又是霍桑，又是一篇描寫月光的文字。文中的“月光”，其實也可以看作是霍桑多變的文風中的一種：輕柔浪漫，有夢幻色彩，仿佛讓人想起了朱自清那篇著名的《荷塘月色》。
Moonlight and the Spring
Sometimes he watched the moon，pouring a silvery liquid on the clouds，through which it slowly melted till they became all bright;then he saw the same sweet radiance dancing on the leafy trees which rustled as if to shake it off，or sleeping on the high tops of hills，or hovering down in distant valleys，like the material of unshaped dreams;lastly，he looked into the spring，and there the light was mingling with the water. In its crystal bosom，too，beholding all heaven reflected there，he found an emblem of a pure and tranquil breast. He listened to that most ethereal of all sounds，the song of crickets，coming in full choir upon the wind，and fancied that，if moonlight could be heard，it would sound just like that.
From“The Canterbury Pilgrims”by Nathaniel Hawthorne
月光泉水
時而他注視著月亮，看它向云朵灑下道道銀光，慢慢地，云朵里滲進融化的月光，變得通體透亮。一轉眼，那清輝又翩躚在扶疏的枝葉當中，而樹葉沙沙顫動，好像要將那不速之客抖落在地。一會兒月光蟄伏在高山頂上，倏地又盤旋而下，消失在遙遠的山谷里，夢境大概就是這樣不可捉摸的吧。最后，他轉向水泉：在那里，光與水再也不分彼此。當目睹泉水晶瑩，反映出整個天穹的影像，他恍然大悟：這不正代表了一種純粹、平和的心境么?微風送來蟲鳴陣陣，此曲只應天上有，他側耳細聽，并幻想著，如果月光也能夠歌唱，它的歌聲一定就是那樣的。