海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第15期

Another favourite 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!

果園是另一個我經常光顧的去處，那裏的果實在7月初就成熟了。碩大飽滿，覆蓋着絨毛的桃子觸手可得，和煦的微風穿過樹叢，蘋果在我的腳下滾來滾去。哦，把果實收集到圍裙裏的感覺真是妙不可言。我把臉貼在光滑溫熱的蘋果上，感受着陽光照射的餘溫。然後，我蹦蹦跳跳地滿載而歸。

Our favourite walk was to Keller's Landing, an old tumbledown 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 illustrative strings and the orange stick representing the poles seemed so real that even to this day the mere mention of temperate 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.

散步時，我們最喜歡去的地方是“老凱勒碼頭”，這是田納西河邊一個破敗不堪的木製碼頭。南北戰爭期間，這裏被當做運輸軍隊的專用碼頭。我們在這裏學習地理知識，度過了一段令人回味的美好時光。我用小石子搭建水壩，建造島嶼和湖泊，還挖掘河牀，這一切都是爲了好玩兒，我從來沒有意識到我正在上課學習。我滿懷好奇地“聽”蘇立文小姐描述世界的博大精深——燃燒的山脈，被埋葬的城市，移動的冰河，以及衆多奇妙的自然現象。老師會用黏土製作立體地圖，這樣我就能感覺到山脊和峽谷的形態，我的手指也會觸摸到河流曲折的流向。我喜歡這種生動的講解，但是把地球劃分成地帶和極點還是讓我有些糊塗。用來說明的細線和代表極點的橘樹枝似乎是最形象的比喻了，即使在今天，人們講解地球氣候帶時，仍會用一串串的繩圈來說明。我想，假如有誰採用了這種方法，那麼他一定會讓我相信，白熊實際上是在攀登北極。

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 conscience was at rest for the day, and I went out quickly to find my playmates.

算術似乎是我唯一不喜歡學習的課程。從一開始我就對有關數字的科學不感興趣。蘇立文小姐試圖用串珠子的方式教我計算，她還通過排列麥稈教我學習加減法。我很沒有耐心，每次最多排列五六組而已。完成了課業，我的心思馬上就轉移到了別處，我會立刻跑出去尋找我的玩伴。

In this same leisurely manner I studied zoology and botany.

以同樣輕鬆悠閒的方式，我還學習了有關動物學和植物學的知識。

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, 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.

以前我遇到過一位紳士，他的名字我已經忘記了，他曾送給我一套化石收藏標本——微小的軟體殼類動物形成精美的印痕，一塊塊砂岩上凸顯出飛鳥的爪子，可愛的蕨類植物也在石頭上呈現出淺淺的浮雕。對我而言，這些知識猶如開啓上古世界寶藏的一把把鑰匙。伴隨着顫抖的手指，我“聽”蘇立文小姐講述猛獸的故事。這些兇殘、叫不出名字的野獸，曾經穿梭在廣袤的原始森林裏，它們折斷巨樹的枝椏用來果腹。最終，在一個古老的未知年代，這些猛獸消亡在昏暗的沼澤之中。當時，這些古怪的生物常常縈繞在我的夢境裏。如今，我的世界充滿了陽光和盛開的玫瑰，小馬駒的蹄子發出輕柔的節拍聲，同快樂的生活相比，這段陰鬱的記憶變成了留在心底的前塵往事。

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 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 polyps build the beautiful coral isles of the Pacific, and the 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 mantle of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought.

還有一次，有人給了我一個美麗的螺殼，伴隨着一個小孩子的驚喜和好奇，我瞭解到了一個微小的軟體動物是如何在它們的棲息地建造環形洞穴的。我還知道了它們在晚上活動的情形，夜間，不會有風捲起波浪，在“珍珠船”的搭載下，鸚鵡螺會航行在印度洋的藍色海面上。我學習了很多關於海洋生物習性的知識，這些知識趣味無窮。比如，在涌動的波浪之中，微小的珊瑚蟲是如何在太平洋上建造美麗的珊瑚島的；有孔蟲類又是如何形成陸地上的石灰岩山體的。我的老師爲我讀《揹着房間的鸚鵡螺》，並且告訴我，可以把軟體動物外殼的形成過程，視做一種心智發展的象徵。就是說，鸚鵡螺身上的罩子是神奇工作的結果，它把從海水中吸收的物質轉化成了它身體的一部分。同樣，人類汲取知識也要經過類似的轉化過程，直至知識變成“思想的珍珠”。