海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第64期
In the country one sees only Nature's fair works, and one's soul is not saddened by the cruel struggle for mere existence that goes on in the crowded city. Several times I have visited the narrow, dirty streets where the poor live, and I grow hot and indignant to think that good people should be content to live in fine houses and become strong and beautiful, while others are condemned to live in hideous, sunless tenements and grow ugly, withered and cringing. The children who crowd these grimy alleys, half-clad and underfed, shrink away from your outstretched hand as if from a blow. Dear little creatures, they crouch in my heart and haunt me with a constant sense of pain. There are men and women, too, all gnarled and bent out of shape. I have felt their hard, rough hands and realized what an endless struggle their existence must be—no more than a series of scrimmages, thwarted attempts to do something. Their life seems an immense disparity between effort and opportunity. The sun and the air are God's free gifts to all we say; but are they so? In yonder city's dingy alleys the sun shines not, and the air is foul. Oh, man, how dost thou forget and obstruct thy brother man, and say, "Give us this day our daily bread," when he has none! Oh, would that men would leave the city, its splendour and its tumult and its gold, and return to wood and field and simple, honest living! Then would their children grow stately as noble trees, and their thoughts sweet and pure as wayside flowers. It is impossible not to think of all this when I return to the country after a year of work in town.
但是在鄉間，你所看到的只有大自然的傑作。在擁擠不堪的城市中，你會爲了起碼的生存而展開殘酷的競爭，而在這裏，你鬱鬱寡歡的心境會蕩然無存。我曾好幾次參觀過窮人聚居的狹窄、骯髒的街道。社會現實不問是非，那些居住在豪宅裏的上等人當然會心滿意足，他們是些強大而衣冠楚楚的人物；而那些貧民則在破敗陰暗的公寓裏苟且偷生。每每想到這些，我就難以抑制心中的激憤之情。小孩子們全都擠在這些污穢不堪的巷子裏，他們衣不蔽體，食不果腹；在你向他們伸出雙手時，他們怯懦地閃退一旁，如同被一陣風吹散。這些可愛的小生靈始終蜷伏在我的心頭，把持久的痛苦加負在我的精神世界，揮之不去。窮街陋巷中也聚居着爲數衆多的男人和女人，他們全都因過度勞作而扭曲了身形。我已經觸摸到了他們那僵硬、粗糙的雙手，我也瞭解到了他們爲生存而進行的無休止的抗爭——當然，這只不過是一連串徒勞無益的混戰而已。在奮鬥和機遇之間，他們的生活似乎處於巨大的失衡狀態。我們經常會說，陽光和空氣是神賜予所有人的免費禮物，事實果真如此嗎？在城市偏僻而陰暗的街巷中，陽光不見蹤影，而空氣也是污濁的。哦，（善良的）人啊，你們怎麼能對你們的手足弟兄如此冷漠呢？當你們（禱告）說“感謝主賜予我們今日的飲食”，而你們的弟兄卻一無所有！哦，假如人們真的能夠遠離城市，捨棄它的浮華、喧囂和財富；假如人們能投入到森林和田野之中，過一種樸素而誠實的生活，那麼，他們的子女一定會像高貴的林木一樣茁壯成長，而他們的思想也會如路旁的花朵一樣純潔無瑕。在城市工作了一年之後，當我重返鄉間的時候，我不可能不對我的所見所聞做出深入的思考。What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness!
再次感受到腳下鬆軟、溼潤的土地是多麼令人高興的事啊。綠草茵茵的小路會把你領到蕨草繁茂的溪水邊，在這裏，我可以把我的手指浸泡在潺潺流水之中，或者，我也可以爬過一堵石牆進入草地，然後忘乎所以地翻滾跳躍！Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a "spin" on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulses dance and my heart sing.
除了休閒散步，我最大的樂趣就是在我的雙人自行車上“疾馳”。由此你可以真切地體會到風兒撲面和“鐵馬”行進的輕*。駕車疾馳不但帶給我力量感和懸浮感的美妙享受，這項運動還令我的脈搏起舞，心兒歌唱。
Whenever it is possible, my dog accompanies me on a walk or ride or sail. I have had many dog friends—huge mastiffs, soft-eyed spaniels, wood-wise setters and honest, homely bull terriers. At present the lord of my affections is one of these bull terriers. He has a long pedigree, a crooked tail and the drollest "phiz" in dogdom. My dog friends seem to understand my limitations, and always keep close beside me when I am alone. I love their affectionate ways and the eloquent wag of their tails.
只要有可能，我的狗兒都會陪我一起散步、騎車或航行。我有很多狗兒朋友——體形碩大的獒犬，長着一對溫柔大眼睛的西班牙長耳犬，頑皮聰明的塞特犬和忠誠、樸實的短毛犬。目前最爲我鍾愛的就是其中的一隻短毛犬。他有着很純正的血統，還長着一條彎曲的尾巴和一張狗世界中最滑稽可笑的“臉”。我的狗兒朋友們好像都明白我的行動不便，所以當我一個人的時候，他們總是時刻不離我的左右。我欣賞他們的友善忠誠，他們那不停擺動的尾巴也很招人喜愛。
