He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments(裝飾品) of the.seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fete(歡慶日); and it was his own guiding taste which had given character to the masqueraders(參加舞會的人). Be sure they were grotesque(奇怪的). There were much glare(光滑平面) and glitter(閃閃發光) and piquancy(異趣) and phantasm(幽靈)--much of what has been since seen in "Hernani"(埃爾納尼). There were arabesque(阿拉伯式) figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious(精神錯亂、狂喜的) fancies(愛好) such as the madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton(嬉鬧者、蕩婦), much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked(蔓延), in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these--the dreams--writhed in and about taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon(不久), there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away--they have endured(忍耐) but an instant--and a light, half-subdued(減弱的) laughter floats after them as they depart(離去). And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe(痛苦扭曲) to and fro(往復) more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly(向西) of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning(淡卻) away; and there flows a ruddier(微紅的) light through the blood-coloured panes; and the blackness of the sable(黑暗) drapery(布料) appals(駭人之物); and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled(被包裹住的) peal(鐘聲) more solemnly(莊嚴地) emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulged(沉迷) in the more remote gaieties(快樂) of the other apartments.

  他(波洛斯帕王子)在這七個房間裡巡視著。這七個房裡到處都是裝扮華麗、宛若可移動的大型裝飾物的與會者，每個人的打扮都符合他那頗富奇趣的品味──使用大量金屬似地光滑平面、灰暗如同幽靈的詭異裝飾──帶著強烈的埃爾納尼氣息，還有人把自己的衣裝攙入阿拉伯式的不對稱形象。歡樂的氣氛四處亂竄，就像瘋子一般不受控制。美麗的蕩婦嘻聲調笑、醉酒的男士大聲喧鬧，那景象看起來有些瘋狂，讓人謝之不敏，但卻不讓人討厭。在那七間房之後，還有夢似的景象延續。那景象，並非出自於單一的夢，倒像是數個夢的集合體。而這些夢──擁有來自那七彩房的色調。來自主房的樂聲，在此聽起來如同回音。不久之後，那廊邊站立於黑毯之上的黑檀鐘再次響起，一瞬間，一切陷入靜止，安靜使得那鐘聲更顯宏亮，七個空間中如夢似幻的氛圍凍住了，所有人都只是怔怔地站著，然後，鐘聲止息了──但人們還得再忍些時候，等到那鐘聲的回音消失──等到那笑聲，解除這靜止的輕笑聲──那比起之前還要弱上許多的笑聲，驅散那鐘聲的影響。接著，樂聲再次奏起，歡快的氣息再次往復如前，火盆的光在房的色玻璃上，折熠依舊。但是，在那第七間房之中，此時已經沒有任何人願意進去了。隨著夜的退去，晨光透過那猩紅的玻璃闖入內房，落在地上，使得那一地的黑似乎正包裹著某種讓人驚駭之物。而且在這裡與那討人厭的鐘僅有一牆之隔，每當那鐘聲響起，在這裡的人總能更清楚地聽見那鐘音，沉迷的歡快，和在其他房中聽見那鐘聲相比，愉悅被壞的程度，更加顯著。

  But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly(發熱地) the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced(開始) the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept(緩慢進行), with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly(徹底的) sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure(閒暇) to become aware of the presence of a masked figure(人影) which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumour of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly(流言) around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz(嗡嗡作響), or murmur(輕柔持續的沙音), expressive of disapprobation(不以為然) and surprise(詫異)--then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust.

  除了那第七間房外，其他的房間都已經擠滿人了。人們比肩磨腳，沉溺在鐘聲之後再度建構起來的耽樂之中，直到又一次，那鐘樂響起，樂手們停奏快樂的曲調，華爾滋的舞步也端停而止，而我必須說，要停止正在進行中的華爾滋是何其困難，但在這一刻，就連這麼困難的事，也得以達成。現在，有十二下的鐘聲必需敲響。鐘敲著，或許，它敲的實在太慢了，比想像中的，還要慢上許多，就連那回音，消逝的時間，也花得比之前還久，這樣安靜與頓停的時間長到足以使人有觀察四周的閒暇，而就在這閒暇之中，大家都注意到了，有個戴面具的傢伙，就在人群之中，之前大家從未注意到這傢伙，而關於這傢伙的流言很快就傳開了，所有人都對這未顯面目的人竊竊私語，口耳相傳的語調帶著蔑視與詫異──最終，竟帶著害怕、恐懼與噁心。

In an assembly(與會者) of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation(知覺). In truth the masquerade licence(特許) of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod(殘暴的無以附加), and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum(禮節). There are chord(弦)s in the hearts of the most reckless(不在乎的) which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests(笑柄), there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume(裝束) and bearing of the stranger neither wit(機智) nor propriety(禮節) existed. The figure was tall and gaunt(憔悴的), and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments(衣裝) of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage(臉) was made so nearly to resemble the countenance(面容) of a stiffened corpse(屍體) that the closest scrutiny(仔細觀察) must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture(衣著) was dabbled(浸入) in blood--and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled(散佈) with the scarlet horror.

  我曾畫過幽靈聚會的圖，但在我所畫的幽靈之中，還沒有哪個幽靈有著如此懾人眼目的形象。就算這個化妝舞會沒有限定參加者的資格，但就是在王子那般狂蕩不羈的觀念裡，這人也應該要有自知之明，他怎麼可以如此腆不知恥、而且毫無所覺，他的行徑簡直是要他生前死後，都貽笑大方，就算他並沒有表現出任何可笑的行徑。問題出在他的衣著上。他的打扮既無巧思也不得體：又高又瘦的他，從頭到腳，沒有半絲皮膚顯露，就像埋在墓地底下的死人一般；而那遮住臉孔的面具則像屍體僵硬的臉，仔細觀察一下，就會發現，啊，那不是『像』而是『就是』，那就是屍體的臉，這個啞巴似的傢伙把自己搞得像『紅死神』纏身似地，他的衣著是紅的，像是浸了血──面具上的額眉之處，甚至橫列著一道可怕的傷疤。