我的生活海伦凯勒摘抄 海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第46期

海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第46期  

Chapter XIX
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.
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 prehend 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.
I was beginning to overe these difficulties when an event occurred which changed everything.