海倫·凱勒自傳《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.

　　我的姑媽用毛巾給我做了一個大布娃娃。這是一個滑稽而怪異的玩偶，大概是準(zhǔn)備得過于倉促，娃娃沒有鼻子、嘴、耳朵和眼睛——甚至憑借一個小孩子的想象力都無法拼湊出娃娃的臉孔。可十分奇怪的是，我并不在乎娃娃頭上的其他器官，唯獨(dú)眼睛的缺失深深觸動了我。我固執(zhí)地向大家指出我的發(fā)現(xiàn)，可是似乎沒有一個人能夠?yàn)橥尥尢砑右浑p眼睛。然而，由于我的靈機(jī)一動，難題終于得到了解決。我翻下座位開始摸索，直到發(fā)現(xiàn)了姑媽的披肩，而披肩上面裝飾著不少大珠子。我揪下來兩顆珠子，并且示意姑媽幫我把它縫到娃娃身上。于是姑媽把我的手放在了她的眼睛上面，而我則使勁地點(diǎn)頭。結(jié)果，珠子被縫到了恰當(dāng)?shù)奈恢?，我簡直無法抑制住自己的興奮?？墒呛芸煳揖褪チ藢Σ纪尥薜乃信d趣。在旅途中，我沒有發(fā)過一次脾氣，因?yàn)橛刑嗟氖虑樽屛业念^腦和手指忙于應(yīng)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.

　　我們來到巴爾的摩，切斯霍爾姆醫(yī)生熱情地接待了我們，但是他并沒有對我做任何治療。他對父親說，我應(yīng)該接受教育，并且建議父親向華盛頓的亞歷山大·格雷厄姆·貝爾博士進(jìn)行咨詢，他可以告訴我們關(guān)于聾啞和盲童學(xué)校的師資情況。按照醫(yī)生的建議，我們立刻前往華盛頓去見貝爾博士。我的父親疑慮重重，感到前途未卜。而我完全沒有意識到他的痛苦，只是覺得在路途間往來其樂無窮。雖然是個小孩子，可我馬上就感到了貝爾博士的善良和強(qiáng)烈的同情心，當(dāng)時他功成名就，深受世人敬仰。他把我抱在他的膝蓋上，我對他的懷表產(chǎn)生了興趣，為了讓我明白，他不停地敲打懷表。他理解我的手勢，我知道這一點(diǎn)，立刻就喜歡上了他。但是我并不抱什么幻想，把這次會晤當(dāng)成是一扇引領(lǐng)我從黑暗走向光明，從孤獨(dú)走向友誼、關(guān)懷、知識和愛的大門。

　　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.

　　貝爾博士建議我父親給阿納戈諾斯先生寫封信，他是波士頓帕金斯學(xué)院的院長，也是豪博士偉大事業(yè)的繼承人。貝爾博士的意思是，看看阿納戈諾斯先生那里有沒有一位能夠教我的老師。我的父親立即寫了信。幾個星期后，阿納戈諾斯先生便回了一封熱情洋溢的信，他讓我們放心，說已經(jīng)為我們找到了一位老師。這件事發(fā)生在1886年夏天，那時蘇立文小姐還沒有來，她是來年三月才到的。

　　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."

　　就這樣，我走出埃及，站在了西奈山前。一股神圣的力量觸摸著我的靈魂，它不但帶給了我光明，還讓我“看”到了許多奇跡。我似乎聽到了那個來自圣山的聲音：“知識是愛，是光，是佳地。”