Chapter7 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 ofMyCife CHAPTER7 HE NExT IMPoRTANT step in my education was learning to read As soon as I could spell a few words my teacher gave me slips of cardboard on which were printed words in raised letters. I quickly learned that each printed word stood for an object, an act, or a quality. I had a frame{①} in which I could arrange the words in little sentences, but before I ever put sentences in the frame I used to make them in objects. I found the slips②}of paper which represented, for example,"doll,""is."“on.""bed" and placed each name on its object: then I put my doll on the bed with the words is, on. bed arranged beside the doll. thus making a sentence of the words, and at the same time carrying out the idea of the sentence with the things themselyes One day, Miss Sullivan tells me, I pinned the word girl on my pinafore③ and stood in the wardrobe. On the shelf I arranged the words, is, in, wardrobe. Nothing delighted me so much as this game. My teacher and I played it for hours at a time, Often everything in the room was arranged in object sentences From the printed slip it was but a stop to the printed book. I took my"Reader for Beginners" and hunted for the words I knew: when I found them my joy was .078. 我的生活l 第七章 我接受教育的下一步重点是学会阅读。 每当我学会了拼写一些单词,我的老师就会拿来一 些带有凸起字母的卡片给我。很快我发现,这些卡片上 ① frame [freim]n. 画 的每一个单词都有各自的含义:一个物体,一种行为或 者是一种特质。我有一个拼写板,可以用学到的字在上 面拼凑出一些短句来。但是,在我把卡片排列成句子之 ② slip[slip]n.纸条 前,我习惯于用实物表现句子。比如,我先找到写有“娃 娃”(doll)“是”(is)、“在.....上”(on)“床”(bed) 的卡片,把它们放在相应的物体上;然后把洋娃娃放在 床上,旁边依次摆放着“是”(is)、“在......上”(on)、“床” ③ pinafore I'pinofo:ln. 围 (bed)的卡片。这样,在完成造句的同时,我也掌握了 裙 句子本身的意义和内容。 有一天,沙利文小姐告诉我把“女孩”(girl)这个 卡片别在围裙上,然后站在衣厨里把“是”(is)、“在 ......里”(in)和“衣”(wardrobe)这几个在拼写板 上表示出来。渐渐地这成了我最喜欢的游戏,有时我和 老师一玩就是几个小时,甚至屋子里的每一样东西,也 都被我们摆成了句子 这些识字卡片只不过是阅读书本前的过渡阶段。不 久,我打开“初级读本”寻找那些我认识的字。每当我 ·079· The Story ofMyCife like that of a game of hide-and-seek. Thus I began to read. Of the time when 1 began to read connected stories I shall speak later For a long time I had no regular lessons. Even when I studied most earnestly① it seemed more like play than work. Everything Miss Sullivan taught me she illustrated by a beautiful story, or a poem. Whenever anything delighted or interested me she talked it over with me just as if she were a little girl herself. Wha many children think of with dread{②, as a painful plodding{③} through grammar, hard sums and harder definitions, is to-day one of my most precious memories. I cannot explain the peculiar{} sympathy Miss Sullivan had with my pleasures and desires. Perhaps it was the result of long association with the blind Added to this she had a wonderful faculty②} for description. She went quickly over uninteresting details, and never nagged{} me with questions to see if I remembered the day-before-yesterday's lesson. She introduced dry technicalities of science little by little, making every subject so real that I could not helr remembering{}what she taught We read and studied out of doors, preferring the sunlit woods to the house. All my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods - the fine. resinous{} odor of pine needles, blended with the perfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious^{} shade of a wild tulip tree^{}, I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. "The loveliness of things taught me all their use."Indeed. everything that could hum^{①}, or buzz^{}. or sing. or bloom, had a part in my education - noisy-throated frogs, katydids^{} and crickets held in my hand until, forgetting their embarrassment, they trilled{*} their reedy^{} note, little downy^{} chickens and wildflowers, the dogwood blossoms^{}, meadow-violets and budding fruit trees, I felt the bursting cotton- bolls^{} and fingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds: I felt the low soughing of the wind through the cornstalks^{}, the silky rustling of the long leaves, and .o8o. 我的生活l 找到了那些字,我都会高兴不已,像是玩捉迷藏时抓 到了对手一样。就这样,我开始了阅读生活。那时候, ① earnestly I'xnistli] ad. 认 如果我读到了一些相互关联的故事,稍后便会把它们 真地 讲出来。 有很长一段时间,我都没有正规的课程。即使我非 常认真地学习,那也更像是在玩要而非在上课。老师会 ② dread [dredln. 厌恶 用动听的故事和优美的诗歌来阐释她所讲的东西。每当 ③ )plodding I'pladin]n. 辛 苦,劳苦 碰到令我高兴或者让我感兴趣的事情,她都会像小姑娘 ④ peculiar [pi'kju:ljal a. 特 一样事无巨细地讲给我听。许多孩子所厌倦和畏惧的事 别的 情,如枯燥乏味的语法、艰涩生硬的算术题和抽象难懂 的名词解释,如今都成了我最珍贵的回忆。 faculty I'faekolti]n. 技能 nag[naeglv嘴] 我无法解释沙利文小姐为什么对我的快乐和愿望 会有出奇的关心,或许是她长期与盲人相处的缘故。除 此之外,她还具有极其出色的描述才能:对于那些索然 technicality 无味的细节,她总能一带而过,而且她从来不絮絮明叨 Ltekni'kaeloti]n. 技术性 地检查我是否学会了前天的那些功课。她会用生动的语 言一点一点地为我讲解枯燥乏味的科学知识,这样,我 ⑧ resinous I'rezinasla. 树 很容易就记住了她讲的内容 脂的 gracious I'areifas]a. 优 我们经常到户外阅读和学习,因为在阳光照耀的树 雅的 tulip tree 鹅掌 林里比待在屋子里好得多,所以我早期的学习都是在那 ① hum [hAm]v 作响 2 buzz [bAzlv作喻嘴声 里完成的。空气中弥漫着森林的气息一-松枝的清香中 katydid ['keitidid] n. 【昆 混杂着野葡萄的芬芳。惬意地坐在野生鹅掌楸浓密的树 虫】纺织娘 ④ trill[tril]:发颤音 荫下,我学会了思考,并领悟到一切事物都可以作为上 reedy I'ridi]a. 尖声的 downy ['dauni] a. 长着 课的素材,也都有各自特殊的寓意。“事物的魅力教会 绒毛的 dogwood blossom 山菜 了我它们各自的用途。”不错,那些喻喻作响、吼吼 英花 cotton-boll棉籽 、歌唱啼鸣,或者默默开花的东西都是我学习的对象 cornstalk ['ko:n.sto:k] n -我把噪的青蛙、蚂蚱和蟋蟀捂在手心里,忽略它 玉米秆 们的局促不安,直到它们振翅、鸣叫。还有毛茸茸的小 鸡、绽放的野花、山菜萸、草地上的紫罗兰和发芽的果 树。我用手指触摸着绽开的棉它那柔软的纤维和毛茸 的棉籽;我感受到一阵微风吹过,玉米田发出沙沙的响 .o81· The Story ofMyCife the indignant^{} snort^{②} of my pony{}, as we caught him in the pasture{} and put the bit{} in his mouth - ah me! How well I remember the spicy, clovery{} smell of his breath! Sometimes I rose at dawn and stole into the garden while the heavy dew lay on the grass and flowers. Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking^{, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror, as the little creature be came aware of a pressure from without^{}. Another favorite haunt of mine was the orchard{}, where the fruit ripened early in July. The large, downy peaches would reach themselves into my hand and as the joyous breezes flew about the trees the apples tumbled at my feet Oh, the delight with which I gathered up the fruit in my pinafore, pressed my face against the smooth cheeks of the apples, still warm from the sun, and skipped back to the house! Our favorite walk was to Keller's Landing, an old tumble-down lumber- wharf on the Tennessee River, used during the Civil War to land soldiers. There we spent many happy hours and played at learning geography. I built dams of pebbles^{}, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds, all for fun, and never dreamed that I was learning a lesson. I listened with increasing wonder to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the great round world with its burning mountains. buried cities, moving rivers of ice, and many other things as strange. She made raised maps in clay, so that I could feel the mountain ridges and valleys, and follow with my fingers the devious^{} course of rivers. I liked this, too: but the division of the earth into zones and poles^{} confused and teased my mind. The .082. 我的生活l ① indignant Jin'dianantl a 声;还有我的小马愤怒的喷鼻声,因为我们在牧场逮到 愤怒的 ② snort [sno:t]n. 喷鼻息 它,并给它套上了马嚼子一一哈,看我多棒,竞能清楚 pony I'pauniln.小马 ) pasture I'prstfln. 牧场 地记得小马歇斯底里的嘶鸣和它嘴里呼出的浓烈的三叶 草气息。 clovery I'klauvaril a. 三 叶草的 有时,我在黎明时分起床偷偷溜进花园里,看到草 丛和花朵上洒满了浓重的露珠。很少有人能体会到把玫 pluck[plAk]v采:摘 瑰花轻轻握在手里的无限乐趣,也很少有人能感受到百 ⑧ without fwi'oaut]n. 外 合花在晨风中摇曳的炯娜姿态。有时我能在采摘花朵时 部:外面 捉到一只昆虫,我能感觉到它因惊吓而不停震动双翅的 orchard x:tfad]n. 果园 微弱摩擦声,那一定是因为这个小东西感觉到外界突如 其来的压力后做出的反应。 tumble I'tambl]v: 跌落 在我的记忆里,我也喜欢到果园里去,7月初那里 的果实就成熟了。毛茸茸的大桃子垂落下来,伸手就能 摸到。和煦的清风吹过,熟透了的苹果从树上落下,在 我脚边滚来滚去。噢,收获水果后我把它们用围裙包起 来,真是令人高兴万分。我把脸贴到光滑的苹果上,去 感受太阳留下的余温,那感觉妙不可言。然后,我 跳跳地跑回屋子。 pebbleI'peblln. 卿石 我们最喜欢去海勒码头散步,那是田纳西河边一 个年久失修、破败不堪的木制码头,是南北战争时期为 部队登陆而专门修建的。在那里我们边学地理边玩要。 度过了一段美好的时光。为了找乐子,我在那里用石子 搭建大坝、开发岛屿和湖泊,还挖掘河床。但是,让我 devious l'ditvias] a. 迁回 的 万方没想到的是在不知不觉的玩要中竟然学到了知识 pole[paul]n.极(点) 听着沙利文小姐描述地球的壮观与无限--燃烧的火 山、埋没的城市、移动的冰河以及其他奇妙的自然现象, 我越听越是兴趣盎然。沙利文小姐用泥巴做成立体的地 图,这样我就可以感受到凸起的山脊和凹陷的峡谷,还 可以用手去感受曲折蜿蜒的河流。我很喜欢这样的授课 方式,但是把地球划分成不同的区域和极点,着实让我 迷惑不堪。沙利文小姐的讲解是如此生动逼真:线圈代 .083· The Story ofMyCife illustrative strings and the orange sticks representing the poles seemed so rea that even to this day the mere mention of temperature zone suggests a series of twine{}circles: and I believe that if any one should set about it he could convince me that white bears actually climb the North Pole Arithmetic seems to have been the only study I did not like. From the first I was not interested in the science of numbers. Miss Sullivan tried to teach me to count by stringing beads in groups, and by arranging kindergarten straws I learned to add and subtract. I never had patience to arrange more than five or six groups at a time. When I had accomplished this my conscience②} was at rest for the day, and I went out quickly to find my playmates In the same leisurely manner I studied zoology③ and botany④. Once a gentleman, whose name I have forgotten, sent me a collection of fossils - tiny mollusk} shells beautifully marked, and bits of sandstone with the print of birds' claws, and a lovely fern{} in bas-relief^{}. These were the keys which unlocked the treasures of the antediluvian{ world for me. With trembling fingers I listened to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the terrible beasts with uncouth^{②}, unpronounceable names, which once went tramping through the primeval forests, tearing down the branches of gigantic trees for food, and died in the dismal{ swamps of an unknown age, For a long time these strange creatures haunted my dreams, and this gloomy period formed a somber^{} background to the joyous Now, filled with sunshine and roses and echoing with the gentle beat of my pony's hoof. Another time a beautiful shell was given me, and with a child's surprise and delight I learned how a tiny mollusk had built the lustrous^{③}coil{} for his dwelling place, and how on still nights, when there is no breeze stirring the waves, the Nautilus*} sails on the blue waters of the Indian Ocean in his “ship of pearl." After I had learned a great many interesting things about the life and habits of the children of the sea - how in the midst of dashing waves the little polvps^{}build the beautiful coral isles of the Pacific, and the .o84: 我的生活l 表经伟线,橘树枝代表贯穿两极间的地轴。即使在今天, 只要有人提及气温带,我的脑海里就会浮现出一系列交 ① twine [twain] n. 线 织的线圈。我想,如果有人用这种方法告诉我白能沿着 地轴那根柱子爬上北极,我一定会信以为真的。 算数好像是我唯一不喜欢的课程。从一开始我就对 数字不感兴趣。沙利文小姐试图用数一串串珠子的方法 教我数数,通过排列摆弄麦秆的方法教我加减法。我非 常没有耐心,每次排列五六组麦秆就摆不下去了。每当 ② o conscience ['konfans]n 完成了几道算数题,我的脑袋就可以放松了,我会立刻 内心 跑出去找伙伴们玩要 在同样悠闲的环境中我学习了动物学和植物学课程 ③ zoology [zau'sladyi]n. 动物学 以前,一位绅士送给我一套化石标本,他的名字我 ④ botany ['botani]n. 植物 学 已经不记得了。精巧的软体动物贝壳化石、少量的留有 mollusk ['molask] n. 软 体动物 飞鸟爪印的矿岩化石,和可爱的藤类植物浅浮雕化石。 fem [fxn]n.类植物 对我而言,这些化石标本成了打开远古时期宝藏的钥 bas-relief浅浮雕 ⑧ antediluvian 匙。我满怀恐惧地听沙利文小姐讲一些粗笨凶残的无名 Laentidi'lurvionla. 远古 的 野兽的故事,边听手指边颤抖着。那些野兽曾经出没在 uncouth I.An'ku:el a. 粗 鲁的 广衰的原始森林里,它们折断大树的枝叶果腹,最后消 tramp through穿越,穿 亡在未知年代的阴暗沼泽中。有很长一段时间,这些奇 过 ① dismal [dizmal a. 阴暗 怪的生物都一直索绕在我的梦境里。如今,那些阴郁的 somber I'somba] a. 昏暗 记忆成了我快乐回忆时光中一段阴森的背景,与那些充 的 满阳光和盛开的玫瑰、小马的蹄子发出温和踢打声的日 子形成鲜明的对比。 还有一次,沙利文小姐给了我一个美丽的贝壳。怀 lustrous [lastrasla. 有光 着孩童期的惊喜和好奇,我学到了小小的软体动物是如 泽的 ④ coil ksilln. 旋管 何给自已建造色泽艳丽的环形栖息地的,也学到了在风 平浪静的晚上鹦鹉蝶是如何在蓝色的印度洋上驾驶它的 nautilus f'nxtilas] n. 鹦 “珍珠船”的。就这样,我学到很多关于海洋生物生活 蝶 polyp I'polip] n. 珊瑚虫 习性的趣事,比如,在汹涌的波浪中,微小的珊瑚虫是 ① foraminifera [fa.raemo'ni- fara]n.有孔虫类 如何在浩瀚的太平洋中建造它们那美丽的珊瑚岛;弱小 的有孔虫又是如何在无数陆地上搭建起它们那坚固的石 .085· The Story ofMyCife foraminifera^{} have made the chalkhills of many a land - my teacher read me "The Chambered Nautilus." and showed me that the shell-building process of the mollusks is symbolical of the development of the mind. Just as the wonder working mantle① of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of②}knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought Again, it was the growth of a plant that furnished③ the text for a lesson. We bought a lily and set it in a sunny window. Very soon the green, pointed buds showed signs of opening. The slender, fingerlike leaves on the outside opened slowly, reluctant{, I thought, to reveal the loveliness they hid: once having made a start, however, the opening process went on rapidly, but in order and systematically: There was always one bud larger and more beautiful than the rest, which pushed her outer covering back with more pomp, as if the beauty in soft. silky robes knew that she was the lily-aueen by right divine, while her more timid{} sisters doffed^{} their green hoods^{} shyly, until the whole plant was one nodding bough^{} of loveliness and fragrance Once there were eleven tadpoles^{} in a glass globe set in a window full of plants. I remember the eagerness with which I made discoveries about them. It was great fun to plunge my hand into the bowl and feel the tadpoles frisk{} about and to let them slip and slide between my fingers. One day a more ambitious fellow leaped bevond the edge of the bowl and fell on the floor. where I found him to all appearance more dead than alive. The only sign of life was a slight wriggling{} of his tail. But no sooner had he returned to his element than he darted{} to the bottom, swimming round and round in joyous activity. He had made his leap, he had seen the great world, and was content to stay in his pretty glass house under the big fuchsia{} tree until he attained the dignity of froghood Then he went to live in the leafy pool at the end of the garden, where he made the summer nights musical with his quaint^{} love-song Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a little mass of .o86: 我的生活l 灰石山体。之后,沙利文小姐为我读了《背负房间的器 ① mantle I'maentll n. (软 鹉蝶》,并告诉我软体动物建造外壳的过程其实是它们 体动物的)套膜;软膜 心智发展的象征。鹦鹅蝶身上的见壳是一项神奇的工作, 它将从海水中吸收的物质转化成了其身体的一部分。同 ②bits of 少量的,小块片 样,人类汲取知识的过程也是如此,经过人类智慧的转 的 化,知识最终变成思想的珍珠。 ③ furnish ['faxnif门]v 提供 植物的生长也为我的学习提供了丰富的素材。我们 买了一株百合花,放在阳光照耀的窗台上。没过多久。 尖尖绿绿的花蕾便含苞欲放。起初,花蕾外纤细如手指 reluctant frilAktantlz.解 般的叶子缓缓地张开,我想它们大概不太情愿向人们展 强的 示其内艳丽的花朵。不过,一旦开始开放,叶子张开的 速度便加快了,但整个过程有条不素。而且,它们之中 一定会有一个最大最美丽的花苞凸显出来,其他花苞则 陪衬着这一出众的花蕾并将它推向舞台。于是,就连这 timid['timid]a. 羞怯的 个披着柔软光滑外衣的花蕾也意识到自已是神圣的百花 doff[dsf]v脱 ① ohood [hudln. 头巾 之王,而当它那些羞怯的姐妹们也纷纷脱去绿色的头巾 ⑧ bough lbau] n. 树枝 ① 后,整盆百合便成了一个花朵怒放枝头、芳香飘溢的春 tadpole I'taedpaulln. 蝈 蚌 景图。 一次,我在摆满植物的窗户边发现了一个球形玻璃 frisk Ifrisk]v 轻快地指 鱼缸,里面放有十一只蛾蚓。至今我仍然记得在对这些 魁鲜进行探索发现时的热切和好奇。我把手伸进鱼缸, 感受小蛾蚓们在我手指间欢快地游来游去。一天,一只 wriggle [rigllv 糯动 大胆的家伙竟然出鱼缸,掉到了地上,等我发现时它 dart [daxt]v猛冲 已经蚕奋一息了,唯一的生命迹象是它轻轻蝠动的尾 巴。我刚把它放回鱼缸,它便一头扎入水底,继续快活 地游来游去。它完成了跳跃,看到了大千世界,所以现 fuchsia lfjurfa]n. 倒挂 在心满意足地回到了倒挂金钟树庇护下的漂亮玻璃房子 金钟属植物 quaint kweintl a. 精巧 里,一直到长成青蛙为止。到那时,它就会栖息到花园 的 尽头草木繁茂的池塘里,在无数个夏日的夜晚献上它那 古雅奇特的情歌 我就是这样从生活中学到了很多知识。起初,我对 ·087.