"Hester Prynne," said the clergyman, "I have striven with my young brother here, under whose preachingof the Word 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 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 touching the vilenessand blackness of your sin. Knowing your natural temper better than I, he could the better judge what arguments to use, whether of tenderness or terror, such as might prevail over your hardness and obstinacyinsomuchthat you should no longer hide the name of him who tempted you to this grievousfall. But he opposes to me (with a young man's over-softness, albeit wise beyond his years) that it were 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 sought to convince him, the shame lay in the commissionof the sin, and not in the showing of it forth. What say you to it, once again, brother Dimmesdale! Must it be thou, or I, that shall deal with this poor sinner's soul?"
“海丝特·白兰,那牧师说道,“我已经同我这里这位年轻的兄弟争论过,而你正是有幸坐听他布道的,——此时威尔逊先生把手放在身边一个脸色苍白的年轻人的肩头——“我说,我曾经试图说服这位虔诚的青年,要由他面对苍天,在这些英明而正直的长官面前,在全体人民的旁听之下,来处理你的问题,触及你罪孽中邪恶而阴暗的一面。由于他比我更了解你的秉性,他应该是个更合格的法官,他更清楚应该选用什么样的刚柔相济的辞令,来克服你的桀骜不驯;以使你不再隐瞒那个诱惑你如此堕落的人的姓名。然而,尽管他的才华超出了他的年龄,却仍有年轻人的优柔,他同我争辩说,强制一个妇女在光天化日之下和大庭广众之中,敞开自己内心的隐私,是和妇女的本性格格不入的。确实,我试图说服他,耻辱在于苟且罪孽的当时,面不在于袒露罪孽的事后。你再说一遍吧,丁梅斯代尔兄弟,你对此看法如何?到底该由你呢还是由我,来探究这可怜的罪人的灵魂呢?
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