《我的生活》_派派后花园

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[Novel] 《我的生活》

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舞矽

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6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看楼主 使用道具 楼主   发表于: 2012-08-22 0
— (左。微希) 我建议你,一章放一个楼层吧,要不然感觉每一楼的内容有点少~~ (2012-08-23 14:35) —
                  
我一直觉得债多不压身。

正文开始:


Chapter 1第1章

It is with a kind of fear that I begin to write the history of my life. I have, as it were, a superstitious hesitation in lifting the veil that clings about my childhood like a golden mist. The task of writing an autobiography is a difficult one. When I try to classify my earliest impressions, I find that fact and fancy look alike across the years that link the past with the present. The woman paints the child's experiences in her own fantasy. A few impressions stand out vividly from the first years of my life; but "the shadows of the prison-house are on the rest." Besides, many of the joys and sorrows of childhood have lost their poignancy; and many incidents of vitalimportance in my early education have been forgotten in the excitement of great discoveries. In order, therefore, not to be tedious I shall try to present in a series of sketches only the episodes that seem to me to be the most interesting and important.我是怀着惴惴不安的心情书写我生活的历史的。在我整个的童年时代,生活犹如笼罩在我身边的一团金色雾霭。冥冥之中,我是懵懂而迟疑地揭开生活的迷帐的。每当我试图分辨孩童时期记忆的时候,我就会发现,往昔的时光美好而真实,它如同一条纽带,同此时此刻的我紧紧相连。女人们通常会以富于想象力的方式来描述自己的童年经历。虽然,那些鲜活而生动的记忆来自我生命的最初时光,但是,“牢房一般的阴暗将伴随着我的余生”。此外,童年时代的欢乐和悲伤大都成为往事前尘,它们已然失去了当时的锋芒;在我接受早期教育过程中的那些重大事件,已经随着更加激动人心的伟大发现而被淡忘。因此,从这个意义上来说,将我生活中那些至关重要的章节做一个全盘性的勾勒,于我倒并不是一件枯燥乏味的工作。

I was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern Alabama.我于1880年6月27日出生在亚拉巴马州北部的一个叫做图斯康比亚的小镇。

The family on my father's side is descended from Caspar Keller, a native of Switzerland, whosettled in Maryland. One of my Swiss ancestors was the first teacher of the deaf in Zurich and wrote a book on the subject of their education—rather a singular coincidence; though it is true that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.我父亲家的先人是来自瑞士的卡斯帕·凯勒家族,他们最初定居在马里兰州。在我的瑞士祖先中,有一个人曾是苏黎世聋哑学校的首位教师,他曾写过一本有关教学生涯的书——这似乎具有某种一脉相承的偶然性;尽管在他的祖先中没有王者,也不曾豢养过一个奴隶,而且,在早期先民之中,也没有奴隶曾隶属于一位王者。

My grandfather, Caspar Keller's son, "entered" large tracts of land in Alabama and finally settledthere. I have been told that once a year he went from Tuscumbia to Philadelphia on horseback topurchase supplies for the plantation, and my aunt has in her possession many of the letters to his family, which give charming and vivid accounts of these trips.我的祖父,卡斯帕·凯勒家族之子,“进入”了亚拉巴马州这片广袤的土地并最终在此定居。我后来得知,曾经有那么一年,祖父骑马从图斯康比亚前往费城,为的是给种植园添置一些耕作用具。在我姑妈寄来的许多家信中,曾对祖父的这些旅行有过生动而清晰的记述。

My Grandmother Keller was a daughter of one of Lafayette's aides, Alexander Moore, and granddaughter of Alexander Spotswood, an early Colonial Governor of Virginia. She was also second cousin to Robert E. Lee.我的祖母凯勒是一个侍从武官的女儿,那名军官叫亚历山大·穆尔;祖母也是亚历山大·斯鲍茨伍德的孙女,这位斯鲍茨伍德先生曾是弗吉尼亚州最早的殖民总督。此外,祖母也是罗伯特·E.李将军的二表妹。

My father, Arthur H. Keller, was a captain in the Confederate Army, and my mother, Kate Adams, was his second wife and many years younger. Her grandfather, Benjamin Adams, married Susanna E. Goodhue, and lived in Newbury, Massachusetts, for many years. Their son, Charles Adams, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and moved to Helena, Arkansas. When the Civil War broke out, he fought on the side of the South and became a brigadier-general. He married Lucy Helen Everett, who belonged to the same family of Everetts as Edward Everett and Dr. Edward EverettHale. After the war was over the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee.我的父亲,亚瑟·H.凯勒是联邦军队中的一个上尉,而我的母亲凯特·亚当斯是他的第二个妻子,两人年龄相差悬殊。母亲的祖父是本杰明·亚当斯,他娶了苏姗娜·E.古德休为妻,他们在马萨诸塞州的纽伯里住了很多年。他们的儿子查尔斯·亚当斯就出生在马萨诸塞州的纽伯里波特,后来他搬到了阿肯色州的海伦娜。当时正值南北战争爆发,他代表南军参战,后来官至准将军衔。他娶了露西·海伦·埃弗里特为妻,露西同爱德华·埃弗里特和爱德华·埃弗里特·黑尔博士同宗同门。战争结束后,夫妻俩搬到了田纳西州的孟菲斯。

I lived, up to the time of the illness that deprived me of my sight and hearing, in a tiny house consisting of a large square room and a small one, in which the servant slept. It is a custom in the South to build a small house near the homestead as an annex to be used on occasion. Such a house my father built after the Civil War, and when he married my mother they went to live in it. It was completely covered with vines, climbing roses and honeysuckles. From the garden it looked like an arbour. The little porch was hidden from view by a screen of yellow roses and Southern smilax. It was the favourite haunt of humming-birds and bees.我一直住在一个狭小的房子里面,直到疾病令我丧失了视觉和听觉。当时的家园是由一个巨大的四方形房间和一个小房间构成的,仆人们都睡在那个小房间里。这源自南方人的习俗,挨着宅第建一座附属的小房子,以备不时之需。宅第是我父亲在内战结束后建造的,在娶了我母亲后,他们就在此定居了。房子完全被葡萄藤、攀爬的蔷薇和金银花覆盖了,从花园望去,那里就像一个巨大的凉亭。而那个小门廊则被满眼的黄玫瑰和南方天冬草所遮蔽。因此这里就变成了蜂雀和蜜蜂最常出没的地方。

The Keller homestead, where the family lived, was a few steps from our little rose-bower. It was called "Ivy Green" because the house and the surrounding trees and fences were covered with beautiful English ivy. Its old-fashioned garden was the paradise of my childhood.凯勒家的宅第距我们家的玫瑰小凉亭只有几步之遥。这里也被叫做“常春藤绿地”,因为房子和周围的树丛及篱笆被美丽的英格兰常春藤所缠绕覆盖。这个老式的花园正是我童年时代的天堂。




[ 此帖被舞矽在2012-08-24 10:49重新编辑 ]
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舞矽

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6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 沙发   发表于: 2012-08-22 0


海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第2期





Even in the days before my teacher came, I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges, and, guided by the sense of smell, would find the first violets and lilies. There, too, after a fit oftemper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass. What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden! Here, also, were trailing clematis, drooping jessamine, and some rare sweet flowers called butterfly lilies, because their fragile petals resemble butterflies' wings. But the roses—they were loveliest of all. Never have I found in the greenhouses of the North such heart-satisfying roses as the climbing roses of my southern home. They used to hang in long festoons from our porch, filling the whole air with their fragrance, untainted by any earthysmell; and in the early morning, washed in the dew, they felt so soft, so pure, I could not help wondering if they did not resemble the asphodels of God's garden.直到我的老师出现之前,我一直习惯于沿着正方形的黄杨木树篱摸索前行。嗅觉是我的向导,通过它,我发现了生命中的第一株紫罗兰花和百合花。正是在这个小花园里,在经历了暴躁情绪的发作之后,我继续寻找令我舒适的感觉,我把自己温热的脸埋进凉飕飕的树叶和草丛之中。将自己迷失在花丛中是如此地令人愉悦,从一个地方寻觅到又一个地方也带给我其乐无穷的*。就在探寻的过程中,我会突然碰到一枝美丽的藤蔓,我会通过它的叶子和花蕾来辨别其形状,而且我知道,这就是那株覆盖着摇摇欲坠的凉亭,远在花园尽头的葡萄藤!在我身边,还有触手可及的铁线莲,垂落于枝叶间的茉莉花,以及一些叫做蝴蝶百合的稀有花卉,这种花的花瓣因其形似蝴蝶那对脆弱易折的翅膀而得名。而玫瑰,则是花园中最傲人的花魁。我从来没有在北方的温室里见过长势如此繁茂的玫瑰,花朵沿着门廊形成了一道长长的花径,空气中弥漫着沁人的芳香,那种清醇的味道丝毫不沾染泥土的浊气。每天早晨,在露水的沐浴中,玫瑰娇柔淳美,这时我就会禁不住展开神思遐想,这些花儿是不是很像上帝花园中的常春花呢?

The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life. I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does. There was the usual amount of discussion as to a name for me. The first baby in the family was not to be lightly named, every one was emphaticabout that. My father suggested the name of Mildred Campbell, an ancestor whom he highlyesteemed, and he declined to take any further part in the discussion. My mother solved the problem by giving it as her wish that I should be called after her mother, whose maiden name was Helen Everett. But in the excitement of carrying me to church my father lost the name on the way, very naturally, since it was one in which he had declined to have a part. When the minister asked him for it, he just remembered that it had been decided to call me after my grandmother, and he gave her name as Helen Adams.就像诸多弱小的生命一样,我生命的伊始朴素而单纯;我来了,我观察,我奋争,如同很多百姓家中第一个孩子所做的一样。为了给我起名字,家人还煞费了一番周章。一个家庭里第一个孩子的名字当然马虎不得,家里的每一个人都参与其中。我的父亲建议给我取名米尔德莱德·坎贝尔,此人是父亲极为崇敬的一位祖先,对于这个名字,父亲拒绝做进一步的商榷。而我的母亲则按照她自己的意愿解决这个问题,她认为我应该随她母亲的姓氏。她母亲少女时代的名字是海伦·埃弗里特。没想到的是,就在一家人兴高采烈地带我去教堂洗礼的路上,父亲把起好的名字给弄丢了,这再自然不过了,因为这是一个父亲本不喜欢的名字。所以,当牧师问他的时候,他才记起来,我的名字还是应该随我外祖母的姓氏,这是早就定好了的,于是他给婴儿取名叫海伦·亚当斯。

I am told that while I was still in long dresses I showed many signs of an eager, self-assertingdisposition. Everything that I saw other people do I insisted upon imitating. At six months I could pipe out "How d'ye," and one day I attracted every one's attention by saying "Tea, tea, tea" quite plainly. Even after my illness I remembered one of the words I had learned in these early months. It was the word "water," and I continued to make some sound for that word after all other speech was lost. I ceased making the sound "wah-wah" only when I learned to spell the word.我从家人口中得知,当我尚在襁褓中的时候,我就显示出了急躁而固执的个性。我会执意模仿别人做的每一件事情。在六个月大时,我就能咿呀说出“你——好”之类的词句。有一天,我十分清晰地说出了“茶,茶,茶”,这引起了家里每一个人的注意。即便是在我生病之后,我仍然记得在我生命最初几个月里所学到的一个词,这个词就是“水”。此后,在我所有的语言功能丧失殆尽后,我就一直模糊地发出“水”这个词的声音,只有在学习拼读的时候,我才会停止说“水——水”。

They tell me I walked the day I was a year old. My mother had just taken me out of the bath-tub and was holding me in her lap, when I was suddenly attracted by the flickering shadows of leaves that danced in the sunlight on the smooth floor. I slipped from my mother's lap and almost ran toward them. The impulse gone, I fell down and cried for her to take me up in her arms.家人还对我讲了我一岁时学走路的情景。那天,母亲把我从澡盆里抱出来,把我放在她的膝盖上。当时,林木婆娑,光影摇曳,我被眼前的景象吸引住了,于是,我从母亲的腿上挣脱出来,试图追逐地上的阴影。这种冲动付出了代价,我跌倒在地,哭叫着扑进母亲的怀里。

These happy days did not last long. One brief spring, musical with the song of robin and mocking-bird, one summer rich in fruit and roses, one autumn of gold and crimson sped by and left their gifts at the feet of an eager, delighted child. Then, in the dreary month of February, came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a new-born baby. They called it acute congestion of the stomach and brain. The doctor thought I could not live. Early one morning, however, the fever left me as suddenly and mysteriously as it had come. There was great rejoicing in the family that morning, but no one, not even the doctor, knew that I should never see or hear again.快乐的日子并没有持续多久。一个短暂的春天,知更鸟和嘲鸫的啁啾余音缭绕;一个花果繁盛的夏天;一个金黄色的秋天——时光倏忽即逝,在一个如饥似渴、欣喜异常的幼儿脚下,季节留下了自己最后的礼物。随后,在一个阴沉萧索的二月,疾病封闭了我的眼睛和耳朵,重新将我抛进一个新生婴儿般的无意识状态。家人们管这种病叫做胃和脑的急性阻塞症。医生认为我活不了了,然而造化弄人,就在某天早晨,我身上的烧突然退了,就像它到来时那样神秘莫测。那天早晨,家中充满了喜悦祥和的气氛,但是没有一个人,连同医生在内,全都不知道我再也看不见,再也听不见了。

I fancy I still have confused recollections of that illness. I especially remember the tendernesswith which my mother tried to soothe me in my waking hours of fret and pain, and the agonyand bewilderment with which I awoke after a tossing half sleep, and turned my eyes, so dry and hot, to the wall, away from the once-loved light, which came to me dim and yet more dim each day. But, except for these fleeting memories, if, indeed, they be memories, it all seems very unreal, like a nightmare. Gradually I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot that it had ever been different, until she came—my teacher—who was to set my spirit free. But during the first nineteen months of my life I had caught glimpses of broad, green fields, aluminous sky, trees and flowers which the darkness that followed could not wholly blot out. If we have once seen, "the day is ours, and what the day has shown."如今,对疾病的回忆仍然会令我感到困惑。我特别记得母亲的悉心呵护,她在我一连数小时的焦躁和疼痛之中尽量抚慰我。我会在睡觉过程中惊悸着醒来,随之而来的是巨大的痛楚和迷惑,我试图转动眼睛,然而它是如此地干涩灼热;我把头扭向墙壁,因为那里曾有迷人的亮光,但是我只能看到暗淡模糊的一片,而且每天都在变暗。除了这些短暂的记忆,也就不曾剩下别样的东西了。事实上,这些回忆如梦似幻,恰如一场噩梦。渐渐地,我变得习惯于被寂静和黑暗所围裹,我也没有意识到这种生活有什么与众不同,直到她——我的老师到来的那一天——她引导我进入了精神自由的境界。总之,在我生命的最初十九个月中,我曾对这个世界匆匆一瞥,广袤的绿色田野,明亮的天空,树木和花丛的印记是随后而来的黑暗所无法抹煞掉的。假如我们曾经看见,“那一天就属于我们,那一天所展示的一切就属于我们”。



舞矽

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等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 板凳   发表于: 2012-08-22 0
海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第3期




Chapter II第二章

I cannot recall what happened during the first months after my illness. I only know that I sat in my mother's lap or clung to her dress as she went about her household duties. My hands felt every object and observed every motion, and in this way I learned to know many things. Soon I felt the need of some communication with others and began to make crude signs. A shake of the head meant "No" and a nod, "Yes," a pull meant "Come" and a push, "Go." Was it bread that I wanted? Then I would imitate the acts of cutting the slices and buttering them. If I wanted my mother to make ice-cream for dinner I made the sign for working the freezer and shivered, indicating cold. My mother, moreover, succeeded in making me understand a good deal. I always knew when she wished me to bring her something, and I would run upstairs or anywhere else she indicated. Indeed, I owe to her loving wisdom all that was bright and good in my long night.在我生病之后的头一个月里发生了什么,我已经记不得了。我只知道我曾坐在母亲的腿上,或者在她做家务的时候紧紧地依附在她的衣服上。我的双手可以感知每一种物体的形状,也可以“观察”每一个移动的物体,正是通过这种方式,我了解了许多事情。后来,我觉得我需要同他人进行交流,于是我开始做出一些简单的举动。比如用摇头表示“不”,用点头表示“行”;往回拉的动作表示“回来”,向外推则表示“去”。如果我想吃面包怎么办?我会模仿切面包片,然后往上涂抹黄油的动作。假如我想让母亲在晚餐时做点冰激凌吃,我就会做出搅动和浑身颤抖的动作,这表示“冰凉”。此外,我的母亲也成功地让我领会了很多事情。当她想让我为她拿东西的时候,我马上就能理解,我会跑到楼上或者她告诉我的其他任何地方。事实上,在夤夜漫漫的生活中,我要感谢母亲用她富于智慧的无私之爱驱除掉我身边的黑暗,让我体会到生命的美好。

I understood a good deal of what was going on about me. At five I learned to fold and put away the clean clothes when they were brought in from the laundry, and I distinguished my own from the rest. I knew by the way my mother and aunt dressed when they were going out, and Iinvariably begged to go with them. I was always sent for when there was company, and when the guests took their leave, I waved my hand to them, I think with a vague remembrance of the meaning of the gesture. One day some gentlemen called on my mother, and I felt the shutting of the front door and other sounds that indicated their arrival. On a sudden thought I ran upstairs before any one could stop me, to put on my idea of a company dress. Standing before the mirror, as I had seen others do, I anointed mine head with oil and covered my face thickly with powder. Then I pinned a veil over my head so that it covered my face and fell in folds down to my shoulders, and tied an enormous bustle round my small waist, so that it dangled behind, almost meeting the hem of my skirt. Thus attired I went down to help entertain the company.我明白我的未来所面临的巨大考验。在我五岁的时候,我学会了把干净的衣服叠好并且收起来,而且,在洗衣房送来的衣物中,我会辨别出哪些是自己的衣服。通过这种方式,我也顺便知道了母亲和姨妈会在什么时候外出。我总是央求她们带我一起去。家里有客人来的时候,我会主动打招呼;当他们走的时候,我会朝他们挥手道别。当然,关于那些手势的记忆是含混不清的。有一天,一些绅士邀请我母亲外出,我感觉到了大门关闭的震动和他们离去的声音。一个突如其来的念头令我跑上了楼,我穿上了外出的礼服,站在镜子前。就像其他人做的那样,我往自己的头上抹油,还往自己的脸上涂满厚厚的香粉。随后,我在头上别了一块面纱,于是我的脸和肩膀全都埋进了面纱的褶皱里。我还在腰间系了一个硕大的绳结,绳结悬垂在身后,几乎碰到了裙角。带着这身打扮,我会下楼逗众人开心。

I do not remember when I first realized that I was different from other people; but I knew it before my teacher came to me. I had noticed that my mother and my friends did not use signs as I did when they wanted anything done, but talked with their mouths. Sometimes I stood between two persons who were conversing and touched their lips. I could not understand, and was vexed. I moved my lips and gesticulated frantically without result. This made me so angry at times that I kicked and screamed until I was exhausted.至于我第一次意识到自己同别人不同时的感受,我已经不记得了;但是在我的老师到来之前,我就知道自己与众不同。我注意到我的母亲和我的朋友们都不像我这样,她们在做事时不会使用手势,而是用嘴交谈就行了。有时候,我会站在两个谈话的大人之间,用手去摸他们的嘴唇。我无法理解,而且懊恼异常。于是,我试着移动自己的嘴唇,并且疯狂而徒劳地进行模仿。无奈的举动令我如此愤怒,我又踢又叫,直至筋疲力尽。

I think I knew when I was naughty, for I knew that it hurt Ella, my nurse, to kick her, and when my fit of temper was over I had a feeling akin to regret. But I cannot remember any instance in which this feeling prevented me from repeating the naughtiness when I failed to get what I wanted.我想,那时候我知道自己的乖戾顽皮,因为我记得我伤害过我的保姆埃拉,我曾踢过她。狂暴过后,我就会生出几分懊悔,但是我不记得这种歉疚感有没有令我的胡闹收敛一些。

In those days a little coloured girl, Martha Washington, the child of our cook, and Belle, an old setter and a great hunter in her day, were my constant companions. Martha Washington understood my signs, and I seldom had any difficulty in making her do just as I wished. It pleased me to domineer over her, and she generally submitted to my tyranny rather than risk a hand-to-hand encounter. I was strong, active, indifferent to consequences. I knew my own mind well enough and always had my own way, even if I had to fight tooth and nail for it. We spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, kneading dough balls, helping make ice-cream, grinding coffee, quarreling over the cake-bowl, and feeding the hens and turkeys that swarmed about the kitchen steps. Many of them were so tame that they would eat from my hand and let me feel them. One big gobbler snatched a tomato from me one day and ran away with it. Inspired, perhaps, by Master Gobbler's success, we carried off to the woodpile a cake which the cook had justfrosted, and ate every bit of it. I was quite ill afterward, and I wonder if retribution also overtook theturkey.在早年的岁月,我有两个忠实的伙伴,那个打扮得花枝招展的小姑娘叫玛莎·华盛顿,她是我家厨师的孩子;还有贝拉,她是一只非常出色的老猎犬。玛莎·华盛顿明白我的手势,所以同她交流我很少遇到困难,她总是能够听命于我。在她面前发号施令让我感到高兴。在通常情况下,她总是迁就于我的蛮横和专制,而且不会冒险同我作正面冲突。我感受着自己的强大,进取,而并不在意后果如何。我十分清楚自己的念头,但总是一意孤行,我甚至会用牙齿和指甲相胁,以此来满足自己的要求。我们花了大量的时间在厨房里帮工,揉面团儿,做冰激凌,研磨咖啡豆,为烤制蛋糕争吵不休,给聚集在厨房台阶上的母鸡和火鸡喂食。这些家禽都很温顺,它们会从我手里取食,从而让我感受到它们的存在。有一天,一只硕大的雄火鸡从我手里叼走了一个番茄,然后迅速跑掉了。当时,或许是受到了“高博勒先生”成功经验的鼓舞,我们赢得了一个蛋糕,厨子刚刚在上面撒了一层糖霜,蛋糕被我们一点一点地吃掉了。后来我生了一场大病,我不知道这是不是因为追赶火鸡而遭受的报应。



舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 地板   发表于: 2012-08-22 0
海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第4期




The guinea-fowl likes to hide her nest in out-of-the-way places, and it was one of my greatest delights to hunt for the eggs in the long grass. I could not tell Martha Washington when I wanted to go egg-hunting, but I would double my hands and put them on the ground, which meant something round in the grass, and Martha always understood. When we were fortunate enough to find a nest I never allowed her to carry the eggs home, making her understand by emphaticsigns that she might fall and break them.珍珠鸡喜欢把巢藏匿在偏僻角落里,我最大的快乐之一就是搜寻草窝里的鸡蛋。我找鸡蛋的时候无法直接对玛莎·华盛顿说,我会攥起拳头,再把它们放在草地上,这表示有什么东西在草地上滚动,而玛莎总能领会我的意图。运气好的话,我们就会找到一个鸡窝,可是我从来不会让玛莎把鸡蛋带回家,我会做出强烈的手势让她明白,她应该把鸡蛋扔在地上打碎。

The sheds where the corn was stored, the stable where the horses were kept, and the yard where the cows were milked morning and evening were unfailing sources of interest to Martha and me. The milkers would let me keep my hands on the cows while they milked, and I often got well switched by the cow for my curiosity.像谷仓,马厩,还有每天早晚给奶牛挤奶的庭院都是我和玛莎最感兴趣的地方。挤奶工给牛挤奶的时候会让我把两手放在牛身上。为了满足自己的好奇心,我经常对牛又拧又掐。

The making ready for Christmas was always a delight to me. Of course I did not know what it was all about, but I enjoyed the pleasant odours that filled the house and the tidbits that were given to Martha Washington and me to keep us quiet. We were sadly in the way, but that did not interferewith our pleasure in the least. They allowed us to grind the spices, pick over the raisins and lick the stirring spoons. I hung my stocking because the others did; I cannot remember, however, that the ceremony interested me especially, nor did my curiosity cause me to wake before daylight to look for my gifts.为圣诞节做准备总会令我欢欣鼓舞。当然,我并不知道这是一个什么样的节日,但是弥漫在房子里的香味令我陶醉其中,而花样繁多的美食也会让我和玛莎·华盛顿安静下来。我们俩也会有不顺心的时候,但是这丝毫也不妨碍我们享受节日的快乐。大人们会允许我们俩帮他们研磨香料,挑拣葡萄干,或者用勺子搅拌馅料。我也像其他人那样把自己的长袜挂起来,虽然不知道为什么这么做,可是这种仪式令我兴味盎然。这倒不是为了好奇,而是因为一觉醒来,我就可以在袜子里找到礼物。

Martha Washington had as great a love of mischief as I. Two little children were seated on the veranda steps one hot July afternoon. One was black as ebony, with little bunches of fuzzy hair tied with shoestrings sticking out all over her head like corkscrews. The other was white, with long golden curls. One child was six years old, the other two or three years older. The younger child was blind--that was I--and the other was Martha Washington. We were busy cutting out paper dolls; but we soon wearied of this amusement, and after cutting up our shoestrings and clipping all the leaves off the honeysuckle that were within reach, I turned my attention to Martha's corkscrews. She objected at first, but finally submitted. Thinking that turn and turn about is fair play, she seized the scissors and cut off one of my curls, and would have cut them all off but for my mother's timely interference.玛莎·华盛顿同我一样喜欢搞恶作剧。记得那年7月一个炎热的午后,有两个小孩儿坐在走廊的台阶上,一个是黑人小姑娘,梳着一束束俏皮的像螺丝锥一样的头发;另一个是白人小姑娘,有着一头长长的金色鬈发。其中一个孩子六岁,另一个只有两岁或三岁大。那个年幼的小孩是个盲童——这个孩子就是我——另一个孩子是玛莎·华盛顿。当时我们俩正埋头剪纸娃娃玩儿,可是没多久我们就厌倦了这个游戏,于是,我们俩又开始剪树叶,我们把能够到的金银花叶子都剪了下来。接着,我开始把注意力转到玛莎那像螺丝锥的头发上,起初她反对我打她头发的主意,但最终还是屈服了。就这样,我们俩轮流玩起了公平的游戏,她抓过剪刀剪掉我的一束鬈发。我想,要不是妈妈及时制止,她一定会把我的头发都剪光的。

Belle, our dog, my other companion, was old and lazy and liked to sleep by the open fire rather than to romp with me. I tried hard to teach her my sign language, but she was dull andinattentive. She sometimes started and quivered with excitement, then she became perfectlyrigid, as dogs do when they point a bird. I did not then know why Belle acted in this way; but I knew she was not doing as I wished. This vexed me and the lesson always ended in a one-sided boxing match. Belle would get up, stretch herself lazily, give one or two contemptuous sniffs, go to the opposite side of the hearth and lie down again, and I, wearied and disappointed, went off in search of Martha.贝拉是我们家的狗,也是我的另一个伙伴,她又老又懒,喜欢在壁炉旁睡觉,而不太愿意同我玩耍。于是我努力教她我的“手势语言”,但是她总是反应迟钝,心不在焉。有时候,她会兴奋得浑身颤抖,变得跃跃欲试,就像狗儿们将目标锁定在一只鸟时所做的那样。我并不知道贝拉为什么会有如此表现,但是我知道她肯定没有按照我的要求去做。这令我十分懊恼,所以,我的训练课总是以对贝拉一通乱捶作为结束。而贝拉则会爬起来伸伸懒腰,然后轻蔑地打一两个响鼻儿,再跑到壁炉的另一边就地一躺。为此,我感到既无奈又失望,最后我只有丢下贝拉去找玛莎玩。

Many incidents of those early years are fixed in my memory, isolated, but clear and distinct, making the sense of that silent, aimless, dayless life all the more intense.早年的很多事情都被我牢牢地记在心里,虽然互不相干,但是它们是如此清晰,宛如历历在目,它们加剧了我对沉寂、无助而迷惘的生活的思考。

One day I happened to spill water on my apron, and I spread it out to dry before the fire which was flickering on the sitting-room hearth. The apron did not dry quickly enough to suit me, so I drew nearer and threw it right over the hot ashes. The fire leaped into life; the flames encircled me so that in a moment my clothes were blazing. I made a terrified noise that brought Viny, my old nurse, to the rescue. Throwing a blanket over me, she almost suffocated me, but she put out the fire. Except for my hands and hair I was not badly burned.记得有一天,我不小心把围裙弄湿了,于是,我把围裙铺在客厅的壁炉边烘烤。湿围裙不会那么快就被烤干的,所以我就让它离火源更近一些,结果正好碰到了余烬。围裙一下子烧着了,火苗围绕在我身边,甚至连我的衣服都被引燃了。我惊慌失措的吵闹惊动了我的老保姆维妮,她急忙跑过来救我。维妮把一条毯子盖在我身上,我给憋得几近窒息,不过她还是把火给扑灭了。所以除了双手和头发被烧了一下外,我并无大碍。


舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 4楼  发表于: 2012-08-22 0
海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第5期


About this time I found out the use of a key. One morning I locked my mother up in the pantry, where she was obliged to remain three hours, as the servants were in a detached part of the house. She kept pounding on the door, while I sat outside on the porch steps and laughed with glee as I felt the jar of the pounding. This most naughty prank of mine convinced my parents that I must be taught as soon as possible. After my teacher, Miss Sullivan, came to me, I sought an early opportunity to lock her in her room. I went upstairs with something which my mother made me understand I was to give to Miss Sullivan; but no sooner had I given it to her than I slammed the door to, locked it, and hid the key under the wardrobe in the hall. I could not be induced to tell where the key was. My father was obliged to get a ladder and take Miss Sullivan out through the window--much to my delight. Months after I produced the key.就是在那个时候,我发现自己会使用钥匙了。一天早晨,我把母亲锁在了储藏室里,她被迫在里面待了三个小时,因为那时仆人们都出去干活了。母亲不停地敲打房门,我能感觉到敲击房门的震动声,可我却坐在走廊的台阶上咯咯地笑。这类令人头疼的恶作剧使我的父母意识到,我必须尽快接受教育。记得在我的老师苏立文小姐到来后,我还找了一个机会把她锁在了自己房间里。当时母亲领我上楼去见苏立文小姐,她想让我明白她要把我交给老师。可是没多久我就砰地一下把门关上,而且还上了锁。然后,我又把钥匙藏在了走廊里的衣橱里。家人并没有哄我交出钥匙。结果,我的父亲只得搬了一把梯子,把苏立文小姐从窗口接了出来。这出小把戏让我高兴了好一阵儿。几个月之后我才交出了钥匙。

When I was about five years old we moved from the little vine-covered house to a large new one. The family consisted of my father and mother, two older half-brothers, and, afterward, a little sister, Mildred. My earliest distinct recollection of my father is making my way through great drifts of newspapers to his side and finding him alone, holding a sheet of paper before his face. I was greatly puzzled to know what he was doing. I imitated this action, even wearing his spectacles, thinking they might help solve the mystery. But I did not find out the secret for several years. Then I learned what those papers were, and that my father edited one of them.在我五岁大的时候,我们从藤萝覆盖的小房子搬到了一个新建的大房子里。这个家庭由我的父母,两个同父异母的哥哥,还有后来出生的小妹妹米尔德莱德组成。我最早而且印象最深的有关父亲的记忆,就是我摇摇晃晃地穿过一堆堆的报纸来到他身边,这时我就会发现他总是独自拿着一沓报纸摆在面前。我会感到极其迷惑,很想知道他在做什么。我也会模仿他的动作,甚至戴上了他的眼镜,因为我想眼镜或许能帮我解开未知的秘密。但是若干年过去了,我没有发现什么秘密。后来我才了解到那些报纸的来历——我的父亲是在对文章进行编辑校对。

My father was most loving and indulgent, devoted to his home, seldom leaving us, except in the hunting season. He was a great hunter, I have been told, and a celebrated shot. Next to his family he loved his dogs and gun. His hospitality was great, almost to a fault, and he seldom came home without bringing a guest. His special pride was the big garden where, it was said, he raised the finest watermelons and strawberries in the county; and to me he brought the first ripe grapes and the choicest berries. I remember his caressing touch as he led me from tree to tree, from vine to vine, and his eager delight in whatever pleased me.我的父亲是那种极其眷顾家庭的人,除了狩猎季节,他很少离开我们。他是一个出色的猎人,有着一手好熗法。在家庭之外,他最爱他的狗和猎熗。另外,他还是一个极其好客的人,这几乎成了他的一个性格弱点,他很少有不带客人回家的时候。他最引以为豪的地方就是我们家的大花园,据说,他培育的西瓜和草莓是全县最好的,我还记得他把最先成熟的葡萄和精选的浆果摘给我吃。他充满慈爱地领着我在果树和藤萝之间穿行,他积极乐观的情绪时刻感染着我。

He was a famous story-teller; after I had acquired language he used to spell clumsily into my hand his cleverest anecdotes, and nothing pleased him more than to have me repeat them at anopportune moment.父亲是一个很会讲故事的人,在我掌握了语言以后,他常常会笨拙地在我手上拼写字词,并以此来讲述他的那些奇闻逸事。在“讲完”故事后,他会让我马上“复述”出来,再也没有什么比重复故事更令他高兴的事了。

I was in the North, enjoying the last beautiful days of the summer of 1896, when I heard the news of my father's death. He had had a short illness, there had been a brief time of acute suffering, then all was over. This was my first great sorrow--my first personal experience with death.1896年,当时我住在北方,正惬意地享受着夏日最后的时光,就是在那个时候,我听到了父亲的死讯。他死于一次突发疾病,经历了短暂的痛苦后,人就这么离去了。父亲的死亡是我人生中第一次感受到的巨大悲恸——也使我第一次对死亡有了自己的认识。

How shall I write of my mother? She is so near to me that it almost seems indelicate to speak of her.我又如何描述我的母亲呢?她离我是那么近,对我而言,用语言来描述她是近乎失礼的举动。

For a long time I regarded my little sister as an intruder. I knew that I had ceased to be my mother's only darling, and the thought filled me with jealousy. She sat in my mother's lapconstantly, where I used to sit, and seemed to take up all her care and time. One day something happened which seemed to me to be adding insult to injury.有很长一段时间,我都把我的小妹妹视做一个入侵者。当时,我知道我已经不再是母亲唯一的宝贝,我的心里充满了嫉妒。妹妹总是坐在母亲的膝盖上,那里本是我坐的位置,而现在却被她完全占领了,她受到了所有的呵护与关爱。有一天,发生了一件不愉快的事情,那件事使我觉得受到了莫大的侮辱。

At that time I had a much-petted, much-abused doll, which I afterward named Nancy. She was, alas, the helpless victim of my outbursts of temper and of affection, so that she became much the worse for wear. I had dolls which talked, and cried, and opened and shut their eyes; yet I never loved one of them as I loved poor Nancy. She had a cradle, and I often spent an hour or more rocking her. I guarded both doll and cradle with the most jealous care; but once I discovered my little sister sleeping peacefully in the cradle. At this presumption on the part of one to whom as yet no tie of love bound me I grew angry. I rushed upon the cradle and over-turned it, and the baby might have been killed had my mother not caught her as she fell. Thus it is that when we walk in the valley of twofold solitude we know little of the tender affections that grow out of endearing words and actions and companionship. But afterward, when I was restored to my human heritage, Mildred and I grew into each other's hearts, so that wewere content to go hand-in-hand wherever caprice led us, although she could not understand my finger language, nor I her childish prattle.那时我有一个成天抱在手里,既宠又恨的洋娃娃,后来我给她起名叫南希。唉,实际上,这个娃娃只是供我发脾气的牺牲品,所以,她总是一副破衣烂衫的样子。我有会说话的洋娃娃,也有会哭和会眨眼睛的洋娃娃,但是我从来都不会像爱我的破南希那样爱她们。南希有一个摇篮,我经常花一个小时甚至更多的时间把她放在摇篮里摇动。我无比关切地守护着娃娃和她的摇篮。但是有一次,我发现我的小妹妹安静地躺在摇篮里熟睡。现在只能做出这样的推测,那时根本就没有爱和亲情的纽带能束缚住我的愤怒。于是,我冲过去把摇篮翻了个个儿,要不是母亲上前抓住了她,妹妹也许会被我杀死。所以说,当我们行走在备感孤独的幽谷之中,我们才会逐渐了解到充满关爱的言行以及友情所带给我们的感动。后来,当我重新恢复了人类友爱的本性后,我和米尔德莱德已经成长为彼此交心的姊妹。无论世事如何变化,我们俩都愿意手拉手地面对眼前的一切,虽然她不懂我的手语,而我也不明白她那些孩子气的语言



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第6期


Chapter 3
第3章

Meanwhile the desire to express myself grew. The few signs I used became less and lessadequate, and my failures to make myself understood were invariably followed by outbursts ofpassion. I felt as if invisible hands were holding me, and I made frantic efforts to free myself. I struggled--not that struggling helped matters, but the spirit of resistance was strong within me; I generally broke down in tears and physical exhaustion. If my mother happened to be near I crept into her arms, too miserable even to remember the cause of the tempest. After awhile the need of some means of communication became so urgent that these outbursts occurred daily, sometimes hourly.在成长的过程中,我越来越渴望表达自己的意愿,但是我使用的几个简单的手势已经远远不够用了;而且,当我无法表明自己的意图时,我就会气急败坏。我感到似乎有一双看不见的手正在抓着我,而我则拼命地想挣脱束缚。我努力抗争——当然并不是希求解决问题,而是想为我内心深处强烈的反抗精神寻找出路。我通常会哭闹不止,直至筋疲力尽。如果母亲碰巧在身边,我会悄悄地钻进她的怀里。我伤心至极,乃至于忘记了愤怒的原因。后来,这种情绪的爆发在每天,或者每小时都会发生,因此,对于交流的需求于我是如此地迫切。

My parents were deeply grieved and perplexed. We lived a long way from any school for the blind or the deaf, and it seemed unlikely that any one would come to such an out-of-the-way place as Tuscumbia to teach a child who was both deaf and blind. Indeed, my friends and relatives sometimes doubted whether I could be taught. My mother's only ray of hope came from Dickens's "American Notes." She had read his account of Laura Bridgman, and remembered vaguely that she was deaf and blind, yet had been educated. But she also remembered with a hopeless pang that Dr. Howe, who had discovered the way to teach the deaf and blind, had been dead many years. His methods had probably died with him; and if they had not, how was a little girl in a far-off town in Alabama to receive the benefit of them?我的父母陷入了深深的痛苦和困惑之中。当时,我们家离任何一所盲人或聋哑学校都很远,而且,似乎也不会有任何人能跑到像图斯康比亚这种偏僻的地方,就为了教一个又聋又瞎的小孩子。事实上,我的朋友和亲属们一度怀疑我真的能否接受教育。我母亲唯一的希望来自狄更斯的《美国札记》,她曾读过他写的劳拉·布里吉曼的故事,而且她隐约记得那个女孩子也是又聋又瞎,然而却接受了正规教育。不过她也感到希望渺茫,因为豪博士,也就是探索传授盲聋人知识的先驱,已经去世很多年了。而豪博士的教育方法也许会随着他的去世而消亡,果真如此,那么一个住在亚拉巴马偏远小镇的小姑娘又如何从中受益呢?

When I was about six years old, my father heard of an eminent oculist in Baltimore, who had been successful in many cases that had seemed hopeless. My parents at once determined to take me to Baltimore to see if anything could be done for my eyes.我六岁大的时候,我的父亲听说在巴尔的摩有一个著名的眼科医生,他曾成功地医治过许多看似无望的病人。于是,我的父母决定带我去巴尔的摩,看看是不是能治好我的眼睛。

The journey, which I remember well, was very pleasant. I made friends with many people on the train. One lady gave me a box of shells. My father made holes in these so that I could stringthem, and for a long time they kept me happy and contented. The conductor, too, was kind. Often when he went his rounds I clung to his coat tails while he collected and punched the tickets. His punch, with which he let me play, was a delightful toy. Curled up in a corner of the seat Iamused myself for hours making funny little holes in bits of cardboard.那是一次愉快的旅行,我依然有着十分清晰的记忆。在火车上,我同许多人成了朋友。有位女士送给我一盒贝壳。我父亲在上面钻出孔洞,这样我就可以把贝壳串在一起,很长时间我都沉醉其中,乐此不疲。列车长也是个友善的人,当他在车厢里四处走动,为乘客检票打孔的时候,我常会靠在他的衣摆上。他还让我玩他的打孔器,那实在是一种很有趣的玩具。我蜷缩在座位的角落里自得其乐,一连好几个小时在一片片纸板上打洞玩。



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第7期




My aunt made me a big doll out of towels. It was the most comical shapeless thing, thisimprovised doll, with no nose, mouth, ears or eyes—nothing that even the imagination of a child could convert into a face. Curiously enough, the absence of eyes struck me more than all the other defects put together. I pointed this out to everybody with provoking persistency, but no one seemed equal to the task of providing the doll with eyes. A bright idea, however, shot into my mind, and the problem was solved. I tumbled off the seat and searched under it until I found my aunt's cape, which was trimmed with large beads. I pulled two beads off and indicated to her that I wanted her to sew them on my doll. She raised my hand to her eyes in a questioning way, and I nodded energetically. The beads were sewed in the right place and I could not contain myself for joy; but immediately I lost all interest in the doll. During the whole trip I did not have one fit oftemper, there were so many things to keep my mind and fingers busy.我的姑妈用毛巾给我做了一个大布娃娃。这是一个滑稽而怪异的玩偶,大概是准备得过于仓促,娃娃没有鼻子、嘴、耳朵和眼睛——甚至凭借一个小孩子的想象力都无法拼凑出娃娃的脸孔。可十分奇怪的是,我并不在乎娃娃头上的其他器官,唯独眼睛的缺失深深触动了我。我固执地向大家指出我的发现,可是似乎没有一个人能够为娃娃添加一双眼睛。然而,由于我的灵机一动,难题终于得到了解决。我翻下座位开始摸索,直到发现了姑妈的披肩,而披肩上面装饰着不少大珠子。我揪下来两颗珠子,并且示意姑妈帮我把它缝到娃娃身上。于是姑妈把我的手放在了她的眼睛上面,而我则使劲地点头。结果,珠子被缝到了恰当的位置,我简直无法抑制住自己的兴奋。可是很快我就失去了对布娃娃的所有兴趣。在旅途中,我没有发过一次脾气,因为有太多的事情让我的头脑和手指忙于应付。

When we arrived in Baltimore, Dr. Chisholm received us kindly: but he could do nothing. He said, however, that I could be educated, and advised my father to consult Dr. Alexander Graham Bell of Washington, who would be able to give him information about schools and teachers of deaf or blind children. Acting on the doctor's advice, we went immediately to Washington to see Dr. Bell, my father with a sad heart and many misgivings, I wholly unconscious of his anguish, finding pleasure in the excitement of moving from place to place. Child as I was, I at once felt thetenderness and sympathy which endeared Dr. Bell to so many hearts, as his wonderful achievements enlist their admiration. He held me on his knee while I examined his watch, and he made it strike for me. He understood my signs, and I knew it and loved him at once. But I did not dream that that interview would be the door through which I should pass from darkness into light, from isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge, love.我们来到巴尔的摩,切斯霍尔姆医生热情地接待了我们,但是他并没有对我做任何治疗。他对父亲说,我应该接受教育,并且建议父亲向华盛顿的亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔博士进行咨询,他可以告诉我们关于聋哑和盲童学校的师资情况。按照医生的建议,我们立刻前往华盛顿去见贝尔博士。我的父亲疑虑重重,感到前途未卜。而我完全没有意识到他的痛苦,只是觉得在路途间往来其乐无穷。虽然是个小孩子,可我马上就感到了贝尔博士的善良和强烈的同情心,当时他功成名就,深受世人敬仰。他把我抱在他的膝盖上,我对他的怀表产生了兴趣,为了让我明白,他不停地敲打怀表。他理解我的手势,我知道这一点,立刻就喜欢上了他。但是我并不抱什么幻想,把这次会晤当成是一扇引领我从黑暗走向光明,从孤独走向友谊、关怀、知识和爱的大门。

Dr. Bell advised my father to write to Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston, the scene of Dr. Howe's great labours for the blind, and ask him if he had a teacher competentto begin my education. This my father did at once, and in a few weeks there came a kind letter from Mr. Anagnos with the comforting assurance that a teacher had been found. This was in the summer of 1886. But Miss Sullivan did not arrive until the following March.贝尔博士建议我父亲给阿纳戈诺斯先生写封信,他是波士顿帕金斯学院的院长,也是豪博士伟大事业的继承人。贝尔博士的意思是,看看阿纳戈诺斯先生那里有没有一位能够教我的老师。我的父亲立即写了信。几个星期后,阿纳戈诺斯先生便回了一封热情洋溢的信,他让我们放心,说已经为我们找到了一位老师。这件事发生在1886年夏天,那时苏立文小姐还没有来,她是来年三月才到的。

Thus I came up out of Egypt and stood before Sinai, and a power divine touched my spirit and gave it sight, so that I beheld many wonders. And from the sacred mountain I heard a voice which said, "Knowledge is love and light and vision."就这样,我走出埃及,站在了西奈山前。一股神圣的力量触摸着我的灵魂,它不但带给了我光明,还让我“看”到了许多奇迹。我似乎听到了那个来自圣山的声音:“知识是爱,是光,是佳地。”



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第8期




Chapter IV第四章

The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.在我的一生中,最令我刻骨铭心的一天就是我的老师,安妮·曼斯菲尔德·苏立文的到来。我心里充满了惊奇,我认为在两个将命运联系在一起的人之间一定存在着无限的差异。那天是1887年3月3日,三个月后我就满七岁了。

On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusualwas about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face. My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deeplanguor had succeeded this passionate struggle.那天下午,我站在门廊里,似乎在默默地期待着什么。我从房间里人们忙前忙后的动静,以及母亲的手势里隐约地猜到,家里要有什么事发生。所以,我就走出房门坐在台阶上等着。午后的阳光穿透门廊上茂密的金银花藤,暖暖地洒落在我仰起的脸上。我的手指不由自主地游移在那些熟悉的叶片和花蕾之间,初生的枝蔓似乎也忙不迭地向南方的春日致意。我不知道我的未来会发生什么样的奇迹,一连好几个星期,懊恼和苦闷折磨着我,深深的无助感令我抗争不得。

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummetand sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.你是否曾到过浓雾笼罩的海面?一团白色的雾霭将你彻底封闭,而你脚下的那条大船,则焦虑不安地摸索前行,它边走边用铅锤和探深绳寻找着靠岸的航道。那么你呢?就带着怦怦的心跳等待着未知事物的发生?在接受正式教育之前,我就像那艘漂荡在迷雾中的船,只是我没有指南针和探深绳,也无从知晓港口的远近。“光!给我光明!”这是发自我灵魂深处无言的呐喊,每分每秒,我都想把自己沐浴在爱的光明之中。

I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother. Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.我感觉到了走近的脚步声,我伸出手,就像迎接母亲那样。有个人抓住了我的手,我被她紧紧地抱在怀中,她就是来向我揭示万事万物的人。事实上,比揭示万事万物更为重要的是,她爱我。

The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll. The little blind children at the Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not know this until afterward. When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word "d-o-l-l." I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with childish pleasure andpride. Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.我记得在老师到来之后的次日早晨,她领我来到了她的房间,还给了我一个布娃娃。这个娃娃是帕金斯学院的一个小盲童送给苏立文小姐的。劳拉·布里吉曼还给娃娃做了衣服穿,我也是后来才知道娃娃的来历的。当时,我玩了一会儿手上的娃娃,苏立文小姐则慢慢地在我手上拼写“doll”这个词。我立刻对这种手指游戏产生了兴趣,并且努力模仿。最终,我正确地拼写出了单词,我难以抑制我的快乐和自豪。后来,我跑到楼下母亲身旁,我举起手,然后在上面拼写出“娃娃”的单词。当时,我并不知道我拼写的是一个单词,我甚至不知道那些字词是否存在,我只是调皮地用手指加以模仿而已。在随后的几天里,我用这种懵懂的方式学会了拼写很多词,其中有像“pin,bat,cup”这样的名词,还有一些像“sit,stand,walk”之类的动词。事实上,我是在和老师待了好几星期后,才知道每件东西都有一个名字。



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第9期




One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled "d-o-l-l" and tried to make me understand that "d-o-l-l" applied to both. Earlier in the day we had had a tussle over the words "m-u-g" and "w-a-t-e-r." Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that "m-u-g" is mug and that "w-a-t-e-r" is water, but I persisted in confounding the two. In despair she had dropped the subject for the time, only to renew it at the firstopportunity. I became impatient at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still, dark world in which I lived there was no strong sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of mydiscomfort was removed. She brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine. This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called a thought, made me hop and skipwith pleasure.有一天,我正在和我的新布娃娃玩的时候,苏立文小姐就把我的那个大破娃娃放在了我的膝盖上,她教我拼写“doll”,而且试图使我明白,这两个娃娃都叫“doll”。还有一次,我们在单词“mug”和“water”之间争得不可开交。苏立文小姐极力向我强调“水杯是水杯,水是水”,可是我固执地把两样东西混为一谈。无奈之下,她不再同我争辩,而是从头开始教我。我对她翻来覆去的重复不胜厌烦,于是我一把抓过新娃娃,把它猛地摔在地上。我感觉到了娃娃在我脚下四分五裂,只觉得心里十分痛快。既不悲伤,也不愧疚,我的情绪就那样爆发了,我不再爱那个娃娃。显然,在我生活的寂静、黑暗的世界里,是没有强烈的柔情和关爱的。我感觉到我的老师把娃娃的残肢扫到了壁炉旁边。我的懊恼也随之被移走了,我感到心满意足。后来,老师拿来了我的帽子,我知道我要去外面晒太阳了。这样的念头——如果这种无声的感觉能够被称作一个念头的话,那么它会令我感到欢欣鼓舞。

We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten--a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.*我们走在通往大房子的路上,金银花的芬芳令人心旷神怡。有人开始压水,我的老师则把我的手放在了水管边上。当一股清冽的水流喷涌到我的一只手上时,她就在我的另一只手上拼写“water”这个词,起初是慢慢地,后来变得飞快。蓦然间,我感觉到一种被遗忘了的朦胧意识——或者说,一种沉睡意识的回归和觉醒;神秘的语言世界展现在我面前。于是我知道了“water”的意思是奇妙而凉爽的东西从我的手上流过。这个具有生命力的词语唤醒了我的灵魂,它带给了我光明、希望、欢乐,将我置于一个无限自由的空间!虽然感官的藩篱依然存在,但是藩篱必将会被及时地清理干净。

I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.我离开了大房子,极其渴望了解更广阔的世界。对我而言,每一样东西都有一个名字,每一个名字都是一种新思想的诞生。当我们回到家里,我碰到的每一件物体似乎都对我的生命产生了触动。这是因为我以一种陌生而新奇的眼光来看待这些东西。进门的时候,我想起了那个被我摔坏的洋娃娃。我摸索着走到壁炉前,蹲在地上捡起了娃娃的碎片。我徒劳地想把它们拼凑在一起,我的眼里噙满了泪水,因为我意识到了自己的所作所为,有生以来第一次,我感到既懊悔又伤心。

I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them--words that were to make the worldblossom for me, "like Aaron's rod, with flowers." It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.那天,我学习了大量的新词汇。虽然已经记不全了,但是有几个词我永远都不会忘记——“母亲,父亲,姐妹,老师”——这些词语把我带进了一个缤纷的世界,“就像亚伦的魔杖,一挥之下,遍生花丛”。不妨说,你很难找到一个像我这般快乐的小孩。在具有意义的那一天结束之时,我躺在自己的儿童床里。它把我带进了喜悦的生活之中,我第一次迫不及待地期盼着新的一天的来临。



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第10期




Chapter V第五章

I recall many incidents of the summer of 1887 that followed my soul's sudden awakening. I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.我想起了许多1887年夏天发生的事,正是这些事激发了我灵魂的觉醒。那时我做不了什么,可是我会用自己的双手去探索,去认知我触摸到的每一件物体。我摸到的东西越多,了解这些东西的名称和用途越广,我对自己同世界血脉相连的感受就越强烈,我的喜悦之情和信心也随之增长。

When the time of daisies and buttercups came Miss Sullivan took me by the hand across the fields, where men were preparing the earth for the seed, to the banks of the Tennessee River, and there, sitting on the warm grass, I had my first lessons in the beneficence of nature. I learned how the sun and the rain make to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, how birds build their nests and live and thrive from land to land, how the squirrel, the deer, the lion and every other creature finds food and shelter. As my knowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in. Long before I learned to do a sum in arithmetic or describe the shape of the earth, Miss Sullivan had taught me to find beauty in thefragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and in the curves and dimples of my baby sister's hand. She linked my earliest thoughts with nature, and made me feel that "birds and flowers and I were happy peers."当雏菊和毛茛争芳吐艳的时候,苏立文小姐牵着我的手穿过田野。沿着田纳西河的两岸,农人们正在做着播种的准备。坐在温暖的草地上,我首次感受到了大自然对人类的馈赠。我了解到了阳光和雨水如何滋润土地上的每一棵树木,令它们长势繁茂,开花结果。我还知道了鸟儿们如何搭建巢穴,如何迁徙生存;松鼠、鹿、狮子和各种动物如何觅食逃生。随着知识的增长,我对我所生存的这个世界越来越感兴趣。很早以前我就学会了做算术题,或者描述大地的轮廓。苏立文小姐教我学会了发现之美——在芬芳林木的拥抱中,在每一片草叶上,在我小妹妹蜷曲柔弱、像长了酒窝的小手上,我的确找到了美。她将我人生最初的思想同大自然连接在一起,她让我感受到了“鸟儿、花朵和我都是快乐的同伴”。

But about this time I had an experience which taught me that nature is not always kind. One day my teacher and I were returning from a long ramble. The morning had been fine, but it was growing warm and sultry when at last we turned our faces homeward. Two or three times we stopped to rest under a tree by the wayside. Our last halt was under a wild cherry tree a short distance from the house. The shade was grateful, and the tree was so easy to climb that with my teacher's assistance I was able to scramble to a seat in the branches. It was so cool up in the tree that Miss Sullivan proposed that we have our luncheon there. I promised to keep still while she went to the house to fetch it.正是在那个时候,我也有了一种个人体验,那就是大自然并不总是温情脉脉的。一天,我和老师正从一次长距离散步中返回。那天一早的天气还是好好的,但是当我们往家走的时候就变得燠热难耐起来。有那么两三次,我们停在路边的大树下歇息。最后,我们来到了离家不远的一棵野生樱桃树下。树荫下凉爽宜人,那棵树也很容易攀爬,在老师的帮助下,我还能爬到树上骑在枝桠间。坐在树枝间的感觉妙不可言,苏立文小姐打算在这里进行我们的午餐。我答应她坐在树杈上不动,于是老师去家里拿午饭。

Suddenly a change passed over the tree. All the sun's warmth left the air. I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strange odour came up from the earth. I knew it, it was the odour that always precedes a thunderstorm, and a nameless fear clutched at my heart. I felt absolutely alone, cut off from my friends and the firm earth. The immense, the unknown, enfolded me. I remained still and expectant; a chillingterror crept over me. I longed for my teacher's return; but above all things I wanted to get down from that tree.突然,有一种变化从树丛之间扫过。周围所有的光和热都散去了,我知道天色变黑了,因为所有的热度,对我而言也意味着光,已经消失在了空气之中。接着,地上也泛起一股奇怪的味道,在一场雷雨到来之前,我总会闻到这种味道。一种难以名状的恐惧攫住了我的心,我感到了彻底的孤立无助,某种力量切断了我同朋友和坚实大地的联系。浩瀚、未知的气氛将我紧紧围裹,我伫立不动,翘首企盼,一阵惊骇感袭遍了我的全身。我急切地盼着老师快些返回,一心想从树上爬下来。



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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第11期


There was a moment of sinister silence, then a multitudinous stirring of the leaves. A shiver ran through the tree, and the wind sent forth a blast that would have knocked me off had I not clung to the branch with might and main. The tree swayed and strained. The small twigs snapped andfell about me in showers. A wild impulse to jump seized me, but terror held me fast. I crouched down in the fork of the tree. The branches lashed about me. I felt the intermittent jarring that came now and then, as if something heavy had fallen and the shock had traveled up till it reached the limb I sat on. It worked my suspense up to the highest point, and just as I was thinking the tree and I should fall together, my teacher seized my hand and helped me down. I clung to her, trembling with joy to feel the earth under my feet once more. I had learned a new lesson--that nature "wages open war against her children, and under softest touch hides treacherous claws."
接着,是片刻的宁静,令人产生不祥的预感。随后,周围的树叶大肆抖动起来,我身下的樱桃树发出一阵震颤,如果不是我用尽力气紧紧抱住树干,迎面而来的一股狂风就会把我掀到地上。树摇晃得很厉害,在风雨的裹挟下,我身边的小树枝噼啪作响,似乎在嘲笑我的渺小。一阵狂暴的悸动攫住了我,恐惧感令我难以自抑。我蜷缩在树杈之间,任凭枝叶的鞭打。我断断续续地感到了身边强烈的震动,仿佛有某种重物坠落。震颤在头顶上划过,一直传到了我身下的树杈上。我的不安已经达到了极限,因为我觉得我和大树会一起倒下。幸好我的老师及时抓住了我的手,把我从树上弄下来。我紧紧地依附在老师身边,高兴得浑身颤抖,我又一次感受到了脚下坚实的土地。我想我已经学会了新的一课——大自然时常会“向她的子民公然发起战争,在其最温柔的触摸之下,隐藏着一双险恶的利爪”。

After this experience it was a long time before I climbed another tree. The mere thought filled me with terror. It was the sweet allurement of the mimosa tree in full bloom that finally overcame my fears. One beautiful spring morning when I was alone in the summer-house, reading, I became aware of a wonderful subtle fragrance in the air. I started up and instinctively stretched out my hands. It seemed as if the spirit of spring had passed through the summer-house. "What is it?" I asked, and the next minute I recognized the odour of the mimosa blossoms. I felt my way to the end of the garden, knowing that the mimosa tree was near the fence, at the turn of the path. Yes, there it was, all quivering in the warm sunshine, its blossom-laden branches almost touching the long grass. Was there ever anything so exquisitely beautiful in the world before! Its delicateblossoms shrank from the slightest earthly touch; it seemed as if a tree of paradise had been transplanted to earth. I made my way through a shower ofpetals to the great trunk and for one minute stood irresolute; then, putting my foot in the broad space between the forked branches, I pulled myself up into the tree. I had some difficulty in holding on, for the branches were very large and the bark hurt my hands. But I had a delicious sense that I was doing something unusual and wonderful, so I kept on climbing higher and higher, until I reached a little seat which somebody had built there so long ago that it had grown part of the tree itself. I sat there for a long, long time, feeling like a fairy on a rosy cloud. After that I spent many happy hours in my tree of paradise, thinking fair thoughts and dreaming bright dreams.在经历了这件事之后,有很长一段时间,我都没有再爬树。我留下来的唯一记忆就是恐惧。但是,金合欢树盛开的花朵和迷人的芬芳终于使我战胜了恐惧。那是一个春天的早晨,我正独自在凉亭里阅读。渐渐地,我觉察到空气中弥漫着一股淡淡的香气。于是,我一下子站起来,本能地伸出双手,仿佛在探寻着穿过凉亭的春天的气息。“这是什么东西?”我在心里发出疑问。紧接着,我就认出了这是金合欢花的气味。我摸索着来到花园尽头,我知道那棵金合欢树就在篱笆附近小路的拐角处。不错,它就在那里,在和煦的阳光下,金合欢树轻轻摇曳,它那缀满花朵的枝桠几乎垂到了长长的草丛上。世上怎么会有如此精巧美丽的花朵!即使是最轻微的触动,它那精致的花瓣也会立刻回缩并拢,就像是一棵天堂之树被移植到了人间。拨开繁茂的花枝,我走到了巨大的树干下面。我先是犹豫地站了一小会,然后,我把双脚放在了树杈之间的宽阔地带,并且开始向上攀。保持攀登姿态相当吃力,因为树干非常粗大,树皮还磨破了我的双手。可是我依然斗志昂扬,沉浸在征服困难的喜悦之中。我继续往高处爬,一直爬到了一个凳子上。这个小凳子是很早以前的什么人绑在这里的,如今,它已经长成了大树的一部分。在高高的树杈之间,我坐了很长时间,我觉得自己就像一个坐在玫瑰祥云上的仙女。一连好几个小时,我在这棵天堂之树上展开神思遐想,做了一个又一个有关光明的梦。




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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第12期



Chapter VI第6章

I had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it. Children who hear acquirelanguage without any particular effort; the words that fall from others' lips they catch on the wing, as it were, delightedly, while the little deaf child must trap them by a slow and often painful process. But whatever the process, the result is wonderful. Gradually from naming an object we advance step by step until we have traversed the vast distance between our first stammeredsyllable and the sweep of thought in a line of Shakespeare.如今,我已经掌握了学习所有语言的关键,而且我渴望学以致用。对那些正常的孩子而言,他们学习语言并不需要特别的努力,就能够领会从别人唇间吐出的词汇,这是一个令人欣喜的过程。而对于一个聋哑小孩而言,掌握语言必须要经过一番缓慢而痛苦的学习过程。但无论是哪一种过程,其结果都会令人无比愉悦。渐渐地,我们从说出一种物体的名字,一步步发展到在更广阔的疆域里自由驰骋——从第一次发出结结巴巴的音节,到在莎士比亚的诗行间沉思,我们穿越了遥远的征途。

At first, when my teacher told me about a new thing I asked very few questions. My ideas werevague, and my vocabulary was inadequate; but as my knowledge of things grew, and I learned more and more words, my field of inquiry broadened, and I would return again and again to the same subject, eager for further information. Sometimes a new word revived an image that some earlier experience had engraved on my brain.起初,当我的老师讲解一件新事物时,我几乎问不出什么问题。我的意识是模糊的,我的词汇也是贫乏的,但是随着接触事物的增加,我学会的词汇也越来越多。我问询的范围变宽广了,我一次又一次地周旋于同一个主题,我渴望深入了解事物的方方面面。有时候,一个新词会勾起我对早期经历的一些记忆。

I remember the morning that I first asked the meaning of the word, "love." This was before I knew many words. I had found a few early violets in the garden and brought them to my teacher. She tried to kiss me; but at that time I did not like to have any one kiss me except my mother. Miss Sullivan put her arm gently round me and spelled into my hand, "I love Helen."我记得有一天早上,我第一次询问“爱”这个词的含义,这是我早就知道的一个词。当时,我在花园里发现了几株刚刚开放的紫罗兰,于是我把花朵带给了我的老师。老师试图吻我,但是在那个时候,除了母亲,我不喜欢被任何人亲吻。苏立文小姐轻轻地用胳膊揽着我,并且在我手上拼写“我爱海伦”。

"What is love?" I asked.“爱是什么?”我“问”道。

She drew me closer to her and said, "It is here," pointing to my heart, whose beats I wasconscious of for the first time. Her words puzzled me very much because I did not thenunderstand anything unless I touched it.她把我拉到她身边,对我“说”:“爱就在这里”,然后就指着我的心。这是我第一次意识到了它的跳动。老师的话令我迷惑不解,因为那时候我还不能理解无形的东西,除非我能用手摸到它。

I smelt the violets in her hand and asked, half in words, half in signs, a question which meant, "Is love the sweetness of flowers?"我闻着老师手里的紫罗兰,一边拼写单词,一边用手势比画,我想问的问题是:“爱是这些可爱的花朵吗?”

"No," said my teacher.“不。”我的老师对我说。

Again I thought. The warm sun was shining on us.于是我再次揣摩这个词。暖洋洋的阳光照在我和老师身上。

"Is this not love?" I asked, pointing in the direction from which the heat came. "Is this not love?"“这个是爱吗?”我指着发出热量的方向“问”老师,“这个不是爱吗?”

It seemed to me that there could be nothing more beautiful than the sun, whose warmth makes all things grow. But Miss Sullivan shook her head, and I was greatly puzzled and disappointed. I thought it strange that my teacher could not show me love.在我看来,世界上再也没有什么比太阳更美丽的东西了,它发出的光和热令万物生生不息。可是苏立文小姐仍然摇着头,我陷入了深深的困惑和失望之中。真是奇怪,为什么老师不能把“爱”展示给我看呢?

A day or two afterward I was stringing beads of different sizes in symmetrical groups--two large beads, three small ones, and so on. I had made many mistakes, and Miss Sullivan had pointed them out again and again with gentle patience. Finally I noticed a very obvious error in thesequence and for an instant I concentrated my attention on the lesson and tried to think how I should have arranged the beads. Miss Sullivan touched my forehead and spelled with decidedemphasis, "Think."记得大约在一两天之后,我正把不同大小的珠子均匀地串在一起——先串两个大的,再串三个小的,以次类推。可我总是搞错,苏立文小姐十分耐心地把串错的珠子一一指出来。终于,我注意到了一个很明显的次序错误,就在那一瞬间,我把自己的注意力完全集中在了手工课上,我该如何解决珠子的顺序问题呢?苏立文小姐摸着我的额头,很有力地拼写出“think”这个词。

In a flash I knew that the word was the name of the process that was going on in my head. This was my first conscious perception of an abstract idea.刹那间,我明白了这个词语就是我头脑运行过程的产物,这是我对一个抽象概念的初次认识。




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6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第13期



For a long time I was still—I was not thinking of the beads in my lap, but trying to find a meaning for "love" in the light of this new idea. The sun had been under a cloud all day, and there had been brief showers; but suddenly the sun broke forth in all its southern splendour.
有很长时间,我并没有把心思放在腿上的珠子上。随着新念头的迸发,我试图找到“爱”的含义。当时,太阳已经被云层遮盖,随后还下了一阵雨,可是顷刻之间,南方的太阳便喷薄出它那特有的光芒。

Again I asked my teacher, "Is this not love?"我又一次问我的老师:“这个是爱吗?”

"Love is something like the clouds that were in the sky before the sun came out," she replied. Then in simpler words than these, which at that time I could not have understood, she explained: "You cannot touch the clouds, you know; but you feel the rain and know how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either; but you feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Without love you would not be happy or want to play."“在太阳出来之前,爱有点像天上的云彩。”老师回答道。显然,如此简单的回答还是使我无法理解。老师继续解释道:“要知道,你无法摸到云彩,可是你能感知雨水的降落;你也知道,在经历了整天的酷热后,那些花儿和干旱的土地是多么渴望雨露的滋润。虽然你不能触摸到爱,但是你能感觉到雨水滋养万物的美好。所以说,如果没有爱,你一定不会快乐,也没有心思玩耍了。”

The beautiful truth burst upon my mind—I felt that there were invisible lines stretched between my spirit and the spirits of others.真理之美蓦然出现在我的头脑里——在我的灵魂和其他人的灵魂之间,延伸出一条条看不见的连线。

From the beginning of my education Miss Sullivan made it a practice to speak to me as she would speak to any hearing child; the only difference was that she spelled the sentences into my hand instead of speaking them. If I did not know the words and idioms necessary to express my thoughts she supplied them, even suggesting conversation when I was unable to keep up my end of the dialogue.从我接受教育的第一天开始,苏立文小姐就像对待那些具有听力的孩子那样跟我讲话,唯一的不同是,她在我手上拼写句子,而不是直接说出来。假如我理解不了她给我的那些词汇和成语,乃至于无法进行对话的时候,我甚至想同老师直接交谈。

This process was continued for several years; for the deaf child does not learn in a month, or even in two or three years, the numberless idioms and expressions used in the simplest daily intercourse. The little hearing child learns these from constant repetition and imitation. Theconversation he hears in his home stimulates his mind and suggests topics and calls forth thespontaneous expression of his own thoughts. This natural exchange of ideas is denied to the deaf child. My teacher, realizing this, determined to supply the kinds of stimulus I lacked. This she did by repeating to me as far as possible, verbatim, what she heard, and by showing me how I could take part in the conversation. But it was a long time before I ventured to take the initiative, and still longer before I could find something appropriate to say at the right time.这种过程持续了好几年之久。对于那些失聪儿童来说,在日常交流中使用的最简单的成语和表达方式真是难以计数,你根本无法在短短一个月,乃至两三年的时间里掌握它们。那些有听力的孩子可以从不断的重复和模仿中学习这些语言。他们在家里听到大人们的交谈,这些谈话无形中刺激了他们思维的发展,而交谈的话题也是他们感兴趣的,因此无须刻意学习,他们自然而然地就会表达出自己的思想。这种天生的交流思想的方式在失聪儿童那里是行不通的。我的老师意识到了这一点,于是她决心弥补我身上缺失的这部分本能。她逐字逐句,反反复复地教我,告诉我怎样参与同人们的对话。这是一个漫长的过程,后来我终于能主动同人交谈了;又过了很长时间,我才掌握了在恰当的时间说出恰当的话。

The deaf and the blind find it very difficult to acquire the amenities of conversation. How much more this difficulty must be augmented in the case of those who are both deaf and blind! They cannot distinguish the tone of the voice or, without assistance, go up and down the gamut of tones that give significance to words; nor can they watch the expression of the speaker's face, and a look is often the very soul of what one says.对于一个盲人或者聋人而言,掌握对话的技艺确实很难。而对于那些既盲又聋的人而言,其遭遇的阻碍可谓难上加难!他们不能辨别语气的快慢、声调的高低,也无法观察讲话者的面部表情,而一个眼神通常能展示出讲话者的内心世界。

舞矽

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等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 13楼  发表于: 2012-08-23 0
海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第14期



Chapter VII第七章

The next important step in my education was learning to read.在我接受教育的过程之中,下一步的学习重点是“阅读”。

As soon as I could spell a few words my teacher gave me slips of cardboard on which were printed words in raised letters. I quickly learned that each printed word stood for an object, an act, or a quality. I had a frame in which I could arrange the words in little sentences; but before I ever put sentences in the frame I used to make them in objects. I found the slips of paper which represented, for example, "doll," "is," "on," "bed" and placed each name on its object; then I put my doll on the bed with the words is, on, bed arranged beside the doll, thus making a sentence of the words, and at the same time carrying out the idea of the sentence with the things themselves.每当我拼写单词的时候,我的老师就会拿给我一些卡片,这些卡片上面印着凸起的字母。我学得很快,我知道每一个词语都代表着一种物体,一种行为,或者是一种特质。我有一个拼写板,最初,我能在上面拼凑出一些短句。我发现了那些卡片所代表的含义,比如“doll”,“is”,“on”,“bed”这几个词,每一个词都有其自身对应的物体和形式。于是,我就用“is on bed”表示把洋娃娃放在床上。在造句的同时,我也掌握了句子本身的意义和结构。

One day, Miss Sullivan tells me, I pinned the word girl on my pinafore and stood in the wardrobe. On the shelf I arranged the words, is, in, wardrobe. Nothing delighted me so much as this game. My teacher and I played it for hours at a time. Often everything in the room was arranged inobject sentences.有一天,苏立文小姐对我说,如果我把“girl”的卡片别在我的围裙上,然后站在衣橱里,这句话该怎么说?于是,我就在拼写板上用“is in wardrobe”表示出来。再没有什么比这种游戏更让我开心的了。我和老师每次都一连玩好几个小时,屋子里的每一样东西都被我们当做练习造句用的道具。

From the printed slip it was but a step to the printed book. I took my "Reader for Beginners" and hunted for the words I knew; when I found them my joy was like that of a game of hide-and-seek. Thus I began to read. Of the time when I began to read connected stories I shall speak later.逐渐地,我从认字卡片上的字过渡到了看书,我把自己看做一个“初级读者”。在书中,我如饥似渴地搜寻着那些我认识的字。一旦发现了这些字,我高兴得就像玩了一场捉迷藏游戏。就这样,我开始了阅读生涯。那时候,我开始读一些系列故事,后来,我还能把这些故事讲出来。

For a long time I had no regular lessons. Even when I studied most earnestly it seemed more like play than work. Everything Miss Sullivan taught me she illustrated by a beautiful story or a poem. Whenever anything delighted or interested me she talked it over with me just as if she were a little girl herself. What many children think of with dread, as a painful plodding through grammar, hard sums and harder definitions, is to-day one of my most precious memories.有很长一段时间,我并没有系统地学习某些课程。所以,当我满怀热忱地认真学习时,更像是在玩耍娱乐。苏立文小姐会把教给我的每一样东西用一个故事或者一首诗表达出来。无论何时,只要碰到令人高兴或者是有趣的事,她都会事无巨细地讲给我听,她仿佛把自己也变成了一个小姑娘。在求知的过程中,发生在许多小孩子身上的畏惧心理并没有对我造成影响,比如像枯燥乏味的文法,艰涩的算术题和更难的名词解释,正相反,这些都成了我最珍视的回忆。

I cannot explain the peculiar sympathy Miss Sullivan had with my pleasures and desires. Perhaps it was the result of long association with the blind. Added to this she had a wonderful faculty fordescription. She went quickly over uninteresting details, and never nagged me with questions to see if I remembered the day-before-yesterday's lesson. She introduced dry technicalities of science little by little, making every subject so real that I could not help remembering what she taught.对于苏立文小姐所给予我的特殊的关爱之心,我无法做出解释,我想,这也许是长期失明造成的后果。除了爱心,老师还具有极其出色的描述才能,她能迅速地掠过那些乏味的细节,而且从来不唠唠叨叨地问我前天都学了哪些东西之类的问题。她总是一点一点地给我讲解枯燥的科学原理,她讲得无比生动,以至于我常常不由自主地想起她教给我的东西。

We read and studied out of doors, preferring the sunlit woods to the house. All my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods—the fine, resinous odour of pine needles, blended with theperfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious shade of a wild tulip tree, I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. "The loveliness of things taught me all their use." Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom had a part in my education—noisy-throated frogs, katydids and crickets held in my hand until, forgetting their embarrassment, they trilled their reedy note, little downy chickens and wildflowers, the dogwood blossoms, meadow-violets and budding fruit trees. I felt the bursting cotton-bolls and fingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds; I felt the low soughing of the wind through the cornstalks, the silky rustling of the long leaves, and the indignant snort of my pony, as we caught him in the pasture and put the bitin his mouth—ah me! how well I remember the spicy, clovery smell of his breath!我们通常都会到户外阅读和学习,沐浴在阳光摇曳的树林里要比待在房子里好得多。我最初学习的所有课程都是在林木成荫的室外进行的,空气中弥漫着松针的清香,还夹杂着野葡萄的果香。惬意地坐在野生鹅掌楸的树荫下,我学会了思考。对于一个学生而言,我认为每一件事物都是一堂课,都有一种裨益。可以说,“万事万物让我领悟到了它们的魅力和功用”。事实上,所有能嗡嗡鸣叫,或者默默开花的东西都是我学习的对象——我把聒噪的青蛙、蝈蝈儿和蟋蟀抓在手里,直到忽略了它们的存在。昆虫振翅鸣叫,毛茸茸的小鸡和野花在手指间划过,山茱萸竞相绽放,草地上的紫罗兰和发芽的果树散发着芳香,我已经同自然融为一体。我感觉到了绽开的棉荚,我用手指触摸着它那柔软的纤维和覆有绒毛的种子;我感觉到了微风吹过玉米秆的沙沙低鸣,还有我的小马烦躁地打响鼻的气息——我们在牧场里抓住它,而且给它戴上了马嚼子——哈,看我有多棒!至今我还清楚地记得小马驹呼出的那种浓烈的三叶草味道。

Sometimes I rose at dawn and stole into the garden while the heavy dew lay on the grass and flowers. Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a suddenterror, as the little creature became aware of a pressure from without.有时候,我会在黎明时分就爬起来,然后偷偷地溜到花园里。草丛和花朵上缀满露水,很少有人能体会到把玫瑰花轻轻捧在手里的,也很少有人能见到百合花在清晨的微风中摇曳的倩影。我偶尔会在*的时候抓到一只昆虫,我能感受到它因惊恐而摩擦翅膀的微弱震颤。我想,即便是如此微小的生物,也会有自己的意识,也会对突如其来的压力做出反应。


海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第15期



Another favourite haunt of mine was the orchard, where the fruit ripened early in July. The large, downy peaches would reach themselves into my hand, and as the joyous breezes flew about the trees the apples tumbled at my feet. Oh, the delight with which I gathered up the fruit in my pinafore, pressed my face against the smooth cheeks of the apples, still warm from the sun, and skipped back to the house!果园是另一个我经常光顾的去处,那里的果实在7月初就成熟了。硕大饱满,覆盖着绒毛的桃子触手可得,和煦的微风穿过树丛,苹果在我的脚下滚来滚去。哦,把果实收集到围裙里的感觉真是妙不可言。我把脸贴在光滑温热的苹果上,感受着阳光照射的余温。然后,我蹦蹦跳跳地满载而归。

Our favourite walk was to Keller's Landing, an old tumbledown lumber-wharf on the Tennessee River, used during the Civil War to land soldiers. There we spent many happy hours and played at learning geography. I built dams of pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds, all for fun, and never dreamed that I was learning a lesson. I listened with increasing wonder to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the great round world with its burning mountains, buried cities, moving rivers of ice, and many other things as strange. She made raised maps in clay, so that I could feel the mountain ridges and valleys, and follow with my fingers the devious course of rivers. I liked this, too; but the division of the earth into zones and poles confused and teased my mind. Theillustrative strings and the orange stick representing the poles seemed so real that even to this day the mere mention of temperate zone suggests a series of twine circles; and I believe that if any one should set about it he could convince me that white bears actually climb the North Pole.散步时,我们最喜欢去的地方是“老凯勒码头”,这是田纳西河边一个破败不堪的木制码头。南北战争期间,这里被当做运输军队的专用码头。我们在这里学习地理知识,度过了一段令人回味的美好时光。我用小石子搭建水坝,建造岛屿和湖泊,还挖掘河床,这一切都是为了好玩儿,我从来没有意识到我正在上课学习。我满怀好奇地“听”苏立文小姐描述世界的博大精深——燃烧的山脉,被埋葬的城市,移动的冰河,以及众多奇妙的自然现象。老师会用黏土制作立体地图,这样我就能感觉到山脊和峡谷的形态,我的手指也会触摸到河流曲折的流向。我喜欢这种生动的讲解,但是把地球划分成地带和极点还是让我有些糊涂。用来说明的细线和代表极点的橘树枝似乎是最形象的比喻了,即使在今天,人们讲解地球气候带时,仍会用一串串的绳圈来说明。我想,假如有谁采用了这种方法,那么他一定会让我相信,白熊实际上是在攀登北极。

Arithmetic seems to have been the only study I did not like. From the first I was not interested in the science of numbers. Miss Sullivan tried to teach me to count by stringing beads in groups, and by arranging kindergarten straws I learned to add and subtract. I never had patience to arrangemore than five or six groups at a time. When I had accomplished this my conscience was at rest for the day, and I went out quickly to find my playmates.算术似乎是我唯一不喜欢学习的课程。从一开始我就对有关数字的科学不感兴趣。苏立文小姐试图用串珠子的方式教我计算,她还通过排列麦秆教我学习加减法。我很没有耐心,每次最多排列五六组而已。完成了课业,我的心思马上就转移到了别处,我会立刻跑出去寻找我的玩伴。

In this same leisurely manner I studied zoology and botany.以同样轻松悠闲的方式,我还学习了有关动物学和植物学的知识。

Once a gentleman, whose name I have forgotten, sent me a collection of fossils—tiny mollusk shells beautifully marked, and bits of sandstone with the print of birds' claws, and a lovely fern in bas-relief. These were the keys which unlocked the treasures of the antediluvian world for me. With trembling fingers I listened to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the terrible beasts, with uncouth, unpronounceable names, which once went tramping through the primeval forests, tearing down the branches of gigantic trees for food, and died in the dismal swamps of anunknown age. For a long time these strange creatures haunted my dreams, and this gloomyperiod formed a somber background to the joyous Now, filled with sunshine and roses and echoing with the gentle beat of my pony's hoof.以前我遇到过一位绅士,他的名字我已经忘记了,他曾送给我一套化石收藏标本——微小的软体壳类动物形成精美的印痕,一块块砂岩上凸显出飞鸟的爪子,可爱的蕨类植物也在石头上呈现出浅浅的浮雕。对我而言,这些知识犹如开启上古世界宝藏的一把把钥匙。伴随着颤抖的手指,我“听”苏立文小姐讲述猛兽的故事。这些凶残、叫不出名字的野兽,曾经穿梭在广袤的原始森林里,它们折断巨树的枝桠用来果腹。最终,在一个古老的未知年代,这些猛兽消亡在昏暗的沼泽之中。当时,这些古怪的生物常常萦绕在我的梦境里。如今,我的世界充满了阳光和盛开的玫瑰,小马驹的蹄子发出轻柔的节拍声,同快乐的生活相比,这段阴郁的记忆变成了留在心底的前尘往事。

Another time a beautiful shell was given me, and with a child's surprise and delight I learned how a tiny mollusk had built the lustrous coil for his dwelling place, and how on still nights, when there is no breeze stirring the waves, the Nautilus sails on the blue waters of the Indian Ocean in his "ship of pearl." After I had learned a great many interesting things about the life and habits of the children of the sea—how in the midst of dashing waves the little polyps build the beautiful coral isles of the Pacific, and the foraminifera have made the chalkhills of many a land—my teacher read me "The Chambered Nautilus," and showed me that the shell-building process of the mollusks is symbolical of the development of the mind. Just as the wonder-working mantle of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought.还有一次,有人给了我一个美丽的螺壳,伴随着一个小孩子的惊喜和好奇,我了解到了一个微小的软体动物是如何在它们的栖息地建造环形洞穴的。我还知道了它们在晚上活动的情形,夜间,不会有风卷起波浪,在“珍珠船”的搭载下,鹦鹉螺会航行在印度洋的蓝色海面上。我学习了很多关于海洋生物习性的知识,这些知识趣味无穷。比如,在涌动的波浪之中,微小的珊瑚虫是如何在太平洋上建造美丽的珊瑚岛的;有孔虫类又是如何形成陆地上的石灰岩山体的。我的老师为我读《背着房间的鹦鹉螺》,并且告诉我,可以把软体动物外壳的形成过程,视做一种心智发展的象征。就是说,鹦鹉螺身上的罩子是神奇工作的结果,它把从海水中吸收的物质转化成了它身体的一部分。同样,人类汲取知识也要经过类似的转化过程,直至知识变成“思想的珍珠”。



海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第16期





Again, it was the growth of a plant that furnished the text for a lesson. We bought a lily and set it in a sunny window. Very soon the green, pointed buds showed signs of opening. The slender, fingerlike leaves on the outside opened slowly, reluctant, I thought, to reveal the loveliness they hid; once having made a start, however, the opening process went on rapidly, but in order and systematically. There was always one bud larger and more beautiful than the rest, which pushed her outer, covering back with more pomp, as if the beauty in soft, silky robes knew that she was the lily-queen by right divine, while her more timid sisters doffed their green hoods shyly, until the whole plant was one nodding bough of loveliness and fragrance.这样的例子还有不少,比如,植物的生长过程就是我学习的“课本”。我们买来了一盆百合花,然后把它放在阳光通透的窗台上。没过多久,嫩绿挺拔的花蕾便显露出了开放的征兆。最初,纤巧得如同手指一样粗细的叶子慢慢向外张开。我想,它可能不太情愿向人展示其内在的魅力。接着,它再一次启动了开放进程,这个过程显得迅速而有条不紊;而且,总是有一个花蕾鹤立鸡群,同其余的花苞相比更大更美丽。于是,群芳就将这个最出众的花蕾推到了舞台上,而这个披着纤巧柔美外衣的蓓蕾似乎也知晓自己就是神圣的“百合花女王”;与此同时,她的那些羞怯的姊妹也纷纷摘下了绿色的头巾,直到整盆百合变成了一个争奇斗艳、芬芳四溢的花中翘楚。

Once there were eleven tadpoles in a glass globe set in a window full of plants. I remember the eagerness with which I made discoveries about them. It was great fun to plunge my hand into thebowl and feel the tadpoles frisk about, and to let them slip and slide between my fingers. One day a more ambitious fellow leaped beyond the edge of the bowl and fell on the floor, where I found him to all appearance more dead than alive. The only sign of life was a slight wriggling of his tail. But no sooner had he returned to his element than he darted to the bottom, swimming round and round in joyous activity. He had made his leap, he had seen the great world, and wascontent to stay in his pretty glass house under the big fuchsia tree until he attained the dignityof froghood. Then he went to live in the leafy pool at the end of the garden, where he made the summer nights musical with his quaint love-song.有一次,在种满了各类花草的窗户边,不知是谁放了一个球形玻璃鱼缸,里面还游动着十一只蝌蚪。至今,我仍然记得对这些蝌蚪进行探索时的强烈好奇心。我把手伸进鱼缸里,让蝌蚪在手指间穿梭游动,这带给了我巨大的快乐。一天,蝌蚪里有一只雄心勃勃的家伙蹦出了鱼缸落到地上。待我摸到时,我发现它已经半死不活了,唯一的生命迹象就是它轻轻蠕动的尾巴。但是我很快把它放回了鱼缸,于是,这只蝌蚪一头扎进水底,欢快地在鱼缸里游来游去。不管怎么说,它的奋力一跃使它看到了更加广阔的世界。如今,它心满意足地回到了它那美丽的玻璃房子里,在那棵灯笼海棠树的庇护下,它最终会长成一只威风凛凛的青蛙。那时,它就会生活在花园尽头草木茂盛的池塘里,为夏夜吟唱出它奇特的爱之赞歌。

Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of meaning. She has never since let pass an opportunity to point out the beauty that is in everything, nor has she ceased trying in thought and action and example to make my life sweet and useful.我就是这样了解生命的意义的。起初,我只是一知半解,但是老师为我揭示了生命的奥秘。正是老师的到来,我的生命才充满了爱和欢乐的气息,才变得不同凡响。她从来不放过任何一次向我展示万物之美的机会,她也从不放弃努力,以她的思想和言行引导我成为一个生活充实,于社会有益的人。

It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made it so pleasant and acceptable to me. She realized that a child's mind is like a shallowbrook which ripples and dances merrily over the stony course of its education and reflects here a flower, there a bush, yonder a fleecy cloud; and she attempted to guide my mind on its way, knowing that like a brook it should be fed by mountain streams and hidden springs, until it broadened out into a deep river, capable of reflecting in its placid surface, billowy hills, theluminous shadows of trees and the blue heavens, as well as the sweet face of a little flower.正是由于老师的聪明才智,她强烈的同情心,以及她的亲手传授,我所接受的早期教育才变得如此地丰富多彩。她总是能抓住恰当的时机,使我能够愉快地接纳她所传授的知识。她知道,在接受教育的过程中,一个小孩子的思想就像一条浅浅的小溪,这条浪花涌动的小溪欢快地流过卵石密布的河道,水面上通常会反射出一枝花,一株小树,或者是一朵浮云的倒影。她试图引导我走的正是这样一条路——一条小溪应当被山川的溪流和地下的泉水所哺育,直到它成长为一条宽广深远的大河,这条大河平静的水面能够反射出连绵的山脉,明亮的树影和蓝天,以及一朵小花的甜蜜笑脸。

Any teacher can take a child to the classroom, but not every teacher can make him learn. He will not work joyously unless he feels that liberty is his, whether he is busy or at rest; he must feel the flush of victory and the heart-sinking of disappointment before he takes with a will the tasks distasteful to him and resolves to dance his way bravely through a dull routine of textbooks.任何一个老师都能把一个小孩领进课堂,但并不是每一个老师都能让他学到东西的。他不会愉快地去学习,除非他觉得自己是自由身。无论他是忙是闲,他必须要感受到胜利的曙光和小小的缺憾,然后才能勇敢地面对那些枯燥单调的书本,并且愿意去解决眼前的问题。

My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself apart from her. How much of mydelight in all beautiful things is innate, and how much is due to her influence, I can never tell. I feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that the footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to her—there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened by her loving touch.我的老师离我是那么近,以至于我想象不出离开她会是什么样子。我是天生就具有沉醉于美好事物的本能,还是源于老师的引导?我从来都无法说清。我只是觉得她同我是一个不可分割的整体,我的生命足迹也是她的生活轨迹。我生命中最精彩的乐章都归功于她——我的才能,我的志向,或者我内心的快乐,无一不是被她那充满慈爱的一触所唤醒。





舞矽

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6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
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海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第17期




Chapter VIII第八章

The first Christmas after Miss Sullivan came to Tuscumbia was a great event. Every one in the family prepared surprises for me, but what pleased me most, Miss Sullivan and I prepared surprises for everybody else. The mystery that surrounded the gifts was my greatest delight andamusement. My friends did all they could to excite my curiosity by hints and half-spelled sentences which they pretended to break off in the nick of time. Miss Sullivan and I kept up a game of guessing which taught me more about the use of language than any set lessons could have done. Every evening, seated round a glowing wood fire, we played our guessing game, which grew more and more exciting as Christmas approached.对于我们家来说,苏立文小姐在图斯康比亚过第一个圣诞节可是件大事。家里每一个人都筹划着让我大吃一惊,但是最令我兴奋的是,我和苏立文小姐也筹划着让别人大吃一惊。对于那些神秘的礼物,我心里充满了巨大的喜悦感和好奇心。我的朋友们极尽所能,通过种种暗示和故意拼写了一半的句子来吊我的胃口。而我和苏立文小姐则继续玩猜谜游戏,同课堂所学的知识相比,这种寓教于乐的方式让我掌握了更多的语言技巧。每天晚上,我们坐在燃烧的炉火旁玩猜谜游戏。随着圣诞节的日益临近,我的心情也变得越来越兴奋。

On Christmas Eve the Tuscumbia schoolchildren had their tree, to which they invited me. In the centre of the schoolroom stood a beautiful tree ablaze and shimmering in the soft light, its branches loaded with strange, wonderful fruit. It was a moment of supreme happiness. I danced and capered round the tree in an ecstasy. When I learned that there was a gift for each child, I was delighted, and the kind people who had prepared the tree permitted me to hand the presents to the children. In the pleasure of doing this, I did not stop to look at my own gifts; but when I was ready for them, my impatience for the real Christmas to begin almost got beyond control. I knew the gifts I already had were not those of which friends had thrown out such tantalizing hints, and my teacher said the presents I was to have would be even nicer than these. I was persuaded, however, to content myself with the gifts from the tree and leave the others until morning.圣诞前夜,图斯康比亚的学童们也有自己的圣诞树,他们邀请我去参加庆祝活动。在教室中间,矗立着一棵美丽的圣诞树,在柔和的光线下,它闪烁着晶莹的微光,它的枝桠上缀满了奇特的果实。这的确是一个普天同庆的欢乐时刻,我忘乎所以地绕着圣诞树又蹦又跳。当我得知每一个孩子都会得到一件礼物时,我更高兴了。那些装饰圣诞树的热心人允许我把礼物分发给别的孩子。在派发礼物的同时,我也忍不住在想着自己的那一份儿。其实我早就做好准备了,我激动得难以自抑,一心盼着尽快见到自己的礼物。我知道我的礼物不会是像朋友们暗示的那些东西,我的老师告诉我,我得到的礼物要比传言中的东西好得多。终于,到快天亮的时候,我心满意足地得到了圣诞树上的礼物。




海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第18期



That night, after I had hung my stocking, I lay awake a long time, pretending to be asleep and keeping alert to see what Santa Claus would do when he came. At last I fell asleep with a new doll and a white bear in my arms. Next morning it was I who waked the whole family with my first "Merry Christmas!" I found surprises, not in the stocking only, but on the table, on all the chairs, at the door, on the very window-sill; indeed, I could hardly walk without stumbling on a bit of Christmas wrapped up in tissue paper. But when my teacher presented me with a canary, my cup of happiness overflowed.圣诞夜,我把自己的长袜挂好后,躺在床上久久不能入眠。于是,我一边装作睡着的样子,一边又保持着警觉,我想看看圣诞老人会在什么时候来。最后,我还是搂着我的新娃娃和小白熊睡着了。第二天一早,我第一个起来唤醒全家人,并且祝他们“圣诞快乐”。令我惊奇不已的是,礼物不仅仅藏在袜子里,连桌子上、椅子上、门边,还有窗台上都堆满了礼物。事实上,在薄纱纸包装的圣诞礼物堆中,我几乎难以迈步了。当老师把一只金丝雀当做礼物送给我时,我简直从心里乐开了花。

Little Tim was so tame that he would hop on my finger and eat candied cherries out of my hand. Miss Sullivan taught me to take all the care of my new pet. Every morning after breakfast I prepared his bath, made his cage clean and sweet, filled his cups with fresh seed and water from the well-house, and hung a spray of chickweed in his swing.小蒂姆是如此地温顺,它在我的手指上跳来跳去,还从我手里叼樱桃蜜饯吃。苏立文小姐教会了我怎样照顾新宠物。每天早餐后,我就会为小鸟洗澡,还要把它的笼子打扫干净,再给它的小杯子里添上新鲜的种子和清水,最后还要在它的秋千上悬挂一朵绽开的繁缕。

One morning I left the cage on the window-seat while I went to fetch water for his bath. When I returned I felt a big cat brush past me as I opened the door. At first I did not realize what had happened; but when I put my hand in the cage and Tim's pretty wings did not meet my touch or his small pointed claws take hold of my finger, I knew that I should never see my sweet little singer again.一天早晨,我把鸟笼放在了窗边的椅子上,然后去为它打洗澡水。就在我返回来开门时,我感觉到有一只大猫从身边溜了过去。起初我并没有意识到会出事,但是当我把手伸进笼子里时,才发现已经摸不到蒂姆漂亮的翅膀了,它尖细的小爪子也没有握住我的手指。那一刻,我知道我再也见不到我可爱的小歌唱家了。









舞矽

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等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
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Chapter IX第九章

The next important event in my life was my visit to Boston, in May, 1888. As if it were yesterday I remember the preparations, the departure with my teacher and my mother, the journey, and finally the arrival in Boston. How different this journey was from the one I had made to Baltimore two years before! I was no longer a restless, excitable little creature, requiring the attention of everybody on the train to keep me amused. I sat quietly beside Miss Sullivan, taking in with eager interest all that she told me about what she saw out of the car window: the beautiful Tennessee River, the great cotton-fields, the hills and woods, and the crowds of laughing negroes at the stations, who waved to the people on the train and brought delicious candy and popcorn balls through the car. On the seat opposite me sat my big rag doll, Nancy, in a new gingham dress and a beruffled sunbonnet, looking at me out of two bead eyes. Sometimes, when I was notabsorbed in Miss Sullivan's descriptions, I remembered Nancy's existence and took her up in my arms, but I generally calmed my conscience by making myself believe that she was asleep.1888年5月的波士顿之旅是我生命中的又一件大事。当时的情景历历在目,仿佛就发生在昨天。总之,在苏立文小姐和妈妈的陪伴下,我最终到了波士顿。同我两年前的巴尔的摩之行相比,这次旅行迥然不同。我不再是那个兴奋好动,到处找乐,引得一车人注意的小丫头了。这一次,我安静地坐在苏立文小姐身边,聚精会神地“听”她讲述车窗外的风景:秀美的田纳西河,广袤的棉花地,群山和森林,站台上,一群有说有笑的黑人朝乘客们挥手示意,从车窗送进来美味的糖果和爆米花。我把我的大布娃娃南希放在了对面的座位上,她穿着新的花格子衣服,头戴花边遮阳软帽,用两只玻璃眼珠看着我。偶尔,当我听不大懂苏立文小姐描述的时候,我就想起了南希,我还把她抱在怀里;但是在通常情况下,我会让自己相信南希正在睡觉,所以我会变得很安静。

As I shall not have occasion to refer to Nancy again, I wish to tell here a sad experience she had soon after our arrival in Boston. She was covered with dirt--the remains of mud pies I had compelled her to eat, although she had never shown any special liking for them. The laundress at the Perkins Institution secretly carried her off to give her a bath. This was too much for poor Nancy. When I next saw her she was a formless heap of cotton, which I should not have recognized at all except for the two bead eyes which looked out at me reproachfully.可是我再也没有机会提到南希了,在此,我愿意讲述她随我到波士顿后的不幸经历。她满身污渍——大多是被我强迫喂食的“泥巴馅饼”的剩余物,尽管她从未显露出喜欢吃这种食品的丝毫热情。帕金斯盲人学院的洗衣女工瞒着我给她洗了一个澡,这对可怜的南希来说简直是灭顶之灾。当我再见到她时,她已经变成了一个走了形的棉花团。除了那两只怒目而视的玻璃眼珠,我一点儿都认不出她了。

When the train at last pulled into the station at Boston it was as if a beautiful fairy tale had come true. The "once upon a time" was now; the "far-away country" was here.当火车终于停靠在波士顿的站台时,一个美丽的童话故事仿佛就要变成现实了。此时变成了“在很久以前”,此地变成了“遥远的国度”。

We had scarcely arrived at the Perkins Institution for the Blind when I began to make friends with the little blind children. It delighted me inexpressibly to find that they knew the manual alphabet. What joy to talk with other children in my own language! Until then I had been like a foreigner speaking through an interpreter. In the school where Laura Bridgman was taught I was in my own country. It took me some time to appreciate the fact that my new friends were blind. I knew I could not see; but it did not seem possible that all the eager, loving children who gathered round me and joined heartily in my frolics were also blind. I remember the surprise and the pain I felt as I noticed that they placed their hands over mine when I talked to them and that they read books with their fingers. Although I had been told this before, and although I understood my own deprivations, yet I had thought vaguely that since they could hear, they must have a sort of "second sight," and I was not prepared to find one child and another and yet another deprived of the same precious gift. But they were so happy and contented that I lost all sense of pain in the pleasure of their companionship.我们刚到帕金斯盲人学院,我就开始和这里的盲童交朋友了。我的兴奋之情溢于言表,因为我发现同伴们都懂得用手语字母交流。能用我自己的语言同其他孩子讲话真是令人开心!在这之前,我一直像个外国人一样,需要翻译才能讲话。劳拉·布里吉曼在这所学校学习的时候,我还待在自己的家乡。我花了一些时间才意识到我的新朋友们都是盲人。虽然我自己也看不见,但是当我被一群热情好客,同样看不见的伙伴们围在身边,尽情嬉戏玩耍的时候,我觉得这似乎是不可能的事情。我对伙伴们说话的时候,他们就会把他们的手放在我的手上,而且,他们还会用手指读书。当我发现这一点后,我感到既惊奇又苦恼。尽管家人在来这里之前就对我讲过,尽管我知道自己的感官缺陷,可我还是隐约地想到,因为同伴们具有听力,所以他们肯定有一种“第二视觉”功能。当然,我也没有指望要找到一个和我一样既盲又聋的孩子,我想,听觉和视觉一样,都是人类弥足珍贵的礼物。但不管怎么说,他们是如此地快乐和满足,置身在伙伴们的友谊之中,我完全忘却了忧愁烦恼


One day spent with the blind children made me feel thoroughly at home in my new environment, and I looked eagerly from one pleasant experience to another as the days flew swiftly by. I could not quite convince myself that there was much world left, for I regarded Boston as the beginning and the end of creation.同我的盲童朋友们待上一天后,我完全适应了新环境,感觉就像在家一样。一天过去,我就盼着又一天的到来,我渴望在每天都获得愉悦的经历。我并不想弄清楚周围是不是还有更加广阔的天地,我把波士顿当做万物的起始点和终结地。

While we were in Boston we visited Bunker Hill, and there I had my first lesson in history. The story of the brave men who had fought on the spot where we stood excited me greatly. I climbed the monument, counting the steps, and wondering as I went higher and yet higher if the soldiers had climbed this great stairway and shot at the enemy on the ground below.在波士顿的时候,我们参观了邦克山,我在那里学到了我的第一堂历史课。我们的脚下就是勇士曾经战斗过的阵地,他们的无畏气概令我激动不已。在去山顶纪念碑凭吊的途中,我一边数着台阶,一边想象着当年的士兵爬到高坡,居高临下向敌人射击时的情景。

The next day we went to Plymouth by water. This was my first trip on the ocean and my first voyage in a steamboat. How full of life and motion it was! But the rumble of the machinery made me think it was thundering, and I began to cry, because I feared if it rained we should not be able to have our picnic out of doors. I was more interested, I think, in the great rock on which the Pilgrims landed than in anything else in Plymouth. I could touch it, and perhaps that made the coming of the Pilgrims and their toils and great deeds seem more real to me. I have often held in my hand a little model of the Plymouth Rock which a kind gentleman gave me at Pilgrim Hall, and I have fingered its curves, the split in the centre and the embossed figures "1620," and turned over in my mind all that I knew about the wonderful story of the Pilgrims.第二天,我们经由水路前往普利茅斯,这是我第一次乘坐汽船在海上航行。真想不到汽船能装那么多人!不过这个隆隆作响的机器让我想起了雷电,我开始哭了起来,我担心一旦下雨,我们就不能去野餐了。在普利茅斯,我对清教徒登陆的巨大礁石最感兴趣。我能够触摸到这些岩石,也许这让我更真切地体会到了先民们的艰辛和伟大功绩。我经常会把一小块“普利茅斯岩”模型拿在手里,这是清教徒纪念堂中的一位友善的绅士送给我的;我能用手指摸到它弯曲的形状,中间的裂纹,以及“1620”字样的浮雕数字。当时,我满脑子里装的都是清教徒先民们开疆拓土的神奇故事。

How my childish imagination glowed with the splendour of their enterprise! I idealized them as the bravest and most generous men that ever sought a home in a strange land. I thought they desired the freedom of their fellow men as well as their own. I was keenly surprised anddisappointed years later to learn of their acts of persecution that make us tingle with shame, even while we glory in the courage and energy that gave us our "Country Beautiful."我童年的想象力是如此地多姿多彩!我理想化地把先民们视做最勇敢、最有气魄的开拓者,因为他们要在一片陌生的土地上寻找家园。我想,他们不但要为自己争取自由,还要为民族利益争取自由。多年后,我才了解到他们的出走是由于受到了*,这让我深感震惊和失望,我为人类的非理性行为感到羞愧,尤其是当我们以先辈们建立的“美丽新世界”引以为豪的时候。

Among the many friends I made in Boston were Mr. William Endicott and his daughter. Theirkindness to me was the seed from which many pleasant memories have since grown. One day we visited their beautiful home at Beverly Farms. I remember with delight how I went through their rose-garden, how their dogs, big Leo and little curly-haired Fritz with long ears, came to meet me, and how Nimrod, the swiftest of the horses, poked his nose into my hands for a pat and a lumpof sugar. I also remember the beach, where for the first time I played in the sand. It was hard,smooth sand, very different from the loose, sharp sand, mingled with kelp and shells, at Brewster. Mr. Endicott told me about the great ships that came sailing by from Boston, bound for Europe. I saw him many times after that, and he was always a good friend to me; indeed, I was thinking of him when I called Boston "the City of Kind Hearts."威廉·恩迪考特先生和他的女儿也是我在波士顿结交的朋友。他们的友善如同播撒在我心底的种子,随着时光的流逝,许多美好的回忆也慢慢开花结果。有一天,我们去贝弗利农庄拜访他们美丽的家。我依然记得当时的情景:我如何兴高采烈地穿过他们家的玫瑰花园;如何遇到了他们家的大狗利奥,还有卷毛长耳小狗弗里茨;行动敏捷的大马宁录又如何伸着鼻子吃我手里的黄油和糖块。我还记得那片海滩,我就是在那里第一次玩沙子的。那是一种质地坚硬、手感爽滑的沙子,同布鲁斯特的掺杂着海藻和贝壳,松软扎手的沙子截然不同。恩迪考特先生还跟我讲了有关巨轮从波士顿起航驶往欧洲的事。后来我又见过他许多次,他一直是我的好朋友。事实上,每当我把波士顿叫做“慈爱之城”的时候,我就会想起他。




舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 16楼  发表于: 2012-08-23 0



Chapter X第十章

Just before the Perkins Institution closed for the summer, it was arranged that my teacher and I should spend our vacation at Brewster, on Cape Cod, with our dear friend, Mrs. Hopkins. I was delighted, for my mind was full of the prospective joys and of the wonderful stories I had heard about the sea.临近帕金斯学院放暑假时,我和老师打算去科德角的布鲁斯特度假,一起同行的还有我们亲密的朋友霍普金斯夫人。我很兴奋,因为我满脑子里想的都是快乐的旅程和关于大海的神奇故事。

My most vivid recollection of that summer is the ocean. I had always lived far inland and had never had so much as a whiff of salt air; but I had read in a big book called "Our World" adescription of the ocean which filled me with wonder and an intense longing to touch themighty sea and feel it roar. So my little heart leaped high with eager excitement when I knew that my wish was at last to be realized.我对那个夏天的最生动的记忆就是海洋。我一直生活在内陆,从来没有如此近距离地呼吸过带咸味的空气。但是我曾读到过一本厚厚的,叫做《我们的世界》的书,书中对于海洋的描述令我产生了十分迫切的冲动,我渴望能触摸到雄浑的大海,领略到巨浪的咆哮。我知道我的愿望终于要实现了,我那颗小小的心脏激动得怦怦直跳。

No sooner had I been helped into my bathing-suit than I sprang out upon the warm sand and without thought of fear plunged into the cool water. I felt the great billows rock and sink. Thebuoyant motion of the water filled me with an exquisite, quivering joy. Suddenly my ecstasygave place to terror; for my foot struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my head. I thrust out my hands to grasp some support, I clutched at the water and at the seaweed which the waves tossed in my face. But all my frantic efforts were in vain. The waves seemed to be playing a game with me, and tossed me from one to another in their wild frolic. It was fearful! The good, firm earth had slipped from my feet, and everything seemed shut out from this strange, all-enveloping element--life, air, warmth and love. At last, however, the sea, as ifweary of its new toy, threw me back on the shore, and in another instant I was clasped in my teacher's arms. Oh, the comfort of the long, tender embrace! As soon as I had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything, I demanded: "Who put salt in the water?"刚换好游泳衣,我就冲向了温暖的沙滩,根本顾不得考虑海浪是大是小了。我触摸到了巨大的如浪涛般起伏的岩石,还有石头上的水洼。在起伏的海水中漂流,我高兴得浑身颤抖。但是紧接着,我的喜悦就变成了恐惧。我的脚撞到了一块岩石,随后,一股水流又涌上了我的头顶。我伸出手想抓住某个能支撑的东西,可我只是抓到了随波逐流的海草。疯狂的努力是徒劳的,海浪似乎在同我玩一出游戏。在*的戏耍当中,它把我随意地抛来抛去。这真是太可怕了!舒适、坚实的陆地从我脚下溜走了,所有的一切——生命、空气、关怀和友爱——似乎都被这种异样的自然环境挡在了外面。终于,大海似乎对它的新玩具感到了厌倦,于是又把我抛回到岸上。接着,我就被老师紧紧地搂住了。哦!这个持久、温柔的拥抱是多么舒服啊!一从恐慌中恢复过来,我就提出了请求:“谁能从海水里捞出盐来?”

After I had recovered from my first experience in the water, I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing-suit and feel wave after wave dash against the rock, sending up a shower of spray which quite covered me. I felt the pebbles rattling as the waves threw their ponderousweight against the shore; the whole beach seemed racked by their terrific onset, and the air throbbed with their pulsations. The breakers would swoop back to gather themselves for a mightier leap, and I clung to the rock, tense, fascinated, as I felt the dash and roar of the rushing sea!经过了初次水中历险后,我想,如果穿着泳衣坐在一块大礁石上该是多么有趣的事啊,那样我就能感受到海浪撞击岩石的气势,四溅的浪花会把我彻底浇湿。当滚滚波涛涌向岸边的时候,我还能感觉到卵石咔嗒咔嗒的撞击声。整个海滩似乎都在遭受着波浪可怕的攻击,空气也变得躁动不安起来。翻滚的大浪先是向后退却汇集,然后再奋力一跃猛扑下来。我紧紧地靠在礁石上,既紧张又兴奋,大海的波涛和怒吼令我心醉神迷。

I could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me. One day Miss Sullivan attracted my attention to a strange object which she had captured basking in the shallow water. It was a great horseshoe crab—the first one I had ever seen. I felt of him and thought it very strange that he should carry his house on his back. It suddenly occurred to me that he might make adelightful pet; so I seized him by the tail with both hands and carried him home. This feat pleased me highly, as his body was very heavy, and it took all my strength to drag him half a mile. I would not leave Miss Sullivan in peace until she had put the crab in a trough near the well where I wasconfident he would be secure. But next morning I went to the trough, and lo, he had disappeared! Nobody knew where he had gone, or how he had escaped. My disappointment was bitter at the time; but little by little I came to realize that it was not kind or wise to force this poor dumb creature out of his element, and after awhile I felt happy in the thought that perhaps he had returned to the sea.在海岸边,我从来没有待够的感觉。洁净、清新而奔放的大海气息宛若一种冷静从容的思想。对我而言,贝壳、卵石、海草连同依附其间的微小生物从未失去它们的魅力。一天,苏立文小姐从浅滩捕获了一条姥鲛似的东西,这种奇异的物种引起了我的注意。事实上,这是一种巨大的鲎——我以前从来没见过这种海洋生物。我一边摸一边想,这种奇怪的生物一定是把它的房子背在了身上。突然,我觉得它也许能成为一个讨人喜欢的宠物。于是,我用双手抓住它的尾巴把它拎回了家。我兴致高昂,由于它很沉,所以提着它走半英里几乎用尽了我所有的力气。后来,苏立文小姐把它放在了靠近井边的过道上,我想它在那里一定很安全。可是第二天一早我去过道查看时,发现它消失不见了!没有人知道它去了哪里,也不知道它是如何逃走的。当时,我极度失望,但是随着时间的推移,我逐渐意识到,强迫这个不能说话的可怜生物离开自然环境既不仁慈,也不明智。所以,一想到它可能返回了大海,我就感到很高兴。


舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 17楼  发表于: 2012-08-23 0



Chapter XI第十一章

In the autumn I returned to my Southern home with a heart full of joyous memories. As I recallthat visit North I am filled with wonder at the richness and variety of the experiences that cluster about it. It seems to have been the beginning of everything. The treasures of a new, beautiful world were laid at my feet, and I took in pleasure and information at every turn. I lived myself into all things. I was never still a moment; my life was as full of motion as those little insects that crowd a whole existence into one brief day. I met many people who talked with me by spelling into my hand, and thought in joyous sympathy leaped up to meet thought, and behold, a miracle had been wrought! The barren places between my mind and the minds of others blossomed like the rose.带着满心欢喜,我在秋天返回了南方的家。这次奇妙的北方之行令我获益匪浅,一切似乎都刚刚开始,这是一个新宝藏,美丽的世界就躺在我的脚下。在每一次的惊讶中,我汲取快乐和知识。我把自己融入万物之中,从来不得片刻的安闲,就像那些成群结队的小昆虫一样,我会忙忙碌碌地度过短暂的一天。我遇到过许多人,他们通过在我手掌上拼写的方式同我“交谈”,于是,快乐而富于同情心的思想在两个对话者之间碰撞了,所以你看,这真是一个神奇的过程!就是说,在我的思想和别人的思想之间的贫瘠地带上,同样可以绽放出美丽的玫瑰。

I spent the autumn months with my family at our summer cottage, on a mountain about fourteen miles from Tuscumbia. It was called Fern Quarry, because near it there was a limestone quarry, long since abandoned. Three frolicsome little streams ran through it from springs in the rocks above, leaping here and tumbling there in laughing cascades wherever the rocks tried to bar their way. The opening was filled with ferns which completely covered the beds of limestone and in places hid the streams. The rest of the mountain was thickly wooded. Here were great oaks and splendid evergreens with trunks like mossy pillars, from the branches of which hung garlands of ivy and mistletoe, and persimmon trees, the odour of which pervaded every nook and corner of the wood--an illusive, fragrant something that made the heart glad. In places the wild muscadine and scuppernong vines stretched from tree to tree, making arbours which were always full of butterflies and buzzing insects. It was delightful to lose ourselves in the green hollows of thattangled wood in the late afternoon, and to smell the cool, delicious odours that came up from the earth at the close of day.在距离图斯康比亚大约十四英里的山间小屋里,我和我的家人度过了整个秋天。人们把那里叫做弗恩采石场,因为在那附近有一个石灰石矿场,不过很久以前就废弃了。三条快活的小溪流从此地流过,这些来自山泉的溪流欢笑着左闪右跳一往直前,无论岩石怎样阻挡都无济于事。这座山的大部分地区都被茂密的森林所覆盖,山上有巨大的橡树,也有四季常青的树木。这些树的树干就像包裹着青苔的圆柱,树枝上挂满了常春藤和槲寄生的花环。附近还有柿子树,果实的甜美气息弥漫在密林中的每一个角落——这种虚幻朦胧的香味令人心情愉悦。野生的圆叶葡萄和斯卡巴农葡萄连成了一大片,葡萄藤上总会落满了各种各样的蝴蝶和嗡嗡飞舞的昆虫。在一天临近结束的黄昏时分,谷地散发着清爽宜人的气息,置身其间,的确令人心旷神怡。

Our cottage was a sort of rough camp, beautifully situated on the top of the mountain among oaks and pines. The small rooms were arranged on each side of a long open hall. Round the house was a wide piazza, where the mountain winds blew, sweet with all wood-scents. We lived on the piazza most of the time--there we worked, ate and played. At the back door there was a great butternut tree, round which the steps had been built, and in front the trees stood so close that I could touch them and feel the wind shake their branches, or the leaves twirl downward in the autumn blast.我们的小屋只是个有些粗糙的露营地,但是它优雅地坐落在橡树和松树环绕的山顶之上。房子的四面都有一个开放的门厅,门厅的外围是一圈宽广的游廊。山风从这里吹过,带来了树木的醇香。我们大部分时间都住在游廊里——这里也是我们劳作、吃饭和玩耍的地方。房子后门还有一棵巨大的灰胡桃树,人们在它的周围修建了台阶。我离这些树木是如此之近,可以轻易地摸到被风吹拂的树枝,还有在阵阵秋风中滚动的树叶。

Many visitors came to Fern Quarry. In the evening, by the campfire, the men played cards and whiled away the hours in talk and sport. They told stories of their wonderful feats with fowl, fish and quadruped--how many wild ducks and turkeys they had shot, what "savage trout" they had caught, and how they had bagged the craftiest foxes, outwitted the most clever 'possums and overtaken the fleetest deer, until I thought that surely the lion, the tiger, the bear and the rest of the wild tribe would not be able to stand before these wily hunters. "To-morrow to the chase!" was their good-night shout as the circle of merry friends broke up for the night. The men slept in the hall outside our door, and I could feel the deep breathing of the dogs and the hunters as they lay on their improvised beds.弗恩采石场有很多到访的游客。夜晚,男人们聚集在篝火旁玩扑克牌,或者是聊天消磨时光。他们讲述打鸟、钓鱼和捕猎的过人本事——比如,他们射杀了多少野鸭和火鸡,他们如何打捞凶蛮的鲑鱼,如何诱捕狡猾的狐狸,如何同聪明的负鼠斗智,如何追赶动作迅捷的驯鹿。我想,在这些老谋深算的猎手面前,像狮子、老虎、熊和其余的野生动物恐怕都要遭殃了。当三五成群的好兄弟们散去的时候,“明天去捕猎”的叫喊声成了他们道晚安的告别语。男人们都睡在门外的走廊里,而且,我能感觉到猎人和他们的狗儿熟睡后深沉的鼻息声。

At dawn I was awakened by the smell of coffee, the rattling of guns, and the heavy footsteps of the men as they strode about, promising themselves the greatest luck of the season. I could also feel the stamping of the horses, which they had ridden out from town and hitched under the trees, where they stood all night, neighing loudly, impatient to be off. At last the men mounted, and, as they say in the old songs, away went the steeds with bridles ringing and whips cracking and hounds racing ahead, and away went the champion hunters "with hark and whoop and wild halloo!"黎明时分,我被咖啡的味道、猎熗的撞击,还有男人们沉重的脚步声吵醒了。我知道,他们正大步走出房子,去寻找狩猎季节的好运气。我还能感觉到马蹄踏地的震动,它们被拴在远离城镇的树下。站了一整夜后,马儿们高声嘶鸣,迫不及待地想脱离束缚。终于,男人们爬上了马背,就像老歌里吟唱的那样,他们策马扬鞭,在猎犬的簇拥下奔向战场;他们为赢得狩猎冠军而呼声四起,响彻云霄!


Later in the morning we made preparations for a barbecue. A fire was kindled at the bottom of a deep hole in the ground, big sticks were laid crosswise at the top, and meat was hung from them and turned on spits. Around the fire squatted negroes, driving away the flies with long branches. The savoury odour of the meat made me hungry long before the tables were set.天亮以后,我们就忙着为野外烧烤做准备。我们在一个深深的土坑里燃起篝火,把大的柴枝架在火堆顶部,然后再把肉挂在上面炙烤,于是肉咝咝地冒着烟,诱人的香味在空气中弥漫。火堆周围蹲坐着一圈黑人,他们不停地用长树枝驱赶着飞蛾。不等餐桌布置好,香喷喷的味道就令我饥肠辘辘了。

When the bustle and excitement of preparation was at its height, the hunting party made itsappearance, struggling in by twos and threes, the men hot and weary, the horses covered with foam, and the jaded hounds panting and dejected--and not a single kill! Every man declared that he had seen at least one deer, and that the animal had come very close; but however hotly the dogs might pursue the game, however well the guns might be aimed, at the snap of the trigger there was not a deer in sight. They had been as fortunate as the little boy who said he came very near seeing a rabbit—he saw his tracks. The party soon forgot its disappointment, however, and we sat down, not to venison, but to a tamer feast of veal and roast pig.就在忙碌而兴奋的准备工作达到高潮时,狩猎晚会也开始登场了。猎手们疲惫不堪,但热情不减。马儿们大汗淋漓,口吐白沫;那些老马则气喘吁吁,垂头丧气——因为一头猎物都没有打到!每个人都声称自己至少见到了一头鹿,而且曾经距离猎物非常近,然而不管那些猎犬是多么尽忠职守,猎人的熗口瞄得是多么地准确无误,偏偏就在扣动扳机的一刹那,鹿儿倏忽不见了。讲述狩猎经过时,他们幸福得像个小男孩。小男孩不是经常说,他曾近距离地看到了一只兔子——他还看到了兔子的足迹。无论结果怎样,失望的情绪很快就被晚会的欢笑驱散了。我们围坐在一起,根本不提野味的事。总之,我们仍会好好地享受小牛肉和烤乳猪这类家庭美食。

One summer I had my pony at Fern Quarry. I called him Black Beauty, as I had just read the book, and he resembled his namesake in every way, from his glossy black coat to the white star on his forehead. I spent many of my happiest hours on his back. Occasionally, when it was quite safe, my teacher would let go the leading-rein, and the pony sauntered on or stopped at his sweet will to eat grass or nibble the leaves of the trees that grew beside the narrow trail.那年夏天,我把我的小马驹也带到了弗恩采石场。我管它叫“黑美人”,这是我刚刚读过的一本书的名字。我的小马“人如其名”,从他油光闪亮的黑色“外套”,到他额头的白色星形,无不俊朗非凡。我在他背上度过了最快乐的时光。有时候,在保证安全的前提下,我的老师也会松开缰绳,于是我的小马驹就会悠闲地在林中漫步,兴之所至,他还会停下来吃草,或者是啃食路边小树的叶子。

On mornings when I did not care for the ride, my teacher and I would start after breakfast for aramble in the woods, and allow ourselves to get lost amid the trees and vines, with no road to follow except the paths made by cows and horses. Frequently we came upon impassable thickets which forced us to take a roundabout way. We always returned to the cottage with armfuls of laurel, goldenrod, ferns and gorgeous swamp-flowers such as grow only in the South.当我不想在早上骑马的时候,我和我的老师就会在早餐后去森林里散步。我们让自己完全迷失在藤萝绿树之间,除了被牛儿马儿踩出的小径,我们无路可寻。因此,那些拦住去路的灌木丛常常迫使我们迂回行进。总之,我们最终会满载而归地回到小屋,我们的怀里抱满了大束的月桂树枝、一枝黄花、蕨菜和只有在南方才有的沼泽花卉。

Sometimes I would go with Mildred and my little cousins to gather persimmons. I did not eat them; but I loved their fragrance and enjoyed hunting for them in the leaves and grass. We also went nutting, and I helped them open the chestnut burrs and break the shells of hickory-nuts and walnuts--the big, sweet walnuts!有时候,我也会和米尔德莱德,还有我的小表妹们一起去摘柿子。我并不吃它们,但是我喜欢闻柿子的香味,喜欢在树叶间和草地上搜索果实的感觉。我们还去采集坚果,而且,我会帮她们剥开栗子的刺皮,或者敲开核桃和山胡桃的硬壳——那些核桃又大又香甜!

At the foot of the mountain there was a railroad, and the children watched the trains whiz by. Sometimes a terrific whistle brought us to the steps, and Mildred told me in great excitement that a cow or a horse had strayed on the track. About a mile distant there was a trestle spanning a deep gorge. It was very difficult to walk over, the ties were wide apart and so narrow that one felt as if one were walking on knives. I had never crossed it until one day Mildred, Miss Sullivan and I were lost in the woods, and wandered for hours without finding a path.山脚下有一条铁路,我们这些孩子会看着火车呼啸而过。吓人的汽笛声常常会把我们吸引到台阶上。米尔德莱德兴奋地告诉我,有一头牛或者一匹马还在铁轨上游荡呢。铁路沿线大约一英里之外的深谷中,横跨着一座高架桥。你很难从那里通过,峡谷很宽,桥梁极窄,走在上面就像行走在刀刃上。我从来没有去过那里。直到有一天,米尔德莱德、苏立文小姐和我在森林里迷了路,我们转了好几个小时都没有找到一条回家的路。

Suddenly Mildred pointed with her little hand and exclaimed, "There's the trestle!" We would have taken any way rather than this; but it was late and growing dark, and the trestle was a short cut home. I had to feel for the rails with my toe; but I was not afraid, and got on very well, until all at once there came a faint "puff, puff" from the distance.突然,米尔德莱德指着前方惊叫起来:“那儿有一座高架桥!”我知道,走任何一条路都比走那条路强;但是此时天色渐晚,高架桥是离家最近的通道。于是,我不得不用脚尖探索着桥栏行走。我一点都不害怕,而且感觉良好。走着走着,从远处隐隐约约地传来一阵阵咝咝声。

"I see the train!" cried Mildred, and in another minute it would have been upon us had we not climbed down on the crossbraces while it rushed over our heads. I felt the hot breath from the engine on my face, and the smoke and ashes almost choked us. As the train rumbled by, the trestle shook and swayed until I thought we should be dashed to the chasm below. With the utmost difficulty we regained the track. Long after dark we reached home and found the cottage empty; the family were all out hunting for us.“我看见火车了!”米尔德莱德喊道。如果我们不爬到下面的桥桁上,那么一分钟后,火车就会冲我们迎面驶来。当时,我能够感觉到火车头的蒸汽弥漫在四周,烟雾和灰尘几乎令我们窒息。当火车从我们身边隆隆驶过时,铁桥也被震得晃动起来,我想我们很可能会掉进脚下的深谷里。费了好一番周折,我们总算又回到了铁轨上。到家时天早已经黑了,小屋里阒无一人,原来家人们全都出去找我们了。


舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 18楼  发表于: 2012-08-23 0



Chapter XII第十二章

After my first visit to Boston, I spent almost every winter in the North. Once I went on a visit to a New England village with its frozen lakes and vast snow fields. It was then that I had opportunities such as had never been mine to enter into the treasures of the snow.在我第一次访问了波士顿后,几乎每一个冬天我都在北方度过。我曾经去过新英格兰地区的一个村庄,那里的冻湖和广袤的雪原令我印象深刻。如果没有身临其境,我是永远也体会不到与雪融为一体的美妙感受的。

I recall my surprise on discovering that a mysterious hand had stripped the trees and bushes, leaving only here and there a wrinkled leaf. The birds had flown, and their empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow. Winter was on hill and field. The earth seemed benumbed by his icy touch, and the very spirits of the trees had withdrawn to their roots, and there, curled up in the dark, lay fast asleep. All life seemed to have ebbed away, and even when the sun shone the day was我惊奇地发现,冬天的大树和灌木会遭受一只神秘的自然之手的摧残,枝条上只剩下一些皱巴巴的叶子。鸟儿全都飞走了,枯枝败叶间的鸟巢里装满了雪。山头和田野里也是一派冬天的气象,在冰雪的触摸下,大地也被冻得僵硬麻木了。树木的灵魂纷纷退缩到根部,它们蜷曲在幽暗的地下进入梦乡。所有的生物似乎都退到幕后,甚至连白天的阳光也变得

Shrunk and cold,短暂而寒冷,

As if her veins were sapless and old,如同她那老迈而枯萎的血脉,

And she rose up decrepitly她要同衰老拼死一搏,

For a last dim look at earth and sea.为了再看一眼她心中的大地和海洋。(这段诗句取自詹姆斯·拉塞尔·洛威尔的诗集《郎佛尔骑士显圣》(1848),郎佛尔是亚瑟王传奇中的圆桌骑士之一。)

The withered grass and the bushes were transformed into a forest of icicles.干枯的草丛和灌木也都变成了一片挂满冰凌的森林。

Then came a day when the chill air portended a snowstorm. We rushed out-of-doors to feel the first few tiny flakes descending. Hour by hour the flakes dropped silently, softly from their airy height to the earth, and the country became more and more level. A snowy night closed upon the world, and in the morning one could scarcely recognize a feature of the landscape. All the roads were hidden, not a single landmark was visible, only a waste of snow with trees rising out of it.随后而来的是一股强冷空气,这预示着暴风雪的来临。我们冲出屋外,去迎接最先降落的小雪片。一个小时又一个小时过去了,雪片悄无声息地坠落,广袤的原野变得白茫茫一片。雪夜紧紧地将世界围裹起来,第二天一早,你几乎辨认不出眼前的景物;所有的道路都隐匿不见了,也见不到任何一个标记性的建筑,只剩下一片被皑皑白雪覆盖的森林。

In the evening a wind from the northeast sprang up, and the flakes rushed hither and thither in furious m阬閑. Around the great fire we sat and told merry tales, and frolicked, and quite forgot that we were in the midst of a desolate solitude, shut in from all communication with the outside world. But during the night the fury of the wind increased to such a degree that it thrilled us with a vague terror. The rafters creaked and strained, and the branches of the trees surrounding the house rattled and beat against the windows, as the winds rioted up and down the country.夜晚再度降临的时候,一股来自东北部的狂风会将雪片吹得漫天飞舞。围坐在熊熊燃烧的炉火旁,我们一边讲逗趣的故事,一边尽情嬉戏,全然忘记了被风雪隔绝在孤立无援的屋子里。但是随着风势的加大,我们也感到了莫名的恐惧。房椽吱吱作响,围着房子的树枝哗啦哗啦地击打着窗户,一切都在狂风的势力之下苟延残喘。


On the third day after the beginning of the storm the snow ceased. The sun broke through the clouds and shone upon a vast, undulating white plain. High mounds, pyramids heaped infantastic shapes, and impenetrable drifts lay scattered in every direction.肆虐的暴风雪终于在第三天停止了。太阳穿过云层照耀在绵延起伏的白色原野上,高高的雪丘姿态万千,令人难以置信地向着四面八方散播开来。

Narrow paths were shoveled through the drifts. I put on my cloak and hood and went out. The air stung my cheeks like fire. Half walking in the paths, half working our way through the lesser drifts, we succeeded in reaching a pine grove just outside a broad pasture. The trees stoodmotionless and white like figures in a marble frieze. There was no odour of pine-needles. The rays of the sun fell upon the trees, so that the twigs sparkled like diamonds and dropped in showers when we touched them. So dazzling was the light, it penetrated even the darkness that veils my eyes.人们在积雪上踏出了一条条小路。我穿上斗篷系着头巾走到屋外,冷气顿时把我的脸颊刺得火烧火燎地疼。事实上,我们是在一边试探一边行走的。最终,我们总算来到了大牧场外围的那片松树林。松树一动不动地静静矗立着,挂满积雪的树身就像毛茸茸的未经加工的大理石;林子里闻不到松针的味道,阳光洒落在林间,只要轻轻一碰,小树枝上的积雪就像宝石雨一样纷纷坠落。那晶莹剔透的光线是如此炫目,甚至能穿透蒙在我眼睛上的黑面纱。

As the days wore on, the drifts gradually shrunk, but before they were wholly gone another storm came, so that I scarcely felt the earth under my feet once all winter. At intervals the trees lost their icy covering, and the bulrushes and underbrush were bare; but the lake lay frozen and hard beneath the sun.随着时间的推移,积雪也渐渐融化了。在另一次风暴尚未来临之前,我几乎感觉不到脚下正踩着严冬的土地。在这短暂的宁静时刻,树木丢弃了披在身上的冰衣,芦苇和草丛露出了身形,只有阳光下的冰湖展示着冬日的美景。

Our favourite amusement during that winter was tobogganing. In places the shore of the lake rises abruptly from the water's edge. Down these steep slopes we used to coast. We would get on our toboggan, a boy would give us a shove, and off we went! Plunging through drifts, leaping hollows, swooping down upon the lake, we would shoot across its gleaming surface to the opposite bank. What joy! What exhilarating madness! For one wild, glad moment we snapped the chain that binds us to earth, and joining hands with the winds we felt ourselves divine!我们最喜爱的冬季娱乐活动是滑雪橇。湖岸突兀地跃出水面,我们跨过陡峭的斜坡下到湖面;坐上了雪橇,一个小男孩会用力从后面一推,我们就嗖地滑了出去!雪橇穿过积雪,越过凹坑,猛地冲向湖心。最后,我们会穿过晶莹闪烁的冰面直到对岸。这是多么有趣、多么疯狂的游戏啊!记得有一次,在那、兴奋的一刻,雪橇上的防护锁链啪地折断了,于是,我们的手紧紧地握在了一起,伴随着耳边的疾风,我们觉得自己就像驾云飞翔的神灵!


舞矽

ZxID:12778187


等级: 派派版主
6.3上任 7.1生日 7.26周年 8.13结婚周年
举报 只看该作者 19楼  发表于: 2012-08-24 0
Chapter XIII

第十三章


It was in the spring of 1890 that I learned to speak.* The impulse to utter audible sounds had always been strong within me. I used to make noises, keeping one hand on my throat while the other hand felt the movements of my lips. I was pleased with anything that made a noise and liked to feel the cat purr and the dog bark. I also liked to keep my hand on a singer's throat, or on a piano when it was being played. Before I lost my sight and hearing, I was fast learning to talk, but after my illness it was found that I had ceased to speak because I could not hear. I used to sit in my mother's lap all day long and keep my hands on her face because it amused me to feel the motions of her lips; and I moved my lips, too, although I had forgotten what talking was. My friends say that I laughed and cried naturally, and for awhile I made many sounds and word-elements, not because they were a means of communication, but because the need of exercising my vocal organs was imperative. There was, however, one word the meaning of which I still remembered, water. I pronounced it "wa-wa." Even this became less and less intelligible until the time when Miss Sullivan began to teach me. I stopped using it only after I had learned to spell the word on my fingers.

1890年的春天,我开始学习说话。对我而言,能够发声讲话的冲动变得日益强烈。我常常会发出一些杂音,我会把一只手放在自己的喉咙上出声,而别人则用手感知我嘴唇的移动。我对自己发出的任何声音都感到无比满足,我也喜欢通过触摸感知猫儿“咕噜咕噜”的哼唱,或者是狗儿欢快的吠叫。有时候,我还会把手放在一个歌唱家的喉咙上,或者是一架正在弹奏的钢琴上面。在我失去视觉和听觉之前,我咿呀学语的速度很快,但是在得病之后,我就停止了讲话,因为我什么都听不见。于是,我整天坐在母亲的腿上,还把手放在她的脸上,因为她嘴唇的移动令我兴味盎然。同时,我也移动自己的嘴唇,不过我早已忘了当时都说了些什么。我的朋友们说,无论是笑是哭,我流露出的情绪都很自然;而且,我还会发出许多声音和模糊的词语。当然,这些声音并不包含与人交流的成分,它只是表明我练习使用发音器官的本能需求。至今我仍然记得学习“water”这个词的过程,一开始,我总是发出“wawa”的声音。显然,这样的发音是令人难以理解的。直到苏立文小姐教我学会用手指拼写后,我便放弃了用发音进行交流的方式。

I had known for a long time that the people about me used a method of communication different from mine; and even before I knew that a deaf child could be taught to speak, I was conscious of dissatisfaction with the means of communication I already possessed. One who is entirely dependent upon the manual alphabet has always a sense of restraint, of narrowness. This feeling began to agitate me with a vexing, forward-reaching sense of a lack that should be filled. My thoughts would often rise and beat up like birds against the wind; and I persisted in using my lips and voice. Friends tried to discourage this tendency, fearing lest it would lead to disappointment. But I persisted, and an accident soon occurred which resulted in the breaking down of this great barrier--I heard the story of Ragnhild Kaata.

我很早就知道,人们使用一种与众不同的方式同我交流。我知道一个聋哑孩子是可以学会说话的,因此,我对自己已经拥有的交流手段感到了不满。一个完全依赖手写字母来交流的人总会感觉到处处受限。这种挫折感既令我无比懊恼,又使我进一步意识到,我应该尽快弥补自己的交流缺陷。我的思绪日益高涨,犹如逆风而行的飞鸟;而且,我坚持用自己的嘴唇发音。朋友们则竭力阻止我的热情,他们唯恐我因讲话不成而更加失望。我毫不动摇,随后发生的一件事终于令巨大的障碍轰然倒地——我听说了拉根希尔德·卡塔的故事。

In 1890 Mrs. Lamson, who had been one of Laura Bridgman's teachers, and who had just returned from a visit to Norway and Sweden, came to see me, and told me of Ragnhild Kaata, a deaf and blind girl in Norway who had actually been taught to speak. Mrs. Lamson had scarcely finished telling me about this girl's success before I was on fire with eagerness. I resolved that I, too, would learn to speak. I would not rest satisfied until my teacher took me, for advice and assistance, to Miss Sarah Fuller, principal of the Horace Mann School. This lovely, sweet-natured lady offered to teach me herself, and we began the twenty-sixth of March, 1890.

1890年,刚从挪威和瑞典访问归来的拉姆森夫人来看我,她也是劳拉·布里吉曼的授课教师之一。她对我讲了拉根希尔德·卡塔的故事。拉根希尔德·卡塔是一个又聋又盲的挪威女孩,事实上,她已经成功地学会了开口说话。不等拉姆森夫人把女孩的故事讲完,我的希望之火就已经燃烧起来了。我下定决心,也要学会开口讲话。于是,在他人的建议和协助下,我的老师把我送到了萨拉·富勒小姐那里,她是霍勒斯·曼恩学校的校长。这位和蔼可亲的女士决定亲自为我授课,1890年3月26日是我们的开课日期。

Miss Fuller's method was this: she passed my hand lightly over her face, and let me feel the position of her tongue and lips when she made a sound. I was eager to imitate every motion and in an hour had learned six elements of speech: M, P, A, S, T, I. Miss Fuller gave me eleven lessons in all. I shall never forget the surprise and delight I felt when I uttered my first connected sentence, "It is warm." True, they were broken and stammering syllables; but they were human speech. My soul, conscious of new strength, came out of bondage, and was reaching through those broken symbols of speech to all knowledge and all faith.

富勒小姐的授课方法是这样的:她把我的手轻轻地放在她的脸上,这样,当她发音的时候,我就能触摸到她的舌头和嘴唇的位置。我如饥似渴地模仿老师的每一个口形,只用了一个小时,我就学会了六个字母的读音:M,P,A,S,T,I。富勒小姐总共给我上了十一堂课,我永远也忘不了开口说出第一句话时的惊讶和喜悦,那句话是“天很暖和”。当然,这句话说得结结巴巴,但它的确是人类的语言。在灵魂深处,我感受到了一股挣脱了某种束缚的新生力量。此刻,它正在穿越那些断裂的音节,奔向所有的知识和所有的信念。

No deaf child who has earnestly tried to speak the words which he has never heard--to come out of the prison of silence, where no tone of love, no song of bird, no strain of music ever pierces the stillness--can forget the thrill of surprise, the joy of discovery which came over him when he uttered his first word. Only such a one can appreciate the eagerness with which I talked to my toys, to stones, trees, birds and dumb animals, or the delight I felt when at my call Mildred ran to me or my dogs obeyed my commands. It is an unspeakable boon to me to be able to speak in winged words that need no interpretation. As I talked, happy thoughts fluttered up out of my words that might perhaps have struggled in vain to escape my fingers.

没有一个聋哑孩子会用心学习他不曾听过的词语——那些词语来自于“无声的牢狱”,那里听不到柔情细语,没有鸟儿的歌唱,也没有音乐的旋律能穿透寂静——但是,当他开口说出平生第一个单词时,他就会忘掉所有的惊惧,进而沉浸在发现的喜悦之中。也只有带着这种感恩之心,我才能同我的玩具、石头、树木、飞鸟和不会说话的动物们交谈。当听到我召唤的米尔德莱德跑到我跟前,或者听到我命令的狗儿作出正确反应,我内心的喜悦就会溢于言表。对我来说,能够迅速地说出我想要表达的话而无须翻译,这的确是一种难以言说的恩赐。当我说话时,愉快的思绪就会翩然而至。当然,这很可能是我为逃脱手指的束缚而做的徒劳抗争。

But it must not be supposed that I could really talk in this short time. I had learned only the elements of speech. Miss Fuller and Miss Sullivan could understand me, but most people would not have understood one word in a hundred. Nor is it true that, after I had learned these elements, I did the rest of the work myself. But for Miss Sullivan's genius, untiring perseverance and devotion, I could not have progressed as far as I have toward natural speech. In the first place, I laboured night and day before I could be understood even by my most intimate friends; in the second place, I needed Miss Sullivan's assistance constantly in my efforts to articulate each sound clearly and to combine all sounds in a thousand ways. Even now she calls my attention every day to mispronounced words.

不过,在如此短的时间内学会讲话还是令人难以想象的。事实上,我只是掌握了讲话的要素而已。虽然富勒小姐和苏立文小姐明白我说的话,但是大部分人并不知道我在说什么,我说一百个词,他们未必能听懂一个词。这当然称不上真正的语言,就是说,在我学习了这些要素之后,其余的技能就要靠我自己去摸索了。多亏了苏立文小姐的天才之举,以及她孜孜不倦的奉献精神,否则,我是无法在学习自然讲话的过程中取得进步的。首先,要想让我最亲密的朋友们听懂我说的话,我必须要夜以继日地加强练习;其次,我需要苏立文小姐的持续帮助,就是说,让她帮我纠正每一个发音,然后再用上千种方式将所有的音节组合在一起。直到现在,她仍会在日常交流中提醒我读错的音。

All teachers of the deaf know what this means, and only they can at all appreciate the peculiar difficulties with which I had to contend. In reading my teacher's lips I was wholly dependent on my fingers: I had to use the sense of touch in catching the vibrations of the throat, the movements of the mouth and the expression of the face; and often this sense was at fault. In such cases I was forced to repeat the words or sentences, sometimes for hours, until I felt the proper ring in my own voice. My work was practice, practice, practice. Discouragement and weariness cast me down frequently; but the next moment the thought that I should soon be at home and show my loved ones what I had accomplished, spurred me on, and I eagerly looked forward to their pleasure in my achievement.

聋哑学校的所有老师都知道这意味着什么,对于我偏向虎山行的勇气,他们也表示出了赞同意见。在阅读课上,我完全依靠手指来感受老师嘴唇的动作:我用触觉感知喉咙的振动,口腔的开启和老师的面目表情。在通常情况下,触摸的方式总是出错。因此,我只能强迫自己一遍遍重复单词或句子,有时候,这种重复过程会持续好几个小时,一直到发音正确为止。我的作业就是练习,练习,再练习。气馁和厌倦的情绪时常困扰着我,但是一想到我即将回到家里,向亲人们展示我取得的进步,我的信心就会大增。我渴望与家人们共同分享我的学习成果。

"My little sister will understand me now," was a thought stronger than all obstacles. I used to repeat ecstatically, "I am not dumb now." I could not be despondent while I anticipated the delight of talking to my mother and reading her responses from her lips. It astonished me to find how much easier it is to talk than to spell with the fingers, and I discarded the manual alphabet as a medium of communication on my part; but Miss Sullivan and a few friends still use it in speaking to me, for it is more convenient and more rapid than lip-reading.

“我的小妹妹将会听懂我的话。”这个强烈的念头已经超越了任何学习上的障碍。我常常出神地重复着一句话:“我不再哑了。”可以预见,我会同母亲快乐地交谈,我可以通过摸她的嘴唇来读懂她的话,我不会再感到沮丧失望了。而且,我惊讶地发现,语言交流要比用手指拼写来得更容易。所以,我会放弃使用手语字母的交流手段。不过苏立文小姐和少数几个朋友仍然用手指拼写的方式同我讲话,因为同唇读相比,这种方式要方便快捷得多。

Just here, perhaps, I had better explain our use of the manual alphabet, which seems to puzzle people who do not know us. One who reads or talks to me spells with his hand, using the single-hand manual alphabet generally employed by the deaf. I place my hand on the hand of the speaker so lightly as not to impede its movements. The position of the hand is as easy to feel as it is to see. I do not feel each letter any more than you see each letter separately when you read. Constant practice makes the fingers very flexible, and some of my friends spell rapidly--about as fast as an expert writes on a typewriter. The mere spelling is, of course, no more a conscious act than it is in writing.

说到这里,我要好好解释一下我们使用手语字母的过程,因为这似乎令很多不了解我们的人感到困惑。如果一个人想为我阅读或者跟我讲话,那么他就会用到聋哑人使用的手拼字母法。我会把自己的手轻轻地放在讲话者的手上,我的动作会轻到不妨碍对方的任何行动。而手对位置的变化很敏感,如同长了眼睛一样。所以,当你为我“读”的时候,我并不会感到辨别字母的速度比你看的速度慢。长期的训练令手指变得异常灵活。在我的朋友们当中,有些人的拼写速度惊人——就像一个熟练使用打字机的行家里手一样快。当然,这种拼写方式只是一种不得已而为之的行为。

When I had made speech my own, I could not wait to go home. At last the happiest of happy moments arrived. I had made my homeward journey, talking constantly to Miss Sullivan, not for the sake of talking, but determined to improve to the last minute. Almost before I knew it, the train stopped at the Tuscumbia station, and there on the platform stood the whole family. My eyes fill with tears now as I think how my mother pressed me close to her, speechless and trembling with delight, taking in every syllable that I spoke, while little Mildred seized my free hand and kissed it and danced, and my father expressed his pride and affection in a big silence. It was as if Isaiah's prophecy had been fulfilled in me, "The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands!"

当我能够开口讲话的时候,我几乎无法抑制住迫切的归家心情。终于,最快乐的时刻到来了,我踏上了返乡的旅程。一路上,我不停地和苏立文小姐说话。当然,这并不是为了单纯地说话,我决心提高我的说话水平,直到最后一刻。不知不觉间,火车已经停靠在图斯康比亚车站,全家人都站在月台上迎接我。我的眼中噙满泪水,我想到了母亲是如何把我紧紧地搂在怀里,激动得浑身颤抖不能言语,她仔细地聆听我发出的每一个音节;我想到了小妹妹米尔德莱德抓住我的手又吻又跳;我想到了父亲以长久的沉默来表达他的慈爱和自豪。我们相会的景象就像《以赛亚书》中应验的预言:“大山小山必在你们面前发声歌唱。田野的树木也都拍掌。”



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