The days went by and the thunder and rain continued. What was Genji to do? —
日子一天天过去，雷声和雨势不减。玉上院该怎么办呢？ —

People would laugh if, in this extremity, out of favor at court, he were to return to the city. —
处境艰难，失宠于朝廷，如果他回城的话，人们肯定会嘲笑他。 —

Should he then seek a mountain retreat? But if it were to be noised about that a storm had driven him away, then he would cut a ridiculous figure in history.
难道他应该寻找一个山野幽居吗？但如果传出是因为暴风雨驱赶他离开，那他将会成为历史上的笑柄。

His dreams were haunted by that same apparition. —
他的梦境被同一个幻影所萦绕。 —

Messages from the city almost entirely ceased coming as the days went by without a break in the storms. —
随着暴风雨天数的增加，来自城里的消息几乎停止了。 —

Might he end his days at Suma? No one was likely to come calling in these tempests.
他是否会在洲野度过余生？在这样的暴风雨中，不太可能有人前来拜访。

A messenger did come from Murasaki, a sad, sodden creature. —
一个使者从紫的处来，神情忧郁又湿透。 —

Had they passed in the street, Genji would scarcely have known whether he was man or beast, and of course would not have thought of inviting him to come near. —
如果路上想起，他几乎认不出是否是人或是野兽，当然不会让他靠近。 —

Now the man brought a surge of pleasure and affection — though Genji could not help asking himself whether the storm had weakened his moorings.
现在这人带来了一阵愉悦和情感 — 尽管玉上院自问暴风已否影响了他的判断。

Murasaki’s letter, long and melancholy, said in part: —
紫的信长而忧郁，其中写道: —

“The terrifying deluge goes on without a break, day after day. —
“可怕的洪水连续不断，日复一日。 —

Even the skies are closed off, and I am denied the comfort of gazing in your direction.
甚至天空也被封闭，我无法朝着你的方向凝望。

“What do they work, the sea winds down at Suma?
“在洲野，海风又在做些什么呢？

At home, my sleeves are assaulted by wave after wave.”
在家里，我的袖子被一波又一波的海浪冲刷。”

Tears so darkened Iris eyes that it was as if they were inviting the waters to rise higher.
面庞被泪水浸湿的紫瞳，如同在邀请水位再升。

The man said that the storms had been fierce in the city too, and that a special reading of the Praj?āpāramitā Sutra had been ordered. —
这个男人说城里的风暴也很猛烈，已经下令特别念《般若波罗蜜多心经》。 —

“The streets are all closed and the great gentlemen can’t get to court, and everything has closed down.”
“街道都封闭了，大人们也无法去宫廷，所有事情都停止了。”

The man spoke clumsily and haltingly, but he did bring news. —
这个男人说话笨拙磕磕巴巴，但确实带来了消息。 —

Genji summoned him near and had him questioned.
源氏召见他并让人质询。

“It’s not the way it usually is. You don’t usually have rain going on for days without a break and the wind howling on and on. —
“情况并不像平常那样。通常不会连续几天下雨，风也不会呼啸不止。 —

Everyone is terrified. But it’s worse here. —
大家都感到很恐慌。但这里更糟。 —

They haven’t had this hail beating right through the ground and thunder going on and on and not letting a body think. —
他们没有经历过这种冰雹凿穿大地，雷声连续不断让人无法思考。 —

” The terror written so plainly on his face did nothing to improve the spirits of the people at Suma.
”他脸上明显写满恐惧，并没有提高住在住处的人们的士气。

Might it be the end of the world? From dawn the next day the wind was so fierce and the tide so high and the surf so loud that it was as if the crags and the mountains must fall. —
这难道是世界末日吗？第二天的黎明开始，风非常猛烈，潮水非常高涨，浪涛声如此之大，仿佛悬崖和山峰都将崩塌。 —

The horror of the thunder and lightning was beyond description. Panic spread at each new flash. —
雷电之恐怖难以形容。每次闪电都会引发一次恐慌。 —

For what sins, Genji’s men asked, were they being punished? —
源氏的人们问，他们因何罪受到惩罚？ —

Were they to perish without another glimpse of their mothers and fathers, their dear wives and children?
他们会在这里毁灭不再见到母亲、父亲、亲爱的妻子和孩子吗？

Genji tried to tell himself that he had been guilty of no misdeed for which he must perish here on the seashore. —
源氏努力告诉自己，在这片海滨上他没有犯下需要他在此灭亡的罪行。 —

Such were the panic and confusion around him, however, that he bolstered his confidence with special offerings to the god of Sumiyoshi.
然而，周围的恐慌和混乱使他赋予自己的信心，给住在住处的苏深神献上特别的祭品。

“O you of Sumiyoshi who protect the lands about: —
“咄咄曹所护周邻： —

if indeed you are an avatar of the Blessed One, then you must save us.”
如果你确实是被祝福者的化身，那么你必须拯救我们。”

His men were of course fearful for their lives; —
他的手下当然害怕失去性命； —

but the thought that so fine a gentleman (and in these deplorable circumstances) might be swept beneath the waters seemed altogether too tragic. —
但是，这位如此文雅的绅士（在这样悲惨的情况下）可能被海水吞没的想法似乎太过悲剧。 —

The less distraught among them prayed in loud voices to this and that favored deity, Buddhist and Shinto, that their own lives be taken if it meant that his might be spared.
他们中不那么悲伤的人用大声祈求这位那位受宠的神灵、佛教和神道的信众，如果能换取他的生命能够幸免于难。

They faced Sumiyoshi and prayed and made vows: —
他们面向住吉大神祈祷并发誓： —

“Our lord was reared deep in the fastnesses of the palace, and all blessings were his. —
“我们的主人在皇宫深处长大，一切幸福都属于他。 —

You who, in the abundance of your mercy, have brought strength through these lands to all who have sunk beneath the weight of their troubles: —
你是在你的慈悲丰盛之下，给予这片土地上所有为了烦恼而倒下的人带来力量的吾主： —

in punishment for what crimes do you call forth these howling waves? —
惩罚他，如果你愿意的话，上天和地神。 —

Judge his case if you will, you gods of heaven and earth. —
如果有任何罪过，审判他的案情吧，你们诸位众神。 —

Guiltless, he is accused of a crime, stripped of his offices, driven from his house and city, left as you see him with no relief from the torture and the lamentation. —
无罪之辈，被控犯罪，被剥夺职位、被驱逐出家园和城市，如你所见，被遗弃，没有任何解脱之处。 —

And now these horrors, and even his life seems threatened. Why? we must ask. —
现在这些恐怖，甚至连他的生命都受到威胁。为什么？我们必须问。 —

Because of sins in some other life, because of crimes in this one? —
因为往生中的罪孽，因为今生的罪过？ —

If your vision is clear, O you gods, then take all this away.”
如果你们众神的眼光是明澈的，那就把这一切都带走吧。”

Genji offered prayers to the king of the sea and countless other gods as well. —
源氏向海神和无数其他神明祈祷。 —

The thunder was increasingly more terrible, and finally the gallery adjoining his rooms was struck by lightning. —
雷声越来越可怕，最终与他的房间相邻的天井被雷击中。 —

Flames sprang up and the gallery was destroyed. The confusion was immense; —
火焰冲起，画廊被毁。混乱极其深重； —

the whole world seemed to have gone mad. —
整个世界似乎都疯了。 —

Genji was moved to a building out in back, a kitchen or something of the sort it seemed to be. —
源氏被转移到后面的一座建筑物，一个厨房或类似的地方。 —

It was crowded with people of every station and rank. —
里面挤满了各个阶层和等级的人们。 —

The clamor was almost enough to drown out the lightning and thunder. —
喧闹声几乎足以淹没雷电声。 —

Night descended over a sky already as black as ink.
夜幕降临，漆黑的天空更加深沉。

Presently the wind and rain subsided and stars began to come out. —
风雨逐渐停歇，星星开始闪烁。 —

The kitchen being altogether too mean a place, a move back to the main hall was suggested. —
因为厨房实在太过狭小，大家建议回到主厅去。 —

The charred remains of the gallery were an ugly sight, however, and the hall had been badly muddied and all the blinds and
画廊的残破一片凄惨，而大厅也被弄得泥泞不堪，所有的百叶窗和窗帘都被吹走了。

curtains blown away. Perhaps, Genji’s men suggested somewhat tentatively, it might be better to wait until dawn. —
源氏的人有些略带犹豫地建议，也许最好还是等到天亮再说。 —

Genji sought to concentrate upon the holy name, but his agitation continued to be very great.
源氏试图集中精神念诵圣名，但他的焦躁情绪仍然很强烈。

He opened a wattled door and looked out. The moon had come up. —
他打开了一个篱门朝外看去。月亮已经升起。 —

The line left by the waves was white and dangerously near, and the surf was still high. —
海浪拍打出的线是白色的，离得很近，涌浪仍然汹涌。 —

There was no one here whom he could turn to, no student of the deeper truths who could discourse upon past and present and perhaps explain these wild events. —
这里没有任何人可以依靠，没有能探讨过去和现在并或许解释这些狂野事件的深奥学问的学生。 —

All the fisherfolk had gathered at what they had heard was the house of a great gentleman from the city. —
所有渔民都聚集在他们听说是一位城里的大人物的房子里。 —

They were as noisy and impossible to communicate with as a flock of birds, but no one thought of telling them to leave.
他们像一群鸟一样吵闹，无法与他们交流，但没有人想要让他们离开。

“If the wind had kept up just a little longer,” someone said, “abso- lutely everything would have been swept under. —
“如果风再刮久一点，”有人说，“绝对所有东西都会被冲走了。 —

The gods did well by us.”
天神们对我们很好。”

There are no words — “lonely” and “forlorn” seem much too weak — to describe his feelings. —
没有词语——“孤单”和“凄凉”似乎都太弱了——来描述他的感觉。 —

“Without the staying hand of the king of the sea
“没有海王的掌控

The roar of the eight hundred waves would have taken us under.”
八百浪的咆哮会把我们卷入深海。”

Genji was as exhausted as if all the buffets and fires of the tempest had been aimed at him personally. —
源氏疲惫不堪，就好像所有风暴的冲击和火焰都针对他个人一样。 —

He dozed off, his head against some nondescript piece of furniture.
他靠在一件不起眼的家具上小睡。

The old emperor came to him, quite as when he had lived. “And why are you in this wretched place? —
老皇帝走向他，就像他还活着时一样。“你为什么在这个可怜的地方呢？ —

” He took Genji’s hand and pulled him to his feet. —
”他握住了源氏的手，把他拉起来。 —

“You must do as the god of Sumiyoshi tells you. —
“你必须按照住吉神的指示去做。 —

You must put out to sea immediately. You must leave this shore behind.”
你必须立即启航出海。你必须离开这片海岸。”

“Since I last saw you, sir,” said Genji, overjoyed, “I have suffered an unbroken series of misfortunes. —
“自从我上次见到您以来，先生，”源氏欣喜地说，“我一直遭受着一连串的不幸。 —

I had thought of throwing myself into the sea.”
我曾经考虑过跳入海中。”

“That you must not do. You are undergoing brief punishment for certain sins. —
“你不应该这样做。你正在为某些罪行接受短暂的惩罚。 —

I myself did not commit any conscious crimes while I reigned, but a person is guilty of transgressions and oversights without his being aware of them. —
当我统治时，我自己并没有犯下任何有意识的罪行，但一个人有时会犯错和忽视，而并不自知。 —

I am doing penance and have no time to look back towards this world. —
我正在做苦行，没有时间回顾这个世界。 —

But an echo of your troubles came to me and I could not stand idle. —
但是你的困扰的回声传到了我这里，我不能袖手旁观。 —

I fought my way through the sea and up to this shore and I am very tired; —
我穿过海水，来到这片岸边，我很疲倦； —

but now that I am here I must see to a matter in the city. —
但既然我来了，我必须去看一看城市里的一件事。 —

” And he disappeared.
” 然后他消失了。

Genji called after him, begging to be taken along. He looked around him. —
源氏拜求着他带自己一起去。他四处看了看。 —

There was only the bright face of the moon. —
只有明亮的月亮。 —

His father’s presence had been too real for a dream, so real that he must still be here. —
他父亲的存在太真实了，不可能是一个梦，如此真实以至于他父亲一定还在这里。 —

Clouds traced sad lines across the sky. It had been clear and palpable, the figure he had so longed to see even in a dream, so clear that he could almost catch an afterimage. —
云在天空中划过悲伤的线条。那个他如此渴望即使在梦中也能见到的人物，曾经如此清晰，以至于他几乎可以捕捉到余影。 —

His father had come through the skies to help him in what had seemed the last extremity of his sufferings. —
他的父亲穿越了天空来帮助他，当时他看来正遭受痛苦的最后阶段。 —

He was deeply grateful, even to the tempests; —
他深感感激，甚至连暴风雨也感激； —

and in the aftermath of the dream he was happy.
梦的余震中，他感到幸福。

Quite different emotions now ruffled his serenity. —
完全不同的情绪现在搅动着他的宁静。 —

He forgot his immediate troubles and only regretted that his father had not stayed longer. —
他忘记了眼前的烦恼，只感到父亲离去时有些后悔。 —

Perhaps he would come again. Genji would have liked to go back to sleep, but he lay wakeful until daylight.
或许他会再次来访。 源氏本想再次入睡，但却躺在那里直到天亮时还未入睡。

A little boat had pulled in at the shore and two or three men came up.
一只小船停靠在岸边，有两三个人上岸了。

“The revered monk who was once governor of Harima has come from Akashi. —
“曾经担任淡路守的尊敬僧人已经从明石来了。 —

If the former Minamoto councillor, Lord Yoshikiyo, is here, we wonder if we might trouble him to come down and hear the details of our mission.”
如果前源大纳言，吉清大人在这里，我们想是否可以请他下来听听我们任务的详情。”

Yoshikiyo pretended to be surprised and puzzled. —
吉清假装惊讶和困惑。 —

“He was once among my closer acquaintances here in Harima, but we had a falling out and it has been same time since we last exchanged letters. —
“他曾是我淡路的亲近朋友，但我们有过争执，已经有一段时间没有通信了。 —

What can have brought him through such seas in that little boat?”
他是如何在小船上穿越如此汹涌的海洋呢？”

Genji’s dream had given intimations. He sent Yoshikiyo down to the boat immediately. —
源氏的梦提供了一些暗示。 他立即派遣吉清前去船上。 —

Yoshikiyo marveled that it could even have been launched upon such a sea.
吉清惊奇于这只小船在如此汹涌的海上竟然能够起航。

These were the details of the mission, from the mouth of the old governor: —
从老州牧口中得知的任务详情如下： —

“Early this month a strange figure came to me in a dream. —
“本月初，一个陌生人在梦中向我出现。 —

I listened, though somewhat incredulously, and was told that on the thirteenth there would be a clear and present sign. —
虽然有些怀疑，但我听着，被告知在十三号会有一个明显的迹象。 —

I was to ready a boat and make for this shore when the waves subsided. —
当海浪平息时，我应准备好一只船前往这片海岸。 —

I did ready a boat, and then came this savage wind and lightning. —
我确实准备了一只船，然后就是这场猛烈的风暴和闪电了。 —

I thought of numerous foreign sovereigns who have received instructions in dreams on how to save their lands, and I concluded that even at the risk of incurring his ridicule I must on the day appointed inform your lord of the import of the dream. —
我想到了许多外国君主，他们在梦中接受指示，告诉他们如何拯救自己的土地，我得出结论，即使冒着被嘲笑的风险，我也必须在指定的日子告知你的主人那个梦的含义。 —

And so I did indeed put out to sea. A strange jet blew all the way and brought us to this shore. —
于是，我果然出发了。一个奇怪的漩涡吹着我们一路抵达这片海岸。 —

I cannot think of it except as divine intervention. —
我只能将其看作是神圣的干涉。 —

And might I ask whether there have been corresponding manifestations here? —
我可以问一下这里是否有相应的表现吗？ —

I do hate to trouble you, but might I ask you to communicate all of this to your lord?”
我很不想打扰你，但我是否可以请求你把这一切告诉你的主人？

Yoshikiyo quietly relayed the message, which brought new considerations. —
吉清默默地传达了这个消息，带来了新的考虑。 —

There had been these various unsettling signs conveyed to Genji dreaming and waking. —
这些不安的迹象一直传达给源氏，无论是梦中还是清醒时。 —

The possibility of being laughed at for having departed these shores under threat now seemed the lesser risk. —
现在似乎被威胁离开这片海岸的被嘲笑的可能性似乎是较小的风险。 —

To turn his back on what might be a real offer of help from the gods would be to ask for still worse misfortunes. —
背弃神的实际帮助的可能性将请求更坏的不幸。 —

It was not easy to reject ordinary advice, and personal reservations counted for little when the advice came from great eminences. —
拒绝普通建议并不容易，当建议来自伟大的显赫时，个人的保留意见就无关紧要了。 —

“Defer to them; they will cause you no reproaches,” a wise man of old once said. —
“尊敬他们；他们将不会因此责备你。”上古智者曾如此说。 —

He could scarcely face worse misfortunes by deferring than by not deferring, and he did not seem likely to gain great merit and profit by hesitating out of Concern for his brave name. —
若不推迟，他几乎不可能面临更大的不幸，而若因担忧名声而犹豫，则不太可能获得巨大的功德和利益。 —

Had not his own father come to him? What room was there for doubts?
他自己的父亲不是亲自来找他了吗？还有什么地方能够怀疑呢？

He sent back his answer: “I have been through a great deal in this strange place, and I hear nothing at all from the city. —
我在这片陌生之地经历了很多事情，却从城市那里什么消息都没有听到。 —

I but gaze upon a sun and moon going I know not where as comrades from my old home; —
我只能注视着一个不知往哪里去的太阳和月亮，作为我老家的伙伴； —

and now comes this angler’s boat, happy tidings on an angry wind. —
现在这位渔夫的船来了，喜讯飘向怒风中。 —

Might there be a place along your Akashi coast where I can hide myself?”
我能在你明石海岸找到一个可以藏身的地方吗？

The old man was delighted. Genji’s men pressed him to set out even before sunrise. —
老人很高兴。源氏的侍从们催促着他在日出之前就出发。 —

Taking along only four or five of his closest attendants, he boarded the boat. —
只带着四五个最亲近的侍从，他登上了船。 —

That strange wind came up again and they were at Akashi as if they had flown. —
那股奇怪的风再次刮起，他们瞬间来到了明石。 —

It was very near, within crawling distance, so to speak; —
明石离得很近，可以说是爬的距离; —

but still the workings of the wind were strange and marvelous.
但风的作用仍然是奇妙而神秘的。

The Akashi coast was every bit as beautiful as he had been told it was. —
明石海岸的美丽如同传说中那般。 —

He would have preferred fewer people, but on the whole he was pleased. —
他更希望少一些人，但总体上他很满意。 —

Along the coast and in the hills the old monk had put up numerous buildings with which to take advantage of the four seasons: —
沿着海岸和山间，老僧建造了许多建筑，以便利用四季之景： —

a reed-roofed beach cottage with fine seasonal vistas; —
一座芦苇屋顶的海滩小屋，可欣赏到美丽的季节风光; —

beside a mountain stream a chapel of some grandeur and dignity, suitable for rites and meditation and invocation of the holy name; —
在山间溪涧旁，一座庄严而有尊严的教堂，适合进行仪式、冥想和念经; —

and rows of storehouses where the harvest was put away and a bountiful life assured for the years that remained. —
以及一排仓库，用以收纳丰收，为将来的岁月提供丰盛的生活。 —

Fearful of the high tides, the old monk had sent his daughter and her women off to the hills. —
老僧害怕高潮，遂派遣女儿和侍女们前往山中。 —

The house on the beach was at Genji’s disposal.
海滩上的房子供源氏使用。

The sun was rising as Genji left the boat and got into a carriage. —
当源氏离开小船并上了马车时，太阳正升起。 —

This first look by daylight at his new guest brought a happy smile to the old man’s lips. —
第一次在白天看到新客人时，老人嘴角露出了幸福的微笑。 —

He felt as if the accumulated years were falling away and as if new years had been granted him. —
他感觉仿佛积攒的岁月正在消逝，仿佛新的岁月又赐予了他。 —

He gave silent thanks to the god of Sumiyoshi. —
他默默感谢住在住吉之神。 —

He might have seemed ridiculous as he bustled around seeing to Genji’s needs, as if the radiance of the sun and the moon had become his private property; —
他可能看起来有些可笑，忙碌地为源氏提供所需，仿佛太阳和月亮的光辉成了他的私有财产； —

but no one laughed at him.
但没有人嘲笑他。

I need not describe the beauty of the Akashi coast. —
我无需描述明石海岸的美景。 —

The careful attention that had gone into the house and the rocks and plantings of the garden, the graceful line of the coast — it was infinitely pleasanter than Suma, and one would not have wished to ask a less than profoundly sensitive painter to paint it. —
这座房屋、园林布置和海岸线的优雅，无与伦比的愉悦，比洲埼更胜一筹，任何不具敏锐感受力的画家都不愿意为之描绘。 —

The house was in quiet good taste. The old man’s way of life was as Genji had heard it described, hardly more rustic than that of the grandees at court. —
这座房子的装潢风格简朴大方。老人的生活方式正如源氏所听闻的那般，几乎不比宫廷的大人物们更加朴素。 —

In sheer luxury, indeed, he rather outdid them.
实际上，在奢华方面，他比他们更为奢靡。

When Genji had rested for a time he got off messages to the city. —
源氏休息片刻后，派人传达消息回城。 —

He summoned Murasaki’s messenger, who was still at Suma recovering from the horrors of his journey. —
他召见藤原帚木的使者，后者仍在洲埼康复，摆脱了旅途的恐怖。 —

Loaded with rewards for his services, he now set out again for the city. —
带着丰厚的酬金，他再次奔赴城中。 —

It would seem that Genji sent off a description of his perils to priests and others of whose services he regularly made use, but he told only Fujitsubo how narrow his escape had in fact been. —
看来源氏向常用的僧侣和其他人发了自己遭遇危险的描述，但只有藤原不讳知道他实际上有多么险些丧命。 —

He repeatedly laid down his brush as he sought to answer that very affectionate letter from Murasaki.
他多次放下笔，努力回复了那封来自紫的深情信件。

“I feel that I have run the whole gamut of horrors and then run it again, and more than ever I would like to renounce the world; —
“我感觉自己已经历了种种恐惧，甚至再次经历，比以往更想抛弃这个世界； —

but though everything else has fled away, the image which you entrusted to the mirror has not for an instant left me. —
但是，尽管其他一切都远去了，你交托给镜子的影像却没有离开我一刻； —

I think that I might not see you again.
我觉得也许再也见不到你了；

“Yet farther away, upon the beach at Akashi,
“然而，在明石的海滩远远地，

My thoughts of a distant city, and of you.
我想着遥远的城市，想着你；

“I am still half dazed, which fact will I fear be too apparent in the confusion and disorder of this letter.”
“我仍然有些头晕目眩，我担心这封信会显得杂乱无章；

Though it was true that his letter was somewhat disordered, his men thought it splendid. —
虽然他的信确实有些混乱，他的手下侍从们却认为它很精彩； —

How very fond he must be of their lady! It would seem that they sent off descriptions of their own perils.
他一定非常钟爱他们的女主人！看来他们向他描述了自己的危险；

The apparently interminable rains had at last stopped and the sky was bright far into the distance. —
看似无尽的雨终于停了，天空一直延伸到远处都明亮起来； —

The fishermen radiated good spirits. Suma had been a lonely place with only a few huts scattered among the rocks. —
渔民们散发着好心情。住在苏摩的几座小屋零零落落； —

It was true that the crowds here at Akashi were not entirely to Genji’s liking, but it was a pleasant spot with much to interest him and take his mind from his troubles.
明石的人群确实不完全合吉的喜好，但这却是一个宜人的地方，有很多能吸引他的事物，让他的心神摆脱烦恼；

The old man’s devotion to the religious life was rather wonderful. —
这位老人对宗教生活的奉献令人非常钦佩； —

Only one matter interfered with it: worry about his daughter. —
只有一件事干扰了他：对女儿的担忧； —

He told Genji a little of his concern for the girl. Genji was sympathetic. —
他向源氏略略透露了对女儿的担心。源氏表示同情； —

He had heard that she was very handsome and wondered if there might not be some bond between them, that he should have come upon her in this
他听说她非常漂亮，想知道他们之间是否有某种联系，他们竟在这里相遇了。”

strange place. But no; here he was in the remote provinces, and he must think of nothing but his own prayers. —
奇怪的地方。但是，他现在身处偏远的地方，必须只想着自己的祈祷。 —

He would be unable to face Murasaki if he were to depart from the promises he had made her. —
如果他食言而肥腻，将无法面对紫。 —

Yet he continued to be interested in the girl. —
然而，他仍然对这个女孩感兴趣。 —

Everything suggested that her nature and appearance were very far from ordinary.
一切迹象表明，她的天性和外表都非同寻常。

Reluctant to intrude himself, the old man had moved to an outbuilding. —
老人不愿打扰他自己，便搬到了一个外间。 —

He was restless and unhappy when away from Genji, however, and he prayed more fervently than ever to the gods and Buddhas that his unlikely hope might be realized. —
但是，他离开光源时变得不安和不快，比以往更热切地祈求神灵和佛祖赐予他这种不太可能实现的希望。 —

Though in his sixties he had taken good care of himself and was young for his age. —
虽然已经六十多岁，但他非常照顾自己，看起来比实际年龄要年轻。 —

The religious life and the fact that he was of proud lineage may have had something to do with the matter. —
他的宗教信仰和他傲慢的世家出身可能与此有关。 —

He was stubborn and intractable, as old people often are, but he was well versed in antiquities and not without a certain subtlety. —
老人倔强而难以驾驭，如同许多老人一样，但他精通古代风俗，并且不乏一定的机敏。 —

His stories of old times did a great deal to dispel Genji’s boredom. —
他关于过去时代的故事在很大程度上消除了光源的无聊。 —

Genji had been too busy himself for the sort of erudition, the lore about customs and precedents, which he now had in bits and installments, and he told himself that it would have been a great loss if he had not known Akashi and its venerable master.
光源自己曾经太忙于其他事务，无暇涉猎风俗和前例的知识，现在这些知识只能零零散散地得到，他告诉自己，如果不认识明石和这位年长的主人，将会是一笔巨大的损失。

In a sense they were friends, but Genji rather overawed the old man. —
从某种意义上说，他们是朋友，但光源对这位老人有些畏惧。 —

Though he had seemed so confident when he told his wife of his hopes, he hesitated, unable to broach the matter, now that the time for action had come, and seemed capable only of bemoaning his weakness and inadequacy. —
虽然他向妻子表达了自己希望的自信，但在实际行动的时候，他犹豫不决，无法开口，似乎只能抱怨自己的软弱和不足。 —

As for the daughter, she rarely saw a passable man here in the country among people of her own rank; and now she had had a glimpse of a man the like of whom she had not suspected to exist. —
至于女儿，在这个乡下，她很少见到自己阶级的人中像样的男子；现在她已经瞥见了一个她从未想到的人物。 —

She was a shy, modest girl, and she thought him quite beyond her reach. —
她是一个害羞、谦逊的女孩，她觉得他完全超出了她的触及范围。 —

She had had hints of her father’s ambitions and thought them wildly inappropriate, and her discomfort was greater for having Genji near.
她曾对父亲的野心有过些许暗示，认为这些野心非常不恰当，而且因为身边有源氏，她的不适感更加强烈。

It was the Fourth Month. The old man had all the curtains and fixtures of Genji’s rooms changed for fresh summery ones. —
是四月份。老人将源氏的房间的所有帘幕和装修都换成了清爽的夏季色调。 —

Genji was touched and a little embarrassed, feeling that the old man’s attentions were perhaps a bit overdone; —
源氏被老人的关怀感动，但也有点尴尬，觉得老人的关心可能有些过火； —

but he would not have wished for the world to offend so proud a nature.
但他绝不希望这世上任何人得罪如此自傲的老人。

A great many messages now came from the city inquiring after his safety. —
很多消息都传来，询问他的安全情况。 —

On a quiet moonlit night when the sea stretched off into the distance under a cloudless sky, he almost felt that he was looking at the familiar waters of his own garden. —
在一个宁静的月光明媚的夜晚，海面延伸至远方，天空万里无云，他几乎感觉自己看到的是自家花园中熟悉的水域。 —

Overcome with longing, he was like a solitary, nameless wanderer. —
在强烈的思念下，他像一个名不见经传的孤独流浪者。 —

“Awaji, distant foam,” he whispered to himself.
“淡路，远浪”，他自言自语。

“Awaji: in your name is all my sadness,
“淡路：你的名字里蕴含着我所有的悲伤，

And clear you stand in the light of the moon tonight.”
今夜你清晰地立于月光之下。”

He took out the seven-stringed koto, long neglected, which he had brought from the city and sPread a train of sad thoughts through the house as he plucked out a few tentative notes. —
他取出了长时间不曾弹奏的七弦琴，想起从城中带来的，撩拨出一阵阵忧伤的情绪。 —

He exhausted all his skills on “The Wide Barrow,” and the sound reached the house in the hills on a sighing of wind and waves. —
他在《阔畅塚》这首曲子上尽展他的技艺，琴音随风浪之声传至山中的住所。 —

Sensitive young ladies heard it and were moved. —
敏感的年轻女性们听到后感动不已。 —

Lowly rustics, though they could not have identified the music, were lured out into the sea winds, there to catch cold.
虽然粗野的乡下人听不懂这曲子，但被海风吹拂着外出，结果着了凉。

The old man could not sit still. Casting aside his beads, he came running over to the main house.
老人坐立不安。丢下手中的念珠，他跑到主屋来。

“I feel as if a world I had thrown away were coming back,” he said, breathless and tearful. —
“我感觉就像扔掉的世界又回来了。”他喘着气，泪流满面地说道。 —

“It is a night such as to make one feel that the blessed world for which one longs must be even so.”
“这是一夜让人觉得理想中的世界必定如此般美好。”

Genji played on in a reverie, a flood of memories of concerts over the years, of this gentleman and that lady on flute and koto, of voices raised in song, of times when he and they had been the center of attention, recipients of praise and favors from the emperor himself. —
源氏在沉思中演奏着，洪流般的回忆涌现，那些年的音乐会，吹笛和箏的绅士和淑女们，歌声嘹亮，当他们成为关注焦点、受到甚至皇帝赏识时的时光。 —

Sending to the house on the hill for a lute and a thirteen-stringed koto, the old man now seemed to change roles and become one of these priestly mendicants who make their living by the lute. —
老人打发人去山上取了一把琵琶和一架十三弦琴，此刻似乎换了个身份，成了这些以琵琶为生的僧人之一。 —

He played a most interesting and affecting strain. —
他弹奏出了一段非常有趣、动人的曲子。 —

Genji played a few notes on the thirteen-stringed koto which the old man pressed on him and was thought an uncommonly impressive performer on both sorts of koto. —
源氏弹奏了老人递给他的十三弦琴，在这两种琴上他都表现出非凡的技艺。 —

Even the most ordinary music can seem remarkable if the time and place are right; —
即便是最普通的音乐，在对的时间和地点也会显得非凡； —

and here on the wide seacoast, open far into the distance, the groves seemed to come alive in colors richer than the bloom of spring or the change of autumn, and the calls of the water rails were as if they were pounding on the door and demanding to be admitted.
在这样的一片辽阔的海岸，遥望远方，树丛的色彩比春天的花朵或秋天的变幻更为丰富，水鸟的召唤声仿佛是在敲门要求进入。

The old man had a delicate style to which the instruments were beautifully suited and which delighted Genji. “One likes to see a gentle lady quite at her ease with a koto,” said Genji, as if with nothing specific in mind.
老人有着一种细腻的风格，琴的声音与之相得益彰，让源氏很是喜爱。“人们总是喜欢看到一位温文尔雅的淑女在弹琴时自在自如，”源氏说，似乎脑中无所指。

The old man smiled. “And where, sir, is one likely to find a gentler, more refined musician than yourself? —
老人微笑道：“那么，先生，哪里会有比您更温文尔雅、更有修养的音乐家呢？ —

On the koto I am in the third generation from the emperor Daigo. I have left the great world for the rustic surroundings in which you have found me, and sometimes when I have been more gloomy than usual I have taken out a koto and picked away at it; —
我是从摩云宫三代后的琴师。我已离开了辉煌的世界，寻找到你找到我的乡村环境，有时，当我比平日更加忧郁时，我会拿出琴，开始弹奏； —

and, curiously, there has been someone who has imitated me. —
耐人寻味的是，总有人模仿我的弹奏。 —

Her playing has come quite naturally to resemble my master’s. —
她的演奏自然而然地开始像我的师傅的。 —

Or perhaps it has only seemed so to the degenerate ear of the mountain monk who has only the pine winds for company. —
或许只是山僧这只听松风为伴的腐朽耳朵的错觉。 —

I wonder if it might be possible to let you hear a strain, in the greatest secrecy of course. —
“我不知道是否可能让您听一段曲子，但必须极度保密。” —

” He brushed away a tear.
他轻轻擦去一滴泪。

“I have been rash and impertinent. My playing must have sounded like no playing at all. —
“我太冲动和无礼了。我的演奏似乎完全不像是演奏。 —

” Genji turned away from the koto. “I do not know why, but it has always been the case that ladies have taken especially well to the koto. —
源氏从琴旁转身而去。“我不知道为什么，但一直以来女性似乎特别喜欢琴。 —

One hears that with her father to teach her the fifth daughter of the emperor Saga was a great master of the instrument, but it would seem that she had no successors. —
据说桓武天皇的第五个女儿在父亲的指导下是琴的高手，但似乎她没有传人。 —

The people who set themselves up as masters these days are quite ordinary performers with no real grounding at all. —
如今自称大师的人们都是普普通通的演奏者，根基并不扎实。 —

How fascinating that someone who still holds to the grand style should be hidden away on this coast. —
有人仍坚守高妙的风格却隐藏在这个海岸，真是令人着迷。 —

Do let me hear her.”
让我也听听她的琴声吧。”

“No difficulty at all, if that is what you wish. If you really wish it, I can summon her. —
“如果你愿意的话，那就一点困难也没有。如果你真的希望，我可以把她找来。 —

There was once a poet, you will remember, who was much pleased at the lute of a tradesman’s wife. —
你会记得有一位诗人，曾为一个商人妻子的琵琶而开心不已。 —

While we are on the subject of lutes, there were not many even in the old days who could bring out the best in the instrument. —
在说到琵琶的时候，即使在古旧时代，也没有多少人能够发挥琵琶的最佳性能。 —

Yet it would seem that the person of whom I speak plays with a certain sureness and manages to affect a rather pleasing delicacy. —
然而，据说我所提到的这个人演奏得非常熟练，并且能够达到一种相当令人愉悦的精致感。 —

I have no idea where she might have acquired these skills. —
我不知道她是从哪里学到这些技能的。 —

It seems wrong that she should be asked to compete with the wild waves, but sometimes in my gloom I do have her strike up a tune.”
她好像不应该与汹涌的波涛相提并论，但在我郁闷的时候，我的确让她弹一曲。

He spoke with such spirit that Genji, much interested, pushed the lute toward him.
他说话充满活力，让源氏非常感兴趣，向他推了一把琴。

He did indeed play beautifully, adding decorations that have gone out of fashion. —
他的确演奏得很美妙，加入了已经过时的装饰。 —

There was a Chinese elegance in his touch, and he was able to induce a particularly solemn tremolo from the instrument. —
他的触摸中有一种中国式的优雅，他能够让乐器发出一种特别庄严的颤音。 —

Though it might have been argued that the setting was wrong, an adept among his retainers was persuaded to sing for them about the clean shore of Ise. Tapping out the rhythm, Genji would join in from time to time, and the old man would pause to offer a word of praise. —
虽然可以说设置不太合适，但他的侍从中一位灵巧的人被说服为他们唱起了关于伊势清洁海岸的歌。玉树拍节奏，玉树不时加入其中，老人则停下来不时表达赞扬之辞。 —

Refreshments were brought in, very prettily arranged. —
饮料被端进来，摆放得非常精美。 —

The old man was most assiduous in seeing that the cups were kept full, and it became the sort of evening when troubles are forgotten.
老人非常勤劳地保持着杯子里的酒满，这成了一种让人忘记烦恼的夜晚。

Late in the night the sea breezes were cool and the moon seemed brighter and clearer as it sank towards the west. —
夜深了，海风徐徐，月亮在往西方下沉时显得更加明亮和清晰。 —

All was quiet. In pieces and fragments the old man told about himself, from his feelings upon taking up residence on this Akashi coast to his hopes for the future life and the prospects which his devotions seemed to be opening. —
一切都安静了。老人零零碎碎地讲述了自己的故事，从他来到明石海岸的感慨，到他对未来生活和所祷告的前景的希望。 —

He added, unsolicited, an account of his daughter. —
他主动提到了自己的女儿。 —

Genji listened with interest and sympathy.
玉树听着，表示关注和同情。

“It is not easy for me to say it, sir, but the fact that you are here even briefly in what must be for you strange and quite unexpected surroundings, and the fact that you are being asked to undergo trials new to your experience — I wonder if it Might not be that the powers to whom an aged monk has so fervently prayed for so many years have taken pity on him. —
“说起来并不容易，先生，但您即使在对您来说陌生和完全意外的环境中仅仅停留片刻，而且您被要求经历您从未经历过的考验 — 我不由得想，难道上天对一位年迈僧侣多年来如此虔诚祈祷的神灵已经怜悯他了吗？ —

It is now eighteen years since I first prayed and made vows to the god of Sumiyoshi. —
距我第一次祈祷并许愿给住在住吉的神灵已经十八年了。 —

I have had certain hopes for my daughter since she was very young, and every spring and autumn I have taken her to Sumiyoshi. —
我对我的女儿自她很小的时候就寄予了某些希望，每到春秋两季我都要带她去住吉。 —

At each of my six daily services, three of them in the daytime and three at night, I have put aside my own wishes for salvation and ventured a suggestion that my hopes for the girl be noticed. —
在我每日六次的祷告中，其中三次在白天，三次在夜晚，我都抛开了我自己对救赎的愿望，冒险暗示我的对女孩的希望能被注意到。 —

I have sunk to this provincial obscurity because I brought an unhappy destiny with me into this life. —
我这种显赫家世落到这种乡泊不安静中，是因为我带着一段不幸的命运来到这世间。 —

My father was a minister, and you see what I have become. —
我的父亲是一位官员，现在你看看我变成了什么样子。 —

If my family is to follow the same road in the future, I ask myself, then where will it end? —
如果我的家族未来也要走上同样的路，我自问，那又该何时终结呢？ —

But I have had high hopes for her since she was born. —
但自从她出生以来，我对她寄予厚望。 —

I have been determined that she go to some noble gentleman in the city. —
我一直决心让她嫁给城中的某位贵族绅士。 —

I have been accused of arrogance and unworthy ambitions and subjected to some rather unpleasant treatment. —
我被指责为傲慢和不值得夸耀的野心，遭受了一些相当不愉快的对待。 —

I have not let it worry me. I have said to her that while I live I will do what I can for her, limited though my resources may be; —
我并没有让这事困扰我。我对她说，只要我活着，我会尽我所能帮助她，尽管我的资源有限； —

and that if I die before my hopes are realized she is to throw herself into the sea. —
如果我在希望实现之前死去，她要投身大海。 —

” He was weeping. It had taken great resolve for him to speak so openly.
他在哭泣。他讲这番话需要莫大的决心。

Genji wept easily these days. “I had been feeling put upon, bundled off to this strange place because of crimes I was not aware of having committed. —
如今，源氏易泪。”我一直感到被冤枉，被迫来到这个陌生的地方，因为我并不知道自己犯了什么罪过。 —

Your story makes me feel that there is a bond between us. Why did you not tell me earlier? —
你的故事让我觉得我们之间有了一种联系。你为什么不早点告诉我呢？ —

Nothing has seemed quite real since I came here, and I have given myself up to prayers to the exclusion of everything else, and so I fear that I will have struck you as spiritless. —
自从来到这里以后，一切都显得不太真实，我完全放弃了除祷告以外的一切，因此我担心你会觉得我没精打采。 —

Though reports had reached me of the lady of whom you have spoken, I had feared that she would want to have nothing to do with an outcast like myself. —
虽然我听说过你所提到的那位女士，但我担心她会不想与像我这样的被流放者有任何关系。 —

You will be my guide and intermediary? May I look forward to company these lonely evenings?”
你会成为我的向导和中间人吗？我是否可以期待在这孤寂的夜晚有人相伴？

The old man was thoroughly delighted.
老人感到非常高兴。

“Do you too know the sadness of the nights
“你是否也知道夜晚的悲伤？

On the shore of Akashi with only thoughts for companions?
只有思念作伴？

“Imagine, if you will, how it has been for us through the long months and years. —
“请想象一下，通过漫长的月份和年岁，对我们而言是多么艰难。” —

” He faltered, though with no loss of dignity, and his voice was trembling.
“他踌躇了一下，虽然没有失去尊严，声音却在颤抖。

“But you, sir, are used to this seacoast.
“但是您，先生，习惯了这片海岸。

“The traveler passes fretful nights at Akashi.
“旅人在明石度过烦躁的夜晚。

The grass which he reaps for his pillow reaps no dreams.”
他用来枕着躺的草不会种植梦。”

His openness delighted the old man, who talked on and on — and became rather tiresome, I fear. —
他的坦率让老人感到高兴，老人继续滔滔不绝，我担心会有点乏味。 —

In my impatience I may have allowed inaccuracies to creep in, and exaggerated his eccentricities.
我因不耐烦而可能使不准确的事情渗入，并夸大了他的古怪之处。

In any event, he felt a clean happiness sweep over him. A beginning had been made.
无论如何，他感到一种干净的幸福席卷而来。一个开始已经展开。

At about noon the next day Genji got off a note to the house on the hill. —
第二天中午约莫时分，源氏给山上的府邸写了一封便条。 —

A real treasure might lie buried in this unlikely spot. —
这个不起眼的地方可能埋藏着真正的宝藏。 —

He took a great deal of trouble with his note, which was on a fine saffron-colored Korean paper.
他在一张精美的藏红色韩国纸上写下了这封便条，费了不少心思。

“Do I catch, as I gaze into unresponsive skies,
“当我凝视着无动于衷的天空时，我是否能看到一片树丛？

A glimpse of a grove of which I have had certain tidings?
“我曾听闻过这片树丛的消息吗？

“My resolve has been quite dissipated.”
“我的决心已完全消失。”

And was that all? one wonders.
或许他还有其他想法，让人猜想不已。

The old man had been waiting. Genji’s messenger came staggering back down the hill, for he had been hospitably received.
老人一直在等待。源氏的使者气喘吁吁地从山上回来，因为他受到了热情的招待。

But the girl was taking time with her reply. —
但是姑娘在回复方面花了些时间。 —

The old man rushed to her rooms and urged haste, but to no avail. —
老人赶紧跑到她的房间，催促她快点，但是毫无效果。 —

She thought her hand q unequal to the task, and awareness of the difference in their station dismayed her. —
她觉得自己的手写起来不够好，意识到他们地位的差异让她感到沮丧。 —

She was not feeling well, she said, and lay down.
她说自己感觉不舒服，躺了下来。

Though he would certainly have wished it otherwise, the old man finally answered in her place. —
虽然老人肯定希望情况会不同，最终他代替她回复了。 —

“Her rustic sleeves are too narrow to encompass such awesome tidings, it would seem, and indeed she seems to have found herself incapable of even reading your letter.
“她的农家袖子似乎容不下这样重大的消息，而且她似乎连你的信都无法阅读。

“She gazes into the skies into which you gaze.
“她凝视着你凝视的天空。

May they bring your thoughts and hers into some accord.
愿它们将你的思绪与她的调和。

“But I fear that I will seem impertinent and forward.”
“但我担心我会显得冒昧和过分。”

It was in a most uncompromisingly old-fashioned hand, on sturdy Michinoku paper; —
这是用坚固的“Michinoku”纸，用一种非常老式的字迹写的; —

but there was something spruce and dashing about it too. Yes, “forward” was the proper word. —
但同时又带有一种俏皮和时髦。是的，“过分”是合适的词语。 —

Indeed, Genji was rather startled. He gave the messenger a “bejeweled apron,” an appropriate gift, he thought, from a beach cottage.
源氏相当吃惊。他给了使者一个“宝石围裙”，他认为这是一个恰当的礼物，来自一座海滨小屋。

He got off another message the next day, beautifully written on soft, delicate paper. —
第二天，他又发了一封信息，用柔软，精致的纸写成。 —

“I am not accustomed to receiving letters from ladies’ secretaries.
“我不习惯从女士的秘书那里收到信件。”

“Unwillingly reticent about my sorrows
“尽管我对我的悲伤不情愿地保持沉默”

I still must be — for no one makes inquiry.
“但我依然必须如此 — 因为没有人会打探。”

“Though it is difficult to say just what I mean.”
“虽然很难准确表达我的意思。”

There would have been something unnatural about a girl who refused to be interested in such a letter. She thought it splendid, but she also thought it impossibly out of her reach. —
一个拒绝对这样一封信感兴趣的女孩将显得不自然。她觉得信内容很棒，但也觉得自己不可能达到。 —

Notice from such supreme heights had the perverse effect of reducing her to tears and inaction.
来自如此崇高的高度的关注却让她泪流满面，无法采取行动。

She was finally badgered into setting something down. —
她最终被逼着写点什么。 —

She chose delicately perfumed lavender paper and took great care with the gradations of her ink.
她选择了香气扑鼻的薰衣草色纸，用墨水非常用心。

“Unwillingly reticent — how can it be so?
“不情愿地保持沉默 — 这怎么可能呢？

How can you sorrow for someone you have not met?”
你怎么能为一个尚未见面的人感到悲伤？”

The diction and the handwriting would have done credit to any of the fine ladies at court. —
用语和书法都可以与宫廷的绝美女子相提并论。 —

He fell into a deep reverie, for he was reminded of days back in the city. —
他陷入了深深的沉思，因为他想起了城市里的日子。 —

But he did not want to attract attention, and presently shook it off.
但他不想引起注意，很快摆脱了这种思绪。

Every other day or so, choosing times when he was not likely to be noticed, and when he imagined that her thoughts might be similar to his — a quiet, uneventful evening, a lonely dawn — he would get off a note to her. —
每隔一天左右，选择他不太可能被注意到的时机，以及他想象她可能会思念他的时刻 — 安静的，平凡无奇的夜晚，寂静的黎明 — 他会给她写一封便条。 —

There was a proud reserve in her answers which made him want more than ever to meet her. —
她回答中带着一种自豪的保留，这让他更加渴望与她见面。 —

But there was Yoshikiyo to think of. He had spoken of the lady as if he thought her his property, and Genji did not wish to contravene these long-standing claims. —
但他还要考虑義清。他把这位女士看作自己的财产，而源氏不想违背这些长期存在的权利。 —

If her parents persisted in offering her to him, he would make that fact his excuse, and seek to pursue the affair as quietly as possible. —
如果她的父母坚持要把她许配给他，他会以此为借口，尽可能地暗中追求这段感情。 —

Not that she was making things easy for him. —
她并没有为他许配轻易放手。 —

She seemed prouder and more aloof than the proudest lady at court; —
她看起来比宫廷里最傲慢的女士还要更为高傲和冷漠； —

and so the days went by in a contest of wills.
于是日子在意志的较量中一天天过去。

The city was more than ever on his mind now that he had moved beyond the Suma barrier. —
在超过了洲麓这道障壁后，他心中更加惦记着这座城市。 —

He feared that not even in jest could he do without Murasaki. —
他害怕就算是开玩笑也无法没有紫的陪伴。 —

Again he was asking himself if he might not bring her quietly to Akashi, and he was on the point of doing just that. —
他又在考虑是否可悄悄地把她带到明石去，而他正要采取这一步。 —

But he did not expect to be here very much longer, and nothing was to be gained by inviting criticism at this late date.
但他料想自己很快将要离去，在这个时候惹来批评毫无益处。

In the city it had been a year of omens and disturbances. —
城中即将满是恶兆和动荡。 —

On the thirteenth day of the Third Month, as the thunder and winds mounted to new fury, the emperor had a dream. —
在三月十三日，雷声和狂风更加猛烈，皇帝做了一个梦。 —

His father stood glowering at the stairs to the royal bedchamber and had a great deal to say, all of it, apparently, about Genji. Deeply troubled, the emperor described the dream to his mother.
他梦中看到父亲怒视着王宫卧室楼梯，言辞严厉，似乎全都是关于源氏。深感不安，皇帝把这个梦描述给母亲听。

“On stormy nights a person has a way of dreaming about the things that are on his mind, “ she said. —
“在暴风雨的夜晚，人们容易梦到心中所想的事情，” 她说。 —

” If I were you I would not give it a second thought.”
“如果我是你，我不会再想第二次。”

Perhaps because his eyes had met the angry eyes of his father, he came down with a very painful eye ailment. —
或许是因为他和父亲愤怒的目光相遇，他的眼睛病倒了。 —

Retreat and fasting were ordered for the whole court, even Kokiden’s household. —
整个朝廷甚至是宫中孤宜田的家都被下令进行闭关斋戒。 —

Then the minister, her father, died. He was of such years that his death need have surprised no one, but Kokiden too was unwell, and worse as the days went by; —
父亲——也就是大臣——去世了。他年事已高，他的死并不会让人感到意外，但菊殿也身体不适，日渐恶化； —

and the emperor had a great deal to worry about. —
天皇有许多事情要担心。 —

So long as an innocent Genji was off in the wilderness, he feared, he must suffer. —
他担心只要纯情的玉树还在荒野，他就得忍受。 —

He ventured from time to time a suggestion that Genji be restored to his old rank and offices.
他不时提议让玉树恢复旧职和官位。

His mother sternly advised against it. “People will tax you with shallowness and indecision. —
他的母亲严厉劝阻。“人们会指责你轻浮和优柔寡断。 —

Can you really think of having a man go into exile and then bringing him back before the minimum three years have gone by?”
你真的认为可以让一个人流放，然后在至少三年未过前就重新回来吗？”

And so he hesitated, and he and his mother were in increasingly poor health.
于是他犹豫不定，他和他的母亲的健康状况越来越糟。

At Akashi it was the season when cold winds blow from the sea to make a lonely bed even lonelier.
在明石，海风从海上刮来，使一个孤独的床变得更加孤寂。

Genji sometimes spoke to the old man. “If you were perhaps to bring her here when no one is looking?”
玉树有时和那位老人交谈。“也许你可以在没有人注意时将她带到这里？”

He thought that he could hardly be expected to visit her. She had her own ideas. —
他觉得自己几乎不可能去拜访她。她有自己的想法。 —

She knew that rustic maidens should come running at a word from a city gentleman who happened to be briefly in the vicinity. —
她知道乡村少女应该接受城市绅士稍事关注时，应该来相应地奔赴。 —

No, she did not belong to his world, and she would only be inviting grief if she pretended that she did. —
不，她并不属于他的世界，如果她假装属于，那只会带来痛苦。 —

Her parents had impossible hopes, it seemed, and were asking the unthinkable and building a future on nothing. —
她的父母似乎抱着不可思议的希望，提出不可想象的要求，并在虚无之上构建未来。 —

What they were really doing was inviting endless trouble. —
他们实际上是在招惹无尽的麻烦。 —

It was good fortune enough to exchange notes with him for so long as he stayed on this shore. —
能够在他仍留在此岸时与他交换笔友，这已经是足够的好运。 —

Her own prayers had been modest: that she be permitted a glimpse of the gentleman of whom she had heard so much. —
她自己的祈祷一直很谦逊：希望能被允许一睹她所听闻的绅士的风采。 —

She had had her glimpse, from a distance, to be sure, and, brought in on the wind, she had also caught hints of his unmatched skill (of this too she had heard) on the koto. —
她从远处瞥见了他，虽然只是一瞥，她也从风中捕捉到了一些他无与伦比的技艺的暗示（这也是她听说过的）。 —

She had learned rather a great deal about him these past days, and she was satisfied. —
这些日子以来她对他了解颇多，她很满足。 —

Indeed a nameless woman lost among the fishermen’s huts had no right to expect even this. —
然而一个在渔夫茅屋中无名的女子，本没有权利期望得到这一切。 —

She was acutely embarrassed at any suggestion that he be invited nearer.
她对邀请他更近一步这一提议感到尴尬。

Her father too was uneasy. Now that his prayers were being answered he began to have thoughts of failure. —
她的父亲也感到不安。现在他的祈祷正在得到回应时，他开始有了失败的想法。 —

It would be very sad for the girl, offered heedlessly to Genji, to learn that he did not want her. —
要是那个轻率地被送给源氏的女孩得知他并不想要她，那会很悲伤。 —

Rejection was painful at the hands of the finest gentleman. —
被最优雅的绅士抛弃是痛苦的。 —

His unquestioning faith in all the invisible gods had perhaps led him to overlook human inclinations and probabilities.
他对所有看不见的神明的绝对信任或许让他忽视了人类的倾向和可能性。

“How pleasant,” Genji kept saying, “if I could hear that koto to the singing of the waves. —
“如果我能在海浪声中听到那琴声，那该多么愉快。 —

It is the season for such things. We should not let it pass.”
现在正是这样的季节。我们不应该让它擦肩而过。”

Dismissing his wife’s reservations and saying nothing to his disciples, the old man selected an auspicious day. —
老人摒弃了妻子的疑虑，也没有告诉门徒，选定了一个吉祥的日子。 —

He bustled around making preparations, the results of which were dazzling. The moon was near full. —
他忙碌地准备着，结果让人眼花缭乱。月亮快要圆了。 —

He sent off a note which said only: “This night that should not be wasted. —
他派出了一个只写着：“这个夜晚不该被浪费。 —

” It seemed a bit arch, but Genji changed to informal court dress and set forth late in the night. —
”多少有些矫揉造作，但源氏换上了朝服，深夜出行。 —

He had a carriage decked out most resplendently, and then, deciding that it might seem ostentatious, went on horseback instead. —
他原本准备乘坐一辆装饰华丽的马车，后来觉得可能显得炫耀，于是决定骑马前往。 —

The lady’s house was some distance back in the hills. —
那位女士的房子在山里有一定的距离。 —

The coast lay in full view below, the bay silver in the moonlight. —
海岸在下方的全景尽收眼底，海湾在月光下闪着银光。 —

He would have liked to show it to Murasaki. —
他很想把这一切展示给紫式部看看。 —

The temptation was strong to turn his horse’s head and gallop on to the city.
诱惑让他忍不住想让马头转向城市狂奔。

“Race on through the moonlit sky, O roan-colored horse,
“穿越月光的天空，奔驰吧，皇骏马，

And let me be briefly with her for whom I long.”
让我可短暂与我所思恋的相会。”

The house was a fine one, set in a grove of trees. Careful attention had gone into all the details. —
那所房子坐落在一片树林中，精细的注意力已用于各个细节。 —

In contrast to the solid dignity of the house on the beach, this house in the hills had a certain fragility about it, and he could imagine the melancholy thoughts that must come to one who lived here. —
与海滩上那栋庄严稳重的房子形成鲜明对比，山里这座房子有一种脆弱感，他能够想象到那些居住在这里的人内心的忧郁。 —

There was sadness in the sound of the temple bells borne in on pine breezes from a hall of meditation nearby. —
从附近的一座静修殿里传来的寺庙钟声带着悲伤。 —

Even the pines seemed to be asking for something as they sent their roots out over the crags. —
甚至连松树也仿佛在祈求些什么，它们的根在悬崖上纵横交错。 —

All manner of autumn insects were singing in the garden. —
各种秋日昆虫在花园里鸣叫。 —

He looked about him and saw a pavilion finer than the others. —
他四周看了看，发现了比其他更为精美的亭子。 —

The cypress door upon which the moonlight seemed to focus was slightly open.
木门微开，月光似乎聚焦在上面。

He hesitated and then spoke. There was no answer. She had resolved to admit him no nearer. —
他犹豫了一下然后开口说话，但没有得到回答，她已经决定不让他再靠近。 —

All very aristocratic, thought Genji. Even ladies so wellborn that they were sheltered from sudden visitors usually tried to make conversation when the visitor was Genji. Perhaps she was letting him know that he was under a cloud. —
所有的人都很贵族化，源氏心想。即使是那些出身高贵以至于不受突如其来的访客干扰的女士们，在面对源氏时，通常也会试图进行对话。也许她是在暗示他自己被排斥在外。 —

He was annoyed and thought of leaving. It would run against the mood of things to force himself upon her, and on the other hand he would look rather silly if it were to seem that she had bested him at this contest of wills. —
他感到恼火，想要离开。硬要留下会违背现场的氛围，而另一方面，如果看起来她在这场意志较量中占了上风，他也会显得相当愚蠢。 —

One would indeed have wished to show him, the picture of dejection, “to someone who knows.”
人们确实希望将这个忧郁的画面展示给“懂得欣赏的人”。

A curtain string brushed against a koto, to tell him that she had been passing a quiet evening at her music.
一根帘子绳刚好划过一弦琴，向他传达她正在一个静静的夜晚里弹奏音乐。

“And will you not play for me on the koto of which I have heard so much?
“那么你不会为我弹奏传闻中的那把琴吗？

“Would there were someone with whom I might share my thoughts
“但愿有人能与我分享我的思绪，以驱散这些悲伤的梦境的一部分。”

And so dispel some part of these sad dreams.”
从此消散这些悲伤的梦境。”

“You speak to one for whom the night has no end.
你说话的对象是一位黑夜无尽的人。

How can she tell the dreaming from the waking?”
她如何分辨梦境和清醒？

The almost inaudible whisper reminded him strongly of the Rokujō lady.
那近乎听不见的耳语让他强烈地想起了六条女。

This lady had not been prepared for an incursion and could not cope with it. —
这位女士没有准备好迎接袭击，也无法处理。 —

She fled to an inner room. How she could have contrived to bar it he could not tell, but it was very firmly barred indeed. —
她逃到内室。他不知道她是如何设法将门闩上的，但门被闩得牢牢的。 —

Though he did not exactly force his way through, it is not to be imagined that he left matters as they were. —
尽管他并没有强行闯入，但不能想象他会把事情留在原地。 —

Delicate, slender — she was almost too beautiful. —
温柔纤细，她几乎太美了。 —

Pleasure was mingled with pity at the thought that he was imposing himself upon her. —
快乐与怜悯交织在一起，因为他意识到他在侵占她的空间。 —

She was even more pleasing than reports from afar had had her. —
她甚至比远处的传闻所说的更讨人喜欢。 —

The autumn night, usually so long, was over in a trice. —
秋夜，通常漫长无比，这一夜却转瞬即逝。 —

Not wishing to be seen, he hurried out, leaving affectionate assurances behind.
不想被人看见，他匆匆离开，留下深情的保证。

He got off an unobtrusive note later in the morning. Perhaps he was feeling twinges of conscience. —
第二天早晨稍后，他悄悄寄去了一张便条。也许他是感到良心不安。 —

The old monk was equally intent upon secrecy, and sorry that he was impelled to treat the messenger rather coolly.
这位老僧同样重视保密，并感到把信使冷落了有些遗憾。

Genji called in secret from time to time. —
源氏时不时秘密过来探访。 —

The two houses being some distance apart, he feared being seen by fishermen, who were known to relish a good rumor, and sometimes several days would elapse between his visits. —
两座住宅相隔颇远，他担心被渔夫看见，因为他们喜欢传播谣言。有时几天都过去了才能再次造访。 —

Exactly as she had expected, thought the girl. —
正如女孩所预料的那样，她想。 —

Her father, forgetting that enlightenment was his goal, quite gave his prayers over to silent queries as to when Genji might be expected to come again; —
他的父亲忘记了开悟才是他的目标，完全把他的祷告变成了默默地询问源氏何时可能再次到来； —

and so (and it seems a pity) a tranquillity very laboriously attained was disturbed at a very late date.
所以（而且这似乎令人遗憾）一个艰难获得的宁静在很晚的时候被打扰了。

Genji dreaded having Murasaki learn of the affair. —
源氏害怕紫君发现这件事。 —

He still loved her more than anyone, and he did not want her to make even joking reference to it. —
他仍然比任何人都更爱她，他不希望她甚至开玩笑地提到这件事。 —

She was a quiet, docile lady, but she had more than once been unhappy with him. —
她是一个安静、顺从的女士，但与他不愉快的时候也不止一次。 —

Why, for the sake of brief pleasure, had he caused her pain? —
为了短暂的快乐，他为什么让她受伤呢？ —

He wished it were all his to do over again. —
他希望能重新做一遍。 —

The sight of the Akashi lady only brought new longing for the other lady.
看到明石女士只会让他更加思念另一个女士。

He got off a more earnest and affectionate letter than usual, at the end of which he said: —
他写了一封比平时更为真诚和深情的信，结尾处他说： —

“I am in anguish at the thought that, because of foolish occurrences for which I have been responsible but have had little heart, I might appear in a guise distasteful to you. —
“我想到，因为一些我负责但毫无心理准备的愚蠢事件，我可能会出现在你看来不中意的形象中，我感到痛苦。 —

There has been a strange, fleeting encounter. —
有一个奇怪的、短暂的相遇。 —

That I should volunteer this story will make you see, I hope, how little I wish to have secrets from you. —
我自愿讲述这个故事，希望你能看出，我是多么不愿意对你保留秘密。 —

Let the gods be my judges.
让神明来评判。

“It was but the fisherman’s brush with the salty sea pine
“那只是渔夫与咸咸的海松的一面擦肩而过”。

Followed by a tide of tears of longing.”
被一波波的思念之泪所淹没。

Her reply was gentle and unreproachful, and at the end of it she said: —
她的回答温和而没有责备，最后她说： —

“That you should have deigned to tell me a dreamlike story which you could not keep to yourself calls to mind numbers of earlier instances.
“你竟然告诉我一个梦幻般的故事，又不肯独自承受，这让我想起了许多早前类似的情况。

“Na?ve of me, perhaps; yet we did make our vows.
“或许我太天真了，但我们曾经发过誓言。

And now see the waves that wash the Mountain of Waiting!”
现在看见浪潮冲击着等待的山岭！”

It was the one note of reproach in a quiet, undemanding letter. —
这是一封宁静而不苛责的信中唯一的一丝指责。 —

He found it hard to put down, and for some nights he stayed away from the house in the hills.
读起来让人难以放下，有几晚他都远离了山中的住所。

The Akashi lady was convinced once more that her fears had become actuality. —
明石女很快再次确认她的担忧变成了现实。 —

Now seemed the time to throw herself into the sea. —
现在看来她要将自己投入大海之中了。 —

She had only her parents to turn to and they were very old. —
她只能求助于已经年迈的父母。 —

She had had no ambitions for herself, no thought of making a respectable marriage. —
她从没有为自己出息，也没有考虑过结一个体面的婚姻。 —

Yet the years had gone by happily enough, without storms or tears. —
然而这些年过得还算幸福，没有风波或眼泪。 —

Now she saw that the world can be very cruel. —
现在她看到这个世界真的可以很残酷。 —

She managed to conceal her worries, however, and to do nothing that might annoy Genji. He was more and more pleased with her as time went by.
她设法隐藏自己的忧虑，不做任何可能惹怒源氏的事。他越来越喜欢她。

But there was the other, the lady in the city, waiting and waiting for his return. —
但在城中，等待着他归来的那位女士。 —

He did not want to do anything that would make her unhappy, and he spent his nights alone. —
他并不想做任何让她不快的事，晚上就一个人度过。 —

He sent sketchbooks off to her, adding poems calculated to provoke replies. —
他寄给她素描本，附上一些旨在引起回复的诗歌。 —

No doubt her women were delighted with them; —
毫无疑问，她的侍女们对这些非常高兴； —

and when the sorrow was too much for her (and as if by thought transference) she too would make sketches and set down notes which came to resemble a journal.
当悲伤对她来说太过沉重（仿佛有心灵感应）时，她也会画素描并记录笔记，这些越来越像一本日记。

And what did the future have in store for the two of them?
未来对他们俩又有什么安排呢？

The New Year came, the emperor was ill, and a pall settled over Court life. —
新年到了，皇帝病了，宫廷生活笼罩在一片苍凉之中。 —

There was a son, by Lady Shōkyōden, daughter of the Minister of the Right, but the child was only two, far too young for the throne. —
有一个儿子，是尚宫阴京殿的女儿，但孩子只有两岁，离登基还太远。 —

The obvious course was to abdicate in favor of the crown prince. —
显而易见的办法是让皇太子登基。 —

As the emperor turned over in his mind the problem of advice and counsel for his successor, he thought it more than ever a pity that Genji should be off in the provinces. —
皇帝在心中回想着为继承人提供建议和指导的问题时，觉得再次遗憾俊秀在外省。 —

Finally he went against Kokiden’s injunctions and issued an amnesty. —
最终，他违背了Kokiden的禁令，发布了大赦令。 —

Kokiden had been ill from the previous year, the victim of a malign spirit, it seemed, and numerous other dire omens had disturbed the court. —
Kokiden从前一年开始就病了，似乎是被一个恶灵缠着，许多不祥之兆扰乱了朝廷。 —

Though the emperor’s eye ailment had for a time improved, perhaps because of strict fasting, it was worse again. —
虽然皇帝的眼病曾一度好转，可能是因为严格斋戒，但现在又恶化了。 —

Late in the Seventh Month, in deep despondency, he issued a second order, summoning Genji back to the city.
七月下旬，他深陷绝望，发布第二道命令，召回俊秀回京。

Genji had been sure that a pardon would presently come, but he also knew that life is uncertain. —
俊秀确信自己迟早会得到赦免，但他也知道生命是不确定的。 —

That it should come so soon was of course pleasing. —
当然很高兴赦免来得如此之快。 —

At the same time the thought of leaving this Akashi coast filled him with regret. —
与此同时，离开明石海岸的想法使他感到遗憾。 —

The old monk, though granting that it was most proper and just, was upset at the news. —
老僧虽然认为这是最恰当和公正的，但对这个消息感到不安。 —

He managed all the same to tell himself that Genji’s prosperity was in his own best interest. —
尽管如此，他仍设法告诉自己，源氏的繁荣对他自己是最有利的。 —

Genji visited the lady every night and sought to console her. —
源氏每晚都会拜访这位女士，并寻求安慰。 —

From about the Sixth Month she had shown symptoms such as to make their relations more complex. —
从六月开始，她出现的症状使他们的关系变得更加复杂。 —

A sad, ironical affair seemed at the same time to come to a climax and to disintegrate. —
一桩令人悲伤、讽刺的事情似乎达到了高潮，又开始瓦解。 —

He wondered at the perverseness of fates that seemed always to be bringing new surprises. —
他对命运的执拗感到惊讶，似乎总是带来新的意外。 —

The lady, and one could scarcely have blamed her, was sunk in the deepest gloom. —
这位女士沉浸在最深的忧郁中，人们几乎无法责怪她。 —

Genji had set forth on a strange, dark journey with a comforting certainty that he would one day return to the city; —
源氏怀着一种安慰的确定感踏上了一段陌生而黑暗的旅程，确信有一天他将回到城市； —

and he now lamented that he would not see this Akashi again.
现在他悲叹自己将再也看不到这个明石了。

His men, in their several ways, were delighted. —
他的臣子们，各有各的喜悦。 —

An escort came from the city, there was a joyous stir of preparation, and the master of the house was lost in tears. —
城里派来了一支护送队，一片喜悦的准备声中，主人家泪流满面。 —

So the month came to an end. It was a season for sadness in any case, and sad thoughts accosted Genji. Why, now and long ago, had he abandoned himself, heedlessly but of his own accord, to random, profitless affairs of the heart?
月末到来了。无论如何，这是一个令人伤感的季节，伤感的念头袭来。为什么，无论是现在还是很久以前，他都放任自己，轻率地却自愿地投入到毫无意义的爱情事务中呢？

“What a great deal of trouble he does cause,” said those who knew the secret. —
“他真是给人添了一大堆麻烦，”知情者说。 —

“The same thing all over again. For almost a year he didn’t tell anyone and he didn’t seem to care the first thing about her. —
“又是同样的事情。将近一年的时间他什么都没告诉任何人，似乎一点也不在乎她。” —

And now just when he ought to be letting well enough alone he makes things worse.”
现在他该适可而止，却让事情变得更糟。”

Yoshikiyo was the uncomfortable one. He knew what his fellows were saying: that he had talked too much and started it all.
義清感到不自在。他知道同伴们在说什么：他说得太多，惹出了是非。

Two days before his departure Genji visited his lady, setting out earlier than usual. —
玉清临行前两天去拜访他的淑女，比往常起得更早。 —

This first really careful look at her revealed an astonishingly proud beauty. —
他第一次仔细观察她，发现她惊人地傲慢美丽。 —

He comforted her with promises that he would choose an opportune time to bring her to the city. —
他用承诺安慰她，说会选择适当时机将她带到城里。 —

I shall not comment again upon his own good looks. —
我将不再评论他自己的容貌。 —

He was thinner from fasting, and emaciation seemed to add the final touches to the picture. —
他因斋戒而皮包骨，消瘦的样子仿佛为画面添上完美的一笔。 —

He made tearful vows. The lady replied in her heart that this small measure of affection was all she wanted and deserved, and that his radiance only emphasized her own dullness. —
他发誓流泪。淑女在心里回答说，这点微薄的情意就足够了，也是她应得的，而他的光辉只凸显了她的平凡。 —

The waves moaned in the autumn winds, the smoke from the salt burners’ fires drew faint lines across the sky, and all the symbols of loneliness seemed to gather together.
秋风中波浪呻吟，烧盐者的炉火冒的烟在天空划出淡淡的线条，所有孤寂的符号似乎聚集在一起。

“Even though we now must part for a time,
“即便我们暂时要分开，

The smoke from these briny fires will follow me.”
这咸火的炊烟也会紧随我。”

“Smoldering thoughts like the sea grass burned on these shores.
“这海滨的海草燃烧的袅袅烟焰，

And what good now to ask for anything more?”
现在还指望什么呢？”

She fell silent, weeping softly, and a rather conventional poem seemed to say a great deal.
她沉默了，轻声哭泣，一首相当俗套的诗似乎表达了很多。

She had not, through it all, played for him on the koto of which he had heard so much.
在这一切中，她没有为他弹她所听说过的琴。

“Do let me hear it. Let it be a memento.”
“请让我听听。让它成为一个纪念。”

Sending for the seven-stringed koto he had brought from the city, he played an unusual strain, quiet but wonderfully clear on the midnight air. —
他从城里带来了一把七弦琴，派人送来，弹奏了一段不同寻常的曲调，清静而极为澄澈，洒落在午夜的空气中。 —

Unable to restrain himself, the old man pushed a thirteen-stringed koto toward his daughter. —
老人情不自禁地将一把十三弦琴推向女儿。 —

She was apparently in a mood for music. Softly she tuned the instrument, and her touch suggested very great polish and elegance. —
她显然是想要弹奏音乐。她轻轻调音乐器，她的触感透露出极高的技艺和优雅。 —

He had thought Fujitsubo’s playing quite incomparable. —
他本以为藤壶的演奏是无与伦比的。 —

It was in the modern style, and enough to bring cries of wonder from anyone who knew a little about music. —
这是现代风格，足以让任何稍懂音乐的人赞叹不已。 —

For him it was like Fujitsubo herself, the essence of all her delicate awareness. —
对他来说，这就像藤壶本人，所有她的细腻感受的精髓。 —

The koto of the lady before him was quiet and calm, and so rich in overtones as almost to arouse envy. —
她眼前的琴静静的，宁静而富有共鸣，几乎让人羡慕。 —

She left off playing just as the connoisseur who was her listener had passed the first stages of surprise and become eager attention. —
她停止弹奏的时候，身旁的鉴赏家已经度过了第一阶段的惊讶，兴致盎然。 —

Disappointment and regret succeeded pleasure. He had been here for nearly a year. —
满足之后是失望和遗憾。他已经在这里待了将近一年。 —

Why had he not insisted that she play for him, time after time? —
为什么他没有坚持要她为他弹奏，一次又一次？ —

All he could do now was repeat the old vows.
现在他唯一能做的就是重复那些老誓约。

“Take this koto,” he said, “to remember me by. Someday we will play together.”
“拿起这把琴”，他说，“用来记念我。总有一天我们会一起演奏。”

Her reply was soft and almost casual:
她的回应轻柔而几乎随意：

“One heedless word, one koto, to set me at rest.
“一个不经意的话，一把琴，就能让我安心。”

In the sound of it the sound of my weeping, forever.”
在我的哭声中，永远回响着。

He could not let it pass.
他不能就此罢休。

“Do not change the middle string of this koto.
“不要改变这琴的中弦。

Unchanging I shall be till we meet again.
直到我们再次相遇，我将永远不变。

“And we will meet again before it has slipped out of tune.”
“在琴弦还未松弛前，我们会再次相遇。”

Yet it was not unnatural that the parting should seem more real than the reunion.
离别似乎比团聚更真实并不奇怪。

On the last morning Genji was up and ready before daybreak. —
在最后一个清晨，源氏在天未亮之前就准备好了。 —

Though he had little time to himself in all the stir, he contrived to write to her:
尽管在一片忙乱中很少有时间给自己，他还是设法给她写了信:

“Sad the retreating waves at leaving this shore.
“当这些浪潮离开海岸时，令人伤感。

Sad I am for you, remaining after.”
为你留守，我也是忧伤的。”

“You leave, my reed-roofed hut will fall to ruin.
“你走了，我的芦草屋将荒废。

Would that I might go out with these waves.”
愿我能随这些浪潮一同离去。”

It was an honest poem, and in spite of himself he was weeping. —
这是一首诚实的诗，尽管他努力忍住，但还是不由自主地哭泣起来。 —

One could, after all, become fond of a hostile place, said those who did not know the secret. —
“毕竟人会喜欢上一个敌对的地方，”那些不知道内情的人如是说。 —

Those who did, Yoshikiyo and others, were a little jealous, concluding that it must have been a rather successful affair.
那些了解内情的人，像是義清和其他人，有些嫉妒，得出结论认为这次恋情可能成功了一些。

There were tears, for all the joy; but I shall not dwell upon them.
有眼泪，因为种种喜悦；但我不愿详述。

The old man had arranged the grandest of farewell ceremonies. —
老人为这场告别仪式布置得很隆重。 —

He had splendid travel robes for everyone, even the lowliest footmen. —
他为每个人都准备了华美的旅行长袍，哪怕是最低微的仆役。 —

One marveled that he had found time to collect them all. —
人们惊叹他是如何找到时间收集它们的。 —

The gifts for Genji himself were of course the finest, chests and chests of them, borne by a retinue which he attached to Genji’s. —
送给源氏的礼物当然是最好的，箱子里装满了，由侍从扛在身边。 —

Some of them would make very suitable gifts in the city. —
其中有些恐怕在城里也很适合当礼物。 —

He had overlooked nothing.
他无所遗漏。

The lady had pinned a poem to a travel robe:
这位女士将一首诗钉在旅行长袍上：

“I made it for you, but the surging brine has wet it.
“我为你做了这件衣裳，但汹涌的海水弄湿了它。

And might you find it unpleasant and cast it off?”
“你可能不喜欢而将它抛弃吗？”

Despite the confusion, he sent one of his own robes in return, and with it a note:
尽管心里有些混乱，他还是送回了一件自己的长袍，并附上一张字条：

“It was very thoughtful of you.
“你很体贴。

“Take it, this middle robe, let it be the symbol
“接受吧，这件中间的长袍，让它成为象征

Of days uncounted but few between now and then.”
“在此刻和那时之间无数但又不多的日子。”

Something else, no doubt, to put in her chest of memories. —
毫无疑问，这也会成为她记忆之匣中的一件宝贵的物品。 —

It was a fine robe and it bore a most remarkable fragrance. —
这是一件很好的长袍，带着一种非常独特的香气。 —

How could it fail to move her?
她怎么会不被感动呢？

The old monk, his face like one of the twisted shells on the beach, was meanwhile making some of the younger people smile. —
老僧，他脸上皱纹如海滩上的贝壳之一，同时却让一些年轻人笑了起来。 —

“I have quite renounced the world,” he said, “but the thought that I may not see you back to the city —
“我已经完全抛弃了这个世界，但想到我可能看不到你回城——

“Though weary of life, seasoned by salty winds,
“虽然厌倦了生活，被盐风浸透，

I am not able to leave this shore behind,
我却不能离开这片海滨，

and I wander lost in thoughts upon my child. Do let me see you at least as far as the border. —
在我的孩子身上徘徊思念。请带我至少送到边境。 —

It may seem forward of me, but if something should from time to time call up thoughts of her, do please let her hear from you.”
这可能看起来有点冒昧，但如果有时候会想起她，请让她收到你的消息。”

“It is an impossibility, sir, for very particular reasons, that I can ever forget her. —
“先生，由于非常特殊的原因，我永远不可能忘记她。这是不可能的。 —

You will very quickly be made to see my real intentions. —
你很快就会看到我真正的意图。 —

If I seem dispirited, it is only because I am sad to leave all this behind.
如果我看起来情绪低落，那只是因为我难过要离开这一切。

“I wept upon leaving the city in the spring.
“春天离开城市时我哭泣。

I weep in the autumn on leaving this home by the sea.
在秋天离开海边的家时我也哭泣。

“What else can I do?” And he brushed away a tear.
“我还能做些什么呢？”他轻轻擦去了一滴眼泪。

The old man seemed on the point of expiring.
老人似乎就要离世了。

The lady did not want anyone to guess the intensity of her grief, but it was there, and with it sorrow at the lowly rank (she knew that she could not complain) that had made this parting inevitable. —
这位女士不想让任何人猜测她悲伤的程度，但悲伤确实存在，随之而来的还有对低贱的地位的悲伤（她知道自己不能抱怨），这是导致这次离别不可避免的原因。 —

His image remained before her, and she seemed capable only of weeping.
他的形象留在她的脑海中，她似乎只能哭泣。

Her mother tried everything to console her. “What could we have been thinking of? —
她的母亲尽一切安慰她。“我们怎么了呢？ —

You have such odd ideas,” she said to her husband, “and I should have been more careful.”
你总是有些奇怪的想法，”她对丈夫说，“我应该更加小心。”

“Enough, enough. There are reasons why he cannot abandon her. —
“够了，够了。他无法抛弃她是有原因的。 —

I have no doubt that he has already made his plans. —
我毫不怀疑他已经做好了计划。 —

Stop worrying, mix yourself a dose of something or other. —
别担心了，给自己混点什么药吧。 —

This wailing will do no good.” But he was sitting disconsolate in a corner.
哀鸣也无济于事。”但是他沉默地坐在角落里。

The women of the house, the mother and the nurse and the rest, went on charging him with unreasonable methods. —
屋里的女人，母亲、保姆和其他人，继续指责他的方法不合理。 —

“We had hoped and prayed over the years that she might have the sort of life any girl wants, and things finally seemed to be going well — and now see what has happened.”
“这些年来我们一直希望并祈祷，她能拥有任何女孩渴望的生活，最终事情似乎开始进展顺利 —— 现在看看都发生了什么。”

It was true. Old age suddenly advanced and subdued him, and he spent his days in bed. —
这是真的。老年突然降临并使他顺从，他整天躺在床上。 —

But when night came he was up and alert.
但当夜幕降临，他却变得警觉。

“What can have happened to my beads?”
“我的念珠怎么了？”

Unable to find them, he brought empty hands together in supplication. His disciples giggled. —
找不到念珠，他双手合十祈祷。他的门徒们窃笑。 —

They giggled again when he set forth on a moonlight peregrination and managed to fall into the brook and bruise his hip on one of the garden stones he had chosen so carefully. —
当他在月光下进行一次朝圣之旅时，又在小溪边摔倒并在他精心挑选的花园石头上摔伤了臀部时，他们再次窃笑。 —

For a time pain drove away, or at least obscured, his worries.
有一段时间，疼痛驱散了，或至少是遮掩了他的忧虑。

Genji went through lustration ceremonies at Naniwa and sent a messenger to Sumiyoshi with thanks that he had come thus far and a promise to visit at a later date in fulfillment of his vows. —
源氏在浪速做了净身之礼，并派使者前往住吉神，感谢神明保佑他走到这一步，承诺日后会前来履行自己的誓愿。 —

His retinue had grown to an army and did not permit side excursions. —
他的随从已经发展成了一支军队，不允许他偏离主要的路线。 —

He made his way directly back to the city. At Nijō the reunion was like a dream. —
他径直返回京都。在二条，与知子的团聚就像梦境般。 —

Tears of joy flowed so freely as almost to seem inauspicious. —
他们欢泣如雨，几乎让人觉得有凶兆。 —

Murasaki, for whom life had come to seem of as little value as her farewell poem had suggested it to be, shared in the joy. —
紫（源氏的别号）之前的生命似乎像她告别的诗句所暗示的那样毫无价值，现在也分享着这份喜悦。 —

She had matured and was more beautiful than ever. Her hair had been almost too rich and thick. —
她已经成熟，比以往更加美丽。她的头发本来非常浓密。 —

Worry and sorrow had thinned it somewhat and thereby improved it. —
忧虑和悲伤使头发少了一些，却使它看起来更美。 —

And now, thought Genji, a deep peace coming over him, they would be together. —
源氏感到一阵深深的平静降临在他心头，他们将会一直在一起。 —

And in that instant there came to him the image of the one whom he had not been ready to leave. —
此时，他脑海中却浮现出那个他还未准备离开的人。 —

It seemed that his life must go on being complicated.
他似乎必须继续面对复杂的生活。

He told Murasaki about the other lady. A pensive, dreamy look passed over his face, and she whispered, as if to dismiss the matter: —
他对紫提起了另一个女子。他的脸上闪过一抹沉思的神情，她轻声说，仿佛想摒弃这件事情： —

“For myself I do not worry.”
“至于我自己，我并不担心。”

He smiled. It was a charmingly gentle reproof. —
他微笑了。这是一种极具魅力的温柔谴责。 —

Unable to take his eyes from her now that he had her before him, he could not think how he had survived so many months and years without her. —
眼前终于有了她，他无法从她身上移开目光，他想不明白在没有她的许多个月和年里自己是如何生存下来的。 —

All the old bitterness came back. He was restored to his former rank and made a supernumerary councillor. —
所有的旧仇恨又回来了。他被恢复到他原来的职位，被任命为顾问。 —

All his followers were similarly rehabilitated. —
他的所有追随者也同样得到了恢复。 —

It was as if spring had come to a withered tree.
就像春天来到了一棵枯树上。

The emperor summoned him and as they made their formal greetings thought how exile had improved him. —
皇帝召见了他，当他们进行正式的问候时，他觉得流放让他变得更好了。 —

Courtiers looked on with curiosity, wondering what the years in the provinces would have done to him. —
朝臣们好奇地看着，想知道几年在外地会对他有什么影响。 —

For the elderly women who had been in service since the reign of his late father, regret gave way to noisy rejoicing. —
自从他的父王时代以来一直侍奉着的年长女官们开始从悔恨的情绪转为喧闹的欢腾。 —

The emperor had felt rather shy at the prospect of receiving Genji and had taken great pains with his dress. —
皇帝感到有点害羞，因为要接见源氏，他精心打扮起来。 —

He seemed pale and sickly, though he had felt somewhat better these last few days. —
源氏看起来苍白病恙，虽然这几天感觉好了一些。 —

They talked fondly of this and that, and presently it was night. —
他们情深意切地聊了这个或那个话题，不知不觉已是夜深。 —

A full moon flooded the tranquil scene. There were tears in the emperor’s eyes.
明月照耀着安宁的景象。皇帝眼中含着泪光。

“We have not had music here of late,” he said, “and it has been a very long time since I last heard any of the old songs.”
“我们这里已经很久没有音乐了，”他说，“我已经很久没有听到那些古老的歌了。”

Genji replied:
源氏回答道：

“Cast out upon the sea, I passed the years
“被流放到海上，我度过了这些年

As useless as the leech child of the gods.”
像无用的众神的血蛭子。”

The emperor was touched and embarrassed.
皇帝被触动并感到尴尬。

“The leech child’s parents met beyond the pillar.
“血吸虫孩子的父母在柱子后相遇。

We meet again to forget the spring of parting.”
我们再次相聚，以忘记离别之春。”

He was a man of delicate grace and charm.
他是一个优雅迷人的男人。

Genji’s first task was to commission a grand reading of the Lotus Sutra in his father’s memory. —
源氏的第一个任务是委托为父亲举办一场盛大的读经仪式。 —

He called on the crown prince, who had grown in his absence, and was touched that the boy should be so pleased to see him. —
他拜访了已在自己不在时长大的太子，并感动于这个男孩见到他如此高兴。 —

He had done so well with his studies that there need be no misgivings about his competence to rule. —
他在学业上做得很好，他的能力统治无需担忧。 —

It would seem that Genji also called on Fujitsubo, and managed to control himself sufficiently for a quiet and affectionate conversation.
源氏似乎也拜访了藤壶，并设法控制自己，进行了一次安静而充满情感的对话。

I had forgotten: he sent a note with the retinue which, like a returning wave, returned to Akashi. —
我曾忘记：他在随行人员中发送了一封便条，就像一波归来的波浪回到了明石。 —

Very tender, it had been composed when no one was watching.
这封便条非常温柔地写成，当时没有人看着。

“And how is it with you these nights when the waves roll in?
“你的夜晚如何当波浪涌起时？

“I wonder, do the morning mists yet rise,
“我想知道，晨雾是否仍旧升起，

There at Akashi of the lonely nights?”
在那孤寂的明石？”

The Kyushu Gosechi dancer had had fond thoughts of the exiled Genji, and she was vaguely disappointed to learn that he was back in the city and once more in the emperor’s good graces. —
九州御制舞蹈家曾对被流放的源氏怀有深情，她隐约感到失望得知他回到城里，并再次得到皇帝的宠爱。 —

She sent a note, with instructions that the messenger was to say nothing of its origin:
她派人送去一封便条，并嘱咐使者不要透露发件人：

“There once came tidings from a boat at Suma,
“曾有一道消息从洲麻来的船上传来，

From one who now might show you sodden sleeves.”
从一个现在可能会向你展示湿漉漉的袖子的人。

Her hand had improved, though not enough to keep him from guessing whose it was.
她的手已经好转了，尽管还不足以让他猜不出是谁的手。

“It is I, not you, from whom the complaints should come.
“应该抱怨的不是你，而是我。

My sleeves have refused to dry since last you wrote.”
自从你上次写信以来，我的袖子就一直没干。”

He had not seen enough of her, and her letter brought fond memories. —
他还没有见到她足够多的次数，她的信带来了美好的回忆。 —

But he was not going to embark upon new adventures.
但他不打算开始新的冒险。

To the lady of the orange blossoms he sent only a note, cause more for disappointment than for pleasure.
对橙花女士，他只发了一个让人失望而不是让人高兴的便条。