CHAPTER SIX

Pearl

We have spoken very little about Hester's child; a lovely child, who was born out of a guilty love affair. Hester watched her young child carefully as she grew more beautiful and clever with time. Her Pearl! Hester had named her as such, not because the little thing looked like that of a calm, white, and peaceful pearl, but rather because Hester had suffered so greatly for her little treasure, Pearl. An oyster must become greatly disturbed and stressed to produce just one perfectly elegant pearl. Similarly, Hester had suffered greatly when Pearl had come to her. She named the child "Pearl", as costing Hester a great price—bought with all her mother had—her mother's only treasure! How strange, indeed! God had given her this lovely child for her punishment. Although, Hester looked at her little treasure with more worried fear than hope for her future. Day after day, she watched her child's behavior carefully, fearfully waiting to notice some strange evil in her character to punish herself, as well as her mother, for Hester's terrible crime.

Certainly, the little girl looked perfect, with elegant beauty. Together with her own mysterious beauty and charm, her mother had bought the richest of material to dress her daughter in the most elegant of dresses. Walking through the town, with her own loveliness and the impressive clothing she wore, little Pearl looked like perfection. And yet, when the girl played wildly, with dirty and torn clothing, she still looked like a perfect being. Pearl had several aspects; she looked like a child princess, but had the spirit of a wild peasant baby. Throughout all, however, she showed her passion, which she never lost. If she had lost a bit of that passion, she would not have been Pearl any longer!

Pearl was born as a result of a crime of passion, and therefore, could not fit into the world. The child could not follow rules. A great law had been broken for Pearl to be born, and the result was a child whose self was beautiful and with great charm, but all in confusion.

Families of those days were terribly strict, a great deal more than families of today. Children were often punished cruelly. Hester Prynne, the lonely mother of this one wild child, was quite strict with her little treasure, but never forgot how her daughter would suffer in the Puritan society because of Hester's crime. Hester was, therefore, rather tender with the child. But poor Hester did not have the skill to raise her wild daughter. After showing the child great tenderness and strictness, she realized that she had no control over her passionate child, and decided to let the child rule herself. Hester sometimes wondered if her child was indeed human, as her wild behavior and looks were quite strange, not like anything else she had ever seen. At times, after wondering such thoughts, Hester would rush to her child and hold her tightly to her chest, kissing her cheeks—not because of the love she felt for her child, but to assure herself that her dear treasure was real, and not simply a dream.

Hearing Pearl's little laugh as she held her daughter close to her, Hester sometimes began to cry passionate tears. Still, the only times she felt comfort was when the child slept. Then, she was content in the quiet hours of her daughter's sleep, until little Pearl awoke!

Pearl soon began to speak, and was soon capable of communication with the townspeople. Her mother would have been so pleased to hear her sweet voice among the other children's voices, but that could never be. Pearl was born to the hated woman in town, the product of an evil love affair. Little Pearl understood quite well that she was never to have a friend in the town; she was to be alone, just as her mother was. Since Hester came out of prison, she had never walked through the town without her dear child. In all her walks about the town, Pearl, too, was there; first as the baby in her arms, and afterwards as the little girl, small companion of her mother. As she walked next to her mother, she watched the other children playing together, but never tried to make a friend. If someone spoke to her, she would not respond. If the children gathered around her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would throw stones at them, and begin to scream, which greatly upset her mother because her screams sounded like a witch's words.

The truth was that the little Puritans, terrible children as they were, were told to hate the mother and child, although the little ones did not understand fully. They spoke terrible words to Hester and her little daughter often, which greatly upset Pearl, and she, therefore, hated those children with all the hate she had. Hester knew that Pearl's great passion and wild behavior had come from herself, as she had felt those great emotions before Pearl's birth, and Pearl had received them when she was born. Although Hester had such feelings before, she had since become calm after having her child.

At home, around her mother's cottage, Pearl imagined the townspeople, and would create stories to entertain herself. Her baby-voice would become old or young, male or female to talk with. The pine trees, old, dark, and sad-looking, would become the Puritan community leaders; the ugliest weeds in the garden were their children, whom Pearl would angrily tear them out of the ground. Pearl would spend several hours telling stories to herself about the townspeople, although she would never imagine that she had any friends. She never created a friend, but only the bitter children of the town as her enemies. It was rather sad for her mother, who felt that she was the cause for her daughter having no friends!

One strange aspect of the child's behavior has not yet been told. The very first thing that little Pearl noticed was not her mother's smile, but the bright scarlet letter on her mother's chest. One day, as the baby was lying on the bed, her mother leaned over and smiled. At that moment, the baby's eyes turned to the bright color of the scarlet letter, which she then grabbed, smiling as she did. Her mother turned away in shock and horror. After that time, the mother never felt comfort unless her little child was asleep. When she would look into her daughter's dark, beautiful eyes, she did not see herself, but rather a freakish being with an evil spirit.

One afternoon some years later, the mother and child were sitting in the cottage, while Pearl entertained herself with throwing flowers at her mother's chest, dancing and laughing when she would hit the scarlet letter. Hester had wanted to cover the letter, but refused, as she knew it was all a part of her punishment for her crime. She sat patiently, pale as death, looking sadly into little Pearl's wild eyes.

"Child, what are you?" cried the mother.

"Oh, I am your little Pearl!" answered the child.

But, while she said it, Pearl laughed, and began to dance like a freakish little being.

"Are you truly my child?" asked Hester.

Hester secretly suspected that her strange little child knew the secret of her terrible scarlet letter, but the child said nothing.

"Yes; I am little Pearl!" repeated the child as she laughed.

"You are not my child! You are not my Pearl!" said the mother, and started to laugh. She often became playful during her worst suffering. "Tell me, then, what are you and who sent you here?"

"Tell me, Mother!" said the child seriously, coming up to Hester. "Do tell me!"

"Your father is God, who sent you from Heaven!" answered Hester Prynne.

But she was troubled as she said the words, which the child noticed. The child then touched the scarlet letter with her little finger.

"He did not send me!" cried Pearl. "I have no father in Heaven!"

"Quiet, Pearl, do not say such things!" answered the mother, quite disturbed after hearing her daughter's words. "He sent us all here. He sent even me, your mother. Or, if God did not send you here, strange child, where are you from?"

"Tell me! Tell me!" repeated Pearl, no longer seriously, but laughing. "It is you that must tell me!"

But Hester could not tell her. She remembered many of the townspeople, when trying to discover the identity of Pearl's father, and observing some of the child's strange behavior, had declared that the child had come from the devil. There were many stories of evil children being sent to their mothers because of terrible crimes their mothers had committed.

(end of section)