenza ardiente pueda todavía
flamear sobre tu pecho? —Y
conforme hablaba señaló con
su largo dedo índice la letra
roja, que pareció abrasar en el
acto su pecho, cual si hubiese
estado al rojo. Notó él su gesto involuntario y sonrió. —
¡Vive, pues, y lleva contigo tu
sentencia, ante los ojos de
hombres y mujeres, ante los
ojos del que llamaste esposo,
ante los ojos de esa niña! ¡Y
para que puedas vivir, toma
esta droga!
Without further expostulation
or delay, Hester Prynne drained
the cup, and, at the motion of the
20 man of skill, seated herself on the
bed, where the child was sleeping;
while he drew the only chair
which the room afforded, and took
his own seat beside her. She could
25 not but tremble at these
preparations; for she felt that—
having now done all that
humanity, or principle, or, if so it
were, a refined cruelty, impelled
30 him to do for the relief of physical
suffering—he was next to treat
with her as the man whom she had
most deeply and irreparably
injured.
35
“Hester,” said he, “I ask
not wherefore, nor how thou
hast fallen into the pit, or say,
rather, thou hast ascended to
40 t h e p e d e s t a l o f i n f a m y o n
which I found thee. The
reason is not far to seek. It
w a s m y f o l l y, a n d t h y
weakness. I—a man of
45 thought—the book-worm of
great libraries—a man already
i n d e c a y, h a v i n g g i v e n m y
best years to feed the hungry
dream of knowledge—what
50 had I to do with youth and
beauty like thine own?
Misshapen from my birthh o u r, h o w c o u l d I d e l u d e
myself with the idea that
55 intellectual gifts might veil
physical deformity in a young
girl’s fantasy? Men call me
wise. If sages were ever wise
in their own behoof, I might
60 have foreseen all this. I might
Sin más dilación, Ester
Prynne bebió la droga y, a una
señal del hombre habilidoso,
sentóse sobre la cama donde reposaba la niña; acercó él al lecho la única silla que había en
la celda y sentóse junto a Ester.
[100] Ésta no pudo menos de
temblar ante aquellos preparativos, pues presintió que, habiendo hecho cuanto la humanidad, los principios o una
crueldad refinada la indujeron
a ello, para alivio de los sufrimientos físicos, iba a tratar con
ella como el hombre a quien
había injuriado más honda e
irreparablemente.
delay
expostulation debate, contienda, reconvención, disuasión
expostulate v. intr. (often foll. by with a
person)
make
a
protest;
remonstrate earnestly.
reconvenir 1. tr. censurar, reprender
a alguien por lo que ha hecho o dicho.
remonstrate : scold, regañar, protestar, (= protest); quejarse (= argue)
discutir, objetar
to remonstrate about something
protestar contra algo; poner reparos
a algo
to remonstrate with somebody reconvenir a alguien
X
—Ester —dijo el hombre—,
no pregunto dónde ni cómo has
caído en el abismo, o, mejor dicho, cómo has ascendido al pedestal de infamia donde te he
encontrado. La razón no está lejos para ser indagada. Fue mi insensatez y tu debilidad. Yo, el
hombre de pensamiento, la polilla de las grandes bibliotecas, un
hombre ya en decadencia, que
había dado sus mejores años para
alimentar el sueño hambriento de
la sabiduría, ¿qué había de hacer
con una juventud y una belleza
como las tuyas? Deformado desde la hora en que nací, ¿cómo
había de alucinarme con la idea
de que los dones intelectuales
podían cubrir la deformidad física en la imaginación de una muchachita? Los hombres me llaman sabio... Si los sabios fueran
siempre sabios para su propio
provecho, yo debiera haber pre78
Notas
balefire: the fire of the funeral pyre
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
have known that, as I came
out of the vast and dismal
forest, and entered this
settlement of Christian men,
5 the very first object to meet
my eyes would be thyself,
Hester Prynne, standing up, a
statue of ignominy, before the
people. Nay, from the moment
10 when we came down the old
church-steps together, a
m a r r i e d p a i r, I m i g h t h a v e
beheld the bale-fire of that
scarlet letter blazing at the
15 end of our path!”
visto todo esto. Debiera haber
sabido que, al salir de la vasta y
lúgubre floresta y penetrar en
este establecimiento de los hombres cristianos, el primer objeto
que habían de tropezar mis ojos
debías ser tú, Ester Prynne, puesta de pie, como una estatua de
ignominia, ante el pueblo. ¡Hasta cuando descendimos las gradas de la vieja iglesia, juntos,
recién casados, debí haber apreciado el resplandor de esa letra
roja, brillando al extremo de
nuestra senda!
“Thou knowest,” said
Hester—for, depressed as she
was, she could not endure this
20 last quiet stab at the token of her
shame—”thou knowest that I was
frank with thee. I felt no love, nor
feigned any.”
—Ya sabes —dijo Ester (pues
deprimida como estaba no podía
soportar esta última y tranquila
herida, relativa a su marca de
vergüenza)— que fui franca contigo. No sentía amor, ni fingí tenerlo.
25
“True,” replied he. “It was
my folly! I have said it. But, up
to that epoch of my life, I had
lived in vain. The world had
been so cheerless! My heart was
a habitation large enough for
many guests, but lonely and
chill, and without a household
fire. I longed to kindle one! It
seemed not so wild a dream—
old as I was, and sombre as I
was, and misshapen as I was—
that the simple bliss, which is
scattered far and wide, for all
mankind to gather up, might yet
be mine. And so, Hester, I drew
thee into my heart, into its
innermost chamber, and sought
to warm thee by the warmth
which thy presence made
there!”
—Es cierto —replicó él—,
¡ésa fue mi insensatez! Ya lo he
dicho. Pero hasta aquella época
de mi vida había vivido en vano.
¡El mundo había sido tan triste!
[101] Mi corazón era una habitación lo bastante grande para
albergar muchos huéspedes,
pero solitaria y fría, sin el fuego
de un hogar. ¡Yo anhelaba poder
encender uno! No me pareció un
sueño vano —viejo deformado y
sombrío como era— el que la
simple felicidad desparramada,
ancha y lejanamente, para que
toda la humanidad pueda recogerla, no pudiese ser mía. ¡Y así,
pues, Ester, te arrastré hacia mi
corazón, hacia lo más hondo de
él, y presumí darte calor con el
que tu presencia allí producía!
“I have greatly wronged
thee,” murmured Hester.
—Te he engañado grandemente —murmuró Ester.
“ We h a v e w r o n g e d e a c h
o t h e r, ” a n s w e r e d h e . “ M i n e
was the first wrong, when
I betrayed thy budding
youth into a false and
55 unnatural relation with my decay.
Therefore, as a man who has not
thought and philosophised in
vain, I seek no vengeance, plot no
evil against thee. Between thee
60 and me, the scale hangs fairly
—Nos hemos engañado los
dos —respondió él—. La primera equivocación fue mía, cuando
traicioné tu juventud en capullo,
poniéndola en una relación falsa
e innatural con mi decaimiento.
Así pues, como hombre que no
ha pensado y filosofado en vano,
no busco venganza, ni fraguo
ningún daño contra ti. Entre tú y
yo está equilibrada la balanza.
30
35
40
45
50
79
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
balanced. But, Hester, the man
lives who has wronged us both!
Who is he?”
¡Pero, Ester, el hombre que nos
ha engañado a los dos, vive!
¿Quién es?
5
“Ask me not?” replied
Hester Prynne, looking firmly
into his face. “That thou shalt
never know!”
—¡No me lo preguntes! —
replicó ella, mirándole fijamente a los ojos—. ¡No lo sabrás nunca!
10
“ N e v e r, s a y e s t t h o u ? ”
rejoined he, with a smile of dark
and self-relying intelligence.
“Never know him! Believe me,
Hester, there are few things
whether in the outward world,
or, to a certain depth, in the
invisible sphere of thought—
few things hidden from the man
who devotes himself earnestly
and unreservedly to the solution
of a mystery. Thou mayest cover
up thy secret from the prying
multitude. Thou mayest conceal
it, too, from the ministers and
magistrates, even as thou didst
this day, when they sought to
wrench the name out of thy
heart, and give thee a partner on
thy pedestal. But, as for me, I
come to the inquest with other
senses than they possess. I shall
seek this man, as I have sought
truth in books: as I have sought
gold in alchemy. There is a
sympathy that will make me
conscious of him. I shall see him
tremble. I shall feel myself
s h u d d e r,
suddenly
and
unawares. Sooner or later, he
must needs be mine.”
—¿Nunca, dices? —añadió
él con una sonrisa sombría y de
confiada inteligencia—. ¡No
conocerle nunca! Créeme,
Ester; hay pocas cosas, bien
sea en el ancho mundo o, hasta cierta profundidad, en la invisible esfera del pensamiento,
pocas cosas ocultas para el
hombre que se dedica ávidamente y sin reservas a la solución de un misterio. Podrás
ocultar tu secreto a la curiosa
multitud, podrás ocultarlo también a los magistrados y ministros, como hoy lo hiciste, cuando esperaban arrancar de tu corazón el nombre y darte un compañero sobre el pedestal de vergüenza; pero en cuanto a mí, vine
al interrogatorio con otros sentidos que los que ellos poseen. Yo
buscaré a ese hombre, como he buscado la verdad en los libros; como
he buscado el oro en la alquimia.
Existe una simpatía que me hará
conocerle. Le veré temblar.
Me sentiré temblar [102] repentina e inopinadamente.
¡Más pronto o más tarde, forzosamente será mío!
The eyes of the wrinkled
scholar glowed so intensely
upon her, that Hester Prynne
45 clasped her hand over her heart,
dreading lest he should read the
secret there at once.
Los ojos del viejo letrado brillaron tan intensamente sobre ella que Ester
se llevó las manos al pecho, temerosa de que al momento pudiera leer en él su secreto.
15
20
pry 1 1 (usu. foll. by into) inquire
impertinently (into a person’s private
affairs etc.). 2 (usu. foll. by into,
about, etc.) look or peer inquisitively.
U.S.= prise v. & n. (also prize)
force open or out by leverage (prised 25
up the lid; prised the box open).
30
35
40
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
tr. de A. Ruste
“Thou wilt not reveal his
50 name? Not the less he is mine,”
resumed he, with a look of
confidence, as if destiny were
at one with him. “He bears no
letter of infamy wrought into
55 his garment, as thou dost, but
I shall read it on his heart . Yet
fear not for him! Think not that
I shall interfere with Heaven’s
own method of retribution, or,
60 to my own loss, betray him to
X
X
80
—¿No revelarás su nombre?; a pesar de ello será mío
—añadió con una mirada de
confianza, cual si el destino estuviese en sus manos—. No lleva, como tú, una letra infamante sobre sus ropas, pero yo la
leeré en su corazón. Sin embargo, ¡no temas por él! No creas
que he de mezclarme en los
métodos de retribución propios
del cielo o que, para mi propia pér-
devotion n. 1 (usu. foll. by to)
enthusiastic attachment or loyalty (to
a person or cause); great love, apasionamiento. 2 a religious worship.
b (in pl.) prayers. c devoutness,
religious fervour.
amor, afecto, veneración, dedicación,
entrega, lealtad, fidelidad, afición,
devote 1 (foll. by to) apply or give over
(resources etc. or oneself) to (a particular activity or purpose or person)
(devoted their time to reading;
devoted himself to his guests). 2
archaic doom to destruction.
devoted adj. very loving or loyal (a
devoted husband). leal, fiel, dedicado, consagrado,
devotee n. 1 (usu. foll. by of) a zealous
enthusiast or supporter. 2 a zealously
pious or fanatical person.
devoción. 1. f. Amor, veneración y fervor religiosos. 2. Práctica piadosa no
obligatoria. 3. fig. Inclinación, afición
especial. 4. fig. Costumbre devota,
y, en general, costumbre buena. 5.
Teol. Prontitud con que se está dispuesto a hacer la santa voluntad de
Dios.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
dida, le haya de arrojar en manos
de las leyes humanas. No creas
tampoco que he de contraer un juramento contra su vida, ni contra
su fama, si, como creo, es un hombre de buena reputación. ¡Dejad
que viva! ¡Dejad que se oculte en
honores externos, si así lo quiere!
¡No obstante, será mío!
the gripe of human law. Neither
do thou imagine that I shall
contrive aught against his life;
no, nor against his fame, if as
5 I judge, he be a man of fair
repute. Let him live! Let him
hide himself in outward
honour, if he may! Not the less
he shall be mine!”
10
“Thy acts are like mercy,”
said Hester, bewildered and
appalled; “but thy words
interpret thee as a terror!”
15
“One thing, thou that wast my
wife, I would enjoin upon thee,”
continued the scholar. “Thou
hast kept the secret of thy
20 paramour. Keep, likewise, mine!
There are none in this land that
know me. Breathe not to any
human soul that thou didst ever
call me husband! Here, on this
25 wild outskirt of the earth, I shall
pitch my tent; for, elsewhere a
wanderer, and isolated from
human interests, I find here a
woman, a man, a child, amongst
30 whom and myself there exist the
closest ligaments. No matter
whether of love or hate: no
matter whether of right or
wrong! Thou and thine, Hester
35 Prynne, belong to me. My home
is where thou art and where he
is. But betray me not!”
—¡Tus actos son como de
piedad —dijo Ester, aturdida y
aterrada—, pero tus palabras te
delatan como al terror!
—Una cosa he de encargarte, ya que fuiste mi mujer
—continuó Roger—. ¡Has
guardado el secreto de tu
amante; guarda lo mismo el
mío! Nadie en esta tierra me
conoce. ¡No digas que me llamaste esposo en algún tiempo
a ninguna alma humana! Aquí, en
este arrabal del mundo, levantaré
mi tienda, porque siendo en cualquier parte un vagabundo, y estando insolado por los intereses humanos, encuentro aquí una mujer,
un hombre y una niña, entre los
cuales y yo existen los más cercanos ligamentos. ¡No importa que
sean de amor o de odio, de derecho o no! Tú y el tuyo, Ester
Prynne, me pertenecéis. Mi casa
está donde tú estés y donde él esté.
¡Pero no me traiciones!
“Wherefore dost thou desire
40 it?” inquired Hester, shrinking,
she hardly knew why, from this
secret bond. “Why not
announce thyself openly, and
cast me off at once?”
45
“It may be,” he replied,
“because I will not encounter
the dishonour that besmirches
the husband of a faithless
50 woman. It may be for other
reasons. Enough, it is my
purpose to live and die
unknown. Let, therefore, thy
husband be to the world as one
55 already dead, and of whom no
tidings shall ever come.
Recognise me not, by word, by
sign, by look! Breathe not the
secret, above all, to the man
60 thou wottest of. Shouldst thou
—¿Por qué motivo lo deseas?
—preguntó ella, retrocediendo,
sin saber por qué, ante aquella
secreta ligazón—. [103] ¿Por
qué no te presentas abiertamente
y me descartas de una vez?
—Q u i z á s e a — r e p l i c ó
él— por no recoger el desh o n o r q u e m a n c i l l a a l es p o so de una mujer sin fe.
Quizá sea por otras razones.
Es lo bastante que sea mi deseo vi vir y morir desconocido.
Deja, pues, que tu marido sea para
el mundo uno que ya ha muerto, y
de quien no han de venir jamás noticias de ninguna especie. ¡No me
reconozcas por la palabra, por la acción o por la mirada! No pronuncies el secreto, sobre todo al hombre con quien me traicionaste.
81
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
fail me in this, beware! His
fame, his position, his life
will be in my hands.
Beware!”
¡Si tal hicieras, ten cuidado!
Su fama, su posición, su vida
estarán en mis manos. ¡Ten
cuidado!
“I will keep thy secret, as I
have his,” said Hester.
—Guardaré tu secreto, como
guardo el suyo —dijo Ester.
5
“Swear it!” rejoined he.
—¡Júralo! —añadió el médico.
And she took the oath.
Ester lo juró.
10
“And
n o w,
Mistress
Prynne,” said old Roger
15 C h i l l i n g w o r t h , a s h e w a s
hereafter to be named, “I leave
thee alone: alone with thy infant
and the scarlet letter! How is it,
Hester? Doth thy sentence bind
20 thee to wear the token in thy
sleep? Art thou not afraid of
nightmares and hideous
dreams?”
—¡Ahora, señora Prynne —
dijo
el
viejo
Roger
ChiIlingworth, como ha de
llamársele de aquí en adelante—
, te dejo a solas; a solas con tu
hija y con la letra roja! Cómo es
eso, Ester, ¿te obliga la sentencia a llevar esa marca hasta
cuando duermes? ¿No tienes
miedo a las pesadillas y a los
sueños espantosos?
25
“Why dost thou smile so at
me?” inquired Hester, troubled
at the expression of his eyes. “Art
thou like the Black Man that
haunts the forest round about us?
30 Hast thou enticed me into a bond
that will prove the ruin of my
soul?”
—¿Por qué sonríes así? —
preguntó la prisionera, inquieta
ante la expresión de sus ojos—.
¿Eres como el Hombre Negro
que vaga por la selva que nos
rodea? ¿Me has inducido a una
promesa que cause la ruina de mi
alma?
“Not thy soul,” he
35 answered, with another smile.
“No, not thine!”
—¡No la ruina de tu alma! —
respondió él con otra sonrisa—.
¡No, la tuya no!
40
Chapter 5: Hester at Her Needle : This chapter relates the gradual changes in Hester’s state of mind after she is released from prison. It bridges the time between the first scenes
and later events in the story, a period of about three years.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: The process by which a character becomes allegorised interests Hawthorne very much. Earlier he had shown Chillingworth turning to one evil purpose;
now, writing of Nester’s suffering, he treats of her transformation. Throughout ‘the accumulating days, and added years’ Nester ‘giving up her individuality’ becomes the general
symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion. Thus the young and pure would
be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter
45 flaming on her breast, - at her, the child of honourable parents, - at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman,-at her,
who had once been innocent, - as the figure, the body, the reality of sin. And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument.
Hawthorne himself treats her more subtly, pointing out that she is complicit in her suffering; she could have left New England and taken up a new life elsewhere. The
psychological process by which Hester comes to accept her limited role and live within it, fascinates Hawthorne. He tries to describe it:
But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt,
ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it.
He adds, ‘there dwelt, there trode the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union’, an idea that comes to Hester almost as a sinful temptation.
Finally he sums up: What she compelled herself to believe - what, finally, she reasoned upon, as her motive for continuing a resident of New England - was half a truth, and half a
50been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame
self-delusion. Here, she said to herself, had
would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saintlike, because the result of martyrdom.
Hester moves to a small thatched cottage remote from the town. She lives there with her baby daughter, and the place itself becomes allegorised in the minds of the
townspeople: ‘A mystic shadow of suspicion immediately attached itself to the spot’.
But her ordinary life must continue, so Hester earns money by sewing. Her beautiful handiwork is not used for the pleasure of men and women in fine clothes. Fine
clothes are not normally approved of by this grim society. Hester is only allowed to sew beautiful embroidery for babies, for the dead, and for men of power. Her art cannot choose
its subjects, but must serve the chosen symbols of her society. Daily she must serve the society which rejects her, in the way it chooses. In a final sad note, Hawthorne tells the
reader that she was never asked to embroider a bridal veil. ‘The exception indicated the ever-relentless vigour with which society frowned upon her sin’. Nester’s only rebellion is
55
the beautiful clothing she makes for her daughter Pearl. Joy in needlework she rejects, like all other joys, as sin. Hawthorne speaks sharply about this: ‘This morbid meddling of
conscience with an immaterial matter betokened, it is to be feared, no genuine and steadfast penitence, but something doubtful, something that might be deeply wrong, beneath’.
Later he adds: ‘she was patient, - a martyr, indeed, - but she forebore to pray for enemies; lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing should stubbornly twist
themselves into a curse’. He shows how her social banishment warps her nature, and she grows to have a dread of children and of strangers. Her imagination is ‘somewhat affected’
and she comes to feel that she can see the hidden sins of others. Hawthorne neither affirms nor denies that she is able to do this. He merely remarks that such loss of faith is one
of the saddest results of sin, and leaves his readers to wonder whether Hester sees truly.
He concludes the chapter with a fantastic touch. The vulgar, he says, come to have a legend that the scarlet letter is red-hot, and glows in the dark. As so often in the
story, Hawthorne comes close to the bordercountry
of allegory and fairy-tale. However, he twists the image into a psychological analogy: ‘And we must needs say, it seared Hester’s
60
bosom so deeply, that perhaps there was more truth in the rumour than our modern incredulity may be inclined to admit’.
82
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
lurid
escabroso,
morboso,
e s p e l u z a n t e,
horrendo
[guesome], horripilante [grisly]
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
V.
[104] V
HESTER AT HER NEEDLE
ESTER A SU AGUJA
Hester Prynne’s term of
confinement was now at an end.
Her prison-door was thrown open,
and she came forth into the
sunshine, which, falling on all
alike, seemed, to her sick and
morbid heart, as if meant for no
other purpose than to reveal the
scarlet letter on her breast.
Perhaps there was a more real
torture in her first unattended
footsteps from the threshold of the
prison than even in the procession
and spectacle that have been
described, where she was made
the common infamy, at which all
mankind was summoned to point
its finger. Then, she was
supported by an unnatural
tension of the nerves, and by all
the combative energy of her
character, which enabled her to
convert the scene into a kind of
lurid triumph. It was, moreover,
a separate and insulated event,
to occur but once in her lifetime,
and to meet which, therefore,
reckless of economy, she might
call up the vital strength that
would have sufficed for many
quiet years. The very law that
condemned her—a giant of stem
featured but with vigour to
support, as well as to annihilate,
in his iron arm—had held her
up through the terrible ordeal of
her ignominy. But now, with
this unattended walk from her
prison door, began the daily
custom; and she must either
sustain and carry it forward by
the ordinary resources of her
nature, or sink beneath it. She
could no longer borrow from
the future to help her through
the present grief. Tomorrow
would bring its own trial with
it; so would the next day, and
so would the next: each its own
trial, and yet the very same that
was now so unutterably
grievous to be borne. The days
of the far-off future would toil
onward, still with the same
burden for her to take up, and
bear along with her, but never
El término de confinamiento de Ester Prynne tocó a su fin.
Fue abierta de par en par la puerta de su prisión, y salió a la luz
del sol. Este, cayendo por igual
sobre todas las cosas, parecióle
a su enfermo y mórbido corazón
no tenía otro propósito que revelar la letra roja que llevaba
sobre su pecho. Quizá existía
una tortura más real en los primeros inadvertidos pasos que
dio en el umbral dé la cárcel, que
no en la procesión y espectáculo ya descritos, donde quedó hecha la infamia común que toda
la humanidad estaba emplazada
a señalar con el dedo. Entonces
se sostuvo por una innatural
tensión de nervios y por toda la
batalladora energía de su carácter, que le permitían convertir la
escena en una especie de triunfo espeluznante. Fue, además,
un suceso suelto y aislado que
no debía ocurrir más que una vez
en su vida, y para dar cara al
cual, falta de recursos, tenía que
hacer un llamamiento a su fuerza vital que hubiera bastado para
muchos años de quietud. La misma ley que la condenó (un gigante de severas facciones, pero
con vigor para asistir, tanto
como para aniquilar, con su brazo de hierro) la había sostenido
a través de la terrible prueba de la
ignominia. Pero ahora, con aquel
camino inobservado desde la puerta de la prisión, comenzaba la costumbre diaria; y debía o sostenerla
y llevarla adelante con los recursos
ordinarios de su carácter, o hundirse bajo ella. Ya no podía pedir al
porvenir que la ayudase en la
pena presente. El mañana debía
traer consigo su propia prueba;
lo mismo ocurriría al día siguiente y al otro; cada uno debía llevar consigo su propia
ordalía y, no obstante, aquella
misma que era entonces tan
inenarrablemente penosa de soportar.[105] Los días del lejano
futuro irían sucediéndose, siempre con la misma carga que debía
X
83
morbid no es mórbido, sino morboso, enfermizo [de mente]:
(Med ) mórbido, patológico,
malsano, unhealthy;
a morbid scene, un espectáculo morboso;
morbid curiosity (macabre or
obsessive interest in sth) curiosidad morbosa], pesimista,
deprimido, mientras que mórbido se refiere a escenas o historias que son gruesome [horrendo], grisly [horripilante],
aunque en literatura es más
positivo, como soft, delicate,
tender.
mórbido 1 que padece enfermedad 2 blando, suave, delicado
My daughter has a morbid
interest in death. = Mi hija tiene un interés enfermizo en la
muerte.
/ His morbid attitude won’t
help him to recover. = Su actitud pesimista no le ayudaría
a recuperarse.
/ Do you like Dracula’s grisly
scenes? = ¿Te gustan los escenas mórbidos (horripilantes)
de Drácula?
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
misery: miseria, pobreza pero
también desdicha, angustia, pena,
5
triateza, sufrimiento
10
15
20
tr. de A. Ruste
to fling down; for the
accumulating days and added
years would pile up their
misery upon the heap of shame.
Throughout them all, giving up
her individuality, she would
become the general symbol at
which the preacher and moralist
might point, and in which they
might vivify and embody their
images of woman’s frailty and
sinful passion. Thus the young
and pure would be taught to look
at her, with the scarlet letter
flaming on her breast—at her,
the child of honourable
parents—at her, the mother of a
babe that would hereafter be a
woman—at her, who had once
been innocent—as the figure,
the body, the reality of sin. And
over her grave, the infamy that
she must carry thither would be
her only monument.
tomar y llevar consigo, sin nunca
dejarla caer; porque la acumulación de días y días debía apilar su
miseria sobre el montón de la
vergüenza. A través de todos
ellos, prescindiendo de su individualidad, habría de convertirse en el símbolo general que señalarían
predicadores
y
moralistas, en el que quizá vivificasen y personificasen sus imágenes de fragilidad femenina y
pecaminosas pasiones. Así pues,
se diría a las jóvenes y puras que
la mirasen con la letra roja
flameando sobre su pecho; a
ella, madre de una niña que más
tarde sería una mujer; a ella, que
una vez fue inocente, como a la
figura, al cuerpo, a la realidad
del pecado. Y sobre su tumba,
la infamia que habría de seguirla hasta allí, sería su único monumento.
It may seem marvellous
that, with the world before
her—kept by no restrictive
clause of her condemnation
within the limits of the Puritan
settlement, so remote and so
obscure—free to return to her
birth-place, or to any other
European land, and there hide
her character and identity
u n d e r a n e w e x t e r i o r, a s
completely as if emerging into
another state of being—and
having also the passes of the
dark, inscrutable forest open
to her, where the wildness of
her nature might assimilate
itself with a people whose
customs and life were alien
from the law that had
condemned her—it may seem
marvellous that this woman
should still call that place her
home, where, and where only,
she must needs be the type of
shame. But there is a fatality,
a feeling so irresistible and
inevitable that it has the force
of doom, which almost
invariably compels human
beings to linger around and
haunt, ghost-like, the spot
where some great and marked
event has given the colour to
their lifetime; and, still the
Podrá parecer maravilloso el
que, teniendo ante sí el mundo,
sin hallarse sujeta a los límites
del departamento puritano por
ninguna cláusula de su condena,
tan remota y tan oscura; libre
para volver a su punto natal o a
cualquiera otra tierra europea y
ocultar allí su carácter e identidad bajo un nuevo exterior, tan
completamente como si se sumergiera en otro estado de ser,
que teniendo, además, abiertos
ante ella los caminos de la oscura e inescrutable selva, donde la rusticidad de su carácter
pudiera asimilarse con una gente cuyas costumbres y vida se
hallaban libres de la ley que a
ella la había condenado; podrá
parecer maravilloso que esta
mujer llamase todavía su hogar
a aquel sitio donde forzosa y
únicamente debía ser el modelo de la vergüenza. Pero hay una
fatalidad, un sentimiento irresistible e inevitable que tiene
la fuerza de u n d e s t i n o y
que, casi invariablement e, obliga a los seres humanos
a dar vueltas y rondar, como
espíritus, sobre el sitio donde
algún grande y señalado suceso
dio color a toda su vida; y tanto
más irresistiblemente, cuanto
25
30
35
inscrutable: incapable of being fully known
or understood
40
45
50
55
60
84
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
# congenial adj.1 (often foll. by with, to)
(of a person, character, etc.) pleasant
because akin to oneself in
temperament or interests. 2 (often
foll. by to) suited or agreeable. Simpático, agradable, amabel, atractivo,
afin.
congenial 1. adj. De igual genio. 2.
Dícese de la persona o cosa que, por
ir bien con el genio o carácter de alguien, le resulta atractiva o simpática. 3. congénito, connatural.
10
15
20
25
30
35
retribution: repayment , castigo
40
45
50
55
60
more irresistibly, the darker the
tinge that saddens it. Her sin,
her ignominy, were the roots
which she had struck into the
soil. It was as if a new birth,
with stronger assimilations
than the first, had converted
the forest-land, still so
u n c o n g e n i a l to every other
p i l g r i m a n d w a n d e r e r, i n t o
Hester Prynne’s wild and dreary,
but life-long home. All other
scenes of earth—even that
village of rural England, where
happy infancy and stainless
maidenhood seemed yet to be in
h e r m o t h e r ’s k e e p i n g , l i k e
garments put off long ago—were
foreign to her, in comparison.
The chain that bound her here
was of iron links, and galling to
her inmost soul, but could never
be broken.
It might be, too—doubtless it
was so, although she hid the secret
from herself, and grew pale
whenever it struggled out of her
heart, like a serpent from its
hole—it might be that another
feeling kept her within the scene
and pathway that had been so
fatal. There dwelt, there trode, the
feet of one with whom she deemed
herself connected in a union that,
unrecognised on earth, would
bring them together before the bar
of final judgment, and make that
their marriage-altar, for a joint
futurity of endless retribution.
Over and over again, the tempter
of souls had thrust this idea upon
Hester ’s contemplation, and
laughed at the passionate an
desperate joy with which she
seized, and then strove to cast it
from her. She barely looked the
idea in the face, and hastened to
bar it in its dungeon. What she
compelled herself to believe—
what, finally, she reasoned upon
as her motive for continuing a
resident of New England—was
half a truth, and half a selfdelusion. Here, she said to herself
had been the scene of her guilt,
and here should be the scene of
her earthly punishment; and so,
perchance, the torture of her daily
shame would at length purge her
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
85
más oscuro sea al tinte que lo entristezca. [106] Su pecado, su ignominia, eran las raíces que había echado sobre el suelo. Era
como si un nuevo nacimiento,
con mayores asimilaciones que
el primero, hubiera convertido la
tierra forestal, todavía tan
incongenial con todo otro peregrino y aventurero, en el hogar selvático y espantoso, pero eterno, de Ester
Prynne. Todas las demás escenas de
la tierra, aun aquella villa de la rural
Inglaterra, donde la alegre niñez e
impecable juventud parecían estar
aún bajo la tutela maternal, como
vestiduras de que se había despojado
hacía largo tiempo, eran para ella extrañas, en comparación. La cadena
que la sujetaba allí era de eslabones
de hierro amarrados a lo más profundo de su alma, pero que no podían
ser rotos.
Pudiera ser también (e indudablemente lo era, aunque ella conservaba este secreto y palidecía
siempre que luchaba por salírsele
del corazón, como una serpiente de
su agujero), pudiera ser que otro
sentimiento la retuviese en aquella escena y en aquel sendero que
tan fatales le habían sido. Allí residía alguien a quien se consideraba unida; unida en forma no reconocida en la tierra, pero que había
de llevarlos juntos ante el tribunal
del juicio final, y hacer allí su capilla nupcial para una futura unión
de retribución interminable.Una
y otra vez, el tentador de almas
había confiado esta idea a la meditación de Ester, y se había reído de la alegría apasionada y
desesperante que la embargaba,
para después esforzarse por que
la desechase. Ella, escasamente,
acarició la idea, apresurándose
a encerrarla en lo más profundo
de su ser. Lo que se impuso a
creer, lo que finalmente razonó,
como motivo para continuar residiendo en Nueva Inglaterra, fue
una
semiverdad
y
una
semidecepción. «Esta es —se
decía— la escena de mi culpa, y
debe ser la de mi castigo terrenal»; y así, quizá, la tortura de
su vergüenza diaria purgaría por
fin su alma, proporcionándole
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
soul, and work out another purity
than that which she had lost: more
saint-like, because the result of
martyrdom.
[107] otra nueva pureza para reemplazar a la que había perdido;
otra pureza más santificada a causa del martirio.
Hester Prynne, therefore, did
not flee. On the outskirts of the
town, within the verge of the
peninsula, but not in close vicinity
to any other habitation, there was
a small thatched cottage. It had
been built by an earlier settler, and
abandoned, because the soil about
it was too sterile for cultivation,
while its comparative remoteness
put it out of the sphere of that
social activity which already
marked the habits of the
emigrants. It stood on the shore,
looking across a basin of the sea
at the forest-covered hills,
towards the west. A clump of
scrubby trees, such as alone grew
on the peninsula, did not so much
conceal the cottage from view, as
seem to denote that here was some
object which would fain have
been, or at least ought to be,
concealed. In this little lonesome
dwelling, with some slender
means that she possessed, and by
the licence of the magistrates, who
still kept an inquisitorial watch
over her, Hester established
herself, with her infant child. A
mystic shadow of suspicion
immediately attached itself to the
spot. Children, too young to
comprehend wherefore this
woman sho u l d b e s h u t o u t
from the sphere of human
charities, would creep nigh
[near] enough to behold her
plying her needle at the cottagewindow, or standing in the
doorway, or labouring in her little
garden, or coming forth along the
pathway that led townward, and,
discerning the scarlet letter on her
breast, would scamper off with a
strange contagious fear.
Así pues, Ester Prynne no
huyó. En los alrededores de la población, dentro de los límites de la
península, pero no en la vecindad
de ninguna otra morada, había una
pequeña vivienda. Fue construida
por un antiguo morador, y abandonada porque el suelo que la rodeaba era demasiado estéril para
ser cultivado, además de hallarse
comparativamente lejos de la esfera de actividad social que ya habían señalado los hábitos de los
emigrantes. Se hallaba en la playa, dando cara, a través de una ensenada, a los montes cubiertos de
vegetación. Un grupo de chaparros, de los que solamente crecen en la península, no llegaba
a ocultar la casita, como queriendo significar que allí había
algún objeto que no debiera hallarse o, por lo menos, permanecer oculto. En aquella pequeña y solitaria vivienda, con algunos pocos recursos que poseía
y licencia de los magistrados,
quienes todavía mantenían sobre
Ester su vigilancia inquisitorial,
establecióse con su niña. Inmediatamente quedó envuelto aquel
lugar en una sombra mística de
desconfianza. Los niños, demasiado jóvenes para comprender el
por qué se habían cerrado para aquella mujer las puertas de la ciudad
humana, acercábanse a l a
casa
lo
bastante
p a r a v e r l a bordar a la
v e n t a n a , ____permanecer en el
umbral de la puerta, trabajar en el
pequeño jardín o llegar por la senda que conducía a la población;
y, al ver la letra roja sobre su pecho, echaban a correr con un miedo extraño y contagioso.
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35
40
ply 1 a : to use or wield diligently <busily
plying his pen> b : to practice or
perform diligently <ply a trade> 2 :
to keep furnishing or supplying
something to <plied us with liquor>
3 a : to make a practice of rowing
or sailing over or on <the boat plies
the river> b : to go or travel regularly
over, on, or through <jets plying the
skies>
1 : to apply oneself steadily 2 : to go
or travel regularly ply 1 [+ needle,
tool] manejar; emplear [+ oars] emplear [+ river, route] navegar por
to ply one’s trade ejercer su profesión 2 to ply somebody with
questions acosar a alguien con
preguntas to ply somebody with
drink no parar de ofrecer de beber
a alguien to ply between ir y venir de
45
50
X
X
Lonely as was Hester ’s
situation, and without a friend on
55 earth who dared to show himself,
she, however, incurred no risk of
want. She possessed an art that
sufficed, even in a land that
afforded comparatively little
60 scope for its exercise, to supply
A pesar del aislamiento de su
situación y sin tener sobre la tierra un amigo que se atreviera a
presentarse allí, jamás sintió el
riesgo de la necesidad. Poseía un
arte que la proporcionaba, aun en
una tierra que comparativamente
tenía pocas probabilidades de po86
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
food for her thriving infant and
herself. It was the art, then, as
now, almost the only one within
a woman’s grasp--of needlework. She bore on her breast,
in the curiously embroidered
l e t t e r, a s p e c i m e n o f h e r
delicate and imaginative skill,
of which the dames of a court
might gladly have availed
themselves, to add the richer
and more spiritual adornment of
human ingenuity to their fabrics
of silk and gold. Here, indeed, in
the sable simplicity that generally
characterised the Puritanic modes
of dress, there might be an
infrequent call for the finer
productions of her handiwork. Yet
the taste of the age, demanding
whatever was elaborate in
compositions of this kind, did not
fail to extend its influence over
our stern progenitors, who had
cast behind them so many
fashions which it might seem
harder to dispense with.
der existir, alimentos para su niña
y para ella. Era el arte [108] que,
antes como ahora, es el único que
se encuentra al alcance de la mujer: el bordado. Ester llevaba sobre:
su pecho, en la letra tan curiosamente bordada, una muestra de su habilidad delicada e imaginativa, de
las que las damas de una corte se
hubiesen valido alegremente para
añadir a sus ropajes de seda y oro
mayor riqueza y má s a d o r n o
espiritual del ingenio hum ano. Aquí, en efecto, en la
oscura simplicidad que generalmente caracterizaba la moda puritana en el vestir. quizá no fuera
frecuente la necesidad de sus más
delicadas producciones. Sin embargo, el gusto de la época, demandando todo cuanto se elaboraba en trabajos de esta clase, no
dejó de extender su influencia
entre nuestros severos progenitores, quienes habían dejado tras sí
tantas modas que parecía imposible poder pasar sin ellas.
Public ceremonies, such as
30 ordinations, the installation of
magistrates, and all that could
give majesty to the forms in
which a new government
manifested itself to the people,
35 were, as a matter of policy,
marked by a stately and wellconducted ceremonial, and a
sombre, but yet a studied
magnificence. Deep ruffs,
40 painfully wrought bands, and
gorgeously embroidered gloves,
were all deemed necessary to
the official state of men
assuming the reins of power,
45 and were readily allowed to
individuals dignified by rank
or wealth, even while
sumptuary laws forbade these
and similar extravagances to the
50 plebeian order. In the array of
funerals, too—whether for the
apparel of the dead body, or to
typify, by manifold emblematic
devices of sable cloth and
55 snowy lawn, the sorrow of the
survivors—there was a frequent
and characteristic demand for
such labour as Hester Prynne
could supply. Baby-linen—for
60 b a b i e s t h e n w o r e r o b e s o f
Las ceremonias públicas, tales como ordenaciones, instalación de magistrados, y cuanto pudiese dar majestad a la forma en
que un nuevo Gobierno se manifestaba ante el pueblo, eran como
materia de policía; se distinguían
por un ceremonial majestuoso y
bien dirigido y por una sombría,
pero, sin embargo, estudiada magnificencia. Sendas gorgueras,
bandas penosamente trabajadas,
y guantes con bordados chillones, eran cosas consideradas
como necesarias para el estado
oficial de los hombres que asumían las riendas del poder; y
generalmente se concedían a individuos dignificados por rango
de nacimiento, mientras se prohibían similares extravagancias a
los de orden plebeyo. También en
las pombas fúnebres, ya fuera
para adornar al muerto o para representar con múltiples dibujos
emblemáticos en el paño negro
o el níveo linón la pena de los
vivos, había una demanda frecuente y característica de la clase de labor que Ester Prynne podía proporcionar. Las ropas de
los niños, que entonces usaban
5
10
ingenuity traduce ingenio, inventiva, habilidad, ingeniosidad, artefacto ingenioso [tool], mientras que ingenuidad
se usa para candor, frankness,
naiveté, openness. Por otra parte,
ingenuous equivale a ingenuo,
como inocente, franco, sincero, aunque ingenuo puede degenerar en
gullible I naïve [crédulo], pero
ingenious se usa para hábil [bright],
mañoso [gifted], genial [estratagema, truco]. El sustantivo inglés
ingenue se refiere a dama joven [de
teatro].
15
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plebeian order: lower classes
tr. de A. Ruste
87
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
state—afforded still another
possibility of toil and
emolument.
túnicas fastuosas, ofrecían también una posibilidad de trabajo y
de emolumentos.
By degrees, not very slowly,
her handiwork became what
would now be termed the fashion.
Whether from commiseration for
a woman of so miserable a
destiny; or from the morbid
curiosity that gives a fictitious
value even to common or
worthless things; or by whatever
other intangible circumstance was
then, as now, sufficient to bestow
[grant], on some persons, what
others might seek in vain; or
because Hester really filled a gap
which must otherwise have
remained vacant; it is certain that
she had ready and fairly equited
employment for as many hours as
she saw fit to occupy with her
needle. Vanity, it may be, chose
to mortify itself, by putting on, for
ceremonials of pomp and state,
the garments that had been
wrought by her sinful hands. Her
needle-work was seen on the ruff
of the Governor; military men
wore it on their scarfs, and the
minister on his band; it decked
the baby’s little cap; it was
shut up, to be mildewed and
moulder away, in the coffins of
the dead. But it is not recorded
that, in a single instance, her skill
was called in to embroider the white
veil which was to cover the pure
blushes of a bride. The exception
indicated the ever relentless vigour
with which s ociety frowned
upon her sin.
[109] Gradualmente, aunque
no muy despacio, su trabajo se hizo
lo que hoy llamaríamos moda.
Bien fuese por conmiseración a
una mujer de tan miserable destino, por la mórbida curiosidad
que da un valor ficticio a cosas
vulgares e inútiles, por cualquiera otra circunstancia intangible que, entonces como hoy,
basta para que adopten unas
personas lo que otras puedan
buscar en vano, o porque Ester
llenaba en realidad un hueco
que, de otro modo, habría permanecido vacante, lo cierto es
que logró empleo para tantas
horas como pudiera destinar a
su aguja. Quizá se mortificase
la propia vanidad, poniéndose,
para aquellas ceremonias de
pompa y fastuosidad, las vestiduras que fueron bordadas por
sus manos pecadoras. Su labor se
veía en la golilla del gobernador;
los militares la llevaban en sus
corbatas y el ministro en su banda; adornaba los gorritos d e l o s
niños y se encerraba en los
ataúdes para enmohecerse
y convertirse en polvo; pero no
se recuerda un solo caso en que
fuese reclamada su habilidad para
bordar el blanco velo que hubiese
de cubrir los puros sonrojos de una
desposada. La excepción indicaba
el sempiterno y empedernido vigor con que la sociedad miraba
ceñudamente su pasado.
Hester sought not to acquire
anything beyond a subsistence,
of the plainest and most ascetic
description, for herself, and a
simple abundance for her child.
50 Her own dress was of the coarsest
materials and the most sombre
hue, with only that one
ornament—the scarlet letter—
which it was her doom to wear.
55 The child’s attire, on the other
hand, was distinguished by a
fanciful, or, we may rather say, a
fantastic ingenuity, which served,
indeed, to heighten the airy
60 charm that early began to develop
Ester no pretendía otra
cosa que ganar la vida del
modo más sencillo y ascético,
y una abundancia sencilla
para su niña. Su propio vestido era de los materiales más
bastos y más sombríos tonos,
sin más adorno que la letra
roja, marca que era de su sino
llevar. En cambio, el atavío
de la niña era distinguido y de
fantasía, mejor pudiéramos
decir, de un ingenio fantástico que, en realidad, servía
para dar realce al encanto que
prematuramente comenzaba a
5
10
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bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on
a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1: to put to use : APPLY <bestowed
his spare time on study> 2 : to put in a
particular or appropriate place : STOW 3
: to provide with quarters : PUT UP 4 : to
convey as a gift — usually used with on or
upon.
20
25
30
mildewed 1 a destructive growth of minute fungi
on plants. 2 a similar growth on paper, leather,
etc. exposed to damp
moulder v. intr. (US molder) 1 decay to
dust. 2 (foll. by away) rot or crumble.
3 deteriorate.
deleznable 1. adj. Que se rompe, disgrega o deshace fácilmente. 2. Que se
desliza y resbala con mucha facilidad. 3. fig. Poco durable, inconsistente, de poca resistencia.
tr. de A. Ruste
35
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88
mildew 1 (on food, leather etc) moho
2 (on plants) añublo ( honguillo parásito que ataca las cañas, hojas y espigas de los cereales, formando globulillos a manera de
postillas de color oscuro, que
luego se hacen negras, sin dar
mal olor)
1 a destructive growth of minute
fungi on plants. 2 a similar growth
on paper, leather, etc. exposed
to damp
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
itself in the little girl, but which
appeared to have also a deeper
meaning. We may speak further of
it hereafter. Except for that small
expenditure in the decoration of
her infant, Hester bestowed all her
superfluous means in charity, on
wretches less miserable than
herself,
and
who
not
unfrequently insulted the hand
that fed them. Much of the time,
which she might readily have
applied to the better efforts of her
art, she employed in making
coarse garments for the poor. It
is probable that there was an idea
of penance in this mode of
occupation, and that she offered
up a real sacrifice of enjoyment
in devoting so many hours to
such rude handiwork. She had in
her nature a rich, voluptuous,
Oriental characteristic—a taste
for the gorgeously beautiful,
which, save in the exquisite
productions of her needle, found
nothing else, in all the
possibilities of her life, to
exercise itself upon. Women
derive
a
pleasure,
incomprehensible to the other
sex, from the delicate toil of the
needle. To Hester Prynne it might
have been a mode of expressing,
and therefore soothing, the
passion of her life. Like all other
joys, she rejected it as sin. This
morbid meddling of conscience
with an immaterial matter
betokened, it is to be feared, no
genuine and steadfast penitence,
but
something
doubtful,
something that might be deeply
wrong beneath.
desarrollarse en la pequeñuela
y que parecía tener un más hondo significado. Más adelante
hablaremos de esto. Salvo
aquel derroche en el adorno de
su hija. Ester dedicaba todos
sus recursos superfluos a la
caridad, a desgraciados menos miserables que ella y que,
con frecuencia, [110] insultaban a la mano que les favorecía.
Mucho tiempo del que podía
haber dedicado a los mejores
productos de su arte lo empleaba en coser bastas vestiduras
para los pobres. Posible es que
en esta clase de ocupación hubiese cierta idea de penitencia y
ofreciese un verdadero sacrificio
de regocijo al dedicar tantas horas a tan duro trabajo. Tenía su
carácter una manifestación rica,
voluptuosa oriental; un gusto
por lo hermosamente alegre,
que, salvo para las exquisitas
producciones de su aguja, no encontró, en todas las posibilidades de su vida, medio de ejercitar. La mujer encuentra un placer, incomprensible para el sexo
contrario, en la delicada labor de
la aguja. Para Ester pudiera haber sido un medio de expresar
y, por consiguiente, de consolar
la pasión de su vida. Como todas las demás dichas, la rechazaba como pecado. Esta mezcla
mórbida de la conciencia con
una sustancia inmaterial de que
daba muestras, es de temer no
fuese una penitencia genuina y
resuelta, sino algo dudoso, algo
que en el fondo pudiese estar
profundamente equivocado.
In this matter, Hester Prynne
came to have a part to perform in
the world. With her native energy
of character and rare capacity, it
50 could not entirely cast her off,
although it had set a mark upon
her, more intolerable to a
woman’s heart than that which
branded the brow of Cain. In all
55
her intercourse with society,
intercourse 1 trato, relaciones,
communication or dealings
however, there was nothing that
between individuals, nations, etc.
2 sexual intercourse, acto
made her feel as if she belonged
sexual, coito. 3 communion
to it. Every gesture, every word,
between human beings and God.
and even the silence of those with
60 whom she came in contact,
En este sentido, vino Ester a
representar un papel en el mundo. Con su natural energía de
carácter y su rara capacidad no
podía el mundo arrojarla, si bien
puso sobre ella una marca más
intolerable para el corazón de una
mujer que la que selló la frente
de Caín. No obstante, en todo su
intercurso con la sociedad, no
había nada que la hiciese sentir
que pertenecía a ella. Todo gesto, toda palabra y hasta el silencio de aquellos con quienes se
ponía en contacto, implicaban y
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89
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
bounty 1 (= generosity) generosidad; munificencia 2 (= reward) recompensa
(military) premio m de enganche
compound bounty hunter noun
cazarrecompensas
bounty 1 : something that is given
generously 2 : liberality in giving :
GENEROSITY 3 : yield especially of
a crop. 4 : a reward, premium, or
subsidy especially when offered or
given by a government: as a : an extra allowance to induce entry into the
armed services b : a grant to
encourage an industry c : a payment
to encourage the destruction of
noxious animals d : a payment for the
capture of or assistance in the capture of an outlaw.
35
40
revile v. 1 tr. abuse; criticize abusively. 2
intr. talk abusively; rail. Envilecer,
deshonrar, denigrar, traicionar
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
implied, and often expressed, that
she was banished, and as much
alone as if she inhabited another
sphere, or communicated with the
common nature by other organs
and senses than the rest of human
kind. She stood apart from moral
interests, yet close beside them,
like a ghost that revisits the
familiar fireside, and can no
longer make itself seen or felt; no
more smile with the household
joy, nor mourn with the kindred
sorrow; or, should it succeed in
manifesting its forbidden
sympathy, awakening only terror
and horrible repugnance. These
emotions, in fact, and its bitterest
scorn besides, seemed to be the
sole portion that she retained in
the universal heart. It was not an
age of delicacy; and her position,
although she understood it well,
and was in little danger of
forgetting it, was often brought
before her vivid self-perception,
like a new anguish, by the rudest
touch upon the tenderest spot. The
poor, as we have already said,
whom she sought out to be the
objects
of
her
bounty
[generosity], often reviled the
hand that was stretched forth to
succour them. Dames of elevated
rank, likewise, whose doors she
entered in the way of her
occupation, were accustomed to
distil drops of bitterness into her
heart; sometimes through that
alchemy of quiet malice, by
which women can concoct a
subtle poison from ordinary
trifles; and sometimes, also, by a
coarser expression, that fell upon
the sufferer’s defenceless breast
like a rough blow upon an
ulcerated wound. Hester had
schooled herself long and well;
and she never responded to these
attacks, save by a flush of
crimson that rose irrepressibly
over her pale cheek, and again
subsided into the depths of her
bosom. She was patient—a
martyr, indeed but she forebore
to pray for enemies, lest, in spite
of her forgiving aspirations, the
words of the blessing should
stubbornly twist themselves into
a curse.
con frecuencia expresaban que se
había desvanecido, que estaba tan
sola como si habitase otra esfera o
se comunicase con la naturaleza
común por medio de otros órganos y sentidos que el resto de la
humanidad. Se hallaba apartada de
los intereses morales y, sin embargo, cerca de ellos; como un espíritu que vuelve a sitiar su hogar, sin
poder ya hacerse ver o sentir; no
[111] más sonrisas con la alegría
del hogar, ni aflicción con la tristeza de sus deudos; y si lograse
manifestar su prohibida simpatía, no haría sino despertar terror y horrible repugnancia. Estas emociones, en efecto, y su
más amargo desdén, además, parecían ser la única participación
que tenía en el corazón humano. No era una época de delicadeza; y su posición, aunque la
comprendía bien y se hallaba
muy lejos de olvidarla, aparecía
con frecuencia ante su viva percepción como una nueva angustia, por un fuerte toque sobre su
parte más delicada. Como ya hemos dicho, los pobres, qu e e r a n
o b j e t o de su gener o s i d a d ,
ultrajaban muchas veces la
mano que se extendía para socorrerles; damas de elevado
rango, cuyas puertas traspasaba
a causa de su trabajo, estaban
acostumbradas a destilar en su
corazón gotas de amargura unas
veces, a través de aquella alquimia de tranquila malicia por la
cual las mujeres pueden confeccionar un veneno sutil de las
trivialidades ordinarias, y otras,
también, por una expresión más
ruda, caída sobre el pecho de la
mujer indefensa como un golpe
brutal sobre una herida ulcerada.
Ester se había aleccionado bien
y largamente; jamás respondió a
estos ataques, salvo con el rojo
rubor que subía a sus pálidas
mejillas y que de nuevo volvía a
las profundidades de su seno. Era
paciente, una mártir, en efecto;
pero lograba rezar por sus enemigos, a menos que, a pesar de
sus aspiraciones de perdón, las
palabras benditas se retorciesen obstinadamente en una
maldición.
90
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
imbibe v.tr.1 (also absol.) drink
(esp. alcoholic liquor). 2 a absorb
or assimilate (ideas etc.). b absorb
(moisture etc.). 3 inhale (air etc.).
25
30
35
40
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
45
50
55
60
C o n t i n u a l l y, a n d i n a
thousand other ways, did she
feel the innumerable throbs of
anguish that had been so
cunningly contrived for her by
the undying, the ever-active
sentence of the Puritan tribunal.
Clergymen paused in the
streets, to address words of
exhortation, that brought a
crowd, with its mingled grin
and frown, around the poor,
sinful woman. If she entered a
church, trusting to share the
Sabbath smile of the Universal
Father, it was often her mishap
to find herself the text of the
discourse. She grew to have a
dread of children; for they had
imbibed from their parents a
vague idea of something
horrible in this dreary woman
gliding silently through the
town,
with
never
any
companion but one only child.
Therefore, first allowing her to
pass, they pursued her at a
distance with shrill cries, and
the utterances of a word that
had no distinct purport to their
own minds, but was none the
l e s s t e r r i b l e t o h e r, a s
proceeding from lips that
babbled it unconsciously. It
seemed to argue so wide a
diffusion of her shame, that all
nature knew of it; it could have
caused her no deeper pang had
the leaves of the trees
whispered the dark story among
themselves—had the summer
breeze murmured about it—had
the wintry blast shrieked it
aloud! Another peculiar [odd]
torture was felt in the gaze of a
new eye. When strangers
looked curiously at the scarlet
letter and none ever failed to do
so—they branded it afresh in
H e s t e r ’s s o u l ; s o t h a t ,
oftentimes, she could scarcely
refrain, yet always did refrain,
from covering the symbol with
her hand. But then, again, an
accustomed eye had likewise its
own anguish to inflict. Its cool
stare of familiarity was
intolerable. From first to last,
in short, Hester Prynne had
tr. de A. Ruste
X
91
Continuamente y de otras mil
forman sintió los innumerables
latidos de angustia que tan arteramente inventara para ella
la imperecedera y siempre activa sentencia del tribunal puritano. Los clérigos parábanse
en las calles para dirigirla palabras de exhortación, que
congregaban un grupo, con su
ceño fruncido y sus sonrisas burlonas, alrededor de la pobre mujer
pecadora. Si entraba en una iglesia esperando compartir la [112]
sonrisa del Sábado del Padre Universal, tropezaba con la frecuente
desgracia de constituir su persona
tema del sermón. Llegó a tener
pavor a los niños, porque sus padres les habían imbuido una vaga
idea de algo horrible de esta espantosa mujer,. que cruzaba silenciosa la población, sin otra compañera que una niña única. Así
pues, dejándola pasar primero, la
perseguían a distancia, lanzando
agudos gritos y pronunciando una
palabra que no tenía distinto significado en sus propias imaginaciones, pero que no era para ella
menos terrible por proceder de
labios que la balbuceaban inconscientemente. Parecía argüir tan ancha difusión de su
vergüenza, como si toda la naturaleza la conociese; no le
hubiera causado más honda
pena si las hojas de los árboles
hubiesen murmurado entre
ellas su negra historia; si la
brisa veraniega murmurase de
ella, o si el viento invernal la
pregonase a gritos. Sentía otra
tortura peculiar cuando la contemplaban ojos extraños. Cuando
los forasteros miraban con curiosidad su letra roja, cosa que ninguno dejaba de hacer, la marcaban de nuevo con hierro candente en el alma de Ester de tal modo,
que muchas veces escasamente
podía refrenarse, aunque siempre
lo logró, de cubrir el símbolo con
sus manos; pero entonces, también, unos ojos acostumbrados tenían igualmente su propia angustia
que infligir. Su fría mirada de familiaridad era intolerable. Desde el
primero al último, con todos, en
grin : mueca o contorsión del rostro 1
a facial expression characterized
by turning up the corners of the
mouth; usually shows pleasure or
amusement
2 to draw back the lips and reveal
the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or
snarl.
1 intr. a smile broadly, showing the
teeth, smiled toothly, unrestrained,
or stupid smile.
2 tr. express by grinning (grinned his
satisfaction). Sonreír abiertamente: the little boy grinned from ear
to ear, el pequeño sonreía de oreja a oreja.
Sonreir con algún tipo de mueca o gesticulación facial (desdeñosa, burlona, etc.)
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
always this dreadful agony in
feeling a human eye upon the
token; the spot never grew
callous; it seemed, on the
5 contrary, to grow more sensitive
with daily torture.
suma, Ester Prynne tenía esta espantosa agonía al sentir unos ojos
humanos sobre su marca; aquel
punto no se hacía calloso; por el
contrario, con la tortura diaria,
era cada vez más sensible.
But sometimes, once in
many days, or perchance in
10 m a n y m o n t h s , s h e f e l t a n
eye—a human eye—upon the
ignominious brand, that
seemed to give a momentary
relief, as if half of her agony
15 were shared. The next instant,
back it all rushed again, with
still a deeper throb of pain;
for, in that brief interval, she
had sinned anew. (Had Hester
20 sinned alone?)
Pero algunas veces, un día entre muchos, o quizá entre muchos
meses, sentía unos ojos, unos ojos
humanos sobre su marca ignominiosa que parecían proporcionarle
un rato de consuelo, como si hubiesen compartido la mitad de su agonía. Al instante siguiente volvía a
ella toda la agonía con toda su vibración [113] dolorosa, más honda,
porque en ese breve intervalo había pecado de nuevo. ¿Había pecado ella sólo?
Her imagination was
somewhat affected, and, had
she been of a softer moral and
intellectual fibre would have
been still more so, by the
strange and solitary anguish of
her life. Walking to and fro,
with those lonely footsteps, in
the little world with which she
was outwardly connected, it
now and then appeared to
Hester—if altogether fancy, it
was nevertheless too potent to
be resisted—she felt or
fancied, then, that the scarlet
letter had endowed her with a
new sense. She shuddered to
believe, yet could not help
believing, that it gave her a
sympathetic knowledge of the
hidden sin in other hearts. She
w a s t e r r o r- s t r i c k e n b y t h e
revelations that were thus
made. What were they? Could
they be other than the
insidious whispers of the bad
angel, who would fain have
persuaded the struggling
woman, as yet only half his
victim, that the outward guise
of purity was but a lie, and
that, if truth were everywhere
to be shown, a scarlet letter
would blaze forth on many a
bosom
besides
Hester
Prynne’s? Or, must she receive
those intimations—so obscure,
yet so distinct—as truth? In all
her miserable experience, there
Su imaginación se hallaba
algo afectada, y si hubiese tenido una fibra moral e intelectual más blanda más lo hubiera estado, por la angustia
extraña y solitaria de su vida.
Caminando de un lado para
otro, sola, en el pequeño
mundo con quien estaba ahora en contacto, le parecía a
Ester, de vez en cuando (y aun
siendo fantasía era, no obstante, demasiado potente para
resistirla), percibía o imaginaba que la letra roja la había dotado de un nuevo sentido. Temblaba al creer, y, sin
embargo, no podía evitar el
creerlo, que le daba un simpático conocimiento de los
pecados ocultos en otros corazones. Estaba aterrorizada
por las revelaciones que de tal
forma se le hacían. ¿Qué podían
ser? ¿Podrían ser otra cosa sino las
murm u r a c i o n e s i n s i d i o s a s
del ángel malo, de haberse
conformado con que la mujer luchadora fuese solamente su víctima a medias; de que el disfraz
de la pureza no era sino una mentira, y de que, si la virtud había
de demostrarse en todas partes,
una letra roja había de flamear en
otros pechos además del de Ester
Prynne? ¿O había de recibir
aquellas intimaciones tan oscuras, pero tan distintas, como una
verdad? En toda su miserable ex-
25
30
35
40
45
insidious: wily and sly
sly adj. (slyer, slyest) 1 cunning; crafty;
wily. 2 a (of a person) practising
secrecy or stealth. b (of an action
etc.) done etc. in secret. 3
hypocritical; ironical. 4 knowing; arch;
bantering; insinuating. 5 Austral. &
NZ sl. (esp. of liquor) illicit.
tr. de A. Ruste
50
55
60
92
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
contumaciously: in a manner which
suggests resistance to authority
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
was nothing else so awful
and so loathsome as this
sense. It perplexed, as well
a s shocked her, by the
irreverent inopportuneness of
the occasions that brought it
into vivid action. Sometimes
the red infamy upon her breast
would give a sympathetic
throb, as she passed near a
venerable
minister
or
magistrate, the model of piety
and justice, to whom that age
of antique reverence looked
up, as to a mortal man in
fellowship with angels. “What
evil thing is at hand?” would
Hester say to herself. Lifting
her reluctant eyes, there would
be nothing human within the
scope of view, save the form of
this earthly saint! Again a
mystic sisterhood would
contumaciously
assert
itself, as she met the
sanctified frown of some
matron, who, according to
the rumour of all tongues,
had kept cold snow within
her bosom throughout life.
T h a t unsunned snow in the
m a t r o n ’s b o s o m , a n d t h e
burning shame on Hester
Prynne’s—what had the two
in common? Or, once more,
the electric thrill would give
her
warning—”Behold
Hester, here is a companion!”
and, looking up, she would
detect the eyes of a young
maiden glancing at the scarlet
letter, shyly and aside, and
quickly averted, with a faint,
chill crimson in her cheeks as
if her purity were somewhat
sullied by that momentary
glance. O Fiend, whose
talisman was that fatal
symbol, wouldst thou leave
nothing, whether in youth or
age, for this poor sinner to
revere?—such loss of faith is
ever one of the saddest results
of sin. Be it accepted as a
proof that all was not corrupt
in this poor victim of her own
frailty, and man’s hard law,
that Hester Prynne yet
struggled to believe that no
fellow-mortal was guilty like
periencia no había nada tan espantoso y aborrecible como ese
sentido. La confundía, a la vez
que la impresionaba, por la
inoportunidad irreverente de
las ocasiones en que lo traían
a una acción viva. Algunas veces, la roja infamia que llevaba sobre su pecho daba un latido de simpatía cuando pasaba cerca de un ministro venerable o de un magistrado, modelos de piedad y justicia, para
quienes aquella época de antiguas reverencias significaba lo
que para un mortal el compañerismo de los ángeles. «¿Qué
desgracia estará próxima?», solía preguntarse Ester. ¡Al levantar los ojos nada humano se
presentaba al alcance de su vista, salvo la silueta de este santo terrenal! De nuevo [114] la
asaltaba contumazmente un
misticismo de hermana cuando tropezaba con el ceño santificado de
alguna matrona, la que, según rumor de toda lengua, había conservado durante toda su vida la nieve
fría en su pecho. ¿Qué tenían de
común la nieve no soleada del
seno de la matrona y la abrasad o r a v e rg ü e n z a d e E s t e r
Prynne? O una vez más el estremecimiento eléctrico la avisaba: «¡Mira, Ester, ahí tienes
una compañera!»; y alzando la
vista, observaba que los ojos de
una joven dama contemplaban
la letra roja, cautelosamente y
de lejos, y que los retiraba prontamente, con un rubor débil y
frío en sus mejillas, como si su
pureza se hubiese manchado
por aquella mirada momentánea. ¡Oh, espíritu maligno,
cuyo talismán era aquel símbolo fatal! ¿No has de dejar nada,
ya en la juventud o en la vejez,
para que esta pobre pecadora lo
reverencie? Tal pérdida de la fe
es siempre uno de los resultados más tristes del pecado.
Acéptese como una prueba de
que no todo estaba corrompido
en esta pobre víctima de su propia debilidad y de la dura ley
de los hombres, que Ester
Prynne luchaba por creer que
no había un mortal semejante
93
shock1 VT 1 (= startle) sobresaltar, asustar 2 (= affect emotionally) (= upset)
conmover, chocar; (= offend) escandalizar; easily shocked que se escandaliza por nada; shocked corn
a stack or bundle of bound or
unbound corn piled upright for curing
or drying
c CPD ä shock absorber N (Aut)
amortiguador m ä shock jock* N
presentador(a) polémico/a de coloquios radiofónicos abiertos al público ä shock tactics NPL (fig) provocación f ä shock therapy, shock
treatment N (Med) (also electric
shock treatment) tratamiento m por
electrochoque ä shock troops NPL
guardias mpl de asalto ä shock
wave N onda f de choque
shock 1 (emotional) conmoción f, golpe
m, impresión f; (= start) susto m; the
shock killed him la impresión le
mató; to come as a shock resultar
sorprendente or asombroso, causar
estupefacción; to get a shock llevarse or pegarse un susto 2 (= impact)
sacudida f; (= shake-up) choque m,
sacudida f; shock resistant
antichoque; it was a shock to the
establishment sacudió el sistema,
fue un serio golpe para el sistema 3
(Elec) descarga f; she got a shock
from the refrigerator la nevera le dio
una descarga or un calambre 4
(Med) shock m, postración f nerviosa; to be suffering from shock G
be in (a state of) shock estar en
estado de shock, padecer una postración nerviosa
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
affirmed, asserted
15
sear 1 quemar, chamuscar 2 Med
cauterizar 1 : to make withered
and dry 2 : to burn, scorch, or
injure with or as if with sudden
application of intense heat sear 1
a scorch, esp. with a hot iron;
cauterize, brand. b (as searing
adj.) scorching, burning (searing
pa i n) . 2 c a u s e p a i n o r g r e a t
anguish to. 3 brown (meat) quickly
at a high temperature so that it will
retain its juices in cooking. 4 make
(one’s conscience, feelings, etc.)
callous. 5 archaic blast, wither.
adj. (also sere) literary (esp. of a
plant etc.) withered, dried up.
20
tr. de A. Ruste
herself.
más culpable que ella.
The vulgar, who, in those
dreary old times, were always
contributing a grotesque
horror to what interested their
imaginations, had a story
about the scarlet letter which
we might readily work up into
a terrific legend. They
av e r red that the symbol was
not mere scarlet cloth,
tinged in an earthly dye-pot,
but was red-hot with infernal
fire, and could be seen
glowing all alight whenever
Hester Prynne walked
abroad in the night-time.
And we must needs say it
s e a r e d H e s t e r ’s b o s o m s o
deeply, that perhaps there was
more truth in the rumour than
our modern incredulity may
be inclined to admit.
Las gentes vulgares que en
aquellos viejos y espantosos
tiempos contribuían siempre con
un grotesco horror a cuanto interesaba a sus imaginaciones, conservaban una historia sobre la
letra roja, que, al punto, pudiéramos calificar de leyenda terrorífica. Creían que el símbolo no
era simplemente un paño de color escarlata coloreado en una
terrenal tina de teñir, sino que era
el rojo candente por el fuego infernal, y que podía verse cómo
se iluminaba cuando Ester
Prynne caminaba de noche. Y
hemos de decir, por fuerza, que
chamuscaba tan hondamente su
pecho, que quizá había más verdad en el rumor de lo que nuestra moderna incredulidad esté
inclinada a admitir.
25
30
Chapter 6: Pearl
35 Pearl. Hawthorne tells of her strange development into a mischievous, solitary child whose impulsive
Chapter 6 introduces Hester’s child
outbursts of strong feeling puzzle and sometimes distress her mother.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
Some critics consider Pearl an important character in the story; others do not. Pearl does not make a choice about how to live, as the
other central characters do. She simply reacts to her situation emotionally and mentally. She is graceful and beautiful, lively and
40
imaginative, but her bold and reckless
acts trouble her mother. Hawthorne seems to agree with Hester’s perception:
In giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant,
but all in disorder; or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible
to be discovered. Nester could only account for the child’s character - and even then most vaguely and imperfectly - by recalling what
she herself had been during that momentous period while Pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her bodily frame
from its material of earth. The mother’s impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant
the rays of its moral life; and, however
white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the
45
black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance.
Hester sometimes wonders if Pearl is not wilder than any human child, as if she were partly a mischievous spirit. She does not seem to
return her mother’s love with any simple tenderness, but only with an occasional moody passion of affection. Pearl is made stranger by
being a social outcast among the other children. Several times in the chapter Hawthorne speaks of her being like a little witch, or an
imp, or an elf. He tells of her strange imaginative games, playing that weeds and trees are the Puritan children and their parents, who
must be killed if she is to be safe.
50 Pearl seems fiercely to train herself to struggle in a hostile world. She is fascinated by the scarlet
letter Hester wears. One day she plays a target game, throwing wild flowers at it and jumping up to dance when she hits it. Hester is
driven to ask, ‘Art thou my child, in very truth?’. Pearl says, ‘Yes; I am little Pearl’. Hester plays with her and asks, ‘Tell me, then, what
thou art, and who sent thee hither’. Pearl becomes serious and asks ‘Tell me, mother!’. But to Nester’s reply ‘Thy heavenly Father sent
thee!’, Pearl defiantly cries ‘I have no heavenly Father!’. Nester grieves over this, remembering that some townspeople whisper the
idea that Pearl has a demon father. This superstition Hawthorne does not support, but neither does he scorn it. Pearl is, to Nester, a
living person whose nature reflects her mother’s sin and unquiet heart. So, a third time, the reader can watch a character allegorised
by other characters and, partly, by herself. Even her name suggests the allegory; she is Nester’s ‘pearl of great price’, like that spoken
of by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel55(Matt 13:45-6) when He tells of a merchant who sells all that he has to get one pearl and then says that
the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is such a pearl.
This description of Pearl has brought the story along a few years in time so that events of a later date can now be related. In later events
Pearl will continue to reflect her mother’s state of mind in her moods, although in other ways she is ungovernable by Nester, or indeed
by anyone else.
60
94
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
VI.
[115] VI
PEARL
PERLA
We h a v e a s y e t h a r d l y
spoken of the infant that little
creature, whose innocent life
had sprung, by the inscrutable
decree of Providence, a lovely
and immortal flower, out of the
rank luxuriance of a guilty
passion. How strange it seemed
to the sad woman, as she
watched the growth, and the
beauty that became every day
more brilliant, and the
intelligence that threw its
quivering sunshine over the tiny
features of this child! Her
Pearl—for so had Hester called
her; not as a name expressive of
her aspect, which had nothing of
the calm, white, unimpassioned
lustre that would be indicated
by the comparison. But she
named the infant “Pearl,” as
being of great price—purchased
with all she had—her mother ’s
only treasure! How strange,
indeed! Man had marked this
woman’s sin by a scarlet letter,
which had such potent and
d i s a s t r o u s e ff i c a c y t h a t n o
human sympathy could reach her,
save it were sinful like herself.
God, as a direct consequence of
the sin which man thus
punished, had given her a
lovely child, whose place
was
on
that
same
dishonoured bosom, to
connect her parent for ever
with the race and descent of
mortals, and to be finally a
blessed soul in heaven! Yet
these thoughts affected
Hester Prynne less with hope
than apprehension. She knew
that her deed had been evil; she
could have no faith, therefore, that
its result would be good. Day after
day she looked fearfully into the
child’s expanding nature, ever
dreading to detect some dark and wild
peculiarity that should correspond
with the guiltiness to which she
owed her being.
Hasta este momento apenas
hemos hablado de la niña; esa
criaturita cuya inocente vida había brotado, por el insondable
secreto de la Providencia, como
una flor inmortal y encantadora,
de la fértil exuberancia de una
pasión culpable. ¡Cuán extraña le
parecía a la triste mujer, mientras
contemplaba su desarrollo, la
belleza que, de día en día, hacíase
más brillante, y la inteligencia
que derrochaba su temblorosa luz
solar sobre las delicadas facciones de la niña! ¡Su Perla! Porque
así la llamaba Ester; no como
nombre expresivo de su aspecto,
que nada tenía del reflejo tranquilo, blanco e inapasionado que
pudiera indicar la comparación;
llamaba a la niña «Perla», como
una gran riqueza comprada con
cuanto ella poseía, con el único
tesoro de su madre. ¡Cuán extraña, en verdad! Los hombres habían señalado el pecado de aquella mujer con una letra roja, de
tan potente y desastrosa eficacia,
que no había simpatía humana
que pudiera alcanzarla, a no ser
siendo pecadora como ella.
¡Dios, como directa consecuencia del pecado que los hombres
así castigaban, habíala concedido una criatura encantadora,
cuyo puesto estaba en aquel mismo pecho deshonrado, para unir
por siempre a su madre con la
raza y descendencia de los mortales, y para ser, finalmente, un
alma bendita en el cielo! No obstante, estos pensamientos afectaban a Ester Prynne con menos
esperanza que aprensión. Sabía
que su acción había sido mala;
por tanto, no podía tener fe en
que su resultado fuese bueno. Día
tras día contempló, temerosa, el
desarrollo de la niña, temiendo
siempre observar alguna particularidad feroz que correspondiese a la culpabilidad a la que
debía su ser.
Certainly there was no
60 physical defect. By its perfect
Ciertamente, no tenía ningún defecto físico. Por su [116]
5
10
rank adj. 1 too luxuriant,
coarse; choked with or apt to
produce weeds or excessive
foliage. 2 a foul-smelling,
o ff e n s i v e . b l o a t h s o m e ,
indecent, corrupt. 3 flagrant,
virulent, gross, complete,
unmistakable,
s t r o n g l y 15
marked (rank outsider).
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25
30
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40
45
50
55
95
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
shape, its vigour, and its natural
dexterity in the use of all its
untried limbs, the infant was
worthy to have been brought forth
in Eden: worthy to have been left
there to be the plaything of the
angels after the world’s first
parents were driven out. The child
had a native grace which does not
invariably co-exist with faultless
beauty; its attire, however simple,
always impressed the beholder as
if it were the very garb that
precisely became it best. But little
Pearl was not clad in rustic weeds.
Her mother, with a morbid
purpose that may be better
understood hereafter, had bought
the richest tissues that could be
procured, and allowed her
imaginative faculty its full play in
the arrangement and decoration of
the dresses which the child wore
before the public eye. So
magnificent was the small figure
when thus arrayed, and such was
the splendour of Pearl’s own
proper beauty, shining through the
gorgeous robes which might have
extinguished a paler loveliness,
that there was an absolute circle
of radiance around her on the
darksome cottage floor. And yet a
russet gown, torn and soiled with
the child’s rude play, made a
picture of her just as perfect.
Pearl’s aspect was imbued with a
spell of infinite variety; in this one
child there were many children,
comprehending the full scope
between
the
wild-flower
prettiness of a peasant-baby, and
the pomp, in little, of an infant
princess. Throughout all,
however, there was a trait of
passion, a certain depth of hue,
which she never lost; and if in any
of her changes, she had grown
fainter or paler, she would have
ceased to be herself—it would
have been no longer Pearl!
forma perfecta, su vigor y la
natural destreza en el uso de todos sus miembros vírgenes, la
criatura debiera haber nacido
en el Edén; era merecedora de
haber sido dejada allí para jugar con los ángeles, después
que los primeros padres del
mundo fueron arrojados. Tenía
una gracia natural que no coexiste invariablemente con la
belleza sin tacha; su atavío, por
simple que fuese, daba siempre
la impresión de ser el que mejor le sentaba. Pero la pequeña
Perla no vestía ropa rústica. Su
madre, con un mórbido propósito que más adelante se comprenderá mejor, había comprado los más ricos tejidos que
pudo procurarse, y permitió a
su facultad imaginativa toda su
potencia en el arreglo y adorno que la niña llevaba en público. Tan magnífica era la pequeña figura cuando así iba
vestida, y eran tales la propia
belleza y esplendor de Perla,
brillando sobre el alegre ropaje, que había en su derredor un
círculo absoluto de radiación
sobre el suelo de la oscura casita. Y no obstante, una túnica
burda, rota y sucia por los rudos juegos de la niña, le daba
un aspecto igualmente perfecto. La apariencia de Perla estaba imbuida por un encanto de
variedad infinita; en aquella
niña única había muchas niñas;
desde la belleza de flor silvestre de la hija de un aldeano,
hasta la pompa, en pequeño, de
la de una princesa. ¡A través de
todas ellas, sin embargo, había
un tinte de pasión, cierta intensidad de color que nunca perdía; y si, en cualquiera de sus
cambios, se hubiese hecho más
débil o más pálida, hubiera cesado de ser ella, de ser Perla!
This outward mutability
indicated, and did not more than
55 f a i r l y e x p r e s s , t h e v a r i o u s
properties of her inner life. Her
nature appeared to possess
depth, too, as well as variety;
b u t — o r e l s e H e s t e r ’s f e a r s
60 d e c e i v e d
her—it
lacked
Esta inestabilidad exterior
indicaba y expresaba claramente las varias propiedades
de su vida interna. Su naturaleza parecía poseer intensidad
además de variedad; pero, a
menos que los temores de
Ester la engañasen, le faltaban
5
10
15
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30
35
40
45
50
96
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
10
15
imbibing: taking in
20
25
30
35
40
despondent adj. in low spirits, dejected.
Abatido,
45
reference and adaptation to the
world into which she was born.
The child could not be made
amenable to rules. In giving her
existence a great law had been
broken; and the result was a
being whose elements were
perhaps beautiful and brilliant,
but all in disorder, or with an
order peculiar [odd] to
themselves, amidst which the
point of variety and arrangement
was difficult or impossible to be
discovered. Hester could only
a c c o u n t f o r t h e c h i l d ’s
character—and even then most
vaguely and imperfectly—by
recalling what she herself had
been during that momentous
period while Pearl was imbibing
her soul from the spiritual
world, and her bodily frame
from its material of earth. The
mother’s impassioned state had
been the medium through which
were transmitted to the unborn
infant the rays of its moral life;
and, however white and clear
originally, they had taken the deep
stains of crimson and gold, the
fiery lustre, the black shadow,
and the untempered light of the
intervening substance. Above
all, the warfare of Hester ’s
spirit at that epoch was
perpetuated in Pearl. She
could recognize her wild,
desperate, defiant mood, the
flightiness of her temper, and even
some of the very cloud-shapes of
gloom and despondency t h a t
had brooded in her heart.
They were now illuminated
by the morning radiance of
a
young
c h i l d ’s
disposition, but, later in
the
day
of
earthly
e x i s t e n c e , m i g h t be prolific
of the storm and whirlwind.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
referencia y adaptación al
mundo en que había nacido.
La niña no podía ser amoldada a reglas. Al darle existencia se había quebrantado una
gran ley, y el resultado fue un
ser cuyos elementos [117] eran
quizá hermosos y brillantes,
mas todos en desorden, o con
un orden peculiar a sí mismos,
entre los cuales era difícil o
imposible descubrir el punto de
variación y arreglo. Ester podía comprender el carácter de
la niña únicamente (y aun entonces vaga e imperfectamente) recordando lo que ella misma había sido durante el período momentáneo en que Perla
absorbía su alma del mundo
espiritual, y su forma corpórea
del material de la tierra. El estado apasionado de la madre
había sido el medio a través del
cual fueron transmitidos a la criatura no nacida los rayos de su
vida moral; y no obstante lo blancos y claros que fueran en su origen, habían adquirido las hondas
manchas de carmín y oro, el brillo de fuego, la negra sombra y
la luz intemperante de la sustancia intercurrente. Sobre
todo, la lucha del espíritu de
Ester, en aquella época, se había perpetuado en Perla. Podía
reconocer en la niña su modo
rudo, desesperado y desafiador, la prontitud de su genio y
hasta algunas de las propias nubes de tristeza y de desaliento
que habían anidado en su corazón. Entonces se hallaban
iluminadas por el resplandor
matutino de la disposición de
una niña pequeña, pero más
tarde, en el día de la existencia terrena, pudieran ser fecundas en tormentos y torbellinos.
50
La disciplina de familia, en
aquellos días, era mucho más
rígida que hoy. El enojo, la
dura repulsa, la frecuente aplicación de la disciplina prescrita por la autoridad bíblica, se
usaban, no como mero castigo
por actuales ofensas, sino
como un régimen soberano
para el desarrollo y promoción
The discipline of the family in
those days was of a far more rigid
kind than now. The frown, the
harsh rebuke, the frequent
55 application of the rod, enjoined by
Scriptural authority, were used,
not merely in the way of
punishment for actual offences,
but as a wholesome regimen for
60 the growth and promotion of all
97
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
caprice:wilful sudden impulse
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
childish virtues. Hester Prynne,
nevertheless, the loving mother of
this one child, ran little risk of
erring on the side of undue
severity. Mindful, however, of her
own errors and misfortunes, she
early sought to impose a tender
but strict control over the infant
immortality that was committed to
her charge. But the task was
beyond her skill. after testing both
smiles and frowns, and proving
that neither mode of treatment
possessed any calculable
influence, Hester was ultimately
compelled to stand aside and
permit the child to be swayed by
her own impulses. Physical
compulsion or restraint was
effectual, of course, while it
lasted. As to any other kind of
discipline, whether addressed to
her mind or heart, little Pearl
might or might not be within its
reach, in accordance with the
caprice t h a t r u l e d t h e
moment. Her mother, while
Pearl was yet an infant, grew
acquainted with a certain
peculiar look, that warned her when
it would be labour thrown away to
insist, persuade or plead.
de todas las virtudes infantiles.
Ester Prynne, sin embargo, la
solitaria madre de aquella niña
única, corría pequeño riesgo en
el sentido de una indebida severidad. Pensando en sus propios errores y desgracias, trató
pronto de imponer una dirección tierna, pero estricta, a la
niña que le había sido encomendada. Mas la tarea era demasiado para [118] su habilidad. Después de probar con
sonrisas y regaños, y viendo
que no había medio que tuviera ninguna calculable influencia, Ester viose obligada a desistir y dejar que la criatura
fuese llevada por sus propios
impulsos. La compulsión física o la reprensión hacían efecto mientras duraban. Cualquiera otra clase de castigo, bien
dirigido a su inteligencia o a su
corazón, hacía o no efecto en la
pequeña Perla, según el capricho
que regía el momento. Su madre,
cuando Perla era aún pequeñita,
habíase acostumbrado a cierta
X mirada peculiar que la advertía cuándo debía insistir, persuadir o rogar.
It was a look so intelligent,
yet inexplicable, perverse,
sometimes so malicious, but
generally accompanied by a wild
flow of spirits, that Hester could
no t h e l p q u e s t i o n i n g a t s u c h
moments whether Pearl was
a human child. She seemed
rather an airy sprite, which,
after playing its fantastic
sports for a little while
upon the cottage floor,
w o u l d f l i t [ move rapidly]
away with a mocking smile.
Whenever that look appeared in
her wild, bright, deeply black
eyes, it invested her with a strange
remoteness and intangibility: it
was as if she were hovering in the
air, and might vanish, like a
glimmering light that comes we
know not whence and goes we
know not whither. Beholding it,
Hester was constrained to rush
towards the child—to pursue the
little elf in the flight which she
invariably began—to snatch her to
Era una mirada tan inteligente e inexplicable, tan perversá,
algunas veces tan maliciosa;
pero, generalmente, acompañada
de una eflorescencia de facultades
que Ester no podía menos de preguntarse, en aquellos momentos, si
Perla era una criatura humana.
Parecíala más bien un espíritu alado que, después de realizar sus fantásticos juegos a la puerta de la
casita, por un corto espacio de
tiempo, habría de desaparecer
volando, con sonrisa burlona.
Cuando aparecía aquella mirada en sus ojos grandes, brillantes y profundamente negros, la
investía de una extraña
intangibilidad y alejamiento;
era como si estuviese suspendida en el aire y fuera a desvanecerse, como una luz vacilante
que no sabemos de dónde viene ni adónde va. En tales casos
se veía obligada Ester a correr
tras la niña, a perseguir al
duendecillo en su vuelo, para
X
98
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
her bosom with a close pressure
and earnest kisses—not so much
from overflowing love as to
assure herself that Pearl was
5 flesh and blood, and not utterly
delusive. But Pearl’s laugh ,
when she was caught, though
full of merriment and music,
made her mother more doubtful
10 than before.
luego apretarla contra su pecho
fuertemente y cubrirla de besos,
no tanto por amor como por
asegurarse de que era de carne
y hueso y no de vapores impalpables. Pero la risa musical de
Perla, cuando su madre la atrapaba, aunque henchida de alegría, llenábala de dudas más
profundas que antes.
Heart-smitten [hit] at this
bewildering and baffling spell, that
so often came between herself and
her sole treasure, whom she had
bought so dear, and who was all her
world, Hester sometimes burst into
passionate tears. Then, perhaps—
for there was no foreseeing how it
might affect her—Pearl would
frown, and clench her little fist, and
harden her small features into a
stern, unsympathising look of
discontent. Not seldom she would
laugh anew, and louder than before,
like a thing incapable and
unintelligent of human sorrow.
Or—but this more rarely
happened—she
would
be
convulsed with rage of grief and sob
out her love for her mother in
broken words, and seem intent on
proving that she had a heart by
breaking it. Ye t H e s t e r w a s
hardly safe in confiding herself
to th a t g u s t y t e n d e r n e s s : i t
passed as suddenly as it came.
Brooding over all these matters,
the mother felt like one who has
evoked a spirit, but, by some
irregularity in the process of
conjuration, has failed to win
the master-word that should
control
this
new
and
incomprehensible intelligence.
Her only real comfort was
when the child lay in the
placidity of sleep. Then she was
sure of her, and tasted hours of
quiet, sad, delicious happiness;
until—perhaps with that
perverse expression glimmering
from beneath her opening lids—
little Pearl awoke!
Muchas veces, descorazonada por estos períodos que la
aturdían y contrariaban, vertía
Ester lágrimas apasionadas.
Entonces, quizá, fruncía Perla
el entrecejo, apretaba los puños y daba a sus pequeñas facciones [119] un aspecto severo, y a sus ojos una mirada de
antipático descontento. Algunas veces, no frecuentes, reía
de nuevo y con más fuerza que
antes, como una cosa incapaz
de sentir la tristeza humana.
También, aunque esto ocurría
muy rara vez, veíase atacada
por
una
desesperación
convulsiva, y manifestaba a su
madre el amor que le profesaba entre sollozos y con palabras entrecortadas, lo que parecía probar poseía un cora zón. No obstante esto, Ester
no confiaba en aquella ternura, que pasaba con la misma rapidez que venía. Meditando sobre todas estas modalidades, la
madre tenía la sensación de haber evocado un espíritu, pero
que, por alguna irregularidad en
el proceso del sortilegio, no hubiera acertado con la palabra
precisa para dominar esta inteligencia nueva e incomprensible. No tenía consuelo más que
cuando la niña caía en un sueño
plácido. Entonces estaba segura
de sí misma y saboreaba horas
tranquilas, de triste y deliciosa
felicidad; hasta que Perla, quizá
con la perversa expresión que
brillaba bajo sus entreabiertos
párpados, despertaba.
How soon—with what strange
rapidity, indeed did Pearl arrive
at an age that was capable of
social intercourse beyond the
60 mother’s ever-ready smile and
¡Qué pronto, con qué
extraña rapidez llegó Perla a una edad en que era
capaz del intercurso soc i a l ___________ ________
15
20
discontent descontento, disgustado, insatisfecho, revoltoso, rebelde, disgusto, desconformidad, desabrido
tr. de A. Ruste
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
X
X
99
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
sham 1 : a trick that deludes : HOAX 2
: cheap falseness : HYPOCRISY 3
: an ornamental covering for a
pillow 4 : an imitation or counterfeit
purporting to be genuine 5 : a
person who shams
45
50
puny adj. 1 undersized. 2 weak, feeble. 3 petty.
puny adj enclenque, endeble, lamentable, miserable, mezquina
puny 1. Of inferior size, strength, or significance;
weak: a puny physique; puny excuses. 2.
Chiefly Southern U.S. Sickly; ill.
puny 1 runty, shrimpy (used especially of
persons) of inferior size 2 inferior in strength
or significance; «a puny physique»; «puny
excuses»
55
anathemas: curses
60
nonsense-words! And then what
a happiness would it have been
could Hester Prynne have heard
her clear, bird-like voice mingling
with the uproar of other childish
voices, and have distinguished
and unravelled her own darling’s
tones, amid all the entangled
outcry of a group of sportive
children. But this could never be.
Pearl was a born outcast of the
infantile world. An imp of evil,
emblem and product of sin, she
had no right among christened
infants. Nothing was more
remarkable than the instinct, as it
seemed, with which the child
comprehended her loneliness: the
destiny that had drawn an
inviolable circle round about her:
the whole peculiarity, in short, of
her position in respect to other
children. Never since her release
from prison had Hester met the
public gaze without her. In all her
walks about the town, Pearl, too,
was there: first as the babe in
arms, and afterwards as the little
girl, small companion of her
mother, holding a forefinger with
her whole grasp, and tripping
along at the rate of three or four
footsteps to one of Hester’s. She
saw the children of the settlement
on the grassy margin of the street,
or at the domestic thresholds,
disporting themselves in such
grim fashions as the Puritanic
nurture would permit! playing at
going to church, perchance, or at
scourging Quakers, or taking
scalps in a sham fight with the
Indians, or scaring one another
with freaks of imitative
witchcraft. Pearl saw, and gazed
intently, but never sought to make
acquaintance. If spoken to, she
would not speak again. If the
children gathered about her, as
they sometimes did, Pearl would
grow positively terrible in her
puny wrath, snatching up stones
to fling at them, with shrill,
incoherent exclamations, that
made her mother tremble, because
they had so much the sound of a
witch’s anathemas in some
unknown tongue.
tr. de A. Ruste
X ___________ _________
X
X
X
The truth was, that the little
¡Qué
felicidad hubiera causado
a su madre oír su voz de
páj a r o c l a r a , e n t r e
otras voces de niños,
y desentrañar el amado
significado de sus palabras
entre el confuso griterío
q u e p r o d u c í a n e n s u s ______
juegos! Pero esto no sucedería jamás. Perla era una
desterrada del mundo infantil. Un duendecillo del mal,
emblema y producto del pecado, y no tenía derecho a
mezclarse con los niños
cristianos. Nada tan notable
como el instinto con que la
n i ñ a c o mprendió su soledad, el
destino que la había rodeado de un
círculo inviolable, toda la peculiaridad de su posición respecto a los
demás niños. Nunca, desde su salida de la prisión, se presentó Ester
sin su hija en público. En todos sus
paseos por la población iba Perla
con ella; primero, como bebé, en
sus [120] brazos, y después, ya
mayorcita, como pequeña compañera de su madre, cogida a un
solo dedo, caminando a su lado
a una velocidad de tres o cuatro pasos por cada uno de Ester.
La desgraciada mujer veía los
niños del departamento e n l a
calle o en los umbrales de
sus casas, ostentando las
lú g u b r e s m o d a s q u e l a
n a t u r a leza puritana permitía,
juga n d o a ir a la iglesia, a disciplinar a los quáqueros, a arrancarse el cuero cabelludo en ______
lucha con los indios o a espantarse unos con otros con fenómenos imitativos de brujería. Perla los veía y contemplaba intensamente, pero nunca pretendió
hacer amistad con ellos. Si la
hablaban no respondía. Si los
niños la rodeaban, como sucedía algunas veces, Perla se ponía _____ colérica, terrible, y cogía piedras para arrojárselas, en
medio de gritos y exclamaciones
incoherentes, que hacían temblar
a su madre, porque tenían mucho
de anatemas de brujo, en un lenguaje desconocido.
Lo cierto era que los pequeños
100
Notas
outlandish [appearance, clothes] estrafalario; extravagante; [behaviour,
ideas] extraño; disparatado
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
rankle v. intr. 1 (of envy, disappointment,
etc., or their cause) cause persistent
annoyance or resentment. 2 archaic
(of a wound, sore, etc.) fester,
continue to be painful.
15
20
25
30
distracted 1 : mentally confused,
troubled, or remote 2 : maddened
or deranged especially by grief or
anxiety
1 confuso, perplejo, aturdido, consternado 2 desconsuelo [distress], turbado, fuera de sí,
distraído = absent-minded, dreamy,
35
Puritans, being of the most
intolerant brood that ever lived,
had got a vague idea of
something outlandish, unearthly,
or at variance with ordinary
fashions, in the mother and child,
and therefore scorned them in
their hearts, and not unfrequently
reviled them with their tongues.
Pearl felt the sentiment, and
requited it with the bitterest hatred
that can be supposed to rankle in
a childish bosom. These
outbreaks of a fierce temper had
a kind of value, and even
comfort for the mother; because
there was at least an intelligible
earnestness in the mood, instead
of the fitful caprice that so often
thwarted her in the child’s
manifestations. It appalled her,
nevertheless, to discern here,
again, a shadowy reflection of the
evil that had existed in herself. All
this enmity and passion had Pearl
inherited, by inalienable right, out
of Hester ’s heart. Mother and
daughter stood together in the
same circle of seclusion from
human society; and in the nature
of the child seemed to be
perpetuated those unquiet
elements that had distracted
Hester Prynne before Pearl’s
birth, but had since begun to be
soothed away by the softening
influences of maternity.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
At home, within and around
40 her mother ’s cottage, Pearl
wanted not a wide and various
circle of acquaintance. The spell
of life went forth from her evercreative
spirit,
and
45 communicated itself to a
thousand objects, as a torch
kindles a flame wherever it may
be applied. The unlikeliest
materials—a stick, a bunch of
50 rags, a flower—were the puppets
of Pearl’s witchcraft, and,
without undergoing any outward
change, became spiritually
adapted to whatever drama
55 occupied the stage of her inner
world. Her one baby-voice
served a multitude of imaginary
personages, old and young, to
talk withal. The pine-trees, aged,
60 black, and solemn, and flinging
puritanos, perteneciendo a la generación más intolerable que jamás
existió, habían adquirido la vaga
idea de que la madre y la hija eran
algo _______ que no pertenecía a
la tierra o que se salía de las costumbres ordinarias; y, por tanto,
las despreciaban y frecuentemente lo daban a entender con sus insultos. Perla los comprendía y los
rechazaba con el odio más amargo que podía suponerse cabía en
su corazón infantil. Las exaltaciones de su fiera temperamento
tenían una especie de valor y aun
de consuelo para su madre, porque al menos significaba una inteligente vivacidad, en vez del
capricho vacilante en sus modales que tan frecuentemente se
manifestaba en la niña. También
veía en ello un oscuro reflejo de
la maldad que ella misma había
abrigado. Toda esta animadversión y apasionamiento los había
heredado Perla, por inalienable
derecho, del corazón de Ester.
Madre e hija se hallaban en el
mismo círculo de reclusión de la
sociedad humana, y en el carácter de la hija [121] parecían hallarse perpetuados los inquietos
elementos que habían aturdido
a la madre antes del nacimiento
de Perla, y que comenzaron a
desaparecer con las suaves influencias de la maternidad.
En la casita y en los alrededores no sentía Perla la necesidad de un círculo de amistades.
El hechizo de su vida salía de
su espíritu creador, comunicándose a miles de objetos, como
una antorcha prende una llama
dondequiera que se aplica. Los
materiales más inadecuados, un
palo, un lío de trapos, una flor,
eran la muñecas de la brujería de
Perla, y sin que tomasen otra
forma extraña, se adaptaban espiritualmente a cualquier drama
en el escenario de su mundo interno. Su propia vocecita infantil servía a multitud de personajes imaginarios, jóvenes y viejos, para hablar al mismo tiempo. Los grandes pinos, viejos,
negruzcos y solemnes, lanzando
gruñidos y produciendo por la
101
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
groans and other melancholy
utterances on the breeze, needed
little transformation to figure as
Puritan elders the ugliest weeds
of the garden were their children,
whom Pearl smote down and
uprooted most unmercifully. It
was wonderful, the vast variety
of forms into which she threw her
intellect, with no continuity,
indeed, but darting up and
dancing, always in a state of
preternatural activity—soon
sinking down, as if exhausted by
so rapid and feverish a tide of
life—and succeeded by other
shapes of a similar wild energy.
It was like nothing so much as the
phantasmagoric play of the
northern lights. In the mere
exercise of the fancy, however,
and the sportiveness of a growing
mind, there might be a little more
than was observable in other
children of bright faculties; except
as Pearl, in the dearth of human
playmates, was thrown more
upon the visionary throng which
she created. The singularity
lay in the hostile feelings
with which the child
regarded all these offsprings
of her own heart a n d mind.
She never created a friend, but
seemed always to be sowing
broadcast the dragon’s teeth,
whence sprung a harvest of
armed enemies, against whom
she rushed to battle. It was
inexpressibly sad—then what
depth of sorrow to a mother, who
felt in her own heart the cause—
to observe, in one so young, this
constant recognition of an
adverse world, and so fierce a
training of the energies that were
to make good her cause in the
contest that must ensue.
brisa otros sonidos melancólicos, necesitaban poca transformación para figurar como viejos
puritanos; las plantas más feas
del jardín eran sus hijos, y Perla
las tronchaba y arrancaba de
raíz sin compasión. Era maravillosa la gran variedad de formas
que daba a su inteligencia, sin
continuidad, en efecto, pero
saltando y bailando, siempre
en un estado de actividad
preternatural, cayendo exhausta por tan rápida y febril marea de la vida, y volviendo a
adquirir otras formas de una
salvaje y similar energía. Nada
se le parecía tanto como el juego fantasmagórico de la aurora
boreal. En el mero ejercicio de
la fantasía, sin embargo, y en el
retozo de su cerebro en desarrollo, tal vez hubiera poco más de
lo que se observaba en otros niños de facultades brillantes; salvo que Perla, al carecer de compañeros de juego, se inclinaba
más al tropel visionario de gentes que ella creaba. La particularidad estaba en los sentimientos hostiles con que Perla miraba todos estos florecimientos de
sus propios corazón e imaginación. Nunca creaba un amigo, sino
que parecía que [122] sembraba a
voleo los dientes del dragón,
cuando saltaba una banda de
enemigos armados, contra quienes volaba a la batalla. Era inexplicablemente triste (¡profunda
tristeza para una madre que sentía en su corazón la causa!) observar en una niña tan joven ese
constante reconocimiento de un
mundo adverso y la fiera amenaza de sus energías, que debían
hacer buena su causa en la batalla
que tenía que sobrevenir.
Gazing at Pearl, Hester
Prynne often dropped her work
upon her knees, and cried out with
an agony which she would fain
have hidden, but which made
55 utterance for itself betwixt speech
and a groan—”O Father in
Heaven—if Thou art still my
Father—what is this being which
I have brought into the world?”
60 And Pearl, overhearing the
Mirando a Perla, Ester
dejaba caer frecuentemente
la labor sobre sus rodillas y
gritaba
angustiosa
e
involuntariamente: «¡Oh,
Padre que estás en los cielos, si todavía eres mi Padre! ¿qué clase de ser es
este que he traído al mundo?» Y Perla, oyendo la jaculatoria, o dándose cuenta,
5
10
15
phantasmagoric: like a rapid and shifting
succession of things seen or imagined,
as in high fever, delirium
tr. de A. Ruste
20
25
30
35
the dragon’s teeth: in a Greek myth,
Cadmus sows the teeth of a dragon he
has slain, and they sprout up fighting men,
who kill one another until only five are left
40
45
50
102
Notas
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
ejaculation, or aware through
some more subtile channel, of
those throbs of anguish, would
turn her vivid and beautiful little
5 face upon her mother, smile with
sprite-like intelligence, and
resume her play.
por algún otro conducto más
sutil, de aquellas vibracion e s d e a m a rg u r a , v o l v í a h a c i a s u m a d r e s u c a r i t a h e rmosa y vivaracha, sonreía
con inteligencia de trasgo y
reanudaba sus juegos.
One peculiarity of the child’s
10 deportment remains yet to be told.
The very first thing which she had
noticed in her life, was—what?—
not the mother ’s smile,
responding to it, as other babies
15 do, by that faint, embryo smile of
the little mouth, remembered so
doubtfully afterwards, and with
such fond discussion whether it
were indeed a smile. By no
20 means! But that first object of
which Pearl seemed to become
aware was—shall we say it?—the
scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom!
One day, as her mother stooped
25 over the cradle, the infant’s eyes
had been caught by the
glimmering of the gold
embroidery about the letter; and
putting up her little hand she
30 grasped at it, smiling, not
doubtfully, but with a decided
gleam, that gave her face the look
of a much older child. Then,
gasping for breath, did Hester
35 Prynne clutch the fatal token,
instinctively endeavouring to tear
it away, so infinite was the torture
inflicted by the intelligent touch
of Pearl’s baby-hand. Again, as if
40 her mother’s agonised gesture
were meant only to make sport for
her, did little Pearl look into her
eyes, and smile. From that epoch,
except when the child was asleep,
45 Hester had never felt a moment’s
safety: not a moment’s calm
enjoyment of her. Weeks, it is true,
would sometimes elapse, during
which Pearl’s gaze might never
50 once be fixed upon the scarlet
letter; but then, again, it would
come at unawares, like the stroke
of sudden death, and always with
that peculiar [odd] smile and odd
55 expression of the eyes.
Aún queda por contar una
peculiaridad del comportamiento de esta niña. La primera cosa
que notó en su vida fue no la
sonrisa de su madre, respondiendo a ella, como hacen otros
bebés; aquella sonrisa en embrión de la boquita, que se recuerda después tan dudosamente y es causa de honda discusión sobre si es o no sonrisa.
¡En modo alguno! ¡El objeto
que Perla pareció notar primero (¿hemos de decirlo?) fue la
letra roja sobre el pecho de
Ester! U n d í a q u e l a m a d r e
se hallaba junto a la cuna,
los ojos de la niña se fijaron en el reluciente bordado de la letra, y alzando su
manita la cogió sonriente;
no con vacilación, sino con
un gesto decidido, que
diole aspecto de ser una
c r i a t u r a d e m a y o r e d a d . Entonc es Ester, falta de respiración, cogió involuntariamente el
símbolo fatal, tratando de rasgarlo; tan infinita fue la tortura infligida por el roce de la manita
de Perla. ¡Como si el gesto agonizante de la madre sólo significase un indicio de juego para
ella, la pequeñuela la miró a los
ojos y sonrió! Desde entonces,
salvo [123] cuando la niña dormía, no tuvo Ester un momento
de reposo, de tranquila alegría.
Verdad es que transcurrían semanas enteras sin que la pequeña
Perla posase los ojos sobre la letra roja; pero cuando lo hacía que
daba inopinadamente absorta,
como por un golpe de muerte repentina, y siempre con aquella
sonrisa peculiar y aquella extraña expresión de sus ojos.
X
Cierta vez ese matiz fantástico
y caprichoso reflejóse en los
ojos de la niña cuando Ester
contemplaba en ellos su propia
Once this freakish, elvish
cast c a m e i n t o t h e c h i l d ’s
eyes while Hester was
60 l o o k i n g a t h e r o w n
103
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
delusions desvaríos, ilusiones, espe- 5
ranzas, engaños, mentiras, delirios,
alucinación, manía, falsa idea sobre
uno mismo,
delusion, psychotic (symptom of mental
disorder) belief (psychology) an
erroneous or false belief or
impression that is held in the face of
10
evidence to the contrary
15
20
image in them, as mothers
are fond o f d o i n g ;
and suddenly for women in
solitude, and with troubled hearts,
are pestered with unaccountable
delusions she fancied that she
beheld, not her own miniature
portrait, but another face in the
small black mirror of Pearl’s eye. It
was a face, fiend-like, full of
smiling malice, yet bearing the
semblance of features that she had
known full well, though seldom
with a smile, and never with malice
in them. It w a s a s i f a n e v i l
spirit
possessed
the
child, and had just then
p e e p e d f o r t h i n m o c k e r y.
Many a time afterwards had
Hester
been
tortured,
t h o u g h l e s s v i v i d l y, b y t h e
same illusion.
In the afternoon of a
25 certain summer ’s day, after
Pearl grew big enough to run
about, she amused herself with
gathering handfuls of wild
flowers, and flinging them,
30 one by one, at her mother ’s
bosom; dancing up and down
like a little elf whenever she
hit the scarlet letter. Hester’s
first motion had been to cover
35 her bosom with her clasped
hands. But whether from pride
or resignation, or a feeling
that her penance might best be
wrought
out
by
this
40 unutterable pain, she resisted
the impulse, and sat erect, pale
as death, looking sadly into
little Pearl’s wild eyes. Still
came the battery of flowers,
45 almost invariably hitting the
mark, and covering the
mother ’s breast with hurts for
which she could find no balm
in this world, nor knew how to
50 seek it in another. At last, her
shot being all expended, the
child stood still and gazed at
H e s t e r, w i t h t h a t l i t t l e
laughing image of a fiend
55 peeping out—or, whether it
peeped or no, her mother so
imagined
it—from
the
unsearchable abyss of her
black eyes.
60
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
104
imagen, c o s a q u e a c o s t u m bran a hacer las madres;
y r e p e n t i n a m e n t e ____ ___
______________ ________ _____
__________ ________ ______ _
________ c r e y ó v e r , n o s u
propia imagen en miniatura, sino otra cara, otra fisonomía diabólica, llena
d e m a l i c i o s a s o n r i s a ; y,
sin embargo, facciones
que conocía bien, aunque
rara vez con una sonrisa y
nunca con un tinte de mald a d . Era como si un espíritu
perverso se hubiese posesionado de la niña y se asomase
por sus ojos haciéndole muecas. Muchas v e c e s d e s p u é s ,
si bien con menos intensidad, fue torturada Ester
por la misma ilusión.
En la tarde de cierto día
de verano, cuando ya Perla
había crecido lo bastante
p a r a c o r r e t e a r, s e d i v e r t í a
cogiendo flores silvestres y
arrojándolas una a una sobre
el pecho de su madre, danzando de un lado a otro como
un duendecillo cuando hacía
blanco en la letra roja. La primera intención de Ester fue cubrirse el pecho con las______
manos; pero fuese por orgullo
o por resignación, o por creer
que su penitencia sería extinguida por aquella pesadumbre
inexplicable, resistió aquel impulso y sentóse erguidamente,
pálida como la muerte, mirando tristemente a los ojos indómitos de la pequeña Perla.
Continuó ésta arrojando proyectiles, haciendo blanco, casi
invariablemente, en la marca,
y cubriendo el pecho de su
madre de heridas para las cuales no podía hallar bálsamo en
este mundo, ni sabía cómo procurárselo en el otro. Por fin,
habiendo agotado todos sus
proyectiles, quedó la niña frente a su madre, contemplándola
con aquella mirada sonriente,
[125] de diablillo, que salía del
insondable abismo de sus ojos
negros.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Child, what art thou?”
cried the mother.
—Niña, ¿qué es lo que eres?
—gritaba la madre.
“Oh, I am your little Pearl!”
5 answered the child.
—¡Oh, yo soy tu pequeña
Perla! —respondía la niña.
But while she said it, Pearl
laughed, and began to dance up
and down with the humoursome
10 gesticulation of a little imp, whose
next freak might be to fly up the
chimney.
Pero al mismo tiempo reía
y saltaba con la humorística
gesticulación
de
un
duendecillo cuyo próximo capricho fuera el de salir volando por la chimenea.
“Art thou my child, in very
15 truth?” asked Hester.
—¿Eres realmente mi niña?
—preguntó Ester.
Nor did she put the question
altogether idly, but, for the
moment, with a portion of genuine
20 earnestness; for, such was Pearl’s
wonderful intelligence, that her
mother half doubted whether she
were not acquainted with the
secret spell of her existence, and
25 might not now reveal herself.
No hizo la pregunta
con descuido, sino con
genuina avidez, porque
era tal la maravillosa inteligencia de Perla, que
su madre medio dudaba
de si estaba enterada de
la secreta pena de su
existencia.
“Yes; I am little Pearl!”
repeated the child, continuing her
antics.
—¡Sí, yo soy tu pequeña
Perla! —repitió la niña, sin dejar de agitarse.
“Thou art not my child! Thou
art no Pearl of mine!” said the
mother half playfully; for it was
often the case that a sportive
35 impulse came over her in the
midst of her deepest suffering.
“Tell me, then, what thou art, and
who sent thee hither?”
—¡Tú no eres mi hija! ¡Tú
no eres mi Perla —dijo la madre retozonamente, porque ocurría con frecuencia que la embargaba un impulso juguetón en
medio de sus hondos sufrimientos—. Dime, ¿qué eres y quién
te ha enviado aquí?
40
“Tell me, mother!” said the
child, seriously, coming up to
Hester, and pressing herself
close to her knees. “Do thou
tell me!”
—¡Dímelo tú, madre! —decía la niña con seriedad, acercándose a su madre y apretándose contra sus rodillas—. ¡Dímelo, dímelo!
“Thy Heavenly Father sent
thee!” answered Hester Prynne.
—¡El Padre celestial te envió! —respondió Ester Prynne.
But she said it with a
50 hesitation that did not escape the
acuteness of the child. Whether
moved only by her ordinary
freakishness, or because an evil
spirit prompted her, she put up her
55 small forefinger and touched the
scarlet letter.
Pero esto lo dijo con
duda, que no escapó a la
agudeza de Perla. Fuera
por su carácter antojadizo o por impulsarla a
ello un mal espíritu, levantó su manita y tocó la
letra roja.
“He did not send me!” cried
she, positively . “I have no
60 Heavenly Father!”
—¡Él no me envió! —gritó,
positivamente—. ¡Yo no tengo
Padre celestial!
30
45
105
Notas
capering hacer cabriolas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
“Hush, Pearl, hush! Thou
must not talk so!” answered the
mother. suppressing a groan. “He
5 sent us all into the world. He sent
even me, thy mother. Then, much
more thee! Or, if not, thou strange
and elfish child, whence didst
thou come?”
10
“ Te l l m e ! Te l l m e ! ”
repeated Pearl, no longer
s e r i o u s l y, b u t l a u g h i n g a n d
capering about the floor. “It
15 is thou that must tell me!”
—¡Calla, Perla, calla!
¡No debes hablar así! Él nos
ha puesto a todos en el mundo. ¡Él me ha enviado a mí,
a t u m a d r e , y, p o r c o n s i guiente, a ti! Si no, tú, niña
extraviada y fantástica, ¿de
dónde viniste?
But Hester could not resolve
the query, using herself in a
dismal labyrinth of doubt. She
remembered—betwixt a smile
and a shudder—the talk of the
neighbouring townspeople, who,
seeking vainly elsewhere for the
child’s paternity, and observing
some of her odd attributes, had
given out that poor little Pearl
was a demon offspring: such as,
ever since old Catholic times,
had occasionally been seen on
earth, through the agency of
t h e i r m o t h e r ’s s i n , a n d t o
promote some foul and wicked
purpose. Luther, according to
the scandal of his monkish
enemies, was a brat of that
hellish breed; nor was Pearl the
only child to whom this
inauspicious origin was assigned
among the New England
Puritans.
Pero Ester, sumida en un laberinto de dudas, no podía resolver aquel acertijo. Recordaba,
temblorosa y sonriente al mismo
tiempo, las murmuraciones de la
gente de la población, quienes
tratando de indagar en vano la
paternidad de la niña y observando algunos de sus extraños atributos, habían deducido que Perla era una hija del demonio, tales como, desde los antiguos
tiempos católicos, se habían visto en la tierra por la acción pecadora de sus madres, para promover alguna vileza o algún mal
propósito. Lutero, por el escándalo
de
sus
enemigos
monásticos, fue un pregonero
de aquel engendro del infierno;
y no era Perla la única criatura
a quien asignaban este origen
infeliz los puritanos de Nueva
Inglaterra.
20
25
30
Luther: Martin Luther (1483-1546), father
of the German Reformation, who
preached the priesthood of all believers,
and salvation by faith alone, not by good
works
tr. de A. Ruste
35
40
—¡Dímelo! ¡Dímelo! —repitió Perla, no ya con seriedad, [125] sino riéndose y
golpeando el suelo con los pies—. ¡Tú
eres quien ha de decírmelo!
45
Chapter 7: The Governor’s Hall
Chapter 7 takes place when Pearl is three. It describes the little journey of Hester and Pearl, going to Governor Bellingham’s mansion to deliver embroidered gloves.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
50
Chapter 7 is the prelude to an encounter of all the main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl. They will meet when Hester delivers embroidered gloves to
Governor Bellingham. Hester wants to use the occasion to confront Governor Bellingham about his plan to take Pearl away from her, for others to rear. Pearl has come with her,
wearing a beautifully embroidered red tunic that reminds everyone who sees it of Hester’s scarlet letter. On their way to the Governor’s mansion, Pearl is taunted by Puritan
children, as ‘the likeness of the scarlet letter’. She rushes fiercely at them and they run away. Unafraid, she continues the trip with her mother. The Governor’s house is cheerful and
liberally decorated outside with broken glass embedded in stucco, and with ‘seemingly cabalistic figures and diagrams’ drawn into the stucco while it was wet. Pearl wants to play
with the sunlight that flashes off the glass, but Nester sadly says, ‘No, my little Pearl! Thou must gather throe own sunshine. I have none to give thee!’.
55
They are admitted by an indentured servant, someone virtually owned by the master for seven years, although originally free-born. This strikes a foreboding note. The interior of the
house is designed and fitted as a grand English home might be, although the portraits of severe, unsmiling men strike a second foreboding note. Pearl delights in a shining new suit
of armour hung on one wall. In its curved surfaces the scarlet letter reflects monstrously, seeming almost to hide Nester behind itself. This is a third foreboding note.
Nester then persuades Pearl to view the Governor’s garden. It too looks as if it were modelled on an English style, but ‘The proprietor appeared already to have relinquished, as
hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening’.
There are a few rose-bushes and Pearl cries
60out for a red rose. This reminds us of the rose-bush at the prison door in Chapter 1 and of the red roses of much passionate love poetry.
The Governor enters with Reverend Wilson, Reverend Dimmesdale. and Dr Chillingworth as the chapter closes.
106
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
VII.
VII
THE GOVERNOR’S HALL
EL SALÓN DEL GOBERNADOR
Hester Prynne went one day
to the mansion of Governor
Bellingham, with a pair of gloves
which she had fringed and
embroidered to his order, and
10 which were to be worn on some
great occasion of state; for, though
the chances of a popular election
had caused this former ruler to
descend a step or two from the
15 highest rank, he still held an
honourable and influential
place among the colonial
magistracy.
Ester Prynne fue un día
a casa del gobernador
Bellingham con un par de
guantes que por orden suya
había bordado para llevarlos
puestos aquél en algún acto
oficial; porque si bien las
elecciones populares le habían hecho descender un escalón o dos desde el más alto
rango, aún mantenía un puesto honorable e influyente entre la magistratura de la colonia.
20
Otra razón más importante que la de llevar los guantes bordados impulsó a Ester
a buscar una entrevista con un
personaje de tanto poder y actividad en los asuntos del departamento. Había llegado a
oídos suyos que algunos de
los más significados habitantes, acariciando los más rígidos principios de religión y
gobierno, tenían la pretensión
de privarla de su hija. Suponiendo que Perla fuese de origen diabólico, como [126] ya
hemos indicado, aquella buena
gente argüía, no sin razón, que
un cristiano interés por el alma
de la madre requería quitar de su
camino aquel bloque entorpecedor. Por otra parte, si la niña
fuera realmente capaz de un desarrollo moral y religioso y poseyera los elementos últimos de
salvación, seguramente disfrutaría la posibilidad de todas
estas ventajas, siendo transferida a una tutoría más sabia y
mejor que la de su madre. El
gobernador Bellingham era uno
de los que con más cariño acariciaban semejante idea. Tal vez
parezca singular y un tanto
ri dículo el que un asunto de esta
clase, que en días venideros no
tendría referencia más que con
los hombres más selectos de la
población, pudiera ser entonces
una cuestión públicamente discutida, y en la cual hubieran de
intervenir los hombres de Esta-
5
25
30
35
40
45
50
ludicrous: ridiculous
55
60
Another and far more
important reason than the delivery
of a pair of embroidered gloves,
impelled Hester, at this time, to
seek an interview with a
personage of so much power and
activity in the affairs of the
settlement. It had reached her ears
that there was a design on the part
of some of the leading inhabitants,
cherishing the more rigid order of
principles in religion and
government, to deprive her of her
child. On the supposition that
Pearl, as already hinted, was of
demon origin, these good people
not unreasonably argued that a
Christian interest in the mother’s
soul required them to remove such
a stumbling-block from her path.
If the child, on the other hand,
were really capable of moral and
religious growth, and possessed
the elements of ultimate salvation,
then, surely, it would enjoy all the
fairer prospect of these
advantages by being transferred to
wiser and better guardianship than
Hester Prynne’s. Among those
who promoted the design,
Governor Bellingham was said to
be one of the most busy. It may
appear singular, and, indeed, not
a little ludicrous, that an affair of
this kind, which in later days
would have been referred to no
higher jurisdiction than that of
the select men of the town,
should then have been a
question publicly discussed, and
on which statesmen of eminence
107
Notas
pristine: primitive and uncorrupted
frisk : to leap, skip, or dance in
a lively or playful way:
gambol
to search (a person) for
something (as a concealed
weapon) by running the hand
rapidly over the clothing and
through the pockets
cachear, registrar
frisk 1 [intransitive] to leap,
move about, or act in a
playful manner; frolic
2 (esp. of animals) to whisk or
wave briskly example: the
dog frisked its tail
3 (informal) a) to search
(someone) by feeling for
concealed weapons, etc.
b) to rob by searching in this
way
4 a playful antic or movement;
frolic
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
took sides. At that epoch of
pristine simplicity, however,
matters of even slighter public
interest, and of far less intrinsic
5 weight than the welfare of Hester
and her child, were strangely
mixed up with the deliberations
of legislators and acts of state. The
period was hardly, if at all, earlier
10 than that of our story, when a
dispute concerning the right of
property in a pig not only caused
a fierce and bitter contest in the
legislative body of the colony, but
15 resulted in an important
modification of the framework
itself of the legislature.
do más eminentes. Sin embargo, en
aquella época de sencillez primitiva
cualquier asunto de leve interés
público y de mucho menos peso
intrínseco que el bienestar de Ester
y su hija, se mezclaba con las deliberaciones de los legisladores
y los actos de Estado. Aquel
período, poco anterior al de
nuestra historia, en que una disputa concerniente a la propiedad de un cerdo no sólo causaba un debate fiero y amargo en
el cuerpo legislador de la colonia, sino que resultaba de él una
modificación importante en la
propia legislación.
Full of concern, therefore—
20 but so conscious of her own
right that it seemed scarcely an
unequal match between the
public on the one side, and a
lonely woman, backed by the
25 sympathies of nature, on the
other—Hester Prynne set forth
from her solitary cottage. Little
Pearl, of course, was her
companion. She was now of an
30 age to run lightly along by her
mother’s side, and, constantly in
motion from morn till sunset,
could have accomplished a much
longer journey than that before
35 her. Often, nevertheless, more
from caprice than necessity, she
demanded to be taken up in
arms; but was soon as imperious
to be let down again, and frisked
40 onward before Hester on the
grassy pathway, with many a
harmless trip and tumble. We
have spoken of Pearl’s rich and
luxuriant beauty—a beauty that
45 shone with deep and vivid tints,
a bright complexion [tez], eyes
possessing intensity both of
depth and glow, and hair already
of a deep, glossy brown, and
50 which, in after years, would be
nearly akin to black. There was
fire in her and throughout her:
she seemed the unpremeditated
off s h o o t o f a p a s s i o n a t e
55 m o m e n t . H e r m o t h e r, i n
contriving the child’s garb, had
allowed the gorgeous tendencies
of her imagination their full
play, arraying her in a crimson
60 velvet tunic of a peculiar [odd]
Llena de interés (pero tan
consciente de su propio derecho
que le parecía una lucha desigual
entre el público, por una parte, y
una mujer solitaria, rechazada por
las simpatías de la naturaleza, por
la otra), Ester Prynne dejó su casita solitaria. La pequeña Perla, claro es, era su compañera. Hallábase
la niña en una edad que le permitía hacer el camino al lado de su
madre, puesto que, estando desde
la mañana a la noche en continuo
movimiento, podía andar aquella
distancia sin fatiga. Algunas veces,
más por capricho que por necesidad, pedía que la subiese en brazos, pero en [127] seguida, y con
el mismo imperio, solicitaba que
la bajase, y corría delante de Ester,
saltando por la vereda bordeada
de hierba, dando muchos tropezones y sufriendo no pocas caídas sin
consecuencias. Ya hemos hablado
de la rica y esplendente belleza de
Perla; una belleza que brillaba con
tonos profundos y vivos; u n a
complexión brillante, ojos que
poseían profundidad y brillo,
y un cabello de tono castaño
oscuro y satinado, que en posteriores días sería negro. Había dentro y fuera de ella un
fuego que parecía ser el disparo impremeditado de un
momento de pasión. Su madre,
al confeccionar las ropas de
Perla, había concedido a sus
alegres tendencias imaginativas toda su expansión; la vistió una túnica de terciopelo
rojo carmín, de corte peculiar,
X
108
Notas
wan 1 (of a person’s complexion or appearance)
pale; exhausted; worn. 2 (of a star etc. or its
light) partly obscured; faint. 3 archaic (of night,
water, etc.) dark, black. 4 languid (smile)
Mortecino, marchito,
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
cut, abundantly embroidered
in fantasies and flourishes of
gold thread. So much strength
of colouring, which must have
5 given a wan and pallid aspect
to cheeks of a fainter bloom,
was admirably adapted to
P e a r l ’ s b e a u t y, a n d m a d e
her the very brightest little
10 jet of flame that ever danced
u p o n the earth.
con abundantes y fantásticos
bordados en hilo de oro. Aquella intensidad de colorido, que
a otra criatura hubiera dado un
aspecto de mayor palidez a
sus mejillas, se adaptaba admirablemente a la belleza de
Perla convirtiéndola en la
Mamita de fuego más brillante que jamás había danzado
sobre la tierra.
But it was a remarkable
attribute of this garb, and indeed,
of the child’s whole appearance,
that it irresistibly and inevitably
reminded the beholder of the
token which Hester Prynne was
doomed to wear upon her bosom.
It was the scarlet letter in another
form: the scarlet letter endowed
with life! The mother herself—
as if the red ignominy were so
deeply scorched into her brain
that all her conceptions assumed
its form—had carefully wrought
out the similitude, lavishing
many hours of morbid ingenuity
to create an analogy between the
object of her affection and the
emblem of her guilt and torture.
But, in truth, Pearl was the one
as well as the other; and only in
consequence of that identity had
Hester contrived so perfectly to
represent the scarlet letter in her
appearance.
Pero era un atributo notable
del vestido, y, en realidad, de
la general apariencia de la niña,
que irresistiblemente recordaba
la marca que Ester Prynne estaba condenada a llevar sobre
su pecho. ¡Era la letra roja en
otra forma; la letra roja hecha
vida! La propia madre (cual si
la roja ignominia estuviese tan
hondamente grabada en su cerebro que todas sus concepciones adquiriesen su forma) había
procurado, cuidadosamente,
quitarle semejanza, empleando
muchas horas de mórbido ingenio para crear una analogía entre el objeto de su afecto y el
emblema de su culpa y tortura.
Pero, en verdad, Perla era tanto una cosa como otra y, sólo a
consecuencia de aquella identidad, pudo Ester representar con
tanta perfección en su apariencia la letra roja.
As the two wayfarers came
40 within the precincts of the town,
the children of the Puritans looked
up from their player what passed
for play with those sombre little
urchins—and spoke gravely one
45 to another
Como las dos caminantes
tuvieron que entrar en la [128]
población, los hijos de los puritanos abandonaban sus juegos para levantar la mirada y
murmurar unos a otros, con
toda gravedad:
“Behold, verily, there is the
woman of the scarlet letter: and
of a truth, moreover, there is the
50 likeness of the scarlet letter
running along by her side!
Come, therefore, and let us fling
mud at them!”
—¡Mirad, ahí está la
mujer de la letra roja, y,
_________ a d e m á s , v e d
corriendo a su lado
la semejanza de la let r a ! ¡ Va m os a t i r a r l e s
barro!
15
20
25
lavish
generoso, pródigo
2
esplédido, lujoso
lavish 1 giving or producing in large
quantities; profuse. 2 generous,
unstinting. 3 excessive, overabundant.
(often foll. by on) bestow or spend
(money, effort, praise, etc.)
abundantly.
tr. de A. Ruste
30
35
X
55
But Pearl, who was a
dauntless child, after frowning,
stamping her foot, and shaking
her little hand with a variety of
threatening gestures, suddenly
60 made a rush at the knot of her
Pero Perla, que era una
niña intrépida, después de poner el semblante ceñudo, patear
el suelo y agitar la mano con
variedad de gestos amenazadores, volaba al encuentro del
109
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
extant adj. (esp. of a document etc.)
still existing, surviving. registrado,
manifestado, que se conoce
25
30
35
40
aslant obliquely or at a slant.
obliquely across (lay aslant the path)
45
50
55
enemies, and put them all to
flight. She resembled, in her fierce
pursuit of them, an infant
pestilence—the scarlet fever, or
some such half-fledged angel of
judgment—whose mission was
to punish the sins of the rising
generation. She screamed and
shouted, too, with a terrific volume of sound, which, doubtless,
caused the hearts of the fugitives
to quake within them. The victory
accomplished, Pearl returned quietly to her mother, and looked up,
smiling, into her face. Without
further adventure, they reached
the dwelling of Governor
Bellingham. This was a large
wooden house, built in a fashion of which there are specimens still extant in the streets
of our older towns now moss—
grown, crumbling to decay, and
melancholy at heart with the
many sorrowful or joyful occurrences, remembered or forgotten, that have happened and
passed away within their dusky
chambers. Then, however, there
was the freshness of the passing year on its exterior, and the
cheerfulness, gleaming forth
from the sunny windows, of a
human habitation, into which
death had never entered. It had,
indeed, a very cheery aspect,
the walls being overspread with
a kind of stucco, in which
fragments of broken glass were
plentifully intermixed; so that,
when the sunshine fell aslantwise over the front of the
edifice, it glittered and sparkled
as if diamonds had been flung
against it by the double handful.
The brilliancy might have be
fitted Aladdin’s palace rather
than the mansion of a grave old
Puritan ruler. It was further
decorated with strange and
seemingly cabalistic figures
and diagrams, suitable to the
quaint taste of the age which had
been drawn in the stucco, when
newly laid on, and had now
grown hard and durable, for the
admiration of after times.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
Pearl, looking at this bright
60 wonder of a house began to ca-
grupo enemigo y lo ponía en
precipitada fuga. Parecía en su
persecución fiera una niña pestilente, la fiebre escarlatina o
una especie de alado ángel justiciero, cuya misión fuese castigar los pecados de la creciente
generación. Chillaba y gritaba
además con un terrible volumen de voz que, indudablemente, hacía temblar los corazones de los fugitivos. Una
vez conseguida la victoria,
volvía tranquila al lado de su
madre y la miraba a la cara
sonriendo. Sin otro contratiempo llegaron a la vivienda
d e l g o b e r n a d o r Bellingham.
Era ésta una gran casa de madera, edificada en el estilo del
que aún quedan especies en las
calles de nuestras más antiguas
poblaciones, pero que ahora están musgosas, declinando hacia
la ruina y poniendo melancolía
en el corazón con los muchos sucesos recordados u olvidados que
han ocurrido dentro de sus polvorientas habitaciones. Entonces,
sin embargo, había en ella la frescura interior del año que transcurría y la alegría que penetraba por
sus ventanas soleadas; era una vivienda humana en la que jamás había penetrado la muerte. Realmente tenía un aspecto alegre; las paredes exteriores hallábanse cubiertas por una especie de estuco, en el que mezcláronse una gran
cantidad de fragmentos de cristal; de
tal modo que cuando el sol brillaba
sobre la fachada del edif i c i o ,
refulgían y centelleaban como diamantes que hubiesen sido arrojados sobre ella a manos llenas.
Aquella brillantez más bien cuadraba al palacio de Aladino que a la
[129] mansión de un viejo y grave regidos puritano. Además, se
hallaba decorada con figuras y
diagramas extraños y, al parecer, cabalísticos, apropiados a l
fantástico gusto de la época.
_____ __________ _________ _
__ _____ ________________ __
_ __ ________ ________ _____ _
__ ________
Perla, viendo aquella brillante maravilla de casa, comen-
110
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
per and dance, and imperatively
required that the whole breadth
of sunshine should be stripped
off its front, and given her to play
5 with.
zó a hacer cabriolas y a bailar,
pidiendo imperativamente que
toda la luz solar penetrase en
la estancia, para jugar con
ella.
“No, my little Pearl!” said
her mother; “thou must gather
thine own sunshine. I have none
10 to give thee!”
—¡No, mi querida Perla! —
dijo la madre—. ¡No debes jugar
más que con tu propia luz! ¡Yo
no puedo darte otra!
They approached the door,
which was of an arched form,
and flanked on each side by a
narrow tower or projection of
the edifice, in both of which
were lattice-windows, the
wooden shutters to close over
them at need. Lifting the iron
hammer that hung at the
portal, Hester Prynne gave a
summons,
which
was
answered by one of the
Governor ’s bond servant—a
free-born Englishman, but
now a seven years’ slave.
During that term he was to be
the property of his master, and
as much a commodity of
bargain and sale as an ox, or a
joint-stool. The serf wore the
customary garb of servingmen at that period, and long
before, in the old hereditary
halls of England.
Se acercaron a la puerta de
forma de arco y que estaba
flanqueada por una torre a cada
lado, como proyecciones del
edificio; ambas torres tenían
ventanas con celosías y persianas que a ser preciso podrían
plegarse sobre sí. Levantando el
llamador de hierro que pendía de
la puerta, Ester Prynne dio un aldabonazo que fue contestado por
uno de los criados del gobernador, un inglés de nacimiento,
pero que en aquel entonces era
esclavo por siete años. Durante
este tiempo tenía que ser propiedad de su amo, estando expuesto a ser cambiado o vendido
como un buey o un mueble. El
siervo llevaba puesta una casaca verde, que en aquella época
era el traje que solían vestir los
criados en los palacios hereditarios de Inglaterra.
“Is the worshipful Governor
Bellingham within?” Inquired
Hester.
—¿Está en casa su señoría el
gobernador Bellingham? —preguntó Ester.
“Yea, forsooth,” replied the
bond-servant, staring with wideopen eyes at the scarlet letter,
which, being a new-comer in the
45 country, he had never before seen.
“Yea, his honourable worship is
within. But he hath a godly
minister or two with him, and
likewise a leech. Ye may not see
50 his worship now.”
—Sí, ciertamente —contestó el esclavo, mirando con ojos
desmesuradamente abiertos la
letra roja que, siendo recién llegado a la población, no había
visto antes—. Sí, su señoría honorable está en casa, pero están
con él unos piadosos ministros
y un médico. Tal vez no pueda
usted verle ahora.
“Nevertheless, I will enter,”
answered Hester Prynne; and the
bond-servant, perhaps judging
55 from the decision of her air, and
the glittering symbol in her bosom,
that she was a great lady in the
land, offered no opposition.
—Sin embargo, entraré
—respondió Ester Prynne;
el esclavo, pensando quizá por el aire resuelto de
la [130] mujer que era una
gran dama del país, no
puso impedimento.
15
20
25
30
35
40
60
So the mother and little
Así pues, Ester y la peque111
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
embowed bent, arched, or vaulted (
literary )
30
Chronicles of England: Richard Holinshed’s
Chronicles of England, Scotland, and
Ireland (1577), a popular historical
compilation used by Shakespeare as a
source-book for his plays
35
40
45
50
55
Pearl were admitted into the
hall of entrance. With many
variations, suggested by the
nature of his building materials,
diversity of climate, and a
different mode of social life,
Governor Bellingham had
planned his new habitation after
the residences of gentlemen of
fair estate in his native land.
Here, then, was a wide and
reasonably lofty hall, extending
through the whole depth of the
house, and forming a medium
of general communication,
more or less directly, with all
the other apartments. At one
extremity, this spacious room
was lighted by the windows of
the two towers, which formed a
small recess on either side of
the portal. At the other end,
t h o u g h p a r t l y m u ff l e d b y a
curtain, it was more powerfully
illuminated by one of those
embowed hall windows which
we read of in old books, and
which was provided with a deep
and cushion seat. Here, on the
cushion, lay a folio tome,
probably of the Chronicles of
England, or other such
substantial literature; even as,
in our own days, we scatter
gilded volumes on the centre
table, to be turned over by the
casual guest. The furniture of
the hall consisted of some
ponderous [weighty] chairs,
the backs of which were
elaborately carved with wreaths
of oaken flowers; and likewise
a table in the same taste, the
whole being of the Elizabethan
age, or perhaps earlier, and
heirlooms, transferred hither
from the Governor ’s paternal
home. On the table—in token
that the sentiment of old
English hospitality had not
been left behind—stood a large
pewter tankard, at the bottom of
which, had Hester or Pearl
peeped into it, they might have
seen the frothy remnant of a
recent draught of ale.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
On the wall hung a row of
portraits, representing the
60 forefathers of the Bellingham
ña Perla fueron admitidas en el
salón de entrada. Con muchas
variantes, sugeridas por la naturaleza de sus materiales de
construcción, la diversidad del
clima y la diferencia de la vida
social,
el
gobernador
Bellingham había planeado su
nueva vivienda al estilo de las
residencias señoriales de su tierra natal. Había, pues, allí, un
espacioso salón de entrada que
se extendía a toda la profundidad de la casa, formando un
medio de comunicación, más o
menos directo, con los otros departamentos. En un extremo estaba iluminada esta estancia por
las ventanas de las dos torres
que formaban dos pequeños
huecos, uno a cada lado del portal. En el extremo opuesto, aunque en parte sombreado por una
cortina, el salón se hallaba más
poderosamente iluminado por
uno de esos ventanales rasgados
que nos han descrito los libros
antiguos, el cual se hallaba provisto de un mullido asiento.
Sobre éste había un libro, probablemente de las Crónicas de
Inglaterra o de otra sustanciosa
literatura por el estilo, como en
nuestros días esparcimos dorados volúmenes sobre las mesas
para que puedan ser hojeados
por los huéspedes casuales. El
mobiliario del salón consistía
en algunas sillas ponderosas,
en cuyos respaldos de roble
había talladas complicadas
guirnaldas de flores. La
mesa era del mismo estilo,
perteneciente a la época de
Isabel o, tal vez, anterior;
muebles heredados de la
casa paterna del gobernad o r. S o b r e l a m e s a , c o m o
prueba de que no se había
extinguido el sentimiento de
la antigua hospitalidad inglesa, descansaba un jarro
de grandes proporciones, en
c u y o f o n d o p o d í a n a p r e c i a rse residuos de cerveza recientemente bebida.
Sobre la pared había una fila de
retratos representando los antepasados del linaje de Bellingham, al-
112
casual (En) 1 accidental; due to chance.
2 not regular or permanent;
temporary, occasional (casual (temporal) work; a casual affair). 3 a
unconcerned, uninterested (was
very casual about it). b made or done
without great care or thought (a casual remark). c acting carelessly or
unmethodically (a la ligera). 4 (of
clothes) informal.
(Distraídamente, a la ligera, relajadamente, rápidamente)
casual (Es) 1. adj. Que sucede por casualidad, por accidente. 2. Der. V.
condición casual. 3. Der. Ar.
Aplícase a las firmas o decretos judiciales concebidos para impedir
atentados. 4. Gram. Perteneciente o relativo al caso.
casual
‹inspection› superficial; a casual
acquaintance = un conocido,
una conocida;
casual sex = relaciones sexuales
promiscuas (chance) ‹visit/
reader› ocasional (informal)
‹chat› informal;
‹clothes› de sport, informal
(unconcerned) ‹attitude/tone›
despreocupado;
‹remark› hecho al pasar (not
regular)
‹employment/labor› eventual,
ocasional
casual
1 (encuentro) fortuito
2 (visita) ocasional
3 (persona) despreocupado,
tranquilo
4 (charla) informal,
intranscendente
5 (trabajo) eventual / (Agr.)
casual worker,
jornalero temporal
6 (ropa) (de) sport, informal
Notas
stern [person, look] severo; [reprimand]
duro; [warning] serio; but he was
made of sterner stuff pero él tenía un
carácter más fuerte
cuirass: breastplate of a suit of armour
gorget: a piece of armour protecting the
throat
greaves: armour-pieces for the legs below the
knees, shinguards,: armor for the shin.
gauntlets: armour gloves, or gloves to
protect the hands
Pequod War: a war in 1637 against the
Pequot Indians of Connecticut, in which
the tribe was crushed
Francis Bacon: Bacon (1561-1626), a
Lord Chancellor of England, was deeply
interested in the new scientific method
Sir Edmund Coke: Coke (1552-1634) was
Lord Chief Justice, a defender of the
common law, and famous parlia mentarian
and jurist. He wrote the classic Reports
and Institutes (1628-44)
William Noye: Noye (1577-1634) was
Attorney General and author of legal
commentaries
Sir John Finch: Finch (1584-1660), Baron
of Fordwich, was, at various times, King’s
Counsel, Speaker of the House of
Commons, and Chief Justice
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
lineage, some with armour on
their breasts, and others with
stately ruffs and robes of peace.
All were characterised by the
5 sternness and severity which
old portraits so invariably put
on, as if they were the ghosts,
rather than the pictures, of
departed worthies, and were
10 gazing with harsh and intolerant
criticism at the pursuits and
enjoyments of living men.
gunos cubriendo sus pechos con
armaduras y otros con [131] tiesas
gorgueras y ropajes de paz. Todos ellos estaban caracterizados
por la altivez y severidad
peculiar a todo retrato antiguo, como si fuesen duendes
más bien que pinturas de
deudos que se fueron, y mirasen con áspero e intolerable aire de censura las tareas
y diversiones de los vivos.
At about the centre of the
15 oaken panels that lined the hall
was suspended a suit of mail,
not, like the pictures, an
ancestral relic, but of the most
modern date; for it had been
20 m a n u f a c t u r e d b y a s k i l f u l
armourer in London, the same
year in which Governor
Bellingham came over to New
England. There was a s t e e l
25 h e a d - p i e c e , a c u i r a s s , a
gorget and greaves, with a pair
of gauntlets and a sword hanging
beneath; all, and especially the
helmet and breastplate, so highly
30 burnished [bruñido] as to glow
with white radiance, and scatter
an illumination everywhere
about upon the floor. This bright
panoply was not meant for mere
35 idle show, but had been worn by
the Governor on many a solemn
muster and draining field, and
had glittered, moreover, at the
head of a regiment in the
40 Pequod war. For, though bred
a lawyer, and accustomed to
speak of Bacon, Coke,
N o y e , a n d F i n c h , as his
professional associates, the
45 e x i g e n t i e s o f t h i s n e w
country had transformed
Governor Bellingham into a
soldier, as well as a statesman
and ruler.
50
Little Pearl, who was as
greatly pleased with the gleaming
armour as she had been with the
glittering frontispiece of the
55 house, spent some time looking
into the polished mirror of the
breastplate.
En el centro de los paneles
de roble que defendían la pared,
se hallaba suspendido un traje
completo de malla, no como los
retratos, una reliquia ancestral,
sino de la fecha más reciente,
porque había sido construido
por un hábil armero de Londres;
el mismo año en que el gobernador Bellingham vino a Nueva
Inglaterra. Se componía de un
casco de acero, una coraza, una
gorguera y grebas, con un par
de guanteletes y una espada colgados debajo; todos, y especialmente el casco y el peto, tan
bien b r u ñ i d o s q u e b r i l l a b a n
con blancos reflejos e iluminaban el suelo por todas
partes. Esta centelleante
panoplia no era un simple
adorno, sino que usábala
e l g o b e r n a d o r en muc h a s
r e v i s t a s solemnes y campos de
ejercicio y, además, había lanzado sus
reflejos a la cabeza de un regimiento
en la batalla de Pequod, pues, aunque
criado en la abogacía y acostumbrado a hablar de Bacon, Coke,
Noye y Finch, como sus asocia d o s p r o f e s i o n a l e s , l as
exigencias de su nuevo país
habían transformado al gobernador Bellingham en un soldado, tanto como en un político
y regidor.
“Mother,” cried she, “I see
60 you here. Look! look!”
—¡Madre! —gritó—. ¡Te veo
aquí! ¡Mira, mira!
113
La pequeña Perla, que se hallaba tan complacida con la resplandeciente armadura como lo
estuvo con el brillante frontispicio de la casa, pasó algún tiempo
contemplando el pulimentado
espejo de la coraza.
Notas
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
Hester looked by way of
humouring the child; and she saw
that, owing to the peculiar [odd]
effect of this convex mirror, the
scarlet letter was represented in
exaggerated and gigantic
proportions, so as to be greatly the
most prominent feature of her
appearance. In truth, she seemed
absolutely hidden behind it. Pearl
pointed upwards also, at a similar
picture in the head-piece; smiling
at her mother, with the elfish
intelligence that was so familiar
an expression on her small
physiognomy. That look of
naughty merriment was likewise
reflected in the mirror, with so
much breadth and intensity of
effect, that it made Hester Prynne
feel as if it could not be the image
of her own child, but of an imp
who was seeking to mould itself
into Pearl’s shape.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
Ester miró, por complacer
a la niña, y vio que, debido al
peculiar efecto del espejo
convexo, la letra roja se hallaba exagerada en proporciones gigantescas, convirtiéndose en el rasgo más prominente de su apariencia. [132]
En realidad, parecía oculta
por completo tras ella. Perla
señaló también hacia arriba,
hacia el casco, sonriendo a su
madre con la inteligencia de
duendeciIlo, que era una expresión tan familiar en su pequeña fisonomía. Aquella mirada de traviesa alegría se reflejó también en el espejo,
con tanta intensidad de efecto que hizo sentir a Ester
Prynne como si no fuese
aquélla la imagen de su hija,
sino un duende que tratase de
adoptar la forma de Perla.
“Come along, Pearl,” said she,
drawing her away, “Come and
look into this fair garden. It may
30 be we shall see flowers there;
more beautiful ones than we find
in the woods.”
—Ven, Perla —dijo la madre apartándola de allí—. Mira
qué jardín tan bonito. Puede
ser que veamos algunas flores
más lindas que las que hallamos en las selvas.
Pearl accordingly ran to the
bow-window, at the further end of
the hall, and looked along the
vista of a garden walk, carpeted
with closely-shaven grass, and
bordered with some rude and
immature attempt at shrubbery.
But the proprietor appeared
already to have relinquished as
hopeless, the effort to perpetuate
on this side of the Atlantic, in a
hard soil, and amid the close
struggle for subsistence, the
native English taste for
ornamental gardening. Cabbages
grew in plain sight; and a
pumpkin-vine, rooted at some
distance, had run across the
intervening space, and deposited
one of its gigantic products
directly beneath the hall window,
as if to warn the Governor that this
great lump of vegetable gold was
as rich an ornament as New
England earth would offer him.
There were a few rose-bushes,
however, and a number of apple-
Perla corrió a la ventana del
extremo del salón y miró a lo largo de un andador alfombrado de
hierba compacta y segada, bordeado por algunos matorrales
rudos y verdosos. El propietario
parecía haber desistido, por imposible, del esfuerzo por perpetuar en aquel lado del Atlántico,
en un suelo tan árido y en medio de la cercana lucha por la
vida, el gusto inglés por la ornamentación de la jardinería.
Las berzas crecían a plena vista, y una parra, arraigada a alguna distancia, se había corrido
a través de aquel espacio, depositando uno de sus productos
gigantescos directamente bajo el
ancho ventanal del salón, como
advirtiendo al gobernador que
aquel gran racimo de oro vegetal era el ornamento más rico que
la tierra de Nueva Inglaterra podía ofrecerle. Sin embargo, había algunos rosales y manzanos,
probablemente descendientes de
35
40
45
50
55
60
114
Notas
eldritch: weird and eerie
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
trees, probably the descendants of
those planted by the Reverend Mr.
Blackstone, the first settler of the
peninsula; that half mythological
5 personage who rides through our
early annals, seated on the back
of a bull.
los que plantó el reverendo señor Blackstone, primer morador
de la península; aquel
semimitológico personaje que
cabalga, a través de nuestros
antiguos anales, montado sobre
un toro.
Pearl, seeing the rose10 bushes, began to cry for a red
rose, and would not be
pacified.
Perla, al ver los rosales, comenzó a gritar pidiendo una flor
roja, y no había medio de pacificarla.
“Hush, child—hush!” said
15 her mother, earnestly. “Do not
cry, dear little Pearl! I hear
voices in the garden. The
Governor is coming, and
gentlemen along with him.”
20
In fact, adown the vista of the
garden avenue, a number of
persons were seen approaching
towards the house. Pearl, in utter
25 scorn o f h e r m o t h e r ’ s
attempt to quiet her,
gave an eldritch scream,
a n d t h e n became silent, not
from any motion of obedience, but
30 because the quick and mobile
curiosity of her disposition was
excited by the appearance of
those new personages.
—¡Calla, niña, calla! —
dijo la madre, encarecidamente—. ¡No grites, querida!
¡Oigo voces en el jardín! [133]
¡El gobernador viene acompañado de otros señores.
En efecto, s e v e í a
q u e u n n ú m e r o d e
personas se dirigía
a l a c a s a . Perla, con el
mayor desprecio por el intento de su madre de apacig u a r l a , l a n z ó u n a g u d o chillido y permaneció quieta,
no por obediencia, sino porque la pronta y mudable curiosidad de su temperamento excitóse ante la aparición de
aquellos nuevos personajes.
35
excited y excitado conllevan la
idea de alegre, entusiasta, pero
excited tiene más denotaciones,
como nervioso, agitado, acalorado, emocionante. To excite y
excitar se refieren a estimular,
entusiasmar, pero to excite significa además emocionar / conmover, poner nervioso / agitado, provocar [emociones], instigar [desórdenes], alborotar
[gente], y to get excited es acalorarse. A su vez, excitar se usa
para to raise [dudas], arouse
[curiosidad, apetito]. Excitedly
significa
agitadao
acaloradamente.
Don’t get excited = no te pongas
nervioso.
Chapter 8: The Elf-Child and the Minister :Chapter 8 describes the meeting of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl, in the presence of Governor Bellingham and Reverend
Wilson. Pearl’s future is hotly debated, and only Dimmesdale’s defence prevents Hester losing the child.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: Both Governor Bellingham and the Reverend Wilson are described as easygoing men who enjoy worldly and sensuous pleasure, even though they are
very stern to public sinners like Hester. The40
other two men are much more unusual. Hawthorne repeats without comment the popular view that Chillingworth is Dimmesdale’s friend
and doctor, helping him as his health fails under the strain of many good works.
The Governor first espies Pearl and compares her to the children of the Lord of Misrule in Christmas masques at the English Court of King James I. (He ruled from
1603-25). Masques were a highly stylised form of drama in which actors wore masks. Like her mother, the Reverend Wilson asks her who she is, and if she is an elf-child. ‘I am
mother’s child, and my name is Pearl!’ she bravely responds. They notice Hester then, and the Reverend Wilson mentions that they have been discussing Hester and Pearl.
The Reverend Wilson asks Pearl who made her, but the naughty child does not give the answer Hester has taught her. Instead she says she has not been made at all,
but plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door. The Governor is horrified, and wants to settle the matter at once, but Hester grabs her child. ‘God
45
gave me the child’ she cries.
He gave her, in requital of all things else which ye had taken from me.
She is my happiness! - she is my torture, none the less .... See ye not,
she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed
with a millionfold the power of retribution for my sin?
She appeals to the minister who comes forward, his hand over his heart as it was in the first scene at the pillory. He looks deeply troubled but defends her right. ‘God gave her the
child, and gave her, too, an instinctive knowledge of its nature and requirements, - both seemingly so peculiar, - which no other mortal being can possess. And moreover, is there
50
not a quality of awful sacredness in the relation between this mother and this child?’.
He eloquently persuades them to allow Pearl to stay with her mother, though the Governor grudgingly [ grudgingly reluctant, not willing, mal talante, with regret] insists that Pearl be
examined in religious matters by a minister from time to time, and be sent both to school and to church when she is older.
Pearl shows a strange sympathy for the minister. She places her hands on his and rests her cheek against his hand, in a gesture of trust and tenderness. Dimmesdale looks around
and hesitates before returning the gesture with a kiss of his own, but Pearl rejects such timid and tentative love. She laughs and runs away. The Reverend Wilson says she has
witchcraft in her, a frightening remark to make even half-seriously in a society which would try and hang witches.
55
Roger Chillingworth, whom Hester has shuddered to see looking uglier and ‘duskier’ than when they last met, says ‘Would it be beyond a philosopher’s research, think ye,
gentlemen, to analyse that child’s nature, and, from its make and mould, to give a shrewd guess at the father?’, but the Reverend Wilson puts him off: ‘Nay; it would be sinful, in such
a question, to follow the clue of profane philosophy’.
In conclusion, Hawthorne relates an incident that ‘it is averred’ happened as Hester leaves with Pearl. He does not tell us who claims it happened or whether he takes it to be true,
for it belongs to the shadowy region of human feeling on which he makes no definitive comment. Mistress Hibbins, Governor Bellingham’s sister who was later executed as a witch
calls to Hester, ‘Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one’.
Hester smilingly replies, ‘I must tarry at home,
60 and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my
name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with my own blood!’.
115
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
VIII.
THE ELF-CHILD AND THE MINISTER
expatiating: enlarging in discourse or
writing
behest a command; an entreaty (went
at his behest)
behest at a instancias de
genial (En) affable, amiable, gracious,
cordial, simpático, cordial afable jovial, suave/agradable (tiempo) genial
genial (Sp) talentoso, brillante, fantástico, divertido, ingenioso, gracioso
genial (En) 1 adj. 1 jovial, sociable,
kindly, cheerful. 2 (of the climate) mild
and warm; conducive to growth. 3
cheering, enlivening.
Simpático, cordial, afable, amistoso,
jovial, alegre, suave /agradable, complaciente
genial (Sp) 1. adj. Propio del genio o inclinación de uno. 2. Placentero; que
causa deleite o alegría. 3. Sobresaliente, extremado, que revela genio
creador. 4. Magnífico, estupendo.
talented, brilliant, great, fantastic, funny,
witty /temper, nature, disposition,
spirit, initiative
Governor Bellingham, in a
5 loose gown and easy cap—such
as elderly gentlemen loved to
endue themselves with, in their
domestic privacy—walked
foremost, and appeared to be
10 showing off his estate, and
expatiating on his projected
improvements. The wide
circumference of an elaborate
ruff, beneath his grey beard, in
15 the antiquated fashion of King
James’s reign, caused his head to
look not a little like that of John
the Baptist in a charger. The
impression made by his aspect,
20 so rigid and severe, and frostbitten with more than autumnal
age, was hardly in keeping with
the appliances of worldly
enjoyment wherewith he had
25 evidently done his utmost to
surround himself. But it is an
error to suppose that our great
forefathers—though accustomed
to speak and think of human
30 existence as a state merely of trial
and warfare, and though
unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice
goods and life at the behest of
duty—made it a matter of
35 conscience to reject such means
of comfort, or even luxury, as lay
fairly within their grasp. This
creed was never taught, for
instance, by the venerable
40 pastor, John Wilson, whose
beard, white as a snow-drift,
was seen over Governor
Bellingham’s shoulders, while its
wearer suggested that pears and
45 peaches might yet be naturalised
in the New England climate, and
that purple grapes might possibly
be compelled to flourish against
the sunny garden-wall. The old
50 clergyman, nurtured at the rich
bosom of the English Church,
had a long established and
legitimate taste for all good and
comfortable things, and however
55 stern he might show himself in
the pulpit, or in his public
reproof of such transgressions as
that of Hester Prynne, still, the
genial benevolence of his pri60 vate life had w o n h i m w a r m e r
VIII
LA NIÑA TRASGO Y EL MINISTRO
X
X
116
El gobernador Bellingham, vestido de bata y gorro, como era costumbre de los señores de la época cuando se hallaban en casa dedicados a sus asuntos particulares, caminaba delante y parecía
ir enseñando sus dominios a los
visitantes y explicándoles las
mejoras que en proyecto tenía. La
ancha circunferencia de la complicada gola, asomando bajo su
barba gris, al estilo de los tiempos del rey Jaime, daba a su cabeza un
aspecto parecido a la de San Juan
Bautista sobre l a f u e n t e . L a
impresión rígida y s e v e ra de su aspecto y
s u
e d a d
m á s
q u e
otoñal, contrastab a n
m a l
c o n
l a s
aparatosas comodidades de que se había
r o d e a d o . Pero es un error suponer que nuestros antepasados,
aunque acostumbrados a hablar
y pensar de la existencia humana como de un estado de prueba
y d e l u c h a , y _____ ______
____ _____ a s a c r i f i c a r b i e nes y vida en el cumplimiento
de su deber, hacían caso de
conciencia de rechazar los
medios de comodidad y aun
de lujo que estaban a su alcance. Este credo jamás fue
predicado por el venerable
pastor Juan Wilson, cuya barba, blanca como el ampo de la
nieve, se veía sobre el hombro
del gobernador Bellingham,
mientras sugería que las peras y los [134] melocotones
tal vez pudiesen naturalizarse
en el clima de Nueva Inglaterra, y que las uvas purpúreas tal
vez floreciesen contra la soleada
tapia del jardín. El viejo clérigo,
nutrido en el rico seno de la Iglesia inglesa, tenía un rancio y legítimo gusto por cuanto era bueno y confortable, y por muy severo que pudiera parecer en el
púlpito o en los reproches públicos de tales tra n s g r e s i o n e s ,
como la de Ester Prynne, la
genial benevolencia de su vida
privada habíale granjeado más
ampo 1. Blancura resplandeciente. 2.
Copo de nieve.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
af f e c t i o n t h a n w a s a c c o r d e d
t o a n y o f h is professional
contemporaries.
afectos de los que se dispensaban
a sus compañeros de profesión
contemporáneos.
Behind the Governor and Mr.
Wilson came two other guests—
one, the Reverend Arthur
Dimmesdale, whom the reader
may remember as having taken a
10 brief and reluctant part in the
scene of Hester Prynne’s
disgrace; and, in close
companionship with him, old
Roger Chillingworth, a person of
15 great skill in physic, who for two
or three years past had been
settled in the town. It was
understood that this learned man
was the physician as well as friend
20 of the young minister, whose
health had severely suffered of
late by his too unreserved selfsacrifice to the labours and duties
of the pastoral relation.
25
The Governor, in advance
of his visitors, ascended one
or two steps, and, throwing
open the leaves of the great
30 hall window, found himself
close to little Pearl. The
shadow of the curtain fell on
Hester Prynne, and partially
concealed her.
35
“What have we here?” said
Governor Bellingham, looking
with surprise at the scarlet little
figure before him. “I profess, I
40 have never seen the like since
my days of vanity, in old King
James’s time, when I was wont
to esteem it a high favour to be
admitted to a court mask! There
45 used to be a swarm of these
small apparitions in holiday
time, and we called them
children of the Lord of Misrule.
But how gat such a guest into
50 my hall?”
Detrás del gobernador y
del señor Wilson venían otros
dos huéspedes; upo, el reverendo Arturo Dimmesdale, a
quien recordará el lector por
haber tomado parte a u n q u e
con repugnancia, en la
desgraciada escena de Ester
Prynne; y el otro, el viejo
Roger Chillingworth, persona
de gran pericia médica, que
había fijado su residencia en
la población hacía dos o tres
años. Este hombre sabio era el
médico y amigo del joven pastor, cuya salud se había quebrantado mucho últimamente,
a causa de haberse consagrado sin reservas a las labores y
deberes de su cargo.
5
X
“Ay, indeed!” cried good old
Mr. Wilson. “What little bird of
scarlet plumage may this be?
55
Methinks
I have seen just such
methinks v. intr. (past methought)
archaic it seems to me.
figures when the sun has been
shining through a richly painted
window, and tracing out the
golden and crimson images across
60 the floor. But that was in the old
El gobernador, adelantándose a sus visitantes, ascendió uno
o dos escalones y, abriendo de
par en par las puertas vidrieras
del gran ventanal, se encontró
frente a la pequeña Perla. La
sombra que proyectaba la cortina ocultaba a Ester Prynne parcialmente:
—¿Qué es lo que tenemos
aquí? —dijo el gobernador, mirando con sorpresa a la pequeña
figura roja que tenía delante—.
Confieso que no he vuelto a ver
una figurita semejante desde mis
tiempos de vanidad, en la época
del rey Jaime, cuando estimaba
como un gran favor el que me
admitiesen en las mascaradas de
la corte. Allí acostumbraba a ver
un enjambre de estas pequeñas
apariciones, en los días de vacaciones. ¿Pero cómo ha venido a
mi casa esta visitante
—¡En efecto! —exclamó el
buen viejo señor Wilson—. [135]
¿Qué puede ser este pajarillo de pluma escarlata? Sin duda he visto
tales imágenes cuando el sol
brilla a través de una vidriera coloreada, trazando sobre
el suelo figuritas de oro y
rojo. Pero eso era en el vie-
117
disgrace 1 (= state of
shame) deshonra f, ignominia f; to be in
disgrace [adult] estar totalmente desacreditado,
haber caído en desgracia;
[pet, child] estar castigado; to bring disgrace on
deshonrar 2 (= shameful
thing) vergüenza f; it’s a
disgrace es una vergüenza; you’re a disgrace!
¡lo tuyo es una vergüenza!; to be a disgrace to
the school/family ser
una deshonra para la escuela/la familia
Notas
bedizen 1 dress up garishly and
tastelessly 2 decorate tastelessly
aderezar, adornar
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
land. Prithee, young one, who art
thou, and what has ailed thy
mother to bedizen thee in this
strange fashion? Art thou a
5 Christian child—ha? Dost know
thy catechism? Or art thou one of
those naughty elfs or fairies whom
we thought to have left behind us,
with other relics of Papistry, in
10 merry old England?”
tr. de A. Ruste
X
jo país. Dime, pequeñita,
¿quién eres y qué ha inducido a tu madre a vestirte de e s e
modo tan extraño? ¿Eres
una niña cristiana? ¿O
eres una de esas hadas o
trasgos que creíamos haber dejado con otras reliquias papistas en la alegre
y v i e j a I n g l a t e rra?
“ I a m m o t h e r ’s c h i l d , ”
answered the scarlet vision,
“and my name is Pearl!”
—Yo soy la niña de mi madre —respondió la visión roja—
, y mi nombre es Perla.
“Pearl?—Ruby, rather—or
Coral!—or Red Rose, at the very
least, judging from thy hue!”
responded the old minister,
20 putting forth his hand in a vain
attempt to pat little Pearl on the
cheek. “But where is this mother
of thine? Ah! I see,” he added;
and, turning to Governor
25 Bellingham, whispered, “This is
the selfsame child of whom we
have held speech together; and
behold here the unhappy woman,
Hester Prynne, her mother!”
30
“Sayest thou so?” cried the
G o v e r n o r. “ N a y, w e m i g h t
have judged that such a
child’s mother must needs be
35 a scarlet woman, and a worthy
type of her of Babylon! But she
comes at a good time, and we will
look into this matter forthwith.”
—¿Perla? ¡Rubí, más bien!
¡O coral! ¡O rosa roja, por lo
menos, a juzgar por tu resplandor! —replicó el viejo ministro,
extendiendo en vano su mano
para acariciar la mejilla de Perla—. Pero, ¿dónde está esa madre de que hablas? ¡Ah, ya la
veo! —añadió; y, volviéndose
al gobernador, murmuró a su
oído: —¡Ésta es la niña de
quien hemos hablado, y aquella desgraciada mujer, Ester
Prynne, su madre!
15
scarlet woman: this, and ‘woman of
Babylon’ are terms of abuse used by
Reformers to refer to the Roman Catholic
Church; from the Book of Revelation in
the Bible
40
X
—¿Es posible? —exclamó el gobernador—. ¡Debíamos haber adivinado que esta
niña no podía ser sino la hija
de la mujer roja ! _____ ___
______ ________ ___P e r o l l e ga a tiempo; ahora mismo
trataremos del asunto.
Governor Bellingham stepped
through the window into the hall,
followed by his three guests.
El gobernador atravesó el
ventanal, penetrando en el salón,
seguido de sus tres huéspedes.
“Hester Prynne,” said he,
45 f i x i n g h i s n a t u r a l l y s t e r n
regard on the wearer of the
scarlet letter, “there hath been
much question concerning thee
of late. The point hath been
50 weightily discussed, whether
we, that are of authority and
influence, do well discharge
our consciences by trusting an
immortal soul, such as there is
55 i n y o n d e r c h i l d , t o t h e
guidance of one who hath
stumbled and fallen amid the
pitfalls of this world. Speak
thou, the child’s own mother!
60 Were it not, thinkest thou, for
—Ester Prynne —dijo, fijando su severa mirada sobre
la portadora de la letra roja —
, hemos hablado mucho de ti
en estos últimos días. El
asunto ha sido pesado y discutido; hemos entablado discusión sobre si nosotros, que
tenemos autoridad e influencia, hacemos bien en descargar nuestras conciencias confiando un alma inmortal,
como esa ni ñ a , a l c u i d a d o d e
una mujer que ha tropezado
y caído entre las añagazas
de este mundo. ¡Habla tú
que eres su madre! ¿No
118
Notas
sober adj. & n. 1 not affected by alcohol,
sobrio. 2 not given to excessive
drinking of alcohol. 3 moderate, wellbalanced, tranquil, sedate, serio, formal, sensato, sereno. 4 not fanciful
or exaggerated (the sober truth, la
pura verdad). 5 (of a colour etc.) quiet
and inconspicuous, discreto.
— v.tr. & intr. 1 (often foll. by down, up)
make or become sober or less wild,
reckless, enthusiastic, visionary, serenarse, calmarse, etc. (a sobering
thought). 2 Decir con seriedad
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
thy little one’s temporal and
eternal welfare that she be
taken out of thy charge, and
clad soberly, and disciplined
5 strictly, and instructed in the
truths of heaven and earth?
What canst thou do for the
child in this kind?”
10
X
crees que, por su vida temporal y eterna, debiera la
niña no estar a tu cuidado y
____________ ser educada severamente, corregida con rectitud e instruida en las verdades [136] del cielo y de la tierra? ¿Qué puedes tú hacer por la niña en este sentido?
“I can teach my little Pearl
what I have learned from
this!” answered Hester
Prynne, laying her finger on
the red token.
—¡Yo puedo enseñar a mi
pequeña Perla todo cuanto esto
me ha enseñado! —contestó la
madre apoyando el dedo sobre la
letra roja.
“Woman, it is thy badge of
shame!” replied the stern
magistrate. “It is because of the
stain which that letter indicates
20 that we would transfer thy child
to other hands. “
—Mujer, ésa es la divisa
de tu vergüenza —replicó el
severo magistrado—. Por la
mancha que esa letra significa
es por lo que pondríamos tu
hija en otras manos.
“Nevertheless,” said the
m o t h e r , c a l m l y, t h o u g h
25 g r o w i n g m o r e p a l e , “ t h i s
badge hath taught me—it
daily teaches me—it is
teaching me at this moment—
lessons whereof my child may
30 be the wiser and better, albeit
they can profit nothing to
myself.”
—Sin embargo elijo la madre
con calma, aunque palideciendo—, esta divisa me ha enseñado, y me enseña diariamente, me
está enseñando en este mismo
momento, lecciones por las que
mi hija puede ser más instruida y
más buena, a pesar de que a mí
no pueden serme de provecho alguno.
“We w i l l j u d g e w a r i l y,”
35 said Bellingham, “and look
well what we are about to do.
Good Master Wilson, I pray
you, examine this Pearl—
since that is her name—and
40 see whether she hath had such
Christian nurture as befits a
child of her age.”
—Nosotros juzgaremos el
asunto cuidadosamente —dijo
Bellingham—, y veremos qué es
lo que podemos hacer. Buen
Master Wilson, ruego a usted
examine a Perla, ya que ése es su
nombre, y vea si tiene la educación cristiana que debe tener una
criatura de su edad.
The old minister seated
45 himself in an arm-chair and
made an effort to draw Pearl
betwixt his knees. But the child,
unaccustomed to the touch or
familiarity of any but her
50 mother, escaped through the
open window, and stood on the
upper step, looking like a wild
tropical bird of rich plumage,
ready to take flight into the
55 upper air. Mr. Wilson, not a little
astonished at this outbreak—for
he was a grandfatherly sort of
personage, and usually a vast
favourite with children—es60 sayed, however, to proceed with
El viejo clérigo sentóse en
un sillón y trató de colocar a
Perla entre sus rodillas; pero
la niña, no acostumbrada a que
la tocasen, ni a familiaridad
alguna más que con su madre,
escapó, saltando por la ventana abierta, y permaneció en
pie sobre la última grada, mirando como un pájaro salvaje
de los trópicos, de rico plumaje, dispuesto a remontarse por
los aires. El señor Wilson, un
poco asombrado ante aquella
violencia, era un personaje cariñoso y favorito de los niños;
trató, no obstante, de proce-
15
119
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
the examination.
imbibe: beber, imbuirse de, asimilar, absorber
New England Primer: an alphabet primer
(c.1683) which used verses and woodcuts
on Biblical themes
Westminster Catechism: a book teaching
by question and answer the theology of
John Calvin (1509-64) formulated by the
Westminster Confession (1645-7) for the
English churches, principally Presbyterian
and Congregational, but also some
Puritan. There were ‘shorter’ and ‘longer’
Westminster catechisms
“Pearl,” said he, with great
solemnity, “thou must take heed
5 to instruction, that so, in due
season, thou mayest wear in thy
bosom the pearl of great price.
Canst thou tell me, my child, who
made thee?”
10
Now Pearl knew well enough
who made her, for Hester
Prynne, the daughter of a pious
home, very soon after her talk
15 with the child about her Heavenly
Father, had begun to inform her
of those truths which the human
spirit, at whatever stage of
immaturity, imbibes with such
20 eager interest. Pearl, therefore—
so large were the attainments of
her three years’ lifetime—could
have borne a fair examination
in the New England Primer,
25 o r t h e first column of the
Westminster
Catechisms,
although unacquainted with the
outward form of either of those
celebrated works. But that
30 perversity, which all children
have more or less of, and of
which little Pearl had a tenfold
p o r t i o n , n o w, a t t h e m o s t
inopportune moment, took
35 thorough possession of her, and
closed her lips, or impelled her
to speak words amiss. After
putting her finger in her mouth,
with many ungracious refusals
40 to answer good Mr. Wilson’s
question, the child finally
announced that she had not been
made at all, but had been
plucked by her mother off the
45 bush of wild roses that grew by
the prison-door.
der al examen.
—Perla —dijo, con gran
solemnidad—, necesitas ser
instruida de tal modo, que
puedas llevar sobre tu pecho
la perla de más precio. ¿Puedes decirme, hija mía, quién
te creó?
X
Perla sabía muy bien quién
la había creado, porque Ester
Prynne, hija de una casa piadosa, muy pronto [137] después
de su charla con la niña respecto a su Padre celestial, comenzó a informarla de esas verdades que el espíritu humano, de
cualquier edad que sea, asimila
con el más vivo interés. Así
pues, Perla podía, después de
tres años de cuidados, sufrir el
examen del devocionario de
Nueva Inglaterra o de la primera columna de los Catecismos
de Westminster, si bien desconociendo la forma externa de
estas dos célebres obras. Pero
esa perversidad de que, en mayor o menor grado, están dotados todos los niños, y de la que
tenía una décima parte la pequeña Perla, tomó entonces, en momento tan oportuno, posesión
de su ser, y selló sus labios, o
impidió que salieran las palabras a través de ellos. Después
de meterse el dedo en la boca,
de rehusar ________ muchas veces responder a la pregunta del
bueno del señor Wilson, dijo, por
fin, la niña que ella no había sido
hecha, ni mucho menos, sino que
había sido cogida por su madre
del rosal que crecía a la puerta
de la prisión.
Esta fantasía tal vez le fuera
sugerida por la cercana proximidad de las rojas rosas del gobernador, puesto que se hallaba la
niña en la parte exterior de la
ventana, y por el recuerdo del
rosal de la puerta de la prisión.
This phantasy was probably
suggested by the near proximity
50 of the Governor’s red roses, as
Pearl stood outside of the window,
together with her recollection of
the prison rose-bush, which she
had passed in coming hither.
55
Old Roger Chillingworth,
with a smile on his face,
whispered something in the
young clergyman’s ear. Hester
60 Prynne looked at the man of
El
anciano
Roger
Chillingworth, con una sonrisa
en su rostro, murmuró algunas
palabras al oído del joven clérigo. Ester Prynne miró a aquel
120
Notas
depravity: total sinfulness. Calvin thought
that the total depravity of man’s soul
contrasted with the absolute holiness of
God
indefeasible: incapable of being made null
and void
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
skill, and even then, with her
fate hanging in the balance,
was startled to perceive
what a change had come
5 o v e r his features—how much
uglier they were, how his dark
complexion [tez] seemed to have
grown duskier, and his figure
more misshapen—since the days
10 when she had familiarly known him.
She met his eyes for an instant, but
was immediately constrained to
give all her attention to the scene
now going forward.
15
“This is awful!” cried the
Governor, slowly recovering from
the astonishment into which
Pearl’s response had thrown him.
20 “Here is a child of three years old,
and she cannot tell who made her!
Without question, she is equally
in the dark as to her soul, its
present depravity, and future
25 destiny! Methinks, gentlemen,
we need inquire no further.”
hombre habilidoso, y aún entonces, con su sino pendiente de la
balanza, se alarmó al notar el
cambio que habían sufrido sus
facciones, lo mucho más feas que
se habían vuelto, lo mucho más
lúgubre que era su rostro y lo
mucho más desgraciado que era
su cuerpo, desde los días en que
le había conocido familiarmente.
Tropezó con sus ojos por un instante, pero tuvo que reprimirse
inmediatamente a la escena que
se estaba desarrollando.
Hester caught hold of Pearl,
and drew her forcibly into her
30 arms, confronting the old Puritan
magistrate with almost a fierce
expression. Alone in the world,
cast off by it, and with this sole
treasure to keep her heart alive,
35 she felt that she possessed
indefeasible rights against the
world, and was ready to
defend them to the death.
Ester cogió a Perla, a la
fuerza, en brazos, y, con la
más fiera expresión, se puso
frente al viejo magistrado puritano. Sola en el mundo, arrojada de él, con aquel solo tesoro para conservar vivo s u
corazón, sintió que poseía
indudables derechos contra el
mundo, y estaba dispuesta a defenderlos hasta la muerte.
40
—¡Dios me dio la criatura!
—gritó—. Él me la dio en compensación de todas las cosas
que vosotros me habíais quitado. ¡Es mi ventura! ¡Es, también, mi tormento y la que me
sostiene aquí, viva! ¡Perla también me castiga! ¿No veis que
ella es la letra roja, única capaz
de ser amada y, por tanto, dotada del poder de retribución de
mi pecado? ¡No, no me la quitaréis! ¡Antes la muerte!
“God gave me the child!”
cried she. “He gave her in
req u i t a l o f a l l t h i n g s e l s e
which ye had taken from me.
S h e i s m y h a ppiness—she is
45 my torture, none the less! Pearl
keeps me here in life! Pearl
punishes me, too! See ye not, she
is the scarlet letter, only capable of
being loved, and so endowed with a
50 millionfold the power of retribution
for my sin? Ye shall not take
her! I will die first!”
—¡Esto es terrible! —exclamó el gobernador, reponiéndose
despacio del asombro que le causó la respuesta [138] de Perla—.
¡He aquí una criatura de tres años
que no puede decir quién la creó!
¡Sin duda están a oscuras, como
lo está su alma, su presente
depravación y su destino futuro! Creo, señores, que no necesitamos seguir indagando.
X
“My poor woman,” said the
55 not unkind old minister, “the
child shall be well cared for—
far better than thou canst do for
it.”
60
—¡Pobre mujer! —exclamó
el buen clérigo anciano—. La
niña será atendida con todo cuidado, mejor que tú puedas hacerlo.
“God gave her into my keep-
—¡ D i o s l a p u s o b a j o mi
121
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
ing!” repeated Hester Prynne,
raising her voice almost to a
shriek. “I will not give her up!”
And here by a sudden impulse,
she turned to the young
clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale, at
whom, up to this moment, she had
seemed hardly so much as once
to direct her eyes. “Speak thou for
me!” cried she. “Thou wast my
pastor, and hadst charge of my
soul, and knowest me better than
these men can. I will not lose the
child! Speak for me! Thou
knowest—for
thou
hast
sympathies which these men
lack—thou knowest what is in my
heart, and what are a mother’s
rights, and how much the stronger
they are when that mother has but
her child and the scarlet letter!
Look thou to it! I will not lose the
child! Look to it!”
tutela! —repitió Ester, convirtiendo su voz en un chillido—. ¡No la entregaré! —Y
entonces, por un impulso repentino, volvióse al joven
clérigo, señor Dimmesdale, a
quien hasta entonces no había
dirigido la vista.
—¡Habla por mí, tú! ¡Tú
fuiste mi pastor y tuviste mi
alma bajo su cuidado! ¡Tú me
conoces mejor que estos
h o m b r e s ! ¡ Yo n o p i e r d o m i
hija! ¡Habla por mí! ¡Tú conoces las simpatías de que
carecen estos hombres! ¡Tú
conoces mi corazón, y lo que
son los derechos de una madre! ¡Tú sabes lo poderosos
que son cuando la madre no
tiene más que su hija y la letra roja! ¡Mírala! ¡No perderé mi hija! ¡Mírala!
25
At this wild and singular
appeal, which indicated that
Hester Prynne’s situation had
provoked her to little less than
madness, the young minister at
30 once came forward, pale, and
holding his hand over his heart,
as was his custom whenever his
peculiarly nervous temperament
was thrown into agitation. He
35 looked now more careworn and
emaciated than as we described
him at the scene of Hester ’s
public ignominy; and whether it
were his failing health, or
40 whatever the cause might be, his
large dark eyes had a world of
pain in their troubled and
melancholy depth.
Ante aquella altiva y singular apelación que indicaba cómo
la situación de Ester Prynne había [139] provocado en ella poco
menos que la locura, el joven
ministro se adelantó, pálido, y
se puso la mano sobre el corazón, como tenía por costumbre
cuando se agitaba su peculiar
temperamento nervioso. Parecía
mucho más delicado y enflaquecido que cuando le describimos
en la escena de la pública ignominia de Ester, y fuera por falta
de salud o por otra causa cualquiera, sus grandes ojos oscuros
reflejaban un mundo de dolor en
su conturbada y melancólica
profundidad.
45
—¡Hay verdad en lo que dice
—comenzó diciendo el ministro,
con voz dulce, trémula, pero tan
poderosa que hacía resonar el
salón con su eco y retumbar la
hueca armadura—, verdad en lo
que dice Ester y hay verdad en el
sentimiento que la inspira! Dios
le dio la criatura, y le dio, además, un conocimiento instintivo
de su naturaleza y necesidades;
ambas tan peculiares, al parecer,
que ningún otro ser mortal puede
poseer. ¿Y, a mayor abundamiento,
no hay una relación de
enorm e s a n t i d a d e n t r e l a
5
10
15
20
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
tr. de A. Ruste
“There is truth in what she
says,” began the minister, with a
voice sweet, tremulous, but
powerful, insomuch that the hall
re-echoed and the hollow armour
50 rang with it—”truth in what
Hester says, and in the feeling
which inspires her! God gave her
the child, and gave her, too, an
instinctive knowledge of its
55 nature and requirements—both
seemingly so peculiar [odd]—
which no other mortal being can
possess. And, moreover, is there
not a quality of awful sacredness
60 in the relation between this
X
122
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
mother and this child?”
“Ay—how is that, good
Master Dimmesdale?” interrupted
5 the Governor. “Make that plain, I
pray you!”
—¡Eh! ¿Cómo es eso, Master Dimmesdale? —interrumpió
el gobernador—. ¡Acláreme eso,
se lo ruego!
“It must be even so,”
resumed the minister. “For,
if we deem it otherwise, do
we not hereby say that the
Heavenly Father, the creator
of all flesh, hath lightly
recognised a deed of sin, and
made of no account the
distinction
between
unhallowed [impía] lust and
holy love? This child of its
f a t h e r ’s g u i l t a n d i t s
m o t h e r ’s s h a m e h a s c o m e
from the hand of God, to
work in many ways upon her
heart, who pleads so
earnestly and with such
bitterness of spirit the right
to keep her. It was meant for a
blessing—for the one blessing
of her life! It was meant,
doubtless, the mother herself
hath told us, for a retribution,
too; a to r t u r e t o b e f e l t a t
many an unthought-of
moment; a pang, a sting, an
e v e r- r e c u r r i n g a g o n y, i n t h e
midst of a troubled joy!
Hath she not expressed this
thought in the garb of the
poor child, so forcibly
reminding us of that red
symbol which sears her
bosom?”
—Hasta eso puede haber —
reasumió el ministro—, porque
¿si nosotros lo juzgásemos de
otro modo, no diríamos que el
Padre celestial, el Creador de
toda carne humana, ha reconocido ligeramente una comisión de
pecado y que, en modo alguno,
ha hecho la distinción entre la
prohibida lascivia y el amor sagrado? Esta hija de la culpa de
su padre y de la vergüenza de su
madre ha venido de la mano de
Dios, para laborar en su corazón
de mil formas diversas, en el corazón de la que pide, tan ávidamente y con tanta amargura de
espíritu, el derecho a tenerla.
¡Fue indicada para su bendición,
para la única bendición de su
vida! ¡Fue indicada, sin duda,
como la propia madre nos ha dicho, como una retribución además; como una tortura para ser
sentida en muchos e impensados
momentos; como una espina,
como una mancha, como [140]
una sempiterna agonía en la neblina de una inquietante alegría!
¿Si ella no hubiese expresado
este pensamiento en el aspecto de
esta pobre niña, nos recordaría
tan forzosamente el rojo símbolo que ostenta sobre su seno?
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
mountebank: a charlatan in a travelling
show
madre y esta niña?
X
X
“Well said again!” cried
good Mr. Wilson. “I feared
45 t h e w o m a n h a d n o b e t t e r
thought than to make a
mountebank of her child!”
—¡Muy bien dicho! —exclamó el señor Wilson—. Yo
temí que la mujer no tenía otro
pensamiento que el de hacer de
su niña una saltimbanqui.
“Oh, not so!—not so!”
50 continued Mr. Dimmesdale. “She
recognises, believe me, the
solemn miracle which God hath
wrought in the existence of that
child. And may she feel, too—
55 what, methinks, is the very
truth—that this boon was meant,
above all things else, to keep the
mother ’s soul alive, and to
preserve her from blacker depths
60 of sin into which Satan might else
—¡Oh, no, nada de eso! —
continuó
el
señor
Dimmesdale—. Ella reconoce,
creedme, el solemne milagro
que Dios forjó en la existencia
de esa niña. ¡Y, tal vez, sienta
(y creo que así sea) que esta
fortuna fuese indicada, sobre
todas las cosas, para guardar
viva el alma de la madre y preservarla de mayores negruras de
pecado a que Satanás hubiera
123
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
have sought to plunge her! Therefore it is good for this poor, sinful woman, that she hath an infant immortality, a being capable
5 o f e t e r n a l j o y o r s o r r o w,
confided to her care—to be
trained up by her to
righteousness, to remind her, at
every moment, of her fall, but yet
10 to teach her, as if it were by
t h e C r e a t o r ’s sacred pledge,
that, if she bring the child to heaven,
the child also will bring its parents
thither! Herein is the sinful mother
15 happier than the sinful father. For
Hester Prynne’s sake, then, and no
less for the poor child’s sake, let us
leave them as Providence hath seen
fit to place them!”
20
“You speak, my friend, with a
strange earnestness,” said old Roger
Chillingworth, smiling at him.
tithing-men: parish officials responsible for
maintaining order
flighty adj. 1 (usu. of a girl) frivolous, fickle,
changeable. 2 crazy.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
tratado de arrojarla! Es así,
pues, un bien para esta pobre
pecadora, que tuviera una inmortalidad infantil, un ser capaz de dichas y tristezas eternas, confiado a su cuidado, para
ser conducido por ella con toda
rectitud, para recordarle en todo
momento su caída; pero para enseñarla, no obstante, como si fuera por
la sagrada señal del Creador, que,
si condujese su hija al cielo, también la hija llevaría al cielo a su
madre. _______ __________
_________ ________¡Así pues,
por el bien de Ester Prynne y por
el de la pobre niña, dejémoslas
donde la Providencia ha creído
apropiado dejarlas!
—Habla usted, amigo mío,
con mucho ardor —díjole, sonriendo, Roger Chillingworth.
25
“And there is a weighty
import in what my young
brother hath spoken,” added
the Rev. Mr. Wilson.
“What say you, worshipful
30 Master Bellingham? Hath he not
pleaded well for the poor
woman?”
—Y hay un profundo significado en lo que mi joven hermano ha dicho —añadió el reverendo Wilson—. ¿Qué dice
usted, honorable Master
Bellingham? ¿No cree usted
que ha abogado bien por la pobre mujer?
“Indeed hath he,” answered
35 the magistrate; “and hath adduced
such arguments, that we will even
leave the matter as it now stands;
so long, at least, as there shall be
no further scandal in the woman.
40 Care must be had nevertheless, to
put the child to due and stated
examination in the catechism, at
thy
hands
or
Master
Dimmesdale’s. Moreover, at a
45 proper season, the tithing-men
must take heed that she go both
to school and to meeting.”
—En efecto, y ha aducido tales argumentos, que habremos de
dejar el asunto tal como ahora
está; al menos, mientras la mujer
no sea causa de otro escándalo.
Sin embargo, ha de tenerse cuidado de que la criatura sea puesta en manos de usted o de Master [141] Dimmesdale para la
debida instrucción en el catecismo; y a su debido tiempo, además, los cabezas de familia han
de cuidarse de que acuda a la escuela y a la capilla.
T h e y o u n g m i n i s t e r, o n
50 ceasing to speak had withdrawn
a few steps from the group, and
stood with his face partially
concealed in the heavy folds of
the window-curtain; while the
55 shadow of his figure, which the
sunlight cast upon the floor,
was tremulous with the
vehemence of his appeal. Pearl,
that wild and flighty little elf
60 stole softly towards him, and
Cuando cesó de hablar, el
joven pastor se había retirado
unos pasos del grupo, permaneciendo medio oculto por los
pesados pliegues del cortinaje de la ventana; y la sombra
de su figura que la luz solar
proyectaba sobre el suelo,
tremolaba con la vehemencia
de su apelación. Perla, aquel
duendecillo arisco y luchador,
dirigióse a él lentamente, y to124
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
taking his hand in the grasp of
both her own, laid her cheek
against it; a caress so tender,
and withal so unobtrusive, that
her mother, who was looking
on, asked herself—‘‘Is that my
Pearl?” Yet she knew that there
was love in the child’s heart,
although it mostly revealed
itself in passion, and hardly
twice in her lifetime had been
softened by such gentleness as
now. The minister—for, save
the long-sought regards of
woman, nothing is sweeter than
these marks of childish
preference,
accorded
spontaneously by a spiritual
instinct, and therefore seeming
to imply in us something truly
worthy to be loved—the
minister looked round, laid his
h a n d o n t h e c h i l d ’s h e a d ,
hesitated an instant, and then
kissed her brow. Little Pearl’s
unwonted mood of sentiment
lasted no longer; she laughed,
and went capering down the
h a l l s o a i r i l y, t h a t o l d M r.
Wi l s o n r a i s e d a q u e s t i o n
whether even her tiptoes
touched the floor.
mando una de sus manos entre las suyas, apoyó sobre ella
la mejilla; fue una caricia tan
tierna y, además, tan voluntaria,
que su madre, que la estaba observando, se preguntó: «¿Es ésa
mi Perla?» Sabía que había amor
en el corazón de la niña, aunque
casi siempre se revelaba como
pasión; y escasamente dos veces
en su vida había mostrádose tan
gentilmente tierna como entonces. El pastor (porque, salvo las
interrogantes y largas miradas de
las mujeres, nada hay más dulce
que las muestras de preferencia
de los niños, de acuerdo espontáneo por su instinto espiritual
y que, por tanto, parece que nos
impone algo verdaderamente
merecedor de ser amado) miró
alrededor, puso la mano sobre la
cabeza de la niña, dudó un instante, y luego la besó en la frente. La pequeña Perla se despojó
de aquel aspecto sentimental,
comenzó a reír y penetró en el
salón con tal ligereza, tan
vaporosamente, que el viejo señor Wilson creyó que ni las puntas de sus pies tocaron el suelo,
y le dijo a Dimmesdale:
“The little baggage hath
35 witchcraft in her, I profess,” said
he to Mr. Dimmesdale. “She
needs no old woman’s broomstick
to fly withal!”
— ¡ L a p e q u e ñ a envoltura
debe ocultar una brujería! ¡No necesita la escoba de las mujeres viejas
para volar!
40
—¡Es una criatura extraña!
—hizo
notar
Roger
Chillingworth—. Fácil es ver
en ella la parte de su madre.
¿Si pudiese caer dentro del estudio de un filósofo, creen ustedes, señores, que, analizando la naturaleza [142] de esa
niña, su factura y moldeado,
no daría con el padre?
5
10
15
20
25
30
baggage: a common term for a woman of
low repute
tr. de A. Ruste
“A
strange
child!”
remarked
old
Roger
Chillingworth. “It is easy to
see the mother ’s part in her.
Wo u l d i t b e b e y o n d a
45 philosopher ’s research, think
ye, gentlemen, to analyse that
child’s nature, and, from it
make a mould, to give a shrewd
guess at the father?”
50
“Nay; it would be sinful,
in such a question, to follow
the
clue
of
profane
philosophy,” said Mr. Wilson.
55 “Better to fast and pray upon
it; and still better, it may be,
to leave the mystery as we
find it, unless Providence
reveal it of its own accord
60 T h e r e b y,
every
good
—Sería pecaminoso, en
ese asunto, seguir la pista de
la filosofía profana —dijo el
señor Wilson—. Más vale rezar y rogar por ella; y aun quizá sea mejor dejar el misterio
como lo hemos encontrado, a
menos que la Providencia lo
revele por su propio acuerdo.
De ese modo, todo buen cris125
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Christian man hath a title to
show a father ’s kindness tow a r d s t h e p o o r, d e s e r t e d
babe.”
tiano tiene un título que mostrar de bondad paternal hacia
el desgraciado y abandonado
bebé.
The affair being so
satisfactorily concluded, Hester
Prynne, with Pearl, departed from
the house. As they descended the
10 steps, it is averred that the lattice
of a chamber-window was thrown
open, and forth into the sunny day
was thrust the face of Mistress
Hibbins, Governor Bellingham’s
15 bitter-tempered sister, and the
same who, a few years later, was
executed as a witch.
Habiendo terminado el
asunto tan satisfactoriamente,
Ester Prynne y su niña abandonaron la casa. Cuando descendían las gradas, se abrieron las
persianas de una ventana y asomó a la luz del sol la cabeza de
la señora Hibbins, la malhumorada hermana del gobernador
Bellingham, la misma que, pocos años después, fue ejecutada como bruja.
“Hist, hist!” said she, while
20 her ill-omened physiognomy
seemed to cast a shadow over
the cheerful newness of the
house. “Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be a merry
25 company in the forest; and I
well-nigh
promise d t h e
Black Man that comely
Hester Prynne should make
one.”
30
“Make my excuse to him, so
please you!” answered Hester,
with a triumphant smile. “I must
tarry at home, and keep watch
35 over my little Pearl. Had they
taken her from me, I would
willingly have gone with thee
into the forest, and signed
my name in the Black Man’s
40 book too, and that with mine
own blood!”
—¡Chist, chist! —dijo,
mientras su cara de mal agüero parecía echar una sombra
sobre la alegre fachada—.
¿Irás con nosotras esta noche? Habrá una compañía
muy alegre en la selva; y
poco menos que prometí al
Hombre Negro que _________
Ester Prynne sería una de las
nuestras.
5
affirmed, asserted
near, almost
pleasant to look at
tarry 2 1 defer coming or going. 2 linger,
stay, wait. 3 be tardy. linger 1 a be
slow or reluctant to depart. b stay
about. c (foll. by over, on, etc.) dally
(lingered over dinner; lingered on
what they said)
tarry 2 1 defer coming or going. 2 linger,
stay, wait. 3 be tardy. Demorarse,
entretenerse,
tarry 1 of or like or smeared with tar.
Alquitranado
X
—¡Excúsame, te lo ruego! —contestó Ester con
s o n r i s a d e t r i u n f o — . Te n g o
que trabajar en casa y cuidar de
mi pequeña Perla. Si me la hubiesen arrebatado, probablemente hubiese ido muy gustosa contigo al bosque, y hubiese firmado mi nombre, además, en el libro del Hombre Negro, ¡y con mi
propia sangre!
“We shall have thee there
a n o n ! ” s a i d t h e w i t c h - l a d y,
45 frowning, as she drew back her
head.
—¡Ya te tendremos allí pronto! —respondió la dama—bruja,
refunfuñando y retirándose de la
ventana.
But here—if we suppose this
interview betwixt Mistress
50 Hibbins and Hester Prynne to be
authentic, and not a parable—
was already an illustration of the
young minister ’s argument
sunder 1 to break or cause to break
apart or in pieces 2 in sunder into
against sundering the relation of
pieces; apart
55 a fallen mother to the offspring
eflorescencia. (Del lat. efflorescens, of her frailty. Even thus early
entis, eflorescente). 1. f. Med. Erupción aguda o crónica, de color rojo
had the child saved her from
subido, con granitos o sin ellos, que
se presenta en varias regiones del
Satan’s snare.
Pero si suponemos que esta
entrevista entre la señora
Hibbins y Ester Prynne fuese
auténtica y no una parábola, era
ya una ilustración del argumento del joven ministro contra el
separar la relación de una madre caída con la eflorescencia de
su fragilidad. Ya tan [143] pronto había salvado la niña a su madre de los lazos de Satán.
cuerpo y con particularidad en el rostro. 2. f. Quím. Conversión espontánea en polvo de diversas sales al perder el agua de cristalización.
X
60
126
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Chapter 9: The Leech
Chapter 9 picks up the thread of Chillingworth’s story, and connects it to Dimmesdale’s. It relates the manner in which the two men come to know each other, and
describes the relationship which develops.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
5
Hawthorne reminds the reader of Chillingworth’s chosen isolation:
Unknown to all but Hester Prynne, and possessing the lock and key of her silence, he chose to withdraw his name from the roll of mankind, and, as regarded his
former ties and interest, to vanish out of life as completely as if he indeed lay at the bottom of the ocean, whither rumor had long ago consigned him. After that choice,
his unnatural life continues: ‘This purpose once effected, new interests would immediately spring up, and likewise a new purpose; dark, it is true, if not guilty, but of
force enough to engage the full strength of his faculties’. These plans he conceals by posing as a doctor, taking up residence in the town. The chapter title, ‘The
Leech’, refers to his work as a doctor, or leech, and also to his unnatural life - drawing strength from the sufferings of others, as the leech lives by sucking blood from
its victims. Chillingworth gradually attaches
himself to the Reverend Dimmesdale in such a way that he slowly drains the minister of life. The elder ministers of
10
Boston and the deacons of his own church have both urgently recommended the minister to the doctor ’s care, but under that care the minister slowly worsens,
despite a seeming friendship that develops. The two men spend much time together. Eventually they rent rooms in the same house.
The public has always seen the young minister as directly involved in the struggle between good and evil. The congregation sees in Dimmesdale a special messenger
from God summoning them to holy work, but now they also see him as being ravaged [devastated, plundered, wasted, arrasado, asolado, devastado, estragado,
destrozado] by some personal struggle. As they watch his health fade despite Chillingworth’s concern and care, they change their view of Chillingworth. Instead of
being a heaven-sent healer, he becomes a suspect alchemist, whose distillations are fuelled by infernal fire. Hawthorne partly defends their new perception: ‘When
an uninstructed multitude attempts to see
15 with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions
of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often so profound and so unerring, as to possess the character of truths supernaturally revealed’. But
while using the common view to describe the deterioration of Chillingworth’s character, and his hold over the minister, Hawthorne reveals a more intimate truth to his
readers. Many people believe Chillingworth to be Satan or Satan’s emissary, haunting the young minister who struggles in agony towards triumph, but ‘Alas! to judge
from the gloom and terror in the depths of the poor minister’s eyes, the battle was a sore one, and the victory anything but secure’.
20
IX.
IX
25
THE LEECH
appellation: name
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
X
Under the appellation of
Roger Chillingworth, the reader
will remember, was hidden
another name, which its former
wearer had resolved should never
more be spoken. It has been
related, how, in the crowd that
witnessed Hester Prynne’s
ignominious exposure, stood a
man, elderly, travel-worn, who,
just emerging from the perilous
wilderness, beheld the woman, in
whom he hoped to find embodied
the warmth and cheerfulness of
home, set up as a type of sin
before the people. Her matronly
fame was trodden under all men’s
feet. Infamy was babbling around
her in the public market-place.
For her kindred, should the
tidings ever reach them, and for
the companions of her unspotted
life, there remained nothing but
the contagion of her dishonour;
which would not fail to be
distributed in strict accordance
arid proportion with the intimacy
and sacredness of their previous
relationship. Then why—since the
choice was with himself—should
the individual, whose connexion
with the fallen woman had been
the most intimate and sacred of
EL MÉDICO
Bajo el nombre de Roger
Chillingworth recordará el lector se ocultaba otro nombre, el
que su primitivo portador resolvió no volviera a ser pronunciado. Se ha dicho cómo,
entre el grupo que presenció la
ignominiosa exposición de
Ester Prynne, un hombre entrado en años, extenuado por el
trabajo, recientemente evadido
de la peligrosa selva, contempló a la mujer en quien esperó
encontrar unidos el calor y la
felicidad de un hogar, expuesta ante el público como modelo de pecado. El balbuce o d e
su infamia la envolvía en la
plaza del mercado. Para sus
parientes, si alguna vez llegase a
ellos la noticia, y para los compañeros de su vida sin mancha,
no quedaba nada sino el contagio de su deshonor, el cual no
dejaría de ser distribuido con
estricta rel a c i ó n y p r o p o r ción a la intimidad y santidad de sus anteriores relaciones. Entonces, ¿por qué
el individuo, cuya conexión
con la mujer caída había
sido la más íntima y sagrada
de
todas
ellas,
127
leech sanguijuela
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
them all, come forward to vindicate his claim to an inheritance
so little desirable? He resolved
not to be pilloried beside her
on her pedestal of shame. Unknown to all but Hester
Prynne, and possessing the
lock and key of her silence, he
chose to withdraw his name
from the roll of mankind, and,
as regarded his former ties and
interest, to vanish out of life as
completely as if he indeed lay
at the bottom of the ocean,
whither rumour had long ago
consigned him. This purpose
once effected, new interests
would immediately spring up,
and likewise a new purpose;
dark, it is true, if not guilty, but
of force enough to engage the full
strength of his faculties.
a d e l a n t ó s e a v i n d i c ar su reclamación en una herencia tan
poco deseable? Resolvió no ser
empicotado junto a ella sobre el
pedestal de su vergüenza. Desconocido para todos, excepto para
Ester Prynne, y poseyendo el candado y la llave de su silencio, optó
por ocultar su nombre a la humanidad y, en lo referente a sus anteriores ligaduras e intereses, desvanecerse como si en realidad yaciera en el fondo del océano, donde hacía largo tiempo que el rumor público le había puesto. Una
vez efectuado este propósito, debían sobrevenir nuevos intereses
e, igualmente, un nuevo propósito, oscuro, es [144] cierto, si no
culpable, pero de fuerza suficiente para ocupar todo el poder de
sus facultades.
In pursuance of this resolve,
25 he took up his residence in the
Puritan town as Roger
Chillingworth, without other
introduction than the learning
and intelligence of which he
30 possessed more than a common
measure. As his studies, at a
previous period of his life, had
made him extensively acquainted
with the medical science of the
35 day, it was as a physician that he
presented himself and as such
was cordially received. Skilful
men, of the medical and
chirurgical profession, were of
40 rare occurrence in the colony.
They seldom, it would appear,
partook of the religious zeal that
brought other emigrants across
the Atlantic. In their researches
45 into the human frame, it may be
that the higher and more subtle
faculties of such men were
materialised, and that they lost
the spiritual view of existence
50 amid the intricacies of that
wondrous mechanism, which
seemed to involve art enough to
comprise all of life within itself.
At all events, the health of the
55 good town of Boston, so far as
medicine had aught to do with
it, had hitherto lain in the
guardianship of an aged deacon
and apothecary, whose piety and
60 godly deportment were stronger
Para perseguir esta resolución fijó su residencia en la
población puritana como
Roger Chillingworth, sin otra
presentación que el saber y la
inteligencia que en medida
poco común poseía. Como
sus estudios en anterior período de su vida habíanle familiarizado extensamente
con la ciencia médica de la
época, presentóse como médico, y como tal fue cordialmente recibido. Hombres habilidosos en la profesión médica
y quirúrgica eran raros en la concurrencia de la colonia. Rara vez
aparecían para tomar parte en el
celo religioso que llevó a otros
emigrantes a cruzar el Atlántico.
En sus sondeos en el cuerpo humano, quizá ocurriera que las facultades más altas y sutiles de esos
hombres se materializasen, y que
perdieran la visión espiritual de
la existencia entre los intrincados
y maravillosos mecanismos que
parecían envolver el arte necesario para comprimir dentro de ello
todo lo de la vida. De toda suerte, la salud de la buena población
de Boston, en cuanto a lo que la
medicina tenía que ver con ella,
había estado hasta entonces bajo
la tutela de un viejo diácono y boticario, cuya piedad y santo comportamiento eran más fuertes tes-
5
10
15
20
chirurgical: surgical
tr. de A. Ruste
128
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
weighty
15
Elixir of Life: an alchemic term for a
substance for prolonging life indefinitely
20
25
pharmacopoeia: a book describing drugs,
chemicals, and other medicinal
preparations
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
testimonials in his favour than
any that he could have produced
in the shape of a diploma. The
only surgeon was one who combined the occasional exercise of
that noble art with the daily and
habitual flourish of a razor. To
such a professional body Roger
Chillingworth was a brilliant
acquisition. He soon manifested
h i s f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h the
ponderous and imposing
machinery of antique physic; in
which every remedy contained a
multitude of far-fetched and
heterogeneous ingredients, as
elaborately compounded as if the
proposed result had been the
Elixir of Life. In his Indian
captivity, moreover, he had gained
much knowledge of the properties
of native herbs and roots; nor did
he conceal from his patients that
these simple medicines, Nature’s
boon to the untutored savage, had
quite as large a share of his own
confidence as the European
Pharmacopoeia, which so many
learned doctors had spent
centuries in elaborating.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
timonios en su favor que los que
pudiese haber producido en forma de título. El único cirujano
era uno que combinaba el ejercicio casual de aquel arte noble con
el blandido diario y habitual de
una navaja de afeitar. Comparado con aquel cuerpo profesional,
Roger Chillingworth era una brillante adquisición. Pronto manifestó su familiaridad con la
ponderosa e imponente maquinaria de la física antigua, en la
que todo remedio contenía una
multitud de ingredientes
heterogéneos y de viejo descubrimiento,
elaborados tan complicadamente, como
si el resultado de su propósito hubiese sido el elixir de la vida. En su
cautividad india había adquirido,
además, mucho conocimiento de las propiedades de yerbas y raíces nativas, y
[145] no ocultaba a sus enfermos
que estas sencillas medicinas __
___ ________ ___________ tenían
para él mayor confianza
que la farmacopea europea, que tantos sabios
doctores emplearon sig l o s e n e l a b o r a r.
Este sabio extranjero era
ejemplar, al menos en la forma externa de su vida religiosa, y al poco tiempo de su llegada eligió al reverendo señor
Dimmesdale para su guía espiritual. El joven pastor, cuyo
nombre todavía se recordaba
en Oxford con encomio, era
considerado por sus más fervorosos admiradores poco menos que como un apóstol enviado del cielo, destinado a
realizar grandes hechos en pro
de la hoy debilitada Iglesia de
Nueva Inglaterra, como los antiguos Padres lo hicieron en
los comienzos de la fe cristiana. En aquel período, sin embargo, había comenzado el señor Dimmesdale a sentirse enfermo. Para los que conocían
mejor sus costumbres, la palidez de las mejillas del joven ministro era debida al
exceso de estudio y, más que
nada, a los ayunos y vigilias
de que hacía práctica frecuente para evitar que la incivili-
This learned stranger was
exemplary as regarded at least
the outward forms of a religious
life; and early after his arrival,
had chosen for his spiritual
g u i d e t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
Dimmesdale. The young divine,
whose scholar-like renown still
lived in Oxford, was considered
by his more fervent admirers as
little less than a heavenly
ordained apostle, destined,
should he live and labour for the
ordinary term of life, to do as
great deeds, for the now feeble
New England Church, as the
early Fathers had achieved for
the infancy of the Christian
faith. About this period,
h o w e v e r, t h e h e a l t h o f M r.
Dimmesdale had evidently
begun to fail. By those best
acquainted with his habits, the
paleness of the young minister’s
cheek was accounted for by his
too earnest devotion to study,
his scrupulous fulfilment of
parochial duty, and more than
all, to the fasts and vigils of
129
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
tr. de A. Ruste
which he made a frequent
practice, in order to keep the
grossness of this earthly state
from clogging and obscuring his
spiritual lamp. Some declared,
that if Mr. Dimmesdale were
really going to die, it was cause
enough that the world was not
worthy to be any longer trodden
by his feet. He himself, on the
other hand, with characteristic
humility, avowed his belief that
if Providence should see fit to
remove him, it would be because
of his own unworthiness to
perform its humblest mission
here on earth. With all this
difference of opinion as to the
cause of his decline, there could
be no question of the fact. His
form grew emaciated; his voice,
though still rich and sweet, had
a certain melancholy prophecy
of decay in it; he was often
observed, on any slight alarm or
other sudden accident, to put his
hand over his heart with first a
flush and then a paleness,
indicative of pain.
dad de este estado terreno oscureciese su lámpara espiritual. Algunos llegaban a declarar que si el joven clérigo había realmente de morir, era
porque el mundo no merecía
ser hollado por sus plantas. El,
por otra parte, con su característica humildad, manifestaba
su pensamiento de que, si la
Providencia creía necesario
que muriese, sería por su falta
de merecimientos para cumplir
su humilde misión en la tierra.
Con toda esta diferencia de
opiniones respecto a la causa
de su enfermedad, no podía
negarse el hecho; su cuerpo
adelgazaba; su voz, aunque todavía rica y dulce, tenía cierta profecía melancólica de decaimiento; observábase con
frecuencia que, cuando sufría
la más ligera alarma o cualquier otro accidente repentino,
se llevaba la mano al corazón,
primero, y luego coloreábanse
sus mejillas con una densa palidez indicadora del dolor.
Such was the young
clergyman’s condition, and so
imminent the prospect that his
dawning light would be
extinguished, all untimely, when
Roger Chillingworth made his
advent to the town. His first entry
on the scene, few people could
tell whence, dropping down as it
were out of the sky or starting
from the nether [lower] earth,
had an aspect of mystery, which
was easily heightened to the
miraculous. He was now known
to be a man of skill; it was
observed that he gathered herbs
and the blossoms of wildflowers, and dug up roots and
plucked off twigs from the foresttrees like one acquainted with
hidden virtues in what was
valueless to common eyes. He
was heard to speak of Sir
Ke n e l m D i g b y a n d o t h e r
famous men—whose scientific
attainments were esteemed
hardly less than supernatural—as
having been his correspondents
or associates. Why, with such
rank in the learned world, had
Ta l e r a l a c o n d i c i ó n d e l
joven pastor y la inminente
[146] perspectiva de que se
extinguiese la luz de su aman e c e r,
cuando
Roger
Chillingworth llegó a la población. Su primera entrada
en escena pocas personas podrán decir si era por haber caído de las nubes o por haber
brotado del fondo de la tierra;
tenía su aparición un aspecto
de misterio, que fácilmente
podía elevarse a lo milagroso.
Se le consideraba hombre de
habilidad; se observó que recogía hierbas y flores silvestres, que arrancaba raíces y
cortaba ramitas de los árboles
de la selva, como uno que conociese las virtudes ocultas,
que no tenían valor para los
ojos vulgares. Se le oía hablar
de Sir Kenelm Digby y de otros
hombres famosos, cuyos experimentos científicos se tenían
poco menos que por sobrenaturales, como de haber sido sus
corresponsales o asociados.
¿Por qué, con aquella posición
30
35
40
45
50
Sir Kenhelm Digby:Digby (1603-65) was
an adventurer and writer who discovered
that oxygen is necessary to plant life
55
60
130
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
he come hither? What, could he,
whose sphere was in great cities, be seeking in the wilderness? In answer to this query, a
rumour gained ground—and
however absurd, was entertained
by some very sensible people—
that Heaven had wrought an absolute miracle, by transporting
an eminent Doctor of Physic
from a German university bodily through the air and setting
him down at the door of Mr.
Dimmesdale’s study! Individuals
of wiser faith, indeed, who knew
that Heaven promotes its
purposes without aiming at the
stage-effect of what is called
miraculous interposition, were
inclined to see a providential
hand in Roger Chillingworth’s so
opportune arrival.
en el mundo de la ciencia, había
ido allí? ¿Qué podía buscar en
las selvas, cuando su campo eran
las grandes ciudades? Respecto
a estas preguntas tomó cuerpo el
rumor, aunque pareciera absurdo, entre la gente sensible, de
que el cielo había hecho el milagro de transportar un eminente físico, incorpóreamente, a través del aire, desde una Universidad alemana hasta la puerta
del
estudio
del
señor
Dimmesdale. Individuos de
más sabia fe, quienes saben
que el cielo realiza sus propósitos sin recurrir al efecto escénico
de lo que se llama interposición
milagrosa, inclinábanse a ver
una mano providencial en la
oportuna llegada de Roger
Chillingworth.
This idea was countenanced
25 by the strong interest which the
physician ever manifested in the
young clergyman; he attached
himself to him as a parishioner,
and sought to win a friendly
30 regard and confidence from his
naturally reserved sensibility. He
expressed great alarm at his
pastor’s state of health, but was
anxious to attempt the cure, and,
35 if early undertaken, seemed not
despondent of a favourable
result. The elders, the deacons, the
motherly dames, and the young
and fair maidens of Mr.
40 Dimmesdale’s flock, were alike
importunate that he should make
trial of the physician’s frankly
offered skill. Mr. Dimmesdale
gently repelled their entreaties.
45
“I need no medicine,”
said he.
Esta idea tomó cuerpo por el decidido interés que el médico
manifestaba siempre
por el joven clérigo.
Se hizo su feligrés y
trató de granjearse su
amistad y confianza.
Expresó gran alarma por el delicado estado de salud de su pastor,
sintiendo vivos deseos de procurar
su curación, que, aunque tarde,
creía pudiera tener favorable resultado. Los ancianos, los diáconos,
las madres de familia y las jóvenes
del rebaño del señor Dimmesdale le
importunaban pidiéndole aceptase
los [147] ofrecimientos de su pericia, que sinceramente le ofrecía el
médico. El joven ministro rechazó
delicadamente sus ruegos.
5
sensible se refiere a cuerdo, razonable, acertado [gusto, idea,
plan], sensato, módico [precio],
prudente, lógico, consciente,
práctico / cómodo [ropa, calzado], mientras que el español sen- 10
sible traduce sensitive, feeling,
sentient,
regrettable,
noticeable / marked, sizable,
deplorable, tender, sore [adolorido]. Sensibility es sensibilidad, en el sentido de habilidad
de sentir, receptividad, en el
mundo personal, y además pre- 15
cisión, en el mundo mecánico;
el plural sensibilities se usa para
susceptibilidad, sentimientos
delicados, delicadeza; a su vez,
sensibilidad traduce sensitivity,
como percepción por los sentidos, radio, TV, foto.
20
despondent in low spirits, dejected.
Abatido, alicaído, desalentador,
desabrido, [letter] de tono triste;
pesimista, desanimado, descorazonado, melancólico
despondency abatimiento, dejection
= low spirits, desaliento, desesperación
casual (En) 1 accidental; due to chance.
2 not regular or permanent;
temporary, occasional (casual (temporal) work; a casual affair). 3 a
unconcerned, uninterested (was
very casual about it). b made or done
without great care or thought (a casual remark). c acting carelessly or
unmethodically (a la ligera). 4 (of
clothes) informal.
(Distraídamente, a la ligera, relajadamente, rápidamente)
casual (Es) 1. adj. Que sucede por casualidad, por accidente. 2. Der. V.
condición casual. 3. Der. Ar.
Aplícase a las firmas o decretos judiciales concebidos para impedir
atentados. 4. Gram. Perteneciente o relativo al caso.
tr. de A. Ruste
But how could the young
50 minister say so, when, with every
successive Sabbath, his cheek was
paler and thinner, and his voice more
tremulous than before—when it had
now become a constant habit, rather
55 than a casual gesture, to press his
hand over his heart? Was he weary
of his labours? Did he wish to die?
These questions were solemnly
propounded to Mr. Dimmesdale by
60 the elder ministers of Boston, and
X
—No necesito medicina —
dijo.
X
131
Pero ¿cómo podía decir tal
cosa el joven clérigo, cuando
cada sábado sus mejillas eran
más pálidas y enjutas y su voz
más temblorosa? ¿Cuándo se había hecho en él un hábito constante,
más bien que un gesto casual, el
oprimirse el corazón con la mano?
¿Le fatigaba su trabajo? ¿Deseaba morir? Estas pregunt a s
le hacían solemnemente los más
viejos pastores de Boston y los
casual
‹inspection› superficial; a casual
acquaintance = un conocido,
una conocida;
casual sex = relaciones sexuales
promiscuas (chance) ‹visit/
reader› ocasional (informal)
‹chat› informal;
‹clothes› de sport, informal
(unconcerned) ‹attitude/tone›
despreocupado;
‹remark› hecho al pasar (not
regular)
‹employment/labor› eventual,
ocasional
casual
1 (encuentro) fortuito
2 (visita) ocasional
3 (persona) despreocupado,
tranquilo
4 (charla) informal,
intranscendente
5 (trabajo) eventual / (Agr.)
casual worker,
jornalero temporal
6 (ropa) (de) sport, informal
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
confer grant, converse, consultar
10
15
20
the deacons of his church, who,
to use their own phrase, “dealt
with him,” on the si n o f
rejecting t he aid which
Providence so manifestly held
out. He listened in silence, and
fi n a l l y p r o m i s e d t o c o n f e r
with the physician.
“Were it God’s will,” said the
Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, when,
in fulfilment of this pledge, he
requested
old
Roger
Chillingworth’s professional advice,
“I could be well content that my
labours, and my sorrows, and my
sins, and my pains, should
shortly end with me, and what is
earthly of them be buried in my
grave, and the spiritual go with me
to my eternal state, rather than that
you should put your skill to the
proof in my behalf.”
Roger
“Ah,”
replied
25 Chillingworth,
with
that
quietness, which, whether
imposed or natural, marked all his
deportment, “it is thus that a
young clergyman is apt to speak.
30 Youthful men, not having taken a
deep root, give up their hold of
life so easily! And saintly men,
who walk with God on earth,
would fain be away, to walk with
35 him on the golden pavements of
the New Jerusalem.”
flit / revolotear 1 move lightly, softly, or
rapidly (flitted from one room to
another). verb 1 flutter, fleet, dart
move along rapidly and lightly; skim
or dart ; fly lightly; make short flights,
(revolotear) (flitted from branch to
branch). 3 Brit. colloq. leave one’s
house etc. secretly to escape
creditors or obligations. 4 esp. Sc. &
N.Engl. change one’s home; move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
revolotear: the butterflies flitted around
the flowers, las mariposas revoloteaban alrededor de las flores
“Nay,” rejoined the young
minister, putting his hand to his
40 heart, with a flush of pain flitting
over his brow, “were I worthier to
walk there, I could be better
content to toil here.”
45
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
X
diáconos de su iglesia,
por el pecado de rechazar
la ayuda que tan manifiestamente le ofrecía la
Providencia. Él les escuchó en silencio, y finalm e n t e p r o m e t i ó conferenciar
con el médico.
__________ _______ Cuando
el reverendo señor Dimmesdale,
en cumplimiento de este ruego, pidió consejo profesional al viejo
Roger ___________, le dijo:
—Desearía, si esa fuese la voluntad de Dios, que mis labores, mis tristezas, mis pecados y penas terminasen pronto conmigo; que lo que hay
de terreno en ellos fuese enterrado en
mi fosa; y lo espiritual me acompañase al estado eterno; me alegraría esto
más que no que pusiera usted a prueba su pericia en beneficio mío.
— ¡ A h ! — r e p l i c ó _____
Chillingworth con la calma,
fingida o natural, que le caracterizaba—. ¿Es así como
debe hablar un joven ministro? ¡Despreciar así la vida
un hombre joven que aún no
ha echado hondas raíces!
¡Un hombre piadoso que camina con Dios por la tierra
desfallecer así para no pisar
con Él el pavimento de oro de
la Nueva Jerusalén!
—No —replicó el pastor con expresión de dolor, llevándose la mano
al corazón ____ ____ _____ ________
_____ —; si me considerase digno de ir allá, me contentaría
el trabajar aquí.
“Good men ever interpret
themselves too meanly,” said the
physician.
—Los hombres buenos siempre se juzgan miserablemente —
dijo el médico.
I n t h i s m a n n e r, t h e
50 m y s t e r i o u s
old
Roger
Chillingworth became the
medical adviser of the
Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. As
not only the disease interested
55 t h e p h y s i c i a n , b u t h e w a s
strongly moved to look into the
character and qualities of the
patient, these two men, so
different in age, came
60 gradually to spend much time
[148] De este modo logró
el viejo Roger hacerse el consejero médico del reverendo
señor Dimmesdale. Como no
sólo interesaba al médico la enfermedad, sino que tenía vivo
interés por escudriñar en el
carácter y cualidades del paciente, estos dos hombres, tan
distintos en edad, llegaron a
emplear mucho tiempo juntos.
En beneficio del ministro y
132
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
liberal 1 a). Generosio, desprendido,
desinteresado. Tolerante. 1 b) Que ejerce una profesión liberal tradicionalmente de las artes o profesiones que
ante todo requieren el ejercicio del en- 40
tendimiento.
2. Favorable a las libertades intelectuales y profesionables del individuo y a
las políticas del Estado.
(Nota: parece estarse perdiendo el
primer significado en favor del segun45
do.)
50
55
60
together. For the sake of the
minister’s health, and to enable
the leech to gather plants with
healing balm in them, they took
long walks on the sea-shore, or
in the forest; mingling various
walks with the splash and
murmur of the waves, and the
solemn wind-anthem among
the tree-tops. Often, likewise,
one was the guest of the other
in his place of study and
retirement There was a
fascination for the minister in
the company of the man of
science,
in
whom
he
recognised an intellectual
cultivation of no moderate
depth or scope; together with
a range and freedom of ideas,
that he would have vainly
looked for among the members
of his own profession. In truth,
he was startled, if not shocked,
to find this attribute in the
p h y s i c i a n . M r. D i m m e s d a l e
was a true priest, a true
religionist, with the reverential
sentiment largely developed,
and an order of mind that
impelled itself powerfully
along the track of a creed, and
wore its passage continually
deeper with the lapse of time.
In no state of society would he
have been what is called a man
of liberal views; it would
always be essential to his peace
to feel the pressure of a faith
about him, supporting, while it
confined him within its iron
framework. Not the less,
however, though with a
tremulous enjoyment, did he
feel the occasional relief of
looking at the universe
through the medium of
another kind of intellect than
those with which he habitually
held converse. It was as if a
window were thrown open,
admitting a freer atmosphere
into the close and stifled
s t u d y, w h e r e h i s l i f e w a s
w a s t i n g i t s e l f a w a y, a m i d
lamp-light, or obstructed daybeams, and the musty fragrance,
be it sensual or moral, that
exhales from books. But the air
was too fresh and chill to be
tr. de A. Ruste
X
133
para que el médico pudiera recoger plantas de que extraer los
bálsamos, daban largos paseos
por la orilla del mar y por la
selva, mezclando su charla con
el chapoteo y murmullo de las
olas y el solemne rumor que
producía el viento en las copas
de los árboles. Con frecuencia
era el uno huésped del otro en
su lugar de estudio y retiro.
Para el ministro había algo de
fascinación en la compañía del
hombre de ciencia, en quien
reconocía un cultivo intelectual de profundidad y alcance
inmoderados, juntamente con
una extensión y libertad de
ideas, que en vano hubiera buscado entre los miembros de su
propia profesión. Verdaderamente estaba alarmado, sobresaltado, de hallar en aquel
hombre este atributo. El señor
Dimmesdale era un verdadero
sacerdote, un verdadero
religionista, con el sentimiento reverencial largamente desarrollado, y con un orden de inteligencia que le impulsaba poderosamente a seguir la huella
de un credo y conservar el camino, cada vez más hondo, con
el lapso del tiempo. En ningún
estado de sociedad hubiese
sido lo que se llama un hombre de miras liberales; siempre
hubiera sido esencial para su
paz el sentir la presión de su
fe dentro de él, soportarla
mientras le confinaba en su
marco de hierro. Tampoco dejaba de sentir, aunque con un
disfrute tembloroso, el alivio
casual de contemplar el universo a través del medio de otra
clase de intelecto que aquellos
con quienes mantenía conversación habitualmente. Era
como si se abriese de par en par
una ventana, admitiendo, en el
estudio cerrado y severo, una
atmósfera más libre, en cuyo
despacho se gastaba su vida
[149] entre la luz de la lámpara o los obstruidos rayos del
día y la afragancia, sea sensual
o moral, que exhalan los libros.
Pero el aire era demasiado fresco o helado para ser respirado
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
long breathed with comfort. So
the minister, and the physician
with him, withdrew again
within the limits of what their
5 Church defined as orthodox.
con gusto. Así es que el ministro, y el médico con él, se recogieron en los límites de lo
que su iglesia definía como ortodoxo.
Thus Roger Chillingworth
scrutinised his patient
carefully, both as he saw him
in his ordinary life, keeping
an accustomed pathway in
the range of th oughts familiar
to him, and as he appeared
when thrown amidst other
moral scenery, the novelty of
which might call out something
new to the surface of his
c h a r a c t e r. H e d e e m e d i t
essential, it would seem, to
know the man, before
attempting to do him good.
Wherever there is a heart and
an intellect, the diseases of the
physical frame are tinged with
the peculiarities of these. In
Arthur Dimmesdale, thought
and imagination were so
active, and sensibility so
intense, that the bodily
infirmity would be likely to have
its groundwork there. So Roger
Chillingworth—the man of skill,
the
kind
and
friendly
physician—strove to go deep
into his patient’s bosom, delving
among his principles, prying
in t o h i s r e c o l l e c t i o n s , a n d
probing everything with a
cautious touch, like a treasureseeker in a dark cavern. Few
secrets can escape an
i n v e s t i g a t o r,
who
has
opportunity and licence to
undertake such a quest, and
skill to follow it up. A man
burdened with a secret should
especially avoid the intimacy
of his physician. If the latter
possess native sagacity, and a
nameless something more let
us call it intuition; if he show
no intrusive egotism, nor
disagreeable
prominent
characteristics of his own; if he
have the power, which must be
born with him, to bring his
mind into such affinity with his
patient’s, that this last shall
unawares have spoken what he
imagines himself only to have
Así escudriñó Roger a su
paciente con todo cuidado,
tanto cuando le veía en su vida
ordinaria, siguiendo la senda
acostumbrada en el recorrido
de los pensamientos que le
eran familiares, como cuando,
arrojado a otro escenario moral, la novedad de éste hacía
que apareciese algo nuevo en
la superficie de su carácter.
Consideraba esencial, al parecer, conocer al hombre antes
de intentar hacerle un bien.
Dondequiera que hay un corazón y una inteligencia, las enfermedades del cuerpo físico
están matizadas con sus peculiaridades.
En
Arturo
Dimmesdale eran tan activos
el pensamiento y la imaginación y tan intensa la sensibilidad, que la enfermedad corporal parecía tener allí su campo
de operaciones. Por eso el
hombre de pericia, el médico
amigo y amable, trató de ahondar en el seno del enfermo,
sondeando en sus principios,
atisbando en sus recuerdos y
probándolo todo con un toque
cauteloso, como un buscador
de tesoros en una oscura caverna. Pocos secretos pueden
escapar a un investigador que
tenga oportunidad y licencia
para acometer tal empresa y
pericia para llevarla adelante.
Un hombre agobiado con un
secreto debiera evitar especialmente la intimidad con
este médico. Si éste poseyese
una sagacidad nativa y algo
más incalificable, llamémosle
intuición, si no demostrase un
egoísmo intrusivo ni características prominentes desagradables; si tuviese el poder, que
fuese innato en él, de llevar su
imaginación a tal afinidad con
la del enfermo que éste ignorase haber dicho lo que imaginaba que sólo había pensado; si tales revelaciones fue-
10
15
20
25
30
35
pry 1 1 (usu. foll. by into) inquire
impertinently (into a person’s
private affairs etc.). 2 (usu. foll.
by into, about, etc.) look or peer
inquisitively.
U.S.= prise v. & n. (also prize)
force open or out by leverage 40
(prised up the lid; prised the box
open).
45
50
55
60
134
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
thought if such revelations be
received without tumult, and
acknowledged not so often by
an uttered sympathy as by
5 silence, an inarticulate breath,
and here and there a word to
indicate that all is understood;
if to these qualifications of a
confidant be joined the
10 a d v a n t a g e s a ff o r d e d b y h i s
recognised character as a
physician;—then, at some
inevitable moment, will the
soul of the sufferer be
15 dissolved, and flow forth in a
dark but transparent stream,
bringing all its mysteries into
the daylight.
sen recibidas sin tumulto y reconocidas por el silencio, con
más frecuencia [150] que por
una expresada simpatía; por
un aliento inarticulado, y, aquí
y allá, una palabra, para indicar que todo estuviese comprendido; si a estas calificaciones de un confidente se
añadiesen las ventajas aportadas por conocer su carácter
como médico, entonces, en algún momento inevitable, se
disolvería el alma del paciente y correría como un arroyo
transparente en la oscuridad,
exponiendo todos sus misterios a la luz del día.
20
Roger
Chillingworth
possessed all, or most, of the
attributes above enumerated.
Nevertheless, time went on; a kind
of intimacy, as we have said, grew
up between these two cultivated
minds, which had as wide a field
as the whole sphere of human
thought and study to meet upon;
they discussed every topic of
ethics and religion, of public
affairs, and private character; they
talked much, on both sides, of
matters that seemed personal to
themselves; and yet no secret,
such as the physician fancied must
exist there, ever stole out of the
minister’s consciousness into his
companion’s ear. The latter had
his suspicions, indeed, that even
the nature of Mr. Dimmesdale’s
bodily disease had never fairly
been revealed to him. It was a
strange reserve!
Roger Chillingworth poseía
todos o casi todos los atributos
enumerados. Sin embargo, el
tiempo transcurría; una especie
de intimidad, como hemos dicho,
crecía entre los dos cerebros cultivados, los cuales tenían un campo tan ancho para encontrarse
como la esfera toda del pensamiento y estudio humanos; discutían todo tópico de ética y religión, de asuntos públicos y de
carácter privado; ambos hablaban mucho sobre asuntos que
parecían serles personales y, no
obstante, los que el médico imaginaba que existían allí, jamás
salieron del conocimiento del
ministro para llegar a oídos de su
compañero. Éste tenía sospechas,
en efecto, de que ni la naturaleza
de la enfermedad física del pastor se le había revelado. ¡Era una
reserva extraña!
After a time, at a hint from
Roger Chillingworth, the friends
of Mr. Dimmesdale effected an
arrangement by which the two
were lodged in the same house;
50 so that every ebb and flow of the
minister’s life-tide might pass
under the eye of his anxious and
attached physician. There was
much joy throughout the town
55 when this greatly desirable object
was attained. It was held to be the
best possible measure for the
young clergyman’s welfare;
unless, indeed, as often urged by
60 such as felt authorised to do so,
Después de algún tiempo, por
indicación de Roger, los amigos
del joven pastor hicieron un arreglo, por el cual se hospedaron los
dos en la misma casa; así, las alzas y bajas en la marea de la vida
del clérigo, podían se apreciadas
por el ojo experto y amigable de
su médico. Cuando se logró este
objeto, largo tiempo deseado, fue
grande la alegría en la población.
Se apreció como la mejor medida
posible para el bienestar del enfermo, salvo que, como con frecuencia se afirmaba por los que se sentían autorizados para hacerlo, hu-
25
30
35
40
45
135
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Gobelin looms: the looms of a famous
Parisian family, the Gobelins, who wove
precious tapestries
David and Bathsheba: a story from the
Bible, II Samuel 11-12. King David sends
a soldier Uriah to certain death in battle in
order to wed his wife Bathsheba, but God
sends Nathan the prophet to condemn the
king
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
he had selected some one of the
many blooming damsels, spiritually devoted to him, to become his
devoted wife. This latter step,
however, there was no present
prospect that Arthur Dimmesdale
would be prevailed upon to take;
he rejected all suggestions of the
kind, as if priestly celibacy were
one of his articles of Church discipline. Doomed by his own
choice, therefore, as Mr.
Dimmesdale so evidently was, to
eat his unsavoury morsel always
at another’s board, and endure the
life-long chill which must be his
lot who seeks to warm himself
only at another’s fireside, it truly
seemed that this sagacious,
experienced, benevolent old
physician, with his concord of
paternal and reverential love for
the young pastor, was the very
man, of all mankind, to be
constantly within reach of his
voice.
biese elegido alguna de las muchas
florecientes damiselas, espiritualmente afectas a él, para convertirla en su esposa. Sin embargo, no
había propósito presente [151]
de que Arturo Dimmesdale intentase dar ese paso; rechazaba
toda ind i c a c i ó n d e e s e g é n e r o ,
como si el celibato sacerdotal
fuese uno de los artículos de la
disciplina eclesiástica. Destinado por su propia elección,
como evidentemente lo estaba,
a comer su pan amargo en mesa
ajena y a soportar el frío de
toda la vida, que es el sino del
que busca para calentarse el
hogar extraño, parecía realmente que este médico sagaz,
experimentado y benévolo, con
su concordia de amor paternal
y reverente para con su joven
p a s t o r, e r a e l h o m b r e ú n i c o d e
la humanidad para permanecer
constantemente al alcance de
su voz.
The new abode of the two
friends was with a pious widow,
of good social rank, who dwelt
in a house covering pretty nearly
the site on which the venerable
structure of King’s Chapel has
since been built. It had the
graveyard, originally Isaac
Johnson’s home-field, on one side,
and so was well adapted to call up
serious reflections, suited to their
respective employments, in both
minister and man of physic. The
motherly care of the good widow
assigned to Mr. Dimmesdale a front
apartment, with a sunny exposure,
and heavy window-curtains, to
create a noontide shadow when
desirable. The walls were hung
round with tapestry, said to be
from the Gobelin looms, and, at
all events, representing
the Scriptural story of
D a v i d a n d Bathsheba, and
Nathan the Prophet, in colours
still unfaded, but which made the
fair woman of the scene almost
as grimly picturesque as the woedenouncing seer. Here the pale
clergyman piled up his library,
rich with parchment-bound folios
of the Fathers, and the lore of
Rabbis, and monkish erudition,
La nueva residencia de los
dos amigos estaba próxima a
la capi lla del Rey, y en ella
vivía una piadosa viuda perteneciente a familia distinguida.
Había a un lado de la casa un
cementerio, que antiguamente fue propiedad de Johnson,
el cual se amoldaba a las respectivas profesiones del pastor y del cirujano, y que les
sugería serias reflexiones. El
cuidado maternal de la buena
viuda asignó a Dimmesdale
una habitación exterior bien
soleada,
con
tupidos
cortinajes para cerner la luz
de la ventana, cuando así lo
desease. L a s p a r e d e s s e
hallab a n c u b i e r t a s c o n
tapices
gobelinos,
r e p r e s e n t a n d o l a s h i storias
de
Danie l
y
Bathsheba y de Nathan
e l p r o feta, d e t o n o s a ú n
n o descolor i d o s , p e r o q u e d a b a n a e stos personajes un aspecto terriblemente p i n t o r e s c o .
En este cuarto estableció
el clérigo su biblioteca,
abundosa en libros encuadernados
en pergamino, pertenecientes a los antiguos Padres y a la erudición rabina
X
136
Notas
decry depreciar, desprestigiar, vituperar, condenar, afear
1
condemn, reprobate, objurgate,
excoriate
express
strong
disapproval of; «We condemn the
racism in South Africa»; «These
ideas were reprobated»
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on
a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1: to put to use : APPLY <bestowed
his spare time on study> 2 : to put in a
particular or appropriate place : STOW 3
: to provide with quarters : PUT UP 4 : to
convey as a gift — usually used with on or
upon.
tr. de A. Ruste
of which the Protestant divines,
even while they vilified and
decried that class of writers,
were yet constrained often to
avail themselves. On the other
side of the house, old Roger
Chillingworth arranged his study
and laboratory: not such as a
modern man of science would
reckon even tolerably complete,
but provided with a distilling
apparatus and the means of
compounding drugs and chemicals, which the practised alchemist knew well how to turn to
purpose. With such commodiousness
of situation, these two learned
persons sat themselves down,
each in his own domain, yet
familiarly passing from one
apartment to the other, and
bestowing a mutual and not
incurious inspection into one
another’s business.
X
y monástica, de la que se servían los
pastores protestantes, aun cuando difamaban y desacre d i t a b a n e s a
c l a s e d e e s c r i t o r e s __________
_______ ________. A l otro extremo de la casa estableció su estudio y laboratorio el viejo Roger;
no un laboratorio completo, como
un hombre moderno de ciencia lo
hubiera puesto, sino provisto de
aparatos destilatorios y de lo
necesario para componer drogas y productos químicos que
el práctico alquimista [152] sabía muy bien cómo obtener. Con
aquella situación tan cómoda,
estos hombres de estudio se
instalaron cada uno en su
propio dominio, pero, sin
e m b a r g o , p a s a n d o f a m i l i a rmente de un departamento a
otro y otorgándose una mutua y curiosa inspección en
sus respectivos asuntos.
25
30
besought entreated
35
40
45
50
55
60
And the Reverend Arthur
Dimmesdale’s best discerning
friends, as we have intimated,
very reasonably imagined
that the hand of Providence
had done all this for the
purpose—besought in so
many public and domestic and
secret prayers—of restoring
the young minister to health.
But, it must now be said, another
portion of the community had
latterly begun to take its own
view of the relation betwixt
M r. D i m m e s d a l e a n d t h e
mysterious old physician.
When
an
uninstructed
multitude attempts to see
with its eyes, it is
exceedingly apt to be
d e c e i v e d . W h e n , h o w e v e r,
it forms its judgment, as it
usually does, on the
intuitions of its great and
warm
heart,
the
conclusions thus attained
are often so profound and
so unerring as to possess
the character of truth
s u p e r n a t u r a l l y
r e v e a l e d . The people, in
the case of which we speak,
could justify its prejudice
against
Roger
Chillingworth by no fact or
137
Los amigos que mejor conocían al joven Arturo
D i m m e s d a l e i m aginaban,
como ya hemos dicho, que la
mano de la Providencia había
realizado todo aquello con propósito de restablecer la salud del
ministro, propósito i m p l o r a d o
en muchos rezos p ú b l i c o s ,
d o m é s t i c o s y s e c r etos.
Pero otra parte de la com u n i dad había mirado últimamente la relación
entre el pastor y el
viejo médico desde
otro punto de vista.
C u a n d o u n a m u ltitud
ignor a n t e t r a t a d e v e r c o n
sus propios, está excesivamente dispuesta a engañ a rse. No obstante, cuando
forma su juicio, como lo
hace con frecuencia, en las
sustituciones de su corazón grande y ardoroso, las
conclusiones obtenidas así
son tan profundas e inequívocas como si poseyeran el carácter de verdades
r e v e l a d a s
supernaturalmente. La gente, en el caso de que hablamos, no podía justificar
su prejuicio en contra de
R o g e r __________, p o r h e -
avail utilidad, beneficio, ventaja 2 valer servir, valerse de, beneficiar,
aprovechar 1 tr. help, benefit. 2
refl. (foll. by of) profit by; take
advantage of. 3 intr. a provide help.
b be of use, value, or profit. — n.
(usu. in neg. or interrog. phrases)
use, profit (of no avail; without avail;
of what avail?).
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
Sir Thomas Overbury’s murder: Overbury
(1581-1613), a writer, was poisoned by the
connivance of the lewd Countess of
Essex, after he opposed his patron’s
marriage to her. Dr Forman (1552-1611)
was an astrologer and seller of love
potions who was implicated in her affairs
10
15
20
incantations magic formula, spells, (conjuros, ensalmos)
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
a rg u m e n t w o r t h y o f s e r i o u s
refutation. There was an
aged handicraftsman, it is
true, who had been a
citizen of London at the
period of Sir Thomas
O v e r b u r y ’s m u r d e r, n o w
some thirty years agone; he
testified to having seen the
physician, under some
other name, which the
narrator of the story had
now forgotten, in company
w i t h D r. F o r m a n , t h e
f a m o u s o l d c o n j u r e r, w h o
was implicated in the affair
o f O v e r b u r y. Tw o o r t h r e e
individuals hinted that the
man of skill, during his
Indian
c a p t i v i t y,
had
enlarged
his
medical
attainments by joining in
the incantations of the
savage priests, who were
universally acknowledged
to be powerful enchanters,
often performing seemingly
miraculous cures by their
skill in the black art. A
l a rg e n u m b e r — a n d m a n y o f
these were persons of such
sober sense and practical
observation that their
opinions would have been
valuable in other matters—
affirmed
that
Roger
C h i l l i n g w o r t h ’s a s p e c t h a d
undergone a remarkable
change while he had dwelt
in town, and especially
s i n c e h i s a b o d e w i t h M r.
Dimmesdale. At first, his
expression had been calm,
meditative, scholar-like.
Now there was something
ugly and evil in his face,
which
they
had
not
previously noticed, and
which grew still the more
obvious to sight the oftener
they looked upon him.
According to the vulgar
idea, the fire in his
laboratory
had
been
brought from the lower
regions, and was fed with
infernal fuel; and so, as
might be expected, his
visage was getting sooty
with the smoke.
chos o argumentos dignos d e
una seria reputación. Es
cierto que había un artesano, que fue ciudadano
londinense en la época en
que se cometió el asesinat o d e S i r To m a s O v e r b u r y,
y que hoy contaba treinta
años de edad, quien afirmaba haber visto al médico, bajo algún otro nombre,
que el narrador de esta historia ha olvidado, en compañía del doctor Forman, el
viejo y famoso nigromante
que se vio complicado en
aquel suceso. Dos o tres individuos apuntaban que el
médico, durante el cautiverio indio, había aumentado
sus conocimientos médicos,
por haberse mezclado en
los encantamientos de los
sacerdotes salvajes, quienes eran universalmente reconocidos como poderosos
hechiceros, y que, aparentemente, realizaban curas
milagrosas por su habilidad
en [153] el arte negro. Un
gran número de personas,
muchas de las cuales eran
de buen sentido y de observación práctica para que
sus opiniones tuviesen valor en otras materias, afirmaban
que
Roger
Chillingworth había sufrido
un gran cambio en su aspecto desde que se estableció en la población y
más aún desde que vivía
con Dimmesdale. En un
principio su expresión era
de calma, meditativa y de
estudio; ahora había en su
semblante algo feo, algo
de maldad, que anteriormente no habían observado, y que se hacía más visible mientras más se le
miraba. Según la idea del
vulgo, el fuego de su laboratorio había sido llevado desde las profundas
regiones y alimentado por
u n f u e l l e i n f e r n a l y, p o r
tanto, como era de presum i r, s u c a r a i b a e n n e greciéndose con el humo.
138
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
To sum up the matter, it
grew to be a widely diffused
opinion that the Rev. Arthur
Dimmesdale, like many other
personages of special sanctity,
in all ages of the Christian
world, was haunted either by
S a t a n h i m s e l f o r S a t a n ’s
emissary, in the guise of old
Roger Chillingworth. This
diabolical agent had the
Divine permission, for a
season, to burrow into the
clergyman’s intimacy, and plot
against his soul. No sensible
man, it was confessed, could
doubt on which side the
victory would turn. The people
looked, with an unshaken
hope, to see the minister come
forth out of the conflict
transfig u r e d w i t h t h e g l o r y
w h i c h h e would unquestionably
w i n . M e a n w h i l e ,
n e v e r t h e l e s s , it was sad to
think of the perchance
mortal agony through which
he must struggle towards
his triumph.
En suma, llegó a ser opinión casi general que el reverendo Arturo Dimmesdale,
como otros muchos personajes
de santidad especial en todas
las épocas del mundo cristiano, se hallaba encantado por
el propio Satanás, o por su
emisario, en la forma del viejo Roger Chillingworth. Este
agente diabólico tenía permiso divino durante algún tiempo para granjearse la intimidad del clérigo y conspirar
contra su alma. Ningún
hombre sensible podía dudar de parte de quién había de quedar la victoria.
La gente creía a pies
juntillas que el ministro
saldría del conflicto transfigurado con la g l o r i a q u e ,
incuestionablemente, había de ganar. Mientras
tanto, no obstante, era
triste pensar en la mortal agonía por que había
de pasar para conseguir
su triunfo.
Alas! to judge from the
gloom and terror in the depth
of the poor minister ’s eyes,
35 the battle was a sore one, and
the victory anything but
secure.
Pero ¡ay!, a juzgar por la
tristeza y el terror que se advertían en los ojos profundos
del pobre ministro, la batalla
era amarga y la victoria insegura.
5
10
15
sensible se refiere a cuerdo, razonable, acertado [gusto, idea,
plan], sensato, módico [precio],
prudente, lógico, consciente,
práctico / cómodo [ropa, calzado], mientras que el español sensible traduce sensitive, feeling,
sentient,
regrettable, 20
noticeable / marked, sizable,
deplorable, tender, sore [adolorido]. Sensibility es sensibilidad, en el sentido de habilidad
de sentir, receptividad, en el
mundo personal, y además precisión, en el mundo mecánico;
el plural sensibilities se usa para 25
susceptibilidad, sentimientos
delicados, delicadeza; a su vez,
sensibilidad traduce sensitivity,
como percepción por los sentidos, radio, TV, foto.
30
40
45
Chapter 10: The Leech and His Patient
In this chapter Chillingworth closes in on his prey, Dimmesdale. In the final paragraphs, while Dimmesdale sleeps the doctor opens his patient’s shirt and sees something which
throws him into a wild delight.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
This chapter delves more deeply into the 50
disturbing relationship between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. On the surface the two men seem to be living together in harmonious
friendship. They are both lonely intellectuals, with every reason to be glad of intelligent companionship. Moreover, the younger man seems to need the doctor’s care that Chillingworth
eagerly supplies. However, below the surface, the emotional reality is quite different from what it seems. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth as a miner digging into the soil of the
other man’s personality, throwing away real gold while he searches for something without value. Dimmesdale does not voluntarily help him. He resists Chillingworth’s prying as best
he can, but as time goes on his health fades and he is weakened. The frequent close contact between them gives Chillingworth repeated chances to probe and pry. One
conversation between them ends stormily, with Dimmesdale saying ‘But who art thou, that meddlest in this matter? - that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?’.
Even this interview leaves Chillingworth curious: ‘As with one passion, so with another! He bath done a wild thing ere now, this pious Master Dimmesdale, in the hot passion of his
heart!’. Dimmesdale, because of his depression, trusts no one as a true friend and does not recognise his enemy. The brief sight of Hester and Pearl through the window merely
55
underlines his isolation. In his loneliness, he soon apologises for his outburst and he and Chillingworth continue to live in the same house, meeting often. Chillingworth is now certain
Dimmesdale’s ill health comes from a bad conscience, by ‘a strange sympathy betwixt soul and body’. The wicked physician finds out what he wants to know at last. The minister
has fallen asleep in a chair, and Chillingworth opens his shirt, without waking him. Hawthorne does not reveal what he sees, but whatever it is
Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to
heaven, and won into his kingdom.
The reader is left to guess that it may be a60
scarlet letter.
139
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
X.
[154] X
THE LEECH AND HIS PATIENT
EL MÉDICO Y SU PACIENTE
Old Roger Chillingworth,
throughout life, had been calm
in temperament, kindly, though
not of warm affections, but ever,
and in all his relations with the
world, a pure and upright man.
He had begun an investigation,
as he imagined, with the severe
and equal integrity of a judge,
desirous only of truth, even as
if the question involved no more
than the air-drawn lines and
figures of a geometrical
problem, instead of human
passions, and wrongs inflicted
on himself. But, as he
proceeded, a terrible fascination,
a kind of fierce, though still
calm, necessity, seized the old
man within its gripe, and never
set him free again until he had
done all its bidding. He now dug
into the poor clergyman’s heart,
like a miner searching for gold;
or, rather, like a sexton delving
into a grave, possibly in quest
of a jewel that had been buried
on the dead man’s bosom, but
likely to find nothing save
mortality and corruption. Alas,
for his own soul, if these were
what he sought!
El
viejo
Roger
Chillingworth había sido de
temperamento tranquilo y amable, si bien jamás tuvo calurosos afectos; pero fue siempre un
hombre puro y recto en sus relaciones con el mundo. Había
comenzado una investigación
con la integridad severa y ecuánime de un juez, deseoso únicamente de hallar la verdad; como
si la cuestión no envolviese más
que las líneas trazadas en el espacio y las figuras de un problema geométrico, en vez de pasiones y maldades que se le hubiesen infringido. Pero, prosiguiendo en s u e m p e ñ o , s e a p o d e r ó d e l a n c i a no una terrible
fascinación, una especie de
calma fiera que no le abandonaría ya. Ahora ahondaba en el corazón del pobre clérigo, como un
minero que busca oro, o, más
bien, como un sepulturero cavando en una fosa, con la posibilidad
de hallar la joya que hubiera sido
enterrada con el muerto; pero,
probablemente, con la de no encontrar más que mortalidad y corrupción. ¡Ay de su propia alma,
si fuese eso lo que buscaba!
Sometimes a light glimmered
40 out of the physician’s eyes,
burning blue and ominous, like
the reflection of a furnace, or, let
us say, like one of those gleams
of ghastly fire that darted from
45 Bunyan’s awful doorway in the
hillside, and quivered on the
pilgrim’s face. The soil where this
dark miner was working had
perchance shown indications that
50 encouraged him.
Algunas veces, brillaba una
luz en los ojos del médico, una
luz abrasadora, azul y siniestra,
como el reflejo de un horno.___
__ ________ ___________ _____
__ ___________ _____ ____ __ _
___ ______ _______ ________ __
___ ______ ___ _________
______ _____ La tierra donde
trabajaba este minero lúgubre le
había dado, quizá, algún indicio
para animarle.
5
10
15
20
gripe, kick, beef, bitch, squawk informal
terms for objecting; «I have a gripe
about the service here» Angustia, 25
aprieto, miseria agarradero/mango,
queja [en sentido familiar], refunfuño :
gripes cólicos
To gripe refunfuñar, agarrar empuñar,
dar cólico, irritar, enfadar
gripe 1 intr. colloq. complain, esp. 30
peevishly. 2 tr. affect with gastric or
intestinal pain. 3 tr. archaic clutch,
grip. 4 Naut. a tr. secure with gripes. b
intr. turn to face the wind in spite of the
helm.
grip — v. (gripped, gripping) 1 a tr. 35
grasp tightly; take a firm hold of. b intr.
take a firm hold, esp. by friction.
2tr. (of a feeling or emotion) deeply affect
(a person) (was gripped by fear). 3tr.
compel the attention or interest of (a
gripping story).
Bunyan: John Bunyan (1628-88) wrote of
hell’s gates flaming across the pathway
of the pilgrim Christian, in his famous
allegorical work The Pilgrim’s Progress
(1678)
X
«Este hombre —se decía
en tales momentos—, puro,
como lo creen, espiritual,
como parece, heredó de sus
padres una fuerte naturaleza
animal. ¡Ahondemos un poco
más en la dirección de esta
vena!»
“This man,” said he, at one
such moment, to himself, “pure as
they deem him—all spiritual as he
55 seems—hath inherited a strong
animal nature from his father or
his mother. Let us dig a little
further in the direction of this
vein!”
60
140
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
Then after long search into
t h e m i n i s t e r ’s d i m i n t e r i o r,
and turning over many
precious materials, in the
shape of high aspirations for
the welfare of his race, warm
love of souls, pure sentiments,
natural piety, strengthened by
t h o u g h t a n d s t u d y, a n d
illuminated by revelation—all
of which invaluable gold was
perhaps no better than rubbish
to the seeker—he would turn
back, discouraged, and begin
his quest towards another
point. He groped along as
stealthily, with as cautious a
tread, and as wary an outlook,
as a thief entering a chamber
where a man lies only half
asleep—or, it may be, broad
awake—with purpose to steal
the very treasure which this
man guards as the apple of his
eye. In spite of his
premeditated carefulness, the
floor would now and then
creak; his garments would
rustle; the shadow of his
presence, in a forbidden
proximity, would be thrown
across his victim. In other
w o r d s , M r. D i m m e s d a l e ,
whose sensibility of nerve
often produced the effect of
spiritual intuition, would
become vaguely aware that
something inimical to his
peace had thrust itself into
relation with him. But Old
Roger Chillingworth, too, had
perceptions that were almost
intuitive; and when the
minister threw his startled
eyes towards him, there the
physician sat; his kind,
watchful, sympathising, but
never intrusive friend.
Luego, después de larga rebusca en el oscuro interior del
enfermo, de revolver muchos
materiales preciosos, en forma
de altas aspiraciones para el
bienestar de su raza, amor ardoroso de las almas, sentimientos puros, religiosidad natural
fortalecida por el pensamiento
[155] y el estudio e iluminada
por la revelación, todo este oro
incalculable que para el indagador quizá no tuviese más valor que la basura, quedaba descorazonado y dirigía sus investigaciones a otro punto. Seguía
tanteando t a n f u r t i v a m e n t e ,
con paso tan cauteloso y mirada tan astuta, como el ladrón que penetra en el cuarto
donde hay echado un hombre
medio dormido (o tal vez despierto), con el propósito de
robarle el tesoro en el que tiene puestos sus ojos. A pesar
de su precaución premeditada, el suelo cruje de vez en
cuando; sus ropas producen
ruido con el roce, y la sombra de su presencia, en una
proximidad prohibida, va a
dar sobre su víctima. En otras
palabras,
el
señor
Dimmesdale, cuya sensibilidad nerviosa producía con
frecuencia el efecto de intuición espiritual, se daba vaga
cuenta de que algo que le era
adverso se había puesto en relación con él. Pero el viejo
Roger tenía también percepciones
que
eran
casi
intuitivas; y cuando el ministro arrojaba sobre él una mirada alarmante, se sentaba y
seguía siendo el amigo cariñoso, vigilante, simpático,
pero nunca entrometido.
Ye t M r. D i m m e s d a l e
would perhaps have seen this
individual’s character more
perfectly, if a certain morbidness,
to which sick hearts are
55 liable, had not rendered him
suspicious of all mankind.
Trusting no man as his friend,
he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually
60 appeared. He therefore still
No obstante, el joven pastor hubiese visto más perfectamente el carácter de este individuo, si cierto estado mórbido,
al que están expuestos los corazones enfermos, no le hubiese hecho sospechar de toda la
humanidad. No fiándose de
ningún hombre como amigo,
no podía reconocer al enemigo
cuando aparecía. Así pues,
5
10
15
20
25
30
proximity: nearness
35
40
45
morbid no es mórbido, sino morboso, enfermizo [de mente]: (Med ) mórbido,
patológico, malsano, unhealthy;
a morbid scene, un espectáculo morboso;
morbid curiosity (macabre or
obsessive interest in sth) curiosidad
morbosa], pesimista, deprimido,
mientras que mórbido se refiere a escenas o historias que son gruesome
[horrendo], grisly [horripilante], aunque en literatura es más positivo,
como soft, delicate, tender.
mórbido 1 que padece enfermedad 2
blando, suave, delicado
My daughter has a morbid interest
in death. = Mi hija tiene un interés
enfermizo en la muerte.
/ His morbid attitude won’t help him
to recover. = Su actitud pesimista no
le ayudaría a recuperarse.
/ Do you like Dracula’s grisly
scenes? = ¿Te gustan los escenas
mórbidos (horripilantes) de Drácula?
tr. de A. Ruste
50
141
render
hacer inútil, resultar, dejar
(ciego), presentar, dar, rendir (cuentas),
prestar (ayuda), enlucir, interpretar, traducir, verter
Notas
flabby fofo, flácido, débil, marchito, liso.
lacio 1. adj. Marchito, ajado. 2.
adj. Flojo, débil, sin vigor. 3.
adj. Dicho del cabello: Que
cae sin formar ondas ni rizos.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
kept up a familiar intercourse
with him, daily receiving the
old physician in his study, or
visiting the laboratory, and,
5 for recreation’s sake, watching the processes by which
weeds were converted into
drugs of potency.
continuó manteniendo con
Roger una relación familiar, recibiéndole diariamente en su
estudio, o visitando el laboratorio y, a guisa de recreo, observando el proceso por el que
las plantas se convertían en
drogas de potencia.
10
One day, leaning his forehead
on his hand, and his elbow on the
sill of the open window, that
looked towards the grave-yard, he
talked with Roger Chillingworth,
15 while the old man was examining
a bundle of unsightly plants.
Un día, con el codo apoyado
en el antepecho de la ventana que
daba al cementerio, y la cabeza
sobre la palma de la mano, hablaba con Roger Chillingworth,
mientras éste examinaba un manojo de plantas disformes.
“Where,” asked he, with a
look askance at them—for it was
20 the clergyman’s peculiarity that he
seldom, now-a-days, looked
straight forth at any object,
whether human or inanimate,
“where, my kind doctor, did you
25 gather those herbs, with such a
dark, flabby leaf?”
[156] —¿Dónde —preguntó,
echando una mirada de soslayo a
las plantas (porque era, por esta
época, costumbre suya no mirar
directamente a ningún objeto,
bien humano o inanimado)—,
dónde, mi querido doctor, ha recogido usted esas hierbas con
hojas tan oscuras y lacias?
“Even in the graveyard here
at hand,” answered the physician,
30 continuing his employment.
“They are new to me. I found them
growing on a grave, which bore
no tombstone, no other memorial
of the dead man, save these ugly
35 weeds, that have taken upon
themselves to keep him in
remembrance. They grew out of
his heart, and typify, it may be,
some hideous secret that was
40 buried with him, and which he had
done better to confess during his
lifetime.”
—Hasta en ese mismo cementerio tan a la mano —respondió el médico—. Me son
desconocidas. Las vi que crecían en una sepultura que no
tenía lápida, ni otro recuerdo
del muerto más que estas feas
plantas que se habían apropiado el derecho de recordarle.
Brotaban de su corazón y quizá representaban algún secreto
espantoso que estaba enterrado con él y que hubiera sido
mejor que lo hubiese confesado cuando vivía.
“Perchance,” said Mr.
45 Dimmesdale, “he earnestly
desired it, but could not.”
—Tal vez —dijo el clérigo— deseara ardientemente
confesarlo y no pudiese.
“And wherefore?” rejoined
the physician.
50
“Wherefore not; since all the
powers of nature call so
earnestly for the confession of
sin, that these black weeds have
sprung up out of a buried heart,
55 to make manifest, an outspoken
crime?”
—¿Y por qué no? —continuó el médico—. ¿Por qué
no, ya que todos los poderes de
la naturaleza invitan con tanta
vehemencia a la confesión del
pecado, que estas plantas negras brotan de un corazón sepulto para hacer manifiesto un
crimen callado?
“That, good sir, is but a phantasy of yours,” replied the min60 ister. “There can be, if I forbode
—Eso, buen señor, es una
fantasía de usted —replicó el
ministro—. No puede haber po142
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
aright, no power, short of the
Divine mercy, to disclose,
whether by uttered words, or by
type or emblem, the secrets that
may be buried in the human
heart. The heart, making itself
guilty of such secrets, must
perforce hold them, until the
day when all hidden things
shall be revealed. Nor have I
so read or interpreted Holy
Writ, as to understand that the
disclosure of human thoughts
and deeds, then to be made,
is intended as a part of the
retribution. That, surely, were
a shallow view of it. No; these
revelations, unless I greatly err,
are meant merely to promote the
intellectual satisfaction of all intelligent beings, who will stand
waiting, on that day, to see the
dark problem of this life made
plain. A knowledge of men’s
hearts will be needful to the
completest solution of that problem. And, I conceive moreover,
that the hearts holding such miserable secrets as you speak of,
will yield them up, at that last
day, not with reluctance, but with
a joy unutterable.”
der, salvo para la Divina Clemencia, que descubra los secretos enterrados con un corazón
humano, ya sea por palabras o
por signos o emblemas. El corazón, haciéndose culpable de tales secretos, tiene forzosamente
que retenerlos hasta el día en
que todas las cosas ocultas hayan de revelarse. Ni he leído o
interpretado en las Sagradas Escrituras que el descubrimiento
de los pensamientos o hechos
humanos que entonces haya de
hacerse, sea como una parte de
retribución. No; estas revelaciones, de no estar yo grandemente
equivocado, se nombran simplemente para fomentar la satisfacción intelectual de todo ser inteligente, que esperará ver
claro en aquel día todo el oscuro problema de esta [157]
vida. Será necesario un conocimiento del corazón humano, para
llegar a la solución más completa
de ese problema. Y creo, además,
que los corazones que ocultan los
miserables secretos de que usted
habla, los expondrán en aquel último día, no con repugnancia, sino
con alegría indecible.
“Then why not reveal it
35 h e r e ? ”
asked
Roger
Chillingworth, glancing quietly
aside at the minister. “Why
should not the guilty ones
sooner avail themselves of this
40 unutterable solace?”
—¿Entonces, por qué no
revelarlos aquí? —preguntó
Roger, mirando tranquilamente al ministro—. ¿Por qué los
culpables
no
han
de
proporcionarse antes esa alegría inexplicable?
“They mostly do,” said
the clergyman, griping hard
at his breast, as if afflicted
with an importunate throb of
p a i n . “ M a n y, m a n y a p o o r
soul
hath
given
its
confidence to me, not only
on the death-bed, but while
strong in life, and fair in
r e p u t a t i o n . A n d e v e r, a f t e r
such an outpouring, oh, what
a relief have I witnessed in
those sinful brethren! even as
in one who at last draws free
air, after a long stifling with
his own polluted breath. How
can it be otherwise? Why
should a wretched man—
guilty, we will say, of mur-
—En su mayoría lo hacen —
dijo el clérigo, oprimiéndose
fuertemente el pecho, como si le
afligiese algún dolor agudo—.
Muchas, muchas pobres almas
me han dado su confianza, no
sólo en el lecho de muerte, sino
vivos y fuertes y bien reputados.
Y siempre, después de aquellas
confianzas, ¡oh, qué alivio he
presenciado en aquellos hermanos pecadores!; como uno que,
por fin, respira aire libre, después de haber estado ahogándose durante largo tiempo con su
propio aliento putrefacto.
¿Cómo puede ser de otro modo?
¿Por qué un hombre perverso,
culpable, digámoslo así, de ase-
5
perforce unavoidably; necessarily
10
15
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
20
that day: Judgement Day, on which
Puritans believed all souls would reveal
all their secrets and thus show forth the
justice and the mercy of God
25
30
importunate: troublesomely urgent
tr. de A. Ruste
45
50
55
60
143
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
der—prefer to keep the dead
corpse buried in his own
heart, rather than fling it
forth at once, and let the uni5 verse take care of it!”
sinato, había de preferir enterrar
el cadáver en su propio corazón,
en vez de arrojarlo fuera en seguida y dejar que el universa se
encargase de él?
“Yet some men bury their
secrets thus,” observed the
calm physician.
—No obstante, hay hombres
que entierran así sus secretos —
observó el médico.
“True; there are such men,”
answered Mr. Dimmesdale. “But
not to suggest more obvious
reasons, it may be that they are
kept silent by the very
constitution of their nature. Or—
can we not suppose it?—guilty as
they may be, retaining,
nevertheless, a zeal for God’s
glory and man’s welfare, they
shrink from displaying themselves
black and filthy in the view of
men; because, thenceforward, no
good can be achieved by them; no
evil of the past be redeemed by
better service. So, to their own
unutterable torment, they go
about among their fellowcreatures, looking pure as newfallen snow, while their hearts are
all speckled and spotted with
iniquity of which they cannot rid
themselves.”
— E n e f e c t o , l o s h a y,
______________ ________ p e r o
______________ ____________
____________ q u i z á l o h a gan por la especial constitución de su carácter;
__ ______ _________ ____
_______ porque reteniendo cierto fervor por la gloria de D i o s
y por el bien de la humanidad, eviten mostrarse ante los hombres
con sus negruras e impurezas, ya
que en lo futuro ningún bien
p o d r í a n r e p o r t a r, n i p o d r í a n
redimir el pasado con mejores actos. Por eso, y para su
tormento, se mueven entre
sus prójimos, pareciendo
puros como la nieve recién
caída, mientras sus corazones están llenos de una iniquidad de la que no pueden
desprenderse.
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
X
X
“These
men
deceive
themselves,” said Roger
Chillingworth, with somewhat
more emphasis than usual, and
making a slight gesture with
his forefinger. “They fear to
take up the shame that
rightfully belongs to them.
Their love for man, their zeal
for God’s service—these holy
impulses may or may not
coexist in their hearts with the
evil inmates to which their
guilt has unbarred the door,
and which must needs
propagate a hellish breed
within them. But, if they seek
to glorify God, let them not lift
heavenward their unclean
hands! If they would serve
their fellowmen, let them do it
by making manifest the power
and reality of conscience, in
constraining
them
to
penitential self-abasement!
Would thou have me to believe,
—Esos hombres se engañan
a
sí
mismos
—dijo
Chillingworth [158] con marcado énfasis y haciendo un gesto
con el dedo índice—. Temen
echar sobre ellos la vergüenza
que realmente les pertenece. Su
amor por los hombres, su celo
para el servicio de Dios, esos
sagrados impulsos, podrán o no
podrán coexistir en sus corazones con los perversos huéspedes
a quienes su culpa ha cerrado la
puerta, pero han de propagar,
por fuerza, dentro de ellos, un
engendro infernal. ¡Pero, si tratan de glorificar a Dios, no les
dejemos elevar al cielo sus manos manchadas! ¡Si han de servir a su prójimo, dejémosles que
lo hagan manifestando el poder
y la realidad de la conciencia,
obligándoles a la penitencia de
su propio envilecimiento! ¿Queréis hacerme creer, sabio y piadoso amigo, que una falsa apa144
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
O wise and pious friend, that a
false show can be better—can
be more for God’s glory, or
man’ welfare—than God’s own
5 t r u t h ? Tr u s t m e , s u c h m e n
deceive themselves!”
riencia puede ser mejor, puede
ser más para la gloria de Dios, o
para el bien de la humanidad,
que la propia verdad de Dios?
¡Créame usted; esos hombres se
engañan a sí mismos!
“It may be so,” said the
young clergyman, indifferently,
10 as waiving a di s c u s s i o n t h a t
irrelevant es más frecuente que irreh e c o n s i d e r e d i rr e l e v a n t
levante para carente de imporor unseasonable. He had
tancia. En español se usan más
voces como ajeno, no pertinena r e a d y f a c u l t y, i n d e e d ,
te, fuera de lugar, inadecuado,
o f escaping from any topic that
inoportuno y, por supuesto, expresiones verbales que son equi15
agitated his too sen s i t i v e a n d
valentes semánticos de los adjetivos.
n e r v o u s t e m p e r a m e nt.—
Irrelevant remark = comentario
‘‘But, now, I would ask of my
fuera de lugar.
That’s irrelevant = eso no viene al
well-skilled physician, whether,
caso.
in good sooth, he deems me to
His lectures often stray to interesting
20
have profited by his kindly care
but irrelevant subjects.
= Sus conferencias se desvían haof this weak frame of mine?”
—Puede ser que así sea
—respondió el joven clérigo, evitando una discusión
q u e l e p a r e c í a irreverente e
irracional; porque, en efecto, el
pastor tenía una facultad pronta
para eludir cualquier tópico que
pudiera agitar su temperamento
demasiado sensible y nervioso—
. Pero ahora pregunto yo a mi experimentado médico _____
_______ : ¿En realidad considera
que ha beneficiado a mi débil cuerpo con sus cuidados cariñosos?
cia temas interesantes pero fuera
de lugar (inadecuados).
Your remark is irrelevant to our
discussion.
= Tu comentario no viene la caso en
esta discusión.
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
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.
X
X
X
60
145
Antes de que Roger pudiese contestar, oyeron la voz clara y la risa chillona de una
niña, que venía del cementerio.
Mirando instintivamente fuera
de la ventana, vio el ministro
que Ester Prynne y la pequeña
Perla caminaban por una senda que atravesaba el cercado.
Perla estaba hermosa como
aquel día de verano, pero se
hallaba en uno de aquellos estados de alegría perversa que
parecían privarle de toda simpatía y contacto humanos. Fue
saltando de tumba en tumba,
irreverentemente, hasta que, al
llegar a una sepultura ancha y
plana, en cuya losa se hallaban
esculpidas las [159] armas de
algún poderoso desaparecido
(tal vez las de Isaac Johnson),
comenzó a bailar sobre ella. En
contestación a las amenazas y
advertencias de su madre para
que se comportara más
decorosamente, la pequeñuela
cesó en su danza para recoger la
semilla de la bardana que crecía junto a la tumba. Una vez que tuvo en su
poder un puñado de estas semillas tan
adherentes, comenzó a colocarlas,
una a una, alrededor de la letra roja
que adornaba el pecho de su madre.______________
____________ __________ Ester
no trató de arrancárselas.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Roger Chillingworth had by
this time approached the window
and smiled grimly down.
Roger, que se había ac e r c a do a la ventana, echó una
terrible mirada al cementerio.
5
“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
10 he, as much to himself as to his
companion. “I saw her, the other
day, bespatter the Governor
himself with water at the cattletrough in Spring Lane. What, in
15 heaven’s name, is she? Is the imp
altogether evil? Hath she
affections? Hath she any
discoverable principle of being?”
—No hay ley, ni respeto a
la autoridad, ni miramiento
para las ordenanzas u opiniones humanas, sean o no equivocadas, en la extraña composición de esa criatura —hizo
notar el médico—. El otro día
la vi echar agua al propio gobernador, en el abrevadero de
Spring-lane. ¿Qué puede ser
esa niña, en el nombre de
Dios? ¿Es el espíritu del mal?
¿Tiene alguna esencia de ser
que pueda descubrirse?
20
“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
25 of good, I know not.”
—Ninguna, salvo la libertad
de una ley quebrantada —respondió Dimmesdale, en forma
tranquila, como si discutiera el
asunto consigo mismo—. Si es
capaz del bien, no lo sé.
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 Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale. The
sensitive clergyman shrank, with
nervous dread, from the light
missile. Detecting his emotion,
Pearl clapped her little hands in
the most extravagant ecstacy.
Hester Prynne, likewise, had
involuntarily looked up, and all
these four persons, old and
young, regarded one another in
silence, till the child lau g h e d
aloud,
and
shouted—
”C ome 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!”
La niña oyó, probablemente,
sus voces, porque mirando hacia la ventana con sonrisa traviesa de regocijo e inteligencia
arrojó una de las semillas al reverendo Dimmesdale. El sensible
clérigo se echó atrás, con un movimiento nervioso, para evitar el
ligero proyectil. A1 notar su movimiento, Perla comenzó a palmotear con éxtasis extravagante.
Ester Prynne miró a la ventana
involuntariamente; y las cuatro
personas, jóvenes y viejas,
miráronse unas a otras en silencio, hasta que la niña rió fuertemente y dijo en voz alta:
—¡Vámonos, mamá, vámonos; si no, te cogerá el Hombre Negro que está allí! ¡Mira,
ya ha cogido al [160] ministro!
¡Vámonos, madre, que te cogerá! ¡Pero no podrá coger a la
pequeña Perla!
So she drew her mother
away, skipping, dancing, and
frisking fantastically among
55 t h e h i l l o c k s o f t h e d e a d
people, like a creature that
had nothing in common with
a
bygone
and
buried
generation, nor owned herself
60 akin to it. It was as if she had
Diciendo esto, asióse a su
madre y la arrastró de allí, saltando, bailando y retozando fantásticamente entre los montecillos de
las tumbas, como una criatura que
nada tuviese de común con una
generación pasada y enterrada,
ni se hallase emparentada con
ella. Era como si hubiese sido
30
35
40
45
50
146
Notas
perforce unavoidably; necessarily
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
been made afresh out of new
elements, and must perforce
be permitted to live her own
life, and be a law unto herself
5 without her eccentricities
being reckoned to her for
a crime.
creada de nuevo, con nuevos
elementos, y forzosamente t u viese que vivir su propia
v i d a y s e r s u p r o p i a l e y, s i n
que sus excentricidades hubieran de ser reconocidas
como un crimen.
“There goes a woman,” re10 sumed Roger Chillingworth, after a pause, “who, be her demerits what they may, hath
none of that mystery of hidden
sinfulness which you deem so
15 grievous to be borne. Is Hester
Prynne the less miserable,
think you, for that scarlet
letter on her breast?”
—Ahí va una mujer —continuó Roger Chillingworth, después de una pausa— que, cualesquiera que sean sus méritos, nada
tiene de ese misterio de pecado
oculto que usted considera tan
doloroso de soportar. ¿Cree usted que Ester Prynne es menos
miserable por esa letra roja que
lleva sobre el pecho?
20
“I do verily believe it,”
answered the clergyman.
“Nevertheless, I cannot answer
for her. There was a look of
pain in her face which I would
25 gladly have been spared the
sight of. But still, methinks, it
must needs be better for the
sufferer to be free to show his
pain, as this poor woman
30 Hester is, than to cover it up
in his heart.”
—Lo creo firmemente —respondió el clérigo—; sin embargo, no puedo responder por ella.
Había una expresión de dolor en
su semblante, que me hubiese
alegrado no ver. Pero con todo,
me parece que es forzosamente
mejor para el que sufre estar en
libertad de mostrar su pena,
como esa pobre Ester lo está,
que ocultarla, encerrándola en
su corazón.
There was another pause, and
the physician began anew to
35 examine and arrange the plants
which he had gathered.
Hubo otra pausa, y el cirujano comenzó de nuevo a
examinar las plantas que había recogido.
“ Yo u i n q u i r e d o f m e ,
a little time agone,” said he, at
40 length, “my judgment as
touching your health.”
—Me preguntó usted,
hace poco rato —dijo, por
fin—, mi parecer con respecto a su salud.
“I did,” answered the
clergyman, “and would gladly
45 learn it. Speak frankly, I pray you,
be it for life or death.”
—Ciertamente —respondió
el ministro—. Hábleme usted con
franqueza, se lo ruego, sea cuestión de vida o muerte.
“Freely then, and plainly,”
said the physician, still busy
50 with his plants, but keeping a
wary eye on Mr. Dimmesdale,
“the disorder is a strange one;
not so much in itself nor as
outwardly manifested,—in so
55 far, at least as the symptoms
have been laid open to my
observation. Looking daily at
y o u , m y g o o d s i r, a n d
watching the tokens of your
60 aspect now for months gone
—Pues franca y plenamente
—dijo el médico, todavía entretenido con las plantas, pero sin
perder de vista a Dimmesdale—
, el desorden es extraño, no tanto en sí como en sus manifestaciones exteriores; al menos con
arreglo a los síntomas que he
podido apreciar. Observándole a
usted diariamente, mi buen señor, [161] y estudiando los rasgos de su aspecto desde hace
meses, me atrevería a creer que
147
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
by, I should deem you a man
sore sick, it may be, yet not so
sick but that an instructed and
watchful physician might well
5 hope to cure you. But I know
not what to say, the disease is
what I seem to know, yet know
it not.”
es usted un hombre enfermo de
amargura, quizá, mas no tan enfermo para que un físico observador e instruido no tuviese esperanza de curarle. Pero no sé
qué decir; la enfermedad es la
que creo conocer y, sin embargo, no la conozco.
10
“ Yo u s p e a k i n r i d d l e s ,
l e a r n e d s i r, ” s a i d t h e p a l e
minister, glancing aside out of
the window.
—Habla usted en enigma,
sabio amigo —dijo el pálido joven, mirando fuera de la ventana.
15
“Then, to speak more
plainly,” continued the physician,
“and I crave pardon, sir, should
it seem to require pardon, for this
needful plainness of my speech.
20 Let me ask as your friend, as one
having charge, under Providence,
of your life and physical well
being, hath all the operations of
this disorder been fairly laid
25 open and recounted to me?”
—Entonces, para hablar
má s c l a r a me n t e c o n t i n uó el
médico—, y pido perdón por la
claridad de mi discurso, permita usted que le pregunte, como
amigo suyo, como uno encargado por la Providencia de su
vida y salud física: ¿Me ha sido
descubierta toda la operación de este desorden , claramente?
“How
can
you
question it?” asked the
m i n i s t e r. “ S u r e l y i t w e r e
30 c h i l d ’ s p l a y t o c a l l i n a
physician and then hide
the sore!”
—¿Cómo puede usted preguntar eso? —interrogó a su
vez el clérigo—. ¡Sería ciertamente un juego de niños llamar
a un médico para luego ocultarle la herida!
“You would tell me, then,
that I know all?” said Roger
Chillingworth, deliberately, and
fixing an eye, bright with intense
and concentrated intelligence,
on the minister’s face. “Be it so!
But again! He to whom only the
outward and physical evil is laid
open, knoweth, oftentimes, but
half the evil which he is called
upon to cure. A bodily disease,
which we look upon as whole
and entire within itself, may,
after all, be but a symptom of
some ailment in the spiritual
part. Your pardon once again,
good sir, if my speech give the
shadow of offence. You, sir, of
all men whom I have known, are
he whose body is the closest
conjoined, and imbued, and
identified, so to speak, with the
spirit whereof it is the
instrument.”
—¿Luego usted dice que lo
sé todo? —añadió Roger, deliberadamente, y fijando sobre el
ministro una mirada brillante, de
intensa inteligencia concentrada—. ¡Sea así! Pero repito que
aquel a quien no se muestra más
que el mal físico externo, conoce, muchas veces, solamente la
mitad del niño que debe curar.
Una enfermedad corporal que
examinamos por completo, puede, después de todo, no ser más
que un síntoma de algún alifafe
de la parte espiritual. Perdone
usted, una vez más, si mis palabras tienen la sombra de una
ofensa. Usted, señor, es, entre
todos los hombres que he conocido, aquel cuyo cuerpo está estrechamente conjuntado, e imbuido, e identificado, por decirlo así,
con el espíritu, que es el instrumento.
“Then I need ask no
60 further,” said the clergyman,
—En vista de esto no necesita preguntar más —dijo el cléri-
35
40
45
50
55
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somewhat hastily rising from
h i s c h a i r. “ Yo u d e a l n o t , I
take it, in medicine for the
soul!”
go Chillingworth, levántandose
con cierto apresuramiento—. ¡No
creo tenga usted que medicinar
el alma!
“Thus,
a
sickness,”
continued Roger Chillingworth,
going on, in an unaltered tone,
without heeding the interrup10 tion, but standing up and confronting the emaciated and
white-cheeked minister, with his
l o w, d a r k , a n d m i s s h a p e n
figure,—” a s i c k n e s s , a s o r e
15 place, if we may so call it, in
your spirit hath immediately its
appropriate manifestation in
your bodily frame. Would you,
therefore, that your physician
20 heal the bodily evil? How may
this be unless you first lay
open to him the wound or
trouble in your soul?”
Roger, sin alterar su tono
tranquilo, ni darse por [162] aludido con la interrupción, se levantó también y, poniéndose
frente al macilento y pálido ministro, continuó en voz baja y con
el aspecto oscuro y desgraciado
de su figura:
—Así pues, una enfermedad,
un sitio dolorido, por llamarlo
así, de su espíritu, tiene inmediatas y apropiadas manifestaciones
en su constitución física. ¿Quiere usted que de ese modo cure el
médico su enfermedad corporal?
¿Cómo podrá hacerlo, mientras
usted no le muestre la herida o
molestia de su alma?
25
“No, not to thee! not to an
earthly physician!” cried Mr.
Dimmesdale, passionately, and
turning his eyes, full and bright,
and with a kind of fierceness, on
30 old Roger Chillingworth. “Not to
thee! But, if it be the soul’s
disease, then do I commit myself
to the one Physician of the soul!
He, if it stand with His good
35 pleasure, can cure, or he can kill.
Let Him do with me as, in His
justice and wisdom, He shall see
good. But who art thou, that
meddlest in this matter? that dares
40 thrust himself between the
sufferer and his God?”
—¡No, a usted no! ¡No a
un físico de la tierra —gritó
Dimmesdale, apasionadamente, echando sobre Roger una
mirada llena de fuego y de
fiereza—. ¡No a ti! ¡Si fuese
una enfermedad del alma, me
encomendaría al único médico de almas! ¡Él solo, si le
pluguiera, podría curar o matar! ¡Deja que haga conmigo
lo que, con su justicia y sabiduría, quiera hacer! ¿Pero
quién eres tú para mezclarte
en este asunto? ¿Quién eres tú
para interponerte entre el enfermo y su Dios?
With
a
frantic
gesture he rushed out
45 o f t h e r o o m .
Y d i c h o e s t o , salió precipitadamente de la habitación
con un gesto de terror.
“It is as well to have made
this
step,”
said
Roger
Chillingworth to himself,
50 looking after the minister, with a
grave smile. “There is nothing
lost. We shall be friends again
anon. But see, now, how passion
takes hold upon this man, and
55 hurrieth him out of himself! As
with one passion so with another.
He hath done a wild thing ere
now, this pious Master
Dimmesdale, in the hot passion
60 of his heart. “
Ch i l l i n g w o r t h q u e d ó mi rándole con una grave sonrisa y se dijo: «No está mal
que haya dado este paso.
Nada se ha perdido. Volveremos a ser amigos en seguida. ¡Pero ved cómo se
apodera la pasión de este
h o m b r e y l e h a c e d e s b o r d a rs e ! ¡ Ta n t o c o n u n a p a s i ó n
como con otra! ¡Mal paso ha
dado el piadoso Master
Dimmesdale con la ardorosa
pasión de su corazón!»
5
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5
unsuitable, unbecoming, indecent,
untoward, improper, indecoroso
10
palliate: mitigate
15
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir
(on a) [affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar, otorgar 1 : to put to use : APPLY 20
<bestowed his spare time on study>
2 : to put in a particular or appropriate
place : STOW 3 : to provide with
quarters : PUT UP 4 : to convey as a gift
— usually used with on or upon.
25
30
35
40
It proved not difficult to reestablish the intimacy of the two
companions, on the same footing and in the same degree as
heretofore. The young clergyman, after a few hours of privacy, was sensible that the disorder of his nerves had hurried
him into an unseemly outbreak
of temper, which there had been
nothi n g i n t h e p h y s i c i a n ’s
words to excuse or palliate.
He marvelled, indeed, at the
violence with which he had
thrust back the kind old man,
when merely proffering the
advice which it was his duty
to b e s t o w , and which the
minister himself had expressly
sought. With these remorseful
feelings, he lost no time in making the amplest apologies, and
besought [entreated] his friend
still to continue the care which,
if not successful in restoring him
to health, had, in all probability, been the means of prolonging his feeble existence to that
hour. Roger Chillingworth readily assented, and went on with
his medical supervision of the
minister; doing his best for
him, in all good faith, but alw a y s q u i t t i n g t h e p a t i e n t ’s
apartment, at the close of the
professional interview, with a
mysterious and puzzled smile
upon his lips. This expression
was invisible in Mr. Dimmesdale’s
presence, but grew strongly evident as the physician crossed the
threshold .
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
X
X
No hubo dificultad para
que se restableciese la intimidad entre los dos compañeros, en la misma forma y grado
que hasta entonces. El joven
clérigo, después de unas horas
de soledad, lamentó que el desorden de sus nervios le hubiese conducido a una_________
intemperancia, puesto que nada
había que diera motivo______
a ella en las palabras del médico. Se maravillaba, en efecto, de
la violencia con que había tratado
al anciano y cariñoso compañero,
por haberle aconsejado lo que
sencillamente [163] er a s u d e b e r _______ y que él mismo le
había pedido expresamente.
C o n e s t o s s e n t i m i e n t o s de
remordimiento, no perdió tiempo en darle todo género de amplias excusas y rogó al viejo amigo continuase prodigándole sus
cuidados, los que si no consiguieron restaurar su salud, con toda
probabilidad habían prolongado
hasta entonces su débil existencia.
Roger Chillingworth admitió las
excusas de buen grado y continuó la médica supervisión del ministro, haciendo cuanto podía por
él, con la mejor buena fe; pero,
al dejar el cuarto del enfermo,
después de una entrevista profesional, imprimía a sus labios una
sonrisa misteriosa y enigmática.
Esta expresión era invisible en
presencia del clérigo, pero se
hacía plenamente clara en
cuanto el físico cruzaba el
quicio de la puerta.
45
“A
rare
case,”
he
muttered. “I must needs look
deeper into it. A strange
sympathy betwixt soul and
b o d y ! We r e i t o n l y f o r t h e
50 art’s sake, I must search this
matter to the bottom.”
«¡Un caso raro! —murmuró—. ¡Tengo, por fuerza, que
ahondar más en él! ¡Es una extraña simpatía la que existe entre
el cuerpo y el alma! ¡Aunque sólo
sea por bien del arte, he de buscar la causa en lo más profundo!»
It came to pass, not long
after the scene above recorded,
55 t h a t t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
Dimmesdale, noon-day, and
entirely unawares, fell into a
deep, deep slumber, sitting in
his chair, with a large black60 letter volume open before him
Ocurrió, no mucho después
de la escena que acabamos de
relatar, que el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale, al mediodía, y sin
darse cuenta de ello, cayó en un
sueño profundo, sentado en el sillón, como estaba, y con un volumen de gruesos y negros caracteres
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10
15
20
on the table. It must have been
a work of vast ability in the
somniferous school of literature. The profound depth of the
minister’s repose was the more
remarkable, inasmuch as he was
one of those persons whose
sleep ordinarily is as light as
fitful , a n d a s e a s i l y s c a r e d
away, as a small bird hopping
on a twig. To such an unwonted
remoteness, however, had his
spirit now withdrawn into itself
that he stirred not in his chair
when old Roger Chillingworth,
without any extraordinary precaution, came into the room.
The physician advanced directly in front of his patient,
laid his hand upon his bosom,
and thrust aside the vestment,
that hitherto had always covered it even from the professional eye.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
abierto sobre la mesa. Debía ser éste
una obra de vasta habilidad en la
soporífera escuela de literatura. Era
sumamente notable la profundidad
del reposo en que se hallaba sumido el ministro, tanto más por ser una
de esas personas cuyo sueño, ordinariamente, e s t a n l i g e r o , t a n v a c i l a n t e
y f á c i l d e d e s b a r a t a r . Hasta tal punto se había alejado involuntariamente su
espíritu; hasta tal punto, sin embargo, se había encerrado, que no
se movió en absoluto sobre el sillón cuando el viejo Roger, sin
adoptar ninguna precaución
extraordinaria, entró en el cuarto.
El médico se dirigió directamente
frente a su enfermo, le puso la
mano sobre el [164] pecho y desabrochó el hábito, que, hasta entonces, jamás había descubierto
aún a los ojos profesionales.
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
Then,
indeed,
M r.
Dimmesdale shuddered, and
slightly stirred.
Entonces, en efecto, el señor
Dimmesdale tembló y se movió
ligeramente.
After a brief pause, the
physician turned away.
Después de una pausa breve,
el viejo físico se fue.
But with what a wild look
of wonder, joy, and honor! With
what a ghastly rapture, as it
were, too mighty to be
expressed only by the eye and
features, and therefore bursting
forth through the whole
ugliness of his figure, and
making itself even riotously
manifest by the extravagant
gestures with which he threw up
his arms towards the ceiling,
and stamped his foot upon the
floor! Had a man seen old
Roger Chillingworth, at that
moment of his ecstasy, he would
have had no need to ask how
Satan comports himself when a
precious human soul is lost to
heaven, and won into his
kingdom.
¡Pero con qué mirada de
asombro, de alegría y de horror!
¡Con qué espantosa enajenación;
como si fuese demasiado poderosa para ser expresada solamente
con los ojos y las facciones y, por
tanto, brotase a través de toda la
fealdad de su figura, haciéndose
hasta desenfrenadamente manifiesta por los gestos extravagantes
con que alzaba sus
brazos al techo y
p a t e a b a s o b r e e l s u e l o ! Si
un hombre hubiese visto al
viejo Roger en aquel momento de su éxtasis, no hubiera tenido necesidad de preguntar
cómo se comporta Satanás
cuando se pierde un alma preciosa para el cielo y se gana
para su reino.
But what distinguished the
p h y s i c i a n ’s e c s t a s y f r o m
Satan’s was the trait of
wonder in it!
¡Pero lo que distinguía al
éxtasis del médico del de Satán era el marcado asombro que
había en él!
60
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tr. de A. Ruste
Chapter 11: The Interior of a Heart
In this chapter Hawthorne chronicles Dimmesdale’s decline into nearmadness, as he is tormented with malicious skill by Chillingworth.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
This chapter describes how Chillingworth uses his new knowledge. Rather than exposing the minister to public shame he pretends he knows nothing and continues in the same
5
friendly way as before, but he is able to torment Dimmesdale slyly. Dimmesdale cannot understand why he is coming to hate and fear Chillingworth. Because of piety, Dimmesdale
will not allow himself to break off the seeming friendship. His selfdiscipline has its own kind of courage, which is reflected in the vigour and vision with which he preaches.
Dimmesdale finds his secret an increasing burden. He tries to relieve his feelings by telling his congregation that he is a vile sinner, but he does not name his sin. Puritan rhetoric
often embellished a sermon by speaking of the awful gulf between the holiest of men and the holy God; Dimmesdale’s apparent confessions are taken for such phrases. He himself
knows this, and gets no relief from his anguish. However, because he suffers, he truly stirs his congregation to moral awakening. He both comforts and challenges them.
Dimmesdale knows this, too, and it makes real confession seem almost selfish.
10
He punishes himself privately, by fasts, vigils, and scourging, but these acts only weaken him further. He has hallucinations, including a repeated one of Hester leading Pearl and
pointing first at her scarlet letter and then at himself. So it is revealed for certain that Dimmesdale is Hester’s guilty partner in adultery.
To the minister, symbolic hallucinations have become almost more real than the ordinary physical world, and symbolic action has become a need. As the chapter closes, he steals
out of the house one dark night, fully dressed.
15
20
25
30
35
40
wreak v.tr. 1 (usu. foll. by upon)
give play or satisfaction to; put in
operation, inflingir (vengeance or
one’s anger etc.).
45
50
55
XI.
XI
THE INTERIOR OF A
HEART
EL INTERIOR DE UN
C O RAZÓN
After the incident last
described, the intercourse
between the clergyman and the
physician, though externally the
same, was really of another
character than it had previously
been. The intellect of Roger
Ch i l l i n g w o r t h h a d n o w a
sufficiently plain path before
it. It was not, indeed, precisely
that which he had laid out for
himself to tread. Calm, gentle,
passionless, as he appeared, there
was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of
malice, hitherto latent, but active
now, in this unfortunate old man,
which led him to imagine a more
intimate revenge than any mortal
had ever wreaked upon an
enemy. To make himself the one
trusted friend, to whom should be
confided all the fear, the remorse,
the agony, the ineffectual
repentance, the backward rush of
sinful thoughts, expelled in vain!
All that guilty sorrow, hidden
from the world, whose great heart
would have pitied and forgiven,
to be revealed to him, the
Pitiless—to
him,
the
Unforgiving! All that dark
treasure to be lavished on the
very man, to whom nothing else
could so adequately pay the debt
of vengeance!
Después del incidente que
acabamos de relatar, la relación
entre el clérigo y el médico, aunque exteriormente la misma, era
de muy distinto carácter al que
hasta entonces había sido. La inteligencia
de
Roger
Chillingworth tenía ahora delante una nueva senda, suficientemente llana y distinta a la que
había pensado seguir. Aunque
parecía ser sosegado, gentil,
desapasionado, había en el viejo
cirujano un fondo tranquilo de
malicia, hasta entonces latente,
pero ahora activa, que le arrastraba a imaginar una venganza
más íntima que la que jamás
mortal alguno tomó sobre un
enemigo: ¡Hacerse el hombre de
confianza a quien pudiera [165]
trasladarle todos los temores, los
remordimientos, la agonía, el
arrepentimiento sin efecto, el retroceso de los pensamientos pecaminosos expulsados en vano!
¡Toda esa culpable tristeza ocultada al mundo, cuyo gran corazón
la hubiese compadecido y perdonado, iba a serle revelada a él, que
no perdonaba! ¡Todo aquel oscuro tesoro iba a desparramarse
sobre el hombre a quien con nada
tan adecuado podía pagársele la
deuda de venganza!
60
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The clergyman’s shy and
sensitive reserve had balked
this scheme Roger Chillingworth,
however, was inclined to be
hardly, if at all, less satisfied
with the aspect of affairs,
which Providence—using the
avenger and his victim for its
own purposes, and, perchance,
pardoning, where it seemed most
to punish—had substituted for
his black devices A revelation, he
could almost say, had been
granted to him. It mattered little
for his object, whether celestial
or from what other region. By its
aid, in all the subsequent
relations betwixt him and Mr.
Dimmesdale, not merely the
external presence, but the very
i n m o s t s o u l o f t h e l a t t e r,
seemed to be brought out before his eyes, so that he could
see and comprehend its every
movement. He became, thenceforth, not a spectator only, but
a chief actor in the poor minister ’s interior world. He could
play upon him as he chose.
Would he arouse him with a
throb of agony? T h e v i c t i m
was for ever on the rack; it
needed only to know the
spring that controlled the engine: and the physician knew
it well. Would he startle him
with sudden fear? As at the
waving of a magician’s wand,
up rose a grisly phantom—up
rose a thousand phantoms—in
many shapes, of death, or
more awful shame, all flocking round about the clergyman, and pointing with their
fingers at his breast!
La reserva tímida y sensitiva del ministro había desbaratado este plan. Roger, sin
embargo, no se hallaba menos
satisfecho con el aspecto de los
asuntos que la Providencia había sustituido para sus negras
estratagemas, utilizando al vengador y a su víctima para sus
propósitos, y quizá perdonando,
cuando parecía que debía castigar. Una revelación podía decir, al menos, que le había sido
concedida, importándole poco
para su objeto que fuese celestial o no. Con su ayuda, todas
las subsiguientes relaciones entre él y Dimmesdale parecía que
habían de ofrecérsele a la vista, no en su forma externa,
sino en lo más hondo de su
alma; de tal modo que podría
ver y comprender todos sus
movimientos. Así se convirtió
no sólo en espectador, sino en
el primer actor del mundo interno del pobre ministro; podía representar en él a su placer. ¿Le despertaría con una
vibración de agonía? La víctima estaba para siempre en el
potro del tormento; no necesitaba más que conocerse el
resorte para el manejo de la
máquina, ¡y el médico lo conocía bien! ¿Le espantaría con un
miedo repentino? ¿Como al
contacto de la varita mágica de
un encantador, hacer aparecer
un espantoso fantasma, miles de
fantasmas, de muchas formas,
de muerte, de terrible vergüenza, volando todos alrededor del
clérigo y señalando con sus dedos al pecho?
All this was accomplished
with a subtlety so perfect, that the
minister, though he had constantly
50 a dim perception of some evil
influence watching over him,
could never gain a knowledge of
its actual nature. True, he looked
doubtfully, fearfully—even, at
55 times, with horror and the
bitterness of hatred—at the
deformed figure of the old
physician. His gestures, his gait,
his grizzled beard, his slightest
60 and most indifferent acts, the very
To d o e s t o f u e r e a l i z a d o
con tan astuta perfección que
el ministro, si bien tenía
constantemente una débil
[166] sensación de que alguna dañina influencia le vigilaba, nunca pudo tener conocimiento de su efectiva naturaleza. Cierto es que miró
dudosa, temerosamente, aun
con horror y con la amargura
del aborrecimiento, a la figura deforme del viejo físico.
Sus gestos, su continente, su
5
10
15
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45
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5
10
15
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25
tr. de A. Ruste
fashion of his garments, were odious in the clergyman’s sight; a
token implicitly to be relied on of
a deeper antipathy in the breast of
the latter than he was willing to
acknowledge to himself. For, as
it was impossible to assign a
reason for such distrust and
abhorrence, so Mr. Dimmesdale,
conscious that the poison of one
morbid spot was infecting his
heart’s entire substance, attributed
all his presentiments to no other
cause. He took himself to task for
his bad sympathies in reference to
Roger Chillingworth, disregarded
the lesson that he should have
drawn from them, and did his best
to root them out. Unable to
accomplish this, he nevertheless,
as a matter of principle, continued
his habits of social familiarity
with the old man, and thus gave
him constant opportunities for
perfecting the purpose to which—
poor forlorn creature that he was,
and more wretched than his
victim—the avenger had devoted
himself.
barba gris, sus actos más ligeros y más indiferentes, la
misma forma de vestir, eran
odiosos a los ojos del clérigo. Así como era imposible
dar una razón para tal desconfianza y aborrecimiento,
el señor Dimmesdale, sabiendo que el veneno de un sitio
insano inficionaba toda la
sustancia de su corazón, no
atribuía todos sus presentimientos a otra causa. Se propuso desechar las malas simpatías hacia Roger, despreció
la lección que podía haber
sacado de ellas, e hizo cuanto pudo por arrancarlas de
raíz. Imposibilitado para realizar esto, continuó, sin embargo, sus costumbres de familiaridad social con el viejo, dándole así constantes
ocasiones para perfeccionar
el propósito, al que, pobre y
abandonada criatura como
era, y más desgraciado que su
víctima, se había consagrado
al vengador.
While thus suffering under
bodily disease, and gnawed and
tortured by some black trouble
of the soul, and given over to
the machinations of his
deadliest enemy, the Reverend
Mr. Dimmesdale had achieved
a brilliant popularity in his
sacred office. He won it
indeed, in great part, by his
sorrows. His intellectual gifts,
his moral perceptions, his
power of experiencing and
communicating emotion, were
kept in a state of preternatural
activity by the prick and
anguish of his daily life. His
fame, though still on its
upward
slope,
already
overshadowed the soberer
reputations of his fellowclergymen, eminent as several
of them were. There are
scholars among them, who had
spent more years in acquiring
abstruse lore, connected with
the divine profession, than Mr.
Dimmesdale had lived; and
who might well, therefore, be
more profoundly versed in
Mientras sufría así, bajo una
enfermedad corporal, corroído
y torturado por algún negro
trastorno de su alma, y entregado a las maquinaciones de su
mortal enemigo, el reverendo
señor Dimmesdale había adquirido una brillante popularidad
en su oficio sagrado. La obtuvo,
es cierto, en gran parte, por sus
tristezas. Sus dones intelectuales,
sus percepciones morales, su poder para experimentar y transmitir emoción, se conservaban
en un estado de actividad
extraordinaria, debido a la excitación y angustias de su vida.
Su fama, aunque detenida en
su más alto declive, oscurecía
las más sobrias reputaciones
de sus compañeros, eminentes
como eran muchos de ellos.
Había entre éstos eruditos que
emplearon más años en adquirir profunda ciencia relacionada con la divina profesión,
que los que había vivido el
señor Dimmesdale; y quienes,
[167] por consiguiente, podían estar más hondamente
30
35
40
preternatural: beyond the normal
45
50
55
abstruse: profound and difficult to
comprehend
60
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tr. de A. Ruste
such solid and valuable attainments than their youthful
brother. There were men, too, of
a sturdier texture of mind than
his, and endowed with a far
greater share of shrewd, hard
iron, or granite understanding;
which, duly mingled with a fair
proportion of doctrinal ingredient, constitutes a highly respectable, efficacious, and unamiable
variety of the clerical species.
There were others again, true
saintly fathers, whose faculties
had been elaborated by weary
toil among their books, a n d
by patient thought, and
e t h e r e a l i s e d, m o r e o v e r, b y
spiritual communications with
the better world, into which their
purity of life had almost introduced these holy personages,
with their garments of mortality
still clinging to them. All that
they lacked was, the gift that
descended upon the chosen
disciples at Pentecost, in
tongues of flame; symbolising,
it would seem, not the power
of speech in foreign and
unknown languages, but that
of addressing the whole
human brotherhood in the
heart’s native language. These
fathers,
otherwise
so
a p o s t o l i c , l a c k e d H e a v e n ’s
last and rarest attestation of
t h e i r o ff i c e , t h e To n g u e o f
Flame. They would have
vainly sought—had they ever
dreamed of seeking—to
express the highest truths
through the humblest medium
of familiar words and images.
Their voices came down, afar
a n d i n d i s t i n c t l y, f r o m t h e
upper heights where they
habitually dwelt.
versados en más sólidos y valiosos elementos que su joven
hermano. Había hombres, además, de cerebro más vigoroso
que el suyo y dotados de mucha
mayor parte de comprensión
perspicaz, dura, férrea o de granito, que, mezclada debidamente con una apropiada proporción
de ingrediente doctrinal, constituye una altamente respetable,
eficaz e inefable variedad de las
especies clericales. Había otros,
verdaderos padres virtuosos, cuyas facultades habían sido elaboradas por fatigosa labor entre
sus libros, por constante pensamiento, y espiritualizados,
además, por comunicaciones
espirituales con el mundo mejor, en el que su pureza de vida
casi había introducido estos
personajes, llevando puestos
aún sus hábitos de mortalidad.
Lo que les faltaba era el don que
descendió sobre los discípulos
elegidos en el Pentecostés, en
forma de lenguas de fuego,
simbolizando, quizá, no el
poder oratorio en lenguajes
extraños y desconocidos,
sino aquel que se dirige a
toda la humanidad en el
idioma nativo del corazón.
E s t o s p a d r e s , p o r o t r a p a rte, tan apostólicos, carecían
de la última y más rara deposición del cielo para su
oficio: la lengua de fuego.
Ellos hubiesen tratado en
vano de expresar las más altas verdades con los humildes medios de palabras e
imágenes familiares. Sus
voces caían, lejos e indistintas, desde las más elevadas alturas, donde residían
habitualmente.
Not improbably, it was to this
latter class of men that Mr.
Dimmesdale, by many of his traits
of character, naturally belonged.
To the high mountain peaks of
55 faith and sanctity he would have
climbed, had not the tendency
been thwarted by the burden,
whatever it might be, of crime or
anguish, beneath which it was his
60 doom to totter. It kept him down
Probablemente el señor
Dimmesdale pertenecía a esta clase de hombres, a juzgar por muchos rasgos naturales de su carácter. Hubiese alcanzado las más altas cimas de la fe y de la santidad,
a no haber impedido esa tendencia el peso, cualquiera que fuese,
del crimen o angustia, bajo el cual
estaba condenado a agitarse. Esto
le mantenía al nivel de los más
5
10
15
20
25
Pentecost: in the Bible, Acts 2:1-11, the
Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus’s
apostles and closest disciples enabling
them to preach, being understood by each
listener in his own language
30
35
40
45
50
155
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
ragged adjective
1 (= in tatters);[clothes] andrajoso; hecho jirones; [person] andrajoso; harapiento; they ran
themselves ragged (informal) sudaron tinta or
la gota gorda
2 (= untidy); [beard] descuidado; desgreñado;
[animal’s coat] desgreñado; [edge] mellado;
irregular, desigual; [hole, line] irregular;
[coastline] accidentado; recortado;
rugged adjective 1 [terrain, landscape] accidentado; escabroso; [coastline, mountains] escarpado; áspero
the rugged beauty of the island la belleza violenta de la isla
2 [man] de rasgos duros; [features] duro, acentuados, severo, tosco, ceñudo
3 [construction] vigoroso, robusto
4 (EEUU) tempestuoso, borrascoso
- a rugged health una salud a prueba de bomba
35
40
45
on a level with the lowest; him,
the man of ethereal attributes,
whose voice the angels might
else have listened to and
answered! But this very burden
it was that gave him sympathies
so intimate with the sinful
brotherhood of mankind; so that
his heart vibrated in unison with
theirs, and received their pain
into itself and sent its own throb
of pain through a thousand other
hearts, in gushes of sad,
persuasive eloquence. Oftenest
persuasive, but sometimes
terrible! The people knew not the
power that moved them thus.
They deemed the young
clergyman a miracle of holiness.
They fancied him the mouthpiece of Heaven’s messages of
wisdom, and rebuke, and love. In
their eyes, the very ground on
which he trod was sanctified. The
virgins of his church grew pale
around him, victims of a passion
so imbued with religious
sentiment, that they imagined it
to be all religion, and brought it
openly, in their white bosoms, as
their most acceptable sacrifice
before the altar. The aged
members of his flock, beholding
Mr. Dimmesdale’s frame so
feeble, while they were
themselves so rugged in their
i n f i r m i t y, b e l i e v e d t h a t h e
would go heavenward before
them, and enjoined it upon their
children that their old bones
should be buried close to their
young pastor’s holy grave. And
all this time, perchance, when
p o o r M r. D i m m e s d a l e w a s
thinking of his grave, he
questioned with himself
whether the grass would ever
grow on it, because an accursed
thing must there be buried!
tr. de A. Ruste
X
bajos; a él, el hombre de los atributos eternos, cuya voz hubiesen
quizá escuchado los ángeles y a
la que hubieran respondido. Pero
esta misma carga era la que le
daba [168] simpatía para intimar
con la hermandad pecadora de la
humanidad; de tal modo que su
corazón latía al unísono con el de
ellos, recibía en él sus penas, y comunicaba sus vibraciones de dolor a otros mil corazones en párrafos de triste y persuasiva elocuencia. ¡Persuasiva con frecuencia, pero, algunas veces, terrible!
Las gentes desconocían la fuerza
que así les conmovía. Consideraban al joven pastor como un
milagro de santidad. Se lo
imaginaban como el portavoz
de los sabios mensajes del cielo, de reproche y de amor. A
sus ojos, el propio terreno que
pisaba estaba santificado. Las
vírgenes de su iglesia palidecían
víctimas de una pasión así imbuida con’ un sentimiento religioso,
que ellas imaginaban que era toda
la religión, ostentándola abiertamente sobre sus blancos senos,
como su más aceptable sacrificio
ante al altar. Los ancianos de
su re b a ñ o , a l v e r l a d e b i lidad corporal del past o r,
co n s i d e r á n d o s e
m á s f u e r t e s _____ ________
_____, creían que gozaría del
cielo antes que ellos, y pedían
a sus hi j o s q u e e n t e r r a s e n
s u s v i e j o s hu e s o s j u n to a la sagrada fosa
d e l j o v e n p a s t o r . ¡Y
quizá en todo este tiempo,
mientras
el
pobre
Dimmesdale pensaba en su
tumba, se preguntaba si crecería sobre ella la hierba, ya
que, por fuerza, debía enterrarse allí una cosa maldita!
50
It is inconceivable, the
agony with which this public
veneration tortured him. It
was his genuine impulse to
55 adore the truth, and to reckon
all things shadow-like, and
utterly devoid of weight or
value, that had not its divine
essence as the life within their
60 life. Then what was he?—a
¡Es inconcebible la agonía
con que esta pública veneración
le torturaba! Su genuino impulso era adorar la verdad y reconocer todas las cosas en la sombra, privadas por completo de
peso o valor, que no tuviesen su
divina esencia como la vida dentro de su vida. ¿Qué era él, entonces? ¿Una sustancia? ¿La
156
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
Enoch: Enoch ‘walked with God’ and ‘was
translated’, without dying, to Heaven
according to the Bible, Genesis 5:21-4 and
Hebrews I1:5
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
shrivel I verbo transitivo 1 (una planta) secar
2 (la piel) arrugar,
decrease in size, range, or extent;
«His earnings shrank»; «My
courage shrivelled when I saw the
task before me»
II vi (tb shrivel up) 1 marchitarse, secarse 2 (la piel) arrugarse, wither, especially with a loss of
moisture; «The fruit dried and
shriveled»
shrivel contract or wither into a wrinkled,
folded, rolled-up, contorted, or driedup state, consumido, apergaminado,
falto de lozanía
Secar (se), marchitar (se), encoger
(se), consumir (se), reducir (se), arrugar (se), empequeñecer (se), avellanarse, apergaminarse
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
substance?—or the dimmest of
all shadows? He longed to
speak out from his own pulpit
at the full height of his voice,
and tell the people what he
was. “I, whom you behold in
these black garments of the
priesthood—I, who ascend the
sacred desk, and turn my pale
face heavenward, taking upon
myself to hold communion in
your behalf with the Most
High Omniscience—I, in
whose daily life you discern
the sanctity of Enoch—I,
whose footsteps, as you
suppose, leave a gleam along
my earthly track, whereby the
Pilgrims that shall come after
me may be guided to the
regions of the blest—I, who
have laid the hand of baptism
upon your children—I, who
have breathed the parting
prayer over your dying
friends, to whom the Amen
sounded faintly from a world
which they had quitted—I,
y o u r p a s t o r, w h o m y o u s o
reverence and trust, am utterly
a pollution and a lie!”
más débil de todas las sombras?
Sentía deseos de hablar desde lo
alto de su propio púlpito, con
toda la potencia de su voz, y
decir a las gentes lo que él era.
«¡Yo, a quien contempláis vistiendo los negros hábitos del
clero; yo, quien sube a la cátedra sagrada y eleva su cara pálida al cielo; quien se encarga de
sostener la comunión, en favor
de vuestras almas, con la más
alta [169] omnisciencia; yo, en
cuya vida diaria veis la santidad
de Enoch; yo, cuyos pasos, como
vosotros suponéis, dejan una estela luminosa en mi sendero terrenal, para que los peregrinos
que vengan después de mí puedan guiarse a la región de los
benditos; yo, que he puesto la
mano del bautismo sobre vuestros hijos; yo, que he rezado la
oración póstuma junto a vuestros amigos moribundos, a quienes el amén llegaba, débilmente, desde un mundo que habían
dejado; yo, vuestro pastor, a
quien así reverenciáis y en quien
así confiáis, soy una corrupción
y una mentira.
More than once, Mr.
Dimmesdale had gone into the
pulpit, with a purpose never to
come down its steps until he
should have spoken words like
the above. More than once he had
cleared his throat, and drawn in
the long, deep, and tremulous
breath, which, when sent forth
again, would come burdened
with the black secret of his soul.
More than once—nay, more than
a hundred times—he had actually
spoken! Spoken! But how? He
had told his hearers that he was
altogether vile, a viler companion
of the vilest, the worst of sinners,
an abomination, a thing of
unimaginable iniquity, and that
the only wonder was that they did
not see his wretched body
shrivelled up before their eyes
by the burning wrath of the
Almighty! Could there be
plainer speech than this?
Would not the people start up
in
their
seats,
by
a
simultaneous impulse, and tear
Más de una vez había subido al púlpito con el propósito
de no bajar hasta después de
haber pronunciado palabras
como las anteriores. Más de una
vez había limpiado su garganta, y suspirado hondamente,
trémulamente, para que, al salir de nuevo aquel suspiro, llevase envuelto en él el negro secreto de su alma. ¡Más de una
vez, más de cien veces, hubiese hablado! ¡Hablar! ¿Pero,
cómo? ¡Había dicho a sus
oyentes que era vil, el más vil
de todos los viles, el peor de
los pecadores, una abominación, una cosa inicua imposible de imaginar; y que lo maravilloso era que no hubiesen
visto su desgraciado cuerpo
consumirse ante sus ojos
por la ardiente cólera del
To d o p o d e r o s o ! ¿ P o d í a h a ber una oración más clara
que ésta? ¿No debía la gente saltar de sus asientos
por un impulso simultáneo
157
Notas
defile 1 [+ honour] manchar [+ sacred
thing, memory] profanar [+ woman]
deshonrar 2 mauntain pass, desfiladero
defile 1 to make foul or dirty; pollute 2 to
tarnish or sully the brightness of; taint;
corrupt 3 to damage or sully
(someone’s good name, reputation,
etc.) 4 to make unfit for ceremonial
use; desecrate 5 to violate the
chastity of
defile 1 a narrow pass or gorge, esp. one
between two mountains 2 a single file
of soldiers, etc. 3 (Chiefly military) to
march or cause to march in single file
defile to make unclean or impure: as a :
to corrupt the purity or perfection of :
DEBASE <the countryside defiled by
billboards> b : to violate the chastity
of : DEFLOWER c : to make physically
unclean especially with something
unpleasant or contaminating <boots
defiled with blood> d : to violate the
sanctity of : DESECRATE <defile a
sanctuary> e : SULLY, DISHONOR
synonym see CONTAMINATE
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
lurk merodear, estar al acecho
1 [person] (= lie in wait) estar al
acecho, merodear; (= hide) estar escondido; I saw him lurking
around the building lo vi merodeando or al acecho por el edificio 20
2 [danger] acechar; [doubt] persistir
25
30
35
ply 1 a : to use or wield diligently <busily
plying his pen> b : to practice or
perform diligently <ply a trade> 2 : to
keep furnishing or supplying
something to <plied us with liquor> 3
a : to make a practice of rowing or
sailing over or on <the boat plies the
river> b : to go or travel regularly over,
on, or through <jets plying the skies>
1 : to apply oneself steadily 2 : to go
or travel regularly
ply 2 = use vigorously v. (-ies, -ied)
work steadily at (one’s business or
trade). Ir y venir 1 tr. use or wield
vigorously (a tool, weapon, etc.). 2
tr. work steadily at (one’s business or
trade). 3 tr. (foll. by with) a supply (a
person) continuously (with food, drink,
etc.). b approach repeatedly (with
questions, demands, etc.). 4 a intr.
(often foll. by between) (of a vehicle
etc.) travel regularly (to and fro
between two points). b tr. work (a
route) in this way. 5 intr. (of a taxi-driver, boatman, etc.) attend regularly for
custom (ply for trade). 6 intr. sail to
windward.
ply 1 [+ needle, tool] manejar; emplear
[+ oars] emplear [+ river, route] navegar por to ply one’s trade ejercer
su profesión 2 to ply somebody with
questions acosar a alguien con preguntas
to ply somebody with drink no parar
de ofrecer de beber a alguien
to ply between ir y venir de
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
him down out of the pulpit
which he defiled? Not so, indeed!
They heard it all, and did but reverence him the more. They little
guessed what deadly purport
lurked in those self-condemning
words. “The godly youth!” said
they among themselves. “The saint
on earth! Alas! if he discern such
sinfulness in his own white soul,
what horrid spectacle would he
behold in thine or mine!” The minister well knew—subtle, but remorseful hypocrite that he was!—
the light in which his vague confession would be viewed. He had
striven to put a cheat upon himself by making the avowal of a
guilty conscience, but had gained
only one other sin, and a selfacknowledged shame, without the
momentary relief of being selfdeceived. He had spoken the very
truth, and transformed it into the
veriest falsehood. And yet, by the
constitution of his nature, he loved
the truth, and loathed the lie, as few
men ever did. Therefore, above all
things else, he loathed his
miserable self!
y a r r o j a r l e del púlpito que
profanaba? ¡No, no en verdad!
Ellos lo oían todo y no hacían sino
reverenciarle aún más. Ellos no
podían adivinar qué propósito
mortal encerraban aquellas palabras de su propia condenación.
«¡El joven piadoso!», le llamaban.
«¿El santo en la tierra», se decían,
«viendo así los pecados en su alma
pura, qué horrible espectáculo no
verá en la tuya o en la mía?» El
ministro sabía bien (sutil pero hipócrita lleno de remordimientos)
la luz con que sería vista su vaga
confesión. El clérigo había tratado de poner un engaño sobre [170]
sí mismo, haciendo la confesión
de una conciencia culpable, pero
no había hecho sino cometer otro
pecado y abrogarse una vergüenza, sin el alivio momentáneo de
engañarse. Hablando la propia
v e r d a d , l a t r a n sformó en la
misma mentira. Y, sin embargo,
por la constitución de su naturaleza, amaba la verdad y odiaba
la mentira, como lo hacían pocos
hombres. ¡Así pues, sobre todas las
cosas, odiaba su miserable ser!
His inward trouble drove
him to practices more in
accordance with the old,
corrupted faith of Rome than
with the better light of the
church in which he had been
b o r n a n d b r e d . I n M r.
Dimmesdale’s secret closet,
under lock and key, there was a
bloody scourge. Oftentimes,
this Protestant and Puritan
divine had plied it on his own
shoulders, laughing bitterly at
himself the while, and smiting
so much the more pitilessly
because of that bitter laugh. It
was his custom, too, as it has
been that of many other pious
Puritans, to fast—not however,
like them, in order to purify the
body, and render it the fitter
medium
of
celestial
illumination—but rigorously,
and until his knees trembled
beneath him, as an act of
penance. He kept vigils,
likewise, night after night,
sometimes in utter darkness,
sometimes with a glimmering
Su trastorno interno le llevaba a prácticas más en relación con la antigua y corrompida fe de Roma que con la luz
más clara de la iglesia en la que
había nacido y se había criado.
En el secreto del ministro, cerrado con candado y llave,
existía una flagelación sangrienta. Frecuentemente, este
protestante y puritano sublime
la había aplicado sobre sus
hombros, riendo amargamente
mientras lo hacía, y castigándose más a causa de aquella
risa amarga. Era también costumbre suya, como lo era de
muchos otros puritanos, ayunar; no, sin embargo, como
ellos, para purificar el cuerpo
y convertirlo en medio más
adecuado para la iluminación
celestial sino rigurosamente,
hasta que sus rodillas se doblaban bajo él, como un acto de
penitencia. Guardaba también
las vigilias, noche tras noche,
a veces en completa oscuridad;
unas veces a la luz de una dé158
render
hacer inútil, resultar, dejar
(ciego), presentar, dar, rendir (cuentas), prestar (ayuda), enlucir, interpretar, traducir, verter
render v.tr. 1 cause to be or become;
make (rendered us helpless). 2 give
or pay (money, service, etc.), esp. in
return or as a thing due (render
thanks; rendered good for evil). 3
(often foll. by to) a give (assistance)
(rendered aid to the injured man). b
show (obedience etc.). c do (a service
etc.). 4 submit; send in; present (an
account, reason, etc.). 5 a represent
or portray artistically, musically, etc.
b act (a role); represent (a character,
idea, etc.) (the dramatist’s conception
was well rendered). c Mus. perform;
execute. 6 translate (rendered the
poem into French). 7 (often foll. by
down) melt down (fat etc.) esp. to
clarify; extract by melting. 8 cover
(stone or brick) with a coat of plaster.
9 archaic a give back; hand over;
deliver, give up, surrender (render to
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s).
b show (obedience).
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
reel 1 bobinar 2 dar un traspiés perdiendo el control, trastabillar o
tambalearse sin control, swing
stagger or totter violently or very
much out of control
[era presa del vértigo]
10
15
beckon = hacer señas, gesticular / 20
atraer
beckon
1 tr. attract the attention of;
summon by gesture. 2 intr. (usu. foll.
by to) make a signal to attract a
person’s attention; summon a person
by doing this. llamar por señales,
hacer señas, indicar con gesto o señas, gesticular, incitar a, invitar a,
atraer
25
30
35
40
lamp, and sometimes, viewing
his own face in a looking-glass,
by the most powerful light
which he could throw upon it.
He thus typified the constant
introspection wherewith he
tortured, but could not purify
himself. In these lengthened
vigils, his brain often reeled,
an d v i s i o n s s e e m e d t o
flit before him; perhaps seen
d o u b t f u l l y, a n d b y a f a i n t
light of their own, in the
remote dimness of the
chamber, or more vividly and
close beside him, within the
looking-glass. Now it was a
herd of diabolic shapes, that
g r i n n e d a n d mocked at the
pale minister, and beckoned
him away with them; now a
group of shining angels, who
flew upward heavily, as sorrowladen, but grew more ethereal
as they rose. Now came the
dead friends of his youth, and
his white-bearded father, with
a saint-like frown, and his
mother turning her face away as
she passed by Ghost of a
mother—thinnest fantasy of a
mother—methinks she might
yet have thrown a pitying
glance towards her son! And
n o w, t h r o u g h t h e c h a m b e r
which these spectral thoughts
had made so ghastly, glided
Hester Prynne leading along
little Pearl, in her scarlet garb,
and pointing her forefinger,
first at the scarlet letter on her
bosom, and then at the
clergyman’s own breast.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
45
None of these visions ever
quite deluded him. At any
moment, by an effort of his will,
he could discern substances
through their misty lack of
50 substance, and convince himself
that they were not solid in their
nature, like yonder table of
carved oak, or that big, square,
l e a t h e r- b o u n d a n d b r a z e n55 clasped volume of divinity. But,
for all that, they were, in one
sense, the truest and most
substantial things which the
misery: miseria, pobreza pero
poor minister now dealt with. It
también desdicha, angustia, pena,
60
is the unspeakable misery of a
triateza, sufrimiento
bil lámpara; y otras contemplando en su espejo su propio
rostro, bajo la luz más potente que podía proporcionarse.
Así simbolizaba el constante
examen de conciencia con que
se torturaba, pero no se purificaba. En estas interminables vigilias, su cerebro se ofuscaba
con frecuencia y le parecía que
se alzaban ante él mil visiones;
tal vez vistas dudosamente, por
una débil propia luz, en lo
más profu n d o d e s u c e l d a , o c o n m á s c la r i d ad
y más cerca de él, en el
e s p e j o . Ya e r a u n e n j a m b r e
d e f iguras d i a b ó l i c a s q u e
g r u ñ í a n y s e b u r laban del
pálido ministro y le arrastraban
con ellas; ya era un grupo de ángeles resplandecientes, que se [171]
remontaban volando hacia el cielo
pesadamente, como cargados de tristeza, pero que se iban haciendo más
etéreos conforme ascendían. Ora llegaban los amigos de su juventud, su
padre con la barba blanca, y su madre, que le volvía el rostro cuando
pasaba junto a él. ¡El fantasma maternal, la más tenue fantasía de una
madre bien podía haber echado sobre su hijo una mirada compasiva!
Y luego, en la celda por donde habían desfilado estos pensamientos espectrales, tan
horrorosamente, aparecía Ester
Prynne, conduciendo a la pequeña Perla vestida de color rojo y
señalando con su índice, primero, a la letra roja que su madre llevaba sobre el pecho, y luego, al propio pecho del clérigo.
Ninguna de estas visiones le
alucinaron jamás por completo. En
cualquier momento, por un esfuerzo de su voluntad, podía discernir
las sustancias a través de su brumosa falta de sustancia y convencerse que no eran sólidas en su
naturaleza, como lo era la mesa de
roble labrado o el volumen grande
y cuadrado, encuadernado con piel
y cerrado con abrazaderas de bronce, de la divinidad. Pero con todo
eso, aquéllas eran, en cierto modo,
las cosas más verdaderas y sustanciosas con que bregaba el pobre
ministro. La indecible miseria de
159
flit / revolotear 1 move lightly, softly, or
rapidly (flitted from one room to
another). verb 1 flutter, fleet, dart
move along rapidly and lightly; skim
or dart ; fly lightly; make short flights,
(revolotear) (flitted from branch to
branch). 3 Brit. colloq. leave one’s
house etc. secretly to escape
creditors or obligations. 4 esp. Sc. &
N.Engl. change one’s home; move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
revolotear: the butterflies flitted around
the flowers, las mariposas revoloteaban alrededor de las flores
grin : mueca o contorsión del rostro 1
a facial expression characterized
by turning up the corners of the
mouth; usually shows pleasure or
amusement
2 to draw back the lips and reveal
the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or
snarl.
1 intr. a smile broadly, showing the
teeth, smiled toothly, unrestrained,
or stupid smile.
2 tr. express by grinning (grinned his
satisfaction). Sonreír abiertamente: the little boy grinned from ear
to ear, el pequeño sonreía de oreja a oreja.
Sonreir con algún tipo de mueca o gesticulación facial (desdeñosa, burlona, etc.)
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
life so false as his, that it steals
the pith and substance out of
whatever realities there are
around us, and which were
meant by Heaven to be the spirit’s joy and nutriment. To the
untrue man, the whole universe
is false—it is impalpable—it
shrinks to nothing within his
grasp. And he himself in so far
as he shows himself in a false
light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist. The only
truth that continued to give Mr.
Dimmesdale a real existence on
this earth was the anguish in his
inmost
soul,
and
the
undissembled expression of it in
his aspect. Had he once found
power to smile, and wear a face
of gaiety, there would have been
no such man!
una vida tan falsa como la suya
es la que roba la esencia y sustancia de cualquier realidad que
nos rodea y que el cielo quiso
que fuesen la alegría y nutrición
del espíritu. Para el hombre falso, todo el universo lo es; es impalpable, se convierte en la
nada entre sus manos. Y él mismo, mientras se da a ver en
una luz falsa, se convierte en
una sombra, o, en realidad,
cesa de existir. La única verdad que continuaba da ndo a
Dim m e s d a l e u n a e x i s t e n c i a
real en esta tierra era la angustia en su alma interna y su
desfigurada expresión en el aspecto. ¡Si alguna vez hubiese
logrado fuerza para sonreír y
llevar un semblante alegre, no
hubiera sido tal hombre!
On one of those ugly nights,
25 which we have faintly hinted at,
but forborne to picture forth,
the minister started from his
chair. A new thought had struck
him. There might be a moment’s
30 peace in it. Attiring himself
with as much care as if it had
been for public worship, and
precisely in the same manner,
he stole softly down the
35 staircase, undid the door, and
issued forth.
[172] Una de esas lúgubres
noches, que pálidamente hemos
apuntado, el ministro se alzó precipitadamente del sillón. Le había asaltado un nuevo pensamiento. Tal vez en él hubiese un
momento de sosiego. Ataviándose con tanto cuidado como si
hubiera sido para el respeto público, y precisamente en la misma forma, descendió las escaleras suavemente, abrió la puerta y
salió.
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40
The minister goes to the pillory scaffold and stands there in shame. He laughs hysterically and is noticed by Hester and Pearl who come to stand with him. Pearl asks him to stand
with her in daylight, but he refuses. A red A flashes across the sky, and in its light, Pearl sees Chillingworth. He comes forward and leads the distracted minister home. The next day
many people report seeing the A and a sexton tells Dimmesdale his glove has been found on the scaffold. Dimmesdale preaches with great power, but does not confess.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
45 Nester had endured her public humiliation. He stands upon it, unseen by anyone ‘save that everwakeful one which had seen him in
The minister goes to the pillory scaffold where
his closet, wielding the bloody scourge’. He shrieks aloud but the town sleeps on. Only Governor Bellingham and his sister the witchlike Mistress Hibbins look out from their
windows. A bit later the Reverend Wilson passes by the scaffold, going home from the deathbed of Governor Winthrop. He carries a lantern but he does not see Dimmesdale, and
Dimmesdale does not speak to him. After a time, the minister imagines the town awakening, and finding him still on the scaffold. He laughs hysterically, and the laugh seems echoed
by a child’s laugh. He calls out to Pearl and Nester, coming from measuring Governor Winthrop’s body for a shroud. He asks them to come up and stand with him. Silently they do.
He feels their vital strength uphold him.
Pearl asks the crucial question, ‘Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, tomorrow noontide?’. ‘Nay; not so, my little Pearl .... Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with they
50
mother and thee, one other day, but not tomorrow’.
Pearl presses him again with her question and he tells her he will stand with them on the Final Day of Judgement which the
Puritans believed would happen after the End of the World. Pearl laughs at this admission. She is a creature of this world.
A meteor flashes across the night sky. To the minister it seems to streak a red letter A across the night sky. In this scene Hawthorne comes close to describing events as
supernatural. He is at pains to tell his readers that there is a tradition of portents in the sky foreshadowing events that affect the life of the New England community, but it is not clear
whether by referring to this he is expressing belief in portents, or accounting for Dimmesdale’s belief that he saw the red A. If a reader believes that this latter is Hawthorne’s
intention, the chapter’s end will surprise him, for in it the old sexton tells Dimmesdale next morning that many people saw a red A in the sky, which they interpret to stand for Angel,
heaven’s sign that the soul of Governor Winthrop is now with God.
55
The meteor illumines the street and Pearl mischievously points out Roger Chillingworth watching them. The minister recognises him with horror. He asks, ‘Who is that man, Hester?
. . . I shiver at him! Dost thou know the man? I hate him, Hester!. Nester’s oath to Chillingworth keeps her silent. It is Pearl who offers to tell him more of Chillingworth. When he
bends to her, she whispers nonsense into his ear. The minister asks her ‘Dost thou mock me now?’, and Pearl responds ‘Thou writ not bold! - thou writ not true!’.
Chillingworth comes forward, pretending it is only a night-madness of Dimmesdale’s to be out with Nester and Pearl on the scaffold. He offers to lead the minister home, and
Dimmesdale weakly goes. The next day Dimmesdale’s divided self is made even more evident. He preaches a sermon of great power, but when the sexton offers him his glove,
found upon the scaffold, he allows the man60to be mystified at how it got there, even to believe it a trick of Satan. When the sexton tells him of the portent in the sky, he compounds
his silence with a lie, ‘I had not heard of it’.
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tr. de A. Ruste
XII.
XII
THE MINISTER’S VIGIL
LA VIGILIA DEL MINISTRO
Walking in the shadow of a
dream, as it were, and perhaps
actually under the influence of a
species of somnambulism, Mr.
Dimmesdale reached the spot
10 where, now so long since, Hester
Prynne had lived through her
first hours of public ignominy.
The same platform or scaffold,
black and weather-stained with
15 the storm or sunshine of seven
long years, and foot-worn, too,
with the tread of many culprits
who had since ascended it,
remained standing beneath the
20 balcony of the meeting-house.
The minister went up the steps.
Como si caminase en la sombra de un sueño, y quizá bajo la
influencia de cierta especie de
sonambulismo, llegó el señor
Dimmesdale al sitio donde no
hacía mucho tiempo había vivido Ester Prynne sus primeras
horas de pública ignominia. La
misma plataforma o patíbulo negro y con las huellas que en él
habían dejado la lluvia y el sol
de siete largos años, desgastado
además por las pisadas de muchos culpables que desde entonces lo habían hollado, permanecía bajo el balcón de la capilla.
El ministro subió las escaleras.
It was an obscure night in
early May. An unwearied pall
of cloud muffled the whole
expanse of sky from zenith to
horizon. If the same multitude
which had stood as eyewitnesses while Hester Prynne
sustained her punishment
could
now
have
been
summoned forth, they would
have discerned no face above
the platform nor hardly the
outline of a human shape, in
the dark grey of the midnight.
But the town was all asleep.
There was no peril of
discovery. The minister might
stand there, if it so pleased
him, until morning should
redden in the east, without
other risk than that the dank
and chill night air would creep
into his frame, and stiffen his
joints with rheumatism, and
clog his throat with catarrh and
cough; thereby defrauding the
expectant audience of tomorrow’s prayer and sermon.
No eye could see him, save that
ever-wakeful one which had
seen him in his closet, wielding
the bloody scourge. Why, then,
had he come hither? Was it but
the mockery of penitence? A
mockery, indeed, but in which
his soul trifled with itself! A
mockery at which angels
blushed and wept, while fiends
Era una oscura noche de comienzos de mayo. Un paño mortuorio de nubes monótonas cubría el cielo desde el zenit al horizonte. Si la misma multitud
que había sido testigo presencial cuando Ester Prynne
aguantaba su castigo pudiese
haber sido convocada entonces,
no hubiera podido discernir
cara alguna sobre la plataforma,
ni escasamente la silueta de una
figura humana, en el gris oscuro de aquella medianoche. Pero
toda la población dormía. No
había temor de descubrimiento.
El ministro podía permanecer
allí, si así le placía, hasta que
la mañana colorease de rojo el
Este, sin otro riesgo que el de que
el aire húmedo y [173] frío de la
noche hiriese su cuerpo, entumeciese sus articulaciones con reumatismo y le hiciera atrapar un
catarro laríngeo y una tos pertinaz que defraudasen al expectante auditorio del rezo y sermón del
siguiente día. Ningunos ojos podían verle, salvo los siempre despiertos del que le había visto en
su estudio manejando las ensangrentadas disciplinas. ¿Por qué
había ido allí entonces? ¿Era
aquello una burla de la penitencia? ¡Una burla, en efecto, pero
en la cual su alma jugueteaba
consigo misma! ¡Una burla ante
la que se sonrojaban y lloraban
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dank disagreeably damp and
cold
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rejoiced with jeering laughter!
He had been driven hither by
the impulse of that Remorse
which
dogged
him
everywhere, and whose own
sister and closely linked
companion
was
that
Cowardice which invariably
drew him back, with her
tremulous gripe, just when the
other impulse had hurried him
to the verge of a disclosure.
P o o r, m i s e r a b l e m a n ! w h a t
right had infirmity like his to
burden itself with crime?
Crime is for the iron-nerved,
who have their choice either to
endure it, or, if it press too
hard, to exert their fierce and
savage strength for a good
purpose, and fling i t o ff a t
once! This feeble and most
sensitive of spirits could do
neither, yet continually did one
t h i n g o r a n o t h e r, w h i c h
intertwined, in the same
inextricable knot, the agony of
heaven-defying guilt and vain
repentance.
los ángeles, mientras los malos
espíritus se regocijaban con risa
burlona! El clérigo había sido
arrastrado hasta allí por el impulso de aquel remordimiento que le
acompañaba a todas partes y cuya
sola hermana era aquella cobardía que invariablemente le hacía
retroceder, asiéndole con mano
trémula en el preciso instante en
que el otro impulso le había empujado al borde de una confesión.
¡Pobre hombre miserable! ¿Qué
derecho tenía una debilidad como
la suya a echar sobre sí el peso
del crimen? ¡El crimen es para los
nervios de hierro, que pueden
elegir entre sufrirlo o, si oprime
demasiado, sacar su fuerza fiera
y salvaje para un buen propósito
y arrojarlo fuera en seguida!
Este espíritu débil y sensible ninguna de las dos cosas podía hacer, y, sin embargo, estaba haciendo constantemente una cosa
u otra, que intervenía, en el mismo nudo intrincado, la agonía de
la culpa que retaba al cielo y el
vano arrepentimiento.
And thus, while standing on
the scaffold, in this vain show
of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale
was overcome with a great
horror of mind, as if the universe
were gazing at a scarlet token on
his naked breast, right over his
heart. On that spot, in very truth,
there was, and there had long
been, the gnawing and
poisonous tooth of bodily pain.
Without any effort of his will, or
power to restrain himself, he
shrieked aloud: an outcry that
went pealing through the night,
and was beaten back from one
house
to
a n o t h e r,
and
reverberated from the hills in the
background; as if a company of
devils, detecting so much misery
and terror in it, had made a
plaything of the sound, and were
bandying it to and fro.
Así pues, mientras permanecía en el patíbulo, en su vana exposición expiatoria, se apoderó
del señor Dimmesdale un gran
terror de imaginación; como si el
universo estuviese contemplando
la letra roja sobre su pecho desnudo, precisamente sobre su corazón. En realidad, en aquel sitio se hallaban, y allí habían estado mucho tiempo, los dientes
venenosos del dolor corporal. Sin
esfuerzo alguno de su voluntad,
o poder [174] para refrenarse,
gritó fuertemente; fue un chillido que retumbó en la noche, rebotando de una a otra casa y desde los montes a los últimos confines, como si una legión de demonios lanzase en él su miseria
y terror, hubiera hecho un juguete
del sonido y lo zarandease de un
lado para otro.
“It is done!” muttered the
m i n i s t e r, c o v e r i n g h i s f a c e
with his hands. “The whole
town will awake and hurry
forth, and find me here!”
«¡Está hecho!», murmuró el
ministro cubriéndose el rostro
con las manos. «¡Toda la población despertará, se apresurará a
salir y me encontrará aquí!»
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bandy 1. difundir, hacer circular,
rumorear 2. cambiar, replicar 3.
estevar
bandy A v. 1 bandy, kick around
discuss lightly; “We bandied around
these difficult questions” 2 bandy
exchange blows 3 bandy toss or
strike a ball back and forth
B adj. 1 bandy, bandy-legged,
bowed, bowleg, bowlegged have
legs that curve outward at the
bandy 1 vtr (ideas, chistes) intercambiar 2 adj arqueado, torcido, combado
bow-legged piernas cruzadas, a leg
bowed outward at or below the knee,
having bandy (estevadas = que tiene las piernas arqueadas a semejanza de la esteva, de tal modo que, con
los pies juntos, quedan separadas las
rodillas. ) legs, piernas arqueadas
hacia fuera como un arco
bandy 1. bat to and fro (tennis) , toss 2.
difundir, hacer circular, rumorear 3.
cambiar (golpes, piropos) , replicar
4. estevar. 5. treat carelessly
bandy 2 1 (often foll. by about) a pass (a
story, rumour, etc.) to and fro. b throw
or pass (a ball etc.) to and fro. 2 (often
foll. by about) discuss disparagingly
(bandied her name about). 3 (often
foll. by with) exchange (blows, insults,
etc.) (don’t bandy words with me).
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But it was not so. The shriek
had perhaps sounded with a far
greater power, to his own startled
ears, than it actually possessed.
The town did not awake; or, if it
did, the drowsy slumberers
mistook the cry either for
something frightful in a dream, or
for the noise of witches, whose
voices, at that period, were often
heard to pass over the settlements
or lonely cottages, as they rode
with Satan through the air. The
clergyman, therefore, hearing no
symptoms of disturbance,
uncovered his eyes and looked
about him. At one of the chamberwindows
of
Governor
Bellingham’s mansion, which
stood at some distance, on the line
of another street, he beheld the
appearance of the old magistrate
himself with a lamp in his hand a
white night-cap on his head, and
a long white gown enveloping his
figure. He looked like a ghost
evoked unseasonably from the
grave. The cry had evidently
startled him. At another window
of the same house, moreover
appeared old Mistress Hibbins,
the Governor’s sister, also with a
lamp, which even thus far off
revealed the expression of her
sour and discontented face. She
thrust forth her head from the
lattice, and looked anxiously
upward Beyond the shadow of a
doubt, this venerable witch-lady
had heard Mr. Dimmesdale’s
outcry, and interpreted it, with its
multitudinous echoes and
reverberations, as the clamour of
the fiends and night-hags, with
whom she was well known to
make excursions in the forest.
Pero no fue así. El grito tal
vez sonase con mucho más poder que el que en realidad tenía
para sus alarmados oídos. La población no despertó, o, si lo hizo,
los amodorrados durmientes
confundieron el grito con alguna
cosa espantosa de su sueño o con
el ruido de las brujas, cuyas voces, por aquella época, se oían al
pasar sobre los poblados o casas
aisladas, conforme caminaban
con Satán por los aires. Así pues,
el clérigo, no escuchando síntomas de disturbio, descubrió sus
ojos y miró a su alrededor. En
una de las ventanas de la mansión del gobernador Bellingham,
que se alzaba a alguna distancia
en la línea de otra calle, vio aparecer al propio anciano magistrado con una lámpara en la
mano, un gorro blanco de dormir y una larga bata blanca envolviendo su figura. Parecía un
espectro evocado intempestivamente de su tumba. Era evidente que el grito le había sobresaltado. En otra ventana de la misma casa apareció la vieja señora
Hibbins, la hermana del gobernador, también con una lámpara, que, a pesar de la distancia,
revelaba la expresión de su rostro agrio y descontento. La vieja sacó la cabeza fuera de la ventana y miró ansiosamente hacia
arriba. Fuera de toda sombra de
duda, aquella venerable señora
bruja oyó el grito del señor
Dimmesdale, con sus múltiples
ecos y reverberaciones, como el
clamor de los malos espíritus y
de las brujas nocturnas, con las
que era bien sabido hacía excursiones a la selva.
Detecting the gleam of
Governor Bellingham’s lamp,
50 t h e
old
lady
quickly
extinguished her own, and
vanished. Possibly, she went
up among the clouds. The
minister saw nothing further of
55 her motions. The magistrate,
after a wary observation of the
darkness—into which, nevertheless,
he could see but little further than
he might into a mill-stone—
60 retired from the window.
[175] Al ver el resplandor
de la lámpara del gobernador,
la vieja dama apagó prontamente la suya y desapareció. Es
posible que se desvaneciese
entre las nubes; el ministro no
pudo apreciar más sus movimientos. El magistrado, después de una cautelosa observación de la oscuridad (en la
que podía ver poco más que a
través de una piedra de molino), se retiró de la ventana.
5
drowsy somnoliento, adormilado
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The minister grew comparatively calm. His eyes, however,
were soon greeted by a little
glimmering light, which, at first
a long way off was approaching
up the street. It threw a gleam of
recognition, on here a post, and
there a garden fence, and here a
latticed window-pane, and there
a pump, with its full trough of
water, and here again an arched
door of oak, with an iron
knocker, and a rough log for the
door-step. The Reverend Mr.
Dimmesdale noted all these
minute particulars, even while
firmly convinced that the doom
of his existence was stealing onward, in the footsteps which he
now heard; and that the gleam of
the lantern would fall upon him
in a few moments more, and reveal his long-hidden secret. As
the light drew nearer, be beheld,
within its illuminated circle, his
brother clergyman—or, to speak
more accurately, his professional
father, as well as highly valued
friend—the Reverend Mr.
Wilson, who, as Mr. Dimmesdale
now conjectured, had been praying at the bedside of some dying
man. And so he had. The good
old minister came freshly from
the death-chamber of Governor
Winthrop, who had passed from
earth to heaven within that very
hour. And now surrounded, like
the saint-like personage of olden
times, with a radiant halo, that
glorified him amid this gloomy
night of sin—as if the departed
Governor had left him an
inheritance of his glory, or as if
he had caught upon himself the
distant shine of the celestial city,
while looking thitherward to see
the triumphant pilgrim pass
within its gates—now, in short,
good Father Wilson was moving
homeward, aiding his footsteps
with a lighted lantern! The
glimmer of this luminary
suggested the above conceits to
Mr. Dimmesdale, who smiled—
nay, almost laughed at them—
and then wondered if he was
going mad.
El ministro quedó relativamente tranquilo. Pronto, sin embargo, hirió sus ojos el brillo débil de una lucecita que al principio lejos, se aproximaba avanzando por la calle. Aquí y allá
arrojaba su resplandor de reconocimiento sobre un poste, una
valla, el panel de una ventana, el
chorro de agua de una bomba,
sobre una puerta de roble con su
llamador de hierro y sobre el tosco escalón de roble de su entrada. El reverendo Dimmesdale
notó todas estas minuciosidades,
aun cuando estaba firmemente
convencido de que el castigo de
su existencia caminaba hacia
adelante, en los pasos que entonces escuchaba, y que la luz de la
linterna debía caer sobre él a los
pocos momentos, y revelar su secreto largo tiempo oculto. Conforme se acercó la luz vio dentro del
círculo iluminado a su hermano
clérigo o, para hablar con más claridad, a su padre profesiona, a la
vez que valioso amigo, el reverendo señor Wilson, quien, como
conjeturaba ahora el joven ministro, había estado rezando junto al
lecho de algún moribundo. Y así
era. El buen anciano ministro venía de la cámara mortuoria del gobernador Winthrop, que había
pasado de la tierra al cielo en
aquella misma hora. ¡Y en aquel
momento, rodeado, como los santos personajes de los tiempos antiguos, de un nimbo radiante que
le glorificaba entre la bruma de la
oscura noche de pecado (como si
el fallecido gobernador le hubiese dejado la herencia de su gloria, o como si hubiese echado sobre sí el lejano brillo de la ciudad
celestial, mientras miraba hacia allá
para ver si el [176] triunfante
peregrino traspasaba sus puertas), el buen padre Wilson se encaminaba a casa, ayudando sus
pasos con una linterna encendida! El resplandor de esta
luminaria sugirió al señor
Dimmesdale los anteriores conceptos, y sonrió (más bien se rió
de ellos); y luego pensó si estaba
volviéndose loco.
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As the Reverend Mr. Wilson
passed beside the scaffold, closely
muffling his Geneva cloak about
him with one arm, and holding the
5 lantern before his breast with the
other, the minister could hardly
restrain himself from speaking—
Cuando el reverendo señor
Wilson pasó junto al patíbulo, agitando el manteo con
una de sus manos y sosteniendo con la otra la linterna, el
joven ministro apenas pudo
reprimirse de hablar.
“A good evening to you,
10 venerable Father Wilson. Come
up hither, I pray you, and pass a
pleasant hour with me!”
«¡Buenas noches tenga usted,
venerable padre Wilson! ¡Suba
usted aquí, yo se lo ruego, y pasaremos una hora agradable!»
Good Heavens! Had Mr.
15 Dimmesdale actually spoken?
For one instant he believed that
these words had passed his lips.
But they were uttered only
within his imagination. The
20 v e n e r a b l e F a t h e r Wi l s o n
continued to step slowly
onward, looking carefully at the
muddy pathway before his feet,
and never once turning his head
25 towards the guilty platform.
When the light of the
glimmering lantern had faded
q u i t e a w a y, t h e m i n i s t e r
discovered, by the faintness
30 which came over him, that the
last few moments had been a
c r i s i s o f t e r r i b l e a n x i e t y,
although his mind had made
an involuntary effort to
35 r e l i e v e i t s e l f b y a k i n d of
morboso,
lurid playfulness.
¡Cielos! ¿Habló en realidad
el señor Dimmesdale? Por un
instante creyó que aquellas palabras habían salido de sus labios, pero sólo fueron pronunciadas con la imaginación. El
padre Wilson continuó su camino despacio, observando
cuidadosamente el enfangado
pavimento antes de echar el
pie, y sin volver la cabeza ni
una vez hacia la culpable plataforma. Cuando se extinguió
en la lejanía la luz de su linterna, descubrió el ministro,
por el desfallecimiento que se
apoderó de él, que los últimos
momentos habían constituido
una terrible crisis de ansiedad,
aunque su imaginación hizo un
esfuerzo involuntario por a l i viarse con una especie de
espeluznante travesura.
Shortly afterwards, the like
grisly sense of the humorous
again stole in among the solemn
phantoms of his thought. He
felt his limbs growing stiff with
the unaccustomed chilliness of
the night, and doubted whether
he should be able to descend the
steps of the scaffold. Morning
would break and find him there
The neighbourhood would
begin to rouse itself. The
earliest riser, coming forth in
the dim twilight, would
perceive a vaguely-defined
figure aloft on the place of
shame; and half-crazed
betwixt alarm and curiosity,
would go knocking from door
t o d o o r, s u m m o n i n g a l l t h e
people to behold the ghost—
as he needs must think it—of
some defunct transgressor. A
Inmediatamente después,
el espantoso sentido de humorismo volvió a embargar los
solemnes fantasmas de su pensamiento. Sintió que sus
miembros se anquilosaban con
la inacostumbrada frescura de
la noche, y dudó si podría descender las gradas del patíbulo. El día iba a clarear y a sorprenderle allí. E1 vecindario
iba a comenzar a levantarse.
Los madrugadores que saliesen de casa descubrirían su figura, vagamente delineada en
la opaca luz, sobre la plataforma de vergüenza, y, m e d i o l o cos de alarma y curiosidad,
irían llamando de puerta en
puerta e invitando a toda la
[177] gente a que fuera a
ver el fantasma de algún
t r a n s g re s o r difunto , como
Geneva cloak: black cloak commonly
worn then by Calvinist ministers recalling
by its name John Calvin’s association with
Geneva
lurid
tr. de A. Ruste
escabroso,
e s p e l u z a n t e,
horrendo
[guesome], horripilante [grisly]
40
45
50
aloft 1 high up; overhead. 2 upwards.
Arriba, en alto, por encima
55
defunt transgressor: dead sinner
60
165
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
awry fuera de sitio, sesgado, torcido,
mal puesto, de través, askew,
amiss, al sesgo,obliquely; crookedly.
obliquely
15
20
25
30
35
scant adj. & v.
— adj. barely sufficient; deficient (with
scant regard for the truth; scant of
breath). ligero (clothes)
— v.tr. archaic provide (a supply, material, a person, etc.) grudgingly; skimp;
stint.
40
45
50
dusky tumult would flap its
wings from one house to another. Then—the morning light
still waxing stronger—old patriarchs would rise up in great
haste, each in his flannel gown,
and matronly dames, without
pausing to put off their nightg e a r. T h e w h o l e t r i b e o f
decorous personages, who had
never heretofore been seen with
a single hair of their heads awry,
would start into public view
with the disorder of a nightmare
in their aspects. Old Governor
Bellingham would come
grimly forth, with his King
James’ ruff fastened askew, and
Mistress Hibbins, with some
twigs of the forest clinging to
her skirts, and looking sourer
than ever, as having hardly got
a wink of sleep after her night
ride; and good Father Wilson
too, after spending half the night
at a death-bed, and liking ill to
be disturbed, thus early, out of
his dreams about the glorified
saints. Hither, likewise, would
come the elders and deacons of
Mr. Dimmesdale’s church, and
t h e y o u n g v i rg i n s w h o s o
idolized their minister, and had
made a shrine for him in their
white bosoms, which now, bythe-bye, in their hurry and
confusion, they would scantly
have given themselves time to
cover with their kerchiefs. All
people, in a word, would come
stumbling
over
their
thresholds, and turning up
their amazed and horrorstricken visages around the
scaffold. Whom would they
discern there, with the red
eastern light upon his brow?
Whom, but the Reverend Arthur
Dimmesdale, half-frozen to
death, overwhelmed with shame,
and standing where Hester
Prynne had stood!
tr. de A. Ruste
X
ellos creerían. Un tumulto espantoso agitaría sus alas de
casa en casa. Entonces, cada vez
haciéndose más clara la luz del
amanecer, se levantarían los viejos patriarcas a toda prisa, vestidos con batas de franela, y las damas matronas, sin preocuparse de
cambiar sus ropas de dormir.
Toda la tribu de personajes decorosos, que jamás fueron vistos
con un solo cabello en desorden,
saldrían a la vista del púb l i c o c o n el aspecto de una
pesadilla en sus semblantes. El
viejo gobernador Bellingham
se adelantaría con cara ceñuda
y la peluca del rey Jaime ladeada; la
señora Hibbins con algunas ramitas
de la selva adheridas a su ropa y con
aspecto más agrio que nunca, después
de haber escasamente pegado un ojo,
a causa de su vuelo hechicero de la
noche; y el bueno del señor Wilson,
también, después de haber perdido la
mitad de la noche junto al lecho de
muerte, y deseoso de no ser interrumpido tan temprano en su sueño con
los santos glorificados. Del mismo
modo llegarían hasta allí los padres
de familia, los diáconos del señor
Dimmesdale y las jóvenes vírgenes, quienes tanto idolatraban a
su ministro que le habían descubierto sus blancos senos; senos que ahora, en su apresuramiento y confusión, _______
no acertarían a cubrir con sus
pañue l o s . To d a s l a s g e n t e s ,
en una palabra, atravesarían
los umbrales de sus casas
dando tumbos y alzarían sus
rostros h a c i a e l p a t í b u l o , s o brecogidas de asombro y de
t e r r o r. ¿ A q u i é n i b a n a e n c ontrar allí, alumbrado por la
rojiza luz del alba? ¡A quién
sino al reverendo Arturo
D i m m e s d a l e , medio muerto
de frío, abrumado de vergüenza y de pie en donde había
estado Ester Prynne!
Llevado del horror grotesco
de esta pintura, sin darse cuenta, y con infinita alarma, rompió el ministro en una sonora
carcajada. Esta risotada fue inmediatamente contestada por
una risa ligera, aérea, de niña,
Carried away by the
55 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
60 light, airy, childish laugh, in
166
Notas
John Winthrop: trained in law, Winthrop
(1588-1649) was a founder of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and
was almost continuously re-elected
Governor or deputy Governor until his
death
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
which, with a thrill of the heart—
but he knew not whether of exquisite pain, or pleasure as
acute—he recognised the tones
5 of little Pearl.
[178] en la que reconoció los
tonos de la pequeña Perla por
un estremecimiento del corazón, no supo si de pena exquisita o de placer.
“Pearl! Little Pearl!”
c r i e d h e , a f t e r a m o m e n t ’s
pause; then, suppressing
10 h i s v o i c e — ” H e s t e r ! H e s t e r
Prynne! Are you there?”
—¡Perla! ¡Pequeña Perla! —
gritó, después de un momento de
pausa; y luego, bajando el tono
de su voz—: ¡Ester! ¡Ester
Prynne! ¿Estás ahí?
“Yes; it is Hester Prynne!” she
replied, in a tone of surprise; and
15 the minister heard her footsteps
approaching from the side-walk,
along which she had been passing.
“It is I, and my little Pearl.”
—¡Sí; soy Ester Prynne!
—respondió ella en tono de
sorpresa; y el clérigo oyó sus
pasos que se acercaban por el
camino lateral—. ¡Soy yo, y
mi pequeña Perla!
20
“Whence come you, Hester?”
asked the minister. “What sent
you hither?”
—¿Cómo viniste, Ester? —
preguntó el ministro—.
¿Qué te trajo aquí?
“I have been watching at a
25 death-bed,” answered Hester Prynne
“at Governor Winthrop’s deathbed, and have taken his measure
for a robe, and am now going
homeward to my dwelling.”
30
“Come up hither, Hester, thou
and Little Pearl,” said the
Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. “Ye
have both been here before, but I
35 was not with you. Come up hither
once again, and we will stand all
three together.”
—He estado velando a
un moribundo; al gobernad o r Wi n t h r o p , e n s u m o r a da, y le he tomado medida
para coser un hábito; ahora me voy a casa.
She silently ascended the
40 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
45 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
50 child were communicating their
vital warmth to his half-torpid
system. The three formed an
electric chain.
Ester ascendió las gradas en
silencio y se puso en pie sobre la
plataforma, cogiendo de la mano
a Perla. El ministro sintió el contacto de la otra mano de la niña y
la tomó. En el momento de hacerlo le sobrevino un torrente
tumultuoso de nueva vida; otra
vida distinta a la suya, que se
destilaba en su corazón, atropelladamente, a través de sus venas,
como si la madre y la niña comunicasen su calor vital a su sistema aletargado. Los tres formaban una cadena eléctrica.
55
“Minister!” whispered little
Pearl.
—¡Ministro! —murmuró la
pequeña Perla.
“What wouldst thou say, child?”
asked Mr. Dimmesdale.
—¿Qué quieres, niña? —preguntó el señor Dimmesdale.
— S u b e a q u í , E s t e r, s u b e
con la pequeña Perla. Las
dos habéis estado aquí antes, pero yo no estuve con
vosotras. ¡Subid aquí de
nuevo y permaneceremos
los tres juntos!
60
167
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“`Wilt thou stand here with
mother and me, to-morrow
noontide?” inquired Pearl.
—¿Estarás aquí con mamá y
conmigo mañana al mediodía?
“Nay; not so, my little Pearl,”
answered the minister; for, with
the new energy of the moment, all
the dread of public exposure, that
had so long been the anguish of
10 his life, had returned upon him;
and he was already trembling at
the conjunction in which—with a
strange joy, nevertheless—he now
found himself—”not so, my child.
15 I shall, indeed, stand with thy
mother and thee one other day, but
not to-morrow.”
—No; nada de eso, mi pequeña Perla —respondió el ministro, pues, con la nueva energía del momento, había vuelto
a él todo el pavor a la exposición pública, que durante tanto tiempo fue la angustia de su
vida; y estaba temblando por la
conjunción en que se hallaba,
[179] pero, sin embargo, con
un placer extraño—. No, hija
mía. Estaré contigo y con tu
madre en algún otro día, pero
no mañana.
Pearl laughed, and attempted
20 to pull away her hand. But the
minister held it fast.
Perla rió e intentó retirar la
mano; pero el ministro la retuvo
fuertemente.
“A moment longer, my child!”
said he.
—¡Espera un momento, hija
mía! —dijo.
“But wilt thou promise,”
asked Pearl, “to take my hand, and
mother ’s hand, to-morrow
noontide?”
—¿Pero prometerás —preguntó Perla— que nos darás la
mano mañana al mediodía a
mamá y a mí?
“Not then, Pearl,” said the
minister; “but another time.”
—Mañana no, sino
otro día.
“And what other time?”
35 persisted the child.
—¿Cuándo? —persistió la niña.
“At the great judgment day,”
whispered the minister; and,
strangely enough, the sense that he
40 was a professional teacher of the
truth impelled him to answer the
child so. “Then, and there, before the
judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou,
and I must stand together. But the
45 daylight of this world shall not see
our meeting!’’
—En el gran día del juicio
—murmuró el ministro—.
5
25
30
Entonces, y allí, ante el tribunal, tu madre, tú y yo permaneceremos juntos.
Pearl laughed again.
Perla volvió a reír.
50
But before Mr. Dimmesdale
had done speaking, a light
gleamed far and wide over all
the muf fled sky. It was
doubtless caused by one of
55 those meteors, which the nightwatcher may so often observe
burning out to waste, in the
vacant regions of the atmosphere. So powerful was its ra60 diance, that it thoroughly illu-
Pero antes que el señor
Dimmesdale hubiese terminado
de hablar, un ligero resplandor
brilló a lo lejos, anchamente, sobre el encapotado celaje. Fue,
sin duda, uno de esos meteoros
que los observadores nocturnos
pueden ver con frecuencia, que
se consumen en las regiones vacantes de la atmósfera. Tan poderosa fue su radiación que ilu168
encapotado lowering, opaque, obscure, no lucid,
lowering, overcast
celaje 1. m. Aspecto que presenta el cielo cuando
hay nubes tenues y de varios matices. 2.
Claraboya o ventana, y la parte superior de ella.
3. fig. Presagio, anuncio o principio de lo que se
espera o desea. 4. Mar. Conjunto de nubes.
muffle 1 v. 1 (often foll. by up) wrap or cover for
warmth. 2 cover or wrap up (a source of sound)
to reduce its loudness. 3 (usu. as muffled adj.)
stifle (an utterance, e.g. a curse). 4 prevent from
speaking.
— n. 1 a receptacle in a furnace where substances
may be heated without contact with combustion
products. 2 a similar chamber in a kiln for baking
painted pottery.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
minated the dense medium of
cloud betwixt the sky and earth.
The great vault brightened, like
the dome of an immense lamp.
It showed the familiar scene of
the street with the distinctness
of mid-day, but also with the
awfulness that is always imparted to familiar objects by an
unaccustomed light The
wooden houses, with their jutting storeys and quaint gablepeaks; the doorsteps and
thresholds with the early grass
springing up about them; the
garden-plots, black with
freshly-turned earth; the wheeltrack, little worn, and even in
the market-place margined with
green on either side—all were
visible, but with a singularity of
aspect that seemed to give
another moral interpretation to
the things of this world than
they had ever borne before. And
there stood the minister, with
his hand over his heart; and
Hester Prynne, with the
embroidered letter glimmering
on her bosom; and little Pearl,
herself a symbol, and the
connecting link between those
two. They stood in the noon of
that strange and solemn
splendour, as if it were the light
that is to reveal all secrets, and
the daybreak that shall unite all
who belong to one another.
minó completamente las densas
nubes que se mezclaban entre el
cielo y la tierra. La inmensa bóveda se iluminó como el disco de
una lámpara enorme. Hizo ver la
familiar escena callejera con la
claridad del mediodía, pero, al
propio tiempo, con el terror que
producen los objetos familiares
iluminados por una luz desacostumbrada. Las casas de madera,
con sus salientes guardillas y sus
anchos y macizos aleros; las pasaderas de las puertas y sus umbrales bordeados de la hierba
temprana; los surcos de los jardines, negros por las recientes
labores que removieron su tierra;
las rodadas de los vehículos, destacándose sobre el suelo verdoso; todo esto se hizo visible, pero
con una singularidad de aspecto
que parecía dar otra interpretación moral a las cosas de este
mundo, que nunca tuvieron. Y
allí estaba el ministro, con la
mano sobre su corazón; y Ester
Prynne, con la [180] letra bordada relumbrando sobre su pecho;
y la pequeña Perla, que era un
símbolo y el escalón de enlace
entre aquellos dos. Allí estaban
en el mediodía de aquel extraño
y solemne esplendor, como si
fuese la luz que hubiera de revelar todos los secretos, o el alba
que había de unir a todos los que
se pertenecían unos a otros.
40
There was witchcraft in little
Pearl’s eyes; and her face, as she
glanced upward at the minister,
wore that naughty smile which
made its expression frequently so
45 elvish. She withdrew her hand
from Mr. Dimmesdale’s, and
pointed across the street. But he
clasped both his hands over his
breast, and cast his eyes towards
50 the zenith.
En los ojos de la pequeña
Perla había una hechicería; y su
cara, cuando la elevaba hacia el
ministro, tenía aquella sonrisa
traviesa que le daba cierta expresión de duendecillo. Retiró su
mano de la del ministro y
señaló a la calle. Pero él
cruzó ambas manos sobre el
pecho y elevó su mirada al
zenit.
Nothing was more common,
in those days, than to interpret
all meteoric appearances, and
55 other natural phenomena that
occured with less regularity
than the rise and set of sun and
moon, as so many revelations
from a supernatural source.
60 Thus, a blazing spear, a sword
Nada era tan común en aquellos días como el interpretar todas las apariencias meteóricas y
otros fenómenos naturales, que
ocurrieran con menos regularidad que la salida y puesta del sol
y la luna, como revelaciones de
un origen sobrenatural. A s í
pues, una lanza resplandecien-
5
10
gable peaks:the vertical-triangle roof
characteristic of a certain style of New
England colonial buildings
15
20
25
30
35
169
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
40
render
hacer inútil, resultar, dejar
(ciego), presentar, dar, rendir (cuentas), prestar (ayuda), enlucir, interpretar, traducir, verter
45
of flame, a bow, or a sheaf of
arrows seen in the midnight sky,
prefigured Indian warfare.
Pestilence was known to have
been foreboded by a shower of
c r i m s o n l i g h t . We d o u b t
whether any marked event, for
good or evil, ever befell New
England, from its settlement
down to revolutionary times, of
which the inhabitants had not
been previously warned by
some spectacle of its nature.
Not seldom, it had been seen by
multitudes. Oftener, however,
its credibility rested on the faith
of some lonely eye-witness,
who beheld the wonder through
the coloured, magnifying, and
distorted medium of his
imagination, and shaped it more
distinctly in his after-thought.
It was, indeed, a majestic idea
that the destiny of nations
should be revealed, in these
awful hieroglyphics, on the
cope of heaven. A scroll so wide
might not be deemed too
expensive for Providence to
write a people’s doom upon.
The belief was a favourite one
with our forefathers, as
betokening that their infant
commonwealth was under a
celestial guardianship of
peculiar
intimacy
and
strictness. But what shall we
s a y, w h e n a n i n d i v i d u a l
discovers
a
revelation
addressed to himself alone, on
the same vast sheet of record.
In such a case, it could only be
the symptom of a highly
disordered mental state, when
a man, rendered morbidly selfcontemplative by long, intense,
and secret pain, had extended
his egotism over the whole
expanse of nature, until the
firmament itself should appear
no more than a fitting page for
his soul’s history and fate.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
render v.tr. 1 cause to be or become;
make (rendered us helpless). 2 give or
pay (money, service, etc.), esp. in return
or as a thing due (render thanks;
rendered good for evil). 3 (often foll. 50
by to) a give (assistance) (rendered aid
to the injured man). b show (obedience
etc.). c do (a service etc.). 4 submit;
send in; present (an account, reason,
etc.). 5 a represent or portray
artistically, musically, etc. b act (a role);
We i m p u t e i t , t h e r e f o r e ,
represent (a character, idea, etc.) (the
dramatist’s conception was well 55 solely to the disease in his own
rendered). c Mus. perform; execute. 6
eye and heart that the minister,
translate (rendered the poem into
French). 7 (often foll. by down) melt
looking upward to the zenith,
down (fat etc.) esp. to clarify; extract
by melting. 8 cover (stone or brick)
beheld there the appearance of
with a coat of plaster. 9 archaic a give
an immense letter—the letter
back; hand over; deliver, give up,
surrender (render to Caesar the things 60 A—marked out in lines of dull
that are Caesar’s). b show (obedience).
te, un sable flamígero, un arco
0 un manojo de flechas vistos en
el celaje de medianoche, lo prejuzgaban como guerra con los
indios. La pestilencia se sabía
que fue representada por una lluvia de luz rojiza. Dudamos si
cualquier suceso notable, para
bien o para mal, dejó de ser
anunciado por algún espectáculo de esta naturaleza a los habitantes de la Nueva Inglaterra,
desde su establecimiento allí
hasta los tiempos de la Revolución. Con más frecuencia, sin
embargo, descansaba su credulidad en la fe de un solo testigo
presencial, quien observó la
maravilla a través de su pintoresca, magnificente y tergiversada imaginación, y luego le dio
forma más clara en su pensamiento. Era, en efecto, una idea
magnífica, que el destino de las
naciones fuese revelado por estos terribles jeroglíficos en la
bóveda celeste. Un pergamino
tan ancho quizá no pareciese demasiado extenso para que la
Providencia escribiese sobre él
el sino de las gentes. Era una
creencia favorita entre nuestros
ante [181] pasados, como si representase que su nación estab a b a j o l a t u t e l a c e l e s t i a l de
peculiar intimidad y rectitud.
¿Pero qué habremos de decir,
cuando un individuo descubre
una revelación, dirigida a él solo, en
el mismo extenso pergamino? ¡En tal
caso, tan sólo podría ser el síntoma
de un estado mental altamente desordenado, cuando un hombre que,
por larga e intensa pesadumbre, se
hubiese vuelto mórbidamente
contemplativo de sí mismo, hubiera extendido su egoísmo
sobre el universo entero, hasta que el propio firmamento
no pareciese más que una pequeña página de la historia y
destino de su alma!
Nosotros imputamos, así
pues, solamente a la enfermedad
de su corazón y de su vista que
el ministro, al mirar a lo alto,
percibiese la apariencia de una
letra inmensa; la letra A, marcada con líneas de una luz rojo os-
170
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
red light. Not but the meteor
may have shown itself at that
point, burning duskily through
a veil of cloud, but with no such
5 shape as his guilty imagination
gave it, or, at least, with so little
d e f i n i t e n e s s , t h a t a n o t h e r ’s
guilt might have seen another
symbol in it.
10
There was a singular circumstance that characterised Mr.
Dimmesdale’s psychological
state at this moment. All the time
15 that he gazed upward to the
zenith, he was, nevertheless,
perfectly aware that little Pearl
was hinting her finger towards
old Roger Chillingworth, who
20 stood at no great distance from
the scaffold. The minister
appeared to see him, with the
same glance that discerned the
miraculous letter. To his feature
25 as to all other objects, the
meteoric light imparted a new
expression; or it might well be
that the physician was not careful
then, as at all other times, to hide
30 the malevolence with which he
looked upon his victim.
Certainly, if the meteor kindled
up the sky, and disclosed the
earth, with an awfulness that
35 admonished Hester Prynne and
the clergyman of the day of
judgment, then might Roger
Chillingworth have passed with
them for the arch-fiend, standing
40 there with a smile and scowl, to
claim his own. So vivid was the
expression, or so intense the
minister’s perception of it, that
it seemed still to remain painted
45 on the darkness after the meteor
had vanished, with an effect as if
the street and all things else were
at once annihilated.
curo. Nada sino un meteoro
pudo haberse visto en aquel punto, brillando oscuramente a través de un velo de nubes; pero no
en la forma que le dio su culpable imaginación o, al menos, tan
poco definida que otro culpable
pudiera haber visto en ella otro
símbolo.
50
“Who is that man, Hester?”
g a s p e d M r. D i m m e s d a l e ,
overcome with terror. “I shiver
at him! Dost thou know the man?
I hate him, Hester!”
—¿Quién es ese hombre,
Ester? —preguntó el ministro,
abrumado por el terror—. ¡Tiemblo ante él! ¿Conoces a ese hombre? ¡Yo le odio, Ester!
She remembered her oath,
and was silent.
Recordó ella su juramento y
calló.
“I tell thee, my soul
60 shivers at him!” muttered the
—¡Te digo que mi alma se
estremece ante su vista! —
Hubo otra circunstancia singular que caracterizó en aquel
momento el estado psicológico
del señor Dimmesdale. A1 mismo tiempo que contemplaba el
zenit, se hallaba, no obstante,
perfectamente sabedor de que la
pequeña Perla señalaba con su
dedo hacia el viejo Roger
Chillingworth, que estaba de pie
a no larga distancia del patíbulo.
El ministro le vio con la misma
singular mirada que veía la letra
milagrosa. La luz meteórica imprimía a sus facciones, como a
todos los demás objetos, una expresión nueva; o también pudiera ser que el médico no se cuidase entonces, como en otros tiempos, de ocultar la maldad con que
contemplaba a su víctima. Cierto que si el meteoro iluminó el
firmamento y descubrió la tierra,
con un temor reverencial que
amonestaba a Ester Prynne y al
clérigo para el día del juicio, pudiera haber pasado [182] para
ellos Roger Chillingworth como
el espíritu malo, de pie allí, sonriente y ceñudo, para reclamar lo
suyo. Tan viva era la expresión,
o tan intensa la percepción del
ministro, que parecía seguir aún
dibujada en la oscuridad, después
que se desvaneció el meteoro,
con un efecto como si la calle y
todas las cosas hubieran sido
aniquiladas de repente.
55
171
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
minister again. “W h o i s h e ?
Who is he? Canst thou do
nothing for me? I have a
nameless horror of the
5 man!”
continuó el clérigo—. ¿Quién
es él? ¿Quién es él? ¿No puedes hacer algo por mí?
—¡Ese hombre me produce
un horror indecible!
“Minister,” said little Pearl, “I
can tell thee who he is!”
—¡Ministro! —dijo la pequeña
Perla— Yo puedo decirte quién es!
10
“ Q u i c k l y,
then,
child!”
said
the
minister, bending his ear
c l o s e t o h e r l i p s . “ Q u i c k l y,
and as low as thou canst
15 w h i s p e r . ”
—¡Pronto!
—exclamó
Dimmesdale agachándose hasta
colocar su oreja junto a los labios de la niña—. ¡Pronto, hija,
y tan en voz baja como puedas
decirlo!
Pearl mumbled something
into his ear that sounded, indeed,
like human language, but was
20 only such gibberish as children
may be heard amusing
themselves with by the hour
together. At all events, if it
involved any secret information
25 in regard to old Roger
Chillingworth, it was in a tongue
unknown to the erudite
clergyman, and did but increase
the bewilderment of his mind.
30 The elvish child then laughed
aloud.
Perla pronunció algo a su
oído, que sonó, realmente,
como un lenguaje humano,
pero que no fue sino la jerigonza que oímos a los niños,
y con la que se divierten. De
todos modos, si envolvía alguna secreta información respecto al viejo Chillingworth,
fue dicha en una lengua desconocida para el erudito clérigo y
no hizo más que aumentar la locura de su cerebro. Entonces la
niña trasgo lanzó una sonora
carcajada.
“Dost thou mock me now?”
said the minister.
—¿Te burlas de mí? —dijo el
ministro.
“Thou wast not bold!—thou
wast not true!” answered the
child. “Thou wouldst not promise
to take my hand, and mother’s
40 hand, to-morrow noon-tide!”
—¡Tú no fuiste claro! ¡Tú no
fuiste sincero! —respondió la
niña—. ¡Tú no prometiste coger
mi mano y la de mi madre mañana al mediodía!
“ Wo r t h y s i r, ” a n s w e r e d
the physician, who had
now advanced to the foot
45 o f t h e p l a t f o r m — ” p i o u s
Master Dimmesdale! can
this be you? We l l , w e l l ,
i n d e e d ! We m e n o f
s t u d y, w h o s e h e a d s a r e
50 i n o u r b o o k s , h a v e n e e d
to be s t r a i t l y l o o k e d a f t e r !
We d r e a m i n o u r w a k i n g
moments, and walk in our
s l e e p . C o m e , g o o d s i r, a n d
55 m y d e a r f r i e n d , I p r a y y o u
let me lead you home!”
—¡Apreciable señor! —respondió el médico, que había
avanzado hacia el pie del cadalso—. ¡Piadoso señor Dimmesdale!
¿Es posible que seáis vos? ¡Bien,
bien, en verdad! Nosotros los hombres de estudio, [183] cuyas cabezas están en nuestros libros, tenemos necesidad de ser debidamente c u i d a d o s . S o ñ a m o s
despiertos y caminamos durm i e n d o . ¡ Ve n i d , b u e n s e ñ o r
y querido amigo, yo se lo
ruego; permitid que os
acompañe a casa!
“How knewest thou that I
was here?” asked the
60 minister, fearfully.
—¿Cómo supiste que estaba
yo aquí? —preguntó el clérigo
temerosamente.
35
straitly: carefully
172
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
tr. de A. Ruste
“Verily, and in good faith,”
answered Roger Chillingworth,
“I knew nothing of the matter.
I had spent the better part of
the night at the bedside of the
worshipful Governor Winthrop,
doing what my poor skill
might to give him ease. He,
going home to a better world,
I, l i k e w i s e , w a s o n m y w a y
homeward, when this light
shone out. Come with me, I
beseech
[beg]
you,
R e v e r e n d s i r, e l s e y o u w i l l
be poorly able to do
S a b b a t h d u t y t o - m o r r o w.
Aha! see now how they
trouble the brain—these
b o o k s ! — t h e s e b o o k s ! Yo u
s h o u l d s t u d y l e s s , g o o d s i r,
and take a little pastime, or
these night whimsies will
grow upon you.”
—En realidad —respondió
Roger— no sabía nada de
este asunto. Pasé la mayor
parte de la noche junto al lecho de muerte del gobernador
Wi n t h r o p , h a c i e n d o c u a n t o
mi pobre saber me dictó para
aliviarle. Habiendo partido él
para un mundo mejor, partí yo
también para mi casa, y me
sorprendió el resplandor de
esa luz extraña. Venga usted,
yo se lo ruego, reverendo señor;
si no lo hace, será usted incapaz
de cumplir con su deber de sábado mañana. ¡Ah, vea usted cómo
trastornan la cabeza esos libros!,
¡esos libros! Debiera usted estudiar menos, buen señor, y
proporcionarse alguna pequeña
distracción; de lo contrario, le
ocurrirán estas extravagancias
nocturnas.
“I will go home with you,”
said Mr. Dimmesdale.
—Iré a casa con usted —dijo
el clérigo.
25
despondent adj.
in low spirits,
dejected. Abatido, alicaído,
despondency
abatimiento,
dejection=low spirits, desaliento
With a chill despondency,
30 l i k e o n e a w a k e n i n g , a l l
nerveless, from an ugly dream,
he yielded himself to the
physician, and was led away.
X
35
sexton: an under-officer in a church
among whose duties are care of church
property, bell-ringing, and in some cases,
grave-digging, sacristán, coadjutor
scurrilous indecent and abusive
1 a : using or given to coarse language
b : being vulgar and evil 2 :
containing obscenities, abuse, or
slander, difamatorio, calumnioso
The next day, however, being
the Sabbath, he preached a
discourse which was held to be the
richest and most powerful, and the
most replete with heavenly
40 influences, that had ever
proceeded from his lips. Souls, it
is said, more souls than one, were
brought to the truth by the efficacy
of that sermon, and vowed within
45 themselves to cherish a holy
gratitude towards Mr. Dimmesdale
throughout the long hereafter. But
as he came down the pulpit steps,
the grey-bearded sexton met him,
50 h o l d i n g u p a b l a c k g l o v e ,
which
the
minister
recognised as his own.
X
“It was found,” said the
55 Sexton, “this morning on the
scaffold where evil-doers are
set up to public shame. Satan
dropped it there, I take it, intending a scurrilous jest
60 against your reverence. But,
173
Con una fría desesperación,
como uno que despierta completamente decaído de un horroroso sueño, se rindió al médico y éste le acompañó.
A1 siguiente día, siendo
sábado, pronunció un sermón que se tuvo como el
más rico y poderoso y más
repleto de influencias celestiales que jamás saliera
de sus labios. Más de un
alma, se dijo, fue conducida a la verdad por la eficacia de la oración, y
llenáronse los pechos d e
eterna y santa gratitud hacia el señor Dimmesdale.
P ero al descender las gradas
del púlpito, un viejo de cabellos blancos le hizo entrega de
un guante negro, que el ministro reconoció como suyo.
—Fue encontrado —dijo el
viejo— esta mañana en el patíbulo donde se expone a los perversos a la vergüenza pública.
Satán lo arrojó allí, supongo yo,
intentando un acto injurioso
contra vuestra reverencia. [184]
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
indeed, he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is.
A pure hand needs no glove
to cover it!”
Pero, sin duda, estaba ciego o
loco, como siempre lo estuvo y
lo estará. ¡Una mano pura no necesita guante para cubrirse!
“Thank you, my good
friend,” said the minister,
gravely, but startled at heart; for
so confused was his remembrance,
10 that he had almost brought himself to look at the events of the
past night as visionary.
“Yes, it seems to be my glove,
indeed!”
15
“And, since Satan saw fit
to steal it, your reverence
must needs handle him
without
gloves
20 henceforward,” remarked the
old sexton, grimly smiling.
grimly forzadamente
“But did your reverence hear
of the portent that was seen
last night? a great red letter
25 i n t h e s k y — t h e l e t t e r A ,
which we interpret to stand
for Angel. For, as our good
G o v e r n o r Wi n t h r o p w a s
made an angel this past
30 night, it was doubtless held
fit that there should be some
notice thereof!”
—Gracias, mi buen amigo —dijo el ministro, gravemente, pero con alarma en
el corazón; pues tan confusos eran sus recuerdos, que
los sucesos de la noche pasada le parecían visionar i o s — . Sí, en efecto, parece que
es mi guante.
—Y puesto que Satán juzgó
apropiado quitárselo, vuestra reverencia, de ahora en adelante, tendrá por fuerza que manejarle sin
guantes —apuntó el anciano feligrés, sonriendo espantosamente.
—¿Y no ha oído hablar vuestra reverencia del portento que se
presenció anoche? Se vio en el
firmamento una gran letra roja,
la letra A, que nosotros interpretamos que quiere decir Ángel.
¡Porque, como nuestro buen gobernador Winthrop fue hecho
ángel esta noche pasada, era indudable que debiera haber algún
aviso!
“No,”
answered
the
35 minister; “I had not heard of it.”
—¡No —respondió el ministro—, no he oído hablar de ello!
5
40
45
Chapter 13: Another View of Nester
Chapter 13 recounts the changes in Nester’s personality and outlook over the years of solitude. It describes her strange relationship with her community, to whom she is an
accepted figure, welcome in time of trouble or sickness, but not an accepted person, whose own concerns might be shared by them.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
50
This chapter explores the changes in Nester’s life and personality after seven years of social isolation. Her meeting with Dimmesdale has reawakened in her soul a sense of their
bond. Hawthorne subtly remarks:
The links that united her to the rest of humankind - links of flowers, or silk, or gold, or whatever the material - had all been broken. Here was the iron link of mutual crime, which
neither he nor she could break. Like all other ties, it brought along with it its obligations.
Their relationship, and her duty toward Pearl, are the only active roles she has found, but her very passivity, meekly letting society make her an outcast, has slowly brought her into
a degree of public affection. This allows her55
to enter houses where someone is sick or dying as a nurse and helper. She is excluded from the ordinary flow of life, but included in times
of crisis. Some people say that her letter A no longer stands for adultress, but for Able, because they recognise her great emotional strength.
Hawthorne does not see the change in Nester’s character as enobling. He says her womanly tenderness is crushed deep into her heart. Her life has become dominated by thought,
leaving little freedom for affections. While the Puritan community is coming to admire Nester - believing even that a heathen Indian’s arrow miraculously struck her breast and fell
away without injuring her - Hawthorne sees her as a natural woman leading a stunted life. Moreover he shrewdly recognises two effects this has on her personality. Firstly, mental
freedom being the last private freedom left to her, she will use it eagerly in wide-ranging speculation. Secondly, her repressed passions are imprisoned and not tamed. Their energy
remains youthful and unspent. Their force remains narrowly channelled. So when Nester discerns that Dimmesdale is truly threatened by Chillingworth, she has both the freedom
60
of mind and the energy of character to tackle the doctor herself.
174
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
grovel 1 behave obsequiously
[servilely] in seeking favour or
forgiveness. 2 lie prone in abject
humility.
1 . To behave in a servile or
demeaning manner; cringe. 2. To lie
or creep in a prostrate position, as
in subservience or humility. 3. To
give oneself over to base pleasures:
“Have we not groveled here long
enough, eating and drinking like
mere brutes?” (Walt Whitman).
grovel humillarse [to, ante] postrarse [to, ante]
servil, rastrero, sumiso
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
tr. de A. Ruste
XIII.
XIII
ANOTHER VIEW OF HESTER
OTRO ASPECTO DE ESTER
In her late singular interview
with Mr. Dimmesdale, Hester
Prynne was shocked at the
condition to which she found the
clergyman reduced. His nerve
seemed absolutely destroyed.
His moral force was abased into
more than childish weakness. It
gr o v e l l e d h e l p l e s s o n t h e
ground, even while his
intellectual faculties retained
their pristine strength, or had
perhaps acquired a morbid
energy, which disease only could
h a v e g i v e n t h e m . Wi t h h e r
knowledge of a train of
circumstances hidden from all
others, she could readily infer
that, besides the legitimate
action of his own conscience, a
terrible machinery had been
brought to bear, and was still
operating, on Mr. Dimmesdale’s
well-being and repose. Knowing
what this poor fallen man had
once been, her whole soul was
moved by the shuddering terror
with which he had appealed to
her—the outcast woman—for
support against his instinctively
discovered enemy. She decided,
moreover, that he had a right to
her
utmost
aid.
Little
accustomed, in her long
s e c l u s i o n f r o m s o c i e t y, t o
measure her ideas of right and
wrong by any standard external
to herself, Hester saw—or
seemed to see—that there lay a
responsibility upon her in
reference to the clergyman,
which she owned to no other,
nor to the whole world besides.
The links that united her to the
rest of humankind—links of
flowers, or silk, or gold, or
whatever the material—had all
been broken. Here was the iron
link of mutual crime, which
neither he nor she could break.
Like all other ties, it brought
along with it its obligations.
En su última entrevista con
Dimmesdale, quedó impresionada Ester ante la condición a
que encontró reducido al clérigo. Sus nervios parecían estar completamente destrozados. Su fuerza moral quedó reducida a la debilidad de un
niño. Se arrastraba, impotente, sobre el suelo, a pesar de
que sus facultades intelectuales conservaban su fuerza primitiva, o habían adquirido una
insana energía que sólo podía
haberle dado la enfermedad.
Con su conocimiento de una
serie de circunstancias ocultas
para todos los demás, Ester
[185] podía inferir que, aparte
la acción legítima de su propia
conciencia, ejercía aún sobre el
ministro una influencia terrible
que se veía obligado a soportar. Sabiendo lo que este pobre
y decaído hombre había sido en
tiempos, toda su alma
conmovióse ante el terror convulsivo con que le pidió, a ella,
a la mujer descastada, que le
amparase contra su enemigo
instintivamente descubierto.
Ester pensó que tenía el clérigo derecho a su ayuda. Poco
acostumbrada, en su larga reclusión de la sociedad, a medir sus ideas del bien o del mal
por cualquier patrón extraño a
su ser, vio, o le pareció ver, que
caía sobre ella una responsabilidad, en referencia al ministro,
como no debía a ningún otro en
el mundo entero. Los eslabones que la unían con el resto
de la humanidad, eslabones de
flores, seda, oro, o cualquiera
otra materia, se habían roto todos. Allí estaba el eslabón de
hierro del crimen mutuo, que
ni él ni ella podían romper.
Como todas las demás ligaduras, llevaba con él sus obligaciones.
X
Hester Prynne did not now
occupy precisely the same
60 position in which we beheld
Ester Prynne no ocupaba
ahora la misma precisa posición
que en los primeros tiempos de
175
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
ultimate 1. fundamental, definitivo,
final, último 2. decisivo, inapelable
3. máximo. 4. Última instancia, a la
larga, al final
20
25
irksome tedious, annoying, tiresome.
Fastidioso, irritante, molesto,
30
35
40
45
tr. de A. Ruste
her during the earlier periods
o f h e r i g n o m i n y. Ye a r s h a d
come and gone. Pearl was now
seven years old. Her mother,
with the scarlet letter on her
breast, glittering in its fantastic
embroidery, had long been a
familiar
object
to
the
townspeople. As is apt to be the
case when a person stands out in
any prominence before the community, and, at the same time,
interferes neither with public nor
individual interests and convenience, a species of general regard
had ultimately grown up in reference to Hester Prynne. It is to
the credit of human nature that,
except where its selfishness is
brought into play, it loves more
readily than it hates. Hatred, by
a gradual and quiet process, will
even be transformed to love,
unless the change be impeded
by a continually new irritation
of the original feeling of hostility. In this matter of Hester
Prynne there was neither
irritation nor irksomeness. She
never battled with the public,
but submitted uncomplainingly
to its worst usage; she made
no claim upon it in requital
for what she suffered; she did
not
weigh
upon
its
sympathies. Then, also, the
blameless purity of her life
during all these years in
which she had been set apart
to infamy was reckoned
l a rg e l y i n h e r f a v o u r. Wi t h
nothing now to lose, in the
sight of mankind, and with no
hope, and seemingly no wish,
of gaining anything, it could
only be a genuine regard for
virtue that had brought back
the poor wanderer to its
paths.
su ignominia. Los años se habían
sucedido y pasado. Perla contaba entonces siete años de edad.
Su madre, con la letra roja sobre
su pecho, brillando con su fantástico bordado, hacía tiempo se
había convertido en un objeto
familiar para los vecinos de la
población. Como suele suceder
cuando una persona se coloca en
una prominencia ante la comunidad, y, al mismo tiempo, no interviene en los intereses públicos
o privados, ni en las conveniencias, en los últimos tiempos había alcanzado Ester Prynne una
especie de reparación general.
Tiene la humana naturaleza en
su favor que, excepto cuando su
egoísmo es traído a juego, ama
con más rapidez que odia. El
odio puede convertirse hasta en
amor, por un progreso gradual y
tranquilo, a menos que impida
este cambio una continua irritación nueva del sentimiento original de hostilidad. En este caso
de Ester [186] Prynne, no había
irritación ni molestia. Jamás
batalló con el público, sino que
se sometió, sin queja, a sus peores tratamientos; no hizo reclamación alguna en pago de lo
que sufrió; no se puso a considerar sobre sus simpatías. Además, la intachable pureza de su
vida, durante todos estos años
en que se había mantenido apartada de la infamia, era reconocida grandemente en su favor.
Con nada que perder ahora a los
ojos de la humanidad, sin esperanzas y, al parecer, sin deseo
de conquistar cosa alguna, no
podía ser más que una genuina
mira por la virtud lo que había
llevado a la pobre vagabunda
nuevamente sobre su senda.
50
Se advertía también qué, aunque jamás ostentó título alguno,
ni aun el más humilde, para compartir los privilegios del mundo
(salvo el respirar el aire común y
ganar el pan de cada día para ella
y su pequeña Perla, con la labor
honrada de sus manos), comprendía rápidamente su hermandad
con la raza humana, cuando quiera que hubieran de conferirse
It was perceived, too, that
while Hester never put forward
even the humblest title to share
in the world’s privileges—further
55 than to breathe the common air
and earn daily bread for little
Pearl and herself by the faithful
labour of her hands—she was
quick to acknowledge her
60 sisterhood with the race of man
176
Notas
bestow [title, honour] grant, conferir (on a)
[affections] ofrecer (on a), depositar,
otorgar 1 : to put to use : APPLY
<bestowed his spare time on study> 2 : to
put in a particular or appropriate place :
STOW 3 : to provide with quarters :
PUT UP 4 : to convey as a gift — usually
used with on or upon.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
gibe: sarcastic and taunting words.
Burla, mofa.
wrought
1 : worked into shape by artistry or effort
<carefully wrought essays>
SHAPED, MOLDED
2 : elaborately embellished :
ORNAMENTED
3 : processed for use : MANUFACTURED
<wrought silk>
4 : beaten into shape by tools :
HAMMERED — used of metals
FORGED
5 : deeply stirred : EXCITED — often used
with up <gets easily wrought up over
nothing
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
tr. de A. Ruste
whenever benefits were to be
conferred [bestowed]. None so
ready as she to give of her little
substance to every demand of
poverty, even though the bitterhearted pauper threw back a gibe
in requital of the food brought
regularly to his door, or the
garments wrought for him by the
fingers that could have
embroidered a monarch’s robe.
None so self-devoted as Hester
when pestilence stalked through
the town. In all seasons of
calamity, indeed, whether general
or of individuals, the outcast of
society at once found her place.
She came, not as a guest, but as
a rightful inmate, into the
household that was darkened by
trouble, as if its gloomy twilight
were a medium in which she was
entitled to hold intercourse with
her fellow-creature There
glimmered the embroidered
letter, with comfort in its
unearthly ray. Elsewhere the
token of sin, it was the taper of
the sick chamber. It had even
thrown its gleam, in the sufferer’s
bard extremity, across the verge
of time. It had shown him where
to set his foot, while the light of
earth was fast becoming dim, and
ere the light of futurity could
reach him. In such emergencies
Hester ’s nature showed itself
warm and rich—a well-spring of
human tenderness, unfailing to
every real demand, and
inexhaustible by the largest. Her
breast, with its badge of shame,
was but the softer pillow for the
head that needed one. She was
self-ordained a Sister of Mercy,
or, we may rather say, the world’s
heavy hand had so ordained her,
when neither the world nor she
looked forward to this result. The
letter was the symbol of her
calling. Such helpfulness was
found in her—so much power to
do, and power to sympathise—
that many people refused to
interpret the scarlet A by its
original signification. They said
that it meant Abel, so strong was
Hester Prynne, with a woman’s
strength.
beneficios. Nadie tan dispuesta
como ella a dar parte de su pobre
sustento a toda petición de pobreza; aun cuando los indigentes
amargos de corazón pagasen con
un escarnio el alimento llevado
regularmente a sus puertas, o las
vestiduras cosidas por aquellas
manos que podían haber bordado la túnica de un monarca. Ninguna tan dispuesta como ella a
asistir a los pestilentes cuando
una plaga invadía la población.
En todas las épocas de calamidades, fueran generales o individuales, hallaba su puesto la
descartada de la humanidad.
Acudía al hogar, no como huésped, sino como una interna de
derecho; como si la negrura que
se cernía sobre la casa fuese la
luz con que se hallaba intitulada para mantener trato con sus
semejantes. Allí brillaba su letra roja con agrado, entre sus
rayos no terrenos. En todas partes, la marca del pecado era el
blandón que alumbraba la alcoba del enfermo. Hubiese arrojado sus reflejos sobre los últimos
momentos del paciente, [187]
aun a través de las márgenes del
tiempo. Le hubiese mostrado el
sitio donde posar el pie, cuando
la luz de la tierra se fuese oscureciendo rápidamente, antes de
que le hubiera alcanzado la luz
del porvenir. En tales ocasiones,
la naturaleza de Ester se mostraba calurosa y rica; un manantial
de ternura humana, incapaz de
agotarse ante una verdadera demanda, por duradera que fuese.
Su pecho, con la enseña de la
vergüenza, era el almohadón más
blando para toda cabeza que necesitase apoyo. Se había constituido en una hermana de la Piedad; o, mejor dicho, la había ordenado la pesada mano del mundo. La letra era el símbolo de su
llamada. Encontraban en ella tal
utilidad, tal poder de ejecutar y
de simpatizar, que mucha gente
rehusaba interpretar en la A roja
su significado original. Decían
que quería decir Abel; tan fuerte
era Ester Prynne con su fuerza de
mujer.
60
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Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
It was only the darkened
house that could contain her.
When sunshine came again,
she was not there. Her shadow
had faded across the threshold.
The helpful inmate had
departed,
without
one
backward glance to gather up
the meed of gratitude, if any
were in the hearts of those
whom she had served so zealo u s l y. M e e t i n g t h e m i n t h e
street, she never raised her
head to receive their greeting.
If they were resolute to accost
her, she laid her finger on the
scarlet letter, and passed on.
This might be pride, but was so
like humility, that it produced
all the softening influence of
the latter quality on the public
mind. The public is despotic in
its temper; it is capable of
denying common justice when
too strenuously demanded as a
right; but quite as frequently it
awards more than justice, when
the appeal is made, as despots
love to have it made, entirely
to its generosity. Interpreting
Hester Prynne’s deportment as
an appeal of this nature,
society was inclined to show
its former victim a more benign
countenance than she cared to
be favoured with, or, perchance,
than she deserved.
Solamente el hogar oscurecido podía cobijarla. Cuando penetraba en él la luz solar, ya no
estaba allí; su sombra se deslizaba por el umbral, esfumándose.
La útil interna había desaparecido, sin volver la mirada para recoger el galardón de la gratitud,
si es que existía en los corazones
de aquellos a quienes tan celosamente servía. Al encontrarles en
la calle, jamás levantaba la cabeza para saludarles. Si ellos tenían
la resolución de abordarla, colocaba el dedo sobre la letra roja y
pasaba de largo. Esto pudiera ser
orgullo, pero se parecía tanto a
la humildad, que producía toda
la suave influencia de esta última cualidad en la imaginación
popular. El público es de genio
despótico; es capaz de negar la
justicia común, cuando se pide
enérgicamente como un derecho;
pero, con la misma frecuencia,
concede más que justicia cuando
la petición se hace, como los déspotas quieren que se haga, dejándola a su generosidad. Interpretando el comportamiento de Ester
como una petición de este género, inclinóse la sociedad a mirar
a su antigua víctima con un [188]
semblante más benigno, con el
que a ella le importara poco verse favorecida o, quizá, no mereciese.
The rulers, and the wise
40 a n d l e a r n e d m e n o f t h e
c o m m u n i t y, w e r e l o n g e r i n
acknowledging the influence of
Hester ’s good qualities than
the people. The prejudices
45 which they shared in common
with the latter were fortified in
themselves by an iron framework of reasoning, that made
it a far tougher labour to expel
50 t h e m .
Day
by
d a y,
nevertheless, their sour and
rigid wrinkles were relaxing
into something which, in the
due course of years, might
55 grow to be an expression of
almost benevolence. Thus it
was with the men of rank, on
whom their eminent position
imposed the guardianship of
60 the public morals. Individuals
Los regidores y los hombres
sabios e ilustrados de la comunidad reconocían, aun mejor
que la gente, la influencia de las
buenas cualidades de Ester. Los
prejuicios que compartían en
común con ésta, se fortificaban
en el marco de hierro de su razonamiento, haciéndose una labor más ardua de poder expulsarlos de allí. Día por día, sin
embargo, sus arrugas agrias y
rígidas se iban ablandando, hasta que el curso de los años les
daba una expresión de la mayor
benevolencia. Así ocurría con
los hombres de rango a quien
su posición eminente imponía
la tutela de la moral pública.
Entretanto, los individuos, en la
vida privada, habían perdonado
por completo a Ester Prynne su
5
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Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
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demonstrative efusivo, expresivo,
demostrativo
1 given to or marked by the open
expression of emotion; «an
affectionate and demonstrative
family» 2 (usu. foll. by of) 50
logically conclusive; giving
proof
(the
work
is
demonstrative of their skill). 3
a serving to point out or
exhibit. b involving esp.
scientific demonstration
(demonstrative technique). 4 55
Gram. (of an adjective or
pronoun) indicating the person
or thing referred to (e.g. this,
that, those).
demonstrate expresar, manifestar,
demostrar
demonstration manifestación, 60
expresión, demostración
tr. de A. Ruste
in private life, meanwhile, had
quite forgiven Hester Prynne
for her frailty; nay, more, they
had begun to look upon the
scarlet letter as the token, not
of that one sin for which she
had borne so long and dreary a
penance, but of her many good
deeds since. “Do you see that
woman with the embroidered
badge?” they would say to
strangers. “It is our Hester—
the town’s own Hester—who is
so kind to the poor, so helpful
to the sick, so comfortable to
the afflicted!” Then, it is true,
the propensity of human nature
to tell the very worst of itself,
when embodied in the person
of another, would constrain
them to whisper the black
scandal of bygone years. It was
none the less a fact, however,
that in the eyes of the very men
who spoke thus, the scarlet
letter had the effect of the cross
on a nun’s bosom. It imparted
to the wearer a kind of
sacredness, which enabled her
to walk securely amid all peril.
Had she fallen among thieves,
it would have kept her safe. It
was reported, and believed by
many, that an Indian had drawn
his arrow against the badge,
and that the missile struck it,
and fell harmless to the
ground.
debilidad; más aún, habían comenzado a mirar la letra roja no
como una marca de pecado, por
la que había de sufrir tan larga
y espantosa penitencia, sino
como la de sus muchas buenas
obras. «¿Ven ustedes aquella
mujer con el símbolo bordado?», solían decir a los forasteros. «¡Pues es nuestra Ester, la
propia Ester de la población,
que tan cariñosa es para los pobres, tan auxiliadora para los
enfermos y tan confortable para
los afligidos!» Luego, es cierto
que la propensión de la naturaleza humana a decir lo peor que
hay de ella, cuando toma cuerpo en otra persona, les obligaba a murmurar del terrible escándalo de los pasados años. No
es menos cierto el hecho de que,
no obstante, a los ojos de los
mismos hombres que hablaban
así, la letra roja tenía el efecto
de la cruz sobre el pecho de una
monja. Le daba a Ester una especie de santidad que le permitía caminar sin temor entre toda
clase de peligros. De haber caído en una emboscada de bandidos, el símbolo la hubiese salvado. Se contaba, y muchos lo
creían, que un indio disparó una
flecha sobre la letra roja en cierta ocasión, y el arma arrojadiza
cayó al suelo sin producir el
menor daño.
The effect of the symbol—or
rather, of the position in respect
to society that was indicated by
it—on the mind of Hester Prynne
herself was powerful and peculiar.
All the light and graceful
foliage of her character had been
withered up by this red-hot brand,
and had long ago fallen away,
leaving a bare and harsh outline,
which might have been repulsive
had she possessed friends or
companions to be repelled by it.
Even the attractiveness of her
person had undergone a similar
change. It might be partly owing
to the studied austerity of her
dress, and partly to the lack of
demonstration in her manners. It
was a sad transformation, too, that
her rich and luxuriant hair had
[189] El efecto del símbolo, o, mejor dicho, de la posición que para la sociedad indicaba aquél, era poderoso y
peculiar para la imaginación
de Ester Prynne. La ligereza y
gracia de su carácter se habían
consumido por el calor abrasador de la marca; hasta el atractivo de su persona había sufrido un cambio. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
__ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _
_ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _
_ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __
_ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _
Ta l v e z f u e s e l a c a u s a
de esto la austeridad de
su vestido y en parte la
sencillez de sus maneras. También fue una triste transformación
la de su rica cabellera, que había
X
X
179
peculiar odd, queer, unusual, singular,
especial, raro, curioso, propio
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
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60
either been cut off, or was so completely hidden by a cap, that not a
shining lock of it ever once
gushed into the sunshine. It was
due in part to all these causes, but
still more to something else, that
there seemed to be no longer
anything in Hester’s face for Love
to dwell upon; nothing in Hester’s
form, though majestic and statue
like, that Passion would ever
dream of clasping in its embrace;
nothing in Hester’s bosom to
make it ever again the pillow of
Affection. Some attribute had
departed from her, the
permanence of which had been
essential to keep her a woman.
Such is frequently the fate, and
such the stern development, of the
feminine character and person,
when the woman has encountered,
and lived through, an experience
of peculiar [odd] severity. If she
be all tenderness, she will die. If
she survive, the tenderness will
either be crushed out of her, or—
and the outward semblance is the
same—crushed so deeply into her
heart that it can never show itself
more. The latter is perhaps the
truest theory. She who has once
been a woman, and ceased to be
so, might at any moment become
a woman again, if there were only
the magic touch to effect the
transformation. We shall see
whether Hester Prynne were ever
afterwards so touched and so
transfigured.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
X
X
Much of the marble coldness
of Hester’s impression was to be
attributed to the circumstance
that her life had turned, in a great
measure, from passion and
feeling to thought. Standing
alone in the world—alone, as to
any dependence on society, and
with little Pearl to be guided and
protected—alone, and hopeless
of retrieving her position, even
had she not scorned to consider
it desirable—she cast away the
fragment a broken chain. The
world’s law was no law for her
mind. It was an age in which the
human intellect, newly emancipated, had taken a more active
and a wider range than for many
sido cortada, o tan completamente
escond i d a en la gorra que ni uno
de sus lindos rizos volvió a brillar con la luz del sol. Era debido
en parte a todas estas causas, pero también a algo
más: a que en su rostro no
parecía haber rasgo alguno
que inspirase amor; nada en
su
forma,
aunque
mayestática y estatuaria, con
que la pasión pudiera soñar;
nada en su seno para volver
a hacer de él la almohada del
afecto. Había desaparecido
de ella algún atributo sin el
cual no podía seguir siendo
una mujer. Ése es frecuentemente el sino, y ése es el
cruel desarrollo del carácter
y persona femeninos, cuando la mujer h a e n c o n t r a d o y
vivido una experiencia de
severidad peculiar. Si es
t o d a t e r n u r a , t i e n e q u e mor i r. S i s o b r e v i v e , s e r á
aplastada e n e l l a l a t e r nura, tan hondamente
en su corazón, que no
volverá a mostrarse jamás.
Ésta es, quizá, la teoría más
verdadera. L a que ha sido mujer una vez y c e s a d o d e
serlo,
puede
que
volviera a serlo en
cualquier momento,
si existiese el mágico
toque
que
efectuara la transfiguración.
M u c h a d e l a f rialdad m armórea de la impresión de Ester
debía atribuirse a la circunstancia de que su vida había pasado, en gran medida, de la pasión y el sentimiento al pensamiento. Sola en el mundo, sola
en cuanto a dependencia alguna de la sociedad, y con la pequeña Perla a su cuidado y protección, sola y sin esperanza de
recuperar su posición, aunque
no hubiese despreciado el considerarla necesaria, arrojó los
fragmentos [190] de su cadena
rota. La ley del mundo no era
ley para su imaginación. Era
una época en la que el intelecto humano, casi emancipado,
180
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tr. de A. Ruste
centuries before. Men of the
sword had overthrown nobles
and kings. Men bolder than these
had
overthrown
and
rearranged—not actually, but
within the sphere of theory,
which was their most real
abode—the whole system of
ancient prejudice, wherewith was
linked much of ancient principle.
Hester Prynne imbibed this spirit.
She assumed a freedom of speculation, then common enough on
the other side of the Atlantic,
bu t w h i c h o u r f o r e f a t h e r s ,
had they known it, would
have held to be a deadlier
crime than that stigmatised
b y t h e s c a r l e t l e t t e r. I n h e r
lonesome cottage, by the
seashore, thoughts visited
her such as dared to enter no
other dwelling in New England; shadowy guests, that
would have been as perilous
as demons to their entert a i n e r, c o u l d t h e y h a v e b e e n
seen so much as knocking at
h e r d o o r.
había tomado un estado más
activo y amplio que durante
muchos siglos antes. Hombres
de armas habían derribado a
nobles y a reyes. Hombres más
intrépidos que aquéllos habían
derribado todo el antiguo prejuicio, con el que estaba encadenado mucho del antiguo
principio. Ester Prynne embebió este espíritu; asumió una libertad de teoría, entonces bastante común al otro lado del
Atlántico, pero que nuestros
antepasados, de haberla conocido, la hubiesen considerado
como un crimen más horrendo
que aquel ‘estigmatizado por la
letra roja. En su casita solitaria de junto a la playa la visitaron unos pensamientos que
no se hubiesen atrevido a penetrar en otra vivienda de Nueva Inglaterra; huéspedes sombríos que hubiesen sido para su
anfitrión tan peligrosos como
los demonios, de haber visto
tan sólo que llamaban a su
puerta.
It is remarkable that
persons who speculate the most
boldly often conform with the
most perfect quietude to the
external regulations of society.
The thought suffices them,
without investing itself in the
flesh and blood of action. So
it seemed to be with Hester.
Yet, had little Pearl never come
to her from the spiritual world,
it might have been far
otherwise. Then she might
have come down to us in
history, hand in hand with Ann
Hutchinson, as the foundress
of a religious sect. She might,
in one of her phases, have been
a prophetess. She might, and
not improbably would, h a v e
suffered death from the
stern tribunals of the period,
for attempting to undermine
the foundations of the Puritan
establishment. But, in the
education of her child, the
mother ’s enthusiasm thought
had something to wreak itself
upon. Providence, in the person of this little girl, had as-
Es notable el que personas que
teorizan de la manera más amplia
se conformen, frecuentemente, con
la más perfecta tranquilidad, con
las regulaciones externas de la sociedad. El pensamiento les basta,
sin necesidad de investirse con la
carne y la sangre de la acción. Así
parecía ocurrir con Ester. Sin embargo, la pequeña Perla no hubiese jamás llegado a ella desde el
mundo espiritual, hubiera sido otra
cosa muy distinta. Entonces hubiera llegado a nosotros por la historia, de la mano con Ana
Hutchinson, como fundadora
de una secta religiosa. Quizá,
en una de sus frases, hubiera
sido una profetisa. Tal vez, y
no hubiese sido improbable,
hubiera muerto, condenada por
un severo tribunal de la época, por intentar socavar los cimientos del establecimiento
puritano. P e r o e l e n t u s i a s m o
del pensamiento de la mad r e e n l a e d u c ación de su
niña tenía algo de venganza.
La Providencia, en la persona
de la pequeña Perla, había
30
35
40
45
50
tribunal: court
55
wreak v.tr. 1 (usu. foll. by upon)
give play or satisfaction to;to give
free course to; put in operation,
inflingir (vengeance or one’s
anger etc.); llevar a cabo, causar. 60
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Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
signed to Hester’s charge, the
germ and blossom of womanhood, to be cherished and developed amid a host of diffi5 culties. Everything was
a g a i n s t h e r. T h e w o r l d w a s
h o s t i l e . T h e c h i l d ’s o w n
nature had something wrong in
it
which
continually
10 betokened that she had been
born amiss—the effluence of
her mother’s lawless passion—
and often impelled Hester to
ask, in bitterness of heart,
15 whether it were for ill or good
that the poor little creature had
been born at all.
a s i g n a d o a l [ 1 9 1 ] c a rg o d e
Ester el germen y florecimiento del sexo femenino para ser
criada y que se desarrollase en
medio de una multitud de dif i c u l t a d e s . To d o e s t a b a e n
contra de ella. El mundo le era
hostil. El propio carácter de la
niña tenía algo que continuamente daba a entender que había nacido impropiamente (la
influencia de las pasiones maternales) y que con frecuencia
obligaba a Ester a preguntarse, con amargura de corazón,
si la pequeña había nacido
para bien o para mal.
Indeed, the same dark
20 question often rose into her
mind with reference to the
whole race of womanhood. Was
existence worth accepting even
to the happiest among them? As
25 concerned her own individual
existence, she had long ago
decided in the negative, and
dismissed the point as settled.
A tendency to speculation,
30 t h o u g h i t m a y k e e p w o m e n
quiet, as it does man, yet makes
her sad. She discerns, it may be,
such a hopeless task before her.
As a first step, the whole system
35 of society is to be torn down
and built up anew. Then the
very nature of the opposite sex,
or its long hereditary habit,
which has become like nature,
40 is to be essentially modified
before woman can be allowed to
assume what seems a fair and
suitable position. Finally, all
other
d i ff i c u l t i e s
being
45 obviated, woman cannot take
advantage of these preliminary
reforms until she herself shall
have undergone a still mightier
change, in which, perhaps, the
50 ethereal essence, wherein she
has her truest life, will be found
to have evaporated. A woman
never
overcomes
these
problems by any exercise of
55 thought. They are not to be
solved, or only in one way. If
her heart chance to come
uppermost, they vanish. Thus
Hester Prynne, whose heart had
60 l o s t i t s regular and healthy
Esta oscura pregunta
asaltábala a menudo con referencia a toda la raza humana. ¿Merecía la existencia ser aceptada?
En cuanto a la suya propia, hacía largo tiempo que contestara
negativamente, abandonando
aquel punto como asunto terminado. Una tendencia especulativa, si bien puede mantener tranquila a una mujer, como lo hace
el hombre, le infunde tristeza.
La mujer comprende que se presenta ante ella una labor sin esperanza. Como primer paso,
todo el sistema de la sociedad
debe derrumbarse y ser edificado de nuevo. Entonces, el propio carácter del sexo contrario
o su larga costumbre hereditaria,
que se ha convertido en naturaleza, debe ser modificada esencialmente antes que a la mujer
pueda permitírsele asumir lo que
parece ser buena y apropiada
posición. Finalmente, desechando toda otra dificultad, la mujer
no puede aprovecharse de todas
estas reformas preliminares,
hasta que ella misma haya experimentado un cambio todavía
mayor, en el que la esencia etérea, en la que tiene su más verdadera vida, se haya evaporado.
La mujer nunca se sobrepone a
estos problemas por cualquier
ejercicio de pensamiento. No los
resuelve más que de una forma;
si su corazón se sobrepone a
todo, desaparecen. Así, Ester
Prynne, cuyo corazón había perdido su latido regular y saluda182
Notas
auspicious 1 of good omen; favourable. 2
prosperous. Propicio, auspicioso,
de buen augurio, feliz, prometedor
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
throb, wandered without a clue in
the dark labyrinth of mind; now
turned aside by an insurmountable
precipice; now starting back from
5 a deep chasm. There was wild
and ghastly scenery all around
her, and a home and comfort
nowhere. At times a fearful
doubt strove to possess her
10 soul, whether it were not better
to send Pearl at once to
Heaven, and go herself to such
futurity as Eternal Justice
should provide.
15
The scarlet letter had not done
its office. Now, however, her
interview with the Reverend Mr.
Dimmesdale, on the night of his
20 vigil, had given her a new theme
of reflection, and held up to her
an object that appeared worthy of
any exertion and sacrifice for its
attainment. She had witnessed the
25 intense misery beneath which the
minister struggled, or, to speak
more accurately, had ceased to
struggle. She saw that he stood on
the verge of lunacy, if he had not
30 already stepped across it. It was
impossible to doubt that,
whatever painful efficacy there
might be in the secret sting of
remorse, a deadlier venom had
35 been infused into it by the hand
that proffered relief. A secret
enemy had been continually by
his side, under the semblance of
a fri end and helper, and had
40 availed
himself
of
the
opportunities thus afforded for
tampering with the delicate springs
of Mr. Dimmesdale’s nature. Hester
could not but ask herself whether
45 there had not originally been a defect
of truth, courage, and loyalty on her
own part, in allowing the minister
to be thrown into position where so
much evil was to be foreboded and
50 nothing auspicious to be hoped. Her
only justification lay in the fact that
she had been able to discern no
method of rescuing him from a
blacker ruin than had overwhelmed
55 herself except by acquiescing in
Roger Chillingworth’s scheme of
disguise. Under that impulse she
had made her choice, and had
chosen, as it now appeared, the
60 more wretched alternative of the
ble, vagaba sin guía en el oscuro laberinto de su imaginación,
ya retrocediendo ante un insondable precipicio o evitando una
profunda laguna. La rodeaba un
paisaje vasto y espantoso, [102]
sin encontrar en él un hogar, ni
el menor confort. A veces, tomaba posesión de su alma una duda
espantosa; si sería preferible enviar al cielo inmediatamente a la
pequeña Perla y entregarse ella
al porvenir que la Eterna Justicia le destinase.
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183
La letra roja no había cumplido con su objeto. Sin embargo, su entrevista con el reverendo Dimmesdale en la noche de su
vigilia le había proporcionado su
nuevo tema de reflexión y le había presentado un objetivo que le
parecía merecedor de cualquier
esfuerzo y sacrificio por conseguirlo. Había visto la miseria inmensa bajo la cual luchaba el ministro, o, mejor dicho, había dejado dé luchar. Vio que se hallaba
el clérigo al borde de la locura,
si ya ésta no había hecho presa en
él. Era imposible dudar de que
cualquier dolorosa eficacia que
pudiera haber en el secreto aguijón
de su remordimiento era menor que
el tósigo destilado en él por la mano
que se ofrecía a curarle. Un secreto
enemigo había estado siempre a su
lado, bajo la forma de amigo y
auxiliador, y se había aprovechado de las oportunidades que
le ofrecía la delicada naturaleza
_________ del señor Dimmesdale.
Ester no podía menos de preguntarse si no había sido un defecto
origin a l d e v e r d a d p e r m i t i r
que el ministro fuese así arrojado a una posición en la que
tanto daño podía esperarse,
sin t ener esperanza de nad a
favorable . Su sola justificación era la de no haber encontrado medio de salvarle de una ruina mucho más
terrible que la suya, s i n o
sometiéndose a l plan
de Roger Chillingworth.
Fue a elegir, bajo aquel
impulso, la que ahora
parecía ser la alternativ a m á s d e s g r a ciada.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
two. She determined to redeem
her error so far as it might yet
be possible. Strengthened by
years of hard and solemn trial,
5 she felt herself no longer so
inadequate to cope with Roger
Chillingworth as on that night,
abased by sin and halfmaddened by the ignominy
10 that was still new, when they
had talked together in the
p r i s o n - c h a m b e r. S h e h a d
climbed her way since then to
a higher point. The old man,
15 o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , h a d
brought himself nearer to her
level, or, perhaps, below it,
by the revenge which he had
stooped for.
20
In fine, Hester Prynne
resolved to meet her former
husband, and do wha t mi g h t
be in her power for the
25 r e s c u e o f t h e v i c t i m o n
whom he had so evidently
set his gripe. The occasion
was not long to seek. One
afternoon, walking with
30 P e a r l i n a r e t i r e d p a r t o f t h e
peninsula, she beheld the
old physician with a basket
o n o n e a r m a n d a s t a ff i n t h e
other hand, stooping along
35 t h e g r o u n d i n q u e s t o f r o o t s
and herbs to concoct his
medicine withal.
D e t e rminó redimir su falta
hasta el punto que le fuera
posible. Fortalecida por los
años de una prueba dura y
solemne, se sentía más propicia a contender con Roger
que en aquella noche en que,
abatida por el pecado y medio loca por la reciente ignominia, había conferenciado con él en la celda de su
prisión. Desde aquel día se
[193] había colocado en una
posición más elevada. Por
otra parte, el viejo había
descendido hasta su nivel, o
quizá a uno más bajo, a causa de la venganza que había
mantenido.
En suma, Ester Prynne
resolvió encontrar a su antiguo marido y hacer cuanto
estuviese en su poder para
rescatar la víctima que tan
evidentemente había caído
bajo su garra. La ocasión no
se hizo esperar mucho tiempo. Una tarde, paseando con
Perla por un lugar apartado
de la península, vio al viejo
médico con una cesta en el
brazo y un cayado en la otra
mano, inclinándose sobre el
suelo en busca de raíces y
hierbas con que confeccionar
sus medicinas.
40
Chapter 14: Nester and the Physician
Chapter 14 describes Nester’s confrontation with Chillingworth, her attempt to get him to treat Dimmesdale in a kinder way.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
45
Nester meets Chillingworth one day out walking; she is shocked by his change in character. ‘In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of
transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil’s office’. Before her, Chillingworth glories in his revenge.
‘Yea, woman, thou sayest truly!’ cried old Roger Chillingworth, letting the lurid fire of his heart blaze out before her eyes. ‘Better he had died at once! Never did mortal suffer what
this man has suffered. And all, all in the sight of his worst enemy! He has been conscious of me. He has felt an influence dwelling always upon him like a curse. He knew, by some
spiritual sense, - for the Creator never made another being so sensitive as this, - he knew that no friendly hand was pulling at his heart-strings, and that an eye was looking curiously
into him, which sought only evil, and found50
it. But he knew not that the eye and hand were mine! With the superstition common to his brotherhood, he fancied himself given over to
a fiend, to be tortured with frightful dreams, and desperate thoughts, the sting of remorse, and despair of pardon; as a foretaste of what awaits him beyond the grave. But it was the
constant shadow of my presence! - the closest propinquity of the man whom he had most vilely wronged, and who had grown to exist only by this perpetual poison of the direst
revenge! Yea, indeed, he did not err, there was a fiend at his elbow! A mortal man, with once a human heart, has become a fiend for his especial torment!’
Here, as in many other passages, Hawthorne mixes the natural with the supernatural. Chillingworth is like a fiend or devil, although he is truly a man. This description of Chillingworth
is similar to the earlier description of Nester as the ‘self-ordained Sister of Mercy’ whom arrows could not hurt, in that it mixes the natural with the supernatural. However, it differs,
in that this is Chillingworth’s view of himself, and not the ordinary townsfolk’s view. Nester’s view of herself is also coloured by faith in the supernatural. She tells Chillingworth that
55
if she no longer deserved to wear the stigmatising letter A it would drop off of its own accord. Chillingworth sneers at this, telling her to wear it if she will, but about himself he is
deterministic and almost superstitious. He sees it as his fate to become a man of evil. He refers her to the dark view of God’s power that some Puritans held, that God knew in
advance some people were damned but created them anyway for damnation. Nester has moved far away from these views. She intends to try to rescue Dimmesdale from his
sufferings. She will not believe that she, Dimmesdale, or even Chillingworth are necessarily damned. She asks Chillingworth to take the initiative and forgive Dimmesdale, thereby
freeing himself as well from the deadly power of sin. When he refuses, she still intends to do what she can for Dimmesdale.
The chapter shows the relationship between Chillingworth and Nester altering: after Nester tells Dimmesdale who Chillingworth really is, their marriage will no longer be a secret
bond between them. Nester is moving into60
the world of action. From now on she will not be simply a victim enduring punishment for past action, but an active person once again.
Nester has always cared for Pearl and taken responsibility for her, but from now on, she will also take responsibility for Dimmesdale, and perhaps even for herself.
184
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
XIV.
XIV
HESTER AND THE PHYSICIAN
ESTER Y EL MÉDICO
Hester bade little Pearl run
down to the margin of the water,
and play with the shells and
tangled sea-weed, until she
should have talked awhile with
yonder gatherer of herbs. So the
child flew away like a bird, and,
making bare her small white
feet went pattering along the
moist margin of the sea. Here
and there she came to a full
stop, ad peeped curiously into
a pool, left by the retiring tide
as a mirror for Pearl to see her
face in. Forth peeped at her,
out of the pool, with dark,
glistening curls around her
head, and an elf-smile in her
eyes, the image of a little maid
whom Pearl, having no other
playmate, invited to take her
hand and run a race with her.
But the visionary little maid
on her part, beckoned
likewise, as if to say—”This is
a better place; come thou into
the pool.” And Pearl, stepping
in mid-leg deep, beheld her
own white feet at the bottom;
while, out of a still lower
depth, came the gleam of a
kind of fragmentary smile,
floating to and fro in the
agitated water.
Ester ordenó a la pequeña
Perla que corriese hasta la orilla del mar y jugase allí con las
conchas y las algas marinas hasta que ella hubiese hablado con
el hombre que recogía hierbas.
La niña voló como un pájaro
y, descalzándose, come n zó a
corretear por las húmedas
arenas de la playa. De vez en
cuando se paraba para contemplar curiosamente su carita en
los charcos que la marea baja
había dejado en la arena. Fuera
del charco se asomaba la imagen
de una niña, con rizos brillantes
de cabello oscuro envolviendo
su cabeza, y una sonrisa de
duendecillo en sus ojos, a quien
Perla, no teniendo otra compañera de juego, invitaba a que la
diera la mano y fuese a jugar con
ella. Pero la pequeña visionaria,
por su, parte, parecía decirla,
con un ademán de cabeza: «¡Este
es un sitio mejor! ¡Ven tú al
charco!» Y la pequeña Perla se
metía en el agua hasta las rodillas y contemplaba sus pies desnudos en el fondo, mientras desde lo más hondo [194] parecía
subir un resplandor fragmentario de sonrisa, flotando de un
lado a otro en las agitadas aguas.
40
Meanwhile
her
mother had accosted
the
physician . “I
would speak a word
with you,” said she—”a
45 w o r d t h a t c o n c e r n s u s
much.”
Mientras tanto, la madre había llegado adonde
se encontraba el médico.
—Desearía hablar dos palabras con usted —dijo ella—, sobre algo que nos concierne mucho.
“Aha! and is it Mistress
Hester that has a word for old
50 Roger Chillingworth?” answered
he, raising himself from his
stooping posture. “With all my
heart! Why, mistress, I hear good
tidings of you on all hands! No
55 longer ago than yester-eve, a
magistrate, a wise and godly
man, was discoursing of your
affairs, Mistress Hester, and
whispered me that there had been
60 question concerning you in the
—¡Ah! ¿Y es la señora
Ester la que tiene dos palabras para el viejo Roger
Chillingworth? —respondió
el, incorporándose—. ¡Con
todo mi corazón! He oído a
todos hablar con elogio de usted. Ayer, sin ir más lejos, un
magistrado, sabio y virtuoso,
estaba discurriendo sobre
vuestros asuntos, señora
Prynne, y me dijo que se había hablado de vos en el Con-
5
10
patter 1 (informal)(= talk) labia f [of
salesman] rollo (informal) m;
discursito (informal) m
patter 2 A) [of feet] golpeteo; [of
rain] tamborileo m B) intransitive 15
verb [feet] golpetear (rain) golpetear;
tamborilear
20
25
30
35
185
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
council. It was debated whether
or no, with safety to the
commonweal, yonder scarlet letter might be taken off your
5 bosom. On my life, Hester, I
made my intreaty to the
worshipful magistrate that it
might be done forthwith.”
cejo. Se discutió si se debía
o no, siempre que no hubiera
peligro para el bien público,
despojaron de la letra roja
que lleváis sobre el pecho.
¡Por mi vida, Ester, que rogué
al respetable magistrado que
se hiciera así!
10
“It lies not in the pleasure of
the magistrates to take off the
badge,” calmly replied Hester.
“Were I worthy to be quit of it, it
would fall away of its own nature,
15 or be transformed into something
that should speak a different
purport.”
—No depende del deseo de
los magistrados el arrancar esta
marca —replicó Ester con calma—. Si yo fuese merecedora
de que se me quitara, caería por
sí sola o se transformaría en
algo que tuviese un significado
distinto.
“Nay, then, wear it, if it suit
20 you better,” rejoined he, “A
woman must needs follow her
own fancy touching the
adornment of her person. The
letter is gaily embroidered, and
25 shows right bravely on your
bosom!”
—Entonces llevadla si así
os place —repuso el médico—. La mujer debe seguir
su propia fantasía en el adorno de su persona. ¡La letra
está alegremente bordada y
luce bravamente sobre vuestro pecho!
All this while Hester had
been looking steadily at the old
man, and was shocked, as well as
wonder-smitten [hit], to discern
what a change had been wrought
upon him within the past seven
years. It was not so much that he
had grown older; for though the
traces of advancing life were
visible he bore his age well, and
seemed to retain a wiry vigour
and alertness. But the former
aspect of an intellectual and
studious man, calm and quiet,
which was what she best
remembered in him, had
altogether vanished, and been
succeeded by a eager, searching,
almost fierce, yet carefully
guarded look. It seemed to be his
wish and purpose to mask this
expression with a smile, but the
latter played him false, and
flickered over his visage so
derisively that the spectator
could see his blackness all the
better for it. Ever and anon, too,
there came a glare of red light out
of his eyes, as if the old man’s
soul were on fire and kept on
smouldering duskily within his
breast, until by some casual puff
of passion it was blown into a
Durante todo este tiempo,
Ester había estado contemplando fijamente al anciano,
y se admiró y alarmó del cambio que había sufrido en los últimos siete años. No era que hubiese envejecido, pues si bien se
conocían las huellas de la edad
que avanzaba, llevaba bien sus
años y parecía conservar vigor
y vivacidad; pero el antiguo aspecto de hombre intelectual y
estudioso, calmado y tranquilo,
que es lo que más recordaba ella
de él, había desaparecido por
completo, siendo reemplazado
por una mirada ávida,
escudriñadora, interrogadora,
[195] casi fría y, sin embargo,
cautelosa. Parecían ser su propósito y su deseo disfrazar esta
expresión con una sonrisa; pero
ésta le hacía traición y se reflejaba sobre su semblante tan
irrisoriamente que el espectador
podía apreciar admirablemente
su lobreguez. Una y otra vez,
además, brotaba de sus ojos un
resplandor de luz rojiza, como
si el alma del viejo estuviese ardiendo
y se conservase en rescoldo hasta que, por algún soplo casual
de pasión, ardi ese con llama
30
35
40
45
50
55
smouldering incandescente, latente, en
ascuas, abrasadora, encandecido,
smoulder 1 burn slowly with smoke but
without a flame; slowly burn internally
or invisibly; burn withing, . 2 (of
emotions etc.) exist in a suppressed
or concealed state. 3 (of a person)
show silent or suppressed anger,
hatred, etc.
tr. de A. Ruste
60
186
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
momentary flame. This he repressed as speedily as possible,
and strove to look as if nothing
of the kind had happened.
momentánea. Reprimía esta mirada con la rapidez posible, y
seguía mirando como si nada
hubiese ocurrido.
In a word, old Roger
Chillingworth was a striking
evidence of man’s faculty of
transforming himself into a
10 devil, if he will only, for a
reasonable space of time,
undertake a devil’s office. This
unhappy person had effected
such a transformation by de15 voting himself for seven years
to the constant analysis of a
heart full of torture, and
deriving his enjoyment thence,
and adding fuel to those fiery
20 tortures which he analysed and
gloated over.
En una palabra, el viejo
Roger era una evidencia sorprendente de la facultad de un
hombre de transformarse en diablo, con sólo que lo desease, por
un razonable espacio de tiempo,
y tomar posesión de su oficio.
Esta persona desgraciada había
logrado su transformación por
dedicarse, durante siete años, al
análisis constante de un corazón
lleno de sufrimiento, derivando
de él su goce y añadiendo combustible a aquellas fieras torturas que analizaba y en las que se
deleitaba.
The scarlet letter burned on
Hester Prynne’s bosom. Here
25 w a s
another
ruin,
the
responsibility of which came
partly home to her.
La letra roja ardía sobre
el pecho de Ester Prynne.
Aquí había otra ruina, cuya
responsabilidad la alcanzaba en parte.
“What see you in my face,”
30 asked the physician, “that you
look at it so earnestly?”
—¿Qué veis en mi cara? —
preguntó el médico—. ¿Qué miráis en ella con tanto interés?
“Something that would make
me weep, if there were any tears
35 bitter enough for it,” answered
she. “But let it pass! It is of yonder
miserable man that I would
speak.”
—Algo que me haría llorar,
si para ello hubiese lágrimas bastante amargas —respondió ella—
. ¡Pero dejémoslo pasar! Es de
aquel hombre infortunado de
quien deseo hablar.
40
“And what of him?” cried
Roger Chillingworth, eagerly, as
if he loved the topic, and were
glad of an opportunity to discuss
it with the only person of whom
45 he could make a confidant. “Not
to hide the truth, Mistress Hester,
my thoughts happen just now to
be busy with the gentleman. So
speak freely and I will make
50 answer.”
—¿Y qué hay con él? —gritó
Roger, anhelante, como si le gustase el asunto y le agradase tener
una oportunidad de discutirlo
con la única persona de quien
podía hacer una confidente—.
Para no ocultar la verdad, señora
Ester, ahora mismo se ocupaba
mi pensamiento de ese caballero. Así pues, hablad libremente
y yo os contestaré.
“When we last spake
together,” said Hester, “now
seven years ago, it was your
55 pleasure to extort a promise of
secrecy as touching the former
relation betwixt yourself and me.
As the life and good fame of
yonder man were in your hands
60 there seemed no choice to me,
[196] —Cuando hablamos la
última vez —dijo Ester—, hará
ahora siete años, fue gusto de
usted que yo jurase el secreto de
nuestra antigua relación. Como
la vida y buena fama de aquel
hombre estaban en vuestras manos, no había para mí otro remedio que callar, conforme a su
5
gloat (often foll. by on, upon, over)
consider or contemplate with lust,
greed, malice, triumph, etc. (gloated
over his collection).
1 the act of gloating or dwell on with
satisfaction
2 a look or expression of triumphant
satisfaction, gaze at or think about
something with great self-satisfaction,
gratification, or joy regodeo, goce maligno
relamerse, regodearse, refocilarse,
187
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
save to be silent in accordance
with your behest. Yet it was not
without heavy misgivings that I
thus bound myself, for, having
cast off all duty towards other
human beings, there remained a
duty towards him, and something
whispered me that I was betraying
it in pledging myself to keep your
counsel. Since that day no man is
so near to him as you. You tread
behind his every footstep. You are
beside him, sleeping and waking.
You search his thoughts. You
burrow and rankle in his heart!
Your clutch is on his life, and you
cause him to die daily a living
death, and still he knows you not.
In permitting this I have surely
acted a false part by the only man
to whom the power was left me to
be true!”
requerimiento. No fue sin grandes recelos que yo me conformase, pues habiendo arrojado todos
los deberes para con los seres
humanos, me restaba un deber
para con él, y algo me decía que
le estaba traicionando al aceptar seguir vuestro consejo. ¡Desde aquel día ningún hombre está
tan cerca de él como usted! ¡Seguís todos sus pasos! ¡Estáis
junto a él cuando duerme o
cuando está despierto! ¡Buscáis
sus pensamientos! ¡Escudriñáis
y revolvéis en su corazón!
¡Vuestra garra está sobre su vida
y hacéis que muera diariamente
una muerte viviente! ¡Y, sin embargo, aún no os conoce! ¡A1
permitir esto, he sido falsa con
el único hombre para quien tenía el deber de ser veraz!
“What choice had you?”
25 asked Roger Chillingworth.
“ M y f i n g e r, p o i n t e d a t t h i s
man, would have hurled him
from his pulpit into a dungeon,
thence, peradventure, to the
30 gallows!”
—¿Qué remedio os quedaba?
—preguntó Roger—. ¡Con que
hubiese señalado con el dedo a ese
hombre le hubiera precipitado
desde el púlpito a un calabozo, y
luego, desde allí, posiblemente a
la horca!
“It had been better so!” said
Hester Prynne.
—¡Más hubiera valido! —
dijo Ester.
“What evil have I done the
man?”
asked
Roger
Chillingworth again. “I tell
thee, Hester Prynne, the richest
fee that ever physician earned
from monarch could not have
bought such care as I have
wasted on this miserable priest!
But for my aid his life would
have burned away in torments
within the first two years after
the perpetration of his crime
and thine. For, Hester, his spirit
lacked the strength that could
have borne up, as thine has,
beneath a burden like thy
scarlet letter. Oh, I could reveal
a goodly secret! But enough.
What art can do, I have
exhausted on him. That he now
breathes and creeps about on
earth is owing all to me!”
—¿Qué mal le había hecho
yo? —volvió a preguntar
Chillingworth—. ¡Yo te prometo, Ester Prynne, que los más ricos honorarios que jamás médico alguno recibiera de manos de
un monarca, no pudieran haber
pagado el cuidado que he empleado en ese miserable sacerdote! A no ser por mi ayuda, su vida
se hubiese consumido en tormentos en los dos años después de
perpetuar su crimen y el tuyo;
porque su espíritu no tenía la fortaleza tuya para sobrellevar un
peso como el de la letra roja. ¡Oh,
yo podía revelar un buen secreto! ¡Pero basta! ¡Todo lo que el
arte puede hacer lo he gastado en
su favor! ¡Si ahora alienta y se
arrastra por la tierra, a mí se me
debe! [197]
“Better he had died at
once!”
said
Hester
60 P r y n n e .
—¡Más le valiera haber
muerto de repente! —exclamó
Ester Prynne.
5
10
15
20
35
40
45
50
55
188
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
lurid
escabroso,
morboso,
e s p e l u z a n t e,
horrendo
5
[guesome], horripilante [grisly]
10
15
20
25
30
propinquity:nearness
35
40
“Yea, woman, thou sayest
truly!” cried old Roger
Chillingworth, letting the lurid
fire of his heart blaze out before
her eyes. “Better had he died at
once! Never did mortal suffer
what this man has suffered. And
all, all, in the sight of his worst
enemy! He has been conscious of
me. He has felt an influence
dwelling always upon him like a
curse. He knew, by some spiritual
sense—for the Creator never
made another being so sensitive
as this—he knew that no friendly
hand was pulling at his
heartstrings, and that an eye was
looking curiously into him, which
sought only evil, and found it. But
he knew not that the eye and hand
were mine! With the superstition
common to his brotherhood, he
fancied himself given over to a
fiend, to be tortured with frightful
dreams and desperate thoughts,
the sting of remorse and despair
of pardon, as a foretaste of what
awaits him beyond the grave. But
it was the constant shadow of my
presence, the closest propinquity
of the man whom he had most
vilely wronged, and who had
grown to exist only by this
perpetual poison of the direst
revenge! Yea, indeed, he did not
err, there was a fiend at his elbow!
A mortal man, with once a human
heart, has become a fiend for his
especial torment.”
tr. de A. Ruste
X
—¡Dices bien, mujer! —gritó Roger, dejando que el fuego
________ de su corazón llamease ante sus ojos—. ¡Más le valiera haber muerto de repente!
¡Ningún mortal ha sufrido lo que
éste; y todo, todo, en presencia
de su peor enemigo! Ha tenido
consciencia de mí. Ha sentido
pesar sobre él una influencia
como una maldición. Sabía,
por algún sentido espiritual
(pues el Creador no hizo otro
ser tan sensible), que ninguna
mano amiga tiraba de las fibras
de su corazón y que unos ojos
miraban curiosamente dentro
de él para buscar maldad, y que
la encontraban. ¡Pero no sabía
que esa mano y ojos eran
míos! Con la superstición común a toda la humanidad,
creyóse entregado a un mal espíritu, para ser atormentado
con sueños espantosos y pensamientos desesperados, como
un anticipo de lo que le espera tras de la tumba. ¡Pero era la
sombra constante de mi presencia! ¡La proximidad del hombre
que más vilmente había engañado!
¡Del hombre que le hacía existir por
el perpetuo veneno de su horrible
venganza! ¡Allí, no se equivocaba,
tenía un mal espíritu codo con codo!
¡Un hombre mortal que tuvo una vez
corazón humano y que se había convertido en un mal espíritu para su
especial tormento!
The unfortunate physician,
while uttering these words, lifted
his hands with a look of horror,
45 as if he had beheld some frightful
shape, which he could not
recognise, usurping the place of
his own image in a glass. It was
one of those moments—which
50 sometimes occur only at the
interval of years—when a man’s
moral aspect is faithfully revealed
to his mind’s eye. Not improbably
he had never before viewed
55 himself as he did now.
El desgraciado médico, al
pronunciar aquellas palabras,
alzó sus manos con una mirada
de horror, como si hubiese visto
alguna sombra espantosa que no
podía reconocer, y que usurpaba
el lugar de su propia imagen en
un espejo. Fue uno de esos momentos (que solamente ocurren
con el intervalo de los años) en
que el aspecto moral del hombre
se revela fielmente a sus ojos.
Probablemente jamás se había
visto así hasta entonces.
“Hast thou not tortured
h i m e n o u g h ? ” s a i d H e s t e r,
noticing the old man’s look.
60 “Has he not paid thee all?”
—¿No le has atormentado
bastante? —dijo Ester notando la
mirada del viejo—. ¿No te lo ha
pagado todo? [198]
189
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“No, no! He has but increased the debt!” answered the
physician, and as he proceeded,
his manner lost its fiercer
characteristics, and subsided
into gloom. “Dost thou
remember me, Hester, as I was
nine years agone? Even then I
was in the autumn of my days,
nor was it the early autumn. But
all my life had been made up of
earnest, studious, thoughtful,
quiet years, bestowed faithfully
for the increase of mine own
knowledge, and faithfully, too,
though this latter object was but
casual to the other—faithfully for
the advancement of human
welfare. No life had been more
peaceful and innocent than mine;
few lives so rich with benefits
conferred [bestowed]. Dost thou
remember me? Was I not, though
you might deem me cold,
nevertheless a man thoughtful for
others, craving little for himself—
kind, true, just and of constant, if not
warm affections? Was I not all this?”
—¡No! ¡No! ¡No ha hecho sino
aumentar la deuda! —respondió el
médico; y, al continuar hablando,
sus modales perdieron las fieras
características, trocándose en
lúgubres—. ¿Recuerdas ,
Ester, cómo era yo hace
nueve años? Aun entonces
me hallaba en el otoño de
mis días y no en sus com i e n z o s . To d a m i v i d a h a bía sido de ansia, estudio,
pensamiento, tranquilidad,
e m p l e a d o s p a r a a c r e c e ntar
m i p r o p i o s a b e r, y a d e m á s ,
aunque este último objeto era
casual, para progreso del bienestar humano. Ninguna vida
fue tan pa c í f i c a e i n o c e n t e
como la mía; pocas vidas
tan ricas con los beneficios
conferidos. ¿Me recuerdas? ¿No
era yo (aunque me creyeras frío,
y, sin embargo, pensativo para los
otros y poco anhelante para mí)
amable, veraz, justo y de constantes ya que no ardientes afecciones? ¿No era yo todo eso?
“All this, and more,” said
Hester.
—Todo eso y más —dijo
Ester.
“And what am I now?”
35 demanded he, looking into her
face, and permitting the whole
evil within him to be written on
his features. “I have already told
thee what I am—a fiend! Who
40 made me so?”
—¿Y qué soy ahora? —
preguntó él mirándola a la
cara y permitiendo a sus facciones toda su maldad—. ¡Ya
te he dicho lo que soy! ¡Un
mal espíritu! ¿Quién me ha
hecho serlo?
“It was myself,” cried Hester,
shuddering. “It was I, not less than
he. Why hast thou not avenged
45 thyself on me?”
—¡Fui yo! —gritó Ester
temblando—. ¡Fui yo, no menos
que él! ¿Por qué no te has vengado en mí?
“I have left thee to the scarlet
letter,”
replied
Roger
Chillingworth. “If that has not
50 avenged me, I can do no more!”
—¡Te he abandonado a tu
letra roja! —replicó Roger—.
¡Si eso no me ha vengado, nada
más puedo hacer!
5
10
15
20
25
30
He laid his finger on it with a
smile.
55
____________________ _ ___
X ____
“It has avenged thee,”
answered Hester Prynne.
—¡Te ha vengado! —respondió ella.
“I judged no less,” said the
physician. “And now what
60 wouldst thou with me touching
—Así lo creí —dijo el
médico—. Y ahora, ¿qué
quieres de mí respecto a ese
190
casual (En) 1 accidental; due to chance.
2 not regular or permanent;
temporary, occasional (casual (temporal) work; a casual affair). 3 a
unconcerned, uninterested (was
very casual about it). b made or done
without great care or thought (a casual remark). c acting carelessly or
unmethodically (a la ligera). 4 (of
clothes) informal.
(Distraídamente, a la ligera, relajadamente, rápidamente)
casual (Es) 1. adj. Que sucede por casualidad, por accidente. 2. Der. V.
condición casual. 3. Der. Ar.
Aplícase a las firmas o decretos judiciales concebidos para impedir
atentados. 4. Gram. Perteneciente o relativo al caso.
casual
‹inspection› superficial; a casual
acquaintance = un conocido,
una conocida;
casual sex = relaciones sexuales
promiscuas (chance) ‹visit/
reader› ocasional (informal)
‹chat› informal;
‹clothes› de sport, informal
(unconcerned) ‹attitude/tone›
despreocupado;
‹remark› hecho al pasar (not
regular)
‹employment/labor› eventual,
ocasional
casual
1 (encuentro) fortuito
2 (visita) ocasional
3 (persona) despreocupado,
tranquilo
4 (charla) informal,
intranscendente
5 (trabajo) eventual / (Agr.)
casual worker,
jornalero temporal
6 (ropa) (de) sport, informal
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
this man?”
h o mb r e ?
“I must reveal the secret,” answered Hester, firmly. “He must
discern thee in thy true character.
What may be the result I know
not. But this long debt of
confidence, due from me to him,
whose bane and ruin I have been,
shall at length be paid. So far as
concerns the overthrow or
preservation of his fair fame and
his earthly state, and perchance
his life, he is in my hands. Nor do
I—whom the scarlet letter has disciplined to truth, though it be the
truth of red-hot iron entering into
the soul—nor do I perceive such
advantage in his living any longer
a life of ghastly emptiness, that I
shall stoop to implore thy mercy.
Do with him as thou wilt! There
is no good for him, no good for
me, no good for thee. There is no
good for little Pearl. There is no
path to guide us out of this dismal maze.”
—Tengo que revelar el secreto —respondió Ester con firmeza—. Debo conocerte en tu
propio carácter. Lo que pueda
resultar no lo sé. Pero esta larga
deuda de confianza que le debo
a él, cuya ruina y perdición he
sido, será pagada al fin. En
lo concerniente a derribar o
mantener su buena fama y su
posición terrena, y quizá su
vida, él está en tus manos.
No es que yo (a quien la letra roja ha reformado en verdad, aunque [199] ésta sea
una verdad al rojo blanco,
que penetra en mi alma) me
doblegue a implorar tu piedad. ¡Haz de mí, lo que quieras! ¡No hay en ello bien para
él, para mí, ni para ti! ¡No
hay bien ni para la pequeña
Perla! ¡No hay sendero que
nos conduzca fuera de este
funesto laberinto!
“Woman, I could well-nigh
30 [near, almost] pity thee,” said
Roger Chillingworth, unable to
restrain a thrill of admiration too,
for there was a quality almost
majestic in the despair which she
35 expressed. “Thou hadst great
elements. Peradventure, hadst
thou met earlier with a better
love than mine, this evil had
not been. I pity thee, for the
40 good that has been wasted in
thy nature.”
—¡Mujer, yo bien pudiera
compadecerte! —dijo Roger
Chillingworth, sin poder contener un temblor de admiración
ante la cualidad casi mayestática
que expresaba en su desesperación. Tú tienes grandes elementos. Quizá si hubieses tropezado
antes con un amor mejor que el
mío no hubiera ocurrido el daño.
¡Yo te compadezco, por el bien
que ha sido desperdiciado en tu
naturaleza!
“And I thee,” answered
Hester Prynne, “for the hatred
that has transformed a wise and
just man to a fiend! Wilt thou yet
purge it out of thee, and be once
more human? If not for his sake,
then doubly for thine own!
Forgive, and leave his further
retribution to the Power that
claims it! I said, but now, that
there could be no good event for
him, or thee, or me, who are here
wandering together in this
gloomy maze of evil, and
stumbling at every step over the
guilt wherewith we have strewn
our path. It is not so! There
might be good for thee, and thee
—¡Y yo a ti! —respondió
Ester Prynne—, ¡por el odio
que ha transformado un hombre sabio y justo en un mal espíritu! ¿Te redimirás aún, volviendo a ser humano? ¡Si no
por su bien, siquiera por el
tuyo! ¡Perdona y abandona su
futura retribución al poder que
lo reclama! Hasta ahora he dicho
que no puede haber para él ningún
suceso bueno, o para ti, o para mí,
quienes estamos vagando juntos
por este tenebroso laberinto del
mal, tropezando a cada paso con
la culpa que hemos esparcido por
nuestra senda. ¡No es así! Puede
haber bien para ti, para ti solo,
5
bane n. 1the cause of ruin or 10
trouble; the curse (esp. the bane
of one’s life). Maldición, plaga,
azote, ruina, pesadilla, cruz
baleful adj. torvo, ceñudo, funesto, nefasto
1 baleful, forbidding,
menacing, minacious, minatory,
ominous, sinister, threatening, ugly
threatening or foreshadowing evil or
tragic developments; «a baleful
look»; «forbidding thunderclouds»;
«his tone became menacing»;
«ominous rumblings of discontent»;
«sinister storm clouds»; «a sinister
smile»; «his threatening behavior»;
«ugly black clo 2 baleful, baneful
deadly or sinister; «the Florida eagles
have a fierce baleful look»
15
20
25
peradventure:if by chance
45
50
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo
divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o pago de una cosa.
tr. de A. Ruste
55
60
X
191
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
alone, since thou hast been deeply
wronged and hast it at thy will to
pardon. Wilt thou give up that
only privilege? Wilt thou reject
5 that priceless benefit?”
puesto que has estado profundamente equivocado, y en ti está el
perdonar. ¿Despreciarás ese único
privilegio? ¿Rechazarás ese beneficio inapreciable
“Peace, Hester—peace!” replied the
old man, with gloomy sternness—
”it is not granted me to pardon.
I have no such power as thou
tellest me of. My old faith,
long forgotten, comes back to
me, and explains all that we do,
and all we suffer. By thy first
step awry, thou didst plant the
germ o f e v i l ; b u t s i n c e t h a t
moment it has all been a
d a r k n e c e s s i t y. Ye t h a t h a v e
wronged me are not sinful,
save in a kind of typical
illusion; neither am I fiendlike, who have snatched a
f i e n d ’s o ff i c e f r o m h i s
hands. It is our fate. Let the
black flower blossom as it
m a y ! N o w, g o t h y w a y s , a n d
deal as thou wilt with
yonder man.”
—¡Paz, Ester, paz! —replicó
el viejo, con altivez sombría—. No me es dado perdonar. No tengo el poder que me
supones. Mi vieja fe, tiempo
ha olvidada, vuelve a mí y me
explica todo cuanto hacemos
y sufrimos. Pero en tu primer
paso tortuoso plantaste el germen del mal, y desde aquel momento todo ha sido una necesidad tenebrosa. Tú, que me has
engañado, no eres pecadora, salvo en una especie de típica ilusión; ni yo soy una especie de
espíritu malo que haya [200]
arrebatado su oficio de manos
infernales. Es nuestro sino. ¡Deja
que la flor negra florezca como
quiera! ¡Ahora ve por tu camino
y procede como quieras respecto
a ese hombre!
He waved his hand, and betook
himself again to his employment
of gathering herbs.
Hizo un ademán con la mano
y se dedicó de nuevo a recoger
hierbas.
10
awry fuera de sitio, sesgado, torcido,
mal puesto, de través, askew,
amiss, al sesgo,obliquely; crookedly.
obliquely
tr. de A. Ruste
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Chapter 15: Nester and Pearl
Chapter 15 shows how these changes in Nester’s outlook affect her relationship with her daughter Pearl, as Pearl grows a little older.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
Pearl, at seven, is still a wild and free child,50untamed by the ordinary experiences of play with other children. She lives in a private world of mischievous fantasy; her heart has only
the beginnings of tenderness, not any real and developed feeling. Nester has loved her intensely, and seen her nature in the best possible light, but still somewhat mistrusts whether
Pearl returns her love.
Hawthorne describes the games Pearl plays as Nester converses with Chillingworth. She plays with her own reflection in a pool; she makes shell-boats and torments a couple of
tiny sea animals. She throws stones at gulls; she dresses as a mermaid, decorating herself with a green letter A made of eel-grass. There is a strand of cruelty in Pearl’s play, but
there is also vitality and imagination. She is unregenerate, that is, a natural child who makes no moral effort. However, in this chapter, Hawthorne shows the first glimmer of Pearl’s
moral and social intelligence that Hester has ever seen. Pearl comes when her mother calls, and speaks with her mother about the scarlet letter. Nester’s question, ‘Dost thou know,
55
child, wherefore thy mother wears this letter?’ brings a clever response: “‘Truly do I!” answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother’s face. “It is for the same reason that the
minister keeps his hand over his heart!”‘. However when Nester presses her about what she knows she responds curiously: ‘But in good earnest now, mother dear, what does this
scarlet letter mean? - and why doest thou wear it on thy bosom? - and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?’. Nester realises this is the beginning of a more serious
investigation of life by her quixotic little girl but she avoids answering because she wishes to protect Dimmesdale. Hawthorne has suggested that it is possible for Pearl to develop
a moral nature, but has not yet shown her fulfilling that possibility. The reader must wait to see if she will do so. Hawthorne also reveals that Nester may hinder Pearl’s development
although she loves Pearl deeply. Nester’s forbidden love for Dimmesdale continues to create problems for herself and Pearl. She cannot stop herself from hating Chillingworth or
from lying to her daughter. Hawthorne allows the reader to see that these shortcomings trouble Nester, but he (eaves it unclear whether he himself considers her blameworthy. He
makes it plain in this chapter that simple repentance
of adultery is not possible for Nester. She loves Dimmesdale not just with her body but with her spirit, and destroying love would
60
be a greater sin than adultery. To do it she would have to annihilate her own personality.
192
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
WAVER 1 : to vacillate irresolutely
between choices : fluctuate in
opinion, allegiance, or direction
2 a : to weave or sway unsteadily to
and fro : REEL, TOTTER b : QUIVER, FLICKER <wavering flames> c : to hesitate 15
as if about to give way : FALTER
3 : to give an unsteady sound :
QUAVER
1 (= oscillate)[needle] oscilar
[flame] temblar 2 (= hesitate)
vacilar; dudar (between entre) (=
weaken) [courage, support] flaquear (= falter) [voice] temblar
20
verdure: green vegetation
25
sedulous: diligent
30
deleterious: hurtful
35
40
45
deadly nightshade, dogwood, and
henbane: deadly nightshade and henbane
produce poisons possessing magical
powers according to ancient folklore and
necromancy; together with dogwood they
are in the pharmacopoeia of witchcraft
50
55
tr. de A. Ruste
XV.
XV
HESTER AND PEARL
ESTER Y PERLA
So Roger Chillingworth—a
deformed old figure with a face
that haunted men’s memories
longer than they liked—took
leave of Hester Prynne, and went
stooping away along the earth. He
gathered here and there a herb, or
grubbed up a root and put it into
the basket on his arm. His gray
beard almost touched the ground
as he crept onward. Hester gazed
after him a little while, looking
with a half fantastic curiosity to
see whether the tender grass of
early spring would not be
blighted beneath him and show
the wavering track of his
footsteps, sere and brown, across
its cheerful ve r d u re . S h e
wondered what sort of herbs
they were which the old man
w a s s o s e d u l o u s t o g a t h e r.
Would not the earth, quickened
to an evil purpose by the
sympathy of his eye, greet him
with poisonous shrubs of
species hitherto unknown, that
would start up under his
fingers? Or might it suffice him
that every wholesome growth should be
converted into something deleterious
and malignant at his touch? Did
the sun, which shone so brightly
everywhere else, really fall upon
him? Or was there, as it rather
seemed, a circle of ominous
shadow moving along with his
deformity whichever way he
turned himself? And whither was
he now going? Would he not
suddenly sink into the earth,
leaving a barren and blasted spot,
where, in due course of time, would be
seen deadly nightshade, dogwood,
henbane, and whatever else of
vegetable wickedness the climate
could produce, all flourishing
with hideous luxuriance? Or
would he spread bat’s wings and
flee away, looking so much the
uglier the higher he rose towards
heaven?
Así, Roger Chillingworth (una
vieja figura deformada, con una
cara que persistía en la memoria
de los hombres más tiempo del que
éstos deseaban) dejó a Ester
Prynne y continuó encorvado, recorriendo el terreno. Aquí y allá
cogía una hierba o arrancaba una
raíz, y las echaba en la cesta que
llevaba al brazo. Su barba gris casi
rozaba el suelo, conforme se arrastraba. Ester quedó contemplándole algunos momentos, mirando,
con curiosidad casi fantástica, si
la tierna hierba de la temprana primavera se agostaba bajo sus pies
y dejaba la _____ huella de sus
pasos, seca y tostada, entre la
alegre verdura. Pensaba qué
clase de hierbas podí a n s e r
aquellas que con tanto
cuidado recogía el viejo. ¿Sería que la tierra hacía brotar,
ante la simpatía de su mirada y
con un mal propósito, aquellas
matas de especies desconocidas hasta entonces, al contacto de sus dedos? ¿Sería suficiente para él que toda vegetación salutífera se convirtiera
en algo deletéreo y maligno a
su contacto? ¿Brillaba para
él el sol que iluminaba todo
con tal esplendor? ¿Había
allí, como parecía, un círculo de sombra siniestra,
moviéndose con su deformidad a cualquier lado a
que se volviese? ¿Adónde
iba ahora? ¿No se hundiría
en la tierra, dejando un sitio estéril y maldito, donde con el tiempo una mortal dulcamara, cornejo,
beleño o cualquiera [201]
de los malos vegetales que
producía el clima, florecerían con espantosa lozanía?
¿O extendería sus alas y volaría, pareciendo más feo,
mientras más se elevase hacia el cielo?
X
“Be it sin or no,” said
Hester Prynne, bitterly, as still
60 she gazed after him, “I hate the
«Sea eso o no —dijo Ester,
amargamente, mientras le contemplaba aún—, ¡odio a ese
193
blight 1 any plant disease caused by
mildews, rusts, smuts, fungi, or
insects. 2 any insect or parasite
causing such a disease. 3 any
obscure force which is harmful or
destructive. 4 an unsightly or
neglected urban area.
blighted arruinado, deseased,
agostado, desgraciado,
unsightly unpleasant to look at,
ugly. Feo, disforme, antiestético, repulsivo
sere being dried and withered, marchito
sedulous constant or persistent in use
or attention; assiduous; diligent 1:
involving or accomplished with
careful perseverance <sedulous
craftsmanship> 2 : diligent in
application or pursuit <a sedulous
student>
Cuidadoso,
blast
1 explosión
2 onda expansiva: the blast could
be felt for miles, la explosión se
sintió en varias millas a la redonda
3 (de viento) ráfaga
4 (de bocina, trompeta) toque
5 at full blast, a todo volumen
II
verbo transitivo
1 (hacer saltar, barrer, arrasar)
volar: they blasted open the door,
volaron la puerta
2 arremeter contra, arrasar, arruinar
III excl blast (it)!, ¡maldita sea!
blast v. 1tr. blow up (rocks etc.) with
explosives. 2 tr. a) wither, shrivel, or
blight (a plant, animal, limb, etc.)
(blasted oak). b) destroy, ruin (blasted
her hopes). c strike with divine anger;
curse. 3 intr. & tr. make or cause to
make a loud or explosive noise (blasted
away on his trumpet). 4 tr. colloq.
reprimand severely. 5 colloq. a) tr.
shoot; shoot at. b) intr. shoot. blasted
adj. & adv. — attrib.adj. damned;
annoying (that blasted dog!). — adv.
colloq. damned; extremely (it’s blasted
cold).
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
bask 1 be exposed; «The seals were
basking in the sun» lie 2 enjoy,
bask, relish, savor, savour derive or
receive pleasure from; get
enjoyment from; take pleasure in;
«She relished her fame and basked
in her glory»
bask regodearse, aspirar, empaparse,
saborear, gozar, vivir, refugiarse
15
20
25
30
foul
a ADJ (compar fouler; superl foulest)
1 (= disgusting) [place] asqueroso; [smell]
pestilente, fétido; [taste] repugnante,
asqueroso
2 (*) (= nasty) [weather] de perros*, malísimo; he was in a foul mood estaba
de un humor de perros*; she has a
foul temper tiene muy malas pulgas*, tiene un genio de mil demonios*
3 (= obscene) ordinario, grosero; to use
foul language decir groserías F
IDIOM to have a foul mouth* ser mal
hablado
4 (= base, immoral) [lie, calumny, crime]
vil, terrible
5 (Sport) [shot, ball] nulo; [blow, tackle]
sucio; [kick] antirreglamentario
6 (in phrases) someone is sure to cry
foul es seguro que alguien dice que
no hemos jugado limpio; to fall foul
of the law (esp Brit) enfrentarse con
la justicia, vérselas con la ley*
b N (Sport) falta f (on contra)
c VT
1 (= pollute) [+ air] viciar, contaminar; [+
water] contaminar; [dog] ensuciar
2 (Sport) [+ opponent] cometer una falta
contra
3 (= entangle) [+ fishing line, net, rope]
enredar; something had fouled the
propellers algo se había enredado
en las hélices; the boat had fouled
her anchor el ancla del barco se
había atascado
d CPD
ä foul play N (Sport) jugada f
antirreglamentaria, juego m sucio;
the police suspect foul play (Jur)
la policía sospecha que se trata de
un crimen
ä foul up* VT + ADV [+ activity, event,
plans] dar al traste con, echar a perder; he has fouled up his exams los
exámenes le han ido mal, ha metido
la pata en los exámenes*
35
40
tr. de A. Ruste
man!”
hombre!»
She upbraided herself for the
sentiment, but could not
overcome or lessen it. Attempting
to do so, she thought of those
long-past days in a distant land,
when he used to emerge at
eventide from the seclusion of his
study and sit down in the firelight
of their home, and in the light of
her nuptial smile. He needed to
bask himself in that smile, he
said, in order that the chill of so
many lonely hours among his
books might be taken off the
scholar’s heart. Such scenes had
once appeared not otherwise than
happy, but now, as viewed
through the dismal medium of
her subsequent life, they classed
themselves among her ugliest
remembrances. She marvelled
how such scenes could have
been! She marvelled how she
could ever have been wrought
upon to marry him! She deemed
in her crime most to be repented
of, that she had ever endured and
reciprocated the lukewarm grasp of
his hand, and had suffered the
smile of her lips and eyes to mingle
and melt into his own. And it
seemed a fouler offence
committed by Roger Chillingworth
than any which had since been
done him, that, in the time when
her heart knew no better, he had
persuaded her to fancy herself
happy by his side.
Se vituperó por este sentimiento, pero no pudo vencerlo
o abandonarlo. Al intentar realizarlo, pensó en aquellos lejanos días, en una tierra distante,
cuando él acostumbraba a salir
de la reclusión de su estudio, a
la caída de la tarde, y sentarse
al amor del fuego en su casa, y
ante su ligera sonrisa nupcial.
Necesitaba, decía, ______ aquella sonrisa, para que el frío de
tantas horas solitarias pasadas
entre sus libros pudiera salir del
corazón del letrado. Estas escenas no le habían parecido más
dichosas que ahora; vistas a través del medio funesto de su vida
subsiguiente, se clasificaron entre sus recuerdos más horrorosos. ¡Se maravillaba de que tales escenas hubieran tenido lugar! ¡Se maravillaba de cómo
pudo ser arrastrada a casarse con
él! Tenía por el crimen del que
más debía arrepentirse, el que
hubiera sufrido, y correspondido,
el tibio contacto de su mano, y
que la sonrisa de sus labios y sus
ojos se hubiese mezclado y fundido en la suya. Y le parecía aún
una mayor ofensa cometida por
Roger Chillingworth, mayor que
todas las que le había hecho desde entonces, que la hubiese persuadido a creerse dichosa a su
lado, en la época en que su corazón no conocía nada mejor.
X
“Yes, I hate him!” repeated
Hester more bitterly than before.
“He betrayed me! He has done me
45 worse wrong than I did him!”
«¡Sí, le odio! —repitió Ester,
con más amargura que antes—.
¡Él me engañó! ¡Me ha hecho
mucho más daño que yo a él!»
Let men tremble to win the
hand of woman, unless they
win along with it the utmost
50 passion of her heart! Else it
may be their miserable
fortune, as it was Roger
Chillingworth’s, when some
mightier touch than their own
55 may have awakened a l l h e r
sensibilities, to be reproached
even for the calm content, the marble
image of happiness, which they will
have imposed upon her as the warm
60 reality. But Hester ought long ago to
¡Tiemblen los hombres
que conquisten una mujer, si
no conquistan con ella toda la
pasión de su corazón! Si no,
podrá ser su suerte miserable,
como lo fue la de Roger
Chillingworth, cuando alguna
sensación más poderosa que
la suya pueda despertar todas
las sensibilidades [202] dormi d a s e n e l l a . P e r o E s t e r
Prynne debió cesar en esta
injusticia hacía largo tiempo. ¿Qué podía esperar de
194
delicadezas
Notas
flag1 [flæg] A noun
[of country] bandera f
(nautical) pabellón m
(small, as souvenir, also Sport) banderín
m
flag of convenience pabellón m de
conveniencia
to keep the flag flying mantener alto
el pabellón
to show the flag hacer acto de
presencia
to wrap oneself or drape oneself in
the flag (esp US) escudarse en el
patriotismo
B transitive verb (= mark)
[+ path] señalar con banderitas
[+ item, reference] señalar; marcar
(also flag down)
[+ taxi] (hacer) parar
C compound
flag day noun (British) día de colecta de
una organización benéfica
Flag Day noun (US) día m de la
Bandera (14 junio)
flag stop noun (US) parada f
discrecional
flag2 [flæg] intransitive verb
[strength, person] flaquear
[enthusiasm] enfriarse; decaer
[conversation] decaer
he soon revived their flagging
spirits les levantó el ánimo
rápidamente
flag3 [flæg] noun
(also flagstone) losa f
a hard evenly stratified stone that splits
into flat pieces suitable for paving; also
: a piece of such stone
flag4 to lay (as a pavement) with flags;
flagged: embaldosado
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
have done with this injustice. What
did it betoken? Had seven long years,
under the torture of the scarlet letter,
inflicted so much of misery and
5 wrought out no repentance?
ella? ¿Siete largos años
bajo la tortura de la letra
roja habían causado tanta
miseria, sin conseguir
arrepentimiento?
The emotion of that brief
space, while she stood gazing
after the crooked figure of old
10 Roger Chillingworth, threw a dark
light on Hester’s state of mind,
revealing much that she might not
otherwise have acknowledged to
herself.
15
He being gone, she
summoned back her child.
Las emociones de ese breve
espacio de tiempo, mientras quedó contemplando la retorcida figura de Roger, arrojaron alguna
luz oscura sobre el estado de
imaginación de Ester, revelando
mucho de lo que, de otro modo,
quizá no hubiese reconocido.
“Pearl! Little Pearl! Where are
20 you?”
—¡Perla, pequeña Perla!
¿Dónde estás?
Pearl, whose activity of
spirit never flagged, had been at
no loss for amusement while her
mother talked with the old
gatherer of herbs. At first, as
already told, she had flirted
fancifully with her own image in
a pool of water, beckoning the
phantom forth, and—as it
declined to venture—seeking a
passage for herself into its
sphere of impalpable earth and
unattainable sky. Soon finding,
however, that either she or the
image was unreal, she turned
elsewhere for better pastime.
She made little boats out of
birch-bark, and freighted them
with snailshells, and sent out
more ventures on the mighty
deep than any merchant in New
England; but the larger part of
them foundered near the shore.
She seized a live horse-shoe by
the tail, and made prize of
several five-fingers, and laid out
a jelly-fish to melt in the warm
sun. Then she took up the white
foam that streaked the line of
the advancing tide, and threw it
upon the breeze, scampering
after it with winged footsteps to
catch the great snowflakes ere
they fell. Perceiving a flock of
beach-birds that fed and
fluttered along the shore, the
naughty child picked up her
a p r o n f u l l o f pebbles, a n d ,
creeping from rock to rock after
Perla, cuya actividad de espíritu
nunca desmayaba, no había desaprovechado medio para divertirse mientras su madre hablaba con el colector
de hierbas. Al principio, como ya se
había dicho, había coqueteado
caprichosamente con su propia
imagen en un charco de agua, invitando por señas a que saliera el
fantasma, y, como éste declinó el
aventurarse, buscó un paso para sí
en su esfera de tierra impalpable y
firmamento inasequible. No obstante, viendo en seguida que bien
ella o su imagen era falsa, fuese
en busca de mejor pasatiempo.
Hizo pequeños barquichuelos con
la corteza de los abedules, y los
fletó con cáscaras de caracoles, y
envió a la ventura más cargamentos
que los comerciantes de Nueva Inglaterra; pero la mayor parte de
ellos fondearon cerca de la costa.
C o g i ó u n cangrejo v i v o
p o r l a c o l a ______ ___ __ __ __
__ ______ _______ y c o l ocó un
aguamar al sol para que se derritiese.
Después cogió la blanca espuma que la marea alta extendía
sob r e l a p l a y a y l a a r r o j a b a
al viento, corriendo tras ella
para recoger los grandes copos de nieve cuando caían.
A1 ver una b a n d a d a d e p á jaros que picoteaban y r e voloteaban por la playa,
la traviesa niña llenó su
d e l antal de guijas y, trepando de
roca en roca en persecución de las
25
30
35
40
founder 1 fundador 2. ir a pique, fallar,
fracasar, hundirse, sumergirse, naufragar
horseshoe: horseshoe crab
45
five-fingers: starfish
streaked veteado, jaspeado, estriado,
enhebrado, lleno de churretes o
chorretones, cebrado, rayado, listado, tiznado, abigarrado, en regueros,
reguero de luz, cebrados,
scamper escabullirse; to scamper in/out
entrar/salir corriendo; to scamper
along ir corriendo, corretear
v.intr. (usu. foll. by about, through) run
and skip impulsively or playfully.
tr. de A. Ruste
50
55
60
Cuando el viejo se alejó, volvió ella en busca de su hija.
X
X
195
founder 2 — v. 1 a intr. (of a ship) fill
with water and sink. b tr. cause (a
ship) to founder. 2 intr. (of a plan
etc.) fail. 3 intr. (of earth, a building,
etc.) fall down or in, give way. 4 a
intr. (of a horse or its rider) fall to the
ground, fall from lameness, stick fast
in mud etc. b tr. cause (a horse) to
break down, esp. with founder.
Notas
flit / revolotear 1 move lightly, softly, or
rapidly (flitted from one room to
another). verb 1 flutter, fleet, dart
move along rapidly and lightly; skim
or dart ; fly lightly; make short flights,
(revolotear) (flitted from branch to
branch). 3 Brit. colloq. leave one’s
house etc. secretly to escape
creditors or obligations. 4 esp. Sc. &
N.Engl. change one’s home; move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
revolotear: the butterflies flitted around
the flowers, las mariposas revoloteaban alrededor de las flores
horn-book: a tablet used to teach spelling.
Early ones usually consisted of a cover of
transparent horn and a single sheet of
parchment bearing the alphabet and
perhaps a prayer
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
these small sea-fowl, displayed
remarkable dexterity in pelting
them. One little gray bird, with
a white breast, Pearl was almost
5 sure had been hit by a pebble,
and fluttered away with a broken
wing. But then the elf-child
sighed, and gave up her sport,
because it grieved her to have
10 done harm to a little being that
was as wild as the sea-breeze, or
as wild as Pearl herself.
pequeñas aves marinas, desplegó
una notable destreza [203] para
apedrearlas. A un pajarito gris con
blanca pechuga estaba Perla casi
segura de haberle acertado con una
guija y de que había huido revoloteando con un ala rota. Pero entonces, la niña trasgo suspiró y cesó
en su juego, porque la apenaba haber hecho daño a un ser pequeño
que era tan arisco como la brisa del
mar o como ella misma.
Her final employment was to
15 gather seaweed of various kinds,
and make herself a scarf or
mantle, and a head-dress, and
thus assume the aspect of a little
mermaid. She inherited her
20 mother’s gift for devising drapery
and costume. As the last touch to
her mermaid’s garb, Pearl took
some eel-grass and imitated, as
best she could, on her own bosom
25 the decoration with which she was
so familiar on her mother’s. A
letter—the letter A—but freshly
green instead of scarlet. The child
bent her chin upon her breast, and
30 contemplated this device with
strange interest, even as if the one
only thing for which she had been
sent into the world was to make
out its hidden import.
35
“I wonder if mother will ask
me what it means?” thought Pearl.
Su diversión final fue la de
recoger algas marinas de varias clases y hacerse con ellas
una manteleta y un sombrero,
y parecer de ese modo una pequeña sirena. Había heredado
de su madre el don de inventar ropajes y vestidos. Como
último detalle de traje de sirena cogió alguna hierba e
imitó, lo mejor que pudo, sobre su pecho, el adorno que su
madre llevaba sobre el suyo y
que tan familiar le era. ¡La letra A, pero verde, en vez de
roja! La niña bajó la cabeza y
contempló la marca con extraño interés, como si el solo motivo de haber sido traída al
mundo fuese el adivinar su
oculto significado.
Just then she heard her
40 mother’s voice, and, flitting along
as lightly as one of the little seabirds, appeared before Hester
Prynne dancing, laughing, and
pointing her finger to the
45 ornament upon her bosom.
Entonces oyó la voz de su
madre y, volando con la ligereza de las pequeñas aves marinas, apareció ante Ester Prynne,
bailando, riendo y señalando
con el dedo al adorno que llevaba sobre su pecho.
“My little Pearl,” said
H e s t e r, a f t e r a m o m e n t ’s
silence, “the green letter, and
50 on thy childish bosom, has no
purport. But dost thou know,
my child, what this letter
means which thy mother is
doomed to wear?”
55
“Yes, mother,” said the child.
“It is the great letter A. Thou hast
taught me in the horn-book. “
—Mi pequeña Perla —dijo
Ester, después de unos momentos de silencio—, la letra verde, y en tu pecho infantil, no
tiene significado. ¿Pero sabes,
hija mía, lo que significa esta
letra que tu madre está obligada a llevar?
60
«¿Si me preguntara mamá lo
que significa?» —pensó Perla.
—Sí, madre —respondió la
niña—. Es la gran letra A. Tú me
lo has enseñado en la cartilla.
Hester looked steadily into
Ester la miró fijamente a la
196
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
her little face; but though there
was that singular expression
which she had so often remarked
in her black eyes, she could not
5 satisfy herself whether Pearl really
attached any meaning to the
symbol. She felt a morbid desire
to ascertain the point.
carita; pero aunque había en sus
negros ojos la expresión singular que notara con frecuencia
otras veces, no estaba convencida de que Perla no atribuyese algún significado al símbolo. Sentía un vivo deseo de aclarar aquel
punto.
10
“ D o s t t h o u k n o w, c h i l d ,
wherefore thy mother wears
this letter?”
[204] —¿Sabes, hija mía,
por qué lleva tu madre esta
letra?
“Truly do I!” answered Pearl,
15 looking brightly into her mother’s
face. “It is for the same reason that
the minister keeps his hand over
his heart!”
—¡Ciertamente! —respondió
Perla, echando a su madre una
mirada inteligente—. ¡Es por la
misma razón que el ministro se
lleva la mano al corazón!
20
“And what reason is that?”
asked Hester, half smiling at the
absurd incongruity of the
c h i l d ’s o b s e r v a t i o n ; b u t o n
second thoughts turning pale.
25
“What has the letter to do with
any heart save mine?”
—¿Y qué razón es ésa? —
preguntó Ester, sonriendo ante
la absurda incongruencia de la
niña, pero palideciendo al recapacitar—. ¿Qué tiene la letra
que ver con otro corazón que no
sea el mío?
“Nay, mother, I have told all I
know,” said Pearl, more seriously
30 than she was wont to speak. “Ask
yonder old man whom thou hast
been talking with,—it may be he
can tell. But in good earnest now,
mother dear, what does this scarlet
35 letter mean?—and why dost thou
wear it on thy bosom?—and why
does the minister keep his hand
over his heart?”
—Mamá, ya te he dicho
todo lo que sé —contestó Perla, con más seriedad—. ¡Pregúntaselo al hombre aquel con
quien has hablado! Puede ser
que él pueda decírtelo. ¿Pero,
mamá, qué es lo que quiere decir esta letra roja? ¿Y por qué
la llevas sobre el pecho? ¿Y por
qué el ministro se pone la mano
sobre el corazón?
40
Tomó una mano de su madre
entre las suyas y la miró a la cara
con un anhelo que rara vez lo había visto, dado el arisco y caprichoso carácter de la niña. Pensó
la madre que tal vez la pequeñuela
tratase realmente de buscar una
aproximación a ella, con una confianza infantil, haciendo cuanto
podía, y con toda la inteligencia
de que era capaz, para establecer
un punto de reunión de simpatía.
Perla se mostró en un aspecto
poco deseable. Hasta entonces la
madre, aunque amó a su hija con
la intensidad de un solo afecto, se
había resignado a esperar en pago
una docilidad así como la brisa
de abril, que gasta el tiempo en
jugueteos aéreos y tiene sus ráfagas de una pasión inexplica-
45
50
55
60
She took her mother’s hand
in both her own, and gazed into
her eyes with an earnestness that
was seldom seen in her wild and
capricious character. The thought
occurred to Hester, that the child
might really be seeking to
approach her with childlike
confidence, and doing what she
could, and as intelligently as she
knew how, to establish a meetingpoint of sympathy. It showed
Pearl in an unwonted aspect.
Heretofore, the mother, while
loving her child with the intensity
of a sole affection, had schooled
herself to hope for little other
return than the waywardness of
an April breeze, which spends its
time in airy sport, and has its
gusts of inexplicable passion,
197
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
petulant malhumorado,irritable, de
and is petulant in its best of
mal genio, enojadizo caprichoso,
moods, and chills oftener than
quisquilloso
caresses you, when you take it to
petulante arrogante, insolente, presumido, smug
your bosom; in requital of which
smug engreído, pagado de sí mis5 misdemeanours
it
will
mo, petulante. Exhibiting or
sometimes,
of
its
own
vague
feeling great or offensive
purpose, kiss your cheek with a
satisfaction with oneself or with
one’s situation; self-righteously
kind of doubtful tenderness, and
complacent: “the smug look of a
play gently with your hair, and
toad breakfasting on fat marsh
10
then be gone about its other idle
flies” (William Pearson).
smugly con aires de suficiencia
business, leaving a dreamy
pleasure at your heart. And this,
moreover, was a mother ’s
estimate of the child’s disposition. Any other observer might
have seen few but unamiable
traits, and have given them a far
darker colouring. But now the
idea came strongly into Hester’s
mind, that Pearl, with her remarkable precocity and acuteness, might already have approached the age when she could
have been made a friend, and
intrusted with as much of her
mother ’s sorrows as could be
imparted, without irreverence
either to the parent or the child.
In the little chaos of Pearl’s
character there might be seen
emerging and could have been
from the very first—the steadfast
principles of an unflinching
courage—an uncontrollable
will—sturdy pride, which might
be disciplined into self-respect—
and a bitter scorn of many things
which, when examined, might be
found to have the taint of
falsehood in them. She possessed
affections, too, though hitherto
acrid and disagreeable, as are the
richest flavours of unripe fruit.
With all these sterling attributes,
thought Hester, the evil which
she inherited from her mother
must be great indeed, if a noble
woman do not grow out of this
elfish child.
ble, que es petulante en el mejor de sus modos y hiela más
bien que te acaricia, cuando le
das el pecho; y en pago de su
mala conducta, algunas veces,
con su vago propósito, besa tus
mejillas con dudosa ternura, juguetea gentilmente con tus cabellos y después, yéndose a ocupar de otras cosas ociosas, deja
en tu corazón un placer soñador.
Esto era lo que estimaba la madre respecto a la disposición de
la niña. Otro observador [205]
quizá hubiese visto actos de
poco cariño y les hubiera dado
un colorido más oscuro. Pero
ahora acudía a la imaginación de
Ester la idea vigorosa d e q u e
Perla, con su notable
precocidad y a g u d e z a , p u diera ya haberse aproximado a la edad en que podía
h a c e r s e d e e l l a u n a a m iga e
inculcarla las posibles tristezas de u n a m a d r e , s i n i r r e verencia para ninguna de
ambas. En el pequeño caos
del carácter de Perla podían
apreciarse, desde el primer
momento, los arraigados
principios de su valor decidido, de una voluntad irrefr e n a b l e , d e u n o rg u l l o
t e n az, que pudiera ser moldeado
en un propio respeto, y un amargo
desprecio de muchas cosas que,
después de examinadas, podía
apreciarse en ellas un tinte de falsedad. Poseía afectos, además, si
bien hasta entonces eran acres y
desagradables, como lo son los
más ricos aromas de la fruta verde.
Con todos estos puros atributos,
pensó Ester, la maldad que hubo
heredado de su madre tenía que
haber sido grande, en efecto, si
de la niña trasgo no se hacía una
mujer noble.
Pearl’s inevitable t e n d e n c y
to hover about the enigma
of the scarlet letter seemed
an innate quality of her
55 b e i n g . F r o m t h e e a r l i e s t
epoch of her conscious life,
s h e h a d e n t e r e d upon this as
her appointed mission. Hester
had often fancied that Provi60 dence had a design of justice
La inevitable tendencia de
Perla a revolotear sobre el enigma de la letra roja parecía ser en
ella una cualidad innata. Desde
la primera época de su vida consciente mostró esta tendencia,
como si fuese una misión que le
hubiese sido señalada. Ester había pensado con frecuencia que
la Providencia tuvo un designio
15
20
precocity: tendency to exceptionally early
development
25
30
35
40
45
50
198
Notas
retribution [EN] justo castigo, pena merecida Divine Retribution, castigo divino
retribución no es retribution sino
remuneration, compensation, reward,
pay, payment, salary, fee
RETRIBUCIÓN [DRAE] 1. f. Recompensa o
pago de una cosa.
bethink 1 cause oneself to consider
something 2 consider or ponder
something carefully; «She bethought
her of their predicament» Remember,
recalled
se había acordado
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
and retribution, in endowing
the child with this marked propensity; but never, until now,
had she bethought herself to ask,
5 whether, linked with that design,
there might not likewise be a purpose of mercy and beneficence. If
little Pearl were entertained with
faith and trust, as a spirit messen10 ger no less than an earthly child,
might it not be her errand to
soothe away the sorrow that lay
cold in her mother’s heart, and
converted it into a tomb?—and to
15 help her to overcome the passion,
once so wild, and even yet neither dead nor asleep, but only
imprisoned within the same tomblike heart?
20
Such were some of the
thoughts that now stirred in
Hester ’s mind, with as much
vivacity of impression as if they
25 had actually been whispered into
her ear. And there was little Pearl,
all this while, holding her
mother’s hand in both her own,
and turning her face upward,
30 while she put these searching
questions, once and again, and
still a third time.
X de justicia y retribución al dotar
“What does the letter mean,
35 mother? and why dost thou wear
it? and why does the minister keep
his hand over his heart?”
—¿Qué significa la letra,
mamá? ¿Y por qué la llevas? ¿Y
por qué tiene el ministro la
mano sobre el corazón?
“What shall I say?” thought
40 Hester to herself. “No! if this be
the price of the child’s sympathy,
I cannot pay it. “
«¿Qué le diré?» —pensó
Ester—. «¡No; si ése ha de ser el
precio de la simpatía de la niña,
yo no puedo pagarlo!»
a la niña con esta marcada propensión; pero nunca hasta entonces le había ocurrido preguntarse si, unido a ese designio, habría también un propósito de piedad y beneficencia. ¿Si se tomase a Perla con fe y confianza,
como un mensajero espiritual, no
menos que como una criatura terrenal, no pudiera ser su sino el
aliviar la tristeza que yacía fría
en el corazón de su madre, convirtiéndolo en una tumba? ¿No
podría ayudarla a dominar la pasión, en algún tiempo violenta y
aún no muerta ni dormida, sino
únicamente aprisionada en aquel
corazón sepulcral?
[ 2 0 6 ] Ta l e s e r a n l o s p e n samientos que asaltaban a
E s t e r, c o n t a n t a v i v a c i d a d e
impresión como si le hubiesen sido murmurados al
o í d o . Y, d u r a n t e e s t e t i e m po, la pequeña Perla continuó manteniendo entre las
suyas la mano de su madre
y alzando su carita, mientras una y otra vez hacía estas preguntas indagadoras:
Then she spoke aloud—
Luego dijo en voz alta:
45
“Silly Pearl,” said she, “what
questions are these? There are
many things in this world that a
child must not ask about. What
50 know I of the minister’s heart? And
as for the scarlet letter, I wear it
for the sake of its gold thread.”
—Niña boba, ¿qué preguntas
son éstas? Hay muchas cosas en
este mundo sobre las que los niños no deben hacer preguntas.
¿Qué sé yo del corazón del ministro? En cuanto a la letra roja,
la llevo por su hilo de oro.
In all the seven bygone
55 y e a r s , H e s t e r P r y n n e h a d
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
60 g u a r d i a n s p i r i t , w h o n o w
Durante los pasados siete
años jamás había sido falsa Ester
Prynne para el símbolo que adornaba su pecho. Quizá fuese un
talismán de un espíritu rígido y
severo, pero a la vez custodio,
que ahora la había abandonado;
199
Notas
asperity: harshness
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
forsook her; as recognising
that, in spite of his strict
watch over her heart, some
new evil had crept into it, or
5 some old one had never been
expelled. As for little Pearl,
the earnestness soon passed
out of her face.
reconociendo que, a pesar de su
estricta vigilancia sobre su corazón, había penetrado en él alguna nueva maldad, o que alguna
antigua no lo había jamás abandonado. En cuanto a la pequeña
Perla, la expresión de anhelo desapareció de su rostro.
10
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 supper-time, and while
15 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.
20
“Mother,” said she, “what
does the scarlet letter mean?”
Pero la niña no parecía muy
dispuesta a desistir del asunto.
Dos o tres veces, cuando ella y
su madre se retiraban a casa, durante la cena, y cuanto Ester la
estaba acostando, y cuando después que parecía estar profundamente dormida, alzó la vista, con
un resplandor travieso en sus negros ojos.
And the next morning, the
25 first indication the child gave of
being awake was by popping up
her head from the pillow, and
making that other enquiry, which
she had so unaccountably
30 connected with her investigations
about the scarlet letter—
Y a la mañana siguiente, la
primera indicación que dio la
niña de estar despierta fue la de
alzar su cabecita de la almohada
y hacer la otra pregunta que tan
[207] frecuentemente mezclaba
en sus investigaciones sobre la
letra roja:
“Mother!—Mother!—Why
does the minister keep his hand
35 over his heart?”
—¡Madre! ¡Madre! ¿Por que
se lleva el ministro la mano al
corazón?
“Hold thy tongue, naughty
child!” answered her mother, with
an asperity that she had never
40 permitted to herself before. “Do
not tease me; else I shall put thee
into the dark closet!”
—¡Cierre usted la boca, niña
traviesa! —respondió la madre,
con una aspereza que jamás se
había permitido—. ¡No me fastidies más, porque si no te encerraré en el cuarto oscuro!
—Madre —dijo—, ¿qué significa la letra roja?
Chapter 16: A Forest Walk : In this chapter
45Hester does tell Pearl something of the real meaning of the scarlet letter, as they walk together in the forest. In the distance they see
Dimmesdale. Hester asks Pearl to wait for her, while she goes to him for a private conversation.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: Hester wants to meet Dimmesdale to warn him of Chillingworth’s real identity and malicious intentions. She wants to encounter him outside, away from everyone
except, of course, Pearl, who must go wherever her mother goes. She enters a forest that has never been settled, and to her mind it seems like ‘the moral wilderness in which she had so
long been wandering’. As she feels anew the wildness of her own nature, she notices again the wild beauty of Pearl’s nature. She and Pearl speak again about the scarlet letter.
‘Mother,’ said little Pearl, ‘the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now see! There it is, playing a good way
off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me - for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!’
50
‘Nor ever will, my child, I hope,’ said Hester.
‘And why not, mother?’ asked Pearl, stopping short, just at the beginning of her race. ‘Will not it come of its own accord when I am a woman grown?’
‘Run away, child,’ answered her mother, ‘and catch the sunshine! It will soon be gone.’
The sunlight does seem to disappear as Hester approaches though Pearl’s face remains bright. Hawthorne says Pearl needs a grief ‘to humanise her and make her capable of
sympathy’. He shows how, without it, she may become cruel. She teases Hester with questions about the Black Man. Her moral imagination is awakening, but her fate is partly
dependent upon Hester’s guidance. This time Hester takes her daughter’s need seriously.
‘But, mother, tell me now! Is there such a Black Man? And didst thou ever meet him? And is this his mark’?’
‘Wilt thou let me be at peace, if I once tell thee?’ asked her mother.
55
‘Yes, if thou tellest me all,’ answered Pearl.
‘Once in my life I met the Black Man!’ said her mother. ‘This scarlet letter is his mark!’
Gradually Hawthorne builds up an impression of the forest as a special place, a symbolic landscape. The serious conversation between Hester and Pearl can take place here where
the secluded, dense forest allows them a real privacy. Another serious conversation will happen here that could happen in no other place. Hester will meet again with Dimmesdale.
Hester tries to create privacy for them, by asking Pearl to go off and play. Pearl agrees, but not until she has seen who approaches and has asked pointedly about the minister’s habit
of holding his hand over his heart. ‘Is it because, when the minister wrote his name in the book, the Black Man set his mark in that place? But why does he not wear it outside his
bosom, as thou dost, mother?’ Hester will not
60 answer this but her reply suggests that she may eventually tell Pearl what she wants and needs to know: ‘Go now, child, and thou shah
tease me as thou wilt another time’. Increasingly, Hester’s attention shifts away from the past to the future. Slowly the characters are changing, and a crisis begins to loom in the
affair that most concerns them all.
200
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
XVI.
XVI
A FOREST WALK
UN PASEO POR EL BOSQUE
Hester Prynne remained
constant in her resolve to make
known to Mr. Dimmesdale, at
whatever risk of present pain or
ulterior consequences, the true
character of the man who had
crept into his intimacy. For
several days, however, she vainly
sought an opportunity of
addressing him in some of the
meditative walks which she knew
him to be in the habit of taking
along the shores of the Peninsula,
or on the wooded hills of the
neighbouring country. There
would have been no scandal,
indeed, nor peril to the holy
whiteness of the clergyman’s good
fame, had she visited him in his
own study, where many a penitent,
ere now, had confessed sins of
perhaps as deep a dye as the one
betokened by the scarlet letter.
But, partly that she dreaded the
secret or undisguised interference
of old Roger Chillingworth, and
partly that her conscious heart
imparted suspicion where none
could have been felt, and partly
that both the minister and she
would need the whole wide world
to breathe in, while they talked
together—for all these reasons
Hester never thought of meeting
him in any narrower privacy than
beneath the open sky.
Sin reparar en el riesgo presente de dolor o en ulteriores
consecuencias, Ester Prynne permaneció constante en su resolución de hacer saber al señor
Dimmesdale el verdadero carácter del hombre que se había arrastrado hasta su intimidad. Durante varios días, sin embargo, buscó en vano ocasión de abordarle
en uno de los paseos meditativos
que ella sabía tener costumbre
el clérigo de tomar, ya en la orilla del mar o por los vecinos
montes de espeso boscaje. No
hubiese habido en ello escándalo, en verdad, ni peligro para la
sagrada pureza de la buena familia del ministro, aunque le
hubiese visitado en su propio
estudio, adonde acudían penitentes a confesar pecados, quizá
mucho mayores que el que representaba la letra roja. Pero, en
parte porque la espantaba la intervención secreta o no del viejo Chillingworth, en parte porque su corazón consciente inspiraba sospecha donde no podía haberla, como asimismo
porque tanto ella como el ministro necesitaban toda la anchura del mundo cuando se hablaban, nunca pensó Ester en
entrevistarse con él sino bajo el
cielo abierto.
At last, while attending a sick
chamber, whither the Rev. Mr.
Dimmesdale had been summoned
45 to make a prayer, she learnt that
he had gone, the day before, to
visit the Apostle Eliot, among his
Indian converts. He would
probably return by a certain hour
50 in the afternoon of the morrow.
Betimes, therefore, the next day,
Hester took little Pearl—who was
necessarily the companion of all
her mother ’s expeditions,
55 however inconvenient her
presence—and set forth.
Por fin, cuando se hallaba
asistiendo a un enfermo _____
supo que habían requerido la presencia del señor [208] Dimmesdale
para hacer una oración y que éste
había partido el día anterior para
visitar al apóstol Eliot entre sus
convertidos indios. Probablemente volvería el ministro a cierta hora de la tarde siguiente. Así
pues, en el próximo día, tomó
Ester a su niña (forzosa compañera de las expediciones de la
madre, por inconveniente que
fuese su presencia) y salió.
5
ulterior:further
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Apostle Eliot:John Eliot (1604-90) was a
Cambridge graduate who emigrated to
America in 1631 and was the first to
preach to the Indians in their own dialects
tr. de A. Ruste
X
El camino, después de las
dos calles que cruzaron y que
van desde la península al conti-
The road, after the two
wayfarers had crossed from the
60 Peninsula to the mainland, was
201
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
primeval: belonging to the first ages and
since then, undisturbed
5
10
15
20
25
no other than a foot-path. It
straggled onward into the
mystery of the primeval forest.
This hemmed it in so narrowly,
and stood so black and dense on
either side, and disclosed such
imperfect glimpses of the sky
above, that, to Hester’s mind, it
imaged not amiss the moral
wilderness in which she had so
long been wandering. The day
was chill and sombre. Overhead
was a gray expanse of cloud,
slightly stirred, however, by a
breeze; so that a gleam of
flickering sunshine might now
and then be seen at its solitary
play along the path. This flitting
cheerfulness was always at the
further extremity of some long
vista through the forest. The
sportive sunlight—feebly sportive, at best, in the predominant
pensiveness of the day and
scene—withdrew itself as they
came nigh [near], and left the
spots where it had danced the
drearier, because they had hoped
to find them bright.
tr. de A. Ruste
nente, no era más que una senda
X que se internaba en el misterio
de la selva primitiva. El estrecho sendero estaba flanqueado
por tan denso boscaje que apenas se divisaba imperfectamente algún trozo de cielo, dándole la sensación a Ester de hallarse sumida en la moral selvática en que por tanto tiempo
había vagado. El día era frío y
sombrío. En lontananza
sombreaban un trozo de celaje
las nubes, ligeramente agitadas
por la brisa; de tal modo que un
débil reflejo solar iluminaba de
vez en vez, jugueteando, la solitaria senda. Esta momentánea
alegría se divisaba siempre en
el lejano extremo, a través de
la floresta. La juguetona luz
solar, débil en la profunda y
predominante melancolía del día
y de la escena, desaparecía siempre que a ella se acercaban, dejando los sitios donde había ejecutado su más lúgubre danza —
porque habían ellas abrigado esperanza de hallarlos iluminados.
30
“Mother,” said little Pearl,
“the sunshine does not love you.
It runs away and hides itself,
because it is afraid of something
35 on your bosom. Now, see! There
it is, playing a good way off. Stand
you here, and let me run and catch
it. I am but a child. It will not flee
from me—for I wear nothing on
40 my bosom yet!”
—Madre —dijo la pequeña
Perla—, la luz del sol no te quiere. Corre y se esconde porque tiene miedo de algo que llevas en
el pecho. ¡Mira, ahora! ¡Allí está,
allá lejos, jugando! ¡Espera aquí
y déjame que corra a cogerla! ¡Yo
no soy más que una niña y no
escapará de mí porque yo no llevo nada en el pecho todavía!
“Nor ever will, my child, I
hope,” said Hester.
—Ni espero que nunca lo lleves —dijo Ester.
“And why not, mother?”
asked Pearl, stopping short, just
at the beginning of her race. “Will
not it come of its own accord
when I am a woman grown?”
—¿Y por qué no, madre? —
preguntó Perla, parando en seco
su comenzada carrera—. ¿No
vendrá por su voluntad, cuando
yo sea una mujer crecida?
“Run away, child,” answered
her mother, “and catch the
sunshine. It will soon be gone “
[209] —¡Corre, hija! —respondió la madre—. ¡Corre y coge
el sol! Desaparecerá pronto.
Pearl set forth at a great pace,
and as Hester smiled to perceive,
did actually catch the sunshine,
and stood laughing in the midst
of it, all brightened by its
60 splendour, and scintillating with
Perla partió volando, y
Ester sonrió al verla llegar
al sitio iluminado y permanecer riendo, bañada por el
sol, brillando con su esplendor y centelleando con la
45
50
55
202
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
excited y excitado conllevan la
the vivacity excited by rapid moidea de alegre, entusiasta, pero
excited tiene más denotaciones,
tion. The light lingered about the
como nervioso, agitado, acalolonely child, as if glad of such a
rado, emocionante. To excite y
excitar se refieren a estimular,
playmate, until her mother had
entusiasmar, pero to excite significa además emocionar / con- 5 drawn almost nigh [near] enough
mover, poner nervioso / agitato step into the magic circle too.
do, provocar [emociones], instigar [desórdenes], alborotar
[gente], y to get excited es aca“It will go now,” said Pearl,
lorarse. A su vez, excitar se usa
para to raise [dudas], arouse
shaking her head.
[curiosidad, apetito]. Excitedly
significa
agitadao 10
acaloradamente.
“ S e e ! ” a n s w e r e d H e s t e r,
Don’t get excited = no te pongas
nervioso.
smiling; “now I can stretch
vivacida d excitada por sus rápidos movimientos. La luz jugueteó alrededor de la niña solitaria,
como contenta de aquella compañera de juego, hasta que la madre puso
el pie sobre el círculo luminoso.
—Ahora seguiré —dijo Perla moviendo la cabecita.
out my hand and grasp some
of it.”
—¡Mira! —replicó Ester,
sonriendo—. Ahora puedo extender la mano y coger un puñado
de sol.
As she attempted to do so,
the sunshine vanished; or, to
judge from the bright expression
that was dancing on Pearl’s
features, her mother could have
fancied that the child had
absorbed it into herself, and
would give it forth again, with a
gleam about her path, as they
should plunge into some
gloomier shade. There was no
other attribute that so much
impressed her with a sense of
new and untransmitted vigour in
Pearl’s nature, as this never
failing vivacity of spirits: she
had not the disease of sadness,
which almost all children, in
these latter days, inherit, with
the scrofula, from the troubles
of their ancestors. Perhaps this,
too, was a disease, and but the
reflex of the wild energy with
which Hester had fought against
her sorrows before Pearl’s birth.
It was certainly a doubtful
charm, imparting a hard,
metallic lustre to the child’s
character. She wanted—what
some people want throughout
life—a grief that should deeply
touch her, and thus humanise
and make her capable of
sympathy. But there was time
enough yet for little Pearl.
Cuando intentó hacerlo se
nubló, o, a juzgar por la brillante expresión que danzaba
sobre las facciones de la niña,
pudo figurarse la madre que
Perla lo había absorbido y que
lo lanzaría de nuevo con un
resplandor sobre su senda,
cuando se hubiesen internado
en
algún
lugar
más
lóbregamente sombreado.
Ningún atributo la impresionó
tanto con una sensación de nuevo e intransmisible vigor en la
naturaleza de Perla como esta jamás decadente vivacidad de espíritu; la niña no tenía la enfermedad de tristeza que casi todas las
criaturas, en estos últimos días,
heredaban, con la escrófula, de las
perturbaciones de sus antepasados.
Quizá fuese esto también una enfermedad y el solo reflejo de la fiera energía con que Ester había luchado contra sus tristezas, antes
del nacimiento de Perla. Era, ciertamente, un encanto dudoso que
daba un reflejo duro y metálico al
carácter de la niña. Deseaba Ester
(como mucha gente lo desea durante la vida) que la animase un
hondo sentimiento de tristeza, para
así humanizarla y hacerla capaz de
simpatía. Pero aún había tiempo
para la pequeña Perla.
“Come, my child!” said
Hester, looking about her from the
spot where Pearl had stood still
55 in the sunshine—”we will sit
down a little way within the wood,
and rest ourselves.”
—¡Ven, hija mía! —dijo la
madre, mirando a su alrededor,
desde el sitio en que Perla había
permanecido al sol—. Nos sentaremos un poco, ahí, en el bosque, y descansaremos.
“I am not aweary, mother,”
60 replied the little girl. “But you
[210] —No estoy cansada,
madre —replicó la niña—, pero
15
20
25
30
scrofula: a tuberculous condition most
common in children, paperas
35
40
45
50
203
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
may sit down, if you will tell me
a story meanwhile.”
tú puedes sentarte y mientras tanto me contarás un cuento.
“A story, child!” said Hester.
5 “And about what?”
—¿,Un cuento? —dijo
Ester—. ¿Y sobre qué?
“Oh, a story about the Black
Man,” answered Pearl, taking
hold of her mother’s gown, and
10 looking up, half earnestly, half
mischievously, into her face.
—Un cuento sobre el Hombre
Negro —respondió Perla, cogiendo el vestido de su madre y mirándola a la cara con expresión de
anhelo y travesura a la vez—.
“How he haunts this forest,
and carries a book with him a big,
15 heavy book, with iron clasps; and
how this ugly Black Man offers
his book and an iron pen to
everybody that meets him here
among the trees; and they are to
20 write their names with their own
blood; and then he sets his mark
on their bosoms. Didst thou ever
meet the Black Man, mother?”
Cuéntame cómo vaga por la selva, y lleva con él un libro; un
libro grande y pesado con
abrazaderas de hierro; y cómo el
Hombre Negro ofrece su libro y
una pluma de hierro a todo el
mundo que encuentra aquí entre
los árboles; y cómo escriben sus
nombres con su propia sangre.
¿Has encontrado al Hombre Negro alguna vez, madre?
25
“And who told you this story,
Pearl,” asked her mother,
recognising
a
common
superstition of the period.
—¿Y quién te ha contado ese
cuento, Perla? —preguntó Ester,
reconociendo en él una superstición de la época.
30
“It was the old dame in the
chimney corner, at the house
where you watched last night,”
said the child. “But she fancied
me asleep while she was talking
35 of it. She said that a thousand and
a thousand people had met him
here, and had written in his book,
and have his mark on them. And
that ugly tempered lady, old
40 Mistress Hibbins, was one. And,
mother, the old dame said that this
scarlet letter was the Black Man’s
mark on thee, and that it glows
like a red flame when thou
45 meetest him at midnight, here in
the dark wood. Is it true, mother?
And dost thou go to meet him in
the nighttime?”
—Aquella vieja dama que
estaba en el rincón de la chimenea, en la casa en que estuviste
anoche velando —dijo la niña—
. Ella creyó que yo estaba dormida cuando lo contaba. Dijo que
miles y miles de gentes le habían
encontrado y habían firmado en
su libro, y que todos ellos llevan
su marca; y una de ellas era esa
dama fea y gruñona, la señora
Hibbins. Y, madre, dijo la vieja
que esta letra roja es la marca que
el Hombre Negro puso sobre ti y
que brilla como una llama cuando te encuentras con él a medianoche aquí, en la oscura selva.
¿Es verdad, madre? ¿Y vas a verle por la noche?
50
—¿Has despertado alguna vez
y visto que tu madre se hubiese
marchado? —preguntó Ester.
—No, que yo recuerde —dijo
Perla—. ¡Si temieses dejarme en
casa, podías llevarme contigo; yo
iría contentísima! Pero dime,
madre, ¿existe ese Hombre Negro? ¿Y le has encontrado alguna vez? ¿Y es ésa su marca?
“Didst thou ever awake and
find thy mother gone?” asked
Hester. “Not that I remember,”
said the child. “If thou fearest to
leave me in our cottage, thou
55 mightest take me along with thee.
I would very gladly go! But,
mother, tell me now! Is there such
a Black Man? And didst thou ever
meet him? And is this his mark?”
60
204
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Wilt thou let me be at peace,
if I once tell thee?” asked her
mother.
[211] —¿Querrás dejarme en
paz si yo te lo digo? —preguntó
la madre.
“Yes, if thou tellest me all,”
answered Pearl.
—Sí; si tú me lo cuentas todo
—respondió Perla.
“Once in my life I met
the Black Man!” said her
10 m o t h e r. T h i s s c a r l e t l e t t e r i s
his mark!”
—¡Una sola vez en mi vida
encontré al Hombre Negro! —
dijo su madre—. ¡La letra roja es
su marca!
Thus conversing, they
entered sufficiently deep into
the wood to secure themselves
from the observation of any
casual passenger along the forest track. Here they sat down on
a luxuriant heap of moss; which
at some epoch of the preceding
century, had been a gigantic
pine, with its roots and trunk in
the darksome shade, and its
head aloft in the upper atmosphere It was a little dell where
they had seated themselves,
with a leaf-strewn bank rising
gently on either side, and a
brook flowing through the
midst, over a bed of fallen and
drowne d l e a v e s . T h e t r e e s
impending [imminent] over it
had flung down great branches
from time to time, which
choked up the current, and
compelled it to form eddies and
black depths at some points;
while, in its swifter and livelier
passages there appeared a
channel-way of pebbles, and
brown, sparkling sand. Letting
the eyes follow along the course
of the stream, they could catch
the reflected light from its
water, at some short distance
within the forest, but soon lost
all traces of it amid the
bewilderment of tree-trunks and
underbush, and here and there
a huge rock covered over with
gray lichens. All these giant
trees and boulders of granite
seemed intent on making a
mystery of the course of this
small brook; fearing, perhaps,
that, with its never-ceasing
loquacity, it should whisper
tales out of the heart of the old
forest whence it flowed, or
mirror its revelations on the
Así hablando, internándose lo bastante en la espesura
de la floresta para evitar la
observación de cualquier caminante casual que pasase
por el sendero. Sentáronse en
un montón cubierto de verde musgo, que, en alguna
é p o c a d e l s i g l o a n t e r i o r,
había sido un pino gigantesco, cuyas raíces y tronco se escondían en la sombra oscura y su copa se alzaba en la atmósfera. El sitio donde se hallaban era
una hondonada por cuyo
fondo corría un arroyuelo
sobre un lecho de hojas caídas. De los árboles que se
m e c í a n ______ s o b r e é l , s e
habían desprendi do algunas
ramas que, al chocar con la
corriente, la habían obligado
a formar reflujos y, en algunos puntos, negras profundidades, mientras en los pasajes donde corría el agua con
mayor ligereza, se veía un
cauce de gravilla y arena oscura y reluciente. Siguiendo
con la vista el curso de la corriente, podían apreciar la luz
que reflejaba el agua, a corta
distancia, dentro de la floresta, pero pronto se perdía entre el laberinto de troncos y
ramaje, y aquí y allá, por una
roca cubierta con liquen grisáceo. Todos aquellos árboles
gigantescos y bloques de granito parecían destinados a
hacer un misterio del curso
de este pequeño arroyo, temiendo, quizá, con su incesante locuacidad, que pudiese murmurar historias del corazón de la vieja selva, mientras corría, o reflejar sus relaciones en
5
15
casual despreocupado, tranquilo
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
loquacity: talkativeness
60
X
205
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
smooth surface of a pool.
Continually, indeed, as it stole
onward, the streamlet kept up
a babble, kind, quiet,
5 soothing, but melancholy, like
the voice of a young child that
was spending its infancy
without playfulness, and knew
not how to be merry among
10 sad acquaintance and events of
sombre hue.
la suave superficie de algún charco. Realmente el arroyuelo, conforme avanzaba sin cesar, llevaba consigo un murmullo amable,
tranquilo y adulador, pero melancólico; como la voz de un niño
pequeño que estuviese gastando
su infancia sin tener travesuras,
y no supiera cómo alegrarse entre tristes relaciones y sombríos
sucesos.
“Oh, brook! Oh, foolish
and tiresome little brook!”
15 c r i e d P e a r l , a f t e r l i s t e n i n g
awhile to its talk, “Why art
thou so sad? Pluck up a
spirit, and do not be all the
time
sighing
and
20 murmuring!”
[212] —¡Oh, arroyo! ¡Oh
loco y cansado arroyuelo! —gritó Perla, después de escuchar por
algún tiempo su murmullo—.
¿Por qué estás tan triste? ¡Levanta el espíritu y no estés continuamente suspirando y murmurando!
But the brook, in the course
of its little lifetime among the
forest trees, had gone through so
25 solemn an experience that it
could not help talking about it,
and seemed to have nothing else
to say. Pearl resembled the brook,
inasmuch as the current of her
30 life gushed from a well-spring as
mysterious, and had flowed
through scenes shadowed as
heavily with gloom. But, unlike
the little stream, she danced and
35 sparkled, and prattled airily along
her course.
Pero el arroyo, en el curso de
su pequeña vida entre los árboles de la selva, se había deslizado a través de una experiencia tan
solemne que no podía evitar hablar de ella y parecía no tener otra
cosa que decir. Perla se asemejaba al arroyuelo, puesto que la corriente de su vida brotó de un
manantial igualmente misterioso
y floreció entre escenas sombrías
de intensa tristeza. Pero, contrariamente al arroyuelo, danzaba y
saltaba y charlaba alegremente,
siguiendo su curso.
“What does this sad little
brook say, mother? inquired
40 she.
—¿Qué es lo que dice este
triste arroyo, madre? —preguntó.
“If thou hadst a sorrow of
thine own, the brook might tell
thee of it,” answered her mother,
45 “even as it is telling me of mine.
But now, Pearl, I hear a footstep
along the path, and the noise of
one putting aside the branches. I
betake : acudir, dirigirse,
would have thee betake thyself
50 to play, and leave me to speak
with him that comes yonder.”
—¡Si tuvieses alguna tristeza, el arroyuelo te hablaría de
ella, como me está hablando de
la mía! Pero, Perla, parece que
oigo pisadas sobre el sendero y
el ruido producido por las ramas al ser retiradas. Más val dría que te quedes aquí
j ugando, mientras yo hablo con
el que viene por allí.
“Is it the Black Man?” asked
Pearl.
—¿Es el Hombre Negro? —
preguntó Perla.
“ Wilt thou go and play,
child?” repeated her mother, “But
do not stray far into the wood.
And take heed that thou come at
60 my first call.”
—¿Irás a jugar de una
vez? —repitió la madre—.
Pero no te internes mucho en
la selva. Y cuida de acudir en
cuanto te llame.
55
206
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Yes, mother,” answered
Pearl, “But if it be the Black Man,
wilt thou not let me stay a mo5 ment, and look at him, with his
big book under his arm?”
—Sí, mamá —respondió
Perla—. ¿Pero, si fuese el Hombre Negro, no me dejarías que
le viese un momento con su gran
libro bajo el brazo?
“Go, silly child!” said her
mother impatiently. “It is no
10 Black Man! Thou canst see him
now, through the trees. It is the
minister!”
—¡Ve, chiquilla impertinente! —dijo la madre, con impaciencia—. ¡No es el Hombre Negro! ¡Ahora puedes verle entre
los árboles; es el ministro!
“And so it is!” said the
15 child. “And, mother, he has his
hand over his heart! Is it because, when the minister wrote
his name in the book, the Black
Man set his mark in that place?
20 But why does he not wear it
outside his bosom, as thou dost,
mother?”
—Sí que es él! —dijo la
niña—. ¡Y lleva la mano sobre
el corazón, madre! ¿Es que
cuando el ministro escribió su
nombre en el libro, el Hombre
Negro puso la marca en aquel
sitio? ¿Pero por qué no la lleva
en la parte exterior de su pecho,
como tú, madre?
“ G o n o w, c h i l d , a n d
25 t h o u s h a l t t e a s e m e a s t h o u
wilt another time,” cried
Hester Prynne. “But do not
s t r a y f a r. K e e p w h e r e t h o u
canst hear the babble of
30 t h e b r o o k . ”
[213] —Vete, Perla; ya me
molestarás como quieras en otra
ocasión —gritó Ester Prynne—.
Pero no te vayas muy lejos. No
te alejes más allá de donde puedas escuchar el murmullo del
agua.
The child went singing away,
following up the current of the
brook, and striving to mingle a
more lightsome cadence with its
melancholy voice. But the little
stream would not be comforted
[consoled], and still kept telling
its unintelligible secret of some
very mournful mystery that had
happened—or
making
a
prophetic lamentation about
something that was yet to
happen—within the verge of the
dismal forest. So Pearl, who
had enough of shadow in her
own little life, chose to break
off all acquaintance with this
re p i n i n g brook. She set
herself, therefore, to gathering
violets and wood-anemones, and
some scarlet columbines that she
found growing in the crevice of
a high rock.
La niña se marchó cantando, en dirección a la corriente, tratando de dar más
alegre cadencia a la voz melancólica del arroyo. Pero
éste no se confortó, y continuó diciendo el ininteligible y lúgubre secreto de algún misterio ocurrido, o haciendo la lamentación
profética de algo que aún
había de ocurrir dentro de
los límites de la fúnebre selva. Así pues, Perla, que tenía suficiente sombra en su
pequeña vida, resolvió romper toda relación con aquel
arroyo quejumbroso. Se
puso a coger violetas y
anémonas silvestres y algunas rojas aguileñas que
crecían entre las resquebrajaduras de las peñas.
When her elf-child had
departed, Hester Prynne made a
step or two towards the track that
led through the forest, but still
60 remained under the deep shadow
Cuando la niña trasgo se
hubo marchado, se encaminó
Ester Prynne hacia el sendero
que atravesaba la selva, pero
permaneció aún bajo la sombra
35
40
45
50
55
207
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
of the trees. She beheld the minister advancing along the path
entirely alone, and leaning on
a staff which he had cut by the
wayside. He looked haggard and
feeble, and betrayed a nerveless
despondency in his air, which had
never so remarkably characterised
him in his walks about the
settlement, nor in any other
situation where he deemed
himself liable to notice. Here it
was wofully visible, in this
intense seclusion of the forest,
which of itself would have been a
heavy trial to the spirits. There
was a listlessness in his gait, as if
he saw no reason for taking one
step further, nor felt any desire to
do so, but would have been glad,
could he be glad of anything, to
fling himself down at the root of
the nearest tree, and lie there
passive for evermore. The leaves
might bestrew him, and the soil
gradually accumulate and form a
little hillock over his frame, no
matter whether there were life in
it or no. Death was too definite
an object to be wished for or
avoided.
de los árboles. Vio que el ministro avanzaba por la estrecha senda, completamente solo, apoyándose en una vara que había cortado al pasar. Parecía macilento
y débil, y había en él un aire de
decaimiento de nervios que
nunca tan marcadamente le había caracterizado en sus paseos por el departamento ni en
ninguna otra situación en que
se daba a ver. Aquí se hacía
completamente visible, en la intensa reclusión de la selva, que,
por sí sola, era una pesada prueba para los espíritus. Había tal
negligencia en su andar como si
no viera razón para dar un paso
más, ni sintiera deseo de hacerlo, sino que más bien le agradara echarse sobre las raíces de
algún árbol cercano y permanecer allí impasible por siempre.
Quizá las hojas le cubriesen y la
tierra se fuese acumulando gradualmente hasta formar un pequeño montecillo sobre su cuerpo, no importa si éste tuviese
vida o no. La muerte era un objeto demasiado definido para
desearlo o evitarlo.
To H e s t e r ’s e y e , t h e
R e v e r e n d M r. D i m m e s d a l e
35 e x h i b i t e d n o s y m p t o m o f
positive
and
vivacious
suffering, except that, as little
Pearl had remarked, he kept his
hand over his heart.
40
[214] A los ojos de Éster
Prynne, el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale no demostraba síntomas de sufrimiento vivo o positivo, excepto que, como notó la
pequeña Perla, llevaba la mano
puesta sobre su corazón.
5
despondent adj.
in low spirits,
dejected. Abatido, alicaído,
despondency
abatimiento,
dejection=low spirits, desaliento
10
tristemente
15
listless adj. lacking energy or
enthusiasm; disinclined for exertion.
Apático, indiferente, desganado, lánguido
20
25
30
Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner :In Chapter 17 Hester meets Dimmesdale and they speak freely about their lives. They resolve to run away, with Pearl.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY: This crucial chapter reveals for the first time the intensity of the lovers’ deep bond. They are alone and in intimate conversation. It is a scene of great
passion, felt all the more deeply because of the long denial of passion. Hester does not call the minister by his title, but by his full name. He returns this acknowledgement of mutual
45has so failed him that he must ask if she is a ghost. She is so struck by this that she also asks him ‘dost thou yet live?’. The forest is now
love and knowledge, but his nervous vigour
completely defined, as a place where souls encounter each other without social constraint or hindrance.
So strangely did they meet, in the dim wood, that it was like the first encounter, in the world beyond the grave of two spirits who had been intimately connected in their
former life, but now stood coldly shuddering in mutual dread, as not yet familiar with their state, nor wonted to the companionship of disembodied beings. Each a ghost, and
awe-stricken at the other ghost. They were awe-stricken likewise at themselves, because the crisis flung back to them their consciousness, and revealed to each heart its history
and experience, as life never does, except at such breathless epochs. The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. It was with fear, and tremulously, and, as
it were, by a slow, reluctant necessity, that Arthur Dimmesdale put forth his hand, chill as death, and touched the chill hand of Nester Prynne. The grasp, cold as it was, took away
50 felt themselves, at least, inhabitants of the same sphere.
what was dreariest in the interview. They now
Without a word more spoken, - neither he nor she assuming the guidance, but with an unexpressed consent, - they glided back into the shadow of the woods, whence
Nester had emerged, and sat down on the heap of moss where she and Pearl had before been sitting.
The minister can ask Nester the question that love prompts: ‘Hester .... has thou found peace?’. He can trust her love to tell her of his suffering. He can also tell her that,
like herself, he is not able to repent. ‘Of penance, I have had enough. Of penitence, there has been none!’ However, he lacks her vital energy. He needs to see his true nature
reflected in the knowledge others have of him if he is going to continue living.
Had I one friend - or were it my worst enemy! - to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all
sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But now, it is all falsehood! - all emptiness! - all death!
55
Nester tells him
‘Such a friend as thou hast even now wished for,’ said she, ‘with whom to weep over thy sin, thou bast in me, the partner of it!’ - Again she hesitated, but brought out the
words with an effort. - ‘Thou hast long had such an enemy, and dwellest with him, under the same roof!’
In reacting with violent emotion, the minister shows that his passions, like Nester’s, are repressed rather than disciplined and refined. At first his anger is directed at Nester, but when
she begs forgiveness for keeping Chillingworth’s real identity secret, the minister’s wrath becomes directed toward the false physician. ‘That old man’s revenge has been blacker
than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Nester, never did so!’ The anger mixes with bleak despair and self-loathing. In weakness,
Dimmesdale lingers with Nester in the forest.
60 They agree to run away together, back across the ocean over which they had separately come many years before. To Hester, this
pledge is the vindication of her own love, and the values she truly holds. To the minister, it is flight from disgrace.
208
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
XVII.
XVII
THE PASTOR AND HIS
PARISHIONER
X
E L PA S T O R Y S U
OVEJA
5
Slowly as the minister
walked, he had almost gone
by before Hester Prynne
could gather voice enough to
10 a t t r a c t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n . A t
length she succeeded.
A pesar de lo despacio que
caminaba el ministro, casi había desaparecido, antes que
Éster Prynne pudo reunir fuerza de voz suficiente para llamar
su atención.
“Arthur Dimmesdale!” she
said, faintly at first, then
hoarsely roncamente, con voz 15 louder, but hoarsely—‘‘Arthur
ronca
Dimmesdale!”
—¡Arturo Dimmesdale! —
gritó, quedamente al principio,
y después con más fuerza—.
¡Arturo Dimmesdale!
X
“Who speaks?” answered the
minister. Gathering himself
quickly up, he stood more erect,
like a man taken by surprise in a
mood to which he was reluctant
to have witnesses. Throwing his
eyes anxiously in the direction of
the voice, he indistinctly beheld
a form under the trees, clad in
garments so sombre, and so little
relieved from the gray twilight
into which the clouded sky and
the heavy foliage had darkened
the noontide, that he knew not
whether it were a woman or a
shadow. It may be that his
pathway through life was haunted
thus by a spectre that had stolen
out from among his thoughts.
—¿Quién habla? —respondió él. Sobrecogido, como un
hombre a quien se sorprende en
una actitud en la que le repugna ser observado, se irguió.
Lanzó su mirada en la dirección de la voz e, indistintamente, percibió un bulto entre los
árboles, alegre en sus sombrías
vestiduras, y con tan poco relieve en la luz grisácea con que
el cielo nublado y la pesada
hojarasca oscurecían el mediodía que no supo si era una mujer o una sombra. Puede ser
que su sendero por la vida fuese siempre asaltado así por algún espectro que hubiese brotado de sus pensamientos.
He made a step nigher, and
discovered the scarlet letter.
Adelantó un paso y descubrió la letra roja.
“Hester! Hester Prynne!’, said
he; “is it thou? Art thou in life?”
—¡Éster! ¡Éster Prynne! —
gritó—. ¿Eres tú? ¿Estás viva?
“Even so.” she answered.
45 “In such life as has been mine
these seven years past! And
thou, Arthur Dimmesdale,
dost thou yet live?”
—¡Aún lo estoy! —respondió ella—. ¡A pesar de la vida
que he llevado durante estos últimos siete años! ¿Y tú, Arturo
Dimmesdale, vives todavía?
50
No era extraño que se hicieran tales preguntas sobre su mutua existencia y aun que dudasen de la suya propia. Fue tan
extraño su encuentro en la espesura de la [215] selva que les
parecía la vez primera que se
reunían después de la tumba la
reunión de dos espíritus que habían estado estrechamente conectados en su vida anterior,
20
25
30
35
40
It was no wonder that they
thus questioned one another ’s
actual and bodily existence,
and even doubted of their
own. So strangely did they
55 meet in the dim wood that it
was like the first encounter in
the world beyond the grave of
two spirits who had been
intimately connected in their
60 f o r m e r l i f e , b u t n o w s t o o d
209
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
reluctant reacia
20
25
coldly shuddering in mutual
dread, as not yet familiar with
their state, nor wonted to the
companionship of disembodied beings. Each a ghost, and
awe-stricken at the other
ghost. They were awe-stricken
likewise at themselves, because the crisis flung back to
them their consciousness, and
revealed to each heart its history and experience, as life
never does, except at such
breathless epochs. T h e s o u l
beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. It
was with fear, and tremulously, and, as it were, by a
s l o w, re l u c t a n t n e c e s s i t y,
that Arthur Dimmesdale put
forth his hand, chill as death,
and touched the chill hand of
Hester Prynne. The grasp,
cold as it was, took away
what was dreariest in the
i n t e r v i e w. T h e y n o w f e l t
themselves,
at
least,
inhabitants of the same
sphere.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
pero que ahora se hallaban temblando de frío, con mutuo espanto; como si no se hallasen aún
familiarizados con su estado, ni
deseasen el compañerismo de
los seres incorpóreos. ¡Cada uno
era un fantasma amedrentado
por el otro! También estaban
asustados de sí mismos; porque
la crisis volvió pasos atrás sus
conciencias y reveló a cada corazón su historia y experiencia,
como no lo hace jamás la vida,
excepto en tales momentos de
desaliento. El alma reflejaba sus
facciones en el espejo del momento pasado. Fue con temor,
temblorosamente, con una especie de lenta y repugnante necesidad, como Arturo Dimmesdale
extendió la mano, helada como
la muerte, y tocó la no menos
helada mano de Éster Prynne.
Aquel contacto, frío como fue,
hizo desaparecer cuanto de terrible había en aquella entrevista. Entonces sintieron que eran,
al menos, habitantes de un mismo globo.
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
Wi t h o u t a w o r d m o r e
spoken—neither he nor she
assuming the guidance , but
with an unexpressed consent—
they glided back into the
shadow of the woods whence
Hester had emerged, and sat
down on the heap of moss
where she and Pearl had
before been sitting. When they
found voice to speak, it was at
first only to utter remarks and
inquiries such as any two
acquaintances might have
made, about the gloomy sky,
the threatening storm, and,
next, the health of each. Thus
they went onward, not boldly,
but step by step, into the
themes that were brooding
deepest in their hearts. So
long estranged by fate and
circumstances, they needed
something slight and casual to
run before and throw open the
doors of intercourse, so that
their real thoughts might be
led across the threshold.
X
Sin hablar una palabra
más (sin que ni él ni ella asumieran vigilancia, sino con
satisfacción inexpresada),
internáronse de nuevo en la selva sombría por donde había
aparecido Éster y sentáronse en
el montón cubierto de musgo
donde anteriormente estuvieron
sentadas ella y Perla. Cuando
encontraron voz para hablar,
fue sólo, al principio, para hacer las observaciones y preguntas propias de dos amigos, sobre el cielo nublado, la tormenta amenazadora y, después, sobre la respectiva salud. Así avanzaron en su conversación, no
abiertamente, sino paso a paso,
hacia temas que cobijaban en lo
más hondo del corazón. Tan largo tiempo apartados por el sino
y las circunstancias, necesitaban
algo ligero y casual para correr adelante y abrir de par en par las puertas de la conversación para que sus
verdaderos pensamientos pudieran
ser guiados fuera del umbral.
[217] Después de un rato, el
After awhile, the minister
210
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
fixed his eyes on Hester
Prynne’s.
ministro fijó los ojos en los de
Ester Prynne.
“Hester,” said he, “hast thou
5 found peace?”
—Ester —dijo—, ¿has hallado paz?
She smiled drearily, looking
down upon her bosom.
ella sonrió terriblemente, mirando sobre su pecho.
10
—¿Y tú? —preguntó.
“Hast thou?” she asked.
—¡Ninguna! ¡Nada sino desesperación! —respondió él—.
¿Qué podía buscar, siendo lo que
soy y llevando una vida como la
mía? ¡Si yo fuese un ateo, un
hombre sin conciencia, un desalmado con instintos malditos y
brutales, quizá hubiese encontrado paz haría mucho tiempo! ¡Y
no la hubiera perdido! Pero tal
como los asuntos radican en mi
alma, cualquiera que fuese la primitiva buena capacidad de la mía,
todos los dones de Dios que fuesen los más escogidos se han
convertido en los ministros de mi
tormento espiritual! ¡Ester, soy lo
más desgraciado!
“None—nothing
but
despair!” he answered. “What
else could I look for, being what
15 I am, and leading such a life as
mine? Were I an atheist—a man
devoid of conscience—a wretch
with coarse and brutal
instincts—I might have found
20 peace long e r e n o w. N a y, I
never should have lost it. But,
as matters stand with my soul,
whatever of good capacity
there originally was in me,
25 all of God’s gifts that were
the choicest have become the
ministers
of
spiritual
t o r m e n t . H e s t e r, I a m m o s t
miserable!”
30
“The people reverence thee,”
said Hester. “And surely thou
workest good among them! Doth
this bring thee no comfort?”
35
“More misery, Hester!—
Only the more misery!”
answered the clergyman with a
bitter smile. “As concerns the
40 good which I may appear to do,
I have no faith in it. It must
needs be a delusion. What can
a ruined soul like mine effect
towards the redemption of other
45 s o u l s ? — o r a p o l l u t e d s o u l
towards their purification? And
as for the people’s reverence,
would that it were turned to
scorn and hatred! Canst thou
50 deem it, Hester, a consolation
that I must stand up in my
pulpit, and meet so many eyes
turned upward to my face, as if
the light of heaven were
55 beaming from it!—must see my
flock hungry for the truth, and
listening to my words as if a
tongue of Pentecost were
speaking!—and then look
60 inward, and discern the black
—¡Las gentes te reverencian
—dijo Ester—, y seguramente
siembras el bien entre ellas! ¿No
te da esto consuelo?
—¡Más miseria, Ester! ¡Solamente más miseria! —respondió el clérigo con sonrisa
amarga—. En cuanto al bien que
aparento hacer, no tengo fe en él.
Tiene que ser por fuerza una ilusión. ¿Qué puede hacer por la
redención de otras almas una
arruinada como la mía? ¿Qué
puede hacer un alma corrompida
por su purificación? ¡Y en cuanto a la revelación de las gentes,
preferiría que se trocase en desprecio y odio! ¿Puede haber consuelo, Ester, en que haya de estar yo en el púlpito y tropezar con
tantos ojos fijos en mi rostro,
como si de él irradiase la luz del
cielo? ¿En tener que ver mi rebaño hambriento de la verdad y
escuchando mis palabras como si
fuese una lengua del Pentecostés
quien las pronunciase? ¿Y luego
mirar hacia adentro y discernir la
negra realidad de lo que
211
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
reality of what they idolise? I
have laughed, in bitterness and
agony of heart, at the contrast
between what I seem and what
5 I am! And Satan laughs at it!”
idolatran? ¡Yo he reído, con
amargura y agonía de corazón,
ante el contraste de lo que parezco y de lo que soy! ¡Y Satanás se
rí e d e e s o !
“ Yo u w r o n g y o u r s e l f i n
this,” said Hester g e n t l y .
“You have deeply and sorely
10 repented. Your sin is left behind
you in the days long past. Your
present life is not less holy, in
very truth, than it seems in
people’s eyes. Is there no reality
15 in the penitence thus sealed and
witnessed by good works? And
wherefore should it not bring
you peace?”
—Tú te equivocas —
d i j o E s t e r, s u a v e m e n t e — .
Tú te has arrepentido honda y
amargamente. Tú has dejado
atrás tu pecado en los días hace
tiempo pasados. Tu vida presente no es menos santa, en verdad,
que lo que a la gente le parece.
¿No hay realidad en la penitencia así sellada y atestiguada por
buenas obras? ¿Por qué razón no
ha de traerte paz?
20
“No, Hester—no!” replied
the clergyman. “There is no
substance in it] It is cold and
dead, and can do nothing for
me! Of penance, I have had
enough! Of penitence, there has
been none! Else, I should long
a g o h a v e t h r o w n o ff t h e s e
garments of mock holiness, and
have shown myself to mankind
as they will see me at the
judgment-seat. Happy are you,
Hester, that wear the scarlet
letter openly upon your bosom!
Mine burns in secret! Thou
little knowest what a relief it is,
after the torment of a seven
years’ cheat, to look into an eye
that recognises me for what I
am! Had I one friend—or were
it my worst enemy!—to whom,
when sickened with the praises
of all other men, I could daily
betake myself, and known as the
vilest of all sinners, methinks
my s o u l m i g h t k e e p i t s e l f
alive thereby. Even thus much
of truth would save me! But
now, it is all falsehood!—all
emptiness!—all death!”
—¡No, Ester, no! —replicó el
clérigo—. ¡No hay en ella sustancia! ¡Está fría y muerta, y nada
puede hacer por mí! ¡Bastante
penitencia ha tenido! ¡Pero no ha
habido penitencia! ¡A menos que
hubiese arrojado hace mucho
tiempo estos hábitos burlescos y
me hubiese mostrado a la humanidad como habrán de verme ante
el tribunal del día del juicio, no
podía haberla! ¡Dichosa tú, Ester,
que llevas abiertamente sobre tu
pecho la letra roja! ¡La mía arde
en secreto! ¡Tú no conoces el
consuelo que da mirar a los ojos
de quienes reconocen lo que soy,
después del tormento de siete
años de engaño! Si tuviese un
amigo (o aunque fuese mi peor
enemigo) a quien, enfermo por
las alabanzas de los demás hombres, pudiera descubrirme y ser
reconocido como el más vil de
los pecadores, creo que mi alma
se conservaría viva de este modo.
¡Aun entonces necesitaría mucha
verdad para salvarme! ¡Pero ahora, todo es falsedad! Todo vanidad. ¡Todo muerte!
Hester Prynne looked into
his face, but hesitated to speak.
Ye t , u t t e r i n g h i s l o n g restrained
emotions
so
55 v e h e m e n t l y a s h e d i d , h i s
words here offered her the very
point of circumstances in
which to interpose what she
came to say. She conquered her
60 fears, and spoke:
Ester Prynne miróle a la
cara, pero dudó de hablar. Sin
e m b a rg o , a l p r o n u n c i a r s u s
tanto tiempo reprimidas emociones con la vehemencia que
lo hizo, sus palabras la ofrecieron el punto circunstancial
para interponer en él lo que
había venido a decir. Dominó
Ester sus temores y habló:
25
30
35
40
methinks v. intr. (past methought)
archaic it seems to me.
45
50
212
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Such a friend as thou hast
even now wished for,” said she,
“with whom to weep over thy sin,
5 thou hast in me, the partner of it!”
Again she hesitated, but brought
out the words with an effort “Thou
hast long had such an enemy, and
dwellest with him, under the same
10 roof!”
—¡Ese amigo que hasta
ahora has deseado para llorar
con él tu pecado lo tienes en
mí! —Dudó nuevamente,
pero continuó con esfuerzo:— ¡El enemigo hace tiempo que lo has tenido, y vivido con él bajo el mismo techo!
The minister started to his
feet, gasping for breath, and
clutching at his heart, as if he
15 would have torn it out of his
bosom.
El ministro se incorporó de
un salto, falto de aliento [218]
y oprimiéndose el corazón,
como si se lo hubiese arrancado
de su pecho.
“Ha! What sayest thou?”
cried he. “An enemy! And
20 u n d e r m i n e o w n r o o f ! W h a t
mean you?”
—¡Eh! ¿Qué es lo que dices? —gritó—. ¡Un enemigo!
¡Y bajo mi mismo techo! ¿Qué
quieres significar?
Hester Prynne was now
fully sensible of the deep injury
for which she was responsible
to this unhappy man, in
permitting him to lie for so
many years, or, indeed, for a
single moment, at the mercy of
one whose purposes could not
be other than malevolent. The
very contiguity of his enemy,
beneath whatever mask the
latter might conceal himself,
was enough to disturb the
magnetic sphere of a being so
sensitive
as
Arthur
Dimmesdale. There had been a
period when Hester was less
alive to this consideration; or,
perhaps, in the misanthropy of
her own trouble, she left the
minister to bear what she might
picture to herself as a more
tolerable doom. But of late,
since the night of his vigil, all
her sympathies towards him had
been both softened and
invigorated. She now read his
h e a r t m o r e a c c u r a t e l y. S h e
doubted not that the continual
presence
of
Roger
Chillingworth—the secret
p o i s o n o f h i s m a l i g n i t y,
infecting all the air about him—
and his authorised interference,
as a physician, with the
minister’s physical and spiritual
infirmities—that these bad
opportunities had been turned
Ester Prynne comprendía
plenamente la profunda injuria,
por la que era responsable ante
este hombre desgraciado, habiéndole dejado durante tantos
años, o aunque hubiese sido un
solo instante, a merced de uno
cuyos propósitos no podían ser
más que malignos. La misma
contigüidad de su enemigo,
cualquiera que fuese la máscara bajo la ,que éste se ocultase, era lo bastante para trastornar la esfera magnética de un
ser tan sensitivo como Arturo
Dimmesdale. Hubo un período,
cuando Ester se hallaba menos
viva para esta consideración; o,
tal vez, en la misantropía de
su propio disturbio, en que
dejó que el ministro soportase
lo que ella se pudo figurar un
sino más tolerable. Pero más
tarde, desde la noche de su vigilia, todas sus simpatías hacia
él se habían suavizado y
vigorizado. Ahora leía en su
corazón con más claridad. No
dudaba que la continua presencia de Roger Chillingworth, el
veneno secreto de su maldad
infectando todo el aire a su alr e d e d o r, y s u i n t e r v e n c i ó n
autorizada como médico, con
la debilidad física y espiritual
del ministro, que todas estas
malas oportunidades se habían
convertido en un cruel propó-
25
30
contiguity:proximity
35
40
misanthropy:hatred of mankind
45
50
55
60
213
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
to a cruel purpose. By means of
them, the sufferer ’s conscience
had been kept in an irritated
state, the tendency of which
5 was, not to cure by wholesome
pain, but to disorganize and
corrupt his spiritual being. Its
result, on earth, could hardly
f a i l t o b e i n s a n i t y, a n d
10 hereafter, that eternal alienation
from the Good and True, of
which madness is perhaps the
earthly type.
sito. Por medio de ellas, la conciencia del paciente había sido
sostenida en un estado de irritación, cuya tendencia era no
la de curar su inmensa pena,
sino la de desorganizar y corromper su ser espiritual. Su
resultado en la tierra no podía
ser otro que escasamente la locura, y, en adelante, aquel eterno enajenamiento del Bien y de
la Verdad, del que, quizá, la locura es el tipo terrenal.
15
Such was the ruin to which
she had brought the man,
once—nay, why should we not
speak it?—still so passionately
loved! Hester felt that the
20 sacrifice of the clergyman’s
good name, and death itself, as
she had already told Roger
Chillingworth, would have been
infinitely preferable to the
25 alternative which she had taken
upon herself to choose. And
now, rather than have had this
grievous wrong to confess, she
would gladly have laid down on
30 the forest leaves, and died there,
at Arthur Dimmesdale’s feet.
Tal era la ruina a la que ella
había arrastrado a aquel hombre,
una vez, (¿y por qué no decirlo?), a quien aún amaba tan apasionadamente. Ester comprendía
[219] que el sacrificio del buen
nombre del clérigo, y la misma
muerte, como ya le había dicho
a Roger Chillingworth, hubiesen
sido infinitamente preferibles a
la alternativa que había decidido elegir. Y ahora, mejor que
tener que confesar esta penosa
equivocación, hubiera preferido
arrojarse sobre el lecho de hojas del bosque y morir allí, a los
pies de Arturo Dimmesdale.
“Oh, Arthur!” cried she,
“forgive me! In all things else, I
35 have striven to be true! Truth
was the one virtue which I might
have held fast, and did hold fast,
through all extremity; save when
thy good—thy life—thy fame—
40 were put in question! Then I
consented to a deception. But a
lie is never good, even though
death threaten on the other side!
Dost thou not see what I would
45 s a y ? T h a t o l d m a n ! — t h e
physician!—he whom they call
Roger Chillingworth!--he was
my husband!”
—¡Oh, Arturo! —gritó—.
¡Perdóname! ¡Entre todas las cosas he tratado de ser veraz! ¡La
verdad fue la única virtud que
debiera haber sostenido con firmeza, y firmemente la sostuve,
hasta el último extremo; salvo
cuando tu bien, tu vida, tu fama
fueron puestas en duda! Entonces consentí en una defección.
¡Pero una mentira nunca es buena, aunque amenace la muerte de
otro lado! ¿No ves lo que debo
decir? ¡Ese viejo, ese médico, ése
a quien llaman Roger Chillingworth, fue mi marido!
50
El ministro la miró un instante con aquella violencia de pasión
que, mezclada, en formas diferentes, con sus cualidades más
altas, más puras y suaves, era, de
hecho, la parte que de él reclamaba el diablo y a través de la
cual pretendía ganar las demás.
Jamás tropezó Ester con un ceño
más lúgubre y fiero que aquél.
Durante el breve rato que duró,
The minister looked at her for
an instant, with all that violence
of passion, which—intermixed in
more shapes than one with his
higher, purer, softer qualities—
55 was, in fact, the portion of him
which the devil claimed, and
through which he sought to win
the rest. Never was there a blacker
or a fiercer frown than Hester now
60 encountered. For the brief space
214
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
that it lasted, it was a dark transfiguration. But his character had
been so much enfeebled by suffering, that even its lower ener5 gies were incapable of more than
a temporary struggle. He sank
down on the ground, and buried
his face in his hands.
fue una tenebrosa transfiguración. Pero aquel carácter habíase
debilitado tanto por el sufrimiento que hasta sus más bajas energías eran incapaces de una lucha
más que temporal. Se desplomó
en el suelo y cubrió su rostro con
las manos.
10
“I might have known it,”
murmured he—”I did know it!
Was not the secret told me, in
the natural recoil of my heart at
the first sight of him, and as
15 often as I have seen him since?
Why did I not understand? Oh,
Hester Prynne, thou little, little
knowest all the horror of this
thing! And the shame !—the
20 i n d e l i c a c y ! — t h e
horrible
ugliness of this exposure of a
sick and guilty heart to the very
eye that would gloat over it!
Wo m a n , w o m a n , t h o u a r t
25 accountable for this!—I cannot
forgive thee!”
—¡Debí haberlo conocido!
—murmuró—. ¡Lo conocí, en
efecto! ¿No me lo dijo el corazón, en su natural repugnancia,
al verle por vez primera y siempre que le he visto después? ¿Por
qué no lo comprendí? ¡Oh, Ester
Prynne, poco, poco conoces todo
el horror de esto! ¡Y la vergüenza! ¡La indelicadeza! ¡La horrible fealdad de esta exposición de
un corazón enfermo [220] y culpable a los propios ojos del que
había de deleitarse en el daño ajeno! ¡Mujer, mujer, tú eres responsable de esto! ¡No puedo perdonarte!
“Thou shalt forgive me!”
cried Hester, flinging herself
30 o n t h e f a l l e n l e a v e s b e s i d e
him. “Let God punish! Thou
shalt forgive!”
—¡Tú me perdonarás! —gritó Éster, arrastrándose hasta él
sobre las caídas hojas—. ¡Deja
que Dios castigue! ¡Tú me perdonarás! ,
With sudden and desperate
tenderness she threw her arms
around him, and pressed his head
against her bosom, little caring
though his cheek rested on the
scarlet letter. He would have
released himself, but strove in
vain to do so. Hester would not
set him free, lest he should look
her sternly in the face. All the
world had frowned on her—for
seven long years had it frowned
upon this lonely woman—and
still she bore it all, nor ever
once turned away her firm, sad
eyes. Heaven, likewise, had
frowned upon her, and she had
not died. But the frown of this
pale, weak, sinful, and sorrowstricken man was what Hester
could not bear, and live!
Con ternura repentina y
desesperada, le echó los brazos al cuello y oprimió su cabeza contra su seno, no preocupándose de que ésta descansase sobre la letra roja. El
quiso evitarlo, pero en vano trató
de hacerlo. Éster no le dejaba en libertad, sin que antes la mirase fijamente a la cara. Todo el mundo,
durante siete largos años, había
mirado a aquella solitaria mujer con
duro ceño, y lo había soportado
todo sin que una sola vez volviese
sus ojos tristes y firmes. El cielo
mismo la miró ceñudamente, y no
había muerto. ¡Pero el ceño de
aquel hombre pálido, débil, enfermo, pecador y agobiado por la tristeza era lo que Éster no podía soportar sin morir!
“Wilt thou yet forgive me?”
she repeated, over and over
again. “Wilt thou not frown?
Wilt thou forgive?”
—¿Me perdonarás, aún? —
repitió una y otra vez—. ¿No me
mirarás con horror? ¿No me perdonarás?
35
40
45
50
55
60
215
Notas
doleful adj. 1 mournful, sad. 2 dreary,
dismal. Triste, lúgubre, compungida
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“I do forgive you, Hester,”
replied the minister at length,
with a deep utterance, out of
an abyss of sadness, but no
5 anger. “I freely forgive you
now. May God forgive us both.
We are not, Hester, the worst
sinners in the world. There is
one worse than even the
10 polluted priest! That old man’s
revenge has been blacker than
my sin. He has violated, in
cold blood, the sanctity of a
human heart. Thou and I,
15 Hester, never did so!”
—Yo te perdono, Éster —replicó el ministro, por fin, con un
hondo suspiro, salido del abismo
de su tristeza, pero no del de su
cólera—. ¡Yo te perdono libremente ahora! ¡Que Dios nos perdone a ambos! No somos, Éster,
los peores pecadores del mundo.
¡Hay uno mucho peor que el ministro putrefacto! ¡La venganza
de ese viejo ha sido más negra
que mi pecado! ¡El ha violado a
sangre fría la santidad de un corazón humano! ¡Tú y yo, Éster,
jamás hicimos tal!
“ N e v e r,
never!”
whispered she. “What we did
had a consecration of its
20 own. We felt it so! We said
so to each other. Hast thou
forgotten it?”
—¡Nunca, nunca! —murmuró ella—. Lo que nosotros hicimos tenía una propia consagración. ¡Así lo sentimos! ¡Nos lo
dijimos el uno al otro! ¿Lo has
olvidado?
“Hush, Hester!” said Arthur
25 Dimmesdale, rising from the
ground. “No; I have not
forgotten!”
—¡Calla, Éster! —dijo
Arturo Dimmesdale, alzándose
del suelo—. ¡Nunca, no lo he olvidado!
They sat down again, side
30 by side, and hand clasped in
hand, on the mossy trunk of
the fallen tree. Life had never
brought them a gloomier hour;
it was the point whither their
35 p a t h w a y h a d s o l o n g b e e n
tending, and darkening ever,
as it stole along—and yet it
unclosed a charm that made
them linger upon it, and claim
40 a n o t h e r, a n d a n o t h e r, a n d ,
after all, another moment. The
forest was obscure around
them, and creaked with a blast
that was passing through it.
45 T h e b o u g h s w e r e t o s s i n g
heavily above their heads;
while one solemn old tree
groaned dolefully to another,
as if telling the sad story of the
50 p a i r t h a t s a t b e n e a t h , o r
constrained to forbode evil to
come.
Sentáronse uno junto a la
otra, con las manos entrelazadas
[221] sobre el tronco musgoso
del árbol caído. Jamás les había
proporcionado la vida una hora
más lúgubre; era el punto hacia
el que les iba conduciendo su
senda hacía largo tiempo, haciéndose cada vez más oscura en su
avance; y, no obstante, encerraba un encanto que les hacía rondar aquel punto y reclamar otro
y otro, y, después de todo, otro
momento. La selva a su alrededor estaba oscura y crujía con el
viento que la atravesaba. Los árboles se mecían pesadamente sobre sus cabezas, mientras un viejo árbol, majestuoso, gruñía
tristemente a otro, como si le
contase la triste historia de la
pareja que se hallaba sentada
abajo, o evitase el pronosticar
nuevo daño.
And yet they lingered.
55 How dreary looked the foresttrack that led backward to the
settlement, where Hester
Prynne must take up again the
burden of her ignominy and
60 the minister the hollow mock-
No obstante, dilataban la entrevista. ¡Qué aspecto tan pavoroso tenía la senda de la selva que
conducía al departamento, donde Éster Prynne tenía que volver
a coger la carga de su ignominia,
y el ministro el vano disfraz de
216
Notas
satiating:satisfying to the point of glutting
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
ery of his good name! So they
lingered an instant longer. No
golden light had ever been so
precious as the gloom of this
5 dark forest. Here seen only by
his eyes, the scarlet letter need
not burn into the bosom of the
fallen woman! Here seen only
by
her
eyes,
Arthur
10 Dimmesdale, false to God and
man, might be, for one moment true!
su buen nombre! Retardaron más
los instantes. Ninguna luz dorada había sido nunca tan preciosa
como la penumbra de aquella
oscura floresta. ¡Allí, únicamente vista por los ojos de él, la letra
roja no abrasaba el pecho de la
mujer caída! ¡Allí, visto únicamente por los ojos de ella, Arturo
Dimmesdale, falso para Dios y
para los hombres, podía ser veraz, por un momento!
He started at a thought
15 t h a t s u d d e n l y o c c u r r e d t o
him.
El clérigo se alarmó repentinamente con un pensamiento que
le ocurrió.
“Hester!” cried he, “here is
a
new
horror!
Roger
20 C h i l l i n g w o r t h k n o w s y o u r
purpose to reveal his true
character. Will he continue,
then, to keep our secret? What
will now be the course of his
25 revenge?”
—¡Éster —gritó—, aquí hay
un nuevo horror! Roger
Chillingworth conoce tu propósito de revelar su verdadero carácter. ¿Continuará, entonces,
guardando nuestro secreto?
¿Cuál será ahora el curso de su
venganza?
“There is a strange secrecy in
his nature,” replied Hester,
thoughtfully; “and it has grown
30 upon him by the hidden practices
of his revenge. I deem it not
likely that he will betray the
secret. He will doubtless seek
other means of satiating his dark
35 passion.”
—Hay en su naturaleza una
extraña reserva —respondió
ella, pensativamente—, y se ha
desarrollado en él por las prácticas ocultas de su venganza.
No creo que traicione el secreto. Indudablemente buscará
otros medios de saciar su fúnebre pasión.
“And I! —how am I to live
longer, breathing the same air
with this deadly enemy?”
40 exclaimed Arthur Dimmesdale,
shrinking within himself, and
pressing his hand nervously
against his heart—a gesture that
had grown involuntary with him.
45 “Think for me, Hester! Thou art
strong. Resolve for me!”
[222] —¡Y yo! ¿Cómo
podré vivir en adelante
respirando el mismo aire
de ese mortal enemigo? —
exclamó el ministro, desmayando y llevándose
nerviosamente la mano al
corazón—. ¡Piensa en mí,
Ester! Tú eres fuerte. ¡Resuelve por mí!
“Thou must dwell no longer
with this man,” said Hester,
50 slowly and firmly. “Thy heart
must be no longer under his evil
eye!”
—Tú no debes vivir más con
ese hombre —dijo ella, con calma y firmeza—. ¡Tu corazón no
debe estar por más tiempo bajo
su mirada!
“It were far worse than
55 death!” replied the minister. “But
how to avoid it? What choice
remains to me? Shall I lie down
again on these withered leaves,
where I cast myself when thou
60 didst tell me what he was? Must I
—¡Eso sería peor que la
muerte! —replicó el ministro— ¿Pero cómo evitarlo?
¿Qué elección me queda?
¿Debo arrojarme sobre estas hojas caídas, como
cuando me dijiste quién
217
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
sink down there, and die at once?”
era, y morir de repente?
“Alas! what a ruin has befallen thee!” said Hester, with the
5 tears gushing into her eyes. “Wilt
thou die for very weakness? There
is no other cause!”
—¡Ay, qué ruina te ha sobrevenido! —dijo Ester, con lágrimas en sus ojos—. ¿Serás capaz
de morir por debilidad? ¡Yo no
veo otra causa!
“The judgment of God is
10 o n m e , ” a n s w e r e d t h e
conscience-stricken priest. “It
is too mighty for me to
struggle with!”
—¡Pesa sobre mí el juicio de
Dios! —respondió el ministro,
alarmado por su conciencia—.
¡Es muy poderoso para que yo
pueda luchar!
15
“Heaven would show
mercy,” rejoined Hester, “hadst
thou but the strength to take
advantage of it. “
—El cielo tendrá piedad
—repuso Ester—, si tienes
fuerza para aprovecharte
de ella.
20
“Be thou strong for me!”
answered he. “Advise me
what to do.”
—¡Sé fuerte para mí! —respondió él—. Aconséjame qué
debo hacer.
“Is the world, then, so
25 n a r r o w ? ” e x c l a i m e d H e s t e r
Prynne, fixing her deep eyes on
the
m i n i s t e r ’s ,
and
instinctively exercising a
magnetic power over a spirit so
30 shattered and subdued that it
could hardly hold itself erect.
“Doth the universe lie within
the compass of yonder town,
which only a little time ago was
35 but a leaf-strewn desert, as
lonely as this around us?
Whither leads yonder foresttrack? Backward to the
settlement, thou sayest! Yes;
40 but, onward, too! Deeper it
goes, and deeper into the
wilderness, less plainly to be
seen at every step; until some
few miles hence the yellow
45 leaves will show no vestige of
the white man’s tread. There
thou art free! So brief a journey
would bring thee from a world
where thou hast been most
50 wretched, to one where thou
mayest still be happy! Is there
not shade enough in all this
boundless forest to hide thy
heart from the gaze of Roger
55 Chillingworth?”
—¿Tan estrecho es el mundo? —exclamó Ester Prynne, fijando sus ojos profundos en los
del clérigo y ejercitando
instintivamente una fuerza magnética sobre su espíritu, tan destrozado y subyugado que apenas
p u d o m a n t e n e r s e e n p i e —.
¿Es que el universo se encierra
_______ en aquella población,
que no hace mucho tiempo no era
sino un bosque desierto, tan solitario como este que nos rodea?
¿Adónde conduce esa senda de
la floresta? ¡Dices que al departamento! ¡Sí, en un sentido, pero
en el otro se interna más y más,
se hace cada vez más tupida la
espesura, hasta ser menos perceptible la población a cada paso!
Hasta que, a pocas millas, la amarillenta hojarasca no deje vestigio del hombre blanco! ¡Allí estás en libertad! ¡Ese viaje tan breve te conducirá desde un mundo
[223] donde has sido lo más desgraciado, a otro donde quizá todavía puedas ser dichoso! ¿No
hay en esta inmensa selva sombra bastante para que puedas
ocultar tu corazón a los ojos de
Roger Chillingworth?
X
“Yes, Hester; but only under
the fallen leaves!” replied the
minister, with a sad smile.
—¡Sí, Ester, pero sólo bajo
las hojas caídas! —replicó el ministro con una honda sonrisa.
60
218
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Then there is the broad pathway of the sea!” continued
Hester. “It brought thee hither. If
thou so choose, it will bear thee
5 back again. In our native land,
whether in some remote rural
village, or in vast London—or,
surely, in Germany, in France, in
pleasant Italy—thou wouldst be
10 beyond
his
power
and
knowledge! And what hast thou
to do with all these iron men, and
their opinions? They have kept
thy better part in bondage too
15 long already!”
—¡Entonces, ahí tienes el
ancho camino del mar! ¡Él te
trajo aquí, si lo deseas te volverá a llevar! ¡En nuestra tierra natal, sea en alguna remota
villa rural, o en el inmenso
Londres, o, seguramente, en
Alemania, en Francia, en la
agradable Italia, estarás fuera
de su poder y sabiduría! ¿Y qué
tienes tú que ver con estos
hombres de hierro, ni con sus
opiniones? ¡Ya se han quedado con tu mejor parte, en rehenes, hace largo tiempo!
“It cannot be!” answered the
minister, listening as if he were
called upon to realise a dream. “I
20 am powerless to go. Wretched and
sinful as I am, I have had no other
thought than to drag on my earthly
existence in the sphere where
Providence hath placed me. Lost
25 as my own soul is, I would still
do what I may for other human
souls! I dare not quit my post,
though an unfaithful sentinel,
whose sure reward is death and
30 dishonour, when his dreary watch
shall come to an end!”
—¡Eso no puede ser! —respondió el ministro, como si fuese instigado a realizar un sueño—. ¡No tengo valor para irme!
¡Desgraciado y pecador como
soy, no tuve otro pensamiento
que arrastrar mi existencia terrenal donde la Providencia me había puesto! ¡Perdida como está
mi alma, aun haría lo que pudiera por las almas humanas! ¡No
me atrevo a dejar mi puesto,
como un centinela desleal, cuya
segura recompensa es la muerte
y el deshonor!
“Thou art crushed under this
seven years’ weight of misery,”
replied Hester, fervently resolved
to buoy him up with her own
energy. “But thou shalt leave it all
behind thee! It shall not cumber
thy steps, as thou treadest along
the forest-path: neither shalt thou
freight the ship with it, if thou
prefer to cross the sea. Leave this
wreck and ruin here where it hath
happened. Meddle no more
with it! Begin all anew!
Hast thou exhausted possibility in
the failure of this one trial? Not
so! The future is yet full of trial
and success. There is happiness to
be enjoyed! There is good to be
done! Exchange this false life of
thine for a true one. Be, if thy
spirit summon thee to such a
mission, the teacher and apostle
of the red men. Or, as is more
thy nature, be a scholar and a
sage among the wisest and the
most renowned of the
cultivated world. Preach!
Write! Act! Do anything, save
—¡Estás aplastado por el
peso de estos siete años de miseria! —replicó Ester, resuelta fervientemente a inculcarle
su propia energía—. ¡Pero tú
lo dejarás todo detrás de ti!
¡No seguirá tus pasos si tomas
el sendero de la selva; ni te
acompañará en el barco, si prefieres cruzar el mar! ¡Deja aquí este
naufragio y esta ruina, donde ha
ocurrido! ¡No te preocupes más de
ello! ¡Comiénzalo todo de nuevo!
_______ __ __
____ ___
____ __
____ ___ ____ __
____ ___ ____ __
____ ___
____ __
____ ___ ____ __
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______ __ __
____ ¡ C a m b i a e s t a t u v i d a
falsa por otra verdadera!
¡Sé, si tu espíritu te guía a
ello, el maestro y apóstol de
l o s h o m bres rojos! ¡O, como
se amolda más a tu naturaleza, sé un letrado y un sabio entre los sabios de más renombre del mundo oculto! ¡Predica! ¡Escribe! ¡Actúa! ¡Haz
35
40
45
50
55
60
X
219
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
cualquier cosa [224] antes que
mentir y morir! ¡Abandona tu
nombre de Dimmesdale y
procúrate otro, más elevado,
que puedas ostentarlo sin temor ni vergüenza! ¿Por qué
has de seguir aferrado a l a s
torturas
que
han
t r a s t o r n a do tan hondamente
tu vida? ¡Que te han debilitado
para desear y para hacer! ¡Que te
dejarán hasta impotente para arrepentirte! ¡Arriba, y largo!
to lie down and die! Give up
this
name
of
Arthur
Dimmesdale, and make thyself
another, and a high one, such
5 as thou canst wear without
fear or shame. Why shouldst
tarry remain, delay
thou tarry so much as one other
day in the torments that have so
gnawed into thy life? that have
10 made thee feeble to will and
to d o ? t h a t w i l l l e a v e t h e e
powerless even to repent?
Up, and away!”
15
“Oh, Hester!” cried Arthur
Dimmesdale, in whose eyes a
fitful light, kindled by her enthusiasm, flashed up and died
away, “thou tellest of running
20 a race to a man whose knees
totter 1 stand or walk unsteadily or
are tottering beneath him! I
feebly (tottered out of the pub). 2
must die here! There is not
a (of a building etc.) shake or rock
as if about to collapse. b (of a
the strength or courage left
system of government etc.) be
about to fall.
me to venture into the wide,
an unsteady or shaky movement
25 s t r a n g e , d i f f i c u l t w o r l d
or gait. Tambalearse
alone!”
waver 1 : to vacillate irresolutely
between choices : fluctuate in
opinion, allegiance, or direction
It was the last expression of
2 a : to weave or sway unsteadily to
and fro : REEL, TOTTER b : QUIVER,
the despondency of a broken
FLICKER <wavering flames> c : to
hesitate as if about to give way : 30 s p i r i t . H e l a c k e d e n e rg y t o
FALTER
Fue la última expresión de la
X declaración de un espíritu roto.
QUAVER
despondency desaliento
Le faltaba energía para coger la
fortuna mejor que parecía estar
al alcance de su mano.
grasp the better fortune that
seemed within his reach.
3 : to give an unsteady sound :
1 (= oscillate)[needle] oscilar
[flame] temblar
2 (= hesitate) vacilar; dudar
(between entre)
(= weaken)
[courage, support] flaquear (=
falter)
[voice] temblar
—¡Oh,
Ester!
—gritó
Dimmesdale, en cuyos ojos brilló
una luz de esperanza, iluminada
por el entusiasmo, que relampagueó un instante, pero murió—.
¡Tú invitas a una carrera a un hombre cuyas rodillas se d o b l a n
b a j o é l ! ¡ Yo t e n g o q u e m o r i r
aquí! ¡No me restan fuerzas
ni valor para lanzarme solo
al ancho, extraño y difícil
mundo!
He repeated the word—
35 ”Alone, Hester!”
El clérigo repitió:
—¡Solo, Ester!
“Thou shall not go alone!”
answered she, in a deep whisper.
Then, all was spoken!
—¡No irás solo! —respondió
ella, en un hondo suspiro.
Entonces fue dicho todo.
40
45
Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine
Dimmesdale and Nester enjoy a brief time of happiness together. However, when they attempt to include Pearl, she does not wish to join them.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
50
This chapter is an interlude of happiness for the troubled pair. However, as they enjoy each other’s company and speak freely, the reader becomes aware of the wide gap the years
have made between their sensibilities. Nester has become independent in her mind. She has lived estranged from the social system in which Dimmesdale is a great figure. She
cannot accept its authority. Dimmesdale feels that the only worth of his life has been his service to that church and state. He has made no private world in which he can live with
dignity. She throws aside her cap and scarlet letter. She wants to leave ‘these iron men’ and re-enter the tolerant, more worldly culture of Europe. Dimmesdale’s work has been to
call people to dedicate their best efforts to this new theocratic society. If he leaves for Europe he is admitting total defeat. Briefly he feels a wild joy in his decision to do so, and his
natural personal vitality seems to return. He responds eagerly when Nester urges him to speak to Pearl, his daughter. But Pearl represents the distance between Nester and the
minister as well as their bond. She has grown for seven years knowing one parent intimately and the other not at all. She has no reason to trust Dimmesdale’s proffered love. Nor
does she feel the respect for a minister any55other child of the town would feel. Hawthorne reminds us how wild her solitary childhood has made her; he portrays her playing with the
animals, and eating wild fruit.
A wolf, it is said, - but here the tale has surely lapsed into the improbable, - came up, and smelt of Pearl’s robe, and offered his savage head to be patted by her hand. The truth
seems to be, however, that the mother-forest, and these wild things which it nourished, all recognize a kindred wildness in the human child.
She decorates herself with violets, anemones, columbines, and twigs. She belongs to the forest, where her parents are taking an afternoon’s relief from the prying eyes of townsfolk.
When she hears her mother’s voice she comes only slowly, because she sees Dimmesdale.
60
220
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
XVIII.
A FLOOD OF
SUNSHINE
XVIII
X
UN DESBORDAMIENTO DE
LUZ SOLAR
5
Arthur Dimmesdale gazed
into Hester’s face with a look in
which hope and joy shone out,
indeed, but with fear betwixt
10 them, and a kind of horror at her
boldness, who had spoken what
he vaguely hinted at, but dared not
speak.
Arturo Dimmesdale
dirigió a Ester una mirada llena de esperanza
y alegría, pero a la vez
había en ella una mezcla de temor, de horror
a la intrepidez de aquella mujer.
15
Ester Prynne, con su
voluntad firme y activa,
que no había perdido por
completo en tan largo período, habíase habituado a
un extremo de meditación
que le era desconocido al
clérigo en absoluto. Ha b í a
vagado sin regla ni guía
en un desierto moral,
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ tan intrincado [225]
como sombrío; como la indómita floresta en cuya penumbra se encontraban ahora manteniendo el coloquio
que había de decidir su suerte.
Su inteligencia y corazón tenían
su hogar, por decirlo así, en lugares desiertos donde ella pudiera corretear tan libremente
como un indio en su selva. Durante los pasados años había
mirado desde ese punto de vista las instituciones humanas y
cuanto los sacerdotes o
regidores establecieron, criticándolo todo con escasa mayor
reverencia que hubieran sentido los indios por el hábito clerical, la toga judicial, la horca,
la galera o la iglesia. La tendencia de su sino y suerte era la de
hacerla libre. La letra roja era
su pasaporte para otras regiones
donde las demás mujeres no
osaban poner su planta. ¡Vergüenza! ¡Desesperación! ¡Soledad! Éstas fueron sus maestras rígidas y ariscas, que la
habían hecho fuerte, pero que
la juzgaron erróneamente.
20
25
colloquy: a somewhat formal conference
30
35
40
45
50
But Hester Prynne, with a
mind of native courage and
a c t i v i t y, a n d f o r s o l o n g a
period not merely estranged,
but outlawed from society, had
habituated herself to such latitude
of speculation as was altogether
foreign to the clergyman. She had
wandered, without rule or
guidance, in a moral wilderness,
as vast, as intricate, and
shadowy as the untamed forest,
amid the gloom of which they
were now h olding a colloquy
that was to decide their fate.
Her intellect and heart had their
home, as it were, in desert
places, where she roamed as
freely as the wild Indian in his
woods. For years past she had
looked from this estranged
point of view at human
institutions, and whatever
priests or legislators had
established; criticising all with
hardly more reverence than the
Indian would feel for the
clerical band, the judicial robe,
the pillory, the gallows, the
fireside, or the church. The
tendency of her fate and
fortunes had been to set her
free. The scarlet letter was her
passport into regions where
other women dared not tread.
S h a m e , D e s p a i r, S o l i t u d e !
These had been her teachers—
stern and wild ones—and they
had made her strong, but taught
her much amiss.
X
55
The minister, on the other
hand, had never gone through an
experience calculated to lead
him beyond the scope of
60 g e n e r a l l y r e c e i v e d l a w s ;
El ministro, por otra parte, nunca había tenido una experiencia calculada que le llevase más allá del campo de las
leyes generalmente recibidas;
221
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
although, in a single instance, he
had so fearfully transgressed one
of the most sacred of them. But
this had been a sin of passion,
not of principle, nor even
purpose. Since that wretched
epoch, he had watched with
morbid zeal and minuteness, not
his acts—for those it was easy
to arrange—but each breath of
emotion, and his every
thought. At the head of the social system, as the clergymen
of that day stood, he was only
the more trammelled by its
regulations, its principles, and
even its prejudices. As a priest,
the framework of his order inevitably hemmed him in. As a
man who had once sinned, but
who kept his conscience all
alive and painfully sensitive by
the fretting of an unhealed
wound, he might have been
supposed safer within the line
of virtue than if he had never
sinned at all.
si bien había en una ocasión
faltado a una de las más sagradas. Pero esto fue un pecado de pasión, no de principio, ni aun de propósito.
Desde aquella época desgraciada había vigilado, con
celo y minuciosidad, no sus
actos (porque éstos eran fáciles de arreglar), sino cada
momento de pasión y todo s
sus pensamientos. Estando
en aquellos días a la cabeza
del sistema social, le embarazaban sus regulaciones,
sus principios y hasta sus
prejuicios. Como sacerdote,
la estructura de su orden le
sujetaba. Como hombre que
había una vez pecado, pero
que conservaba viva su conciencia y penosamente sensible por el roce de la herida, se hubiese creído más a
salvo dentro de la línea de
virtud, que si nunca hubiera pecado.
Thus we seem to see that, as
30 regarded Hester Prynne, the
whole seven years of outlaw
and ignominy had been little
other than a preparation for this
v e r y h o u r. B u t A r t h u r
35 Dimmesdale! Were such a man
once more to fall, what plea
could be urged in extenuation
of his crime? None; unless it
avail him somewhat that he was
40 b r o k e r, d o w n b y l o n g a n d
exquisite suffering; that his
mind was darkened and
confused by the very remorse
which harrowed it; that,
45 between fleeing as an avowed
criminal, and remaining as a
hypocrite, conscience might
find it hard to strike the
balance; that it was human to
50 avoid the peril of death and
infamy, and the inscrutable
machinations of an enemy; that,
finally, to this poor pilgrim, on
his dreary and desert path, faint,
55 sick, miserable, there appeared
a glimpse of human affection
and sympathy, a new life, and a
true one, in exchange for the
heavy doom which he was now
60 expiating. And be the stern and
Así pues, parece ser que, en
cuanto a Ester Prynne, los siete
años de ignominia y falta de leyes no fueron [226] sino una
preparación
para
esta
______h o r a . ¡ P e r o A r t u r o
Dimmesdale! ¿Si aquel hombre
hubiera de caer nuevamente,
qué argumento pudiera emplearse para mitigar su crimen?
Ninguno; a menos que le beneficiase algo el hallarse decaído
por largo y exquisito sufrimiento; que su mente se hallase oscurecida y confusa por el propio remordimiento que la envolvía; que entre escapar como
un criminal o permanecer allí
como un hipócrita, la conciencia encontraba difícil la elección; que era humano evitar la
muerte, la infamación y las
inescrutables maquinaciones de
un enemigo; que, finalmente,
para este pobre peregrino, en su
senda desierta y tenebrosa, débil;
enfermo, miserable y desfallecido,
aparecía un débil rayo de afecto
humano y simpatía; una nueva
vida, una vida verdadera, a cambio del castigo pesado que ahora
estaba expiando. Y, hablando
5
10
15
20
25
expiating: atoning for
tr. de A. Ruste
X
222
Notas
breach 1 (often foll. by of) the breaking of
or failure to observe a law, contract, etc. 2
a a breaking of relations; an
estrangement. b a quarrel. 3 a a broken
state. b a gap, esp. one made by artillery
in fortifications. Brecha, infracción, abertura
1 break through; make a gap in. 2 break
(a law, contract, etc.). Hacer brecha (ballena, ejército), irrumpir, salir a la superficie,
whale breaching salto de la ballena
breach of the peace an infringement
or violation of the public peace by any
disturbance or riot etc.
breach of promise the breaking of a
promise, esp. a promise to marry.
stand in the breach bear the brunt
[brunt n. the chief or initial impact of an
attack, task, etc. la mayor parte de, el
grueso de (esp. bear the brunt of), llevar
el peso de, aguantar lo más recio,
of an attack.
step into the breach give help in a crisis, esp. by replacing someone who has
dropped out.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
sad truth spoken, that the
breach which guilt has once
made into the human soul is
never, in this mortal state, re5 paired. It may be watched and
guarded, so that the enemy shall
not force his way again into the
citadel, and might even in his
subsequent assaults, select
10 s o m e o t h e r a v e n u e , i n
preference to that where he had
formerly succeeded. But there
is still the ruined wall, and near
it the stealthy tread of the foe
15 that would win over again his
unforgotten triumph.
The struggle, if there were
one, need not be described. Let it
20 suffice that the clergyman
resolved to flee, and not alone.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
con verdad y severidad, porque
la brecha que la culpa ha hecho
una vez en el alma humana no
puede ser jamás reparada en este
mortal estado. Podrá ser vigilada y defendida para que el enemigo no vuelva a forzar la entrada por ella en la ciudadela, y hasta elegir otro punto para sucesivos asaltos, con preferencia al
que le proporcionó el é x i t o ;
pero existen aún los muros
ruinosos y cerca de éstos el
paso clandestino del adversario que habla de vencer de
nuevo su ___olvidado triunfo.
_____________________ ___
X _______________ __________ __
Baste que el clérigo resolviese
huir, y no solo.
“If in all these past seven
years,” thought he, “I could
recall one instant of peace or
hope, I would yet endure, for
the sake of that earnest of
Heaven’s mercy. But now—
since I am irrevocably
doomed—wherefore should I
not snatch the solace allowed to
the condemned culprit before
his execution? Or, if this be the
path to a better life, as Hester
would persuade me, I surely
give up no fairer prospect by
pursuing it! Neither can I any
longer live without her
companionship; so powerful is
she to sustain—so tender to
soothe! O Thou to whom I dare
not lift mine eyes, wilt Thou yet
pardon me?”
«Si en los pasados años —
pensó— pudiera haber hallado
un instante de paz o esperanza,
aún perseveraría, por amor a esa
anhelante piedad del cielo. ¿Pero
ahora, puesto que estoy irrevocablemente sentenciado, por qué
no había de aprovechar el consuelo que le es permitido al condenado antes de su ejecución?
¡Oh, si éste fuese el sendero de
una vida mejor, como Ester trató
de persuadirme, seguramente no
desecho ninguna perspectiva
mejor intentándolo! ¡Además, no
puedo vivir por más tiempo sin
su compañía; es tan [227] fuerte
para sostener, tan tierna para consolar! ¡Oh, Tú, hasta quien no me
atrevo a levantar mis ojos!, ¿me
perdonarás aún?»
“Thou wilt go!” said
H e s t e r c a l m l y, a s h e m e t h e r
glance.
—¡Te irás! —dijo Ester con
calma, cuando encontró su mirada la del clérigo.
The decision once made, a
50 glow of strange enjoyment threw
its flickering brightness over the
trouble of his breast. It was the
e x h i l a r a t i n g e ff e c t — u p o n a
prisoner just escaped from the
55 dungeon of his own heart—of
breathing the wild, free
atmosphere of an unredeemed,
unchristianised, lawless region
His spirit rose, as it were, with
60 a bound, and attained a nearer
Hecha la decisión, brilló
sobre su pecho un resplandor extraño de alegría. Fue
el regocijarte efecto de un
prisionero que acaba de escapar de la celda de su propio corazón, al respirar la
atmósfera turbulenta y libre
de una región no redimida,
sin cristianizar y sin leyes.
Su espíritu se elevó con la
esperanza de ganar un pa-
25
30
35
40
45
223
Notas
grovel 1 behave obsequiously
[servilely] in seeking favour or
forgiveness. 2 lie prone in abject
humility.
1 . To behave in a servile or
demeaning manner; cringe. 2. To lie
or creep in a prostrate position, as
in subservience or humility. 3. To
give oneself over to base pleasures:
“Have we not groveled here long
enough, eating and drinking like
mere brutes?” (Walt Whitman).
grovel humillarse [to, ante] postrarse [to, ante]
servil, rastrero, sumiso
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
p r o s p e c t of t h e s k y, t h a n
throughout all the misery which
had kept him grovelling on the
earth. Of a deeply religious
5 temperament,
there
was
inevitably a tinge of the
devotional in his mood.
norama más próximo al cielo por toda la miseria que
había arrastrado en la tierra. Siendo de un profundo
temperamento religioso,
había en sus actos un tinte
piadoso.
“Do I feel joy again?”
10 c r i e d h e , w o n d e r i n g a t
himself. “Methought the germ
of it was dead in me! Oh,
H e s t e r, t h o u a r t m y b e t t e r
angel! I seem to have flung
15 myself—sick, sin-stained, and
sorrow-blackened—down
upon these forest leaves, and
to have risen up all made
anew, and with new powers to
20 g l o r i f y H i m t h a t h a t h b e e n
merciful! This is already the
better life! Why did we not
find it sooner?”
—¡Vuelvo a sentir alegría!
—gritó, asombrándose de sí
mismo—. ¡Yo creí que su germen había muerto en mí! ¡Oh,
Ester, tú eres mi ángel bueno!
¡Creo haber arrojado mi ser enfermo, manchado de pecado y
abrumado de tristeza, sobre esta
hojarasca de la selva, y que ha
brotado de ella otro nuevo, con
nuevas fuerzas para poder glorificar a Él, que tan misericordioso ha sido! ¡Ésta es ya la
mejor vida! ¿Por qué no la hallamos antes?
25
“Let us not look back,”
answered Hester Prynne. “The
past is gone! Wherefore should we
linger upon it now? See! With this
symbol I undo it all, and make it
30 as if it had never been!”
—¡No miremos atrás —respondió Ester—, el pasado ha
muerto! ¿Por qué, pues, hemos
de pensar en él? ¡Con este símbolo todo lo borro y lo convierto
en lo que nunca fue!
So speaking, she undid the
clasp that fastened the scarlet
letter, and, taking it from her
bosom, threw it to a distance
among the withered leaves. The
mystic token alighted on the
hither verge of the stream. With a
hand’s-breadth further flight, it
would have fallen into the water,
and have give, the little brook
another woe to carry onward,
besides the unintelligible tale
which it still kept murmuring
about. But there lay the
embroidered letter, glittering like
a lost jewel, which some ill-fated
wanderer might pick up, and
thenceforth be haunted by strange
phantoms of guilt, sinkings of the
heart, and unaccountable
misfortune.
Diciendo esto, quitó la traba que sujetaba la letra roja, y
arráncandola de su pecho, la
arrojó a distancia, entre las
hojas desparramadas. La marca mística fue a caer a este
lado del arroyuelo. Con un
impulso poco mayor hubiese
ido a parar al agua, proporcionando al pequeño arroyo otro
pesar que llevar adelante, además de la incomprensible historia que seguía murmurando.
Pero allí quedó la letra bordada, brillando como una joya
perdida, que algún vagabundo
[228] desgraciado quizá recogiese, y con ella ser asaltado
por los extraños fantasmas de
culpa, desmayos de corazón y
desgracia indecible.
The stigma gone, Hester
55 heaved a long, deep sigh, in
which the burden of shame and
anguish departed from her
spirit. O exquisite relief! She
had not known the weight until
60 s h e f e l t t h e f r e e d o m ! B y
A1 arrojar el estigma,
lanzó Ester un hondo y prolongado suspiro con el que se desprendió del peso de la angustia
y vergüenza de su espíritu. ¡Oh,
alivio exquisito! ¡No había conocido su peso hasta verse li-
35
40
45
glitter : brillo, oropel, tinsel, sparkle, glint;
relucir, centellear, fulgir, fulgente,
centelleante, chispeante,
50
224
heaving embravecido, palpitante;
jadear, palpitar, subir y bajar
heave A) (= lift) gran esfuerzo (para
levantar etc); (= pull) tirón, jalón (LAm)
(on de); (= push) empujón m; (= throw)
echada, tirada
B) VT (= pull) tirar, jalar (LAm); (= drag)
arrastrar; (= carry) llevar; (= lift) levantar (con dificultad); (= push) empujar;
(= throw) lanzar, tirar; he heaved
himself to a sitting position se incorporó con gran esfuerzo; to heave a
sigh dar or echar un suspiro, suspirar; to heave a sigh of relief suspirar
aliviado
C) VI 1 [chest, bosom] palpitar 2 (= pull)
tirar, jalar (LAm) (at, on de) 3 (= retch)
hacer arcadas; her stomach was
heaving le daban arcadas, se le revolvía el estómago 4 (Naut) (pt, pp
hove) (= move) virar; (= pitch) cabecear; (= roll) balancearse; to heave
in(to) sight aparecer
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
another impulse, she took off
the formal cap that confined
her hair, and down it fell upon
her shoulders, dark and rich,
with at once a shadow and a
light in its abundance, and
imparting the charm of softness
to her features. There played
around her mouth, and beamed
out of her eyes, a radiant and
tender smile, that seemed
gushing from the very heart of
womanhood. A crimson flush
was glowing on her cheek, that
had been long so pale. Her sex,
her youth, and the whole
richness of her beauty, came
back from what men call the irrevocable past, and clustered
themselves with her maiden
hope, and a happiness before
unknown, within the magic
circle of this hour. And, as if
the gloom of the earth and sky
had been but the effluence of
these two mortal hearts, it
vanished with their sorrow. All
at once, as with a sudden smile
of heaven, forth burst the
sunshine, pouring a very flood
into the obscure forest,
gladdening each green leaf,
transmuting the yellow fallen
ones to gold, and gleaming
adown the gray trunks of the
solemn trees. The objects that
had made a shadow hitherto,
embodied the brightness now.
The course of the little brook
might be traced by its merry
g l e a m a f a r i n t o t h e w o o d ’s
heart of mystery, which had
become a mystery of joy.
bre de él! Por otro impulso,
quitóse la gorra que aprisionaba su cabellera, cayendo ésta
sobre sus hombros, negra y rica,
con sombra y luz a la vez en su
abundancia, e imprimiendo a
sus facciones el encanto de la
suavidad. Sobre su boca y ojos
jugueteaba una radiante y tierna sonrisa que parecía fuir del
propio corazón de la humanidad. Sus siempre hasta entonces pálidas mejillas tiñéronse
de carmín. Su sexo, su juventud y toda la riqueza de su
hermosura, volvieron, desde
lo que los hombres llaman pasado irrevocable, a incrustarse con su esperanza de mujer
y una alegría antes desconocida, en el círculo mágico de
aquella hora. Y como si la
bruma de cielo y tierra hubiera sido una influencia de
aquellos dos corazones mortales, desvanecióse con sus
t r i s t e z a s . To d o , r e p e n t i n a mente, como si fuese una sonrisa del cielo, se convirtió en
sol, infiltrándose en toda la
extensión de la selva oscura,
alegrando el verde de cada
hoja, convirtiendo en oro el amarillo de las caídas y haciendo relucir los troncos grisáceos de los
árboles majestuosos. Los objetos
que se habían mantenido en la sombra, se dieron a la luz con brillantez.
El curso del arroyuelo podía trazarse por su alegre centelleo en
el lejano corazón misterioso de
la selva, que se había trocado en
un misterio de alegría.
Such was the sympathy of
Nature—that wild, heathen
Nature of the forest, never
subjugated by human law, nor
illumined by higher truth—
50 w i t h t h e b l i s s o f t h e s e t w o
spirits! Love, whether newlyborn, or a roused from a
death-like slumber, must
always create a sunshine,
55 f i l l i n g t h e h e a r t s o f u l l o f
radiance, that it overflows
upon the outward world. Had
the forest still kept its gloom,
it would have been bright in
60 Hester ’s eyes, and bright in
¡Tal era la simpatía de la naturaleza, de aquella vasta y oculta naturaleza de la selva, jamás
subyugada por ley humana ni iluminada por más alta verdad, por
la felicidad de aquellos dos espíritus! El amor, aunque nacido
nuevamente o despertado de un
sueño casi de [229] muerte, debe
crear siempre una aurora, llenando el corazón de tanto resplandor que se desborde sobre el ancho mundo. ¡Aunque la selva
hubiese conservado su tenebrosidad, hubiera parecido brillante
a los ojos de Ester y de
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
arouse incite, awaken, suscitar, incitar,
despertar
225
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Arthur Dimmesdale’s!
Dimmesdale!
Hester looked at him
with a thrill of another
5 j o y.
Ester miró a éste con el estremecimiento de una nueva
dicha.
“Thou must know Pearl!”
said she. “Our little Pearl! Thou
hast seen her—yes, I know it!—
10 but thou wilt see her now with
other eyes. She is a strange
child! I hardly comprehend her!
But thou wilt love her dearly, as
I do, and wilt advise me how to
15 deal with her!”
—¡Tienes que conocer a Perla! —dijo ella—. ¡Nuestra pequeña Perla! Ya sé que la has
visto, pero ahora la verás con
otros ojos. ¡Es una criatura extraña! ¡Pero tú la amarás tiernamente, como lo hago yo, y me
aconsejarás cómo he de
manejármelas con ella!
“Dost thou think the
child will be glad to know
m e ? ” a s k e d t h e m i n i s t e r,
20 s o m e w h a t u n e a s i l y. “ I h a v e
long shrunk from children,
because they often show a
distrust—a backwardness to
be familiar with me. I have
25 e v e n b e e n a f r a i d o f l i t t l e
Pearl!”
—¿Crees que la niña se alegrará de conocerme? —preguntó el ministro, algo inquieto—.
Yo hace tiempo que no me acerco a los niños, porque, frecuentemente, me han demostrado
cierta desconfianza, cierta repugnancia a familiarizar conmigo. ¡Hasta he tenido miedo de la
pequeña Perla!
“Ah, that was sad!”
answered the mother. “But she
30 will love thee dearly, and thou
her. She is not far off. I will
call her. Pearl! Pearl!”
—¡Ah, eso fue triste! —
dijo la madre—. Pero ella te
amará tiernamente, y tú a ella.
No está lejos. Voy a llamarla.
¡Perla! ¡Perla!
“I see the child,” observed
35 the minister. “Yonder she is,
streak 1 raya streak of lightning, rayo 2
standing in a streak of sunshine,
fig (de locura, etc) vena fig (de suerte) racha 3 (en el pelo) reflejo, mea good way off, on the other side
chón 4 pequeña parte: there’s a
streak of French blood in her, tiene
of the brook. So thou thinkest
su pizca de sangre francesa
1 rayar [with, con] 2 (el pelo) poner
the child will love me?”
mechas a
1 to streak past, pasar como un rayo 40
2 familiar correr desnudo,-a streak
1 an unbroken series of events; «had a
Hester smiled, and again
streak of bad luck»; «Nicklaus had a
called to Pearl, who was visible
run of birdies»
2 a distinctive characteristic; «he has a
at some distance, as the minister
stubborn streak»; «a streak of
wildness»
had described her, like a bright3 a marking of a different color or texture
from the background
45
apparelled vision in a sunbeam,
4 a sudden flash (as of lightning)
1 move quickly in a straight line; «The
which fell down upon her through
plane streaked across the sky»
2 run naked in a public place
an arch of boughs. The ray
3 mark with spots or blotches of different
color or shades of color as if stained
quivered to and fro, making her
figure dim or distinct—now like
50 a real child, now like a child’s
spirit—as the splendour went and
came again. She heard her
mother’s voice, and approached
slowly through the forest.
55
Pearl had not found the hour
pass wearisomely while her
mother sat talking with the
clergyman. The great black
60 forest—stern as it showed itself
—Ya veo a la niña —observó el ministro—. Allí está de pie
en un claro de sol, a bastante distancia, al otro lado del arroyo.
¿De modo que tú crees que me
querrá la niña?
Ester sonrió, y llamó a Perla
de nuevo, a quien distinguía a
alguna distancia, como la había
descrito el ministro; como una
visión brillante, inundada por el
sol que caía sobre ella a través
de las copas de los árboles. La
luz, con su danza, hacía su figurita borrosa o distinta, no como
una niña real, sino como el espíritu de una niña, con el ir y venir
del esplendor. Oyó la voz de su
madre y se encaminó despacio
hacia ella.
Perla no tuvo tiempo para
aburrirse mientras su madre
habló con el clérigo. La enorme y oscura floresta (como parecía a quienes llevaban sus
226
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
to those who brought the guilt
and troubles of the world into
its bosom—became the playmate of the lonely infant, as
well as it knew how. Sombre as
it was, it put on the kindest of
its moods to welcome her. It
o ff e r e d h e r t h e p a r t r i d g e berries, the growth of the
preceding autumn, but ripening
only in the spring, and now red
as drops of blood upon the
withered leaves. These Pearl
gathered, and was pleased with
their wild flavour. The small
denizens of the wilderness
hardly took pains to move out
of her path. A partridge, indeed,
with a brood of ten behind her,
ran forward threateningly, but
soon repented of her fierceness,
and clucked to her young ones
not to be afraid. A pigeon, alone
on a low branch, allowed Pearl
to come beneath, and uttered a
sound as much of greeting as
alarm. A squirrel, from the lofty
depths of his domestic tree,
chattered either in anger or
merriment—for the squirrel is
such a choleric and humorous
little personage, that it is hard
to distinguish between his
moods—so he chattered at the
child, and flung down a nut
upon her head. It was a last
year’s nut, and already gnawed
by his sharp tooth. A fox,
startled from his sleep by her
light footstep on the leaves,
looked inquisitively [con
curiosidad] at Pearl, as
doubting whether it were better
to steal off, or renew his nap on
the same spot. A wolf, it is
said—but here the tale has
surely lapsed into the
improbable—came up and
s m e l t o f P e a r l ’s r o b e , a n d
offered his savage head to be
patted by her hand. The truth
seems to be, however, that the
mother-forest, and these wild
things which it nourished, all
recognised a kindred wilderness
in the human child.
culpas y trastornos del mundo a su seno), se convirtió en
compañera [230] de juego de
la niña solitaria, tan bien
c o m o s u p o . Ta n s o m b r í a
como era, recibió a la niña
con el más amable de sus
modales. La ofreció sus fresas, retoños del pasado otoño, pero que sólo sazonaban
en la primavera, ahora rojas
como gotas de sangre sobre
las hojas esparcidas. Perla
las recogió y quedó complacida de su fragancia silvestre.
Los pequeños habitantes de
aquel lugar selvático no la invitaban en lo más mínimo a abandonar su senda. Una perdiz, en
efecto, seguida de diez crías,
alzó el vuelo espantada, pero
pronto se arrepintió de su fiereza y cloqueó a las pequeñuelas
que no tuviesen miedo. Una paloma, posada en una rama baja,
permitió a Perla llegase debajo
y lanzó un sonido que tanto tenía de bienvenida como de alarma. Una ardilla, desde la profunda elevación de su árbol doméstico, rechinaba los dientes con
rabia o alegría (porque la ardilla es un pequeño personaje, tan
colérico y humorístico que apenas pueden distinguirse sus modalidades), y arrojó una nuez sobre la cabeza de Perla. Era una
nuez del último año, roída ya por
sus afilados dientes. Un zorro,
alarmado en su sueño por los ligeros pasos sobre las hojas, miró
a Perla interrogativamente, dudando entre si sería mejor correr
o reanudar su sueño en el mismo sitio. Un lobo (pero aquí
el cuento debió pasar de lo
improbable) se acercó a Perla, olió sus vestidos y ofreció su cabeza para que la
niña le acariciase con su manita. Lo cierto es, sin embargo, que la selva madre y todas aquellas cosas selváticas
que alimenta, reconocían en
la criatura humana una
c o n sanguinidad.
60 streets of the settlement, or in her
Y ella era allí más gentil que en las calles del departamento o en la casita
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
lapse n. 1 (= error) lapsus, fallo (Sp),
falla (LAm); she has the
occasional lapse of memory de
vez en cuando tiene lapsus or (Sp)
fallos or (LAm) fallas de memoria; 50
it was a lapse of judgement on his
part fue un error de cálculo por su
parte; a momentary lapse of
concentration un despiste
momentáneo 2 [of time] lapso,
intervalo, período
vi 1 (slip) to lapse into one’s old 55
ways volver a las andadas; he
lapsed into silence se calló, se
quedó callado 2 (= expire) [season
And she was gentler here
ticket] caducar, vencer 3 (=
decline) [standards] entrar en
than in the grassy-margined
declive
227
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
nymph-child: in Greek and Roman
mythology a nymph was a lesser goddess
of nature, represented as a beautiful maiden
living in a forest, meadow, or stream
15
dryad: a wood nymph supposed to inhabit
trees
20
mother’s cottage. The Bowers
appeared to know it, and one and
another whispered as she passed,
“Adorn thyself with me, thou
beautiful child, adorn thyself
with me!” —and, to please them,
Pearl gathered the violets, and
anemones, and columbines, and
some twigs of the freshest green,
which the old trees held down
before her eyes. With these she
decorated her hair and her young
wa i s t , a n d b e c a m e a
nymph-child, or an infant
dryad, or whatever else
was in closest sympathy
with the antique wood. In
such guise had Pearl
adorned herself, when she
h e a r d h e r m o t h e r ’s v o i c e ,
and came slowly back.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
de su madre. Las flores parecían saberlo, y unas y
otras murmuraban a su
paso: «¡Adórnate conmigo,
hermosa niña, adórnate
conmigo!»; y para complacerlas, Perla recogió violetas, anémonas y algunas ramitas del más fresco verde
que los árboles la ofrecían
_____ __________ _________
_________ _____ y s u p e c h o
juvenil, convirtiéndose en
u n a [ 2 3 1 ] n i n f a -n i ñ a , o u n a
dríada infantil, o en cualquier cosa que estuviese en
cercana simpatía con la antigua selva. Así se había
adornado Perla, cuando
oyó la voz de su madre y
volvió despacio.
¡Despacio, porque había visto al clérigo!
Slowly—for she saw the
clergyman!
25
30
35
40
45
Chapter 19: The Child at the Brook-Side
50 come until her mother again wears the scarlet letter. Even then, she will not accept Dimmesdale.
Hester summons Pearl, but the child will not
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
This chapter foreshadows the final crisis of the book. As Dimmesdale and Hester wait eagerly for Pearl, she refuses to come to them. Hester is upset and almost angry; Dimmesdale
just becomes more and more agitated. First he tells Hester that children do not usually like him, but as he becomes more upset by Pearl’s little tantrum [rabieta], he begs Hester
to find some way to pacify their daughter.
55
Hester realises that it is the change in her appearance which is antagonising Pearl. The child misses the scarlet letter and the severe white cap which usually conceals her mother’s
beautiful dark hair. More deeply, Pearl misses her usual sense that she is the only person her mother loves. Moreover, Pearl has mixed feelings about the minister. He senses this,
to the extent that when she stares at him, he covers his heart with his hand.
Hester takes up the scarlet letter again and pins it on to her dress. She puts on her cap. The change in her appearance is ‘withering’, like ‘a gray shadow’ falling over her, but Pearl
is pleased and runs to kiss her. ‘Now thou art my mother indeed! And I am thy little Pearl!’ The strange little girl then kisses the scarlet letter and asks chillingly, ‘Why doth the minister
sit yonder?’ Hester speaks of his yearning love for them, but Pearl is sceptical. ‘Doth he love us? . . . Will he go back with us, hand and hand, we three together, into the town?’ Hester
must say no, but speaks of a future when they
60 will share a home. Again Pearl asks a barbed question: ‘And will he always keep his hand over his heart?’. She will not willingly come
to him. When he kisses her, she runs to the brook and washes his kiss away. Then she sits apart, while Hester and Dimmesdale make their plans.
228
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
XIX.
XIX
THE CHILD AT THE
BROOKSIDE
LA NIÑA A LA ORILLA DEL
ARROYO
5
hieroglyphic: a character in the
picture-writing of the ancient Egyptians
and Mexicans
“Thou will love her dearly,”
repeated Hester Prynne, as she
and the minister sat watching little
Pearl. “Dost thou not think her
10 beautiful? And see with what
natural skill she has made those
simple flowers adorn her! Had she
gathered pearls, and diamonds,
and rubies in the wood, they could
15 not have become her better! She
is a splendid child! But I know
whose brow she has!”
—La amarás tiernamente —
repitió Ester Prynne, mientras
ella y el ministro se hallaban sentados observando a la pequeña
Perla—. ¿No crees que es hermosa? ¡Y mira con qué habilidad
natural ha hecho adorno de las
flores! Si hubiese recogido en la
selva perlas, brillantes y rubíes,
no la sentarían mejor. ¡Es una
criatura espléndida! ¡Pero sé de
quién tiene el ceño!
“Dost thou know, Hester,”
20 said Arthur Dimmesdale, with an
unquiet smile, “that this dear
child, tripping about always at thy
side, hath caused me many an
alarm? Methought—oh, Hester,
25 what a thought is that, and how
terrible to dread it!—that my own
features were partly repeated in
her face, and so strikingly that the
world might see them! But she is
30 mostly thine!”
—¿Sabes, Ester —dijo él
con sonrisa inquieta—, que
esa querida niña, caminando
siempre a tu lado, me causó
mucha alarma? ¡Me pareció
(¡oh, Ester, qué pensamiento
es, y qué terrible temerlo!) que
mis facciones se hallaban repetidas en su rostro, y con tanto vigor que todo el mundo
podía reconocerlas! ¡Pero ella
es más tuya!
“No, no! Not mostly!”
answered the mother, with a
tender smile. “A little longer,
35 a n d t h o u n e e d e s t n o t t o b e
afraid to trace whose child she
is. But how strangely beautiful
she looks with those wild
flowers in her hair! It is as if
40 one of the fairies, whom we left
in dear old England, had decked
her out to meet us.”
—¡No, no! ¡No es más mía!
—respondió la madre con una
sonrisa tierna—. Dentro de
poco no tendrás temor de ver
de quién es hija. ¡Pero qué extrañamente hermosa parece,
con esas flores silvestres en su
cabello! Es como si una de aquellas hadas que dejamos en la vieja
Inglaterra la hubiese adornado para
que viniese a encontrarnos.
It was with a feeling which
45 neither of them had ever before
experienced, that they sat and
watched Pearl’s slow advance.
In her was visible the tie that
united them. She had been
50 offered to the world, these seven
past years, as the living
hieroglyphic , in which was
revealed the secret they so
darkly sought to hide—all
55 w r i t t e n i n t h i s s y m b o l — a l l
plainly manifest—had there
been a prophet or magician
skilled to read the character of
flame! And Pearl was the
60 oneness of their being. Be the
Ambos contemplaban el
lento avance de la niña, con un
sentimiento que ninguno de
los dos había experimentado
antes. Veían en ella el eslabón
que les unía. ¡Había sido ofrecida al mundo, durante los siete [232] pasados años, como
un jeroglífico viviente, en el que
se revelaba el secreto que tan oscuramente trataron de ocultar,
escrito en aquel símbolo, plenamente manifestado, por si hubiera existido allí un profeta o mago
lo bastante experto para leer en
el carácter de la llama! ¡Y Perla
era la unidad de su ser! Cual-
229
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
forego be earlier in time, anteciede, preceder
foregone adj (resultado) conocido de antemano
a foregone judgment, un juicio ya decidido
it was a foregone conclusion fue un final anunciado
it was a foregone conclusion resultado cantado
foregone evil what it might, how
could they doubt that their
earthly lives and future destinies
inevitable result or conclusion were conjoined when they be5 held at once the material union,
and the spiritual idea, in whom
they met, and were to dwell
immortally together; thoughts
like these—and perhaps other
10 thoughts, which they did not
acknowledge or define—threw
an awe about the child as she
came onward.
quiera que hubiese sido su pasada culpa, ¿cómo podían dudar
que sus vidas terrenas y destinos futuros se hallaban unidos,
cuando vieron de pronto su enlace e idea espirituales en los
que se encontraron, y que habían
de vivir juntos la inmortalidad?
Estos pensamientos y otros, quizá, que no reconocían o definían, arrojaron en torno de la
niña una especie de espanto,
conforme se acercaba.
15
“Let her see nothing strange—
no passion or eagerness—in thy
way of accosting her,” whispered
Hester. “Our Pearl is a fitful and
fantastic little elf sometimes. Es20 pecially she is generally intolerant of emotion, when she does not
fully comprehend the why and
wherefore. But the child hath
strong affections! She loves me,
25 and will love thee!”
“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.”
—¡No puedes figurarte cómo
temo esta entrevista y, sin embargo, cómo la desea mi corazón! —
dijo el ministro—. Pero, como ya
te he dicho, los niños no están
dispuestos a familiarizarse conmigo. No se suben a mis rodillas,
ni charlan a mi oído, ni responden a mis sonrisas; sino que se
mantienen alejados y me miran
con extrañeza. Hasta los niños de
pecho, cuando los tomo en brazos, lloran amargamente. ¡Sin
embargo, Perla, en dos ocasiones
de su pequeña vida, fue amable
conmigo! ¡La vez primera, tú la
conoces bien! La última, cuando
la llevaste a casa del severo gobernador.
“And thou didst plead so
bravely in her behalf and
mine!” answered the mother.
50 “I remember it; and so shall
little Pearl. Fear nothing.
She may be strange and
s h y at first, but will soon
learn to love thee!”
55
By this time Pearl had
reached the margin of the brook,
and stood on the further side,
gazing silently at Hester and the
60 clergyman, who still sat together
—¡Y bien que abogaste, bien
bravamente, en favor suyo y mío!
—respondió la madre—. Lo recuerdo; y también lo recordará la
pequeña Perla. ¡No abrigues temores! ¡Quizá sea extraña y
arisca al principio; pronto aprenderá a quererte!
30
35
40
45
shy tímida
arisca unfriendly
X
—No la hagas ver nada extraño, ni pasión, ni anhelo, en tu
forma de recibirla —murmuró
Ester—. Nuestra Perla es _____
a veces un duendecillo caprichoso y fantástico. Especialmente, rara vez tolera la emoción
cuando desconoce el por y
para qué. ¡Pero la niña tiene
fuertes afectos! ¡Me ama, y te
amará!
X
[233] Mientras tanto, Perla
había llegado a la orilla del arroyo, y quedó en la margen opuesta mirando en silencio a Ester y
al clérigo, que aún permanecían
230
Por entonces
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
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 spiritualized
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 tantalizing
manner, estranged fro m
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.
sentados sobre el tronco
musgoso esperando su llegada.
En el preciso punto en que se
detuvo, el arroyo formaba un
embalse tan terso y tranquilo
que reflejaba la imagen perfecta de su figurita, con toda
la pintoresca brillantez de su
belleza en su adorno de flores
y follaje, pero más refinada y
espiritualizada que la realidad.
Esta imagen, tan casi idéntica
a la viviente Perla, parecía comunicar algo de su cualidad
vaga e intangible a la propia
niña. Era extraña la forma en
que Perla se hallaba de pie,
mirándolos tan fijamente a
través d e l a m b i e n t e b r u m o so de la floresta; ella, sin
embargo, glorificada por un
rayo de sol, atraído por cierta
simpatía. En el arroyo que se
hallaba a sus pies, había otra
niña, otra y la misma, también
con su rayo de luz dorada.
Ester sintióse, en forma indistinta e i n t r a n q u i l i z a d o r a ,
extraña
a
Perla;
como si la niña, en su
s olitaria correría por la selva, se hubiese salido de la esfera en que ella y su madre vivieran juntas, y en vano tratase ahora de volver a ella.
There were both truth and
error in the impression; the child
and mother were estranged, but
40 through Hester ’s fault, not
Pearl’s. Since the latter rambled
from her side, another inmate had
been admitted within the circle
of the mother’s feelings, and so
45 modified the aspect of them all,
that Pearl, the returning
wanderer, could not find her
wonted place, and hardly knew
where she was.
50
“I have a strange fancy,”
observed the sensitive minister,
“that this brook is the boundary
between two worlds, and that
55 thou canst never meet thy Pearl
again. Or is she an elfish spirit,
w h o , a s t h e l e g e n d s o f our
childhood taught us, is forbidden
to cross a ru n n i n g s t r e a m ?
60 P r a y ha s t e n h e r , f o r t h i s
En aquella impresión había
error y verdad a la vez; la niña
y la madre se habían extrañado,
pero con la falta de Ester, no
con la de Perla. Desde que la
niña se separó de ella otro interno fue admitido en los sentimientos de la madre, modificando así el aspecto de todos ellos
de tal modo que Perla no podía
hallar su puesto deseado y escasamente sabía dónde se encontraba.
5
10
15
20
25
tantalize to tease or torment by or as if
by presenting something desirable to
the view but continually keeping it out
of reach. Tentar o atormentar con
deseos o cosas imposibles
tr. de A. Ruste
30
35
231
—Tengo el extraño presentimiento —dijo el sensible ministro— de que este arroyo es el lindero de dos mundos y que nunca
volverás a encontrarte con tu Perla. ¿O es un espíritu aduendado,
a quien, como nos decían las leyendas de nuestra niñez, le está
prohibido cruzar la corriente?
¡Anímala a pasar, porque con su
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
delay
has
already
imparted a tremor to my
nerves.”
tardanza en hacerlo ha comunicado cierto temblor a mis nervios!
“Come, dearest child!” said
Hester encouragingly, and
stretching out both her arms.
“How slow thou art! When hast
thou been so sluggish before
10 now? Here is a friend of mine,
who must be thy friend also. Thou
wilt have twice as much love
henceforward as thy mother alone
could give thee! Leap across the
15 brook and come to us. Thou canst
leap like a young deer!”
[234] —¡Ven, querida mía!
—gritó Ester animosamente y
alargando los brazos—. ¡Qué calma tienes! ¿Cuándo has estado
tan holgazana? ¡Aquí hay un
amigo mío que lo será tuyo también! ¡Desde ahora en adelante
tendrás doble cariño que el que
tu madre sola pudiera haberte
dado! Salta el arroyuelo y ven
adonde estamos. ¡Tú puedes saltar como un gamo!
Pearl, without responding in
any manner to these honey-sweet
expressions, remained on the
other side of the brook. Now she
fixed her bright wild eyes on her
mother, now on the minister, and
now included them both in the
same glance, as if to detect and
explain to herself the relation
which they bore to one another.
For some unaccountable reason,
as Arthur Dimmesdale felt the
child’s eyes upon himself, his
hand—with that gesture so
habitual as to have become
involuntary—stole over his heart.
At length, assuming a singular air
of authority, Pearl stretched out
her hand, with the small forefinger
extended, and pointing evidently
towards her mother’s breast. And
beneath, in the mirror of the
brook, there was the flowergirdled and sunny image of little
Pearl, pointing her small
forefinger too.
Perla, sin responder en
forma alguna a aquellas dulces expresiones, permaneció
al otro lado del arroyo. Paseaba su fija mirada de su
madre al clérigo, y luego sobre los dos, como si tratase
de averiguar la relación que
les unía. Por alguna razón
inexplicable, cuando Arturo
Dimmesdale sintió la mirada
de Perla, su mano, con el
gesto que ya era en él tan habitual que se había hecho involuntario, llevósela al corazón. Por fin, dándose cierto aire de autoridad, extendió Perla su mano, adelant a n d o e l d e d o í n d i c e y, e v i dentemente, señalando al
pecho de su madre. Y abajo,
en el espejo de las aguas, se
veía la imagen florida y
soleada de la pequeña Perla,
señalando también con el
dedo índice.
“Thou strange child! why dost
thou not come to me?” exclaimed
Hester.
—Tú, criatura extraña, ¿por
qué no vienes a mí? —exclamó
Ester.
Pearl still pointed with her
50 forefinger, and a frown gathered
on her brow—the more
impressive from the childish, the
almost baby-like aspect of the
features that conveyed it. As her
55 mother still kept beckoning to
her, and arraying her face in a
holiday suit of unaccustomed
smiles, the child stamped her foot
with a yet more imperious look
60 and gesture. In the brook, again,
Perla todavía continuó
señalando con el dedo, y
con un ceño sobre su frente, más impresionante por
el aspecto infantil de sus
facciones. Como su madre
c o n t i n u a s e haciéndola señas y
animándola con sonrisas
inacostumbradas, la niña golpeó
el suelo con el piececito, con mirada y gesto aún más imperativos.
Sobre el espejo del arroyo volvió
5
20
25
30
35
40
45
232
Notas
inure harden, habituarse, accustom,
harden
seemly adj. conforming to propriety or
good taste; decorous, suitable. Digno, honesto,
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
was the fantastic beauty of the
image, with its reflected frown, its
pointed finger, and imperious
gesture, giving emphasis to the
5 aspect of little Pearl.
a reflejarse la imagen de fantástica belleza, con su ceño, su dedo
que seguía apuntando, y el gesto
imperioso que daba énfasis al aspecto de la pequeña Perla.
“Hasten, Pearl, or I shall be
angry with thee!” cried Hester
Prynne, who, however, inured to
10 such behaviour on the elf-child’s
part at other seasons, was
naturally anxious for a more
seemly deportment now. “Leap
across the brook, naughty child,
15 and run hither! Else I must come
to thee!”
—¡Date prisa, Perla, o me
enfadaré contigo! —gritó Ester,
quien, aunque acostumbrada al
modo de ser de la niña trasgo
en otras ocasiones, anhelaba
ahora, como era natural, un más
apropiado comportamiento—.
[235] ¡Salta el arroyo, niña traviesa, y corre aquí! ¡Si no, iré
yo a por ti!
whit n. a particle; a least possible
amount (not a whit better). ápice,
pizca, brizna
20
gesticulating: gesturing
25
30
35
40
But Pearl, not a whit startled
at her mother’s threats any more
than mollified by her entreaties,
now suddenly burst into a fit of
passion, gesticulating violently,
and throwing her small
figure into the most
extravagant contortions She
accompanied this wild outbreak
with piercing shrieks, which the
woods reverberated on all sides,
so that, alone as she was in her
childish and unreasonable
wrath, it seemed as if a hidden
multitude were lending her their
sympathy and encouragement.
Seen in the brook once more was
the shadowy wrath of Pearl’s
image, crowned and girdled
with flowers, but stamping its
foot, w i l d l y g e s t i c u l a t i n g ,
and, in the midst of a l l , s t i l l
pointing
its
small
forefinger at Hester ’s
bosom.
X
Pero Perla no ______ se movió con las amenazas de su
madre más que lo hizo con sus
ruegos, y rompió en un estad o d e p a s i ó n , gesticulando
violentamente e imprimiendo a
su pequeña figura las contorsiones más extravagantes. Acompañó aquel estado selvático de gritos tan penetrantes que la selva
reverberó en todas direcciones; de
tal modo que, sola como estaba y
con su rabieta inmotivada d e
niña, daba la sensación de
que una multitud oculta le
p r e s t a b a s u valor y simpatía.
¡Y nuevam e n t e f u e v i s t a
en el ar r o y o c o n
s u r a b i e t a , coronada
y a d o r n a d a con flores, golpeando con el pie, gesticulando
selváticamente, y, en medio de
todo, s e ñ a l a n d o t o d a v í a a l
pe cho de su madre con su pequeño dedo índice!
“I see what ails the child,”
45 w h i s p e r e d H e s t e r t o t h e
clergyman, and turning pale in
s p i t e o f a s t r o n g e ff o r t t o
conceal her trouble and
annoyance, “Children will not
50 a b i d e a n y, t h e s l i g h t e s t ,
change in the accustomed
aspect of things that are daily
before their eyes. Pearl
misses something that she has
55 always seen me wear!”
— Ya v e o l o q u e t i e n e
l a n i ñ a — d i j o E s t e r. t o rnándose pálida, a pesar
del esfuerzo que hizo por
ocultar su trastorno y
d i s g u s t o — . Los niños no
toleran el más ligero cambio
en el aspecto acostumbrado
de las cosas que tienen diariamente ante los ojos. ¡Perla
echa de menos algo que me ha
visto llevar siempre!
“I pray you,” answered the
minister, “if thou hast any means
of pacifying the child, do it
60 forthwith! Save it were the
—¡Te ruego —dijo el ministro— que, si tienes algún
medio de pacificar a la criatura, lo hagas en seguida! ¡Salvo
233
Notas
canker 1 a bud destroying worm 2 úlcera
bucal 3 ulceroso, malignant, rusty,
canceroso
1 a (1) : an erosive or spreading sore
(2) : an area of necrosis in a plant;
also : a plant disease characterized
by cankers b : any of various
disorders of animals marked by
chronic inflammatory changes
2 archaic : a caterpillar destructive to
plants
3 chiefly dialect : RUST 1
4 : a source of corruption or
debasement
5 chiefly dialect : DOG ROSE
1 obsolete : to infect with a spreading
sore 2 : to corrupt the spirit of
intransitive verb 1 : to become infested
with canker 2 : to become corrupted
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
cankered wrath of an old witch
like Mistress Hibbins,” added he,
attempting to smile, “I know nothing that I would not sooner en5 counter than this passion in a
child. In Pearl’s young beauty, as
in the wrinkled witch, it has a preternatural effect. Pacify her if thou
lovest me!”
10
Hester turned again towards
Pearl with a crimson blush upon
her cheek, a conscious glance
aside clergyman, and then a heavy
15 sigh, while, even before she had
time to speak, the blush yielded
to a deadly pallor.
el gangrenado furor de una
vieja bruja, como la señora
Hibbins, nada me impresionó
tan pronto como la pasión en
esta niña! En la juvenil belleza de Perla, como en la rugosa
bruja, tiene un efecto extraordinario. ¡Pacifícala, si es que
me amas!
“Pearl,” said she sadly, “look
20 down at thy feet! There!—before
thee!—on the hither side of the
brook!”
—¡Perla —gritó tristemente—, mira a tus pies! ¡Allá, delante de ti! ¡A este lado del
arroyo!
The child turned her eyes to
25 the point indicated, and there lay
the scarlet letter so close upon the
margin of the stream that the gold
embroidery was reflected in it.
La criatura volvió la vista
hacia el punto indicado; [236]
allí estaba la letra roja, tan cerca
del cauce que sus bordados de
oro rielaban en el agua.
30
Ester volvióse a Perla, coloreadas sus mejillas, echando sobre el clérigo una mirada significativa y suspirando hondamente; y después, antes de que pudiese hablar, cubrióse su rostro
de intensa palidez.
“Bring it hither!” said Hester.
—¡Tráemela aquí! —dijo Ester.
“Come thou and take it up!”
answered Pearl.
—¡Ven tú y cógela! —respondió Perla.
35
“ Was ever such a child!”
observed Hester aside to the
minister. “Oh, I have much to
tell thee about her! But, in
very truth, she is right as
40 regards this hateful token. I
must bear its torture yet a
little longer—only a few
days longer—until we shall
have left this region, and
45 look back hither as to a land
which we have dreamed of.
The forest cannot hide it!
The mid-ocean shall take it
from my hand, and swallow
50 it up for ever!”
—¿Existió jamás niña semejante? —observó Ester, quedamente,
al ministro—. ¡Oh, es mucho lo
que tengo que contarte de ella!
Pero, a decir verdad, tiene razón en lo referente a esa marca. ¡Aún he de soportar su tortura durante algún tiempo,
unos días más, hasta que hayamos dejado esta región y volvamos la vista para contemplarla como si fuese la tierra de
un sueño! ¡La selva no puede
ocultarla! ¡El profundo océano
la arrancará de mi mano para
tragársela por siempre!
With these words she
advanced to the margin of the
brook, took up the scarlet letter,
55 and fastened it again into her
bosom. Hopefully, but a moment
ago, as Hester had spoken of
drowning it in the deep sea, there
was a sense of inevitable doom
60 upon her as she thus received
Con estas palabras, avanzó
hasta la margen del arroyo, recogió la letra roja y volvió a sujetársela sobre el pecho. Afortunadamente, hacía sólo un momento, cuando habló Ester de arrojar
al mar aquel símbolo, tuvo una
sensación inevitable de condena;
así pues, volvió a recibir el sím234
rielar brillar con luz trémula
Notas
glitter : brillo, oropel, tinsel, sparkle, glint;
relucir, centellear, fulgir, fulgente,
centelleante, chispeante,
withering adj. ‹heat› abrasador, agostador;
‹look› fulminante; scornful (a withering
(fulminante) look).
1 annihilative, annihilating, devastating,
wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction; «possessing
annihilative power»; «a devastating
hurricane»; «the guns opened a
withering fire»
2 annihilating,
devastating, making light of; «afire with
annihilating invective»; «a devastating
portrait of human folly»; «to
compliments inflated I’ve a withering
reply»- W.S.Gilbert
2 noun atrophy any weakening or
degeneration (especially through lack
of use)
v. 1 tr. & intr. (often foll. by up) make or
become dry and shrivelled (withered
flowers). 2 tr. & intr. (often foll. by away)
deprive of or lose vigour, vitality,
freshness, or importance. 3 intr. decay,
decline. 4 tr. a blight with scorn etc.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
back this deadly symbol from
the hand of fate. She had flung
it into infinite space! she had
drawn an hour ’s free br e a t h !
5 and here again was the
scarlet miser y g l i t t e r i n g o n
t h e o l d spot! So it ever is,
whether thus typified or no, that
an evil deed invests itself with
10 t h e c h a r a c t e r o f d o o m .
Hester next gathered up the heavy
tresses of her hair and confined them
beneath her cap. As if there were a
w i t h e r i n g spell in the sad letter,
15 her beauty, the warmth and richness
of her womanhood, departed like
fading sunshine, and a gray shadow
seemed to fall across her.
20
X
bolo mortal de manos del destino. ¡Lo había arrojado al espacio infinito! ¡Había logrado una
hora de franco respiro! ¡Pero allí
estaba de nuevo la miseria roja,
brillando sobre su antiguo sitio!
Así sucede siempre, esté de tal
modo ejemplarizado o no; un
hecho perverso viene siempre a
investirse con el carácter del destino. Ester encerró después los
rizos de su cabellera bajo la gorra. Como si la triste letra encerrase un _______ hechizo, su belleza, el ardor y riqueza de su juventud desaparecieron como un
atardecer, y pareció quedar envuelta por una sombra gris.
When the dreary change was
wrought, she extended her hand
to Pearl.
Cuando se operó el terrible cambio, tendió su mano
a Perla.
“Dost thou know thy
25 mother now, child?”, asked
she, reproachfully, but with a
s u b d u e d t o n e . “ Wi l t t h o u
come across the brook, and
own thy mother, now that she
30 h a s h e r s h a m e u p o n h e r —
now that she is sad?”
—¿Conoces ahora a tu
madre, niña? —preguntó
Ester con reproche, pero en
t o n o reprimido—. ¿Querrás
cruzar ahora el arroyo y obedecer a tu madre, ya que lleva sobre sí nuevamente la vergüenza,
ya que está otra vez triste?
“Yes; now I will!” answered
the child, bounding across the
35 brook, and clasping Hester in her arms
“Now thou art my mother indeed! and
I am thy little Pearl!”
[237] —¡Sí; ahora lo haré!
—respondió la niña, saltando el
cauce y cayendo en brazos de su
madre—._____________ ______ ¡Y
yo soy tu pequeña Perla!
X
In a mood of tenderness that
40 was not usual with her, she drew
down her mother ’s head, and
kissed her brow and both her
cheeks. But then—by a kind of
necessity that always impelled
45 this child to alloy whatever
comfort she might chance to give
with a throb of anguish—Pearl put
up her mouth and kissed the
scarlet letter, too
50
“That was not kind!” said
H e s t e r. “ W h e n t h o u h a s t
shown me a little love, thou
mockest me!”
55
“Why
doth
the
minister sit yonder?”
asked Pearl.
60
En forma que no la era habitual, hizo que su madre bajase la
cabeza y la besó tiernamente en
la frente y en ambas mejillas.
Pero luego, por una especie de
necesidad que parecía inducir a
aquella niña a acompañar cualquier clase de alivio que pudiera
proporcionar de una sensación
angustiosa, alzó Perla la boca y
besó también la letra roja.
—¡Eso no ha estado bien! —
dijo Ester—. ¡Después que me
demuestras un poco de amor te
burlas de mí!
—¿Por qué se sienta allí el
ministro?
—preguntó
la
pequeñuela.
“He waits to welcome thee,”
—Espera para saludarte —
235
subdued apagado
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
replied her mother. “Come thou,
and entreat his blessing! He loves
thee, my little Pearl, and loves
thy mother, too. Wilt thou not
5 love him? Come he longs to greet
thee!”
replicó la madre—. ¡Ven y pídele su bendición! Él te ama,
mi pequeña Perla, y ama a tu
madre también. ¿No le amarás tú? ¡Ven! ¡Desea saludarte!
“Doth he love us?” said
Pearl, looking up with acute
10 intelligence into her mother’s
face. “Will he go back with us,
hand in hand, we three together,
into the town?”
—¿De veras nos ama? —interrogó la niña, alzando su mirada inteligente hacia el rostro de
su madre—. ¿Volverá con nosotras de la mano, los tres juntos, a
la población?
15
“Not now, my child,”
answered Hester. “But in days to
come he will walk hand in hand
with us. We will have a home and
fireside of our own; and thou
20 shalt sit upon his knee; and he
will teach thee many things, and
love thee dearly. Thou wilt love
him—wilt thou not?”
—Ahora no, querida —respondió Ester—. Pero en días
venideros caminará con nosotras de la mano. Tendremos una
casa y un hogar nuestro, y te
sentarás sobre sus rodillas, y te
enseñará muchas cosas, y te
amará tiernamente. Tú le amarás también, ¿no?
25
“And will he always keep his
hand over his heart?” inquired
Pearl.
—¿Y llevará siempre la
mano sobre el corazón? —preguntó de nuevo.
“Foolish child, what a
30 question is that!” exclaimed her
mother. “Come, and ask his
blessing!”
—¡Necia! ¿Qué preg u n t a e s é s a ? ¡ Ve n y p í d e le su bendición! —exclam ó E s t e r.
But, whether influenced by
the jealousy that seems
instinctive with every petted
child towards a dangerous rival,
or from whatever caprice of her
freakish nature, Pearl would
show no favour to the clergyman.
It was only by an exertion of
force that her mother brought her
up to him, hanging back, and
manifesting her reluctance by
odd grimaces; of which, ever
since her babyhood, she had
possessed a singular variety, and
could transform her mobile
physiognomy into a series of
different aspects, with a new
mischief in them, each and all.
The
minister—painfully
embarrassed, but hoping that a
kiss might prove a talisman to
admit him into the child’s
kindlier regards—bent forward,
and impressed one on her brow.
Hereupon, Pearl broke away
from her mother, and, running to
the brook, stooped over it, and
Pero fuese influida por
los celos, que son instintivos
en los pequeñuelos mimados
para con un rival peligroso,
o por cualquier capricho de
su mudable naturaleza, Perla
no demostró aprecio hacia el
ministro. Sólo por fuerza logró su madre llevarla hasta
él, manifestando s u r e p u g nancia con extrañas
muecas, de las que, [238]
desde su más tierna infancia,
poseía una variedad singular,
pudiendo transformar su movible fisonomía en una serie de
aspectos diferentes, con un tinte
nuevo de travesura en cada uno.
El ministro, penosamente
i n quieto , pero con la esperanza de que un beso pudiera
ser un talismán para las miras de la niña, se inclinó y
la besó en la frente. Rápidamente, desasióse Perla de
su madre y corrió al arroyo,
se inclinó sobre él y se bañó
35
40
grimaces: m a k i n g w r y f a c e s 45
50
embarrased forced, constraint, incómodo, turbado, aturdido, embarazoso,
cohibido, avergonzante, ruborizante,
azorado o azarado
azarar es ruborizarse por vergüenza
azorar es sorprenderse, conturbarse,
aturdirse, incomodarse, desconcertar
Nota: embarazado/a es preñado/a
(mal en Capote’s Cold Blood : 258)
aunque en el Quijote se utilizaba
embarazado/a con el significado de
«en dificultades con» ver 466.
tr. de A. Ruste
55
60
X
236
[wry adj.1 distorted or turned to one side.
2 (of a face or smile etc.) contorted
in disgust, disappointment, or
mockery. 3 (of humour) dry and
mocking.
Torcido, pervertido, raro, irónico, forzado, agria, amarga (of a face or smile
etc.) contorted in disgust,
disappointment, or mockery. 3 (of
humour) dry and mocking. Astuto,
sagaz, ladino, taimado.
de reojo 1. fr. Mirar disimuladamente
dirigiendo la vista por encima del
hombro, o hacia un lado y sin volver
la cabeza. 2. fig. Mirar con prevención hostil o enfado]
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
bathed her forehead, until the
unwelcome kiss was quite
washed off and diffused through
a long lapse of the gliding water.
5 She then remained apart, silently
watching Hester and the
clergyman; while they talked
together and made such
arrangements as were suggested
10 by their new position and the
purposes soon to be fulfilled.
la frente hasta que logró lavar el beso por completo,
d i l u y é n d o l o e n u n l a rg o l a p so del agua resbaladiza.
Luego quedóse apartada, observando en silencio a su madre y al clérigo, mientras éstos hablaban juntos sobre los
preparativos que les sugería su
nueva posición y los propósitos
que pronto habían de cumplirse.
And now this fateful interview
had come to a close. The dell was
15 to be left in solitude among its
dark, old trees, which, with their
multitudinous tongues, would
whisper long of what had passed
there, and no mortal be the wiser.
20 And the melancholy brook would
add this other tale to the mystery
with which its little heart was already overburdened, and whereof
it still kept up a murmuring babwhit n. a particle; a least possible 25 ble, with not a whit more cheeramount (not a whit better). ápice,
fulness of tone than for ages herepizca, brizna
tofore.
Aquella funesta entrevista terminó. Era preciso dejar
el vallecillo entre los oscuros y viejos árboles, los que
con sus múltiples lenguas
murmurarían largamente de
lo que allí había ocurrido. Y
el arroyo melancólico añadiría esta nueva historia al misterio con que su pequeño corazón estaba agobiado, y seguiría con su balbuceo murmurador, sin añadir un ápice
más de alegría a su tono de
las épocas pasadas.
30
35
Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze
This chapter reveals the minister’s new state of mind after his interview with Hester. He still has divided loyalties.
40
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
Chapter 20 follows Dimmesdale through the rest of that day and night. His mind and feelings are in complete upheaval. The hypocrisy which has
eaten away at him has also been his strength, giving him the impetus to do all his public tasks meticulously. Even as he plans to desert his public
role and run away with Hester and Pearl to Europe he finds himself planning to give his Election Sermon. This is to be given on the day the new
Governor of Massachusetts assumes
45 office; it is a major local public occasion. However, the minister’s newly awakened private feelings run against
that state of fervour which would prepare him for preaching, and he is in great turbulence of mind. Hawthorne describes how he is assailed by
temptations he had never before experienced, and his frail strength nearly gives way to madness. Yet he continues to sense a renewed physical
vigour. With great psychological insight, Hawthorne points out that the thought of rebelling against Puritan New England and deserting it, causes the
minister suddenly to see its strict pieties as ridiculous. He longs to whisper blasphemies to an aged church deacon, or an argument against
individual immortality to a good old woman. He feels the great power he has over the minds of others through his ministry. It is all he can do to refrain
from planting a seed of evil in the mind of a young girl who greets him. His better self, along with his harshly trained intellect and religious feeling,
is thrown into confusion. He wonders,
50 ‘Am I mad? or am I given over utterly to the fiend?’. Mistress Hibbins, ‘the reputed witch lady’ who had earlier
approached Hester, now speaks to him: ‘So, Reverend Sir, you have made a visit into the forest’. When he denies it, she laughs:
‘Well, well, we must needs talk thus in the daytime! You carry it off like an old hand! But at midnight, and in the forest, we shall have other talk
together!’
When at last he reaches his study, he feels himself such a different person that it is almost as if he is entering someone else’s room, someone he
55 he is afraid an evil spirit may enter his room. When Chillingworth comes in, the reader wonders if in some
half pities and scorns. Yet, at a knock,
sense that is what happens.
Chillingworth easily perceives that the minister now knows he is a deadly enemy, but they both keep up a studied politeness. Chillingworth urges the
minister to work on his sermon, as with his failing health, he may not live long. Dimmesdale pretends to agree. Once Chillingworth is gone, the
minister sends for food, which he eats hungrily. Then he throws his sermon on the fire and begins another draft. He writes until sunrise, carried on
by a great wave of released emotion. The dam has burst, but the flood waters are running into both old and new channels.
60
237
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
wiggam : tienda india
jacal. (Del nahua xacalli). 1. m. 50
Hond. y Méx. Especie de choza
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
XX.
XX
THE MINISTER IN A MAZE
EL PASTOR PERPLEJO
As the minister departed, in
advance of Hester Prynne and little
Pearl, he threw a backward glance,
half expecting that he should
discover only some faintly traced
features or outline of the mother and
the child, slowly fading into the
twilight of the woods. So great a
vicissitude in his life could not at
once be received as real. But there
was Hester, clad in her gray robe,
still standing beside the tree-trunk,
which some blast had overthrown
a long antiquity ago, and which
time had ever since been covering with moss, so that these
two fated ones, with earth’s
heaviest burden on them, might
there sit down together, and
find a single hour ’s rest and
solace. And there was Pearl, too,
lightly dancing from the
margin of the brook—now that
the intrusive third person was
gone—and taking her old place
by her mothe r ’s s i d e . S o t h e
m i n i s t e r h a d n o t fallen
asleep and dreamed!
Cuando se marchó el ministro, antes de que lo hiciesen Ester
y Perla, volvió la cabeza c r e yendo que no descubriría
má s q u e l a s b o r r o s a s
siluetas de la madre y
l a h i j a en la opaca luz
d e l a s e l v a . Una vicisitud tan
grande de su vida no podía ser admitida repentinamente como real. Pero
allí estaba Ester con su vestido gris,
de pie aún junto al muñón del
tronco del árbol que algún antiguo
vendaval había derribado, y al que
[239] el tiempo había cubierto de
musgo para que estos dos desgraciados, cuyos corazones se hallaban agobiados por el peso del mundo, pudieran sentarse sobre él y encontrar un rato de descanso y solaz. Y allí estaba también Perla,
bailando ligeramente junto a la
margen del arroyuelo ahora que la
tercera persona intrusa habíase
marchado, volviendo a ocupar su
antiguo puesto al lado de su madre. ¡Así pues, el ministro no había dormido y soñado!
In order to free his mind
from this indistinctness and
duplicity of impression, which
vexed [angered] it with a strange
disquietude, he recalled and more
thoroughly defined the plans
which Hester and himself had
sketched for their departure. It
had been determined between
them that the Old World, with its
crowds and cities, offered them
a more eligible shelter and
concealment than the wilds of
New England or all America,
with its alternatives of an Indian
wigwam, or the few settlements
of Europeans scattered thinly
along the sea-board. Not to speak
of the clergyman’s health, so
inadequate to sustain the
hardships of a forest life, his
native gifts, his culture, and his
entire development would secure
him a home only in the midst of
civilization and refinement; the
higher the state the more
delicately adapted to it the man.
Para librar su cerebro de
aquella falta de claridad y
duplicidad de impresión
que le incomodaba con extraña inquietud, recordó y
definió con más claridad
los planes que habían trazado para su marcha. Habían
d e t e r m i n a d o q u e e l Vi e j o
Mundo, con sus gentes y sus
ciudades, les ofrecía un abrigo y sitio de ocultación preferible a las selvas de la Nueva Inglaterra y a toda la América, con sus alternativas de un
jacal indio o de los pocos departamentos europeos desparramados a lo
largo de sus costas. Esto sin contar
con que la salud del clérigo era inadecuada para soportar las penalidades de la vida selvática, y que sus dones naturales, su cultura y todo su
completo desarrollo le asegurarían un
hogar solamente entre la civilización
y el refinamiento; mientras más alto
fuese el estado, mejor y más delicadamente se adaptaría a este hombre.
238
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
In futherance of this choice, it
so happened that a ship lay in the
harbour;
one
of
those
unquestionable cruisers, frequent
at that day, which, without being
absolutely outlaws of the deep,
yet roamed over its surface with
a remarkable irresponsibility of
character. This vessel had
recently arrived from the Spanish
Main, and within three days’ time
would sail for Bristol. Hester
Prynne—whose vocation, as a
self-enlisted Sister of Charity,
had brought her acquainted with
the captain and crew—could take
upon herself to secure the
passage of two individuals and a
child with all the secrecy which
circumstances rendered more
than desirable.
En fav o r d e e s t a e l e c c i ó n ,
daba la coincidencia de haber
anclado en el puerto un barco;
uno de esos cruceros sospechosos, frecuentes en aquellos
días, que, sin ser de mucho calado, vagaba sobre la superficie del mar con un notable carácter de irresponsabilidad.
Aquel barco acababa de llegar
del continente español, y en el
término de tres días debía zarpar para Bristol. Ester Prynne
(cuya vocación como hermana
de la Piedad la había relacionado con el capitán y la tripulación) pudo agenciarse los
pasajes para dos individuos y
una criatura, con todo el sec r e to q u e re c l a m a b a n l a s
circunstancias.
render v.tr. 1 cause to be or become;
The minister had inquired of
make (rendered us helpless). 2 give
or pay (money, service, etc.), esp. in
Hester, with no little interest, the
return or as a thing due (render
thanks; rendered good for evil). 3 25 precise time at which the vessel
(often foll. by to) a give (assistance)
might be expected to depart. It
(rendered aid to the injured man). b
show (obedience etc.). c do (a service
would probably be on the fourth
etc.). 4 submit; send in; present (an
day from the present. “This is
account, reason, etc.). 5 a represent
or portray artistically, musically, etc.
most fortunate!” he had then
b act (a role); represent (a character,
idea, etc.) (the dramatist’s conception 30 said to himself. Now, why the
was well rendered). c Mus. perform;
R e v e r e n d M r. D i m m e s d a l e
execute. 6 translate (rendered the
poem into French). 7 (often foll. by
considered it so very fortunate
down) melt down (fat etc.) esp. to
we
hesitate
to
reveal.
clarify; extract by melting. 8 cover
(stone or brick) with a coat of plaster.
Nevertheless—to
hold
nothing
9 archaic a give back; hand over;
deliver, give up, surrender (render to 35 back from the reader—it was
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s).
because, on the third day from
b show (obedience).
[240] El ministro había preguntado a Ester con no pequeño
interés el preciso momento en
que debía zarpar el barco. Debía
partir con toda probabilidad a los
cuatro días de aquella fecha.
«¡Eso es de buena suerte!», se
dijo. Dudamos en revelar la causa por la cual el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale juzgaba aquello
como de buena suerte. No obstante, para no ocultar nada al lector, diremos que era porque a los
tres días a contar de aquél debía
predicar su sermón de Predestinación; y como ese acto formaba
una época memorable en la vida
de un sacerdote en la Nueva Inglaterra, no podía haber hallado
una época .y un medio mejores
para terminar su carrera profesional. «¡Por lo menos», pensó este
hombre ejemplar, «dirán de mí
que no he dejado de cumplir un
deber público, ni que lo haya
cumplido mal!» ¡Es triste que un
examen de conciencia tan profundo y refinado como el de este
pobre pastor fuese tan miserablemente engañoso! Tuvimos, y tal
vez tengamos, peores cosas que
decir de él, pero ninguna, creemos, tan lastimosamente delicada; ninguna evidencia, tan ligera
e incontestable a la vez, de una
enfermedad sutil, que hacía largo tiempo había comenzado a
roer la verdadera sustancia de su
5
10
15
render
hacer inútil, resultar, dejar
(ciego), presentar, dar, rendir (cuentas), prestar (ayuda), enlucir, interpretar, traducir, verter
20
40
45
50
55
irrefragable: undeniable
60
the present, he was to preach the
Election Sermon; and, as such
an occasion formed an
honourable epoch in the life of
a New England Clergyman, he
could not have chanced upon a
more suitable mode and time of
terminating his professional
career. “At least, they shall say
of me,” thought this exemplary
man, “that I leave no public duty
unperformed or ill-performed!”
Sad,
indeed,
that
an
introspection so profound and
acute as this poor minister ’s
should be so miserably
deceived! We have had, and may
still have, worse things to tell of
him; but none, we apprehend, so
pitiably weak; no evidence, at
once so slight and irrefragable,
of a subtle disease that had
long since begun to eat into the
real substance of his character.
239
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
No man, for any considerable
period, can wear one face
to himself and another to
the multitude, without
5 f i n a l l y g e t t i n g bewildered as
to which may be the true.
carácter. Ningún hombre, durante cualquier período considerable, puede tener una cara para él
y otra para la multitud, sin que
finalmente esté perplejo entre
cuál de las dos es la verdadera.
T h e e x c i t e m e n t o f M r.
Dimmesdale’s feelings as he
returned from his interview
w i t h H e s t e r, l e n t h i m
unaccustomed
physical
e n e r g y, a n d h u r r i e d h i m
townward at a rapid pace. The
pathway among the woods seemed
wilder, more uncouth with its
rude natural obstacles, and less
trodden by the foot of man, than
he remembered it on his outward
journey. But he leaped across the
plashy places, thrust himself
through the clinging underbush,
climbed the ascent, plunged into
the hollow, and overcame, in
short, all the difficulties of the
track, with an unweariable
activity that astonished him. He
could not but recall how feebly,
and with what frequent pauses
for breath he had toiled over
the same ground, only two days
before. As he drew near the
town, he took an impression of
change from the series of
familiar objects that presented
themselves. It seemed not
yesterday, not one, not two, but
many days, or even years ago,
since he had quitted them.
There, indeed, was each former
trace of the street, as he
remembered it, and all the
peculiarities of the h o u s e s ,
with the due multitude of
gable-peaks,
and
a
weather-cock at every point
where his memory suggested one.
Not the less, however, came this
importunately obtrusive sense of
change. The same was true as
regarded the acq u a i n t a n c e s
whom he met, and all the wellknown shapes of human life,
about the little town. They
looked neither older nor younger
now; the beards of the aged were
n o w h i t e r, n o r c o u l d t h e
creeping babe of yesterday walk
on his feet to-day; it was
impossible to describe in what
La excitación de los sentimientos del señor Dimmesdale,
cuando volvió de su entrevista
con Ester, le proporcionó una
energía física extraña que le
hizo caminar con paso rápido
en dirección a la población.
La senda del bosque le pareció
más arisca, más rústica con sus
rudos obstáculos, y menos hollada por la planta del hombre que lo que le pareció a la
ida. Cruzó los sitios
pantanosos, se aventuró e n t r e
l o s ________ m a t o r r a l e s ,
trepó por las cuestas, descendió
a las hondonadas y, en una palabra,
salvó todas las dificultades [241] del
camino, con una i n c a n s a b l e
actividad que le asombró. No
pensó más que en la debilidad
y frecuentes paradas para tomar
aliento, cuando había hecho
aquel mismo camino hacía dos
días solamente. Conforme se
acercaba al poblado, notaba la
sensación del cambio que habían experimentado todos los
objetos familiares que se ofrecían a su vista. Le parecía no
haber sido ayer, ni hacía uno,
ni dos, sino muchos días que los
había dejado. Allí estaba la calle, en efecto, con su antigua
traza, que recordaba, y toda la
peculiaridad de las casas, con
sus múltiples grandes aleros y
veletas giratorias en los
caballones de los tejados _
______ _________________ __.
No menos, sin embargo, le asaltó
esta sensación de cambio,
importunadamente intrusiva. Lo
mismo le ocurrió con respecto a las
amistades que encontraba a su paso,
y con todas las figuras de vida humana, en la pequeña población. No
le parecían ni más viejos ni más
jóvenes ahora; las barbas de
los ancianos no eran más blancas, ni los bebés de ayer caminaban hoy por su pie; era imposible describir en el respec-
10
15
uncouth (= unrefined) zafio, burdo,
grosero, inculto; (= clumsy) torpe, desmañado
u nc o u t h a d j . 1 ( o f a p e r s o n ,
manners, appearance, etc.)
lacking in ease and polish;
uncultured, rough (uncouth voices;
behaviour was uncouth ) . 2
archaic not known; desolate; wild;
uncivilized (an uncouth place).
uncouth lacking in good manners,
refinement, or grace = grotesco,
grosero,extraño, torpe, rudo, inculto,
demañado, arisco
1 a archaic : not known or not familiar to
one : seldom experienced :
UNCOMMON, RARE
b obsolete : MYSTERIOUS, UNCANNY
2 a : strange or clumsy in shape or
appearance : OUTLANDISH
b : lacking in polish and grace :
RUGGED <uncouth verse> c :
awkward and uncultivated in
appearance, manner, or behavior
tr. de A. Ruste
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
X
X
240
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
respect they differed from the
individuals on whom he had so
recently bestowed a parting
glance; and yet the minister ’s
5 deepest sense seemed to inform
him of their mutability. A similar
impression struck him most
remarkably a he passed under
the walls of his own church. The
10 edifice had so very strange, and
yet so familiar an aspect, that
Mr. Dimmesdale’s mind vibrated
between two ideas; either that he
had seen it only in a dream
15 hitherto, or that he was merely
dreaming about it now.
to en que se diferenciaban de
los individuos que recientemente había visto; y, no obstante, la sensación más honda
del ministro parecía informarle de su mutabilidad. Una impresión parecida le sorprendió
más notablemente al pasar bajo
los muros de su propia iglesia.
El edificio tenía un aspecto tan
extraño y, sin embargo, tan familiar, que el cerebro del señor
Dimmesdale vibró entre dos
ideas: o que la había visto en
sueños antes, o que estaba soñando con ella.
This phenomenon, in the
various shapes which it assumed,
indicated no external change, but
so sudden and important a
change in the spectator of the
familiar scene, that the
intervening space of a single day
had
operated
on
his
consciousness like the lapse of
years. The minister’s own will,
and Hester’s will, and the fate
that grew between them, had
wrought this transformation. It
was the same town as heretofore,
but the same minister returned
not from the forest. He might
have said to the friends who
greeted him—”I am not the man
for whom you take me! I left him
yonder in the forest, withdrawn
into a secret dell, by a mossy tree
trunk, and near a melancholy
brook! Go, seek your minister,
and see if his emaciated figure,
his thin cheek, his white, heavy,
pain-wrinkled brow, be not flung
down there, like a cast-off
garment!” His friends, no doubt,
would still have insisted with
him—”Thou art thyself the
man!” but the error would have
been their own, not his. Before
Mr. Dimmesdale reached home,
his inner man gave him other
evidences of a revolution in the
sphere of thought and feeling. In
truth, nothing short of a total
change of dynasty and moral
code, in that interior kingdom,
was adequate to account for the
impulses now communicated to
the unfortunate and startled
minister. At every step he was
Este fenómeno, en las diversas formas que presentaba, no
indicaba cambio alguno externo, sino un cambio tan repentino e importante en el espectador familiar de la escena que el
espacio interventor de un solo
día había operado sobre sus
sentidos como el lapso de los
años. Originaron esta transformación la propia voluntad del ministro y la de Ester, con el sino
que se alzaba entre ellos. Era la
misma población de antes, [242]
pero el ministro que volvía de la
selva no era el mismo. Pudiera haber dicho a los amigos que le
saludaban: «¡Yo no soy el hombre por quien me tomáis! ¡Lo
dejé en el bosque, allá, en el
oculto vallecito, junto al tronco musgoso y cerca de un arroyo melancólico! ¡Id, buscad a
vuestro pastor, y ved si su macilenta figura, sus hundidas
mejillas y su frente blanca, pesada y rugosa no están arrojadas allí, como un vestido desechado!» Sin duda, sus amigos
hubiesen insistido, diciéndole:
«¡Tú eres el mismo hombre!»,
pero el error hubiera sido de
ellos, no suyo. Antes de que el
señor Dimmesdale llegase a su
casa, su hombre interno le dio
otras evidencias de revolución
en la esfera de su pensamiento
y sentimiento. En realidad, un
cambio total de dinastía y código moral en su reino interior
era lo único que podía dar cuenta adecuada de los impulsos que
sentía ahora el desgraciado y
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
241
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
obeisance: deference or homage
25
30
hoary 1 a (of hair) grey or white with
age. b having such hair; aged. 2 old
and trite (a hoary joke). 3 Bot. & Zool.
covered with short white hairs.
hoary (very old) ‹joke/myth› (hum) antediluviano (hum) 2 (white-haired) (liter)
‹head› cano (liter), canoso. 3 blanquecino
35
40
wag 1 1 tr. & intr. shake or wave rapidly or
energetically to and fro. 2 intr. archaic (of the world,
times, etc.) go along with varied fortune or
characteristics.
45
50
incited to do some strange, wild,
wicked thing or other, with a
sense that it would be at once
involuntary and intentional, in
spite of himself, yet growing
out of a profounder self than
that which opposed the
impulse. For instance, he met
one of his own deacons. The
good old man addressed him
with the paternal affection and
patriarchal privilege which his
venerable age, his upright and
holy character, and his station in
the church, entitled him to use
and, conjoined with this, the
deep, almost worshipping
respect, which the minister’s
professional and private claims
alike demanded. Never was
there a more beautiful example
of how the majesty of age and
wisdom may comport with the
obeisance and respect enjoined
upon it, as from a lower social
r a n k, a n d i n f e r i o r o r d e r o f
endowment, towards a higher.
Now, during a conversation of
some two or th r e e m o m e n t s
b e t w e e n t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
Dimmesdale
and
this
e x c e l l e n t a n d hoary-bearded
deacon, it was only by the most
careful self-control that the former
could refrain from uttering certain
blasphemous suggestions that
rose into his mind, respecting the
communion-supper. He absolutely trembled and turned pale as
ashes, lest his tongue should wag
itself in utterance of these horrible matters, and plead his own
consent for so doing, without his
having fairly given it. And, even
with this terror in his heart, he
could hardly avoid laughing, to
imagine how the sanctified old
patriarchal deacon would have
been petrified by his minister’s
impiety.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
Again, another incident of
the same nature. Hurrying
along the street, the Reverend
55 Mr. Dimmesdale encountered
the eldest female member of
his church, a most pious and
e x e m p l a r y o l d d a m e , p o o r,
widowed, lonely, and with a
60 heart as full of reminiscences
alarmado ministro. A cada paso
era impulsado a hacer una u otra
cosa extraña y ruda, con sensación de ser a la vez involuntaria
e intencionada; a pesar suyo y,
sin embargo, saliendo de un su
ser más profundo que aquel que
se oponía al impulso. Por ejemplo, encontró a uno de sus propios diáconos. El buen viejo le
saludó con el afecto paternal y
priv i l e g i o p a t r i a r c a l q u e s u
edad venerable, su carácter
elevado y religioso y su posición en la Iglesia le daban derecho a usar, y juntamente con
esto el respeto hondo y honorable que el título profesional
y privado del ministro demandaban. Nunca hubo un
ejemplo más hermoso de
cómo la majestad de la edad
y sabiduría puede concordar
con la obediencia y respeto,
como si perteneciese a una
clase inferior, y un orden inferior de dotes, hacia el superior. Durante una conversación
de breves momentos entre el
reverendo señor Dimmesdale y
este excelente diácono de
barba blanca, fue debido tan
sólo a un cuidadoso dominio
del primero que no pronunciase ciertas sugestiones blasfemas que asaltaron [243] su cerebro respecto a la cena-comunión. Tembló y se puso pálido
como la muerte, pensando en
que su lengua se agitaba por
pronunciar aquellas horribles
materias, alegando un consentimiento para hacerlo que él no
había dado. ¡Y aun con este
terror en el corazón, escasamente podía evitar la risa, imaginándose cómo se hubiese petrificado el patriarcal y viejo
diácono ante la impiedad del
ministro!
Después ocurrióle otro incidente de la misma naturaleza.
Caminando apresuradamente
por la calle se encontró con la
feligresa de más edad perteneciente a su capilla; una anciana
dama ejemplo de piedad, pobre,
viuda, sola y con un corazón tan
lleno de reminiscencias de su
242
hoary 1 a (of hair) grey or white with age.
b having such hair; aged. 2 old and
trite (a hoary joke). 3 Bot. & Zool.
covered with short white hairs.
hoary adj. 1 canescent, hoary covered
with fine whitish hairs or down 2
hoary, rusty ancient; «hoary jokes»
3 gray, grey, gray-haired, grey-haired,
gray-headed, grey-headed, grizzly,
hoar, hoary, white-haired showing
characteristics of age, especially
having gray or white hair; «whose
beard with age is hoar»-Coleridge;
«nodded his hoary head»
1 Gray or white with or as if with age.
2 Covered with grayish hair or
pubescence: hoary leaves.
3 So old as to inspire veneration;
ancient.
syn. belonging to, existing, or occurring
in times long past: age-old, ancient,
antediluvian, antiquated, antique,
archaic, old, olden, old-time,
timeworn, venerable.
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
tr. de A. Ruste
about her dead husband and
children, and her dead friends
of long ago, as a burial-ground
is full of storied gravestones.
Yet all this, which would else
have been such heavy sorrow,
was made almost a solemn joy
to her devout old soul, by
religious consolations and the
truths of Scripture, wherewith
she had fed herself continually
for more than thirty years. And
s i n c e M r. D i m m e s d a l e h a d
taken her in charge, the good
g r a n d a m ’s c h i e f e a r t h l y
comfort—which, unless it had
been likewise a heavenly
comfort, could have been none
at all—was to meet her pastor,
whether casually, or of set purpose, and be refreshed with a
word of warm, fragrant,
heaven-breathing Gospel truth,
from his beloved lips, into her
dulled, but rapturously
a t t e n t i v e e a r. B u t , o n t h i s
occasion, up to the moment of
putting his lips to the old
woman’s ear, Mr. Dimmesdale,
as the great enemy of souls
would have it, could recall no
text of Scripture, nor aught
else, except a brief, pithy, and,
as it then appeared to him,
unanswerable argument against
the immortality of the human
soul. The instilment thereof
into her mind would probably
have caused this aged sister to
drop down dead, at once, as by
the effect of an intensely
poisonous infusion. What he
really did whisper, the minister
could
never
afterwards
recollect. There was, perhaps,
a fortunate disorder in his
utterance, which failed to
impart any distinct idea to the
good widows comprehension,
or
which
Providence
interpreted after a method of
i t s o w n . A s s u r e d l y, a s t h e
minister looked back, he
beheld an expression of divine
gratitude and ecstasy that
seemed like the shine of the
celestial city on her face, so
wrinkled and ashy pale.
X
esposo muerto, de sus hijos y
amigos fallecidos hacía largo
tiempo como un cementerio lleno de lápidas historiadas. Sin
embargo, todo esto, que pudiera haber constituido una abrumadora tristeza, era para su vieja alma una dicha solemne, a
causa de los consuelos de la religión y de las verdades de la
Escritura, de las que se había
nutrido continuamente durante
más de treinta años. Y desde
que el señor Dimmesdale la
tomó a su cargo, el mayor consuelo terrenal para la buena anciana (que, a no haber sido a la
vez un consuelo celestial, no
hubiese sido nada) era el de encontrar a su pastor, casualmente
o a intento, y ser vivificada con
una verdad del Evangelio, con
la palabra calurosa, fragante y
celestial de sus amados labios,
murmurada a su oído torpe, pero
arrobadamente atento. Mas en
esta ocasión, al poner sus labios
junto al oído de la anciana, el
señor Dimmesdale, como lo hubiese hecho el gran enemigo de
las almas, no pudo recordar ningún texto de las Escrituras, ni
otra cosa alguna, salvo un argumento breve, enérgico y, como
entonces le pareció incontestable, contra la inmortalidad del
alma humana. Esta insinuación
en su cerebro hubiera causado
p r o b a b l e m e n t e la r e p e n t i n a
muerte ______ de esta anciana
hermana, [244] como por efecto de una infusión intensamente venenosa. Lo que le murmuró al oído el pastor no pudo
volver a recordarlo. Tal vez hubiera un afortunado desorden
en su pronunciación que evitase tuviera una clara idea para
la comprensión de la pobre
viuda, o que la Providencia lo
interpretase con arreglo a su
propio método. Lo cierto es
que, al volver el ministro la cabeza, vio en ella una expresión
divina de gratitud y éxtasis,
que parecía el resplandor de la
ciudad celestial sobre su cara
pálida y arrugada.
Nuevamente, después de de-
Again, a third instance.
243
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
After parting from the old
c h u r c h m e m b e r, h e m e t t h e
youngest sister of them all. It
was a maiden newly-won—and
w o n b y t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
Dimmesdale’s own sermon, on
the Sabbath after his vigil—to
barter the transitory pleasures
of the world for the heavenly
hope that was to assume
brighter substance as life grew
dark around her, and which
would gild the utter gloom
with final glory. She was fair
and pure as a lily that had
bloomed in Paradise. The
minister knew well that he was
himself enshrined within the
stainless sanctity of her heart,
which hung its snowy curtains
about his image, imparting to
religion the warmth of love, and
to love a religious purity. Satan,
that afternoon, had surely led
the poor young girl away from
her mother’s side, and thrown
her into the pathway of this
sorely tempted, or—shall we
not rather say?—this lost and
desperate man. As she drew nigh,
the arch-fiend whispered him to
condense into small compass, a n d
drop into her tender b o s o m
a germ of evil that would
be sure to blossom darkly
soon, and bear black
f r u i t b e t i m e s . S u c h was
his sense of power over this
virgin soul, trusting him as she
did, that the minister felt
potent to blight all the field
of innocence with but one
wicked look, and develop all
its opposite with but a word.
So—with a mightier struggle
than he had yet sustained—
he held his Geneva cloak
before his face, and hurried
onward, making no sign of
recognition, and leaving the
young sister to digest his
rudeness as she might. She
ransacked her conscience—
which was full of harmless
little matters, like her pocket
or her work-bag—and took
herself to task, poor thing! for
a thousand imaginary faults,
and went about her household
duties with swollen eyelids
tr. de A. Ruste
X
244
jar a la antigua feligresa de su
capilla, tropezó con la más joven de sus ovejas. Una damita
convertida recientemente por el
sermón
que
pronunció
Dimmesdale en el sábado siguiente a su vigilia. Convencida a cambiar los placeres transitorios del mundo por la esperanza celestial que había de proporcionarla una sustancia más
resplandeciente, cuando la vida
se oscureciera a su alrededor,
iluminando su completa lobreguez con la glorial final. Era
buena y pura como una azucena nacida en el Paraíso. El pastor sabía bien que estaba custodiado como una reliquia por la
intachable santidad de su corazón, echando sobre su imagen
las níveas cortinas, comunicando a la religión el fuego del
amor y amando una pureza religiosa. Satán, aquella tarde,
arrastró sin duda a aquella pobre muchacha del regazo materno y la arrojó a la senda de este
hombre perdido y desesperado.
Conf o r m e s e a c e r c a b a , e l
espíritu maligno le decía
q u e a c o r t a s e e l paso y vertiese en su tierno seno el germen
del mal que habría de florecer
tenebrosamente, pronto, y dar
antes de mucho tiempo su negro fruto. Tal era su sensación
de poder sobre esta alma virginal, que confiaba en él, sabiendo el ministro que se sentía potente para marchitar todo
el campo de inocencia con sólo
una mirada perversa y desarrollar
todo lo contrario con una mirada
solamente. Así pues, con mayor
lucha que hasta entonces jamás
sostuvo, se [245] cubrió el rostro con el manto y apresuró el
paso, sin dar muestra de haberla
reconocido y dejando que la joven hermana juzgara su rudeza
como creyera conveniente. Ella
rebuscó en su conciencia (llena
de pequeñas cosas inofensivas,
como su bolso de trabajo) y
encaminóse a sus faenas,
¡pobrecilla!, pensando en mil faltas
imaginarias; y a la mañana siguiente, mientras realizaba sus quehaceres domésticos, sus párpados esta-
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
the next morning.
ban inflamados por el llanto.
Before the minister had
time to celebrate his victory
over this last temptation, he
was conscious of another
impulse, more ludicrous, and
almost as horrible. It was—
we blush to tell it—it was to
stop short in the road, and
teach some very wicked
words to a knot of little
Puritan children who were
playing there, and had but
j u s t b e g u n t o talk. Denying
himself this freak, as unworthy
of his cloth, he met a drunken
seaman, one of the ship’s crew
from the Spanish Main. And
here, since he had so valiantly
forborne all other wickedness,
poor Mr. Dimmesdale longed
at least to shake hands with the
tarry black-guard, and
recreate himself with a few
improper jests, such as
dissolute sailors so abound
with, and a volley of good,
round, solid, satisfactory, and
heaven-defying oaths! It was
not so much a better principle,
as partly his natural good
taste, and still more his
buckramed habit of clerical
decorum, that carried him safely
through the latter crisis.
Antes de que el ministro tuviese tiempo de celebrar su victoria
sobre esta última tentación, sintió
otro nuevo impulso, más ridículo
y casi más horrible. Fue (nos sonrojamos al decirlo) pararse en el
camino y enseñar algunas perversas palabrotas a un grupo de pequeños niños puritanos que se hallaban jugando allí, y quienes hacía muy poco tiempo que habían
roto a hablar. Desistiendo de este
antojo, por juzgarlo indigno de sus
hábitos, encontróse con un marinero borracho, perteneciente a la tripulación del barco llegado del continente español. ¡Y entonces, después de haber evitado con tanta
valentía todas las anteriores maldades, el pobre Dimmesdale sintió deseos de estrechar la mano
de aquel alquitranado tunante y recrearse con sus groseras chirigotas, tan propias de
los marineros licenciosos, y
una sarta de juramentos rotundos, sonoros, sólidos, satisfactorios y sacrílegos! Fue debido, más bien que a sus principios, en parte a su natural
buen gusto, y todavía más a su
habitual decoro clerical, e l
que pudiera sobreponerse a
esta última crisis.
“What is it that haunts and
tempts me thus?” cried the
40 minister to himself, at length,
pausing in the street, and
striking his hand against his
forehead.
«¿Qué es lo que me
asalta y tienta de este
modo?» —preguntóse el
ministro, parándose en la
calle y llevándose la mano
a la frente—.
45
«¿Estoy loco? ¿O estoy
dado al demonio? ¿Hice
algún contrato con él en la
selva, firmándolo con mi
sangre? ¿Y me obliga ahora a cumplirlo, sugestionándome la ejecución de
todas las maldades que su
hedionda imaginación
puede concebir?»
5
10
15
20
25
30
buckramed:stiffened
35
foul : asqueroso, nauseabundo, ordinario, grosero, infecto
tr. de A. Ruste
“Am I mad? or am I given
over utterly to the fiend? Did I
make a contract with him in the
forest, and sign it with my
blood? And does he now
50 summon me to its fulfilment, by
suggesting the performance of
every wickedness which his
m o s t foul i m a g i n a t i o n c a n
conceive?”
55
At the moment when the
R e v e r e n d M r. D i m m e s d a l e
thus communed with himself,
and struck his forehead with
60 h i s h a n d , o l d M i s t r e s s
[246] En el momento en
que el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale departía así consigo mismo y se golpeaba la
frente con la mano, la
245
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
Hibbins, the reputed witchl a d y, i s s a i d t o h a v e b e e n
passing by. She made a very
grand appearance, having on
a high head-dress, a rich
g o w n o f v e l v e t , a n d a r u ff
done up with the famous
yellow starch, of which Anne
Turner, her especial friend,
had taught her the secret,
before this last good lady
had been hanged for Sir
T h o m a s O v e r b u r y ’s m u r d e r.
W h e t h e r the witch had read
the minister ’s thoughts or no,
she came to a full stop,
looked shrewdly into his face,
smiled craftily, and—though
little given to converse with
clergymen—began a conversation.
vieja señora Hibbins, la
reputada dama—bruja,
acertó a pasar por allí.
I b a vestida aparatosamente;
llevaba un peinado empingorotado, una rica túnica de terciopelo y una gola planchada con
el famoso almidón amarillo, del
que Ana Turnen su amiga especial, le había enseñado el secreto, antes de que esta buena señora fuese ahorcada por el asesinato de Sir Thomas Overbury.
Fuese que la bruja leyera o no
en los pensamientos del ministro, ello es que paróse de pronto,
miróle
a
la
cara
solapadamente, sonrió con astucia y, aunque poco dada a hablar con sacerdotes, comenzó la
conversación diciendo:
“So, reverend sir, you have
made a visit into the forest,”
25 o b s e r v e d t h e w i t c h - l a d y,
nodding her high head-dress at
him. “The next time I pray you
to allow me only a fair warning,
and I shall be proud to bear you
30 c o m p a n y. Wi t h o u t t a k i n g
overmuch upon myself my good
word will go far towards
gaining any strange gentleman
a fair reception from yonder
35 potentate you wot of.”
—¿De modo, reverendo señor, que habéis hecho una visita a la selva? observó la
dama—bruja, moviendo su
aparatosa cabeza—. Os ruego
que la próxima vez me deis
aviso y me sentiré orgullosa de
ir en vuestra compañía. Sin que
ello me cause molestia, mi intervención puede servir para que
cualquier caballero extraño pueda obtener una mejor acogida de
aquel potentado.
“I
profess,
madam,”
answered the clergyman, with a
grave obeisance, such as the
lady’s rank demanded, and his
own good breeding made
imperative—”I profess, on my
conscience and character, that I
am utterly bewildered as
touching the purport of your
words! I went not into the forest
to seek a potentate, neither do I,
at any future time, design a visit
thither, with a view to gaining
the favour of such personage.
My one sufficient object was to
greet that pious friend of mine,
the Apostle Eliot, and rejoice
with him over the many precious
souls he hath won from
heathendom!”
—¡Le manifiesto, señora
—dijo el clérigo, con la grave cortesía que demandaba el
rango de la dama, y que su
buena crianza hizo imperativa—, declaro, por mi conciencia y carácter, que estoy
aturdido ante el propósito de
s u s p a l a b r a s ! Yo n o f u i a l
bosque en busca de un potentado, ni tengo intención de
visitarle en lo futuro con idea
de granjearme el favor de semejante personaje. ¡Mi único y suficiente objeto fue el
de saludar a mi piadoso amigo el apóstol Eliot y regocijarnos por las muchas almas
preciosas que ha ganado al
paganismo!
“Ha, ha, ha!” cackled the
old witch-lady, still nodding
60 h e r h i g h h e a d - d r e s s a t t h e
—¡Ah, ah, ah! —cacareó la
vieja dama—bruja, agitando aún
ante el ministro su empingorota-
grand appearence magnífica aparición
5
10
15
20
40
45
50
55
crackle reír socarronamente
tr. de A. Ruste
246
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
mi n i s t e r. “ We l l , w e l l ! w e
must needs talk thus in the
d a y t i m e ! Yo u c a r r y i t off
old hand con experiencia, como
like an old hand! But at
un veterano 5 midnight, and in the forest, we
shall have other talk together!”
vivid puede traducirse por
vivo [sentido figurado] si tiene relación
con vivo (brasas vivas), claro, gráfico [relato], intenso [recuerdo], brillante [color] o por
vívido si tiene sentido poético de vivaz,
eficaz, vigoroso, de ingenio agudo
Flower shop is back in business,
providing a vivid contrast to destruction
[L.A. Times, 9-2-92]. = Ya está abierta
una florería que se había cerrado, ofreciendo un contraste gráfico frente a la
destrucción. / This Picasso’s painting
has vivid colors. = Este cuadro de
Picaso tiene colores intensos. / I
remember vividly the windmills. = Recuerdo gráficamente los molinos de
viento. / The house was painted a vivid green. = La casa estaba pintada de
un verde brillante.
tr. de A. Ruste
X
do peinado—. ¡Bien, bien, no
tenemos necesidad de charlar así
a la luz del día! ¡Lo llevó usted
con mucho sigilo! [247] ¡Pero a
medianoche y en la selva tendremos otro rato de charla!
She passed on with her aged
stateliness, but often turning
10 back her head and smiling at
him, like one willing to
recognise a secret intimacy of
connexion.
Continuó su camino con su
vieja majestuosidad, pero volviendo frecuentemente la cabeza
y sonriéndole, como deseosa de
reconocer una secreta intimidad
de relación.
15
“Have I then sold myself,”
thought the minister, “to the
fiend whom, if men say true, this
yellow-starched and velveted
old hag has chosen for her prince
20 and master?”
«¡Luego me he vendido —
pensó el ministro— al espíritu
maligno, a quien esta vieja hechicera engolada y aterciopelada
ha e l e g i d o p o r s u p r í n c i p e
y s e ñor!»
The wretched minister! He
had made a bargain very like it!
Te m p t e d b y a d r e a m o f
happiness, he had yielded
himself with deliberate choice,
as he had never done before, to
what he knew was deadly sin.
And the infectious poison of that
sin had been thus rapidly
diffused throughout his moral
system. It had stupefied all
blessed impulses, and awakened
into vivid [intensa] life the whole
brotherhood of bad ones. Scorn,
bitterness,
unprovoked
malignity, gratuitous desire of
ill, ridicule of whatever was
good and holy, all awoke to
tempt, even while they
frightened him. And his
encounter with old Mistress
Hibbins, if it were a real
incident, did but show its
sympathy and fellowship with
wicked mortals, and the world of
perverted spirits.
¡El desgraciado ministro
había hecho un trato muy parecido! Tentado por un sueño
de felicidad, se había rendido con intención deliberada a
lo que sabía que era un pecado mortal. Y el infeccioso veneno de aquel pecado se había propagado rápidamente a
todo su sistema moral. Había
entorpecido todos los buenos
impulsos y despertado a la
vida agitada toda la congregación de los malos. Escarnio, amargura, maldad no mot i v a d a, voluntario deseo del
mal, el ridículo de todo cuanto
fuera bueno y santo, todos despertaron para tentarle, aun cuando le asustaban. Y el encuentro
con la vieja señora Hibbins, de
ser un incidente real, no hizo
sino demostrar su simpatía y
compañerismo por los mortales
malvados y todo el mundo de los
espíritus perversos.
25
30
35
gratuitous 1 gratuito 2 complimentary,
costless, free, gratis 3 needless,
uncalled-for (unnecessary and
unwarranted) innecesario, sin fundamento, voluntario, injustificado
40
45
X
X
He had by this time reached
50 his dwelling on the edge of the
burial ground, and, hastening up
the stairs, took refuge in his
study. The minister was glad to
h a v e r e a c h e d t h i s s h e l t e r,
55 without first betraying himself
to the world by any of those
strange
and
wicked
eccentricities to which he had
been continually impelled while
60 passing through the streets. He
Durante este tiempo había
llegado a su vivienda, el extremo del cementerio, y precipitándose escaleras arriba buscó
refugio en su estudio. El ministro se alegró de haber llegado a
aquel retiro sin haberse delatado antes al mundo por una de
esas malvadas excentricidades a
las que se viera continuamente
impulsado al atravesar las calles. Penetró en su cuarto habi247
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
entered the accustomed room,
and looked around him on its
books, its windows, its fireplace,
and the tapestried comfort of
5 the walls, with the same
perception of strangeness that
had haunted him throughout his
walk from the forest dell into the
town and thitherward. Here he
10 had studied and written; here
gone through fast and vigil, and
come forth half alive; here
striven to pray; here borne a
hundred thousand agonies!
15 There was the Bible, in its rich
old Hebrew, with Moses and the
Prophets speaking to him, and
God’s voice through all.
tual y miró en derredor, a sus
libros, sus ventanas, su chimenea, y a lo confortable de sus
paredes tapizadas, con la misma percepción de extrañeza que
le había asaltado durante su camino desde la hondonada de la
selva hasta la población, y
dentro de ella. Allí había estudiado y escrito; había hecho
ayunos y vigilias, de [248] las
que salió medio muerto; había
procurado rezar; allí sufrió
cien mil agonías. ¡Allí estaba
la Biblia, con su rico hebreo
antiguo del que Moisés y los
profetas le hablaron, y la voz
de Dios con todos!
20
There on the table, with the
inky pen beside it, was an
unfinished sermon, with a
sentence broken in the midst,
where his thoughts had ceased
to gush out upon the page two
days before. He knew that it
was himself, the thin and
white-cheeked minister, who
had done and suffered these
things, and written thus far into
the Election Sermon! But he
seemed to stand apart, and eye
this former self with scornful
pitying, but half-envious
curiosity. That self was gone.
Another man had returned out
of the forest—a wiser one—
with a knowledge of hidden
mysteries which the simplicity
of the former never could have
reached. A bitter kind of
knowledge that!
Allí, sobre la mesa, junto a
la pluma mojada de tinta, se hallaba un sermón no terminado,
con la sentencia interrumpida,
donde sus pensamientos cesaron
de derramarse sobre la página,
dos días antes. ¡Conocía que fue
él, el enflaquecido y pálido ministro, quien había hecho y sufrido estas cosas y llegó tan adelante en su sermón de Predestinación! Pero parecía hallarse
aparte, mirando su antiguo ser
con curiosidad desdeñosa y
compasiva, pero medio envidiosa. Aquel ser desapareció. El
hombre que había vuelto de la
selva era otro más sabio, con un
conocimiento de misterios ocultos que la simplicidad del primero jamás hubiese logrado.
¡Aquélla era una clase de sabiduría más amarga!
While occupied with these
45 reflections, a knock came at the
d o o r o f t h e s t u d y, a n d t h e
minister said, “Come in!”—not
wholly devoid of an idea that he
might behold an evil spirit. And
50 so he did! It was old Roger
Chillingworth that entered. The
minister stood white and
speechless, with one hand on the
Hebrew Scriptures, and the other
55 spread upon his breast.
Estando ocupado con estas
reflexiones, llamaron a la puerta
del estudio y el ministro dijo: —
¡Adelante!— no privado por
completo de la idea de que pudiese contemplar un mal espíritu. Y así
fue.
Roger
Chillingworth entró. El clérigo
permaneció blanco y mudo, con
una mano apoyada sobre las Escrituras hebreas y la otra extendida sobre su pecho.
“ We l c o m e
home,
reverend sir,” said the
physician “And how found
60 y o u t h a t g o d l y m a n , t h e
—Bienvenido seáis al hogar,
reverendo señor —dijo el médico—. ¿Qué tal encontró usted a
aquel santo varón, el apóstol
25
30
35
40
248
Notas
methinks v. intr. (past methought)
archaic it seems to me.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
Apostle Eliot? But methinks,
d e a r s i r, y o u l o o k p a l e , a s i f
the travel through the
wilderness had been too sore
5 f o r y o u . Wi l l n o t m y a i d b e
requisite to put you in heart
and strength to preach your
Election Sermon?”
Eliot? Pero me parece, querido
señor, que estáis pálido, como si
el viaje a través de la selva os
hubiera sido demasiado penoso.
¿No será mi ayuda necesaria para
llevar fuerzas a vuestro corazón
y que podáis predicar vuestro
sermón de Predestinación?
10
“ N a y, I t h i n k n o t s o , ”
r e j o i n e d t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
Dimmesdale. “My journey, and
the sight of the holy Apostle
yonder, and the free air which
15 I have breathed have done me
good,
after
so
long
c o n f i n e m e n t i n m y s t u d y. I
think to need no more of your
drugs, my kind physician, good
20 though they be, and administered
by a friendly hand.”
—No, creo que no —repuso el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale—. Mi viaje, la
vista de aquel santo apóstol y
el aire libre que he respirado
me han hecho bien después de
tan larga reclusión en mi estudio. No creo tener más necesidad de vuestras drogas, mi
amable [249] médico, por buenas que sean, administradas
por una mano amiga.
All this time Roger
Chillingworth was looking at the
minister with the grave and
intent regard of a physician
towards his patient. But, in spite
of this outward show, the latter
was almost convinced of the old
man’s knowledge, or, at least, his
confident suspicion, with respect
to his own interview with
Hester Prynne. The physician
knew then that in the
minister ’s regard he was no
longer a trusted friend, but his
b i t t e r e s t e n e m y. S o m u c h
being known, it would appear
natural that a part of it should
he expressed. It is singular,
h o w e v e r, h o w l o n g a t i m e
often passes before words
embody things; and with what
security two persons, who
choose to avoid a certain
subject, may approach its very
verge, and retire without
disturbing it. Thus the
minister felt no apprehension
that Roger Chillingworth
would touch, in express words,
upon the real position which
they sustained towards one
another. Yet did the physician,
i n h i s d a r k w a y, c r e e p
frightfully near the secret.
Durante todo este tiempo,
Roger Chillingworth estuvo observando al ministro con la grave e intensa mirada de un médico para con su paciente. Pero, a
pesar de su aspecto externo, el
pastor se hallaba casi convencido de que el viejo tenía conocimiento, o por lo menos abrigaba
sospechas, de su entrevista con
Ester Prynne. E1 médico supo
entonces que, a los ojos del clérigo, ya no sería un amigo de confianza, sino el peor de sus enemigos. Sabido todo esto, era lo
natural que se hubiese dado a
entender parte de ello. No obstante, es singular el mucho tiempo que pasa, frecuentemente, antes de que las cosas se incorporen a las palabras; y la seguridad
con que dos personas que procuran evitar un determinado asunto se aproximan hasta su mismo
borde, y se retiran sin haberlo
perturbado. Así pues, el ministro
no abrigaba temores de que
Roger Chillingworth abordase,
con palabras expresas, la verdadera posición que sostenían uno
respecto al otro. Sin embargo, el
médico, en su forma tenebrosa,
se arrastró espantosamente hasta
muy cerca del secreto.
“Were it not better,” said
he, “that you use my poor
60 skill tonight? Verily, dear sir,
—¿No sería mejor —dijo—
que hiciese usted uso esta noche
de mi pobre experiencia? Verda-
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
249
Notas
flit / revolotear 1 move lightly, softly, or
rapidly (flitted from one room to
another). verb 1 flutter, fleet, dart
move along rapidly and lightly; skim
or dart ; fly lightly; make short flights,
(revolotear) (flitted from branch to
branch). 3 Brit. colloq. leave one’s
house etc. secretly to escape
creditors or obligations. 4 esp. Sc. &
N.Engl. change one’s home; move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
revolotear: the butterflies flitted around
the flowers, las mariposas revoloteaban alrededor de las flores
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
we must take pains to make
you strong and vigorous for
this occasion of the Election
discourse. The people look for
5 great things from you,
apprehending that another
year may come about and find
their pastor gone.”
deramente, querido señor, debemos esforzarnos para haceros
fuerte y vigoroso en esta ocasión
de vuestro discurso de la Predestinación. Las gentes esperan de
usted grandes cosas, temiendo
que pueda llegar otro año y que
su pastor se haya ido.
10
“Yes, to another world,”
replied the minister with
pious resignation. “Heaven
g r a n t i t b e a b e t t e r o n e ; f o r,
in good sooth, I hardly think
15 t o t a r r y w i t h m y f l o c k
t h r o u g h t h e f l i t t i n g seasons
of another year! But
touching your medicine,
kind sir, in my present frame
20 o f b o d y I n e e d i t n o t . ”
—Sí, a otro mundo —replicó el ministro con piadosa
resignación—. ¡El cielo permita que sea un mundo mejor, porque,
en realidad, creo que escasamente
podré permanecer con mi rebaño
durante las rápidas estaciones de
otro año! Pero, dado el estado
presente de mi cuerpo, creo no
tener necesidad de vuestras medicinas.
“I joy to hear it,”
answered the physician. “It
may be that my remedies, so
25 l o n g a d m i n i s t e r e d i n v a i n ,
begin now to take due effect.
Happy man were I, and well
deserving of New England’s
gratitude, could I achieve
30 this cure!”
—Me alegra el oírlo —respondió el físico—. Quizá [250]
mis remedios, tanto tiempo administrados en vano, comiencen
ahora a producir su efecto. ¡Sería yo un hombre feliz y merecedor de la gratitud de Nueva Inglaterra si lograse realizar esta
cura!
“I thank you from my
heart, most watchful friend,”
s a i d t h e R e v e r e n d M r.
35 D i m m e s d a l e w i t h a s o l e m n
smile. “I thank you, and can
but requite your good deeds
with my prayers.”
—Doy a usted las gracias de
todo corazón, mi más atento amigo —dijo el reverendo señor
Dimmesdale, con una solemne
sonrisa—. Se lo agradezco, y no
puedo pagar a usted sus buenas
obras sino con mis oraciones.
40
“A good man’s prayers are
golden recompense!” rejoined old
Roger Chillingworth, as he took
his leave. “Yea, they are the
current gold coin of the New
45 Jerusalem, with the King’s own
mint mark on them!”
—¡Las oraciones de un hombre bueno son una recompensa de
oro! —repuso el viejo Roger, disponiéndose a marchar—. ¡Sí, son
la moneda de oro corriente en la
Nueva Jerusalén, con el cuño del
propio rey sobre ella!
Left alone, the minister
summoned a servant of the
50 h o u s e , a n d r e q u e s t e d f o o d ,
which, being set before him,
he ate with ravenous appetite.
Then flinging the already
written pages of the Election
55 S e r m o n i n t o t h e f i r e , h e
f o r t h w i t h b e g a n a n o t h e r,
which he wrote with such an
impulsive flow of thought and
emotion, that he fancied
60 h i m s e l f i n s p i r e d ; a n d o n l y
Una vez solo, el ministro
llamó a un criado de la casa
y le pidió alimento que, una
vez servido, lo comió con
voraz apetito. Después, arrojando al fuego las ya escritas páginas de su sermón de
Predestinación, se puso a escribir otro, con tan impulsivo fluido de pensamiento y
emoción que se creyó inspirado, maravillándose de que
el cielo juzgase apro p i a d o
250
Notas
foul : asqueroso, nauseabundo, ordinario, grosero, infecto
bedazzle, dazzle, daze, ofuscar, deslumbrar to cause someone to lose clear
vision, especially from intense light;
«She was dazzled by the bright
headlights»
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
wondered that Heaven should
see fit to transmit the grand
and solemn music of its
oracles through so foul an
5 organ pipe as he. However,
leaving that mystery to solve
itself, or go unsolved for ever,
he drove his task onward with
earnest haste and ecstasy.
10
Thus the night fled away, as
if it were a winged steed, and he
careering on it; morning came,
and peeped, blushing, through
15 the curtains; and at last sunrise
threw a golden beam into the
study, and laid it right across the
m i n i s t e r ’s bedazzled e y e s .
There he was, with the pen still
20 b e t w e e n h i s f i n g e r s , a n d a
vast, immeasurable tract of
written space behind him!
tr. de A. Ruste
transmitir la música
g r a n d i o s a y solemne de sus
oráculos a través de un tubo
de órgano tan hediondo
como él. Sin embargo, dejando que aquel misterio se
resolviese por sí solo, llevó
su tarea adelante con prisa
anhelosa y con éxtasis.
X
Así pasó la noche en un vuelo, como si cabalgase sobre un
corcel alado; llegó la mañana
asomando sus sonrojos por entre
los cortinajes; y, por fin, la salida del sol lanzó sobre el estudio
sus dorados reflejos, pasándolos
sobre los ojos deslumbrados del
ministro. ¡Allí estaba, con la pluma todavía entre sus dedos, y una
vasta _________ serie de cuartillas escritas delante de él!
25
30
35
40
Chapter 21: The New England Holiday
The action of this chapter takes place on the day of the Governor’s installation. Hester and Pearl are in the crowd. There they meet the sea captain whom
Hester hopes will take them and Dimmesdale back to the Old World. He tells her Chillingworth has also booked a passage.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY:
45
This chapter, describing Nester and Pearl in the crowd waiting for the new Governor’s procession, is a parallel to the opening chapter of the book, when
the crowd waited for Nester to come out of prison to stand with Pearl on the pillory scaffold. However, today Nester moves quietly in the crowd; public
attention will be on the newly-installed Governor and the minister. The general mood is merry and festive. Pearl, already disturbed by Nester’s repressed
excitement, becomes more perturbed by the unusual liveliness of the townsfolk. She asks Nester about Dimmesdale and Nester replies: ‘He will be there,
child .... but he will not greet thee today; nor must thou greet him’. Pearl cannot understand this.
50 and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the scaffold yonder! And in the deep forest, where
In the dark night-time he calls us to him,
only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss! And he kisses my forehead, too, so that the little brook
would hardly wash it off! But here, in the sunny day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him! A strange, sad man is he, with his
hand always over his heart!
Into the town come sailors, who are generally allowed to speak more freely and dress more gaily than the local population. It is as if the Puritans recognise
that outside their community different standards are observed. No one even remarks on it when the ship’s captain speaks to Nester. Yet at the same time,
the beadle is stopping a broadsword55exhibition-fight on the town’s scaffold, lest it violate the serious tone of the day.
The news that the sea captain imparts to Nester startles and upsets her: Chillingworth has also booked a passage on board his ship. Hester looks away,
only to catch a glimpse of the evil doctor, smiling menacingly at her.
metropolis: the mother city of a colony
60
Lord Mayor’s show: held on November 9 each year, it marked the inauguration of the Lord Mayor of London with a festival, including a procession
251
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
XXI.
[251] XXI
THE NEW ENGLAND
HOLIDAY
LA FIESTA DE NUEVA INGLATERRA
5
thronged : atestada, abarrotada
Betimes in the morning of
the day on which the new
Governor was to receive his
office at the hands of the people,
10 Hester Prynne and little Pearl
came into the market-place. It
was already thronged with the
craftsmen and other plebeian
inhabitants of the town, in
15 considerable numbers, among
whom, likewise, were many
rough figures, whose attire of
d e e r- s k i n s m a r k e d t h e m a s
belonging to some of the forest
20 settlements, which surrounded
the little metropolis of the
colony.
En la mañana del día en que
el nuevo gobernador debía recibir su cargo de manos del pueblo, Ester Prynne y la pequeña
Perla llegaron con tiempo a la
plaza del Mercado. Ésta se hallaba ya llena de bote en bote con
artesanos y otros plebeyos
habitantes de la población,
entre los que se veían también algunas rudas figuras,
cuyos trajes de piel de ciervo indicaban que pertenecían
a alguno de los departamentos de la selva que rodeaban
la pequeña metrópoli de la
colonia.
On this public holiday, as on
25 all other occasions for seven
years past, Hester was clad in a
garment of coarse gray cloth.
Not more by its hue than by
some indescribable peculiarity
30 in its fashion, it had the effect
of making her fade pers o n a l l y
out of sight and outline;
while again the scarlet letter
brought her back from this
35 twilight indistinctness, and
revealed her under the moral
aspect of its own illumination.
Her face, so long familiar to the
townspeople, showed the marble
40 q u i e t u d e w h i c h t h e y w e r e
accustomed to behold there. It
was like a mask; or, rather like
the frozen calmness of a dead
woman’s features; owing this
45 dreary resemblance to the fact
that Hester was actually dead, in
respect to any claim of
sympathy, and had departed out
of the world with which she still
50 seemed to mingle.
En este día festivo, como en
todas las demás ocasiones durante los siete últimos años,
Ester iba vestida con un traje de
tela gris ordinaria. Tanto por su
color como por alguna indescriptible particularidad de su
forma, tenía el efecto de hacerla
perder su personalidad y contorno,
a pesar de que la letra
roja la devolvió su luz
i n c i e r t a y l a reveló bajo el
aspecto moral de su propia iluminación. Su cara, hacía tiempo tan familiar a la gente de la
población, mostraba la tranquilidad marmórea que tenían costumbre de apreciar. Era como
una máscara, o, más bien, como
la calma helada de las facciones de una muerta; esta espantosa semejanza era debida al
hecho de que Ester estaba
muerta respecto a toda pretensión de simpatía y había dejado el mundo en el que todavía
parecía moverse.
It might be, on this one
d a y, t h a t t h e r e w a s a n
expression unseen before, nor,
55 i n d e e d , v i v i d e n o u g h t o b e
detected now; unless some
preternaturally gifted
observer should have
first read the heart, and
60 h a v e a f t e r w a r d s s o u g h t
Pudiera ser que en aquel
día tuviera una expresión
n o v i s t a a n t e s , y, r e a l m e n te, no lo bastante activa
para que pudiera ser apreciada, a menos que un observador dotado de dones
extraordinarios hubiese podido leer antes en su cora252
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
mien n. literary a person’s look or bearing,
as showing character or mood. Catadura,
aspecto, semblante, talante, porte,
empaque
sneer A 1 sonrisa sarcástica 2 comentario despectivo B poner cara de desprecio to sneer at, burlarse de, mofarse. Burlador
5
10
15
20
quench : sofocar, saciar
25
30
35
40
45
50
tr. de A. Ruste
a corresponding development in the countenance and mien. Such a
spiritual sneer might have conceived, that, after sustaining the
gaze of the multitude through
several miserable years as a
necessity, a penance, and
something which it was a stern
religion to endure, she now, for
one last time more, encountered it
freely and voluntarily, in order to
convert what had so long been
agony into a kind of triumph. “Look
your last on the scarlet letter and
its weare r ! ” — t h e p e o p l e ’ s
victim
and
lifelong
b o nd-slave, as they fancied
her, might say to them. “Yet a
little while, and she will be
beyond your reach! A few hours
longer and the deep, mysterious
ocean will quench and hide X
for ever the symbol which ye
have caused to burn on her
bosom!” Nor were it an
inconsistency too improbable
to be assigned to human
nature, should we suppose a
feeling of regret in Hester ’s
mind, at the moment when she
was about to win her freedom
from the pain which had been
thus deeply incorporated with
her being. Might there not be
an irresistible desire to quaff
a last, long, breathless draught
of the cup of wormwood and
aloes, with which nearly all
her years of womanhood had
been perpetually flavoured.
The wine of life, henceforth to
be presented to her lips, must
be indeed rich, delicious, and
exhilarating, in its chased and
golde n b e a k e r , o r e l s e
leave an inevitable and
weary languor, after the lees of
bitterness wherewith she had
been drugged, as with a cordial
of intensest potency.
Pearl was decked out with
a i r y g a i e t y. I t w o u l d h a v e
55 been impossible to guess that
this bright and sunny
apparition owed its existence
to the shape of gloomy gray;
o r t h a t a f a n c y, a t o n c e s o
60 gorgeous and so delicate as
253
zón, y después hubiera buscado en su continencia y
semblante un d e s a r r o l l o c o r r e spondiente. Tal observador
espiritual pudiese haber concebido que, después de soportar la mirada
de la multitud, durante [252] siete años
miserables, como una necesidad, una
penitencia y algo que era una severa
religión el soportarla, ahora ella, por
vez postrera, la sostenía libre y voluntariamente para convertirse en una especie de triunfo lo que durante tanto
tiempo había sido una agonía. «¡Mirad por última vez a la letra roja y a
su portadora!», p o d í a d e c i r l e s
l a q ue les parecía a las gentes su víctima largo tiempo
e s c l a v i z a d a . « ¡ U n i n s tante
más y habrá de s a p a r e c i d o a n t e
vuestros ojos! ¡Unas horas
más y el océano profundo y
m i s t e r i o s o s e t r a g a r á y ocultará para siempre el símbolo que
hicisteis ardiera sobre su pecho!»
No sería una inconsistencia demasiado improbable para ser
adjudicada a la naturaleza humana, si supusiésemos a la
mente de Ester una sensación de
pesadumbre en el momento de
hallarse a punto de ganar su libertad a la pena que tan hondamente había sido incorporada a su ser. ¿No pudiera indicar un deseo irresistible de
apurar en un último trago,
l a rg o y s i n r e s p i r a r, l a c o p a
de ajenjo y acíbar que había
saboreado casi perpetuamente durante toda su vida? El
vino de la vida que de allí en
adelante fuera presentado a
s u s l a b i o s sería rico, en efecto, delicioso y regocijante en
su copa de oro cincelada, o al menos dejaría una languidez inevitable y abrumadora, después de las
heces de amargura que le habían
sido administradas como un cordial
de la mayor potencia.
Perla iba ataviada con
una alegría vaporosa. Hubiera sido imposible adivinar si
esta aparición brillante y solar debía su existencia a
aquella lúgubre figura gris, o
si la f a n t a s í a , a l a v e z t a n
a l egre y delic a d a c o m o h a -
Notas
apparel n US ropa, ropajes, galas,
vestimenta, atavío
intimate
apparel, lencería
apparel 1 formal clothing, dress. 2
embroidered ornamentation on some
ecclesiastical vestments.
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
flit 1 move lightly, softly, or rapidly (flitted
from one room to another). verb 1
flutter, fleet, dart move along rapidly
and lightly; skim or dart ; fly lightly;
make short flights, (revolotear) (flitted
from branch to branch). 3 Brit. colloq.
leave one’s house etc. secretly to escape creditors or obligations. 4 esp.
Sc. & N.Engl. change one’s home;
move.
1an act of flitting. 2 (also moonlight
flit_ mudarse a la chita callando) a
secret change of abode in order to
escape creditors etc.
flit 1 a secret move (to avoid paying
debts); “they did a moonlight flit” 2
dart a sudden quick movement
sl. homosexual, afeminado
must have been requisite to
contrive the child’s apparel,
was the same that had achieved
a task perhaps more difficult, in
imparting so distinct a
peculiarity to Hester’s simple
robe. The dress, so proper was
it to little Pearl, seemed an effluence,
or
inevitable
development and outward
manifestation of her character,
no more to be separated from
her than the many-hued
brilliancy from a butterfly’s
wing, or the painted glory from
the leaf of a bright flower. As
with these, so with the child;
her garb was all of one idea
with her nature. On this
eventful day, moreover, there
was a certain singular
inquietude and excitement in
her mood, resembling nothing
so much as the shimmer of a
diamond, that sparkles and
flashes with the varied
throbbings of the breast on
which it is displayed.
Children have always a
sympathy in the agitations of
those connected with them:
always, especially, a sense of
a n y t r ouble or impending
[imminent] r e v o l u t i o n , of
whatever kind, in domestic
circumstances; and therefore
Pearl, who was the gem on her
m o t h e r ’s u n q u i e t b o s o m ,
betrayed, by the very dance of
her spirits, the emotions which
none could detect in the marble
passiveness of Hester’s brow.
tr. de A. Ruste
bían sido requeridas para
l a apariencia de
la niña, era la misma que había echado sobre sí la tarea
más difícil de imprimir a la
sencilla túnica de Ester tan
distinta peculiaridad. Era el
vestido tan apropiado a la pequeña Perla que parecía un
efluvio o un desarrollo inevitable; una manifestación externa de su carácter que no
pudiera se [253] pararse de
ella, como los muchos matices
brillantes de las alas de la
mariposa o la pictórica gloria
de las hojas de una flor resplandeciente. Esto ocurría con
la niña; su aspecto estaba
acorde con su naturaleza. Además, en este día memorable
había en sus modales cierta inquietud y excitación singulares,
nada tan parecido al rielar de
un diamante que centellea y
relampaguea con las varias
palpitaciones del pecho donde
está prendido. Los niños tienen
siempre una simpatía en las agitaciones de los que están ligados a
ellos; siempre, especialmente una
sensación cualquiera de trastorno o revolución inminente ,
de la clase que sea, en las circunstancias domésticas; y Perla, así pues, que era la gema
del intranquilo seno de su madre, descubría, por la propia
danza de su espíritu, las emociones que nadie podía observar en la marmórea pasividad
del semblante de Ester.
X conseguir
This effervescence made
45 h e r f l i t w i t h a b i r d - l i k e
movement, rather than walk by
her mother’s side.
Esta efervescencia la hacía
más bien revolotear como un pájaro que anda al lado de su madre.
She broke continually into
50 shouts of a wild, inarticulate,
and sometimes piercing
music. When they reached the
market-place, she became still
more restless, on perceiving the
55 stir and bustle that enlivened
the spot; for it was usually more
like the broad and lonesome
green before a village meetinghouse, than the centre of a
60 town’s business
Continuamente rompía en
gritos musicales, salvajes,
inarticulados, y algunas veces
penetrantes. Cuando llegó a la
plaza del Mercado aún se puso
más inquieta al percibir la agitación y bullicio que animaban la
escena; porque, habitualmente,
más parecía el vasto y desierto
prado frontero a la capilla de un
villorrio que el centro del tráfico
de una población.
254
Notas
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
tr. de A. Ruste
“Why, what is this, mother?”
cried she. “Wherefore have all
the people left their work to5 day? Is it a play-day for the
whole world? See, there is the
blacksmith! He has washed his
sooty face, and put on his
Sabbath-day clothes, and looks
10 as if he would gladly be merry,
if any kind body would only
teach him how! And there is
Master Brackett, the old jailer,
nodding and smiling at me. Why
15 does he do so, mother?”
—¿Qué es esto, madre? —
gritó—. ¿Por qué ha dejado hoy
el trabajo toda esta gente? ¿Es un
día de juego para todo el mundo? ¡Mira allí está el herrero! ¡Se
ha lavado su cara sucia y se ha
puesto la ropa de los sábados, y
parece como si hubiera de estar
dichosamente alegre, si cualquier
persona amable le dijese cómo!
Y allá está Master Brackett, el
viejo carcelero, haciéndome señas y sonriéndome. ¿Por qué
hace eso, madre?
“He remembers thee a little
babe, my child,” answered
Hester.
—Es que se acuerda de cuando eras chiquitina —respondió
Ester.
“He should not nod and
smile at me, for all that—
the black, grim, ugly-eyed
old man!” said Pearl.
25
“He may nod at thee, if he
will; for thou art clad in gray,
and wearest the scarlet letter.
But see, mother, how many faces
of strange people, and Indians
30 among them, and sailors! What
have they all come to do, here
in the market-place?”
[254] —¡No debiera hacerme señas y sonreírme, pues, ese
hombre negro, viejo, horrendo y
malcarado! — d i j o P e r l a —
. Q u e t e h a g a muecas a
ti, si quiere; porque tú vas vestida de gris y llevas la letra
roja. ¡Pero mira, madre, cuántas caras de gente extraña, y,
entre ellas, indios y marineros!
¿Qué han venido a hacer todos
en la plaza del Mercado?
“They wait to see the
35 procession pass,” said Hester.
“For the Governor and the
magistrates are to go by, and the
ministers, and all the great
people and good people, with
40 t h e m u s i c a n d t h e s o l d i e r s
marching before them. “
—Esperan para ver pasar la procesión —dijo
Ester—, porque irán en
ella el gobernador y los
magistrados, los ministros
y toda la gente noble y
buena, con la música y los
soldados delante.
“And will the minister be
there?” asked Pearl. “And will
45 he hold out both his hands to me,
as when thou led’st me to him
from the brook-side?”
—¿E irá allí el ministro? —
preguntó Perla—. ¿Y extenderá
los brazos hacia mí, como cuando me llevaste a su lado desde
la orilla del arroyo?
“He will be there, child,”
50 answered her mother, “but he
will not greet thee to-day, nor
must thou greet him. “
—Estará allí, hija —respondió la madre—, pero no
te saludará hoy, ni tú deberás saludarle.
“What a strange, sad man is
55 h e ! ” s a i d t h e c h i l d , a s i f
speaking partly to herself. “In
the dark nighttime he calls us
to him, and holds thy hand and
mine, as when we stood with
60 him on the scaffold yonde