第23部分(第4/7 頁)

；continued　his　habits　of　social　familiarity　with　the　old　man；　andthus　gave　him　constant　opportunities　for　perfecting　the　purpose　towhich…　poor；　forlorn　creature　that　he　was；　and　more　wretched　thanhis　victim…　the　avenger　had　devoted　himself。 While　thus　suffering　under　bodily　disease；　and　gnawed　and　torturedby　some　black　trouble　of　the　soul；　and　given　over　to　themachinations　of　his　deadliest　enemy；　the　Reverend　Mr。　Dimmesdale　hadachieved　a　brilliant　popularity　in　his　sacred　office。　He　won　it；indeed；　in　great　part；　by　his　sorrows。　His　intellectual　gifts；　hismoral　perceptions；　his　power　of　experiencing　and　municatingemotion；　were　kept　in　a　state　of　preternatural　activity　by　the　prickand　anguish　of　his　daily　life。　His　fame；　though　still　on　its　upwardslope；　already　overshadowed　the　soberer　reputations　of　hisfellow…clergymen；　eminent　as　several　of　them　were。　There　were　scholarsamong　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　such　solidand　valuable　attainments　than　their　youthful　brother。　There　weremen；　too；　of　a　sturdier　texture　of　mind　than　his；　and　endowed　with　afar　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　varietyof　the　clerical　species。　There　were　others；　again；　true　saintlyfathers；　whose　faculties　had　been　elaborated　by　weary　toil　among　theirbooks；　and　by　patient　thought；　and　etherealised；　moreover；　byspiritual　munications　with　the　better　world；　into　which　theirpurity　of　life　had　almost　introduced　these　holy　personages；　with　theirgarments　of　mortality　still　clinging　to　them。　All　that　t