The spring sunlight did not discriminate against these “thickets deep. —
春光不分深密的“丛林”。 —

” But Nakanokimi, still benumbed with grief, could only wonder that so much time had gone by and she had not joined her sister. —
但中镆公主仍然身在悲伤之中，只能惊讶那么长时间过去了，她还没有和妹妹团聚。 —

The two of them had responded as one to the passing seasons, the color of the blossoms and the songs of the birds. —
两人对季节更迭、花朵的颜色和鸟儿的歌声总是如出一辙。 —

Some triviality would bring from one of them a verse, and the other would promptly have a capping verse. —
其中一人会因一点琐事而吟诗，另一个会立刻回应一句应和诗。 —

There had been sorrows, there had been times of gloom; —
曾有悲伤、有昏暗时光； —

but there had always been the comfort of having her sister beside her. —
但她总有姐妹相伴的慰藉。 —

Something might interest her or amuse her even now, but she had no one to share it with. —
现在也许有某事吸引或逗乐她，但却没有人可分享。 —

Her days were bleak, unbroken solitude. The sorrow was if anything more intense than when her father had died. —
她的日子孤寂而冷清。悲痛愈发剧烈，胜过父亲去世时。 —

Yearning and loneliness left day scarcely distinguishable from night. —
渴望和孤独让日夜难分。 —

Well, she had to live out her time, and it did little good to complain that the end did not come at her summons.
唉，她必须熬过这段时光，抱怨结束未至又有何益。

There was a letter from the abbot for one of her women: —
有一封给她侍女的信： —

“And how will matters be with our lady now that the New Year has come? —
“如今新年已至，我们夫人将会如何？ —

I have allowed no lapse in my prayers for her. She is, in fact, my chief worry. —
我从未停止为她祈祷。实际上，她是我最担忧的人。 —

These are the earliest fern shoots, offerings from certain of our acolytes. —
有几位服务僧人送来最初的蕨芽，作为供品。 —

” The note came with shoots of bracken and fern, arranged rather elegantly in a very pretty basket. There was also a poem, in a bad hand, set apart purposely, it seemed, from the text of the letter.
”这封信附带着蕨和蕨芽，精美地装在一个漂亮的篮子里。还附有一首诗，字迹很差，故意与信件中的文字分隔开来。

“Through many a spring we plucked these shoots for him.
“多少春天为他采撷这些嫩芽。

Today remembrance bids us do as well.
今日怀念之情亦促使我们这般行动。

Please show this to your lady.”
请转呈于贵夫人目前。”

Nakanokimi was much moved. The old man was not one to compose poems for every occasion, and these few syllables said more to her than all the splendid words, overlooking no device for pleasing her, of a certain gentleman who, though ardent enough to appearances, did not really seem to care very much. —
那仁孝公主感动不已。老人并非为一切场合都能谱诗，这几个音节足以比得上一位绅士热情洋溢的华丽言辞，不漏任何讨好她的手法，虽然外表热情，但似乎并不真的在乎。 —

Tears came to her eyes. She sent a reply through one of her women:
她眼泪盈眶，派人回复：

“And to whom shall I show these early ferns from the mountain,
“这些山间早蕨，我该转交给谁，

Plucked. in remembrance of one who is no more?”
以铭记那已逝之人。”

She rewarded the messenger liberally.
她慷慨酬谢送信的人。

Still in the full bloom of her youth, she had lost weight, and the effect was to deepen her beauty, and to remind one of her sister. —
她仍在青春年华，但有些消瘦，却更添韵味，令人想起她的姐姐。 —

Side by side, the two sisters had not seemed particularly alike; —
两位姐妹并非十分相像； —

but now one could almost forget for a moment that Oigimi was dead, so striking was the resemblance. —
但如今几乎让人一瞬间忘记准三公主已故，因为二人相似之处如此显著。 —

Kaoru had lamented that he could not keep their older lady with him, the women remembered, even as he might have kept a locust shell. —
部女儿们回忆起，太宰家创井曾感叹无法让她留下，如同收藏蝉壳般。 —

Since either of the princesses would have been right for him, it was cruel of fate not to have let him have the younger.
任何一位公主都是他的良人，命运却未让他拥有年幼者，着实残酷。

Certain of his men continued to visit Uji, having made the acquaintance of women there. —
他的随从继续访问宇治，与那里的女子交往。 —

Through them the princess and Kaoru had occasional word of each other. —
通过他们，公主和薰偶有传音。” —

Time had done nothing to dispel his grief, she learned, nor had the coming of the New Year stanched the flow of his tears. —
时间并没有消除他的悲伤，她发现，新年的来临也没有止住他的泪流。 —

It had been no passing infatuation, she could see now. —
现在她能看到，这不是一时的迷恋。 —

He had been honest in his avowals of love.
他在表达爱意时是真诚的。

Niou was chafing at the restrictions his rank placed upon him, and the evidence was that they would only be more burdensome as time went by. —
仲恭对他的身份所带来的限制感到不满，而证据显示，随着时间的推移这些限制只会变得更加沉重。 —

He thought constantly about bringing Nakanokimi to the city.
他不断地考虑着将中式领入城中的事。

When the busiest days were over, the time of the grand levee and the like, Kaoru found himself with heavy heart and no one who understood. —
在最忙碌的日子过去后，如盛大招待会等时刻，薰发现自己心情沉重，却找不到一个能理解他的人。 —

He paid Niou a visit. It was an evening for melancholy thoughts. —
他去拜访了仲恭。这是一个令人沉思的夜晚。 —

Niou was seated at the veranda, gazing out at the garden and plucking a few notes now and then on the koto beside him. —
仲恭坐在阳台上，凝视着花园，不时拨动着旁边的箜篌。 —

He had always loved the scent of plum blossoms. —
他一直喜欢梅花的香味。 —

Kaoru broke off an underbranch still in bud and brought it to him, and he found the fragrance so in harmony with his mood that he was stirred to poetry:
薰折下一枝未开的梅花枝递给他，他觉得这股芬芳与他的心情如此契合，以至于被激发了写诗的冲动:

“This branch seems much in accord with him who breaks it.
“打断枝条，枝条仿佛他自身一般和谐。

I catch a secret scent beneath the surface.”
我嗅到表面之下的秘密香气。”

“I should have been more careful with my blossoms.
“我本应对我的花朵更加小心。

I offer fragrance, get imputations back.
我施予芬芳，却得到了责备。

You do not make things easy for me.”
你不给我简单的方式。”

They seemed the most lighthearted of companions as they exchanged sallies.
他们似乎是最轻松愉快的同伴，因为他们交换着俏皮话。

When they settled down to serious matters, they were soon talking of Uji. And how would Nakanokimi and her women be? —
当他们陷入认真的议题时，很快就谈论起宇治。那么中宫和她的女官们会怎么样呢？ —

asked Niou. Kaoru told of his own unquenchable sorrow, of the memories that had tormented him since Oigimi’s death, of the amusing and moving things that had been part of their times together — of all the laughter and tears, so to speak. —
尼采善问道。薰告诉了他自己无尽的伤痛，自从王君去世以来一直困扰着他的记忆，关于他们在一起时发生的有趣而动人的事情，有关所有欢笑和眼泪，可以这么说。 —

And his philandering friend, quicker to weep than anyone even when the matter did not immediately concern him, was now weeping most generously. —
他那纵欲的朋友，即使事情并不直接涉及他也比任何人更快地哭泣，现在正在最慷慨地流泪。 —

He was exactly the sort of companion Kaoru needed. The sky misted over, as if it too understood. —
他正是薰所需要的同伴。天空开始昏暗，似乎也懂得了。 —

In the night a high wind came up, and the bite in the air was like a return of winter. —
夜里起了大风，空气里的寒意就像冬天的回归一样。 —

They decided, after the lamp had blown out several times, that darkness would do as well. —
在灯熄灭了几次后，他们决定黑暗也能一样。 —

Though of course it destroyed the color of the blossoms, it did not put an end to the conversation. —
虽然当然破坏了花朵的色彩，但并没有终结谈话。 —

The hours passed, and still they had not talked themselves out.
时间过去了，他们仍然没有说够。

“Ah, yes,” said Niou. “Yes indeed — purity such as the world is seldom privileged to behold. —
“啊，是的，”尼采善说。“确实是 — 世界很少能见到的纯洁。 —

But come, now, surely it cannot have been just that?”
但是，现在来说，肯定不只是这样吧？”

He had a way of assuming that something had been left out, no doubt because he suspected in others a volatility like his own. —
他有一种假设有遗漏之处的方式，毫无疑问是因为他怀疑别人也有像他一样的多变性。 —

Yet he was a man of sympathy and understanding. —
不过他是一个富有同情心和理解力的人。 —

So skillfully did he manage the conversation as he moved from subject to subject, now seeking to console his friend,
他非常巧妙地管理着谈话，从一个话题转移到另一个话题，时而寻求安慰他的朋友，

now seeking to make him forget, trying this way and that to offer an outlet, for the pent-up anguish — so skillfully that Kaoru, led on step by step, poured forth the whole store of thoughts that had been too much for him. —
时而试图让他忘记，设法提供一个出口，来释放被压抑的痛苦 — 如此巧妙，以至于薰被逐步引导着，倾诉了一直困扰他的所有想法。 —

The relief was enormous.
解脱之情简直是巨大的。

Niou told of his plans for bringing Nakanokimi into the city.
丹生讲述了他把中野君带进城市的计划。

“I thoroughly approve. As a matter of fact, I had been blaming myself for her difficulties and telling myself that I ought to be looking after her as a sort of legacy of the one — I am repeating myself — I shall go on mourning forever. —
“我非常赞同。事实上，我一直在责备自己，告诉自己我应该像传承那位那样照顾她 — 我重复了一遍 — 我将永远悲痛。 —

But it is so easy to be misunderstood.”
但被误解是如此容易。”

He went on to describe briefly how Oigimi had begged him to make no distinction between the two of them, and had asked him to marry her sister. —
他接着简要描述了如何奥君恳求他不要区分两人，并要求他娶她的妹妹。 —

He did not go so far as to speak of the night that called to mind the cuckoo of the grove of Iwase.
他没有提到让人想起磐手林的布谷的那个夜晚。

In his heart, all the while, the chagrin and regret were mounting. —
他的内心里，懊恼和遗憾愈发增加。 —

He should himself have done as Niou was doing with the memento she had left behind. —
他本应该像丹生一样对她留下的纪念品采取行动。 —

But it was too late. He was skirting dangerous ground, in the direction of which lay unpleasantness for everyone. —
但已经太晚了。他正在绕道前进，这个方向将为所有人带来不快。 —

He tried to think of other matters. Yet there was this consideration: —
他试图想其他事情。可是有这么一点需要考虑： —

who if not he was to take her father’s place in arranging the move to the city? —
除了他谁能够代替她父亲安排搬到城里？ —

He turned his mind to the preparations.
他开始准备。

At Uji, attractive women and girls were being added to Nakanokimi’s retinue, and the air was alive with anticipation. —
在宇治，迷人的女人和姑娘们被加入到中野君的随行人员中，空气中充满了期待。 —

Nakanokimi alone stood apart from it. Now that the time had come, the thought of abandoning this “Fushimi” of hers, letting it go to ruin, seemed intensely sad. —
中野君独自站在一旁。现在时机已经到了，放弃她的这个“伏见”，任其荒废，看起来异常悲伤。 —

Her sorrow would not end, but her prospects would be very poor indeed if she were to stand her ground and insist on staying in remote Uji. How could she even think, protested Niou, and there was much to be said for the view, of living in a place where the promises they had made must certainly be broken? It was a dilemma.
如果她坚持留在偏远的宇治，固然自己的悲伤不会停止，但她的前景将会非常糟糕。丹生坚决抗议她这样想，这个观点有很多道理，住在一个他们必然会失约的地方，如何想得通呢？这是个两难的境地。

Finally the move was set for early in the Second Month. As the day approached, Nakanokimi looked out at the buds on the cherry trees, and thought how very difficult it would be to leave them, and the mountain mists too. —
最终，搬家的日子定在了第二个月初。随着日子的临近，中边君望着樱花树上的芽，想着要离开它们和山间的薄雾是多么艰难。 —

And she would be homeless, a lodger at an inn, facing she could not know what humiliation and ridicule. —
她将成为无家可归的人，在旅馆里寄宿，或许还会面临一些她无法预料的羞辱和嘲笑。 —

Each new thought, as she brooded the days away, brought new misgivings and reservations. —
每一个新的念头，在她愁眉苦脸的日子里萦绕不去，都带来新的疑虑和顾虑。 —

She presently emerged from mourning, and the lustration seemed altogether too cursory and casual. —
她很快结束了哀悼期，而且洗礼似乎过于草率和随意。 —

She had not known her mother, and had not mourned for her. —
她从未见过母亲，也未为她哀悼过。 —

She thought how much she would have preferred to put on the deeper weeds with which one mourned a parent, but she kept the thought to herself, for it went against custom. —
她想着自己更希望穿上更深的丧服，以此哀悼父母，但她将这个念头藏在心底，因为这违背了习俗。 —

Kaoru sent a carriage and outrunners for the lustration ceremony, and learned soothsayers as well.
郎送来了马车和侍从们为洒扫仪式，还派了占卜师。

He also sent a poem:
他还送来了一首诗：

“How quickly time does pass. You made and donned
“岁月匆匆，你穿上哀服，如今花朵盛开。”

Your mourning robes, and now the blossoms open.”
他还送来了许多华丽的衣袍，为了仪式和搬迁到城市，每一件都与接受者的身份相称，都不张扬或炫耀。

And he sent numerous flowery robes, for the ceremony and for the move to the city, none of them gaudy or ostentatious, each appropriate to the rank of the recipient.
“你看，”女仆们对她的主人说。

“You see how it is,” said the women to their mistress. —
“他从未失礼。他对我们多么善意。 —

“He never misses a chance to show us he has not forgotten. How very kind of him. —
即使你有兄弟，我们向你保证，他也不可能为你做更多。” —

Even if you had a brother, we can assure you, he could not possibly do more for you.”
那些年长的人，不再像曾经那样对鲜艳的颜色感兴趣，他们被这份善意感动了。

The older ones, no longer as interested in bright colors as they once had been, were moved by the kindness itself. —
他们被这样的善意所感动。 —

And the younger ones said: “He’s been coming all these years, and now we’re running off. —
年轻人们说：“他这些年一直来着，现在我们就要离开了。 —

She will miss him, make no mistake about that.”
她会想念他的，别搞错了。”

On the day before the move, early in the morning, Kaoru appeared at Uji. Shown to the usual sitting room, he thought how Oigimi, had she lived, would by now have relented, and he would even now be setting an example for his friend Niou to follow. —
在搬迁前一天的清晨，薰出现在宇治。被领到惯用的客厅，他想着如果王君还活着的话，她现在应该会回心转意了，他甚至现在就能给他的朋友仁王树立榜样。 —

The image of the dead lady came back, and memories of things she had said. —
逝去的女士的形象又浮现起来，回忆起她说过的话。 —

She had not really given herself to him, it was true, but neither had she put him off in a way that could be called cruel or insulting. —
的确，她并没有真心对他，但她也没有以一种可以称之为残酷或侮辱的方式拒绝他。 —

He must continue to regret that his own eccentricities had helped keep the distance between them.
他必须继续为自己的古怪行为而懊悔，这已经导致他们之间保持着距离。

He went to the door and looked for the hole through which he had once peeped in upon the two sisters, but there were blinds and curtains beyond.
他走到门边，寻找着他曾经窥视过两位姐妹的窥视孔，但外面有百叶窗和帘子。

In the other room women were weeping softly and exchanging sad memories of their dead lady. —
在另一个房间里，女性们轻轻哭泣着，交换着她们对逝去女士的悲伤回忆。 —

The tears flowed on, and especially Nakanokimi’s, as if to wash away murky forebodings.
泪水继续流淌，尤其是中辅女的泪水，仿佛要冲走暗淡的预感。

As she lay gazing vacantly out at the garden, a message was brought from Kaoru: —
当她呆呆地凝视着花园的时候，收到了薰的消息： —

“Memories of these months have no order and form, but they are more than I can keep to myself. —
“这些月份的记忆没有秩序和形式，但它们远远超过我自己所能承担的。 —

It would be a very great comfort to let you have a tiny fragment of them. —
让你拿走其中一小片会是一种极大的安慰。 —

Do not, please, treat me with the coldness that has been yours in the past. —
请不要，拜托，请不要再像以往一样对待我冷淡。 —

You make me feel as if I had been banished to some remote island.”
你让我觉得自己好像被放逐到了某个偏远的岛屿。”

“I certainly would not wish you to think me unkind,” she replied, though the effort was almost too much for her; —
“我当然不希望你认为我冷酷无情，”她回答道，尽管这几乎是超出她的能力； —

” but I am really not myself. Indeed, I am so unsettled that I fear I might say things both stupid and rude.”
但我真的不像平常那样。事实上，我如此不安，担心自己可能会说出愚蠢和无礼的话。

But her women argued his case, and at length she received him at the door to her room. —
但她的女人们为他辩护，最终她在房间门口接待了他。 —

His good looks had always been somewhat intimidating, and she thought that he had improved and matured in the time since she had last seen him. —
他的英俊一直让人有些威胁感，她觉得他在她最后一次见到他后变得更加完美和成熟。 —

Along with remarkable grace and elegance, he had an air of composure, of deliberation, such as few men could have imitated. —
除了出色的优雅和风度，他还有一种沉着冷静的气质，几乎没有几个男人可以模仿。 —

Altogether a remarkable young man, and the knowledge that her sister had meant so much to him made the effect quite overpowering.
这位年轻人非常出色，知道她的妹妹对他意味着很多让她感到非常震撼。

“It would be unlucky on such an occasion, I suppose, to speak of the lady I shall go on speaking of forever. —
“在这种场合提起一个女士可能有点不吉利，我猜，但我将永远继续谈论她。 —

” He broke off and began again. “I shall soon be moving to a house not far from the one where you will be. —
”他中断了，然后重新开始。“我很快就要搬到离你不远的房子。 —

‘Any time of the day or night,’ the devotees and experts would say — but please do let me see you. —
‘无论白天还是黑夜,’信徒和专家们会说 — 但请让我见到你。 —

I shall want to hear from you whenever I can be of service, and I shall be at your command for as long as I live. —
我随时愿意为你提供帮助，并将终生听候你的吩咐。 —

No two people are alike, of course, and it is possible that you find the prospect offensive. —
当然，没有两个人是一样的，你可能对这个前景感到反感。 —

What might your own thoughts be?”
你自己的想法会是什么？”

“I have not wanted to leave home, and I still do not want to. —
“我不想离开家，现在仍然不想。 —

Now that you tell me you are moving too — my thoughts are too much for me. —
现在你告诉我你也要搬家了 — 我的思绪太多了。 —

I am afraid I am not making sense.”
我害怕我说的话没有意义。”

Her voice faltered, and her very evident distress so reminded him of her sister that he was left berating himself for having generously handed her over to Niou. But all that was past. —
她的声音颤抖，她明显的痛苦让他想起了她的妹妹，让他为自己慷慨地把她交给了Niou而感到遗憾。但那一切都过去了。 —

He made no mention of their night together, and his frankness in other matters was almost enough to make her think he had forgotten. —
他没有提及他们之间的夜晚，而他在其他事情上的坦率几乎让她觉得他已经忘记了。 —

The scent and color of the rose plum below the veranda brought poignant memories. —
庭下蔷薇梅的香味和颜色勾起了令人心碎的回忆。 —

The warblers seemed unable to pass without a song; —
莺啭声未曾断，几乎是无法离去； —

and this mark of “the spring of old” was the more moving for the memories they shared. —
“昔の春” 的痕迹越发让人心动，因为他们分享了这些记忆。 —

The fragrance of the blossoms came in on the breeze to mingle with Kaoru’s own fragrance. —
花香随风飘来，与薰的香气融为一体。 —

Orange blossoms could not have been more effective in summoning back the past. —
橙花在唤起过去方面起到了最好的效果。 —

Her sister, she remembered, had been especially fond of the plum blossom, and had made use of it for this or that little pleasantry, and sought consolation from it in difficult times as well. —
她记得，她的妹妹特别喜欢梅花，曾经用它来开玩笑，也在困难时从中寻求安慰。 —

The memories too much for her, she recited a poem in a tiny voice that wavered at the point of disappearing:
回忆让她难以承受，她小声念了一首诗，声音在消失的边缘颤抖:

“Here where no visitor comes save only the tempest,
“这里除了暴风雨，寄来问候之人罕至，

The scent of blossoms brings thoughts of days now gone.”
花香唤起了已逝时光。”

Kaoru whispered a reply:
薰低声回答:

“The fragrance lasts of the plum my sleeve has brushed.
“梅花缕袖香犹存。

Uprooted now, must it dwell in a distant land?”
已根凌霜异国中？”

He brushed his tears away and left after a few words more. —
他擦去眼泪，说了几句话后离开了。 —

“There will be chances, I am sure, for a good, quiet talk.”
“机会会来的，我相信，可以好好静静地交谈。”

He went out to give orders for the next day. Wigbeard and others would stay behind as caretakers; —
他出去下达了第二天的命令。威格比德和其他人会留下来照管; —

and (for nothing escaped his attention) he left orders with the people at his manor to see to their general needs.
他留意着一切，也嘱托他庄园的人看着他们的总体需求。

Bennokimi had made it known that she would not go along. —
贝努基米已经表明她不会同行。 —

Through no desire of her own, she had lived this shamefully long life, and the others would think it bad luck to have an old crone with them; —
虽非她自愿，她过了这种羞耻地漫长岁月，其他人会觉得和一个老巫婆在一起不吉利; —

and so she had resolved that she was no longer to be considered a part of the world. —
所以她决定不再被视为这个世界的一部分。 —

Kaoru asked to see her. The nun’s habit and tonsure again brought him to the point of tears.
乔想见她。尼姑的衣着和剃度让他几乎哭泣。

They talked of old times. “I shall of course be stopping by occasionally,” he concluded, his voice faltering, “and I had feared that no one would be here to receive me. —
他们谈起往事。“我当然会偶尔过来，”他结束说道，声音颤抖，“我曾担心没有人在这里迎接我。 —

I am sorry that you have decided to stay behind, but I know that you will be a great comfort.”
我很抱歉你决定留下来，但我知道你会成为巨大的慰藉。”

“I have lived too long. Life has a way of becoming more stubborn the more you hate it. —
“我活得太久了。生活有一种变得更加顽固的方式，你越憎恨它。 —

I find it hard to forgive my older lady for leaving me behind, and though I know it is wrong of me I am resentful of the whole wide world.”
我发现很难原谅我的老主人把我留下，虽然我知道这样做是错误的，但我对整个世界心存怨恨。”

She was becoming querulous, pouring forth the complaints as they came to her; —
她变得爱发牢骚，一句推一句地倾诉之后; —

but his efforts to comfort her were on the whole successful. —
但他安慰她的努力总体上是成功的。 —

Her hair still had traces of its youthful beauty, and her forehead, now shorn, seemed younger than before, and even somewhat distinguished. —
她的头发仍留有青春的美丽痕迹，现在被剃光的额头似乎比以前更年轻，甚至有些显赫。 —

Overcome with longing for Oigimi, he asked why she could not have stayed with him even thus, as a nun. —
对奥伊基米的思念之情涌上心头，他问为什么她不能这样和他在一起，作为一名尼姑。 —

He might at least have had the comfort of quiet, leisurely conversation. —
至少他可以得到平静、从容的交谈的慰藉。 —

Though the old woman was an improbable object for envy, he was somehow envious of her. —
虽然那位老妇人不太可能成为嫉妒的对象，但他不知怎的却在嫉妒她。 —

He pulled her curtain slightly aside, that she might seem a little nearer. —
他轻轻拉开她的窗帘，好让她看起来近一点。 —

She really was very old, and yet her speech and manner aroused little of the revulsion one expects from advanced age. —
她确实是非常老了，但她的言谈举止却并未引起像我们期待从老年人身上看到的反感。 —

She must once have been a woman of considerable beauty.
她曾经必定是一位相当美丽的女人。

Her face was contorted with sorrow.
她的脸上充满了悲伤之情。

“Tears came first. I should have flung myself into
“先是眼泪。我应该一头扎进去

A stream of tears that would not have left me behind.”
一波波泪水涌出，将我淹没。”

“But that, of course, would have made the sin graver,” said Kaoru. “People do sometimes reach the far shore, I suppose, but everything considered I doubt that you would have succeeded. —
“但是，那样当然会使罪孽更严重，”Kaoru说道。“我想有时候人确实能到达彼岸，但考虑种种，我怀疑你会成功。 —

We would not want to have lost you in midstream. —
我们不想失去你在半途中。 —

No, you must remind yourself how empty and useless it all is.
不，你必须提醒自己这一切是多么空虚和无用。

“Deep though one plunges into the river of tears,
“尽管我们深陷泪水之河，

One comes upon occasional snags of remembrance.
仍会偶尔撞上忆念的礁石。

“When, I wonder, and where will there be relief?” But he knew the answer: never and nowhere.
“我想知道，何时，何地才会有解脱？”但他知道答案：永远不会，也永远无处可寻。

He did not want to leave, though it was evening. —
虽然已是傍晚，他却不愿离去。 —

But an unscheduled night’s lodging might arouse suspicions. —
但是，一晚意外的住宿可能会引起怀疑。 —

Presently he set out for the city.
他随即向城市出发。

She told the other women of his remarks, and her own grief was beyond consoling. —
她告诉其他女人他的话，她自己的悲伤无法被安慰。 —

She found them engrossed in preparations for their departure, oblivious to the incongruity their twisted old figures emphasized; —
她发现她们忙于离开的准备工作中，对于她们扭曲的老身影所突显出的不协调毫不在意； —

and her nun’s robes seemed drabber for all the happy confusion.
她的僧侣袍似乎因为所有这愉快的混乱变得更加沉闷。

“And there they are, so busy getting ready,
“他们在忙着准备，

And wet are the sleeves of the solitary fishwife.”
“孤独的卖鱼女人的袖子是湿的。”

Nakanokimi answered:
中宫回答说：

“Is it drier, my sleeve, than the brine-wet sleeve of the fishwife?
“我的袖子比鱼妇湿透的袖子还要干吗？”

Sodden it is, from the waves upon which it floats.
“袖子被浪潮打湿了。”

“I do not expect to take to this new life. —
“我不指望适应这种新生活。” —

I may well be back after I have given it a try, and so I do not really feel that I am going away. —
“或许我尝试过后会回来，所以我并不觉得我要离开。” —

We will meet again. But I do not like the thought of leaving you here by yourself for even a little while. —
“我们会再见面的。但我不喜欢把你一个人留在这里的想法。” —

Nuns do not have to cut themselves off completely, you know. —
“修女并不需要完全与世隔绝，你知道吗。” —

Do as all of them do — come and see me occasionally.”
“像她们一样做——偶尔来看我。”

Affection welled up as she spoke. She had arranged to leave behind such of her sister’s combs and brushes as she thought a nun could use.
当她说话时，感情涌上心头。她已经准备好留下她认为修女能用到的姐姐的梳子和刷子。

“You seem so much more deeply affected than the others,” she went on. —
“你似乎比其他人更受感动，”她继续说。 —

“It makes me feel sure that there was a bond between us in another life. —
“这让我确信我们在另一个生命中有联系。 —

And you seem even nearer now.”
而你现在似乎更亲近。”

The old woman was weeping quite helplessly, like a child that has lost its mother.
老妇人像一个失去母亲的孩子一样哭泣。

The rooms were swept, things put away, carriages drawn up. —
房间打扫干净，物品收拾整齐，马车已准备好。 —

Among the outrunners were numbers of medium-ranking courtiers. —
在跟随的人中有许多中级官员。 —

Niou had wanted desperately to come for her himself. —
牛王本来非常想亲自前来接她。 —

Since unnecessary display was to be avoided, however, he ordered that the procession be a quiet one, and, intensely impatient, awaited her at Nijō. Kaoru too had sent retainers in large numbers. —
既然无谓的炫耀应该避免，他命令队伍要安静进行，焦急地在二条等候她。薰也派遣了大批侍从。 —

Niou had taken care of the broader plans and Kaoru of all the small and intimate details. —
仁王处理了更广泛的计划，而薰则处理了所有小而亲密的细节。 —

Nakanokimi’s women joined the men from the city in warning her that it would soon be dark. —
中宫的女眷和城里的男子一起警告她天色渐晚。 —

Utterly confused, scarcely knowing in which direction the city lay, she finally got into a carriage. —
十分困惑，几乎不知道城市在哪个方向，最终她上了马车。 —

She was all alone, and defenseless.
她孤身一人，毫无防备。

Beside her, a woman called Tayū was smiling happily.
她身边的一位名叫太夫的女子正笑得开心。

“You have lived to come upon these joyous days,
“你活着迎来了这些快乐的日子，

And are you not glad Old Gloomy did not get you?”
难道你不为不被那老阴鬼收走感到高兴吗？”

Nakanokimi was not pleased. What a vast difference, she thought, between this person and the nun Bennokimi.
中宫并不开心。她觉得这个人与尼姑辈昵全不同。

Another woman had a poem ready:
另一位女子已准备好一首诗：

“We do not forget to look back at one now gone;
“至今我们未忘那位已逝去的人；

But this day, of all, our hearts must look ahead.”
但今日，我们的心必定向前看。”

Both of them had long been in service at Uji, and both had seemed fond of Oigimi. —
两人早已在宇治侍奉多时，且似乎都喜欢过凤君。 —

And now they had left her behind. The very fact that they refrained from mentioning her name added to Nakanokimi’s bitterness and sorrow. —
现在她们却将她留在了身后。她们不提及她的名字，使中宫的悲苦更深。 —

She did not answer.
她没有回答。

The road was long and it led through precipitous mountains. —
路很长，穿过险峻的山脉。 —

She had been deeply resentful of Niou’s neglect, but now she began to see why his visits had been infrequent. —
她曾对执事仁王的忽视深感怨恨，但现在她开始明白为什么他的访问频率很低。 —

The bright half-moon was softened and made more mysteriously beautiful by a mist. —
明亮的半月被一层薄雾柔化，变得更加神秘美丽。 —

Unaccustomed to travel, alone with her thoughts, she was soon exhausted.
她不习惯旅行，独自一人沉浸在思绪中，很快就筋疲力尽。

“The moon comes forth from the mountain upon a world
“月亮从山中升起，照耀着这个没有家的世界

That offers no home. It goes again to the mountain.”
然后又回到山中。”

The future was too uncertain. What would become of her if anything in this precarious balance should change? —
未来太过不确定。如果这种岌岌可危的平衡有所改变，她会怎么样呢？ —

She longed to return to days when, she knew now, she had been very silly to feel sorry for herself.
她渴望回到过去，现在才知道自己曾经太傻，为自己感到伤心。

It was late in the night when they arrived at the Nijō mansion. The splendor quite blinded her. —
他们到达二条府邸时已经深夜。那里的辉煌几乎使她目眩神迷。 —

The carriage was pulled up at one of the “threefold, fourfold” halls, and an impatient Niou came out. —
马车停在了“三重四重”大厅之一，一个不耐烦的仁王走了出来。 —

Her apartments, she saw, and those of her attendants as well, were beautifully appointed. —
她看到自己的公寓，以及侍女们的房间，装饰得非常漂亮。 —

They had obviously benefited from Niou’s personal attention. —
他们显然受益于仁王的个人关心。 —

No detail had been overlooked.
没有任何细节被忽视。

It was matter for much astonishment that he who had been the cause of so many rumors and worries should now, quite suddenly, have found himself a wife. —
人们说，导致了那么多传闻和担忧的他，如今突然找到了一位妻子，这件事真是令人大为惊讶。 —

There was nothing ambiguous about what had happened this time, people said, hoping for a glimpse of the hidden princess.
这次发生的事情毫无模棱两可，人们说着，希望能一窥那位隐居的公主。

Kaoru was to move into his Sanjō mansion, now near completion, towards the end of the month. —
薰即将搬进已近完工的三条大宅。 —

He went every day to see how it was progressing. —
他每天都去看工程进展。 —

Since Nijō was not far away, he mounted a lookout to see how things would be with Nakanokimi. —
二条并不远，他登上了一个地方，观望着中之君的情况。 —

Presently the men he had sent to Uji came back to report that Niou seemed much taken with the lady, and had been very attentive. —
他派去宇治的人回来报告，继伊夫冲深深地迷恋这位女士，并且非常关心。 —

Kaoru was pleased, of course; and at the same time he felt a wave of something like resentment. —
当然，薰感到高兴；同时，他也感到一阵类似于怨恨的情绪。 —

It was senseless, he knew, for his circumstances had, after all, been of his own devising.
他知道，他的处境终究是自寻的。

“Might I have it back again?” he whispered to himself.
“我能够重新拥有它吗？”他悄悄地喃喃自语。

“The boat setting forth on the undulant Lake of Loons,
“船只旅行在起伏不定的潭鸟湖上，

Though badly rigged, did somehow make a landfall.”
虽然船只缺乏完美，但总算是登岸。”

Yūgiri had fixed upon this month for marrying his daughter Rokunokimi to Niou. And now, quite as if to announce that he had priorities of his own, Niou had brought a stranger into his house. —
弓置定了这个月让自己的女儿六之君与继伊夫结婚。而现在，继伊夫却把一个陌生人带进了家中。 —

Worse, he had stopped calling at Rokujō. —
更糟糕的是，他也停止去六条。 —

Niou felt a little guilty at news of his uncle’s displeasure, and sent a note to Rokunokimi from time to time. —
继伊夫听闻叔叔不满的消息感到有些内疚，不时给六之君送去几封便条。 —

The whole world knew that plans were being rushed ahead for her initiation, and to postpone it would be to invite derision; —
全世界都知道，她的入门仪式正在紧急筹备中，要推迟将会引来嘲笑； —

and so it took place toward the end of the month. —
因此，在月末举行了这个仪式。 —

Yūgiri thought of marrying her to Kaoru instead, unexciting though a wedding within the family would be. —
弓认为将她嫁给薰反而比较无聊，尽管是家族内的婚姻。 —

It seemed a pity to let someone else have him. —
看别人把他给了，这真是令人惋惜。 —

He was evidently grieving for a lady he had loved in secret over the years. —
他显然在为一个他多年来暗恋的女子悲伤。 —

Through a suitable agent, Yūgiri sought to determine how he might respond to a proposal.
夜吉透过合适的人想确定他对提议会有何反应。

The answer was not encouraging. “I know how useless and insubstantial things are. —
答案并不令人鼓舞。“我知道事情是多么无用和虚幻。” —

I have had evidence before my very eyes, such strong evidence that my own existence seems stupid and even revolting.”
我亲眼见过证据，如此确凿，以至于我自己的存在似乎愚蠢甚至令人厌恶。

Yūgiri was deeply offended. Could the young man not see that the proposal had been a difficult one to make? —
夜吉深感被冒犯。那位年轻人难道看不出提议是多么艰难？ —

But Kaoru was not a man with whom even an older brother took liberties, and Yūgiri made no further advances.
但薰不是一个连兄长都敢拍拍肩膀的人，夜吉也就不再前进了。

Gazing in the direction of the Nijō mansion, where the cherries were in full bloom, Kaoru thought of the cherries, now masterless, at the Uji villa. —
凝视着二条别院的方向，那里的樱花盛开。薰想到樱花，如今已无主，生长在宇治别墅。 —

He might have gone on to ask how they would be responding to the winds, but the old poem did not offer much comfort.
他本可以继续询问它们将如何应对风，但那首古诗并未带来安慰。

He went to visit Niou, who was spending most of his time at Nijō and seemed to have settled down happily with his princess. —
他去拜访了医王，医王大部分时间都在二条，似乎与他的公主生活得很幸福。 —

Kaoru had no further cause, it would seem, for worry. —
薰看来再也没有什么可担忧的事了。 —

That other strange question persisted all the same: why had he brought them together? —
但那个奇怪的问题却仍然挥之不去：他为何把她们聚集在一起？ —

But his deeper feelings were wholly admirable. —
但他更深刻的感情是完全令人钦佩的。 —

He rejoiced that Nakanokimi’s affairs had turned out well. —
他为中内君的事务顺利解决而感到欣喜。 —

The two friends talked of various small matters, and presently, in the evening, servants came to prepare the carriage that was to take Niou to court. —
两位朋友聊起了各种小事，傍晚时分，仆人们前来准备马车，要把医王送往宫廷。 —

A large retinue assembled. Kaoru withdrew to Nakanokimi’s wing of the house.
一大批随从聚集在一起。薰退到中宫尼君的住房里。

The rude life of the mountain village had been changed for richly curtained luxury. —
那座山村里粗鄙的生活已经变成了奢华的帘幕之间。 —

Catching a glimpse of a pretty little girl, Kaoru asked her to convey word of his presence. —
看到一个漂亮的小女孩，薰让她传达他的到访。 —

He was offered a cushion, and a woman apparently familiar with the events at Uji came to bring Nakanokimi’s reply.
有人递给他一个坐垫，一位似乎熟悉宇治事务的女人来传达中宫尼君的回复。

“I am so near,” he said, admitted to her presence, “that I was sure it would be like having you beside me all hours of the day and night; —
“我离你这么近，”他说，被允许与她相对，“我确信这样会让我觉得你在白天黑夜时刻都在我身边； —

but I have had to keep my distance. I have not wanted to intrude, and I have had no real business. —
但是我一直保持着距离。我不想打扰，也没有真正的事情来往。 —

Somehow things seem utterly changed. From my garden I look through the mists at the trees in yours, and they bring the fondest memories.”
不知怎么搞的，一切似乎完全改变了。我从庭院里透过雾望着你的树木，它们勾起了我最美好的回忆。”

He fell silent, lost in the memories. It was true, thought Nakanokimi: —
他陷入了沉默，沉浸在回忆中。中宫尼君想道：果然如此。 —

if Oigimi had lived, they would be visiting each other, she and her sister, and finding their happiness, as the seasons went by, in the same blossoms, the same songs of birds. —
如果凤君还在世，她们将会相互拜访，并在随着季节变幻的花朵、鸟鸣中找到幸福。 —

The sadness, the longing, the regrets were even sharper than they had been at Uji, far away from the world.
悲伤、渴望、遗憾比在宇治时更加深刻，远离尘世。

My lady, my lady,” urged her women. “He is not an ordinary guest. —
“我的夫人，我的夫人，”她的侍女们催促道。“他可不是普通客人。 —

He has done everything for you, and now is the time to let him see that you are grateful.”
他已为您做了一切，现在是让他看到您的感激之时。”

But Nakanokimi could not bring herself to address him directly.
但中宫尼君无法直接对他说话。

Presently Niou, a splendid figure in full court regalia, came to say goodbye. “Well, now. —
稍后，新后身着完整的宫廷礼服来告别。“呵，现在。 —

There he is sitting outside all by himself. It seems very odd, really, after all you owe him. —
他就坐在外面一个人，这真的很奇怪，毕竟您欠他这么多。 —

I am the one who should be afraid of him, and here I am telling you how rude and even sinful it is not to invite him inside. —
我应该害怕他，而我却告诉你不邀请他进来是多么无礼甚至是罪恶。 —

Be a little friendlier, have a good talk about the old days.” And abruptly he reversed himself: —
更友善一点，好好聊聊过去的日子。” 然后他突然改口： —

“Of course I wouldn’t want you to let him have too free a rein. —
“当然我不希望你让他太过放肆。 —

You can never be quite sure what he is up to.”
你永远不能完全确定他在搞什么。”

And so she was left not knowing what to do. —
于是她左右为难，不知道该怎么做。 —

She was in Kaoru’s debt, that much was clear, for he had been very kind; —
她感激薰对她的好意，这是清楚不过的，因为他很善良； —

and she could not dismiss him. He had ventured a hope that she might in some measure fill the emptiness left by her sister. —
她不能轻易对他不屑一顾。他曾表达希望她能在某种程度上填补妹妹留下的空虚。 —

She would ask the same of him. She did want him to know that she understood. —
她也希望他能同样。她想让他知道她理解。 —

But the situation was certainly awkward, with Niou casting these insinuations about.
但情况显然很尴尬，尤其是牛一直在暗示些什么。