海倫·凱勒自傳《我的生活》第36期

　　The chief events of the year 1893 were my trip to Washington during the inauguration of President Cleveland, and visits to Niagara and the World’s Fair. Under such circumstances my studies were constantly interrupted and often put aside for many weeks, so that it isimpossible for me to give a connected account of them.

　　1893年的主要大事，就是在克利夫蘭總統(tǒng)就職典禮期間的華盛頓之行，參觀尼亞加拉(瀑布)和世界博覽會(huì)。旅行期間，我的學(xué)業(yè)有時(shí)會(huì)中斷數(shù)星期之久，所以我不太可能把這些事聯(lián)系在一起進(jìn)行敘述。

　　We went to Niagara in March, 1893. It is difficult to describe my emotions when I stood on the point which overhangs the American Falls and felt the air vibrate and the earth tremble.

　　我們是在1893年3月去的尼亞加拉。當(dāng)我站在美洲瀑布的懸崖邊上，感受著空氣的震動(dòng)和大地的顫抖，我激動(dòng)的心情是難以用語言描述的。

　　It seems strange to many people that I should be impressed by the wonders and beauties of Niagara. They are always asking: "What does this beauty or that music mean to you? You cannot see the waves rolling up the beach or hear their roar. What do they mean to you?" In the most evident sense they mean everything. I cannot fathom or define their meaning any more than I can fathom or define love or religion or goodness.

　　在很多人眼中，這似乎有些奇怪，我是如何被尼亞加拉(瀑布)的雄渾美麗所感動(dòng)的呢?他們總會(huì)問我：“它的美妙和音響對(duì)你而言意味著什么?你看不見驚濤拍岸，也聽不到巨浪咆哮，可這些對(duì)你來說意味著什么?”我最明顯的感覺是，它們代表了一切。的確，我無法透徹理解它們的含義并對(duì)其做出解釋，但是我能透徹理解博愛、宗教以及仁慈的含義并對(duì)其做出解釋。

　　During the summer of 1893, Miss Sullivan and I visited the World’s Fair with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. I recall with unmixed delight those days when a thousand childish fancies became beautiful realities. Every day in imagination I made a trip round the world, and I saw many wonders from the uttermost parts of the earth—marvels of invention, treasuries of industry and skill and all the activities of human life actually passed under my finger tips.

　　1893年夏天，我和蘇立文小姐隨同亞歷山大·格雷厄姆·貝爾博士參觀了世界博覽會(huì)。我對(duì)那段快樂時(shí)光記憶猶新，上千個(gè)天真的想象全都變成了美麗的現(xiàn)實(shí)。每天我都會(huì)在想象中周游世界，我見識(shí)了許多世界奇跡——偉大的發(fā)明，工業(yè)技術(shù)的結(jié)晶，以及多姿多彩的人類生活一一在我的指尖下滑過。

　　I liked to visit the Midway Plaisance. It seemed like the "Arabian Nights," it was crammed so full ofnovelty and interest. Here was the India of my books in the curious bazaar with its Shivas and elephant-gods; there was the land of the Pyramids concentrated in a model Cairo with its mosques and its long processions of camels; yonder were the lagoons of Venice, where we sailed every evening when the city and the fountains were illuminated. I also went on board a Viking ship which lay a short distance from the little craft. I had been on a man-of-war before, in Boston, and it interested me to see, on this Viking ship, how the seaman was once all in all—how he sailed and took storm and calm alike with undaunted heart, and gave chase to whosoever reechoed his cry, "We are of the sea!" and fought with brains and sinews, self-reliant, self-sufficient, instead of being thrust into the background by unintelligent machinery, as Jack is to-day. So it always is—"man only is interesting to man."

　　我最喜歡的地方是普賴桑斯游樂場(chǎng)，這里就像“天方夜譚”，里面充滿了各色各樣的奇思妙想。我能感受到書中描寫的印度風(fēng)情——奇特的集市滿是“濕婆”和“象神”的雕像;這里還有金字塔和開羅城的景觀模型，清真寺和長(zhǎng)途跋涉的駝隊(duì)貫穿其中;更遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)的地方是威尼斯水道，每晚，我們都乘船航行在燈光絢爛的城市和噴泉之間。我還登上了一艘放置在微縮城外的維京海盜船，在波士頓的時(shí)候我也曾登上過軍艦，如今，我興味盎然地看著維京船的海員們?nèi)绾螕P(yáng)帆遠(yuǎn)航，如何氣定神閑地面對(duì)風(fēng)暴。人們的耳邊回響著他們的吶喊：“我們屬于大海!”他們同大?？购獾奈淦魇庆`活的頭腦和強(qiáng)健的體力;他們獨(dú)來獨(dú)往，自給自足，并沒有像今天的水手們那樣被湮沒在愚蠢的機(jī)械文明之下。所以還是老話說得好——“男人只應(yīng)做屬于男人的事。”