Though the years might forget “the evening face” that had been with him such a short time and vanished like the dew, Genji could not. —
虽然岁月可能会忘记与他在一起的时间短暂而像露水般消失的“夜晚之颜”，但光源氏却无法忘记。 —

His other ladies were proud and aloof, and her pretty charms were unlike any others he had known. —
他其他的女性都很骄傲和冷漠，而她的魅力与他以往所知的任何人都不同。 —

Forgetting that the affair had ended in disaster, he would ask himself if he might not find another girl, pretty and of not too high a place in the world, with whom he might be as happy. —
忘记这段恋情以灾难告终，他会自问是否能找到另一个漂亮而不太高贵的女子，与她在一起时也能如此幸福。 —

He missed no rumor, however obscure, of a well-favored lady, and (for he had not changed) he felt confident in each instance that a brief note from him would not be ignored. —
他对每一个流言都不放过，无论多么微不足道，他都有信心认为他的简短便条不会被忽视。 —

The cold and unrelenting ones seemed to have too grand a notion of their place in the world, and when their proud ambition began to fail it failed completely and in the end they made very undistinguished marriages for themselves. —
那些冷漠又坚决的女性似乎对自己在世界上的地位过于崇高，当她们的傲慢野心开始失败时，最终完全失败，最后她们自己的婚姻也显得很不起眼。 —

His inquiries usually ended after a note or two.
他的探问通常在一两封便条之后就结束了。

He continued to have bitter thoughts about the governor’s wife, the lady of “the locust shell. —
他对总督夫人，“槐壳之女”有着苦涩的回忆。 —

” As for her stepdaughter, he favored her with notes, it would seem, when suitable occasions arose. He would have liked to see her again as he had seen her then, in dishabille by lamplight. —
至于她的继女，在适当的时机，他会给她写便条。他想再次见到她，就像当初在灯光下看到她那样。 —

He was a man whose nature made it impossible for him to forget a woman.
他是一个无法忘记女人的男人。

One of his old nurses, of whom he was only less fond than of Koremitsu’s mother, had a daughter named Tayū, a very susceptible young lady who was in court service and from time to time did favors for Genji. Her father belonged to a cadet branch of the royal family. —
他的一位照看过他的老护士，比起来他只对是兼光之母更加亲密，有一个名叫太夫的女儿，是个非常多愁善感的年轻女子，她在宫廷服务，不时为光源氏效劳。她的父亲是皇室的一个侧室分支。 —

Because her mother had gone off to the provinces with her present husband, the governor of Chikuzen, Tayū lived in her father’s house and went each day to court. —
因为她的母亲随她现在的丈夫，筑前总督，到了外省，太夫住在她父亲的家里，每天都去朝廷。 —

She chanced to tell Genji that the late prince Hitachi had fathered a daughter in his old age. —
她碰巧告诉光源氏，已故的常陸亲王在老年生下了一个女儿。 —

The princess had enjoyed every comfort while she had had him to dote upon her, but now she was living a sad, straitened life. —
公主在有他疼爱的时候享受一切舒适，但现在过着悲惨贫困的生活。 —

Genji was much touched by the story and inquired further.
光源氏对这个故事很感动，继续询问。

“I am not well informed, I fear, about her appearance and disposition. —
“我对她的容貌和性情了解不多，恐怕不够详尽。” —

She lives by herself and does not see many people. —
她独自生活，很少见到其他人。 —

On evenings when I think I might not be intruding, I sometimes have a talk with her through curtains and we play duets together. —
在我认为不会打扰她的晚上，有时透过窗帘与她交谈，一起演奏二重奏。 —

We have the koto as a mutual friend, you might say.”
我们以箏为共同朋友，可以这么说。

“That one of the poet’s three friends is permitted to a lady, but not the next. —
诗人的三位朋友中其中一位是可以和贵妇交往的，但下一个则不行。 —

You must let me hear her play sometime. Her father was very good at the koto. —
你一定要让我听她演奏一次。她父亲箏弹得很好。 —

It does not seem likely that she would be less than remarkable herself.”
她自己的表现可能也不会逊色。

“I doubt, sir, that she could please so demanding an ear.”
我怀疑她是否能取悦如此苛刻的耳朵。

“That was arch of you. We will pick a misty moonlit night and go pay a visit. —
你这样说太刻薄了。我们会选一个雾蒙蒙的月光之夜去拜访。 —

You can manage a night off from your duties.”
你可以腾出一个晚上来离开公务。

Though she feared it would not be easy, they made their plans, choosing a quiet spring evening when little was happening at court. —
虽然她担心不会容易，他们还是制定了计划，选择了一个宫廷静谧的春夜。 —

Tayū went on ahead to prince Hitachi’s mansion. —
太夫先行去了日向王府。 —

Her father lived elsewhere and visited from time to time. —
她父亲住在别处，偶尔会过来。 —

Not being on very good terms with her step-mother, she preferred the Hitachi mansion, and she and the princess had become good friends.
和继母关系不太好，所以她更喜欢日向王府，并且她和公主成了好朋友。

Genji arrived as planned. The moon was beautiful, just past full.
源氏如约而至。月色美丽，刚过满。

“It seems a great pity,” said Tayū, “that this should not be the sort of night when a koto sounds best.”
“真可惜呀”，太夫说，“今晚却不是箏音最好听的夜晚。”

“Do go over and urge her to play something, anything. Otherwise I will have come in vain.”
“一定过去，催促她演奏点什么，任何曲目都行。否则我白来一趟了。”

She showed him into her own rather cluttered room. —
她把他领进了自己那间相当杂乱的房间。 —

She thought the whole adventure beneath his dignity, but went to the main hall even so. —
她觉得整个冒险都不配他的身份，但还是走到了主厅。 —

With the shutters still raised, a delicate fragrance of plum blossoms was wafted in.
百叶窗还未关闭，传来一阵梅花的淡雅芳香。

She saw her chance. “On beautiful nights like this I think of your koto and wish we might become better acquainted. —
她看到了机会。“在这样美丽的夜晚，我想起了你的琴，希望我们能更加了解彼此。 —

It seems a pity that I always have to rush off.”
总是匆忙离去，感觉有点可惜。”

“I fear that you have heard too much really fine playing. —
“恐怕你已经听过太多真正优秀的演奏。 —

My own can hardly seem passable to someone who frequents the palace.”
我的演奏在常去宫中的人看来恐怕只是马马虎虎。”

Yet she reached for her koto. Tayū was very nervous, wondering what marks Genji would give the concert. —
尽管心里有些紧张，但她还是伸手去拿了琴。太太很担心，不知道源氏会给这场音乐会打几分。 —

She played a soft strain which in fact he found very pleasing. —
她演奏了一段轻柔的旋律，源氏事实上觉得非常令人愉悦。 —

Her touch was not particularly distinguished, but the instrument was by no means ordinary, and he could see that she had inherited something of her father’s talent. —
她的弹奏并不特别出色，但这把琴却绝非普通之物，他看得出她继承了父亲的一些才能。 —

She had been reared in old-fashioned dignity by a gentleman of the finest breeding, and now, in this lonely, neglected place, scarcely anything of the old life remained. —
她是被一个教养最精良的绅士抚养长大的，在这个荒凉被忽视的地方，几乎没有任何旧日生活的痕迹留存。 —

She must have known all the varieties of melancholy. —
她一定历尽了所有种类的忧郁。 —

It was just such a spot that the old romancers chose for their most moving scenes. —
在这样的地方，古老的浪漫主义小说家们才会选择写下最动人的场景。 —

He would have liked to let her know of his presence, but did not want to seem forward.
源氏虽然很想让她知道他的存在，但又不想显得唐突。

A clever person, Tayū thought it would be best not to let Genji hear too much. —
一位聪明的人，太太认为最好不要让源氏听太多。 —

“It seems to have clouded over,” she said. —
“天似已经阴沉了，”她说。 —

“I am expecting a caller and would not wish him to think I am avoiding him. —
“我在等一个来访者，不希望他认为我在躲避他。 —

I will come again and hope for the pleasure of hearing you at more considerable length. —
我会再来的，希望有机会听到你更多的话语。 —

” And on this not very encouraging note she returned to her room.
” 在这并不太令人鼓舞的氛围中，她回到了自己的房间。

“She stopped just too soon,” said Genji. “I was not able to tell how good she might be. —
“她停得太早了，”源氏说。“我还没能判断她的才华。 —

” He was interested. “Perhaps if it is all the same you can arrange for me to listen from a little nearer at hand.”
” 他很感兴趣。“或许，如果可以的话，你可以帮我靠近一些听听。”

Tayū thought it would be better to leave him as he was, in a state of suspense. “I fear not, sir. —
太太认为最好让他保持悬念。“我恐怕办不到，先生。 —

She is a lonely, helpless person, quite lost in her own thoughts. —
她是一个孤独、无助的人，完全沉浸在自己的思绪中。 —

It is all very sad, and I would certainly not want to do anything that might distress her.”
这一切都很悲伤，我当然不想做任何可能使她烦恼的事情。”

She was right. He Must defer to the lady’s position. —
她是对的。他必须尊重这位女士的身份。 —

There were ranks and there were ranks, and it was in the lower of them that ladies did not always turn away sudden visitors.
有等级之分，有等级之分，在较低的等级中，女士并不总是拒绝突然的访客。

“But do please give her some hint of my feelings. —
“但请给她一些我的情绪的暗示。 —

” He had another engagement and went quietly out.
” 他有另一个约会，悄然离去。

“It amuses me sometimes to think that your royal father believes you to be excessively serious. —
“有时候想到你的皇亲认为你过于认真，我觉得很有趣。 —

I doubt that he ever sees you dressed for these expeditions.”
我怀疑他从未见过你为这些探险穿着的样子。”

He smiled over his shoulder. “You do not seem in a very good position to criticize. —
他笑着回头说。“你似乎不太有资格批评。” —

If this sort of thing requires comment, then what are we to say of the behavior of certain ladies I know?”
如果这种事需要评论，那么我们又该如何评价我所认识的某些女士的行为呢？”

She did not answer. Her somewhat indiscriminate ways invited such remarks.
她没有回答。她有些不分场合的行为引起了这样的评论。

Wondering if he might come upon something of interest in the main hall, he took cover behind a moldering, leaning section of bamboo fence. —
他想知道自己是否能在大厅里发现一些有趣的事情，于是躲藏在一个斜倚的腐烂竹篱后。 —

Someone had arrived there before him. Who might it be? —
有人比他先到了那里。那会是谁呢？ —

A young gallant who had come courting the lady, no doubt. —
毫无疑问是一个前来追求这位女士的年轻斯文男士。 —

He fell back into the shadows.
他退到阴影中。

In fact, it was his friend Tō no Chūjō. They had left the palace together that evening. —
事实上，那是他的朋友藤原中将。他们那晚一起离开了宫殿。 —

Genji, having abruptly said goodbye, had gone neither to his father-in-law’s Sanjō mansion nor to his own at Nijō. Tō no Chūjō followed him, though he had an engagement of his own. —
源氏突然告别后，既没有前往岳父的三条府，也没有回自己的二条府。藤原中将跟随着他，尽管他自有要事。 —

Genji was in disguise and mounted on a very unprepossessing horse and, to puzzle his friend further, made his way to this unlikely place. —
源氏打扮成不起眼的样貌，骑着一匹相当普通的马，为了再次让他的朋友感到困惑，来到了这个不太可能的地方。 —

As Tō no Chūjō debated the meaning of these strange circumstances there came the sound of a koto. He waited, thinking that Genji would appear shortly. —
藤原中将在考虑这些奇怪情形的同时，听到了箜篌声。他等待着，想着源氏应该很快会出现。 —

Genji tried to slip away, for he still did not recognize his friend, and did not want to be recognized himself.
源氏试图溜走，因为他依然没有认出他的朋友，也不希望被认出自己。

Tō no Chūjō came forward. “I was not happy to have you shake me off, and so I came to see you on your way.
藤原中将走了过来。“你摆脱我，让我感到不舒服，所以我来看看你的情况。”

This moon of the sixteenth night has secret ways.”
这十六日的月亮有些隐秘。”

Genji was annoyed and at the same time amused. “This is a surprise.
源氏既生气又觉得好笑。“这真是个惊喜。

“It sheds its rays impartially here and there,
“它在这里和那里都一视同仁地散发着光芒，

And who should care what mountain it sets behind?”
无人在意它在什么山后落下？”

“So here we are. And what do we do now? —
“那么，我们现在该怎么办呢？ —

The important thing when you set out on this sort of escapade is to have a proper guard. —
出去这样的冒险，重要的是要有一个恰当的护卫。 —

Do not, please, leave me behind next time. —
请下次不要把我落在后面。 —

You have no idea what awful things can happen when you go off by yourself in disguise. —
你不知道一个人单独扮装外出时可能发生的可怕事情。 —

” And so he made it seem that he was the one privileged to administer reproofs.
”因此他让自己显得好像是有资格责备别人的那一个。

It was the usual thing: Tō no Chūjō was always spying out his secrets. —
这是家常便饭：这位侍中守卫总是在窥视他的秘密。 —

Genji thought it a splendid coup on his part to have learned and concealed from his friend the whereabouts of “the wild carnation.”
源氏觉得自己从朋友那里得知并隐瞒了“野葵”的行踪是一个绝妙的策略。

They were too fond of each other to say goodbye on the spot. —
他们彼此太过喜欢，无法就此告别。 —

Getting into the same carriage, they played on their flutes as they made their way under a pleasantly misted moon to the Sanjō mansion. —
他们一同乘坐马车，摇曳的月光下吹着长笛前往三条别墅。 —

Having no outrunners, they were able to pull in at a secluded gallery without attracting attention. —
由于没有追随者，他们可以在不引起注意的情况下抵达一处幽静的长廊。 —

There they sent for court dress. Taking up their flutes again, they proceeded to the main hall as if they had just come from court. —
他们派人取来宫廷服饰。重新拿起长笛，他们像刚从朝廷回来一样前往主厅。 —

The minister, eager as always for a concert, joined in with a Korean flute. —
大臣总是渴望听音乐会，便吹起了一支高丽笛。 —

He was a fine musician, and soon the more accomplished of the ladies within the blinds had joined them on lutes. —
他是一位优秀的音乐家，很快身着纱窗内更有技巧的女士们也加入了他们，弹着琵琶。 —

There was a most accomplished lady named Nakatsukasa. —
有一位名叫中勝的才华横溢的女子。 —

Tō no Chūjō had designs upon her, but she had turned him away. —
当时藤原中将成了她的心上人，但她却把他推开了。 —

Genji, who so rarely came to the house, had quite won her affections. —
而很少光顾这个府邸的源氏，却赢得了她的喜爱。 —

News of the infatuation had reached the ears of princess Omiya, Tō no Chūjō‘s mother, who strongly disapproved of it. —
这段恋情的消息传到了凑阿佐美院——藤原中将的母亲的耳中，她极度不赞同。 —

Poor Naka- tsukasa was thus left with her own sad thoughts, and tonight she sat forlornly apart from the others, leaning on an armrest. —
可怜的中勝心情沉郁，今晚她孤独地分开于其他人，倚在扶手上。 —

She had considered seeking a position elsewhere, but she was reluctant to take a step that would prevent her from seeing Genji again.
她曾考虑在别处谋得一份职位，但又不愿采取可能会阻止她再见源氏的一步。

The two young men were both thinking of that koto earlier in the evening, and of that strange, sad house. —
这两个年轻人早些时候都在想着那把琴，那所奇异而令人悲伤的府邸。 —

Tō no Chūjō was lost in a most unlikely reverie: —
藤原中将陷入了一个最不可思议的遐想: —

suppose some very charming lady lived there and, with patience, he were to make her his, and to find her charming and sad beyond description — he would no doubt be swept away by very confused emotions. —
假设那里住着一个非常迷人的女子，并且通过耐心，他能在她心中占据一席之地，发现她迷人而悲伤得无法形容——他毫无疑问地会被一种非常复杂的情感所淹没。 —

Genji’s new adventure was certain to come to something.
源氏的新冒险肯定会有所进展。

Both seem to have written to the Hitachi princess. There were no answers. —
两人似乎都给常陸公主写了信。而没有回复。 —

Tō no Chūjō thought this silence deplorable and incomprehensible. —
藤原中将觉得这种沉默令人遗憾而又难以理解。 —

What a man wanted was a woman who though impoverished had a keen and ready sensibility and let him guess her feelings by little notes and poems as the clouds passed and the grasses and blossoms came and went. —
一个男人想要的是一个虽然贫穷却拥有敏锐和善解人意感觉的女人，让他通过一些便签和诗歌去猜测她的情感，随着云朵飘过，草木芬芳。 —

The princess had been reared in seclusion, to be sure, but such extreme reticence was simply in bad taste. —
公主自然是被隔离培养大的，但如此极端的沉默简直是一种不雅之举。 —

Of the two he was the more upset.
两人中他更加心烦意乱。

A candid and open sort, he said to Genji: “Have you had any answers from the Hitachi lady? —
他是一个坦率开放的人，对源氏说：“你从常磐宫那位女士那里收到任何回复了吗？ —

I let a drop a hint or two myself, and I have not had a word in reply.”
我也透露了一丝一毫，但至今没有听到任何回应。”

So it had happened. Genji smiled. “I have had none myself, perhaps because I have done nothing to deserve any.”
事情果然如他所料。源氏微笑着说：“我自己也没有收到任何回复，也许是因为我不曾做出应得的行动。”

It was an ambiguous answer which left his friend more restless than ever. —
这个含糊其辞的回答让他的朋友更加不安。 —

He feared that the princess was playing favorites.
他担心公主在偏心选择。

Genji was not in fact very interested in her, though he too found her silence annoying. —
其实源氏对她并不是非常感兴趣，但他也觉得她的沉默令人烦恼。 —

He persisted in his efforts all the same. —
尽管如此，他仍然坚持努力。 —

Tō no Chūjō was an eloquent and persuasive young man, and Genji would not want to be rejected when he himself had made the first advances. —
当年轻的当间通说辞华丽动人时，源氏不想在自己主动追求之后被拒绝。 —

He summoned Tayū for solemn
他召见侍御。

“It bothers me a great deal that she should be so unresponsive. —
“她对我如此无动于衷让我感到很困扰。 —

Perhaps she judges me to be among the frivolous and inconstant ones. She is wrong. —
或许她认为我是那种轻浮变化无常的人。她错了。 —

My feelings are unshakable. It is true that when a lady makes it known that she does not trust me I sometimes go a little astray. —
我的感情是坚定不移的。是的，当一个女士表现出对我的信任时，我有时会稍稍偏离正道。 —

A lady who does trust me and who does not have a meddling family, a lady with whom I can be really comfortable, is the sort I find most pleasant.”
那种信任我并且没有多管闲事的家庭的女士，我才觉得最令人愉悦。”

“I fear, sir, that she is not your ‘tree in the rain. —
“恐怕，先生，她并不是你的‘雨中树’。” —

’ She is not, I fear, what you are looking for. —
我害怕她并不是你所寻找的那种人。 —

You do not often these days find such reserve. —
这样的保畕如今并不常见。 —

And she told him a little more about the princess.
她向他透露了有关公主的一些信息。

“From what you say, she would not appear to be a lady with a very sand manner or very grand accomplishments. —
“从你所说的看，她似乎不是一个举止高傲、才华横溢的女士。 —

But the quiet, na?ve ones have a charm of their own. —
但那种安静、天真的人有着自己的魅力。 —

” He was thinking of “the evening face.”
“他在想着“夜晚的容颜”。

He had come down with malaria, and it was for him a time of secret longing; —
他得了疟疾，对他来说是个充满秘密憧憬的时期； —

and so spring and summer passed.
于是春夏过去了。

Sunk in quiet thoughts as autumn came on, he even thought fondly of those fullers’ blocks and of the foot pestle that had so disturbed his sleep. —
当秋天来临时，他沉浸在宁静的思考中，甚至怀念起那些打满的木块和曾经扰乱他睡眠的脚杵。 —

He sent frequent notes to the Hitachi princess, but there were still no answers. —
他频频给日立公主写信，但仍然没有回复。 —

In his annoyance he almost felt that his honor was at stake. —
他感到恼火，几乎觉得自己的荣誉受到了挑战。 —

He must not be outdone.
他不能被超越。

He protested to Tayū. “What can this mean? I have never known anything like it.”
他向太夫抗议说。“这是什么意思？我从未经历过这样的事情。”

She was sympathetic. “But you are not to hold me responsible, sir. —
她很同情。“但你不能责怪我，先生。 —

I have not said anything to turn her against you. —
我没有说什么会让她对你产生反感。 —

She is impossibly shy, and I can do nothing with her.”
她害羞得几乎无法和她交流。”

“Outrageously shy — that is what I am saying. —
“极度害羞 — 这就是我的说法。 —

When a lady has not reached the age of discretion or when she is not in a position to make decisions for herself, such shyness is not unreasonable. —
当一个女士尚未达到辨别的年龄，或者无法为自己做出决定时，这种害羞并不是不合理的。 —

I am bored and lonely for no very good reason, and if she were to let me know that she shared my melancholy I would feel that I had not approached her in vain. —
我感到无聊和孤独，毫无道理，如果她让我知道她和我一样忧郁，我会觉得我的接近并不是徒劳的。 —

If I might stand on that rather precarious veranda of hers, quite without a wish to go further, I would be satisfied. —
如果我可以站在她相当不稳固的阳台上，毫无愿望再往前走，我就满足了。 —

You must try to understand my feelings, though they may seem very odd to you, and take me to her even without her permission. —
你必须试着理解我的感受，尽管它们对你可能看起来非常奇怪，让我即使没有她的允许也带我去见她。 —

I promise to do nothing that will upset either of you.”
我保证不会做任何使你们两人不舒服的事情。”

He seemed to take no great interest generally in the rumors he collected, thought Tayū, and yet he seemed to be taking very great interest indeed in at least one of them. —
他似乎对他收集的流言并不十分感兴趣，泰宇想，但他似乎对至少其中一条非常感兴趣。 —

She had first mentioned the Hitachi princess only to keep the conversation from lagging.
她最初提到日立公主只是为了防止谈话停滞。

These repeated queries, so earnest and purposeful, had become a little tiresome. —
这些反复的询问，如此热切而有目的，令人有些厌烦。 —

The lady was of no very great charm or talent, and did not seem right for him. —
这位女士并没有太大的魅力或才华，似乎并不适合他。 —

If she, Tayū, were to give in and become his intermediary, she might be an agent of great unhappiness for the poor lady, and if she refused she would seem unfeeling.
如果她，泰宇，屈服成为他的中间人，她可能成为那位可怜女士的不幸之源，如果她拒绝则会显得冷酷无情。

The house had been forgotten by the world even before Prince Hitachi died. —
连在日立王子去世之前，这座房子都已经被世人遗忘。 —

Now there was no one at all to part the undergrowth. —
如今再也没有人去分开丛林。 —

And suddenly light had come filtering in from a quite unexpected source, to delight the princess’s lowborn women. —
突然间，光线从一个完全意想不到的地方渗透进来，让公主身边的低贱婢女们感到愉悦。 —

She must definitely answer him, they said. —
他们说，她一定要回答他。 —

But she was so maddeningly shy that she refused even to look at his notes.
但是她太害羞了，甚至拒绝看他的便条。

Tayū made up her mind. She would find a suitable occasion to bring Genji to the princess’s curtains, and if he did not care for her, that would be that. —
太夫下定决心。她会找个合适的机会把源氏带到公主的帐幕前，如果他对她无动于衷，那就算了。 —

If by chance they were to strike up a brief friendship, no one could possibly reprove Tayū herself. She was a rather impulsive and headstrong young woman, and she does not seem to have told even her father.
如果她们碰巧能发展出一段短暂的友谊，没人能够责备太夫自己。她是一个相当冲动和倔强的年轻女子，甚至似乎没有告诉她的父亲。

It was an evening toward the end of the Eighth Month when the moon was late in rising. —
这是八月末的一个傍晚，月亮迟迟才升起。 —

The stars were bright and the wind sighed through the pine trees. —
星星明亮，风吹过松树发出轻叹。 —

The princess was talking sadly of old times. —
公主悲伤地谈论往事。 —

Tayū had judged the occasion a likely one and Genji had come in the usual secrecy. —
太夫判断这个时机很不错，源氏也像往常一样秘密前来。 —

The princess gazed uneasily at the decaying fence as the moon came up. —
月升起时，公主不安地盯着腐烂的栅栏。 —

Tayū persuaded her to play a soft strain on her koto, which was not at all displeasing. —
太夫劝说她用箜篌演奏一曲轻柔的乐曲，这并不令人不悦。 —

If only she could make the princess over even a little more into the hospitable modern sort, thought Tayū, herself so willing in these matters. —
如果她能让公主稍微变得更具好客的现代风范，太夫想到，自己在这方面就更乐意了。 —

There was no one to challenge Genji as he made his way inside. He summoned Tayū.
没有人阻挡源氏进入。他召唤太夫。

“A fine thing,” said Tayū, feigning great surprise. “Genji has come. —
太夫假装大吃一惊地说：“好家伙，源氏来了。” —

He is always complaining about what a bad correspondent you are, and I have had to say that there is little I can do. —
他总是抱怨你是多么不擅长通信，我说我也没办法。 —

And so he said that he would come himself and give you a lesson in manners. —
于是他说他要亲自前来给你上一堂礼仪课。 —

And how am I to answer him now? These expeditions are not easy for him and it would be cruel to send him away. —
那我现在该如何回答他呢？对他来说，这些探险并不容易，把他打发走会很残忍。 —

Suppose you speak to him — through your curtains, of course.”
也许你可以通过你的帘子和他说话 — 当然，保持距离。

The princess stammered that she would not know what to say and withdrew to an inner room. —
公主结结巴巴地表示自己不知道该说什么，然后退到内室。 —

Tayū thought her childish.
太夫认为她还太过幼稚。

“You are very inexperienced, my lady,” she said with a smile. —
“你还很没有经验，贵妃殿下,“她微笑着说。 —

“It is all right for people in your august position to make a show of innocence when they have parents and relatives to look after them, but your rather sad circumstances make this reserve seem somehow out of place.”
“虽然您有父母和亲人来照顾您，可以在您这种尊贵的身份下展现纯真，但您的相对悲伤的环境让这种保留看起来有些格格不入。

The princess was not, after all, one to resist very stoutly. —
公主毕竟也不是非常坚决抗拒。 —

“If I need not speak to him but only listen, and if you will lower the shutters, I shall receive him.”
“如果我不需要与他交谈，只需要听他说话，如果您把百叶窗放下，我就可以见他。”

“And leave him out on the veranda? That would not do at all. —
“然后让他待在阳台上吗？那一点都不合适。” —

He is not a man, I assure you, to do anything improper.” Tayū spoke with great firmness. —
她坚定地说道：“我向您保证，他不是一个会做出不当行为的人。” —

She barred the doors, having put out a cushion for Genji in the next room.
“她锁上了门，为源氏在隔壁房间铺好了垫子。”

The lady was very shy indeed. Not having the faintest notion how to address such a fine gentleman, she put herself in Tayū‘s hands. —
“这位女士确实非常害羞。完全不知道如何面对这样一个优雅的绅士，她完全听从了太夫的安排。” —

She sighed and told herself that Tayū must have her reasons.
她叹了口气，告诉自己太夫一定有她的原因。

Her old nurse had gone off to have a nap. —
“她的老护士已经去睡午觉了。” —

The two or three young women who were still with the princess were in a fever to see this gentleman of whom the whole world was talking. —
“公主身边那两三个年轻女子都迫不及待地想要见到这位备受世人瞩目的绅士。” —

Since the princess did not seem prepared to do anything for herself, Tayū changed her into presentable clothes and otherwise got her ready. —
“既然公主似乎没有准备好自己动手，太夫就给她换上了体面的衣服，做了其他准备。” —

Genji had dressed himself carefully though modestly and presented a very handsome figure indeed. —
“源氏已经仔细地打扮了自己，虽然谦逊，但依然展现出了非常英俊的形象。” —

How she would have liked to show him to someone capable of appreciating him, thought Tayū. Here his charms were wasted. —
“太夫心想，她多么希望能把他展示给一个能够欣赏他的人。在这里，他的风采都被浪费了。” —

But there was one thing she need not fear: —
“但有一点她无需担心：” —

an appearance of forwardness or impertinence on the part of the princess. —
“那就是公主会显得冒昧或傲慢。” —

Yet she was troubled, for she did fear that even as she was acquitted of the delinquency with which Genji was always charging her, she might be doing injury to the princess.
“尽管她为自己总是要受到源氏指责的过错所完全免责感到放心，但她担心，自己的行为可能会给公主带来伤害。”

Genji was certain that he need not fear being dazzled — indeed the certainty was what had drawn him to her. —
“源氏确信自己无需担心会被她迷住——事实上，正是这种确定性吸引了他去见她。” —

He caught a faint, pleasing scent, and a soft rustling as her women urged her forward. —
他闻到一股淡淡的、令人愉悦的香气，以及她的侍女在轻声地推着她向前走。 —

They suggested serenity and repose such as to convince him that his attentions were not misplaced. —
他们传达出一种宁静与安详的氛围，让他相信他的关注并没有被辜负。 —

Most eloquently, he told her how much she had been in his thoughts over the months. —
最动人的是，他告诉她这些月来她一直在他的心中。 —

The muteness seemed if anything more unsettling from near at hand than from afar.
近在咫尺的沉默似乎比远处更加令人不安。

“Countless times your silence has silenced me.
“无数次你的沉默已使我沉默。

My hope is that you hope for something better.
我希望你也期待着更美好的事物。

“Why do you not tell me clearly that you dislike me? —
“你为何不明确地告诉我你不喜欢我呢？ —

‘Uncertainty weaves a sadly tangled web.’”
‘不确定性织出了令人伤心的乱网。’”

Her nurse’s daughter, a clever young woman, finding the silence unbearable, came to the princess’s side and offered a reply:
她的保姆的女儿，一个聪慧的年轻女子，发现这种沉默无法忍受，走到公主身边提供答复：

“I cannot ring a bell enjoining silence.
“我不能 ringing 一口钟来命令沉默。

Silence, strangely, is my only answer.”
奇怪的是，沉默是我唯一的回答。”

The young voice had a touch of something like garrulity in it. —
这个年轻的声音带有一丝类似啰嗦的感觉。 —

Unaware that it was not the princess’s, Genji thought it oddly unrestrained and, given her rank, even somewhat coquettish.
不知道这不是公主的声音，源氏觉得它奇怪地过分放肆，甚至有些媚俗。

“I am quite speechless myself.
“我自己也是完全无言。

“Silence, I know, is finer by far than words.
“我知道，沉默要比言语更优美。”

Its sister, dumbness, at times is rather painful.”
它的姐姐——愚笨，有时令人相当痛苦。

He talked on, now joking and now earnestly entreating, but there was no further response. —
他接着讲着，时而开玩笑，时而诚恳地请求，但再也没有回应。 —

It was all very strange — her mind did not seem to work as others did. —
一切都很奇怪——她的思维似乎与他人不同。 —

Finally losing patience, he slid the door open. —
终于失去耐心，他把门拉开了。 —

Tayū was aghast — he had assured her that he would behave himself. —
太宫感到震惊——他保证过会表现端庄。 —

Though concerned for the poor princess, she slipped off to her own room as if nothing had happened. —
虽然为可怜的公主担忧，但她如同什么都没发生般走开到自己的房间。 —

The princess’s young women were less disturbed. —
公主的侍女们没有那么烦扰。 —

Such misdemeanors were easy to forgive when the culprit was so uniquely handsome. —
当犯错者如此好看时，这样的小过错很容易原谅。 —

Their reproaches were not very loud, though they could see that their lady was in a state of shock, so swiftly had it happened. —
她们的责备声并不是很大，尽管她们看到她们主人正处于一种震惊的状态，事情发生得如此快速。 —

She was incapable now of anything but dazed silence. —
她现在除了茫然的沉默外无能为力。 —

It was strange and wonderful, thought Genji, that the world still contained such a lady. —
源氏想，这个世界仍然有这样一个女士，真奇妙。 —

A measure of eccentricity could be excused in a lady who had lived so sheltered a life. —
一个如此过着宠辱不惊生活的女子有些古怪是可以原谅的。 —

He was both puzzled and sympathetic.
他既感到困惑又充满同情。

But how, given her limited resources, was the lady to win his affection? —
但是，在资源有限的情况下，这位女士如何能赢得他的喜爱呢？ —

It was with much disappointment that he departed late in the night. —
他很失望地在深夜离开。 —

Though Tayū had been listening carefully, she pretended that she did not know of his departure and did not come out to see him off. —
尽管多由留心听着，但她假装不知道他的离开，没有出来送他。 —

He would have had nothing to say to her.
他本来也没什么要跟她说的。

Back at Nijō he lay down to rest, with many a sigh that the world failed to present him with his ideal lady. —
回到二条院后，他躺下休息，一边叹息着世界未能呈现他理想中的女子。 —

And it would not be easy to treat the princess as if nothing had happened, for she was after all a princess.
对公主视而不见也不容易，毕竟她是公主。

Tō no Chūjō interrupted unhappy thoughts. —
东宫中将打断了他不愉快的思绪。 —

“What an uncommonly late sleeper you are. —
“你真是个爱睡懒觉的人。 —

There must be reasons.”
肯定有原因。”

“I was allowing myself a good rest in my lonely bed. Have you come from the palace?”
“我在寂寞的床上好好休息了一会。你是从宫中来的吗？”

“I just left. I was told last night that the musicians and dancers for His Majesty’s outing had to be decided on today and was on my way to report to my father. —
“是的，我刚离开。昨晚被告知今天必须决定陛下出游的音乐家和舞者，我正要去向我父亲汇报。 —

I will be going straight back.” He seemed in a great hurry.
我就要赶回去了。” 他显得很着急。

“Suppose I go with you.”
“我跟你一起去吧。”

Breakfast was brought in. Though there were two carriages, they chose to ride together. —
早餐送来了。虽然有两辆马车，他们选择了一起乘坐。 —

Genji still seemed very sleepy, said his friend, and very secretive too. —
源氏看起来还很困，他的朋友说，而且还很神秘。 —

With many details of the royal outing still to be arranged, Genji was at the palace through the day.
皇家出游的许多细节还有待安排，源氏整天都在宫中。

He felt somewhat guilty about not getting off a note to the princess, but it was evening when he dispatched his messenger. —
他觉得没有给公主寄张便条有些愧疚，但他是在傍晚派出了使者。 —

Though it had begun to rain, he apparently had little inclination to seek again that shelter from the rain. —
虽然开始下雨了，但他似乎并不怎么有意再去寻找那遮蔽雨水的避雨处。 —

Tayū felt very sorry for the princess as the conventional hour for a note came and went. —
女王当时觉得非常难过，因为传统时间发来的便条一直没有到来。 —

Though embarrassed, the princess was not one to complain. —
尽管尴尬，公主并不是一个喜欢抱怨的人。 —

Evening came, and still there was only silence.
夜幕降临了，但依然一片寂静。

This is what his messenger finally brought:
他的使者最终带来了这个消息：

“The gloomy evening mists have not yet cleared,
“阴郁的傍晚雾气还未消散，

And now comes rain, to bring still darker gloom.
此时乃有雨，更加加深了阴霾。”

“You may imagine my restlessness, waiting for the skies to clear.”
“你可以想象我在等着天空放晴的焦虑。”

Though surprised at this indication that he did not intend to visit, her women pressed her to answer. More and more confused, however, she was not capable of putting together the most ordinary note. —
尽管对他不打算来访感到惊讶，她的侍女们还是催促她回复。然而，越来越迷惑，她已经无法组织出最普通的便条。 —

Agreeing with her nurse’s daughter that it was growing very late, she finally sent this:
同意护士的女儿的说法，表示时间已经很晚，最终她写下了这样一句话：

“My village awaits the moon on a cloudy night.
“我的村庄在云雾密布的夜晚等待月亮。

You may imagine the gloom, though you do not share it.”
虽然你与我不分享这阴郁。”

She set it down on paper so old that the purple had faded to an alkaline gray. —
她将这句话写在一张由于年代久远，紫色都已经褪色成一种碱灰色的纸上。 —

The hand was a strong one all the same, in an old-fashioned style, the lines straight and prim. —
不过手法依旧坚实，是一种古老的风格，线条笔直而端庄。 —

Genji scarcely looked at it. He wondered what sort of expectations he had aroused. —
源氏几乎没有看它。他在想自己引起了怎样的期待。 —

No doubt he was having what people call second thoughts. Well, there was no alternative. —
毫无疑问，他开始犹豫了，人们常说的见异思迁。然而，没有其他选择。 —

He must look after her to the end. At the princess’s house, where of course these good intentions were not known, despondency prevailed.
他必须照顾她到最后。在公主的府上，这些好意当然是未知的，绝望笼罩着一切。

In the evening he was taken off to Sanjō by his father-in-law. —
傍晚，他被岳父带到了三条。 —

Everyone was caught up in preparations for the outing. —
每个人都在为外出做准备。 —

Young men gathered to discuss them and their time was passed in practice at dance and music. —
年轻人聚在一起讨论这些事情，时间都花在了舞蹈和音乐练习上。 —

Indeed the house quite rang with music, and flute and flageolet sounded proud and high as seldom before. —
实际上，整个房子都回响着音乐，笛子和短笛的声音傲然高昂，前所未有。 —

Sometimes one of them would even bring a drum up from the garden and pound at it on the veranda. —
有时他们甚至会从花园里拿过来一只鼓，在阳台上敲击。 —

With all these exciting matters to occupy him, Genji had time for only the most necessary visits; —
有了这些令人兴奋的事情要忙碌，源氏只有时间进行最必要的探访； —

and so autumn came to a close. The princess’s hopes seemed, as the weeks went by, to have come to nothing.
因此秋天即将结束。随着周周过去，公主的希望似乎落空了。

The outing approached. In the midst of the final rehearsals Tayū came to Genji’s rooms in the palace
外出的日子临近。在最后彩排的时候，太夫人来到了源氏的房间。

“How is everything?” he asked, somewhat guiltily.
“一切都好吗？”他有些内疚地问道。

She told him. “You have so neglected her that you have made things difficult for us who must be with her. —
她告诉了他。“你太忽视她了，让我们这些必须待在她身边的人都感到困扰。 —

” She seemed ready to weep.
”她似乎快要哭了。

She had hoped, Genji surmised, to make the princess seem remote and alluring, and he had spoiled her plans. —
源氏猜想，她希望让公主显得高冷迷人，而他却破坏了她的计划。 —

She must think him very unfeeling. And the princess, brooding her days away, must be very sad indeed. —
她一定认为他很没情趣。而公主，整日忧郁，一定非常悲伤。 —

But there was nothing to be done. He simply did not have the time.
但是无法做什么。他根本没有时间。

“I had thought to help her grow up,” he said, smiling.
“我本想帮助她长大，”他笑着说。

Tayū had to smile too. He was so young and handsome, and at an age when it was natural that he should have women angry at him. —
田舞也不得不微笑。他如此年轻英俊，正值应该有女人对他生气的年纪。 —

It was natural too that he should be somewhat selfish.
他有些自私也是很自然的。

When he had a little more time to himself he occasionally called on the princess. —
当他有一点儿时间自己时，他偶尔会拜访公主。 —

But he had found the little girl, his Murasaki, and she had made him her captive. —
但他找到了那个小女孩，他的紫，她让他无法自拔。 —

He neglected even the lady at Rokujō, and was of course still less inclined to visit this new lady, much though he felt for her. —
他甚至忽略了六条的女士，当然更不愿拜访这位新女士，尽管他很为她感到难过。 —

Her excessive shyness made him suspect that she would not delight the eye in any great measure. —
她过于害羞，让他怀疑她可能不会太讨人喜欢。 —

Yet he might be pleasantly surprised. It had been a dark night, and perhaps it was the darkness that had made her seem so odd. —
但他也可能会惊喜。那是个漆黑的夜晚，也许是黑暗让她看起来那么怪异。 —

He must have a look at her face — and at the same time he rather dreaded trimming the lamp.
他得看看她的脸 —— 同时他对点灯有点担心。

One evening when the princess was passing the time with her women he stole up to the main hall, opened a door slightly, and looked inside. —
一天晚上，公主和她的女官们正消遣时，他悄悄走到了主殿，轻轻打开了一扇门，往里看了看。 —

He did not think it likely that he would see the princess herself. —
他没觉得有可能看到公主本人。 —

Several ancient and battered curtain frames had apparently been standing in the same places for years. —
几个古老破旧的幔帐架显然已经立在同样的地方多年了。 —

It was not a very promising scene. Four or five women, at a polite distance from their lady, were having their dinner, so unappetizing and scanty that he wanted to look away, though served on what seemed to be imported celadon. —
这并不是一个令人振奋的场面。四五个女人，与她们的女主人保持着礼貌的距离，正在吃饭，食物令人作呕且稀少，他让人想移开目光，虽然端上来的是似乎是进口青瓷。 —

Others sat shivering in a corner, their once white robes now a dirty gray, the strings of their badly stained aprons in clumsy knots. —
其他人坐在角落里发抖，她们曾经洁白的袍子如今变成了脏灰色，她们满是污渍的围裙被随意地系着。 —

Yet they respected the forms: they had combs in their hair, which were ready, he feared, to fall out at any moment. —
然而，她们仍然尊重着形式：她们头上梳着头，他担心那些梳子随时会掉下来。 —

There were just such old women guarding the treasures in the palace sanctuary, but it had not occurred to him that a princess would choose to have them in her retinue.
宫殿圣所里也有这样的老妇人保卫着宝藏，但他没有想到公主会选择让她们随行。

“What a cold winter it has been. You have to go through this sort of thing if you live too long.”
“这个冬天真冷啊。活得太久就必须经历这样的事情。”

“How can we possibly have thought we had troubles when your royal father was still alive? —
“在你的皇家父亲还在世时，我们怎么能想到自己有困难呢？ —

At least we had him to take care of us.” The woman was shivering so violently that it almost seemed as if she might fling herself into the air.
至少我们还有他来照顾我们。”妇人颤抖得厉害，几乎看起来像是要扑向空中。

It was not right to listen to complaints not meant for his ears. —
不应该听到不是针对他耳朵的抱怨。 —

He slipped away and tapped on a shutter as if he had just come up.
他溜走，轻轻拍了一下百叶窗，就好像刚刚走上来。

One of the women brought a light, raised the shutter, and admitted him.
一位妇人拿来了灯，掀开了百叶窗，让他进去了。

The nurse’s young daughter was now in the service of the high priestess of Kamo. The women who remained with the princess tended to be gawky, untrained rustics, not at all the sort of servants Genji was used to. —
护士的年轻女儿现在侍奉于加茂的女祭司。留在公主身边的妇女往往是笨拙的、未经训练的乡下人，一点也不像源氏所习惯的女仆。 —

The winter they had complained of was being very cruel. —
他们所抱怨的冬天实在是太残酷了。 —

Snow was piling in drifts, the skies were dark, and the wind raged. —
雪堆积成了风雪，天空阴暗，风呼啸而过。 —

When the lamp went out there was no one to relight it. —
当灯熄灭时，无人再来点亮。 —

He thought of his last night with the lady of “the evening faces. —
他想起了与“夜晚的容颜女士”共度的最后一夜。 —

” This house was no less ruinous, but there was some comfort in the fact that it was smaller and not so lonely. —
这座房子破败不堪，但有个安慰是它比较小，不那么孤单。 —

It was a far from cozy place all the same, and he did not sleep well. —
尽管如此，这个地方一点也不舒适，他睡得并不好。 —

Yet it was interesting in its way. The lady, however, was not. —
然而，从某种方式上来看，这件事很有趣。然而，这位女士却不是。 —

Again he found her altogether too remote and withdrawn.
他再次发现她总是太过疏远和内向。

Finally daylight came. Himself raising a shutter, he looked out at the garden and the fields beyond. —
最后，天亮了。他将百叶窗拉起，望向花园和远处的田地。 —

The scene was a lonely one, trackless snow stretching on and on.
这幅景象显得孤寂，一片一望无际的雪地延伸着。

It would be uncivil to go off without a word.
不说一句话就离开是不礼貌的。

“Do come and look at this beautiful sky. You are really too timid.”
“快来看这片美丽的天空。你真的太胆怯了。”

He seemed even younger and handsomer in the morning twilight reflected from the snow. —
在从雪地反射出来的晨曦中，他看起来更年轻、更英俊了。 —

The old women were all smiles.
老妇人们都面带微笑。

“Do go out to him. Ladies should do as they are told.”
“去找他吧。女士们应该遵从别人的安排。”

The princess was not one to resist. Putting herself into some sort of order, she went out. —
公主不是那种会抗拒的人。她整理了一下自己，走了出去。 —

Though his face was politely averted, Genji contrived to look obliquely at her. —
虽然他礼貌地把脸转开了，但是源氏还是设法斜眼看着她。 —

He was hoping that a really good look might show her to be less than irredeemable.
他希望通过仔细看一看，可以发现她并不是完全无可救药。

That was not very kind or very realistic of him. —
那不太友善，也不太现实。 —

It was his first impression that the figure kneeling beside him was most uncommonly long and attenuated. —
他最初的印象是，跪在他旁边的人异常修长而纤细。 —

Not at all promising — and the nose! That nose now dominated the scene. —
一点希望也没有 - 那鼻子！现在鼻子支配了整个场景。 —

It was like that of the beast on which Samantabhadra rides, long, pendulous, and red. —
就像普贤菩萨骑的兽一样，长长的，下垂的，红红的。 —

A frightful nose. The skin was whiter than the snow, a touch bluish even. —
一只可怕的鼻子。皮肤比雪还要白，甚至有点发青。 —

The forehead bulged and the line over the cheeks suggested that the full face would be very long indeed. —
额头突出，脸颊上的线条暗示整张脸实际上会非常长。 —

She was pitifully thin. He could see through her robes how narrow her shoulders were. —
她瘦得可怜。他透过她的衣袍看到她的肩膀是多么狭窄。 —

It now seemed ridiculous that he had worked so hard to see her; —
现在想想，他为了见她费了那么大力气; —

and yet the visage was such an extraordinary one that he could not immediately take his eyes away. —
然而那张脸的确实太不寻常，以至于他无法立刻移开目光。 —

The shape of the head and the now of the hair were very good, little inferior, he thought, to those of ladies whom he had held to be great beauties. —
头部的形状和头发的流线非常好，他觉得，比他曾认为是大美女的女士们略逊一筹。 —

The hair fanned out over the hem of her robes with perhaps a foot to spare. —
头发扇到袍子的边缘，可能还有一英尺的余地。 —

Though it may not seem in very good taste to dwell upon her dress, it is dress that is always described first in the old romances. —
尽管在老传奇故事中，首先描述的总是衣服，可能这不太雅致，但这是不容忽视的。 —

Over a sadly faded singlet she wore a robe discolored with age to a murky drab and a rather splendid sable jacket, richly perfumed, such as a stylish lady might have worn a generation or two before. —
在黯然褪色的背心外面，她穿着一件被岁月褪色成浑浊灰色的长袍，还有一件相当华丽的黑貂皮夹克，浓重的香味，像是一两代前流行的时髦女士可能穿过的。 —

It was entirely wrong for a young princess, but he feared that she needed it to keep off the winter cold. —
这完全不适合一个年轻的公主，但他担心她需要这个来抵御冬天的寒冷。 —

He was as mute as she had always been; but presently he recovered sufficiently to have yet another try at shaking her from her muteness. —
他像她一直做的那样无言以对;但不久后他又恢复了足够的力气，再试图让她打破沉默。 —

He spoke of this and that, and the gesture as she raised a sleeve to her mouth was somehow stiff and antiquated. —
他谈论这个那个，她抬起袖子掩住嘴的姿势在某种程度上显得僵硬而古老。 —

He thought of a master of court rituals taking up his position akimbo. —
他想到宫廷礼仪大师摆出的双手叉腰的姿态。 —

She managed a smile for him, which did not seem to go with the rest of her. —
她对他露出了一个微笑，这个笑容似乎与她的其余表情不太搭调。 —

It was too awful. He hurried to get his things together.
这太可怕了。他匆忙收拾行李。

“I fear that you have no one else to look to. —
“我担心你再没有别人可以指望了。 —

I would hope that you might be persuaded to be a little more friendly to someone who, as you see, is beginning to pay some attention to you. —
我希望你能被说服对那些开始留意你的人友好一些。 —

You are most unkind.” Her shyness became his excuse.
你太无情了。” 她的害羞成了他的借口。

“In the morning sun, the icicles melt at the eaves.
“在早晨的阳光中，屋檐上的冰柱融化了。

Why must the ice below refuse to melt?”
为什么下面的冰却拒绝融化？

She giggled. Thinking that it would be perverse of him to test this dumbness further, he went out.
她咯咯笑了。因为觉得继续测试这位哑巴将是歪曲的，他走了出去。

The gate at the forward gallery, to which his carriage was brought, was leaning dangerously. —
前厅的大门，他的马车停在那里，倾斜得很危险。 —

He had seen something of the place on his nocturnal visits, but of course a great deal had remained concealed. —
他在夜间的访问中已看到过这个地方的一些，但当然有很多依然被隐藏着。 —

It was a lonely, desolate sight that spread before him, like a village deep in the mountains. —
在他面前延伸的景象是一个荒凉的、孤寂的景象，如同深山里的一个村庄。 —

Only the snow piled on the pine trees seemed warm. —
只有积雪压在松树上看上去暖和。 —

The weed-choked gate of which his friend had spoken that rainy night would be such a gate as this. —
他的朋友那个雨夜提到的长满杂草的大门可能就是这样的一个门。 —

How charming to have a pretty lady in residence and to think compassionate thoughts and to long each day to see her! —
有一个漂亮的女士住在这里，想着慈悲的心思，每天渴望见到她，多么迷人啊！ —

He might even be able to forget his impossible, forbidden love. —
他甚至可能能忘记自己不可能的、被禁止的爱。 —

But the princess was completely wrong for such a romantic house. —
但是公主对这样一个浪漫的房子完全不合适。 —

What other man, he asked himself, could be persuaded to bear with her as he had? —
他自问，还有哪个男人会像他一样宽容地容忍她呢？ —

The thought came to him that the spirit of the departed prince, worried about the daughter he had left behind, had brought him to her.
他想到，逝去的王子的灵魂，为了担忧留下的女儿，已经把他带到了她身边。

He had one of his men brush the snow from an orange tree. —
他让手下的一个人将橘子树上的雪刷掉。 —

The cascade of snow as a pine tree righted itself, as if in envy, made him think of the wave passing over “famous Sué, the Mount of the Pines.” He longed for someone with whom he might have a quiet, comforting talk, if not an especially intimate or fascinating one. —
当松树重新竖起身来，像是嫉妒一样，雪花瀑布般下落，让他想起“名山若嫱松江”。他渴望能找到一个可以安静地聊天，虽不一定亲近或有趣的人。 —

The gate was not yet open. He sent someone for the gatekeeper, who proved to be a very old man. —
大门还没有开。他派人找了看门人，结果是一个非常年迈的老人。 —

A girl of an age such that she could be either his daughter or his granddaughter, her dirty robes an unfortunate contrast with the snow, came up hugging in her arms a strange utensil which contained the merest suggestion of embers. —
一个看起来可能是他女儿也可能是孙女的女孩，她脏兮兮的衣裳与白雪形成了不幸的对比，走过来抱着一个装满微弱余烬的奇怪器皿。 —

Seeing the struggle the old man was having with the gate, she tried to help. —
看到老人推开大门时的挣扎，她上前帮忙。 —

They were a very forlorn and ineffectual pair. —
他们是一对非常凄凉而无效的一对。 —

One of Genji’s men finally pushed the gate open.
源氏的一个手下最终把大门推开。

“My sleeves are no less wet in the morning snow
“我的袖子在晨雪中同样潮湿，

Than the sleeves of this man who wears a crown of snow.”
如同这位戴着雪冠的人的袖子一样。”

And he added softly: “The young are naked, the aged are cold.”
他轻声补充道：“年轻人衣衫单薄，老人寒冷。”

He thought of a very cold lady with a very warmly colored nose, and he smiled. —
他想起一个非常寒冷的女士，鼻子却被暖色调包裹，他微笑了。 —

Were he to show that nose to Tō no Chūjō, what would his friend liken it to? —
如果把那鼻子展示给当时的都尉看，他会怎样形容呢？ —

And a troubling thought came to him: since Tō no Chūjō was always spying on him, he would most probably learn of the visit. —
一个令人烦恼的念头涌现：由于都尉经常监视他，他很可能会得知这次访问。 —

Had she been an ordinary sort of lady, he might have given her up on the spot; —
如果她是普通的女士，他可能会当场放弃她； —

but any such thoughts were erased by the look he had had at her. —
但是他对她的看法消除了这些想法。 —

He was extremely sorry for her, and wrote to her regularly if noncommittally. —
他为她感到非常遗憾，定期给她写信，虽然措辞含糊。 —

He sent damasks and cottons and unfigured silks, some of them suited for old women, with which to replace those sables, and was careful that the needs of everyone, high and low, even that aged gatekeeper, were seen to. —
他寄来大马士革绸、棉布和素纱，有些适合老太太穿着，用以替换那些貂皮，并且细心关照每个人的需求，不论高低贵贱，甚至是那位年迈的门卫。 —

The fact that no expressions of love accompanied these gifts did not seem to bother the princess and so matters were easier for him. —
这些礼物没有伴随着爱的表达似乎并未让公主感到困扰，所以事情对他来说更容易了。 —

He resolved that he must be her support, in this not very intimate fashion. —
他决定要以这种不太亲密的方式成为她的支撑。 —

He even tended to matters which tact would ordinarily have persuaded him to leave private. —
他甚至处理了通常应该让他离开的私人事务。 —

The profile of the governors wife as he had seen her over the Go board had not been beautiful, but she had been notably successful at hiding her defects. —
他看过围棋时看到的州主妇的侧面并不美丽，但她善于隐藏她的缺陷。 —

This lady was certainly not of lower birth. It was as his friend had said that rainy night: —
这位女士显然不是低下出身。就像他的朋友那天雨夜所说的： —

birth did not make the crucial difference. He often thought of the governor’s wife. —
出身并不是关键的不同。他常常想起州主妇。 —

She had had considerable charms, of a quiet sort, and he had lost her.
她拥有相当一些魅力，是一种宁静的魅力，而他却失去了她。

The end of the year approached. Tayū came to see him in his palace apartments. —
年底即将到来。太太来到他的宫廷住处找他。 —

He was on easy terms with her, since he did not take her very seriously, and they would joke with each other as she performed such services as trimming his hair. —
他和她相处得很随意，因为他并没有很认真地对待她，而她们会在她为他理发等工作的时候互相开玩笑。 —

She would visit him without summons when there was something she wished to say.
她会在有事要说的时候，未经传唤就前来拜访他。

“It is so very odd that I have been wondering what to do.” She was smiling.
“我一直在想该怎么办，感到很奇怪。”她微笑着说道。

“What is odd? You must not keep secrets from me.”
“什么是奇怪的？你不可以对我保密。”

“The last thing I would do. You must sometimes think I forget myself, pouring out all my woes. —
“我绝不会这样做。你有时可能会觉得我忘记了自己，倾诉所有我的悲伤。” —

But this is rather difficult.” Her manner suggested that it was very difficult indeed.
但这确实相当困难。”她的态度表明这确实非常困难。

“You are always so shy.”
“你总是如此害羞。”

“A letter has come from the Hitachi princess.” She took it out.
“来自日立公主的一封信。”她拿了出来。

“The last thing you should keep from me.”
“你绝对不能瞒着我。”

She was fidgeting. The letter was on thick Michinoku paper and nothing about it suggested feminine elegance except the scent that had been heavily burned into it. —
她在烦躁。信纸是厚实的道后纸，除了被大量烧入的香气之外，没有任何东西表明它具有女性优雅。 —

But the hand was very good.
但手法很好。

“Always, always my sleeve is wet like these.
“一直，一直我的袖子像这些一样潮湿。

Wet because you are so very cold.”
因为你实在太冷了。”

He was puzzled. “Wet like what?”
他感到困惑。“像什么一样潮湿？”

Tayū was pushing a clumsy old hamper toward him. —
太夫正在向他推一个笨拙的旧篮子。 —

The cloth in which it had come was spread beneath it.
里面的布展开在篮子下面。

“I simply couldn’t show it to you. But she sent it especially for you to wear on New Year’s Day, and I couldn’t bring myself to send it back, she would have been so hurt. —
“我简直不能让你看到。但她特意送来这件衣服给你在新年时穿，我不忍心把它送回去，她会很受伤。 —

I could have kept it to myself, I suppose, but that didn’t seem right either, when she sent it especially for you. —
我本来可能会把它留给自己，但她特意送来给你。” —

So I thought maybe after I had shown it to you —”
所以我想也许在我给你看过之后 —

“I would have been very sorry if you had not. —
“如果你没有看过，我会非常抱歉。 —

It is the perfect gift for someone like me, with ‘no one to help me dry my tear-drenched pillow.’”
对于像我这样‘没有人帮我擦干泪湿的枕头’的人来说，这是一份完美的礼物。”

He said no more.
他再没有多说。

It was a remarkable effort at poetry. She would have worked and slaved over it, with no one to help her. —
这是一次非凡的诗歌努力。她必定会辛勤劳作，没有人帮助她。 —

The nurse’s daughter would no doubt, had she been present, have suggested revisions. —
如果护士的女儿在场，她肯定会建议修改。 —

The princess did not have the advice of a learned poetry master. —
公主没有一位博学的诗歌大师的建议。 —

Silence, alas, might have been more successful. —
唉，沉默也许会更成功。 —

He smiled at the thought of the princess at work on her poem, putting all of herself into it. —
他微笑着想到公主在努力写诗，将她所有的心思都放进去了。 —

This too, he concluded, must be held to fall within the bounds of the admirable. Tayū was crimson.
他得出结论，这也必须被视为可敬之事。太宇变得通红。

In the hamper were a pink singlet, of an old-fashioned cut and remarkably lusterless, and an informal court robe of a deep red lined with the same color. —
篮子里装着一件粉色背心，款式很老式，而且明显失去了光泽，还有一袭深红色的非正式宫廷长袍，里面衬着同色。 —

Every stitch and line seemed to insist on a peculiar lack of distinction. —
每一针、每一线似乎都在强调一种特别的平庸。 —

Alas once more — he could not possibly wear them. —
唉，再一次，他肯定不可能穿这些。 —

As if to amuse himself he jotted down something beside the princess’s poem. —
仿佛为了自娱自乐，他在公主的诗旁边随意写下了什么。 —

Tayū read over his shoulder:
太宇看着他的笔记:

“Red is not, I fear, my favorite color.
“红色，我害怕，不是我的最爱。

Then why did I let the safflower stain my sleeve?
那么为什么我让染料在我袖子上留下印记呢?

A blossom of the deepest hue, and yet —”
一朵最深的颜色的花朵，但是——”

The safflower must signify something, thought Tayū— and she thought of a profile she had from time to time seen in the moonlight. —
太宇觉得藏红花一定有着特殊的含义，她想到了一张月光下不时看见的侧脸。 —

How very wicked of him, and how sad for the princess!
他太坏了，对公主来说也太伤心了!

“This robe of pink, but new to the dyer’s hand:
“这身粉色的长袍，刚被染工染好:

Do not soil it, please, beyond redemption.
请不要将它弄脏，拜托，以至于无法挽回。”

That would be very sad.”
那将是非常悲伤的。

She turned such verses easily, as if speaking to herself. —
她轻松地背诵着这些诗句，就像在对自己说话一样。 —

There was nothing especially distinguished about them. —
他们并没有什么特别突出的地方。 —

Yet it would help, he thought again and again, if the princess were capable of even such an ordinary exchange. —
他一次又一次地认为，即使公主能够进行这样普通的交流也会有所帮助。 —

He did not wish at all to defame a princess.
他一点也不想诋毁一位公主。

Several women came in.
几位女子进来了。

“Suppose we get this out of the way,” he said. —
“让我们把这件事搞清楚吧，”他说。 —

“It is not the sort of thing just anyone would give.”
“这不是随随便便就能得到的东西。”

Why had she shown it to him? Tayū asked herself, withdrawing in great embarrassment. —
他为什么要向他展示这个？Tayū想着自己，感到非常尴尬。 —

He must think her as inept as the princess.
他一定认为她和公主一样笨拙。

In the palace the next day Genji looked in upon Tayū, who had been with the emperor.
第二天在宫中，源氏探望了刚刚和皇帝在一起的Tayū。

“Here. My answer to the note yesterday. It has taken a great deal out of me.”
“这是昨天笺纸的答复。这让我花费了大量精力。”

The other women looked on with curiosity.
其他女子好奇地看着。

“I give up the red maid of Mikasa,” he hummed as he went out, “even as the plum its color.”
“我放弃三笠的红丫环，就像梅子放弃了它的颜色一样。”他边哼着边走出去。

Tayū was much amused.
Tayū非常开心。

“Why was he smiling all to himself?” asked one of her fellows.
“他为什么自顾自地微笑？”她的同伴们中有人问道。

“It was nothing,” she replied. “I rather think he saw a nose which on frosty mornings shows a fondness for red. —
“没什么，”她回答道。“我倒觉得他看见了一个在寒冷清晨常常泛红的鼻子。 —

Those bits of verse were, well, unkind.”
这些诗句有点，呃，刻薄。”

“But we have not one red nose among us. It might be different if Sakon or Higo were here. —
“但我们中间一个人也没有红鼻子。如果左近或肥后在场可能就不一样了。 —

” Still uncomprehending, they discussed the various possibilities.
”他们依然不解，讨论着各种可能性。

His note was delivered to the safflower princess, whose women gathered to admire it.
他的便笺被送到茜草公主那里，她的宫女们聚在一起赞美它。

“Layer on layer, the nights when I do not see you.
“层层叠叠，那些我见不到你的夜晚。

And now these garments — layers yet thicker between us?”
现在这些衣料 — 又厚厚一层隔开我们吗？”

It was the more pleasing for being in a casual hand on plain white paper.
这是一种更令人愉悦的方式，因为是用普通的白纸上随意的字迹写成的。

On New Year’s Eve, Tayū returned the hamper filled with clothes which someone had readied for Genji himself, among them singlets of delicately figured lavender and a sort of saffron. —
大晦日，太夫人把装满着为源氏准备的衣料的篮子还了回去，其中包括一些精致图案的淡紫色背心和一种番红花制作的。 —

It did not occur to the old women that Genji might not have found the princess’s gift to his taste. —
老太婆们没有想到源氏可能并不喜欢公主的礼物。 —

Such a rich red, that one court robe, not at all inferior to these, fine though they might be.
那件宫廷礼服有如此浓郁的红色，毫不逊色于这些，尽管这些也很优雅。

“And the poems: our lady’s was honest and to the point. His is merely clever.”
“诗：我们夫人的诗是真诚而直截了当的。他的只是巧妙而已。”

Since her poem had been the result of such intense labor, the princess copied it out and put it away in a drawer.
因为她的诗是如此地劳心，公主把它抄录下来放进抽屉里。

The first days of the New Year were busy ones. —
新年的头几天很忙碌。 —

Music sounded through all the galleries of the palace, for the carolers were going their rounds this year. —
音乐传遍了宫殿的所有画廊，因为颂歌者们今年又开始了巡回演出。 —

The lonely Hitachi house continued to be in Genji’s thoughts. —
孤独的日出屋继续在源氏的思绪中。 —

One evening — it was after the royal inspection of the white horses — he made he made his excuses with his father and withdrew as if he meant to spend the night in his own rooms. —
一个晚上——那是在王室检阅白马之后——他向父亲请了借口，像是打算在自己的房间里过夜。 —

Instead he paid a late call upon the princess.
相反，他在深夜拜访了公主。

The house seemed a little more lively and in communication with the world than before, and the princess just a little less stiff. —
这栋房子似乎比以前更有生气，更与世界有联系，而公主也变得稍微不那么拘谨。 —

He continued to hope that he might in some degree make her over and looked forward with pleasure to the results. —
他依然期望能稍微改变她，并且期待着结果。 —

The sun was coming up when, with a great show of reluctance, he departed. The east doors were open. —
当他满脸不舍地离开时，太阳已经升起。东边的门是敞开着的。 —

Made brighter by the reflection from a light fall of snow, the sun streamed in unobstructed, the roof of the gallery beyond having collapsed. —
沐浴在淡淡的雪光中，太阳毫无阻挡地照射进来，廊子的屋顶已经坍塌。 —

The princess came forward from the recesses of the room and sat turned aside as Genji changed to court dress. —
公主从房间的一隅走过来，转过身去，当源氏换上正装时。 —

The hair that fell over her shoulders was splendid. —
垂落在她肩头的发丝是华丽的。 —

If only she, like the year, might begin anew, he thought as he raised a shutter. —
他想，如果她像新的一年一样，能重新开始就好了。 —

Remembering the sight that had so taken him aback that other morning, he raised it only partway and rested it on a stool. —
想起那个让他大吃一惊的场景，他将百叶窗只拉起了一半，支在了凳子上。 —

Then he turned to his toilet. A woman brought a battered minor, a Chinese comb box, and a man’s toilet stand. —
然后他开始盥洗。一个女人端来一个破旧的小镜子、一个中国梳妆盒和一个男士的梳洗台。 —

He thought it very fine that the house should contain masculine accessories. —
他觉得房子里有男性的用品是非常好的。 —

The lady was rather more modish, for she had on all the clothes from that hamper. —
这位女士略微时髦一些，因为她穿着那个箱子里的所有衣服。 —

His eye did not quite take them all in, but he did think he remembered the cloak, a bright and intricate damask.
他的眼睛没有完全看清楚它们所有，但他确实记得那件斗篷，明亮而复杂的锦缎。

“Perhaps this year I will be privileged to have words from you. —
“也许今年我会有幸听到你的话语。 —

More than the new warbler, we await the new you.”
我们比新莺更期待全新的你。”

“With the spring come the calls —” she replied, in a tense, faltering voice.
“随着春天的到来——”她回答道，语气紧张而踌躇。

“There, now. That’s the style. You have indeed turned over a new leaf. —
“看吧，就是这样。你确实翻开了新的一页。 —

” He went out smiling and softly intoning Narihira’s poem about the dream and the snows.
” 他笑着走出去，轻声吟唱着有关梦境和雪的在宁宁的诗句。

She was leaning on an armrest. The bright safflower emerged in profile from over the sleeve with which she covered her mouth. —
她正倚在扶手上。鲜艳的红花从她用来遮住口的袖子上显现出来。 —

It was not a pretty sight.
那并不是一幅美丽的景象。

Back at Nijō, his Murasaki, now on the eve of womanhood, was very pretty indeed. —
回到二条，他的紫上将，如今正处在青春盎然的前夜，确实非常美丽。 —

So red could after all be a pleasing color, he thought. —
他想，红色毕竟也是一种令人愉悦的颜色。 —

She was delightful, at artless play in a soft cloak of white lined with red. —
她非常可爱，在一件白色披风里天真地玩耍，里面衬着红色。 —

Because of her grandmother’s conservative preferences, her teeth had not yet been blackened or her eyebrows plucked. —
因为她奶奶保守的喜好，她的牙齿还没有压黑，眉毛也没有拔。 —

Genji had put one of the women to blackening her eyebrows, which drew fresh, graceful arcs. —
源氏让一个女子给她的眉毛弄黑，勾勒出新颖而优雅的弧线。 —

Why, he continued asking himself, should he go seeking trouble outside the house when he had a treasure at home? —
他自问，为什么在家里有一个宝藏的时候还要外出寻找麻烦呢？ —

He helped arrange her dollhouses. She drew amusing little sketches, coloring them as the fancy took her. —
他帮她布置她的洋娃娃房。她画着有趣的小插图，根据自己的喜好给它们上色。 —

He drew a lady with very long hair and gave her a very red nose, and though it was only a picture it produced a shudder. —
他画了一位头发很长的女子，并给了她一个非常红的鼻子，尽管这只是一幅画，但却令人感到恐惧。 —

He looked at his own handsome face in a mirror and daubed his nose red, and even he was immediately grotesque. —
他看着镜子里自己英俊的脸，并涂上了红鼻子，甚至他立刻变得怪诞。 —

The girl laughed happily.
女孩开心地笑了。

“And if I were to be permanently disfigured?”
“如果我永久性地毁容了呢？”

“I wouldn’t like that at all.” She seemed genuinely worried.
“我一点也不想要那样。”她似乎真的很担心。

He pretended to wipe vigorously at his nose. “Dear me. I fear it will not be white again. —
他假装用力擦拭鼻子。“天哪。我怕它再也不会变白了。 —

I have played a very stupid trick upon myself. —
我给自己玩了一个很愚蠢的把戏。 —

And what,” he said with great solemnity, “will my august father say when he sees it?”
“而且”，他非常庄严地说，“当他看到的时候，我尊贵的父亲会说什么呢？”

Looking anxiously up at him, Murasaki too commenced rubbing at his nose.
紫的眼里充满了焦虑，她也开始擦拭他的鼻子。

“Don’t, if you please, paint me a Heichū black. —
“请不要把我画成黑色的黑忠。 —

I think I can endure the red.” They were a charming pair.
我想我可以忍受这种红色。”他们是一对迷人的情侣。

The sun was warm and spring-like, to make one impatient for blossoms on branches now shrouded in a spring haze. —
阳光温暖，像春天一样，让人迫不及待地盼望着树枝上现在被春雾笼罩的花朵。 —

The swelling of the plum buds was far enough advanced that the rose plum beside the roofed stairs, the earliest to bloom, was already showing traces of color.
梅芽的肿胀已经足够，使得屋梯旁的玫瑰梅，最早开花的梅之一，已经显示出了一丝颜色。

“The red of the florid nose fails somehow to please,
“那红扑扑的鼻子的红色不知为何无法取悦，

Though one longs for red on these soaring branches of plum.
尽管人们渴望看到这些高耸枝条上的红色。”

“A pity that it should be so.”
“真可惜事情会变成这样。”

And what might have happened thereafter to our friends?
我们的朋友之后会发生什么呢？