Chapter4 The Story of My Life-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《假如给我三天光明Three Days to See》

The Story ofMy Cife CHAPTER4 -HE MOsT IMPoRTANT day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three mouths before I was seven years old. On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb^①}, expectant I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro② ir the house that something unusual was about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated{} the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned④ face. My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth{} to greet the sweet southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel{} or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor{}had succeeded this passionate struggle 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 .06o: 我的生活 第四章 在我的记忆里,我的启蒙老师安呢·曼斯菲尔德· 沙利文来的那一天,是我一生中最重要的日子。从那天 起我便有了与以前截然不同的生活。每当想到这里,我 就满心的奇妙和兴奋。当时是1887年的3月3日,离 我的七周岁生日还有三个月。 ①dumb[dam]a. 无声的 我对那个重要的下午充满了期待,于是默不作声地 ② to and fro来回地 站在门廊前。从母亲给我打的手势和人们在屋里匆匆地 走来走去中,我隐隐约约地感到一件不寻常的事情就要 ③ penetrate I'penitreit]v 穿 发生了。于是我走到门口,站在台阶上等待着。 透 ④ upturned LAp'taxnd]a. 向 午后的阳光透过遮满门廊的厚厚的忍冬叶,照在我 上的 微微仰起的脸上。我不由自主地用手抚摸着我所熟悉的 叶片和花朵,它们为迎接南方芬芳的春天而吐露新芽。 come forth 出来:涌现 marvel 'mrvalln. 奇迹 但是那时我并不知道未来会不会有奇迹在等待着我:几 ① languor [laengo]n. 疲倦, 倦怠 个星期以来,愤怒和苦恼一直折磨着我,接着,取代这 ⑧ tangible I'taend3ablla. 可 份激烈斗争的是随之而来的疲惫无力。 触知的 grope one's way(在黑 不知道你是否有过这样的经历:在弥天大雾中航 暗中)摸索着走 sounding-line 探深绳 行,船周围白茫茫一片,好像着实把你关在一个黑暗的 地方,大船上的人紧张而又着急,一面用铅锤探测深浅 一面向岸边慢慢驶去,你的心也抨抨直跳,生怕出事。 我在受教育之前,就像这条大船,只是没有罗盘,没有 ·o61. The Story ofMy Cife how near the harbor was, "Light! give me 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. Some one took it. and I was caught up and held close in the arms of he who had come to reveal all things to me, and. more than all things else, to love me. 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-1." I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. Wher I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with^{①} 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 monkey-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. One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled, "d-o-l-l" and tried to make me understand that "d-o-l-1" applied to both. Earlier in the day we had had a tussle②} over the words "m-u-g" and"w-a-t-e-r."Miss Sullivan had tried to impress upon me that "m-u-g" is mug and that "w-a-t-e-r" is water, but I persisted in confounding{③ the two. In despair she had dropped the subject for the time, only to renew it at the first opportunity. I became impatient at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly④ delighted when I felt the fragments{} of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still, dark world in which .062. 我的生活 探深绳,也无法知道距离海港有多远。“光明,快给我 光明!”这就是我发自内心深处的无言呼唤,也就是在 这时候,爱的光芒照到了我的身上。 我感到有脚步向我走来,我以为是母亲,于是伸出 手。一个人握住了我的手,把我紧紧地抱在臂弯里。她 就是向我揭示世间万物,给我深切的爱的人。 老师到后的第二个上午,她把我带到她的房间,送 给了我一个洋娃娃。我后来才知道,这个洋娃娃是帕金 斯盲人学院的学生送给我,并由劳拉·布里奇曼把它打 扮起来的。我拿着它玩了一会儿,老师在我的手心里拼 写了一个词“洋娃娃”(doll)。我立刻对这种手指游戏 产生了兴趣,并试图去模仿她用手指画。最后,当我 ① be flushed with 因.... 而兴奋 正确地拼写出这个单词的时候,我不由得高兴得涨红了 脸,感到无比自豪。于是我冲下楼去,跑到母亲面前, 举着手拼写了“doll”这个单词让母亲看。我不知道自 己就在写字,也不知道世上有文字存在,我只是照葫芦 画瓢地模仿老师的拼写。接下来的日子里,我用这种不 求甚解的方式学会了很多单词,其中有“针”(pin)、“幅 子”(hat)“杯子”(cup),以及一些动词如“坐”(sit)、“站” (stand)、“走”(walk)等。老师教了我好几个星期之后. 我才明白一切事物都有自已的名字。 一天,当我正在玩新洋娃娃的时候,老师把我的 ② tussle I'taslln. 争执 旧的大洋娃娃也拿来放在我的膝盖上,然后拼写“doll” 这个单词,为的是让我明白这两个洋娃娃都叫作“doll”。 那天早些时候,我们俩为了“杯”和“水”这两个字 ③ confound Jkan'faund] v. 混淆,混同 而发生了激烈的争吵:她想让我知道“mug”是“杯” “water”是“水”,但我一直把二者混淆在一起了。后来 在失望中她暂时抛开了这个话题,重新回到最初的那个 ④ keenly [ki:nli] ad. 强烈 单词。我对她重复的教学有点不耐烦了,于是抓住新的 地 洋娃娃就往地上摔。感受到脚边破碎的洋娃娃,心中特 ) fragment ['fraegmant] n 碎片 别痛快。一阵感情发作后,我既不感到悲伤,也不感到 愧疚。我一点也不喜欢洋娃娃,在沉寂、黑暗的世界里 ·063. The Story ofMy Cife I lived there was no strong sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep the fragments to one side of the hearth and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of my discomfort was removed. She brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine. This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called a thought, made me hop and skip with pleasure We walked down the path to the well-house^{①}, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout②. As the cool stream gushed over③ one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly.l stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten - a thrill④ of returning thought: and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew ther that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away. 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 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 were among them - words that were to make the world blossom for me, "like Aaron's rod. with flowers." It would have been difficult to 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 .064. 我的生活 我感受不到温柔和同情。老师把洋娃娃的碎片扫到炉边 时,我的心中一阵满足,之前的不愉快全都没有了。然 后,她把帽子递给我,我知道又可以到外面和煦的阳光 下去散步了;这种感觉无法用语言表达,但是一想到它, 我就高兴得又又跳。 ① well-house 井房 我们沿着小路散步,一直走到井房,然后被覆盖 ② spout [spaut]n.落水管 在井房上忍冬的花香吸引住了。有人正在那里打水,老 ③ gush over涌上 师把我的一只手放在水龙头下面,一股清凉涌过我的 手掌。然后,她在我另一只手掌上拼写“水”(water) 起初慢慢地拼写,而后越来越快。我站在那里一动不动 全神贯注地感受着她手指的动作。突然,我感到了一些 ④ thrill forilln. 激动 被遗忘的朦胧意识在脑海中兴奋地回荡,我一下子明白 了语言的奥妙。自此,我知道了“水”就是从我的手上 流过的美妙清凉的东西;“水”这个活生生的单词唤醒 了我的灵魂,并给予我光明、希望、欢乐和自由!虽然 障碍依然存在,但它迟早会被一扫而空的 满怀着学习的渴望我离开了井房。世间万事万物都 有自己的名字,每个名字都能引发新的思考。我们回到 屋里,感觉我所触碰到的每一样东西都有了生命。因为 我是用刚学到的新奇的眼光来观察一切的,一进门我就 想起了那个被我摔碎的洋娃娃,我摸索着走到炉边,捡 feel one's way (在黑暗 中)摸索着走 起了洋娃娃的碎片。我试图把它们拼凑在一起,可是怎 repentance [ri'pentans] n 么也拼不好了。我的眼晴里闪烁着泪花,因为我意识到 后悔,悔恨 自己错了,我第一次感到了后悔和难过。 那一天我学会了许多新词,但现在记不清具体都 有哪些词了,只知道一定有“母亲”(mother)、“父亲” (father)、“妹妹”(sister)和“老师”(teacher),这几 crib [krib]n. 小床 个词把一个美好的世界展现在我的面前,就像《圣经》 ⑧ close lklauzln. 结束 上说的“亚伦的手杖开了花”一样。还记得那个美好的 晚上,我独自躺在床上回味着这特殊一天里的欢乐,感 觉自己是世界上最幸福的孩子。那天晚上,也是我平生 第一次盼望新的一天快快到来。 ·065.