There was in those years a prince of the blood, an old man, left behind by the times. —
那些年里有一位血统上有王室血统的老人，被时代抛在了后头。 —

His mother was of the finest lineage. There had once been talk of seeking a favored position for him; —
他的母亲来自最高贵的家族。曾经有人提议为他争取一个优越地位; —

but there were disturbances and a new alignment of forces, at the end of which his prospects were in ruins. —
但是发生了动荡和力量重新分配，在这一切结束时他的前景已经破灭。 —

His supporters, embittered by this turn of events, were less than steadfast: —
支持者，因这一转变而感到怨恨，不再忠诚： —

they made their various excuses and left him. —
他们各自找借口，离开了他。 —

And so in his public life and in his private, he was quite alone, blocked at every turn. —
于是，在他的公共生活和私人生活中，他处处受阻，孤独一人。 —

His wife, the daughter of a former minister, had fits of bleakest depression at the thought of her parents and their plans for her, now of course in ruins. —
他的妻子是一位前大臣的女儿，每每想起父母和他们为她制定的计划，现在当然都成了泡影，便陷入最阴暗的抑郁中。 —

Her consolation was that she and her husband were close as husbands and wives seldom are. —
她的慰藉是她和丈夫之间关系亲密无间，鲜有夫妻能够比拟。 —

Their confidence in each other was complete.
他们对彼此的信任是完全的。

But here too there was a shadow: the years went by and they had no children. —
但是这里也有阴影：岁月流逝，他们没有孩子。 —

If only there were a pretty little child to break the loneliness and boredom, the prince would think — and sometimes give voice to his thoughts. —
如果能有一个可爱的小孩子来打破这种孤寂和无聊，王子会认为——并有时表达出他的想法。 —

And then, surprisingly, a very pretty daughter was in fact born to them. —
然后，令人惊讶的是，他们确实生了一个非常可爱的女儿。 —

She was the delight of their lives. Years passed, and there were signs that the princess was again with child. —
她是他们生活的快乐。岁月过去，有迹象表明公主又怀孕了。 —

The prince hoped that this time he would be favored with a son, but again the child was a daughter. —
王子希望这一次能生个儿子，但再次是个女儿。 —

Though the birth was easy enough, the princess fell desperately ill soon afterwards, and was dead before many days had passed. —
尽管生产相当顺利，公主在随后不久病重身亡，没有过多的日子就去世了。 —

The prince was numb with grief. The vulgar world had long had no place for him, he said, and frequently it had seemed quite unbearable; —
王子被悲痛所震撼。他说，粗俗的世界早已没有了他的位置，经常让他感到难以忍受。 —

and the bond that had held him to it had been the beauty and the gentleness of his wife. —
而将他与这个世界联系在一起的是他妻子的美丽和温柔。 —

How could he go on alone? And there were his daughters. —
他如何能够独自继续下去呢？还有他的女儿们。 —

How could he, alone, rear them in a manner that would not be a scandal? —
他如何能够独自地抚养她们，而不至于成为丑闻？ —

— for he was not, after all, a commoner. His conclusion was that he must take the tonsure. —
因为毕竟他并非普通百姓。他得出的结论是他必须剃发为僧。 —

Yet he hesitated. Once he was gone, there would be no one to see to the safety of his daughters.
然而他犹豫了。一旦他去世，就没有人能看护他的女儿们的安全。

So the years went by. The princesses grew up, each with her own grace and beauty. —
于是岁月在流逝。公主们渐渐长大，各自拥有自己的优雅和美丽。 —

It was difficult to find fault with them, they gave him what pleasure he had. —
很难指责她们，她们给他带来了他所拥有的一点点快乐。 —

The passing years offered him no opportunity to carry out his resolve.
逝去的岁月并没有给他执行决心的机会。

The serving women muttered to themselves that the younger girl’s very birth had been a mistake, and were not as diligent as they might have been in caring for her. —
侍女们私下议论着，说年幼的女儿的出生本身就是一个错误，并且在照顾她方面没有尽力。 —

With the prince it was a different matter. —
对于王子来说是另外一回事。 —

His wife, scarcely in control of her senses, had been especially tormented by thoughts of this new babe. —
他的妻子，几乎失去了理智，尤其为这个新生的婴儿感到痛苦。 —

She had left behind a single request: “Think of her as a keepsake, and be good to her.”
她留下了一个唯一的请求：“把她当成一个纪念，好好对待她。”

The prince himself was not without resentment at the child, that her birth should so swiftly have severed their bond from a former life, his and his princess’s.
王子本人对这个孩子也不无怨恨，他觉得她的出生急剧地中断了他和公主前世的联系。

“But such was the bond that it was,” he said. —
“但这就是那种联系，”他说。 —

“And she worried about the girl to the very end.”
“他一直担心着这个女孩，直到最后。”

The result was that if anything he doted upon the child to excess. —
结果是，如果说他对孩子溺爱过度的话，也不为过。 —

One almost sensed in her fragile beauty a sinister omen.
几乎能在她脆弱的美丽中感受到一种不祥的预兆。

The older girl was comely and of a gentle disposition, elegant in face and in manner, with a suggestion behind the elegance of hidden depths. —
年长的女孩容貌端庄，性情温和，既优雅又体贴，她的优雅背后似乎隐藏着深刻的内心。 —

In quiet grace, indeed, she was the superior of the two. —
无疑，她在静谧的优雅中更胜一筹。 —

And so the prince favored each as each in her special way demanded. —
所以王子对每个女孩都很宠爱，因为每个女孩都以自己的方式在要求着。 —

There were numerous matters which he was not able to order as he wished, however, and his household only grew sadder and lonelier as time went by. —
然而，有许多事情他无法如愿去处理，他的家中随着时间的流逝变得愈发悲伤和孤独。 —

His attendants, unable to bear the uncertainty of their prospects, took their leave one and two at a time. —
他的随从们无法忍受他们前途的不确定性，陆续一个又一个地离开。 —

In the confusion surrounding the birth of the younger girl, there had not been time to select a really suitable nurse for her. —
在年幼女孩出生时的混乱中，没有时间为她挑选一个真正合适的护士。 —

No more dedicated than one would have expected in the circumstances, the nurse first chosen abandoned her ward when the girl was still an infant. —
在那种情况下，第一位选中的护士并不比人们期望的更加尽心，竟在女孩还是婴儿时就抛弃了她。 —

Thereafter the prince himself took charge of her upbringing.
此后，王子本人负责抚养她。

Much care had gone into the planning of his garden. —
他的花园的规划进行得非常慎重。 —

Though the ponds and hillocks were as they had always been, the prince gazed listlessly out upon a garden returning to nature. —
虽然池塘和小山仍如旧，但王子无精打采地望着逐渐被大自然夺回的花园。 —

His stewards being of a not very diligent sort, there was no one to fight off the decay. —
由于管家们无精打采，没有人去对抗这种腐朽。 —

The garden was rank with weeds, and creeping ferns took over the eaves as if the house belonged to them. —
花园里杂草丛生，蕨类植物攀上屋檐，仿佛整座房子都属于它们一样。 —

The freshness of the cherry blossoms in spring, the tints of the autumn leaves, had been a consolation in loneliness while he had had his wife with him. —
春天樱花的新鲜，秋叶的色彩，在他有妻子陪伴时曾是孤独中的慰藉。 —

Now the beauties of the passing seasons only made him lonelier. —
现在，季节的美景只让他感到更加孤独。 —

It became his compelling duty to see that the chapel was properly appointed, and he spent his days and nights in religious observances. —
他的责任是确保教堂被适当装饰，他整天整夜地进行宗教仪式。 —

Even his affection for his daughters, because it was a bond with this world, made him strangely fretful. —
甚至对女儿的爱，因为它是与这个世界的联系，竟让他感到烦躁。 —

He had to set it down as a mark against him for some misdeed in a former life, the fact that he was not up to following his inclinations and renouncing the world. —
他必须承认这是他前世的某个过错的标志，他不能顺从内心的倾向并放弃这个世界。 —

The possibility that he might bow to custom and remarry seemed more and more remote. —
他可能会听从习俗再婚的可能性越来越渺茫。 —

Time went by and thoughts of marriage left him. —
时间流逝，结婚的想法离他越来越远。 —

He had become a saint who still wore the robes of this world. —
他已经成为仍穿着这个世界的袍服的圣徒。 —

His wife was dead and it was unthinkable that anyone should replace her.
他的妻子已经去世，任何人取代她都是不可想象的。

“Enough of this, Your Highness,” said the people around him. —
“殿下，够了，”他周围的人说。 —

“We understand, please believe us, why your grief was what it was when our lady left you. —
“请相信我们，我们理解，当我们的夫人离开您时，为什么您会如此悲伤。 —

But time passes, grief should not go on forever. Can you not bring yourself to do as others do? —
但时间流逝，悲伤不应永远延续。您能不能像别人一样行事？ —

And look at this house, if you will, with no one to watch over it. —
请看看这所房子，如果您愿意，无人看管。 —

If there were someone, anyone, for us to look to, it would not be the ruin it is.”
如果有人，是任何人，我们可以信赖，它就不会变成废墟。”

So they argued, and he was informed of numerous possible matches; but he would not listen. —
于是他们辩论，他得知了许多可能的配偶；但他不愿意听取。 —

When he was not at his prayers, his daughters were his companions. —
当他不在祈祷时，他的女儿们是他的伴侣。 —

They were growing up and they occupied themselves with music and Go, and word games, and other profitless pastimes. —
他们渐渐长大，他们用音乐、围棋、文字游戏和其他无益的消遣来打发时间。 —

Each had her own individual ways, he was beginning to notice. —
每个女孩都有自己独特的特点，他开始注意到了。 —

The older girl was composed and meditative, quick to learn but with a tendency toward moodiness. —
大女孩沉着冷静，善于思考但有些情绪化。 —

The younger, though also quiet and reserved, was distinguished by a certain shy and childlike gaiety.
小女孩虽然也文静内向，但却有一种害羞和天真的快乐。

One warm spring day he sat looking out over the garden. —
一个温暖的春日，他坐在花园里眺望着。 —

Mallards were swimming about on the pond, wing to wing, chattering happily to each other. —
野鸭在池塘里游来游去，翅膀相互相靠，愉快地互相交谈。 —

It was a sight which in earlier years would scarcely have caught the prince’s eye, but now he felt something like jealousy toward these mindless creatures, each steadfast to its mate.
这是他以前很少关注的景象，但现在他对这些无心之物感到了一丝妒忌，它们各自对伴侣忠诚。

He had the girls go over a music lesson, and very appealing they were too, as they bent their small figures to the work. —
他让女孩们复习音乐课程，她们俯下身子专心致志，看起来非常迷人。 —

The sound of the instruments was enough to bring tears to his eyes. —
乐器的声音甚至能够让他泪流满面。 —

Softly, he recited a verse, brushing away a tear as he did so.
他轻声吟唱一首诗，擦去了眼泪。

“She has left behind her mate, and these nestlings too.
“她已离开了伴侣，这些幼鸟也一样。

Why have they lingered in this uncertain world?”
他们为何留在这个不确定的世界？”

He was an extremely handsome man. Emaciation from years of abstinence only added to the courtliness of his bearing. —
他是一个极其英俊的男人。多年禁欲使他消瘦的身躯增添了他高贵举止的气质。 —

He had put on a figured robe for the music lesson. —
他为了音乐课穿上了一件镶花袍。 —

Somewhat rumpled, casually thrown over his shoulders, it seemed to emphasize by its very carelessness the nobility of the wearer.
有些蓬乱，随意地披在肩上，凭借着这种不经意的态度，似乎更凸显了穿着者的高贵。

Oigimi, the older girl, quietly took out an inkstone and seemed about to write a few lines on it.
年长的织川公主悄悄拿出一块墨砚，似乎要在上面写几行字。

“Come now. You know better than to write on an inkstone. —
“来吧，你知道不能在墨砚上写字。” —

” He pushed a sheet of paper towards her.
他把一张纸推到她面前。

“I know now, as I see it leave the nest,
“如今看着它离开巢，

How uncertain is the lot of the waterfowl.”
才知水鸟的命运多变。”

It was not a masterpiece, but in the circumstances it was very touching. —
虽然不是杰作，但在这种情况下却非常动人。 —

The hand showed promise even though the characters were separated one from another in a still childish fashion.
笔迹显示出潜力，尽管字符间的空格还有些像孩子写的。

“And now it is your turn,” he said to Nakanokimi, the younger.
“现在轮到你了，”他对年幼的中宫说。

More of a child than her sister, she took longer with her verse:
比姐姐更像个孩子，她的诗字写得更久一些：

“Unsheltered by the wing of the grieving father,
“没有父亲羽翼的遮蔽，

The nestling would surely have perished in the nest.”
雏鸟肯定会在巢中丧命。”

It saddened him to see the princesses, their robes shabby and wrinkled, no one to take care of them, bored and without hope of relief from boredom — but they were utterly charming on such occasions, each in her own way. —
看到公主们，身着破旧皱皱的衣服，没有人照顾她们，无聊且绝望地无法摆脱无聊之苦，这让他感到悲伤，但在这种场合下，她们各自以自己的方式极具魅力。 —

He read from the holy text in his hand, sometimes interrupting with a poem. —
他手中拿着圣经，有时会插入一首诗。 —

To the older girl he had taught the lute, to the younger the thirteen-stringed koto. —
对于年长的女孩，他教会了她琵琶，对于年幼的那位，他教会了她十三弦琴。 —

When they played duets, of which they were fond, he thought them very satisfactory pupils, if still somewhat immature.
当他们一起演奏二重奏时，他觉得他们是非常满意的学生，尽管有些不够成熟。

He had early lost his father, the old emperor, and his mother as well. —
他很早就失去了他的父亲，也失去了他的母亲。 —

Without the sort of resolute backing necessary for a youth in his position, he tended to neglect serious Chinese studies. —
没有必要支持一个身处高位的年轻人所需的坚定立场，他往往会忽略严肃的中国学习。 —

Practical matters of state and career were yet further beyond his grasp. —
国家事务和职业发展等实际问题更加超出了他的理解范围。 —

He was of an elegance extraordinary even for one of his birth, with a soft gentility that approached the womanish; —
他的优雅超出了他这个出身的寻常，拥有一种接近女性气质的温柔； —

and so the treasures from his ancestors, the fields left by his grandfather the minister, which at the outset had seemed inexhaustible, had presently disappeared, he could not have said where. —
因此，他祖辈留下的财富和他祖父这位大臣留下的田产，一开始似乎是无穷无尽的，但很快就消失了，他无法说出消失的原因。 —

Only his mansion and its furnishings — fine and numerous, to be sure — remained. —
只剩下他的豪宅和里面的陈设 — 虽然数量繁多，却精美无比。 —

The last of his retainers had left him, and the last of those with whom he might find companionship. To relieve the tedium he would summon eminent musicians from the palace and lose himself in impractical pursuits. —
他最后剩下的侍从也离开了他，他也找不到可以交往的对象。为了打发寂寞，他会邀请宫中的著名音乐家，沉迷于那些不切实际的追求中。 —

In the course of time he became as skilled a musician as his teachers.
他在以后的日子里变得和他的老师一样是一位技艺高超的音乐家。

He was the Eighth Prince, a younger brother of the shining Genji. During the years when the Reizei emperor was crown prince, the mother of the reigning emperor had sought in that conspiratorial way of hers to have the Eighth Prince named crown prince, replacing Reizei. —
他是八王子，闪耀的源氏的一个弟弟。在冷泉帝即位前，即位皇帝的母亲曾以一种阴谋的方式试图让八王子成为皇太子，取代冷泉。 —

The world seemed hers to rule as she wished, and the Eighth Prince was very much at the center of it. —
这个世界似乎在她想怎么支配就怎么支配，而八王子正处于这个世界的中心。 —

Unfortunately his success irritated the opposing faction. —
不幸的是，他的成功惹怒了反对派。 —

The day came when Genji and presently Yūgiri had the upper hand, and he was without supporters. —
那一天，源氏和随后的弓弦占了上风，他失去了支持者。 —

He had over the years become an ascetic in any case, and he now resigned himself to living the life of the sage and hermit.
多年来，他已经成为一个苦行僧，现在他决定过隐士和隐者的生活。

There came yet another disaster. As if fate had not been unkind enough already, his mansion was destroyed by fire. —
而接着又发生了另一场灾难。䶮天命已经对他不够残酷，他的宅邸被大火烧毁了。 —

Having no other suitable house in the city, he moved to Uji, some miles to the southeast, where he happened to own a tastefully appointed mountain villa. —
在城市附近找不到其他合适的住所之后，他搬到了离东南方向几英里的宇治，那里碰巧拥有一个布置精美的山庄。 —

He had renounced the world, it was true, and yet leaving the capital was a painful wrench indeed. —
他虽然已经舍弃了世俗，但离开京城确实是一种痛苦的分离。 —

With fishing weirs near at hand to heighten the roar of the river, the situation at Uji was hardly favorable to quiet study. —
在宇治，附近有钓鱼场，加剧了河水的喧哗，这种环境并不适合安静的学习。 —

But whit mustI e must be. With the flowering trees of spring and the leaves of autumn and the flow of the river to bring repose, he lost himself more than ever in solitary meditation. —
但他只能这样。春天盛开的树和秋天的叶子，以及河水的流淌，更让他沉浸在独自冥想之中。 —

There was one thought even so that never left his mind: —
尽管如此，他心头无时不刻不在想着一个念头： —

how much better it would be, even in these remote mountains, if his wife were with him!
即使在这些偏远的山区，如果他的妻子和他在一起会更好！

“She who was with me, the roof above are smoke.
“曾经与我同在的人，现在只剩下房顶上的烟。

And why must I alone remain behind?”
为什么我必须独自留下？”

So much was the past still with him that life scarcely seemed worth living.
过去的影子让他觉得生活几乎不值得。

Mountain upon mountain separated his dwelling from the larger world. —
山川层峦将他的住所与外界隔绝。 —

Rough people of the lower classes, woodcutters and the like, sometimes came by to do chores for him. There were no other callers. —
下等人，例如樵夫之类的粗鄙人有时会过来帮他做些杂事。除此之外，没有其他访客。 —

The gloom continued day after day, as stubborn and clinging as “the morning mist on the peaks.”
阴霾日复一日，顽固地像“山峰上的晨雾”一样挥之不去。

There happened to be in those Uji mountains an abbot, a most saintly man. —
宇治的山中住着一位方丈，他是一位崇高圣洁的人。 —

Though famous for his learning, he seldom took part in public rites. —
他虽然以学识闻名，但很少参与公共仪式。 —

He heard in the course of time that there was a prince living nearby, a man who was teaching himself the mysteries of the Good Law. Thinking this a most admirable undertaking, he made bold to visit the prince, who upon subsequent interviews was led deeper into the texts he had studied over the years. —
有段时间后，他听说附近有一位王子，一个正在自学善法奥秘的人。认为这是一种最令人赞赏的行为，他大胆地拜访了这位王子，接下来的会面中，王子被引领深入他多年研读的经文中。 —

The prince became more immediately aware of what was meant by the transience and uselessness of the material world.
王子更立即意识到了世俗世界的短暂和无用。

“In spirit,” he confessed, quite one with the holy man, “I have perhaps found my place upon the lotus of the clear pond; —
“在心灵上”，他与圣人感到无比亲近，“或许我已经找到了自己在清澈池塘的莲花上的位置； —

but I have not yet made my last farewells to the world because I cannot bring myself to leave my daughters behind.”
但我还没有向这个世界做最后的告别，因为我无法割舍我的女儿们。”

The abbot was an intimate of the Reizei emperor and had been his preceptor as well. —
这位方丈是礼仪仁宗的密友，也曾是他的师傅。 —

One day, visiting the city, he called upon the Reizei emperor to answer any questions that might have come to him since their last meeting.
有一天，他去城里拜访了礼仪仁宗，以回答自上次见面以来他心中的疑问。

“Your honored brother,” he said, bringing the Eighth Prince into the conversation, “has pursued his studies so diligently that he has been favored with the most remarkable insights. —
“贵兄弟”，他说着把第八王子牵扯进对话，“一直勤奋地研究，获得了非凡的洞察力。 —

Only a bond from a former life can account for such dedication. —
这种奋发是前世因缘所致。 —

Indeed, the depth of his understanding makes me want to call him a saint who has not yet left the world.”
事实上，他的理解之深令我想要称他为一个尚未离世的圣人。”

“He has not taken the tonsure? But I remember now — the young people do call him’the saint who is still one of us.’”
“他没有剃度吗？但我现在记起来了 —— 年轻人们称他为‘尚未离我们的圣人’。”

Kaoru chanced to be present at the interview. He listened intently. —
此时薰也在场。他聚精会神地听着。 —

No one knew better than he the futility of this world, and yet he passed useless days, his devotions hardly so frequent or intense as to attract public notice. —
没人比他更了解这个世界的无情，但他虚度光阴，虽然虔诚，却不足以引起公众关注。 —

The heart of a man who, though still in this world, was in all other respects a saint — to what might it be likened?
一个人的心灵，虽仍在尘世，却在其他方面都像一个圣人 —— 这又该比作何物呢？

The abbot continued:” He has long wanted to cut his last ties with the world, but a trifling matter made it difficult for him to carry out his resolve. —
方丈继续说道：“他早就想割舍最后的俗缘，但一件细小的事阻碍了他的决心。 —

Now he has two motherless children whom he cannot bring himself to leave behind. —
现在他有两个没了母亲的孩子，他无法割舍。 —

They are the burden he must bear.”
这是他必须承担的负担。”

The abbot himself had not entirely given up the pleasures of the world: he had a good ear for music. —
方丈本人并未完全放弃世俗的乐趣：他对音乐有着敏锐的感觉。 —

“And when their highnesses deign to play a duet,” he said, “they bid fair to outdo the music of the river, and put one in mind of the blessed musicians above.”
“当殿下们彼此合奏时，”他说，“他们似乎会超越河流的乐声，让人想起天上的神圣音乐家。”

The Reizei emperor smiled at this rather fusty way of stating the matter. —
冷泉天皇对这种有点陈旧的陈述方式微笑着。 —

“You would not expect girl s who have had a saint for their principal companion to have such accomplishments. —
“你不会想到曾以圣者为伴的女子会拥有这样的才华。 —

How pleasant to know about them — and what an uncommonly good father he must be! —
能够了解她们是多么愉快，她们的父亲一定是一位非同寻常的好父亲！” —

I am sure that the thought of having to leave them is pure torment. —
我肯定离开她们的念头会使他痛不欲生。 —

It is always possible that I will live longer than he, and if I do perhaps I may ask to be given responsibility for them.
也有可能是我比他活得久，如果是这样或许我会请求负起照顾她们的责任。

He was himself the tenth son of the family, younger than his brother at Uji. There was the example of the Suzaku emperor, who had left his young daughter in Genji’s charge. —
他本人是家族中的第十子，比宇治的兄弟年幼。却受到了朱雀天皇的影响，将他年幼的女儿托付给了源氏。 —

Something similar might be arranged, he thought. —
他想也许可以安排类似的情况。 —

He would have companions to relieve the monotony of his days.
他将会有同伴来打破日常生活的单调。

Kaoru was less interested in the daughters than in the father. —
薰对这些女儿的兴趣不如对父亲高。 —

Quite entranced with what he had heard, he longed to see for himself that figure so wrapped in the serenity of religion.
对所听到的信息感到着迷，他渴望亲眼见到被宗教所包围的那个身影。

“I have every intention of calling on him and asking him to be my master,” he said as the abbot left. —
“我有意拜访他，并请他做我的导师，”他在方丈离开时说。 —

“Might I ask you to find out, unobtrusively, of course, how he would greet the possibility?”
“请您替我悄悄地打听一下，当然不要引起注意，他对这个可能性会有何反应。”

“And tell him, please,” said the Reizei emperor, “that I have been much affected by your description of his holy retreat. —
“还请告诉他，”冷泉天皇说，“我对您描述的他的圣洁退隐之地深受感动。” —

” And he wrote down a verse to be delivered to the Eighth Prince.
他写下一首诗要送给八皇子。

“Wearily, my soul goes off to your mountains,
“我疲倦地去了你的山，

And cloud upon circling cloud holds my person back?”
云朵一个又一个围绕着我，拖住我？”

With the royal messenger in the lead, the abbot set off for Uji, thinking to visit the Eighth Prince on his way back to the monastery. —
带领着皇家使者，主持人启程前往宇治，想在回寺庙的途中拜访八皇子。 —

The prince so seldom heard from anyone that he was overjoyed at these tidings. —
八皇子很少收到来自他人的消息，听到这个消息感到非常高兴。 —

He ordered wine for his guests and side dishes peculiar to the region. —
他为客人准备了酒和当地的小菜。 —

This was the poem he sent back to his brother:
这是他回复给他兄弟的诗句：

“I am not as free as I seem. From the gloom of the world
“我并不像看起来那么自由。从世界的阴暗中，

I retreat only briefly to the Hill of Gloom.”
我只是短暂地退隐到幽暗的山上。”

He declined to call himself one of the truly enlightened. —
他拒绝自称为真正的圣者。 —

The vulgar world still called up regrets and resentments, thought the Reizei emperor, much moved.
令冷泉天皇深受触动：俗世依然引起懊悔和怨恨。

The abbot also spoke of Kaoru, who, he said, was of a strongly religious bent. —
主持人还提到了薰，他说，薰非常虔诚。 —

“He asked me most earnestly to tell you about him: —
“他非常恳切地让我告诉你关于他的事： —

to tell you that he has longed since childhood to give himself up to study of the scriptures; —
告诉你，他自小时候就渴望投身于经典的学习； —

that he has been kept busy with inconsequential affairs, public and private, and has been unable to leave the world; —
但他一直被琐事所累，公私忙碌，无法离开尘世；” —

that since these affairs are trivial in any case and no one could call his career a brilliant one, he could hardly expect people to notice if he were to lock himself up in prayers and meditation; —
既然这些事情本来就微不足道，再也没有人会称赞他的事业卓著，他几乎不可能指望别人会注意到如果他要闭门祈祷和冥想； —

that he has had an unfortunate way of letting himself be distracted. —
他总是不幸地让自己分心。 —

And when he had entrusted me with all this, he added that, having heard through me of your own revered person, he could
当他把这一切都托付给我之后，又补充说，通过我得知了您的尊贵身份，他能够

“When there has been a great misfortune,” said the prince, “when the whole world seems hostile — that is when most people come to think it a flimsy fa? —
“当发生了巨大的不幸时，”王子说，”当整个世界似乎都对你不利-那时大多数人会认为这个世界是虚弱的，不再想要有任何关系。我只能惊讶于一个前途一片光明，一切都顺心如意的年轻人会开始考虑其他世界。 —

ade, and wish to have no more of it. I can only marvel that a young man for whom everything lies ahead, who has had everything his way, should start thinking of other worlds. —
就我而言，看起来，似乎当时的力量有意安排事务来使我的心思转变，所以我像当然地转向了宗教。 —

In my own case, it often seems to me, the powers deliberately arranged matters to give my mind such a turn, and so I came to religion as if it were the natural thing. —
我想我已经找到了一定程度的平静，我想； —

I have managed to find a certain amount of peace, I suppose; —
And when he had entrusted me with all this, he added that, having heard through me of your own revered person, he could —

but when I think of the short time I have left and of how slowly my preparations creep forward, I know that what I have learned comes to nothing and that in the end it will still be nothing. —
但是当我想到我所剩的时间很短，以及我的准备进展得很慢时，我知道我所学到的一切都是无用的，最终还是一无所有。 —

No, I am afraid I would be a scandalously bad teacher. —
不，我担心我会是一个声名狼藉的糟糕老师。 —

Let him think of me as a fellow seeker after truth, a very humble one.”
让他把我视为一个真理寻求者，一个非常谦卑的真理寻求者。

Kaoru and the prince exchanged letters and presently Kaoru paid his first visit.
薰和亲王互相通信，不久薰进行了第一次访问。

It was an even sadder place than the abbot’s description had led him to expect. —
这个地方比方丈的描述导致他期望的还要悲伤。 —

The house itself was like a grass hut put up for a few days’ shelter, and as for the furnishings, everything even remotely suggesting luxury had been dispensed with. —
房子本身就像是建立起来供几天庇护的草屋，至于家具，一切甚至稍有奢华意味的东西都被省去。 —

There were mountain villages that had their own quiet charm; —
有一些山村有着他们自己的宁静魅力； —

but here the tumult of the waters and the wailing of the wind must make it impossible to have a moment free of sad thoughts. —
但在这里水的喧嚣和风的哀号肯定让无法有一刻可以摆脱悲伤。 —

He could see why a man on the way to enlightenment might seek out such a place as a means of cutting his ties with the world. —
他能理解一个前去启迪的人为何会寻找这样一个地方，作为摆脱世俗之缚的手段。 —

But what of the daughters? Did they not have the usual fondness for delicate, ladylike things?
但是女儿们呢？难道她们没有对精致娇俏的事物的喜爱？

A sliding partition seemed to separate the chapel from their rooms. —
一个推拉门似乎将礼拜堂与她们的房间隔开。 —

A youth of more amorous inclinations would have approached and made himself known, curious to see what his reception would be. —
一个更多情的年轻人会接近并去介绍自己，好奇看看他的接待会是怎样的。 —

Kaoru was not above feeling a certain excitement at being so near; —
薰并不免感到某种兴奋，因为如此近距离； —

but a show of interest would have betrayed his whole purpose, which was to be free of just such thoughts, here in distant mountains. —
但表现出兴趣将会泄露出他访问的真正目的，那就是在这遥远山区摆脱这类思绪。 —

The smallest hint of frivolity would have denied the reason for the visit.
即使是最微小的轻佻迹象也会否认访问的理由。

Deeply moved by the saintly figure before him, he offered the warmest avowals of friendship. —
感受深深地被圣洁的人物所打动，他献上了最热情的友谊宣言。 —

His visits were frequent thereafter. Nowhere did he find evidence of shallowness in the discourses to which he was treated; —
此后，他经常造访。他在所受的演讲中找不到肤浅的迹象； —

nor was there a suggestion of pompousness in the prince’s explanations of the scriptures and of his profoundly significant reasons, even though he had stopped short of taking the tonsure, for living in the mountains.
亲王对经文的解释和他对于生活在山中的深刻意义的理由并没有表现出盛气凌人，即使他没有剃度，他的解释非常引人入胜。

The world was full of saintly and learned men, but the stiff, forbidding bishops and patriarchs who were such repositories of virtue had little time of their own, and he found it far from easy to approach them with his questions. —
世界上有许多圣洁和博学的人，但那些刻板严肃的主教和牧首，他们虽然是品德的储藏库，却几乎没有自己的时间，他发现很难去询问他们的问题。 —

Then there were lesser disciples of the Buddha. —
然后是佛陀的一些较小的门徒。 —

They were to be admired for observing the discipline, it was true; —
他们值得钦佩是因为遵守纪律，这是真实的； —

but they tended to be vulgar and obsequious in their manner and rustic in their speech, and they could be familiar to the point of rudeness. —
但他们倾向于在态度上显得庸俗和阿谀奉承，在言谈举止上显得粗俗，甚至可能过于粗鲁地亲近。 —

Since Kaoru was busy with official duties in the daytime, it was in the quiet of the evening, in the intimacy of his private chambers, that he liked to have company. —
因为薰白天忙于公务，在晚间的私人房间里，他喜欢有人陪伴。 —

Such people would not do.
这样的人不行。

Now he had found a man who combined great elegance with a reticence that certainly was not obsequious, and who, even when he was discussing the Good Law, was adept at bringing plain, familiar similes into his discourse. —
现在他找到了一个人，他既优雅又不卑躬屈膝，即使在谈论善法时，也善于用简单、熟悉的比喻来表达。 —

He was not, perhaps, among the completely enlightened, but people of birth and culture have their own insights into the nature of things. —
也许他不完全觉悟，但出身高贵有文化的人对事物的本质有着自己的见解。 —

After repeated visits Kaoru came to feel that he wanted to be always at the prince’s side, and he would be overtaken by intense longing when official duties kept him away for a time.
经过多次访问，薰感觉到自己渴望始终在王子身边，每当公务使他暂别一段时间，他就会被强烈的思念所折磨。

Impressed by Kaoru’s devotion, the Reizei emperor sent messages; —
受到薰的热诚感动，冷泉帝派人带来了讯息； —

and so the Uji house, silent and forgotten by the world, came to have visitors again. —
于是，原本被世人遗忘的宇治宅，又有了来访的客人。 —

Sometimes the Reizei emperor sent lavish gifts and supplies. —
有时，冷泉帝会送来丰富的礼物和物资。 —

In pleasant matters having to do with the seasons and the festivals and in practical matters as well, Kaoru missed no chance to be of service.
在与季节、节日相关的愉快事项以及实际事务中，薰不放过任何机会去效劳。

Three years went by. It was the end of autumn, and the time had come for the quarterly reading of the scriptures. —
三年过去了。秋末时节，该轮的诵经时刻到了。 —

The roar of the fish weirs was more than a man could bear, said the Eighth Prince as he set off for the abbot’s monastery, there to spend a week in retreat.
第八皇子说，鱼篓的咆哮声超出了人们的承受能力，他启程前往方丈寺进行为期一周的闭关。

The princesses were lonelier than ever. It had been weighing on Kaoru’s mind that too much time had passed since his last visit. —
公主们比以往更孤独了。薰心里一直有个想法，因为太久没有去拜访，让他有些愧疚。 —

One night as a late moon was coming over the hills he set out for Uji, his guard as unobtrusive as possible, his caparison of the simplest. —
当月落山头时，他在晚月明亮的夜晚踏上了前往宇治的旅程，他的侍卫尽量不显眼，他的装束异常简朴。 —

He could go on horseback and did not have to worry about a boat, since the prince’s villa was on the near side of the Uji River. As he came into the mountains the mist was so heavy and the underbrush so thick that he could hardly make out the path; —
他可以骑马前行，也不必担心船只，因为王子府邸就在宇治河这边。当他来到山间时，雾气弥漫，灌木丛密，几乎看不清道路； —

and as he pushed his way through thickets the rough wind would throw showers of dew upon him from a turmoil of falling leaves. —
他挤过丛林，粗野的风会将滋润的露水从一片飘落的叶子的混乱中洒在他身上。 —

He was very cold, and, though he had no one to blame but himself, he had to admit that he was also very wet. —
他非常冷，虽然只能责怪自己，但也不得不承认他也很湿。 —

This was not the sort of journey he was accustomed to. —
这并不是他习惯的旅程。 —

It was sobering and at the same time exciting.
这既让人清醒又让人兴奋。

“From leaves that cannot withstand the mountain wind
“无法抵挡山风的叶子

The dew is falling. My tears fall yet more freely.”
露珠飘落。而我的泪水更加自由地流淌。”

He forbade his outrunners to raise their usual cries, for the woodcutters in these mountains could be troublesome. —
他禁止他的先遣队发出惯常的呼声，因为这些山中的樵夫可能很麻烦。 —

Brushing through a wattle fence, crossing a rivulet that meandered down from nowhere, he tried as best he could to silence the hoofs of his colt. —
穿过一个篱笆，跨过一条蜿蜒而下的小溪，尽他所能让小马的蹄声减轻。 —

But he could not keep that extraordinary fragrance from wandering off on the wind, and more than one family awoke in surprise at “the scent of an unknown master.”
但他无法阻止那种非凡的芬芳在风中飘散，不止一个家庭惊讶地在梦中闻到“陌生主人的香味”。

As he drew near the Uji house, he could hear the plucking of he did not know what instrument, unimaginably still and lonely. —
当他走近宇治府邸时，听到了他不知道什么乐器的拨弦声，无法想象的安静和孤独。 —

He had heard from the abbot that the prince liked to practice with his daughters, but somehow had not found occasion to hear that famous koto. —
他曾从庙僧那里听说王子喜欢跟他的女儿们一起练习，但因某种原因未能听到那著名的箜篌。 —

This would be his chance. Making his way into the grounds, he knew that he had been listening to a lute, tuned to the ōjiki mode. —
这将是他的机会。进入庭园时，他知道自己一直在听一把调成“大吉”的琵琶。 —

There was nothing unusual about the melody. —
曲调并不特别。 —

Perhaps the strangeness of the setting had made it seem different. —
或许环境的陌生使它显得与众不同。 —

The sound was cool and clean, especially when a string was plucked from beneath. —
声音清澈凉爽，尤其是从下面拨动琴弦时。 —

The lute fell silent and there were a few quiet strokes on a koto. —
琵琶声停了，随之传来几声轻柔的箜篌音。 —

He would have liked to listen on, but he was challenged by a man with a somewhat threatening manner, one of the guards, it would seem.
他本想听下去，但被一个态度威胁的卫兵拦住了，看起来像是卫兵之一。

The man immediately recognized him and explained that, for certain reasons, the prince had gone into seclusion in a mountain monastery. —
这个人立刻认出了他，并解释说，由于某些原因，王子已经隐居在一座山中的寺庙里。 —

He would be informed immediately of the visit.
他会立即通知王子有客人来访。

“Please do not bother,” said Kaoru. “It would be a pity to interrupt his retreat when it will be over soon in any case. —
“请不必打扰，”卡欧说，“打断他的闭关没必要，毕竟很快就会结束。” —

But do tell the ladies that I have arrived, sodden as you see me, and must go back with my mission unaccomplished; —
但请告诉那几位女士我已经到了，虽然被淋湿了，但我必须带着未完成的使命回去； —

and if they are sorry for me that will be my reward.”
如果她们为我感到遗憾，那就是我收到的回报。

The rough face broke into a smile. “They will be informed.”
粗犷的脸庞露出了笑容。“她们会得到通知的。”

But as he turned to depart, Kaoru called him back. “No, wait a minute. —
但在他转身离开时，卡欧叫住了他。“等一等。 —

For years I have been fascinated by stories I have heard of their playing, and this is my chance. —
多年来，我一直被听到她们演奏的故事所迷惑，这是我的机会。 —

Will there be somewhere that I might hide and listen for a while? —
有没有地方可以隐藏一会儿，听他们演奏一段时间？ —

If I were to rush in on them they would of course stop, and that would be the last thing I would want.”
如果我冲进去，她们当然会停下，那是我最不希望的事情。”

His face and manner were such as to quell even the most untamed of rustics. “This is how it is. —
他的面孔和态度足以镇压甚至最不受控制的乡下人。“情况就是这样。 —

They are at it morning and night when there is no one around to hear. —
只要没人在附近听见，她们早晚就会开始演奏。 —

But let someone come from the city even if he is in rags, and they won’t let you have a twang of it. —
但让城里有人出现，即使他衣衫褴褛，她们也不让你听一下。 —

No one’s supposed to know they even exist. —
没人知道她们的存在。 —

That’s how His Highness wants it.”
这就是殿下的意愿。

Kaoru smiled. “Now there is an odd sort of secret for you. —
薰微笑着。“现在有个奇怪的秘密要告诉你。 —

The whole world knows that two specimens of the rarest beauty are hidden here. But come. —
全世界都知道这里藏着两个极其美丽的珍稀品种。但是请来吧。 —

Show me the way. I have all the best intentions. That is the way I am, I assure you. —
带我去。我对此怀有最良好的意图，我向你保证。 —

” His manner was grave and courteous. “It is hard to believe that they can be less than perfect.”
他的态度庄重而有礼貌。“很难相信它们会不完美。”

“Suppose they find out, sir. I might be in trouble.”
“假如她们知道了，先生。我会有麻烦的。”

Nonetheless he led Kaoru to a secluded wing fenced off by wattled bamboo and the guards to the west veranda, where he saw to their needs as best he could.
尽管如此，他领着薰走去了一处由篱笆竹篱围起的僻静区域，把西侧阳台的卫兵安排好。

A gate seemed to lead to the princesses’ rooms. Kaoru pushed it open a little. —
一扇门似乎通往公主们的房间。薰把它推开了一点点。 —

The blind had been half raised to give a view of the moon, more beautiful for the mist. —
百叶窗开了一半，透出了月光，因为蒙蒙细雨，显得更加美丽。 —

A young girl, tiny and delicate, her soft robe somewhat rumpled, sat shivering at the veranda. —
一个年轻的女孩，娇小玲珑，她柔软的衣裳有些皱蹙，坐在阳台上发抖。 —

With her was an older woman similarly dressed. The princesses were farther inside. —
旁边有一位穿着类似的老妇人。公主们在更里面。 —

Half hidden by a pillar, one had a lute before her and sat toying with the plectrum. —
一位被柱子半遮半掩的女子，并排在她面前有着一把琵琶，正在弹弄着。 —

Just then the moon burst forth in all its brilliance.
正在这时，月亮突然绽放出所有的光芒。

“Well, now,” she said. “This does quite as well as a fan for bringing out the moon. —
“那，现在，”她说。“这比一把扇子更好地展现了月亮。 —

” The upraised face was bright and lively.
”她朝上仰脸明亮而活泼。

The other, leaning against an armrest, had a koto before her. —
另一个女子则倚在扶手上，面前摆着一张箜篌。 —

“I have heard that you summon the sun with one of those objects, but you seem to have ideas of your own on how to use it. —
“我听说你们可以用这种乐器唤起太阳，但你似乎有自己的想法。” —

” She was smiling, a melancholy, contemplative sort of smile.
她微笑着，那微笑有些忧郁、凝思。

“I may be asking too much, I admit, but you have to admit that lutes and moons are related.”
“我可能要求过多了，但你得承认，琵琶和月亮是有关联的。”

It was a charming scene, utterly unlike what Kaoru had imagined from afar. —
这是个迷人的场景，完全不同于薰曦先前所想象的。 —

He had often enough heard the young women of his household reading from old romances. —
他经常听到家中的年轻女子们念旧时的传奇故事。 —

They were always coming upon such scenes, and he had thought them the most unadulterated nonsense. —
他们总是遇到这种场面，他觉得那都是些无稽之谈。 —

And here, hidden away from the world, was a scene as affecting as any in a romance. —
而此刻，他在隐秘世界中看到了一幅比传奇故事还动人的场景。 —

He was dangerously near losing control of himself. —
他危险地靠近失控。 —

The mist had deepened until he could barely make out the figures of the princesses. —
薄雾愈发浓密，他几乎看不清公主们的身影。 —

Summon it forth again, he whispered — but a woman had come from within to tell them of the caller. The blind was lowered and everyone withdrew to the rear of the house. —
“再次召唤它出现”，他低声喃喃，但一位女士开门进来，告诉她们来访者的身份。帘子落下，每个人都从房屋后退开。 —

There was nothing confused, nothing disorderly about the withdrawal, so calm and quiet that he caught not even a rustling of silk. —
撤退丝毫没有混乱，也没有令人困惑，如此平静安静以至于他听不到丝绸的窸窸窣窣声。 —

Elegance and grace could at times push admiration to the point of envy.
雅致与优雅有时会引起嫉妒到一定程度。

He slipped out and sent someone back to the city for a carriage.
他悄悄溜出去，派人回城里准备一辆马车。

“I was sorry to find the prince away,” he said to the man who had been so helpful, “but I have drawn some consolation from what you have been so good as to let me see. —
“没能见到王子我感到很遗憾，但你给我的安慰已经足够。”他对一直帮忙的那人说。“ —

Might I ask you to tell them that I am here, and to add that I am thoroughly drenched?”
我可以请你告诉她们我在这里，并且告诉她们我已经湿透了吗？

The ladies were in an agony of embarrassment. —
这些女士们非常尴尬不已。 —

They had not dreamed that anyone would be looking in at them — and had he even overheard that silly conversation? —
她们没有想到会有人窥视她们——他甚至有没有偶然听到那场愚蠢的谈话呢？ —

Now that they thought of it, there had been a peculiar fragrance on the wind; —
现在她们想起来，这风中曾有一种奇特的芳香； —

but the hour was late and they had not paid much attention. Could anything be more embarrassing? —
但此时已经很晚了，她们并没有太在意。还有什么比这更尴尬的吗？ —

Impatient at the woman assigned to deliver his message — she did not seem to have the experience for the task — Kaoru decided that there was a time for boldness and a time for reserve; —
Kaoru对被派送他信息的女人感到不耐烦——她似乎缺乏这项任务所需的经验——Kaoru决定有时要勇敢一点，有时要保守一点； —

and the mist was in his favor. He advanced to the blind that bed been raised earlier and knelt deferentially before it. —
而雾气正好帮了他一个小忙。他走到早些时候提起的窗帘前，恭敬地跪了下来。 —

The countrified maids had not the first notion of what to say to him. —
这些乡村女仆根本不知道对他说什么。 —

Indeed they seemed incapable of so ordinary a courtesy as inviting him to sit down.
事实上，她们似乎连请他坐下这样一般的礼貌都不会。

“You must see how uncomfortable I am,” he said quietly. “I have come over steep mountains. —
“你一定能看出我有多不舒服，”他轻声说道。“我刚从险峻的山上赶来。 —

You cannot believe, surely, that a man with improper intentions would have gone to the trouble. —
你一定不能相信，一个带着不端意图的人会费这样大的劲。 —

This is not the reward I expected. But I take some comfort in the thought that if I submit to the drenching time after time your ladies may come to understand.”
这不是我所期待的报酬。但我在想到如果我一遍又一遍地忍受淋湿，你们的女士们或许会明白。”

They were young and incapable of a proper answer. They seemed to wither and crumple. —
她们年轻，无法给出合适的回答。她们似乎越发羞愧退缩。 —

It was taking a great deal of time to summon a more experienced woman from the inner chambers. —
从内室召来更有经验的女人花了很长时间。 —

The prolonged silence, Oigimi feared, might make it seem that they were being coy.
Oigimi担心这长时间的沉默可能让她们看起来在故作害羞。

“We know nothing, nothing. How can we pretend otherwise? —
“我们一无所知，一无所知。我们如何能假装知道？ —

” It was an elegantly modulated voice, but so soft that he could scarcely make it out.
“那是一个优雅而温和的声音，但是如此轻柔以至于他几乎听不清。

“One of the more trying mannerisms of this world, I have always thought, is for people who know its cruelties to pretend that they do not. —
“这个世界中更加让人烦恼的一种举止，我一直认为，是那些知道其残酷性的人假装他们不知道。 —

Even you are guilty of the fault, which I find more annoying than I can tell you. —
“即便是你也犯了这个错，我觉得比我能告诉你的还要让人烦恼。 —

Your honored father has gained deep insights into the nature of things. —
“你尊贵的父亲对事物的本质有深刻的洞察。 —

You have lived here with him. I should have thought that you would have gained similar insights, and that they might now demonstrate their worth by making you see the intensity of my feelings and the difficulty with which I contain them. —
“你和他住在一起。我本以为你会获得类似的洞察，而且它们现在可能会通过让你看到我的感情的强烈程度和我难以控制它们的困难来证明它们的价值。 —

You cannot believe, surely, that I am the usual sort of adventurer. —
“你肯定不会相信我是那种平凡的冒险者。 —

I fear that I am of a rather inflexible nature and refuse to wander in that direction even when others try to lead me. —
“恐怕我有一种相当刚硬的性格，即使别人试图引导我也拒绝往那个方向去漫步。 —

These facts are general knowledge and will perhaps have reached your ears. —
“这些事实是众所周知的，也许已经传到你的耳朵里了。 —

If I had your permission to tell you of my silent days, if I could hope to have you come forward and seek some relief from your solitude — I cannot describe the pleasure it would give me.”
“如果有你的允许让我告诉你我的寂静的日子，如果我能希望你前来寻求一些来自你孤独的解脱 — 我无法描述这将给我带来的快乐。”

Oigimi, too shy to answer, deferred to an older woman who had at length been brought from her room.
“Oigimi太害羞了，不敢回答，转而听从一个被带出来的年长妇人。

There was nothing reticent about her. “Oh no! You’ve left him out there all by himself! —
“她并不隐瞒，“哦不！你把他一个人留在那里！ —

Bring him in this minute. I simply do not understand young people. —
“立刻把他带进来。我简直不理解年轻人。 —

” The princesses must have found this as trying as the silence. “You see how it is, sir. —
“公主们一定觉得这种沉默和搁置同样令人烦恼。“你看看情况，先生。 —

His Highness has decided to live as if he did not belong to the human race. —
“殿下已决定以一种好像他不属于人类的方式生活了起来。 —

No one comes calling these days, not even people you’d think would never forget what they owe him. And here you are, good enough to come and see us. —
现在没有人来拜访了，甚至那些你认为永远不会忘记他们欠他的人也不来了。而你却很好能来看我们。 —

I may be stupid and insensitive, but I know when to be grateful. —
我可能很愚蠢和麻木，但我知道何时感恩。 —

So do my ladies. But they are so shy.”
我的女士们也一样。但她们很害羞。

Kaoru was somewhat taken aback. Yet the woman’s manner suggested considerable polish and experience, and her voice was not unpleasant.
薰有点吃惊。然而，这个女人的态度表明她相当有修养和经验，而且她的声音也不错。

“I had been feeling rather unhappy,” he said, “and your words cheer me enormously. —
“我一直感到很不快乐，”他说，“你的话给了我很大的鼓励。 —

It is good to be told that they understand.”
被告知他们理解是一种幸事。”

He had come inside. Through the curtains, the old woman could make him out in the dawn light. —
他已经走到屋里。通过窗帘，老妇人看得出他在晨光中的模样。 —

It was as she had been told: he had discarded every pretense of finery and come in rough travel garb, and he was drenched. —
正如她所听说的那样：他已经丢掉了所有繁华的假象，穿着粗旅行服进来，而且浑身湿透。 —

A most extraordinary fragrance — it hardly seemed of this world — filled the air.
一种非常特别的芬芳——几乎似乎不属于这个世界——弥漫在空气中。

“I would not want you to think me forward,” she said, and there were tears in her voice; —
“我不想让你觉得我唐突，”她说，声音里带着泪水； —

“but I have hoped over the years that the day might come when I could tell you a little, the smallest bit, of a sad story of long ago. —
“但多年来，我一直希望有一天能告诉你一点点，即使是微小的，关于很久以前的一个悲伤故事。 —

” Her voice was trembling. “In among my other prayers I have put a prayer that the day might come, and now it seems that the prayer has been answered. —
她的声音在颤抖。“在我的其他祷告中，我祈祷这一天终将到来，现在看来这个祷告已经被应允了。 —

How I have longed for this moment! But see what is happening. —
我多么盼望这一刻！但看看现在发生的事。 —

I am all choked up before I have come to the first word.”
我才刚说出第一个字就感到心满意足。”

He had heard, and it had been his experience, that old people weep easily. —
他听说过，也有过自己的经历，老年人很容易哭泣。 —

This, however, was no ordinary display of feeling.
然而，这并不是普通的情感表达。

“I have fought my way here so many times and not known that a perceptive lady like yourself was in residence. —
“我曾为了这里战斗过很多次，却不知道像您这样有洞察力的女士正在这里。 —

Come, this is your chance. Do not leave anything out.”
来吧，这是你的机会。什么都不要隐瞒。”

“This is my chance, and there may not be another. —
“这是我的机会，也许不会再有下一次。 —

When you are my age you can’t be sure that you will last the night. Well, let me talk. —
当你到了我的年纪，你就不能确定自己是否能活到明天。好吧，让我说说。 —

Let me tell you that this old hag is still among the living. —
让我告诉你，这个老妇人仍然活着。 —

I have heard somewhere that Kojijū, the one who waited upon your revered mother — I have heard that she is dead. —
我从某处听说过，侍奉过你尊敬的母亲的小姑娘小侍应久已去世。 —

So it goes. Most of the people I was fond of are dead, the people who were young when I was young. —
事情就是这样。我喜欢的大多数人都已经去世了，那些我年轻时喜欢的人。 —

And after I had outlived them all, certain family ties brought me back from the far provinces, and I have been in the service of my ladies these five or six years. —
当我活过他们所有人之后，某些家庭关系把我从远方的省份带回来，这五六年来我一直侍奉着我的女主人。 —

None of this, I am sure, will have come to your attention. —
我相信你肯定不会注意到这些。 —

But you may have heard of the young gentleman who was a guards captain when he died. —
但你可能听说过一位年轻绅士，他在去世时是卫队队长。 —

I am told that his brother is now a grand councillor. —
有人告诉我他的兄弟现在是一位大官员。 —

It hardly seems possible that we have had time to dry our tears, and yet I count on my fingers and I see that there really have been years enough for you to be the fine young gentleman you are. —
我们似乎还来不及擦干眼泪，然而我数指头，发现我们确实已经有足够的年月让你成为优秀的年轻绅士了。 —

They seem like a dream, all those years.
所有那些年似乎都像一场梦。

“My mother was his nurse. I was privileged myself to wait upon him. —
“我母亲是他的保姆。我自己也有幸侍奉他。 —

I did not matter, of course, but he sometimes told me secrets he kept from others, let slip things he could not keep to himself. —
我并不重要，当然，但他有时会告诉我他对其他人隐瞒的秘密，透露出他无法独自守藏的事情。 —

And as he lay dying he called me to his side and left a will, I suppose you might call it. —
当他奄奄一息的时候，他叫我到他身边，留下了一份遗嘱，我想你可以这样称呼它。 —

There were things in it I knew I must tell you of someday. But no more. —
遗嘱里有一些事情，我知道总有一天我必须告诉你。但现在不行。 —

You will ask why, having said this much, I do not go on. —
你一定会问为什么，既然说了这么多，我为什么不继续讲下去。 —

Well, there may after all be another chance and I can tell you everything. —
好吧，说不定还会有另一次机会，我可以告诉你一切。 —

These youngsters are of the opinion that I have said too much already, and they are right. —
这些年轻人认为我已经说得太多了，他们是对的。 —

” She was a loquacious old person obviously, but now she fell silent.
她显然是一个多话的老人，但现在她陷入了沉默。

It was like a story in a dream, like the unprompted recital of a medium in a trance. —
这就像梦中的故事，仿佛是陷入了催眠状态的通灵者不假思索地背诵。 —

It was too odd — and at the same time it touched upon events of which he had long wanted to know more. —
这太奇怪了――同时还涉及到他长久以来想更多了解的事件。 —

But this was not the time. She was right. Too many eyes were watching. —
但现在不是时候。她说的对。太多人在看着。 —

And it would not do to surrender on the spot and waste a whole night on an ancient story.
而且当场屈服并浪费整个夜晚在一个古老故事上也不合适。

“I do not understand everything you have said, I fear, and yet your talk of old times does call up fond thoughts. —
“我怕并没有听懂你所说的一切，然而你谈到过去的时光确实唤起了美好的回忆。 —

I shall come again and ask you to tell me the rest of the story. —
我会再来的，并请你继续讲这个故事的其他部分。 —

You see how I am dressed, and if the mist clears before I leave I will disgrace myself in front of the ladies. —
你看我现在着装如此，如果雾在我离开前消散，我将在女士们面前出丑。 —

I would like to stay longer but do not see how I can.”
我很想再呆一会，但不知道怎样才能留下。”

As he stood up to leave, the bell of the monastery sounded in the distance. The mist was heavy. —
当他站起来准备离开时，远处传来了寺庙的钟声。迷雾笼罩着周围。 —

The sadness of these lives poured in upon him, of the isolation enforced by heavy mountain mists. —
这些生活的悲伤涌入了他心头，孤寂被浓雾所强加。 —

They were lives into which the whole gamut of sorrows had entered, he thought, and he thought too that he understood why they preferred to live in seclusion.
他想，这些生活中注入了所有悲伤的情感，他也理解他们为何宁愿隐居。

“How very sad.
“多么悲伤啊。”

“In the dawn I cannot see the path I took
“黎明时分，找不到我走过的路

To find Oyama of the Pines in mist.”
在烟雾中找到松山。”

He turned away, and yet hesitated. Even ladies who saw the great gentlemen of the capital every day would have found him remarkable, and he quite dazzled these rustic maids. —
他转身离开，但还犹豫不决。即使是每天见到京都大人物的贵妇们也会觉得他很出众，他使这些乡村少女们感到眼花缭乱。 —

Oigimi, knowing that it would be too much to ask one of them to deliver it for her, offered a reply, her voice soft and shy as before, and with a hint of a sigh in it.
王女知道让她们之中的一位去送信太过分了，于是回答了，声音仍然轻柔和害羞，带着一丝叹息。

“Our mountain path, enshrouded whatever the season,
“无论何种季节，我们的山路

Is now closed off by the deeper mist of autumn.”
都被深秋的浓雾阻隔。”

The scene itself need not have detained him, but these evidences of loneliness made him reluctant to leave. —
这幕景象本身未必令他留恋，但这些孤独的迹象却让他不忍离去。 —

Presently, uncomfortable at the thought of being seen in broad daylight, he went to the west veranda, where a place had been prepared for him, and looked out over the river.
不久之后，他觉得在光天化日下被看见很不自在，于是走向西侧的走廊，为他准备了一个地方，望着河流。

“To have spoken so few words and to have had so few in return,” he said as he left the princesses’ wing of the house, “makes it certain that I shall have much to think about. —
“说得那么少话，得到的也少。” 他穿过公主们的房舍边说，“这让我肯定会考虑良久。 —

Perhaps when we are better acquainted I can tell you of it. —
或许等我们更熟悉后我才会告诉你。 —

In the meantime, I shall say only that if you think me no different from most young men, and you do seem to, then your judgment in such matters is not what I would have hoped it to be.”
与此同时，我只能说，如果你把我看作和大多数年轻人没有区别，你似乎是这么认为的，那么在这样的问题上你的判断不是我所希望的。”

His men had become expert at presiding over the weirs. —
他的手下已经变得精通管理水闸了。 —

“Listen to all the shouting,” said one of them. —
“听听所有的喧哗，”其中一人说。 —

“And they don’t seem to be exactly boasting over what they’ve caught. —
“他们似乎并不是在夸耀他们捕到了什么。 —

The fish are not cooperating.”
鱼儿并不合作。”

Strange, battered little boats, piled high with brush and wattles, made their way up and down the river, each boatman pursuing his own sad, small livelihood at the uncertain mercy of the waters. —
破破烂烂的小船，堆满了灌木和柳条，沿着河流来回穿梭，每个船夫都在追求自己那可怜的、不确定水势的生计。 —

“It is the same with all of us,” thought Kaoru to himself. —
“我们都是一样的，”薰心里想着。 —

“Am I to boast that I am safe from the flood, calm and secure in a jeweled mansion?”
“我要夸耀我安全免遭洪水之灾，安心舒适地在一座镶嵌宝石的府邸里吗？”

Asking for brush and ink, he got off a note to Oigimi: —
要来刷子和墨水，他写了一封信给织达。 —

“It is not hard to guess the sad thoughts that must be yours.
“不难猜到你心中的忧愁。

“Wet are my sleeves as the oars that work these shallows,
“我的袖子湿了，像这些浅滩上劳作的桨，

For my heart knows the heart of the lady at the bridge.”
因为我的心知晓桥上那位女士的心。”

He sent it in through the guard of the night before. —
他于前一晚通过守夜人送了信过去。 —

Red from the cold, the man presently returned with an answer. —
寒意让人脸红，这个人很快带回了回信。 —

The princess was not proud of the paper, perfumed in a very undistinguished way, but speed seemed the first consideration.
公主对这张纸并不感到自豪，劣质的香气使人难以忍受，但速度似乎是首要考虑。

“I have wet sleeves, and indeed my whole being is at the mercy of the waters.
“我的袖子湿了，实际上我的整个存在都在水势之下。

“With sodden sleeves the boatman plies the river.
“袖子潮湿的船夫在河上劳作。

So too these sleeves of mine, at morn, at night.”
同样，我的袖子，清晨，夜晚。”

The writing was confident and dignified. He had not been able to detect a flaw in the lady. —
这段文字自信而庄重。他无法找出那位女士的任何破绽。 —

But here were these people rushing him on, telling him that his carriage had arrived from the city.
但这些人却催促他，告诉他他的马车已经从城里到了。

He called the guard aside. “I shall most certainly come again when His Highness has finished his retreat. —
他把卫兵叫到一边。“当殿下结束闭关时，我一定会再来的。” —

” Changing to court dress that had come with the carriage, he gave his wet traveling clothes to the man.
他换上了马车里带来的宫廷服装，把湿漉漉的旅行衣服交给了那人。

The old woman’s remarks were very much on his mind after his return to the city, and the princesses were still before his eyes, more beautiful and reposed than he would have thought possible.
回到城市后，老妇人的话一直萦绕在他脑海里，那些公主们还在他眼前，比他想象中更美丽、安详。

“And so,” he thought, “Uji will not, after all, be my renunciation of the world.”
“这样看来，宇治最终不会成为我的舍世之所。”

He sent off a letter, taking care that every detail distinguished it from an ordinary love note: —
他发送了一封信，确保每一个细节都不同于普通的情书： —

the paper was white and thick and firmly rectangular, the brush strong yet pliant, the ink shaded with great subtlety.
纸张洁白而厚实，方方正正，毛笔坚挺而灵活，墨水微妙地勾勒着阴影。

“It seems a great pity,” he wrote, “that my visit was such a short one, and that I held back so much I would have liked to say; —
“我写道，我的拜访时间太短暂了，而我也曾忍住很多想说的话； —

but the last thing I wanted was to be thought forward. —
但我最不想被认为是冒昧的人。 —

I believe I mentioned a hope that in the future I might appear freely before you. —
我提到了希望将来能自由地出现在您面前。 —

I have made note of the day on which your honored father’s retreat is to end, and I hope that by then the gloomy mists will have dissipated.”
我已经记录下您尊敬的父亲闭关结束的日期，希望到时阴霾将会消散。”

The letter showed great restraint and avoided any suggestion of romantic intent. —
信中表现出极大的克制，避免了任何浪漫意味。 —

The guards officer who was his messenger was instructed to seek out the old woman and give it to her along with certain gifts. —
他派出卫兵将信捎送老妇，并随信送去一些礼物。 —

He remembered how the watchman had shivered as he made the rounds, and sent lavish gifts for him too, food in cypress boxes and the like.
他记得值夜人巡逻时颤抖的情形，便大量送去礼物给他，如装在柏木盒子里的食物等。

The following day he dispatched a messenger to the temple to which the prince had withdrawn. —
第二天，他派使者去寺庙，寻找王子躲藏的地方。 —

“I have no doubt,” said the letter that accompanied numerous bolts of cotton and silk, “that the priests will be badly treated by the autumn tempests, and that you will want to leave offerings.”
信中说：“我相信，神社的僧侣们将受到秋天暴风雨的侵袭，你可能需要献上祭品。”并附上大量棉和丝绸布料。

The prince was making preparations to depart, his retreat having ended the evening before. —
王子正在准备离开，他的隐居生活已在前一天结束。 —

He gave silk and cotton cloth as well as vestments to the priests who had been of service.
他将丝绸和棉布料以及礼服送给对他有帮助的僧侣们。

The garments of which that watchman had been the recipient — a most elegant hunting robe and a fine singlet of white brocade — were further remarkable for their softness and fragrance. —
那个值夜人得到的礼物包括一件华丽的狩猎长袍和一件精致的白色锦缎内衫，质地柔软，香气扑鼻。 —

Alas, the man could not change the fact that he had not been born for such finery. —
然而，这个男人却无法改变自己并不适合穿这样的装束。 —

It was the same everywhere he went: no one could resist praising him or chiding him for the fragrance. —
无论他走到哪里，无人能抵挡称赞他或指责他身上的香气。 —

He came to regret just a little that he had accepted the gift. —
他开始有点后悔接受这礼物。 —

It restricted his movements, for he dreaded the astonishment each new encounter produced. —
这礼物限制了他的行动，因为他害怕每一次新的相遇都会产生惊奇。 —

If only he could have the robes without the odor — but no amount of scrubbing would take it away. —
如果只能有这些衣袍而不带着气味就好了 —— 但再怎么擦洗也无法去除。 —

The gift had, after all, been from a gentleman renowned for just that fragrance.
这礼物毕竟是来自一个以这种香气闻名的绅士。

Kaoru was much pleased at the graceful and unassuming answer he had had from Oigimi.
高仓对凤君的优雅朴素的回复感到很满意。

“What is this?” said her father, shown a copy of Kaoru’s letter. —
“这是什么？”她的父亲看了高仓信的抄本说。 —

“Such a chilly reception cannot have at all the effect we want. —
“如此冷淡的招待肯定不会产生我们想要的效果。 —

You must bring yourselves to see that he is different from the triflers the world seems to produce these days. —
你们必须认识到他与这个世界似乎产生的轻薄之人不同。 —

I have no doubt that his thoughts have turned to you because I once chanced to hint at a hope that he would watch over you after my death. —
我毫不怀疑他的思绪已经转向你们，因为我曾偶然暗示过他，希望他在我死后照顾你们。 —

” He too got off a letter, his thanks for the stream of gifts that had flooded the monastery.
“他也回了一封信，谢谢那涌入庙宇的礼物。

Kaoru began to think of another visit. He thought too of Niou, always mooning over the possibility of finding a great beauty lost away in the mountains. —
薰开始考虑再次拜访。他也想起延为，总是幻想在山里找到一个迷人的美人。 —

Well, he had a story that would interest his friend.
嗯，他有一个会让他朋友感兴趣的故事。

One quiet evening he went calling. In the course of the usual court gossip, he mentioned the prince at Uji, and went on to describe in some detail what had taken place in the autumn dawn.
一个宁静的夜晚，他去拜访了。在寻常的宫廷八卦中，他提到了宇治的王子，并详细描述了秋天黎明发生的事情。

He was not disappointed. “A masterpiece!” said Niou.
他没有失望。“杰作！”尼欧说。

He added yet further exciting details.
他还补充了更多令人兴奋的细节。

“But what of the letter? You said there was a letter, and you haven’t shown it to me. —
“但是信呢？你说有封信，但你没给我看。 —

That is not kind of you. You know that I would hold nothing back if I were in your place.”
这不太好。你知道如果我站在你的位置上，我绝不会隐瞒任何事。

“Oh, to be sure. All those letters you’ve had from all those ladies and you have not shown me the smallest scrap. —
“哦，当然。你收到那么多女士来信，你却没有给我看一丝一毫。 —

But I know that something of this sort is not for the weak and obscure of the world to have all to themselves. —
但我知道这种事情不适合弱小和不知名的人独自拥有。 —

I would like to take you for a look sometime, I most definitely would; —
我确实想带你去看看，我绝对想； —

but it is out of the question. I could not think of taking such an important man to such a place. —
但这是不可能的。我不能想象带这样一个重要的人去这样一个地方。” —

We who are not too burdened with glory are in the happier position. —
我们这些没有太多光辉荣耀的人处境更为幸福。 —

We have our affairs as we want to have them. But think: —
我们的事情都按照我们的意愿进行。但想想看： —

there must be hundreds of beauties hidden away from us all.
可能有成百上千的美人隐藏在我们看不到的地方。

There they are, poor dears, cut off from the world, hidden behind this and that mountain, waiting for us to find them. —
她们在那里，可怜的孩子们，被世界隔绝，在这座座山峰背后，等待着我们去发现她们。 —

As a matter of fact, I had for a number of years known of princesses off in the Uji mountains, but the thought of them had only made me shudder. —
事实上，我多年来一直知道宇治山中有公主，但想到她们只会让我发寒。 —

A man knows, after all, the effect of saintliness on women. —
毕竟，人们知道圣洁对女性的影响。 —

But if the sun sets them off as the moon did, then it would be hard to ask for more.”
但如果阳光照在她们身上，如同月光一般，那将是难得的美景。”

By the time he had finished, his companion was honestly jealous. —
谈话结束时，他的同伴是真心嫉妒的。 —

Kaoru was not one to be drawn to any ordinary woman. —
薰并不会被普通女子所吸引。 —

There must be something truly remarkable here. —
这里一定有什么非同寻常之处。 —

Niou longed to have a look for himself.
仁王渴望亲自一睹为快。

“Do, please, investigate further,” he said, openly impatient with his rank, which made such expeditions difficult.
“请，继续调查吧，”他说，对那限制了这类探险的自己的身份感到不耐烦。

And he had not even seen the ladies, thought Kaoru, smiling to himself. “Come, now. —
他甚至还未见到这些淑女，薰想着，心里笑了起来。“来吧。 —

Women aren’t worth the trouble. I must be serious: —
女人不值得如此麻烦。必须认真面对： —

I had reasons for wanting to get my mind off of my own affairs, and I especially wanted to avoid the sort of frivolity that so excites you. —
我有我的理由想要让自己摆脱自身的事务，我尤其想避免那种让你如此兴奋的轻浮。” —

And if my feelings were to pull me against my resolve — you cannot tell me, can you, that any good would come of it.”
如果我的感情要拉我违背我的决心 — 你不能告诉我，会有什么好结果。”

“Fine!” Niou said, laughing. “Another sermon. —
“好啦!” 仁王笑着说。“又来布道。 —

Let us all fall silent and hear what our saint has to say. —
让我们都保持沉默，听听我们的圣人要说什么。 —

But no. I think we have had enough.”
不过，我想我们已经听够了。”

It was with longing and dismay that Kaoru thought of the events the old woman’s story had hinted at. —
考虑到那位老妇人的故事所暗示的事件，薰念念不忘，心中充满失落。 —

He had never been very strongly drawn even to women of uncommon charm and talent, and now they interested him still less.
他从未对那些有着非凡魅力和才华的女子产生浓厚兴趣，现在他对她们的兴趣更少了。

On about the fifth or sixth day of the Tenth Month he paid his next visit to Uji. He must make it a point to have a look at the weirs, said his men. —
在十月的第五六天左右，他再次造访宇治。他的随从说他必须去看看水阀。 —

It was the season when they were at their most interesting.
这是它们最有趣的季节。

He would prefer not to, he replied. “A fly having a look at the fish — a pretty picture.”
他回答说，他宁愿不去。“如同蝇虎一般看鱼 — 一副美丽的画面。”

To present as austere a figure as possible, he rode in a carriage faced with palmetto fronds, such as a woman might use, and ordered a cloak and trousers of coarse, unfigured material.
为了尽可能呈现严肃的形象，他乘坐着一辆用棕榈叶面对的马车，像一位女性可能会使用的，还订购了一件粗糙、无花纹的外套和长裤。

Delighted to see him, the prince arranged a most tasteful banquet from dishes for which the region was known. —
王子看到他非常高兴，准备了一顿以当地著名菜肴为主的美味宴席。 —

In the evening, under the lamps, they listened to a discourse on some of the more difficult passages in scriptures they had been over together. —
晚上，在灯光下，他们聆听了一段关于一些他们共同研读的经文中较难理解的段落的讲解。 —

The abbot was among those invited down from the monastery. Sleep was out of the question. —
住持也被邀请从寺院里下来。睡觉是不可能的。 —

The roar of the waters and the whipping of leaves and branches in the violent river winds, which in lesser degree might have moved one to a pleasant awareness of the season, invited gloom and even despair. —
汹涌的河水声和在狂风中噼啪作响的树叶和枝干，这在更轻微的程度上也许会让一个人体会到季节的愉悦，却引发了忧郁甚至绝望。 —

Dawn would be approaching, thought Kaoru, and the koto strain he had heard that other morning came back to him.
薰想着黎明即将到来，他听到了那天早上听过的箏声。

He guided the conversation to the delights of koto and lute. —
他引导谈话转向箏和琵琶的乐趣。 —

“On my last visit, as the morning mist was rolling in, I was lucky enough to hear a short melody, a most extraordinary one. —
“在我上次访问时，晨雾升腾，我很幸运地听到了一小段旋律，一段非常不同寻常的旋律。 —

It was over in a few seconds, and since then I have not been able to think of anything except how I might hear more.”
它仅持续几秒钟，自那以后，我除了如何再听到更多的声音外，什么都想不到了。”

“The hues and the scents of the world are nothing to me now,” said the prince, “and I have forgotten all the music I ever knew. —
“现在对我来说，世界的色彩和芬芳都毫无意义，我已经忘记了我曾经了解到的所有音乐。” —

” Even so he sent a woman for the instruments. “No, I am afraid it will not be right. —
即便如此，他也派人取来了乐器。“不，恐怕不太对。 —

But perhaps — if I had someone to follow, a little might come back? —
但也许 —— 如果我有人可以跟随，可能会回忆起一点吧？” —

” He pressed a lute upon Kaoru.
他递给薰一把琵琶。

“Can it be,” said Kaoru, tuning the instrument, “that this is the one I heard the other morning? —
“难道，”薰调音着乐器说，“这就是我前几天听到那么特别的一段旋律的乐器吗？ —

I had thought that there must be something rather special about the instrument itself, but now I see that there is another explanation for that remarkable music. —
我原以为乐器本身一定有某种非凡之处，但现在我看到了那段卓越音乐的另一种解释。 —

” He addressed himself to the lute, but in a manner somewhat bemused.
”他对琵琶说话，但语气有些困惑。

“You must not make sport of us, sir. Where can music likely to catch your ear have come from? —
“先生，你不应该拿我们开玩笑。哪里可能会有吸引你的耳朵的音乐呢？ —

You speak of the impossible.”
你在说不可能的事情。”

The prince’s koto had a clearness and strength that were almost chilling. —
王子的箏声音清晰而有力，几乎令人毛骨悚然。 —

Perhaps it borrowed overtones from “the wind in the mountain pines. —
也许它借用了“山松风”的共鸣音。 —

” He pretended to falter and forget, and pushed the instrument away when he had finished the first strain. —
他假装支支吾吾地停顿和忘记，当他演奏完第一段后，便把琴推开。 —

The brief performance had suggested great subtlety and discernment.
这短暂的表演显示出了极大的细腻和洞察力。

“Sometimes, without warning, I do hear in the distance a strain such as to make me think that one of my daughters has acquired some notion of what real music is; —
“有时候，突然间，我听到远处传来的旋律，让我觉得我的其中一位女儿可能领悟到了真正音乐的含义； —

but they have had little training, and it has been a very long time since I last made much effort to teach them. —
但她们接受的培训很少，而且我已经很久没有再花太多精力去教导她们了。 —

As the mood takes them, they play a tune or two, and they have only the river to accompany them. —
按照她们的心情，她们会演奏一两曲，而只有大河伴奏。 —

It is most unlikely that their twanging would be of any interest to a musician like you. —
他们的弹奏极有可能不会引起像您这样的音乐家的兴趣。 —

But suppose,” he called to them, “you were to have a try at it.”
但是假设，”他向她们喊道，“你们来试试看。”

“It was bad enough to be overheard when we thought we were alone.”
“当我们以为我们独自一人时被偷听确实很糟糕。”

“I would disgrace myself.”
“我会让自己深感羞愧。”

And so he was rebuffed by both his daughters. —
因此，他被他的两个女儿拒绝了。 —

He did not give up easily, but, to Kaoru’s great disappointment, they would have nothing of the proposal.
他不轻易放弃，但是，极为失望的是，他们完全不接受这个提议。

The prince was deeply shamed that his daughters should thus announce themselves as rustic wenches, out of touch with the ways of the world.
亲王深感羞耻，他的女儿们竟如此宣布自己是乡下丫头，与世隔绝。

“They have lived in such seclusion that their very existence is a secret. —
“她们一直生活在这样的隐居中，以至于她们的存在是个秘密。 —

I have wished it to be so; but now, when I think how little time I have left, when I think that I may be gone tomorrow, I find that resignation eludes me. —
我一直希望如此；但是现在，当我想到我剩下的时间不多，当我想到明天也许我就会离去时，我发现接受不了。 —

They have their whole lives yet to live, and might they not end their years as drifters and beggars? A fear of that possibility will be the one bond holding me to the world when my time comes.”
她们还有整整的一生，难道最后会以流浪者和乞丐而终老吗？当我离开时，对这种可能性的恐惧将成为我与这个世界的唯一纽带。”

“It would not be honest of me to enter into a firm commitment,” said Kaoru, deeply moved; —
“对我来说，做出牢固承诺是不诚实的。”Kaoru深感动； —

“but you are not to think, because I say so, that I am in the least cool or indifferent to what you have said. —
但你不要以为，只因为我这么说，我对你所说的事情一点也不在意或冷漠。 —

Though I cannot be sure that I will survive you for very long, I mean to be true to every syllable I have spoken.”
尽管我无法确定我能活到比你更久，但我发誓会忠实于我所说的每一个音节。

“You are very kind, very kind indeed.”
“你很善良，非常善良。”

When the prince had withdrawn for matins, Kaoru summoned the old woman. —
王子离开去祈祷时，薰召见了那位老妇人。 —

Her name was Bennokimi, and the Eighth Prince had her in constant attendance upon his daughters. —
她的名字叫边岚，八品王子常常让她照顾他的女儿们。 —

Though in her late fifties, she was still favored with the graces of a considerably younger woman. —
虽然她已经五十多岁，但仍然拥有年轻女人的优雅。 —

Her tears wing liberally, she told him of what an unhappy life “the young captain,” Kashiwagi, had led, of how he had fallen ill and presently wasted away to nothing.
她边哭边告诉他“年轻上尉”柏木的不幸生活，以及他生病后逐渐消瘦至凋零的情况。

It would have been a very affecting tale of long ago even if it had been about a stranger. —
即使这是关于一个陌生人的以前令人感动的故事。 —

Haunted and bewildered through the years, longing to know the facts of his birth, Kaoru had prayed that he might one day have a clear explanation. —
对着多年来感到困惑和困扰，渴望了解他出生的事实，薰曾祈祷过，希望有一天可以得到明确的解释。 —

Was it in answer to his prayers that now, without warning, there had come a chance to hear of these old matters, as if in a sad dream? —
现在突然间，仿佛在一个悲伤的梦里，有机会听到这些旧事，是在回应他的祈祷吗？ —

He too was in tears.
他也哭了。

“It is hard to believe — and I must admit that it is a little alarming too that someone who remembers those days should still be with us. —
“很难相信——我必须承认，有点令人惊慌，还有人记得那些日子，但仍然和我们在一起。 —

I suppose people have been spreading the news to the world — and I have had not a whisper of it.”
我想人们已经把这个消息传遍了世界——而我却毫无所知。”

“No one knew except Kojijū and myself. Neither of us breathed a word to anyone. —
“只有柟直和我知道。我们俩都没有对任何人透露一句。 —

As you can see, I do not matter; but it was my honor to be always with him, and I began to guess what was happening. —
正如你所看到的，我并不重要；但我有幸一直和他在一起，开始猜到一些事情发生了。” —

Then sometimes — not often, of course — when his feelings were too much for him, one or the other of us would be entrusted with a message. —
然后有时候 — 当然不经常 — 当他的感情过于强烈时，我们中的一个会被委托传达消息。 —

I do not think it would be proper to go into the details. —
我认为透露细节是不合适的。 —

As he lay dying, he left the testament I have spoken of. —
在临终时，他留下了我所说的遗嘱。 —

I have had it with me all these years — I am no one, and where was I to leave it? —
这些年来我一直带着它 — 我是无名之辈，我该把它留给谁呢？ —

I have not been as diligent with my prayers as I might have been, but I have asked the Blessed One for a chance to let you know of it; —
我没有像我本应该那样勤奋地祈祷，但我请求了圣者给我一个机会让你知道这件事； —

and now I think I have a sign that he is here with us. But the testament: I must show it to you. —
如今我觉得他与我们同在。但这份遗嘱：我必须让你看看。 —

How can I burn it now? I have not known from one day to the next when I might die, and I have worried about letting it fall into other hands. —
我怎么能现在就把它烧掉？我不曾知道自己何时会死，我一直担心让它落入他人手中。 —

When you began to visit His Highness I felt somewhat better again. —
当你开始拜访殿下时，我感觉好一些了。 —

There might be a chance to speak to you. —
或许有机会和你谈谈。 —

I was not merely praying for the impossible, and so I decided that I must keep what he had left with me. —
我并不是在祈求不可能的事情，所以我决定必须保留他留给我的东西。 —

Some power stronger than we has brought us together. —
某种比我们更强大的力量将我们聚集在一起。 —

” Weeping openly now, she told of the illicit affair and of his birth, as the details came back to her.
她现在公开痛哭，讲述着那段不应该发生的关系，以及他的诞生，细节又一次涌现在她脑海。

“In the confusion after the young master’s death, my mother too fell ill and died; —
“在年轻主人去世后的混乱中，我的母亲也病逝； —

and so I wore double mourning. A not very nice man who had had his eye on me took advantage of it all and led me off to the West Country, and I lost all touch with the city. —
于是我戴上了双份丧服。一个并不怎么好的一直在关注我的男人趁机利用了局势，把我带到了西国，然后我与这座城市失去了所有联系。 —

He too died, and after ten years and more I was back in the city again, back from a different world. I have for a very long time had the honor to be acquainted indirectly with the sister of my young master, the lady who is a consort of the Reizei emperor, and it would have been natural for me to go into her service. —
他也去世了，十年多后我又回到了这座城市，回到了一个不同的世界。我很久以来一直有幸间接认识我年轻主人的姐姐，是仁宁帝的一位贵妃，我本应该去侍奉她是再自然不过的事情。 —

But there were those old complications, and there were other reasons too. —
但是还有那些旧问题，还有其他原因。 —

Because of the relationship on my father’s side of the family I have been familiar with His Highness’s household since I was a child, and at my age I am no longer up to facing the world. —
因为我父亲这边的关系，从小就熟悉殿下的家庭，现在我这把年纪也无法面对世界了。 —

And so I have become the rotted stump you see, buried away in the mountains. When did Kojijū die? —
所以我成为了你看到的腐朽树桩，被埋藏在山里。小便、丘? —

I wonder. There aren’t many left of the ones who were young when I was young. —
不知道。当我年轻时的人几乎没有几个还在。 —

The last of them all; it isn’t easy to be the last one, but here I am.”
他们当中最后一个；做最后一个并不容易，但我就是。

Another dawn was breaking.
又一个黎明到来了。

“We do not seem to have come to the end of this old story of yours,” said Kaoru. “Go on with it, please, when we have found a more comfortable place and no one is listening. —
“你这个老故事好像还没完呢，”薰说。”找个更舒适的地方，等没人听的时候再接着说吧。 —

I do remember Kojijū slightly. I must have been four or five when she came down with consumption and died, rather suddenly I am most grateful to you. —
我对侧室姬也有些印象。我大概四五岁的时候，她得了肺结核突然去世了，非常感谢你。 —

If it hadn’t been for you I would have carried the sin to my grave.”
如果不是你，我会带着这个罪过到坟墓。

The old woman handed him a cloth pouch in which several mildewed bits of paper had been rolled into a tight ball.
老妇人递给他一个布袋，里面装着卷成紧球的几张发霉的纸片。

“Take these and destroy them. When the young master knew he was dying, he got them together and gave them to me. —
“拿着这些，销毁掉。年轻主人知道自己快死了时，把它们凑在一起交给我。 —

I told myself I would give them to Kojijū when next I saw her and ask her to be sure that they got to her lady. —
我告诉自己下次见到侧室姬时会把它们交给她，请她一定转交给她的女主人。 —

I never saw her again. And so I had my personal sorrow and the other too, the knowledge that I had not done my duty.”
我再也没见到她了。于是我有了自己的悲伤，也有了未尽的责任之感。

With an attempt at casualness, he put the papers away. He was deeply troubled. —
他尝试着将那些纸片放好。他深感困扰。 —

Had she told him this unsolicited story, as is the way with the old, because it seemed to her an interesting piece of gossip? —
她向他讲述这个未经请求的故事，老人常常会这样，因为她觉得这是一件有趣的八卦吗？ —

She had assured him over and over again that no one else had heard it, and yet — could he really believe her?
她一再向他保证没有其他人听到，但他真的能相信她吗？

After a light breakfast he took his leave of the prince. —
吃过清淡的早餐后，他向王子告别。 —

“Yesterday was a holiday because the emperor was in retreat, but today he will be with us again. —
“昨天是皇帝闭关的日子，但今天他会和我们一起。” —

And then I must call on the Reizei princess, who is not well, and there will be other things to keep me busy. —
“然后我必须去拜访瑞王女，她身体不适，还有其他事情要忙。” —

But I will come again soon, before the autumn leaves have fallen.”
“但是我会很快再来的，在秋叶落下之前。”

“For me, your visits are a light to dispel in some measure the shadows of these mountains.”
“你的到访对我来说，如同一束光，可以在一定程度上驱散这些山的阴影。”

Back in the city, Kaoru took out the pouch the old woman had given him. —
回到城里，薰拿出了老婆婆给他的袋子。 —

The heavy Chinese brocade bore the inscription “For My Lady.” It was tied with a delicate thread and sealed with Kashiwagi’s name. —
这个厚重的中国缎子上面写着“献给我的女士”，用精致的丝线系着，盖着柏木的名字。 —

Trembling, Kaoru opened it. Inside were multi-hued bits of paper, on which, among other things, were five or six answers by his mother to notes from Kashiwagi.
薰颤抖着打开了袋子。里面装着各种颜色的纸片，其中有五六张是他母亲回复柏木便条的内容。

And, on five or six sheets of thick white paper, apparently in Kashiwagi’s own hand, like the strange tracks of some bird, was a longer letter: —
而在五六张厚厚的白纸上，显然是柏木亲手写的，像是某种奇怪的鸟的足迹一样，有一封较长的信： —

“I am very ill, indeed I am dying. It is impossible to get so much as a note to you, and my longing to see you only increases. —
“我病得很重，实在是快要死了。根本没法传递任何信息给你，我对见到你的渴望只增加了。 —

Another thing adds to the sorrow: the news that you have withdrawn from the world.
这件事情增加了我的悲伤：听说你已经退出了世俗之界。

“Sad are you, who have turned away from the world,
“你悲伤地远离了世间，

But sadder still my soul, taking leave of you.
但更让我的灵魂悲伤，即将与你分离。

I have heard with strange pleasure of the birth of the child. —
我听到孩子出生的消息感到奇异的喜悦。 —

We need not worry about him, for he will be reared in security. And yet —
我们不需要担心他，因为他将在安全的环境中成长。但是 —

“Had we but life, we could watch it, ever taller,
“若是我们拥有生命，就能看到它变得越来越高，

The seedling pine unseen among the rocks.”
成长中的松树在岩石中默默无闻。”

The writing, fevered and in disarray, went to the very edge of the paper. —
那手写的字迹，充满狂热且凌乱，延伸到了纸的边缘。 —

The letter was addressed to Kojijū.
信件写给了Kojijū。

The pouch had become a dwelling place for worms and smelled strongly of mildew; —
包裹已经变成了虫子的居所，散发出浓烈的霉味； —

and yet the writing, in such compromising detail, was as clear as if it had been set down the day before. —
但是，那份写得如此详尽的信件，清晰无比，仿佛就是昨天才写下的。 —

It would have been a disaster if the letter had fallen into the hands of outsiders, he thought, half in sorrow and half in alarm. —
如果这封信落入外人之手，他想，这将是一场灾难，一半伤心，一半惊慌。 —

He was so haunted by this strange affair, stranger than any the future could possibly bring, that he could not persuade himself to set out for court. —
这个奇异的事情让他如此纠结，比未来可能带来的任何事情都要奇异，以至于他无法说服自己前往宫廷。 —

Instead he went to visit his mother. Youthful and serene, she had a sutra in her hand, which she put shyly out of sight upon his arrival. —
于是，他去拜访他的母亲。母亲年轻而宁静，手中拿着一部经，他一到就害羞地把经藏了起来。 —

He must keep the secret to himself, he thought. —
他必须把这个秘密独自保存，他想。 —

It would be cruel to let her know of his own new knowledge. —
让她知道他自己的新知识将是残忍的。 —

His mind jumped from detail to detail of the story he had heard.
他的思绪跳来跳去，想起了他听到的故事里的细节。