In the autumn, as the Uji princesses prepared for the anniversary of their father’s death, the winds and waters which they had known over the years seemed colder and lonelier than ever. —
在秋天，宇治的公主们为庆祝父亲去世纪念日做准备，她们多年来熟悉的风和水似乎比以往任何时候都更冷更孤独。 —

Kaoru and the abbot saw to the general plans. —
薰和方丈负责总体计划。 —

The princesses themselves, with the advice of their attendants, took care of the details, robes for the priests and decorations for the scriptures and the like. —
公主们本人在侍从的建议下，照料细节，为祭司们准备礼服，装饰经卷等等。 —

They seemed so fragile and sad as they went about the work that one wondered what they would possibly have done without this help from outside. —
她们忙碌时显得如此脆弱和悲伤，让人不禁怀疑如果没有外界的帮助，她们会做些什么。 —

Kaoru made it a point to visit them before the formal end of mourning, and the abbot came down from his monastery.
在正式结束哀悼之前，薰确保去看望她们，方丈也从寺院过来。

The riot of threads for decking out the sacred incense led one of the princesses to remark upon the stubborn way their own lives had of spinning on. —
为了装饰神圣的香料，纷乱的线绞成一个公主发出感慨，她说生活也像这般顽固顺其自然。 —

Catching sight of a spool through a gap in the curtains, Kaoru recognized the allusion. —
透过帘子的缝隙看见一个线轴，薰立刻认出了象征。 —

“Join my tears as beads,” he said softly. —
“让我的眼泪像珠子一样串起来,”他轻声说。 —

They found it very affecting, this suggestion that the sorrow of Lady Ise had been even as theirs; —
他们觉得很感动，这种暗示伊勢大夫的悲伤也许曾和她们一样； —

yet they were reluctant to answer. To show that they had caught the reference might seem pretentious. —
但她们不愿回答。表现出她们领会了这个暗示可能显得假装。 —

But an answering reference immediately came to them: —
但她们马上想到了一句诗句作为回应： —

they could not help thinking of Tsurayuki, whose heart had not been “that sort of thread,” and who had likened it to a thread all the same as he sang the sadness of a parting that was not a bereavement. —
她们不禁想到了在诗歌中没有“那种线”、却同样抒发了悲伤的藤原敏行。 —

Old poems, they could see, had much to say about the unchanging human heart.
她们看到，古老诗歌中有很多关于不变的人心的表达。

Kaoru wrote out the petition for memorial services, including the details of the scriptures to be read and the deities to be invoked, and while he had brush in hand he jotted down a verse:
薰起草写出追祭文的请求，包括需要读的经卷和要祈求的神灵，而当他手持毛笔时，随手写下了一句诗：

“We knot these braids in trefoil. As braided threads
“我们将这些辫子绞成三叶草。作为编织的线”

May our fates be joined, may we be together always.”
愿我们的命运相连，愿我们永远在一起。

Though she thought it out of place, Oigimi managed an answer:
虽然她觉得这样说有点不妥，Oigimi还是回答道：

“No way to thread my tears, so fast they flow;
“泪水无法停止，如此迅速流淌；

As swiftly flows my life. Can such vows be?”
如同我的生命一样迅速。这样的誓言是否成立呢？”

“But,” he objected, “‘if it cannot be so with us, what use is life?’”
“但是，”他反驳道，“‘如果我们无法如此，生命又有何用？’”

She had somehow succeeded in diverting the conversation from the most important point, and she seemed reluctant to say more. —
她成功地转移了谈话的重点，似乎不愿再多说。 —

And so he began to speak most warmly of his friend Niou: “I have been watching him very closely. —
于是他开始热情地谈论他的朋友Niou：“我一直在密切观察他。” —

He has had me worried, I must admit. He has a very strong competitive instinct, even when he does not have much at stake, and I was afraid your chilliness might have made it all a matter of pride for him. —
我必须承认，他让我担心起来。他有很强的竞争本能，即使在没有太多利害关系的情况下，我担心你的冷淡可能让他把这一切变成一种自尊心。 —

And so, I admit it, I’ve been uneasy. But I am sure that this time there is nothing to worry about. —
所以，我承认，我一直感到不安。但我确信这次没有什么可担心的。 —

It is your turn to do something. Might you just possibly persuade yourself to be a little more friendly? —
现在轮到你采取行动了。你可能能说服自己更友好一点吗？ —

You are not an insensitive lady, I know, and yet you do go on slamming the door. —
我知道你不是一个麻木的女士，但你却一直关上门。 —

If he resents it, well, so do I. You couldn’t be making things more difficult for me if you tried, and I have been very open with you and very willing to take you at your word. —
如果他感到不快，那么我也一样。如果你愿意的话，你几乎无法让事情变得更困难，而我一直对你很坦诚，也很愿意相信你的话。 —

I think the time has come for a clear statement from you, one way or the other.”
我认为现在是你明确表态的时候了，不管怎样。”

“How can you say such things? It was exactly because I did not want to make things difficult for you that I let you come so near — so near that people must think it very odd. —
“你怎么会说出这样的话？恰恰因为我不想让事情对你产生困扰，所以才让你如此接近——接近到现在人们可能会觉得很古怪。 —

I gather that your view of the matter is different, and I must confess that I am disappointed. —
我了解你的观点是不同的，我必须承认我感到失望。 —

I would have expected you to understand a little better. But of course I am at fault too. —
我本来以为你会理解得更好。但当然我也有错。 —

You have said that I am not an insensitive person, but someone of real sensitivity would by now have thought everything out, even in a mountain hut like this. —
你说我不是一个麻木的人，但一个真正敏感的人现在应该已经把一切都想清楚了，即使像我们这样在山寨里。 —

I have always been slow in these matters. I gather that you are making a proposal. Very well: —
在这些问题上，我一直很慢。我想你在提出一个建议。好吧： —

I shall make my answer as clear as I can. —
我将尽可能清楚地回答。 —

Before Father died, he had many things to say about my future, but not one of them touched even slightly on the sort of thing you suggest. —
在父亲去世之前，他有很多关于我的未来的话要说，但没有一句涉及到你所建议的这种事情。 —

He must have meant that I should be resigned to living out my days alone and away from the world; —
他一定是想说我应该甘心于独自度过余生，远离世俗； —

and so I fear I cannot give you the answer you want, at least so far as it concerns myself. —
所以我恐怕不能给你想要的答案，至少就我自己而言。 —

But of course my sister will outlive me, and I have to think of her too. —
但当然，我的妹妹会比我活得长，我也得为她考虑。 —

I could not bear to leave her in these mountains like a fallen tree. —
我不能忍心把她像一棵倒下的树一样留在这些山里。 —

It would give me great pleasure if something could be arranged for her.”
如果能为她安排些事情，我会很高兴。

She fell silent, in great agitation. He regretted having spoken so sternly. —
她沉默了，非常激动。 他后悔说话太严厉了。 —

For all her air of maturity, he should not have expected her to answer like a woman of the world.
尽管她给人一种成熟的感觉，他不应该期望她像一个世故的女人那样回答。

He summoned Bennokimi.
他召见了Bennokimi。

“It was thoughts of the next life that first brought me here; —
第一次让我来这里的是对来世的思考； —

and then, in those last sad days, he left a request with me. —
然后，在那些悲伤的最后日子里，他留下一个请求。 —

He asked me to look after his daughters in whatever way seemed best. I have tried; —
他请我以任何方式最合适地照顾他的女儿们。我已经努力了； —

and now it comes as something of a surprise that they should be disregarding their own father’s wishes. —
现在让我感到惊讶的是他们竟然忽视了自己父亲的愿望。 —

Do you understand it any better than I do? —
你比我更明白吗？ —

I am being pushed to the conclusion that he had hopes for them which they do not share. —
我被推向一个结论，他对她们有期望，而她们并不分享。 —

I know you will have heard about me, what an odd person I am, not much interested in the sort of things that seem to interest everyone else. —
我知道你一定听说过我，我是个古怪的人，对似乎所有人都感兴趣的事情不太感兴趣。 —

And now, finally, I have found someone who does interest me, and I am inclined to believe that fate has had a hand in the matter; —
现在终于，我遇到了一个让我感兴趣的人，我倾向于相信命运已经在这件事上起了作用； —

and I gather that the gossips already have us married. —
我听说流言蜚语已经把我们结婚了。 —

Well, if that is the case — I know it will seem out of place for me to say so — other things being equal, we might as well do as the prince wished us to, and indeed as everyone else does. —
好吧，如果是这种情况的话，我知道我这么说可能有些不合适，其他条件相同的情况下，我们可能还是要按王子所希望的去做，实际上也是其他人所做的。 —

It would not be the first case the world has seen of a princess married to a commoner.
这并不会是世界上第一例见到公主嫁给平民的情况。

“And I have spoken more than once about my friend Niou to your other lady. —
“我已经多次跟你们的另一位女士谈论过我的朋友Niou。 —

She simply refuses to believe me when I tell her she needn’t worry about the sort of husband he is likely to make. —
当我告诉她不用担心他可能会做出的丈夫时，她就是不相信。 —

I wonder if someone might just possibly be working to turn her against her father’s wishes. —
我想可能有人在背后策划让她违背父亲的意愿。 —

You must tell me everything you know. ”
你必须告诉我你所知道的一切。”

His remarks were punctuated by many a brooding sigh.
他的话语中夹杂着许多沉思的叹息。

There is a kind of cheeky domestic who, in such situations, assumes a knowing manner and encourages a man in what he wants to believe. —
在这种情况下，总有一种厚颜无耻的家仆，装出一副内行的样子，助长人们想要相信的东西。 —

Bennokimi was not such a one. She thought the match ideal, but she could not say so.
Bennokimi不是那样的人。她认为这样的匹配理想，但却不能明说。

“My ladies are different from others I have served. Perhaps they were born different. —
“我所侍奉的女士和其他人不同。也许她们天生就不同。 —

They have never been much interested in the usual sort of thing. —
她们从来对通常的事情不太感兴趣。 —

We who have been in their service — even while their father was alive, we really had no tree to run to for shelter. —
我们侍奉她们的时候，即使在她们的父亲还活着的时候，我们真的没有可以寻求庇护的地方。 —

Most of the other women decided fairly soon that there was no point in wasting their lives in the mountains, and they went away, wherever their family ties led them. —
大多数其他女性很快就决定在这些山里浪费生命毫无意义，她们离开了，去往家庭牵引她们去的地方。 —

Even people whose families had been close to the prince’s for years and years — they were not having an easy time of it, and most of them gave up and went away. —
即使是那些家族与王子家族多年来关系密切的人们，他们也过得并不轻松，大多数人都放弃了，离开了。 —

And now that he is gone it is even worse. We wonder from one minute to the next who will be left. —
现在他走了，情况更糟了。我们不知道下一刻会有谁会留下来。 —

The ones who have stayed are always grumbling, and I am sure that my ladies are often hurt by the things they say. —
那些留下来的人总是抱怨，我确信我的女士们经常为他们所说的话感到受伤。 —

Back in the days when the prince was still with us, they say, well, he had his old-fashioned notions, and they had to be respected for what they were. —
他们说，在王子还在我们身边的日子里，他有他那些老式的想法，必须尊重他们的想法。 —

My ladies were, after all, royal princesses, he was always saying, and there came a point at which a suitor had to be considered beneath them, and that was that; —
我的女士们毕竟是皇室公主，他总是说，婿选到一定程度必须与她们相匹配，就是这样； —

and so they stayed single. But now they are worse than single, they are completely alone in the world, and it would take a very cruel person to find fault if they were to do what everyone else does. —
于是她们保持独身。但现在她们比独身更糟，她们在这个世界里完全孤独，只有非常残酷的人才会找到她们的错。 —

And really, could anyone expect them to go through their lives as they are now? —
而且，真的，有人会指望她们像现在这样度过一生吗？ —

Even the monks who wander around gnawing pine needles — even they have their different ways of doing things, without forgetting the Good Law. They cannot deny life itself, after all. —
就连四处游荡啃松树针的僧侣们，他们也有着不同的生活方式，但绝不会忘记善法。毕竟他们也无法否认生命本身。 —

I am just telling you what these women say. —
我只是告诉你这些女人说过的话。 —

The older of my ladies refuses to listen to a word of it, at least as it has to do with her; —
我的女士们中更年长的那个拒绝听任何关于她的话； —

but I gather she does hope that something can be found for her sister, some way to live an ordinary, respectable life. —
但我感觉她确实希望为她的妹妹找到一些东西，一种能够过上普通、体面生活的方式。 —

She has watched you climb over these mountains year after year and she knows that not many people would have assumed responsibility as if it were the most natural thing in the world. —
她看着你们年复一年翻越这些山脉，她知道没有多少人会像你一样视责任为理所当然。 —

I really do think that she is ready to talk of the details, and all that matters is what you have in mind yourself. —
我真的认为她已经准备好谈论细节了，而你自己心里想着的才是最重要的。 —

As for Prince Niou, she does not seem to think his letters serious enough to bother answering.”
至于宁王子，她似乎并不认为他的信件足够认真，值得回复。”

“I have told you of her father’s last request. —
“我告诉过你她父亲的最后愿望。 —

I was much moved by it, and I have vowed to go on seeing them. —
我被这感动了，我发誓要继续看着她们。 —

You might think that, from my point of view, either of your ladies would do as well as the other, and I really am very flattered that she should have such confidence in me. —
你可能认为，从我的角度来看，你的任何一个女士都会和另一个女士一样好，我真的很荣幸她对我有这样的信任。” —

But you know, even a man who doesn’t have much use for the things that excite most people will find himself drawn to a lady, and when that happens he does not suddenly go running after another — though that would not be too difficult, I suppose, for the victim of a casual infatuation.
但是你知道，即使是一个对大多数人激动的事情不太感兴趣的人，也会被一个女士所吸引，当那种情况发生时，他并不会突然去追求另一个 — 虽然我想，对于一时的迷恋者来说这并不太困难。

“But no. If only she would stop retreating and putting up walls between us. —
“但不是这样。如果她能停止退缩，停止在我们之间筑起壁垒就好了。 —

If only I could have her here in front of me, to talk to about the little things that come and go. —
但愿我能把她留在我面前，和她谈论那些来来去去的小事。 —

If so much did not have to be kept back.
如果没有这么多事情需要隐瞒。

“I am all by myself, and I always have been. —
“我总是一个人，一直都是。 —

I have no brother near enough my own age to talk to about the amusing things and the sad things that happen. —
我没有一个年纪接近我的兄弟可以和我分享发生的有趣和伤心的事情。 —

You will say that I have a sister, but the things I really want to talk about are always an impossible jumble, and an empress is hardly the person to go to with them. —
你会说我有一个姐妹，但我真正想谈论的事情总是一团糟，一个女皇真的不适合与之交谈。 —

You will think of my mother. It is true that she looks young enough to be my sister, but after all she is my mother. —
你会想到我的母亲。她看起来确实年轻到可以是我的姐妹，但毕竟她是我母亲。 —

All the others seem so haughty and so far away. They quite intimidate me. And so I am by myself. —
其他人看起来都很高傲，很遥远。他们完全让我感到胆怯。所以我独自一人。 —

The smallest little flirtation leaves me dumb and paralyzed; —
最细微的调情让我哑口无言; —

and when it seems that the time has come to show my feelings to someone I really care for, I am not up to the smallest gesture. —
而当似乎到了向我真正在乎的人表达我的感情的时候，我连最细微的姿态都做不到。 —

I may be hurt, I may be furious, and there I stand like a post, knowing perfectly well how ridiculous I am.
我可能受伤，我可能愤怒，而我就站在那里像个木头，完全知道自己多么荒谬。

“But let us talk of Niou. Don’t you suppose that problem could be left to me? —
“但我们来谈谈宁寿。你不觉得这个问题可以交给我处理吗？ —

I promise that I will do no one any harm.”
我保证不会伤害任何人。”

It would be far better than this lonely life, thought the old woman, wishing she could tell him to go ahead. —
老太太想，这样的孤独生活还不如让他去做。 —

But they were both so touchy. She thought it best to keep her own counsel.
但他们两人都很敏感。她觉得最好守口如瓶。

Kaoru whiled away the time, thinking that he would like to stay the night and perhaps have the quiet talk of which he had spoken. —
薰消磨时间，想着他很想留下来过夜，或许会有他所说的安静谈话。 —

For Oigimi the situation was next to intolerable. —
对于织岛而言，这种情况几乎是无法忍受的。 —

Though he had made it known only by indirection, his resentment seemed to be rising to an alarming pitch. —
尽管他只通过暗示表达，但他的怨恨似乎正在升至惊人的程度。 —

The most trivial answer was almost more than she could muster. —
最微不足道的回答几乎让她难以承受。 —

If only he would stay away from that one subject! —
要是他能远离那个话题该多好啊！ —

In everything else he was a man of the most remarkable sympathy, a fact that only added to her agitation. —
在其他方面，他是一个极具同情心的人，这一事实只会加剧她的不安。 —

She had someone open the doors to the chapel and stir the lamps, and withdrew behind a blind and a screen. —
她让人打开教堂的门和搅动灯，自己则躲到了一道隔板和屏风后面。 —

There were also lights outside the chapel. —
教堂外也亮着灯。 —

He had them taken away — they were very unsettling, he said, for they revealed him in shameful disorder — and lay down near the screen. —
他让人把灯熄灭了——他说，那些灯让他显得陷入可耻的混乱——然后躺在屏风附近。 —

She had fruit and sweets brought to him, arranged in a tasteful yet casual manner. —
她让人带来水果和甜食，摆放得既雅致又随意。 —

His men were offered wine and very tempting side dishes. —
他的手下被提供了葡萄酒和非常诱人的小菜。 —

They withdrew to a corridor, leaving the two alone for what they assumed would be a quiet, intimate conversation.
他们退到走廊，只留下两人，他们预计会进行一次安静而亲密的对话。

She was in great agitation, but in her manner there was something poignantly appealing that delighted and — a pity that it should have been so — excited him. —
她心情极为焦躁，但在她的举止中带着一种令人感动的恳求，让他感到高兴，但也遗憾——这种情绪却会让他激动起来。 —

To be so near, separated from her only by a screen, and to let the time go by with no perceptible sign that the goal was near — it was altogether too stupid. —
能够如此接近，只被一道屏风分隔，然而时间过去了却没有明显迹象表明目标已近在眼前——这实在太愚蠢了。 —

Yet he managed an appearance of calm as he talked on of this amusing event and that melancholy one. —
尽管他谈论着这件有趣的事件和那件忧郁的事，但他还是保持着镇定的样子。 —

There was much to interest her in what he said, but from behind her blinds she called to her women to come nearer. —
他说的话让她很感兴趣，但她从窗帘后面叫她的女人过来。 —

No doubt thinking that chaperones would be out of place, they pretended not to hear, and indeed withdrew yet further as they lay down to rest. —
毫无疑问，她认为有监护人在身边是不合适的，她们假装没听见，甚至更远地撤退睡觉。 —

There was no one to replenish the lamps before the holy images. —
没有人去替圣像前的灯火添油。 —

Again she called out softly, and no one answered.
她又轻声呼唤，没有人回答。

“I am not feeling at all well,” she said finally, starting for an anteroom. —
“我觉得很不舒服,“她最后说道，朝一个休息室走去。 —

“I think a little sleep might do me good. —
“我觉得可能睡一会会对我有好处。” —

I hope you sleep well.”
我希望你睡得好。

“Don’t you suppose a man who has fought his way over mountains might feel even worse? —
你难道不觉得一个爬过山脉的人会感觉更糟吗？ —

But that’s all right. Just having you here is enough. —
但没关系，有你在这里已经足够了。 —

Don’t go off and leave me.”
别离开我。

He quietly pushed the screen aside. She was in precipitous flight through the door beyond.
他轻轻地推开屏风。她正急匆匆地飞奔穿过门外。

“So this is what you mean by a friendly talk,” she said angrily as he caught at her sleeve. —
“这就是你所谓的友好交谈？”她生气地说着，当他抓住她的袖子。 —

Far from turning him away, her anger added to the fascination. —
压根没有让他退缩，她的愤怒反而增加了吸引力。 —

“It is not at all what I would have expected.”
“这一点也不符合我的预期。”

“You seem determined not to understand what I mean by friendliness, and so I thought I would show you. —
“你似乎下定决心不理解我所说的友善，所以我想我会向你展示。 —

Not what you would have expected — and what, may I ask, did you expect? Stop trembling. —
不是你所期望的 — 那么，我可以问，你期望什么？别发抖。 —

You have nothing to be afraid of. I am prepared to take my vow before the Blessed One here. —
你没有什么好怕的。我准备在这里向圣者起誓。 —

I have done everything to avoid upsetting you. —
我已经尽一切努力避免让你心烦意乱。 —

No one in the world can have dreamed what an eccentric affair this is. —
世界上没有人能梦见这是多么古怪的事情。 —

But I am an eccentric and a fool myself, and will no doubt continue to be so.”
但我自己也是一个古怪的傻瓜，毫无疑问会继续如此。”

He stroked the hair that flowed in the wavering light. —
他轻抚着在摇曳的灯光中流淌的头发。 —

The softness and the luster were all that he could have asked for. —
软度和光泽都是他所期望的。 —

Suppose someone with more active inclinations were to come upon this lonely, unprotected house — there would be nothing to keep him from having his way. —
假如有更活跃倾向的人来到这座孤立、无保护的房子——他将无法阻止他肆意妄为。 —

Had the visitor been anyone but himself, matters would by now have come to a showdown. —
如果访客不是他本人，事情现在就要到达激烈对抗的地步了。 —

His own want of decision suddenly revolted him. —
他自己缺乏决断突然使他感到厌恶。 —

Yet here she was, weeping and wringing her hands, quite beside herself. —
然而，她却站在这里，泣不成声，揪心，彻底不知所措。 —

He would have to wait until consent came of its own accord. —
他只能等待默许自发地到来。 —

Distressed at her distress, he sought to comfort her as best he could.
看到她如此痛苦，他尽力安慰着她。

“I have allowed an almost indecent familiarity, and I have had no idea of what was going through your mind; —
“我已经允许一种近乎猥亵的亲密，却完全不知道你心里在想什么； —

and I may say that you have not shown a great deal of consideration, forcing me to display myself in these unbecoming colors. —
我要说，你也没有表现出多少考虑，让我展现这些不太体面的姿态。 —

But I am at fault too. I am not up to what has to be done, and I am sorry for us both. —
但我也有错。我不足以做出必须做的事情，对我们两人感到抱歉。 —

” It was too humiliating, that the lamp-light should have caught her in somber, shabby gray.
“那灯光照到她身上令人感到羞辱，她穿着暗淡的、破旧的灰色。

“Yes, I have been inconsiderate, and I am ashamed and sorry. —
“是的，我确实考虑不周，我感到羞愧和抱歉。 —

They give you a good excuse, those robes of mourning. —
他们给了你一个很好的借口，那些丧服。 —

But don’t you think you might just possibly be making too much of them? —
但你不认为你可能有些夸大其词了吗？ —

You have seen something of me over the years, and I doubt if mourning gives you a right to act as if we had just been introduced. —
多年来你见过我的一些样子，我怀疑丧服不会让你有权像我们刚见面那样对待。” —

It is clever of you but not altogether convincing.”
你很聪明，但并不十分令人信服。

He told her of the many things he had found it so hard to keep to himself, beginning with that glimpse of the two princesses in the autumn dawn. —
他告诉她许多他发现很难独自隐藏的事情，从那天秋天黎明看到两位公主开始。 —

She was in an agony of embarrassment. So he had had this store of secrets all along, and had managed to feign openness and indifference!
她羞得难受极了。所以他一直有这些秘密，却能装出坦率和冷漠的样子！

He now pulled a low curtain between them and the altar and lay down beside her. —
他现在在他们之间和祭坛之间拉上了一道低低的帘子，躺在她身旁。 —

The smell of the holy incense, the particularly strong scent of anise, stabbed at his conscience, for he was more susceptible in matters of belief than most people. —
圣香的味道，尤其浓烈的茴香香味，刺痛他的良心，因为在信仰方面，他比大多数人更容易受影响。 —

He told himself that it would be ill considered in the extreme, now of all times, when she was in mourning, to succumb to temptation; —
他告诉自己，再现在这个时候，她正处在哀悼之中，如果他屈服于诱惑，会被认为是非常不慎重的； —

and he would be going against his own wishes if he failed to control himself. —
如果他不能控制自己，也将背离自己的意愿。 —

He must wait until she had come out of mourning. —
他必须等到她走出哀悼期。 —

Then, difficult though she was, there would surely be some slight easing of the tensions.
然后，尽管她很棘手，紧张局势肯定会稍微缓解。

Autumn nights are sad in the most ordinary of places. —
在最普通的地方，秋夜是悲伤的。 —

How much sadder in wailing mountain tempests, with the calls of insects sounding through the hedges. As he talked on of life’s uncertain turns, she occasionally essayed an answer. —
在哀号山风中，随着虫鸣声从篱笆中传来，要悲伤多少倍？当他谈到生活的不确定转折时，她偶尔试图回答。 —

He was touched and pleased. Her women, who had spread their bedclothes not far away, sensed that a happy arrangement had been struck up and withdrew to inner apartments. —
他感动又高兴。她的侍女已经把床铺摊在不远处，感觉到一种愉快的安排已经达成，便退到内室。 —

She thought of her father’s admonitions. —
她想起父亲的告诫。 —

Strange and awful things can happen, she saw, to a lady who lives too long. —
她看到，一个长寿的女士可能会发生奇怪而可怕的事情。 —

It was as if she were adding her tears to the rushing torrent outside.
仿佛她的眼泪加入了外面奔腾的急流。

The dawn came on, bringing an end to nothing. —
黎明降临，什么也没有结束。 —

His men were coughing and clearing their throats, there was a neighing of horses — everything made him think of descriptions he had read of nights on the road. —
他的士兵在咳嗽和清嗓子，马嘶声不绝于耳 — 一切让他想起了他在路上经历的夜晚的描述。 —

He slid back the door to the east, where dawn was in the sky, and the two of them looked out at the shifting colors. —
他推开东边的门，那里的天空已经有了黎明的色彩，两人朝外看去。 —

She had come out towards the veranda. The dew on the ferns at the shallow eaves was beginning to catch the light. —
她走到了阳台。浅屋檐上蕨类植物上的露水开始闪耀着光芒。 —

They would have made a very striking pair, had anyone been there to see them.
如果有人在那里见证他们，他们会成为一对非常引人注目的情侣。

“Do you know what I would like? To be as we are now. —
“你知道我想要什么吗？就是我们现在这样。 —

To look out at the flowers and the moon, and be with you. —
望着花儿和月亮，和你在一起。 —

To spend our days together, talking of things that do not matter.”
一起度过我们的日子，谈论那些无关紧要的事。”

His manner was so unassertive that her fears had finally left her. —
他的态度是如此不自信，以至于她最终放下了恐惧。 —

“And do you know what I would like? A little privacy. —
“你知道我想要什么吗？一点私人空间。 —

Here I am quite exposed, and a screen might bring us closer.”
这里我很暴露，一个屏障也许能让我们更亲近。”

The sky was red, there was a whirring of wings close by as flocks of birds left their roosts. As if from deep in the night, the matin bells came to them faintly.
天空泛红，附近鸟群的翅膀在呼啸。仿佛来自深夜，晨钟微微传来。

“Please go,” she said with great earnestness. —
“请走吧，”她非常认真地说。 —

“It is almost daylight, and I do not want you to see me.”
“天快亮了，我不希望你看到我。”

“You can’t be telling me to push my way back through the morning mists? —
“你难道要我重新穿越晨雾回去吗？ —

What would that suggest to people? No, make it look, if you will, as if we were among the proper married couples of the world, and we can go on being the curiosities we in fact seem to be. —
这会向人们传达什么意思呢？不，如果可能的话，让我们看起来像世界上那些体面的已婚夫妇一样，我们可以继续成为事实上似乎是奇特的人。 —

I promise you that I will do nothing to upset you; —
我向你保证，我不会做任何让你不舒服的事情； —

but perhaps I might trouble you to imagine, just a little, how genuine my feelings are.”
但也许我可以麻烦你稍微想象一下，我的感情是多么真挚。”

“If what you say is true,” she replied, her agitation growing as it became evident that he was in no hurry to leave, “then I am sure you will have your way in the future. —
“如果你所说的是真的，”她回答道，随着他显然不急于离开而引起的不安情绪逐渐加重，“那么我相信将来你会如你所愿。 —

But please, this morning, let me have my way. —
但请，今天早上，让我按照我的方式行事。 —

” She had to admit that there was little she could do.
她不得不承认自己无能为力。

“So you really are going to send me off into the dawn? —
“那么你真的要把我送到黎明里去吗？ —

Knowing that it is ‘new to me,’ and that I am sure to lose my way?”
知道这是‘对我来说是全新的’，我肯定会迷失方向。”

The crowing of a cock was like a summons back to the city.
一只公鸡的啼声犹如在召唤着回到城市。

“The things by which one knows the mountain village
“人们认识山村的方式

Are brought together in these voices of dawn.”
都汇聚在这晨曦的声音中。”

She replied:
她回答道：

“Deserted mountain depths where no birds sing,
“沙漠山谷深处无鸟鸣，

I would have thought. But sorrow has come to visit.”
我本以为。但哀痛却来袭。”

Seeing her as far as the door to the inner apartments, he returned by the way he had come the evening before, and lay down; —
送她到内室的门口，他沿着昨晚的路回去，躺了下来； —

but he was not able to sleep. The memories and regrets were too strong. —
但他无法入睡。回忆和懊悔太过强烈。 —

Had his emotions earlier been toward her as they were now, he would not have been as passive over the months. —
如果他早些对她的情感像现在这样，他不会在过去的几个月里那么被动。 —

The prospect of going back to the city was too dreary to face.
回到城市的前景太过令人沮丧。

Oigimi, in agony at the thought of what her women would have made of it all, found sleep as elusive. —
对于那些女人对整件事的看法，Oigimi痛苦不堪，睡眠如梦的。 —

A very harsh trial it was, going through life with no one to turn to; —
一个人走过一生，无人可依靠，是何等艰难； —

and as if that huge uncertainty were not enough, there were these women with all their impossible suggestions. —
如果巨大的不确定性还不够，这些女人都提出了不切实际的建议。 —

They as good as formed a queue, coming to her with proposals that had nothing to recommend them but the expediency of the moment; —
她们几乎排队前来，提出毫无依据但却为时机所限的提议； —

and if in a fit of inattention she were to accede to one of them, she would have shame and humiliation to look forward to. —
如果在不注意的情况下，她听从了其中一位，她将面临羞辱和耻辱。 —

Kaoru did not at all displease her. The Eighth Prince had said more than once that if Kaoru should be inclined to ask her hand, he would not disapprove. —
薰并没有让她感到不快。第八王子多次表示，如果薰有意求婚，他不会反对。 —

But no. She wanted to go on as she was. It was her sister, now in the full bloom of youth, who must live a normal life. —
但不行。她想照旧继续自己的生活。她年轻美丽的妹妹才应该过正常的生活。 —

If the prince’s thoughts in the matter could be applied to her sister, she herself would do everything she could by way of support. —
如果王子的想法可以应用到她妹妹身上，她自己会尽一切力量支持她。 —

But who was to be her own support? She had only Kaoru, and, strangely, things might have been easier had she found herself in superficial dalliance with an ordinary man. —
但谁会支持她呢？她只有薰，奇怪的是，如果她在轻浮的恋情中与普通男子纠缠，事情可能会更容易些。 —

They had known each other for rather a long time, and she might have been tempted to let him have his way. —
他们相互认识已经有一段时间了，她或许会动心让他得逞。 —

His obvious superiority and his aloofness, coupled with a very low view of herself, had left her prey to shyness. —
他明显的优越感和疏远感，再加上对自己的低估，使她深陷羞怯之中。 —

In timid retreat, it seemed, she would end her days.
她似乎将以胆怯的退缩结束自己的一生。

She was near prostration, having spent most of the night weeping. —
她在过去的大部分时间里都在哭泣，几近疲惫不堪。 —

She lay down in the far recesses of the room where her sister was sleeping. —
她躺在房间深处，妹妹正在那里熟睡。 —

Nakanokimi was delighted, for she had been disturbed by that odd whispering among the women. —
中宫很高兴，因为她被那些女人之间的奇怪窃窃私语所困扰。 —

She pulled back the coverlet and spread it over Oigimi. —
她掀开被褥，盖在奇妹身上。 —

She caught the scent of her sister’s robes. —
她闻到了妹妹衣袍的香味。 —

It was unmistakable, exactly the scent by which poor Wigbeard had been so sorely discommoded. —
那种香气是不会弄错的，正是让可怜的威格碧德感到如此难受的香味。 —

Guessing what Oigimi would be going through, Nakanokimi pretended to be asleep.
知道奇妹会经历什么，中宫假装睡着了。

Kaoru summoned Bennokimi and had a long talk with her. —
薫召见了弁之君，与她进行了长谈。 —

He permitted no suggestion of the romantic in the note he left for Oigimi.
在留给扇贵妃的便条中，绝对没有任何浪漫的暗示。

She would happily have disappeared. There had been that silly little exchange about the trefoil knots. —
她会很乐意消失。关于三葉结的那些愚蠢的小插曲。 —

Would her sister think that she had meant by it to beckon him to within “two arms’ lengths”? —
她的姐姐会认为她是不是想通过这个来暗示他靠近“两臂之距”呢？ —

Pleading illness, she spent the day alone
以生病为借口，她整天独自度过

“But the services are almost on us,” said the women, “and there is no one but you to tend to all these details. —
“但是仪式快开始了，”女人们说，“只有你能负责所有这些细节。 —

Why did you have to pick this particular moment to come down with something?”
你为什么偏偏在这个时候生病了呢？

Nakanokimi went on preparing the braids; but when it came to the rosettes of gold and silver thread, she had to admit incompetence. —
中之君继续准备发髻; 但当到了金银丝的蔷薇花时，她不得不承认自己笨拙。 —

She did not even know where to begin. Then night came, and, under cover of darkness, Oigimi emerged, and the two sisters worked together on the intricacies of the rosettes.
她甚至不知道从哪里开始。夜幕降临，扇贵妃悄然出现，两姐妹一起研究蔷薇花的复杂结构。

A note came from Kaoru, but she sent back that she had been indisposed since morning. —
薫寄来了一封便条，但她回复说她从早上开始身体不适。 —

A most unseemly and childish way to behave, muttered her women.
她的女人们嘀咕着，这种行为太不得体，太幼稚了。

And so they emerged from mourning. They had not wanted to think that they would outlive their father, and, so quickly, a whole year of months and days had passed. —
于是她们走出了哀悼。她们不曾想过会比父亲更长寿，如此迅速地，整整一年的月日已经过去。 —

How strange, they sighed — and their women had to sigh too — how bleak and grim, that they should have lived on. —
多么奇怪，她们叹息 — 她们的女人们也得叹息 — 他们竟然活了下来。 —

But the robes of deepest mourning to which they had grown accustomed over the months were changed for lighter colors, and a freshness as of new life came over the house. —
但是她们多月来习惯的深色丧服被换成了浅色，房子里一股新生的气息。 —

Nakanokimi, at the best time of life, was the more immediately appealing of the two. —
中之君正值人生最美好的时光，是两姐妹中更加迷人的一个。 —

Personally seeing to it that her hair was washed and brushed, Oigimi thought her so delightful that all the cares of these last months seemed to vanish. —
女君精心梳洗她的头发，觉得她如此可爱，所有这些月来的烦恼似乎都消失了。 —

If only her hopes might be realized, if only Kaoru could be persuaded to look after the girl. —
只要她的希望能实现，只要能说服薰来照顾这个女孩。 —

Despite his evident reluctance, he was not, if pointed in the girl’s direction, likely to find her a disappointment. —
尽管他明显不情愿，但如果引导他去关注这个女孩，他不太可能会失望。 —

There being no one else whom she could even consider, and therefore nothing more for her to do, she busied herself with ministering to her sister’s needs, quite as if they were mother and daughter.
她实在没有别人可以考虑的，因此也没有更多可做的事，便忙着照顾她妹妹的需求，就像她们是母女一样。

Kaoru paid a sudden visit. The Ninth Month, when the mourning robes toward which he had been so deferential would surely have been put away, still seemed an unacceptable distance in the future. —
薰突然造访了。黜袍应该早已藏起，但似乎九月还远得不可接受。 —

He sent in word that he hoped as before to be favored with an interview. —
他传话说希望再次得到一次会面。 —

Oigimi sent back that she had not been well, and must ask to be excused.
女君回复说，她身体不好，必须请求免礼。

He sent in again: “I had not been prepared for this obstinacy. —
他再次传话说：“我没有预料到这种固执。 —

And what sort of interpretation do you think your women are likely to put upon it?”
你认为你的女人们会如何解释这种行为？”

“You will understand, I am sure, that when a person comes out of mourning the grief floods back with more force than ever. —
“你会明白的，当一个人走出悲痛时，悲伤会比以往更强烈地涌现。 —

I really must ask you to excuse me.”
我真的必须请求你原谅。”

He called Bennokimi and went over the list of his complaints. —
他叫奔宜宫，列举了他的投诉清单。 —

Since he had all along seemed to the women their one hope in this impossible darkness, they had been telling one another how very nice it would be if he were to answer their prayers and set their lady up in a more becoming establishment. —
自始至终，他似乎是女人们在这片无法超越的黑暗中的唯一希望，她们一直对彼此说，要是他能够回应她们的祈祷，为她们的女主人安排一个更合适的地方就太好了。 —

They had plotted ways of admitting him to her boudoir. —
她们密谋着如何让他进入她的闺房。 —

Though not aware of the details, Oigimi had certain suspicions: —
女君虽然不知道具体细节，但有些怀疑。 —

given Kaoru’s remarkable fondness for Bennokimi, and indeed their apparent fondness for each other, the old woman might have acquired sinister ideas, and because in old romances wellborn ladies never threw themselves at men without benefit of intermediary, her women presented the weakest point in her defenses.
考虑到薰对弁之君的特别喜爱，以及他们之间显而易见的亲密关系，这位老妇人可能产生了一些邪恶的想法，因为在老传奇中，贵族女士从未在没有中间人的情况下向男子投怀送抱，这使得她的女仆成为她防御中最薄弱的一环。

Kaoru was apparently embittered by her own reception of his overtures, and so perhaps the time had come to put her sister decisively forward as a substitute. —
考虑到薰对自己的亲昵可能遭到拒绝，也许现在是把她的妹妹明确推向前方作为替代品的时候了。 —

He did not seem to be one who, properly introduced and encouraged, would incline toward unkindness even when he found himself in the presence of an ill-favored woman; —
他似乎不是那种被适当介绍和鼓励后，即使面对一个不好看的女性也会倾向于不友好的人。 —

and once he had had a glimpse of the beauty her sister was, he was sure to fall helplessly in love. —
一旦他一睹她妹妹的美色，他肯定会不可遏制地坠入爱河。 —

No man, of course, would want to spring forward at the first gesture, quite as if he had been waiting for an invitation. —
当然，没有一个男人会希望在第一个信号出现时立即向前冲去，就好像他一直在等待邀请一样。 —

This apparent reluctance was no doubt partly from a fear of being thought flighty and too susceptible.
这种明显的犹豫不决无疑部分是出于害怕被认为轻率和太易受影响。

Thus she turned the possibilities over in her mind. —
因此，她在心中考虑了一切可能性。 —

But would it not be a serious disservice to give Nakanokimi no hint of what she was thinking? —
但是，给中之君任何关于自己想法的暗示不会造成严重的伤害吗？ —

In her sister’s place, she could see she would be very much hurt indeed. —
换做她的姐姐，她可以看出她会受到很大的伤害。 —

So, in great detail, she offered her view of the matter.
因此，她详细阐述了自己的观点。

“You will remember of course what Father said. —
“你当然还记得父亲说的话。 —

We might be lonely for the rest of our lives, but we were not to demean ourselves and make ourselves ridiculous. —
我们可能会孤独一生，但我们不应该贬低自己，让自己变得荒谬可笑。 —

We have a great deal to atone for, I think. —
我想我们有很多要弥补的。 —

It was we who kept him from making his peace at the end, and I have no reservations about a single word of his advice. —
我们是他在临终前无法和解的原因，我对他的每个建议都没有保留。 —

And so loneliness does not worry me at all. —
因此，孤独并不让我担忧。” —

But there are these noisy women, not giving me a minute’s relief. —
但那些喧闹的女人，从不让我得到片刻的宁静。 —

They chatter on and on about my obstinacy. I must admit that they have a point. —
她们滔滔不绝地谈论着我的固执。我必须承认她们说得有道理。 —

I must admit that it would be a tragedy for you to spend the rest of your days alone. —
我必须承认，如果你余生都孤独度过将会是个悲剧。 —

If I could only do something for you, my dear — if I only could make a decent match for you — then I could tell myself I had done my duty, and it would not bother me in the least to be alone.”
如果我能为你做点什么，亲爱的——如果我能为你找到一个体面的配偶——那么我就可以告诉自己我已尽到了责任，我将毫不在意孤独。

Nakanokimi replied with some bitterness. Whatever could her sister have in mind? —
那什么事能让嫦娥后有些苦涩呢？究竟她的姐姐有什么打算？ —

“Do you really think Father was talking about you? No, I was the one he was worried about. —
“你真以为父亲在担心你吗？不，他担心的是我。 —

I am the useless one, and he knew what a shambles I would make of things. —
我才是无用之人，他知道我会把事情搞得一团糟。 —

You are missing the point completely: the point is that we will not be lonely as long as we have each other.”
你完全误会了：关键是我们有彼此作伴，我们不会孤单。”

It was true, thought Oigimi, a wave of affection sweeping over her. “I’m sorry. —
此话不假，嫦娥后心生一丝感慨。“对不起。 —

I was upset and didn’t think. These people say I am so difficult. —
我心烦意乱，没有考虑周全。这些人说我难以相处。 —

That is the whole trouble.” And she fell silent.
这就是整个问题所在。” 她沉默了下来。

It was growing dark and Kaoru still had not left. Oigimi was more and more apprehensive. —
天色渐暗，而卫士仍未离去。嫦娥后越来越忐忑不安。 —

Bennokimi came in and talked on at great length of his perfectly understandable resentment. —
班姬姬进来，长篇大论地谈论着他那完全可以理解的怨恨。 —

Oigimi did not answer. She could only sigh helplessly, and ask herself what possible recourse she had. —
嫦娥后没有回答。她无能为力地叹了口气，自问还有何办法可想。 —

If only she had someone to look to for advice! —
如果她有人可求助该多好！ —

A father or a mother could have made a match for her, and she would have accepted it as the way of the world. —
一个父亲或母亲本可以为她安排一门婚事，她本会接受这是世间常态。 —

She might have been unable herself to say yes or no, but that was the nature of things. —
她可能无法亲自说出是或非，但这就是事物的本性。 —

She would have concealed the unfortunate facts from a world so ready to laugh. —
她会把不幸的事实隐藏起来，不让一个爱冷嘲热讽的世界知道。 —

But these women — they were old and thought themselves wise. —
但这些女人们 — 他们年纪已长，自以为是。 —

Much pleased with each new discovery, they came to her one after another to tell her how fine a match it promised to be. —
每一次新的发现让她非常高兴，她们一个接一个地找她，告诉她这是多么美好的一个匹配。 —

Was she to take these opinions seriously? —
她应该认真对待这些看法吗？ —

No, she was attended by crones, women with obsessions that made no allowance for her own feelings.
不，她被一群固执己见、毫不顾及她感受的老妇人围绕。

As good as clutching her by the hand and dragging her off, they would argue their various cases; —
就好像紧紧拉住她的手，把她拖走一样，她们会为各自的观点争论不休； —

and the result was that Oigimi withdrew into increasingly gloomy disaffection. —
结果是，维琪美愈发陷入忧郁和不快之中。 —

Nakanokimi, with whom she was able to converse so freely on almost every subject, knew even less about this one than she, and, quietly uncomprehending, had no answer. —
内之君对她几乎所有的话题都能畅所欲言，但对这个话题却知之甚少，静静地不解，无法回答。 —

A strange, sad fate ruled over her, Oigimi would conclude, turning away from the company.
一个奇怪、悲伤的命运笼罩着她，维琪美得出结论，转身离开这群人。

Might she not change into robes a little more lively? pleaded her women. —
她的女人们请求她换上稍微活泼一些的衣裳？ —

She was outraged — it was as if they were intent on pushing her into the man’s arms. —
她感到愤怒 — 好像她们想把她推到那个男人的怀抱里一样。 —

And indeed what was to keep them from having their way? —
确实，有什么可以阻止她们按照自己的意愿行事呢？ —

This tiny house, with everyone jammed in against everyone else, offered no better a hiding place than was granted the proverbial mountain pear. —
这个狭小的屋子，每个人都挤在一起，提供的隐匿之所还不如传说中的山梨。 —

It had always been Kaoru’s apparent intention to make no explicit overtures, inviting the mediation of this or that woman, but to proceed so quietly that people would scarcely know when he had begun. —
郁光显然从未明确表示过什么，邀请这个或那个女人的介入，而是悄悄地进行，以至于人们几乎不会意识到他何时开始。 —

He had thought, and indeed said, that if she was unwilling he was prepared to wait indefinitely. —
他曾经想过，甚至说过，如果她不愿意，他可以无限期地等待。 —

But the old women were whispering noisily into one another’s deaf ears. —
但老妇人们正在彼此的聋耳里大声耳语。 —

Perhaps they had been somewhat stupid from the outset, perhaps age had dulled their wits. —
也许他们一开始就有些愚蠢，也许年龄让他们变得迟钝。 —

Oigimi found it all very trying in either case.
奥意吉米感到很受折磨，无论以哪种情况。

She sought to communicate something of her distress to Bennokimi. —
她试图向弁农吉米传达她的困扰之情。 —

“He is different from other people, I suppose. —
“他和其他人不同，我想。 —

Father always said so, and that is why we have become so dependent on him since Father died, and allowed him a familiarity that must seem almost improper. —
父亲总是这么说，这也是为什么自从父亲去世以后我们对他变得如此依赖，并且允许他有一种几乎看起来不适当的熟悉感。 —

And now comes a turn I had not been prepared for. —
现在出现了一种转变，我之前没有准备好。 —

He seems very angry with me, and I cannot for the life of me see why. —
他似乎对我很生气，而我却无论如何看不出为什么。 —

He must know that if I were in the least interested in the usual things I would most certainly not have tried
他必须知道，如果我对普通事物稍有兴趣，我肯定不会试图拒绝他。

t him off. I have always been suspicious of them, and it is a disappointment that he should not seem to understand. —
我一直对他们持怀疑态度，他看起来不理解是很失望的。 —

” She spoke with great hesitation.
“她讲话时犹豫不决。

“But there is my sister. It would be very sad if she were to waste the best part of her life. —
“但有我的姐妹在。如果她浪费了一生中最美好的时光，那将是很悲伤的。 —

If I sometimes wish this house weren’t quite so shabby and cramped, it is only because of her. —
如果我有时希望这个房子不那么破旧拥挤，那只是为了她。 —

He says he means to honor Father’s wishes. Well, then, he should make no distinction between us. —
他说他打算遵守父亲的意愿。那么，他就不应该在我们之间区分。 —

As far as I am concerned we share a single heart, whatever the outward appearances. —
就我而言，我们共享一颗心，无论外表看起来如何。 —

I will do everything I possibly can. Do you suppose I might ask you to pass this on to him?”
我会尽我所能。我可以请你将这个传达给他吗？

“I have known your feelings all along,” said Bennokimi, deeply moved, “and I have explained everything to him very carefully. —
“我一直知道你的感受，”Bennokimi 感动地说，“我已经向他仔细解释了一切。 —

But he says that a man does not shift his affections at will, and he has his friend Niou to think of; —
但他说，一个人的感情不是可以随意转变的，他还要顾及他的朋友 Niou； —

and he has offered to do what he can to arrange matters for my younger lady. —
他已经表示愿意尽力安排事情让我的小姐解决。 —

I must say I think he is behaving very well. —
我必须说我认为他的举止非常好。 —

Even when they have parents working for them, two sisters cannot reasonably expect to make good matches at the same time; —
即使有父母在为她们工作，两姐妹也不能合理地期望同时找到好姻缘； —

and here you have your chance. I may seem forward when I say so, but you are alone in the world, and I worry a great deal about you. —
而你现在有了机会。我说这话时可能有些直率，但你是世上独自一个人，我非常担心你。 —

It is true that no one can predict what may happen years from now; —
没人能预测多年后会发生什么； —

but at the moment I think both of you have very lucky stars to thank. —
但此刻我认为你们两个都有幸运之星可以感谢。 —

I certainly would not want to be understood as arguing that you should go against your father’s last wishes. —
我绝对不希望被理解为主张你违背父亲的遗愿。 —

Surely he meant no more than that you should not make marriages unworthy of you. —
他肯定不止是想要你不要与你不相称的人结婚。 —

He so often said that if the young gentleman should prove willing and he himself might see one of you happily married, then he could die in peace. —
他经常说，如果这位年轻绅士愿意并且他能看到其中一位结婚幸福，那么他就可以安心离去。 —

I have seen so many girl s, high and low, who have lost their parents and gone completely to ruin, married to the most impossible men. —
我见过这么多女孩，不管是贵族还是平民，失去了父母后嫁给了最不靠谱的人。 —

I wonder if there has been a time in my whole long life when it hasn’t been happening somewhere, and no one has ever found it in his heart to poke fun at them. —
我想知道在我漫长的一生中是否曾经有过这样的时刻，没有人忍不住拿他们开玩笑。 —

And here you are — a man made to order, a man of the most extraordinary kindness and feeling, comes with a proposal anyone would jump at. —
而你，一个量身定制的人，拥有非同寻常的善良和感情，提出了任何人都会心动的建议。 —

If you send him off in the name of this Buddha of yours — well, I doubt that you will be rewarded with assumption into the heavens. —
如果你代表你的佛陀把他送走 - 嗯，我怀疑你会因此被升入天堂。 —

You will still have the world to live with.”
你仍然需要和这个世界共同生活。

She seemed prepared to talk on indefinitely. —
她似乎准备无休止地谈下去。 —

Angry and resentful, Oigimi lay with her face pressed against a pillow. —
生气和怨恨，扭起身子把脸埋在枕头里的织女。 —

Nakanokimi led her off to bed, with lengthy commiserations. —
中后君把她带去床上，长时间地表示同情。 —

Bennokimi’s remarks had left her feeling threatened, but it was not a house in which she could make a great show of going into retreat. —
苯女君的言论让她感到受到威胁，但这不是一个可以大肆藏身的地方。 —

It was, indeed, a house that offered no refuge. —
这确实是一个没有庇护的地方。 —

Spreading a clean, soft quilt over Nakanokimi, she lay down some slight distance away, the weather still being warm.
轻轻地在中后君身上铺上一条干净、柔软的被子，她自己躺在一段距离之外，天气仍然很暖和。

Bennokimi told Kaoru of the conversation. —
苯女君告诉薰这段谈话。 —

What, he asked himself, could have turned a young girl so resolutely away from the world? —
他问自己，一个年轻女孩是如何坚决地背离这个世界的呢？ —

Was it that she had learned too well from her saintly father the lesson of the futility of things? —
难道她已经从她圣洁的父亲那里学到了生活的徒劳无功的教训吗？ —

But they were kindred spirits, he and she, and he could most certainly not accuse her of impertinent trifling.
但他和她是同类精神，他绝对不能指责她的无礼轻蔑。

“And so I suppose from now on I will have trouble even getting permission to speak to her? —
“那么我想从现在开始，甚至要和她交谈都会有麻烦了吗？ —

Take me into her room, just this one evening.”
请带我进她的房间，就这一个晚上。

Having made up her mind to help him, Bennokimi sent most of the other women off to bed. —
决定帮助他之后，本小君把大部分其他女人都打发去睡觉了。 —

A few of them had been made partners in the conspiracy. —
有几个被卷入阴谋中。 —

As the night drew on, a high wind set the badly fitted shutters to rattling. —
随着夜色渐深，一阵大风让安装不当的百叶窗发出嘎嘎声。 —

It was fortunate — not as much stealth was needed as on a quieter night. —
这很幸运 — 比起在一个更安静的夜晚需要更多的隐秘。 —

She led him to the princesses’ room. The two were sleeping together; —
她带他走进公主们的房间。两个人正在一起睡觉； —

but they always slept together, and she could hardly have separated them for this one night. —
但她们总是一起睡觉的，她几乎不可能为了这一个晚上把她们分开。 —

Kaoru knew them well enough, she was sure, to tell one from the other.
郭知道她们的很熟悉，她确定，足以区分一人。

But Oigimi, still awake, sensed his approach, and slipped out through the bed curtains. —
但还未入睡的继君感觉到他的靠近，从床帘间溜了出去。 —

Poor Nakanokimi lay quietly sleeping. What was to be done? Oigimi was in consternation. —
可怜的中君安静地躺着睡着了。怎么办呢？继君感到恐慌。 —

If only the two of them could hide together — but she was quaking with fear, and could not bring herself to go back. —
如果只有她们两人能一起藏起来 — 但她因恐惧而颤抖，无法使自己回去。 —

Then, in the dim light, a figure in a singlet pulled the curtains aside and came into the room quite as if he owned it. —
然后，在微弱的灯光下，一个穿着背心的人拉开窗帘，像自己房间一样走进来。 —

Whatever would her hapless sister think if she were to awaken? —
如果她的可怜的妹妹醒来会作何想呢？ —

thought Oigimi, huddled in the cramped space between a screen and a shabby wall. —
继君想着，缩在屏风和破旧墙之间拥挤的空间里。 —

Nakanokimi had rebelled at the very hint that there might be plans for her — and how shocked and resentful she would be if it were to appear now that they had all plotted against her. —
中君在被暗示可能有计划对待她的时候就已经反抗了 — 如果现在看起来他们都在谋划对待她，她会感到多么震惊和愤怒。 —

Oigimi was quite beside herself. It had all happened because they had no one to protect them from a harsh world. —
Oigimi非常心烦意乱。一切发生都是因为他们没有人保护他们远离残酷的世界。 —

Her sorrow and her longing for her father were so intense that it was as if he were here beside her now, exactly as he had made his last farewell in the evening twilight.
她对父亲的悲伤和思念如此强烈，就好像他现在就在她身旁一样，就像他在傍晚的暮色中做出最后的告别一样。

Thinking that the old woman had arranged it so, Kaoru was delighted to find a lady sleeping alone. —
Kaoru认为是老妇人安排的，他很高兴发现一个女士独自睡着了。 —

Then he saw that it was not Oigimi. It was a fresher, more winsome, superficially more appealing young lady. —
然后他发现那不是Oigimi。那是一个更加美丽、更加迷人、表面更吸引的年轻女士。 —

Nakanokimi was awake now, and in utter terror. —
Nakanokimi现在醒来了，处于极度恐惧中。 —

She had been no part of a plot against him, poor girl, it was clear; —
她根本不是对他密谋的一部分，可怜的女孩，显然； —

but pity for her was mixed with anger and resentment at the one who had fled. —
但对她的怜悯与对那个逃走的人的愤怒和不满交织在一起。 —

Nakanokimi was no stranger, of course, but he did not take much comfort from that fact. —
Nakanokimi当然不是陌生人，但他并没有因此感到多少安慰。 —

Mixed with the chagrin was a fear lest Oigimi think he had been less than serious. —
沮丧之余，内心还带着担忧，生怕Oigimi认为他没有真诚。 —

Well, he would let the night pass, and if it should prove his fate to marry Nakanokimi — she was not, as he had noted, a stranger. —
好吧，他会让这个夜晚过去，如果娶Nakanokimi会是他的命运——正如他注意到的那样，她并不陌生。 —

Thus composing himself, he lay down beside her, and passed the night much as he had the earlier one with her sister.
这样安顿下来后，他躺在她身旁，度过了这个夜晚，就像之前和她姐姐度过的那一个。

Their plans had worked beautifully, said the old woman. But where might Nakanokimi be? —
老太太说他们的计划运转得很好。但Nakanokimi会在哪里呢？ —

It would be odd of her, to say the least, to spend the night with the other two.
如果她和另外两个人一起度过这个夜晚，那将是很奇怪的，至少得说。

“Well, wherever she is, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.”
“嗯，无论她在哪里，我相信她知道自己在做什么。”

“Such a fine young gentleman, making our wrinkles go away just by glancing in our direction. —
“这样一个优秀的年轻绅士，只需看向我们的方向，皱纹就会消失。” —

He’s exactly what every woman has always asked for. —
他恰好就是每个女人一直期望的那种男人。 —

Why does she have to be so standoffish?”
她为什么总是那么疏远？

“Oh, no reason, really. Something’s been at her, as they say. She’s hexed.”
“哦，没有什么原因，真的。有些事情困扰着她。她被施了咒。”

Some of the remarks that came from the toothless mouths were not entirely charitable.
有些人群中传来的话语并不完全善意。

They did not pass unchallenged. “Hexed! —
但它们没有不受挑战。“被施咒！ —

Now that’s a nice thing to say, as good as asking for bad luck. No, I can tell you what it is. —
现在说这种话真是不妙，这简直是在招来厄运。不，我可以告诉你原因。 —

She had a strange bringing up, that’s all, way off here in the hills with no one to tell her about things. —
她的成长经历很奇怪，完全在这片山里，没有人告诉她一些事情。 —

Men scare her. You’ll see — she’ll be friendly enough when she gets used to him. —
男人让她感到害怕。你会看到 - 只要她习惯了，她会友好起来。 —

It’s bound to happen.”
这是注定会发生的。”

“Let’s hope it happens soon, and something good happens to us for a change.”
“让我们希望这种情况快点发生，希望我们的运气能有所转机。”

So they talked on as they got ready for bed, and soon there were loud snores.
于是他们聊着天准备睡觉，很快便传来了大声的打鼾声。

Though “the company” may not have had a great deal to do with the matter, it seemed to Kaoru that the autumn night had been quick to end.
虽然“陪伴”可能与此事无关，但对于薰来说，秋夜似乎很快就结束了。

He was beginning to wonder which of the princesses appealed to him more. —
他开始思考哪个公主更让他心动。 —

If, at his departure, his desires were left unsatisfied, he had no one to blame but himself.
如果在他离开时，他的欲望仍未得到满足，那么他唯一能责怪的就是他自己。

“Remember me,” he said as he left Nakanokimi, “and do not deceive yourself that she is someone to imitate. —
“记住我，”他对中村君说道，“不要自欺欺人，认为她值得效仿。 —

” And he vowed that they would meet again.
“他发誓他们会再次见面。

It had been like a strange dream. Mustering all his self-control, for he wanted to have another try at the icy one, he went back to the room assigned him the night before and lay down.
这就像一个奇怪的梦。他集中所有的自制力，因为他想再试试那位冷淡的女子，于是他回到了之前被分配给他的房间躺下。

Bennokimi hurried to the princesses’ room. —
班奴吉米匆忙赶往公主们的房间。 —

“Very, very strange,” she said, thinking Oigimi the one she saw there. —
“非常，非常奇怪，”她说，认为看到的是奥依吉米。 —

“Where will my other lady be?”
“我的另一位姑娘会在哪里呢？”

Nakanokimi lay consumed with embarrassment. What could it all mean? —
中间基米被尴尬所困扰。这一切意味着什么？ —

She was angry, too, reading deep significance into her sister’s remarks of the day before.
她也感到愤怒，把姐姐前一天的话解读为深刻的意义。

As the morning grew brighter, the cricket came from the wall.
随着早晨的变亮，蟋蟀从墙壁传来声音。

Oigimi knew what her sister would be thinking, and the pity and the sorrow were too much for her. —
奥依吉米知道她姐姐会怎么想，这种怜悯和悲伤对她来说太过沉重。 —

Neither sister was able to speak. So the last veil had been stripped away, thought Oigimi. —
两姐妹都无法开口。奥依吉米想，最后的面纱被揭去了。 —

One thing was clear: theirs was a world in which not a single unguarded moment was possible.
有一点是清楚的: 他们所处的世界是一个连一刻不可放松的世界。

Bennokimi went to Kaoru’s room and at length learned of the uncommon obstinacy of which he had been the victim. —
班奴吉米去了薰的房间，最终得知他所受到的非同寻常的倔强。 —

She was very sorry for him, and she thought he had a right to be angry.
她为他感到非常难过，觉得他有权生气。

“I have put up with it all because I have thought there might be hope. —
“我一直忍耐着所有的一切，是因为我觉得或许还有希望。 —

But after last night, I really feel as if I should jump in the river. —
但是在昨晚之后，我真的感觉自己快要跳进河里了。 —

The one thing that holds me back is the memory of their father and how he hated to leave them behind. —
唯一束缚我的，是对他们父亲的记忆，他多么不愿意离开他们。 —

Well, that is that. I shall not bother them again — not, of course, that I am likely to forget the insult. —
好吧，就这样了。我不会再打扰他们了 — 当然，我也不太可能忘记这种侮辱。 —

I gather that Niou is forging ahead without a glance to the left or the right. —
我感觉那个仲邑正自信地向前走去，不左顾右盼。 —

I can understand how a young lady in her place might feel. —
我能理解处在她位置上的年轻女士可能会有何感受。 —

A man is a man, and she might as well aim for the highest. —
男人就是男人，她也可以直奔目标。 —

I think I shall not show myself again for all of you to laugh at. —
我想我不会再让你们见到我，好让你们不再取笑我。 —

My only request is that you talk about this idiocy as little as possible.”
我唯一的要求就是你们尽可能少谈论这种愚蠢。

Today there were no regretful looks backward. How sad, whispered the women, for both of them.
今天没有后顾之忧的眼神。多么悲伤啊，妇女们低声说，对于他们俩来说都是如此。

Oigimi too was asking herself what had happened. —
老瓜也在问自己到底发生了什么。 —

Supposing his anger now included her sister — what were they to do? —
如果他的愤怒现在也包括了她的姐姐 — 他们该怎么办？ —

And how awful to have all these women with their wise airs, not one of them in fact understanding the slightest part of her confusion. —
有这么多自以为聪明的女人，实际上一个也不明白她所困惑的一点。 —

The thoughts were still whirling through her head when a letter came from Kaoru. Surprisingly, she was pleased, more pleased, indeed, than usual. —
当那些思绪还在她脑海中旋转时，薰的来信送到了。令人惊讶的是，她很高兴，比往常更高兴。 —

As if he did not know the season, he had attached a leafy branch only one sprig of which had turned crimson. —
她的来信中，贴着一枝树枝，只有一个小叶已经变红。 —

Folded in an envelope, the note was quiet and laconic, and showed little trace of resentment.
折叠在信封中的这张便条平静而简洁，几乎没有什么怨恨的痕迹。

“My mountain ladies have dyed it colors twain.
“我的山间女子用两种颜色染了它。”

And which of the twain, please tell me, is the deeper?”
请告诉我，这两种颜色哪一种更深？

He apparently meant to pretend that nothing of moment had occurred. —
他显然打算假装没有发生什么重要的事情。 —

Uncertainty clutched at her once more; and here were these noisy women trying to goad her into a reply. —
不确定再次抓住了她；这些吵闹的女人竟然试图逼迫她回答。 —

She would have left it to her sister but for a fear that the poor girl was already at the limits of endurance. —
她本来想把问题留给她的妹妹，但担心可怜的女孩已经忍无可忍。 —

Finally, after many false starts, she sent back a verse:
终于，在许多次假开始之后，她回移了一句诗：

“Whatever the’ladies’ meant, the answer is clear:
“不管‘女士们’的意思是什么，答案是明确的：

The newer of these hues is far the deeper.”
这两种颜色中，较新的颜色更深。”

It had been jotted down with an appearance of unconcern, and it pleased him. —
这句话被毫不在意地写下，让他感到愉快。 —

He decided that his resentment was after all finite.
他决定，他的愤怒毕竟是有限的。

Two ladies with but a single heart, Bennokimi had told him — there had been more than one hint that Oigimi meant him to have her sister in her place. —
两位女士却只有一颗心，Bennokimi 告诉他 — 已经有不止一个暗示让 Oigimi 希望他可以接受她的妹妹。 —

His refusal to take the hint, it now came to him, accounted for last night’s behavior. —
他拒绝接受这个暗示，他现在明白，解释了昨晚的行为。 —

He had been unkind. A wave of pity came over him. —
他对此不友善。一股怜悯之情涌上心头。 —

If he had caused her to think him unfeeling, then his hopes would come to nothing. —
如果他让她觉得他冷漠无情，那么他的希望就会落空。 —

And no doubt Bennokimi, who had been so good about passing his messages on, was beginning to think him untrustworthy. —
毫无疑问，Bennokimi 曾经那么善解人意地传达他的信息，现在开始认为他不可靠。 —

Well, he had let himself be trapped, the mistake had been his own. —
好吧，他自己被陷入了困境，错误在于他自己。 —

If people chose to laugh at him as the sort that is constantly forsaking the world, he could only let them laugh. —
如果人们选择嘲笑他，说他是那种不断背弃世界的人，他只能任由他们笑。 —

It was worse than they knew. He was a laughable little boat indeed, paddling out only to come back time and time again!
情况比他们所知道的更糟。他确实是一个可笑的小船，一次又一次地划出去，却每次都返回！

So he fretted the night away. There was a bright moon in the dawn sky as he went to call on Niou. Upon the burning of his mother’s house in Sanjō, he had moved with her to Rokujō. —
因为他母亲的山城房子被烧毁后，他和母亲搬到了六条，整夜他都在焦急地想着这件事。黎明时分，天空明亮的月亮，他去拜访仁王。 —

Niou having rooms near at hand, he was a frequent caller, much, it would seem, to Niou’s satisfaction. —
仁王住在附近，他常去拜访，这似乎很让仁王满意。 —

It was the perfect place to make one forget the troubles of the world. —
这是一个完美的地方，让人忘记世上的烦恼。 —

Even the flowers below the verandas were somehow different. —
甚至庭院下的花朵也有些不同。 —

The swaying grasses and trees were as elsewhere — and yet they too were different. —
摇曳的草木虽然和别处一样，却也有所不同。 —

The clear moon reflected from the brook was as in a picture. —
清泉倒映的明月如画。 —

Kaoru had expected to find his friend enjoying the moonlight, and he was not disappointed. —
薰风中，他以为会看到朋友正在赏月，果然没有让他失望。 —

Startled at the fragrance that came in on the breeze, Niou slipped into casual court dress and otherwise put himself in order. —
顿时飘来的芬芳让仁王匆忙穿上便服，整理好自己。 —

Kaoru had stopped midway up the stairs. Not asking him to come further, Niou stepped out and leaned against the railing, and in these attitudes they talked idly of this and that. —
正当半途上楼时，没有让他继续上来，仁王走出来，靠在栏杆上，两人随意地闲谈。 —

The Uji affair always on his mind, he reproved his friend for various inadequacies as a messenger. —
想着宇治的事情总是在他脑海中，他因为对友人种种不足而责备。 —

This was not at all fair, thought Kaoru. He was incapable of seizing the first thing he wanted for himself, and he could hardly be expected to worry about others. —
卡洛心想，这一点也不公平。他自己连第一时间就能得到想要的东西，何况还得为别人担心。 —

But then it occurred to him that his own cause might be advanced if matters were arranged satisfactorily for Niou, and he talked with unusual candor of what he thought might be done.
但是后来他想到，如果为仁王安排得令人满意，也许能对自己有所好处，于是他非常坦诚地谈论了他认为可以做的事情。

A mist came in as the dawn brightened. The air was chilly, and with the moon now hidden the shade of the trees was dark. —
清晨的时候薄雾渐浓，空气变得凉爽，月亮被遮蔽之后，树荫变得幽暗。 —

It was a pleasant scene despite the gloom.
尽管阴郁，但这是一个愉快的场景。

“The time is coming,” said the prince, “when you will not get off so easily for leaving me behind. —
“时机即将来临，”王子说道，”你离开我落单时将不会那么容易摆脱惩罚了。” —

” No doubt the gloom brought sad Uji very near. —
毫无疑问，阴郁让悲伤的宇治非常接近。 —

Since Kaoru gave no evidence of eagerness, Niou offered a poem:
由于柯露没有表现出急切的迹象，仁王提出了一首诗：

“All the wide field abloom with maiden flowers!
“花田中一片绽放的少女花！

Why must you string a rope to keep us out?”
为什么你要拉一条绳子把我们拒之门外呢？”

In a similarly bantering tone, Kaoru replied:
柯露以类似戏谑的口吻回答道：

“The maiden flowers on the misty morning field
“少女花在雾蒙蒙的清晨田野上

Are set aside for those who bestir themselves.
是留给那些勇于行动的人。

And,” he said, smiling, “there are not many such enterprising people.”
” 他微笑着说: “而这样的人并不多。”

“How utterly shameless!”
“太无耻了！”

Though long importuned by his friend, Kaoru had wondered whether Nakanokimi could meet this most rigorous of tests. —
虽然受到朋友的长时间劝说，柯露一直在想着中宫是否能应对这个最严苛的考验。 —

Now he knew that she was at least the equal of her sister. —
现在他知道她至少与她的姐姐不相上下。 —

He had feared, too, that her disposition might upon close inspection prove to have its defects, and he was sure now that there was nothing for which he need apologize. —
他也担心她的性情可能在近距离检查时证明有瑕疵，现在他确信没有什么事情需要他道歉。 —

Though it might seem cruel to go against Oigimi’s wishes, his own affections did not seem prepared to jump lightly to her sister. —
虽然违背大后宫的意愿可能看起来残酷，但他自己的感情似乎并没有轻易地转向她的妹妹。 —

He must see that Nakanokimi went to his friend. —
他必须看到中御館去找他的朋友。 —

So he would overcome the resentment of both of them, prince and princess.
这样他就能克服王子和公主的怨恨。

Unaware of these thoughts, Niou was calling him shameless. It was very amusing.
忽略这些想法，匿王一直在叫他无耻。这很有趣。

“We must remember,” said Kaoru, his manner somewhat patronizing, “that you have given us little cause to admire you for your fidelity.”
“我们必须记住，”薰有点儿居高临下地说，“你没有给我们留下什么值得钦佩你忠诚的原因。”

“Just you wait and see,” answered Niou most earnestly. —
“你等着瞧，”匿王最认真地回答。 —

“I have never liked anyone else half as well, I swear it.”
“我从来没喜欢过其他人，我发誓。”

“And I see few signs that they are about to capitulate. —
“我几乎看不到他们屈服的迹象。 —

You have given me a formidable assignment.”
你给了我一项艰巨的任务。”

Yet he proceeded to describe in great detail his thoughts about an expedition to Uji.
然而，他开始详细描述了他对乌治远征的想法。

The twenty-eighth, when the equinox festival ended, was a lucky day. —
第二十八日，秋分节结束了，是个吉日。 —

With great stealth, including every possible precaution against attracting notice, Kaoru led his friend forth towards Uji. They would be in trouble were Niou’s mother, the empress, to learn of the excursion. —
薰非常谨慎地领着他的朋友去往乌治，包括采取一切可能的注意措施，以免引起注意。如果匿王的母亲，皇后，得知这次远足，他们就会惹上麻烦。 —

She would be certain to forbid it. But Niou was determined. —
她肯定会禁止。但匿王决心要去。 —

Though Kaoru agreed with him in wanting to make it appear that they were off for nowhere at all, the pretense was not a simple one. —
虽然薰同意他们假装好像去了个无人知晓的地方，这个借口并不简单。 —

They would surely be noticed if they tried to cross the Uji River. Forgoing the splendor of Yūgiri’s villa on the south bank, therefore, Kaoru left Niou at a manor house he happened to own near the Eighth Prince’s villa and went on alone. —
他们肯定会被注意到，如果试图横穿乌治河。因此，薰放弃了南岸Yūgiri别墅的壮丽景观，将匿王留在一个他恰好拥有的靠近八皇子别墅的庄园里，独自前去。 —

No one was likely to challenge them now, but it seemed that Kaoru did not want even Wigbeard, who might be patrolling the grounds, to know of Niou’s prese, His Lordship is here, His Lordship is here! —
现在没有人会挑战他们，但看来薰甚至不希望维格比德，可能在巡视庭园的人，知道匿王在场。忽有，小心，主上在此，主上在此！ —

“ As usual the women bustled around getting ready to receive him. —
“女人们照常忙碌着准备迎接他。 —

The princesses were mildly annoyed. But surely, thought Oigimi, she had hinted broadly enough that his affections should rest upon someone other than herself. —
公主们略感恼火。但是王君惠想，她已经广泛地暗示过，他的情感应该投向别人而不是她自己。 —

Nakanokimi, for her part, knew that she was not the one he was attracted to, and that she had nothing to fear from the visit. —
中间君自己知道他被吸引的并不是她，她也并不担心这次的访问。 —

But since that painful evening she had not felt as close to her sister. —
但自从那个痛苦的夜晚以后，她和妹妹之间的关系就不再那么亲近了。 —

A stiff reserve had grown up between them, indeed, and Nakanokimi refused to communicate except through intermediaries. —
实际上，她们之间冷淡的保留态度加剧了，中间君拒绝直接交流，只通过中间人传递消息。 —

How would it all end? sighed the women who carried her messages.
这一切会以怎样的结局告终呢？送她传话的女人们叹息着。

Niou was led in under cover of darkness.
仁王在黑夜的掩护下被带了进来。

Kaoru summoned Bennokimi. “Let me have a single word with the older of your ladies. —
薰传唤了慧兰君。“让我和你们年长的女伴说几句话。 —

I know when I have been refused, but I can’t very well just run away. —
我知道自己被拒绝了，但我也不能就这么逃跑。 —

And then perhaps, a little later, I may ask you to let me in as you did the other night?”
也许随后，我会请求你们让我像之前那样进来？”

His manner offered no cause for suspicion. —
他的态度没有令人怀疑的地方。 —

It made little difference, thought the old woman, which of the two girls she took him to. —
老妇想，无论带他去哪一个女孩那里都没什么不同。 —

She told Oigimi of the request. Oigimi was pleased and relieved — so his attention had turned to her sister, just as she had hoped. —
她告诉了王君惠他的请求。王君惠感到高兴和宽慰 —— 他的注意力已经转向她妹妹了，正如她所希望的那样。 —

She closed and barred the door to the veranda, leaving open the door through which he would pass on his way to her sister’s; —
她关闭并闩上了阳台的门，留开了通往她妹妹的门； —

and she was ready to receive him.
并且她已经准备好接待他了。

“A word is all I need,” he said somewhat testily, “and it is ridiculous that I must shout it to the whole world. —
“一个字就够了，”他有点不耐烦地说道，“我只需向整个世界喊出这个字，实在是荒谬。” —

Open the door just a little. Can’t you guess how uncomfortable I am out here?”
“把门打开一点吧。你难道不明白我在外面多难受吗？”

“I can hear you perfectly well,” she said, leaving the door closed.
“我听得很清楚，”她留着门关上。

Perhaps his affection for her had died and he felt it his duty to say goodbye? —
也许他对她的感情已经消逝了，他觉得有责任向她告别？ —

They were not, after all, strangers. She must not offend him, she concluded, having come forward a little, but she must watch the time. —
毕竟他们并不是陌生人。她不该得罪他，她决定向前走一点，但是必须注意时间。 —

He clutched at her sleeve through a crack in the door and began railing at her as he pulled her towards him. —
他从门缝中抓住她的袖子，一边将她往自己这边拉，一边责骂着她。 —

She was outraged. What was the man not capable of? —
她感到愤怒。这个男人到底有什么本事？ —

But she must humor him and hurry him off to her sister. Her innate gentleness came over to him. —
但她必须哄着他，把他赶紧送到她姐姐那里，她那种天生的温柔感动了他。 —

Quietly and without seeming to insist, she asked that he be to her sister as he had thought of being to herself.
她静静地、不显得坚持地请求他对她姐姐像对她自己那样。

Niou meanwhile was following instructions. —
尼欧同时在遵循指示。 —

He made his way to the door by which Kaoru had entered that other night. —
他沿着那天薰进来的那扇门走去。 —

He signaled with his fan and Bennokimi came to let him in. —
他用扇子表示信号，笨霓喜美过来让他进去。 —

How amusing, he thought, that his turn should have come to travel this well-traveled route. —
这么有趣，他想，居然轮到他走这条被走过很多的路了。 —

In complete ignorance of what was happening, Oigimi still sought to hurry Kaoru on his way. —
完全不知道发生了什么事情，扇美依然试图催促薰赶路。 —

Though he could not keep back a certain exhilaration at being party to such an escapade, he was also moved to pity. —
尽管他情不自禁感到兴奋能参与这样的逃避，但他也心生怜悯。 —

He would have no excuse to offer when she learned how effectively she had been duped; and so he said:
当她发现自己被骗得多么有效时，他将没有任何借口可以提供； 所以他说：

“Niou kept pestering me to bring him along, and I couldn’t go on saying no. He is here with me. —
“尼欧一直纠缠着我带他一起来，我实在不能再不同意。他跟着我来了。 —

I suspect that by now he will have made his way in. —
我怀疑他现在可能已经找到入场的路了。 —

You must forgive him for not having introduced himself. —
你必须原谅他没有向你介绍自己。 —

And I rather imagine that talkative old woman of yours will have been asked to show him the way. —
我相当想象你那位八卦的老女人一定被要求带他去了。 —

So here I am left dangling. You can all have a good laugh over me.”
所以现在我独自一人。你们都可以对我大笑一场。”

This was a bit more than she had been prepared for. —
这比她预料的要多一些。 —

Indeed, she was aghast, and wondered whether her senses might have deserted her. “Well! —
事实上，她惊呆了，不知道自己是否失去了理智。“嗯！ —

I have been nai%ve. Your powers of invention are so far beyond me that I doubt if I could find words to describe them. —
我真是天真。你的编造能力远远超过我，我怀疑自己找不到词语来描述。 —

I have let you see quite through me, and you have learned how stupid and careless I am. —
我让你看穿了我，你已经知道我有多愚蠢和粗心。 —

This knowledge of your superiority must give you much satisfaction.”
你对你的优越感的这种认识一定让你很满足。”

“I have nothing to say. I could apologize all night, and little good it would do me. —
“我没什么可说的。我可以道歉一整夜，却没有什么好处。 —

Pinch me and claw me, if you are so furious. I quite understand. —
如果你这么生气，就掐我、抓我吧。我完全理解。 —

You were aiming high, and you have learned that we are not always masters of our fate. —
你设立了很高的目标，而你现在知道我们并不总是我们命运的主宰。 —

I am inclined to suspect that he has been drawn in another direction all along. —
我倾向于怀疑他一直以来被另一个方向所吸引。 —

I do feel sorry for you, believe me. And, do you know, I feel a little sorry for myself too, left out in the cold with requests that have taken me nowhere at all. —
信我，我对你也感到遗憾。但不得不说，你最好接受已经发生的事实，或许你能多想想我们之间的关系。 —

But be that as it may, you would do well to accept what has happened, maybe you could even coax forth a thought or two about us, you and me. —
无论如何，你最好接受已经发生的事情，也许你可以尝试想想我们之间的事情。 —

We may know that your door is locked, but can you imagine that other people will believe in the purity that so distinguishes us? —
我们知道你的门是锁着的，但你能想象其他人会相信我们所具有的纯洁吗？ —

Do you think that my royal friend, for instance, who persuaded me to act as his guide this evening — do you think he can imagine the possibility of such a pointless and useless night?”
例如说我的皇家朋友，今晚他说服我担任他的向导，你认为他能想象到这样一个毫无意义和用处的夜晚的可能性吗？

He seemed prepared to break the door in. It still seemed best to humor him.
他似乎准备破门而入。最好还是安抚一下他。

“This ‘fate’ you speak of is not easy to grasp, and I cannot pretend to know much about it. —
“你所说的这个’命运’不容易理解，我并不敢声称自己完全了解。 —

I only know that ‘tears block off the unknown way ahead. —
我只知道‘眼泪挡住了前方未知的路。 —

’ It is a nightmare, trying to guess what you mean to do next. —
’ 这就是一个无法猜测你接下来想做什么的噩梦。 —

If people choose to remember my sister and me as some sort of case in point, I am sure it will be to add us to the list of ridiculous women who are always turning up in old stories. —
如果人们选择将我和我的姐姐记为一个案例，在那种情况下，他们很可能会把我们列为那些老故事中总是出现的荒谬女人之一。 —

And are you prepared to tell me what your friend means to do now that the two of you have been so clever? —
你准备告诉我你的朋友现在打算做什么，既然你们俩这么聪明？ —

Please, I beg of you, do not make things worse, do not confuse us further. —
请，我请求你，不要让事情变得更糟，不要让我们更加困惑。 —

If I should survive this crisis, and I am not at all sure that I will, I may one day be able to compose myself for a talk with you. —
如果我能幸存下来，虽然我并不确定，也许有一天我能够冷静下来和你谈谈。 —

At the moment I am feeling very upset and unwell, and think I must rest. —
此时此刻我感到非常沮丧和不舒服，我想我必须休息。 —

Leave me alone, if you do not mind.”
请离开我，如果你不介意。”

She clearly was upset, and that she should be so rational in spite of her distress made him feel his own inadequacy.
显然她很沮丧，尽管处于困扰之中仍能如此理性，这让他感到了自己的无力。

“I have done everything imaginable to follow your wishes, and I have made a fool of myself every step of the way. —
“我已经尽一切可能遵循你的意愿，但每一步都让我自取其辱。” —

I have done everything, and you seem to find me insufferable. —
“我已经尽力了，而你似乎觉得我讨厌。” —

Well, I will go — disappear might be the better expression.” After a moment he continued: —
“好吧，我要走了 —— 或许消失更为贴切。” 说完他又继续说： —

“But even if you are not feeling well, we can at least go on talking through the door. —
“但即使你身体不舒服，我们至少可以继续隔着门交谈。” —

Please do not run away.
“请不要逃走。”

He released her sleeve and was delighted to see that she did not withdraw very far. —
他松开她的袖子，高兴地看到她并没有远离。 —

” Just stay there and be a comfort through the night. —
“只需待在那里，给夜晚一些安慰。” —

I would not dream of asking more.”
“我绝不敢要求更多。”

It was a difficult, sleepless night. In the roar of the wind and water, which seemed to rise as the night advanced, he was like a pheasant without its mate.
这是一个难熬的失眠之夜。随着夜色渐深，风声和水声的咆哮似乎变得更为强烈，他像一只失去伴侣的雉鸡。

The first signs of dawn came over the sky, and as always the monastery bells were ringing. —
天空出现了黎明的征兆，钟声如往常般响起。 —

His late-sleeping friend had still not left Nakanokimi’s side. —
他一直没有离开那香的身边，等到朋友终于醒来。 —

In some disquiet, Kaoru gave a summoning cough. —
考虑到一些不安，在不远处发出嗓音。 —

It was an unusual situation.
这是一个不同寻常的处境。

“A futile night. The guide of yestereve
“徒劳的一夜。昨晚的向导

Seems doomed to wander lost down the twilight road.
似乎注定下沉在暮光之路上徘徊。”

I cannot believe that you have heard of anything quite like it.”
“我无法相信你曾听说过类似的事情。”

She replied in a voice so low that he could scarcely hear:
她的声音低得几乎听不见。

“You walk a road you have chosen for yourself,
“你走的是你选择的道路，

While helplessly we stumble on in darkness.”
而我们却无力地在黑暗中蹒跚前行。”

All his impatience came back. “Can you not be persuaded, please, to dismantle a few of these unnecessary defenses?”
他重新变得不耐烦起来。“你是否能被劝服，拆除一些这些不必要的防御？”

As the sky grew brighter Niou emerged, and with him a quiet fragrance that cast just the right veil of delicacy over the events of the night before. —
随着天空渐渐明亮，仁王出现了，带着一股淡淡的清香，恰到好处地给前一晚的事件披上一层精致的面纱。 —

The old women were open-mouthed. But they quickly found comfort. —
老妇人们张大了嘴巴。但她们很快找到了安慰。 —

The other young gentleman would surely have all the right motives for his conduct.
另一个年轻绅士的行为肯定有正确的动机。

Niou and Kaoru hurried back to the city before daylight overtook them. —
仁王和薰匆匆忙忙地在天亮前赶回城市。 —

The return journey seemed far longer than had the way to Uji. Always aware of the obstacles that kept a man of his rank from embarking on carefree outings, Niou had already begun to lament” the nights to come. —
归途似乎比去宇治的路要长得多。仁王一直意识到阻碍着他这个身份的男子随意外出。他已经开始为即将到来的夜晚感到惋惜。 —

“ The streets were still deserted when they arrived back at Nijō. Ordering the carriage drawn up at the veranda, they slipped indoors, smiling at the strange, ladylike vehicle that had guarded their incognito.
他们回到二条时，街上依然荒凉。吩咐停在走廊的马车，他们溜了进去，对着那个奇怪的、像淑女一样的车辆微笑，这辆车曾守护过他们的隐姓埋名。

“If you were to ask me, I would say that you had done your duty most admirably,” said Kaoru, letting fall no hint of the grotesque arrangements he himself had made.
“如果你问我，我会说你已经做得非常出色了。”薰说着，没有透露出自己所做的荒谬安排的任何暗示。

Niou hurried off to compose a note.
仁王赶紧写了一封短笺。

The sisters were in a daze. Nakanokimi was angry and sullen: —
姐妹俩都目瞪口呆。中公卿生气而闷闷不乐：她的姐姐竟然有这些计划，却没有让她有丝毫察觉。 —

so her sister had had these plans and had not permitted her an inkling of them. —
老姊妹们都目瞪口呆。Jijō生气而闷闷不乐：她的妹妹居然有这些计划，却没有让她有丝毫察觉。 —

Oigimi, for her part, unable to find a convenient way to protest her innocence, could only sigh at the thought of how just this resentment was. —
她不知道如何方便地表明自己的清白，只能叹息这种怨恨是多么合理。 —

The old women looked from one to the other in search of an explanation for this startling turn of events; —
老妇人们相互看着，寻找一个解释这个惊人事件的答案； —

but the lady who should have been their strength seemed lost to the world, and they could only go on wondering.
但应该是她们的支柱的那位女士似乎迷失在了世界中，她们只能继续猜想。

Oigimi opened the note and showed it to her sister, but Nakanokimi lay with her face pressed against her sleeve. —
女君打开了信并向她的姐姐展示，但中文君的脸却贴在了她的袖子上。 —

“What a long time they are taking with their answer,” thought the messenger.
“他们回答的时间好长啊，”使者想。

This was Niou’s verse:
这是仁王的诗：

“You cannot think that a trifling urge induced me
“你以为我只为了一点点冲动

To brave, for you, that tangled, dew-drenched path?”
愿意冒险去穿越这样多刺的、被露水淋湿的小径吗？”

The accomplished hand, ever more remarkable, had delighted them back in the days when it had been of no particular concern to them. —
这有趣的手，日日更加出色，曾在无关紧要的日子里使她们着迷。 —

Now it was a source of apprehension. Oigimi did not think it seemly to step forward and answer in her sister’s place. —
现在它成了一种担忧。女君认为站出来代替妹妹回答是不得体的。 —

She limited herself to pressing the claims of propriety, and finally persuaded Nakanokimi to put together a note. —
她只限于坚持礼仪，并最终说服中君写了一封便条。 —

They rewarded the messenger with a woman’s robe in the wild-aster combination and a pair of doubly lined trousers. —
她们用野紫苑的绣衣和双层裤子报答了使者。 —

The messenger, a court page whom Niou often made use of and who would be unlikely to attract notice, seemed reluctant to accept the gifts, which they therefore wrapped in a cloth parcel and handed to his man. —
使者是常常得到仁王器重的宫廷侍从，不会引起注意，看起来有些不情愿接受礼物，于是她们把礼物包裹在一块布里交给了他的仆人。 —

Having been at such pains to make the mission inconspicuous, Niou was annoyed. —
为了使这次任务隐秘，仁王感到恼火。 —

He blamed the officious old woman of the evening before.
他责怪前一天晚上那个多管闲事的老妇人。

He asked Kaoru to be his guide again that evening.
他邀请薰再次做他的向导那个晚上。

“I am really very sorry, but I have an engagement at the Reizei Palace from which I cannot ask to be excused.”
“非常抱歉，但我有一个不能推托的约会在冷泉宫。”

“So it is with my worthy friend — not at all interested in the most interesting things in life.”
“我的好友就是这样 — 对生活中最有趣的事不感兴趣。”

At Uji, Oigimi had been the first to succumb. —
於宇治，凤君最先屈服。 —

Could she turn him away on no better grounds than that he was not the suitor she had had in mind for her sister? —
她能因为他不是她心目中的姻亲而把他拒之门外吗？ —

The house was badly equipped for decking out a nuptial chamber, but she managed to make do rather well with the rustic furnishings at hand. —
这座房子装饰婚房的设备很不足，但她勉强地用手边的乡村家具弄得相当不错。 —

In control of herself once more, she was pleased that
重新控制住自己后，她高兴起翻來。

Niou should come hurrying down the long road to Uji, and at the same time she could not help wondering that her plans had gone so wildly astray. —
仁王立刻沿着通往宇治的长路赶来，与此同时她不禁纳闷自己的计划怎么出现了如此大的偏差。 —

Nakanokimi, still in a daze, gave herself up to the women who had undertaken to dress her for the night. —
仍处于恍惚状态的中君，投入到了那些渐渐决定她穿着的妇女们手中。 —

The sleeves of her crimson robe were damp with tears.
她的绯红衣袖被泪水打湿。

The more composed of the sisters was also in tears. —
较为镇定的姐妹也在哭泣。 —

“I cannot believe I have much longer to live, and I think only of you. —
“我觉得我活不了多久了，我只想着你。 —

These people have worn my ears out telling me what a fine match it is. —
这些人已经烦透了我，说这是个很好的联姻。 —

Well, I have said to myself, they are older and more experienced, and probably they are right, at least as the world sees things. —
好吧，我心里说，他们年长经验丰富，也许他们是对的，至少在世人看来是这样。 —

And so I put together a small amount of resolve — not that I pretend to know a great deal — and told myself that I was not going to leave you unprotected. —
于是我振作一些意气 — 不是我自以为懂得很多 — 并告诉自己我不会让你无人照应。 —

But I never dreamed that things could go so horribly awry. —
但我从未想过事情会变得如此糟糕。 —

People talk about matches that are fated to be, and I suppose this is one of them. —
人们谈论注定存在的配对，我想这就是其中之一。 —

I am as upset as you are, you must believe me. —
我和你一样难过，你一定要相信我。 —

When you have calmed yourself a little I shall try to prove that I knew nothing at all about it. —
当你稍微冷静下来后，我会尽力证明我一无所知。 —

Please don’t be angry with me. The time will come when you will be sorry if you are.”
请不要生我的气。有一天你会后悔的。”

She stroked her sister’s hair as she spoke. Nakanokimi did not answer. —
她一边说着，一边抚摸着妹妹的头发。中公主没有回答。 —

Her mind was jumping from thought to thought. —
她的思绪跳来跳去。 —

If her sister was so worried about her now, it did not seem likely that she had behaved with any sort of deliberate malice. —
如果她的妹妹现在如此担心她，那么她看起来并没有蓄意恶意。 —

She herself was only making things worse. —
她只是让事情变得更糟。 —

They were fools for the world to laugh at, both of them, and there was no point in adding to her sister’s unhappiness.
他们是世人取笑的傻子，两个人都是，增加妹妹的不快乐毫无意义。

Even in a state of something near shock she had been very beautiful. —
即使在近乎震惊的状态下，她还是非常美丽。 —

Tonight, more in possession of herself, she was still more of a delight. —
今晚，更加掌控自己，她仍然更令人陶醉。 —

Niou’s heart ached at the thought of how long, and for him how strewn with obstacles, the road to Uji was. —
仲从想到了去宇治的道路会有多么漫长，而且对他来说会充满阻碍。 —

He made promise after promise. Nakanokimi was neither pleased nor moved. —
他发誓个不停。中公主既不高兴也不感动。 —

She was merely bewildered — men were quite beyond her. All maidens are shy; —
她只是困惑不解 — 男人对她来说完全超出了理解范围。所有少女都是害羞的。 —

but shyness has its limits when a maiden, however pampered and sheltered, has lived in a house with brothers. —
但当一个少女，即使被宠爱和保护得再怎么周全，却是在有着兄弟的房子里长大的时候，害羞也有它的限度。 —

Our princess, though scarcely pampered, had grown up in these secluded mountains, far from the greater world; —
我们的公主，虽然并不算被宠爱，却是在这些隐蔽的山区长大的，远离了更广阔的世界； —

and the timidity brought on by this unexpected event made it difficult for her to force her way through the tiniest answer. —
这种突如其来的事件带来的胆怯让她难以做出最小的回答。 —

He would think her in every respect queer and countrified, entirely unlike other ladies of his acquaintance; —
他会认为她在各个方面都很奇怪和乡土气息，完全不同于他认识的其他女士们； —

and she was, in every respect, the quicker and more accomplished of the two sisters.
她在所有方面都比两姐妹中更快更有技巧。

The women reminded them of the rice cakes that are customary on the third night. —
她们让人想起了第三夜上惯例的糯米饼。 —

Yes — it was a form that must be observed, thought Oigimi. She put her sister to work. —
是的 — 奥伊吉美想，这是必须遵守的形式。她让妹妹去工作。 —

Nakanokimi was of course a novice in such matters, and Oigimi too, doing her best to play the part of the older sister, felt herself flushing scarlet. —
虽然娜娜吉美对这样的事情是个新手，奥伊吉美也尽力扮演起姐姐的角色，却感觉自己在发红着。 —

How ridiculous they must seem to these women! But in fact the women were entranced. —
他们一定觉得她们这样子太荒谬了！但事实上这些女人都为之陶醉。 —

This calm elegance, they thought, was what one expected of an eldest daughter, and at the same time it testified to her concern and affection for her sister.
他们想，这种冷静的儒雅是大女儿应该具备的，同时也证明了她对妹妹的关心和爱。

A letter came from Kaoru, written in a careful cursive hand on rather ordinary Michinoku paper. —
一封信来自薰，用一只非常普通的、细心的书法书写在产自陸奧的普通纸上。 —

“I thought of calling last night, but it is clear that my humble efforts are bringing no rewards. —
“我昨晚本想打个电话，但很明显我的谦卑的努力没有带来任何回报。 —

I must confess a certain resentment. I know that there will be all manner of errands to see to this evening, but the memory of the other night leaves me squirming. —
我必须坦白一些怨恨。我知道今晚肯定会有许多差事要处理，但对另一个晚上的记忆让我感到良心不安。 —

And so I shall bide my time.”
所以我只能忍耐。”

In several boxes he sent Bennokimi numerous bolts of cloth, for the women, he said. —
他送给贞君几个箱子，里面装着为了这些女人而寄去的大量布料，他说。 —

It would seem that, relying on what his mother happened to have at hand, he had not been as lavish as he would have wished to be. —
看起来，他似乎没有像他希望的那样奢侈，而是依赖他母亲手头恰好有的东西。 —

Lengths of undyed silk, plain and figured, were hidden beneath two tastefully finished robes and singlets. —
未染色的丝绸长带，素色和图案，被隐藏在两件做工精美的长袍和背心下面。 —

At the sleeve of a singlet was a poem, somewhat old-fashioned, it might have seemed:
在一个背心的袖子上，有一首有些过时的诗：

“We did not share a bed, I hear you say.
“我们没有共享一张床，我听你说。

But we were together, that I must insist.”
但我们是在一起的，我必须坚持。”

How very threatening. And yet, in some discomfiture, Oigimi had to grant his point: —
多么威胁啊。然而，Oigimi有些不安地不得不承认他的观点： —

neither she nor her sister had any defenses left. —
她和她的姐姐都已经没有任何防备了。 —

Some of the messengers ran off while she was still puzzling over her answer. —
一些使者在她还在想着回答时就跑开了。 —

She detained the lowest-ranking among them until she had a poem to give him.
她留下了其中身份最低的使者，直到她有一首诗可以给他。

“No barrier, perhaps, between our hearts;
“或许我们的心之间没有障碍；

But say not that our sleeves caress each other.”
但不要说我们的袖子在互相拥抱。”

It was an ordinary poem, showing, however, traces of her agitation. He was touched. —
这是一首普通的诗，但显示出她的激动。他感动了。 —

He thought he could see in it honest and unaffected feelings.
他觉得他可以在其中看到真诚而不作假的情感。

Meanwhile Niou was beside himself. He was at the palace and there seemed no chance of escaping. —
与此同时，Niou陷入了疯狂。他在宫中，似乎没有逃脱的机会。 —

His mother had taken advantage of his presence to chide him for his lengthy absences. —
他母亲利用他在场的机会责备他的长时间离开。 —

“Here you are still single, and people tell me that you are already beginning to acquire a name for yourself as a lover. —
“你现在还是单身，但人们告诉我你已经开始在情场上声名鹊起。 —

I do not like it at all. Do not, if you please, make a career of it. —
我一点也不喜欢。请不要把这当成一种事业。 —

Your father is no happier than I am.”
你的父亲和我一样都不开心。”

Niou withdrew to his private chambers. Kaoru came upon him sunk in thought, having finished a letter to Uji. The visit delighted him. —
鸟生退到他的私室。薰来到他那里，发现他陷入了沉思，刚写完一封给宇治的信。这次拜访让他很高兴。 —

Here was someone who understood.
这是一位懂得他的人。

“What am I to do? It is already dark, and — really, what am I to do?”
“我该怎么办呢？已经天黑了，- 真的，我该怎么办？”

Kaoru saw a chance to explore his friend’s intentions. —
薰看到了探究朋友意图的机会。 —

“We haven’t been seeing much of you lately, and your mother will not be at all happy if you go running off again. —
“我们最近没怎么见到你，你妈妈如果又看见你跑出去，肯定会很不高兴。 —

The ladies have been handing little rumors around. —
这些女人一直在传播一些小谣言。 —

I can already hear the scolding I’ve let myself in for.”
我已经能听到自己要承受的责备了。”

“Yes, there is the problem of my good mother. She has just annihilated me, as a matter of fact. —
“是啊，我的好妈妈的确把我击垮了。 —

Those women must be lying to her. What have I done, after all, that the whole world should be criticizing me? —
那些女人一定在向她撒谎。毕竟我做了什么，竟然让全世界都在批评我？ —

Life is not easy when your father wears a crown, that I can tell you. —
当你的父亲戴着王冠时，生活并不容易，这一点我可以告诉你。 —

” His sighs did suggest that he found his wellborn lot a sad one.
” 他的叹息似乎表明他觉得自己这个出身显赫的命运很悲哀。

Kaoru was beginning to feel sorry for him. —
薰开始对他感到同情。 —

“Well, you will have a scene on your hands whether you go or whether you stay. —
“无论你去还是留下，必将引起一场场面。” —

If there is to be carnage, I am prepared to immolate myself. —
“如果有残忍的事情发生，我愿意牺牲自己。” —

Suppose we think of a horse for getting over Mount Kohata. —
“假设我们想想用一匹马来翻过Kohata山。” —

It will attract attention, of course.”
“这肯定会引起注意。”

The night was blacker and blacker, Niou more and more nervous; —
“夜色越来越黑，Niou越来越紧张；” —

but finally he made his departure, on horseback, as Kaoru had suggested.
但最终他骑着马离开了，正如Kaoru所建议的那样。

“I think,” said Kaoru, seeing him off, “that it would be better for me to stay behind and do what I can to cover the rear. —
“我想”，Kaoru说着送他离开，“最好我留下来尽力掩护后方。” —

” He went from Niou’s apartments to the empress’s audience chamber.
他从Niou的住所到了皇后的听政殿。

“So he has run off again,” said she. “I cannot understand him. —
“他又跑掉了”，她说，“我无法理解他。 —

Has he no notion of what people will be thinking? —
他难道不知道人们会怎么想吗？ —

I am the one who will suffer when his father hears of it and concludes that someone has been remiss.”
当他的父亲听说此事并断定有人疏忽时，我将受到处罚。”

She was the mother of a considerable band of grown children, and she only seemed younger as the years went by. —
她是一群已经长大的孩子的母亲，随着岁月的流逝，她似乎变得更年轻。 —

No doubt her oldest daughter, the First Princess, was very much like her. —
毫无疑问，她的长女，大公主，与她非常相似。 —

He thought it a great pity that the occasion had been denied him to approach the daughter, if only to hear her voice, as he was now approaching the mother. —
他觉得很遗憾没有机会接近这位女儿，即使只是听听她的声音，就像他现在正在接近这位母亲一样。 —

It was probably in such a situation, he mused — when the lady was neither distant nor yet near enough to come at a summons — that the amorously inclined young men of the world tended to have improper thoughts. —
“很可能在这种情况下，”他沉思道——当这位女士既不遥远也不足以随时召唤时——世界上有情倾向的年轻男子往往会产生不正当的想法。 —

Was there anyone as eccentric as he? And yet even he, once his affections had been engaged, found it impossible to detach them. —
有没有人像他一样古怪？然而，即使是他，一旦他的感情被牵扯其中，也发现无法割舍。 —

Here among the empress’s attendants was not a single lady who could be called wanting in sensitivity or elegance. —
在这位皇后的随从中，并没有一个可以说缺乏敏感性或优雅的女士。 —

Each had her own merits, and several were outstandingly beautiful. —
每个人都有自己的优点，有几个人尤为美丽。 —

But he was propriety itself towards all of them, determined that none should excite him — and this despite the fact that several had made advances. —
但他对她们所有人都举止得体，决心不让任何人激起他的情感-尽管事实上有几人向他示好。 —

Since the empress held court with such quiet dignity, nothing was allowed to appear on the surface; —
由于皇后庄严地举行宫廷，表面上什么也不允许出现； —

but women have their ways, and there were those in her retinue who let slip hints that they found him interesting. —
但女人们总有办法，她的随从中有些人偶尔透露出觉得他有些趣味的迹象。 —

He for his part was sometimes amused and sometimes touched, and through all these trifling encounters there ran an awareness of evanescence.
他则有时觉得好笑，有时感动，而在所有这些琐碎的相遇中都带有一种虚幻感。

Oigimi was in despair. Kaoru had made such a thing of
沧海一声笑，滔滔两岸潮。