On about the twentieth of the Second Month, Niou made a pilgrimage to Hatsuse. —
前月廿日左右，匿王朝拜留尋之小社。 —

Perhaps the pleasant thought of stopping in Uji on the return from Hatsuse made him seek now to honor a vow he had made some years before. —
或者因为愉快地想到从留尋回来时在宇治停留的念头，他现在寻求履行几年前所立的愿。 —

The fact that he should be so interested in a place the name of which tended to call up unpleasant associations suggested a certain frivolity. —
他竟然对一个名字容易引起不愉快联想的地方如此感兴趣，这表明了一种轻浮。 —

Large numbers of the highest-ranking officials were in his retinue, and as for officials of lower ranks, scarcely any were left in the city. —
他的随行人员中有很多高级官员，至于低级官员，城里几乎没有留下多少人。 —

On the far bank of the river Uji stood a large and beautifully appointed villa which Yūgiri, Minister of the Right, had inherited from his father, Genji. Yūgiri ordered that it be put in readiness for the prince’s visit. —
宇治河对岸矗立着一座宏伟精美的别墅，是右大臣玉麟继承自源氏之父源氏的。玉麟命人为王朝匿王准备这座别墅。 —

Protocol demanded that he go himself to receive Niou on the return journey from Hatsuse, but he begged to be excused. —
依礼仪规定，他应该亲自去接匿王回来的路上在留尋的，但他请求免除。 —

Certain occurrences had required him to consult soothsayers, who had replied that he must spend some time in retreat and abstinence Niou was vaguely displeased; —
有些情况需要他请卜占，巫医回答说他必须进行一段时间的闭关修行。匿王感到有些不悦； —

but when he heard that Kaoru would be meeting him he decided that this breach of etiquette was in fact a piece of good luck. —
但听说薰会去接他后，他认为这个破例实际上是个幸运的事。 —

He need feel no reticence about sending Kaoru to look into the situation on the opposite bank of the Uji, where the Eighth Prince lived. —
他不必因派薰去查看宇治河对岸八王子居住的情况而感到拘谨。 —

There was, in any case, something too solemn about Yūgiri, a stiffness that invited an answering stiffness in Niou himself.
总之，玉麟有些过于庄重拘谨，一种令匿王自己也感到拘谨的僵硬。

Several of Yūgiri’s sons were in Kaoru’s retinue: —
薰的随从中有玉麟的几个儿子：一个第一等的管理者，一个内监，一个队长，以及两名低级护卫军官。 —

a moderator of the first order, a chamberlain, a captain, and two lesser guards officers. —
因为他是皇家父母的宠儿，匿王在声望和人气方面是巨大的； —

Because he was the favorite of his royal parents, Niou’s prestige and popularity were enormous; —
甚至对于源氏属臣最卑微无势的人，他都被称为“我们的王子。 —

and for even the humblest and least influential of Genji’s retainers he was “our prince. —
”他和随从打算休息的房间被精心布置，以最大限度地利用周围环境的优势。 —

” The apartments in which he and his attendants meant to rest were fitted out with the greatest care, in a manner that put the advantages of the setting to the best possible use. —
他和他的随员要休息的房间都是精心布置的，以最佳方式利用了房间的优点。 —

The gaming boards were brought out, Go and backgammon and tagi and the rest, and the men settled down for trials of strength as fancy took them. —
三个令、将棋和践和其他的游戏棋盘被拿出来，男人们按照自己的兴致来进行力量比拼。 —

Not used to travel and persuaded by something more than fatigue, Niou decided that it would be a pleasant spot for a night’s lodging. —
对旅行不太习惯，又被某种力量所说服，仲冬决定这是一个适合一晚上的住宿的愉快地点。 —

After resting for a time, he had instruments brought out. It was late afternoon. —
休息片刻后，他让乐器拿了出来。已是傍晚。 —

As so often happens far away from the noisy world, the accompaniment of the water seemed to give the music a clearer, higher sound.
僻静之地，水声伴奏之下似乎让音乐变得更清晰、更高亢。

The Eighth Prince’s villa was across the river, a stone’s throw away. —
八皇子的别墅就在河对岸，一箭之遥。 —

The sound came over on the breeze to make him think of old days at court.
声音随着微风传过来让他想起宫廷往日时光。

“What a remarkable flutist that is,” said the prince to himself. “Who might it be? —
“那个吹笛的人实在了不起,” 亲王自言自语道。“究竟是谁？ —

Genji played an interesting flute, a most charming flute; but this is somehow different. —
源氏吹奏的笛子很有意思，极具魅力；但这似乎有些不同。 —

It puts me in mind of the music we used to hear at the old chancellor’s, bold and clear, and maybe just a little haughty. —
这让我想起旧时总有的音乐，豪迈而清晰，也许有些傲慢。 —

It has been a very long time indeed since I myself took part in such a concert. —
很久以来我都没有参加过这样的音乐会了。 —

The months and the years have gone by like waking dead!”
时光荏苒，岁月如梭！”

Pity for his daughters swept over him. If there were only a way to get them out of these mountains! —
对女儿的怜悯涌上心头。要是有办法让她们离开这山间就好了！ —

Kaoru was exactly what he hoped a son-in-law might be, but Kaoru seemed rather wanting in amorous urges. —
薰正是他心目中希望女婿会是的那种人，但薰似乎缺乏爱欲冲动。 —

How could he think of handing his daughters over to trifling young men of the sort the world seemed to produce these days? —
怎么能把女儿们交给这个世界似乎满地都是这种轻浮的年轻人？ —

The worries chased each other through his mind, and the spring night, endless for someone lost in melancholy thought, went on and on. —
忧虑交织，春夜，对陷入忧郁思考的人来说无休无止。 —

Beyond the river, the travelers were enjoying themselves quite without reserve, and for them, in their fuddlement, the spring night was all too quick to end. —
河边，旅人们毫不保留地尽情享乐，对于他们来说，在他们的喝醉状态下，春夜显得过于短促。 —

It seemed a pity, thought Niou, to start for home so soon.
新忧觉得离开家太快有点可惜。

The high sky with fingers of mist trailing across it, the cherries coming into bloom and already shedding their blossoms, “the willows by the river,” their reflections now bowing and now soaring as the wind caught them — it was a novel sight for the visitor from the city, and one he was reluctant to leave.
高高的天空上飘着一丝白雾，樱花已经绽放并洒落了花瓣，“河边的柳树”，它们的倒影随风摇曳，忽高忽低 — 对于来自城市的游客来说，这是一个新奇的景象，他不愿离开。

Kaoru was thinking what a pity it would be not to call on the Eighth Prince. —
薰认为如果现在就回家就有点可惜。 —

Could he avoid all these inquiring eyes and row across the river? —
他能避开所有这些好奇的目光，划过河吗？ —

Would he be thought guilty of indiscretion? —
他会被认为有失慎重吗？ —

As he was debating the problem, a poem was delivered from the prince:
正当他在思考这个问题时，一个诗句从王子传来：

“Parting the mist, a sound comes in on the wind,
“雾散时，声音随风而来，

But waves of white, far out on the stream, roll between us.”
但远处白浪滚滚，我们之间有河水。”

The writing, a strong, masculine hand, was most distinguished.
写这些的是一只优雅而有男子气概的手。

Well, thought Niou — from precisely the place that had been on his mind. —
新忧想 — 确切地是想到他所在意的地方。 —

He himself would send an answering poem:
他也决定回复一首诗：

“On far shore and near, the waves may keep us apart.
“无论远近，波涛隔断我们，

Come in all the same, O breeze of the river Uji!”
随吹来吧, 小溪悠悠的微风！”

Kaoru set out to deliver it. In attendance upon him were men known to be particularly fond of music. —
薰动身去传递这首诗。跟随他的是一些特别喜欢音乐的人。 —

Summoning up all their artistry, the company played “The River Music” as they were rowed across. The landing that had been put out from the river pavilion of the prince’s villa, and indeed the villa itself, seemed in the best of taste, again quite in harmony with the setting. —
紧皱起他们所有的艺术才华，公司演奏着“河水音乐”时划过江面。从王子别墅的河畔亭廊延伸出来的登岸处，以及别墅本身，都显得十分考究，与周围环境完美和谐。 —

Cleaned and newly appointed in preparation for a distinguished visit, it was a house of a very different sort from the one in which they had passed the night. —
清理过并重新装饰，以迎接贵宾的到来，这座房子与他们昨晚住过的房屋完全不同。 —

The furnishings, screens of wattled bamboo and the like, simple and yet in very good taste, were right for a mountain dwelling. —
家具、竹制的屏风等装饰简单却十分考究，非常适合山林居所。 —

Unostentatiously, the Eighth Prince brought out antique kotos and lutes of remarkable timbre. —
八皇子并没有摆出炫耀之势，只是拿出了一些声音独特的古代琴瑟。 —

The guests, tuning their instruments to the ichikotsu mode, played “Cherry-Blossom Girl,” and when they had finished they pressed their host to favor them with something on that famous seven-stringed koto of his. —
客人们调音到一支名为“樱花姑娘”的一首曲子上，并在演奏结束后请主人用他那著名的七弦箜篌为他们献艺。 —

He was diffident, and only joined in with a short strain from time to time. —
他谦逊地，只是偶尔间吟唱了几句。 —

Perhaps because it was a style they were not used to, the young men found that it had a somewhat remote sound to it, a certain depth and mystery, strangely moving.
也许因为他们不习惯这种风格，这些年轻人觉得有些遥远的声音，有着一种深奥的神秘感，令人动容。

As for the repast to which they were treated, it was most tasteful in an old-fashioned way, exactly what the setting asked for, and much superior to what they would have expected. —
他们所受招待的饮食，非常符合古老的方式，正如环境所要求的那样，远远优于他们所期望的。 —

There were in the neighborhood numbers of elderly people who, though not of royal blood, came from gentle families, and some who were distant relatives of the emperor himself. —
这个地区有很多老年人，虽然不是皇室血统，但出身于尊贵家庭，也有一些是皇帝的亲戚。 —

They had long wondered what the prince would do if such an occasion were to arise, and as many of them as were able came to help; —
他们一直在猜测，如果有这样的场合，王子会怎么办，能帮忙的人尽量前来； —

and the guests found that their cups were being kept full by attendants who, though not perhaps dressed in the latest fashions, could hardly have been called rustic. —
宾客们发现，侍者一直保持着他们的酒杯满满的，虽然可能并没有穿最时尚的服装，但绝对不算是粗俗的。 —

No doubt there were a number of youngsters whose hearts were less than calm at the thought of ladies’ apartments. —
毫无疑问，有许多年轻人在想着进入妇女室是多么令人心潮澎湃。 —

Matters were even worse for Niou. How constricting it was, to be of a rank that forbade lighthearted adventures! —
对于仁王来说，情况更糟了。身居高位，禁不起轻浮的冒险！ —

Unable to contain himself, he broke off a fine branch of cherry blossoms and, an elegantly attired page boy for his messenger, sent it across the river with a poem:
他抑制不住自己，折下了一枝美丽的樱花，并派了一个穿着讲究的小男仆送过岸去，附上一首诗：

“I have come, the mountain cherries at their best,
“我来了，最美的山樱花，

To break off sprays of blossom for my cap.”
为了为我的帽子摘下花朵。

And it would seem that he added: “Then stayed the night, enamored of the fields.”
似乎他还补充道：“然后留宿于田野之间。”

What could they send by way of answer? The princesses were at a loss. —
公主们束手无策，不知该如何回复。 —

But they must send something, that much was sure, said the old women. —
但她们必须回复，老妪们说道。 —

This was hardly the occasion for a really formal poem, and it would be rude to wait too long. —
这并非真正需要一首正式的诗，而且等待太久也是不礼貌的。 —

Finally Oigimi composed a reply and had Nakanokimi set it down for her:
最终，扇上作美编写了回复，由中间女将为她记录：

“It is true that you have fought your way through the mountain tangles, and yet
“你确实穿越了群山的藤蔓，然而

“For sprays to break, the springtime wanderer pauses
“要摘下这些小枝，春游者须驻足

Before the rustic fence, and wanders on.”
“在乡村的栅栏前，然后继续游览。”

The hand was subtle and delicate.
笔迹精致而细腻。

And so music answered music across the river. —
于是音乐在河对岸回应着音乐。 —

It was as Niou had requested, the wind did not propose to keep them apart. —
这正是尼欧所要求的，风并未打算将他们分开。 —

Presently Kōbai arrived, upon order of the emperor; —
不久后，红梅应召前来，应帝王之令； —

and with great crowds milling about Niou made a noisy departure. —
在众多人群中，尼欧喧哗着离去。 —

His attendants looked back again, and he promised himself that he would find an excuse for another visit. —
他的随从再次回头，他立誓会找借口再次造访。 —

The view was magical, with the blossoms at their best and layers of mist trailing among them. —
这个景色实在是太美了，整片花园的花朵都盛开着，薄雾在花丛间缭绕。 —

Many were the poems in Chinese and in Japanese that the occasion produced, but I did not trouble myself to ask about them.
许多中文和日文的诗歌因这个场合而产生，但我并没有费心去询问它们。

Niou was unhappy. In the confusion he had not been able to convey the sort of message he had wished to. —
牛王感到不快。在混乱中，他未能传达他所希望传达的信息。 —

He sent frequent letters thereafter, not bothering to ask the mediation of Kaoru.
此后他频频寄来书信，也没有找柯露帮忙传达。

“You really should answer,” said the Eighth Prince. “But be careful not to sound too serious. —
“你真的应该回复。” 第八王子说，“但要注意不要显得太严肃。 —

That would only excite him. He has his pleasure-loving ways, and you are a pleasure he is not likely to forgo.”
这只会激起他的兴奋。他喜好享乐，而你是他不太可能放弃的享乐。”

Though with this caveat, he encouraged replies. It was Nakanokimi who set them down. —
尽管有这个警告，他鼓励回信。书信由中彦女撰写。 —

Oigimi was much too cautious and deliberate to let herself become involved in the least significant of such exchanges.
宜君太过谨慎和慎重，不会让自己卷入这些微不足道的交流中。

The prince, ever deeper in melancholy, found the long, uneventful spring days harder to get through than other days. —
王子陷入更深的忧郁中，发现漫长而平淡的春日比其他日子更难熬过。 —

The beauty and grace of his daughters, more striking as the years went by, had the perverse effect of intensifying the melancholy. —
随着年岁渐长，女儿们的美丽和优雅愈发引人注目，却适得其反地加重了他的忧郁。 —

If they were plain little things, he said to himself, then it might not matter so much to leave them in these mountains. —
如果她们长得平淡无奇，他心里暗自想道，或许就不会这么在乎把她们留在这山里了。 —

His mind ran the circle of worries and ran it again, day and night. —
他的心头困扰不断反复，晝夜纠缠。 —

Oigimi was now twenty-five, Nakanokimi twenty-three.
宜君今年二十五岁，中彦女今年二十三岁。

It was a dangerous year for him. He was more assiduous than ever in his devotions. —
这对他来说是一个危险的岁月。他在修行上比以往任何时候都更勤勉。 —

Because his heart was no longer in this world, because he was intent on leaving it behind as soon as possible, the way down the cool, serene path seemed clear. —
因为他的心已不再留恋世俗，因为他决意尽快抛下这一切，通往清凉宁静之路似乎清晰无误。 —

But there was one obstacle, worry about the future of his daughters.
但有一个障碍，担心女儿们的未来。

“When he puts himself into his studies,” said the people around him, “his will power is extraordinary. —
“当他投身于学习时，”周围的人说，“他的意志力是非凡的。 —

But don’t you suppose he’ll weaken when the final test comes? —
但你难道不认为在最后的考验面前他会变得软弱吗？ —

Don’t you suppose his worries about our ladies will be too much for him?”
你难道不认为他对我们的女性担忧会对他造成太大压力吗？

If only there were someone, he thought — someone not perhaps up to the standard he had always set, but still, after his fashion, of a rank and character that would not be demeaning, and someone who would undertake in all sincerity to look after the princesses — then he would be inclined to give his tacit blessing. —
如果有个人，他想——也许不完全达到他一直设定的标准，但在某种程度上，拥有不可轻视的头衔和品格，可以真诚地答应照顾公主们——那么他也会倾向于默默祝福。 —

If even one of the girl s could find a secure place in the world, he could without misgivings leave the other innoer charge. —
如果其中一个女孩能在世界上找到一个安全的地方，他可以毫不犹豫地把另一个交给她的照料。 —

But thus far no one had come forward with what could be described as serious intentions. —
但直到现在，没有人以可以说是认真的意图出现。 —

Occasionally, on some pretext, there would be a suggestive letter, and occasionally too some fellow, in the lightness of his young heart, stopping on his way to or from a temple, would show signs of interest. —
偶尔会有以某种借口写来暗示性的信函，也偶尔会有一些人，年轻的心情轻松，去神社的路上或者离开神社的路上，表现出对女孩的兴趣。 —

But there was always something insulting about these advances, some hint that the man looked down upon ladies left to waste away in the mountains. —
但这些进展总是有些侮辱性，总有一些暗示，表明这个男人看不起那些被留在山里荒废的女性。 —

The prince would not permit the most casual sort of reply.
王子不会容忍最随意的回应。

And now came Niou, who said that he could not rest until he had made the acquaintance of the princesses. —
现在来了仁王，说他不能安息，直到结识公主们。 —

Was this ardor a sign of a bond from a former life?
这种热情是前世的羁绊的信号吗？

In the autumn Kaoru was promoted to councillor of the middle order. —
秋天，薰被提升为中位参议官。 —

The distinction of his manner and appearance was more pronounced as he rose in rank and office, and the thoughts that tormented him made similar gains. —
随着他在官阶和职位上的晋升，他的态度和外表的尊贵之处更加明显，而困扰他的想法也取得类似的增长。 —

They were more tenacious than when the doubts about his birth had still been vague and unformed. —
这些想法比对于他的出生疑虑尚不明晰的时候更为顽固。 —

As he tried to imagine how it had been in those days, so long ago now, when his father had sickened and died, he wanted to lose himself in prayers and rites of atonement. —
当他尝试想象那些早已过去的日子，那时，他的父亲病倒并去世时，他想要沉浸在祈祷和赎罪仪式中迷失自己。 —

He had been strongly drawn to the old woman at Uji, and he tried circumspectly to let her know of his feelings.
他一直被宇治的老妇人吸引，试图谨慎地让她知道他的感受。

It was now the Seventh Month. He had been away from Uji, he thought, for a very long while.
七月份到了。他觉得自己已经离开宇治很久了。

Autumn had not yet come to the city, but by the time he reached Mount Otowa the breeze was cool, and in the vicinity of Mount Oyama autumn was already at the tips of the branches. —
秋天还没有来到这座城市，但当他到达音羽山时，微风已经凉爽，在雄山附近，秋天已经触及树枝的尖端。 —

The shifting mountain scenery delighted him more and more as he approached Uji.
随着他接近宇治，不断变化的山景让他愈发喜悦。

The prince greeted him with unusual warmth, and talked on and on of the melancholy thoughts that were so much with him.
王子异常热情地迎接他，并滔滔不绝地谈论着时常困扰着他的忧郁思绪。

“If you should find reasonable occasion, after I am gone,” he said, guiding the conversation to the problem of his daughters, “do please come and see them from time to time. —
“如果在我离开后你找到合适的机会，”他说，将话题引向了他的女儿们的问题，“请偶尔来看看她们。 —

Put them on your list, if you will, of the people you do not mean to forget.”
如果你愿意的话，请把她们列入你不打算忘记的人名单。”

“You may remember that you have already brought the matter up once or twice before, and you have my word that I shall not forget. —
“你可能还记得之前已经提到过这件事几次了，我向你保证我不会忘记。 —

Not that you can expect a great deal of me, I am afraid. —
我恐怕不能期待太多。 —

All my impulses are to run away from the world, and it does not seem to have very strong hopes for me in any case. —
我所有的冲动都是想逃离这个世界，而这个世界似乎也对我并不抱有很大希望。 —

No, I do not hold a great deal in reserve. —
不，我没有什么多余的保留。 —

But for as long as I live, my determination will not waver.”
但在我活着的时间里，我的决心不会动摇。”

The prince was much relieved. A late moon, breaking through the clouds with a soft, clean radiance, seemed about to touch the western hills. —
王子感到非常欣慰。迟来的月亮透过云层投下柔和、清洁的光芒，似乎即将触及西山。 —

Having said his prayers, to which the scene lent an especial dignity, he turned to talk of old times.
他祈祷完毕，场景赋予了祷告一种特殊的庄严感，他转而谈论起往昔。

“How is it at court these days? On autumn nights people used to gather in His Majesty’s chambers. There was always something a little too good, a little ostentatious — or it so seemed to me — about the way the famous musicians lent their presence to this group and the next one. —
“如今宫廷里怎么样？秋夜人们曾聚集在陛下的内室。著名音乐家总是以一种显得有些过分、有些炫耀的方式（至少对我而言是这样）参与这个群体和下一个群体。” —

What was really worth notice was the way His Majesty’s favorites and the ladies of the bedchamber and the rest would be chatting away as pleasantly as you could wish, and all the while you knew that they were in savage competition. —
值得注意的是，陛下的宠臣和贴身侍女们会聊得非常愉快，而你知道他们实际上是在激烈竞争。 —

And then, as quiet came over the palace, you would have the real music, leaking out from their several rooms. —
然后，宫殿安静下来，你会听到真正的音乐从各自的房间里传出。 —

Each strain seemed to be pleading its own special cause.
每一段音乐似乎都在为自己的特殊理由辩护。

“Women are the problem, good for a moment of pleasure, offering nothing of substance. —
“妇女是问题，只是提供一时的快乐，没有实质性的东西。 —

They are the seeds of turmoil, and it is not hard to see why we are told that their sins are heavy. —
他们是麻烦的根源，不难理解为什么我们被告知他们的罪孽重大。 —

I wonder if you have ever tried to imagine what a worry a child is for its father. —
你曾试图想象一个孩子对父亲来说是多么的担忧吗？ —

A son is no problem. But a daughter — there is a limit to worrying, after all, and the sensible thing would be to recognize the hopeless for what it is. —
儿子不是问题。但女儿 — 担心会有个限度，最明智的做法应该是接受无可救药的事实。 —

But fathers will go on worrying.”
但父亲们会继续担心。”

He spoke as if in generalities; but could there be any doubt that he was really speaking of himself and his daughters?
他似乎是在谈论普遍现象；但难道会怀疑他真正是在谈论自己和自己的女儿们吗？

“I have told you of my feelings about the world,” said Kaoru. “One result of them has been that I have not mastered a single art worthy of the name. —
“我已告诉你关于我的对世界的感觉，”薰说。“我的这种感觉结果之一就是我并没有掌握一门真正值得的艺术。 —

But music — yes, I know how useless it is, and still I have had a hard time giving it up. —
但音乐 — 是的，我知道它是多么无用，但仍然很难放弃。 —

I do have a good precedent, after all. You will remember that music made one of the apostles jump up and dance.”
毕竟，我有一个好的先例。你会记得音乐让一个使徒跳起舞来。”

He had been longing, he continued, to have more of the music of which he had caught that one tantalizing snatch. —
他继续说，自己一直渴望再听到那一瞬间留下的音乐。 —

The prince thought this might be the occasion for a sort of introduction. —
王子认为这也许是一个适合介绍的机会。 —

He went to the princesses’ rooms. There came a soft strain on a koto, and that was all. —
他走向公主们的房间。一只箏发出柔和的琴音，然后便寂静无声。 —

The light, impromptu melody, here where it was always quiet and where now there was not one other human sound, with the sky beginning to take on the colors of dawn, quite entranced Kaoru. But the princesses could not be persuaded to give more.
光明无暇的旋律，在这里原本总是寂静的地方，现在却没有其他人类声音，完全迷住了薰。但公主们不愿再多说。

“Well,” said their father, going to the altar, “I have done what I can to bring you together. —
“好了，”他们的父亲走到祭坛前说道，“我已尽力让你们走到一起。 —

You have years ahead of you, and I must leave the rest to you.
你们还有许多年要走，剩下的事就交给你们了。

“I go, this hut of grass will dry and fall.
“我去了，这草搭的小屋将会干枯倒塌。

But this solemn undertaking must last forever.
但这庄严的承诺将永存不变。

“Something tells me that we will not meet again.” He was in tears. —
“某种预感告诉我，我们可能再也见不到了。”他流下了眼泪。 —

“You must think me an insufferable complainer.”
“你们可能会觉得我是个难以忍受的抱怨者。”

“Your’hut of grass’ has sealed a pledge eternal.
“你的‘草搭的小屋’已经盖下了永恒的誓约。

It will not fall, though ages come and go.
它不会倒塌，无论岁月如何更迭。

“The wrestling meet will keep me busy for a while, but I will see you again when it is out of the way.”
“我接下来将忙于摔跤比赛，但等这事情结束了，我一定会再去看你。”

The prince having withdrawn to his prayers, Kaoru called Bennokimi to another room and asked for details of the story she had told. —
王子退去做他的祈祷后，薰将辩才女孩请到另一个房间，询问她讲的故事细节。 —

The dawn moon flooded the room, setting him off through the blinds to most wonderful effect. —
黎明的月光灌进室内，透过百叶窗，效果极为美妙。 —

Silently, the princesses withdrew behind deeper curtains. —
公主们默默地藏在更深的帘子后面。 —

Yet he did seem to be unlike most young men. His way of speaking was quiet and altogether serious. —
不过他似乎与大多数年轻人不同。他说话的方式安静又非常认真。 —

Oigimi occasionally came forth with an answer. —
御女偶尔出来回答一次。 —

Kaoru thought of his friend Niou and the rapidity with which he had been drawn to the princesses. —
薰想到了自己的朋友仁王，以及他对公主们的迅速吸引。 —

Why must he himself be so different? Their father had as good as offered them to him; —
为什么他自己要如此不同呢？他们的父亲几乎已经把她们许配给他了； —

and why did he not rush forward to claim them? —
为什么他不挺身而出来宣称自己对她们有兴趣呢？ —

It was not as if he found the thought of having one of them for his wife quite out of the question. —
他并不觉得将她们之中的一位娶为妻子是不可能的。 —

That they were ladies of discernment and sensibility they had shown well enough in tests such as this evening’s, and in exchanges having to do with the flowers of spring and the leaves of autumn and other such matters. —
从今晚的考验和关于春花秋叶等事物的讨论中就可见得，她们是有识别力和感受力的。 —

In a sense, indeed, he thought of them as already in his possession. —
从某种意义上说，他已经将她们视作自己的财产。 —

It would be a cruel wrench if fate should give them to others.
如果命运将她们给了其他人，那将是一个残忍的抉择。

He started back before daylight, his thoughts on the prince and his apparent conviction that death was near. —
在天亮之前，他匆忙启程，心里惦记着王子和他那似乎已感觉到死亡降临的信念。 —

When the round of court duties was over, thought Kaoru, he would come again.
当朝廷事务完成后，薰想，他将再次前来。

Niou was hoping that the autumn leaves might be his excuse for another visit to Uji. He continued to write to the princesses. —
仁王希望秋叶将成为他再次造访宇治的借口。他继续写信给公主们。 —

Thinking these advances no cause for concern, they were able to answer from time to time in appropriately casual terms.
公主们认为这些示好举动并不令人担忧，因此他们能够适时以相应随意的方式回复。

With the deepening of autumn, the prince’s gloom also deepened. —
随着秋天的深化，王子的忧愁也加深了。 —

Concluding that he must withdraw to some quiet refuge where nothing would upset his devotions, he left behind various admonitions.
他认为自己必须撤到某个安静的地方，没有任何事物会打扰他的虔诚，于是留下了各种告诫。

“Parting is the way of the world. It cannot be avoided: —
“分别是世间的宿命，无法避免； —

but the grief is easier to bear when you have a companion to share it with. —
但当有伴侣共同承担时，悲伤就会变得更容易忍受。 —

I must leave it to your imagination — for I cannot tell you — how hard it is for me to go off without you, knowing that you are alone. —
我必须留给你的想象力——因为我无法告诉你——我离开时多么困难，知道你一个人在这里。 —

But it would not do to wander lost in the next world because of ties with this one. —
但是因为与现世的牵绊，迷失在来世也无济于事。 —

Even while I have been here with you, I have as good as run away from the world; —
即使我一直在这里陪伴你，我也几乎像是从这个世界逃离了； —

and it is not for me to say how it should be when I am gone. —
而当我离去时，我无法说出应该怎么样。 —

But please remember that I am not the only one. You have your mother to think of too. —
但请记住我不是唯一的人。你还有你的母亲需要考虑。 —

Please do nothing that might reflect on her name. —
请不要做任何可能会损害她名誉的事。 —

Men who are not worthy of you will try to lure you out of these mountains, but you are not to yield to their blandishments. —
那些不配你的男人会试图把你诱出这些山谷，但你不要屈服于他们的花言巧语。 —

Resign yourselves to the fact that it was not meant to be — that you are different from other people and were meant to be alone — and live out your lives here at Uji. Once you have made up your minds to it, the years will go smoothly by. —
接受现实吧——这并非命中注定——你不同于他人，注定孤独——在宇治度过你们的一生。一旦下定决心，岁月会平静地流逝。 —

It is good for a woman, even more than for a man, to be away from the world and its slanders.”
对一个女人来说更重要，比男人更应该远离世俗和诽谤。

The princesses were beyond thinking about the future. —
公主们已经超越了对未来的思考。 —

It was beyond them, indeed, to think how they would live if they were to survive their father by so much as a day. —
事实上，他们无法想象，如果比他们的父亲多活一天，他们将如何生活。 —

These gloomy and ominous instructions left them in the cruelest uncertainty. —
这些阴郁而不吉利的指示让她们陷入了最残酷的不确定性。 —

He had in effect renounced the world already, but for them, so long beside him, to be informed thus suddenly of a final parting — it was not from intentional cruelty that he had done it, of course, and yet in such cases a certain resentment is inevitable.
实际上，他已经放弃了这个世界，但是他们，与他如此长久地在一起，突然被告知最终分别——当然并非出于恶意，但在这种情况下，某种怨恨是不可避免的。

On the evening before his departure he inspected the premises with unusual care, walking here, stopping there. —
在离开前的那天晚上，他异常仔细地检查了房屋，走到这里，停留在那里。 —

He had thought of this Uji villa as the most temporary of dwellings, and so the years had gone by. —
他曾经将这个宇治别墅视为最为临时的居所，所以岁月如此流逝。 —

Everything about him suggesting freedom from worldly taints, he turned to his devotions, and thoughts of the future slipped in among them from time to time. —
一切关于他都表明他摆脱了尘世的污染，他投身于虔诚的祈祷中，思考未来时不时地插进其中。 —

His daughters were so very much alone — how could they possibly manage after his death?
他的女儿们如此孤单 — 在他去世后，她们怎么可能照料得好自己？

He summoned the older women of the household.
他唤来了家中的年长妇女们。

“Do what you can for them, as a last favor to me. —
“尽你们所能帮助她们，作为我最后一个请求。” —

The world does not pay much attention when an ordinary house goes to ruin. It happens every day. —
当一个普通的房屋走向毁灭时，世人并不会过多在意。这种事情每天都在发生。 —

I don’t suppose people pay so very much attention when it happens to one like ours. —
我想当这种事情发生在像我们这样的家庭时，人们也不会非常关心。 —

But if fate seems to have decided that the collapse is final, a man does feel ashamed, and wonders how he can face his ancestors. —
但如果命运似乎决定了房屋垮塌是最终的结局，一个人会感到羞耻，会想要如何面对他的祖先。 —

Sadness, loneliness — they are what life brings. —
伤感、孤独 — 这都是生活带来的。 —

But when a house is kept in a manner that becomes its rank, the appearances it maintains, the feelings it has for itself, bring their own consolation. —
但当一个家庭保持着符合自身地位的方式，维持着它的外表，对自己怀有自豪感，这些都会带来一种慰藉。 —

Everyone wants luxury and excitement; but you must never, even if everything fails — you must never, I beg of you, let them make unsuitable marriages.”
每个人都想要奢华和刺激；但即使一切失败 — 请绝对不要，我恳求你们，绝不要让她们做出不合适的婚姻。

As the moonlight faded in the dawn, he went to take leave of his daughters. —
随着月光在黎明中逐渐消退，他去跟女儿们告别。 —

“Do not be lonely when I am gone. Be happy, find ways to occupy yourselves. —
“当我离去时，请不要感到孤独。要快乐，寻找自我。 —

One does not get everything in this world. —
人生不可能得到一切。 —

Do not fret over what has to be.”
不要为必须面对的事情而烦恼。”

He looked back and looked back again as he started up the path to the monastery.
他一边启程前往修道院，一边回头看了又看。

The girls were lonely indeed, despite these admonitions. —
这些劝告确实是妹妹们感到孤独。 —

What would the one do if the other were to go away? The world offers no security in any case; —
如果另一个离开了，另一个会怎么办呢？无论如何，世界都没有安全可言； —

and what could they possibly do for themselves if they were separated? —
如果她们被分开，她们可能会怎么样呢？ —

Smiling over this small matter, sighing over that rather more troublesome detail, they had always been together.
笑着解决这样的小事，叹息着处理那些更麻烦的细节，她们一直在一起。

It was the morning of the day when the prince’s meditations were to end. He would be coming home. —
这是王子冥想结束的那天的早晨。他将回家。 —

But in the evening a message came instead: “I have been indisposed since this morning. —
但是晚上却传来了一条消息：“我今天早上开始身体不适。 —

A cold, perhaps — whatever it is, I am having it looked after. —
也许是感冒，总之，我正照料着它。 —

I long more than ever to see you.
我比以往任何时候都更渴望见到你。

The princesses were in consternation. How serious would it be? —
公主们感到惊慌。这会是多么严重呢？ —

They hastened to send quilted winter garments. —
她们赶紧送去了棉被衣物。 —

Two and three days passed, and there was no sign of improvement. A messenger came back. —
两三天过去了，但没有任何好转的迹象。使者回来了。 —

The ailment was not of a striking nature, he reported. The prince was generally indisposed. —
他报告说病情没有什么明显的特征，王子整体上身体不适。 —

If there should be even the slightest improvement he would brave the discomfort and return home.
如果有哪怕一点点好转，他会忍受不适返回家中。

The abbot, in constant attendance, sought to sever the last ties with this world. —
住持一直在照料，努力断绝与世俗的最后联系。 —

“It may seem like the commonest sort of ailment,” he said, “but it could be your last. —
“这似乎是最普通的疾病，”他说，“但可能是你的最后一次。” —

Why must you go on worrying about your daughters? —
为什么你们还要担心你们的女儿呢？ —

Each of us has his own destiny, and it does no good to worry about others. —
每个人都有自己的命运，为他人担心是没有好处的。 —

” He said that the prince was not to leave the temple under any circumstances.
“他说王子无论如何都不能离开寺庙。

It was about the twentieth of the Eighth Month, a time when the autumn skies are conducive to melancholy in any case. —
这是八月二十日左右，这个时候秋天的天空本就容易让人感到忧郁。 —

For the princesses, lost in their own sad thoughts, there was no release from the morning and evening mists. —
对于陷入自己悲伤思绪中的公主们来说，早晚的雾气带不走他们的忧虑。 —

The moon was bright in the early-morning sky, the surface of the river was clear and luminous. —
早晨的月光明亮，河面清澈而明亮。 —

The shutters facing the mountain were raised. —
面朝山的百叶窗被打开了。 —

As the princesses gazed out, the sound of the monastery bell came down to them faintly — and, they said, another dawn was upon them.
当公主们凝视窗外时，寺庙的钟声隐隐传来 — 他们说，又一天的黎明降临了。

But then came a messenger, blinded with tears. The prince had died in the night.
但随后来了一个泪流满面的使者。王子在夜间去世了。

Not for a moment had the princesses stopped thinking of him; —
公主们没有停止想念他; —

but this was too much of a shock, it left them dazed. At such times tears refuse to come. —
但这太震惊了，让她们目瞪口呆。在这样的时刻，眼泪不愿涌出。 —

Prostrate, they could only wait for the shock to pass. —
她们俯伏着，只能等待震惊逝去。 —

A death is sad when, as is the commoner case, the survivors have a chance to make proper farewells. —
每逝者有人送，死即叹息。 —

For the princesses, who did not have their father with them, the sense of loss was even more intense. —
对于没有父亲在身边的公主们来说，失落感更加深切。 —

Their laments would not have seemed excessive if they had wailed to the very heavens. —
如果她们痛哭至天际，也不显得过分。 —

Reluctant to accept the thought of surviving their father by a day, they asked what they were to do now. —
情不愿接受比父亲多活一天的想法，他们问现在该怎么办。 —

But he had gone a road that all must take, and weeping did nothing to change that cruel fact.
但他已经走上了所有人都必须经历的道路，哭泣并不能改变那残酷的事实。

As had been promised over the years, the abbot arranged for the funeral. —
正如多年来承诺的那样，方丈安排了葬礼。 —

The princesses sent word that they would like to see their father again, even in death. —
公主们传话说他们想再见父亲一面，即使是在死后。 —

And what would be accomplished? replied the holy man. —
那又能达到什么目的呢？圣人回答道。 —

He had trained their father to acceptance of the fact that he would not see them again, and now it was their turn. —
他已经训练好了他们父亲接受自己再也见不到他们的事实，现在轮到他们了。 —

They must train their hearts to a freedom from binding regrets. —
他们必须训练自己的心灵摆脱束缚的悔恨。 —

As he told of their father’s days in the monastery, they found his wisdom somewhat distasteful.
当他讲述他们父亲在修道院的日子时，他们觉得他的智慧有些令人不快。

It had long been their father’s most fervent wish to take the tonsure, but in the absence of someone to look after his daughters he had been unable to turn his back on them. —
他们父亲一直以剃发为自己最热切的愿望，但因为没有人照顾他的女儿，他无法背弃她们。 —

Day after day, so long as he had lived, this inability had been at the same time the solace of a sad life and the bond that tied him to a world he wished to leave. —
日复一日，他活着的时候，这种无法割舍的羁绊既是他悲伤人生的慰藉，又是将他与他愿意离开的世界联系在一起的纽带。 —

Neither to him who had now gone the inevitable road nor to them who must remain behind had fulfillment come.
既不是对那位已经走上不可避免之路的人，也不是对那些必须留下来的人，都没有实现。

Kaoru was overcome with grief and regret. —
薰被悲痛和懊悔所淹没。 —

There were so many things left to talk about if only they might have another quiet evening together. Thoughts about the impermanence of things chased one another through his mind, and he made no attempt to stop the flow of tears. —
如果他们只能再有一个安静的夜晚坐在一起聊天，还有许多事情要谈。思索着世间万物无常的念头在他脑海中纷至沓来，他没有阻止眼泪流淌。 —

The prince had said, it was true, that they might not meet again; —
亲王的话是对的，他们也许再也不会相见； —

but Kaoru had so accustomed himself over the years to the mutability of this world, to the way morning has of becoming evening, that thoughts “yesterday, today” had not come to him. —
但薰多年来已经习惯了这个世界的变化无常，习惯了清晨变成傍晚的方式，所以“昨日、今日”的念头并未降临。 —

He sent long and detailed letters to the abbot and the princesses. —
他给大师和公主们寄去了长篇详细的信件。 —

Having received no other such message, the princesses, though still benumbed with grief, knew once again what kindness they had known over the years. —
公主们虽然仍然麻木于悲伤，但再次感受到多年来曾经拥有的善意。 —

The loss of a father is never easy, thought Kaoru, and it must be very cruel indeed for two ladies quite alone in the world. —
失去父亲从来都不容易，想到两位独自一人的女士们，这种痛苦必定更为残酷。 —

He had had the foresight to send the abbot offerings and provisions for the services, and he also saw, through the old woman, that there were ample offerings at the Uji villa.
他有预见地给大师送去了供品和食物用于祭祀，并通过老妇人看到宇治别墅处供品充裕。

The rest of the month was one long night for the princesses, and so the Ninth Month came. —
其余的一个月对公主们来说像是一个漫长的夜晚，所以九月来临了。 —

The mountain scenery seemed more capable than ever of summoning the showers that dampen one’s sleeves, and sometimes, lost in their tears, they could almost imagine that the tumbling leaves and the roaring water and the cascade of tears had become one single flow.
山水景物更加赋予了引起这些湿润衣袖的阵雨，有时候，他们沉浸在眼泪中，几乎可以想象落叶、咆哮的水声和眼泪的瀑布已经融合为一体。

Near distraction themselves, their women thought to dislodge them even a little from their grief. —
这使得她们陷入几近崩溃，她们的女眷想方设法让她们即便只是稍微摆脱悲伤。 —

“Please, my ladies. If this goes on you will soon be in your own graves. —
“拜托，我的贵人们。如果这样继续下去，你们很快就会在自己的坟墓里了。 —

Our lives are short enough in any case.”
总之我们的生命本就短促。”

Priests were charged with memorial services at the villa as well as at the monastery. —
牧师们被委托在别墅和寺庙举行追悼仪式。 —

With holy images to remind them of the dead prince, the women who had withdrawn into deepest mourning kept constant vigil.
在圣像的提醒下，那些沉浸在深深悲哀中的妇女们保持着不停的守夜。

Niou too sent messages, but they were not of a sort that the princesses could bring themselves to answer.
仍然也有仁王发来了消息，但这是公主们无法让自己回复的类型。

“My friend gets different treatment,” he said, much chagrined. —
“我的朋友受到了不同的对待，”他感到非常沮丧。 —

“Why am I the one they will have nothing to do with?”
“为什么他们对我会如此冷淡?”

He had thought that Uji with the autumn leaves at their best might feed his poetic urges, but now, regretfully, he had to conclude that the time was inappropriate. —
他本以为宇治的秋叶最能激发他的诗意，但现在，遗憾地，他不得不得出这个时机不合适的结论。 —

He did send a long letter. The initial period of mourning was over, he thought, and there must be an end to grief and a pause in tears. —
他确实寄出了一封长信。他想，丧期已过，应该结束悲伤，停歇泪水。 —

Dispatching his letter on an evening of chilly showers, he had this to say, among many other things:
在一个寒风凛冽的夜晚寄出了他的信，他提到了很多事情，其中包括：

“How is it in yon hills where the hart calls out
“那些山丘上鹿鸣声是怎样的？

On such an eve, and dew forms on the hagi?
在这样一个傍晚，草叶上都结露水。

I cannot think how on an evening like this you can be indifferent to melancholy like mine. —
我无法想象在像这样的夜晚，你怎样能对我的忧伤漠不关心。 —

Autumn brings an unusual sadness over Onoe Moor.”
秋天给尾上野带来了一种特殊的悲伤。”

“He is right,” said Oigimi, urging her sister on. —
“他说得对，”织田君妃说着，催促着她的姐姐。 —

“We do let these notes pile up, and I’m sure he thinks us very rude and unfeeling. —
“我们总是让这些便条堆积，我相信他会觉得我们很粗鲁冷漠。 —

Do get something off to him.”
快给他回复点什么吧。”

Enduring the days since her father’s death, thought Nakanokimi, had she once considered taking up brush again? —
在父亲去世后的这些日子里，中君想着，曾经考虑过再次拿起毛笔吗？ —

How cruel those days had been! Her eyes clouded over, and she pushed the inkstone away.
那些日子是多么残酷啊！她眼里阴霾了起来，把墨汁块推开。

“I cannot do it,” she said, weeping quietly. —
“我做不到，”她轻声啜泣着说道。 —

“I have come this far, you say, and sorrow has to end? —
“你说我已走到这一步，悲伤应该结束？ —

No — the very thought of it makes me hate myself.”
不 — 仅想到这个就让我恨透了自己。”

Oigimi understood, and urged her no further.
织田君妃理解了，再也没有强迫她。

The messenger had left the city at dusk and arrived after dark. —
使者在黄昏离开了这座城市，到达时已是夜深人静。 —

How could they send him back at this hour? They told him he must stay the night. —
这个时候怎么能把他送回去呢？他们告诉他必须留宿一晚。 —

But no: he was going back, he said, and he hurried to get ready.
但是不行，他说他要立刻回去，然后匆忙准备出发。

Though no more in control of herself than her sister, Oigimi wished to detain him no longer, and composed a stanza for him to take back:
虽然和她的妹妹一样都难以自控，贺君不想留他太久，为他写下了一首诗带回去：

“A mist of tears blots out this mountain village,
“雨烟迷漫山村郭，角声隔断村边竹。”

And at its rustic fence, the call of the deer.”
在黑夜里，墨迹与黑纸上形成强烈对比，她写字时不再在乎文采。

Scarcely able to make out the ink, dark in the night, against dark paper, she wrote with no thought for the niceties. —
她把这张纸折叠在简陋的封皮里，交给了送信人。 —

She folded her note into a plain cover and sent it out to the man.
那是一个黑暗而刮风的夜晚。他在关巴野穿行时感到不安；

It was a black, gusty night. He was uneasy as he made his way through the wilds of Kohata; —
但贵樱不会选用胆小的人。 —

but Niou did not pick men Who were noted for their timidity. —
他鞭策着马匹，即使穿过最密集的竹丛也不让它停下，很快就到了贵樱府邸。 —

He spurred his horse on, not allowing it to pause even for the densest bamboo thickets, and reached Niou’s mansion in remarkably quick time. —
看到他浑身湿透，贵樱特意给了他额外的奖励。 —

Seeing how wet he was, Niou gave him a special bounty for his services.
这只手很奇特，比他所熟悉的手更成熟，更富有思想。

The hand, a strange one, was more mature than the one he was used to, and suggestive of a deeper mind. —
哪一个公主会是哪一个呢？他想着，凝视着那张纸。 —

Which princess would be which? he wondered, gazing and gazing at the note. —
他早就该就寝了。 —

It was well past time for him to be in bed.
It was well past time for him to be in bed.

They could see why he would wish to wait up until an answer came, whispered the women, but here he was still mooning over it. —
他们可以理解他为何希望等到回答再睡，女人们低声说，但是他现在还在为此苦恼。 —

The sender must be someone who interested him greatly. —
发送者一定是某个他非常感兴趣的人。 —

There was a touch of asperity in these remarks, as of people who wished they were in bed themselves.
这些话带有些尖刻的语气，仿佛是希望自己也在床上的人说的。

The morning mists were still heavy as he arose to prepare his answer:
当他起床准备回信时，晨雾依然笼罩着大地。

“The call of the hart whose mate has strayed away
“麋鹿召唤着，它的伴侣迷失了方向

In the morning mist — are there those whom it leaves unmoved?
在晨雾中 — 这会不感动到任何人吗？

My own wails are no less piercing.”
我的哀鸣多么尖锐。”

“He is likely to be a nuisance if he thinks we understand too well,” said Oigimi, always withdrawn and cautious in these matters. —
“如果他认为我们理解得太透彻，他可能会成为一个讨厌的人，” 总是在这些事情上保持疏远和谨慎的Oigimi说。 —

“Before Father died we had him to protect us. We did not want to outlive him, but here we are. —
“在父亲去世之前，我们可以依靠他保护我们。我们并不想活得比他长，但事实上我们在这里。 —

He thought of us to the last, and now we must think of him. —
他对我们始终牵肠挂肚，现在我们也必须为他着想。 —

The slightest little misstep would hurt him.” She would not permit an answer. —
一点点小错都会伤害他。” 她不允许任何回答。 —

Yet she did not take the view of Niou that she did of most men. —
然而她对尼奥的评价并非如同她对大多数男人那样。 —

His writing and choice of words, even at their most casual, had an elegance and originality which seemed to her, though she had not had letters from many men, truly superior. —
他的文字和选择的词汇，即使是最随意的时候，都展现了一种优雅和独特，这对她来说，尽管她没有收到过很多男人的信件，是真正卓越的。 —

But to answer even such subtle letters was inappropriate for a lady in her situation. —
但是回复这样微妙的信件对于处境如她的女士来说是不合适的。 —

If the world disagreed, she had no answer: —
如果世人有异议，她无需回答。 —

she would live out her life as a rustic spinster, and the world need not think about her.
她将在乡村度过余生，世人也无需再关心她。

Kaoru’s letters, on the other hand, were of such an earnest nature that she answered them freely. —
而薫的来信则如此真挚，她也毫不吝啬地回信。 —

He came calling one day, even before the period of deepest mourning was over. —
他某日前来拜访，甚至在最深的哀悼期还未结束之时。 —

Approaching the lower part of the east room, where the princesses were still in mourning, he summoned Bennokimi. —
走向东厢房下部时，公主们仍在哀悼之中，他召见了弁冱。 —

Wanderers in darkness, they found this sudden burst of light quite blinding. —
在黑暗中徘徊的人们，对这突如其来的光线感到刺眼。 —

Their own somber garments were too sharp a contrast. —
他们自己的黯淡衣着与此形成鲜明对比。 —

They were unable to send out an answer.
他们无法回信。

“Do they have to go on treating me like a stranger? —
“他们是否必须一直将我当成陌生人？ —

Have they completely forgotten their father’s last wishes? —
他们是否完全忘记了父亲的遗愿？ —

The most ordinary sort of conversation, now and then, would be such a pleasure. —
这种最普通的对话偶尔发生一下，会是多么愉快。 —

I have not mastered the methods of suitors and it does not seem at all natural to have to use a messenger.”
我并未掌握追求者的方法，对于必须通过信使来沟通这种事情，我觉得一点也不自然。”

“We have lived on, as you see,” Oigimi finally managed to send back, “although I do not remember that anyone asked our wishes. —
“你看，我们已经继续生活了起来”，终于三君回信说，“尽管我不记得有人寻问过我们的意愿。 —

It has been one long nightmare. I doubt if our wishes matter much more even now. —
这一切就像一场漫长的噩梦。我怀疑我们的意愿现在更不会受到多少重视。 —

Everything tells us to stay out of the light, and I must ask you not to ask the impossible.”
一切都在告诉我们要避光，我要求你不要提出不可能的要求。”

“You are being much too conservative. If you were to come marching gaily out into the sunlight or the moonlight of your own free will, now — but you are only creating difficulties. —
“你太保守了。如果你现在能够欢快地走出来迎接阳光或月光，但你只是在制造困难。 —

Acquaint me with the smallest particle of what you are thinking and, who knows, I might have a small bit of comfort to offer.”
让我熟悉一下你所思考的最微小的部分，谁知道，我可能会有一点安慰可提供。

“How nice,” said the women of the house. —
“太好了，”房子里的女人说。 —

“Here you are floundering and helpless, and here he is trying to help you.”
“你在挣扎无助，他在尽力帮助你。”

Oigimi, despite her protestations, was recovering from her grief. —
奥伊吉米，尽管她不停地抗议，但正在从她的悲伤中康复。 —

She remembered his repeated kindnesses (though one might have said that any good friend would have done as much), and she remembered how, over the years, he had made his way through the high grasses to this distant moor. —
她记得他一再的善意（虽然有人可能会说任何一个好朋友都会做得一样），她记得多年来，他是如何穿过高高的草地来到这个遥远的沼泽地。 —

She moved a little nearer. In the gentlest and friendliest way possible, he told how he had felt for them in their grief, and how he had made certain promises to their father. —
她靠近了一点。他以最温和友好的方式告诉她他在他们的悲伤中是如何感到的，以及他对她们的父亲做出了一些承诺。 —

There was nothing insistent in his manner, and she felt neither constraint nor apprehension. —
在他的举止中没有任何压迫性，她既没有感到约束也没有恐惧。 —

Yet he was not, after all, a real intimate; —
然而，毕竟他并不是一个真正的亲密朋友； —

and now, to have him hear her voice — and her thoughts were further confused by the memory of how, over the weeks, she had come to look to him vaguely for support — no, it was still too painful. —
现在，让他听到她的声音 — 而且她的思绪更加混乱是回想起在过去的几周里，她模糊地寄希望于他的支持 — 不，这仍然太痛苦了。 —

She was unable to speak. From what little he had heard he knew that she had scarcely begun to pull herself from her grief, and pity welled up afresh. —
她无法言语。从他所听到的那一点，他知道她几乎还没有开始从她的悲伤中走出来，怜悯再次涌现。 —

It was a sad figure that he now caught a glimpse of through a gap in the curtains. —
他现在透过窗帘的一个缝隙看到了一个悲伤的身影。 —

It suggested all too poignantly the unrelieved gloom of her days; —
它让人太过刻骨铭心地想到她带有无尽愁苦的日子； —

and he thought of the figure he had seen faintly in the autumn dawn.
他想到了他在秋天黎明时分隐约看到的那个身影。

As if to himself, he recited a verse:
仿佛对自己说，他 recited 了一首诗：

“The reeds, so sparse and fragile, have changed their color,
“芦苇，如此稀疏脆弱，已经改变了它们的颜色，

To make me think of sleeves that now are black.”
让我想起了现在变成黑色的袖子。

And she replied:
她回答道:

“Upon this sleeve, changed though its color be,
“尽管这袖子的颜色变了,露珠还是能找到庇护;而我无处可避。”

The dew finds refuge; there is no refuge for me.
“这些黑色丧服的线缝”。但她没法继续说下去。

‘The thread from these dark robes of mourning’—” But she could not go on. —
她声音颤抖，话到一半就断了，然后退回了房间更深处。 —

Her voice wavered and broke in midsentence, and she withdrew deeper into the room.
他觉得不恰当叫她回来。于是他发现自己和那位老妇人说起话来。

He did not think it proper to call her back. Instead he found himself talking to the old woman. —
尽管是一个难以置信的替代者，但她仍然有许多令人伤心感伤的故事，讲述着过去和昨天。 —

An improbable substitute, she still had many sad and affecting things to say about long ago and yesterday. —
她经历了这一切，他不能把她当作一个烦人的老婆婆而置之不理。 —

She had been witness to it all, and he could not dismiss her as just another tiresome old crone.
“当源氏公爵去世时，我只是个少年,”他说，“那是我第一次真正认识到世界的悲伤。

“I was a mere boy when Lord Genji died,” he said, “and that was my first real introduction to the sorrows of the world. —
随着我长大，官衔和荣耀对我来说似乎不值一提。 —

And then as I grew up it seemed to me that rank and office and glory meant less than nothing. —
而那位王子，在宇治找到宁静之所——当他突然离开时，我觉得我已经明白了事物的虚无。 —

And the prince, who had found repose here at Uji — when he was taken away so suddenly, I thought I had the last word about the futility of things. —
我想远离这个世界，彻底抛在身后。 —

I wanted to get away from the world, leave it completely behind. —
也许你会认为，当我说你的女眷再次拉拢我时，我找到了一个很好的借口。 —

You will think, perhaps, that I have found a good excuse when I say that your ladies are pulling me back again. —
但我不想收回我对他最后一次诺言中的任何一句话。 —

But I do not want to recant a word of that last promise I made to him. —
你会认为, 可能, 我找了一个好借口, 我说过你的女眷再次拉扯着我。 —

Now there is your story from all those years ago, pulling in the other direction.”
现在有了你之前的故事，朝着另一个方向拉扯着。

He was in tears, and the old woman was so shaken with sobs that she could not answer. —
他哭了起来，而那位老妇人被抽泣所震动，无法回答。 —

He was so like his father! Memories of things long forgotten came back to her, flooding over more recent sorrows; —
他如此像他的父亲！许多年前已经被遗忘的记忆涌上心头，淹没了更近的悲伤； —

but she was not up to telling of them.
但她无法讲述这些。

She was the daughter of Kashiwagi’s nurse, and her father, a moderator of the middle rank at his death, was an uncle of the princesses’ mother. —
她是柏木的护士的女儿，她的父亲在死后被任命为中级官员，是公主母亲的舅舅。 —

Back in the capital after her father’s death and some years in the far provinces, she found that she had grown away from the family of her old master; —
在父亲去世后回到京城，并在远方省份度过了几年后，她发现自己与老主人的家族疏远了； —

and so, answering an inquiry from the Eighth Prince, she had taken service here. —
因此，回答了第八王子的询问后，她就在这里任职。 —

It could not have been said that she was a woman of unusual accomplishments, and she showed the effects of having been too much in the service of others; —
不能说她是一个极具才华的女人，她表现出太多为他人服务的影响； —

but the prince saw that she was not devoid of taste and made her a sort of governess to his daughters. —
但王子看出她并不缺乏品味，并让她成为他女儿们的一种家庭教师。 —

Although she had been with them night and day over the years and had become their closest friend, this one ancient secret she had kept locked within herself. —
尽管她多年来日夜与他们在一起，成为他们最亲密的朋友，但这个古老的秘密她一直深藏在心中。 —

Kaoru found cause for doubt and shame even so: —
薰仍有疑虑和羞耻： —

she might not have scattered the news lightheartedly to all comers, but unsolicited stories from old women were standard the world over; —
她或许没有轻率地向所有人散播这个消息，但老人们的未经请求的故事在世界各地都是司空见惯的； —

and, since his presence had the apparent effect of sending the princesses deep into their shells, he feared that she might have passed it on at least to them. —
而且，由于他的存在显然让公主们深深地躲进了壳里，他担心她至少会把这些传给她们。 —

He seemed to find here another reason for not letting them go.
他不再想留宿过夜。当他准备离开时，他想起王子曾经把他们最后一次见面说得好像确实会是最后一次，以及他是如何充满信心地期待继续享受王子的陪伴，并对可能出现的情况不屑一顾。

He no longer wanted to spend the night. He thought, as he got ready to leave, how the prince had spoken of their last meeting as if it might indeed be their last, and how, confidently looking forward to the continued pleasure of the prince’s company, he had dismissed the possibility. —
他想，他不再希望过夜。他想，他想起王子曾经把他们最后一次见面说得好像确实会是最后一次，以及他是如何充满信心地期待继续享受王子的陪伴，并对可能出现的情况不屑一顾。 —

Was it not still the same autumn? Not so many days had passed, and the prince had vanished, no one could say where. —
难道不还是同一个秋天吗？还没过多少天，那位王子就消失了，没人知道他去了哪里。 —

Though his had always been the most austere of houses, quite without the usual conveniences, it had been clean and appointed in simple but good taste. —
尽管他的房子一直是最严肃的，完全没有通常的便利设施，但它一直干净整洁，简单而优雅地布置着。 —

The ritual utensils were as they had always been, but now the priests, bustling in and out of the house and busily screening themselves from one another, announced that the sacred images would be taken off to the monastery. —
圣器如往常一样摆放着，但现在神职人员不停地进进出出，忙碌地躲开彼此，宣布圣像将被送往寺庙。 —

Kaoru tried to imagine how it would now be for the princesses, left behind after even such excitement as the priests had offered was gone.
薰尝试想象现在公主们的生活会是什么样子，在神职人员所提供的甚至是如此令人兴奋的节目之后留下。

He interrupted these sad thoughts, on the urgings of an attendant who pointed out that it was very late, and got up to leave; —
一个仆人指着很晚了，薰中断了这些悲伤的思绪，起身离开； —

and a flock of wild geese flew overhead.
一群野鹅飞过头顶。

“As I gaze at an autumn sky closed off by mists,
“当我凝望着被雾气遮蔽的秋天的天空，

Why must these birds proclaim that the world is fleeting?”
为什么这些鸟儿要宣告世界是如此短暂呢？”

Back in the city, he called on Niou. The conversation moved immediately to the Uji princesses. —
回到城市，他去拜见了仗，谈话立即转到了宇治公主们身上。 —

The time had come, thought Niou, sending off a warm to impossible. —
时间已经到了，宇治想到，发出一个温暖而不可能的问候。 —

He was one of the better-known young gallants, and his intentions were clearly romantic. —
他是较为知名的年轻风流倜傥之一，他的意图显然是浪漫的。 —

Could a note thrust from the underbrush in which they themselves lurked strike him as other than clumsy and comically out of date?
从灌木丛中发出的一张便条，如果他认为自己隐藏其中的行动会被当作拙劣且滑稽的过时吗？

They worried and fretted, and their tears had no time to dry. —
他们担心焦虑，眼泪来不及干涸。 —

And with what cruel speed the days went by! —
日子过得多么残忍而迅速！ —

They had not thought that their father’s life, fleeting though it must be, was a matter of “yesterday, today. —
他们从未想过他们父亲的生命，尽管是短暂的，也成了“昨日，今日”的事情。 —

” He had taught them an awareness of evanescence, but it had been as if he were speaking of a general principle. —
他曾教导过他们一种短暂的意识，但似乎就像在谈论一个普遍原则。 —

They had not considered the possibility of outliving him by even hours or minutes. —
他们从未考虑过甚至在几个小时或几分钟内活过他。 —

They looked back over the way they had come. —
他们回望着他们走过的路。 —

It had, to be sure, had its uncertainties, but they had traveled it with serenity and without fear or shame or any thought that such a disaster might one day come. —
虽然曾经有过不确定性，但他们以平静的心情走过，没有恐惧、羞愧或者认为这样的灾难会降临。 —

And now the wind was roaring, strangers were pounding to be admitted. —
现在风声呼啸，陌生人敲门要求进入。 —

The panic, the terror, the loneliness, worse each day, were almost beyond endurance.
恐慌，恐怖，孤独，每天都在加剧，几乎到了难以承受的地步。

In this season of snow and hail, the roar of the wind was as always and everywhere, and yet they felt for the first time that they knew the sadness of these mountains. —
在这个雪雹之季，风声依旧如此殷切，但他们第一次感受到了这些山的悲哀。 —

Well, the saddest year was over, said some of their women, refusing to give up hope. —
“最悲伤的一年结束了”，他们的一些女性说，拒绝放弃希望。 —

Let the New Year bring an end to it all. —
让新年结束这一切吧。 —

The chances were not good, thought the princesses.
公主们认为机会不大。

Because the prince had gone there for his retreats, an occasional messenger came down from the monastery and, rarely, there was a note from the abbot himself, making general inquiries about their health. —
因为王子去了那里修炼，偶尔有使者从寺院下来，很少有寺院的首座亲自来信，一般都是询问他们的健康状况。 —

He no longer had reason to call in person. Day by day the Uji villa was lonelier. —
他不再需要亲自前来了。宇治别墅一天天变得更孤单。 —

It was the way of the world, but they were sad all the same. —
这是世间的规律，但他们依然感到悲伤。 —

Occasionally one or two of the village rustics would look in on them. —
偶尔一两个乡下人会来看望他们。 —

Such visits, beneath their notice while their father was alive, became breaks in the monotony. —
在父亲还在世时微不足道，如今成了打破单调的时刻。 —

Mountain people would bring in firewood and nuts, and the abbot sent charcoal and other provisions.
山上的人们会搬来柴火和坚果，方丈会送炭和其他生活用品。

“One is saddened to think that the generous flow of gifts may have ceased forever,” said the note that came with them.
“想到慷慨的礼物可能永远停止了，令人伤感，”附在礼物上的纸条上写道。

It was a timely reminder: their father had made it a practice to send the abbot cottons and silks against the winter cold. —
这是一个及时的提醒：他们的父亲过去常常送棉被和丝绸给方丈度过严寒的冬季。 —

The princesses made haste to do as well.
公主们赶紧效仿。

Sometimes they would go to the veranda and watch in tears as priests and acolytes, now appearing among the drifts and now disappearing again, made their way up towards the monastery. —
有时她们会走到阳台上，含泪观看着僧侣和小僧们在积雪中穿行，忽隐忽现地，向寺庙的方向前进。 —

Even though their father had quite renounced the world, callers would be more numerous if he were still with them. —
虽然他们的父亲已经告别尘世，但如果他依旧与他们同在，来访的客人会更多。 —

They might be lonely, but it would not be the final loneliness of knowing they would not see him again.
她们或许会感到孤独，但这并不是那种最终意味着永不再见的孤独。

“For him, the mountain path has now been cut.
“对他来说，山路现在已经被隔断。

How can we look on the pine we watched as we waited?”
我们怎么看待我们等他时所注视的松树呢？”

And Nakanokimi replied:
Nakanokimi 回答说：

“Away in the hills, the snow departs from the pines
“山中，松树上的雪会离开

But comes again. Ah, would it were so with him!”
但又会再次降临。啊，但愿他也能如此！”

As if to mock her, the snow came again and again.
仿佛在嘲笑她，雪一次又一次地降临。

Kaoru paid his visit late in the year. The New Year would be too busy to allow the briefest of visits. —
Kaoru 在年末来访。新年太忙碌，无法容忍最短暂的拜访。 —

With the snow so deep, it was unusual for the ladies to receive even an ordinary caller. —
雪那么深，这些贵妇人们甚至不会迎接普通的来访者。 —

That he, a ranking courtier, should have set out on such a journey as if he made one every day was the measure of his kindness. —
他作为一位地位较高的宫廷大臣，竟然像是每天都会出门旅行一样，这正是他的善意所在。 —

They were at greater pains than usual to receive him. —
他们比往常更加费心地接待他。 —

They had taken out and dusted a brazier of a color gayer than this house of mourning had been used to. —
他们拿出了一个颜色比悲伤之屋更加艳丽的火盆，还给它擦拭干净了。 —

Their women chattered about how happy his visits had made the prince. —
他们的女人们议论着他的到访给王子带来了多少快乐。 —

Though shy, the princesses did not want to seem rude or unkind. —
虽然害羞，公主们也不想显得粗鲁或不友好。 —

They did at length essay to address him from behind screens. —
他们终于尝试从屏风后面和他对话。 —

The conversation could hardly have been called lively or intimate, but Oigimi managed to put together, for her, an uncommon number of words. —
这次的谈话可以说既不活泼也不亲密，但才菊却为她而言拼凑出了一连串不同寻常的词语。 —

Kaoru was pleased and surprised. Perhaps the time had come, he thought, for a sally. —
薰感到高兴又惊讶。他想，也许是时候出击了。 —

(It would seem that the best of men are sometimes untrue to their resolves.)
(似乎最好的人有时也难免违背他们的决心。)

“My friend Niou is irritated with me, and I have trouble understanding why. —
“我朋友仁王对我很不满，我也难以理解为什么。 —

It is just possible that I let something slip, or it may be that he guessed it all — he does not miss very much. —
可能是我说漏了什么，也可能是他猜到了一切 — 他的洞察力无比敏锐。 —

In any event, he knows about your father’s last request, and I have orders to tell you about him. —
无论如何，他知道了你父亲的最后请求，我有命令告诉你。 —

Indeed, I have already told you, and you have not been very cooperative. —
实际上，我已经告诉过你了，但你并不怎么配合。 —

And so he keeps complaining about what an incompetent messenger I am. —
所以他不停地抱怨我是多么无能的信使。 —

The charge comes as something of a surprise, considering all I have done, and at the same time I have to admit that I have made myself his ‘guide to your seashore. —
这项指控让我有些吃惊，考虑到我所做的一切，同时我不得不承认，我已经把自己变成了他“通往你海滨的向导”。 —

’ Must you be so remote and haughty?
你为什么要如此冷漠和傲慢？

“It is true, I know, that the gossips have given him a certain name, but beneath the rakish exterior are depths that would surprise you. —
“我知道，流言蜚语给他贴上了某种标签，但在那放荡的外表下隐藏着让你惊讶的深度。 —

It is said that he prefers not to spend his time with women who come at his beck and call. —
据说他不喜欢与那些对他求之不得的女人消磨时间。 —

Then there are women who take things as they are. —
还有些女人对事情持随遇而安的态度。 —

What the world does is what the world does, they say, and they do not care a great deal whether they find husbands or not. —
世事随缘，她们说，她们并不太在意是否找到丈夫。 —

If someone comes along who is neither entirely pleasing nor entirely repulsive, well, such is life. —
如果有人出现，既不是完全惹人喜爱又不是完全令人反感，那么，这就是生活。 —

They make good wives, rather better than you might think. —
她们是好妻子，比你想象的要好。 —

And then, as the poet said, the bank begins to give way, and what is left is a muddy Tatsuta. —
正如诗人所说，堤岸开始崩溃，剩下的只有一条混浊的龙潭。 —

You must have heard of such cases — the last of the old love gone down the stream.
你一定听说过这种情况 —— 最后的旧爱随风而逝。

“But there is another possibility. Supposing he finds someone who follows him because she agrees with him, because she cannot find it in her heart to do otherwise. —
“但也有另一种可能性。假设他找到了一个因为赞同他而跟随他的人，因为她在心里无法做出其他选择。 —

I do not think that he would deal lightly with such a one. —
我不认为他会对这样的人掉以轻心。 —

He would make his commitments and stand by them. —
他会守承诺，坚定站在对方身旁。 —

I know, because I am in a position to tell you of things he has not let other people see. —
我知道，因为我有资格告诉你他没有让其他人看到的东西。 —

Give me the signal, and I will do everything I can to help you. —
给我信号，我会尽我所能帮助你。 —

I will dash back and forth between Uji and the city until my feet are stumps.”
我会在宇治和城市之间来回奔波，直到我的脚都磨破。”

It had been an earnest discourse. Unable to think that it had reference to herself, Oigimi wondered whether it might now be her duty to take the place of her father. —
这是一场认真的谈话。琦君毫不觉得其中有关她自己，她在想也许现在是她的责任来代替父亲。 —

But she did not know what to say.
但她不知道该说什么。

“Words fail me.” Her reply to the discourse was a quiet laugh, which was not at all unpleasant. —
“我无话可说。” 她对这番话的回答是静静的笑声，不算不悦。 —

“This sort of thing is, well, rather suggestive, I’m sure you will admit, and does not simplify the hunt for an answer.”
“这种事情，嗯，相当富有暗示性，我相信你会承认的，并不会简化寻找答案的过程。”

“Your own situation has nothing to do with the matter. —
“你自己的处境和事情无关。 —

Just take these tidings I bring through the snowdrifts as an older sister might be expected to. —
只把我经由雪堆中带来的消息当作姐姐传达给你。 —

He is thinking not of you but of — someone else. —
他的心里想的不是你，而是——别人。 —

I have had vague reports that there have been letters, but there again it is hard to know the truth. —
我听到了模糊的传闻说有人来信，但那里也很难知道真相。 —

Which of you was it that answered?”
你们两人中是谁答复了？”

Oigimi fell silent. This last question was more embarrassing than he could have intended it to be. —
琦君沉默了。他最后的问题比他想象的更令人尴尬。 —

It would have been nothing to answer Niou’s letters, but she had not been up to the task, even in jest; —
回答仁王的信件对她来说毫不费事，但她实在难以胜任，即使是开王的问题； —

and an answer to Kaoru’s question was quite beyond her.
对开王的问题回答对她来说完全是不可能的。

Presently she pushed a verse from under her curtains:
她随后从帷幕下推了出一首歌谣：

“Along the cliffs of these mountains, locked in snow,
“沿着这些被雪封锁的山崖，

Are the tracks of only one. That one is you.”
只有一个人的足迹。那个人就是你。”

“A sort of sophistry that does not greatly improve things.
“某种并没有很大改善事物的诡辩。

“My pony breaks the ice of the mountain river
“我的小马打破了山间河流的冰层

As I lead the way with tidings from him who follows.
顺着带有他后继者的消息领路。

‘No such shallowness,’ is it not apparent?”
‘并非如此肤浅’，难道不明显吗？”

More and more uncomfortable, she did not answer.
她感到越来越不舒服，没有回答。

She was not remote to excess, he would have said, and on the other hand she had none of the coyness one was accustomed to in young women. —
他会说她并不是过于疏远的，另一方面她也没有年轻女子通常有的羞怯。 —

A quiet, elegant lady, in sum — as near his ideal as any lady he could remember having met. —
总的来说，一个文雅而安静的女士—和他所见过的任何女士中最接近他理想的。 —

But whenever he became forward, however slightly, she feigned deafness. —
但只要他稍微主动一点，她总是装聋作哑。 —

He turned to inconsequential talk of things long past.
他转向了无关紧要的以前事情的谈话。

His men were coughing nervously. It was late, the snow was deep, and the sky seemed to be clouding over again.
他的手下们开始紧张地咳嗽。 天色已晚，积雪很深，天空似乎再次阴沉下来。

“I can see that you have not had an easy time of it,” he said as he got up to leave. —
“我看得出你并没有过得很容易，”他说着站起来准备离开。 —

“It would please me enormously if I could prevail on you to leave Uji behind you. —
“如果你愿意留下宇治，那将让我极为高兴。 —

I can think of places that are far more convenient and just as quiet.”
我可以想到更为方便且同样宁静的地方。”

Some of the women overheard, and were delighted. How very pleasant if they could move to the city!
一些女性听见了，感到高兴。如果可以搬到城市多么愉快啊！

But Nakanokimi thought otherwise. It was not to be, she said.
但中边君想法不同。她说，那是不可能的。

Fruit and sweets, most tastefully arranged, were brought out for Kaoru, and, in equally good taste, there were wine and side dishes for his men. —
水果和甜点被精美地摆放出来供Kaoru享用，他的手下们同样品尝到了美味，还有美酒和副菜。 —

Kaoru thought of the watchman, the man he had made such a celebrity of with that perfume. —
Kaoru想起了门卫，他曾因为香水而成为名人。 —

Of unlovely mien, he was known as Wig-beard. —
长相丑陋的他被称为假发胡子。 —

To Kaoru he seemed an uncertain support for sorely tried ladies.
对于遭遇困境的女性来说，他似乎是一个不可靠的支持。

“I imagine that things have been lonely since His Highness died.”
“我想自从殿下去世后，这里一定很寂寞。”

A scowl spread over the man’s face, and soon he was weeping. —
一阵忧愁掠过他的脸庞，很快他就哭了起来。 —

“I had the honor of his protection for more than thirty years and now I have nowhere to go. —
“我曾经得到他三十多年的庇护，现在我无处可去。 —

I could wander off into the mountains, I suppose, but’the tree denies the fugitive its shelter. —
我可能可以漫步到山间，但‘树拒绝逃亡者的庇护。 —

’” Tears did not improve the rough face.
‘”眼泪并没有让那张粗犷的脸更加美好。

Kaoru asked Wigbeard to open the prince’s chapel. —
Kaoru要求假发胡子打开王子的教堂。 —

The dust lay thick, but the images, decorated as proudly as ever, gave evidence that the princesses had not been remiss with their devotions. —
灰尘厚厚地铺满，但装饰华丽的雕像证明公主们没有忽视他们的虔诚。 —

The prayer dais had been taken away and the floor carefully dusted, cleaned of the marks it had left. —
祈祷台被挪走，地板被仔细擦拭，清除了它留下的痕迹。 —

Long ago, the prince had promised that they would be companions in prayer if Kaoru were to renounce the world.
很久以前，王子曾承诺，如果Kaoru放弃世俗，他们将成为一起祈祷的伙伴。

“Beneath the oak I meant to search for shade.
“我曾想在橡树下寻找栖身之处。

Now it has gone, and all is vanity.”
现在它已经倒下，一切都是虚空。”

Numerous eyes were upon him as he stood leaning meditatively against a pillar. —
许多眼睛注视着他，当他倚在柱子上默念。 —

The young maidservants thought they had never seen anyone so handsome.
年轻的女仆们觉得他从未见过如此英俊的人。

As it grew dark, his men sent to certain of his manors for fodder. —
天黑下来时，他的手下派人去他的庄园取草料。 —

Not having been warned, he was much discommoded by the noisy droves of country people the summonses brought, and tried to make it seem that he had come to see the old woman. —
没有事先通知，他被那些喧哗的乡下人群所困扰，那些召集令带来了不便，他试图让情况看起来像是他来看望那位老妇人。 —

They must be of similar service to the princesses in the future, he said as he left.
未来她们必须向公主们效劳，他离开时说道。

The New Year came, the skies were soft and bright, the ice melted along the banks of the pond. —
新年到了，天空湛蓝明亮，池塘岸边的冰雪融化了。 —

The princesses thought how strange it was that they should so long have survived their father. —
公主们想到他们竟然比他们的父亲活得久。 —

With a note saying that he had had them gathered in the melting snow, the abbot sent cress from the marshes and fern shoots from the mountain slopes. —
寺院长派人拿来了从沼泽采摘的水芹和从山坡采摘的蕨类，并附上一张纸条说是在融化的雪中搜集的。 —

Country life did have its points, said the women as they cooked the greens and arranged them on pilgrims’ trays. —
妇女们说乡村生活也有它的乐趣，她们烹饪着野菜并把它们摆在朝圣者的盘子上。 —

What fun it was, really, to watch the days and months go by with their changing grasses and trees.
看着一天天和一个月一个月过去，草木的变化，真是多么有趣。

They were easily amused, thought the princesses.
公主们觉得她们很容易被逗乐。

“If he were here to pluck these mountain ferns,
“如果他在这里采摘这些山上的蕨类，

Then might we find in them a sign of spring.”
那么我们也许能在其中找到春天的迹象。”

And Nakanokimi:
以及 Nakanokimi：

“Without our father, how are we to praise
“没有我们的父亲，我们又该如何赞美

The cress that sends its shoots through banks of snow?”
穿越积雪的小油菜？

Such were the trifles with which they passed their days. —
这就是他们度过每一天的琐事。 —

Neither Niou nor Kaoru missed an occasion for greetings. —
牛阴和薰，对问候毫不遗漏。 —

They came in such numbers, indeed, as to be something of a nuisance, and with my usual carelessness I failed to make note of them.
事实上，他们来得太多，以至有些烦人，我心不在焉地没有记下它们。

The cherry blossoms were now at their best. “Sprays of blossom for my cap”: —
樱花现在正盛开。“给我的帽子摘几枝花：” —

Niou thought of Uji. As if to stir his appetites, the men who had been with him remarked upon the pity of it all, that such a pleasant house should have awaited them in vain.
牛阴想起宇治。随着跟随他的人们评论说，这一切真是可惜，一个如此愉快的房子竟然白白等待他们。

He sent off a poem to the princesses:
他给公主们寄去了一首诗：

“Last year along the way I saw those blossoms.
“去年沿途我见到那些花。

This year, no mist between, I mean to have them.”
今年，不再有迷雾，我打算把它们摘下。”

They thought it rather too broadly suggestive. —
他们觉得这有点过于明显了。 —

Still, there was little excitement in their lives, and it would be a mistake not to give some slight notice to a poem that had its merits.
然而，他们的生活中很少有激动人心的事情，不注意一首有其优点的诗就是个错误。

“Our house is robed in densest mists of black.
“我们的房子被黑色的浓雾围绕。

Who undertakes to guide you to its blossoms?”
谁要去引导你们找到它的花朵？”

It did little to assuage his discontent. Sometimes, when it was too much for him, he would descend upon Kaoru. Kaoru had bungled this, made a botch of that. —
这并没有减轻他的不满。有时候，当事情太多让他难以忍受时，他就会找准薰出气。薰总是这里搞砸，那里搞砸。 —

Amused, Kaoru would answer quite as if he had been appointed the princesses’ guardian. —
薰会乐呵呵地回答，仿佛自己被任命为公主们的守护人。 —

Occasionally he would take it upon himself to chide his friend for a certain want of steadfastness.
有时他会责备他的朋友缺乏坚定性。

“But it won’t go on forever. It’s just that I haven’t found anyone I really like.”
“但这不会持续太久。只是我还没找到真正喜欢的人。”

Yūgiri had for some time wanted to arrange a match between Niou and his daughter Rokunokimi. —
柚桐已经有一段时间想安排牡丹先生和他女儿禄女君的婚事。 —

Niou did not seem interested. There was no mystery, no excitement in the proposal, and besides, Yūgiri was so stiff and proper and unbending, so quick to raise a stir over each of Niou’s venialities.
牡丹似乎不感兴趣。这个提议里没有神秘感，没有激情，而柚桐又那么死板正经，强硬不弯曲，总是为牡丹的小错误大惊小怪。

That year the Sanjō mansion of Kaoru’s mother burned to the ground. —
那年，薰的母亲三条院的宅邸被烧毁了。 —

She moved into Genji’s Rokujō mansion. —
她搬进了源氏的六条院。 —

Kaoru was too busy for a visit to Uji. The solemn nature that set him apart from other youths urged that he wait until Oigimi was ready for him, despite the fact that he already thought her his own; —
薰太忙了，没有时间去宇治。那种使他与其他年轻人不同的庄重性格促使他等待，直到凰君准备好接受他，尽管他已经认为她是自己的人。 —

and he would be satisfied if she took note of his fidelity to the promise he had made to her father. —
如果她注意到他对她父亲所许下的承诺的忠诚，他就会满足。 —

He would do nothing reckless, nothing likely to offend her.
他不会做任何鲁莽的事情，不会冒犯她。

It was a very hot summer. Suddenly one day the thought came to him that it would be pleasant there by the river. —
那年夏天很炎热。有一天，他突然想到河边会很惬意。 —

He left the city in the cool of morning, but by the time he reached the Uji villa the sun was blinding. —
他在清晨凉爽的时候离开城市，但当他到达宇治别墅时，太阳刺眼。 —

He called Wigbeard to the west room that had been the prince’s. —
他叫比其为西房——那间曾经属于王子的房间。 —

The ladies seemed to be withdrawing to their own rooms from the room immediately to the east of the prince’s that had been his chapel. —
女士们似乎从王子庙的东边紧邻着的房间里撤退到自己的房间。 —

Despite their precautions, for but a single thin partition separated the two rooms, he could hear, or rather sense, the withdrawal. —
尽管他们采取了预防措施，因为只有一道薄薄的屏风隔着两个房间，他还是能听到，或者说，感觉到了她们的撤退。 —

In great excitement, he pulled aside the screen before the partition. —
他激动地拉开了隔断前的屏风。 —

He had earlier noticed a small hole beside the latch. Alas, there was a curtain beyond. —
他早些时候注意到了门闩旁边的一个小洞。哎呀，门后挂着一排帘子。 —

But as he drew back the wind caught the blind at the front veranda.
但当他拉开之后，风吹动了前廊的百叶窗。

“Pull them over, hold it down,” said someone. “The whole world can see us.”
“把它们拉过来，按住它”，有人说。“全世界都能看到我们。”

It was a foolish suggestion, and Kaoru was delighted. The view was now clear. —
这是个愚蠢的建议，而薰却乐不可支。视野现在清晰了。 —

Several curtain frames, high and low, had been moved to the veranda. —
几个帘子框架，高低不一，都移到了前廊。 —

The princesses were leaving through open doors at the far side of the chapel. —
公主们正离开教堂远处的开着的门通过。 —

The first to enter his range of vision went to the veranda and looked out at his men, who were walking up and down in front of the house, taking the cool of the river breezes. —
第一个进入他视线范围的走向前廊，看着他的士兵，他们正在房子前来回走动，享受河风带来的凉爽。 —

She was wearing a dark-gray singlet and orange trousers. —
她穿着一件深灰色背心和橘色的裤子。 —

Unusual and surprisingly gay, the combination suggested subtle, careful taste. —
不寻常而惊人的搭配，暗示着微妙、慎重的品味。 —

A scarf was flung loosely over her shoulders and the ends of a rosary hung from a sleeve. —
一条围巾随意地挂在她肩上，一串念珠的末端垂在袖子上。 —

She was slender and graceful, and her hair, which would perhaps have fallen just short of the hem of a formal robe, was thick and lustrous, with no trace of disorder the whole of its length. —
她苗条而优雅，她的头发，也许刚好及不到礼服的裙摆边缘，又浓又光泽，整个长度没有一丝蓬乱。 —

Her profile was flawless, her skin fresh and unblemished, and there was pride and at the same time serenity in her manner. —
她的侧面无可挑剔，皮肤鲜嫩无瑕，她的举止中既有自豪又有平静。 —

He thought of Niou’s oldest sister. He had once had a glimpse of her, and the longing it had inspired came back afresh.
他想起乳侯的大姐。他曾经瞥见过她，那引发的渴望又涌上心头。

The other princess moved cautiously into view.
另一位公主谨慎地走到视野中。

“That door is absolutely naked.” She looked towards him, everything about her suggesting wariness and reserve. —
“那扇门一丁点遮掩也没有。”她朝他看过来，她的一切都透露出警惕和保留。 —

Something in the flow of her hair gave her even more dignity than he had seen in the other lady.
她头发的流动给她增添了更多的尊严，比他在另一位女士身上看到的还要多。

“There’s a screen behind it,” said a young serving woman unconcernedly. —
“后面有一个屏幕，”一个年轻的侍女漠不关心地说道。 —

“And we won’t give him time for a peek.”
“我们不会给他看的机会。”

“But how awful if he should see us.” She looked guardedly back as she made her way to the far door, carrying herself with a pensive grace that few could have imitated. —
“但如果他看到了，那太可怕了。”她小心翼翼地回头看着身后，迈着一种思慕的优雅，是很少有人能模仿的。 —

She wore a singlet and a lined robe of the same dark stuff as her sister’s, set off in the same combination. —
她穿着一件背心和一件与她姐姐相同的深色衬衣，同样的配搭。 —

Hers was a sadder, quieter beauty which he found even more compelling. —
她的美更为忧伤、安静，他觉得更加吸引人。 —

Her hair was less luxuriant, perhaps from grief and neglect, and the ends were somewhat uneven. —
她的头发可能因为悲伤和忽视而显得不那么丰盛，结尾有些凌乱。 —

Yet it was very lovely, like a cluster of silken threads, and it had the iridescence of “rainbow tresses,” or the wing of a halcyon. —
但它非常美丽，像一簇丝绸般的线，闪着“彩虹般的发丝”或者一片翠鸟的翅膀。 —

The hand in which she held a purple scroll was smaller and more delicate than her sister’s. —
她手里拿着的紫色卷轴比她姐姐的更小更精致。 —

The younger princess knelt at the far door and looked back smiling. —
年轻公主跪在远门前，回头微笑着。 —

He thought her completely charming.
他觉得她完全迷人。