我的生活海伦凯勒摘抄 海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第42期

海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第42期  

Chapter XVIII
In October
1896
I entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies
to be prepared for Radcliffe.
When I was a little girl
I visited Wellesley and surprised my friends by the announcement
"Some day I shall go to college--but I shall go to Harvard!" When asked why I would not go to Wellesley
I replied that there were only girls there. The thought of going to college took root in my heart and became an earnest desire
which impelled me to enter into petition for a degree with seeing and hearing girls
in the face of the strong opposition of many true and wise friends. When I left New York the idea had bee a fixed purpose; and it was decided that I should go to Cambridge. This was the nearest approach I could get to Harvard and to the fulfillment of my childish declaration.
当我还是个小姑娘的时候，曾去韦尔斯利参观。当时，我的宣言令我的朋友们为之一惊：“将来我也会上大学——但是要上就上哈佛大学！”于是他们问我为什么不选择韦尔斯利学院，而我却回答说那所学院里只有女生。从那时起，上大学的念头就在我心里扎下了根，进而变为一种坚定不移的愿望。可以说，这种愿望激励着我迈入学位争夺战的行列，而我的对手是一些能看能听、耳目俱全的女孩子。当然，我也要面对身边那些明智而现实的朋友们的强烈反对。在我离开纽约的时候，上大学的想法已变成不可动摇的既定目标，因此我下定决心前往剑桥。可以说，这是为实现我上哈佛的童年宣言而选择的最接近目标的一条路。
At the Cambridge School the plan was to have Miss Sullivan attend the classes with me and interpret to me the instruction given.
Of course my instructors had had no experience in teaching any but normal pupils
and my only means of conversing with them was reading their lips. My studies for the first year were English history
English literature
German
Latin
arithmetic
Latin position and occasional themes. Until then I had never taken a course of study with the idea of preparing for college; but I had been well drilled in English by Miss Sullivan
and it soon became evident to my teachers that I needed no special instruction in this subject beyond a critical study of the books prescribed by the college. I had had
moreover
a good start in French
and received six months' instruction in Latin; but German was the subject with which I was most familiar.
In spite
however
of these advantages
there were serious drawbacks to my progress. Miss Sullivan could not spell out in my hand all that the books required
and it was very difficult to have textbooks embossed in time to be of use to me
although my friends in London and Philadelphia were willing to hasten the work. For a while
indeed
I had to copy my Latin in braille
so that I could recite with the other girls. My instructors soon became sufficiently familiar with my imperfect speech to answer my questions readily and correct mistakes. I could not make notes in class or write exercises; but I wrote all my positions and translations at home on my typewriter.