In those days of sea grass steeped in brine, many ladies had lamented Genji’s absence and hoped he would soon be back in the city. —
在那些海草覆盖的盐水时代，许多女士为源氏的缺席而悲伤，并希望他能尽快回到城市。 —

For ladies like Murasaki, whose place in his life was secure, there were at least letters (though of course they did not completely deaden the pain) to inform them that he was well. —
对于像紫的女士来说，在他生活中的位置是安全的，至少还有信件（尽管不能完全减轻痛苦）告诉她们他身体安好。 —

Though he wore the plainer clothes of exile, Murasaki found comfort, in a gloomy world, in making sure that they followed the seasons. —
虽然他穿着流放时的较朴素服装，但在阴郁的世界中，紫找到了安慰，确保服饰随季节变化。 —

There were less fortunate ones whom he had not openly recognized and who, not having seen his departure into exile, could only imagine how it must have been.
有些不那么幸运的女士并未得到他的公开认可，也未看到他被流放，只能想象他当时的情景。

The safflower princess had lived a very straitened life after the death of her father, Prince Hitachi. —
藏红花公主在父亲常益亲王去世后过着非常贫困的生活。 —

Then had come that windfall. For Genji it had been the merest trifle, but for her, whose sleeves were so pitifully narrow, it was as if all the stars had suddenly fallen into her bowl. —
然后来了一笔意外之财。对源氏来说只是微不足道的一点，但对她来说，那些袖子如此狭窄，就好像所有的星星突然都落入她的碗中。 —

And then had come the days when the whole world had seemed to turn against him. —
接着那些日子，整个世界似乎都背弃了他。 —

Genji did not have time for everyone, and after his removal to distant Suma he did not or could not take the trouble to write. —
源氏没有时间应付每一个人，而在被流放到遥远的隅町后，他没能或者不能再去写信。 —

The Princess wept for a time, and lived a loveless and threadbare existence after the tears had dried.
公主哭泣了一阵，泪干后过着没有爱情、贫乏的生活。

“Some people seem to have done all the wrong things in their other lives,” grumbled one of her old women. —
“有些人似乎在前世做了所有错事。”一个老妇人抱怨道。 —

“As if he had not been unkind enough already, the Blessed One all of a sudden brings a bit of pleasure — rather more than a bit, actually — and then takes it away again. —
“仿佛他已经够狠心了，圣者突然带来一点快乐 — 实际上更多一点 — 然后再把它带走。 —

How nice it was! The way of the world, you might say, that it should all disappear — and a body is expected to go on living.”
多么美好啊！世间的方式，你可以这么说，所有的一切都会消失 — 而一个人还得继续生活。”

Yes, it had been very perverse of the Blessed One. A lady grows used to hunger and deprivation, but when they have been absent for a time they no longer seem like proper and usual conditions. —
是的，这对圣者来说实在是很扭曲。一个女士对饥饿和匮乏习以为常，但当它们暂时不再出现时，它们就不再像适当而常见的条件了。 —

Women who could be useful to her had somehow of their own accord come into her ken, and one by one they went away again; —
对她有用的女人们似乎自动进入她的视野，然后一个接一个地离开； —

and so, as the months passed, her house was lonelier and lonelier.
因此，随着时间的流逝，她的房子变得越来越孤单。

Her gardens, never well tended, now offered ample cover for foxes and other sinister creatures, and owls hooted in unpruned groves morning and night. —
她的花园从未被精心管理，现在提供了足够的遮蔽物，可以让狐狸和其他邪恶生物藏身，在未修剪的树林里，白天和黑夜里常常响着猫头鹰的叫声。 —

Tree spirits are shy of crowds, but when people go away they come forward as if claiming sovereignty. —
树精们胆怯于人群，但当人们离开时，它们会向前走，仿佛在宣示主权。 —

Frightening apparitions were numberless.
吓人的幻影数不胜数。

“Really, my lady, we cannot go on this way,” said one of the few women who still remained with her. —
“真的，夫人，我们不能继续这样下去了。”仍然留在她身边的其中一名女性说道。 —

“There are governors of this and that province who have a taste for old parks and who have set their eyes on these woods and grounds and asked through neighbors if you might not be persuaded to let them go. —
“有些省的官员对古老的公园情有独钟，他们已经看上了这片树林和庭园，并透过邻居询问您是否愿意放手。 —

Please, my lady, do consider selling. Do let us move to a place where we need not be constantly looking over our shoulders. —
请考虑出售，夫人。让我们搬到一个我们不必不断东张西望的地方。 —

We have stayed with you, but we cannot be sure how much longer we will be able to.”
我们一直与您在一起，但我们无法确定自己还能撑多久。”

“You must not say such things. What will people think? —
“你不要说这样的话。人们会怎么想？ —

Can you really believe that I would sell Father’s house? —
你真的认为我会卖父亲的房子吗？ —

I agree with you that we have not kept it up very well, and sometimes I find myself looking over my shoulder too. —
我同意我们没有好好保养，有时我也会发现自己不断回头看。 —

But it is home for me and it was home for Father and I somehow feel that he is still here. —
但这是我的家，也是父亲的家，我不知怎么地觉得他还在这里。 —

” She wept and refused to listen.
”她哭泣着，不肯听取劝告。

The furnishings were old but of the finest workmanship, exactly the sort that collectors like best. —
家具虽然古老，但制作工艺精湛，正是收藏者最喜欢的类型。 —

Word got out that this and that piece was by this and that master, and the collectors were sure that the impoverished Hitachi house would be an easy target.
消息传开，说这个和那个作品是哪位大师所创，收藏者们确信这个贫困的日立家会成为易手的目标。

“But, my lady, everyone does it. Why should we pretend to be different? —
“但是，夫人，每个人都这么做。我们为什么要假装与众不同？ —

” When their lady was not looking, they sought to make their own accommodations.
当她的女士不注意的时候，他们试图找到自己的住所。

She was very angry when she detected what was happening. —
当她发现正在发生的事情时，她非常愤怒。 —

“Father had them made for us and no one else. —
“这是父亲为我们定制的，没有别人能有。 —

How can you dream of having those awful people paw at them? —
你怎么能想象那些可怕的人去抚摸它们呢？ —

It would kill me to think he might be watching.”
想到他可能在看着我会让我伤心欲绝。”

There was no one now to whom she might turn for help. —
现在她已经没有人可以求助了。 —

It is true that her older brother, a monk, would stop by when he chanced to be in the city; —
确实，她的哥哥，一位僧侣，有时会路过这个城市； —

but he had no part in practical or elegant affairs. —
但他对实际或优雅的事务没有参与。 —

Even among his colleagues he had a name for saintly unworldliness. —
甚至在他的同僚中，他也以圣洁与超凡脱俗而闻名。 —

He did not seem to notice that the wormwood was asking to be cut back. —
他似乎没有注意到苦艾需要修剪。 —

The rushes were so thick that one could not be sure whether they grew from land or water. —
芦苇丛如此茂密，以至于人们无法确定它们是在陆地上长还是在水里长。 —

Wormwood touched the eaves, bindweed had firmly barred the gates. —
苦艾触及到屋檐，旋花已经堵住了大门。 —

This last fact would perhaps have given comfortable feelings of security had it not been for the fact that horses and cattle had knocked over the fences and worn paths inside. —
最后一个事实也许会给人舒适的安全感，如果不是因为马和牛推翻了篱笆，使得内部出现了小路。 —

Still more impolite were the boys who in spring and summer deliberately drove their herds through. —
更加粗鲁的是那些在春夏季有意驱赶牛群的男孩。 —

In the Eighth Month one year a particularly savage typhoon blew down all the galleries and stripped the servants’ quarters to bare frames, and so the servants left. —
某年的八月，一场特别猛烈的台风吹倒了所有的廊子，将仆人的住所完全摧毁，于是仆人离开了。 —

No smoke rose from the kitchen. Things had, in a word, come to a sorry pass. —
厨房没有升起烟雾。总的来说，事情已经变得很糟糕。 —

A glance at the brambles convinced robbers that the place was not worth looking into. —
一眼看去，荆棘让强盗相信这个地方不值得搜寻。 —

But the furnishings and decorations in the main hall were as they had always been. —
但是大厅的陈设和装饰都没有变化。 —

There was no one to clean and polish them, of course; —
当然没有人来打扫和擦拭它们； —

but if the lady lived among mountains of dust it was elegant and orderly dust.
但如果这位女士生活在一片尘土之中，那么那是优雅有序的尘土。

She might have beguiled the loneliness of her days with old songs and poems, but she really did not have much feeling for such things. —
她本可以用古老的歌曲和诗歌陪伴漫长的孤独时光，但她对这些东西实际上并不感兴趣。 —

It is usual for young ladies who, though not remarkably subtle, have time on their hands to find amusement through the passing seasons in exchanging little notes and poems with kindred spirits; —
年轻的女士们通常会通过季节的更迭，与志同道合的灵魂交换一些小纸条和诗歌来消遣； —

but, faithful to the principles by which her father had reared her, she did not welcome familiarity, and remained aloof even from people who might have enjoyed an occasional note. —
但是，她遵循父亲教导的原则，不欢迎过分亲近的人，甚至对可能享受偶尔写字的人也保持着冷漠。 —

Sometimes she would open a scarred bookcase and take out an illustrated copy of The Bat, The Lady Recluse, or The Bamboo Cutter.
有时，她会打开一个破烂的书柜，取出一本插图版的《蝙蝠》、《女隐士》或《竹取物语》。

Old poems bring pleasure when they are selected with taste and discrimination, with fine attention to author and occasion and import; —
只要选择得体、有品味、并充分注重作者、场合和意义，旧诗歌就会带来乐趣； —

but there can be little to interest anyone in random, hackneyed poems set down on yellowing business paper or portentously furrowed Michinoku. —
但是如果随意地摆放在泛黄的信纸或端庄的震东地纸上，那么没有什么会吸引人。 —

Yet it was just such collections that she would browse through when the loneliness and the gloom were too much for her. —
然而，当孤独和阴郁无法忍受时，她就会翻阅这样的收藏品。 —

The sacred texts and rites to which most recluses turn intimidated her, and as for rosaries, she would not have wished, had there been anyone to see, to be seen with one. —
大多数隐士都会转向神圣的经文和仪式，而这些却让她感到畏惧，至于念珠，即使有人看到，她也不想被别人看到。 —

It was a very undecorated life she lived.
她的生活非常简朴。

Only Jijū, her old nurse’s daughter, was unable to leave. —
只有看护老婆婆的女儿Jijū无法离开。 —

The high priestess of Kamo, whose house she had frequented, was no longer living, and life was very difficult and uncertain.
贺茂高祖神主已不在人世，贞且多舛，生活艰难。

There was a lady, the princess’s maternal aunt, who had fallen in the world and married a provincial governor. —
琊狭王后的姑姐现已社会地位堕落，嫁给了一位州牧。 —

She was devoted to her daughters, into whose service she had brought numbers of not at all contemptible women. —
她疼爱自己的女儿，为她们找来了不少不可轻视的使女。 —

Jijū occasionally went to visit, for after all a house so close to her family was more inviting than a house of strangers.
贞循有时会去拜访，毕竟一个离家族如此之近的地方比陌生人的住所更具吸引力。

The princess, of an extremely shy and retiring nature, had never warmed to her aunt, and there had been some petulance on the part of the latter.
这位公主天性害羞腼腆，从未对姑姐产生好感，姑姑倒有些脾气。

“I know that my sister thought me a disgrace to the family,” she would say; —
“我知道我妹妹认为我对家族是个耻辱，”她会说； —

“and that is why, though I feel very sorry indeed for your lady, I am able to offer neither help nor sympathy.”
“这就是为什么，尽管我对你的夫人深感遗憾，但我既不能提供帮助也不能表示同情。”

She did, however, write from time to rime.
不过，她倒是时不时写信。

The sons and daughters of provincial governors are sometimes nobler than the high nobility, as they imitate their betters; —
州牧之子女有时比高贵的贵族更高尚，因为他们效仿着上等人； —

and a child of the high nobility can sometimes sink to a lamentable commonness. —
而高贵的孩子有时会沦为可悲的庸碌。 —

So it was with the aunt, a drab, vulgar sort of person. —
姑姐也是如此，是个沉闷、庸俗的人。 —

She herself had come to be looked down upon, and now that her sister’s house was in ruins she would have loved to hire her niece as governess. —
她自己也遭受鄙视，如今她妹的家已到毁灭边缘，她心里非常盼望能聘请侄女做家庭教师。 —

The princess was rather old-fashioned, it was true, but she could be depended upon.
这位公主的确有些守旧，但可靠。

“Do come and see us occasionally,” wrote the aunt. —
“偶尔来看看我们吧，”姑姐写道。 —

“There are several people here who long to hear your koto.”
“这里有几个人渴望听你的箜篌。”

Jijū kept at her lady to accept the invitarion; —
Jijū绝不愿意让她家的女主人错过这个邀请； —

but, less from any wish to resist than from extreme and incurable shyness, the princess remained aloof, and the aunt’s resentment unalloyed.
但是公主不是出于任何抵抗的意愿，而是由于极度的害羞和不可治愈的羞涩，仍然保持着距离，阿姨的怨恨更加浓厚；

Her husband was presently appointed assistant viceroy of Kyushu. —
她丈夫很快被任命为九州副都统； —

Making suitable arrangements for her daughters, she set off with him for his new post.
她为自己的女儿做好了合适的安排，随着丈夫一起去了他的新岗位；

She was eager to take her niece along. “I will be very far away,” she would say, always plausibly. —
她急于带走她的侄女。“我会离得很远，”她总是巧舌如簧地说； —

“I have not inquired after you as frequently as I would have wished, but I have had the comfort of knowing you are near, and I do hate to leave you behind.”
“虽然我没有经常询问你，但我一直安慰自己知道你在附近，我真不舍得把你落下；”

She was noisily angry when the princess refused again. “A most unpleasant person. —
公主再次拒绝时，她非常愤怒。“一个最讨厌的人。 —

She has made up her mind that she is better than the rest of us. —
她已经下定决心觉得自己比我们其他人更好。 —

Well, I doubt that the Genji general will come courring the princess of the wormwood patch.”
嗯，我怀疑源氏大将会来追求苦蒿园的公主；

And then the court was astir with the news that Genji would return to the city. —
于是宫廷传出了源氏将要回城的消息； —

The competition was intense, in high places and low, to demonstrate complete and unswerving loyalty. Genji learned a great deal about human nature. —
竞争异常激烈，无论高低贵贱都在竭力展示出完全和坚定的忠诚。源氏对人性有了更深入的了解； —

In these busy, unsettled times he apparently did not think of the safflower princess. —
在这个忙碌、不安定的时期，他似乎没有想到番红花公主； —

It was the end of all hope, she thought. —
这是所有希望的终结，她想； —

She had grieved for him in his misfortune and prayed that happy spring would come. —
她为他的不幸而哀叹，并祈祷幸福的春天会到来； —

Now all the clods in the land were rejoicing, and she heard of all the joy from afar, as if he were a stranger. —
现在整个国家都沉浸在欢乐之中，她从远方听到了所有的喜悦，他就好像是个陌生人一样。 —

She had asked herself, in the worst days, whether some change had perhaps been wrought by herself upon the world. —
在最糟糕的日子里，她曾经问过自己，也许自己对这个世界产生了某种改变。 —

It had all been to no purpose. Sometimes, when she was alone, she wept aloud.
这一切都是徒劳的。有时，当她独自一人时，她会大声哭泣。

The aunt thought her a proper fool. It was just as she had said it would be. —
姑母认为她是一个真正的傻瓜。事情就像她所说的那样。 —

Could anyone possibly pay court to a person who lived such a beggarly existence, indeed such a ridiculous existence? —
有谁可能向一个过着如此贫苦、实际上如此荒谬的生活的人献殷勤呢？ —

It is said that the Blessed One bestows his benign grace upon those who are without sin — and here the princess was, quite unapologetic, pretending that matters were as they had been while her royal father and her good mother lived. —
据说，受祝福的人会赐予那些没有罪过的人他的慈爱 — 而这位公主，完全没有懊悔，假装一切都和她的皇家父母生前一样。 —

It was rather sad, really.
真的很悲哀。

The aunt sent another plausible note. “Please do make up your mind and come with us. —
姑母又送了一份看似合理的便条。“请做个决定，跟我们一起来吧。 —

The poet said that in bad times a person wants a trip to the mountains. —
诗人说，在不好的时候，一个人想要去山上旅行。 —

Nothing very dreadful is going to happen to you if you come with us.”
如果你跟我们一起来，你不会遇到什么非常可怕的事情。”

The princess was the despair of her women. “Why will she not listen? —
公主让她的女官们绝望。“为什么她就是不听呢？ —

She doesn’t know which way to turn, and yet she manages to go on being stubborn. —
她不知道该怎么办，但她却继续固执。 —

How can you account for it?”
这怎么解释呢？”

Jijū had been successfully wooed by a nephew, perhaps it was, of the new assistant viceroy. —
似乎是新副总督的一个侄子成功地求婚了侍姬。 —

Her bridegroom would not dream of leaving her, and so, reluctantly, she determined to go. —
她的未婚夫不会想要离开她，因此，她不情愿地决定前往。 —

She pleaded with her lady to go too. It would be a terrible worry, she said, if her lady were to stay behind all alone. —
她请求她的夫人也一起去。她说，如果她的夫人独自留在这里，这将是一件可怕的担忧。 —

But the princess still put her faith in Genji, who had neglected her for so long. —
但公主仍然对忽视她很久的源氏抱有信任。 —

The years might pass, she told herself, but the day would come when he would remember her. —
她告诉自己，岁月或许会流逝，但总有一天他会记起她。 —

He had made such affectionate, earnest promises, and though it now seemed her fate to have been forgotten, it would not always be so. —
他曾做过如此深情的承诺，即使现在命运似乎将她遗忘，但这种情况不会永远持续。 —

He would one day have, upon some wind, tidings of her, and when he did he would come to her. —
终有一天，他会在某个风传来的消息中听到她的消息，到那时他会前来见她。 —

So she had made her way through the weeks and months. —
因此她度过了这些周日和月月。 —

Though her mansion fell into deeper ruin, she resolutely clung to her treasures, and insisted on living as she always had. —
尽管她的府第愈发破败，她仍顽强地保留着她的珍宝，坚持过着她一直过着的生活。 —

The world seemed darker and darker, and she wept and wept, and her nose was as if someone had affixed a bright berry to it. —
世界看起来越来越阴暗，她眼泪汪汪，鼻子仿佛被人夹了个鲜亮的浆果。 —

As for her profile, only someone with more than ordinary affection for her could have borne to look at it. —
至于她的容颜，只有对她有着超乎寻常情感的人才能忍受看着它。 —

But I shall not go into the details. I am a charitable person, and would not wish for the world to seem malicious.
但我不愿赘述细节。我是个善良的人，不希望世人看起来险恶。

Winter came and the days passed in forlorn procession. The lady had literally nothing to cling to. —
冬天来了，日子在忧伤的队伍中过去。这位女士真的没有任何可以倚靠的。 —

Genji commissioned a reading of the Lotus Sutra which was the talk of the court. —
源氏委托了一场读诵《法华经》，引起了朝廷的议论。 —

Making it known that he would have no ordinary clerics among the officiants, he summoned venerable and erudite sages who could be counted on to know what to do. —
他宣布不会请普通的僧侣担任法事，而是召集了那些博学多识的庄严圣贤，他们可靠且知道要做什么。 —

Among them was the brother of the safflower princess.
其中有红花公主的兄长。

On his return to the monastery he came by to see his sister. —
回到寺院后，他顺道去看望了妹妹。 —

“It was all very grand, so lavish and in such impeccable taste that it made one think that the Pure Land had come down to this world. —
“那场法会非常壮丽，如此奢华且品位无可挑剔，令人觉得净土降临尘世。” —

Genji must be an incarnation of a Blessed One or perhaps a messiah even. —
源氏一定是一个受祝福者的化身，甚至可能是弥赛亚。 —

How can such a man have been born into this world of sin and corruption? —
这样一个人怎么会降生在这个罪恶和堕落的世界？ —

” And he was on his way.
“他已启程。

They were an unusually taciturn brother and sister, unable to exchange the most idle remarks. —
他们是一对异常沉默寡言的兄妹，无法交换最琐碎的谈话。 —

Yet his words had made an impression. A Blessed One, a messiah, indeed! —
不过他的话确实留下了印象。一个受祝福者，一个弥赛亚！ —

A fine messiah, taking no notice at all of her misery and peril. —
一个很好的弥赛亚，竟然完全不顾及她的悲伤和危险。 —

She understood at last. She would never see him again.
她最终明白了。她再也见不到他了。

The aunt came busily in upon the worst of the gloom. —
姑母匆忙进来，打破了最糟糕的阴霾。 —

Although she had not been close to the princess, she came laden with gifts, hoping that even now she might lure the princess off to the provinces. —
尽管她与公主并不亲近，但她带来了礼物，希望能诱使公主去乡下。 —

Her carriage a grand one, she came quite without forewarning, obviously satisfied with the course her career was taking. —
她的马车很豪华，毫无征兆地到来，显然对自己的事业发展满意。 —

She was shocked at the desolation that lay before her. —
她看到眼前的荒凉感到震惊。 —

The gates were coming unhinged and leaning precariously, and resisted all the grunting efforts to open them. —
大门已经摇摇欲坠，顽固地抗拒着所有用力推开它们的人。 —

Even the “three paths” had disappeared in the undergrowth. —
甚至“三条小路”在丛林中已经消失了。 —

The carriage forced its way to a raised shutter at the south front. —
马车硬闯向南面的一扇窗棂。 —

The princess, though offended, had Jijū receive the visitor from behind yellowing curtains. —
公主虽然感到愤怒，让侍女在发黄的窗帘后接待了这位访客。 —

The years were catching up with Jijū. She was thin and dispirited. —
岁月使得环绕在Jijū身上。她变得瘦弱和沮丧。 —

She still retained enough of her old elegance, however, that the aunt, inappropriate though it would of course have been to say so, would have preferred having her for a niece.
然而，她仍然保留着一些往日的优雅，如果说出来可能不太恰当，但这位阿姨更愿意她是自己的侄女。

“So I am off, and I must leave you to this. —
“我要走了，我要把你留下来。 —

I have come for Jijū. I know that you dislike me and would not consider making a trip around the corner with me, but perhaps you might at least permit me to have Jijū. You poor thing, how can you stand it? —
我是为了Jijū而来的。我知道你讨厌我，不愿意和我一起去转角，但也许你可以允许我带走Jijū。可怜的家伙，你怎么能忍受得了呢？ —

” She was trying very hard to weep, but the triumphant smile of the assistant viceroy’s wife was not very well hidden. —
”她竭力想要流泪，但副宰相夫人得意的微笑并没有很好地隐藏起来。 —

” To the end of his days your royal father looked upon me as a disgrace to the family. —
”你的皇家父亲终其一生都将我视为家族的耻辱。 —

But I do not hold grudges, and so here I am. —
但我不懷恨，在這裡我來了。 —

Thanks to Genji there was a time when you might have hoped to go on living like a princess. —
多亏了玄機，有一段时间你还可以希望像公主一样生活下去。 —

I would not have dreamed of trying to insinuate my way into your royal presence. —
我从来没有梦想过要在你的皇家面前肆无忌惮。 —

But these things pass. Sometimes the underdog wins. —
但这一切都会过去。有时候弱者胜过强者。 —

The mighty sometimes fall, and a person does after all have to feel sorry for them. —
强者有时候会跌倒，一个人终究是要为他们感到难过的。 —

I have not been very diligent about keeping in touch, I know, but I have had the comforting knowledge that you are near. —
我知道我并不十分勤勉地保持联系，但我一直安慰着自己知道你在附近。 —

Now I am going off to the provinces. I can hardly bear to think of leaving you all alone.”
现在我要去外地。我几乎不忍心想象要将你孤独留在这里。”

The princess offered a few stiff words in reply.” It is kind of you to have invited me. —
公主回复了几句生硬的话。“你邀请我是非常友善的。 —

I fear that I would not be good company. —
我担心我会成为不好的陪伴。 —

I shall stay where I am, thank you very much, and that will be that.”
我决定留在这里，非常感谢，就这样吧。”

“No doubt. I do have to admire you. Not everyone would have the courage. —
“无疑。我必须佩服你。不是每个人都会有那样的勇气。 —

I am sure Genji could make this place over into a gleaming palace in a minute if he chose to. —
我敢肯定，如果源氏愿意的话，他能在一分钟内把这个地方建成一个璀璨的宫殿。 —

But they tell me he finds time these days for Prince Hyōbu’s daughter and no one else. —
但他们告诉我，他现在抽出时间去见兵部卿的女儿，其他人都不管了。 —

He has always had an eye for the ladies, I’m told, but they come and they go, and the ones that used to please him don’t any more. —
据说他一直痴迷于女人，但女人来了又走，曾经让他开心的人如今已不再令他满足。 —

Do you think he will be grateful to you for watching over the wormwood?”
你认为他会因为你照看艾菊而感激你吗？

The princess was in tears. Though the aunt was right, of course, she spent a whole day in futile argument. —
公主含泪。尽管姑母说的没错，她还是白费了一整天在争辩。 —

“Well, let me have Jijū then.” It was evening, and she was in a hurry to be off.
“那就让我带着艾菊走吧。” 天色已晚，她急于离开。

Forced at last to take a stand, Jijū was weeping copiously. —
被逼无奈，艾菊抽泣不止。 —

“I will just see your aunt on her way, then, my lady, as she has urged me to. —
“我只是要送送你姑母，女士，因为她催促我。 —

I think that what she says is quite true,” she added in a whisper, “and at the same time I think it quite understandable that you cannot find it in yourself to agree. —
她的话没错，” 她低声说，“同时我也觉得你不同意是可以理解的。 —

I am put in a very difficult position.”
我处境很为难。”

So Jijū too was leaving. The princess could only weep. —
艾菊也要离开了。公主只能含泪。 —

The everyday robes she might have offered as farewell presents were yellow and stained. —
她可以送出的日常服装已经发黄而且脏了。 —

And what else was there, what token of her gratitude for long years of service? —
还有什么，作为对多年服务的感激之情的象征呢？ —

She remembered that she had collected her own hair as it had fallen, rather wonderful, ten feet or so long. —
她记得曾经将自己掉落的头发收集起来，长度约十英尺，相当美妙。 —

She now put it into a beautifully fabricated box, and with it a jar of old incense.
她现在把头发放到一个精美的盒子里，还有一个装满旧焚香的罐子。

“I had counted upon them not to slacken or give,
“我曾指望它们不会松懈或放弃，

These jeweled strands — and far off now they are borne.
这些宝石般的线缠 —— 现在远去了。

“I am a useless person, I know, but there were your mama’s last instructions, and I had thought you would stay with me. —
“我是一个无用的人，我知道，但这是你妈妈的最后嘱咐，我曾以为你会和我待在一起。 —

” She was weeping bitterly. “You must go, of course. —
“她伤心地哭泣着。“你必须走，当然。 —

And what am I to do without you?”
没有了你，我该怎么办？”

Jijū could scarcely reply. “Yes, of course, there was Mama. Don’t, please, remind me of her, my lady. —
竺寿几乎回答不上来。“是的，当然，那是妈妈。请不要提醒我她，夫人。 —

We have been through a great deal together, and I am not asking them to take me away from you. —
“我们经历了很多，我并不是要求他们将我带离你身边。 —

“The jeweled strands may snap, but I swear by the gods,
“宝石般的线可能会断裂，但我发誓以神明为证，

The gods of the road, that I will not cast them off. —
路途中的神明，我不会抛弃它们。 —

Though I cannot of course be sure how long I shall live.”
虽然我当然不能确定我还能活多久。”

Meanwhile the aunt was grumbling. “Can’t you hurry just a little? It’s getting dark.”
与此同时，姨妈一直在抱怨。“你不能稍微快点吗？天色渐暗了。”

In a daze, Jijū was urged into the carriage. —
竺寿仿佛在恍惚中被催促上了马车。 —

She looked back and looked back again as it pulled away.
在马车渐行渐远时，她一次又一次地回头看。

The princess was lonelier than ever. She had said goodbye to the last of them. —
公主比以往任何时候都更加孤独。她已经向最后一个人告别。 —

Jijū had not left her side through all the difficult years.
自十几岁之后，Jijū 一直未离开过她身边。

“She was quite right to go. How could she have stayed? —
“她离开是对的。她怎么能留下呢？ —

It is getting to be more than we ourselves can stand. —
这已经快到我们自己承受不了的地步了。 —

” Even old women whose remaining task was to die were looking for better positions.
即使是那些任务只剩下等待死亡的老妇人也在寻找更好的位置。

The princess only hoped that no one heard their complaining.
公主只希望没有人听到她们的抱怨。

There was a great deal of snow and sleet as winter came. —
冬天来临时下了很多雪和雨夹雪。 —

In other gardens it melted, but in hers there were weeds to Protect it, until presently one was reminded of White Mountain in Etchū. —
在别人的花园里雪化了，但在她的花园里，有杂草来保护它，直到有时候想起越中国的白山。 —

The princess gazed out at a garden without gardeners. —
公主凝视着一个没有园丁的花园。 —

The last friend with whom she could exchange an occasional pleasantry had left her. —
她能偶尔开玩笑的最后一个朋友也离开了她。 —

She passed lonely days and nights in a dusty boudoir.
她在一间尘封的闺房里度过寂寞的白天和黑夜。

Genji, having been away for so long, was completely occupied at Nijō. He had no time to visit ladies of lesser importance. —
源氏在忍辱宫待得时间太长，完全没有空闲去拜访那些次要的女士们。 —

He did from time to time think of the safflower princess and wonder whether she would still be among the living. —
他时不时地想起奠沙姑娘，不知道她是否还在人世间。 —

He had no great wish to seek her out, however; —
但他并没有很想去寻找她； —

and so the year came to an end.
于是年终了结。

In the Fourth Month he thought of the lady of the orange blossoms. —
在四月，他想起了橙花夫人。 —

Telling Murasaki that he had an errand to do, he slipped out of the Nijō house. —
告诉紫式部他有事要办，他溜出了二条别墅。 —

A light rain was falling, the end of several days’ rain. —
细雨落下了，这是连续几天的雨后。 —

The moon came out just as the clouds were breaking. —
月亮出来了，就在云层散开的时候。 —

He was sunk in thoughts of other secret expeditions as he made his way through the soft evening moonlight. —
在柔和的夜晚月光中，他沉浸在其他秘密行动的思绪中。 —

He passed a house so utterly ruinous, a garden so rank, that he almost wondered whether human beings had ever broken the wild forest. —
他经过一座非常破旧的房子，一个长满荒草的花园，几乎让他怀疑过是否曾有人类在这里破除了野荒。 —

Wisteria blossoms, trailing from a giant pine, waved gently in the moon-light. —
紫藤花从一棵巨松上垂下，随着月光轻轻摇曳。 —

The breeze brought in a vague, nostalgic perfume, similar to but somehow different from orange blossoms. —
微风带来了一股模糊的怀旧香气，与橙花相似但又不同。 —

He leaned from his carriage. Without support from the crumbling earthen wall, the branches of a willow dropped to the ground in great disorder. —
他从马车上探出身子。没有来自崩塌土墙的支撑，一棵柳树的枝枝蔓蔓地垂到地面。 —

He had been here before. Yes — Prince Hitachi’s mansion. —
他来过这里。是的 —— 常陸宮。 —

He had his carriage stopped, and inquired of Koremitsu, who was always with him on these expeditions, whether it was indeed Prince Hitachi’s.
他让马车停下，并询问常跟在他身边进行这些行动的是光，这确实是常陸宮的吗。

“It is, my lord.”
“是的，大人。”

“What an awful time the poor princess was having. I wonder if she still lives here. —
“可怜的公主一定过得很糟糕。不知道她还住在这里吗。” —

I had been thinking about her, but you know what people would say if I tried to see her. —
我一直在想她，但你知道如果我试图去看她，人们会说些什么。 —

An opportunity it would be wrong to let pass. Go inside, please, and ask. —
这是一个不容错过的机会。请进去问问。 —

But be very sure of yourself before you do. —
但在你行动之前一定要对自己非常确信。 —

We would look very silly if we found ourselves with the wrong person.”
如果我们发现自己和错误的人在一起，我们会显得非常愚蠢。

Though he did not know it, he had chosen a moment of heightened feeling. —
尽管他自己没有意识到，他选择了一个情感高涨的时刻。 —

She had been napping and she had dreamed of her father. —
她刚睡醒，梦见了她的父亲。 —

Afterwards, as if on his order, she set someone to mopping the rainwater that had leaked into a penthouse, and someone else to rearranging cushions, and in general it seemed as if she had resumed housekeeping.
之后，仿佛她听从了他的命令，她让人去擦拭漏进阁楼的雨水，让另一个人去重新整理靠垫，总的来说，好像她已经恢复了家务活动。

“My sleeves still wet from tears for him who died
“我袖子上的泪为他而流，仍然湿润不干。

Are wetter yet from rain through ruined eaves.”
由于屋檐破损，雨水淋湿的我的更加湿润。”

It was just at this moment. Koremitsu was wandering about seeking traces of human occupancy. —
就在这个时候，是由于高明的感知力，Koremitsu正在四处游荡，寻找人烟。 —

He found none. He had passed the house on earlier occasions and looked in. —
他没有找到。他在之前的几次经过这个房子时已经看过里面。 —

It had seemed quite deserted. The moon burst forth brightly as he turned to leave. —
那时看起来相当荒废。就在他准备离开时，月光突然明亮起来。 —

He saw that a pair of shutters was raised and a blind was moving slightly. —
他看到一个百叶窗被打开，百叶也微微摆动。 —

Though this first sign of life was a little frightening, he approached and cleared his throat to announce his presence.
尽管这个生活的第一个迹象有点让人害怕，他走近，清了清嗓子以示自己的存在。

After a cough, a fearfully aged voice replied: “Who is that out there? Who are you?”
喉咙轻轻咳嗽后，一个极度苍老的声音回答道：“外面是谁？你是谁？”

Koremitsu identified himself. “I would like to speak to Jijū, please, if I may.
Koremitsu确认了自己的身份。“我想请见季重，请问可以吗？”

“Jijū‘s gone away and left us. But there’s someone here you might call just the same as Jijū.” The voice was a very, very ancient one. —
“季重已经离开我们。但这里有一个你可能会认为跟季重一样的人。”声音非常非常古老。 —

He thought he had heard it before.
他认为自己以前听过这句话。

Suddenly, without warning, from nowhere, a gentleman in travel dress, to all appearances courteous and civil. —
突然，毫无征兆，从不知何处冒出一个穿着旅行服装的绅士，看上去彬彬有礼。 —

No longer accustomed to receiving visitors, the old woman wondered if it might be a fox or some equally perverse and mischievous creature.
这位老妇人自不曾习惯有访客，她心里想可能是只狐狸或其他一些同样恶作剧且调皮的生物。

He came nearer. “I must beg to be told exactly how things are with you. —
他走近了。“请告诉我你的情况。 —

If your lady has not changed, then my lord’s wishes to call upon her have not changed either. —
如果你的女主人没有变，那么我主人拜访她的愿望也没有改变。 —

He found that he could not pass you by, and had his carriage stopped outside. —
他发现无法放过你，所以叫停了他的马车。 —

What shall I tell him? You have nothing to be afraid of.”
我该告诉他什么？你不用害怕。”

There was uncertain laughter, and a woman answered haltingly: —
有一阵不确定的笑声，一个女人犹豫地回答道： —

“Do you think that if she had changed she would not have moved away from this jungle? —
“你认为如果她有变化，她不会离开这片丛林吗？ —

Please imagine for yourself, sir, the situation of which you inquire, and report it to your lord. —
请自行想象一下，先生，你所询问的情况，并向你的主人报告。 —

We who should be used to it by now think it most extraordinary. —
我们这些应该早就习以为常的人觉得这是非常反常的。 —

We ask ourselves how many other examples there can possibly be in the whole world.”
我们自问在整个世界中可能会有多少同样的例子。”

“I see. I will tell him.” Fearing he might have a longer answer than he wished, Koremitsu returned to Genji’s carriage.
“我明白了。我会告诉他。”惧怕他可能得到比想要的更长的回答，惠发回到了玄慈的马车旁。

“You took your time,” said Genji. “And what did you find? —
“你花了不少时间，”玄慈说。“你找到了什么？ —

You must have had to cut away a great deal of underbrush to find anything.”
你肯定得清理掉很多灌木才能找到什么。”

Koremitsu described the search that had taken him so long. —
是Koremitsu描述了他寻找了很长时间的搜索经历。 —

“I spoke to Jijū‘s aunt, the old lady called Shōshō. —
“我和Jijū的姑姑，那个叫做Shōshō的老太太谈过。 —

I would have recognized her voiceanywhere.”
我无论在哪里都能辨认出她的声音。”

“What a way to live.” Genji was sorry he had so neglected his safflower. “What shall I do? —
“多么不好的生活。”Genji很遗憾他竟然如此忽视了他的藏红花。“我该怎么办呢？ —

It has been a very long time. These secret travels are not easy for me, and if I let this opportunity pass there is not likely to be another. —
这已经很久了。这些秘密之行对我来说并不容易，如果我放过这次机会，很可能不会再有了。 —

If she hasn’t changed-?”
如果她没变化的话-？”

It seemed rather inelegant just to walk in. He would have liked to send in a clever note. —
看起来直接走进去有些不雅。他想发送一张巧妙的便条。 —

But he remembered how slow she was with her answers. —
但他想起她回答问题总是那么慢。 —

Unless she had gained momentum Koremitsu might expect to be kept waiting all night.
除非她已经加快了脚步，Koremitsu可能会被耐心等待整晚。

“It is very wet, sir. Suppose you wait until I have shaken a little of it away.”
“天气很湿，请您等一等，直到我抖掉一些雨水。”

“Myself will I break a path through towering weeds
“我自己将穿过那些高大的杂草打开一条道路，并问：一个恒定的灵魂是否在其中居住？”

And ask: does a constant spirit dwell within?”
Genji像是在自言自语，尽管Koremitsu警告了他，还是从马车上下来了。

Genji spoke as if to himself, and despite Koremitsu’s warnings got from his carriage.
Koremitsu用鞭子抽打着草地。

Koremitsu beat at the grass with a horsewhip. —
树上的水滴落下来，就像一场寒冷的秋雨。 —

The drops from the trees were like a chilly autumn shower.
族长看起来愤怒地在向父母投诉。

“I have an umbrella,” said Koremitsu. “Tbese groves shed the most fearful torrents.”
“我有一把雨伞，”光秀说。“这些林木遮挡了最可怕的倾盆大雨。”

Genji’s feet and ankles were soaking. Even in the old days the passage through the south gallery had been more obstacle than passage. —
源氏的脚和踝关节全湿透了。即使在从前，南廊的通道也更像是障碍而非通道。 —

Now the gallery had caved in, and Genji’s entry was a most ungraceful one. —
现在，廊道已经坍塌，源氏的入场显得十分不雅。 —

He was glad there were no witnesses.
他庆幸没有见证者。

Having waited so long, clinging to the hope that he would come someday, the princess was of course delighted. —
公主等待了这么久，抱着希望他总有一天会来，所以当然是高兴的。 —

Yet she regretted that he must see her in these circumstances. —
然而她遗憾他必须在这种情况下见到她。 —

The various robes that were gifts from the assistant viceroy’s wife had been put aside, for she did not like the giver. —
助理都督夫人送的各种礼服都被放在一边，因为她不喜欢这个送礼者。 —

The old women had put them in a scented Chinese chest. Now they came out again, pleasantly scented. —
老妇们把它们放在一个香气袭人的中国箱子里。现在，它们再次拿出来，散发着愉悦的香气。 —

The princess let herself be dressed and received Genji from behind the yellow curtains of the last interview with her aunt.
公主让自己穿戴整齐，从她与婶娘最后一次会见的黄色帘幕后接待源氏。

“Although we have seen so little of each other,” said Genji, “I have not ceased to think of you all this time. —
“虽然我们彼此相见甚少，”源氏说，“但我从未停止思念你。 —

I have waited impatiently for some sign that you too still care. —
这段时间里，我焦急地等待着你仍然关心的某种迹象。 —

Although I did not detect any welcoming cedars this evening, I did somehow feel these groves pulling at me. —
虽然我今晚没有察觉到任何欢迎的杉树，但我不知怎么地感觉到这些林木在吸引着我。 —

And so you have won the game.”
所以，你赢得了这场游戏。”

He pushed the curtain slightly aside. She was as shy and withdrawn as ever, he could see, and she was not immediately able to answer. —
他微微掀开帘子。她像往常一样害羞而退缩，他看得出来，她没有立刻回答。 —

Finally, impressed that he should have made his way through the undergrowth, she gathered courage for a few tentative syllables.
最终，看到他居然穿越丛林来到这里，她鼓起了勇气说了几个尝试性的音节。

“I can imagine that it has been uncommonly difficult for you these last few years,” said Genji. “I myself seem incapable of changing and forgetting, and it would interest me to know how it strikes you that I should have come swimming through these grasses, with no idea at all whether you yourself might have changed. —
“我能想象这几年对你来说一定非常艰难，”源氏说道。“我自己似乎无法改变和忘记，我很想知道你会如何看待我游过这些草丛，却毫无头绪你是否会有所改变。” —

Perhaps I may ask you to forgive the neglect. I have neglected everyone, not only you. —
也许我可以请求你原谅我的疏忽。我忽略了每个人，不仅仅是你。 —

I shall consider myself guilty of breach of promise if I ever again do anything to displease you.”
如果我再次做出令你不快的事情，我会感到有辜负承诺。

The warmly affectionate utterances came forth in far larger numbers than he had any real feeling for. Everything urged against spending the night here. —
真情款款的话语比起他实际的感受来说要多得多。一切都在劝告他不要在这里过夜。 —

Having made excuses, he was about to leave. —
找了个借口后，他打算离开。 —

The pine tree was not one which he himself had planted, but someone had planted it, many years ago — years that seemed like a dream.
这松树不是他自己种植的，但是有人在多年前种下了它 — 看起来像是一个梦。

“I obey the waving summons of wisteria
“我顺从紫藤摇曳的召唤

Because it flows, at your gate, from the waiting tree.
因为它从等待的树前流淌到你的门前。

“Yes, it has been many years. Things have changed, not always for the better. —
“是的，已经很多年了。事情有改变，不总是好的。 —

Someday I must tell you of my struggles with the fisherman’s net and the angler’s line. —
总有一天我会告诉你我与渔夫网和钓鱼线搏斗的故事。 —

Another thing that seems strange, now that I think of it, is my complete confidence that you would refuse to tell anyone else the story of your unhappy springs and autumns.”
现在想起来，另一件奇怪的事情是我完全相信你会拒绝告诉任何其他人你春秋的不幸故事。”

“I have waited and waited, to no avail, it seems.
“我等了又等，似乎毫无结果。

Wisteria, not the waiting pine, has brought you.”
紫藤而不是等待的松树引导你来。”

The faint stirring behind the curtains, the faint perfume that came to him from her sleeves, made him feel that she had perhaps improved a little with age. —
帷幕后微微的动静，从她袖子飘来的淡淡香气，让他觉得她可能随着年龄略有改善。 —

The setting moon streamed unobstructed through the open doors, both the gallery and the eaves having collapsed. —
褪色的月亮透过敞开的门流淌进来，走廊和屋檐已经塌陷。 —

He could see to the farthest corners of the room. —
他可以看到房间最远的角落。 —

The furnishings which she kept as they had always been made it seem a much finer house than the roof sagging under the weight of ferns would have led him to imagine. —
她保留的家具让这所房子看起来比房顶下挂着蕨类植物的重量所带来的感觉要好得多。 —

She was very unlike — and the contrast was touching — the princess in the old romance who destroyed the tower. —
她和旧传说中摧毁城堡的公主截然不同，这种对比令人感动。 —

Her stoicism in the face of poverty gave her a certain dignity. —
面对贫困，她的坚忍给她赋予了某种尊严。 —

It had made her worth remembering. He hated to think of his own selfishness through the years.
这使得她成为值得铭记的人。他讨厌想起自己这些年来的自私。

Nor could the lady of the orange blossoms have been described as a bright, lively, modern sort. —
她不像是一个明亮，活泼，现代的人。 —

The difference between the two ladies, indeed, as he saw them in quick succession, did not seem very great; —
事实上，在他快速地看到这两位女士时，两者之间的区别并不大； —

and the safflower princess’s defects were minimized.
对公主山蜀君的缺点被最小化了。

Gifts always poured in as the Kamo festival approached. —
洛阳节即将来临时礼物总是源源不断地涌现。 —

He dis tributed them among his several ladies as seemed appropriate, taking care this time that Prince Hitachi’s mansion was not slighted. —
他把这些礼物分发给他的几位女性，看上去与情况相符，这次他特别留意不要轻视常陆亲王的府邸。 —

He set stewards and artisans who had his confidence to replacing the decayed earthen walls with a sturdy wooden fence. —
他派遣了他信任的管家和工匠来用坚固的木墙取代腐烂的土墙。 —

Genji himself stayed away, fearing derisive rumors about his diligence in having searched her out. —
源氏本人远离了，害怕关于他苦心追寻她的传闻。 —

He sent many an earnest and affectionate note, however. —
但是，他发送了很多真诚和深情的便条。 —

He was remodeling a house very near his own Nijō mansion, he said, and he thought she might wish to move into it. —
他说，他正在整修一座离他邸院很近的房子，他认为她可能想搬进去。 —

Perhaps she could be thinking about presentable maids and footmen and the like. —
也许她会考虑找一些看得过去的女仆和仆人之类的。 —

The wormwood patch now seemed to choke with gratitude. —
艾蒿地块现在似乎深感感激而窒息。 —

Looking off in Genji’s direction, the Hitachi household offered thanks.
家斋向源氏的方向望去，表示感谢。

People had always said that Genji chose superior women to spend even a single night with. —
人们一直说，源氏在选择与之共度一夜的女人时，总是挑选出色之人。 —

It was very odd: everything suggested that the Hitachi princess in no respect even rose to mediocrity. —
情况十分奇怪：无论从哪方面看，家斋公主都无法达到平庸。 —

What could explain it? A bond tied in a former life, no doubt.
这是什么原因呢？毫无疑问是前世结下的羁绊。

Most of the princess’s women, whatever their stations in life, had dismissed her as beyond redemption and scrambled over one another in search of better places. —
公主的侍女，不论身份高低，都对她的素质感到失望，互相争先找寻更好的地方。 —

Now the direction of the scramble was reversed. —
现在情况发生了逆转。 —

The princess, gentle and retiring to a fault, had spoiled them. —
公主过于温和庸俗了。 —

Life in the service of provincial governors was unpleasantly different from what she had accustomed them to. —
在省级长官的身边服务与她之前习惯的生活大相径庭。 —

A certain crassness was apparent in the haste with which they returned.
他们匆匆返回时显现出一些粗鄙。

Ever more prosperous and powerful, Genji was more thoughtful as well. —
源氏变得愈发富有和有权势，也变得更体贴。 —

His instructions had been very detailed, and the princess’s mansion came back to life. —
他的指示非常详细，公主的府邸重新充满了生机。 —

People were seen at the gates and in the garden, the brook was cleared, the wormwood was cut away so that breezes passed once more. —
人们在大门口和花园里看见了人影，小溪被清理了，艾蒿被修剪，使微风再次吹过。 —

Among Genji’s lesser stewards were men who had not yet succeeded in catching his eye. —
源氏的次要管家中有些人还没有引起他的注意。 —

He seemed to care about the Hitachi place. —
他似乎关心家斋的府邸。 —

It offered the opportunity they had been looking for.
这为他们提供了他们一直在寻找的机会。

The princess stayed there for two years, after which he moved her to the east lodge at Nijō. Now he could visit her in the course of ordinary business. —
公主在那里住了两年，之后他将她移到了二条的东楼。现在他可以在日常工作中去看她了。 —

It could no longer be said that he treated her badly.
不能再说他对待她很坏了。

Though no one has asked me to do so, I should like to describe the surprise of the assistant viceroy’s wife at this turn of events, and Jijū‘s pleasure and guilt. —
虽然没有人要求我这样做，但我想描述一下副管家夫人对这一转变的惊讶，以及仁宿的开心和愧疚。 —

But it would be a bother and my head is aching; —
但这会很烦人，我的头疼； —

and perhaps — these things do happen, they say — something will someday remind me to continue the story.
或许 — 据说这些情况的确会发生 — 将来某天会有什么事提醒我继续讲这个故事。