　　Anotherlegendisthatofthetwom-考网

　　Another legend is that of the two maiden sisters. A legend I am afraid it may be, in the most discreditable meaning of the term; or perhaps something worse—a mere yesterday's fiction. But it is a story of some vitality, and is worthy of a place in the Edinburgh calendar. This pair inhabited a single room; from the facts, it must have been double-bedded; and it may have been of some dimensions: but when all is said, it was a single room. Here our two spinsters fell out—on some point of controversial divinity belike (也许): but fell out so bitterly that there was never a word spoken between them black or white from that day forward, foil would have thought they would separate: but no; whether from lack of means, or the Scottish fear of scandal, they continued to keep house together where they were. A chalk line drawn upon the floor separated their two domains; it bisected (切成两部分) the doorway and the fireplace, so that each could go out and in, and do her cooking, without violating the territory of the other.

　　So, for years, they coexisted in a hateful silence; their meals, their ablutions, their friendly visitors, exposed to an unfriendly scrutiny; and at night, in the dark watches, each could hear the breathing of her enemy. Never did four walls look down upon an uglier spectacle than these sisters rivalling in unsisterliness. Here is a canvas for Hawthorne to have turned into a cabinet picture—he had a Puritanic vein. which would have fitted him to treat this Puritanic horror; he could have shown them to us in their sicknesses and at their hideous twin devotions, thumbing a pair of great Bibles, or praying aloud for each other's penitence with marrowy (多髓的，有力的) emphasis; now each, with kilted petticoat, at her own corner of the fire on some tempestuous evening; now sitting each at her window, looking out upon the summer landscape sloping far below them towards the firth (峡湾) field-paths where they had wandered hand in hand; or, as age and infirmity grow upon them and prolonged their toilettes, and their bands began to tremble and their heads to nod involuntarily, growing only the more steeled in enmity with years; until one fine day, at a word, a look, a visit or the approach of death, their hearts would melt and the chalk boundary be overstepped forever.

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另外一个传奇是关于两位少女姐妹的。说它是传奇，可能真是对这一词语“传奇”的糟蹋，甚至更糟——它恐怕也仅是昨日的一个小故事。但这个故事确有些活力，并值得记录在爱丁堡日历上。这对姐妹住在一间房里，照实说，房间里应该有两张床，并且床与床之间应该有一定的距离，但不管怎么说，这也只是一间单人房。或许是对神学问题有争议，两姐妹吵架了，她们吵得那么凶，从那天起就没有说过一句话。如果你觉得她俩分开了，你就大错特错了。也许是不知道如何分开，也许是出于苏格兰式地对流言蜚语的恐惧，他们依然同住在原来那间房。她们用粉笔在地板上划分出两个区域，并把过道和壁炉也分成两部分，这样，她们出门进门也好，做饭也好，任何人都不会妨碍到另一个人。

　　就这样，她们在厌恶中彼此共同生活过了几年。她们彼此用不友善的眼光注视着对方进餐，洗浴，接待友好来访的朋友；在晚上，在黑乎乎的注视中，她们又彼此听着自己敌人的呼吸声。两姐妹如此不顾姐妹情意而针锋相对，没有那间房看到过比这更为丑陋的景象了。本可以通过霍桑用这张油画转变为一张陈列于室内的小照片——霍桑拥有一张清教的面纱，这张面纱本能允许他去论述这清教的恐惧；他能够在她们生病之时，在她们紧紧抓住这种可怕的同胞之情之时，以摆弄《圣经》或互相大声地强调似的为对方忏悔的方式展现给我们这些；现在，在某个暴风雨的晚上，她们穿着褶裙，坐在自己壁炉的一角，或各自坐在自己的窗前，看着夏日的景色滑落到她们曾手牵手走过的峡湾，或在慢慢变老，慢慢虚弱，慢慢加长裙摆的过程中，在她们衣服的饰带开始颤抖，脑袋不自禁的点头，随着时间变得越来越僵硬的时候，总之，直到某一天，一个眼神，一次看望或者是死亡，她们的心将融化，而粉笔标出的界限也会永远消失。