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红字-the scarlet letter(英文版)-第7章

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iled to think that it had now anotherkind of vogue。 The Custom…House marker imprinted it; with a stenciland black paint; on pepper…bags; and baskets of anatto; andcigar…boxes; and bales of all kinds of dutiable merchandise; intestimony that these modities had paid the impost; and goneregularly through the office。 Borne on such queer vehicle of fame; aknowledge of my existence; so far as a name conveys it; was carriedwhere it had never been before; and; I hope; will never go again。  But the past was not dead。 Once in a great while; the thoughts; thathad seemed so vital and so active; yet had been put to rest soquietly; revived again。 One of the most remarkable occasions; when thehabit of bygone days awoke in me; was that which brings it withinthe law of literary propriety to offer the public the sketch which Iam now writing。  In the second story of the Custom…House; there is a large room; inwhich the brick…work and naked rafters have never been covered withpanelling and plaster。 The edifice… originally projected on a scaleadapted to the old mercial enterprise of the port; and with an ideaof subsequent prosperity destined never to be realised… contains farmore space than its occupants know what to do with。 This airy hall;therefore; over the Collector's apartments; remains unfinished to thisday; and; in spite of the aged cobwebs that festoon its dusky beams;appears still to await the labour of the carpenter and mason。 At oneend of the room; in a recess; were a number of barrels; piled one uponanother; containing bundles of official documents。 Large quantities ofsimilar rubbish lay lumbering the floor。 It was sorrowful to think howmany days; and weeks; and months; and years of toil; had been wastedon these musty papers; which were now only an encumbrance on earth;and were hidden away in this forgotten corner; never more to beglanced at by human eyes。 But; then; what reams of othermanuscripts… filled not with the dulness of official formalities;but with the thought of inventive brains and the rich effusion of deephearts… had gone equally to oblivion; and that; moreover; withoutserving a purpose in their day; as these heaped…up papers had; and…saddest of all… without purchasing for their writers the fortablelivelihood which the clerks of the Custom…House had gained by theseworthless scratchings of the pen! Yet not altogether worthless;perhaps; as materials of local history。 Here; no doubt; statisticsof the former merce of Salem might be discovered; and memorialsof her princely merchants… old King Derby; old Billy Gray; old SimonForrester; and many another magnate in his day… whose powdered head;however; was scarcely in the tomb; before his mountain…pile ofwealth began to dwindle。 The founders of the greater part of thefamilies which now pose the aristocracy of Salem might here betraced; from the petty and obscure beginnings of their traffic; atperiods generally much posterior to the Revolution; upward to whattheir children look upon as long…established rank。  Prior to the Revolution; there is a dearth of records; the earlierdocuments and archives of the Custom…House having; probably; beencarried off to Halifax; when all the King's officials acpaniedthe British army in its flight from Boston。 It has often been a matterof regret with me; for; going back; perhaps; to the days of theProtectorate; those papers must have contained many references toforgotten or remembered men; and to antique customs; which wouldhave affected me with the same pleasure as when I used to pick upIndian arrow…heads in the field near the Old Manse。  But; one idle and rainy day; it was my fortune to make a discoveryof some little interest。 Poking and burrowing into the heaped…uprubbish in the corner; unfolding one and another document; and readingthe names of vessels that had long ago foundered at sea or rotted atthe wharves; and those of merchants; never heard of now on 'Change;nor very readily decipherable on their mossy tombstones; glancing atsuch matters with the saddened; weary; half…reluctant interest whichwe bestow on the corpse of dead activity… and exerting my fancy;sluggish with little use; to raise up from these dry bones an image ofthe old town's brighter aspect; when India was a new region; andonly Salem knew the way thither… I chanced to lay my hand on a smallpackage; carefully done up in a piece of ancient yellow parchment。This envelope had the air of an official record of some period longpast; when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on moresubstantial materials than at present。 There was something about itthat quickened an instinctive curiosity; and made me undo the fadedred tape; that tied up the package; with the sense that a treasurewould here be brought to light。 Unbending the rigid folds of theparchment cover; I found it to be a mission; under the hand andseal of Governor Shirley; in favour of one Jonathan Pue; as Surveyorof his Majesty's Customs for the port of Salem; in the Province ofMassachusetts Bay。 I remembered to have read (probably in Felt'sAnnals) a notice of the decease of Mr。 Surveyor Pue; about fourscoreyears ago; and likewise; in a newspaper of recent times; an account ofthe digging up of his remains in the little graveyard of St。 Peter'sChurch; during the renewal of that edifice。 Nothing; if I rightly callto mind; was left of my respected predecessor; save an imperfectskeleton; and some fragments of apparel; and a wig of majesticfrizzle; which; unlike the head that it once adorned; was in verysatisfactory preservation。 But; on examining the papers which theparchment mission served to envelop; I found more traces of Mr。Pue's mental part; and the internal operations of his head; than thefrizzled wig had contained of the venerable skull itself。  They were documents; in short; not official; but of a privatenature; or; at least; written in his private capacity; andapparently with his own hand。 I could account for their being includedin the heap of Custom…House lumber only by the fact; that Mr。 Pue'sdeath had happened suddenly; and that these papers; which heprobably kept in his official desk; had never e to the knowledge ofhis heirs; or were supposed to relate to the business of therevenue。 On the transfer of the archives to Halifax; this package;proving to be of no public concern; was left behind; and hadremained ever since unopened。  The ancient Surveyor… being little molested; I suppose; at thatearly day; with business pertaining to his office… seems to havedevoted some of his many leisure hours to researches as a localantiquarian; and other inquisitions of a similar nature。 Thesesupplied material for petty activity to a mind that would otherwisehave been eaten up with rust。 A portion of his facts; by…the…bye;did me good service in the preparation of the article entitled 〃MAINSTREET;〃 included in the present volume。 The remainder may perhapsbe applied to purposes equally valuable; hereafter; or notimpossibly may be worked up; so far as they go; into a regular historyof Salem; should my veneration for the natal soil ever impel me toso pious a task。 Meanwhile; they shall be at the mand of anygentleman; inclined; and petent; to take the unprofitable labouroff my hands。 As a final disposition; I contemplate depositing themwith the Essex Historical Society。  But the object that most drew my attention; in the mysteriouspackage; was a certain affair of fine red cloth; much worn andfaded。 There were traces about it of gold embroidery; which;however; was greatly frayed and defaced; so that none; or very little;of the glitter was left。 It had been wrought; as was easy to perceive;with wonderful skill of needlework; and the stitch (as I am assured byladies conversant with such mysteries)… gives evidence of a nowforgotten art; not to be recovered even by the process of pickingout the threads。 This rag of scarlet cloth… for time; and wear; anda sacrilegious moth; had reduced it to little other than a rag… oncareful examination; assumed the shape of a letter。 It was the capitalletter A。 By an accurate measurement; each limb proved to be preciselythree inches and a quarter in length。 It had been intended; therecould be no doubt; as an ornamental article of dress; but how it wasto be worn; or what rank; honour; and dignity; in by…past 
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