海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第4期
The guinea-fowl likes to hide her nest in out-of-the-way places, and it was one of my greatest delights to hunt for the eggs in the long grass. I could not tell Martha Washington when I wanted to go egg-hunting, but I would double my hands and put them on the ground, which meant something round in the grass, and Martha always understood. When we were fortunate enough to find a nest I never allowed her to carry the eggs home, making her understand by emphatic signs that she might fall and break them.
珍珠雞喜歡把巢藏匿在偏僻角落裏，我最大的快樂之一就是搜尋草窩裏的雞蛋。我找雞蛋的時候無法直接對瑪莎·華盛頓說，我會攥起拳頭，再把它們放在草地上，這表示有什麼東西在草地上滾動，而瑪莎總能領會我的意圖。運氣好的話，我們就會找到一個雞窩，可是我從來不會讓瑪莎把雞蛋帶回家，我會做出強烈的手勢讓她明白，她應該把雞蛋扔在地上打碎。The sheds where the corn was stored, the stable where the horses were kept, and the yard where the cows were milked morning and evening were unfailing sources of interest to Martha and me. The milkers would let me keep my hands on the cows while they milked, and I often got well switched by the cow for my curiosity.
像穀倉，馬廄，還有每天早晚給奶牛擠奶的庭院都是我和瑪莎最感興趣的地方。擠奶工給牛擠奶的時候會讓我把兩手放在牛身上。爲了滿足自己的好奇心，我經常對牛又擰又掐。The making ready for Christmas was always a delight to me. Of course I did not know what it was all about, but I enjoyed the pleasant odours that filled the house and the tidbits that were given to Martha Washington and me to keep us quiet. We were sadly in the way, but that did not interfere with our pleasure in the least. They allowed us to grind the spices, pick over the raisins and lick the stirring spoons. I hung my stocking because the others did; I cannot remember, however, that the ceremony interested me especially, nor did my curiosity cause me to wake before daylight to look for my gifts.
爲聖誕節做準備總會令我歡欣鼓舞。當然，我並不知道這是一個什麼樣的節日，但是瀰漫在房子裏的香味令我陶醉其中，而花樣繁多的美食也會讓我和瑪莎·華盛頓安靜下來。我們倆也會有不順心的時候，但是這絲毫也不妨礙我們享受節日的快樂。大人們會允許我們倆幫他們研磨香料，挑揀葡萄乾，或者用勺子攪拌餡料。我也像其他人那樣把自己的長襪掛起來，雖然不知道爲什麼這麼做，可是這種儀式令我興味盎然。這倒不是爲了好奇，而是因爲一覺醒來，我就可以在襪子裏找到禮物。
Martha Washington had as great a love of mischief as I. Two little children were seated on the veranda steps one hot July afternoon. One was black as ebony, with little bunches of fuzzy hair tied with shoestrings sticking out all over her head like corkscrews. The other was white, with long golden curls. One child was six years old, the other two or three years older. The younger child was blind--that was I--and the other was Martha Washington. We were busy cutting out paper dolls; but we soon wearied of this amusement, and after cutting up our shoestrings and clipping all the leaves off the honeysuckle that were within reach, I turned my attention to Martha's corkscrews. She objected at first, but finally submitted. Thinking that turn and turn about is fair play, she seized the scissors and cut off one of my curls, and would have cut them all off but for my mother's timely interference.
瑪莎·華盛頓同我一樣喜歡搞惡作劇。記得那年7月一個炎熱的午後，有兩個小孩兒坐在走廊的臺階上，一個是黑人小姑娘，梳着一束束俏皮的像螺絲錐一樣的頭髮；另一個是白人小姑娘，有着一頭長長的金色鬈髮。其中一個孩子六歲，另一個只有兩歲或三歲大。那個年幼的小孩是個盲童——這個孩子就是我——另一個孩子是瑪莎·華盛頓。當時我們倆正埋頭剪紙娃娃玩兒，可是沒多久我們就厭倦了這個遊戲，於是，我們倆又開始剪樹葉，我們把能夠到的金銀花葉子都剪了下來。接着，我開始把注意力轉到瑪莎那像螺絲錐的頭髮上，起初她反對我打她頭髮的主意，但最終還是屈服了。就這樣，我們倆輪流玩起了公平的遊戲，她抓過剪刀剪掉我的一束鬈髮。我想，要不是媽媽及時制止，她一定會把我的頭髮都剪光的。Belle, our dog, my other companion, was old and lazy and liked to sleep by the open fire rather than to romp with me. I tried hard to teach her my sign language, but she was dull and inattentive. She sometimes started and quivered with excitement, then she became perfectly rigid, as dogs do when they point a bird. I did not then know why Belle acted in this way; but I knew she was not doing as I wished. This vexed me and the lesson always ended in a one-sided boxing match. Belle would get up, stretch herself lazily, give one or two contemptuous sniffs, go to the opposite side of the hearth and lie down again, and I, wearied and disappointed, went off in search of Martha.
貝拉是我們家的狗，也是我的另一個夥伴，她又老又懶，喜歡在壁爐旁睡覺，而不太願意同我玩耍。於是我努力教她我的“手勢語言”，但是她總是反應遲鈍，心不在焉。有時候，她會興奮得渾身顫抖，變得躍躍欲試，就像狗兒們將目標鎖定在一隻鳥時所做的那樣。我並不知道貝拉爲什麼會有如此表現，但是我知道她肯定沒有按照我的要求去做。這令我十分懊惱，所以，我的訓練課總是以對貝拉一通亂捶作爲結束。而貝拉則會爬起來伸伸懶腰，然後輕蔑地打一兩個響鼻兒，再跑到壁爐的另一邊就地一躺。爲此，我感到既無奈又失望，最後我只有丟下貝拉去找瑪莎玩。Many incidents of those early years are fixed in my memory, isolated, but clear and distinct, making the sense of that silent, aimless, dayless life all the more intense.
早年的很多事情都被我牢牢地記在心裏，雖然互不相干，但是它們是如此清晰，宛如歷歷在目，它們加劇了我對沉寂、無助而迷惘的生活的思考。One day I happened to spill water on my apron, and I spread it out to dry before the fire which was flickering on the sitting-room hearth. The apron did not dry quickly enough to suit me, so I drew nearer and threw it right over the hot ashes. The fire leaped into life; the flames encircled me so that in a moment my clothes were blazing. I made a terrified noise that brought Viny, my old nurse, to the rescue. Throwing a blanket over me, she almost suffocated me, but she put out the fire. Except for my hands and hair I was not badly burned.
記得有一天，我不小心把圍裙弄溼了，於是，我把圍裙鋪在客廳的壁爐邊烘烤。溼圍裙不會那麼快就被烤乾的，所以我就讓它離火源更近一些，結果正好碰到了餘燼。圍裙一下子燒着了，火苗圍繞在我身邊，甚至連我的衣服都被引燃了。我驚慌失措的吵鬧驚動了我的老保姆維妮，她急忙跑過來救我。維妮把一條毯子蓋在我身上，我給憋得幾近窒息，不過她還是把火給撲滅了。所以除了雙手和頭髮被燒了一下外，我並無大礙。
