Алая буква
The Leech
Withsuchcommodiousnessofsituation,thesetwolearnedpersonssatthemselvesdown,eachinhisowndomain,yetfamiliarlypassingfromoneapartmenttotheother,andbestowingamutualandnotincuriousinspectionintooneanother’sbusiness.
AndtheReverendArthurDimmesdale’sbestdiscerningfriends,aswehaveintimated,veryreasonablyimaginedthatthehandofProvidencehaddoneallthisforthepurpose—besoughtinsomanypublicanddomesticandsecretprayers—ofrestoringtheyoungministertohealth.But,itmustnowbesaid,anotherportionofthecommunityhadlatterlybeguntotakeitsownviewoftherelationbetwixtMr.Dimmesdaleandthemysteriousoldphysician.Whenanuninstructedmultitudeattemptstoseewithitseyes,itisexceedinglyapttobedeceived.When,however,itformsitsjudgment,asitusuallydoes,ontheintuitionsofitsgreatandwarmheart,theconclusionsthusattainedareoftensoprofoundandsounerringastopossessthecharacteroftruthsupernaturallyrevealed.Thepeople,inthecaseofwhichwespeak,couldjustifyitsprejudiceagainstRogerChillingworthbynofactorargumentworthyofseriousrefutation.Therewasanagedhandicraftsman,itistrue,whohadbeenacitizenofLondonattheperiodofSirThomasOverbury’smurder,nowsomethirtyyearsagone;hetestifiedtohavingseenthephysician,undersomeothername,whichthenarratorofthestoryhadnowforgotten,incompanywithDr.Forman,thefamousoldconjurer,whowasimplicatedintheaffairofOverbury.
