Life was sadder on the banks of the Oi as winter came on.
冬天来临，大家都觉得大河滨的生活变得更加悲伤。

“This cannot continue,” said Genji. “You must move nearer.”
“这样下去不行了，”源氏说道。“你必须搬到更近的地方。”

But the Akashi lady did not want to observe at close hand the coldness of which she had heard from afar. —
但明石女却不想亲眼目睹远方传来的寒冷。 —

It would be the end of everything.
那将是一切的结束。

“I must make arrangements for the child, then. —
“我必须为这个孩子做安排。 —

I have plans for her, and they would come to nothing if I were to leave her here. —
我对她有计划，如果留在这里就会泡汤。 —

I have discussed the matter with the lady in the west wing at Nijō, who is most anxious to see her.” Murasaki might be asked, he said, to arrange unostentatiously for the ritual bestowing of trousers.
我已与二条西馆的女士商讨过，她非常希望见到这个孩子。”他说，可以让紫自行安排低调赠送长裤的仪式。

The Akashi lady had long known that something of the sort was on his mind. —
明石女早已知道他心中所想。 —

This declaration brought matters to a climax, while adding greatly to the uncertainty. —
这一宣言引发了事态的升级，也给不确定性增添了许多。 —

“I have no doubt that you mean to treat her as if her mother were the noblest of your ladies, but of course people are sure to know who she really is, and behave accordingly.”
“我完全相信你会以最高贵的态度对待她，但当然人们都会知道她真实的身份，然后相应地对待。”

“You need not have the slightest fear that she will be mistreated. —
“你毫不必担心她会受到虐待。 —

It is a matter of very great unhappiness for the lady at Nijō that after all these years she has no children of her own. —
二条女对此感到非常不快，这么多年了她仍未能拥有自己的孩子。 —

The former high priestess of Ise is already a grown lady, and yet the Nijō lady insists on treating her like a child. —
伊势前高僧的女儿早已长大，但二条女坚持像个孩子一样对待她。 —

She is sure to adore your little girl. That is her way. —
她一定会喜欢你的小女儿。这就是她的方式。 —

” He perhaps exaggerated Murasaki’s maternal tendencies a little.
” 他或许有些夸大了紫的母性倾向。

Rumors of his amorous adventuring had reached Akashi, where there had been speculation upon the sort of grand love affair that might finally bring it to an end. —
传闻有关他放荡不羁的传闻已经传到明石，人们猜测这样一段伟大的恋情或许会结束这种生活方式。 —

Now it did seem to have vanished without a trace. —
现在这传闻似乎已经无影无踪。 —

The bond from an earlier life must be a very strong one, and the lady herself a paragon. —
前世的羁绊一定非常强大，而这位女士本身一定是一个典范。 —

She would think it most impertinent of the Akashi lady to come forward. —
她会觉得明石的女士前来是非常唐突的。 —

Well, thought the latter, she must drive her own affairs from her mind, and think only of the child, whose future lay before her. —
想来，她必须将自己的事情抛诸脑后，只考虑孩子，她的未来就在眼前。 —

In that Murasaki was best qualified to advise. —
在这方面，紫安是最合适的指导者。 —

Genji had said that the humane thing would be to take the child away while she was still an infant, and no doubt he was right. —
源氏说，以人道主义的态度，最好还是在婴儿时期将孩子带走，毫无疑问，他是对的。 —

Yet she would worry, she knew, and what would she now have to relieve the tedium of her days? —
然而她知道自己会担心，她现在又有什么来缓解日常生活的乏味？ —

What reason Would Genji have to pay her the briefest and rarest visit? —
源氏有什么理由来进行最短暂最罕见的拜访呢？ —

The only thing which seemed certain in this web of uncertainty was that she had been born under unhappy stars.
在这种充满不确定性的网中，唯一确定的事情就是她注定出生在不幸的星座下。

She consulted her mother, a very wise old lady.
她向自己的母亲请教，一个非常聪明的老太太。

“You fret over things that are so simple. —
“你为简单的事情忧虑不已。 —

It will not be easy to live without her, I know, but it is her interest we must consider, and it is her interest, I have no doubt at all, that His Lordship is most concerned about. —
没有她的日子会很难过，我知道，但我们必须考虑她的利益，我毫不怀疑，主子最关心的也是她的利益。 —

You must put your trust in him and let her go. —
你必须相信他，让她离开。 —

Even when a child has the emperor himself for its father, the mother’s station in life makes all the difference. —
即使孩子的父亲是皇帝，母亲的身份也至关重要。 —

Look at the case of His Lordship. He was the handsomest and the most gifted of them all, and still he was made a commoner. —
看看“阁下”的情况。他是他们中最英俊、最有才华的，仍然被降为庶民。 —

His maternal grandfather was just not important enough, and his mother was one of the lesser ladies at court. —
他的祖父母家并不重要，他的母亲是宫廷中的次要贵族。 —

And if there are these distinctions among princes, think how much more extreme they are among us commoners. —
如果王子们之间有这些区别，想象一下在我们庶民中会有多么极端。 —

Even the daughter of a prince or a minister is at a great disadvantage if her mother’s family does not have influence. —
即使是王子或大臣的女儿，在母亲的家族没有影响力的情况下也处于极大的劣势。 —

Her father cannot do the things that one might expect from his rank. —
如果她的母亲家族没有影响力，她的父亲就无法做到人们所期望的事情。 —

Your own little girl can look forward to only one thing if a daughter is born to one of the grand ladies: —
如果你的小女孩出生在贵族家庭，她的唯一前途就是被遗忘。 —

she will be forgotten. The ones with a chance in the world are the ones whose parents give them that chance. —
有机会在世界上有所作为的人，是那些父母给予机会的人。 —

I don’t care how much we spend on her, no one is going to pay the slightest attention off here in the hills. —
不管我们为她花多少钱，这里的人也不会有丝毫注意。 —

No, you must turn her over to His Lordship and see what he means to do for her.”
不，你必须把她交给“阁下”，看看他打算为她做些什么。

Through well-placed friends she consulted renowned fortunetellers and it was their uniform opinion, to her considerable distress, that the child should be put in Murasaki’s charge. —
通过关系密切的朋友，她咨询了著名的占卜师，他们一致认为，让孩子交给紫娘照管是最好的选择，这使她颇为烦恼。 —

Genji had of course long been of that opinion, but had not wished to seem unreasonable or importunate.
源氏当然早已有这种看法，但不愿显得不讲理或唐突。

What did she propose, asked Genji, in the matter of the bestowing of trousers?
源氏询问，在赐予孩子裤子的问题上，她有什么建议？

“It is of course as you say. It would be quite unfair to leave the child with a useless person like myself. —
“当然如你所说。将孩子留在像我这样无用的人身边是相当不公平的。 —

And yet I fear for her. Might they not make fun of her if you were to take her away with you?”
但我担心她。如果你带她离开，他们会不会嘲笑她？”

He felt very sorry for her indeed.
他对她感到非常难过。

He had a propitious day selected and quietly saw to arrangements for the move. —
他选定了一个吉祥的日子，悄悄地安排着搬家的事宜。 —

The thought of giving up the child was almost more than the lady could bear, but she held herself under tight control, trying to keep everything from her mind but the future that was spreading before the child.
放弃这个孩子的想法几乎让这位女士无法承受，但她强忍着，努力让自己的心思不去想那个将要展现在孩子面前的未来。

“And so you must leave?” she said to the nurse. —
“所以你必须离开吗？”她对保姆说。 —

“You have been my comfort through the loneliness and boredom. I shall be quite lost without you.”
“在孤独和无聊中，你一直都是我的慰藉。没有你，我将会感到很失落。”

The nurse too was in tears. “We must reconcile ourselves, my lady, to what must be. —
保姆也哭了，“我们必须调整心态，究竟是不能如愿。” —

I shall not forget your unfailing kindness since we came together so unexpectedly, and I know that we shall continue to think of each other. —
“自从我们意外相遇以来，我绝不会忘记你不变的善良。我知道我们会继续想念彼此。 —

I refuse to accept it as a final parting. —
我拒绝把这当做最后的离别。 —

The prospect of going out among strangers is very frightening, and my comfort will be the thought that we will soon be near each other again.”
对于要离开去见陌生人这个前景，实在让人害怕，我唯一的慰藉就是我们很快就会再次相聚。”

The Twelfth Month came.
第十二个月到了。

There were snow and sleet to add to the gloom. —
天上飘着雪花和雨夹雪，增添了阴沉之感。 —

What sort of legacy was hers from other lives, asked the lady, that she must put up with so much in this one? —
这位女士问自己，她从前世中得到了怎样的遗产，以至于她在这一生中必须忍受这么多? —

She spent more time than ever with the little girl, combing her hair, changing her clothes. —
她和小女孩在一起的时间更长了，给她梳头，换衣服。 —

On a dark morning of drifting snows she went to the veranda and gazed out at the ice on the river, and thought of what was past and what was to come. —
在一个飘着雪的黑暗清晨，她走到阳台，凝视着河上的冰层，思来想去，回顾过去，展望未来。 —

It was not like her to expose herself so. She preferred the inner rooms of the house. —
这不像她的风格，暴露自己在外。她更喜欢屋内的房间。 —

Warmed by several soft white robes, she sat lost in thought; —
她裹着几件柔软的白袍，陷入了沉思。 —

and the molding of her head and the flow of her hair and robes made her women feel sure that the noblest lady in the land could not be lovelier.
她头部的雕塑和头发和衣袍的流动让她的女人确信，这个国家里最高贵的夫人也不可能更美丽。

She brushed away a tear and said to the nurse: “This sort of weather will be even more trying now.
她擦去了一滴眼泪，对护士说道：“这种天气现在会更加令人难受。

“These mountain paths will be closed by snow and clouds.
“这些山间小径将会被积雪和云雾封闭。

Do not, I pray you, let your tracks be lost.”
“请你千万不要让你的踪迹丢失。”

The nurse replied:
护士回答道：

“And were you to move to deepest Yoshino,
“即使你前往深山幽谷，

I still would find you, through unceasing snow.”
我仍会找到你，穿过不停的积雪。”

The snow had melted a little when Genji paid his next visit. —
下次源氏拜访时，雪已经融化了一点。 —

She would have been delighted except for the fact that she knew its purpose. —
她本来会很高兴，除了她知道拜访的目的。 —

Well, she had brought it on herself. The decision had been hers to make. —
好吧，她自食其果。决定是她做出的。 —

Had she refused he would not have forced her to give up the child. —
如果她拒绝，他也不会强迫她放弃孩子。 —

She had made a mistake, but would not risk seeming mercurial and erratic by trying to rectify it at this late date.
她犯了一个错误，但不愿在这个时候冒着看起来反复无常的风险去纠正它。

The child was sitting before her, pretty as a doll. —
孩子坐在她面前，如同一只漂亮的玩偶。 —

Yes, she was meant for unusual things, one could not deny it. —
是的，她注定要做些不同寻常的事情，这是无法否认的。 —

Since spring her hair had been allowed to grow, and now, thick and flowing, it had reached the length that would be usual for a nun. —
自春天以来，她的头发被允许生长，现在，浓密而飘逸，已经长到一个尼姑通常长度的地步。 —

I shall say nothing of the bright eyes and the glowing, delicately carved features. —
我将不再提及明亮的双眼和那灿烂的、精致雕刻的容颜。 —

Genji could imagine the lady’s anguish at sending her child off to a distant foster mother. —
源氏可以想象这位女士在送孩子去远方寄养母亲时的痛苦。 —

Over and over again he Sought to persuade her that it was the only thing to do.
他试图一遍又一遍地说服她，这是唯一应该做的事情。

“Please, you needn’t. I will be happy if you see that she becomes something more than I have been myself. —
“请，你不必。如果你能确保她比我自己更出色，我会很高兴。” —

” But for all her valiant efforts at composure she was in tears.
但是尽管她努力保持镇定，她还是泪流满面。

The little girl jumped innocently into the waiting carriage, the lady having brought her as far as the veranda to which it had been drawn up. —
小女孩天真地跳上了等候的马车，女士把她送到了已经停在走廊旁的马车边。 —

She tugged at her mother’s sleeves and in charming baby talk urged her to climb in too.
她扯着母亲的袖子，用迷人的婴儿语催促她也上车。

“It is taken away, the seedling pine, so young.
“被带走了，那棵幼小的松树。

When shall I see it grandly shading the earth?”
我何时才能看见它巍然挺立在这片土地上？”

Her voice broke before she had come to the end.
她的声音在还没说完之前就断了。

She had every right to weep, thought Genji.
源氏认为她有权哭泣。

“A seedling, yes, but with the roots to give
“幼苗，是的，但根扎于地底

The thousand years of the pines of Takekuma.
如竹隈之松千年。”

“You must be patient.”
“你必须耐心。”

He was right, of course. She resumed the struggle, which was not entirely successful, to control herself.
当然他说得对。她继续努力控制自己，虽然并不完全成功。

Only the nurse and a very personable young woman called Shōshō got into the little girl’s carriage, taking with them the sword which Genji had sent to Akashi and a sacred guardian doll. —
只有护士和一个名叫绍绍的年轻女子上了小女孩的马车，她们带着源氏送给明石的剑和一尊神圣的守护娃娃。 —

In a second carriage were several other handsome women and some little page girls. —
第二辆马车里坐着几个漂亮的女子和一些小丫鬟。 —

And so the Akashi lady saw them off.
明石夫人目送她们离开。

Knowing how lonely she would be, Genji asked himself whether he was committing a crime for which he would one day be summoned to do penance. —
知道她会孤独，源氏问自己是否犯下了一种罪行，以后会被召唤来忏悔。 —

It was dark when they reached Nijō. He had feared that the suddenly lavish surroundings would intimidate these provincial women, but Murasaki had gone to a great deal of trouble. —
当他们到达二条时已经很晚了。他曾担心这突然豪华的环境会让这些乡下女子感到压抑，但紫的努力还是很有成效。 —

The west room of her west wing had been fitted most charmingly to resemble a doll’s house. —
她西楼的西房间被装饰得非常迷人，像是一个娃娃屋。 —

She assigned the nurse a room on the north side of the adjoining gallery.
她安排护士住在相邻走廊北侧的一间房间里。

The girl had slept most of the way. She did not weep as she was taken from the carriage. —
小女孩大部分时间都在睡觉。她被从马车里带出来时并没有哭泣。 —

When sweets had been set before her, she looked around and saw that her mother was not with her. —
当糖果摆在她面前时，她环顾四周，却看不到母亲。 —

The puckered little face was very pretty. —
被皱成一团的小脸非常可爱。 —

Her nurse sought to comfort her.
她的护士试图安慰她。

Genji’s thoughts were on that mountain dwelling, where the gloom and tedium must be next to unbearable. —
源氏想着那座在山中的住所，那里的阴郁和乏味几乎难以忍受。 —

But he had the child’s education to think about. —
但他必须考虑孩子的教育。 —

A little jewel, quite flawless — and why had such a child not been born at Nijō?
一个小宝石，完美无瑕 — 为什么这样一个孩子不是在二条出生的呢？

She wept and hunted for her mother; but she was of a docile, affectionate nature, and soon she had quite taken to Murasaki. —
她哭泣并寻找她的母亲；但她是一个顺从、充满爱心的孩子，很快就完全喜欢上了紫。 —

For Murasaki it was as if her last wish had been granted. —
对于紫式部来说，就像她的最后一个愿望得以实现一样。 —

She was always taking the child in her arms, and soon she and the nurse were very close friends. —
她总是把孩子抱在怀里，很快她和保姆成了非常亲密的朋友。 —

A second nurse, a woman of good family, had by now joined the household.
另一位来自良家的女仆也加入了这个家庭。

Though no very lavish preparations were made for bestowing the trousers, the ceremony became of its own accord something rather special. —
虽然没有为赠送裤子作出很奢华的准备，但这个仪式自然而然地变得非常特别。 —

The appurtenances and decorations were as if for the finest doll’s house in the world. —
这些配件和装饰仿佛是为世界上最好的玩偶屋准备的。 —

The stream of congratulatory visitors made no distinction between day and night — though one might not have found it remarkably different from the stream that was always pouring in and out of the Nijō mansion. —
祝贺的访客如绵延不绝，日夜不分 —— 尽管这与源氏邸里总是涌进涌出的人流并没有什么太大的不同。 —

The trousers cord, everyone said, was the most charming little detail of all.
众人都说，裤腰带是最迷人的小细节。

The Akashi lady went on thinking that she had brought gratuitous sorrow upon herself. —
明石夫人一直认为她给自己带来了无端的悲伤。 —

Her mother had been so brave and confident; —
她的母亲曾经是如此勇敢和自信; —

but old people weep easily, and she was weeping, though pleased at news that the child was the center of such attention. —
但老人很容易哭，她虽然高兴听到孩子成为那么受关注的中心，但也在哭泣。 —

What could they send by way of congratulation? —
他们能送什么来表示祝贺呢? —

They contented themselves with robes for the nurse and the other women, hoping that the colors gave them a certain distinction.
他们满足于给护士和其他女人们送礼服，希望这些颜色为她们带来某种区别。

Oi continued to be much on Genji’s mind. —
小姑娘一直在源氏的心中。 —

It was just as she had thought it would be, the lady was no doubt saying to herself; —
这位女士无疑正在对自己说，一切正如她所预料的那样; —

and so he paid a quiet visit late in the year. —
他在年底串门拜访了。 —

Oi was a lonely place at best, and she had lost her dearest treasure. He wrote constantly. —
女御生活中的唯一乐趣就是与他通信。 —

Murasaki’s old bitterness had left her. —
紫式部已不再怀有旧日的怨恨。 —

She had the child, and the account was settled.
她生了孩子，两人的账目彻底算清。

The New Year came. The skies were soft and pleasant and nothing seemed wanting at the Nijō mansion, which had been refurbished for the holidays. —
新年到来了。二条御息所天空明朗宜人，一切都完美无缺。为了节日，宫殿也焕然一新。 —

On the seventh day there was a continious stream of venerable and eminent callers, and younger people too, all the picture of prosperity. —
正月七日，来访的贵宾和显贵络绎不绝，不论老老少少，个个容光焕发，显得家境富足。 —

No doubt there were dissatisfactions beneath the surface, but it was a surface of contentment and pleasure.
表面看来虽然可能隐藏着不满，但整个氛围都是满足和快乐。

The lady of the orange blossoms was very happy indeed in the east lodge. —
碧梧桐的女主人在东馆里非常快乐。 —

Her retinue was efficient and well mannered and the mere fact of being near Genji had changed her life enormously. —
她的侍从效率高、举止优雅，仅仅在源氏身边就改变了她的生活。 —

Sometimes when he had nothing else to do he would look in on her, though never with the intention of staying the night. —
有时候他没事就会去看看她，但从不打算过夜。 —

She was an undemanding creature, and she asked nothing more. —
她是一个不苛求的人，不曾有更多的要求。 —

Her life was quiet, remarkably free of unsettling events, and as the seasonal observances came and went she had no reason to think that she was being slighted. —
她的生活安静，几乎没有令人不安的事件，随着季节性的庆典的来临和消逝，她从未觉得被冷落。 —

In point of smooth and efficient service, indeed, she perhaps had the better of it over Murasaki.
事实上，从交办事务和服务流程看，她对比紫式部可能更加得心应手。

He continued to worry about Oi and his inability to visit. —
他继续担心着小萩，以及自己不能亲自前往探望。 —

Choosing a time when little was happening at court and taking more than usual care with his dress, he set off. —
选择了一个朝廷冷清的时间，并特别注意了他的着装，他出发了。 —

His underrobes were beautifully dyed and scented, and over them he had thrown an informal court robe of white lined with red. —
他穿着精美染色且芬芳的衬衣，外面罩上了一件红衬衣的白色朝服。 —

Looking after him as he came to say goodbye, his radiance competing with the evening sunlight, Murasaki felt vaguely apprehensive.
留连别离之际，紫一边抚摩他，一边觉得隐隐忧虑，他的光芒与夕阳争辉。

The little girl clung to his trousers and seemed prepared to go with him.
那小女孩紧紧抓住他的裤腿，似乎准备跟他走。

“I’ve a twenty-acre field,” he sang, looking fondly down at her, “and I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“我有一块二十亩的田地，”他唱着，温柔地看着她，“明天我会回来的。”

Chujō was waiting in the gallery with a poem from her mistress:
澄乔在走廊里等着，手里是她的主人写的一首诗。

“We shall see if you are back tomorrow,
“等待明日归来，

If no one there essays to take your boat.”
若没有人另起倭船。”

Chūjō’s elocution was beautiful. He smiled appreciatively.
澄乔的朗诵动听动人。他赞赏地微笑着。

“I go but for a while, and shall return
“我只是离开一会儿，即便她不欢迎，我也会再回来。”

Though she may wish I had not come at all.”
紫早已不太在乎那个情敌。

Murasaki no longer really thought a great deal about her rival. —
那个小女孩在她脑海中飞奔翻滚，占据了她所有的想法。 —

The little girl, scampering and tumbling about, quite filled her thoughts. —
她对明石女士怀有同情之心，知道在这样的情况下她会有多么孤独绝望。 —

Yet she did feel for the Akashi lady, knowing how desperate her own loneliness would be in such circumstances. —
她抱起那个小女孩，开玩笑地伸出自己的一只小乳房。 —

Taking the little girl in her arms, she playfully offered one of her own small breasts. —
这是一个迷人的场景。她的女仆们问，出了什么问题？为什么源氏的女儿不是她的？但这就是世间的不可预测。 —

It was a charming scene. What had gone wrong? asked her women. —
为什么一切都变了呢，她的女仆们问。 —

Why was Genji’s daughter not hers? But such was the way of the world.
但这就是世事。

Life at Oi was quiet and dignified. The house was pleasing as country houses can be, and each time he saw the lady Genji thought how little there was to distinguish her from ladies of the highest rank. —
生活在欧井宁静而庄重。这座房子如同乡间别墅般令人愉悦，每次看到主人公都觉得她和最高品位的女士们几乎没有什么区别。 —

Judged by themselves her appearance and manner were beyond reproach. —
以她本身的标准来评价，她的外表和举止无可挑剔。 —

By herself she could compete — such things did happen — with the best of them, even though she had that very odd father. —
独自一人时，她甚至能与最优秀的人相提并论——虽然这种事情很少发生——尽管她有个非常奇怪的父亲。 —

He wished he might find time someday for a really satisfying visit. —
他希望总有一天能腾出时间进行一次令人满意的访问。 —

“A bridge that floats across dreams?” he whispered, reaching for a koto. —
“一个浮现在梦中的桥？”他低声说着，伸手拿起了一把箜篌。 —

Always at such times their last night at Akashi came back to him. —
每次在这种时刻，他都会想起他们在明石庄的最后一个晚上。 —

Diffidently she took up the lute which he pushed towards her, and they played a brief duet. —
她羞怯地拿起他递过去的琵琶，他们演奏了一小段二重奏。 —

He marveled again that her accomplishments should be so varied. —
他再次惊讶于她的多才多艺。 —

He told her all about the little girl. Sometimes, though a great deal argued against it, he would take a light supper and stay the night. —
他给她讲了关于小女孩的一切。有时，尽管有许多理由反对，他会吃点轻食留宿一晚。 —

Katsura and his chapel provided the excuse. —
桂和他的小教堂提供了借口。 —

His manner toward the lady was not, it is true, his most gallant, but neither was it chilly or uncivil. —
他对这位女士的态度并非最殷勤，但也不是冷漠或无礼的。 —

One might have classed it as rather above the ordinary in warmth and tenderness. —
可以说，他对她的态度在温暖和柔情方面略高于平常。 —

She understood and was content, and was careful to seem neither forward nor obsequiously deferential. —
她理解并满足，小心翼翼地既不显得前卫也不卑躬屈膝。 —

She wanted to be what he wanted her to be, and she succeeded. —
她想成为他想要的样子，并且她成功了。 —

Rumor had told her that he was stiffer and more formal with most women, and the wiser course seemed to be to keep her distance. —
传闻告诉她，他对大多数女性都更加拘谨和正式，所以保持距离似乎是明智之举。 —

If she were nearer she would be vulnerable, too easy a target for the other ladies. —
如果她离得更近，她会更容易受到其他女士的攻击，成为容易的目标。 —

She would count it her good fortune that he troubled himself to visit her occasionally, and ask no more.
她会觉得自己很幸运，他还会偶尔来拜访她，不再多求。

Her father had told her that last day that he was no longer a part of her life. —
她的父亲在那最后一天告诉她，他已不再是她生活中的一部分。 —

Yet he worried, and from time to time he would send off a retainer to make quiet inquiry about Genji’s behavior. —
他很担心，不时派人前去悄悄打听源氏的行为。 —

Some of the reports disturbed him, some pleased him.
一些报告让他感到不安，一些报告让他感到满意。

At about this time Aoi’s father died. He had been a loyal and useful public servant, and the emperor was deeply grieved. —
这时，葵的父亲去世了。他一直是一位忠诚而有用的公务员，皇帝深感悲痛。 —

He had been much missed when he retired from court even briefly, and now he was gone forever. —
他在朝廷稍有不在时就被怀念，现在他永远不再了。 —

Genji was sadder than anyone. He had had time for himself because he had shared the business of government with his father-in-law. —
源氏比任何人都难过。因为他曾与岳父共同处理政务，所以有了自己的时间。 —

Now it would all be his.
现在一切将由他来承担。

The emperor was mature for his age and his judgment was to be trusted. —
皇帝虽然年纪轻，但他的判断可靠。 —

Yet he did need support and advice. To whom was he to look besides Genji? —
然而，他需要支持和建议。除了源氏，他还能依靠谁呢？ —

Sadly, Genji concluded that his plans for a life of quiet meditation would have to be deferred. —
遗憾的是，源氏得出结论，他短期内无法安享静思之生活。 —

He was even more attentive than the chancellor’s sons to the details of the funeral and memorial services.
他比宰相的儿子们还关心葬礼和祭祀的细节。

It was a time of bad omens, erratic movements of the celestial bodies and unsettling cloud formations. —
那是一个充满坏兆头的时期，天体的运动不规律，云彩变幻莫测。 —

The geomancers and soothsayers issued portentous announcements. —
风水师和算命者发布了预示性的声明。 —

Genji had his own very private reasons for disquiet.
源氏有自己私人的不安原因。

Fujitsubo had been ill from early in the year, and from the Third Month her condition was grave. —
藤壶从年初就病倒了，从三月开始情况变得严重。 —

Her son, the emperor, called upon her. He had been very young when his father died and had understood little of what was happening. —
她的儿子，也就是皇帝，来看望她。父亲去世时他还很年幼，对所发生的事情一无所知。 —

Now his sorrow made his mother grieve as if it were for someone else.
现在他的悲伤让母亲感到像是在为其他人哀悼一样。

“I had been sure,” she said, her voice very weak, “that this would be a bad year for me. —
“我当时就有预感，”她声音微弱地说道，“今年对我来说是个糟糕的一年。 —

I did not feel so very ill at first, and did not wish to be one of those for whom the end always seems to be in sight. —
起初我没觉得太不舒服，也没希望自己成为那种看似离世已近的人。 —

I asked for no prayers or services besides the usual ones. —
除了一般的祈祷和仪式，我没有申请过其他服务。 —

I must call on you, I kept telling Myself, and have a good talk about the old days. —
我要找你们，一直告诉自己，好好谈谈过去的日子。 —

But it has been so seldom these last weeks that I have really felt myself. —
可是这几周很少有时候我真正感到自己。 —

And so here we are.”
所以我们现在就在这里了。”

She seemed much younger than her thirty-seven years. —
她似乎比她三十七岁的实际年龄要年轻许多。 —

It was even sadder, because she was so youthful, that she might be dying. —
更令人难过的是，她还很年轻，就要面临死亡。 —

As she had said, it was a dangerous year. —
如她所说，这是个危险的年份。 —

She had been aware for some weeks of not being well but she had contented herself with the usual penances and retreats. —
几周来她一直感觉不舒服，但是她只忍受着一般惩罚和隐居。 —

Apologizing for His negligence, the emperor ordered numerous services.
皇帝表示道歉，并下令进行多次祈祷仪式。

Genji was suddenly very worried. She had always been sickly, and he had thought it just another of her indispositions.
源氏突然非常担心。她一直体弱多病，他曾以为只是她的一次懒散。

Protocol required that the emperor’s visit be a short one. —
宫廷礼仪要求皇帝的访问必须短暂。 —

He returned to the palace in great anguish. —
他极度痛苦地返回了宫殿。 —

His mother had been able to speak to him only with very great difficulty. —
他的母亲只能费尽口舌地跟他说话。 —

She had received the highest honors which this world can bestow, and her sorrows and worries too had been greater than most. —
她曾获得世间最高的荣誉，她的痛苦和忧虑也比大多数人都要多。 —

That the emperor must remain ignorant of them added to the pain. —
皇帝必须保持对此一无所知，这增加了痛苦。 —

He could not have dreamed of the truth, and so the truth must be the tie with this world which would keep her from repose in the other.
他无法想象真相，因此真相必须是阻止她在另一个世界安息的羁绊。

Genji shared in the public concern at this succession of misfortunes in high places, and of course his private feelings were deep and complex. —
源氏分享了公众对这一系列高层不幸的关切，当然他私人的感情深厚而复杂。 —

He overlooked nothing by way of prayer and petition. —
他不放过任何一种祈祷和乞求。 —

He must speak to her once again of what had been given up so long before. —
他必须再次与她谈及很久之前放弃的事情。 —

Coming near her curtains, he asked how she was feeling. —
走近她的帷幕，他问她感觉如何。 —

In tears, one of her women gave an account.
她的一名侍女泪流满面地回答道。

“All through her illness she has not for a moment neglected her prayers. —
“在病中，她一刻也没有停止祈祷。 —

They have only seemed to make her worse. —
但似乎只让她的病情更加严重。 —

She will not touch the tiniest morsel of food, not the tiniest bit of fruit. —
她连一丁点食物也不愿意碰，连一点水果也不会吃。” —

We are afraid that there is no hope.”
“我们害怕再也没有希望了。”

“I have been very grateful,” she said to Genji, “for all the help you have been to the emperor. You have done exactly as your father asked you to do. —
“我非常感激，”她对源氏说，“感谢你为皇帝所做的一切帮助。你一直按照你父亲的要求去做。 —

I have waited for an opportunity to thank you. —
我一直等待机会来感谢你。 —

My gratitude is far beyond the ordinary, and now I fear it is too late.”
我的感激远远超出寻常，但现在我担心已经太迟了。”

He could barely catch the words and was too choked with tears to answer. —
他几乎听不清她的话，泪水哽咽，无法回答。 —

He would have preferred not to exhibit his tears to her women. —
他宁愿不让她的女官看到自己流泪。 —

The loss would have been a grievous one even if she had been, all these years, no more than a friend. —
即使她这些年来只是一个朋友，失去她也是一个巨大的打击。 —

But life is beyond our control, and there was nothing he could do to keep her back, and no point in trying to describe his sorrow.
但生命是超出我们控制的，他无法阻止她离去，也没有必要描述自己的悲伤。

“I have not been a very effective man, I fear, but I have tried, when I have seen a need, to be of use to him. —
“我恐怕并不是一个很有能力的人，但当我看到需要时，我尽量为他效力。 —

The chancellor’s death is a great blow, and now this — it is more than I can bear. I doubt that I shall be in this world much longer myself.”
大臣的去世是一个巨大的打击，再加上这个——这已经超出我的承受范围了。我怀疑我自己也不会在这个世界上再待很久了。”

And as he spoke she died, like a dying flame. I shall say no more of his grief.
当他说这些话时她就像消失的火焰一样去世了，我将不再谈论他的哀企。

Among persons of the highest birth whose charity and benevolence seem limitless there have been some who, sheltered by power and position, have been unwitting agents of unhappiness. —
在最高贵出身者中，他们的慈善和仁爱似乎无穷无尽，有些人却在权势和地位的庇护下无意中成为了不幸的工具。 —

Nothing of the sort was to be detected in the comportment of the dead lady. —
在已故女士的举止中没有发现这样的迹象。 —

When someone had been of service to her she went to no end of trouble to avoid the sort of recompense that might indirectly have unfortunate consequences. —
当有人为她效劳时，她会不遗余力地避免可能带来不幸后果的回报方式。 —

Again, there have since the day of the sages been people who have been misled into extravagant and wasteful attentions to the powers above. —
从古圣人之日起，有些人被误导为对上天的权力表现出过分的浪漫和浪费的关注。 —

Here too matters were quite different with the dead lady. —
死去的女士情况也与众不同。 —

Her faith and devotion complete, she offered only what was in her heart to offer, always within her means. —
她的信仰和忠诚完整，她只提供她心中的所能提供的，始终内倚。 —

The most ignorant and insensitive of mendicant mountain priests regretted her passing.
最无知、最麻木不仁的乞讨山僧为她的逝去感到惋惜。

Her funeral became the only business of court, where grief was universal. —
她的葬礼成了朝廷唯一的事务，哀痛普遍。 —

The colors of late spring gave way to unrelieved gray and black. —
晚春的色彩让位给连绵不断的灰色和黑色。 —

Gazing out at his Nijō garden, Genji thought of the festivities that spring a dozen years before. —
溪园的玄宫凝望着窗外，源氏想起十二年前的春日欢庆。 —

“ This year alone, “ he whispered. Not wanting to be seen weeping, he withdrew to the chapel, and there spent the day in tears. —
“独自今年,” 他低声说道。不愿被人看见哭泣，他退出到小堂，在那里度过了一天的泪水。 —

The trees at the crest of the ridge stood clear in the evening light. —
山脊顶上的树木在夕阳中清晰可见。 —

Wisps of cloud trailed below, a dull gray. —
薄云在下面飘动，呈现浓重的灰色。 —

It was a time when the want of striking color had its own beauty.
这是一段缺乏显著色彩但却有着它自身美感的时光。

“A rack of cloud across the light of evening
“夕阳之光中的云栏

As if they too, these hills, wore mourning weeds.”
就好像这些山峦也穿上了丧服。”

There was no one to hear.
无人聆听。

The memorial rites were over, and the emperor still grieved. —
追悼仪式已经结束，皇帝仍然在悲痛。 —

There was an old bishop who had had the confidence of successive empresses since Fujitsubo’s mother. —
有一位自藤壁之母以来一直得到历代皇后信任的老主教。 —

Fujitsubo herself had been very close to him and valued his services highly, and he had been the emperor’s intermediary in solemn vows and offerings. —
藤壶本人曾与他关系密切，非常器重他的服务，他曾是皇帝与藤壶之间的中间人，进行庄严的誓言和供奉。 —

A saintly man, he was now seventy. He had been in seclusion, making his own final preparations for the next life, but he had come down from the mountains to be at Fujitsubo’s side. —
这位圣洁的老人现年七旬。他一直在隐居，为来世做最后的准备，但他现在离开山间，站在藤壶身边。 —

The emperor had kept him on at the palace.
皇帝一直让他留在宫中。

Genji too had pressed him to stay with the emperor through the difficult time and see to his needs as in the old days. —
源氏也一再劝他留在皇帝身边，帮助他度过艰难时期，如同往昔一般照顾他的需求。 —

Though he feared, replied the bishop, that he was no longer capable of night attendance, he was most honored by the invitation and most grateful that he had been permitted to serve royal ladies for so long.
主教担心自己可能已经不再能够夜间侍奉，但对邀请感到非常荣幸，并对能够为皇室女性服务这么长时间感到非常感激。

One night, in the quiet before dawn, between shifts of courtiers on night duty, the bishop, coughing as old people will, was talking with the emperor about matters of no great importance.
一天夜里，黎明前的宁静时刻，在宫廷侍从换班之际，主教老人像老年人一样咳嗽着，与皇帝谈论着不是很重要的事情。

“There is one subject which I find it very difficult to broach, Your Majesty. —
“有一个话题我觉得很难启齿，陛下。” —

There are times when to speak the truth is a sin, and I have held my tongue. —
有时候说真话是一种罪过，我选择保持沉默。 —

But it is a dilemma, since your august ignorance of a certain matter might lead to unknowing wrong. —
但这是个两难的境地，因为你对某件事的高贵无知可能导致无意中的错误。 —

What good would I do for anyone if I were to die in terror at meeting the eye of heaven? —
如果我因对天目充满恐惧而死去，我对任何人都不会有好处。 —

Would it have for me the scorn which it has for the groveling dissembler?”
对于一个卑躬屈膝的说谎者，天目会怀有蔑视吗？

What might he be referring to? Some bitterness, some grudge, which he had not been able to throw off? It was unpleasant to think that the most saintly of hearts can be poisoned by envy.
他可能在指什么？某种苦涩，某种恩怨，他无法摆脱？想到即便最圣洁的心灵也可能被嫉妒所毒化令人不愉快。

“I have kept nothing from you since I learned to talk,” said the emperor, “and I shall not forgive easily if now you are keeping something from me.”
“自从学说话起，我就没有对你隐瞒过什么，”皇帝说，“如果你现在有什么瞒着我，我是不会轻易原谅的。”

“It is wrong, I know, Your Majesty. You must forgive me. —
“我知道是错的，陛下。请恕我。 —

You have been permitted to see into depths which are guarded by the Blessed One, and why should I presume to keep anything from you? —
你被允许看到被圣者守护的深层次，那我为什么要假设去隐瞒什么呢？ —

The matter is one which can project its unhappy influence into the future. —
这件事会对未来造成负面影响。 —

Silence is damaging for everyone concerned. —
对于所有涉及的人来说，保持沉默都是有害的。 —

I have reference to the late emperor, to your late mother, and to the Genji minister.
我所提到的是关于已故的皇帝、你已故的母亲，以及源氏大臣。

“I am old and of no account, and shall have no regrets if I am punished for the revelation.
“我年老无足轻重，如果因为说出这个秘密而受处罚，我不会有遗憾。

“I humbly reveal to you what was first revealed to me through the Blessed One himself. —
“我谦卑地向你揭示，这个秘密起初是由圣者亲自告知我的。 —

There were matters that deeply upset your mother when she was carrying you within her. —
在你母亲怀胎时，有些事情深深地困扰着她。 —

The details were rather beyond the grasp of a simple priest like myself. —
细节方面对像我这样的简朴僧侣来说有些超出了理解范围。 —

There was that unexpected crisis when the Genji minister was charged with a crime he had not committed. —
源氏的大臣被指控一项他未犯的罪，引发了意想不到的危机。 —

Your royal mother was even more deeply troubled, and I undertook yet more varied and elaborate services. —
你的皇母更是忧心忡忡，我承担了更加多样化和复杂的服务。 —

The minister heard of them and on his own initiative commissioned the rites which I undertook upon Your Majesty’s accession. —
大臣听闻此事，主动委托我为陛下即位举办的仪式。 —

” And he described them in detail.
“他详细描述了这些仪式。

It was a most astounding revelation. The terror and the sorrow were beyond describing. —
这是一个令人震惊的揭示。恐怖和悲伤无法形容。 —

The emperor was silent for a time. Fearing that he had given offense, the old man started from the room.
皇帝沉默了一会儿。老人担心自己冒犯了，匆匆离开了房间。

“No, Your Reverence. My only complaint is that you should have concealed the matter for so long. —
“不，圣上。我唯一的抱怨是您对此事保持了如此之久。 —

Had I gone to my grave ignorant of it, I would have had it with me in my next life. —
要是我被蒙在鼓里，死后我会在下一世受到惩罚。 —

And is there anyone else who is aware of these facts?”
还有其他人知晓这些事实吗？”

“There are, I most solemnly assure you, two people and two people only who have ever known of them, Omyōbu and myself. —
“我郑重保证，只有两个人知晓，秘书丞和我自己。 —

The fear and the awe have been all the worse for that fact. —
这个秘密让人倍感恐惧和敬畏。 —

Now you will understand, perhaps, the continuing portents which have had everyone in such a state of disquiet. —
你现在或许会理解，为何人人都感到不安因连续发生的不祥之兆。 —

The powers above held themselves in abeyance while Your Majesty was still a boy, but now that you have so perfectly reached the age of discretion they are making their displeasure known. —
上天曾暂时忍耐，等待陛下长大，但现在您已完全到了需要发怒的年龄。 —

It all goes back to your parents. I had been in awful fear of keeping the secret. —
一切都源于您的父母。我一直惶恐地保守这个秘密。 —

“The old man was weeping. “I have forced myself to speak of what I would much prefer to have forgotten.”
“老人哭泣着说。“我被迫说出我宁愿忘却的事情。”

It was full daylight when the bishop left.
主教离开时，已是大白天。

The emperor’s mind was in turmoil. It was all like a terrible dream. —
皇帝的心思乱成一团。一切都像是一场可怕的梦。 —

His reputed father, the old emperor, had been badly served, and the emperor was serving his real father badly by letting him toil as a common minister. —
他声誉卓著的父亲，即老皇帝，受到了很大的委曲，而皇帝却让他辛勤劳作，像一个普通的大臣一样。 —

He lay in bed with his solitary anguish until the sun was high. —
他躺在床上，和他的孤独痛苦共度，直到太阳升得很高。 —

A worried Genji came making inquiries. His arrival only added to the confusion in the emperor’s mind. —
担忧的玄慈前来打探。他的到来只会让皇帝心中更加混乱。 —

He was in tears. More tears for his mother, surmised Genji, it being a time when there was no respite from tears. —
他哭了。玄慈猜测，他更多是为母亲而哭泣，此刻泪流不止。 —

He must regretfully inform the emperor that Prince Shikibu had just died. —
他不得不遗憾地告诉皇帝，式部亲王刚刚去世。 —

Another bit of the pattern, thought the emperor. —
皇帝心想，这又是一幕命运中的一小节。 —

Genji stayed with him all that day.
玄慈陪伴他度过了整个那一天。

“I have the feeling,” said the emperor, in the course of quiet, intimate talk, “that I am not destined to live a long life. —
“我有一种感觉，”皇帝在平静而亲密的交谈中说道，“我似乎注定不会活得很长久。 —

I have a feeling too which I cannot really define that things are wrong, out of joint. —
我有一种无法准确界定的感觉，认为事情出现了不对劲的地方。 —

There is a spirit of unrest abroad. I had not wished to upset my mother by subjecting her and all of you to radical change, but I really do think I would prefer a quieter sort of life.”
人们心里都充满了不安的情绪。我并不希望通过给母亲和所有人带来彻底的变革来让她们不安，但我真的觉得我更喜欢过一种更安静的生活。”

“It is out of the question. There is no necessary relationship between public order and the personal character of a ruler. —
“这是不可能的。统治者的个人品质与公共秩序之间没有必然关系。 —

In ages past we have seen the most deplorable occurrences in the most exemplary reigns. —
在过去的岁月里，我们见证了在最可敬的王朝统治下发生最可悲的事件。 —

In China there have been violent upheavals during the reigns of sage emperors. —
在中国，哲学君主的统治期间发生过剧烈的动荡。 —

Similar things have happened here. People whose time has come have died, and that is all. —
在这里也发生了类似的事情。那些时候已经到了尽头的人去世了，仅此而已。 —

You are worrying yourself about nothing.”
你正在为无谓的事情担心。”

He described many precedents which it would not be proper for me to describe in my turn.
他描述了许多先例，我没有必要在我这里描述。

In austere weeds of mourning, so much more subdued than ordinary court dress, the emperor looked extraordinarily like Genji. He had long been aware of the resemblance, but his attention was called to it more forcibly by the story he had just heard. —
穿着庄严的丧服，比起普通的宫廷装束更加朴素，皇帝看起来非常像是光源氏。他早已意识到这种相似之处，但刚刚听到的故事更加强烈地吸引了他的注意。 —

He wanted somehow to hint of it to Genji. He was still very young, however, and rather awed by Genji and fearful of embarrassing or displeasing him. —
他想以某种方式向光源氏暗示。然而，他当时还很年轻，对光源氏有所忌惮，担心会让他尴尬或不悦。 —

Though it turned on matters far less important, their conversation was unusually warm and affectionate.
尽管这种暗示不那么重要，但他们的对话异常热情和亲切。

Genji was too astute not to notice and be puzzled by the change. —
光源氏太聪明了，他注意到并感到困惑这种变化。 —

He did not suspect, however, that the emperor knew the whole truth.
然而，他并没有怀疑皇帝已经知晓全部真相。

The emperor would have liked to question Omyōbu; —
皇帝本想询问大名弓削; —

but somehow to bring her into this newest secret seemed a disservice to his mother and the secret she had guarded so long and so well. —
但是让她介入这个最新的秘密，似乎对他的母亲以及她长期以来保守得很好的秘密是不公平的。 —

He thought of asking Genji, as if by way of nothing at all, whether his broad knowledge of history included similar examples, but somehow the occasion did not present itself. —
他考虑向光源氏提问，好像这只是无关痛痒，是否他广泛的历史知识中包括了类似的例子，但是某种方式，场合没有来临。 —

He pursued his own studies more diligently, going through voluminous Chinese and Japanese chronicles. —
他更加努力地进行自己的研究，阅读了大量的中国和日本编年史。 —

He found great numbers of such irregularities in Chinese history, some of which had come to the public notice and some of which had not. —
他在中国历史中找到了许多这样的不合常规之事，有些已经为大众所知，有些没有。 —

He could find none at all in Japanese history — but then perhaps they had been secrets as well guarded as this one. —
在日本历史中，他找不到任何例子——但也许它们被像这样的秘密一样严密地守护着。 —

He found numerous examples of royal princes who had been reduced to common status and given the name of Genji and who, having become councillors and ministers, had been returned to royal status and indeed named as successors to the throne. —
他发现了很多王子被降为普通身份，被赋予源氏之名，并成为参议和大臣的例子，后来又被恢复为王室身份，甚至被冠以继承皇位的地位。 —

Might not Genji’s universally recognized abilities be sufficient reason for relinquishing the throne to him? —
可能不是源氏广受认可的能力足以成为放弃皇位的理由吗？ —

The emperor turned the matter over and over in his mind, endlessly.
皇帝反复思考着这个问题，再也无法摆脱。

He had reached one decision, consulting no one: —
他做出了一个决定，没有征求任何人的意见： —

that Genji’s appointment as chancellor would be on the autumn lists. —
源氏将被列入秋季任命的官员名单。 —

He told Genji of his secret thoughts about the succession.
他告诉源氏自己关于继承的秘密想法。

So astonished that he could scarcely raise his eyes, Genji offered the most emphatic opposition. —
源氏感到惊讶得几乎抬不起头来，坚决反对。 —

“Father, whatever may have been his reasons, favored me above all his other sons, but never did he consider relinquishing the throne to me. —
“父亲无论出于何种原因，都更看重我，却从未考虑过将皇位传给我。 —

What possible reason would I now have for going against his noble intentions and taking for myself a position I have never coveted? —
我现在有什么理由背离他的高尚意图，接受一个我从未觊觎的职位呢？ —

I would much prefer to follow his clear wishes and be a loyal minister, and when you are a little older, perhaps, retire to the quiet pursuits I really wish for.”
我更愿意遵循他的明确意愿，做一个忠诚的大臣，或许在您年纪稍大时，我会退隐于我真正向往的宁静生活。”

To the emperor’s very great disappointment, he was adamant in his refusal.
这一拒绝坚决令皇帝非常失望。

Then came the emperor’s wish to appoint him chancellor. —
之后皇帝想任命他为大臣。 —

Genji had reasons for wishing to remain for a time a minister, however, and the emperor had to be content with raising him one rank and granting him the special honor of bringing his carriage in through the Great South Gate. The emperor would have liked to go a little further and restore him to royal status, but Genji’s inclinations were against that honor as well. —
源氏有自己希望暂时继续担任大臣的理由，因此皇帝只好提升他一个级别，并授予他特权穿越大南门入内。皇帝本想再进一步将他恢复王族身份，但源氏的倾向也反对那一荣誉。 —

As a prince he would not have the freedom he now had in advising the emperor, and who besides him was to perform that service? —
作为王子，他将失去现在在给皇帝提供建议中所拥有的自由，还有谁能承担那项责任呢？ —

Tō no Chūjō was a general and councillor. —
藤长官是一位将军和参政。 —

When he had advanced a step or two Genji might safely turn everything over him to him and, for better or worse, withdraw from public life.
当他再向前迈进一两步时，源氏就可以放心地将一切交给他，无论是好是坏，自己退出公众生活。

But there was something very odd about the emperor’s behavior. Suspicions crossed Genji’s mind. —
但是，皇帝的行为很奇怪。源氏开始猜疑起来。 —

If they were valid, then they had sad implications for the memory of Fujitsubo, and they suggested secret anguish on the part of the emperor. —
如果这些怀疑是正确的，那么就对藤壶的记忆产生了悲伤的含义，并且表明了皇帝内心的秘密痛苦。 —

Genji was overwhelmed by feelings of awed guilt. —
源氏被一种敬畏和内疚的感觉所淹没。 —

Who could have let the secret out?
谁会泄露出这个秘密？

Having become mistress of the wardrobe, Omyōbu was now living in the palace. He went to see her.
作为衣櫃的主人，小宿现在住在宫中。源氏去见她。

Had Fujitsubo, on any occasion, allowed so much as a fragment of the secret to slip out in the emperor’s presence?
在任何时候，藤壶是否曾在皇帝面前泄露出这个秘密的一丁点内容？

“Never, my lord, never. She lived in constant tenor that he might hear of it from someone else, and in terror of the secret itself, which might bring upon him the disfavor of the powers above.”
“绝对没有，我的主人，绝对没有。她一直生活在恐惧中，担心皇帝可能从别人那里听说秘密，也害怕秘密本身可能导致他得罪上天。”

Genji’s longing for the dead lady came back anew.
源氏对这位已故贵人的怀念再次涌上心头。

Meanwhile Akikonomu’s performance at court was above reproach. —
与此同时，秋纳监在宫廷的表现无可指责。 —

She served the emperor well and he was fond of her. —
她服侍皇帝得宜，他对她很喜爱。 —

She could be given perfect marks for her sensitivity and diligence, which to Genji were beyond pricing. —
她的细心和勤恳可谓无价，这点源氏深为赞赏。 —

In the autumn she came to Nijō for a time. —
秋天时，她来到二条别墅一段时间。 —

Genji had had the main hall polished and refitted until it quite glittered. —
源氏已经将正厅擦拭并重新布置，以至于非常闪闪发光。 —

He now stood unapologetically in the place of her father.
现在，他毫不掩饰地代替了她的父亲的位置。

A gentle autumn rain was falling. The flower beds near the veranda were a riot of color, softened by the rain. —
温和的秋雨淅淅沥沥地下着。靠近走廊的花坛在雨水的浸润下呈现出五彩斑斓的景象。 —

Genji was in a reminiscent mood and his eyes were moist. —
源氏陷入了怀旧的情绪，眼泪潮湿。 —

He went to her apartments, a figure of wonderful courtliness and dignity in his dark mourning robes. The recent unsettling events had sent him into retreat. —
他身穿深色的丧服，举止优雅庄重，前往她的住所。最近令人不安的事件让他沉浸在悲伤之中。 —

Though making no great show of it, he had a rosary in his hand. —
虽然没有显眼地展示，但他手中拿着一串念珠。 —

He addressed her through only a curtain.
他透过帘子对她说话。

“And so here are the autumn flowers again with their ribbons all undone. —
“秋花又绽放，花瓣散落。 —

It has been a rather dreadful year, and it is somehow a comfort that they should come back, not one of them forgetting its proper time.”
这一年相当可怕，但它们却如约而至，没有一朵忘记了它们的时刻，有些许安慰。”

Leaning against a pillar, he was very handsome in the evening light. —
他靠在柱子上，在傍晚的光线下显得非常英俊。 —

“When I think of her” — was the princess too thinking of her mother? —
“当我想起她” — 公主是不是也在想着她的母亲？ —

He told her of the memories that had been so much with him these last days, and especially of how reluctant he had been to leave the temporary shrine that morning shortly before their departure for Ise. He heard, and scarcely heard at all, a soft movement behind the curtains, and guessed that she was weeping. —
他向她讲述这些日子一直占据心头的回忆，尤其是他在前往伊势途中，早上离开临时的神龛时有多么不情愿。他听到，也几乎没有听到，帘子后传来轻微的动静，猜想她正在哭泣。 —

There was a touching delicacy in it. Once more he regretted that he was not permitted to look at her. —
这其中有一种令人动容的细腻。他再次遗憾自己无法看到她。 —

(It is not entirely admirable, this sort of regret.)
（这种遗憾并非完全令人钦佩。）

“All my life I have made trouble for myself which I could have avoided, and gone on worrying about ladies I have been fond of. —
“我一生中为自己制造了很多不必要的麻烦，去担心我爱过的女士们。 —

Among all the affairs in which, I fear, my impulsiveness has brought pain to others, two have continued to trouble me and refused to go away.
在我觉得自己的冲动给他人带来了痛苦的所有事件中，有两件一直困扰着我，无法摆脱。

“One was the case of your late mother. To the end she seems to have thought my behavior outrageous, and I have always known that to the end I shall be sorry. —
“一件是关于你亡母的事。她似乎一直认为我的行为令人发指，而我也一直知道，直到最后我都会后悔。 —

I had hoped that my being of service to you and enjoying your confidence as I hope I do might have comforted her. —
我曾希望我能对你尽心尽力，并且得到你的信任，希望这能让她感到安慰。” —

But it would seem that in spite of everything the smoke refused to clear, and I must continue to live with it.”
但似乎尽管一切，烟雾仍然不愿消散，我必须继续与之生活。”

Two affairs, he had said; but he did not elaborate upon the second.
两段风流，他曾说过；但他并未详细说明第二段。

“There were those years when I was lost to the world. —
“那些年我迷失在世界中。 —

Most of the unfinished business which I took with me has since been put in order, after a fashion. —
我带着的大部分未了之事如今已勉强处理完毕。 —

There is the lady in the east lodge, for instance: —
比如东门的那位女士： —

she has been rescued from her poverty and is living in peace and security. —
她已经脱离贫困，过着安宁与安全的生活。 —

Her amiable ways are well known to everyone, most certainly to me, and I should say that in that quarter mutual understanding prevails. —
她的和蔼可亲众所周知，尤其是我，我想说在那方面我们之间有相互理解。 —

That I am back in the city and able to be of some service to His Majesty is not, for me, a matter that calls for very loud congratulation. —
我回到城里，能对陛下提供一些帮助，对于我而言，并不需要大张旗鼓地庆祝。 —

I am still unable to fight back the unfortunate tendencies of my earlier years as I would have wished. —
我依然无法像我希望的那样，克制住我年轻时的不良倾向。 —

Are you aware, I wonder, that my services to you, such as they have been, have required no little self-control? —
你是否意识到，我为你所做的那些微薄贡献，需要相当的自我控制？ —

I should be very disappointed indeed if you were to leave me with the impression that you have not guessed.”
如果你让我留下没有猜到你的印象，我会感到非常失望。”

A heavy silence succeeded these remarks.
这些话后面陷入了沉默。

“You must forgive me.” And he changed the subject. —
“请原谅我。”然后他改变了话题。 —

“How I wish that, for the remaining years that have been granted me, I might shut myself up in some retreat and lose myself in quiet preparations for the next world. —
“真希望，对我所剩的岁月，我能闭门谢客，默默为来世做准备。 —

My great regret would be that I would leave so little behind me. —
我最大的遗憾将是我所留下的太少了。 —

There is, as you may know, a girl, of such mean birth that the world cannot be expected to notice her. —
如您所知，有一位女孩，出身如此卑微，以至于世人不会注意到她。 —

I wait with great impatience for her to grow up. —
我急切地等待她长大。 —

I fear that it will seem inappropriate of me to say so, but it would give me much comfort to hope that you might number the prosperity of this house among your august concerns, and her, after I am gone, among the people who matter to you.”
我担心这样说会显得不合适，但我希望您能将这个家的繁荣列为您崇高的关注之一，而我离开后，把她视为您重视的人之一。

Her answer was but a word, so soft and hesitant that he barely caught it. —
她的回答只是一个词，声音柔软而犹豫。 —

He would have liked to take her in his arms. —
他很想将她搂在怀里。 —

He stayed on, talking affectionately until it was quite dark.
他依旧留下来，直到完全黑下来，充满了深情地交谈。

“But aside from house and family, it is nature that gives me the most pleasure, the changes through the seasons, the blossoms and leaves of autumn and spring, the shifting patterns of the skies. —
“除了家和家人，给我最大快乐的是大自然，季节的变化，秋春的花朵和叶子，天空变化的图案。 —

People have always debated the relative merits of the groves of spring and the fields of autumn, and had trouble coming to a conclusion. —
人们一直在辩论春天的树林和秋日的田野谁更胜一筹，却难以得出结论。 —

I have been told that in China nothing is held to surpass the brocades of spring, but in the poetry of our own country the preference would seem to be for the wistful notes of autumn. —
我听说在中国没有什么能超过春天的锦缎，但在我们国家的诗歌中，似乎更偏爱秋天的忧郁音符。 —

I watch them come and go and must allow each its points, and in the end am unable to decide between song of bird and hue of flower. —
我看着它们来来去去，每个都有它的优点，最终我无法在鸟儿的歌声和花朵的颜色之间做出选择。 —

I go further: within the limits allowed by my narrow gardens, I have sought to bring in what I can of the seasons, the flowering trees of spring and the flowering grasses of autumn, and the humming of insects that would go unnoticed in the wilds. —
我更进一步：在我狭小的花园里，我努力带进我能带来的季节的变化，春天的开花树木和秋天的开花草，以及在荒野中容易被忽视的昆虫的嗡嗡声。 —

This is what I offer for your pleasure. Which of the two, autumn or spring, is your own favorite?”
这是我献给您的享受。春天和秋天，您更喜欢哪一个呢？”

He had chosen another subject which produced hesitation, but one on which silence would seem merely rude.
他选了另一个会让人犹豫不决但保持沉默则显得失礼的话题。

“If Your Lordship finds it difficult to hand down a decision, how much more do I. It is as you say: some are of the one opinion and some of the other. —
“如果大人觉得很难做出决定，那我更加难以。正如您所说：有人持一种观点，有人持另一种。 —

Yet for me the autumn wind which poets have found so strange and compelling — in the dews I sense a fleeting link with my mother.”
但对我来说，诗人们觉得如此奇妙和引人入胜的秋风 - 在露水中我感觉到了与我母亲的短暂联系。”

He found the very muteness and want of logic deeply touching.
他发现那种沉默和缺乏逻辑非常感人。

“Then we two feel alike. You know my secret:
“那么我们两个是感同身受的。你知道我的秘密：

For me it is the autumn winds that pierce.
对我来说，刺骨的秋风。

“There are times when I find them almost more than I can bear.”
“有时候我觉得几乎忍受不了。”

How was she to answer? She made it seem that she had not understood. —
她该如何回答呢？她让这似乎没有理解。 —

Somehow he was in a complaining mood this evening. —
不知怎的，今晚他有点抱怨的情绪。 —

He caught himself just short of further indiscretion. —
他发现自己勉力克制住了进一步失言。 —

She had every right to be unhappy with him, for he was behaving like a silly stripling. —
她完全有权对他不满，因为他表现得像个愚蠢的少年。 —

He sighed a heavy sigh, and even that rather put her off with its intrusive elegance. —
他重重地叹了口气，甚至这种过分的优雅也让她有些不悦。 —

She seemed to be inching away from him.
她似乎在慢慢地离他远去。

“I have displeased you, and am sorry — though I doubt that most people of feeling would have been quite as displeased. —
“我让你不悦了，很抱歉 — 虽然我怀疑大多数有情感的人不会像你这样不悦。 —

Well, do not let the displeasure last. It could be very trying.”
嗯，不要让不悦持续下去。那会很煎熬。”

He went out. Even the perfume that lingered on upset her.
他出去了。连留在上面的香水都让她心烦意乱。

“What a scent he did leave on these cushions — just have a whiff. —
“他在这些垫子上留下了一种香味 — 闻一闻。 —

I can’t find words to describe it.” Her women were lowering the shutters. —
我找不到词来描述。” 她的女佣在关上百叶窗。 —

“He brings everything all together in himself, like a willow that is all of a sudden blooming like a cherry. —
他将所有的一切融合在他自己身上，就像一棵柳树突然间开出樱花。 —

It sets a person to shivering.”
这让一个人不禁打起哆嗦。

He went to Murasaki’s wing of the house. —
他走进了紫的房间。 —

He did not go inside immediately, but, choosing a place on the veranda as far as possible from the lamps, lay for a time in thought. —
他没有立即进去，而是在阳台上选了一个离灯最远的地方，静静地沉思。 —

He exchanged desultory talk with several of her women. He was thinking of love. —
他和几个女子闲聊了一会儿。他在想着爱情。 —

Had those wild impulses still not left him? —
那些狂野的冲动还没有离开他吗？ —

He was too old for them, and angry with himself for the answer which the question demanded. —
他已经太老了，他对这个问题的答案感到愤怒。 —

He had misbehaved grievously, but he had been young and unthinking, and was sure that he would by now have been forgiven. —
他曾经行为不轨，但他当时年轻，不经思考，相信现在应该已经得到宽恕。 —

So he sought to comfort himself; and there was genuine comfort in the thought that he was at least more aware of the dangers than he once had been.
所以他试图安慰自己；至少他现在意识到危险胜过以前。

Akikonomu was sorry that she had said as much as she had. —
秋好可惜她说得太多。 —

Her remarks about the autumn must have sounded very poetic, and she should have held her tongue. —
她关于秋天的评论一定听起来非常有诗意，她应该不多说。 —

She was so unhappy with herself that she was feeling rather tired. —
她为自己感到如此不快而感到有些疲倦。 —

Genji’s robustness had not seemed to allow for fatigue. —
源氏的健壮似乎不容许疲劳。 —

He was behaving more all the time as if he were her father.
他越来越像是她的父亲。

He told Murasaki of this newly discovered preference for the autumn. —
他告诉紫，他发现自己更喜欢秋天。 —

“Certainly I can appreciate it. With you it is the early spring morning, and that too I understand. —
“当然，我能欣赏。你就是那清晨的春光，我也理解。 —

We must put together a really proper entertainment sometime to go with the blossoms and the autumn leaves. —
我们必须准备一个真正恰当的娱乐，配合花朵和秋叶。 —

But I have been so busy. Well, it will not always be so. —
但我一直很忙。嗯，不会一直这样。 —

I will have what I want most, the life of the recluse. And will you be lonely, my dear? —
我将拥有我最想要的，隐士的生活。亲爱的，你会寂寞吗？ —

The possibility that you might is what really holds me back.”
你可能会是我的顾虑。”

He still thought a great deal about the Akashi lady, but his life was so constricted that he could not easily visit her. —
他依然经常想起明石女，但生活如此局促，他不能轻易去拜访她。 —

She seemed to have concluded that the bond between them meant nothing. By what right? —
她似乎认为他们之间的纽带毫无意义。凭什么？ —

Her refusal to leave the hills for a more conventional abode seemed to him a touch haughty. —
她拒绝离开山丘去一个更传统的住所，对他来说有点傲慢。 —

Yet he pitied her, and took every opportunity to attend services in his new chapel. —
然而他同情她，并利用一切机会去参加新教堂的礼拜。 —

Oi only seemed sadder as she came to know it better, the sort of place that must have a melancholy effect on even the chance visitor. —
随着时间的推移，奥依对这个地方更加悲伤，这是一种连偶然访客也会感到忧郁的地方。 —

Genji’s visits brought contradictory feelings: —
源氏的拜访带来了矛盾的感受： —

the bond between them was a powerful one, obviously, and it had meant unhappiness. —
他们之间的纽带很强大，显然，但也带来了不幸。 —

She might have been better off without it. —
如果没有这个纽带，她或许会更好些。 —

These are the sad thoughts which most resist consolation.
这些伤感的念头是最难得到安慰的。

The torches of the cormorant fishermen through the dark groves were like fireflies on a garden stream.
黑暗树林中鸬鹚渔夫的火炬，宛如花园溪流上的萤火虫。

“For someone not used to living beside the water,” said Genji, “I think it must be wonderfully strange and different.”
“对于不习惯住在水边的人来说，”源氏说，“我想这一定感觉奇妙而与众不同。”

“The torches bobbing with the fisher boats
“火把随着渔船摇晃，

Upon those waves have followed me to Oi.
那些波浪已经跟随我到了大井。

“The torches and my thoughts are now as they were then.”
“火把和我的想法现在与当时一样。”

And he answered:
他回答道：

“Only one who does not know deep waters
“只有不懂深水的人

Can still be bobbing, dancing on those waves.
才能在那些波浪上起舞，摇晃。

“Who, I ask you, has made whom unhappy?” So he turned her gentle complaint against her.
“我问你，是谁让谁不快乐？”于是他反击了她温和的抱怨。

It was a rime of relative leisure when Genji could turn his thoughts to his devotions. —
在源氏可以把思绪转向虔诚的时候，正值相对轻松的时刻。 —

Because his visits were longer, the Akashi lady (or so one hears) was feeling somewhat happier with her lot.
因为他的拜访时间更长，明石的女士（有这种说法）对自己的境遇感到有些幸福。