Miss Sullivan put her arm gently round me and spelled into my hand, "I love Helen."
苏立文小姐轻轻地用胳膊揽着我,并且在我手上拼写“我爱海伦”。
"What is love?" I asked.
“爱是什么?”我“问”道。
She drew me closer to her and said, "It is here," pointing to my heart,
她把我拉到她身边,对我“说”:“爱就在这里”,然后就指着我的心。
whose beats I was conscious of for the first time.
这是我第一次意识到了它的跳动。
Her words puzzled me very much because I did not then understand anything unless I touched it.
老师的话令我迷惑不解,因为那时候我还不能理解无形的东西,除非我能用手摸到它。
I smelt the violets in her hand and asked, half in words, half in signs,
我闻着老师手里的紫罗兰,一边拼写单词,一边用手势比画,
a question which meant, "Is love the sweetness of flowers?"
我想问的问题是:“爱是这些可爱的花朵吗?”
"No," said my teacher.
“不。”我的老师对我说。
Again I thought. The warm sun was shining on us.
于是我再次揣摩这个词。暖洋洋的阳光照在我和老师身上。
"Is this not love?" I asked, pointing in the direction from which the heat came.
“这个是爱吗?”我指着发出热量的方向“问”老师,
"Is this not love?"
“这个不是爱吗?”
It seemed to me that there could be nothing more beautiful than the sun,
在我看来,世界上再也没有什么比太阳更美丽的东西了,
whose warmth makes all things grow.
它发出的光和热令万物生生不息。
But Miss Sullivan shook her head, and I was greatly puzzled and disappointed.
可是苏立文小姐仍然摇着头,我陷入了深深的困惑和失望之中。
I thought it strange that my teacher could not show me love.
真是奇怪,为什么老师不能把“爱”展示给我看呢?
A day or two afterward I was stringing beads of different sizes in symmetrical groups,
记得大约在一两天之后,我正把不同大小的珠子均匀地串在一起,
two large beads, three small ones, and so on.
先串两个大的,再串三个小的,以次类推。
I had made many mistakes,
可我总是搞错,
and Miss Sullivan had pointed them out again and again with gentle patience.
苏立文小姐十分耐心地把串错的珠子一一指出来。
Finally I noticed a very obvious error in the sequence
终于,我注意到了一个很明显的次序错误,就在那一瞬间,
and for an instant I concentrated my attention on the lesson
我把自己的注意力完全集中在了手工课上,
and tried to think how I should have arranged the beads.
我该如何解决珠子的顺序问题呢?