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But the roses—they were loveliest of all. Never have I found in the greenhouses of the North such heart-satisfying roses as the climbing roses of my southern home. They used to hang in long festoons from our porch, filling the whole air with their fragrance, untainted by any earthy smell; and in the early morning, washed in the dew, they felt so soft, so pure, I could not help wondering if they did not resemble the asphodels of God's garden.
而玫瑰，则是花园中最傲人的花魁。我从来没有在北方的温室里见过长势如此繁茂的玫瑰，花朵沿着门廊形成了一道长长的花径，空气中弥漫着沁人的芳香，那种清醇的味道丝毫不沾染泥土的浊气。每天早晨，在露水的沐浴中，玫瑰娇柔淳美，这时我就会禁不住展开神思遐想，这些花儿是不是很像上帝花园中的常春花呢？
The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life. I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does. There was the usual amount of discussion as to a name for me. The first baby in the family was not to be lightly named, every one was emphatic about that. My father suggested the name of Mildred Campbell, an ancestor whom he highly esteemed, and he declined to take any further part in the discussion. My mother solved the problem by giving it as her wish that I should be called after her mother, whose maiden name was Helen Everett. But in the excitement of carrying me to church my father lost the name on the way, very naturally, since it was one in which he had declined to have a part. When the minister asked him for it, he just remembered that it had been decided to call me after my grandmother, and he gave her name as Helen Adams.
就像诸多弱小的生命一样，我生命的伊始朴素而单纯；我来了，我观察，我奋争，如同很多百姓家中第一个孩子所做的一样。为了给我起名字，家人还煞费了一番周章。一个家庭里第一个孩子的名字当然马虎不得，家里的每一个人都参与其中。我的父亲建议给我取名米尔德莱德·坎贝尔，此人是父亲极为崇敬的一位祖先，对于这个名字，父亲拒绝做进一步的商榷。而我的母亲则按照她自己的意愿解决这个问题，她认为我应该随她母亲的姓氏。她母亲少女时代的名字是海伦·埃弗里特。没想到的是，就在一家人兴高采烈地带我去教堂洗礼的路上，父亲把起好的名字给弄丢了，这再自然不过了，因为这是一个父亲本不喜欢的名字。所以，当牧师问他的时候，他才记起来，我的名字还是应该随我外祖母的姓氏，这是早就定好了的，于是他给婴儿取名叫海伦·亚当斯。
