海倫·凱勒自傳《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!

　　果園是另一個我經(jīng)常光顧的去處，那里的果實(shí)在7月初就成熟了。碩大飽滿，覆蓋著絨毛的桃子觸手可得，和煦的微風(fēng)穿過樹叢，蘋果在我的腳下滾來滾去。哦，把果實(shí)收集到圍裙里的感覺真是妙不可言。我把臉貼在光滑溫?zé)岬奶O果上，感受著陽光照射的余溫。然后，我蹦蹦跳跳地滿載而歸。

　　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.

　　散步時，我們最喜歡去的地方是“老凱勒碼頭”，這是田納西河邊一個破敗不堪的木制碼頭。南北戰(zhàn)爭期間，這里被當(dāng)做運(yùn)輸軍隊(duì)的專用碼頭。我們在這里學(xué)習(xí)地理知識，度過了一段令人回味的美好時光。我用小石子搭建水壩，建造島嶼和湖泊，還挖掘河床，這一切都是為了好玩兒，我從來沒有意識到我正在上課學(xué)習(xí)。我滿懷好奇地“聽”蘇立文小姐描述世界的博大精深——燃燒的山脈，被埋葬的城市，移動的冰河，以及眾多奇妙的自然現(xiàn)象。老師會用黏土制作立體地圖，這樣我就能感覺到山脊和峽谷的形態(tài)，我的手指也會觸摸到河流曲折的流向。我喜歡這種生動的講解，但是把地球劃分成地帶和極點(diǎn)還是讓我有些糊涂。用來說明的細(xì)線和代表極點(diǎn)的橘樹枝似乎是最形象的比喻了，即使在今天，人們講解地球氣候帶時，仍會用一串串的繩圈來說明。我想，假如有誰采用了這種方法，那么他一定會讓我相信，白熊實(shí)際上是在攀登北極。

　　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.

　　算術(shù)似乎是我唯一不喜歡學(xué)習(xí)的課程。從一開始我就對有關(guān)數(shù)字的科學(xué)不感興趣。蘇立文小姐試圖用串珠子的方式教我計算，她還通過排列麥稈教我學(xué)習(xí)加減法。我很沒有耐心，每次最多排列五六組而已。完成了課業(yè)，我的心思馬上就轉(zhuǎn)移到了別處，我會立刻跑出去尋找我的玩伴。

　　In this same leisurely manner I studied zoology and botany.

　　以同樣輕松悠閑的方式，我還學(xué)習(xí)了有關(guān)動物學(xué)和植物學(xué)的知識。

　　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.

　　以前我遇到過一位紳士，他的名字我已經(jīng)忘記了，他曾送給我一套化石收藏標(biāo)本——微小的軟體殼類動物形成精美的印痕，一塊塊砂巖上凸顯出飛鳥的爪子，可愛的蕨類植物也在石頭上呈現(xiàn)出淺淺的浮雕。對我而言，這些知識猶如開啟上古世界寶藏的一把把鑰匙。伴隨著顫抖的手指，我“聽”蘇立文小姐講述猛獸的故事。這些兇殘、叫不出名字的野獸，曾經(jīng)穿梭在廣袤的原始森林里，它們折斷巨樹的枝椏用來果腹。最終，在一個古老的未知年代，這些猛獸消亡在昏暗的沼澤之中。當(dāng)時，這些古怪的生物常?？M繞在我的夢境里。如今，我的世界充滿了陽光和盛開的玫瑰，小馬駒的蹄子發(fā)出輕柔的節(jié)拍聲，同快樂的生活相比，這段陰郁的記憶變成了留在心底的前塵往事。

　　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.

　　還有一次，有人給了我一個美麗的螺殼，伴隨著一個小孩子的驚喜和好奇，我了解到了一個微小的軟體動物是如何在它們的棲息地建造環(huán)形洞穴的。我還知道了它們在晚上活動的情形，夜間，不會有風(fēng)卷起波浪，在“珍珠船”的搭載下，鸚鵡螺會航行在印度洋的藍(lán)色海面上。我學(xué)習(xí)了很多關(guān)于海洋生物習(xí)性的知識，這些知識趣味無窮。比如，在涌動的波浪之中，微小的珊瑚蟲是如何在太平洋上建造美麗的珊瑚島的;有孔蟲類又是如何形成陸地上的石灰?guī)r山體的。我的老師為我讀《背著房間的鸚鵡螺》，并且告訴我，可以把軟體動物外殼的形成過程，視做一種心智發(fā)展的象征。就是說，鸚鵡螺身上的罩子是神奇工作的結(jié)果，它把從海水中吸收的物質(zhì)轉(zhuǎn)化成了它身體的一部分。同樣，人類汲取知識也要經(jīng)過類似的轉(zhuǎn)化過程，直至知識變成“思想的珍珠”。