评论
打印
If, by some miracle, I were granted three seeing days, to be followed by a relapse into darkness, I should divide the period into three parts.
如果由某种奇迹，我获得了能看见东西的3天，随后又沉陷于一片黑暗之中，我该将这段时间分为３个部分。
The First Day
第一天
On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living.
第一天，我想看到这些人，他们的善良、温柔和友情使我的生命值得活下去。
First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy,
首先我想仔细长久地观看我那亲爱的老师安妮·萨利文·梅西夫人的面容。
who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me.
当我还是一个孩子的时候，她来到我面前，并向我打开了外部世界。
I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory,
我不仅要看她脸部的轮廓，以便我能把它珍藏在我的记忆中，
but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education.
而且我还要研究这张脸庞，在那里找到富有同情心、温柔和耐心的活证据，她就是以这种温柔和耐心完成了教育我的艰难的任务。
I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties,
我要看她眼睛里包藏的那种性格力量，它使得她在困难面前那么坚定。
and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often.
我要看那对所有人的同情心，她如此经常地对我显露出来。
I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that Window of the soul, the eye.
我不知道通过心灵的窗口-眼睛，看透一个朋友的内心是怎么一回事。
I can only see through my finger tips the outline of a face.
我只能通过我的指尖看到一张面孔的轮廓。
I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions.
我能察觉欢笑、悲伤和其它许多明显的感情。
I know my friends from the feel of their faces.
我从他们面部的感触知道我的朋友，
But I cannot really picture their personalities by touch.
但我不能正确地凭触摸描绘出他们的品格。
I know their personalities, of course, through other means, through the thoughts they express to me, through whatever of their actions are revealed to me.
我当然通过其它方式知道他们的品格，通过他们对我表达的思想，通过他们对我表露的任何行为，
But I am denied that deeper understanding of them which I am sure would come through sight of them, through watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and circumstances,
但我不曾对他们有更深刻的了解。那更深刻的了解我相信通过看到他们，通过观察他们对各种表达出来的思想和情况的反应、
through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance.
通过注意他们眼睛和相貌的直接和短暂的反应可以达到。
Friends who are near to me I know well, because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases;
在我身边的朋友，我熟知他们，因为长年累月他们在各方面都对我表露了他们自己。
but of casual friends I have only an incomplete impression, an impression gained from a handclasp, from spoken words which I take from their lips with my finger tips, or which they tap into the palm of my hand.
而对那些偶然的朋友我只有一个不完全的印象，一种我从下面方式中得到的印象：一次握手，我的指尖从他们的双唇上感触到的他们所说的话，或者是他们在我两手掌上轻轻地拍抚。
How much easier, how much more satisfying it is for you who can see to grasp quickly the essential qualities of another person by watching the subtleties of expression, the quiver of a muscle, the flutter of a hand.
对你来说，一个能看见的人，通过观察微妙的表情:一条肌肉的颤抖、一只手的摆动，很快地了解另一个人的本质，是多么容易又多么令人满足的事情。
But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friends or acquaintance?
但是你曾经有过用你的视觉去看透一个朋友或相识的内在本质的时候吗？
Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that?
你们能看见事物的大多数人不是偶然地抓住一张脸孔的外部特征并不再去想了吗？
For instance can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends? some of you can, but many cannot.
例如，你能精确地描叙５个好朋友的面貌吗？有些人能够，但许多人不能。
As an experiment, I have questioned husbands of long standing about the color of their wives' eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know.
作为一个实验，我曾问过那些多年相处的丈夫们，他们妻子的眼睛是什么颜色。
And, incidentally, it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements.
他们常常显得窘迫含糊，承认他们不知道。而且，顺便说一句，妻子们经常抱怨，他们的丈夫不注意新衣服、新帽子和家庭摆设的变化。
The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surroundings, and they actually see only the startling and spectacular.
能看见的人的眼睛很快就习惯了他们周围的日常事务。他们实际上仅仅看到令人吃惊的事和引人注意的壮观之事，
But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy.
而即使是那些最壮观的景象，他们的眼睛也是懒洋洋的。
Court records reveal every day how inaccurately eyewitnesses see.
法庭记录每天都显露出见证人看得多不准确。
A given event will be seen in several different ways by as many witnesses.
一个特定的事件，要被尽可能多的人从几个不同的方面去看到，
Some see more than others, but few see everything that is within the range of their vision.
有些人看得比另一些人要多些，而没有几个人看到了在他们的视线范围内的所有事情。
Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days!
啊，如果我要有哪怕３天的视力，多少事我该看啊！
The first day would be a busy one.
第一天会是很忙碌的，
I should call to me all my dear friends and look long into their faces, imprinting upon my mind the outward evidences of the beauty that is within them.
我要把我所有的亲爱的朋友们都叫到我这里来，长久地注视着他们的面容，把他们的内在美的外部证据深深地印在我的脑海中。
I should let my eyes rest, too, on the face of a baby, so that I could catch a vision of the eager, innocent beauty which precedes the individual's consciousness of the conflicts which life develops.
我也该让我的目光停留在一个婴儿的脸上，以便我能获得一个热切渴望的纯美的视觉，这是那个人在意识到生活带来的冲突之前的美丽的视觉。
And I should like to look into the loyal, trusting eyes of my dogs-the grave, canny little Scottie, Darkie, and the stalwart, understanding Great Dane, Helga, whose warm, tender , and playful friendships are so comforting to me.
而且，我也要看看我的狗那忠诚、信任的眼睛－那严肃、机灵的小斯洛蒂·达基和那高大、健壮、善解人意的大达英·赫尔加，它们热情温柔和顽皮的友谊对我是个巨大的安慰。
On that busy first day I should also view the small simple things of my home.
在这繁忙的第一天，我也该看看我家的那些简单的小事情。
I want to see the warm colors in the rugs under my feet, the pictures on the walls, the intimate trifles that transform a house into home.
我想看着我脚下地毯上、墙壁上图画的明朗愉快的色彩，那些使这间屋子成为一个家的亲切的琐碎物件。
My eyes would rest respectfully on the books in raised type which I have read,
我的目光也要敬重地停留在那些我读过的阳文书籍上，
but they would be more eagerly interested in the printed books which seeing people can read, for during the long night of my life the books I have read and those which have been read to me have built themselves into a great shining lighthouse, revealing to me the deepest channels of human life and the human spirit.
但应更热切地对那些能看见的人所能读的出版物感兴趣，因为在我生命的漫漫长夜里，我读过的书和别人对我读过的书已筑成一座巨大的闪光的灯塔，对我显示了人类生活和人类精神的最深的航道。
In the afternoon of that first seeing day.
那能看见的第一天的下午，
I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature trying desperately to absorb in a few hours the vast splendor which is constantly unfolding itself to those who can see.
我要在树林里长久地散步，让我的目光陶醉在大自然世界的美景之中。在几个小时中，试图拼命地吸收那无穷的壮丽，
On the way home from my woodland jaunt my path would lie near a farm so that I might see the patient horses ploughing in the field and the serene content of men living close to the soil.
这对那些能看见的人却是一条小路，这样我便能看到那驯良的马匹在犁田看到贴近泥土生活的人们那安详的满足。
And I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset.
而且，我该为艳丽的落日光辉而祈祷。
When dusk had fallen, I should experience the double delight of being able to see by artificial light which the genius of man has created to extend the power of his sight when Nature decrees darkness.
黄昏降临时，我该感受到双倍的愉快，因为能看到人造的光芒，这是人类的天才创造出来的，当大自然黑暗降临之时，以延展他的视力。
In the night of that first day of sight, I should not be able to sleep, so full would be my mind of the memories of the day.
在那能看见的第一天晚间，我是不能入睡的，我脑海中充满了白天的记忆。
The Second Day
第二天
The next day-the second day of sight-I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day.
次日-我能看的第二天-我会随黎明一道起来，看那黑夜转成白昼的激动人心的奇迹，
I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth.
我要怀着肃然敬畏的心情去看那太阳唤醒沉睡的大地的壮观的景象。
This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world, past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man's progress, the kaleidoscope of the ages.
这一天，我要用来匆忙地扫视这个世界，它的过去和现在。我想看人类进程的展示，时代的万花筒。
How can so much be compressed into one day?
这么多的东西怎么能压缩在一天之内看完呢？
Through the museums, of course.
当然，通过博物馆，
Often I have visited the New York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited,
我已多次去参观过纽约自然历史博物馆，用我手去触摸那里陈列的许多物件。
but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there-animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment;
但我渴望亲眼看到地球和那里陈列的地球上居民的浓缩历史:
gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth long before man appeared, with his tiny stature and powerful brain, to conquer the animal kingdom; realistic presentations of the processes of development in animals, in man, and in the implements which man has used to fashion for himself a secure home on this planet;
在他们自然环境里展示出的动物和人类种族；曾在人类出现之前，很早就在地球上漫游的巨大恐龙和柱牙象骨架，人类以他小巧的身材和强有力的大脑征服了动物王国；动物，人类和人类工具的发展过程的逼真展现，人类曾用这些工具在这个星球上来建造他们安全的家园，
and a thousand and one other aspects of natural history.
还有其它许许多多的自然历史方面。
I wonder how many readers of this article have viewed this panorama of the face of living things as pictured in that inspiring museum.
我不知道这篇文章的多少读者看过这个生动的博物馆所展示的逼真事物的壮观景貌。
Many, of course, have not had the opportunity, but I am sure that many who have had the opportunity have not made use of it.
当然有许多人没有机会，但是我相信，有许多人确有机会而没有利用。
There, indeed, is a place to use your eyes.
那里，确是利用你的眼睛的地方，
You who see can spend many fruitful days there, but I with my imaginary three days of sight, could only take a hasty glimpse, and pass on.
你们能看见的人能在那里度过许多成果丰硕的日子，可是我只有想象的３天可见的时间，只能是仓促地一瞥，匆匆而过。
My next stop would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for just as the Museum of Natural History reveals the material aspects of the world, so does the Metropolitan show the myriad facets of the human spirit.
我的下一站将是大都会艺术博物馆。像自然历史博物馆展示世界的物质方面一样，大都会艺术博物馆展示大量的人类精神方面。
Throughout the history of humanity the urge to artistic expression has been almost as powerful as the urge for food, shelter, and procreation.
在贯穿人类历史的全过程中，对艺术表现的强烈冲动就像人类对食物、住所和繁衍的迫切需要一样强烈。
And here , in the vast chambers of the Metropolitan Museum, is unfolded before me the spirit of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as expressed in their art.
而这里，在大都会博物馆那宽敞的大厅里，在我们面前展示了通过艺术形式表达出来的古埃及、古希腊和古罗马的精神世界。
I know well through my hands the sculptured gods and goddesses of the ancient Nile-land.
我通过我的手很好地了解了雕刻的古代尼罗河土地上的众神，
I have felt copies of Parthenon friezes, and I have sensed the rhythmic beauty of charging Athenian warriors.
我摸过巴台农神殿。中楣石柱的复制品，我意识到向前冲锋的的雅典武士的匀称和谐美。
Apollos and Venuses and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are friends of my finger tips. The gnarled, bearded features of Homer are dear to me, for he, too, knew blindness.
阿波罗、维纳斯和有翅膀的萨摩丝雷斯胜利女神。是我的手指尖的朋友。我看到那荷马的长满胡须、节瘤众多的面部雕像感到无比亲切，因为他也是盲人。
My hands have lingered upon the living marble of roman sculpture as well as that of later generations.
我的手在栩栩如生的罗马大理石雕像和后世的雕刻上逗留。
I have passed my hands over a plaster cast of Michelangelo's inspiring and heroic Moses; I have sensed the power of Rodin; I have been awed by the devoted spirit of Gothic wood carving.
我的手摸过米开朗基罗那鼓舞人心的英雄摩西雕塑石膏模；我感觉到罗丹的力量。我对哥特木刻的热忱精神感到敬畏。
These arts which can be touched have meaning for me, but even they were meant to be seen rather than felt, and I can only guess at the beauty which remains hidden from me.
这些能被触摸到的艺术作品对我有着实在的意义，但即使这些艺术品既是为了观看又是为了摸的，我也只能是猜度我仍未发现的美妙。
I can admire the simple lines of a Greek vase, but its figured decorations are lost to me.
我能赞叹一只古希腊花瓶简单的线条，但我对它的图案装饰却是迷惘的。
So on this, my second day of sight, I should try to probe into the soul of man through this art.
所以，在我能看的第二天，我要通过人类的艺术努力探究人生的灵魂。
The things I knew through touch I should now see.
通过触摸我知道了的事情，
More splendid still, the whole magnificent world of painting would be opened to me, from the Italian Primitives, with their serene religious devotion, to the Moderns, with their feverish visions.
我现在要看见它对宗教泰然虔诚奉献的意大利文艺复兴前期作品到狂热梦幻的现代派作品。
