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第8节

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myself; as to such points; nearly or altogether as much license as

if the facts had been entirely of my own invention。 What I contend for

is the authenticity of the outline。

  This incident recalled my mind; in some degree; to its old track。

There seemed to be here the groundwork of a tale。 It impressed me as

if the ancient Surveyor; in his garb of a hundred years gone by; and

wearing his immortal wig… which was buried with him; but did not

perish in the grave… had met me in the deserted chamber of the

Custom…House。 In his port was the dignity of one who had borne his

Majesty's commission; and who was therefore illuminated by a ray of

the splendour that shone so dazzlingly about the throne。 How unlike;

alas! the hang…dog look of a republican official; who; as the

servant of the people; feels himself less than the least; and below

the lowest of his masters。 With his own ghostly hand; the obscurely

seen but majestic figure had imparted to me the scarlet symbol; and

the little roll of explanatory manuscript。 With his own ghostly voice;

he had exhorted me; on the sacred consideration of my filial duty

and reverence towards him… who might reasonably regard himself as my

official ancestor… to bring his mouldy and moth…eaten lucubrations

before the public。 〃Do this;〃 said the ghost of Mr。 Surveyor Pue;

emphatically nodding the head that looked so imposing within its

memorable wig; 〃do this; and the profit shall be all your own! You

will shortly need it; for it is not in your days as it was in mine;

when a man's office was a life…lease; and oftentimes an heirloom。 But;

I charge you; in this matter of old Mistress Prynne; give to your

predecessor's memory the credit which will be rightfully due!〃 And I

said to the ghost of Mr。 Surveyor Pue; 〃I will!〃

  On Hester Prynne's story; therefore; I bestowed much thought。 It was

the subject of my meditations for many an hour; while pacing to and

fro across my room; or traversing; with a hundred…fold repetition; the

long extent from the front…door of the Custom…House to the

side…entrance; and back again。 Great were the weariness and

annoyance of the old Inspector and the Weighers and Gaugers; whose

slumbers were disturbed by the unmercifully lengthened tramp of my

passing and returning footsteps。 Remembering their own former

habits; they used to say that the Surveyor was walking the

quarter…deck。 They probably fancied that my sole object… and;

indeed; the sole object for which a sane man could ever put himself

into voluntary motion… was; to get an appetite for dinner。 And to

say the truth; an appetite; sharpened by the east wind that

generally blew along the passage; was the only valuable result of

so much indefatigable exercise。 So little adapted is the atmosphere of

a Custom…House to the delicate harvest of fancy and sensibility; that;

had I remained there through ten Presidencies yet to come; I doubt

whether the tale of 〃The Scarlet Letter〃 would ever have been

brought before the public eye。 My imagination was a tarnished

mirror。 It would not reflect; or only with miserable dimness; the

figures with which I did my best to people it。 The characters of the

narrative would not be warmed and rendered malleable by any heat

that I could kindle at my intellectual forge。 They would take

neither the glow of passion nor the tenderness of sentiment; but

retained all the rigidity of dead corpses; and stared me in the face

with a fixed and ghastly grin of contemptuous defiance。 〃What have you

to do with us?〃 that expression seemed to say。 〃The little power you

might once have possessed over the tribe of unrealities is gone! You

have bartered it for a pittance of the public gold。 Go; then; and earn

your wages!〃 In short; the almost torpid creatures of my own fancy

twitted me with imbecility; and not without fair occasion。

  It was not merely during the three hours and a half which Uncle

Sam claimed as his share of my daily life; that this wretched numbness

held possession of me。 It went with me on my sea…shore walks; and

rambles into the country; whenever… which was seldom and

reluctantly… I bestirred myself to seek that invigorating charm of

Nature; which used to give me such freshness and activity of

thought; the moment that I stepped across the threshold of the Old

Manse。 The same torpor; as regarded the capacity for intellectual

effort; accompanied me home; and weighed upon me in the chamber

which I most absurdly termed my study。 Nor did it quit me; when;

late at night; I sat in the deserted parlour; lighted only by the

glimmering coal…fire and the moon; striving to picture forth imaginary

scenes; which; the next day; might flow out on the brightening page in

many…hued description。

  If the imaginative faculty refused to act at such an hour; it

might well be deemed a hopeless case。 Moonlight; in a familiar room;

falling so white upon the carpet; and showing all its figures so

distinctly… making every object so minutely visible; yet so unlike a

morning or noontide visibility… is a medium the most suitable for a

romance…writer to get acquainted with his illusive guests。 There is

the little domestic scenery of the well…known apartment; the chairs;

with each its separate individuality; the centre…table; sustaining a

workbasket; a volume or two; and an extinguished lamp; the sofa; the

bookcase; the picture on the wall… all these details; so completely

seen; are so spiritualised by the unusual light; that they seem to

lose their actual substance; and become things of intellect。 Nothing

is too small or too trifling to undergo this change; and acquire

dignity thereby。 A child's shoe; the doll; seated in her little wicker

carriage; the hobby…horse… whatever; in a word; has been used or

played with; during the day; is now invested with a quality of

strangeness and remoteness; though still almost as vividly present as

by daylight。 Thus; therefore; the floor of our familiar room has

become a neutral territory; somewhere between the real world and

fairyland; where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet; and each imbue

itself with the nature of the other。 Ghosts might enter here without

affrighting us。 It would be too much in keeping with the scene to

excite surprise; were we to look about us and discover a form;

beloved; but gone hence; now sitting quietly in a streak of this magic

moonshine; with an aspect that would make us doubt whether it had

returned from afar; or had never once stirred from our fireside。

  The somewhat dim coal…fire has an essential influence in producing

the effect which I would describe。 It throws its unobtrusive tinge

throughout the room; with a faint ruddiness upon the walls and

ceiling; and a reflected gleam from the polish of the furniture。

This warmer light mingles itself with the cold spirituality of the

moonbeams; and communicates; as it were; a heart and sensibilities

of human tenderness to the forms which fancy summons up。 It converts

them from snow…images into men and women。 Glancing at the

looking…glass; we behold… deep within its haunted verge… the

smouldering glow of the half…extinguished anthracite; the white

moonbeams on the floor; and a repetition of all the gleam and shadow

of the picture; with one remove farther from the actual; and nearer to

the imaginative。 Then; at such an hour; and with this scene before

him; if a man; sitting all alone; cannot dream strange things; and

make them look like truth; he need never try to write romances。

  But; for myself; during the whole of my Custom…House experience;

moonlight and sunshine; and the glow of firelight; were just alike

in my regard; and neither of them was of one whit more avail than

the twinkle of a tallow…candle。 An entire class of susceptibilities;

and a gift connected with them… of no great richness or value; but the

best I had… was gone from me。

  It is my belief; however; that; had I attempted a different order of

composition; my faculties would not have been found so pointless and

inefficacious。 I might; for instance; have contented myself with

writing out the narratives of a veteran shipmaster; one of the

Inspectors; whom I should be most ungrateful not to mention; since

scarcely a day passed that he did not stir me to laughter and

admiration by his marvellous gifts as a story…teller。 Could I have

preserved the picturesque force of his style; and the humorous

colouring which nature taught him how to throw over his

descriptions; the result; I honestly believe; would have been

something new in literature。 Or I might readily have found a more

serious task。 It was a folly; with the materiality of this daily

life pressing so intrusively upon me; to attempt to fling myself

back into another age; or to insist on creating the semblance of a

world out of airy matter; when; at every moment; the impalpable beauty

of my soap…bubble was broken by the rude contact of some actual

circumstance。 The wiser effort would have been; to diffuse though

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