Chapter2 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 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. Π 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 into darkness,I should divide the period into three parts. On the first day,I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness ·006· 假如给我三天光明 ①pageant['ped3anti.华 毯。于我，一年四季的壮美变幻就像一部动人心弦的 丽壮观的场面 戏剧，曼妙悠长，永不谢幕。 时常，我对于亲眼看见这一切的渴望，胜于一切。 单纯的触摸已经让我如此欢心愉悦了，若是能够目睹， 那一定美不胜收吧！然而，可惜的是，拥有视力的人 却常常视若无睹。世界的缤纷与精彩，在他们看来， 都是顺理成章。也许，人就是这样，不屑所有，却渴 望所无。这是多大的遗憾啊！在光明的世界里，人们 仅仅把上天赐予的宝贵视力看作一种便利，而非充实 生活的一种恩赐。 假如我是大学校长，我一定会开设一门必修课，名 叫“如何利用你的双眼”：教授们会教学生们如何唤醒 ②sluggish[sIAgif门a.怠惰 沉睡懈怠的感官能力，借此捕捉到那些常常被我们熟视 的 无睹的不经意的美好，以成就更加快乐充实的生活。 二 也许，通过想象一假如我拥有仅有的三天光明 我最想看到些什么，我能把这个问题说得更明白。我们 一起想象一下，如果你仅拥有三天光明，那么你会如何 利用你的双眼。如果你知道，第三个夜晚过后就再也没 有日出，那么这宝贵的三天你会怎样度过呢？你最想把 目光停留在哪里呢？ 毫无凝问，我最渴望看到的，是那些历经数年黑暗 之后变得对我珍贵无比的东西。我想，和我一样，你一 定也想用自己的双眼去凝视对你而言最宝贵的东西吧！ 因为在日后的无尽长夜里，你想珍藏这段美好的记忆。 如果真有奇迹发生，我有幸获得三天的光明，哪怕 之后的生活重归于一片黑暗，我想我会把它分作三份去 ③relapse[ri'le:eps】n.重 细细体会。 新陷入 第一天，我想看看那些善良温和的人们，因为他们 ·007· Three Days to See and companionship have made my life worth living.First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher,Mrs.Anne Sullivan Macy,who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me.I should want not merely to see the outline of her face,so that I could cherish it in my memory,but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education.I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties,and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that"Window of the soul",the eye.I can only "see"through my finger tips the outline of a face.I can detect laughter,sorrow,and many other obvious emotions.I know my friends from the feel of their faces.But I cannot really picture their personalities by touch.I know their personalities,of course,through other means,through the thoughts they express to me,through whatever of their actions are revealed to me.But I am denied that deeper understanding of them which I am sure would come through sight of them,through watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and circumstances,through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance. Friends who are near to me I know well,because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases;but of casual friends I have only an incomplete impression,an impression gained from a handclasp, from spoken words which I take from their lips with my finger tips,or which they tap into the palm of my hand. How much easier,how much more satisfying it is for you who can see to grasp quickly the essential qualities of another person by watching the subtleties of expression,the quiver of a muscle,the flutter of a hand.But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friends or acquaintance?Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that? ·008· 假如给我三天光明 的陪伴，我的生活才变得有意义。首先，我想要好好地 端详我最亲爱的老师一安妮·沙利文·梅西夫人的面 容，因为是她，在我年幼之时来到我的身边，为我打开 了通往外面世界的一扇窗。我不仅要看她脸部的轮廓以 使其深植记忆，还要仔细研读她那张面孔，因为那里有 她不辞辛苦培育我时的富于同情关怀的温柔、慈爱、耐 心。我要从她的目光中，找到那份支撑她直面艰难困苦 的力量，和那份对于所有人类都始终怀有的悲悯之情， 因为她时常让我感觉到这些。 我不知道通过“心灵之窗”一眼睛，去洞察朋友 的内心是怎么一回事，因为我只能通过指尖去“看”到 一张面孔的轮廓。我能觉察到喜怒哀乐这些波动明显的 情绪，也能通过触摸朋友的脸去认出他们。但是，我却 无法单凭触摸描绘出他们的性格：因为我必须通过其他 方式，譬如他们的言行举止，才能了解他们的个性。我 相信，通过观察他们对于不同事物和不同观点的反应， 以及他们目光和表情瞬间流露出的变化，一定可以更深 刻地了解他们。 与我比较亲近的朋友，我还是比较了解的，因为长 年累月的相处中，我已见识过他们的方方面面。但是那 些点头之交，我对他们的印象并不深刻，仅仅停留在一 次握手，或者我的指尖感受到的他们唇边的只言片语， 又或者他们在我手掌的轻轻抚拍 对于能看见的人来说，通过观察一个人表情的微妙 变化、肌肉的抖动或者手掌的摆动，就能迅速捕捉其本 质品性，如此轻而易举，令人心生满足。可是，你难道 不曾仅凭随意一瞥捕捉到的朋友的外在面部特征，就去 武断地窥探其内心世界吗？是的！你们中的大多数人都 ①flutter ['flAto]n.抖动 是如此！ ·009· Three Days to See For instance can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends?Some of you can,but many cannot.As an experiment,I have questioned husbands of long standing about the color of their wives'eyes,and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know.And,incidentally,it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses,new hats,and changes in household arrangements. The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surroundings,and they actually see only the startling and spectacular2.But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy.Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eyewitnesses"see.A given event will be "seen"in several different ways by as many witnesses.Some see more than others,but few see everything that is within the range of their vision. Oh,the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days! The first day would be a busy one.I should call to me all my dear friends and look long into their faces,imprinting upon my mind the outward evidences of the beauty that is within them.I should let my eyes rest,too,on the face of a baby,so that I could catch a vision of the eager,innocent beauty which precedes the individual's consciousness of the conflicts which life develops. And I should like to look into the loyal,trusting eyes of my dogs-the grave, canny little Scottie,Darkie,and the stalwart,understanding Great Dane, Helga,whose warm,tender,and playful friendships are so comforting to me. On that busy first day I should also view the small simple things of my home.I want to see the warm colors in the rugs under my feet,the pictures on the walls,the intimate trifles that transform a house into home.My eyes would rest respectfully on the books in raised type which I have read,but they would be more eagerly interested in the printed books which seeing people can read, ·010· 假如给我三天光明 比如，你能准确地描述出五个好友的面孔吗？我想 有一些人的确能，但是更多的人却不能。我曾做过试验， 询问已结婚多年的丈夫们，他们妻子的眼晴是什么颜色 的。他们往往丈二和尚摸不着头脑，只得尴尬地承认不 知道。顺便说一句，妻子们还时常抱怨，她们的丈夫们 总是注意不到她们穿了新衣服、戴了新帽子或者做了很 多家务。 ①startling[sta:tlin]a.令 对于周遭的一切，能看见的人很快就习以为常视若 人吃惊的 无睹了。的确，对于他们而言，只有那些惊心动魄的事 2spectacular [spek'taekjul] a.壮观的 物才能吸引他们的目光。但是，即便在观看最引人注目 的壮丽风景之时，他们的目光也是懒惰懈怠的。庭审记 录就证实了这一点，它让我们看到那些所谓的“目击者” 事实上并没有看到完整准确的事实真相。一千个目击者， 会有一千种不同的方式去看待一个事件。或许有些人看 到的多些，但是几乎没有人能看到其视野之内的一切。 如果我能看见，哪怕只有三天，我该看到多少东西啊！ 我想，第一天会很忙。我会召集所有挚友到我家来。 凝视他们的面庞，以将他们美的外在特征深植脑海。我 也会让自己的目光驻足于婴儿的脸庞，以便捕捉到那种 ③canny[kani]a.精明的 充满希冀和天真无邪的美，因为这种美太短暂了，会随 ④stalwart「sto:lwat]a.强 健的 着人的成长和复杂意识的产生而消逝。 我也要细细端详我忠诚并值得信赖的爱犬们一我 那严肃而谨慎的小狗狗斯洛蒂·达基和我那健壮而体贴 的大狗狗达英·赫尔加，因为是它们的热情温柔和顽皮 ⑤trifle['trai).琐事 给了我如此多的慰藉！ 在这繁忙的第一天，我也要看看家里各种各样的小 玩意儿，或许是脚下地毯和墙壁贴画里的温暖色彩，也 或许是那些使家成为家的各类琐碎物件。我还要把目光 肃穆地停留在那些我读过的盲人凸字书本上。然而，我 更有兴致、也更期待看到那些拥有视力之人阅读的普通 书本。因为这些书本，无论是我自己读的，还是别人为 ·011· Three Days to See for during the long night of my life the books I have read and those which have been read to me have built themselves into a great shining lighthouse,revealing to me the deepest channels of human life and the human spirit. In the afternoon of that first seeing day.I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature trying desperately to absorb in a few hours the vast splendor which is constantly unfolding itself to those who can see.On the way home from my woodland jaunt2 my path would lie near a farm so that I might see the patient horses ploughing in the field (perhaps I should see only a tractor!)and the serene content of men living close to the soil.And I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset. When dusk had fallen,I should experience the double delight of being able to see by artificial light which the genius of man has created to extend the power of his sight when Nature decreases darkness. In the night of that first day of sight,I should not be able to sleep,so full would be my mind of the memories of the day. Ⅲ The next day-the second day of sight-I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day.I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth. This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world,past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man's progress,the kaleidoscope of the ages.How can so much be compressed into one day?Through the museums, of course.Often I have visited the New York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited,but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there -animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment; gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth ·012·