我的生活海伦凯勒摘抄 海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第47期

海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第47期  

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 plete my preparation in o years more. Mr. Gilman at first agreed to this; but when my tasks had bee 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.
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 beeen Mr. Gilman and Miss Sullivan resulted in my mother's withdrawing my sister Mildred and me from the Cambridge school.
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
enty-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 ice a week
and taught me algebra
geometry
Greek and Latin. Miss Sullivan interpreted his instruction.
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.
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.