108 “Beatrice，”asked he abruptly，“whence came this shrub！”
109 “My father created it，”answered she，with simplicity。
110 “Created it！Created it！”repeated Giovanni。“What mean you，Beatrice？”
111 “He is a man fearfully acquainted with the secrets of nature，”replied Beatrice“and，at the hour when I first drew breath，this plant sprang from the soil，the offspring of his science，of his intellect，while I was but his earthly child。Approach it not！”continued she，observing with terror that Giovanni was drawing nearer to the shrub。“It has qualities that you little dream of。But I，dearest Giovanni—I grew up and blossomed with the plant，and was nourished with its breath。It was my sister，and I loved it with a human affection：for—alas！hast thou not suspected it？There was an awful doom。”
112 Here Giovanni frowned so darkly upon her that Beatrice paused and trembled。But her faith in his tenderness reassured her，and made her blush that she had doubted for an instant。
113 “There was an awful doom，”she continued，—“the effect of my father’s fatallove of science—which estranged me from all society of my kind。Until Heavensent thee，dearest Giovanni，Oh！How lonely was thy poor Beatrice！”
114 “Was it a hard doom？”asked Giovanni，fixing his eyes upon her。
115 “Only of late have I known how hard it was，”answered she tenderly。“Oh，yesbut my heart was torpid，and therefore quiet。”
116 Giovanni’s rage broke forth from his sullen gloom like a lightning-flash out of a dark cloud。
117 “Accursed one！”cried he，with venomous scorn and anger。“And finding thy solitude wearisome，thou hast severed me，likewise，from all the warmth of life，and enticed me into thy region of unspeakable horror！”
118 “Giovanni！”exclaimed Beatrice，turning her large bright eyes upon his face。The force of his words had not found its way into her mindshe was merely thunder struck。
transparency：n。透明
sullen：adj。慍怒的，沉沉不樂的
affright：v。驚嚇
hast：have的第二人稱單數現在式
wearisome：adj。使疲倦的，乏味的
entice：v。誘惑，誘使
thunderstruck：adj。遭雷擊的，震驚的
119 “Yes，poisonous thing！”repeated Giovanni，beside himself with passion。“Thou hast done it！Thou hast blasted me！Thou hast filled my veins with poison！Thou hast made me as hateful，as ugly，as loathsome and deadly a creature as thyself—a world’s wonder of hideous monstrosity！Now—if our breath be happily as fatal to ourselves as to all others—let us join our lips in one kiss of unutterable hatred，and so die！”
120 “What has befallen me？”murmured Beatrice，with alow moan out ofher heart。“Holy Virgin pity me，a poor heartbroken child！”
121 “Thou！Dost thou pray？”cried Giovanni，still with the same fiendish scorn。“Thy very prayers，as they e from thy lips，taint the atmosphere with death。Yes，yeslet us pray！Let us to church，and dip our fingers in the holy water at the portal！They that e after us will perish as by a pestilence。Let us sign crosses in the air！It will be scattering curses abroad in the likeness of holy symbols！”
122 “Giovanni，”said Beatrice calmly，for her grief was beyond passion，“Why dost thou join thyself with me thus in those terrible words？I，it is true，am thehorrible thing thou namest me。But thou！—what hast thou to do，save with oneother shudder at my hideous misery，to go forth out of the garden and mingle withthy race，and forget that there ever crawled on earth such a monster as poor Beatrice？”
123 “Dost thou pretend ignorance？”asked Giovanni，scowling upon her。“Behold！This power have I gained from the pure daughter of Rappaccini！”
124 There was a swarm of summer-insects flitting through the air，in search of the food promised by the flower-odors of the fatal garden。They circled round Giovanni’s head，and were evidently attracted towards him by the same influence which had drawn them，for an instant，within the sphere of several of the shrubs。He sent forth a breath among them，and smiled bitterly at Beatrice，as at least a score of the insects fell dead upon the ground。
125 “I see it！I see it！”shrieked Beatrice。“It is my father’s fatal science？No，no，Giovanniit was not I！Never，never！I dreamed only to love thee，and be with thee a little time，and so to let thee pass away，leaving but thine imagein mine heart。For，Giovanni—believe it—though my body be nourished with poison，my spirit is God’s creature，and craves love as its daily food。But my father！—he has united us in this fearful sympathy。Yesspurn me！—tread upon me！—kill me！Oh，what is death，after such words as thine？But it was not I！Not for a world of bliss would I have done it！”
126 Giovanni’s passion had exhausted itself in its outburst from hislips。There now came across him a sense，mournful，and not without tenderness，of the intimate and peculiar relationship between Beatrice and himself。They stood，as it were，in an utter solitude，which would be made none the less solitary by the densest throng of human life。Ought not，then，the desert of humanity around them to press this insulated pair closer together？If they should be cruel to one another，who was there to be kind to them？Besides，thought Giovanni，might there not still be a hope of his returning within the limits of ordinary nature，and leading Beatrice—the redeemed Beatrice—by the hand？Oh，weak，and selfish，and unworthy spirit，that could dream of an earthly union and earthly happiness as possible，after such deep love had been so bitterly wronged as was Beatrice’s loveby Giovanni’s blighting words！No，nothere could be no such hope。She must pass heavily，with that broken heart，across the borders of Time—she must bathe her hurts in some fount of Paradise，and forget her grief in the light of immortality—and there be well！
127 But Giovanni did not know it。
128 “Dear Beatrice，”said he，approaching her，while she shrank away，as alwaysat his approach，but now with a different impulse—“dearest Beatrice，our fate is not yet so desperate。Behold！There is a medicine，potent，as a wise physician has assured me，and almost divine in its efficacy。It is posed of ingredients the most opposite to those by which thy awful father has brought this calamity upon thee and me。It is distilled of blessed herbs。Shall we not quaff it together，and thus be purified from evil？”
129 “Give it me！”said Beatrice，extending her hand to receive the little silver phial which Giovanni took from his bosom。She added，with a peculiar emphasis“I will drink—but do thou await the result。”
130 She put Baglioni’s antidote to her lipsand，at the same moment，the figure of Rappaccini emerged from the portal，and came slowly towards the marble fountain。As he drew near，the pale man of science seemed to gaze with a triumphant expression at the beautiful youth and maiden，as might an artist who should spend his life in achieving a picture or a group of statuary，and finally be satisfied with his success。He paused—his bent form grew erect with conscious power，he spread out his hand over them，in the attitude of a father imploring a blessing upon his children。But those were the same hands that had thrown poison into the stream of their lives！Giovanni trembled。Beatrice shuddered very nervously，and pressed her hand upon her heart。
befall：v。發生，降臨
pestilence：n。瘟疫
scowl：v。皺眉頭
spurn：v。棄絕
insulated：adj。絕緣的
efficacy：n。功效，效驗
statuary：n。雕像
erect：v。使直立
implore：v。懇求，哀求
shudder：v。戰栗，發抖
131 “My daughter，”said Rappaccini，“thou art no longer lonely in the world！Pluck one of those precious gems from thy sister shrub，and bid thy bridegroom wear it in his bosom。It will not harm him now！My science，and the sympathy between thee and him，have so wrought within his system，that he now stands apart frommon men，as thou dost，daughter of my pride and triumph，from ordinary women。Pass on，then，through the world，most dear to one another，and dreadful to all besides！”
132 “My father，”said Beatrice，feebly—and still，as she spoke，she kept her hand upon her heart—“wherefore didst thou inflict this miserable doom upon thychild？”
133 “Miserable！”exclaimed Rappaccini。“What mean you，foolish girl？Dost thou deem it misery to be endowed with marvelous gifts，against which no power nor strength could avail an enemy？Misery，to be able to quell the mightiest with a breath？Misery，to be as terrible as thou art beautiful？Wouldst thou，then，have preferred the condition of a weak woman，exposed to all evil，and capable of none？”
134 “I would fain have been loved，not feared，”murmured Beatrice，sinking downupon the ground。—“But now it matters notI am going，father，where the evil，which thou hast striven to mingle with my being，will pass away like a dream—like the fragrance of these poisonous flowers，which will no longer taint my breath among the flowers of Eden。Farewell，Giovanni！Thy words of hatred are like lead within my heart—but they，too，will fall away as I ascend。Oh，was there not，from the first，more poison in thy nature than in mine？”
135 To Beatrice—so radically had her earthly part been wrought upon by Rappaccini’s skill—as poison had been life，so the powerful antidote was death。And thus the poor victim of man’s ingenuity and of thwarted nature，and of the fatality that attends all such efforts of perverted wisdom，perished there，at the feet ofher father and Giovanni。Just at that moment，Professor Pietro Baglioni looked forth from the window，and called loudly，in a tone of triumph mixed with horror，to the thunder-stricken man of science：“Rappaccini！Rappaccini！And is this the upshot of your experiment？”
perverted：adj。不正當的
upshot：n。結果評注：在對純粹科學知識的追求中，拉帕西尼毀掉了自己的女兒，異化了按自然規律生長的花草，也把自己拉入了毀滅的深淵。為了做研究，拉帕西尼“鞠躬盡瘁，死而後已”，結果卻失去了自己的女兒為了追求更多知識，他嘔心瀝血，在所不惜，結果卻被同行斥為“邪惡的騙子”，是為“醫學界崇尚古老法規的人們”所不能容忍的異類。
Comprehension Exercises：
1.Identify the places where Hawthorne alludes to Eden。What purposes do these allusions serve？
2.How does Hawthorne characterize Doctor Rappaccini？What does this characterization suggest about Hawthorne’s attitude toward science？
3.Analyze Baglioni’s behavior at the end of the story。
納撒尼爾·霍桑（1804—1864）：1804年7月8日出生於馬薩諸塞州的薩勒姆鎮，是其清教徒祖先移民北美後的第五代傳人。其第一代移民北美的祖先名叫威廉·霍桑（William Hathorne），1630年來到薩勒姆，擔任了殖民地的治安官，並參與了對貴格會教徒的迫害。其子約翰·霍桑則作為清教徒審判官，參與了1692年薩勒姆迫害“女巫”事件，聲名狼藉。少年納撒尼爾·霍桑後來自作主張，給家族的姓氏增添了一個字母“W”，據說就是要解除一位被害“女巫”的丈夫對霍桑姓氏的詛咒。1864年5月19日在新罕布什爾州的普利茅斯去世，5月23日葬入康考德的睡穀公墓。霍桑，美國文學史上第一個寫作短篇小說的作家。因為受了英國“哥特小說”的影響，霍桑著重描寫超自然的、怪誕的、恐怖的現象。他的小說具有濃厚的浪漫主義色彩，同時也注重心理分析，所以霍桑也是美國文學史上浪漫主義小說中心理分析小說的開創者。