The Scarlet Letter

How does Hester tell Pearl to act when she sees Dimmesdale at the parade?

The scarlet letter

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‘Mother,’ said she, ‘was that the same minister that

kissed me by the brook?’

‘Hold thy peace, dear little Pearl!’ whispered her mother. ‘We must not always talk in the marketplace of what happens to us in the forest.’

‘I could not be sure that it was he—so strange he looked,’ continued the child. ‘Else I would have run to him, and bid him kiss me now, before all the people, even as he did yonder among the dark old trees. What would

the minister have said, mother? Would he have clapped his hand over his heart, and scowled on me, and bid me begone?’

‘What should he say, Pearl,’ answered Hester, ‘save that it was no time to kiss, and that kisses are not to be given in the market-place? Well for thee, foolish child, that thou didst not speak to him!’

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The Scarlet Letter

Mother,’ said she, ‘was that the same minister that

kissed me by the brook?’

‘Hold thy peace, dear little Pearl!’ whispered her mother. ‘We must not always talk in the marketplace of what happens to us in the forest.’

‘I could not be sure that it was he—so strange he looked,’ continued the child. ‘Else I would have run to him, and bid him kiss me now, before all the people, even as he did yonder among the dark old trees. What would

the minister have said, mother? Would he have clapped his hand over his heart, and scowled on me, and bid me begone?’

‘What should he say, Pearl,’ answered Hester, ‘save that it was no time to kiss, and that kisses are not to be given in the market-place? Well for thee, foolish