Excerpts From Three Days to See
-----By Hellen Keller
蹒跚学步
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 arms when I was suddenly attracted by the flickering shadows of the leaves that danced in the sunlight on the smooth floor. I slipped from my mother's arms and almost ran towards them. The impulse gone, I fell down and cried for my mother to take me up in her arms.
爱的摇篮
Indeed, I owe to my mother her lovimng wisdom all that was bright and good in my long night.
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.
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. 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.
和妹妹争风吃醋
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.
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 we were content to go hand-in-hand wherever caprice led us, although she could not understand my finger language, nor I her childish prattle.
光明的到来
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 my light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.
I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as i supposed to my mother. Someone 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 ------Miss Sullivan
识字
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 m-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.
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. 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 wereamong them-words that were to make the world blossom for me , "Like Aaron's rod, with flowers." It would have been difficult ot 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.
了解“爱”的含义
I had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it. Children who can hear learn language without any particular effort. They hear other people speak, and enjoy trying to make the same sounds. The deaf child must learn language in a slow and often painful way. But even though the learning may be slow and painful, the result is wonderful. We advance gradually from mere naming objects to understanding the thought in a poem of Shakespeare.
At first, when my teacher told me about a new thing, I asked very few questions. My ideas were not clear, and I didn't know many words. But as my knowledge of things grew and I learned more and more words, I could ask more questions, and I would return again and again to the same subject, eager for more information. Sometimes a new word made me remember an experience I had had earlier.
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 spring flowers in the garden and brought them to my teacher. She tried to kiss me, but at that time I did not like to have anyone kiss me except my mother. Miss Sullivan put her arm gently around me and spelled into my hand, “I love Helen.”
“What is love?” I asked.
She drew me closer to her and said, “It is here,” pointing to my heart. Her words puzzled me very much, because I did not understand anything at that time unless I touched it.
I smelled the flowers in her hand and asked half in words and half in signs a question which meant, “Is love the sweet smell of the flowers?”
“No,” said my teacher. I thought again. The warm sun was shining on us, and pointing in the direction from which the warmth came, I asked again, “ Is this love?”
It seemed to me that there could be nothing more beautiful than the sun, whose warmth makes everything grow. But Miss Sullivan shook her head, and I was greatly puzzled and disappointed. I thought it was very strange that my teacher could not show me love.
A day or so afterward, I was stringing beads of different sizes. The pattern was two large beads, three small ones, two large beads, three small ones, and so on. I had made many mistakes. Miss Sullivan had pointed out my mistakes again and again with gentle patience. Finally I saw a mistake, and I began to try harder to arrange the beads in the right order. Miss Sullivan touched my forehead and spelled, “Think.”
In a flash I knew that the word was the name of what was going on in my head. This was the first time I clearly understood the name for something that I could not touch with my hands.
For a long time I was still---not thinking of the beads in my hands, but trying to find a meaning for love, now that I knew what kind of word it was. The sun was under a cloud all day, and there had been brief showers, but suddenly the sun came out brightly.
Again I asked my teacher, “Isn't that love?”
“Love is something like the clouds that were in the sky before the sun came out,” she replied. Then she explained, “You can't touch the clouds, you know, but you feel the rain and you know how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either, but you know the sweet feeling that it pours into everything. Without love you would not be happy or want to play.”
My mind was filled with the beautiful truth. I felt ties that could not be seen connecting my spirit and the spirits of others.
From the beginning of my education, Miss Sullivan spoke to me as she would have spoken to a child who could hear. The only difference was that she spelled the sentences into my hands instead of speaking them. If I did not know the words and expressions necessary to answer her, she supplied them. She even suggested what I should say, if I couldn't think of any conversation.
This continued for several years, for a deaf child does not learn in a month, or even in two or three years, all the words and expressions used in ordinary daily conversation. The little child who can hear learns them hearing them repeated and then saying them. The conversation that he hears in his home makes his mind work, suggesting subjects of conversation to him, and makes him want to express his own ideas. The deaf child does not have this natural exchange of ideas. My teacher, who realized this, determined to make up for this lack. She did this by repeating to me as far as possible exactly what she heard, and by showing me how I could take part in the conversation. But it was a long time before I was willing to begin a conversation, and still longer before I could think of the right thing to say at the right time.
The deaf and the blind find it very hard to learn the art of conversation. This difficulty is greatly increased in the case of those who are both deaf and blind. They cannot hear the tone of voice used by the other speaker, or watch his face, and they cannot, without help change the rise and fall of their own voice in the way that gives meaning to language.
《假如给我三天光明》节选
蹒跚学步
家人告诉我，在我刚满周岁时就会走路了。母亲把我从浴盆中抱起来放在她的膝上。阳光透过风中舞蹈的树叶，投射在光滑的地板上的光影吸引了我。那影子一闪一闪的，忽隐忽现，我禁不住从母亲的膝上滑下来，摇摇摆摆地向它奔去。等这股冲劲用完了，我就跌倒在地：哭着祈求母亲把我抱起来。
爱的摇篮
母亲的慈爱和智慧是我那漫长黑暗里的灯盏，给我心里带来了光明。
大约在我5岁时，我们从那所爬满蔓藤的家园搬到了一所更大的新房子。我们一家6口，父亲、母亲，两个同父异母的哥哥，后来，又加上一个小妹妹，叫米珠丽。
我对父亲最初且清晰的记忆是，有一次，我穿过一堆堆的报纸，来到父亲的跟前。那时，他独自一个人举着一大张纸肥脸都遮住了。我完全不知道父亲在干什么，于是学着他的模样，也举起一张纸，戴起他的眼镜，以为这样就可以知道了。多年以后，我才了解，那些纸都是报纸，父亲是报纸的编辑。
父亲性格温和，仁慈而宽厚，非常热爱这个家庭。除了打猎的季节外，他很少
离开我们。
据家人描述，他是个好猎人和神枪手。除了家人，他的最爱就是狗和猎枪。他非常好客，几乎有些过分，每次回家都要带回一两个客人。他还有一个爱好，就是种植花园。家人说，父亲栽种的西瓜和草莓是全村最好的。他总是把最先成熟的葡萄和最好的草萄给我品尝。也常常领着我在瓜田和果林中散步，抚摸着我，让我快乐。此情此景，至今依然历历在目。父亲还是讲故事的能手，在我学会了写字之后，他就把发生的许多有趣的事情，用我学会的字，写在我的手掌上，引得我快乐地大笑起来。而最令他高兴的事，莫过于听我复述他讲过的那些故事。
和妹妹争风吃醋
很长时间里， 我把妹妹看做是侵犯我权利的人。因为我知道我不再是母亲唯一的心肝了，不由的满怀嫉妒。妹妹常坐在母亲的膝上，占去了我的位置，母亲的时间和对我的关心似乎也都被她夺走了。后来发生了一件事，使我觉得不仅是母爱受到分割，而且受了极大的侮辱。
那时，我有一个心爱的洋娃娃，我把它取名叫“南酋”。它是我溺爱和脾气发作时的牺牲品，浑身被磨得一塌糊涂。我常把她放在摇篮里，学着母亲的样子安抚 她。我爱她胜过任何会眨眼、会说话的洋娃娃。有一天，我发现妹妹正舒舒服服地睡在摇篮里。那时，我正嫉妒她夺走了母爱，又怎么能够容忍她睡在我心爱的“南茜”的摇篮里呢？我不禁勃然大怒，愤然冲过去，用力把摇篮推翻。要不是母亲及时赶来接住，妹妹恐怕会摔死的。这时我已又育又聋，处于双重孤独之中，当然不能领略亲热的语言和怜爱的行为以及伙伴之间所产生的感情。后来，我懂事之后，享受到了人类的幸福，米珠丽和我之间变得心心相应，手拉着手到处游逛，尽管她看不懂我的手语，我也听不见她呀呀的童音。
光明的到来 朋友，你可曾在茫茫大雾中航行过，在雾中神情紧张地驾驶着一条大船，小心翼翼地缓慢地向对岸驶去？你的心怦怦直跳，惟恐意外发生。在未受教育之前，我正像大雾中的航船，既没有指南针也没有探测仪，无从知道海港已经非常临近。我心里无声地呼喊着：“光明！光明！快给我光明！”恰恰正在此时，爱的光明照在了我身上。
我觉得有脚步向我走来，以为是母亲，我立刻伸出双手。一个人握住了我的手,把我紧紧地抱在怀中。我似乎能感觉得到，她就是那个来对我启示世间的真理、给我深切的爱的人——安妮?莎莉文老师。
识字
第二天早晨，莎莉文老师带我到她的房间，给了我一个洋娃娃。后来我才知道,那是柏金斯盲入学校的学生赠送的。衣服是由年老的萝拉亲手缝制的。我玩了一会儿洋娃娃，莎莉文小姐拉起我的手，在手掌上慢慢地拼写“DOLL”这个词，这个举 动让我对手指游戏产生了兴趣，并且模仿在她手上画。当我最后能正确地拼写这个词时，我自豪极了，高兴得脸都涨红了，立即跑下楼去，找到母亲，拼写给她看。我并不知道这就是在写字，甚至也不知道世界上有文字这种东西。我不过是依样画葫芦模仿莎莉文老师的动作而已。从此以后，以这种不求甚解的方式，我学会了拼写“针”(PIN )、“杯子”(CUP )、以及“坐”(SIT )、“站”(SfAND)、 “走”(WALK)这些词。世间万物都有自己的名字，是在老师教了我几个星期以后， 我才领悟到的。
有一天，莎莉文小姐给我一个更大的新洋娃娃，同时也把原来那个布娃娃拿来放在我的膝上，然后在我手上拼写“DOLL”这个词，用意在于告诉我这个大的布娃娃和小布娃娃一样都叫做“DOLL”。 这天上午，我和莎莉文老师为“杯”和“水”这两个字发生了争执。她想让我懂得“杯”是“杯”，“水”是“水”，而我却把两者混为一谈，“杯”也是“水”，“水”也是“杯”。她没有办法，只好暂时丢开这个问题，重新练习布娃娃“DOLL ”这个词。我实在有些不耐烦了，抓起新洋娃娃就往地上摔，把它摔碎了，心中觉得特别痛快。发这种脾气，我既不惭愧，也不悔恨，我对洋娃娃并没有爱。在我的那个寂静而又黑暗的世界里，根本就不会有温柔和同情。莎莉文小姐把可怜的洋娃娃的碎布扫到炉子边，然后把我的帽子递给我，我知道又可以到外面暖和的阳光里去了。
我们沿着小路散步到井房，房顶上盛开的金银花芬芳扑鼻。莎莉文老师把我的 一只手放在喷水口下，一股清凉的水在我手上流过。她在我的另一只手上拼写“WATER” ——“水”字，起先写得很慢，第二遍就写得快些。我静静地站着，注意她手指的动作。突然间，我恍然大悟，有股神奇的感觉在我脑中激荡，我一下子理解了语言文字的奥秘了，知道了“水”这个字就是正在我手上流过的这种清凉而奇妙的东西。
水唤醒了我的灵魂，并给予我光明、希望、快乐和自由。
井房的经历使我求知的欲望油然而生。啊！原来宇宙万物都各有名称，每个名称都能启发我新的思想。我开始以充满新奇的眼光看待每一样东西。回到屋里，碰到的东西似乎都有了生命。我想起了那个被我摔碎的洋娃娃，摸索着来到炉子跟前，捡起碎片，想把它们拼凑起来，但怎么也拼不好。想起刚才的所作所为，我悔恨莫及，两眼浸满了泪水，这是生平第一次。那一天，我学会了不少字，譬如“父亲”(FATHER)、“母亲”(MOTHER)、
妹妹”(SISTER)、“老师”(TEACHER)等。这些字使整个世界在我面前变得花团锦簇，美不胜收。记得那个美好的夜晚，我独自躺在床上，心中充满了喜悦,企盼着新的一天快些来到。啊！世界上还有比我更幸福的孩子吗？
了解“爱”的含义
现在，我已经掌握了语言的钥匙，急于想加以运用。通常，有听力的孩子可以轻而易举地学习语言。别人嘴里说出来的话，他们可以轻松愉快地了解与学习，并且摹仿着说出口。但是，耳聋的孩子却必须经历无数的痛苦煎熬，慢慢才能学会。但无论如何艰辛，结果总是无比美妙。我从每一件东 西的名称慢慢学起，由期期文艾地发音，进展到可以在莎士比亚的十四行诗中，进行无限美妙的想像起初，老师告诉我许多新鲜事，我很少发问。由于我知识有限，概念模糊，字词掌握得很少。随着我对外界的了解逐渐增加，词汇也多了，问题也就多了起来。我常常对一件事物一而再，再而三地探个究竟，想了解得更多些。有时从一个学习 的新词，常常联想起以前发生的种种经历。
记得有一天早晨，我第一次问起“爱”这个字的意思。当时认识的字还不很多， 我在花园里摘了几朵早开的紫罗兰送给莎莉文老师。她很高兴地想吻我，可我那时 除了母亲外，不愿意让别人吻我。那时侯，莎莉文小姐用一只胳膊轻轻地搂着我，在我手上拼写出了“我爱海伦”几个字。 “爱是什么？”我问。 莎莉文老师把我搂得更紧了，用手指着我的心说：“爱在这里。”
我第一次感到了心脏的跳动，但对老师的话和动作依然迷惑不解，因为当时除了能触摸到的东西外，我几乎什么都不懂。
我闻了闻她手里的紫罗兰，一半儿用文字，一半儿用手势问道：“爱就是花的香味吗？”
“不是。”莎莉文老师说。
我又想了想。太阳正温暖地照耀着我们。
“爱是不是太阳？”我指着阳光射来的方向问，“是太阳么？”
当时在我看来，世界上没有比太阳更好的东西了，它的热力使万物茁壮生长。 但莎莉文小姐却连连摇头，我真是又困惑又失望，觉得很奇怪，为什么老师不能告诉我，什么是爱呢？
一两天过后，我正用线把大小不同的珠子串起来，按两个大的、三个小的这样的次序。结果老是弄错，莎莉文小姐在一旁耐心地为我纠正错误。弄到最后，我发现有一大段串错了，于是，我用心想着，到底应该怎样才能把这些珠子串好。莎莉文老师碰碰我的额头，使劲地拼写出了“想”这个字。
这时，我突然明白了，这个字原来指的是脑子里正在进行的过程。这是我第一次领悟到抽象的概念。
我静静地在那里坐了许久，不是在想珠子的排列方式，而是在脑海中用新的观 念来寻求“爱”的解释。那天，乌云密布，间或有阵阵的细雨，突然间太阳突破云层，发出耀眼的光芒。
我又问老师：“爱是不是太阳？”
“爱有点儿像太阳没出来以前天空中的云彩。”老师回答说。她似乎意识到我仍然是困惑的，于是又用更浅显、但当时我依然无法理解的话解释说：“你摸不到云彩，但你能感觉到雨水。你也知道，在经过一天酷热日晒之后，要是花和大地能得到雨水会是多么高兴呀！爱也是摸不着的，但你却能感到她带来的甜蜜。没有爱，你就不快活，也不想玩了。”
刹那间，我明白了其中的道理——我感觉到有无数无形的线条正穿梭在我和其他人的心灵中间。
从一开始，莎莉文小姐就像对待其他听党正常的孩子那样和我对话，惟一不同的是，她把一句句话拼写在我手上，而不是用嘴说。如果我无法明白那些用来表达思想的字句或成语时，她会提醒我；当我无法与别人沟通时，她也会从旁边立即提示我。
这种学习过程延续了许多年，一个耳聋的孩子根本无法在数月甚至数年间学会掌握最简单的日常生活用语，而且能马上灵活运用。正常的孩子学说话是靠不断的重复和摹仿。在家里，听大人说话，脑子跟着活动，联想说话的内容，同时也学会表达自己的思想，但耳聋的孩子却无法自然地交流思想。莎莉文小姐意识到了这一点，用各种方法来弥补我的缺陷。她尽最大可能反反复复地、一字一句地重复一些日常用语，告诉我怎样和别人交谈。但过了很长一段时间，我才敢主动张口和别人 交谈，又过了更长一段时间，才知道在什么场合说什么话。
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