海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第16期
Again, it was the growth of a plant that furnished 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-queen 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.
這樣的例子還有不少，比如，植物的生長過程就是我學習的“課本”。我們買來了一盆百合花，然後把它放在陽光通透的窗臺上。沒過多久，嫩綠挺拔的花蕾便顯露出了開放的徵兆。最初，纖巧得如同手指一樣粗細的葉子慢慢向外張開。我想，它可能不太情願向人展示其內在的魅力。接着，它再一次啓動了開放進程，這個過程顯得迅速而有條不紊；而且，總是有一個花蕾鶴立雞羣，同其餘的花苞相比更大更美麗。於是，羣芳就將這個最出衆的花蕾推到了舞臺上，而這個披着纖巧柔美外衣的蓓蕾似乎也知曉自己就是神聖的“百合花女王”；與此同時，她的那些羞怯的姊妹也紛紛摘下了綠色的頭巾，直到整盆百合變成了一個爭奇鬥豔、芬芳四溢的花中翹楚。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 beyond 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.
有一次，在種滿了各類花草的窗戶邊，不知是誰放了一個球形玻璃魚缸，裏面還遊動着十一隻蝌蚪。至今，我仍然記得對這些蝌蚪進行探索時的強烈好奇心。我把手伸進魚缸裏，讓蝌蚪在手指間穿梭遊動，這帶給了我巨大的快樂。一天，蝌蚪裏有一隻雄心勃勃的傢伙蹦出了魚缸落到地上。待我摸到時，我發現它已經半死不活了，唯一的生命跡象就是它輕輕蠕動的尾巴。但是我很快把它放回了魚缸，於是，這隻蝌蚪一頭扎進水底，歡快地在魚缸裏游來游去。不管怎麼說，它的奮力一躍使它看到了更加廣闊的世界。如今，它心滿意足地回到了它那美麗的玻璃房子裏，在那棵燈籠海棠樹的庇護下，它最終會長成一隻威風凜凜的青蛙。那時，它就會生活在花園盡頭草木茂盛的池塘裏，爲夏夜吟唱出它奇特的愛之讚歌。Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of meaning. She has never since let pass an opportunity to point out the beauty that is in everything, nor has she ceased trying in thought and action and example to make my life sweet and useful.
我就是這樣瞭解生命的意義的。起初，我只是一知半解，但是老師爲我揭示了生命的奧祕。正是老師的到來，我的生命才充滿了愛和歡樂的氣息，才變得不同凡響。她從來不放過任何一次向我展示萬物之美的機會，她也從不放棄努力，以她的思想和言行引導我成爲一個生活充實，於社會有益的人。
It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made it so pleasant and acceptable to me. She realized that a child's mind is like a shallow brook which ripples and dances merrily over the stony course of its education and reflects here a flower, there a bush, yonder a fleecy cloud; and she attempted to guide my mind on its way, knowing that like a brook it should be fed by mountain streams and hidden springs, until it broadened out into a deep river, capable of reflecting in its placid surface, billowy hills, the luminous shadows of trees and the blue heavens, as well as the sweet face of a little flower.
正是由於老師的聰明才智，她強烈的同情心，以及她的親手傳授，我所接受的早期教育才變得如此地豐富多彩。她總是能抓住恰當的時機，使我能夠愉快地接納她所傳授的知識。她知道，在接受教育的過程中，一個小孩子的思想就像一條淺淺的小溪，這條浪花涌動的小溪歡快地流過卵石密佈的河道，水面上通常會反射出一枝花，一株小樹，或者是一朵浮雲的倒影。她試圖引導我走的正是這樣一條路——一條小溪應當被山川的溪流和地下的泉水所哺育，直到它成長爲一條寬廣深遠的大河，這條大河平靜的水面能夠反射出連綿的山脈，明亮的樹影和藍天，以及一朵小花的甜蜜笑臉。Any teacher can take a child to the classroom, but not every teacher can make him learn. He will not work joyously unless he feels that liberty is his, whether he is busy or at rest; he must feel the flush of victory and the heart-sinking of disappointment before he takes with a will the tasks distasteful to him and resolves to dance his way bravely through a dull routine of textbooks.
任何一個老師都能把一個小孩領進課堂，但並不是每一個老師都能讓他學到東西的。他不會愉快地去學習，除非他覺得自己是自由身。無論他是忙是閒，他必須要感受到勝利的曙光和小小的缺憾，然後才能勇敢地面對那些枯燥單調的書本，並且願意去解決眼前的問題。My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself apart from her. How much of my delight in all beautiful things is innate, and how much is due to her influence, I can never tell. I feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that the footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to her—there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened by her loving touch.
我的老師離我是那麼近，以至於我想象不出離開她會是什麼樣子。我是天生就具有沉醉於美好事物的本能，還是源於老師的引導？我從來都無法說清。我只是覺得她同我是一個不可分割的整體，我的生命足跡也是她的生活軌跡。我生命中最精彩的樂章都歸功於她——我的才能，我的志向，或者我內心的快樂，無一不是被她那充滿慈愛的一觸所喚醒。
