It was a very hot day. Genji was cooling himself in the angling pavilion of the southeast quarter. —
今天非常炎热。源氏正在东南角的钓亭里降温。 —

Yūgiri and numerous friends of the middle court ranks were with him. —
弓帘和许多中央宫廷的朋友们与他在一起。 —

They had offered to roast trout which had been brought from the Katsura and goby from nearer streams. —
他们准备烤从桂去取的鳟鱼和从更近的溪流带来的虾子。 —

Several of Tō no Chūjō‘s sons, his constant companions, were among them.
很多都是都亲王的儿子，他们是他的常伴。

“You came at a very good time,” said Genji. “I was feeling bored and sleepy. —
“你们来的正是时候，”源氏说。“我开始觉得厌倦和困倦了。” —

” Wine and ice water and other refreshments were brought, and it had become a very lively picnic. —
侍者端来了酒和冰水以及其他饮料，场面变得非常热闹。 —

Though a pleasant wind was blowing, the air was heavy and the sun seemed to move more slowly than usual through a cloudless sky. —
虽然吹着凉风，天气依然闷热，阳光似乎在无云的天空中缓慢移动。 —

The shrilling of cicadas was intense, almost oppressive. —
蝉鸣烈烈，几乎令人感到压迫。 —

“It does not do us much good to be on top of the water. I am going to be rude.” He lay down. —
“待在水上也没什么好处。我要无礼一下。”他躺了下来。 —

“Not even music helps in weather like this, and yet it is not very satisfying to go through a whole day doing nothing at all. —
“在这种天气里，即使是音乐也没什么帮助，但整天无所事事也不太满足。 —

You youngsters must have a hard time of it in your offices. —
你们这些年轻人在办公室里一定过得很辛苦。 —

Here at least you can undo yourselves and relax and bring me up on all the amusing gossip. —
在这里你们至少可以放松一下，带来一些有趣的八卦。 —

I am old and out of things, and I must look to you to keep me informed and drive away the yawns.”
我老了，掉队了，必须依靠你们告诉我新鲜事物，驱散无聊。”

It seemed a heavy responsibility. Most of them had withdrawn to the verandas, where it was cooler.
这似乎是一个沉重的责任。大部分人已经退到凉爽的走廊上。

He turned to Kōbai, Tō no Chūjō‘s second son. —
他转向红梅，都亲王的次子。 —

“Where did I hear — I can’t think — that your father had found a stray daughter and is all in a ferment over her? Is it true?”
“我听说——我记不起来 — 你父亲找到一名流落女儿，对此感到非常激动。这是真的吗？”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s a very interesting piece of news, really. —
“哦，我觉得这并不是一则非常有趣的消息。 —

There was a woman, it is true, who got wind of a dream Father had this spring and made it known that she had certain relevant matters to bring to his attention. —
有一个女人确实得知我父亲今年春天梦到的事情，她表示她有一些相关的事情要告诉他。 —

My brother Kashiwagi went to see her and asked what evidence she had to support her claims. —
我的兄长柏木去见她，问她有什么证据支持她的主张。 —

I am afraid I have not kept myself very well informed of all the details, though it does seem to be true, as you suggest, sir, that rather a big thing is made of it all. —
虽然我不怎么了解所有的细节，但确实似乎像您所说的，这件事情搞得挺大。 —

I do not think myself that it brings great honor to Father or to the family.”
我个人认为这并不能给父亲或家族带来荣誉。”

So it was true. “Very greedy of him, going out after stray geese when the flock is so large already. —
所以这是真的。“他太贪心了，当家里已经有这么多鹅的时候还要出去追求流落的。 —

My own is so small that I would be delighted to learn of strays. —
我的家族实在太小，我会因为得知有流浪者而感到高兴。 —

Perhaps my humble status discourages people from coming to me with similar claims. —
也许是因为我的低微身份让人们不敢以同样的要求来找我。 —

I have detected none, in any event. But isn’t it like your father?” He smiled. —
无论如何我没有发现任何情况。但这和你父亲的性格很像。”他微笑了。 —

“He has stirred the waters rather a lot in his time, and one expects to find a muddy moon reflected from them.”
“他一生中骚扰过很多人，人们总是期待在这些骚动中看到模糊的月亮。”

Yūgiri, who had heard the whole story, was smiling. —
听到整个故事的弓切也在微笑。 —

Tō no Chūjō‘s sons seemed to be in some discomfort..
当时太尉的儿子们似乎感到有些不安。

“How about it, my young lord?” said Genji to Yūgiri. —
“年轻的王爷怎么想？”源氏对弓切说。 —

“Suppose you go pick up this fallen leaf. —
“你去捡起这片凋落的叶子。 —

It would be better to have something in your bonnet than to be known as a complete failure. —
拥有一点想法总比被视为完全失败要好。 —

After all, she is one of us.”
“毕竟，她也是我们中的一员。”

Genji and Tō no Chūjō had always maintained an appearance of close friendship, but their differences were of long standing. —
源氏和藤壶亲王一直保持亲密的外表，但他们之间的分歧是长期存在的。 —

Genji did not at all like the way Yūgiri had been treated, and would have been pleased to have Kōbai take home reports which would annoy his father. —
源氏完全不喜欢裕羯憨的待遇，他会很高兴让红梅带回让他父亲生气的消息。 —

Genji was sure that Tamakazura would be received courteously and properly honored if Tō no Chūjō were to learn of her presence. —
源氏确信，如果藤壶亲王得知珠世的存在，他一定会彬彬有礼地接待并妥善尊敬她。 —

He was a strong, decisive man, very definite in his opinions and inclined to be more emphatic than most in praising good and castigating evil. —
他是一个坚强果断的人，对自己的意见很明确，往往更加强调赞美善良和批评邪恶。 —

He would be severe in his judgment of Genji, but he would not turn away the daughter who suddenly presented herself to him. —
他会严厉地评判源氏，但他绝不会拒绝这位突然出现在他面前的女儿。 —

He was certain to treat her with the most scrupulous ceremony.
他肯定会用最谨慎的仪式对待她。

A cool breeze informed them that evening was finally at hand. The young men were reluctant to leave.
一阵凉风告诉他们夜晚终于来临了。年轻人不愿离去。

“Well, let us all have a good time. I am at an age when I fear I am not welcome in such company. —
“好吧，让我们尽情玩乐。我已经到了一个年龄，恐怕不适合参加这样的聚会。” —

” Genji started for Tamakazura’s northeast quarter.
源氏朝着珠世的东北居室走去。

They all followed, dressed very much alike and almost indistinguishable one from another in the twilight.
他们都跟着走，穿着很相像，在暮色中几乎无法彼此分辨。

“Suppose you come out toward the veranda just a little,” he said, going in and addressing her in intimate tones not likely to be overheard. —
“你出来向凉台走一小会儿吧。”他进去跟她以亲密的语气说，不太可能被他人听到。 —

“Kōbai and several of his brothers have come with me. —
“红梅和几位兄弟跟着我来了。他们都很热衷于交朋友，而我们那个稳重又可敬的裕羯对他们无动于衷。” —

They are all mad for introductions, and our staid and opprobrious Yūgiri does nothing at all for them. —
他们都穿着很相似，日暮时几乎无法彼此分辨。 —

Even a very undistinguished young lady, you know, can expect suitors while she is still under her father’s wing. —
即使是一位毫不起眼的年轻女士，在她仍在父亲庇护下时也能期待追求者。 —

Somehow everything in this house gets wildly blown up and exaggerated. —
这个房子里的一切似乎都被过分夸大和放大。 —

We have not had young ladies to arouse their interest, and in my boredom I have thought it might be fun to see you at work on them. —
我们没有年轻女士去引起他们的兴趣，我闷得发慌，觉得看你忙于她们会有趣。 —

You have not disappointed me.”
你没有让我失望。

He had avoided showy plantings in this northeast quarter, but the choicest of wild carnations caught the evening light beneath low, elegant Chinese and Japanese fences. —
他在这个东北角没有种植华丽艳丽的植物，但在优雅的中国和日本低矮篱笆下，最美丽的野康乃馨在傍晚的阳光下绽放。 —

The young men seemed very eager to step down and pluck them (and the flower within as well).
年轻人们似乎很急切地要下来摘取它们（以及花内的花朵）。

“They are knowledgeable, well-bred young men, all of them. They of course have their various ways. —
“他们很有知识，教养良好的年轻人。当然他们有各种不同的方式。 —

That is as it should be, and I find nothing to take serious exception to. —
这正是应有之义，我找不出什么需要严肃反对的。 —

Kashiwagi is perhaps the most serious of them. —
柏木或许是他们中最认真的一个。 —

Indeed he sometimes makes me feel a little uncomfortable. —
事实上有时他让我感到有点不自在。 —

Has he written to you? You must not be unkind to him.”
他有给你写信吗？你不应该对他不友好。”

Yūgiri stood out even in so fine an assembly.
在这样一个高雅的聚会中，弓切显得格外出色。

“I cannot think why my friend the minister dislikes him. —
“我搞不明白为什么我的朋友那位大臣讨厌他。 —

Does he have such a high regard for his own proud name that he looks down on us offshoots of the royal family?”
他是否对自己的骄傲名声看得太高，而看不起我们这些皇族的分枝？”

“‘Come and be my bridegroom,’ everyone is saying. Or so I am told.”
“‘快来做我的新郎，’每个人都这样说。至少我听说是这样。”

“I do not ask that he be invited in for a banquet, only that he be admitted inside. —
不是要求他被邀请参加宴会，只是要求他被准许进入。 —

A clean and innocent attachment is being frustrated, and that I do not like. —
一段清白无辜的感情被阻挠了，我并不喜欢。 —

Is it that the boy does not yet amount to much? —
难道那个男孩还不够优秀吗？ —

That is a problem which he can safely leave to me.”
这是一个他可以放心交给我的问题。

These matters seemed to complicate the girl’s life yet further. —
这些事情似乎让这个女孩的生活变得更加复杂。 —

When, she wondered, would she be permitted to meet her own father?
她想知道，什么时候才能见到自己的父亲？

There was no moon. Lamps were brought in.
天上没有月亮。灯笼被拿了进来。

“Not so close, please. Why don’t we have flares down in the garden?”
“请别靠那么近。为什么我们花园里不放些照明弹？”

Taking out a Japanese koto and finding it satisfactorily tuned, he plucked out a few notes. —
拿出一把日本箜篌，调好音后，他扯弦弹了几个音符。 —

The tone was splendid.
音色非常出色。

“If you have disappointed me at all, it has been because you have shown so little interest in music. —
“如果你让我失望了，那是因为你对音乐兴趣不大。 —

Might I recommend the Japanese koto, for instance? —
也许我建议一下日本箜篌会好？” —

It is a surprisingly bright and up-to-date sort of instrument when you play it with no nonsense and let it join the crickets in the cool moonlight of an autumn evening. —
当你毫不掺杂地演奏，让它加入到秋夜凉爽月光中与蟋蟀一起的时候，日本箜篌是非常明快和现代化的一种乐器。 —

For some reason it does not always seem entirely at home in a formal concert, but it goes very well with other instruments even so. —
有时候它在正式音乐会上似乎并不太合适，但即便如此，它和其他乐器非常搭配。 —

A crude domestic product if you will — but just see how cleverly it is put together. —
一种粗糙的家用产品，如果你愿意的话 — 但看看它是如何巧妙地组装在一起的。 —

It is for ladies who do not set much stock by foreign things. —
对于不太看重外国事物的女士们来说这是最好的选择。 —

I warmly recommend it if you think you might want to begin taking music lessons. —
如果你想开始学习音乐课程，我强烈推荐它。 —

You must always look for new ways to make it go with other instruments. —
你必须不断寻找新的方法来搭配其他乐器。 —

The basic techniques may seem simple, and indeed they are; —
基本技巧可能看起来很简单，的确如此； —

but to put them to really good use is another matter. —
但要真正善加利用它们就是另一回事了。 —

There is no better hand in the whole court than your father, the minister. —
整个宫廷内手艺最好的莫过于您的父亲，那位大臣。 —

He has only to give it the slightest muted pluck and there they all are, the grand, high tones of all the imported kotos.”
他只需轻轻拨动一下，那些优雅高亢的声音便全部奏响。

Already somewhat familiar with the instrument, she was eager to hear more. —
她对这种乐器已经有些了解，急切地希望听到更多。 —

“Do you suppose we might have a concert here sometime and ask him to join us? —
“我们能不能在这里举办音乐会，并请他加入我们呢？” —

It is the instrument all the country people play, and I had thought that there was not a great deal to it. —
这是全国人民都会演奏的乐器，我原以为并没有什么特别。 —

” She did seem to be most eager. “You are right, of course. —
她似乎非常热切。“你说得对。” —

It is very different in the hands of someone who knows what he is doing.”
在一个真正懂得如何运用之人手中，它就会焕然一新。

“It is also called the eastern koto, you know, and that brings up thoughts of the wild frontier. —
它还被称为东方箜篌，这令人联想到荒凉的边境。 —

But when there is a concert at the palace the Japanese koto is always the first instrument His Majesty sends for. —
但是在皇宫举办音乐会时，天皇总是首先请来日本箜篌。 —

I do not know much about other countries, but in our own it must be called the grandfather of all the instruments, and you could not possibly find a better teacher than the minister. —
我对其他国家了解不多，但在我们自己的国家，箜篌必被称为所有乐器的鼻祖，你绝对找不到比大臣更好的老师了。 —

We see him here from time to time, but the trouble is that he is rather shy about playing. —
我们偶尔能见到他，但问题是他在演奏方面有些害羞。 —

The really good ones always are. But you will have your chance to hear him one of these days.”
真正优秀的人总是如此。但总有一天你会有机会听到他的演奏。

He played a few strains, the tone richer and cleaner than anything she had heard before. —
他弹奏了几个音，音色比她以前听到的任何东西都更加丰富和清晰。 —

She wondered how her father could possibly be a better musician, and she longed more than ever to meet him, and to see him thus at home with his koto.
她想知道她的父亲怎么可能是个更好的音乐家，她比以往任何时候都更渴望见到他，看到他与他的箜篌这样亲密相处。

“Soft as the reed pillow,” he sang, very gently, “the waves of the river Nuki.” He smiled as he came to the passage about the uncooperative parent. —
“柔软如苇靠枕，江怒不旁啼”，他轻轻地唱着，“他笑着来到关于不合作父母的段落。 —

There was wonderful delicacy in the muted chord with which he brought it to a conclusion.
他以柔和的和弦使乐曲完美结束，带有极其精致的美感。

“Now we must hear from you. In artistic matters modesty is not a virtue. —
“现在该轮到你表演了。在艺术方面，谦虚并不是美德。 —

I have, it is true, heard of ladies who keep ‘I Long for Him’ to themselves, but in other matters openness never seems brazen.”
的确，我听说有些女士将“我渴望他”珍藏在心中，但在其他方面，直率似乎从未显得傲慢。

But she had had lessons in the remote countryside from an old woman who said, though she gave no details, that she had been born in the capital and had royal blood in her veins. —
但她曾在偏僻乡村从一个老妇那里学习过，老妇说，虽然没有透露具体细节，但她生于京都，血统有皇家血统。 —

Such credentials did not inspire confidence, and the girl refused to touch the instrument.
这些资历并没有给人信心，女孩拒绝触摸这个乐器。

“No, let me hear just a little more, and perhaps I will be clever enough to imitate it. —
“不，让我听更多一点，也许我聪明到足以模仿。 —

” And so the japanese koto brought her close to him when other devices had failed. —
“所以，当其他方法失败时，日本箜篌将她拉近。 —

“Is it the wind that accounts for that extraordinary tone? —
“难道是风使得那种特殊的音色吗？ —

” He thought her quite ravishing as she sat in the dim torchlight as if seeking an answer to her question.
” 在昏暗的火炬光下，他认为她坐在那里时相当迷人，仿佛在寻找答案。

“An extraordinary wind,” he said, smiling, “demonstrating that you are not after all deaf.”
“一个特别的风，”他笑着说，”证明你终究并不聋。”

He pushed the koto towards her, but he had given her reason to be out of sorts; —
他将箏推向她，但他给了她生气的理由； —

and besides, her women were listening.
而且，她的女仆们在听着。

“And what of our young men? They did not pay proper attention to our wild carnations. —
“那我们的年轻人呢？他们并没有好好照顾我们的野康乃香。 —

” He was in a meditative mood. “I really must show this garden to my friend the minister sometime. —
”他陷入沉思。“我真的得找个时候把这座花园展示给我的朋友大臣看看。 —

Life is uncertain, of course. We are gone tomorrow. —
生命是不确定的，当然。我们明天就可能不在了。 —

And yet all those years since he and I talked of your mother, and you yourself were our wild carnation — somehow an eternity can seem like nothing at all.
而自从他和我谈论过你的母亲，你自己就成了我们的野康乃香 —— 有时候一个永恒似乎不过是转瞬即逝。

“Were he to see its gentle hues unchanging,
“如果他看到它温和的色彩不变，

Would he not come to the hedge of the wild carnation?
他难道不会来到野康乃香的篱笆前？

“And that would complicate matters, and so I have kept you in a cocoon. —
“那就会让情况变得复杂，所以我一直把你保护在一个保护罩里。 —

I fear you have found it constraining.”
我担心你会觉得受到了束缚。”

Brushing away a tear, she replied:
擦去一滴泪，她回答道：

“Who would come to seek the wild carnation
“谁会来寻找那长在粗糙而乡野篱笆上的野康乃香呢？”

That grew at such a rough and rustic hedge?”
这种自谦的语气使她看起来非常年轻和温柔。

The note of self-effacement made her seem very young and gentle.
“如果他不来，”源氏低声说，他并不确定自己还能控制多久。

“If he does not come,” whispered Genji, by no means sure how much longer he could control himself.
“远请勿抗拒。”

Uncomfortable about the frequency of his visits, he took to writing letters, which came in a steady stream. —
对他频繁拜访感到不安，于是开始写信，这样的来往一直持续不断。 —

She was never out of his thoughts. Why, he asked himself, did he become so engrossed in matters which should not have concerned him? —
她从未离开过他的心头。他问自己，为什么会如此专注于本不该牵扯他的事情？ —

He knew that to let his feelings have their way would be to give himself a name for utter frivolity, and of course to do the girl great harm. —
他知道如果让自己的感情肆意发展，将会招来别人对他的轻佻指责，当然也会对那位女孩造成严重伤害。 —

He knew further that though he loved her very much she would never be Murasaki’s rival. —
他进一步知道，尽管他非常爱她，她永远也不会成为紫式部的对手。 —

What sort of life would she have as one of the lesser ladies? —
她做一个下等的女官，将有什么样的生活？ —

He might be the grandest statesman in the land, but a lesser lady was still a lesser lady. —
他可能是国内最伟大的政治家，但下等的女孩，仍然是下等的女孩。 —

She would be better off as the principal wife of some middling councillor. —
她应该做中等议员的主要妻子会更好。 —

Should he then let Hotaru or Higekuro have her? —
那他该让蜻蛉或鬼黑来娶她吗？ —

He might succeed in resigning himself to such an arrangement. —
他可能成功地接受这样的安排。 —

He would not be happy, but — or so he sometimes thought — it might perhaps after all be best. —
他不会快乐，但——或者他有时候想，也许这样最好。 —

And then he would see her, and change his mind.
然后他会见到她，而改变了主意。

He still visited her frequently. The Japanese koto was his excuse. —
他仍经常造访她。学日本琴是他的借口。 —

Embarrassed at first to find herself his pupil, she presently began to feel that he did not mean to take advantage of her, and came to accept the visits as normal and proper. —
起初感到尴尬成为他的学生，她后来开始觉得他并不打算占她的便宜，渐渐将这些拜访看作是正常和得体的。 —

Rather prim and very careful to avoid any suggestion of coquetry, she pleased him more and more. —
她相当拘谨，非常小心避免任何挑逗的暗示，这令他越来越满意。 —

Matters could not be left as they were.
事情不能就这样下去。

Suppose then that he were to find her a bridegroom but keep her here at Rokujō, where he could continue to see her, clandestinely, of course. —
假设他找到一个新郎给她，但让她留在六条，这样他就可以继续偷偷地见到她。 —

She knew nothing of men, and his overtures disturbed her. He had to feel sorry for her; —
她对男人一无所知，他的求爱让她感到困扰。他必须对她感到抱歉； —

but once she was better informed he would make his way past the most unblinking of gatekeepers and have his way with her. —
但一旦她了解清楚，他就会设法穿过最严密的看守者，与她发生关系。 —

These thoughts may not seem entirely praiseworthy. —
这些想法并不完全值得称赞。 —

The longing and fretfulness increased and invited trouble — it was a very difficult relationship indeed.
渴望和焦虑加剧了并招致麻烦——这确实是一段非常困难的关系。

Tō no Chūjō had learned that his new daughter had not really been accepted as one of the family and that people thought her rather funny. —
当时情况有些不同，看守者似乎更警惕了； —

Kōbai remarked in the course of a conversation that Genji had inquired about her.
在一次谈话中，香混提到了源氏询问她的事情。

“I have indeed brought home a daughter whom I allowed to grow up in the hills. —
“我的确带回了一个在山中长大的女儿。 —

I am not surprised that Genji asked about her. —
源氏询问她并不奇怪。 —

He seldom has a bad word for anyone, but for me and my family he has a few bad words on every occasion. —
他很少对任何人说坏话，但对我和我的家人每次都有一些不好的话。 —

We are much honored.”
我们倍感荣幸。”

“He has a new lady at Rokujō, you know, and everything suggests that she is a beauty, the next thing to perfection. —
“你知道，他在六条有了一位新的女士，一切都表明她是美丽、几乎完美的。 —

Prince Hotaru seems very much interested in her. —
蛍殿非常钟情于她。 —

The gossip suggests that he has every right to be.”
流言也暗示着他有充分的理由这么做。”

“Oh, yes, I am sure everyone is interested in her. —
“噢，是的，我确信每个人都对她感兴趣。 —

But that is only because she is Genji’s daughter. So it goes. —
但这只是因为她是源氏的女儿。就这样子。 —

I doubt that she is so very special, really. If she were he would have found her long before this. —
我真怀疑她到底有多特别。如果她真特别，源氏早就找到她了。 —

Yes, the great Genji, not a fleck of dust on his name and fame, much too good, everyone says, for our degenerate age. —
源氏啊，名声如此清白，好像是这个腐朽时代不配的人，大家都这么说。 —

It seems a pity that his favorite lady, a perfect jewel, has no children. —
他最喜欢的女子，一个完美的宝石，却没有孩子，真是可惜。 —

He must feel rather badly served. He seems to have ambitious plans for the little Akashi girl, even though her mother leaves something to be desired. —
他一定感到很失望。他似乎对明石的小姑娘有雄心壮志，即使她的母亲有些欠缺。 —

Well, what will be will be. As for the new lady, a suspicious and cynical person might wonder whether she is in fact his daughter. —
不管怎样，随遇而安吧。至于新贵人，一个多疑和愤世嫉俗的人可能会怀疑她是否真的是源氏的女儿。 —

He is a fine man but he has his little eccentricities, and it might all be sham and playacting.
他是个好人，但有他的小古怪，可能都是虚伪的表演。

“I wonder what plans he has for the new lady, and how Prince Hotaru might figure in them. —
“我很好奇他对新贵人有什么打算，以及蛍火王子会如何参与其中。 —

They have been the closest of brothers, and I should think they would get on very well as father and son.”
他们一直是密不可分的兄弟，我想他们作为父子应该相处得很好。”

Tō no Chūjō continued to be unhappy with Kumoinokari. —
当允言继续对九条院不满。 —

He would have liked to make her the belle of the day, the rage of the court. —
他希望让她成为当红人物，成为宫廷的宠儿。 —

Infatuated with a minor courtier like Yūgiri, she was not being cooperative. —
落情于像夕月那样的低级朝臣，她没有配合。 —

Perhaps if Genji were to step in with repeated and earnest supplications Tō no Chūjō could graciously give his consent. —
或许如果源氏多次恳求，允言可以慷慨地给予同意。 —

Yūgiri’s coolness and imperturbability did not help matters.
夕月的冷漠和泰然自若并没有帮上忙。

Tō no Chūjō went unannounced to Kumoinokari’s rooms. —
允言未经通知地来到九条院的房间。 —

She was napping, very small and pretty, and managing to look cool in spite of the heat. —
她小巧玲珑，小睡着，尽管天气炎热，但看起来很酷。 —

Her skin was a soft glow through a gossamer singlet. —
她的皮肤透过薄纱背心散发出柔和的光泽。 —

One hand still held a fan most prettily, and her head was cradled on an arm. —
一只手优雅地拿着扇子，头靠在一只手臂上。 —

The hair that flowed behind her in natural tresses was neither too long nor troublesomely thick, and beautifully combed. —
她头后散落的头发自然地披着，长度既不太长也不麻烦地厚，梳理得很漂亮。 —

Her women too were asleep, behind blinds and screens. They were not easily awakened. —
她的女仆们也都在幕后的百叶窗和屏风后睡着了。她们不容易被唤醒。 —

She looked innocently up at him as he tapped with his fan, her eyes round and startled, and the flush that came over her face delighted him.
当他用扇子轻敲时，她无辜地抬起头，眼睛圆圆的，脸上泛起的红晕使他高兴。

“So here you are sleeping, and I have told you I can’t think how many times that constant vigilance is one of the marks of a lady. —
“你居然在这里睡觉，我告诉过你多少次了，细心是淑女的标志之一。 —

There is not a vigilant eye in this room. You are all looking very abandoned indeed. —
这房间里没有一个警觉的眼神。你们看起来确实很放松。 —

Not of course that I would want you to storm and glower. —
当然，我也不希望你们板着脸愠怒。 —

Vigilance is not to be recommended when it merely puts people off.
如果谨慎只会让人却步，那是不值得推荐的。

“They tell me that Genji is going to enormous trouble with the girl he means to send to court. —
“他们告诉我，源氏正在为准备送去宫廷的姑娘付出巨大的努力。 —

He seems to have embarked upon a liberal and expansive program, giving her something of everything and not letting her specialize, seeing that she is ignorant of nothing and not asking that she be an expert. —
他似乎在进行一项宽容而慷慨的计划，让她尝试各种样样东西，不让她专攻一种，确保她一无所不知，不要求她成为专家。 —

A very liberal sort of education. Yet we do all have our preferences, and no doubt hers will emerge as she gets older. —
非常宽容的教育方式。然而我们都有自己的偏好，毫无疑问，随着她年龄增长，她的喜好会显现出来。 —

I am eagerly awaiting the day when she appears at court.
我迫不及待地期待她出现在宫廷的那一天。

“You have not made things easy for me, my dear, but do at least try to keep people from laughing at us. —
“你没有让事情变得容易，亲爱的，但至少试着别让人笑话我们。 —

I have given very careful attention to reports about a number of young gentlemen. —
我特别注意了关于几位年轻绅士的报告。 —

It is still too early for you to accept the tender pleas of any one of them. —
现在接受任何一个人的热切请求还为时过早。 —

You must leave that to me.”
这件事就交给我吧。”

All the while he was lecturing he was thinking how pretty she was.
在讲课的时候，他一直在想她是多么漂亮。

She was very sorry for the trouble she had caused, and would not for the world have wanted to seem unapologetic. —
她为自己造成的麻烦感到很抱歉，绝不想显得没有歉意。 —

She could not look at him. Her grandmother, Princess Omiya, complained of neglect, but it was just such paternal reproaches as these that made it difficult for her to visit the old lady.
她无法看着他。她的祖母，大宫妃，抱怨她的忽视，但正是这种父亲般的责备让她难以拜访老太太。

Tō no Chūjō had been very happy at finding a daughter off in Omi, and he would not seem his usual sensible self if now that she had become a public joke he were to send her back again. —
那张大将非常高兴在近江找到了一个女儿，如果现在她成了众人的笑柄，他要是把她送回去又会显得不够明智。 —

Nor was the alternative very pleasing, to keep her here and make it seem that he had serious plans for her. —
另一个选择也不怎么讨人喜欢，留她在这里并让人觉得他是有严肃打算的。 —

Perhaps his daughter at court could use her, and everyone could have a good laugh over her. —
也许他在宫廷的女儿能用得上她，大家也可以对她取笑取笑。 —

She was not so impossibly ill favored that she must be kept out of sight.
她并不丑到必须躲起来。

“I will make you a gift of her,” he said to the other daughter. —
“我将把她送给你作为礼物，”他对另一个女儿说。 —

“If she seems too completely silly, you can tell your older women that they have someone to educate, and maybe you can keep the younger ones from laughing unmercifully. —
“如果她看起来太愚蠢，你可以告诉你的老妇人们她有待教育，也许你可以阻止年轻人们不加怜悯地笑她。 —

I must admit that she does at times seem a little flight?”
我必须承认她有时看起来有些轻浮？”

“Oh, surely she is not as bad as all that. —
“哦，她肯定没有那么糟糕。 —

Kashiwagi led us to have high hopes for her, and it may be that she has not entirely lived up to them. —
柏木让我们对她寄予很高的期望，可能她并没有完全达到。” —

” She was rather splendid. “Don’t you suppose it embarrasses the poor thing to be the center of so much attention?”
她相当出色。“你不觉得这么多人关注她会让那可怜的小家伙感到尴尬吗？”

Though not the reigning beauty of the day, this other daughter had elegance and dignity and a pleasantly gentle manner. —
虽然不是当时的风尚美女，但这位女儿却有优雅和庄重的气质，还有宜人的温和态度。 —

She was like a plum blossom opening at dawn. —
她就像清晨绽放的梅花。 —

Her father loved the way she had of making it seem that a great deal was being left unsaid.
她父亲喜欢她那种让人觉得有很多话没说完的方式。

“Kashiwagi is young and na?ve, and he halted his investigations before he had come upon the obvious. —
“柏岚很年轻，很天真，他停止了调查之前就错过了显而易见的事实。” —

” He was not being very kind to his new daughter.
他对他的新女儿并不十分友善。

He thought he would look in on her, since her room was not far away. —
他想去看看她，因为她的房间离这里不远。 —

He found her, blinds raised high, at a contest of backgammon.
他发现她把百叶窗拉得很高，参加一场扭床子比赛。

Her hands at her forehead in earnest supplication, she was rattling off her prayer at a most wondrous speed. —
她双手捧着额头，恳切地念着她那个非常奇妙的祷告。 —

“Give her a deuce, give her a deuce.” Over and over again. —
“给她点二，给她点二。” 一遍又一遍。 —

“Give her a deuce, give her a deuce.”
“给她点二，给她点二。”

This really was rather dreadful. Motioning his attendants to silence, he slipped behind a hinged door from which the view was unobstructed through sliding doors beyond.
这真的相当可怕。示意侍从们不要说话，他悄悄地走到一个门后，可以透过滑动门看得一清二楚。

“Revenge, revenge,” shrieked Gosechi, the clever young woman who was her opponent. —
“复仇，复仇，”聪明的年轻女子樾背越叫越高。 —

Gosechi was not to be outdone in earnestness or shrillness. —
岚背也不甘示弱，她摇动着骰盒，不急于投掷。 —

She shook and shook the dicebox and was not quick to make her throw.
她摇来摇去，一直没有立即投掷。

If either of them had anything at all in her empty mind she was not showing it. —
如果她们俩心中有丝毫东西，她们并没有展现出来。 —

The Omi daughter was small and pretty and had beautiful hair, and could by no means have been described as an unrelieved scandal — though a narrow forehead and a too exuberant and indeed a torrential way of speaking canceled out her good points. —
这位小而漂亮、有着美丽头发的小姐，绝对不能被描述为一个无可挑剔的丑闻──尽管她狭窄的额头和过于奔放、甚至是涌动的说话方式抵消了她的优点。 —

No beauty, certainly, and yet it was impossible not to recognize immediately whose daughter she was. It made Tō no Chūjō uncomfortable to realize that he might have been looking at his own mirror image.
没有美貌，但却不可能无法立刻认出她是谁的女儿。让当时的藤壶中将感到不舒服，发现他也许一直在看自己的镜像。

“Are you feeling quite at home?” he presently asked. “Are they being good to you? —
“你感觉很自在吗？”他随即问道。“他们对你很好吗？ —

I am very busy, I fear, and do not see you as often as I would wish.”
我实在很忙，恐怕见不到你的频率并不如我所愿。”

“Just being here is enough. No complaints, not a one.” The speed was undiminished. —
“只要在这里就足够了。没有任何抱怨，一个都没有。”速度不减。 —

“All those years I just wanted to see your face. That’s all I wanted, all those years. —
“那些年我只想看见你的脸。那些年我只想，所有我想，那那些年。 —

But I still get the bad throws. I don’t get to look at you very much.”
但我依旧时常出错。我没有太多机会看着你。”

“I am genuinely sorry. I rather keep to myself, and I had hoped that we would have a great deal of time for each other. —
“我真的很抱歉。我比较喜欢独处，我原本希望我们有很多时间在一起。 —

But things have not so arranged themselves. —
但事情并没有如此安排。 —

You will have seen that ordinary ladies rather tend to get lost in the crowd, and it does not matter very much how they behave. —
你会看到普通的女士们比较容易迷失在人群中，并且她们的举止并不影响太多。 —

That is very nice for them. But it sometimes happens that a lady comes from such a good family that people are always pointing her out, and it sometimes happens that she does not do full honor to the family name, and-?”
这对她们来说很好。但有时候一个女士来自如此尊贵的家族，以至于人们总是注目她，有时候她并没有充分维护家族的名誉，而-？”

The full significance of the final conjunction was lost upon the lady. “Oh no oh no. —
最后一个连词的全部含义被这位女士所忽略。“哦不不。 —

I don’t care if I don’t stand out in a crowd. —
我不在乎是否在人群中出尽风头。 —

I just tell myself family makes trouble and keep out of sight. —
我只告诉自己，家庭会惹麻烦，所以我选择保持低调。 —

Give me the chamber pot to empty and I’ll do it.”
把盆拿给我倒了，我来处理。

A guffaw emerged from the minister. “Oh, that won’t be necessary, I think. —
当部长发出笑声时。”哦，那不必要，我想。 —

But if you do wish to demonstrate your keen sense of duty, then see if you can’t manage to let your words have a little more room. —
但是如果你确实希望展示你敬业的意愿，那么看看你是否能让你的话多出一些空间。 —

Space them a little more generously. Let them be drawn out a little more and I will feel that the years of my life are being drawn out with them. —
多给它们一点空间。让它们多拉长一点，我会觉得我的生命岁月也在随之拉长。 —

” He smiled at his little joke.
“他笑了笑，他那个小笑话。

“I’ve always had the fastest tongue. Mother scolded me for it, way back when I was a baby. —
“我的舌头一向都特别快。妈妈以前总是因此责备我。 —

The steward of the Myōhōji Temple, she said, it was all his fault. —
我们妙法寺的管家，她说，全都是他的错。 —

He was there when I was born way out in Omi, and he had the fastest tongue too, and that was where I got it. —
他在我出生时就在大津，也有那么快的舌头，那就是我学来的。 —

I’ll see what I can do about it.” She said it most solemnly, as if prepared to sacrifice anything in the cause of filial duty.
“我会尽力看看。”她说得毕恭毕敬，仿佛为孝道可以牺牲一切。

He was touched. “He did you a disservice, the good steward, in presiding at your birth. —
他感动。 “那位好管家在你出生时对你不利。 —

He sounds like someone who has much to atone for. —
他听起来像是有很多需要补偿的人。 —

The Lotus Sutra tells us that dumbness and stammering are punishment for blasphemy.”
《法华经》告诉我们，哑巴和口吃是对亵渎的惩罚。

He was in some awe of his daughter at court, and was having second thoughts about letting her see this new sister. —
他对自己在宫廷里的女儿有些敬畏，开始对让她见这个新的姐姐有所顾虑。 —

The mistake had been Kashiwagi’s, in bringing the strange creature home before he knew what she was. —
错误出在柏木，把这个奇怪的生物带回家却不知道她是什么。 —

People were laughing, and there was nothing to be done.
人们都在笑，无能为力。

“Your sister is with us at the moment. Watch her carefully, and see how she behaves. —
“你的妹妹现在和我们在一起。仔细观察她的行为。 —

Good manners have a way of spreading out from the center. —
良好的礼仪有一种从中心扩散出去的方式。 —

Think of it that way, and see what she has to teach you.”
就这样想，看看她能教给你什么。

“I’d be delighted. Morning and night it’s the thing I asked for, just to be one of them and make them take me as one of them. —
“我会很高兴。早晚我都会这样请求，只是想成为他们中的一员，让他们把我当作他们中的一员。 —

Morning and night and months and years it’s what I’ve wanted. —
早晚，月份和年份，这是我想要的。 —

just tell her to make them make me one of them and I’ll do anything she tells me. —
只要告诉她让他们使我成为其中的一员，我会听从她的任何指示。 —

I’ll bring in the water. I’ll bring it in on my head. —
我会拿水进来。我会把它放在头上。 —

” She had gathered such momentum that she was next to incomprehensible and somewhat intimidating.
她的动力如此之大，她几乎无法理解并有点令人 intimidated。

“Oh, I doubt that she will ask you to cut the kindling. —
“哦，我想她不会让你劈柴。 —

What will be asked of you is that you rid yourself of the good steward and find yourself a new model.”
你会被要求摆脱优秀管家，寻找一个新的模特。”

She was not as alive as she might have been to irony, nor did she seem aware what a great man she was addressing. —
她对讽刺的敏感程度并不如可能的那么高，也似乎没有意识到她正在向一位伟大的人发问。 —

She did not share in the general awe.
她并未分享一般的敬畏。

“So when shall I go see her?”
“那么我什么时候可以去见她呢？”

“Suppose we pick a lucky day. No, we needn’t make such a thing of it. —
“假设我们选一个幸运的日子。不，我们不需要这么把它搞得这么正式。 —

Just drop in on her when you feel like it, today if you wish. —
你随时想去的话，今天都可以随便去看她。 —

” And he went out.
他就走了。

Just see what a father she had found for herself. —
看看她找了一个怎样的父亲。 —

An ordinary turn around the house, and just look at all the Fourth Rankers and Fifth Rankers he had with him. —
家里普通的事情，看看他身边所有的四品和五品人员。 —

“And I’m his own little girl. Why did I have to grow up in Omi?”
“我是他的小女儿。为什么要在近江长大呢？”

“Too fine a papa, really,” said Gosechi. —
“实在是太好的爸爸了，”梧雪说。 —

“Don’t you think you might have been better off with an ordinary one who cared a little about you?”
“你难道不觉得跟一个稍微关心你一点的普通人在一起会更好吗？”

“There you go. You always make everything turn out wrong. Well, just you remember something. —
“你就是这样总是把事情弄糟。好吧，你记住。 —

You’re with your betters, and don’t you forget it. —
你跟你的上等人在一起，别忘了这一点。 —

I’ve got big things ahead of me.”
我有伟大的前程。”

One could not be angry with her. Commonness and honest, sturdy indignation could be charming. —
她让人无法生气。平凡和坚定的愤怒可以迷人。 —

The trouble was with her speech. She had grown up among country people, and it was very inelegant. —
问题在于她的言谈。她在乡下人中长大，说话非常不雅。 —

Pure, precise speech can give a certain distinction to rather ordinary remarks. —
纯粹、准确的言辞可以为相当平凡的评论增添一定的尊贵感。 —

An impromptu poem, for instance, if it is spoken musically, with an air at the beginning and end as of something unsaid, can seem to convey worlds of meaning, even if upon mature reflection it does not seem to have said much of anything at all. —
例如，即兴诗如果以音乐般的口吻说出，并带着一种未说出的开头和结尾的感觉，可以似乎传达出深刻的意义，即使在成熟思考后，它似乎并没有多说什么。 —

Torrential remarks have the opposite effect: the distinguished seems flat and vulgar. —
铺天盖地的讲话则产生相反的效果：高尚会显得平淡和庸俗。 —

The overemphatic Omi speech patterns made everything seem less than serious. —
过于强调的近江方言使一切看起来不够严肃。 —

She had acquired them at her nurse’s breast and was not shy about using them; —
她从她的乳母那里获得了它们，并且毫不羞怯地使用它们; —

and they were all wrong. Yet she did have her little accomplishments. —
而它们全都是错的。但她确实有她的小成就。 —

She could without warning rattle off poem after poem of approximately the right length, and if the top half did not seem to go with the bottom half, that was all right too.
她可以突然之间背诵出大约正确长度的诗歌，如果上半部似乎与下半部不搭配，也没关系。

“Father says I must go see Sister, and so that’s just what I’ll do. —
“父亲说我必须去看姐姐，所以那就是我要做的。” —

Wouldn’t want to disappoint him. Maybe I’ll go right away. No, maybe I’ll wait till dark. —
不想让他失望。也许我会立刻去。不，也许我会等到天黑。 —

I’m Father’s own little pet, but that won’t do me much good if we’re not chums, me and all the rest of them.”
我是父亲的宠儿，但如果我们不和所有其他人成为朋友，这对我也没有太大好处。

The rest of them did not seem to be so eager.
其他人似乎不是那么急切。

She immediately set about composing a letter to her sister.
她立即开始给她的姐姐写信。

“Though here beside your fence of rushes, the fact I have not had the happiness of stepping on your shadow might be from a gate which says ‘Come not my way. —
“即使在你的芦苇篱边，我没能踏进你的影子，可能是因为一扇门上写着‘别往这边走’。 —

’ It may be rude to mention Musashi when we haven’t been introduced yet but forgive me. —
也许在我们未曾见面的时候提到武藏是不礼貌的，但请原谅我。” —

” This last was followed by several ditto marks, and there were underlinings. —
最后还有几个重复符号，下面还有划线。 —

Then there was a “please turn over,” and: “Yes, I forgot. —
接着是一句“请翻页”，然后是：“是的，我忘了。 —

I may come see you this evening because unfriendliness intensifies my longing. —
或许今晚我可以来见你，因为冷漠加剧了我的思念。 —

I’m all in a dither and writing poorly, very poorly. —
我慌乱不已，写得很糟糕，非常糟糕。 —

It must be I am like the Minase.” And there was a poem, and one final remark:
一定是我像水边的民谴。”还有一首诗，最后一句话说：

“Cape How of the grassy pastures of Hitachi
“常怀着丰饶的牧场，日立的角（笠）之岬

Says how can the waves of Farmer Beach come see you.
“怎能浪花来到农夫海滩去探望你。

“And the waves of the river broad.”
“及河川的波涛。”

It was on a single sheet of green paper in a somewhat impatient style, the style of what master one could not easily have said. —
这是写在一张绿纸上的文字，风格略显着急，这种风格让人很难说出是哪位大师的。 —

Given to wanderings and extensions, it seemed in spite of everything much pleased with itself, though asking for a larger piece of paper. —
虽然有点流连并扩展，但它似乎仍对自己感到非常满意，虽然又要求一张更大的纸。 —

She smiled at her composition and, folding it into a demure little knot, fastened it to a wild carnation. —
她对自己的作文微笑，并将其叠成一个端庄的小结，系在一朵野康乃馨上。 —

For her messenger she chose a little scullery maid, pretty and confident though new to the service.
她选择了一个年幼而信心十足、虽然刚刚入职的小灶房女仆作为信使。

“This is for her,” said the messenger, marching in upon the ladies-in-waiting.
“这封信是给她的，”信使一边快步走进继承人的房间一边说道。

“A letter has come from the north wing. —
“从北翼来了封信。 —

” The woman who took it recognized her and opened the letter.
”拿到信件的女人认出了她，打开了信。

Another woman, called Chūnagon, glanced curiously at the minister’s daughter, who smiled as she put it down. —
另一个名叫中将军的女人好奇地瞥了一眼部长的女儿，她笑着放下信。 —

“It looks like a most stylish sort of letter.”
“这封信看起来像是非常时髦的一种。”

“I do not seem to be very good at the cursive style,” said the lady, handing it to her. —
“我好像不是很擅长草体字，”女士说着把信递给她。 —

“I can’t somehow quite get the thread of it. —
“我总觉得有点筋疲力尽。 —

But she will look down upon me if I do not answer in a similarly sophisticated and literary vein. —
但如果我不以类似的复杂和文学化风格回复，她会瞧不起我的。 —

Work up a draft for me, if you will, please.”
请帮我起草一份草稿，如果可以的话。

The younger women were giggling.
年轻女性们在咯咯地笑着。

“It was not easy,” said Chūnagon, presenting her draft, “to maintain the graceful, poetic tone. —
“这并不容易，”春野言，“要保持那种优雅、诗意的语调。 —

And we would not wish to insult her with anything from the hand of a scrivener.”
“我们可不想用文士之手来侮辱她。”

She had made it seem that the answer had come from the hand of the lady herself:
她让答复看起来就像是出自那位女士之手：

“It does indeed seem cruel that I should not have the pleasure of your company when you are so near.
“事实上，看起来很残酷，我不能在你离我这么近时享受你的陪伴。

“You waves of the Suma coast of Suruga-Hitachi, the pine of Hakosaki waits.”
来自Suruga-Hitachi洲岛海浪，箱崎的松等待。”

“Oh, no! Everyone will think I wrote it.
“哦，不！每个人都会以为是我写的。

“Few will make that mistake, my lady.”
“很少会有人犯那种错误，夫人。”

And so it was put in an envelope and sent off.
于是装进信封寄出去。

“What a nice poem,” said the Omi lady. “What a nice poem. —
“多么美丽的诗啊，”近江夫人说，“多么美丽的诗。 —

And she’s waiting for me, she says.”
她在等我，她说。”

She scented and rescented her robes, though the first scenting made them insistent, and put on crimson rouge and brushed furiously at her hair. —
她不停地使薄荷味更重，并擦上了深红色腮红，疯狂地梳理着头发。 —

Her completed toilet was very gay and rather charming.
做完的打扮非常时髦，而且相当迷人。

No doubt there was a certain boldness too in her address.
毫无疑问，她的举止中也有一种胆大。