Chapter10 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 of My Life CHAPTER 10 TUST BEFORE the Perkins Institution closed for the summer it was arranged that my teacher and I should spend our vacation at Brewster,on Cape Code, with our dear friend,Mrs.Hopkins.I was delighted,for my mind was full of the prospective joys and of the wonderful stories I had heard about the sea. My most vivid recollection of that summer is the ocean.I had always lived far inland and had never had so much as a whifr of salt air;but I had read in a big book called"Our World"a description of the ocean which filled me with wonder and an intense longing to touch the mighty sea and feel it roar.So my little heart leaped high with eager excitement when I knew that my wish was at last to be realized. No sooner had I been helped into my bathing-suit than I sprang out upon the warm sand and without thought of fear plunged into the cool water.I felt the great billows rock and sink.The buoyant5 motion of the water filled me with an exquisite,quivering joy.Suddenly my ecstasy gave place to terror;for my foot struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my head.I thrust out my hands to grasp some support.I clutched at the water and at the seaweed which the waves tossed in my face.But all my frantic efforts were in vain.The waves seemed to be playing a game with me,and tossed me from one to another in their wild frolic.It was fearful!The good,firm earth had slipped ·102· 我的生活 第十李 就在帕金斯盲人学院放暑假前夕，家人安排我和沙 利文小姐到布鲁斯特的鳕鱼角去度假，同行的还有我们 的密友霍普金斯夫人。我十分高兴，因为我满脑子都是 关于那个大海的快乐憧憬和神奇故事 我对那个夏天最鲜活的记忆就是海洋。过去我一 直生活在遥远的内陆，从来没有机会呼吸一下带着咸 ①inland[inland]ad.在内 色 味的空气。不过，我曾经读过一本厚厚的书一《我 ②whif[hwif]n.一口：一 们的世界》，书中的描述让我对海洋充满了好奇，迫切 吸 希望能够感受到大海的强大有力和巨浪咆哮。当我知 道自己的愿望马上就要实现了的时候，我的小心脏兴 奋得怦怦直跳。 刚穿好泳衣站在沙滩上，一股热浪迎面扑来，我不 ③plunge into投入：跳入 ④billow[bilau]n.巨浪， 假思索地一头扎进凉爽的海水里。我触摸到了巨大如海 波涛 ⑤buoyant[boiant]a.有浮 浪般沉浮在海面上的岩石。在起伏的海水中漂游，我高 力的 兴得颤颤发抖。突然乐极生悲，我感受到了恐惧，因为 6 exquisite ['ekskwizit]a. 强烈的 我的脚绊到一块岩石，接着一股水流涌过我的头顶，我 ⑦thrust out突然伸出 挣扎着伸出手去抓身边的东西，可只抓到了随波逐流的 海草，任凭海浪打到我的脸上。疯狂的努力也是徒劳， 海浪似乎在跟我做游戏，在它们狂野的嬉戏中，我被接 连不断的浪花推来推去，真是可怕极了！我脚下坚实的 ·103· The Story of My Life from my feet,and everything seemed shut out from this strange,all-enveloping element-life,air,warmth and love.At last,however,the sea,as if weary of its new toy,threw me back on the shore,and in another instant I was clasped in my teacher's arms.Oh,the comfort of the long,tender embrace!As soon as I had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything,I demanded:"Who put salt in the water?” After I had recovered from my first experience in the water,I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing-suit and feel wave after wave dash against the rock,sending up a shower of spray which quite covered me.I felt the pebbles rattling as the waves threw their ponderous weight against the shore;the whole beach seemed racked by their terrific onset,and the air throbbed with their pulsations.The breakers would swoop back to gather them selves for a mightier leap,and I clung to the rock,tense,fascinated,as I felt the dash and roar of the rushing sea! I could never stay long enough on the shore.The tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air was like a cool,quieting thought,and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me.One day Miss Sullivan attracted my attention to a strange object which she had captured basking in the shallow water.It was a great horseshoe crab-the first one I had ever seen.I felt of him and thought it very strange that he should carry his house on his back.It suddenly occurred to me that he might make a delightful pet;so I seized him by the tail with both hands and carried him home.This feat pleased me highly,as his body was very heavy, and it took all my strength to drag him half a mile.I would not leave Miss Sullivan in peace until she had put the crab in a trough near the well where I was confident he would be secure.But next morning I went to the trough, and lo,he had disappeared!Nobody knew where he had gone,or how he had ·104· 我的生活 ①shut out把…排斥在 陆地溜走了，所有的事物一生命、空气、温暖和关爱 外 ②weay[wiari]a.疲倦的 似乎都与这个陌生的境遇隔绝了。最后，大海仿佛厌倦 了它的新玩具，于是把我抛回了岸上，在那一瞬间，我 ③embrace[im'breis】n.拥 被老师紧紧地抱住了。啊！那个持久、温柔的拥抱！刚 抱 从惊慌中回过神来，我便问道：“是谁把盐放到海水里 了呀？” 当我从第一次落水的经历中恢复过来后，我觉得 如果能穿着泳衣坐在大礁石上，感受一股股海浪击打岩 石，四溅的浪花像喷雾一样把我打湿，那该是多么有趣 ④spray[sprei]n.喷雾 5 ponderous [pondaras]a. 的一件事呀。一波巨浪滚滚涌向岸边，我感受到了卵石 沉重的 咔咔哒哒的撞击声：整个海滩似乎都遭受着海浪可怕的 ⑥rack[rk]折磨 ⑦onset['onset]n.攻击， 攻击，就连空气也跟着忐忑起来。那些碎浪先是后退汇 袭击 ⑧throb[erob]志忑 集，变成大浪后再猛地扑打过来。而我，紧紧地倚靠在 9pulsation [pAl'seifan]n. 岩石上感受着奔流的大海的冲洗和咆哮，紧张不堪而又 跳动 如痴如醉。 ⑩tang [taen].强烈的气 味 我从来没有在海岸边待够过。那清洁、新鲜、自 由的大海气息仿佛一种沉着冷静的思想，那贝壳、卵 石、海草以及依附于其上的微生物等一直深深地吸引 着我。一天，沙利文小姐从浅水滩捉来一只正在沐浴 ①bask[ba:sk],晒太阳 阳光的奇异的大马蹄蟹，这大大吸引了我的注意力。 其实，那时我是第一次见到马蹄蟹这种生物。我用手 指摸着它，不禁想着这种生物真是奇怪，竟然把房子 背在自己身上。突然，我灵机一动，想到可以把它当 成宠物来养，于是，我双手抓住它的尾巴把它带回了 家。这一举动让我感到特别高兴，因为它很沉，所以 ②trough[ron.水槽 我儿乎用尽了所有的力气拖曳着它走了半英里。我不 Blo[lau]interj.瞧 停地与沙利文小姐谈论着把马蹄蟹放在哪里的问题， 直到她把它放在了井边的过道上，我知道，在那里它 是安全的。可是第二天早上我去井边的过道上看它时， 它却不见了！没有人知道它去哪里了，也没有人知道 它是如何逃走的。那时，我陷人了悲痛和失望中。但是， ·105 The Story of My Life escaped.My disappointment was bitter at the time;but little by little I came to realize that it was not kind or wise to force this poor dumb creature out of his element,and after awhile I felt happy in the thought that perhaps he had returned to the sea. ·106· 我的生活 后来我逐渐发现强迫那个不会说话的可怜生物离开其 自然的生长环境是不仁慈也不明智的。所以，当我想 到它可能已经返回到大海的时候，我又高兴起来了。 ·107·