第10部分(第2/7 頁)

ublic　contumely；wreaking　itself　in　every　variety　of　insult；　but　there　ore　terrible　in　the　solemn　mood　of　the　popular　mind；　that　shelonged　rather　to　behold　all　those　rigid　countenances　contorted　withscornful　merriment；　and　herself　the　object。　Had　a　roar　of　laughterburst　from　the　multitude…　each　man；　each　woman；　each　littleshrill…voiced　child；　contributing　their　individual　parts…　HesterPrynne　might　have　repaid　them　all　with　a　bitter　and　disdainfulsmile。　But；　under　the　leaden　infliction　which　it　was　her　doom　toendure；　she　felt；　at　moments；　as　if　she　must　needs　shriek　out　with　thefull　power　of　her　lungs；　and　cast　herself　from　the　scaffold　downupon　the　ground；　or　else　go　mad　at　once。 Yet　there　were　intervals　when　the　whole　scene；　in　which　she　wasthe　most　conspicuous　object；　seemed　to　vanish　from　her　eyes；　or　atleast；　glimmered　indistinctly　before　them；　like　a　mass　ofimperfectly　shaped　and　spectral　images。　Her　mind；　and　especially　hermemory。　was　preternaturally　active；　and　kept　bringing　up　otherscenes　than　this　roughly　hewn　street　of　a　little　town；　on　the　edgeof　the　Western　wilderness；　other　faces　than　were　lowering　upon　herfrom　beneath　the　brims　of　those　steeple…crowned　hats。　Reminiscences；the　most　trifling　and　immaterial；　passages　of　infancy　and　school…days；sports；　childish　quarrels；　and　the　little　domestic　traits　of　hermaiden　years；　came　swarming　back　upon　her；　intermingled　withrecollections　of　whatever　was　gravest　in　her　subsequent　life；　onepicture　precisely　as　vivid　as　another；　as　if　all　were　of　similarimportance；　or　all　alike　a　play。　Possibly；　it　was　an　instinctivedevice　of　her　spirit；　to　relieve　itself；　by　the　exhibition　of　thesephantasmagoric　forms；　from　the　cruel　weight　and　hardness　of　thereality。 Be　that　as　it　might；　the　scaffold　of　the　pillory　was　a　point　of　view