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.He being gone, she summoned back her child. Pearl! Little Pearl! Where are you?Pearl, whose activity of spirit never flagged, had been atno loss for amusement while her mother talked with theold gatherer of herbs.At first, as already told, she hadflirted fancifully with her own image in a pool of water,beckoning the phantom forth, and as it declined toventure seeking a passage for herself into its sphere ofimpalpable earth and unattainable sky.Soon finding,however, that either she or the image was unreal, sheturned elsewhere for better pastime.She made little boatsout of birch-bark, and freighted them with snailshells, andsent out more ventures on the mighty deep than anymerchant in New England; but the larger part of themfoundered near the shore.She seized a live horse-shoe bythe tail, and made prize of several five-fingers, and laid outa jelly-fish to melt in the warm sun.Then she took up thewhite foam that streaked the line of the advancing tide,and threw it upon the breeze, scampering after it withwinged footsteps to catch the great snowflakes ere theyfell.Perceiving a flock of beach-birds that fed and fluttered265 of 394The Scarlet Letteralong the shore, the naughty child picked up her apronfull of pebbles, and, creeping from rock to rock after thesesmall sea-fowl, displayed remarkable dexterity in peltingthem.One little gray bird, with a white breast, Pearl wasalmost sure had been hit by a pebble, and fluttered awaywith a broken wing.But then the elf-child sighed, andgave up her sport, because it grieved her to have doneharm to a little being that was as wild as the sea-breeze, oras wild as Pearl herself.Her final employment was to gather seaweed of variouskinds, and make herself a scarf or mantle, and a head-dress,and thus assume the aspect of a little mermaid.Sheinherited her mother s gift for devising drapery andcostume.As the last touch to her mermaid s garb, Pearltook some eel-grass and imitated, as best she could, on herown bosom the decoration with which she was so familiaron her mother s.A letter the letter A but freshly greeninstead of scarlet.The child bent her chin upon her breast,and contemplated this device with strange interest, even asif the one only thing for which she had been sent into theworld was to make out its hidden import. I wonder if mother will ask me what it means?thought Pearl.266 of 394The Scarlet LetterJust then she heard her mother s voice, and, flittingalong as lightly as one of the little sea-birds, appearedbefore Hester Prynne dancing, laughing, and pointing herfinger to the ornament upon her bosom. My little Pearl, said Hester, after a moment s silence, the green letter, and on thy childish bosom, has nopurport.But dost thou know, my child, what this lettermeans which thy mother is doomed to wear? Yes, mother, said the child. It is the great letter A.Thou hast taught me in the horn-book.Hester looked steadily into her little face; but thoughthere was that singular expression which she had so oftenremarked in her black eyes, she could not satisfy herselfwhether Pearl really attached any meaning to the symbol.She felt a morbid desire to ascertain the point. Dost thou know, child, wherefore thy mother wearsthis letter? Truly do I! answered Pearl, looking brightly into hermother s face. It is for the same reason that the ministerkeeps his hand over his heart! And what reason is that? asked Hester, half smiling atthe absurd incongruity of the child s observation; but onsecond thoughts turning pale. What has the letter to do with any heart save mine?267 of 394The Scarlet Letter Nay, mother, I have told all I know, said Pearl, moreseriously than she was wont to speak. Ask yonder old manwhom thou hast been talking with, it may be he can tell.But in good earnest now, mother dear, what does thisscarlet letter mean? and why dost thou wear it on thybosom? and why does the minister keep his hand overhis heart?She took her mother s hand in both her own, andgazed into her eyes with an earnestness that was seldomseen in her wild and capricious character.The thoughtoccurred to Hester, that the child might really be seekingto approach her with childlike confidence, and doing whatshe could, and as intelligently as she knew how, toestablish a meeting-point of sympathy.It showed Pearl inan unwonted aspect.Heretofore, the mother, while lovingher child with the intensity of a sole affection, hadschooled herself to hope for little other return than thewaywardness of an April breeze, which spends its time inairy sport, and has its gusts of inexplicable passion, and ispetulant in its best of moods, and chills oftener thancaresses you, when you take it to your bosom; in requitalof which misdemeanours it will sometimes, of its ownvague purpose, kiss your cheek with a kind of doubtfultenderness, and play gently with your hair, and then be268 of 394The Scarlet Lettergone about its other idle business, leaving a dreamypleasure at your heart.And this, moreover, was a mother sestimate of the child s disposition.Any other observermight have seen few but unamiable traits, and have giventhem a far darker colouring.But now the idea camestrongly into Hester s mind, that Pearl, with herremarkable precocity and acuteness, might already haveapproached the age when she could have been made afriend, and intrusted with as much of her mother s sorrowsas could be imparted, without irreverence either to theparent or the child.In the little chaos of Pearl s characterthere might be seen emerging and could have been fromthe very first the steadfast principles of an unflinchingcourage an uncontrollable will sturdy pride, whichmight be disciplined into self-respect and a bitter scornof many things which, when examined, might be found tohave the taint of falsehood in them.She possessedaffections, too, though hitherto acrid and disagreeable, asare the richest flavours of unripe fruit.With all thesesterling attributes, thought Hester, the evil which sheinherited from her mother must be great indeed, if a noblewoman do not grow out of this elfish child.Pearl s inevitable tendency to hover about the enigmaof the scarlet letter seemed an innate quality of her being.269 of 394The Scarlet LetterFrom the earliest epoch of her conscious life, she hadentered upon this as her appointed mission [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]