海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第71期

　　Dr. Edward Everett Hale is one of my very oldest friends. I have known him since I was eight, and my love for him has increased with my years. His wise, tender sympathy has been the support of Miss Sullivan and me in times of trial and sorrow, and his strong hand has helped us over manyrough places; and what he has done for us he has done for thousands of those who have difficult tasks to accomplish. He has filled the old skins of dogma with the new wine of love, and shown men what it is to believe, live and be free. What he has taught we have seen beautifully expressedin his own life—love of country, kindness to the least of his brethren, and a sincere desire to live upward and onward. He has been a prophet and an inspirer of men, and a mighty doer of the Word, the friend of all his race—God bless him!

　　愛德華·埃弗里特·黑爾博士是同我交往時間最久的朋友之一，我八歲時就認識他了。隨著年齡的增長，我對他的敬意也與日俱增。每當苦難和悲傷降臨的時候，他的智慧和同情心給了我和蘇立文小姐以強有力的支持;而且，他不但對我們伸出援手，對于成千上萬坎坷無助的生靈，他同樣給予無私的關(guān)愛。他用新釀制的“愛的美酒”為陳腐教條的“舊酒”注入活力。他向人們展示了信念、生存與自由的真諦。在他的言傳身教之中，我們也看到了他表里如一的高尚生活——對故土的熱愛，對每一個同胞兄弟的仁慈之心，以及積極進取的生活態(tài)度，這些無一不顯示出他坦蕩磊落的人格魅力。在我的眼中，他就是一位先知，一位靈魂施救者，一位精盡不怠的圣徒。所有認識他的朋友們啊——讓我們祈禱神保佑他!

　　Miss Keller, Miss Sullivan and Dr. Edward Everett Hale, 1902

　　凱勒小姐，小姐沙利文博士和愛德華埃弗里特黑爾，1902年

　　I have already written of my first meeting with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Since then I have spent many happy days with him at Washington and at his beautiful home in the heart of Cape Breton Island, near Baddeck, the village made famous by Charles Dudley Warner’s book. Here in Dr. Bell’s laboratory, or in the fields on the shore of the great Bras d’Or, I have spent many delightfulhours listening to what he had to tell me about his experiments, and helping him fly kites by means of which he expects to discover the laws that shall govern the future air-ship. Dr. Bell isproficient in many fields of science, and has the art of making every subject he touches interesting, even the most abstruse theories. He makes you feel that if you only had a little more time, you, too, might be an inventor. He has a humorous and poetic side, too. His dominatingpassion is his love for children. He is never quite so happy as when he has a little deaf child in his arms. His labours in behalf of the deaf will live on and bless generations of children yet to come; and we love him alike for what he himself has achieved and for what he has evoked from others.

　　我已經(jīng)描述過我同亞歷山大·格雷厄姆·貝爾博士初次會面時的情景。自那以后，我又在他華盛頓的家中度過了很多個愉快的日子。他美麗的家坐落在布賴頓島海角的腹地，毗鄰巴代克，這個小村因被查爾斯·達德利·沃納寫進書里而聞名。無論在貝爾博士的實驗室，還是在遼闊的巴拉斯德奧爾海岸，我興味盎然地聽他講述自己的試驗，有時一聽就是好幾個小時。我還幫他放風箏——博士期望借此發(fā)現(xiàn)控制未來飛行器飛行的規(guī)律。貝爾博士不但精通各類學科，而且具有把那些知識化腐朽為神奇的本事，即便是最深奧的理論，他也能夠輕松破解。同他在一起，你不禁會產(chǎn)生出這樣的感覺，假如你只有有限的一點時間，那么，你也有可能成為一個發(fā)明家。當然，他的身上也具有幽默和詩情畫意的一面。不妨說，他對孩子們的那份愛是發(fā)自肺腑的。當他把一個失聰?shù)男『⒈г趹牙飼r，他簡直高興得無以復(fù)加。他為了聾啞人的利益而付出的勞動，將保佑一代又一代兒童健康成長。我們愛他，不只是因為他所取得的偉大成就，還因為他喚醒了他人心中的希望。

　　During the two years I spent in New York I had many opportunities to talk with distinguishedpeople whose names I had often heard, but whom I had never expected to meet. Most of them I met first in the house of my good friend, Mr. Laurence Hutton. It was a great privilege to visit him and dear Mrs. Hutton in their lovely home, and see their library and read the beautiful sentiments and bright thoughts gifted friends had written for them. It has been truly said that Mr. Hutton has the faculty of bringing out in every one the best thoughts and kindest sentiments. One does not need to read "A Boy I Knew" to understand him—the most generous, sweet-natured boy I ever knew, a good friend in all sorts of weather, who traces the footprints of love in the life of dogs as well as in that of his fellowmen.

　　我在紐約生活的兩年間，曾有很多機會同那些耳熟能詳?shù)闹宋锝徽?，但是我決不會去刻意求見他們。他們中的很多人在同我見過一次面后就成了好朋友，比如勞倫斯·休頓先生。我曾十分榮幸地拜訪過他和賢惠的休頓夫人，我還參觀了他家的圖書館，并且讀到了他的天才朋友們寫給他們的留言，這些留言飽含感情，不乏真知灼見。你確實可以這樣說，休頓先生能夠把每一個人的優(yōu)秀思想和善良品質(zhì)發(fā)掘出來，他的確具有這樣的本事。一個人不必閱讀《我所認識的一個男孩》就可以了解他——他是我認識的最慷慨、最善良的男孩;也是那種在任何情況下都對你不離不棄的好朋友。在生活的漫漫征途中，他會一路尋著愛的足跡，并從中找到他的手足同胞。