Dr. Edward Everett Hale is one of my very oldest friends. I have known him since I was eight, and my love for him has increased with my years. His wise, tender sympathy has been the support of Miss Sullivan and me in times of trial and sorrow, and his strong hand has helped us over many rough places; and what he has done for us he has done for thousands of those who have difficult tasks to accomplish. He has filled the old skins of dogma with the new wine of love, and shown men what it is to believe, live and be free. What he has taught we have seen beautifully expressed in his own life—love of country, kindness to the least of his brethren, and a sincere desire to live upward and onward. He has been a prophet and an inspirer of men, and a mighty doer of the Word, the friend of all his race—God bless him!
爱德华·埃弗里特·黑尔博士是同我交往时间最久的朋友之一，我八岁时就认识他了。随着年龄的增长，我对他的敬意也与日俱增。每当苦难和悲伤降临的时候，他的智慧和同情心给了我和苏立文小姐以强有力的支持；而且，他不但对我们伸出援手，对于成千上万坎坷无助的生灵，他同样给予无私的关爱。他用新酿制的“爱的美酒”为陈腐教条的“旧酒”注入活力。他向人们展示了信念、生存与自由的真谛。在他的言传身教之中，我们也看到了他表里如一的高尚生活——对故土的热爱，对每一个同胞兄弟的仁慈之心，以及积极进取的生活态度，这些无一不显示出他坦荡磊落的人格魅力。在我的眼中，他就是一位先知，一位灵魂施救者，一位精尽不怠的圣徒。所有认识他的朋友们啊——让我们祈祷神保佑他！
Miss Keller, Miss Sullivan and Dr. Edward Everett Hale, 1902
凯勒小姐，小姐沙利文博士和爱德华埃弗里特黑尔，1902年
I have already written of my first meeting with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Since then I have spent many happy days with him at Washington and at his beautiful home in the heart of Cape Breton Island, near Baddeck, the village made famous by Charles Dudley Warner's book. Here in Dr. Bell's laboratory, or in the fields on the shore of the great Bras d'Or, I have spent many delightful hours listening to what he had to tell me about his experiments, and helping him fly kites by means of which he expects to discover the laws that shall govern the future air-ship. Dr. Bell is proficient in many fields of science, and has the art of making every subject he touches interesting, even the most abstruse theories. He makes you feel that if you only had a little more time, you, too, might be an inventor. He has a humorous and poetic side, too. His dominating passion is his love for children. He is never quite so happy as when he has a little deaf child in his arms. His labours in behalf of the deaf will live on and bless generations of children yet to come; and we love him alike for what he himself has achieved and for what he has evoked from others.
我已经描述过我同亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔博士初次会面时的情景。自那以后，我又在他华盛顿的家中度过了很多个愉快的日子。他美丽的家坐落在布赖顿岛海角的腹地，毗邻巴代克，这个小村因被查尔斯·达德利·沃纳写进书里而闻名。无论在贝尔博士的实验室，还是在辽阔的巴拉斯德奥尔海岸，我兴味盎然地听他讲述自己的试验，有时一听就是好几个小时。我还帮他放风筝——博士期望借此发现控制未来飞行器飞行的规律。贝尔博士不但精通各类学科，而且具有把那些知识化腐朽为神奇的本事，即便是最深奥的理论，他也能够轻松破解。同他在一起，你不禁会产生出这样的感觉，假如你只有有限的一点时间，那么，你也有可能成为一个发明家。当然，他的身上也具有幽默和诗情画意的一面。不妨说，他对孩子们的那份爱是发自肺腑的。当他把一个失聪的小孩抱在怀里时，他简直高兴得无以复加。他为了聋哑人的利益而付出的劳动，将保佑一代又一代儿童健康成长。我们爱他，不只是因为他所取得的伟大成就，还因为他唤醒了他人心中的希望。
During the two years I spent in New York I had many opportunities to talk with distinguished people whose names I had often heard, but whom I had never expected to meet. Most of them I met first in the house of my good friend, Mr. Laurence Hutton. It was a great privilege to visit him and dear Mrs. Hutton in their lovely home, and see their library and read the beautiful sentiments and bright thoughts gifted friends had written for them. It has been truly said that Mr. Hutton has the faculty of bringing out in every one the best thoughts and kindest sentiments. One does not need to read "A Boy I Knew" to understand him—the most generous, sweet-natured boy I ever knew, a good friend in all sorts of weather, who traces the footprints of love in the life of dogs as well as in that of his fellowmen.
我在纽约生活的两年间，曾有很多机会同那些耳熟能详的著名人物交谈，但是我决不会去刻意求见他们。他们中的很多人在同我见过一次面后就成了好朋友，比如劳伦斯·休顿先生。我曾十分荣幸地拜访过他和贤惠的休顿夫人，我还参观了他家的图书馆，并且读到了他的天才朋友们写给他们的留言，这些留言饱含感情，不乏真知灼见。你确实可以这样说，休顿先生能够把每一个人的优秀思想和善良品质发掘出来，他的确具有这样的本事。一个人不必阅读《我所认识的一个男孩》就可以了解他——他是我认识的最慷慨、最善良的男孩；也是那种在任何情况下都对你不离不弃的好朋友。在生活的漫漫征途中，他会一路寻着爱的足迹，并从中找到他的手足同胞。
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