我的生活海伦凯勒摘抄 海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第36期

海伦·凯勒自传《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 is impossible for me to give a connected account of them.
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.
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，这似乎有些奇怪，我是如何被尼亚加拉（瀑布）的雄浑美丽所感动的呢？他们总会问我：“它的美妙和音响对你而言意味着什么？你看不见惊涛拍岸，也听不到巨浪咆哮，可这些对你来说意味着什么？”我最明显的感觉是，它们代表了一切。的确，我无法透彻理解它们的含义并对其做出解释，但是我能透彻理解博爱、宗教以及仁慈的含义并对其做出解释。
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.
I liked to visit the Midway Plaisance. It seemed like the "Arabian Nights
" it was crammed so full of novelty 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."