Genji was famous and life was secure and peaceful. —
源氏很有名，生活安逸平和。 —

His ladies had in their several ways made their own lives and were happy. —
他的女子们各自过着幸福的生活。 —

There was an exception, Tamakazura, who faced a new crisis and was wondering what to do next. —
有一个例外，玉鬘正面临新的危机，不知该如何是好。 —

She was not as genuinely frightened of him, of course, as she had been of the Higo man; —
当然，她对他并没有像她曾经害怕肥后男子那样真正恐惧； —

but since few people could possibly know what had happened, she must keep her disquiet to herself, and her growing sense of isolation. —
但由于很少有人可能知道发生了什么，她必须独自保持不安，感到越来越孤独。 —

Old enough to know a little of the world, she saw more than ever what a handicap it was not to have a mother.
她已经到了懂得世事的年龄，更明白没有母亲是多么不便。

Genji had made his confession. The result was that his longing increased. —
源氏已经作出了坦白。结果是他的渴望加剧了。 —

Fearful of being overheard, however, he found the subject a difficult one to approach, even gingerly. —
然而，害怕别人听到，他发现这个话题很难谨慎地接近。 —

His visits were very frequent. Choosing times when she was likely to have few people with her, he would hint at his feelings, and she would be in an agony of embarrassment. —
他的访问非常频繁。在她可能没有其他人在场的时候，他会暗示他的感情，而她则在尴尬中痛苦不堪。 —

Since she was not in a position to turn him away, she could only pretend that she did not know what was happening.
由于她没法将他拒之门外，只能假装不知道发生了什么。

She was of a cheerful, affectionate disposition. —
她性格开朗，充满爱心。 —

Though she was also of a cautious and conservative nature, the chief impression she gave was of a delicate, winsome girlishness.
尽管她也是一个谨慎保守的人，但她给人的最主要印象是娇嫩可爱的少女气质。

Prince Hotaru continued to pay energetic court. —
螢王子继续积极追求。 —

His labors had not yet gone on for very long when he had the early-summer rains to be resentful of.
他开始不久，就遭遇了初夏的雨季，令他心怀怨恨。

“Admit me a little nearer, please,” he wrote. —
“请让我再靠近些，” 他写道。 —

“I will feel better if I can unburden myself of even part of what is in my heart.”
“如果我能倾吐心中的一部分，我会感觉好些。”

Genji saw the letter. “Princes,” he said, “should be listened to. Aloofness is not permitted. —
源氏看到了信。“公主应该被倾听。冷漠是不被允许的。” —

You must let him have an occasional answer. —
你必须让他偶尔得到回答。 —

” He even told her what to say.
他甚至告诉她该说些什么。

But he only made things worse. She said that she was not feeling well and did not answer.
但他只是让情况变得更糟。她说自己感觉不好，没有回答。

There were few really highborn women in her household. —
她家中真正的贵族女性很少。 —

She did have a cousin called Saishō, daughter of a maternal uncle who had held a seat on the council. —
她有一个表姐叫彩绍，是一个曾经在朝中担任职务的母舅女儿。 —

Genji had heard that she had been having a difficult time since her father’s death, and had put her in Tamakazura’s service. —
源氏听说她父亲去世后过得很不容易，就把她安排在玉蕾的身边。 —

She wrote a passable hand and seemed generally capable and well informed. —
她的笔迹写得过得去，似乎也很能干熟练。 —

He assigned her the task of composing replies to gentlemen who deserved them. —
他让她负责回复那些值得回复的绅士们。 —

It was she whom he summoned today. One may imagine that he was curious to see all of his brother’s letters. —
今天他召唤的就是她。可以想象他对他兄弟所有的信件感到好奇。 —

Tamakazura herself had been reading them with more interest since that shocking evening. —
玉蕾自从那个令人震惊的晚上以来一直在专心阅读这些信件。 —

It must not be thought that she had fallen in love with Hotaru, but he did seem to offer a way of evading Genji. She was learning rapidly.
不要以为她已经爱上了蜜虫，但是他似乎为逃避源氏提供了一种方式。她正在迅速学习。

Unaware that Genji himself was eagerly awaiting him, Hotaru was delighted at what seemed a positive invitation and quietly came calling. —
蜜虫并不知道源氏本人正迫不及待地等待他，对于看似正式的邀请他很高兴地前来拜访。 —

A seat was put out for him near the corner doors, where she received him with only a curtain between them. —
在门角放出了一个座位，她就在帘子后面接待他。 —

Genji had given close attention to the incense, which was mysterious and seductive — rather more attention, indeed, than a guardian might have felt that his duty demanded. —
源氏非常关注那香味，那香味神秘诱人 — 实际上，他的注意力比一个监护人认为自己的责任所要求的还要多。 —

One had to admire the results, whatever the motive. —
不管动机如何，人们都不得不钦佩结果。 —

Saishō was at a loss to reply to Hotaru’s overtures. —
西冲无法回应蛍的橄榄枝。 —

Genji pinched her gently to remind her that her mistress must not behave like an unfeeling lump, and only added to her discomfiture. —
源氏轻轻掐了她一下，提醒她她的主人不能像个无情的木头一样行事，这只增加了她的困惑。 —

The dark nights of the new moon were over and there was a bland quarter-moon in the cloudy sky. —
黑夜已经过去，天空中有一个晴朗的弦月。 —

Calm and dignified, the prince was very handsome indeed. —
王子沉着冷静，十分英俊。 —

Genji’s own very special perfume mixed with the incense that drifted through the room as people moved about. —
源氏自己特有的芬芳与飘过房间的香烟混合在一起。 —

More interesting than he would have expected, thought the prince. —
王子心想，这比他预料的更有趣。 —

In calm control of himself all the while (and in pleasant contrast to certain other people), he made his avowals.
他一直保持着冷静的自制 (与某些其他人愉快的对比)，并作出了他的表白。

Tamakazura withdrew to the east penthouse and lay down. —
玉光子退到了东边的小阁楼上躺下。 —

Genji followed Saishō as she brought a new message from the prince.
源氏跟随西冲带来王子的新消息。

“You are not being kind,” he said to Tamakazura. —
“你不够温柔，”他对玉光子说。 —

“A person should behave as the occasion demands. You are unnecessarily coy. —
“一个人应该随机应变。你没必要如此羞怯。 —

You should not be sending a messenger back and forth over such distances. —
你不应该让信使在这么远的距离来回奔波。 —

If you do not wish him to hear your voice, very well, but at least you should move a little nearer.”
如果你不希望他听到你的声音，那好吧，但至少应该再靠近一点。”

She was in despair. She suspected that his real motive was to impose himself upon her, and each course open to her seemed worse than all the others. —
她感到绝望。她怀疑他的真正动机是强迫她接受他，而她所能选择的每一种可能都比其他所有选择更糟糕。 —

She slipped away and lay down at a curtain between the penthouse and the main hall.
她溜走，躺在阁楼和大厅之间的帷幕上。

She was sunk in thought, unable to answer the prince’s outpourings. —
她陷入沉思，无法回答王子的倾诉。 —

Genji came up beside her and lifted the curtain back over its frame. There was a flash of light. —
王子走到她身边，将帷幕拉回原位。闪现一道光芒。 —

She looked up startled. Had someone lighted a torch? —
她吓了一跳。是不是有人点亮了火把？ —

No — Genji had earlier in the evening put a large number of fireflies in a cloth bag. —
不是——早些时候，源氏用一块布袋装了许多萤火虫。 —

Now, letting no one guess what he was about, he released them. —
现在，他将它们释放出来，不让任何人猜测他在做什么。 —

Tamakazura brought a fan to her face. Her profile was very beautiful.
玉葬掩面扇风。她的侧面非常美丽。

Genji had worked everything out very carefully. Prince Hotaru was certain to look in her direction. —
源氏精心安排了一切。蛍王一定会看向她的方向。 —

He was making a show of passion, Genji suspected, because he thought her Genji’s daughter, and not because he had guessed what a beauty she was. —
源氏怀疑他正在做一场热烈的表演，因为他认为她是他的女儿，而不是因为他猜到她是个美人。 —

Now he would see, and be genuinely excited. —
现在他会看到，并且真的感到兴奋。 —

Genji would not have gone to such trouble if she had in fact been his daughter. —
如果她真的是他的女儿，源氏就不会费这么大的劲。 —

It all seems rather perverse of him.
他的一切行为似乎都有些扭曲。

He slipped out through another door and returned to his part of the house.
他从另一个门悄悄溜出，返回到他住的地方。

The prince had guessed where the lady would be. Now he sensed that she was perhaps a little nearer. —
王子猜到了那位女士会在哪里。现在他感觉她可能更靠近了。 —

His heart racing, he looked through an opening in the rich gossamer curtains. —
心怦怦跳动着，他透过厚重的薄纱帷幕间的缝隙望去。 —

Suddenly, some six or seven feet away, there was a flash of light — and such beauty as was revealed in it! —
突然间，有六七英尺开外，一道闪光 — 那样美丽的景象展现在他眼前！ —

Darkness was quickly restored, but the brief glimpse he had had was the sort of thing that makes for romance. —
黑暗很快回到，但他刚刚瞥见的那一刻让人心生浪漫情愫。 —

The figure at the curtains may have been indistinct but it most certainly was slim and tall and graceful. —
在那薄纱帷幕前的身影也许模糊不清，但无疑是纤细、高大且优雅的。 —

Genji would not have been disappointed at the interest it had inspired.
源氏绝不会对它引起的兴趣感到失望。

“You put out this silent fire to no avail.
“你把这无声的火熄灭了，毫无意义。

Can you extinguish the fire in the human heart?
你能扑灭人心中的火吗？

“I hope I make myself understood.”
“希望我表达清楚。”

Speed was the important thing in answering such a poem.
在回答这样的诗歌时，速度是至关重要的。

“The firefly but burns and makes no comment.
“萤火虫只会燃烧不发表任何评论。

Silence sometimes tells of deeper thoughts.”
有时沉默更能揭示深层思想。”

It was a brisk sort of reply, and having made it, she was gone. —
这是一种爽利的回答，说完后，她就离开了。 —

His lament about this chilly treatment was rather wordy, but he would not have wished to overdo it by staying the night. —
他对这种冰冷的态度哀叹过于冗长，但他不想在这里过夜。 —

It was late when he braved the dripping eaves (and tears as well) and went out. —
当他冒雨出门时，时间已晚（眼泪也在流）。 —

I have no doubt that a cuckoo sent him on his way, but did not trouble myself to learn all the detd ls.
我毫无疑问地认为布谷鸟引导着他前行，但我懒得去了解所有的细节。

So handsome, so poised, said the women — so very much like Genji. Not knowing their lady’s secret, they were filled with gratitude for Genji’s attentions. —
那些女人说：“多么英俊，多么从容，他就像源氏一样。”不知道女主人的秘密，她们对源氏的关怀感到十分感激。 —

Why, not even her mother could have done more for her.
哪怕是她的母亲也未必对她更好。

Unwelcome attentions, the lady was thinking. —
女主人心想，这些不受欢迎的关注。 —

If she had been recognized by her father and her situation were nearer the ordinary, then they need not be entirely unwelcome. —
如果她被她父亲认出来，情况更接近寻常一些，那么这些关注也不至于完全不受欢迎。 —

She had had wretched luck, and she lived in dread of rumors.
她的运气实在太糟，总是惧怕传言。

Genji too was determined to avoid rumors. Yet he continued to have his ways. —
源氏也决心避免传言。然而他仍会有他的方式。 —

Can one really be sure, for instance, that he no longer had designs upon Akikonomu? —
比如，一个真的可以确定吗，他对秋子有没有什么企图？ —

There was something different about his manner When he was with her, something especially charming and seductive. —
和秋子在一起时，他的态度有些不同，特别迷人和诱人。 —

But she was beyond the reach of direct overtures. —
但她是无法接受直接的求爱。 —

Tamakazura was a modern sort of girl, and approachable. —
玉葉是现代化的女孩，易于接近。 —

Sometimes dangerously near losing control of himself, he would do things which, had they been noticed, might have aroused suspicions. —
有时他危险地接近失控，他会做一些事情，如果被注意到，可能会引起怀疑。 —

It was a difficult and complicated relationship indeed, and he must be given credit for the fact that he held back from the final line.
这确实是一段困难而复杂的关系，他应该因为他没有越过底线而受到点赞。

On the fifth day of the Fifth Month, the Day of the Iris, he stopped by her apartments on his way to the equestrian grounds.
五月五日，菖蒲节，他在去马场的途中顺道拜访她的公寓。

“What happened? Did he stay late? You must be careful with him. —
“发生了什么？他待得很晚吗？你一定要小心对待他。 —

He is not to be trusted — not that there are very many men these days a girl really can trust.”
他不可信任——这个时代很少有女孩真正可以信任的男人。”

He praised his brother and blamed him. He seemed very young and was very handsome as he offered this word of caution. —
他夸赞了他的兄弟，却责备了他。他看起来很年轻，非常英俊，他提出了这样一句警告。 —

As for his clothes, the singlets and the robe thrown casually over them glowed in such rich and pleasing colors that they seemed to brim over and seek more space. —
至于他的衣服，内衣和随意扔在上面的长袍散发出如此丰富和令人愉悦的色彩，以至于它们似乎要溢出并寻找更多的空间。 —

One wondered whether a supernatural hand might not have had some part in the dyeing. —
人们不禁想到是否有超自然的力量参与了染色。 —

The colors themselves were familiar enough, but the woven patterns were as if everything had pointed to this day of flowers. —
色彩本身并不陌生，但编织的图案却仿佛一切都指向了这个盛开的日子。 —

The lady was sure she would have been quite intoxicated with the perfumes burned into them had she not had these worries.
这位女士确定如果她没有这些烦恼，她肯定会被烧制其中的香气迷醉。

A letter came from Prince Hotaru, on white tissue paper in a fine, aristocratic hand. —
一封来自蜻蜓王子的信，用精致的手写在白色纸巾上。 —

At first sight the contents seemed very interesting, but somehow they became ordinary upon repeating.
一开始，信的内容似乎非常有趣，但反复阅读后反而变得普通了。

“Even today the iris is neglected.
“就连今天鸢尾花也被忽视了。

Its roots, my cries, are lost among the waters.”
鸢尾的根，我的哭声，在水中消失了。”

It was attached to an iris root certain to be much talked of.
它附在一根注定会引起讨论的鸢尾根上。

“You must get off an answer,” said Genji, preparing to leave.
“你必须回复。”源氏准备离开。

Her women argued that she had no choice.
她的女人们争辩说她别无选择。

Whatever she may have meant to suggest by it, this was her answer, a simple one set down in a faint, delicate hand:
无论她通过这句话想表达什么，这都是她的回答，用淡淡的、精致的手写下：

“It might have flourished better in concealment,
“它可能在隐匿中会生机盎然，

The iris root washed purposelessly away.
鸢尾根被毫无目的地冲走了。

“Exposure seems rather unwise.”
“接触似乎相当不明智。”

A connoisseur, the prince thought that the hand could just possibly be improved.
王子认为，行癹或许可以稍作改进。

Gifts of medicinal herbs in decorative packets came from this and that well-wisher. —
送礼者送来了用装饰性袋子装着的草药。 —

The festive brightness did much to make her forget earlier unhappiness and hope that she might come uninjured through this new trial.
这喜庆的光彩大大使她忘却了早前的不幸，并希望她可以在这次新的试炼中毫发无伤。

Genji also called on the lady of the orange blossoms, in the east wing of the same northeast quarter.
源氏也去拜访了橘楼的女士，就在同一座东北区的东厢房。

“Yūgiri is to bring some friends around after the archery meet. —
“夕霧会在射箭比赛之后带几个朋友来。” —

I should imagine it will still be daylight. —
我想还是会在白天。 —

I have never understood why our efforts to avoid attention always end in failure. —
我始终不明白我们避免引人注意的努力为何总是失败的。 —

The princes and the rest of them hear that something is up and come around to see, and so we have a much noisier party than we had planned on. —
王子们和其他人听说有事发生，过来看热闹，结果我们的聚会比原计划的吵闹得多。 —

We must in any event be ready.”
我们无论如何必须做好准备。”

The equestrian stands were very near the galleries of the northeast quarter.
马术比赛场地就在东北区的楼廊附近。

“Come, girls,” he said. “Open all the doors and enjoy yourselves. —
“过来，姑娘们，”他说。“打开所有的门，尽情享乐吧。 —

Have a look at all the handsome officers. —
看看所有那些英俊的军官。 —

The ones in the Left Guards are especially handsome, several cuts above the common run at court.”
左卫门的那些尤其英俊，比宫中的一般人高明数级。”

They had a delightful time. Tamakazura joined them. —
她们玩得很开心。玉镜也加入了他们的行列。 —

There were fresh green blinds all along the galleries, and new curtains too, the rich colors at the hems fading, as is the fashion these days, to white above. —
画廊上挂满了鲜绿的百叶窗，还有新的窗帘，底边的丰富色彩逐渐褪去，如今流行的是逐渐变为白色。 —

Women and little girls clustered at all the doors. —
妇女和小女孩挤在所有的门口。 —

The girls in green robes and trains of purple gossamer seemed to be from Tamakazura’s wing. —
穿着绿色长袍和紫色薄纱裙的女孩们似乎来自玉葬的院子。 —

There were four of them, all very pretty and well behaved. —
他们一共有四个，都非常漂亮和举止端庄。 —

Her women too were in festive dress, trains blending from lavender at the waist down to deeper purple and formal jackets the color of carnation shoots.
她的女人们也穿着节日的服饰，裙摆从腰部淡紫色渐变至深紫色，正装外套颜色是康乃馨芽。

The lady of the orange blossoms had her little girls in very dignified dress, singlets of deep pink and trains of red lined with green It was very amusing to see all the women striking new poses as they draped their finery about them. —
桔花宫的主人把她的小女儿们打扮得非常庄严，粉红色吊带配上红色绿边长裙。看着她们披上绚丽服饰摆姿势的样子非常有趣。 —

The young courtiers noticed and seemed to be striking poses of their own.
年轻的朝廷官员们也似乎在摆造型。

Genji went out to the stands toward midafternoon. All the princes were there, as he had predicted. —
源氏在午后朝看台走去。所有的王子们都在那里，正如他所预料的那样。 —

The equestrian archery was freer and more varied than at the palace. —
马术射箭比在宫廷中更加自由多样。 —

The officers of the guard joined in, and everyone sat entranced through the afternoon. —
御林卫的官员们也加入进来，每个人都坐在那儿入迷地度过了下午。 —

The women may not have understood all the finer points, but the uniforms of even the common guardsmen were magnificent and the horsemanship was complicated and exciting. —
妇女们也许不太明白所有技术细节，但就连普通卫士的制服都华丽绚丽，马术精湛复杂，令人激动。 —

The grounds were very wide, fronting also on Murasaki’s southeast quarter, where young women were watching. —
庭院非常宽阔，面对着玉葬的东南邻。年轻女子们正在那里观看。 —

There was music and dancing, Chinese polo music and the Korean dragon dance. —
有音乐和舞蹈，还有中国马球音乐和韩国舞龙。 —

As night came on, the triumphal music rang out high and wild. —
黑夜降临后，凯旋的音乐高亢而狂野。 —

The guardsmen were richly rewarded according to their several ranks. —
卫士们根据各自的级别得到丰厚的奖赏。 —

It was very late when the assembly dispersed.
派对散去时已经很晚了。

Genji spent the night with the lady of the orange blossoms. —
源氏与橙花姬度过了整夜。 —

li “Prince Hotaru is a man of parts,” he said. —
利奇道：“蛍王是个很有才华的人。” —

“He may not be the handsomest man in the world, but everything about him tells of breeding and cultivation, and he is excellent company. —
“他可能不是世界上最英俊的男人，但他的一切都显得有教养，有修养，很值得交往。” —

Did you chance to catch a glimpse of him? —
你看到他了吗？ —

He has many good points, as I have said, but it may be that in the final analysis there is something just a bit lacking in him.”
他有很多优点，但在最终分析中可能有一点不够完美。”

“He is younger than you but I thought he looked older. —
“他比你小，但我觉得他看起来比较老。” —

I have heard that he never misses a chance to come calling. —
我听说他从不错过拜访的机会。 —

I saw him once long ago at court ans had not really seen him again until today. He has improved. —
我很久以前在宫廷见过他一面，直到今天才再次见到他。他进步了。 —

Prince Sochi is a very fine gentleman too, but somehow he does not quite look like royalty.”
苏岐王也是位非常优秀的绅士，但不知怎的，他似乎并不像王族。”

Genji smiled. Her judgment was quick and sure. But he kept his own counsel. —
源氏微笑着。她的判断迅速而准确。但他对此保持沉默。 —

This sort of open appraisal of people still living was not to his taste. —
对于还在世的人做这种公开评价并不合他的口味。 —

He could not understand why the world had such a high opinion of Higekuro and would not have been pleased to receive him into the family, but these views too he kept to himself.
他无法理解为什么世人对檜黑如此推崇，也不会高兴把他接纳进自家，但这些看法他也只是闷声不响。

They were good friends, he and she, and no more, and they went to separate beds. —
他们是好朋友，仅此而已，然后各自寻找各自的床位。 —

Genji wondered when they had begun to drift apart. She never let fall the tiniest hint of jealousy. —
源氏纳闷他们何时开始疏远。她从不流露出丝毫的嫉妒。 —

It had been the usual thing over the years for reports of such festivities to come to her through others. —
多年来，关于这种庆祝活动的报道通常是通过他人传达给她的。 —

The events of the day seemed to bring new recognition to her and her household.
这一天的事件似乎让她及其家人得到新的认可。

She said softly:
她轻声说道：

“You honor the iris on the bank to which
“你们给了河岸上的鸢尾花荣誉，

No pony comes to taste of withered grasses?”
没有小马前来品尝枯草？”

One could scarcely have called it a masterpiece, but he was touched.
这不算是杰作，但是他被感动了。

“This pony, like the love grebe, wants a comrade.
“这匹小马，像恋鸟一样，渴望有个伴侣。

Shall it forget the iris on the bank?”
它会忘记河岸上的鸢尾花吗？”

Nor was his a very exciting poem.
他的诗并不是很激动人心。

“I do not see as much of you as I would wish, but I do enjoy you. —
“我见不到你的次数不如我希望的那样频繁，但我真的很喜欢你。 —

” There was a certain irony in the words, from his bed to hers, but also affection. —
她的床和他的床之间的这些话有一种讽刺意味，但也带着亲情。 —

She was a dear, gentle lady. She had let him have her bed and spread quilts for herself outside the curtains. —
她是一位亲切温和的女士。她让他睡在她的床上，自己在帘子外铺了被子。 —

She had in the course of time come to accept such arrangements as proper, and he did not suggest changing them.
她经过一段时间已经接受了这样的安排是正确的，而他也没有建议改变。

The rains of earlyd ummer continued without a break, even gloomier than in most years. —
初夏的雨季连绵不断，甚至比大多数年份还要阴沉。 —

The ladies at Rokujō amused themselves with illustrated romances. —
六条的女士们自己娱乐着插图式爱情故事。 —

The Akashi lady, a talented painter, sent pictures to her daughter.
天野夫人是一位备受赞誉的画家，她给女儿寄来了图片。

Tamakazura was the most avid reader of all. —
玉葛是所有人中最热衷阅读的。 —

She quite lost herself in pictures and stories and would spend whole days with them. —
她完全沉浸在图片和故事中，可以整天都泡在其中。 —

Several of her young women were well informed in literary matters. —
她的几位年轻女子在文学方面颇有见识。 —

She came upon all sorts of interesting and shocking incidents (she could not be sure whether they were true or not), but she found little that resembled her own unfortunate career. —
她遇到了各种有趣而令人震惊的事件（她不确定这些事件是否属实），但发现很少有类似于她悲惨经历的。 —

There was The Tale of Sumiyoshi, popular in its day, of course, and still well thought of. —
《住吉物语》当然曾经很流行，至今仍备受推崇。 —

She compared the plight of the heroine, within a hairbreadth of being taken by the chief accountant, with her own escape from the Higo person.
她把女主角险些被总账的情节与自己从肥后那人身上逃脱相比较。

Genji could not help noticing the clutter of pictures and manuscripts. —
源氏不禁注意到了这堆堆画和手稿。 —

“What a nuisance this all is,” he said one day. —
“这一切真是讨厌。”他有一天说。 —

“Women seem to have been born to be cheerfully deceived. —
“女人似乎天生就是为了愉快地被愚弄。 —

They know perfectly well that in all these old stories there is scarcely a shred of truth, and yet they are captured and made sport of by the whole range of trivialities and go on scribbling them down, quite unaware that in these warm rains their hair is all dank and knotted.”
她们心知肚明，这些古老故事中几乎没有一丝真实性，但还是被这一套无聊之事抓住，毫不知情地继续写着，完全不知道她们在这湿热的雨中，头发已经湿漉漉打结了。”

He smiled. “What would we do if there were not these old romances to relieve our boredom? —
他微笑道：“如果没有这些古老的浪漫故事来解闷，我们会怎么办呢？ —

But amid all the fabrication I must admit that I do find real emotions and plausible chains of events. —
但在所有这些虚构之中，我必须承认我找到了真情实感和合乎情理的事件链。 —

We can be quite aware of the frivolity and the idleness and still be moved. —
我们可以完全意识到轻佻和懒散，但依然会被感动。 —

We have to feel a little sorry for a charming princess in the depths of gloom. —
我们不得不为深陷困境的美丽公主感到一丝惋惜。 —

Sometimes a series of absurd and grotesque incidents which we know to be quite improbable holds our interest, and afterwards we must blush that it was so. —
有时一系列荒谬和怪诞的事件让我们感到很不可思议，而后我们会为自己的兴趣感到羞愧。 —

Yet even then we can see what it was that held us. —
然而，即使那时我们也能看出是什么吸引了我们。 —

Sometimes I stand and listen to the stories they read to my daughter, and I think to myself that there certainly are good talkers in the world. —
有时候我站在一旁听他们给我女儿读故事，心想世上确实有讲故事的好手。 —

I think that these yarns must come from people much practiced in lying. —
我觉得这些故事肯定是那些经验丰富、擅长说谎的人编造的。 —

But perhaps that is not the whole of the story?”
但也许这并非全部事实？”

She pushed away her inkstone. “I can see that that would be the view of someone much given to lying himself. —
她把墨汁瓶推开。“我可以看出这是一个经常说谎的人的观点。 —

For my part, I am convinced of their truthfulness.”
但我自己确信它们是真实的。”

He laughed. “I have been rude and unfair to your romances, haven’t I. They have set down and preserved happenings from the age of the gods to our own. —
他笑了。“我对你的奇幻小说确实有些失礼和不公平，不是吗。它们记载并保存了从神代到我们现在的发生的事情。 —

The Chronicles of Japan and the rest are a mere fragment of the whole truth. —
《日本记》等等只是整个真相的一小部分。 —

It is your romances that fill in the details.
是你的奇幻小说填补了细节。

“We are not told of things that happened to specific people exactly as they happened; —
“我们并没有被告知特定人发生的事情如实发生过； —

but the beginning is when there are good things and bad things, things that happen in this life which one never tires of seeing and hearing about, things which one cannot bear not to tell of and must pass on for all generations. —
但开始的时候有好事和坏事，这些事在这个世界上发生，永远不会厌倦听和看，也无法忍受不传承下去，要为所有世代传承下去。 —

If the storyteller wishes to speak well, then he chooses the good things; —
如果讲故事的人想说得好，那他就会选择好事； —

and if he wishes to hold the reader’s attention he chooses bad things, extraordinarily bad things. Good things and bad things alike, they are things of this world and no other.
如果他想吸引读者的注意，他会选择坏事，特别糟糕的事。好事和坏事一样，都是这个世界上的事情，不是其他世界。

“Writers in other countries approach the matter differently. —
“其他国家的作家对待这个问题的方式是不同的。 —

Old stories in our own are different from new. There are differences in the degree of seriousness. —
我们自己国家的古老故事和新故事不同。在严肃程度上有差异。 —

But to dismiss them as lies is itself to depart from the truth. —
但是把它们看作谎言本身就是离开了真相。 —

Even in the writ which the Buddha drew from his noble heart are parables, devices for pointing obliquely at the truth. —
即使佛陀从他高尚的心中所展现的经文中也有寓言，是间接指明真相的方式。 —

To the ignorant they may seem to operate at cross purposes. —
对愚昧的人来说，它们可能看起来是相互矛盾的。 —

The Greater Vehicle is full of them, but the general burden is always the same. —
大乘佛法中充满了这些，但总体的负担始终是一样的。 —

The difference between enlightenment and confusion is of about the same order as the difference between the good and the bad in a romance. —
觉悟和困惑之间的差异大致与传奇中的好坏之间的差异相当。 —

If one takes the generous view, then nothing is empty and useless.”
如果一个人持宽宏的观点，那么没有什么是空虚无用的。

He now seemed bent on establishing the uses of fiction.
他似乎现在着力证明虚构的用途。

“But tell me: is there in any of your old stories a proper, upright fool like myself? —
“但告诉我：在你们的古老故事中，有没有像我这样的一个合适、直率的傻瓜呢？” —

” He came closer. “I doubt that even among the most unworldly of your heroines there is one who manages to be as distant and unnoticing as you are. —
他走近一些。“我怀疑即使在你们最不务实的女英雄中，也不会有一个像你这样遥远和不加注意的人。” —

Suppose the two of us set down our story and give the world a really interesting one.”
“假设我们两个写下我们的故事，并让世界听到一个真正有趣的故事。”

“I think it very likely that the world will take notice of our curious story even if we do not go to the trouble. —
“我想很可能即使我们不费力气，世界也会注意到我们奇特的故事。” —

” She hid her face in her sleeves.
她把脸藏在袖子里。

“Our curious story? Yes, incomparably curious, I should think. —
“我们奇特的故事？是的，无比奇特，我想是的。” —

” Smiling and playful, he pressed nearer.
微笑着顽皮地靠近，他将他身体更贴近。

“Beside myself, I search through all the books,
“我除了自己之外，搜遍所有的书籍，

And come upon no daughter so unfilial.
却找不到一个如此不孝的女儿。

“You are breaking one of the commandments.”
“你正在违反诫命之一。”

He stroked her hair as he spoke, but she refused to look up. —
他一边说着，一边抚摸着她的头发，但她拒绝抬起头来。 —

Presently, however, she managed a reply:
然而，她终于回答了：

“So too it is with me. I too have searched,
“我也是如此。我也搜索过，

And found no cases quite so unparental.”
并没有找到像我这样不悌的例子。”

Somewhat chastened, he pursued the matter no further. Yet one worried. What was to become of her?
他有些惭愧，不再深究此事。但他仍然很担心。她的未来会怎样呢？

Murasaki too had become addicted to romances. —
紫也迷上了言情小说。 —

Her excuse was that Genji’s little daughter insisted on being read to.
她的借口是因为玄宫的小女儿坚持要被读故事。

“Just see what a fine one this is,” she said, showing Genji an illustration for The Tale of Kumano. —
“看，这一本多好啊，”她向玄宫展示了一幅《熊野记》的插图。 —

The young girl in tranquil and confident slumber made her think of her own younger self. —
插图中宁静而自信地入眠的少女让她想起了自己年轻的时候。 —

“How precocious even very little children seem to have been. —
“即使是年纪很小的孩子看起来也是如此早熟。 —

I suppose I might have set myself up as a specimen of the slow, plodding variety. —
我想我可能会被列为一个马虎慢慢的品种的榜样。 —

I would have won that competition easily.”
我肯定会很容易赢得那场比赛。”

Genji might have been the hero of some rather more eccentric stories.
源氏可能曾是一些颇为古怪故事中的英雄。

“You must not read love stories to her. —
“你不可以向她读爱情故事。 —

I doubt that clandestine affairs would arouse her unduly, but we would not want her to think them commonplace.”
我怀疑秘密恋情可能并不会特别激起她的兴趣，但我们也不希望她认为这是常事。”

What would Tamakazura have made of the difference between his remarks to her and these remarks to Murasaki?
玉葬子会如何看待他对她的言辞与对紫霞的言辞之间的不同呢？

“I would not of course offer the wanton ones as a model,” replied Murasaki, “but I would have doubts too about the other sort. —
“我当然不会以放荡的女子作为楷模，”紫霞回答道，“但我也对另一种女子有所疑虑。 —

Lady Ate- miya in The Tale of the Hollow Tree, for Instance. —
《空树之物语》中的皇居女阿手. —

She is always very brisk and efficient and in control of things, and she never makes mistakes; —
她总是非常利落和高效，并且掌控一切，从不出错； —

but there is something unwomanly about her cool manner and clipped speech.”
但她冷漠的态度和干脆的语言中透着一些不太符合女性气质。”

“I should imagine that it is in real life as in fiction. —
“我想真实生活和小说一样吧。 —

We are all human and we all have our ways. It is not easy to be unerringly right. —
我们都是人，都有自己的方式。做出绝对正确的决定并不容易。 —

Proper, well-educated parents go to great trouble over a daughter’s education and tell themselves that they have done well if something quiet and demure emerges. —
合适、受过良好教育的父母会花费很多心思来教育女儿，告诉自己如果培养出一个温和谦顺的女孩就算是成功了。 —

It seems a pity when defects come to light one after another and people start asking what her good parents can possibly have been up to. —
当一个女孩的缺点接连暴露，人们开始质疑她的好父母到底是怎么了。 —

Yet the rewards are very great when a girl’s manner and behavior seem just right for her station. —
然而，当一个女孩的举止和行为似乎恰到好处地适合她的身份时，回报是很大的。 —

Even then empty praise is not satisfying. —
即便如此，空洞的赞美也并不令人满足。 —

One knows that the girl is not perfect and looks at her more critically than before. —
人们知道那个女孩并不完美，对她的看法比以往更为挑剔。 —

I would not wish my own daughter to be praised by people who have no standards.”
我不希望我的女儿受到没有标准的人们的赞扬。

He was genuinely concerned that she acquit herself well in the tests that lay before her.
他真诚地希望她能在即将到来的考验中表现出色。

Wicked stepmothers are of course standard fare for the romancers, and he did not want them poisoning relations between Murasaki and the child. —
恶毒的继母当然是言情故事中的标配，他不希望她们破坏紫式部和孩子之间的关系。 —

He spent a great deal of time selecting romances he thought suitable, and ordered them copied and illustrated.
他花了大量时间挑选他认为合适的言情小说，并让人复制并加以插图。

He kept Yūgiri from Murasaki but encouraged him to be friends with the girl. —
他让弓切远离紫式部，但鼓励他和女孩做朋友。 —

While he himself was alive it might not matter a great deal one way or the other, but if they were good friends now their affection was likely to deepen after he was dead. —
只要他自己还活着，这或许并不太重要，但如果他死后他们成为好朋友，他们的感情可能会加深。 —

He permitted Yūgiri inside the front room, though the inner rooms were forbidden. —
他允许弓切进入前厅，但内室是禁止的。 —

Having so few children, he had ample time for Yūgiri, who was a sober lad and seemed completely dependable. —
由于孩子不多，他有大量时间可以陪伴弓切，这个稳重的小伙子似乎完全可靠。 —

The girl was still devoted to her dolls. —
女孩仍然很喜欢她的玩偶。 —

They made Yūgiri think of his own childhood games with Kumoinokari. —
这让弓切想起了和久保帖的童年游戏。 —

Sometimes as he waited in earnest attendance upon a doll princess, tears would come to his eyes. —
有时当他认真地侍奉着一个玩偶公主时，眼泪会涌上眼眶。 —

He sometimes joked with ladies of a certain standing, but he was careful not to lead them too far. —
他有时和某些地位的女士开玩笑，但他小心不要引导他们太远。 —

Even those who might have expected more had to make do with a joke. —
即使那些可能期望更多的人也只能忍受一个笑话。 —

The thing that really concerned him and never left his mind was getting back at the nurse who had sneered at his blue sleeves. —
他真正关心的事情，从未离开过他的脑海，就是报复那个曾嘲笑他蓝衣袖的奶妈。 —

He was fairly sure that he could better Tō no Chūjō at a contest of wills, but sometimes the old anger and chagrin came back and he wanted more. —
他很有把握在意志比拼中胜过洞准少尉，但有时那种旧怒火和屈辱会回来，他想得到更多。 —

He wanted to make Tō no Chūjō genuinely regretful for what he had done. —
他想让桃中将真正感到后悔自己所做的事情。 —

He revealed these feelings only to Kumoinokari. —
他只向云居娘透露了这些感情。 —

Before everyone else he was a model of cool composure.
在其他人面前，他总是冷静自若的楷模。

Her brothers sometimes thought him rather conceited. —
她的兄弟们有时觉得他相当自负。 —

Kashiwagi, the oldest, was greatly interested these days in Tamakazura. —
最近，长子樱木对玉鬘很感兴趣。 —

Lacking a better intermediary, he came sighing to Yūgiri. —
缺乏更好的中间人，他叹着气去找弓切。 —

The friendship of the first generation was being repeated in the second.
第一代人的友谊正重复在第二代身上。

“One does not undertake to plead another’s case,” replied Yūgiri quietly.
“人不应该代替别人辩护，”云居娘平静地回答道。

Tō no Chūjō was a very important man, and his many sons were embarked upon promising careers, as became their several pedigrees and inclinations. —
桃中将是一个非常重要的人，他的众多儿子正从事有前途的事业，符合各自的家谱和倾向。 —

He had only two daughters. The one who had gone to court had been a disappointment. —
他只有两个女儿。去宫廷的那一个让他失望了。 —

The prospect of having the other do poorly did not of course please him. —
另一个表现不佳的前景当然不会让他高兴。 —

He had not forgotten the lady of the evening faces. —
他没有忘记那位夜间容颜的女士。 —

He often spoke of her, and he went on wondering what had happened to the child. —
他经常谈起她，继续思考那个孩子发生了什么事。 —

The lady had put him off guard with her gentleness and appearance of helplessness, and so he had lost a daughter. —
那位女士以她的温柔和无助的外表使他失去了一个女儿。 —

A man must not under any circumstances let a woman out of his sight. —
无论如何，一个男人绝不能让一个女人离开他的视线。 —

Suppose the girl were to turn up now in some outlandish guise and stridently announce herself as his daughter — well, he would take her in.
假设女孩现在以奇装异服出现，并大声宣布自己是他的女儿 —— 那么，他会接纳她。

“Do not dismiss anyone who says she is my daughter,” he told his sons. —
“请勿拒绝任何自称是我的女儿的人，”他告诉他的儿子们。 —

In my younger days I did many things I ought not to have done. —
年轻时我做了许多不应该做的事情。 —

There was a lady of not entirely contemptible birth who lost patience with me over some triviality or other, and so I lost a daughter, and I have so few.”
曾经有一个并非完全卑贱出身的女士因一些琐事对我失去了耐心，于是我失去了一个女儿，而我本来就很少。

There had been a time when he had almost forgotten the lady. —
曾经有一个时期他几乎忘了这位女士。 —

Then he began to see what great things his friends were doing for their daughters, and to feel resentful that he had been granted so few.
随后，他开始看到朋友们为他们的女儿所做的伟大事业，开始感到他为什么被赋予如此之少而产生了怨恨。

One night he had a dream. He called in a famous seer and asked for an interpretation.
某天晚上他做了一个梦。他请来一个著名的占卜师，请求解梦。

“Might it be that you will hear of a long-lost child who has been taken in by someone else?”
“也许您将听说一个被别人收养的失散多年的孩子？”

This was very puzzling. He could think of no daughters whom he had put out for adoption. —
这让他感到非常困惑。他想不起自己曾经送养的女儿。 —

He began to wonder about Tamakazura.
他开始怀疑玉麟。