第39部分(第5/7 頁)

！　What　is　it　that　the　minister　seeks　to　hide；with　his　hand　always　over　his　heart？　Ha；　Hester　Prynne！〃 〃What　is　it；　good　Mistress　Hibbins？〃　eagerly　asked　little　Pearl。〃Hast　thou　seen　it？〃 〃No　matter；　darling！〃　responded　Mistress　Hibbins；　making　Pearl　aprofound　reverence。　〃Thou　thyself　wilt　see　it；　one　time　or　another。They　say；　child；　thou　art　of　the　lineage　of　the　Prince　of　the　Air！Wilt　thou　ride　with　me；　some　fine　night；　to　see　thy　father？　Thenthou　shalt　know　wherefore　the　minister　keeps　his　hand　over　his　heart！〃 Laughing　so　shrilly　that　all　the　market…place　could　hear　her；　theweird　old　gentlewoman　took　her　departure。 By　this　time　the　preliminary　prayer　had　been　offered　in　themeeting…house；　and　the　accents　of　the　Reverend　Mr。　Dimmesdale　wereheard　mencing　his　discourse。　An　irresistible　feeling　kept　Hesternear　the　spot。　As　the　sacred　edifice　was　too　much　thronged　to　admitanother　auditor；　she　took　up　her　position　close　beside　the　scaffold　ofthe　pillory。　It　was　in　sufficient　proximity　to　bring　the　wholesermon　to　her　ears；　in　the　shape　of　an　indistinct；　but　varied；murmur　and　flow　of　the　minister's　very　peculiar　voice。 The　vocal　organ　was　in　itself　a　rich　endowment；　insomuch　that　alistener；　prehending　nothing　of　the　language　in　which　thepreacher　spoke；　might　still　have　been　swayed　to　and　fro　by　the　meretone　and　cadence。　Like　all　other　music；　it　breathed　passion　andpathos；　and　emotions　high　or　tender；　in　a　tongue　native　to　the　humanheart；　wherever　educated。　Muffled　as　the　sound　was　by　its　passagethrough　the　church　walls；　Hester　Prynne　listened　with　such　intentness；and　sympathised　so　intimately；　that　the　sermon　had　throughout　ameaning　for　her；　entirely　apart　from　its　indistinguishable　words。These；　perhaps；　if　more　distinctly　heard；　might　have　been　only　agrosser　medium；　and