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我的生活海伦·凯勒自传
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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Chapter XIX	第十九章

When I began my second year at the Gilman school, I was full of hope and determination to succeed. But during the first few weeks I was confronted with unforeseen difficulties. Mr. Gilman had agreed that that year I should study mathematics principally. I had physics, algebra, geometry, astronomy, Greek and Latin. Unfortunately, many of the books I needed had not been embossed in time for me to begin with the classes, and I lacked important apparatus for some of my studies. The classes I was in were very large, and it was impossible for the teachers to give me special instruction. Miss Sullivan was obliged to read all the books to me, and interpret for the instructors, and for the first time in eleven years it seemed as if her dear hand would not be equal to the task.	当我在吉尔曼的学校开始第二年的学习生涯时，我满怀希望，内心里充满了必胜的信心。但是在最初的几个星期里，我遇到一些意外的难题。吉尔曼先生认为我在这一年里应该以学习数学为主。当时我学习的课程有物理、代数、几何学、希腊语和拉丁文。不幸的是，我需要的许多书都没有被制成盲文，因此在有些科目上，我缺少了必要的学习工具。而且，这些科目都是很多人一起上的大课，老师不可能为我做单独辅导。苏立文小姐只得把所有的课本读给我听，还要为我翻译老师的话。十一年来，她那双神奇的手头一次流露出力不从心的迹象。
It was necessary for me to write algebra and geometry in class and solve problems in physics, and this I could not do until we bought a braille writer, by means of which I could put down the steps and processes of my work. I could not follow with my eyes the geometrical figures drawn on the blackboard, and my only means of getting a clear idea of them was to make them on a cushion with straight and curved wires, which had bent and pointed ends. I had to carry in my mind, as Mr. Keith says in his report, the lettering of the figures, the hypothesis and conclusion, the construction and the process of the proof. In a word, every study had its obstacles. Sometimes I lost all courage and betrayed my feelings in a way I am ashamed to remember, especially as the signs of my trouble were afterward used against Miss Sullivan, the only person of all the kind friends I had there, who could make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth.	对我而言，在课堂上求解物理题，进行代数和几何运算都是必须要掌握的技能。起初我无法顺利地学习这些知识，直到我们购置了一台盲文书写器。通过这台机器，我可以把自己的工作进程记录下来。我无法看到那些画在黑板上的几何图形，我获取形象认识的唯一手段，就是以一个靠垫做依托，再把几何图形用或直或弯的细铁丝拼接出来。我不得不在脑海中描摹这些图形。正如凯斯先生在他的报告中所说的那样，我不但要抓住图形的形状，还要进行假设、演算和推理论证。一言以蔽之，每一个环节都是一种障碍。有时候我感到勇气尽失，而且脾气恶劣，我的坏脾气甚至指向了苏立文小姐，而在我所有的良师益友当中，她是唯一一个能抚平我内心伤痛的人，她能够“将曲线捋直，令崎岖之地变成坦途”。
Little by little, however, my difficulties began to disappear. The embossed books and other apparatus arrived, and I threw myself into the work with renewed confidence. Algebra and geometry were the only studies that continued to defy my efforts to comprehend them. As I have said before, I had no aptitude for mathematics; the different points were not explained to me as fully as I wished. The geometrical diagrams were particularly vexing because I could not see the relation of the different parts to one another, even on the cushion. It was not until Mr. Keith taught me that I had a clear idea of mathematics.	渐渐地，我的困难开始消失了。随着凸版书籍和一些辅助用具的增添，我带着重拾的信心重新投入到学习之中。代数和几何这两门课程仍在继续同我的努力相抗衡。正如我以前说过的那样，我天生缺乏数学头脑，对不同的点面关系总是不能很好地理解。那些几何图形很是令人头痛，因为我无法看到不同图形之间的关系，即使在垫子上摆放也不行。直到凯斯先生教了我一些数学知识之后，我才踏进了几何学的门槛。
I was beginning to overcome these difficulties when an event occurred which changed everything.	正当我开始克服种种困难的时候，随后发生的一件事改变了一切。
Just before the books came, Mr. Gilman had begun to remonstrate with Miss Sullivan on the ground that I was working too hard, and in spite of my earnest protestations, he reduced the number of my recitations. At the beginning we had agreed that I should, if necessary, take five years to prepare for college, but at the end of the first year the success of my examinations showed Miss Sullivan, Miss Harbaugh (Mr. Gilman's head teacher), and one other, that I could without too much effort complete my preparation in two years more. Mr. Gilman at first agreed to this; but when my tasks had become somewhat perplexing, he insisted that I was overworked, and that I should remain at his school three years longer. I did not like his plan, for I wished to enter college with my class.	就在我需要的（盲人）专用书快要到位的时候，吉尔曼先生不顾我的严词反对，对苏立文小姐纵容我的用功过度提出了忠告，他还削减了我背诵课文的次数。起初，我们曾达成协议，如果有必要的话，我应该用五年的时间为上大学做准备。但是在第一年年终的时候，我以优良的考试成绩向苏立文小姐、哈勃小姐（吉尔曼先生聘用的院长），还有其他任何人证明，我并不需要那么漫长的准备时间，有两年时间足矣。一开始吉尔曼先生同意我的想法，但是当我在学业上遇到了稍许的困惑时，他便认定我用功过度了，并且认为我还应该在他的学校里再学三年。我不喜欢他的计划，我更愿意进入大学继续深造。
On the seventeenth of November I was not very well, and did not go to school. Although Miss Sullivan knew that my indisposition was not serious, yet Mr. Gilman, on hearing of it, declared that I was breaking down and made changes in my studies which would have rendered it impossible for me to take my final examinations with my class. In the end the difference of opinion between Mr. Gilman and Miss Sullivan resulted in my mother's withdrawing my sister Mildred and me from the Cambridge school.	11月17日早晨，我感觉身体不适，所以就没有去上课。虽然苏立文小姐知道我的小病并无大碍，但是听到消息的吉尔曼先生断言我的病情不容乐观，于是就对我的课业安排做出了调整，其结果就是我不可能随班参加期末考试了。最终，吉尔曼先生和苏立文小姐的分歧直接导致了我的母亲把我和米尔德莱德从剑桥女子学院接走。
After some delay it was arranged that I should continue my studies under a tutor, Mr. Merton S. Keith, of Cambridge. Miss Sullivan and I spent the rest of the winter with our friends, the Chamberlins in Wrentham, twenty-five miles from Boston.	经过了短暂的耽搁，学校安排我继续学习，这次我的导师是剑桥的默顿·S.凯斯先生。这一年的冬天，除了在学校学习，我和苏立文小姐的其余时间都是同我们的朋友一起度过的。我们的朋友钱伯林家住在兰瑟姆，那里距波士顿二十五英里远。
From February to July, 1898, Mr. Keith came out to Wrentham twice a week, and taught me algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin. Miss Sullivan interpreted his instruction.	1898年2月至7月，凯斯先生每周两次来到兰瑟姆，主要是教我代数、几何、希腊语和拉丁文课程。苏立文小姐为他做翻译。
In October, 1898, we returned to Boston. For eight months Mr. Keith gave me lessons five times a week, in periods of about an hour. He explained each time what I did not understand in the previous lesson, assigned new work, and took home with him the Greek exercises which I had written during the week on my typewriter, corrected them fully, and returned them to me.	1898年10月，我们返回了波士顿。在其后的八个月中，凯斯先生每周给我上五次课，每次大约一个小时。每次上课，他首先解答我上一节课不懂的难点，然后再布置新作业；同时，他把我在打字机上完成的希腊文作业带回家修改，等下次上课时再把作业退给我。
In this way my preparation for college went on without interruption. I found it much easier and pleasanter to be taught by myself than to receive instruction in class. There was no hurry, no confusion. My tutor had plenty of time to explain what I did not understand, so I got on faster and did better work than I ever did in school. I still found more difficulty in mastering problems in mathematics than I did in any other of my studies. I wish algebra and geometry had been half as easy as the languages and literature. But even mathematics Mr. Keith made interesting; he succeeded in whittling problems small enough to get through my brain. He kept my mind alert and eager, and trained it to reason clearly, and to seek conclusions calmly and logically, instead of jumping wildly into space and arriving nowhere. He was always gentle and forbearing, no matter how dull I might be, and believe me, my stupidity would often have exhausted the patience of Job.	我正是以这种方式为上大学做着准备，其间从未间断。我发现，同接受课堂灌输相比，自学的过程更加容易，也更富有乐趣。自学时不会有仓促之感，也不会造成思维混乱。我的导师有充足的时间解答我的疑问，所以，我学得又快又好，其效果远比在学校学习要好。不过，同我所学的任何其他课程相比，数学仍然是最令我感到棘手的问题。如果代数和几何能有外语和文学一半那么容易就好了，但是即使像数学这样的课程，凯斯先生也把它变得多了些趣味。他成功地将复杂问题分解至我能够理解的最小片段；他时刻令我的思维保持在活跃和求知的状态。他训练我运用理性的思维，冷静而客观地寻求事物的结论，而不应该漫无目的地误打误撞。他总是对我宽容有加，尽管我的愚蠢可能会令约伯也失去耐心，可是无论我的理解是多么地迟钝，他始终对我抱有信心。
On the 29th and 30th of June, 1899, I took my final examinations for Radcliffe College. The first day I had Elementary Greek and Advanced Latin, and the second day Geometry, Algebra and Advanced Greek.	1899年6月29日和30日，我参加了拉德克利夫学院的入学考试。第一天考的是初级希腊语和高级拉丁文，第二天是德语、代数和高级希腊语。
The college authorities did not allow Miss Sullivan to read the examination papers to me; so Mr. Eugene C. Vining, one of the instructors at the Perkins Institution for the Blind, was employed to copy the papers for me in American braille. Mr. Vining was a stranger to me, and could not communicate with me, except by writing braille. The proctor was also a stranger, and did not attempt to communicate with me in any way.	校方不允许苏立文小姐为我读试卷，所以，学校就雇来了尤金·C.维宁先生为我把试卷译成美式布莱叶盲文。维宁先生是帕金斯盲人学院的一位教师，除了写盲文，他对我就像陌生人一样，并不同我交流。而监考人也是一个陌生人，他也不打算以任何方式同我交流。
The braille worked well enough in the languages, but when it came to geometry and algebra, difficulties arose.* I was sorely perplexed, and felt discouraged wasting much precious time, especially in algebra. It is true that I was familiar with all literary braille in common use in this country--English, American, and New York Point; but the various signs and symbols in geometry and algebra in the three systems are very different, and I had used only the English braille in my algebra.	在对付语言方面，盲文可以说是绰绰有余的，但是一旦用到几何和代数上面，问题就来了。我感到既困惑又沮丧，尤其是代数，在这上面我浪费了许多宝贵时间。事实上，我对这个国家通用的所有字母盲文熟稔于心——英式、美式，以及纽约浮点式；但是面对几何和代数变化多端的符号和标记，这三种盲文体系的表现形式却是大相径庭，而在代数课中，我只使用过英式盲文。
Two days before the examinations, Mr. Vining sent me a braille copy of one of the old Harvard papers in algebra. To my dismay I found that it was in the American notation. I sat down immediately and wrote to Mr. Vining, asking him to explain the signs. I received another paper and a table of signs by return mail, and I set to work to learn the notation. But on the night before the algebra examination, while I was struggling over some very complicated examples, I could not tell the combinations of bracket, brace and radical. Both Mr. Keith and I were distressed and full of forebodings for the morrow; but we went over to the college a little before the examination began, and had Mr. Vining explain more fully the American symbols.	在考试前两天，维宁先生给我寄来了一份哈佛以前用过的代数试卷。令我感到沮丧的是，这是一份美式标注的（盲文）试卷。于是，我立刻坐下来给维宁先生写信，请他给我解释那些符号的意思。随后，我收到了另外一份试卷和一张数学符号表，就这样，我开始着手学习这些符号标注。当时正是代数考试前一天的晚上，而我还在拼命地分析那些异常复杂的标注，我还是无法知道大括号、圆括号和根号的组合排列方式。凯斯先生和我全都愁眉不展，我们对第二天的考试有了不祥的预感。好在我们在考试那天提前到了一小会儿，而且请维宁先生详细地解释了美式符号的用法。
In geometry my chief difficulty was that I had always been accustomed to read the propositions in line print, or to have them spelled into my hand; and somehow, although the propositions were right before me, I found the braille confusing, and could not fix clearly in my mind what I was reading. But when I took up algebra I had a harder time still. The signs, which I had so lately learned, and which I thought I knew, perplexed me. Besides, I could not see what I wrote on my typewriter. I had always done my work in braille or in my head. Mr. Keith had relied too much on my ability to solve problems mentally, and had not trained me to write examination papers. Consequently my work was painfully slow, and I had to read the examples over and over before I could form any idea of what I was required to do. Indeed, I am not sure now that I read all the signs correctly. I found it very hard to keep my wits about me.	在几何考试中，我还是遇到了标注不清的问题。过去我一直习惯于按照行列印刷的方式阅读命题，或者是把命题在我的手上拼写出来；可是不知怎么搞的，尽管那些命题就摆在我面前，我还是被盲文搞糊涂了，而且我无法把我读到的内容清晰地呈现在脑子里。考代数的时候，我仍然遇到了相同的问题。总之，我想困扰我的正是我刚刚学到的那些符号。此外，我也无法看到自己在打字机上写下的东西。而我以前总是用盲文和头脑进行工作学习的。凯斯先生一贯鼓励我以心智解决问题，他并没有特别训练我如何书写答卷，因此，我只能承受漫长而痛苦的考试过程。我不得不一遍又一遍地阅读示范文本，以便根据考题要求形成自己头脑中的概念。事实上，直到现在我也不敢说我把所有的符号都理解无误了。我发现随机应变实属不易。
But I do not blame any one. The administrative board of Radcliffe did not realize how difficult they were making my examinations, nor did they understand the peculiar difficulties I had to surmount. But if they unintentionally placed obstacles in my way, I have the consolation of knowing that I overcame them all.	但是我不会指责任何人。拉德克利夫学院的行政委员会并没有意识到他们的所作所为——他们不会想到他们为我设置的考试障碍有多艰巨，他们也不会理解我必须要克服怎样特殊的困难才能够完成考试。我想，如果说他们是在无意之间在我的成长之路上设置了障碍的话，那么，当我知道自己有能力将这些障碍一一攻克的时候，我依旧会感到无比宽慰。