海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第22期
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 themselves for a mightier leap, and I clung to the rock, tense, fascinated, as I felt the dash and roar of the rushing sea!
經過了初次水中歷險後，我想，如果穿着泳衣坐在一塊大礁石上該是多麼有趣的事啊，那樣我就能感受到海浪撞擊岩石的氣勢，四濺的浪花會把我徹底澆溼。當滾滾波濤涌向岸邊的時候，我還能感覺到卵石咔嗒咔嗒的撞擊聲。整個海灘似乎都在遭受着波浪可怕的攻擊，空氣也變得躁動不安起來。翻滾的大浪先是向後退卻彙集，然後再奮力一躍猛撲下來。我緊緊地靠在礁石上，既緊張又興奮，大海的波濤和怒吼令我心醉神迷。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 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.
在海岸邊，我從來沒有待夠的感覺。潔淨、清新而奔放的大海氣息宛若一種冷靜從容的思想。對我而言，貝殼、卵石、海草連同依附其間的微小生物從未失去它們的魅力。一天，蘇立文小姐從淺灘捕獲了一條姥鮫似的東西，這種奇異的物種引起了我的注意。事實上，這是一種巨大的鱟——我以前從來沒見過這種海洋生物。我一邊摸一邊想，這種奇怪的生物一定是把它的房子背在了身上。突然，我覺得它也許能成爲一個討人喜歡的寵物。於是，我用雙手抓住它的尾巴把它拎回了家。我興致高昂，由於它很沉，所以提着它走半英里幾乎用盡了我所有的力氣。後來，蘇立文小姐把它放在了靠近井邊的過道上，我想它在那裏一定很安全。可是第二天一早我去過道查看時，發現它消失不見了！沒有人知道它去了哪裏，也不知道它是如何逃走的。當時，我極度失望，但是隨着時間的推移，我逐漸意識到，強迫這個不能說話的可憐生物離開自然環境既不仁慈，也不明智。所以，一想到它可能返回了大海，我就感到很高興。
