The New Year came and Kashiwagi’s condition had not improved. —
新年到来了，柏木的状况没有好转。 —

He knew how troubled his parents were and he knew that suicide was no solution, for he would be guilty of the grievous sin of having left them behind. —
他知道父母的担忧，也知道自杀并非解决之法，因为那将使他犯下了抛下他们的重罪。 —

He had no wish to live on. Since his very early years he had had high standards and ambitions and had striven in private matters and public to outdo his rivals by even a little. —
他并不想继续活下去。从小他就有远大的标准和抱负，一直努力在私人和公共事务中超越对手，即便只是一点点。 —

His wishes had once or twice been thwarted, however, and he had so lost confidence in himself that the world had come to seem unrelieved gloom. —
然而，有一两次他的愿望受到了挫折，他对自己失去了信心，觉得这个世界一片阴郁。 —

A longing to prepare for the next world had succeeded his ambitions, but the opposition of his pare kept him from following the mendicant way through the mountains an over the moors. —
他的追求已被放弃，渴望准备迎接下一个世界，但他的父母反对他走过山野的行乞之路。 —

He had delayed, and time had gone by. Then had come events, and for them he had only himself to blame, which had made it impossible for him to show his face in public. —
他拖延了，时间也过去了。接着发生了一些事件，这些只能怪罪自己，使他无法再面对公众。 —

He did not blame the gods. His own deeds were working themselves out. —
他不怪神灵，是他自己的行为在自我裁决。 —

A man does not have the thousand years of the pine, and he wanted to go now, while there were still those who might mourn for him a little, and perhaps even a sigh from her would be the reward for his burning passion. —
人生无常如松树千年，他希望现在就离去，有人或许会为他哀悼一些，甚至她发出的叹息也会是他炽热激情的回报。 —

To die now and perhaps win the forgiveness of the man who must feel so aggrieved would be far preferable to living on and bringing sorrow and dishonor upon the lady and upon himself. —
现在去世，也许会赢得那位感到委屈的男人的原谅，远胜于继续活下去，给贵妇人和自己带来悲伤和耻辱。 —

In his last moments everything must disappear. —
在他的最后时刻，一切都将消失。 —

Perhaps, because he had no other sins to atone for, a part of the affection with which Genji had once honored him might return.
也许，因为他没有其他罪孽需要赎罪，源氏曾经尊敬过他的那份情意可能会回归。

The same thoughts, over and over, ran uselessly through his mind. —
同样的想法一遍又一遍地在他绝望的心头徜徉。 —

And why, he asked himself in growing despair, had he so deprived himself of alternatives? —
他问自己，为什么他如此限制了自己的选择？ —

His pillow threatened to float away on the river of his woes.
他的枕头似乎要漂走在他悲伤的河流中。

He took advantage of a slight turn for the better, when his parents and the others had withdrawn from his bedside, to get off a letter to the Third Princess.
当父母和其他人退出他的床边时，他趁着稍微好转的时机给第三王女写了一封信。

“You may have heard that I am near death. —
“你可能听说过我快要死了。 —

It is natural that you should not care very much, and yet I am sad. —
你不太在意是很自然的，但我感到悲伤。 —

” His hand was so uncertain that he gave up any thought of saying all that he would have wished to say.
他手上颤抖，放弃了说出他本想要说的一切。

“My thoughts of you: will they stay when I am gone
“我对你的思念：在我离去时会留下吗

Like smoke that lingers over the funeral pyre?
像停留在葬火上的烟雾？

“One word of pity will quiet the turmoil and light the dark road I am taking by my own choice.”
“一句怜悯的话会平静内心的波澜，照亮我自愿走向的黑暗之路。”

Unchastened, he wrote to Kojijū of his sufferings, at considerable length. —
没有被惩戒，他给小庆寿写信诉说他的疾苦，信长篇大论。 —

He longed, he said, to see her lady one last time. —
他说，他渴望最后一次见到她令尊。 —

She had from childhood been close to his house, in which she had near relatives. —
她自幼和他家相邻，两家还有亲戚关系。 —

Although she had strongly disapproved of his designs upon a royal princess who should have been far beyond his reach, she was extremely sorry for him in what might be his last illness.
虽然她坚决反对他对一位本不该在他触及范围内的王室公主的企图，但对他或许最后的疾病感到极其难过。

“Do answer him, please, my lady,” she said, in tears. —
“拜托你回信给他，我的夫人，”她含泪说。 —

“You must, just this once. It may be your last chance.”
“你一定要的，就这一次。这也许是你最后的机会。”

“I am sorry for him, in a general sort of way. I am sorry for myself too. —
“我对他感到难过，总的来说。我也为自己感到难过。 —

Any one of us could be dead tomorrow. But what happened was too awful. —
我们中的任何一个人明天可能就死去。但发生的事太可怕了。 —

I cannot bear to think of it. I could not possibly write to him.”
我无法承受回想。我绝对不能给他写信。”

She was not by nature a very careful sort of lady, but the great man to whom she was married had terrorized her with hints, always guarded, that he was displeased with her.
她的本性并不是非常细心的女士，但她所嫁的伟大人物却用含蓄的暗示恐吓着她，暗示说他对她不满。

Kojijū insisted and pushed an inkstone towards her, and finally, very hesitantly, she set down an answer which Kojijū delivered under cover of evening.
Kojijū坚持着，把一块硯推到她面前，最终，她非常犹豫地写下了一个答案，Kojijū在傍晚时分传达了出去。

Tō no Chūjō had sent to Mount Katsuragi for an ascetic famous as a worker of cures, and the spells and incantations in which he immersed himself might almost have seemed overdone. —
藤中将从葛城山请来了一个以治疗为名声的苦行僧，他沉浸在的咒语和咒文几乎都显得过分。 —

Other holy men were recommended and Tō no Chūjō‘s sons would go off to seek in mountain recesses men scarcely known in the city. —
藤中将派遣儿子们去山间寻找城市里几乎不为人知的修行者。 —

Mendicants quite devoid of grace came crowding into the house. —
一帮毫无雅致的乞丐涌入屋内。 —

The symptoms did not point to any specific illness, but Kashiwagi would sometimes weep in great, racking sobs. —
症状并没有指向任何特定的疾病，但柏木有时会大声痛苦地哭泣。 —

The soothsayers were agreed that a jealous woman had taken possession of him. —
算命先生们一致认为，一个嫉妒的女人附身于他。 —

They might possibly be right, thought Tō no Chūjō. —
或许他们可能是对的，藤中将心想。 —

But whoever she was she refused to withdraw, and so it was that the search for healers reached into these obscure corners. —
但是不管她是谁，她都拒绝离开，因此寻找治疗者的范围扩展到了这些昏暗的角落。 —

The ascetic from Katsuragi, an impos- ing man with cold, forbidding eyes, intoned mystic spells in a somewhat threatening voice.
来自葛城山的苦行僧是一个气质非凡的男子，眼神冷酷，他用一种略带威胁的声音吟唱神秘的咒语。

“I cannot stand a moment more of it,” said Kashiwagi. —
“我再也无法忍受了，”柏木说。 —

“I must have sinned grievously. These voices terrify me and seem to bring death even nearer.”
“我一定犯了严重的罪。这些声音让我恐惧至极，仿佛召唤着死亡更加临近。”

Slipping from bed, he instructed the women to tell his father that he was asleep and went to talk with Kojijū. —
他从床上溜出，吩咐女人告诉他父亲他正在睡觉，然后前去和Kojijū交谈。 —

Tō no Chūjō and the ascetic were conferring in subdued tones. —
藤中将和苦行僧在低声交谈着。 —

Tō no Chūjō was robust and youthful for his years and in ordinary times much given to laughter. —
藤中将年富力强，常年轻风趣笑谈，在平常时光里笑声不断。 —

He told the holy man how it had all begun and how a respite always seemed to be followed by a relapse.
他告诉这位圣人一切是如何开始的，以及暂时的缓解总是紧随着复发。

“Do please make her go away, whoever she might be,” he said entreatingly.
“请将她赶走吧，无论她是谁，”他恳求道。

A hollow shell of his old self, Kashiwagi was meanwhile addressing Kojijū in a faltering voice sometimes interrupted by a suggestion of a laugh.
而柏木则以支吾的声音对小路说话，有时声音会断断续续地透着笑意。

“Listen to them. They seem to have no notion that I might be ill because I misbehaved. —
“听他们说话。他们似乎毫不知晓，因为我行为不端而可能生病。 —

If, as these wise men say, some angry lady has taken possession of me, then I would expect her presence to make me hate myself a little less. —
如果像这些智者所说的那样，有某位愤怒的女士占据了我，那么我期望她的存在会让我对自己稍微少恨。 —

I can say that others have done much the same thing, made mistakes in their longing for ladies beyond their reach, and ruined their prospects. —
我可以说其他人也做了同样的事情，因渴望得不到的女子而犯错，从而毁了他们的前程。 —

I can tell myself all this, but the torment goes on. I cannot face the world knowing that he knows. —
我可以对自己说这一切，但痛苦还在继续。我无法面对这个世界，因为他知道了这一切。 —

His radiance dazzles and blinds me. I would not have thought the misdeed so appalling, but since the evening when he set upon me I have so lost control of myself that it has been as if my soul were wandering loose. —
他的光芒使我眼花缭乱。我本以为我的罪行不至于如此可怕，但自从他在那个晚上对我动手以来，我已经完全失去了自我控制，好像我的灵魂在四处游荡。 —

If it is still around the house somewhere, please lay a trap for it.”
如果它还在房子周围的某处，请为它设下陷阱。”

She told him of the Third Princess, lost in sad thoughts and afraid of prying eyes. —
她告诉他第三王女，陷入悲伤的思绪，害怕偷窥的眼睛。 —

He could almost see the forlorn little figure. —
他几乎可以看到那个凄凉的小身影。 —

Did unhappy spirits indeed go wandering forth disembodied?
不快乐的灵魂果真会肆意流浪吗？

“I shall say no more of your lady. It has all passed as if it had never happened at all. —
“我将不再提起你的女士。一切都如同从未发生过一样。 —

Yet I would be very sorry indeed if it were to stand in the way of her salvation. —
然而如果这件悲伤的事情会妨碍她的救赎，我会感到非常遗憾。 —

I have only one wish left, to know that the consequences of the sad affair have been disposed of safely. —
我只剩下一个愿望，就是知道这件悲伤事件的后果已经安全处理。 —

I have my own interpretation of the dream I had that night and have had very great trouble keeping it to myself.”
我对那晚做的梦有自己的解释，但难以抑制住将它告诉他人的冲动。

Kojijū was frightened at the inhuman tenacity which these thoughts suggested. —
胡蝶惊讶于这些思绪所表现出的非凡执着。 —

Yet she had to feel sorry for him. She was weeping bitterly.
尽管她为他感到遗憾，但她却在悲痛中哭泣。

He sent for a lamp and read the princess’s note. —
他叫来一盏灯，读了公主的便条。 —

Though fragile and uncertain, the hand was interesting. —
尽管手法纤细而不确定，但却很有趣。 —

“Your letter made me very sad, but I cannot see you. —
“你的信使我很伤心，但我不能见你。 —

I can only think of you. You speak of the smoke that lingers on, and yet
我只能想你。你谈及挥之不去的烟雾，而我却

“I wish to go with you, that we may see
“我愿与你同去，我们看看

Whose smoldering thoughts last longer, yours or mine.”
谁的烟雾残留得更久，你的还是我的。”

That was all, but he was grateful for it.
这就是全部，但他为此心怀感激。

“The smoke — it will follow me from this world. What a useless, insubstantial affair it was!”
“烟雾——将随我离开这个世界。多么无用，虚幻的事情啊！”

Weeping uncontrollably, he set about a reply. —
他情不自禁地哭泣着，开始回复。 —

There were many pauses and the words were fragmentary and disconnected and the hand like the tracks of a strange bird.
有很多的停顿，字句支离破碎，手迹犹如奇鸟的痕迹。

“As smoke I shall rise uncertainly to the heavens,
“如同烟雾，我将不确定地升向天空，

And yet remain where my thoughts will yet remain.
但我的思绪却会留存于这里。”

“Look well, I pray you, into the evening sky. Be happy, let no one reprove you; —
“请你仔细看看晚霞。要快乐，不要让别人责备你； —

and, though it will do no good, have an occasional thought for me.”
虽然做不到，也偶尔为我想想。”

Suddenly worse again, he made his way tearfully back to his room. “Enough. —
突然恶化，他泪流满面地回到自己的房间。“够了。 —

Go while it is still early, please, and tell her of my last moments. —
请在天还没黑之前去，告诉她我的最后时刻。 —

I would not want anyone who already thinks it odd to think it even odder. —
我不希望那些已觉得奇怪的人觉得更奇怪。 —

What have I brought from other lives, I wonder, to make me so unhappy?”
我究竟从前世带来了什么，让我如此不快乐呢？”

Usually he kept her long after their business was finished, but today he dismissed her briefly. —
他通常在业务结束后还会留住她很久，但今天他稍作打发。 —

She was very sorry for him and did not want to go.
她很为他难过，不想离开。

His nurse, who was her aunt, told Kojijū of his illness, weeping all the while.
她的阿姨，也就是他的看护，哭着告诉小侍从他的病情。

Tō no Chūjō was in great alarm. “He had seemed better these last few days. —
子将军非常惊慌。“这几天他似乎好转些了。 —

Why the sudden change?”
为什么突然间变得这么糟？”

“I cannot see why you are surprised,” replied his son. “I am dying. That is all.”
“我不明白你为什么感到惊讶，”他的儿子回答道。“我快死了。就这样。”

That evening the Third Princess was taken with severe pains.
那天晚上，三公主突然感到剧痛。

Guessing that they were birth pangs, her women sent for Genji in great excitement. —
她的侍女猜想是产疼，激动地派人去请玄悦。 —

He came immediately. How vast and unconditional his joy would be, he thought, were it not for his doubts about the child. —
他立刻赶来。如果不是因为他对子女的怀疑，他觉得自己的喜悦将是多么巨大和无条件的。 —

But no one must be allowed to suspect their existence. —
但是不能让任何人怀疑它们的存在。 —

He summoned ascetics and put them to continuous spells and incantations, and he summoned all the monks who had made names for themselves as healers. —
他召集了苦行者，让他们连续施法和念咒，还召集了那些以治疗者身份闻名的僧侣。 —

The Rokujō mansion echoed with mystic rites. —
六条宫中回荡着神秘的仪式声。 —

The princess was in great pain through the night and at sunrise was delivered of a child. —
公主整夜都在剧痛之中，日出时生下了一个孩子。 —

It was a boy. Most unfortunate, thought Genji. It would not be easy to guard the secret if the resemblance to the father was strong. —
是个男孩。源氏心想，这很不幸。如果孩子和父亲长得很像，保守这个秘密就不容易了。 —

There were devices for keeping girls in disguise and of course girls did not have to appear in public as did boys. —
存在着用于让女孩伪装的装置，当然，女孩不必像男孩那样要公开露面。 —

But there was the other side of the matter: —
不过也有另一方面的考虑： —

given these nagging doubts from the outset, a boy did not require the attention which must go into rearing a girl.
早有这些纠结的疑虑，男孩不需要像抚养女孩那样费心。

But how very strange it all was! Retribution had no doubt come for the deed which had terrified him then and which he was sure would go on terrifying him to the end. —
但是这一切太奇怪了！他当时心惊胆战的罪行肯定在报应他，而他也确定这种恐惧会一直纠缠到最后。 —

Since it had come, all unexpectedly, in this world, perhaps the punishment would be lighter in the next.
因为这种突如其来的事情发生在这个世界上，也许惩罚在下一个世界会更轻。

Unaware of these thoughts, the women quite lost themselves in ministering to the child. —
女人们全神贯注地照料着孩子，完全没有察觉他的这些想法。 —

Because it was born of such a mother in Genji’s late years, it must surely have the whole of his affection.
因为这是源氏晚年跟这样一位母亲生的，这孩子肯定能获得他全部的宠爱。

The ceremonies on the third night were of the utmost dignity and the gifts ranged out on trays and stands showed that everyone thought it an occasion demanding the best. —
第三晚的仪式非常庄重，摆在托盘上的礼物显示了每个人都认为这是一个需要最好的场合。 —

On the fifth night the arrangements were Akikonomu’s. —
第五晚的安排由秋小松负责。 —

There were robes for the princess and, after their several ranks, gifts for her women too, all of which would have done honor to a state occasion. —
公主有礼服穿，而且根据各自的身份排列的礼物也很丰富，足以媲美国事。 —

Ceremonial repast was laid out for fifty persons and there was feasting all through the house. —
宴席准备好了，共有五十人，整座房屋都充满了宴会的气氛。 —

The staff of the Reizei Palace, including Akikonomu’s personal chamberlain, was in attendance. —
紫宫的侍从们，包括彰子的侍从，在场。 —

On the seventh day the gifts and provisions came from the emperor himself and the ceremony was no less imposing than if it had taken place at court. —
第七天，皇帝亲自赐礼和准备了所需物品，仪式丝毫不亚于在宫廷中进行。 —

Tō no Chūjō should have been among the guests of honor, but his other worries made it impossible for him to go beyond general congratulations. —
当中将军本应是贵宾之一，但他有其他烦心事，无法前来祝贺。 —

All the princes of the blood and court grandees were present. —
所有的王子和宫廷贵族都到场了。 —

Genji was determined that there be no flaw in the observances, but he was not happy. —
源氏决心严格遵守仪式，但心情并不愉快。 —

He did not go out of his way to make his noble guests feel welcome, and there was no music.
他没有刻意让贵宾感到受欢迎，也没有音乐。

The princess was tiny and delicate and still very frightened. —
公主身材娇小，仍然很害怕。 —

She quite refused the medicines that were pressed upon her. —
她坚决拒绝被逼服的药物。 —

In the worst of the crisis she had hoped that she might quietly die and so make her escape. —
在最危急的时刻，她希望能安静地死去，从而逃脱。 —

Genji behaved with the strictest correctness and was determined to give no grounds for suspicion. —
源氏行为非常恪守规矩，决心不给人任何怀疑的理由。 —

Yet he somehow thought the babe repellent and was held by certain of the women to be rather chilly.
尽管如此，他对这个婴儿却感到厌恶，而有些女人认为他有些冷淡。

“He doesn’t seem to like it at all.” One of the old women interrupted her cooings. —
“他似乎一点都不喜欢。” 一位老妇人打断了她的咕咕声。 —

“And such a pretty little thing too. You’re almost afraid for it. —
“而且这么可爱的小东西。你几乎为它担忧。 —

And so late in his life, when he has had so few.”
这么晚了，他一生中接触很少。”

The princess caught snatches of their conversation and seemed to see a future of growing coldness and aloofness. —
公主捕捉到他们谈话的片段，仿佛看到了日后冷漠疏远的未来。 —

She knew that she too was to blame and she began to think of becoming a nun. —
她知道自己也有责任，于是开始考虑出家为尼。 —

Although Genji paid an occasional daytime visit, he never stayed the night.
源氏虽偶尔白天造访，但从未留宿过夜。

“I feel the uncertainty of it all more than ever,” he said, pulling her curtains back. —
“我感到前路迷茫无望，”他拉开她的窗帘说。 —

“I sometimes wonder how much time I have left. —
“我有时会想自己还能活多久。 —

I have been occupied with my prayers and I have thought that you would not want to see people and so I have stayed away. —
我一直在忙于祈祷，也考虑到你不愿意见人所以一直远离。 —

And how are you? A little more yourself again? —
你好吗？感觉好些了吗？ —

You have been through a great deal.”
你经历了很多。”

“I almost feel that I might not live” She raised her head from her pillow. —
“我几乎感觉自己快不行了。”她从枕头上抬起头。 —

“But I know that it would be a very grave sin to die now. —
“但我知道现在去世会是一个很严重的罪。 —

I rather think I might like to become a nun. —
我觉得我可能想出家。 —

I might begin to feel better, and even if I were to die I might be forgiven. —
可能会感觉好些，即使最终去世也可能会得到宽恕。 —

” She seemed graver and more serious than before, and more mature.
” 她看起来比之前更加严肃成熟。

“Quite out of the question — it would only invite trouble. —
“这根本不可能 — 这只会引起麻烦。 —

What can have put the idea into your head? —
你怎么想到的这个想法呢？ —

I could understand if you really were going to die, but of course you are not.”
我可以理解如果你真的要死了，但当然你并没有。”

But he was thinking that if she felt constrained to say such things, then the generous and humane course might be to let her become a nun. —
但他心里想着，如果她感到被迫说出这样的话，那么宽容和人道的选择可能是让她出家为尼。 —

To require that she go on living as his wife would be cruel, and for him too things could not be the same again. —
要求她继续活在他的妻子身份下会是残忍的，而对他来说，事情也再也无法恢复如初。 —

He might hurt her and word of what he had done might get abroad and presently reach her royal father. —
他可能会伤害她，他的所作所为可能会传开，最终会传到她皇家父亲那里。 —

Perhaps she was right: the present crisis could be her excuse. —
也许她是对的：眼下的危机可以成为她的借口。 —

But then he thought of the long life ahead of her, as long as the hair which she was asking to have cut — and he thought that he could not bear to see her in a nun’s drab robes.
但后来他想到她前面漫长的生活，就像她要求剪掉的头发一样长——他想他无法忍受看到她穿着淡淡的修女袍。

“No, you must be brave,” he said, urging medicine upon her. “There is nothing wrong with you. —
“不，你必须勇敢，”他说，劝她服用药物。“你没有任何问题。 —

The lady in the east wing has recovered from a far worse illness. We really did think she was dead. —
东厢的女士已经从更严重的疾病中恢复了过来。我们当时真以为她死了。 —

The world is neither as cruel nor as uncertain as we sometimes think it.”
世界既不像我们有时想象的那么残酷，也不那么不确定。”

There was a rather wonderful calm in the figure before him, pale and thin and quite drained of strength. —
他面前的那个身影非常平静，苍白瘦弱，完全失去了力量。 —

Her offense had been a grave one, but he thought that he had to forgive her.
她的罪行很严重，但他觉得他必须原谅她。

Her father, the Suzaku emperor, heard that it had been an easy birth and longed to see her. —
她的父亲，苏长生皇帝，听说她顺利产下，渴望见到她。 —

His meditations were disturbed by reports that she was not making a good recovery.
他的沉思被报告打断，称她康复得并不顺利。

She ate nothing and was weaker and more despondent. —
她什么都不吃，变得越来越虚弱和沮丧。 —

She wept as she thought of her father, whom she longed to see more intensely than at any time since she had left his house. —
她泣不成声，想念着她的父亲，比离开他的家以来任何时候都更强烈地渴望见他。 —

She feared that she might not see him again. —
她担心自己可能再也见不到他了。 —

She spoke of her fears to Genji, who had an appropriate emissary pass them on to the Suzaku emperor. In an agony of sorrow and apprehension and fully aware of the impropriety, he stole from his mountain retreat under cover of darkness and came to her side.
她向源氏倾诉了自己的恐惧，源氏找了一个合适的使者将这些传达给了朱雀天子。他在极度忧虑和恐惧中，充分意识到了不当之处，于是在夜幕中偷偷从山上隐藏处离开，来到了她的身边。

Genji was surprised and awed by the visit.
源氏对这次访问感到惊讶和敬畏。

“I had been determined not to have another glance at the vulgar world,” said the emperor, “but we all know how difficult it is for a father to throw off thoughts of his child. —
“我本来已下定决心再也不去看这庸俗的世界了”，朱雀天子说，“但我们都知道一个父亲要摆脱对自己孩子的思念是多么困难。 —

So I have let my mind wander from my prayers. —
所以我的心不再专注在祈祷上。 —

If the natural order of things is to be reversed and she is to leave me, I have said to myself, then I must see her again. —
如果事情的自然秩序要被逆转，如果她要离开我，我曾对自己说，那我必须再见她一面。 —

Otherwise the regret would be always with me. —
否则遗憾将永远伴随着我。 —

I have come in spite of what I know they all will say.”
尽管我知道他们都会说些什么，我还是来了。”

There was quiet elegance in his clerical dress. —
他的僧袍充满了恬雅。 —

Not wanting to attract attention, he had avoided the livelier colors permitted a priest. —
为了不引起注意，他避免了僧人可以穿的更艳丽的颜色。 —

A model of clean simplicity, thought Genji, who had long wanted to don the same garb. —
“真是一派干净的简单”，源氏想到，他很久以来一直想穿这样的衣服。 —

Tears came easily, and he was weeping again.
他情不自禁地流下眼泪，再次哭泣起来。

“I do not think it is anything serious,” he said, “but for the last month and more she has been weak and has eaten very little. —
“我并不认为是什么严重的事”，他说，“但在过去一个多月里，她身体虚弱，几乎不吃东西。 —

” He had a place set out for the emperor before the princess’s curtains. —
” 他在公主帷帐前为天子准备了一个座位。 —

“I only wish we were better prepared for such an august visit.”
“如果我们为这么威严的访问做好了准备就好了。”

Her women dressed her and helped her to sit up.
她的侍女们为她穿戴好衣服，帮助她坐起来。

“I feel like one of the priests you have on night duty,” said the emperor, pulling her curtains slightly aside. —
“我感觉自己像是你们那些值夜班的神职人员之一，”皇帝说着，稍微拉开了她的帷幕。 —

“I am embarrassed that my prayers seem to be having so little effect. —
“我感到很尴尬，我的祈祷似乎没有太大作用。 —

I thought you might want to see me, and so here I am, plain and undecorated.”
我以为你可能想见我，所以我就来了，平素未经装饰。”

She was weeping. “I do not think I shall live. —
她正在哭泣。“我想我可能活不过去了。 —

May I ask you, while you are here, to administer vows?”
请问在您在这里的时候，能为我行宗教誓约吗？”

“A most admirable request, if you really mean it. —
“如果你确实是认真的话，那是一个极为令人钦佩的请求。 —

But the fact that you are ill does not mean that you will die. —
但你生病并不意味着你会死。 —

Sometimes when a lady with years ahead of her takes vows she invites trouble, and the blame that is certain to go with it. —
有时当一位年岁尚小的女子立誓时，会招来麻烦，以及必然会随之而来的指责。 —

We must not be hasty.” He turned to Genji. “But she really does seem to mean it. —
我们不应该仓促行事。”他转向源氏。“但她看起来实在是认真的。 —

If this is indeed her last hour, we would certainly not want to deny her the support and comfort of religion, however briefly.”
如果这确实是她的最后时刻，我们当然不愿拒绝她宗教所能提供的支持和安慰，无论多短暂。”

“She has been saying the same thing for some days now, but I have suspected that an outside force has made her say it. —
“她几天来一直这么说，但我怀疑是外部的力量逼迫她如此说话。 —

And so I have refused to listen.”
因此我一直拒绝去听。”

“I would agree if the force seemed to be pulling in the wrong direction. —
“如果这种力量似乎是朝着错误的方向拉扯，我会同意。 —

But the pain and regret of refusing a last wish — I wonder.”
但拒绝一个临终遗愿带来的痛苦和遗憾 — 我在思考。”

He had had unlimited confidence in Genji, thought the emperor, and indications that Genji had no deep love for the princess had been a con stant worry. —
他对源氏有着无限的信任，皇帝心想，而源氏对公主并无深厚的爱情这个迹象一直让他感到不安。 —

Even now things did not seem to be going ideally well. —
即使现在事情似乎并不完全顺利。 —

He had been unable to discuss the matter with Genji. But now — might not a quiet separation be arranged, since there were no signs of a bitterness likely to become a scandal? —
他一直无法与源氏讨论这个问题。但现在 — 是否可以安排一个安静的分离，因为没有迹象表明会演变成丑闻的怨恨？ —

Genji had no thought of withdrawing his support, it seemed clear, and so, taking his apparent willingness as the mark of his fidelity and himself showing no sign of resentment, might the emperor not even now make plans for disposing of his property, and appoint for her residence the fine Sanjō mansion which he had inherited from his father? —
似乎源氏并没有撤回他的支持的打算，皇帝明白，因此，他认为源氏的表现是对忠诚的标志，自己也并没有表现出怨恨，或许皇帝现在可以为公主处置财产作打算，并且任命她在从父亲那里继承来的美好的三条府邸居住？ —

He would know before he died that she had settled comfortably into the new life. —
在他去世之前，他会知道她已经舒适地融入了新生活。 —

However cold Genji might be he surely would not abandon her.
无论源氏多么冷淡，他肯定不会抛弃她。

These thoughts must be tested.
这些想法必须得到验证。

“Suppose, then, while I am here, I administer the preliminary injunctions and give her the beginnings of a bond with the Blessed One.”
“因此，当我在这里的时候，我将设定初步禁令，让她与这位贤圣建立起联系。”

Regret and sorrow drove away the last of Genji’s resentment. —
悔恨和悲伤驱散了源氏的最后怨愤。 —

He went inside the princess’s curtains. —
—

“Must you think of leaving me when I have so little time before me? —
他走进了公主的帷幕。 —

Do please try to bear with me a little longer. —
“在我即将离开人世的时候，你难道还要想着离开我吗？ —

You must take your medicine and have something to eat. —
请你再忍耐我一会。 —

What you propose is very admirable, no doubt, but do you think you are up to the rigors it demands? —
你一定要吃药，吃点东西。 —

Wait until you are well again and we will give it a little thought.”
你的计划无疑很可贵，但你认为自己有能力承受它所需的严苛吗？

But she shook her head. He was making things worse.
但她摇了摇头。他只是让情况变得更糟。

Though she said nothing, he could imagine that he had hurt her deeply, and he was very sorry. —
虽然她什么也没说，他能想象到他伤害了她，他很抱歉。 —

He remonstrated with her all through the night and presently it was dawn.
整夜他在责备着她，转眼间天亮了。

“I do not want to be seen by daylight,” said the Suzaku emperor. —
“我不想在白天被见到，”朱雀帝说。 —

He summoned the most eminent of her priests and had them cut her hair. —
他召集了最杰出的祭司，让他们剪掉她的头发。 —

And so they were ravaged, the thick, smooth tresses now at their very best. —
于是她被蹂躏了，那些厚密的平滑秀发现在变得最美。 —

Genji was weeping bitterly. She was the emperor’s favorite, and she had been brought to this. —
源氏在伤心地哭泣着。她是皇帝的宠妃，却陷入了这般境地。 —

His sleeves were wet with tears.
他的袖子被泪水打湿。

“It is done,” he said. “Be happy and work hard at your prayers.”
“事已成，”他说。“快乐并努力祈祷。”

The sun would be coming up. The princess still seemed very weak and was not up to proper farewells.
太阳将要升起。公主仍然显得非常虚弱，并没有做出恰当的告别。

“It is like a dream,” said Genji. “The memory of an earlier visit comes back and I am extremely sorry not to have received you properly. —
“这像是一个梦，”源氏说。“早前一次的访问记忆涌上心头，我非常遗憾没有好好接待你。 —

I shall call soon and offer apologies.”
我会很快前去，致以道歉。”

He provided the emperor with an escort for the return journey.
他为皇帝提供了回程的护送。

“Fearing that I might go at any time,” said the emperor, “and that awful things might happen to her, I felt that I had to make provision for her. —
“担心我随时可能撒手人寰，”皇帝说，“并且她可能会遭遇可怕的事情，我感到必须为她做些准备。 —

Though I knew that I was going against your deeper wishes in asking you to take responsibility, I have been at peace since you so generously agreed to do so. —
虽然我知道我违背了你更深的意愿要求你承担责任，但自从你如此慷慨地同意之后，我一直心安理得。 —

If she lives, it will not become her new vocation to remain in such a lively establishment. —
如果她活下来，她不会在这样一个热闹的地方留下来从事新的职业。 —

Yet I suspect that she would be lonely in a mountain retreat like my own. —
但我怀疑她会在像我这样的山林幽居感到孤独。 —

Do please go on seeing to her needs as seems appropriate.”
请继续照料她的需求，看起来合适。”

“It shames me that you should find it necessary at this late date to speak of the matter. —
“你今日感觉必须提及此事，让我感到惭愧。 —

I fear that I am too shaken to reply.” And indeed he did seem to be controlling himself only with difficulty.
我恐怕已经太过震惊无法回复。”他确实看起来难以克制自己。

In the course of the morning services the malignant spirit emerged, laughing raucously. —
在上午的祭祀中，邪恶的灵魂出现了，发出沙哑的嘲笑声。 —

“Well, here I am. You see what I have done. —
“好吧，我在这里。你看见我做了什么。 —

I was not at all happy, let me tell you, to see how happy you were with the lady you thought you had taken from me. —
我可以告诉你，看到你与那位你以为夺走我的女子在一起多么快乐，我并不快乐。 —

So I stayed around the house for a while to see what I could do. —
所以我在房子周围逗留一段时间，看看我能做些什么。 —

I have done it and I will go.”
我做到了，现在我要离开。”

So she still had not left them! Genji was horrified, and regretted that they had let the princess take her vows. —
那么她还没有离开他们！光源氏感到震惊，并后悔让公主宣誓为尼。 —

Though she now seemed a little more her old self she was very weak and not yet out of danger. —
尽管她现在看起来有点像以前的自己，但她还是很虚弱，还没有脱离危险。 —

Her women sighed and braced themselves for further efforts. —
她的女侍叹了口气，准备进一步努力。 —

Genji ordered that there be no slackening of the holy endeavors, and in general saw that nothing was left undone.
光源氏吩咐圣事不可懈怠，并且全力确保不遗漏任何事项。

News of the birth seemed to push Kashiwagi nearer death. —
孩子的出生消息似乎让柏木更接近死亡。 —

He was very sad for his wife, the Second Princess. —
他对他的妻子，第二王女，感到非常伤心。 —

It would be in bad taste for her to come visiting, however, and he feared that, whatever precautions were taken, she might suffer the embarrassment of being seen by his parents, who were always with him. —
她如果来访可能显得不得体，他担心无论采取了哪些预防措施，她可能遭受被他的父母看到的尴尬，他的父母总是在他身边。 —

He said that he would like to visit her, but they would not hear of it. He asked them, and others, to be good to her.
他说他想去看望她，但他们不同意。他请求他们和其他人对她好一点。

His mother-in-law had from the start been unenthusiastic about the match. —
他的岳母一开始就对这门婚事不热心。 —

Tō no Chūjō had pressed the suit most energetically, however, and, sensing ardor and sincerity, she had at length given her consent. —
藤壬中将却极力推动这门婚事，她感受到热情和真诚，最终终于同意了。 —

After careful consideration the Suzaku emperor had agreed. —
经过慎重考虑，朱雀天皇同意了。 —

Back in the days when he had been so worried about the Third Princess he had said that the Second Princess seemed nicely taken care of. —
在他曾经为三王女担忧的日子里，他曾表示第二王女似乎受到了很好的照顾。 —

Kashiwagi feared that he had sadly betrayed the trust.
柏木害怕自己遗憾地背叛了信任。

“I hate to think of leaving her,” he said to his mother. “But life does not go as we wish it. —
“我不想离开她”，他对母亲说。“但生活并不如我们所愿。” —

Her resentment at the promises I have failed to keep must be very strong. —
“她对我未能实现的承诺的怨恨一定很深。” —

Do please be good to her.”
“请你一定要对她好。”

“You say such frightening things. How long do you think I would survive if you were to leave me?”
“你说的话太吓人了。如果你离开我，我会活多久？”

She was weeping so piteously that he could say no more, and so he tried discussing the matter of the Second Princess with his brother Kōbai. —
她哭得如此凄凉，他无法再说下去，于是他试图与弟弟红梅讨论关于第二皇女的事。 —

Kashiwagi was a quiet, well-mannered youth, more father than brother to his youngest brothers, who were plunged into the deepest sorrow by these despairing remarks. —
柏木是一个安静、彬彬有礼的年轻人，对自己最年幼的弟弟们更像是父亲，他们由于这些绝望的言辞而陷入了深深的悲伤。 —

The house rang with lamentations, which were echoed all through the court. —
整个宅邸充斥着哀悼之声，宫廷里也回荡着这些哀伤的呼喊。 —

The emperor ordered an immediate promotion to councillor of the first order.
皇帝立即下令将他提升为一等侍从。

“Perhaps,” he said, “he will now find strength to visit us.”
“也许，”皇帝说，“他现在会有力气来拜访我们。”

The promotion did not have that happy effect, however. He could only offer thanks from his sickbed. —
然而，这次提升并没有带来快乐的效果。他只能躺在病床上向皇帝道谢。 —

This evidence of the royal esteem only added to Tō no Chūjō‘s sorrow and regret.
这份皇家信任的表现只增加了当今中将的悲伤和遗憾。

A worried Yūgiri came calling, the first of them all to offer congratulations. —
担心的弓切来拜访，他是第一个前来祝贺的人。 —

The gate to Kashiwagi’s wing of the house was jammed with car- riages and there were crowds of well-wishers in his antechambers. —
柏木住处的大门挤满了车马，门厅里挤满了祝贺他的人。 —

Having scarcely left his bed since New Year, he feared that he would look sadly rumpled in the presence of such finery. —
自新年以来几乎没有离开床铺，他担心在这么多华服人的面前看起来凌乱不堪。 —

Yet he hated to think that he might not see them again.
然而，他讨厌想到也许不会再见到他们。

Yūgiri at least he must see. “Do come in,” he said, sending the priests away. —
他至少必须见见弓切。“请进吧，”他说着，打发了那些僧人离去。 —

“I know you will excuse my appearance.”
“我知道你会原谅我的外表。”

The two of them had always been the closest of friends, and Yūgiri’s sorrow was as if he were a brother. —
他们两人一直是最亲密的朋友，弓切的悲伤就像他是自己的兄弟。 —

What a happy day this would have been in other years! —
在其他年份，这将是多么快乐的一天！ —

But of course these wishful thoughts accomplished nothing.
但是当然，这些虚幻的想法并没有带来任何改变。

“Why should it have happened?” he said, lifting a curtain. —
“这为什么会发生呢？”他说着，掀起一幅帘子。 —

“I had hoped that this happy news might make you feel a little better.”
“我本来希望这个好消息能让你好受一点。”

“I am very sorry indeed that I do not. I do not seem to be the man for such an honor. —
“我非常抱歉，我好像不配得到这样的荣幸。” —

” Kashiwagi had put on a formal cap. He tried to raise his head but the effort was too much for him. —
柏木戴着一顶正式的帽子。他试图抬起头，但这个努力对他来说太过艰难。 —

He was wearing several pleasantly soft robes and lay with a quilt pulled over him. —
他穿着几件柔软舒适的衣袍，躺着被子拉在身上。 —

The room was in simple good taste and incenses and other details gave it a deep, quiet elegance. —
房间简约而雅致，香如细节赋予了宁静深邃的优雅。 —

Kashiwagi was in fact rather carefully dressed, and great attention had obviously gone into all the appointments. —
柏木实际上打扮得相当细致，显然所有陈设都经过了精心的安排。 —

One expects an invalid to look unkempt and even repulsive, but somehow in his case emaciation seemed to give a new fineness and delicacy. —
人们期待一个病人看起来邋遢甚至令人厌恶，但不知何故在他的案例中，消瘦似乎赋予了他一种新的精致和细腻。 —

Yūgiri suffered with him as he struggled to sit up.
弓切和他一起辛苦地挣扎着坐起来。

“But what a pleasant surprise,” said Yūgiri (though brushing away a tear). —
“但这真是一个惊喜呢，”弓裔说着(尽管擦去一滴泪)。 —

“I would have expected to find you much thinner after such an illness. —
“我本来以为你病后会消瘦很多。 —

I actually think you are better-looking than ever. —
实际上我觉得你比以往更好看了。 —

I had assumed, somehow, that we would always be together and that we would go together, and now this awful thing has happened. —
“我本以为我们会永远在一起，一起前行，现在发生了这件可怕的事情。 —

And I do not even know why. We have been so close, you and I— it upsets me more than I can say to know nothing about the most important matter.”
我甚至不知道为什么。我们曾经如此亲近，你我二人之间的最重要的事情我一无所知，这让我比我所能说的更加心烦。

“I could not tell you if I wanted to. There are no marked symptoms. —
“就算我想告诉你我也不能。没有明显的症状。 —

I have wasted away in this short time and scarcely know what is happening. —
这短短的时间里我每况愈下，几乎不知所措，不知身体到底发生了什么。 —

I fear that I may no longer be in complete control of myself. —
我担心我可能已经无法完全控制自己。 —

I have lingered on, perhaps because of all the prayers of which I am so unworthy, and in my heart I have only wanted to be done with it all.
或许是因为我如此不配才得到这么多人的祈祷，我在心里只想了却一切。

“Yet for many reasons I find it hard to go. —
“但由于种种原因，我发现离开很难。 —

I have only begun to do something for my mother and father, and now I must cause them pain. —
我只是开始为父母做点事情，现在却要给他们带来痛苦。 —

I am also being remiss in my duties to His Majesty. —
我也在怠慢对陛下的职责。 —

And as I look back over my life I feel sadder than I can tell you to think how little I have accomplished, what a short distance I have come. —
回顾我的生活，我感到比我所能说的更悲伤，为自己所取得的成就之少，走过的路程之短。 —

But there is something besides all this that has disturbed me very much. —
“但除了这一切，还有一件事情让我非常不安。 —

I have kept it to myself and doubt that I should say anything now that the end is in sight. —
我一直把这件事深埋在心，现在终于要面对结束了。” —

But I must. I cannot keep it to myself, and how am I to speak of it if not to you? —
但我必须。我不能把这事埋在心里，如果不告诉你，我该怎么说出口呢？ —

I do have all these brothers, but for many reasons it would do no good even to hint of what is on my mind.
我虽然有这么多兄弟，但因为种种原因，暗示我心中所想对他们说也是没什么好处的。

“There was a matter which put me at cross purposes with your esteemed father and for which I have long been making secret apology. —
“我与贵族之士父亲有一事不和，为此我一直在偷偷道歉。 —

I did not myself approve of what I had done and I fell into a depression that made me avoid people, and finally into the illness in which you now see me. —
我自己也不认同我自己的所作所为，陷入了让我避开人们的抑郁情绪，最终导致了你现在看到的疾病。 —

It was all too clear on the night of the rehearsal at Rokujō that he had not forgiven me. —
在鹿苑的排练之夜，他对我未消怨恨一事显而易见。 —

I did not see how it would be possible to go on living with his anger. —
我看不到如何能继续承受他的怒气。 —

I rather lost control of myself and began having nervous disturbances, and so I have become what you see.
我失去了自制力，开始有神经紊乱，现在你看到的我就是这样。

“I am sure that I never meant very much to him, but I for my part have been very dependent on him since I was very young. —
“我确信我对他来说并不是很重要，但我自己从小就很依赖他。 —

Now a fear of the slanders he may have heard is my strongest bond with this world and may be the greatest obstacle on my journey into the next. —
如今我对他可能听到的诽谤的恐惧是我与这个世界最强烈的连结，也可能是我前往下一个世界的最大障碍。 —

Please remember what I have said and if you find an opportunity pass on my apologies to him. —
请记住我的话，如果你有机会，转达我的道歉给他。 —

If after I am gone he is able to forgive whatever I have done, the credit must be yours.”
如果我离去后，他能原谅我所作所为，那要归功于你。”

He was speaking with greater difficulty. Yūgiri could think of details that seemed to fit into the story, but could not be sure exactly what the story had been.
他说话越来越吃力。宁宁可以想到一些细节与故事相符，但无法确定故事的完整内容。

“You are morbidly sensitive. I can think of no indication of displeasure on his part, and indeed he has been very worried about you and has said how he grieves for you. —
“你是过分敏感。我想不出他对你表示不满的迹象，事实上他一直对你很担心，说他为你伤心。 —

But why have you kept these things to yourself? —
但你为什么把这些事情都埋在心里呢？ —

I should surely have been the one to convey apologies in both directions, and now I suppose it is too late. —
我应该是传达双方道歉的人，现在我想可能为时已晚了。” —

” How he wished that they could go back a few years or months!
他多么希望他们能回到几年前或几个月前！

“I had long thought that when I was feeling a little better I must speak to you and ask your opinion. —
“我一直以为，等我感觉好些了，我必须找你商量一下，听听你的意见。 —

But of course it is senseless to go on thinking complacently about a life that could end today or tomorrow. —
但当然，沉迷于一个可能今天或明天就会终结的生活是毫无意义的。 —

Please tell no one of what I have said. I have spoken to you because I have hoped that you might find an opportunity to speak to him, very discreetly, of course. —
请不要告诉任何人我说过的话。我和你说是因为希望你能找机会跟他说一说，当然要小心翼翼。 —

And if you would occasionally look in on the Second Princess. —
如果你能偶尔去看看次女王。 —

Do what you can, please, to keep her father from worrying about her.”
请尽力让她父亲不用过于担心她。”

He wanted to say more, it would seem, but he was in ever greater pain. —
他似乎想说更多，但他的痛苦越来越厉害。 —

At last he motioned that he wanted Yūgiri to leave him. —
最后他示意樱木离开他。 —

The priests and his parents and numerous others returned to his bedside. —
僧侣和他的父母以及许多人回到他的床前。 —

Weeping, Yūgiri made his way out through the confusion.
大家都在混乱中，樱木含泪离开了。

Kashiwagi’s sisters, one of them married to Yūgiri and another to the emperor, were of course deeply concerned. —
樱木的姐妹们，其中一个嫁给了樱木，另一个嫁给了皇帝，当然都非常担心。 —

He had a sort of fraternal expansiveness that reached out to embrace everyone. —
他有一种包容性强的兄弟般的扩展性，能包容所有人。 —

For Tamakazura he was the only one in the family who really seemed like a brother. —
对于玉鬘来说，他是家里唯一真正像兄弟的人。 —

She too commissioned services.
她也为他委托了仪式。

They were not the medicine he needed. He went away like the foam upon the waters.
那不是他需要的药。他像水面上的泡沫一样消失了。

The Second Princess did not after all see him again. —
二王女终究没有再见到他。 —

He had not been deeply in love with her, not, indeed, even greatly attached to her. —
他并没有深深地爱着她，甚至并没有真正地依恋她。 —

Yet his behavior had been correct in every detail. —
但他的行为细节却无可挑剔。 —

He had been a gentle, considerate husband, making no demands upon her and giving no immediate cause for anger. —
他是位温和体贴的丈夫，不向她提出过多要求，也没有给她任何直接的生气理由。 —

Thinking sadly over their years together, she thought it strange that a man doomed to such a short life should have shown so little inclination to enjoy it. —
她悲伤地回想起他们在一起的岁月，觉得一个命运如此短暂的人，竟然没有表现出享受生活的意愿，这实在令人费解。 —

For her mother, the very worst had happened, though she had in a way expected it. —
对她的母亲来说，最糟糕的事情已经发生了，尽管在某种程度上她已经预料到了。 —

Her daughter had married a commoner, and now everyone would find her plight very amusing.
她的女儿嫁给了一个平民，现在每个人都会觉得她的处境很有趣。

Kashiwagi’s parents were shattered. The cruelest thing is to have the natural order upset. —
柏木的父母感到震惊。最残酷的事情莫过于自然秩序被打破。 —

But of course it had happened, and complaining did no good. —
但当然这已经发生了，抱怨于事无补。 —

The Third Princess, now a nun, had thought him impossibly presumptuous and had not joined in the prayers, but even she was sorry. —
现在出家为尼的三王女认为他极度放肆，没有参加祈祷，但她也感到遗憾。 —

Kashiwagi had predicted the birth of the child. —
柏木预测了孩子的出生。 —

Perhaps their strange, sad union had been joined in another life. —
也许他们那种怪异而悲伤的姻缘是在另一个生命中结合的。 —

It was a depressing chain of thoughts, and she was soon in tears.
这是一段沉闷的思绪，她很快就哭了起来。

The Third Month came, the skies were pleasant and mild, and the little boy reached his fiftieth day. —
第三个月到来了，天空宜人温和，小男孩已经满五十天。 —

He had a fair, delicate skin and was already showing signs of precociousness. —
他皮肤白皙细腻，已经显示出早熟的迹象。 —

He was even trying to talk.
他甚至试图说话。

Genji came visiting. “And have you quite recovered? —
源氏前来拜访。“你已经完全康复了吗？ —

Whatever you say, it is a sad thing you have done. —
无论你说什么，你所做的事情都是令人悲伤的。 —

The occasion would be so much happier if you had not done it. —
如果你没有做这件事，这个场合会更加快乐。 —

” He seemed near tears. “It was not kind of you.”
“他似乎快要哭了。“你这样做不太友善。”

He now came to see her every day and could not do enough for her.
他现在每天来看她，对她无微不至。

“What are you so worried about?” he said, seeing that her women did not seem to know how fiftieth-day ceremonies should be managed in a nun’s household. —
“你在担心什么？”他问道，看到她的侍女们不知道一个尼家的五旬仪式应该如何举行。 —

“If it were a girl the fact that the mother is a nun might seem to invite bad luck and throw a pall over things. —
“如果是女孩，母亲是尼姑可能会招致厄运，给事情蒙上一层阴影。 —

But with a boy it makes no difference.”
但如果是男孩就没关系。”

He had a little place set out towards the south veranda of the main hall and there offered the ceremonial rice cakes. —
他在正殿南侧摆出了一个小地方，那里供奉着仪式上的饭团。 —

The nurse and various other attendants were in festive dress and the array of baskets and boxes inside the blinds and out covered the whole range of colors — for the managers of the affair were uninhibited by a knowledge of the sad truth. —
保姆和其他侍从们都穿着节日盛装，带在灯笼里和外面的各种篮子和盒子遮盖了整个色谱 —— 因为安排这件事的人们对悲伤的事实一无所知。 —

They were delighted with everything, and Genji smarted and squirmed.
他们对一切都感到高兴，而源氏却感到心痛而烦躁。

Newly risen from her sickbed, the princess found her heavy hair very troublesome and was having it brushed. —
刚刚从病榻上起来，公主发现她那一头沉重的头发非常麻烦，正在梳理头发。 —

Genji pulled her curtains aside and sat down. She turned shyly away, more fragile than ever. —
源氏拉开她的帘子坐下。她害羞地转身，比以往更加脆弱。 —

Because there had been such regrets for her lovely hair only a very little had been cut away, and only from the front could one see that it had been cut at all. —
因为她的美丽头发曾经引起那么多遗憾，只有很少一部分被剪掉，只有从正面看才会发现它已经被剪了。 —

Over several grayish singlets she wore a robe of russet. —
她身穿多件灰色背心，在外面披着一件赭色长袍。 —

The profile which she showed him was charming, in a tiny, childlike way, and not at all that of a nun.
她展示给他看的侧脸很迷人，以一种小巧、孩子般的方式，一点也不像修女的样子。

“Very sad, really,” said Genji. “A nun’s habit is depressing, there is no denying the fact. —
“实在太悲伤了，”源氏说道。“一个修女的衣着确实令人郁闷，这一点毋庸置疑。 —

I had thought I might find some comfort in looking after you as always, and it will be a very long time before my tears have dried. —
我本以为照常照顾你对我会有一些安慰，但我的泪水还要流很长时间。 —

I had thought that it might help to tax myself with whatever unwitting reasons I may have given you for dismissing me. —
我原以为自己寻找你解雇我的无意识原因可能会有所帮助。 —

Yes, it is very sad. How I wish it were possible to go back.
是的，非常悲伤。多么希望能够回到过去。

“If you move away I shall have to conclude that you really do reject me, with all your heart, and I do not see how I shall be able to face you again. —
“如果你搬走，我将不得不断定你真心拒绝我，我不知道以后如何面对你。 —

Do please have a thought for me.”
请你为我着想。”

“They tell me that nuns tend to be rather withdrawn from ordinary feelings, and I seem to have been short on them from the start. —
“他们告诉我修女们往往对一般的感情有所退缩，而我似乎从一开始就缺乏它们。 —

What am I to say?”
我该怎么说呢？”

“You are not fair to yourself. We have had ample evidence of your feelings. —
“你对自己太苛刻了。我们已经有充分证据证明了你的感情。 —

” He turned to the little boy.
”他转向那个小男孩。

The nurse and the other attendants were all handsome, wellborn women whom Genji himself had chosen. —
侍女和其他侍从都是源氏自己挑选的美丽、出身良好的女性。 —

He now summoned them for a conference.
他现在召集她们开会。

“What a pity that I should have so few years left for him.”
“真可惜我留给他的时间如此之少。”

He played with the child, fair-skinned and round as a ball, and bubbling with good spirits. —
他和那个像球一样白皙而圆润，充满善意的孩子一起玩耍。 —

He had only very dim memories of Yūgiri as a boy, but thought he could detect no resemblance. —
他对年幼的弓使的记忆模糊不清，但他觉得看不出任何相似之处。 —

His royal grandchildren of course had their father’s blood in their veins and even now carried themselves with regal dignity, but no one would have described them as outstandingly handsome. —
他的皇家孙辈当然流着父亲的血脉，即使现在也带着皇家的尊严，但没人会说他们出众地帅气。 —

This boy was beautiful, there was no other word for it. —
这个男孩很美，用其他词无法形容。 —

He was always laughing, and a very special light would come into his eyes which fascinated Genji. Was it Genji’s imagination that he looked like his father? —
他总是笑，眼中会闪烁着一种特别的光芒，让源氏着迷。是不是源氏的幻想，他看起来像他的父亲？ —

Already there was a sort of tranquil poise that quite put one to shame, and the glow of the skin was unique.
他已经有一种使人感到惭愧的宁静的姿态，皮肤的光芒无与伦比。

The princess did not seem very much alive to these remarkable good looks, and of course almost no one else knew the truth. —
公主似乎并不太在意这可贵的容貌，当然几乎没有人知道真相。 —

Genji was left alone to shed a tear for Kashiwagi, who had not lived to see his own son. —
源氏独自留下流泪，为无法亲眼见到自己儿子的柏木而伤心。 —

How very unpredictable life is! But he brushed the tear away, for he did not want it to cloud a happy occasion.
生命是如此不可预测！但他擦去眼泪，因为他不想让眼泪阴沉一个快乐的场合。

“I think upon it in quiet,” he said softly, “and there is ample cause for lamentin.”
“我在安静中思绪万千”，他轻声说道，“有充分的理由去悼念。”

His own years fell short by ten of the poet’s fifty-eight, but he feared that he did not have many ahead of him. —
他比诗人的五十八岁年龄小了十岁，但他担心自己没有太多时间了。 —

“Do not be like your father”: this, perhaps, was the admonition in his heart. —
“不要像你的父亲一样”，或许这是他心中的忠告。 —

He wondered which of the women might be in the princess’s confidence. —
他想知道公主心里信任哪位女性。 —

He could not be sure, but they were no doubt laughing at him, whoever they were. —
他不能确定，但无论她们是谁，他们肯定在嘲笑他。 —

Well, he could bear the ridicule, and a discussion of his responsibilities and hers in the sad affair would be more distressing for her than for him. —
好吧，他能忍受被嘲笑，讨论他在这悲剧中的责任和她的责任会比对她更加痛苦。 —

He would say nothing and reveal nothing.
他保持沉默，不透露任何信息。

The little boy was charming, especially the smiling, happy eyes and mouth. —
这个小男孩很迷人，特别是那双笑眼和开心的嘴。 —

Would not everyone notice the resemblance to the father? —
难道不是每个人都会注意到与父亲的相似之处吗？ —

Genji thought of Kashiwagi, unable to show this secret little keepsake to his grieving parents, who had longed for at least a grandchild to remember him by. —
源氏想起了柏木，无法把这个秘密的小纪念品展示给为他渴望至少一个孙子来记住他的父母。 —

He thought how strange it was that a young man so composed and proud and ambitious should have destroyed himself. —
他想，一个如此镇定、骄傲和雄心勃勃的年轻人竟然毁了自己。 —

His resentment quite left him, and he was in tears.
他的愤怒完全消失了，他流泪了。

“And how does he look to you?” Genji had taken advantage of a moment when there were no women with the princess. —
“你觉得他怎么样？”源氏趁公主身边没有别的女人的时刻。 —

“It is very sad to think that in rejecting me you have rejected him too.”
“拒绝我其实也是在拒绝他，这想想多伤感啊。”

She flushed.
她脸红了。

“Yes, very sad,” he continued softly.
“是的，非常伤感，”他继续轻声说。

“Should someone come asking when the seed was dropped,
“若来询谷中树，种子何时落？”

What shall it answer, the pine among the rocks?”
她躺着把头埋在枕头里。他看到自己在伤害她，便沉默了。

She lay with her head buried in a pillow. He saw that he was hurting her, and fell silent. —
但他想知道她对自己孩子的看法。 —

But he would have liked to know what she thought of her own child. —
他并没有期待她有成熟的眼光，只是希望她不是完全冷漠的。 —

He did not expect mature discernment of her, but he would have liked to think that she was not completely indifferent. —
他希望她对自己的孩子有所感觉。 —

It was very sad indeed.
这确实是令人悲伤的。

Yūgiri was sadder than the dead man’s brothers. —
悠桐比死者的兄弟们更加悲伤。 —

He could not forget that last interview and the mysterious matters which Kashiwagi had been unable to keep to himself. —
他无法忘记最后的那次对话以及柏木没有办法保守的神秘事情。 —

What had he been trying to say? Yūgiri had not sought to press for more. —
他试图表达什么？悠桐并没有追问更多。 —

The end had been in sight, and it would have been too unfeeling. —
结局已经在眼前，冷漠过甚反而不妥。 —

Though not seriously ill, it would seem, the princess had simply and effortlessly taken her vows. —
虽然没有严重生病似乎，公主只是毫不费力地守着她的誓言。 —

Why, and why had Genji permitted them? On the very point of death Murasaki had pleaded that he let her become a nun, and he had quite refused to listen. —
为什么，为什么源氏允许他们？在临终时紫君请求他让她出家，而他坚决不肯听从。 —

So Yūgiri went on sifting through such details as he had. —
因此悠桐继续回忆他拥有的细节。 —

More than once he had seen Kashiwagi’s feelings go out of control. —
有不止一次他看到柏木情绪失控。 —

Kashiwagi had been calmer and more careful and deliberate than most young men, so quietly in possession of himself, indeed, that his reserve had made people uncomfortable. —
柏木比大多数年轻人更冷静和小心谨慎，淡定自若，事实上，他的保留让人感到不自在。 —

But he had had his weak side too. Might an excess of gentleness have been at the root of the trouble? —
但他也有脆弱的一面。柔和过分可能是麻烦的根源吗？ —

Yūgiri found it hard to understand any excess that could make a man destroy himself. —
悠桐觉得很难理解一种使男人毁灭自己的过分行为。 —

Kashiwagi had not done well by the princess, but for Yūgiri the wrong was of a more general nature. Perhaps there were conditions which Kashiwagi had brought with him from former lives — but Yūgiri found such a loss of control difficult to accept even so. —
柏木对公主并不尽善尽美，但对悠桐而言，错误更具有一种普遍性质。也许柏木带着前世的条件，但即使如此，悠桐觉得失去控制难以接受。 —

He kept his thoughts to himself, saying nothing even to his wife, Kashiwagi’s sister. —
他将自己的想法保留，甚至不对他的妻子，柏木的妹妹，说。 —

He wanted very much to see what effect those oblique hints might have on Genji, but found no occasion.
他很想看看这些间接的暗示对源氏产生什么影响，但没有找到机会。

Tō no Chūjō and his wife seemed barely conscious of the passing days. —
当大将藤之中将和夫人几乎没有意识到时光流逝。 —

All the details of the weekly memorial services, clerical robes and the like, were left to their sons. —
每周的追悼仪式细节、教士礼服等，都由他们的儿子们来处理。 —

Kōbai, the oldest, gave particular attention to images and scriptures. —
大儿子红梅特别留意图像和经典。 —

When they sought to arouse their father for the services, his reply was as if he too might be dying.
当他们想唤醒父亲参加仪式时，他的回答似乎也在慢慢消亡。

“Do not come to me. I am as you see me, lost to this world. —
“别来打扰我。如你所见，我已迷失在这个世界。 —

I would be an obstacle on his way through the next.”
我可能会成为他通往下一个世界的绊脚石。”

For the Second Princess there was the added sorrow of not having been able to say goodbye. —
二皇女更添懊悔之情，无法与他告别。 —

Sadly, day after day, she sat looking over the wide grounds of her mother’s Ichijō house, now almost deserted. —
令人心痛的是，她日复一日地坐在母亲的一条街宅院内，现在几乎空无一人。 —

The men of whom Kashiwagi had been fondest did continue to stop by from time to time. —
葛城最钟爱的男子们确实会不时来访。 —

His favorite grooms and falconers seemed lost without him. —
他最喜欢的饲养员和放鹰师似乎失去了他而彷徨不安。 —

Even now they were wandering disconsolately over the grounds. —
即使现在他们仍在茫然地在庭院里徘徊。 —

The sight of them, and indeed every small occurrence, summoned back the unextinguishable sadness. —
他们的样子，甚至每一件小事，都让无尽的悲伤热切重现。 —

Kashiwagi’s belongings gathered dust. The lute and the japanese koto upon which he had so often played were silent and their strings were broken. —
葛城的物品被尘封着。他经常弹奏的琵琶和日式箜篌既静默又弦断。 —

The very air of the place spoke of sorrow and neglect. —
这地方的空气里都充满了悲伤和荒凉。 —

The princess gazed sadly out at the garden, where the trees wore the green haze of spring. —
公主伤心地凝视着花园，树木上呈现出春天的绿意。 —

The blossoms had none of them forgotten their proper season.
这些花朵没有一个忘记了它们适当的季节。

Late one morning, as dull as all the others, there was a vigorous shouting of outrunners and a procession came up to the gate.
一个清晨晚起，和往常一样沉闷，忽然听见了往响的呼喊声，一队人马走向了大门。

“We had forgotten,” said one of the women. —
“我们竟然忘了,” 一个女子说道。 —

“It almost seemed for a moment that His Lordship had come back.”
“一时间几乎以为他的尊贵有回来了。”

The princess’s mother had thought that it would be one or more of Kashiwagi’s brothers, who were frequent callers, but the caller was in fact more stately and dignified than they. —
公主的母亲本以为来的会是柏原的兄弟中的一位或几位，他们常来串门。但来的却比他们更加端庄严肃。 —

It was Yūgiri. He was offered a seat near the south veranda of the main hall. —
是弓使。他被请到主楼的南厅旁坐了。 —

The princess’s mother herself came forward to receive him — it would have been impolite to send one of the women.
公主的母亲亲自前去迎接他 — 让一个女子前去都有失礼感。

“I may assure you,” said Yūgiri, “that I have been sadder than if he were my brother. —
“我可以向您保证,” 弓使说道, “我比起他是要伤心的。 —

But there are restraints upon an outsider and I was able to offer only the most perfunctory condolences. —
但是，作为局外人我有所顾忌，只能淡淡表达我的慰问。 —

He said certain things at the end that have kept your daughter very much on my mind. —
他在临终时说了一些话, 让您女儿一直挂念在我心上。 —

It is not a world in which any of us can feel secure, but until the day when it becomes clear which of us is to go first, I mean to exert myself in your behalf and hers in every way I can think of. —
这个世界没有人能感到安全，但在哪一个我们中的谁要先离开的那一天来临之前，我计划尽我所能帮助您和您女儿。 —

Too much has been going on at court to let me follow my own inclinations and simply withdraw from things, and it would not have been very satisfying to look in on you and be on my way again. —
宫中事务繁忙，不容我顺我心意，靠边站。匆匆探访之后又匆匆离去也不算体面。 —

And so the days have gone by. I have heard that Tō no Chūjō is quite insane with grief. —
于是日子一天天过去。我听说当初的当家夫人因伤心而精神错乱。 —

My own grief has only been less than his, and it has been deepened by the thought of the regret with which my friend must have left your daughter behind.”
我的悲痛并不亚于他，却因为想起我朋友临终时留下的憾事而更深。

His words were punctuated from time to time by a suggestion of tears. —
他说的话时不时透露出泪水的意味。 —

The old lady thought him very courtly and dignified and at the same time very approachable.
老太太觉得他非常彬彬有礼又庄重，同时又很平易近人。

There were tears in her voice too, and when she had finished speaking she was weeping openly. —
她的声音里也带着泪水，说完后她已经是泪流满面。 —

“Yes, the sad thing is that it should all be so uncertain and fleeting. —
“是的，令人悲哀的是一切都如此不确定和短暂。 —

I am old and I have tried to tell myself that worse things have happened. —
我年纪大了，试图说服自己比这更糟糕的事情都发生过。 —

But when I see her lost in grief, almost out of her mind, I cannot think what to do. —
但当我看到她陷入悲伤之中，几乎神志恍惚时，我不知该怎么办。 —

It almost comes to seem that I am the really unlucky one, destined to see the end of two brief lives.
几乎让我感到我是真正不幸的一个，注定要看到两段短命的生命走向终点。

“You were close to him and you may have heard how little inclined I was to accept his proposal. —
“你和他很亲近，也许你听说过我多么不情愿接受他的求婚。 —

But I did not want to go against his father’s wishes, and the emperor too seemed to have decided that he would make her a good husband. —
但我不想违背他父亲的意愿，而且皇帝似乎也已决定他会成为她的好丈夫。 —

So I told myself that I must be the one who did not understand. —
所以我告诉自己我一定是那个误解了。 —

And now comes this nightmare, and I must reprove myself for not having been truer to my very vague feelings. —
现在这场噩梦出现了，我必须责备自己没有更忠于我那模糊的感情。 —

They did not of course lead me to expect anything so awful.
它们当然没有让我预料到会有如此可怕的事情。

“I had thought, in my old-fashioned way, that unless there were really compelling reasons it was better that a princess not marry. —
“我曾以我老派的方式认为，除非确实有迫切的理由，公主最好不要结婚。 —

And for her, poor girl, a marriage that should never have been has come to nothing. —
可怜的女孩，一个本不该发生的婚姻已经化为乌有。 —

It would be better, I sometimes think, and people would not judge her harshly, if she were to let the smoke from her funeral follow his. —
我有时想，她如果让她的葬礼烟雾随他而去，也许会更好，人们也不会苛刻地评判她。 —

Yet the possibility is not easy to accept, and I go on looking after her. —
然而这种可能性并不容易接受，我还在继续照看她。 —

It has been a source of very great comfort in all the gloom to have reports of your concern and sympathy. —
在所有的阴霾中，得知您的关心和同情带给了我极大的慰藉。 —

I do most sincerely thank you. I would not have called him an ideal husband, but it moves me deeply to learn that because you were so close to him you were chosen to hear his dying words, and that there were a few for her mixed in among them.”
我非常真诚地感谢您。我不会说他是一个理想的丈夫，但得知您和他关系亲密，他临终时选择告诉您他的最后遗言，其中有几句是为她而说的，这让我深感感动。

She was weeping so piteously that Yūgiri too was in tears. —
她哭得非常伤心，夕霧也忍不住流泪了。 —

“It may have been because he was strangely old for his years that he came at the end to seem so extremely despondent. —
“也许是因为他年纪奇大，以至于最后显得极端消沉。” —

I had been foolish enough to fear that too much enlightenment might destroy his humanity and to caution him against letting it take the joy out of him. —
我之前愚蠢地担心过太多启蒙可能破坏他的人性，并警告他不要让启蒙夺走他的快乐。 —

I fear that I must have given him cause to think me superficial. —
我担心自己也许让他觉得我表面空洞。 —

But it is your daughter I am saddest for, though you may think it impertinent of me to say so. —
但我最为您的女儿感到难过，虽然您可能认为我多管闲事。 —

” His manner was warm and open. “Her grief and the waste seem worse than anything.”
他的态度友好开放。“她的悲伤和浪费似乎比任何事情都糟糕。”

This first visit was a short one.
这次第一次拜访很短。

He was five or six years younger than Kashiwagi, but a youthful receptivity had made Kashiwagi a good companion. —
他比柏木小五六岁，但春生对知识的好奇心使他成为了柏木的好伴侣。 —

Yūgiri had almost seemed the maturer of the two and certainly he was the more masculine, though his extraordinary good looks were also very youthful. —
夕霧似乎比两人更成熟、更有男子气概，尽管他那非凡的俊美也充满了青春气息。 —

He gave the young women who saw him off something happy to think about after all the sorrow.
他送别时让年轻女子们开心不再只想着悲伤。

There were cherry blossoms in the forward parts of the garden. —
花园前部开满了樱花。 —

“This year alone” — but the allusion did not seem a very apt one. —
“今年单独一枝” — 但这个暗示似乎并不太合适。 —

“If we wish to see them,” he said softly, and added a poem of his own, not, however, as if he had a specific audience in mind.
他轻声说道：“如果我们想看它们”，然后念了一首自己的诗，但似乎并非特定对象。

“Although a branch of this cherry tree has withered,
“虽然这棵樱花树的一支枝枯萎了，

It bursts into new bloom as its season comes.”
当它的季节来临时，就会迎来新的繁花。”

The old lady was prompt with her answer, which was sent out to him as he was about to leave:
老夫人迅速地回复了他，就在他即将离开时：

“The willow shoots this spring, not knowing where
“不知春风落花处，

The petals may have fallen, are wet with dew.”
柳条新芽湿露中。”

She had not perhaps been the deepest and subtlest of the Suzaku emperor’s ladies, but her talents had been much admired, and quite properly so, he thought.
他认为，她或许并不是最深奥微妙的苏雀帝的女宫，但她的才华确实受到了很多人的赞赏，很应该如此。

He went next to Tō no Chūjō‘s mansion, where numerous sons were gathered. —
他接着前往当称公邸，那里聚集了许多儿子们。 —

After putting himself in order Tō no Chūjō received him in the main drawing room. —
在整理好自己后，当称迎接他到主客厅。 —

Sorrow had not destroyed his good looks, though his face was thin and he wore a bushy beard, which had been allowed to grow all during his son’s illness. —
悲伤并没有毁掉他的俊美，尽管他的脸瘦了，脸上长着浓密的胡须，他的儿子病重期间这些胡须一直没剃。 —

He seemed to have been more affected by his son’s death than even by his mother’s. —
他似乎对儿子的去世更感到悲痛，甚至超过了母亲的去世。 —

The sight of him came near reducing Yūgiri to tears, but he thought weeping the last thing the occasion called for. —
见到他几乎让玉衡忍不住流泪，但他认为在这种场合哭泣是不合适的。 —

Tō no Chūjō was less successful at controlling his tears, for Yūgiri and the dead youth had been such very close friends. —
当称控制眼泪的能力较差一些，因为玉衡和这位已故青年是非常亲密的朋友。 —

The talk was of the stubborn, lingering sadness, and as it moved on to other matters Yūgiri told of his interview with the Second Princess’s mother. —
谈话里谈到了固执的、持久的悲伤，随着话题转向其他事情，玉衡讲述了他和次女郎之母的会面。 —

This time the minister’s tears were like a sudden spring shower. —
这一次，大臣的眼泪如夏季突然的阵雨。 —

Yūgiri took out a piece of notepaper on which he had jotted down the old lady’s poem.
玉衡拿出一张纸片，上面写着老夫人的诗句。

“I’m afraid I can’t make it out,” said Tō no Chūjō, trying to see through his tears. —
“我恐怕看不清楚了，”当Tō no Chūjō试图透过泪水看清时说道。 —

The face once so virile and proud had been softened by grief. —
曾经那张既英俊又自豪的脸庞因悲伤而柔和了。 —

Though the poem was not a particularly distinguished one the image about the dew on the willow shoots seemed very apt and brought on a new flood of tears.
虽然这首诗并不是特别出色的一首，但关于柳枝上的露水的意象似乎非常贴切，引发了新一轮的泪水。

“The autumn your mother died I thought that sorrow could not be crueler. —
“你母亲去世的那个秋天，我以为再也没有比那更残忍的悲伤了。 —

But she was a woman, and one does not see very much of women. —
但她是个女人，人们很少看到女人。 —

They tend to have few friends and to stay out of sight. My sorrow was an entirely private matter. —
她们往往朋友不多，也不愿出风头。我的悲伤完全是一种私人的事情。 —

My son was not a remarkably successful man, but he did attract the emperor’s gracious notice and as he grew older he rose in rank and influence, and more and more people looked to him for support. —
我的儿子虽然并不是一个特别成功的人，但他确实吸引了皇帝的恩宠，随着年龄增长，他在地位和影响力上逐渐上升，越来越多的人指望他的支持。 —

After their various circumstances they were all upset by his death. —
在各自的情况下，他们都被他的死亡所震惊。 —

Not of course that my grief has to do with prestige and influence. —
当然，我的悲伤与威望和影响力无关。 —

It is rather that I remember him before all this happened, and see what a dreadful loss it is. —
相反，我记得他在这一切发生之前，看到这是一个多么可怕的损失。 —

I wonder if I will ever be the same again.”
我不知道我还会不会恢复过来。”

Looking up into an evening sky which had misted over a dull gray, he seemed to notice for the first time that the tips of the cherry branches were bare. —
抬头望着变得阴沉灰暗的傍晚天空，他似乎第一次注意到樱花树枝的尖端已经光秃。 —

He jotted down a poem on the same piece of notepaper, beside that of the princess’s mother.
他在同一张便笺上写下了一首诗，与公主母亲的那首并列。

“Drenched by the fall from these trees, I mourn for a child
“被这些树上的秋雨打湿，我为一个本应按自然规律哀悼我的孩子

Who should in the natural order have mourned for me.”
却要我为他哀悼。”

Yūgiri answered:
沙弥叶回答道：

“I doubt that he who left us wished it so,
“我怀疑离开我们的人不会愿意如此，

That you should wear the misty robes of evening.”
让你穿上傍晚的雾衣。”

And Kashiwagi’s brother Kōbai:
柏木的兄弟红梅：

“Bitter, bitter — whom can he have meant
“苦涩，苦涩 — 他可能指的是谁

To wear the misty robes ere the advent of spring?”
在春天到来之前穿上了雾衣？”

The memorial services were very grand. Kumoinokari, Yūgiri’s wife, helped with them, of course, and Yūgiri made them his own special concern.
祭奠仪式非常庄重。沙弥叶的妻子云居宫当然会协助，而沙弥叶则特别关心这些事务。

He frequently visited the Ichijō mansion of the Second Princess. —
他经常去拜访二品宫的一条院。 —

There was something indefinably pleasant about the Fourth Month sky and the trees were a lovely expanse of new green; —
四月的天空莫名地愉悦，树木上都是美丽的新绿； —

but the house of sorrows was quiet and lonely, and for the ladies who lived there each new day was a new trial.
但是悲伤的房子却寂静而孤寂，对于住在那里的女子们来说，每一个新的一天都是一个新的考验。

It was in upon this sadness that he came visiting. —
正是在这种悲伤之上，他来访问。 —

Young grasses had sprung up all through the garden, and in the shade of a rock or a tree, where the sand covering was thin, wormwood and other weeds had taken over as if asserting an old claim. —
花园里长满了嫩草，在石头或树荫下，沙土浅浅地被蠒草和其他的杂草所占领，彷佛在宣示一个旧权。 —

The flowers that had been tended with such care were now rank and overgrown. —
曾经被精心呵护的花朵现在长势旺盛，杂草丛生。 —

He thought how clumps of grass now tidy and proper in the spring would in the autumn be a dense moor humming with insects, and he was in tears as he parted the dewy tangles and came up to the veranda. —
他想着春天整齐利落的草丛，到了秋天会变成一片密布着昆虫的浓密荒野，当他穿过布满露珠的缠绕时，眼泪涌上心头。 —

Rough blinds of mourning were hung all along the front of the house. —
前门口都挂着粗糙的悼念帘。 —

Through them he could see gray curtains newly changed for the season. —
透过它们，他看到了为新季节更换的灰色窗帘。 —

He had glimpses too of skirts that told of the presence of little page girls, very pretty and at the same time incongruously drab. —
他还偶尔瞥见穿着告诉他小页女孩的存在，她们既漂亮又不协调。 —

A place was set out for him on the veranda, but the women protested that he should be treated with more ceremony. —
他在阳台上有个位置，但女人们抗议说应该对他更加仪式化。 —

Vaguely unwell, the princess’s mother had been resting. —
公主的母亲感到隐隐不适，一直在休息。 —

He looked out into the garden as he talked with her women, and the indifference of the trees brought new pangs of sorrow. —
他在和女性交谈时望着花园，树木的冷漠带来了新的悲伤。 —

Their branches intertwined, an oak and a maple seemed younger than the rest. “How reassuring. —
他们的树枝交织在一起，一棵橡树和一棵枫树看起来比其他的更年轻。“多么令人 ger 的。 —

What bonds from other lives do you suppose have brought them together? —
你认为哪些来自其他生命的纽带将它们联系在一起？ —

” Quietly, he came nearer the blinds.
”他轻轻地走近百叶窗。

“By grace of the tree god let the branch so close
“借助树神的恩赐，让那根靠近枯枝的枝条靠近生长的枝条。

To the branch that withered be close to the branch that lives.
”他前倾，把手放在窗台上。

“I think it very unkind of you to keep me outdoors. —
女人们在低声交谈，讨论着他们正在被介绍给的更温和的弓弓。其中有一个小小，通过她传达了公主的回答。 —

” He leaned forward and put a hand on the sill.
“可能没有一位保护橡树的神。

The women were in whispered conversation about the gentler Yūgiri they were being introduced to. Among them was one Shōshō, through whom came the princess’s answer.
不要认为，即便如此，其树枝容易接近。

“There may not be a god protecting the oak.
如何对待让我外面等着，我觉得这非常无礼。

Think not, even so, its branches of easy access.
女人们在低声交谈，谈论着她们正在认识的温柔的弓弓。其中有一个小小，通过她传达了公主的回答。

“There is a kind of informality that can suggest a certain shallowness.
有一种随意随便可能会暗示某种肤浅。

He smiled. It was a point well taken. Sensing that her mother had come forward, he brought himself to attention.
他微笑了。这点很中肯。感觉到她母亲已经上前，他立即端正了姿态。

“My days have been uninterrupted gloom, and that may be why I have not been feeling well. —
“我这些日子一片阴郁，可能这也是我感觉不适的原因。 —

” She did indeed seem to be unwell. “I have been unable to think what to do next. —
”她看起来确实不太舒服。“我一直不知道接下来该怎么办。 —

You are very kind to come calling so often.”
你来访这么频繁，真是太好了。

“Your grief is quite understandable, but you should not let it get the better of you. —
“你的悲伤是可以理解的，但不应让它占据上风。 —

Everything is determined in other lives, everything has its time and goes.”
所有事情在其他生活中已经决定了，一切都有其时机和去处。”

The princess seemed to be a more considerable person than he had been led to expect. —
公主似乎比他先前想象的更加了不起。 —

She had had wretched luck, belittled in the first instance for having married beneath her and now for having been left a widow. —
她命运多舛，起初因为嫁给了低下的人，现在又成了遗孀。 —

He thought he might find her interesting, and questioned the mother with some eagerness. —
他觉得可能会发现她有趣，并且急切地询问了母亲。 —

He did not expect great beauty, but one could be fond of any lady who was not repulsively ugly. —
他不指望有极高的美貌，但任何一个不丑到令人反感的女士都可以让人喜欢。 —

Beauty could sometimes make a man forget himself, and the more important thing was an equable disposition.
美貌有时会让一个人忘记自己，更重要的是一个平和的性情。

“You must learn to tell yourself that I am as near as he once was. —
“你必须学会告诉自己，我就和他曾经一样近。 —

” His manner fell short of the insinuating, perhaps, but his earnestness did carry overtones all the same.
”他的态度或许未达到讨好的地步，但他的诚恳却也带有微妙的暗示。

He was very imposing and dignified in casual court dress.
他穿着非常气派庄重的休闲宫廷服装。

“His Lordship had a gentle sort of charm,” one of the women would seem to have whispered to another. —
“他的阁下拥有一种温和的魅力，”似乎有一位女士对另一位轻声说道。 —

“There was no one quite like him, really, for quiet charm and elegance. —
“真的没有人像他那样，对于安静的魅力和优雅。 —

But just see this gentleman, so vigorous and manly, all aglow with good looks. —
但是看看这位先生，如此健壮和有男子气概，满脸红润。 —

You want to squeal with delight the minute you set eyes on him. —
你一看到他就想欢呼雀跃。 —

There was no one like the other gentleman and there can’t be many like this one either. —
另一位绅士如此与众不同，而这位也少见得多。 —

If we need someone to look after us, well, we couldn’t do much better.”
如果我们需要有人照顾我们，嗯，我们找不到比他更好的了。”

“The grass first greens on the general’s grave,” he said to himself, very softly.
“草木在将军墓前最先变绿，”他心里默默地说。

There was no one, in a world of sad happenings near and remote, who did not regret Kashiwagi’s passing. —
在这个悲伤临近和遥远的世界中，没有一个不为柏木的离去感到悲痛。 —

Besides the more obvious virtues, he had been possessed of a most extraordinary gentleness and sensitivity, and even rather improbable courtiers and women, even very old women, remembered him with affection and sorrow. —
除了更显而易见的美德外，他还拥有一种非同寻常的温和和敏感，甚至相当荒谬的朝臣和女性，甚至是很老的女性，也怀念他并为他感到悲伤。 —

The emperor felt the loss very keenly, especially when there were concerts. —
皇帝对这个损失感到非常敏感，特别是在音乐会上。 —

“If only Kashiwagi were here.” The remark became standard on such occasions. —
“要是柏木在这里就好了。”这种说法在这种场合变得司空见惯。 —

Genji felt sadder as time went by. For him the little boy was a memento he could share with no one else. —
随着时间的推移，源氏感到更加悲伤。对于他来说，这个小男孩是他无法与他人分享的纪念物。 —

In the autumn the boy began crawling about on hands and knees.
秋天，这个男孩开始用双手爬行。