Chapter1 Three Days to See-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《假如给我三天光明Three Days to See》

Three Days to See 假如给我三天光明 Three ①ays to Se 二 All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year: sometimes as shor as twenty-four hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere{} of activities is strictly delimited Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets? Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama② of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of "Eat, drink, and be merry," "but most people would be chastened{③} by the certainty of impending④ death. In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. he becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived. in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we mus die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista{}. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life .002· 假如给我三天光明 我们每个人都读过些令人为之震动的故事:故事的 主人公时日无多,或许一年,或许一天。但对此我们最 感兴趣的,往往是这些难逃一死之人是如何度过生命最 后时光的。当然,我是说拥有选择权利的自由人,而非 ① sphere [sfio]n. 范围 活动范围已严格受限的已决犯 这类故事不禁使我们思考:若处在相似境遇下,我 们会怎么办?既然终有一死,那么在生命的最后时光 里,我们应该做些什么?经历些什么呢?回首过往,我 们应该追忆什么样的幸福和遗憾呢? 有时我会想,把每一天都当作生命的最后一天来 活,或许是明智之举。因为此种态度恰恰彰显了生命价 值所在。拥抱生活,我们理应心怀温纯、激情和热忱。 然而,眼前看似无尽的漫长岁月却常常使我们忘记这 些。当然,毋庸置疑,有一些人相信“人生在世,应及 ② panorama I.paena'ra:ma] 时行乐”,因此过着伊壁鸠鲁式的生活。但大多数人却 n.全景 终未逃脱死亡逼近的恐惧与折磨。 故事里,命数将尽的主人公往往在最后一刻幸免于 ③ chasten ['tfeisan]v惩罚 ④ impending [im'pendinla 难,而自此,其价值观也几乎无一例外地发生改变:相 即将发生的 比从前,他对于生命的意义及其永恒的精神价值都更加 明晰与敬畏;因此,我们常常会看到,那些曾经或者正 被死亡阴影笼罩的人们,他们所做的一切,都散发着一 种清冽甘甜的热情 但是,我们大多数人却把生命视为理所当然。尽管 我们都知道,终有一日,死亡将至,但我们也往往把那 一天想得十分遥远。是啊!当我们仍心康体健,死亡或 根本无法想象;于是,我们极少想起它。展现在我们眼 vista I'vistaln. 远景 前的,只有无尽的日月。于是,我们被淹没在日常琐事 中,意识不到我们对于生活的解怠与漠然 ·003· Three ①ays to See The same lethargy{①. I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold^{② blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eves and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it. of not being conscious of health unti we are ill. I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricker blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight: silence would tell him the joys of sound. Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see Recently I was visited by a very good friends who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. "Nothing in particular "she replied. I might have been incredulous③} had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little How was it possible. I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry④ of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture{} of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions^{: and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush thought my open finger. To me a lush^{} carpet{⑧} of pine needles or spongy{③} grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug ·004. 假如给我三天光明 ① lethargy leodgi]n. 懒 恐怕,同样懈怠的,还有我们对于自身各种感官与 散 能力的挖掘利用。毕竟,只有失聪之人才珍惜听力,只 ② manifold ['menifould] a 多倍的 有失明之人才知道拥有视力的幸运和可贵,尤其是那些 成年之后失明失聪之人。然而,那些从未遭受视力或者 听力伤害之人,却极少能够充分发挥这些上天赐予的宝 贵感官能力;他们看或听,都朦胧模糊,不思专注,不 懂欣赏。常言道,人只有在失去之时,才知感恩曾经 的拥有,只有在生病之时,才知健康的宝贵。此言不 虚啊! 于是,我常常想,若每个人都能在刚成年时候经历 一段失明或失聪的生活,或许也是一件好事;因为黑暗 会使人更加珍视光明,沉寂会教人乐听声音。 对于我那些拥有光明的朋友,我时不时地会问他 们,都看到了些什么。最近,一位挚友来访,看她刚从 树林远足归来,我就问她看到了些什么。“没什么特别 的啊!”她答道。对于这样的回答,我已经习以为常, 所以并不感到吃惊。因为我已经慢慢地开始相信,那些 ③ . incredulous Jin'krediulas 看得到东西的人其实恰恰什么也看不到。 a.怀疑的 我不禁自问,在林子里散步一个小时之久,竟然 没有看到任何值得注意的东西,这怎么可能呢?我, 一个盲人,仅仅通过触摸,就能发现成百上千种吸引 ④ symmetry I'simitril n. 对 我的东西,更何况一个拥有视力的人呢?我触摸过叶 称美 子精美的对称纹路,感受过银色白光滑的树皮或者 松树粗糙不平的表面。春天里,我小心地抚摸树木的 枝丫,满怀希望地找寻新芽,因为那昭示着大自然已 texture ['tekstfa]n. 质地 从冬日沉睡中苏醒。我还感受过花瓣丝绒般的质地和 convolution Lkonvalrfanln. 卷曲 卷曲的孤线,这些都是大自然的奇迹,令人沉醉,让 人欣喜。偶尔,我将手轻轻放于一棵小树,还能幸运 地感受到鸟儿欢快啼转时身体的震动;将手放于溪流 lush [lAf门a.葱翠的 ⑧carpet [kxpit]n. -片 还能感受到清凉的溪水从指间滑过。于我,翠密的松 spongy I'spAnd3ila. 松 软的 针或者松嫩青草铺就的地毯,远胜于最奢华的波斯地 ·005· Three ①ays to See To me the pageant{ of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere conveniences rather than as a means of adding fullness to life If I were the president of a university I should establish a compulsory course in "How to Use Your Eyes". The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant and sluggish② faculties I Perhaps I can best illustrate by imagining what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say, for just three days. And while I am imagining. suppose you, too, set your mind to work on the problem of how you would use your own eyes if you had only three more days to see. If with the on-coming darkness of the third night you knew that the sun would never rise for you again how would you spend those three precious intervening days? What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon? I. naturally, should want most to see the things which have become dear to me through my years of darkness. You, too, would want to let your eyes rest on the things that have become dear to you so that you could take the memory of them with you into the night that loomed before you. If. by some miracle, I were granted three seeing days, to be followed by a relapse{③} into darkness, I should divide the period into three parts. On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentlenes ·006.