海伦·凯勒
PART ONE
第一部分
The Story of My Life
关于我一生的故事
Chapter 1
第一章节
It is with a kind of fear that I begin to write the history of my life.
起初，我着手写我一生的故事的时候，我有点儿害怕。
I have,as it were, a superstitious hesitation in lifting the veil that clings about my childhood like a golden mist.
似乎，在我的内心深处一直坚信我的童年时光就像秋天的早晨，那在晨光中逐渐驱散的薄雾一样美好，以至于我在揭开这个面纱时表现得迷信般的犹豫不决
The task of writing an autobiography is a difficult one.
对于我来说，写一个自传真的是太难了。
When I try to classify my earliest impressions,I find that fact and fancy look alike across the years that link the past with the present.
当我尝试对过去的记忆进行分类时，我发现，从过去到现在的这些年的时光，记忆和事实几乎没什么差别。
The woman paints the child’s experiences in her own fantasy.
如果要写自传的话，也是一个成熟女性用她的幻想描绘她年少的经历。
A few impressions stand out vividly from the first years of my life; but “the shadows of the prison-house are on the rest.”
在我生病之前的一些时光里面，有一些印象还是能够在我脑海里面生动地浮现，但是在那之后，都是“黑暗的影像”。
Besides,many of the joys and sorrows of childhood have lost their poignancy; and many incidents of vital importance in my early education have been forgotten in the excitement of great discoveries.
此外，童年时期的许多愉悦和悲伤的事情在我的记忆中也没有那么深刻了，并且许多在我的早期教育中至关重要的事件，在我体会到那些激动人心的发现后，也黯然失色了。
In order, therefore,not to be tedious I shall try to present in a series of sketches only the episodes that seem to me to be the most interesting and important.
因此，为了不让这本书看起来乏味，我将尝试写一些在我的记忆碎片中，对于我最深刻和重要的片段。
I was born on June 27,1880,in Tuscumbia,a little town of northern Alabama.
我于1880年6月27日出生在阿拉巴马州北部的小镇图斯坎比亚。
The family on my father’s side is descended from Caspar Keller,a native of Switzerland,who settled in Maryland.
我父亲一方的家庭是卡斯珀·凯勒的后代，我曾祖父，也就是卡斯珀·凯勒是定居在马里兰州的本土瑞士人。
One of my Swiss ancestors was the first teacher of the deaf in Zurich and wrote a book on the subject of their education—rather a singular coincidence;though it is true that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.
我的一位瑞士祖先是苏黎世的第一位聋人老师，并且他写了一本关于以他们的教育为主题的书—这并非是一个简单的巧合；确实，继承先祖的财富的国王才是国王，没有财富的国王并非是一个国王。
My grandfather,Caspar Keller’s son,“entered” large tracts of land in Alabama and finally settled there.
我的祖父，也就是斯珀·凯勒的儿子，“进入”了阿拉巴马州的大片土地，最后定居在那里。
I have been told that once a year he went from Tuscumbia to Philadelphia on horseback to purchase supplies for the plantation, and my aunt has in her possession many of the letters to his family, which give charming and vivid accounts of these trips.
我知道每年他都会骑马从塔斯坎比亚到费城为种植园购买物资，而我的姨妈拥有许多他给家人的信件，这些信件深深的吸引了我，也留下了一个一个他活灵活现的旅行画面。
My Grandmother Keller was a daughter of one of Lafayette’s aides,Alexander Moore,and granddaughter of Alexander Spotswood,an early Colonial Governor of Virginia.
我的祖母凯勒是亚历山大·摩尔的女儿，亚历山大·摩尔曾经是拉菲特的助手之一；我的祖母也是早期弗吉尼亚州早期殖民地总督亚历山大·斯波兹伍德的孙女。
She was also second cousin to Robert E.Lee.
她还是罗伯特·李的第二个表妹。
My father,Arthur H. Keller,was a captain in the Confederate Army,and my mother,Kate Adams,was his second wife and many years younger.
我的父亲亚瑟·凯勒是同盟军的上尉，我的母亲凯特·亚当斯是比他小的第二任妻子。
Her grandfather,Benjamin Adams,married Susanna E.Goodhue,and lived in Newbury,Massachusetts,for many years.
我母亲的祖父本杰明·亚当斯与苏珊娜结婚，并在马萨诸塞州的纽伯里生活了很多年。
Their son,Charles Adams,was born in Newburyport,Massachustts,and moved to Helena,Arkansas.
他们的儿子查尔斯·亚当斯出生在马萨诸塞州的纽伯里波特，并搬到阿肯色州的海伦娜。
When the Civil War broke out, he fought on the side of the South and becomes a brigadier-general.
南北战争爆发时，他以旅长的身份在南方一侧作战。
He married Lucy Helen Everett,who belonged to the same family of Everetts as Edward Everett and Dr. Edward Everett Hale.
之后，他与露西·海伦·埃弗里特结婚。露西·海伦·埃弗里特与爱德华·埃弗里特和爱德华·埃弗里特·黑尔属于埃弗里茨的同一个家庭。
After the war was over, the family moved to Memphis,Tennessee.
战争结束后，一家人搬到了田纳西州的孟菲斯。
I lived, up to the time of the illness that deprived me of my sight and hearing, in a tiny house consisting of a large square room and a small one, in which the servant slept.
在我的视力和听力因为疾病剥夺了之后，我居住在一个小房子里面，这个小房子有一个大房型房间和一个小房间，这个小房间是我的仆人睡的。
It is a custom in the South to build a small house near the homestead as an annex to be used on occasion.
南部的习俗是在宅基地附近建一栋小房子，用于偶尔使用的附属建筑。
Such a house my father built after the Civil War,and when he married my mother they went to live in it.
我父亲在南北战争之后建造了这样的房屋，当他与我的母亲结婚时，他们就住在里面。
It was completely covered with vines, climbing roses and honeysuckles.
它被葡萄藤，蔷薇和金银花完全覆盖。
From the garden it looked like an arbour.
从花园里看起来像个凉亭。
The little porch was hidden from view by a screen of yellow roses and Southern smilax.
小门廊一片黄玫瑰和南方的菝葜遮住了视线。
It was the favourite haunt of humming-birds and bees.
蜂鸟和蜜蜂经常出没在其中。
The Keller homestead, where the family lived, was a few steps from our little rose-bower.
一家人住的凯勒宅基地离我们的小蔷薇花园只有几步之遥。
It was called “lvy Green” because the house and the surrounding trees and fences were covered with beautiful English ivy.
之所以称其为“绿意盎然”，是因为房子，周围的树木和篱笆由英国的常青藤常年覆盖着。
Its old-fashioned garden was the paradise of my childhood.
其中的老式花园是我童年的天堂。
Even in the days before my teacher came,I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges,and,guided by the sense of smell would find the first violets and lilies.
在我的老师来之前的几天里，我就一直沿着方形的黄杨木篱笆摸索，在嗅觉的引导下，我发现了第一批紫罗兰和百合。
There,too,after a fit of temper,I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass.
在心情不好的时候，我也在那里找到了舒适的地方，把我的灼热的脸藏在凉爽的树叶和草丛中。
What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot,until,coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine,I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden!
这是多么愉快的事情啊！迷失在鲜花洋溢的花园，从花园的一个地方漫步到另一个地方，当我突然来到美丽的葡萄树前，并通过它的叶子和花朵认出了它，也清楚在不远处花园的尽头，这些藤蔓覆盖了倒塌的避暑别墅。
Here,also,were trailing clematis, drooping jessamine, and some rare sweet flowers called butterfly lilies,because their fragile petals resemble butterflies’ wings.
在这里，还有尾随的铁线莲，下垂的茉莉花和一些稀有的甜美花朵，称为蝴蝶百合，因为它们的脆弱花瓣像蝴蝶的翅膀。
But the roses—they were loveliest of all.
还有一大片最可爱的蔷薇。
Never have I found in the greenhouses of the North such heart-satisfying roses as the climbing roses of my southern home.
即使在我北方的温室里面，我也没发现能够如此令人心花怒放的蔷薇，而这些蔷薇竟在我南方的家里。
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.
它们曾经在我们的门廊上悬挂着长长的花彩，空气中洋溢着它们不含任何泥土味的芳香；清晨，在露珠的洗礼后，它们是如此的柔软，如此的纯净，以至于让我情不自禁的想知道是否它们和上帝花园中的水仙相似。
The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life.
如同其他人的小生活一样，我的生活的开始是简单的。
I came,I saw,I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does.
如同其他的家庭里面的第一个小孩子一样，我来到这个世界，睁开我的双眼，开始哭泣。
There was the usual amount of discussion as to a name for me.
对我的名字的选取，家人们经过了大量的讨论。
The first baby in the family was not to be lightly named,everyone was emphatic about that.
在家庭里面第一个孩子的名称通常都不是简单的选定的，每个家庭都特别重视这个。
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.
我父亲提出了米尔德雷德·坎贝尔的名字，这个名字是我父亲家族中一个十分受人尊敬的祖先，但是在讨论中，这个提议否定了。
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.
我的母亲解决了这个问题，并希望我能以她的少女时期的姓海伦·埃弗里特的名字叫我。
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.
但是，由于带我去教堂的时候特别激动，我的父亲在路上很自然的忘记了，因为他不想有一个相同的名称。
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.
当牧师问他的时候，他突然想到以我祖母的名字给我命名，并给我命名海伦·亚当斯。
I am told that while I was still in long dresses I showed many signs of an eager,self-asserting disposition.
有人告诉我，当我一直穿着长裙时，我表现出了许多渴望、自信的性格迹象。
Everything that I saw other people do I insisted upon imitating.
当我看到其他人时，我始终保持模仿。
At six months I could pipe out “How d’ye”,and one day I attracted every one’s attention by saying “tea,tea,tea” quite plainly.
六个月后，我可以发出“ How d'ye”的声音，有一天，我很明白地说“ tea，tea，tea”吸引了所有人的注意力。
Even after my illness I remembered one of the words I had learned in these early months.
即使在我生病之后，我仍然记得我在我只有几个月学到的单词中的一个。
It was the word “water”,and I continued to make some sound for that word after all other speech was lost.
那是“water”这个单词，在我忘记其他的词汇的发音之后，我一直记得这个单词的发音。
I ceased making the sound “wah-wah” only when I learned to spell the word.
当我学习拼写这个单词的时候，我才停止发出“wah-wah”的声音。
They tell me I walked the day I was a year old.
他们告诉我我到一岁的时候才会走路。
My mother had just taken me out of the bath-tub and was holding me in her lap, when I was suddenly attracted by the flickering shadows of leaves that danced in the sunlight on the smooth floor.
当我看到在地板上由阳光照射下的树叶的影子，并深深吸引的时候，我的母亲刚好把我从浴缸里拿出来，并把我抱在她的大腿上。
I slipped from my mother’s lap and almost ran toward them.
之后，我从我母亲的大腿上滑下来，并跑向这些影子。
The impulse gone,I fell down and cried for her to take me up in her arms.
随着我的跌倒，冲动消失了，并对着她哭，希望她把我抱在怀里。
These happy days did not last long.
这些快乐的日子并没有持续多久。
One brief spring,musical with the song of robin and mocking-bird,one summer rich in fruit and roses, one autumn of gold and crimson sped by and left their gifts at the feet of an eager, delighted child.
一个短暂的春天，伴随着知更鸟和嘲讽鸟的歌声，一个夏天，盛产水果和蔷薇，一个秋天，挂满金色和艳红的果实，在一个渴望而又高兴的孩子的脚下飞奔而过。
Then,in the dreary month of February,came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a new-born baby.
然后，在二月的一个沉闷的月份里，疾病闭上了我的眼睛，使我陷入了新生婴儿的昏迷状态。
They called it acute congestion of the stomach and brain.
在他们的谈话中，我了解到这是胃和脑的急性充血。
The doctor thought I could not live.
医生说我可能命不久矣。
Early one morning,however,the fever left me as suddenly and mysteriously as it had come.
然而，某天的清晨，发烧突然消失正如它突然和神奇地降临。
There was great rejoicing in the family that morning, but no one, not even the doctor, knew that I should never see or hear again.
那天早上一家人非常高兴，但是没有一个人，甚至医生，都不知道我再也看不见和听不到了。
I fancy I still have confused recollections of that illness.
我想我仍然对这个病的回忆感到困惑。
I especially remember the tenderness with which my mother tried to soothe me in my waling hours of fret and pain, and the agony and bewilderment with which I awoke after a tossing half sleep, and turned my eyes, so dry and hot, to the wall away from the once-loved light, which came to me dim and yet more dim each day.
我尤其记得在我烦恼和痛苦的艰难时刻，我的母亲每天努力抚慰我的温柔，抚慰在我半睡半醒后醒来的痛苦和困惑，让我的又干又热的眼睛，转向墙壁，远离我曾经一度喜欢的阳光，因为阳光对于我来说会让我越来越昏暗。
But,except for these fleeting memories, if,indeed,they be memories, it all seems very unreal, like a nightmare.
但是，除了那些稍纵即逝的记忆，如果说是真实的记忆的话，那一切似乎都是虚幻的，就像一场噩梦。
Gradually I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot that it had ever been different, until she came—my teacher—who was to set my spirit free.
逐渐地，我开始习惯于寂静和黑暗环绕着我，并渐渐忘记了我是不一样的，直到我的老师的到来，她释放了我的精神。
But during the first nineteen months of my life I had caught glimpses of broad, green fields,a luminous sky, trees and flowers which the darkness that followed could not wholly blot out.
但是在我与我的老师相处开始的十九个月里，即使黑暗无法完全消除，我瞥见了广阔的绿色田野，明亮的天空，树木和花朵。
If we have once seen,“the day is ours, and what the day has shown.”
好像我可以看见一样，“这一天是我的，和真实所见的世界一样。”
