我的生活海伦凯勒摘抄 海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第50期

海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第50期  

My studies the first year were French
German
history
English position and English literature. In the French course I read some of the works of Corneille
Molie
Racine
Alfred de Musset and Sainte-Beuve
and in the German those of Goethe and Schiller. I reviewed rapidly the whole period of history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the eighteenth century
and in English literature studied critically Milton's poems and "Areopagitica."
I am frequently asked how I overe the peculiar conditions under which I work in college. In the classroom I am of course practically alone. The professor is as remote as if he were speaking through a telephone. The lectures are spelled into my hand as rapidly as possible
and much of the individuality of the lecturer is lost to me in the effort to keep in the race. The words rush through my hand like hounds in pursuit of a hare which they often miss. But in this respect I do not think I am much worse off than the girls who take notes. If the mind is occupied with the mechanical process of hearing and putting words on paper at pell-mell speed
I should not think one could pay much attention to the subject under consideration or the manner in which it is presented. I cannot make notes during the lectures
because my hands are busy listening. Usually I jot down what I can remember of them when I get home. I write the exercises
daily themes
criticisms and hour-tests
the mid-year and final examinations
on my typewriter
so that the professors have no Difficulty in finding out how little I know. When I began the study of Latin prosody
I devised and explained to my professor a system of signs indicating the different meters and quantities.
I use the Hammond typewriter. I have tried many machines
and I find the Hammond is the best adapted to the peculiar needs of my work. With this machine movable type shuttles can be used
and one can have several shuttles
each with a different set of characters—Greek
French
or mathematical
according to the kind of writing one wishes to do on the typewriter. Without it
I doubt if I could go to college.
我使用一台哈蒙德牌打字机。我曾尝试过很多机型，但是我发现哈蒙德牌打字机是最符合我工作要求的机器。这种打字机具有可变动的键盘，你可以移动若干滑梭，每移动一次就会转换成不同的字体——你可以在希腊语、法语或者数学字符之间转换，总之，完全视你使用的情况而定。缺少了这种打字机，恐怕我就无法上大学了。
Very few of the books required in the various courses are printed for the blind
and I am obliged to have them spelled into my hand. Consequently I need more time to prepare my lessons than other girls. The manual part takes longer
and I have perplexities which they have not. There are days when the close attention I must give to details chafes my spirit
and the thought that I must spend hours reading a few chapters
while in the world without other girls are laughing and singing and dancing
makes me rebellious; but I soon recover my buoyancy and laugh the discontent out of my heart. For
after all
every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone
and since there is no royal road to the summit
I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times
I fall
I stand still
I run against the edge of hidden obstacles
I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better
I trudge on
I gain a little
I feel encouraged
I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud
the blue depths of the sky
the uplands of my desire. I am not always alone
however
in these struggles. Mr. William Wade and Mr. E. E. Allen
Principal of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind
get for me many of the books I need in raised print. Their thoughtfulness has been more of a help and encouragement to me than they can ever know.