But the sea in those old times, heaved, swelled, and foamed, very much at its own will, or subject only to the tempestuouswind, with hardly any attempts at regulation by human law. The buccaneeron the wave might relinquishhis calling, and become at once, if he chose, a man of probityand piety on land; nor, even in the full career of his reckless life, was he regarded as a personage with whom it was disreputable to traffic, or casually associate. Thus, the Puritan elders, in their black cloaks, starchedbands, and steeple-crowned hats, smiled not unbenignantlyat the clamourand rude deportment of these jolly seafaringmen; and it excited neither surprise nor anim-adversion, when so reputable a citizen as old Roger Chillingworth, the physician, was seen to enter the market-place, in close and familiar talk with the commander of the questionable vessel.
但是那时候的大海,汹涌澎湃、掀浪卷沫,很大程度上是我行我素,或仅仅臣服于狂风暴雨,从来没有道接受人类法律束缚的念头。那些在风口浪尖上谋生的海盗们,只要心甘情愿,可以洗手不干,立刻成为岸上的一名正直诚实的君子;面即使在他们任意胡为的生涯中,人们也并不把他们视为不屑一颐或与之稍打交道就有损自己名声的人。因此,那些穿着黑色礼服、挺着浆过的环状皱领、戴着尖顶高帽的清教徒长者们,对于这帮快活的水手们的大声喧哗和粗野举动,反倒报以不无慈爱的微笑;而当人们看到老罗杰·齐灵渥斯这样一个德高望重的居民和医生走进市场、同那艘形迹可疑的船只曲船长亲密面随便地交谈的时候,既没有引起惊讶之感,也没有议论纷纷。
【英文名著精选阅读:《红字》第二十一章(下)】相关文章:
最新
2016-11-11
2016-11-02
2016-11-01
2016-11-01
2016-11-01
2016-10-28