海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》
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, asuperstitious 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 earliestimpressions, I find that fact and fancy look alike across the years that link the past with thepresent. The woman paints the child's experiences in her own fantasy. A few impressionsstand out vividly from the first years of my life; but "the shadows of the prison-house are onthe rest." Besides, many of the joys and sorrows of childhood have lost their poignancy; andmany incidents of vital importance in my early education have been forgotten in theexcitement of great discoveries. In order, therefore, not to be tedious I shall try to present in aseries 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 andwrote a book on the subject of their education—rather a singular coincidence; though it istrue that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who hasnot 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 finallysettled there. I have been told that once a year he went from Tuscumbia to Philadelphia onhorseback to purchase supplies for the plantation, and my aunt has in her possession manyof 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, andgranddaughter of Alexander Spotswood, an early Colonial Governor of Virginia. She was alsosecond 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, KateAdams, 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 asEdward Everett and Dr. Edward Everett Hale. After the war was over the family moved toMemphis, 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 houseconsisting of a large square room and a small one, in which the servant slept. It is a custom inthe South to build a small house near the homestead as an annex to be used on occasion. Sucha house my father built after the Civil War, and when he married my mother they went to livein it. It was completely covered with vines, climbing roses and honeysuckles. From the gardenit looked like an arbour. The little porch was hidden from view by a screen of yellow roses andSouthern 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. Itwas called "Ivy Green" because the house and the surrounding trees and fences were coveredwith 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
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 of temper, 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 emphatic about that. My father suggested the name of Mildred Campbell, an ancestor whom he highly esteemed, 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-asserting disposition. 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 tenderness with which my mother tried to soothe me in my waking hours of fret and pain, and the agony and 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, a luminous 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”。
Chapter II
第二章
I cannot recall what happened during the first months after my illness. I only know that I sat inmy mother's lap or clung to her dress as she went about her household duties. My hands feltevery object and observed every motion, and in this way I learned to know many things. Soon Ifelt the need of some communication with others and began to make crude signs. A shake ofthe head meant "No" and a nod, "Yes," a pull meant "Come" and a push, "Go." Was it breadthat I wanted? Then I would imitate the acts of cutting the slices and buttering them. If Iwanted my mother to make ice-cream for dinner I made the sign for working the freezer andshivered, indicating cold. My mother, moreover, succeeded in making me understand a gooddeal. I always knew when she wished me to bring her something, and I would run upstairs oranywhere else she indicated. Indeed, I owe to her loving wisdom all that was bright and good inmy 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 putaway the clean clothes when they were brought in from the laundry, and I distinguished myown from the rest. I knew by the way my mother and aunt dressed when they were going out, and I invariably begged to go with them. I was always sent for when there was company, andwhen the guests took their leave, I waved my hand to them, I think with a vagueremembrance 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 asudden thought I ran upstairs before any one could stop me, to put on my idea of a companydress. Standing before the mirror, as I had seen others do, I anointed mine head with oil andcovered my face thickly with powder. Then I pinned a veil over my head so that it covered myface and fell in folds down to my shoulders, and tied an enormous bustle round my smallwaist, so that it dangled behind, almost meeting the hem of my skirt. Thus attired I went downto 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 itbefore my teacher came to me. I had noticed that my mother and my friends did not use signsas I did when they wanted anything done, but talked with their mouths. Sometimes I stoodbetween 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 soangry 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 whenmy fit of temper was over I had a feeling akin to regret. But I cannot remember any instancein which this feeling prevented me from repeating the naughtiness when I failed to get what Iwanted.
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 oldsetter and a great hunter in her day, were my constant companions. Martha Washingtonunderstood my signs, and I seldom had any difficulty in making her do just as I wished. Itpleased me to domineer over her, and she generally submitted to my tyranny rather than riska hand-to-hand encounter. I was strong, active, indifferent to consequences. I knew my ownmind well enough and always had my own way, even if I had to fight tooth and nail for it. Wespent 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 swarmedabout the kitchen steps. Many of them were so tame that they would eat from my hand andlet 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 whichthe cook had justfrosted, and ate every bit of it. I was quite ill afterward, and I wonder ifretribution also overtook the turkey.
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。
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 emphatic signs 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 interfere with 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 and inattentive. She sometimes started and quivered with excitement, then she became perfectly rigid, 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。
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，有着一手好枪法。在家庭之外，他最爱他的狗和猎枪。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 an opportune 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 lap constantly, 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。
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 outburstsof passion. I felt as if invisible hands were holding me, and I made frantic efforts to freemyself. I struggled--not that struggling helped matters, but the spirit of resistance was strongwithin me; I generally broke down in tears and physical exhaustion. If my mother happened tobe near I crept into her arms, too miserable even to remember the cause of the tempest. Afterawhile the need of some means of communication became so urgent that these outburstsoccurred 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 theblind or the deaf, and it seemed unlikely that any one would come to such an out-of-the-wayplace as Tuscumbia to teach a child who was both deaf and blind. Indeed, my friends andrelatives sometimes doubted whether I could be taught. My mother's only ray of hope camefrom Dickens's "American Notes." She had read his account of Laura Bridgman, andremembered vaguely that she was deaf and blind, yet had been educated. But she alsoremembered with a hopeless pang that Dr. Howe, who had discovered the way to teach thedeaf and blind, had been dead many years. His methods had probably died with him; and ifthey 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 hadbeen successful in many cases that had seemed hopeless. My parents at once determined totake 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 onthe train. One lady gave me a box of shells. My father made holes in these so that I couldstring them, 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 andpunched the tickets. His punch, with which he let me play, was a delightful toy. Curled up in acorner of the seat I amused 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。
My aunt made me a big doll out of towels. It was the most comical shapeless thing, this improvised 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 of temper, 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 the tenderness 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 competent to 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。”
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 unusual was 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 deep languor 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 plummet and 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 and pride. 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。
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 first opportunity. 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 my discomfort 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 skip with 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 world blossom 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。
Chapter V
第五章
I recall many incidents of the summer of 1887 that followed my soul's sudden awakening. I didnothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; andthe more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confidentgrew 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 thefields, 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. Ilearned how the sun and the rain make to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant tothe 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 myknowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in. Long before Ilearned to do a sum in arithmetic or describe the shape of the earth, Miss Sullivan had taughtme to find beauty in the fragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and in the curves anddimples of my baby sister's hand. She linked my earliest thoughts with nature, and made mefeel 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. Oneday my teacher and I were returning from a long ramble. The morning had been fine, but itwas growing warm and sultry when at last we turned our faces homeward. Two or three timeswe stopped to rest under a tree by the wayside. Our last halt was under a wild cherry tree ashort distance from the house. The shade was grateful, and the tree was so easy to climb thatwith my teacher's assistance I was able to scramble to a seat in the branches. It was so coolup in the tree that Miss Sullivan proposed that we have our luncheon there. I promised to keepstill 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 wasblack, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strangeodour came up from the earth. I knew it, it was the odour that always precedes athunderstorm, and a nameless fear clutched at my heart. I felt absolutely alone, cut off frommy friends and the firm earth. The immense, the unknown, enfolded me. I remained still andexpectant; a chilling terror crept over me. I longed for my teacher's return; but above allthings 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。
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 and fell 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 delicate blossoms 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。
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 acquire language 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 stammered syllable 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 were vague, 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 was conscious of for the first time. Her words puzzled me very much because I did not then understand 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 the sequence 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 decided emphasis, "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。
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. The conversation he hears in his home stimulates his mind and suggests topics and calls forth the spontaneous 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。
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. The conversation he hears in his home stimulates his mind and suggests topics and calls forth the spontaneous 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。
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 wereprinted words in raised letters. I quickly learned that each printed word stood for an object, anact, or a quality. I had a frame in which I could arrange the words in little sentences; butbefore I ever put sentences in the frame I used to make them in objects. I found the slips ofpaper which represented, for example, "doll," "is," "on," "bed" and placed each name on itsobject; then I put my doll on the bed with the words is, on, bed arranged beside the doll, thusmaking a sentence of the words, and at the same time carrying out the idea of the sentencewith 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 thewardrobe. On the shelf I arranged the words, is, in, wardrobe. Nothing delighted me somuch as this game. My teacher and I played it for hours at a time. Often everything in theroom was arranged in object 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 shallspeak 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 morelike play than work. Everything Miss Sullivan taught me she illustrated by a beautiful story ora poem. Whenever anything delighted or interested me she talked it over with me just as if shewere a little girl herself. What many children think of with dread, as a painful ploddingthrough grammar, hard sums and harder definitions, is to-day one of my most preciousmemories.
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 wonderfulfaculty for description. She went quickly over uninteresting details, and never nagged mewith questions to see if I remembered the day-before-yesterday's lesson. She introduced drytechnicalities of science little by little, making every subject so real that I could not helpremembering 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 lessonshave in them the breath of the woods—the fine, resinous odour of pine needles, blended withthe perfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious shade of a wild tulip tree, I learned tothink that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. "The loveliness of things taught me alltheir use." Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom had a part in myeducation—noisy-throated frogs, katydids and crickets held in my hand until, forgetting theirembarrassment, they trilled their reedy note, little downy chickens and wildflowers, thedogwood blossoms, meadow-violets and budding fruit trees. I felt the bursting cotton-bolls andfingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds; I felt the low soughing of the wind through thecornstalks, the silky rustling of the long leaves, and the indignant snort of my pony, as wecaught him in the pasture and put the bit in his mouth—ah me! how well I remember thespicy, 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 andflowers. Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautifulmotion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in theflower 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。
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. The illustrative 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 arrange more 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 an unknown age. For a long time these strange creatures haunted my dreams, and this gloomy period 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”。
