The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne (most interesting books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
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But the sea, in those old times, heaved, swelled, and foamed, very much at its own will, or subject only to the tempestuous wind, with hardly any attempts at regulation by human law. The buccaneer on the wave might relinquish his calling, and become at once, if he chose, a man of probity and piety on land; nor, even in the full career of his reckless life, was he regarded as a personage with whom it was disreputable to traffic, or casually associate. Thus, the Puritan elders, in their black cloaks, starched bands, and steeple-crowned hats, smiled not unbenignantly at the clamor and rude deportment of these jolly seafaring men; and it excited neither surprise nor animadversion, when so reputable a citizen as old Roger Chillingworth, the physician, was seen to enter the marketplace, in close and familiar talk with the commander of the questionable vessel.
The latter was by far the most showy and gallant figure, so far as apparel went, anywhere to be seen among the multitude. He wore a profusion of ribbons on his garment, and gold-lace on his hat, which was also encircled by a gold chain, and surmounted with a feather. There was a sword at his side, and a sword-cut on his forehead, which, by the arrangement of his hair, he seemed anxious rather to display than hide. A landsman could hardly have worn this garb and shown this face, and worn and shown them both with such a galliard air, without undergoing stern question before a magistrate, and probably incurring fine or imprisonment, or perhaps an exhibition in the stocks. As regarded the shipmaster, however, all was looked upon as pertaining to the character, as to a fish his glistening scales.
After parting from the physician, the commander of the Bristol ship strolled idly through the marketplace; until, happening to approach the spot where Hester Prynne was standing, he appeared to recognize, and did not hesitate to address her. As was usually the case wherever Hester stood, a small vacant areaâ âa sort of magic circleâ âhad formed itself about her, into which, though the people were elbowing one another at a little distance, none ventured, or felt disposed to intrude. It was a forcible type of the moral solitude in which the scarlet letter enveloped its fated wearer; partly by her own reserve, and partly by the instinctive, though no longer so unkindly, withdrawal of her fellow-creatures. Now, if never before, it answered a good purpose, by enabling Hester and the seaman to speak together without risk of being overheard; and so changed was Hester Prynneâs repute before the public, that the matron in town most eminent for rigid morality could not have held such intercourse with less result of scandal than herself.
âSo, mistress,â said the mariner, âI must bid the steward make ready one more berth than you bargained for! No fear of scurvy or ship-fever, this voyage! What with the shipâs surgeon and this other doctor, our only danger will be from drug or pill; more by token, as there is a lot of apothecaryâs stuff aboard, which I traded for with a Spanish vessel.â
âWhat mean you?â inquired Hester, startled more than she permitted to appear. âHave you another passenger?â
âWhy, know you not,â cried the shipmaster, âthat this physician hereâ âChillingworth, he calls himselfâ âis minded to try my cabin-fare with you? Ay, ay, you must have known it; for he tells me he is of your party, and a close friend to the gentleman you spoke ofâ âhe that is in peril from these sour old Puritan rulers!â
âThey know each other well, indeed,â replied Hester, with a mien of calmness, though in the utmost consternation. âThey have long dwelt together.â
Nothing further passed between the mariner and Hester Prynne. But, at that instant, she beheld old Roger Chillingworth himself, standing in the remotest corner of the marketplace, and smiling on her; a smile whichâ âacross the wide and bustling square, and through all the talk and laughter, and various thoughts, moods, and interests of the crowdâ âconveyed secret and fearful meaning.
XXII The ProcessionBefore Hester Prynne could call together her thoughts, and consider
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