Would that I could enrich this sketch with the names of all those who have ministered to my happiness! Some of them would be found written in our literature and dear to the hearts of many, while others would be wholly unknown to most of my readers. But their influence, though it escapes fame, shall live immortal in the lives that have been sweetened and ennobled by it. Those are red-letter days in our lives when we meet people who thrill us like a fine poem, people whose handshake is brimful of unspoken sympathy, and whose sweet, rich natures impart to our eager, impatient spirits a wonderful restfulness which, in its essence, is divine. The perplexities, irritations and worries that have absorbed us pass like unpleasant dreams, and we wake to see with new eyes and hear with new ears the beauty and harmony of God’s real world. The solemn nothings that fill our everyday life blossom suddenly into bright possibilities. In a word, while such friends are near us we feel that all is well. Perhaps we never saw them before, and they may never cross our life’s path again; but the influence of their calm, mellow natures is a libation poured upon our discontent, and we feel its healing touch, as the ocean feels the mountain stream freshening its brine.
我的幸福得益于许多帮助过我的人，我要是能把这些人的名字全部在这本小书中写出来该有多好呀。有些人的名字出现在我们的文学中，他们已经为读者所熟悉，而另一些人则可能全然不为读者所知。但是，尽管他们产生的影响并不为人所知，他们却将永远活在那些因他们而变得甜美和高贵的生命之中。生活中最值得纪念的日子，是在遇到一些能像优美诗歌一样打动我们的人的时候。与这些人握手时会有种无法形容的共鸣，他们性情温和、妙趣横生，使我们急切不安的灵魂奇妙地得到安宁。这种安宁本质上犹如神启，把我们的困惑、恼怒和忧虑如噩梦般一扫而光，使我们醒来后耳目一新，看到上帝的真实世界的美与和谐。我们日常生活中常有的阴郁就会突然化作光明的前景。总之，有这些朋友在身旁，我们就会觉得一切都很美好。我们可能以前从未相会，在以后的人生道路上或许也不会再相遇，然而，他们沉着稳健的性格消解了我们的渴望。我们感受到了他们疗伤式的影响，犹如海洋感受到淡化海水的山泉。
The hands of those I meet are dumbly eloquent to me. The touch of some hands is an impertinence. I have met people so empty of joy, that when I clasped their frosty finger tips, it seemed as if I were shaking hands with a northeast storm. Others there are whose hands have sunbeams in them, so that their grasp warms my heart. It may be only the clinging touch of a child’s hand; but there is as much potential sunshine in it for me as there is in a loving glance for others. A hearty handshake or a friendly letter gives me genuine pleasure.
我遇到的那些人伸出的手虽默默无声但却意味深长。有些人握手傲慢无礼。我遇到过郁郁寡欢的人，在我握住他们冷冰冰的指尖时，仿佛在与东北风握手。有些人的手犹如阳光，与他们握手会温暖我的心。那可能不过是孩子充满依赖感的小手的一次触碰，但对我而言，它蕴涵的欢乐就像别人得到深情一瞥一样。一次亲切的握手或一封友好的来信，给我带来的是真正的快乐。
I have many far-off friends whom I have never seen. Indeed they are so many that I have often been unable to reply to their letters; but I wish to say here that I am always grateful for their kind words, however insufficiently I acknowledge them.
我有许多从未谋面的远方友人。他们人数实在太多，我常常无法逐一给他们回信。不过，我希望在此表示，我永远感谢他们的亲切话语，虽然我从未充分表达过我的感激之情。
I have often been asked, “Do not people bore you?” I do not understand quite what that means. I suppose the calls of the stupid and curious, especially of newspaper reporters, are always inopportune. I also dislike people who try to talk down to my understanding. They are like people who when walking with you try to shorten their steps to suit yours; the hypocrisy in both cases is equally exasperating.
时常有人问我：“难道你不觉得别人讨厌吗？”我并不十分了解此话的意思。我认为，那些蠢笨而好奇者的来访，尤其是新闻记者的来访，总是不合时宜。我也不喜欢那些以居高临下的姿态对我说话的人。他们和那些走路时设法缩小步幅来适应你的人一样，这两种情况下的虚伪一样令人恼怒。
I count it one of the sweetest privileges of my life to have known and conversed with many men of genius. Only those who knew Bishop Brooks can appreciate the joy his friendship was to those who possessed it. As a child I loved to sit on his knee and clasp his great hand with one of mine, while Miss Sullivan spelled into the other his beautiful words about God and the spiritual world. I heard him with a child’s wonder and delight. My spirit could not reach up to his, but he gave me a real sense of joy in life, and I never left him without carrying away a fine thought that grew in beauty and depth of meaning as I grew. Once, when I was puzzled to know why there were so many religions, he said: “There is one universal religion, Helen — the religion of love. Love your Heavenly Father with your whole heart and soul, love every child of God as much as ever you can, and remember that the possibilities of good are greater than the possibilities of evil; and you have the key to Heaven.” And his life was a happy illustration of this great truth. In his noble soul love and widest knowledge were blended with faith that had become insight. He saw
我觉得，自己生活中最美好的待遇之一是认识了许多天才般的人并与他们一起交流。只有认识布鲁克斯主教的人，才能领略与他交友的乐趣。孩提时代，我喜欢坐在他的膝头，一只手紧握他的大手，听他讲有关上帝和精神世界的美好故事，沙利文小姐则在我的另一只手上拼写他说的话。我听了既惊奇又喜欢。我的精神境界达不到他的层次，但他却使我真正感受到生活的快乐。每次离开他时，我思想上都会有新的收获。随着年龄的增长，我的认识更深刻、更美好。有一次，我感到困惑，想要知道为什么有那么多宗教存在。他说：“海伦，普天之下有一种共通的宗教，即爱的宗教。全身心地爱你的天父！尽你所能去爱上帝的每个儿女！记住，善的能量远大于恶的能量，天堂的钥匙掌握在你手里。”他用一生阐明了这个伟大的真理。在他高尚的灵魂里，爱、渊博的学识与信仰融合成一种洞察力。他看见
God in all that liberates and lifts,
无处不在的上帝使人解脱，使人振奋，
I am too happy in this world to think much about the future, except to remember that I have cherished friends awaiting me there in God’s beautiful Somewhere. In spite of the lapse of years, they seem so close to me that I should not think it strange if at any moment they should clasp my hand and speak words of endearment as they used to before they went away.
在这个世界上，我生活得很快乐，很少想到未来之事，只是不免怀念几位好友的在天之灵。尽管他们已逝去多年，但仿佛与我近在咫尺。我想，他们无论何时握住我的手，像他们未离开前那样与我亲切交谈，我也不会觉得奇怪。
In all that humbles, sweetens and consoles.
使人谦卑，使人可爱，给人慰藉。
Since Bishop Brooks died I have read the Bible through; also some philosophical works on religion, among them Swedenborg’s “Heaven and Hell” and Drummond’s “Ascent of Man,” and I have found no creed or system more soul-satisfying than Bishop Brooks’ creed of love. I knew Mr. Henry Drummond, and the memory of his strong, warm hand-clasp is like a benediction. He was the most sympathetic of companions. He knew so much and was so genial that it was impossible to feel dull in his presence.
布鲁克斯主教逝世后，我把《圣经》通读了一遍，同时还读了一些论述宗教的哲学著作，其中有斯韦登堡[76]的《天堂和地狱》以及德拉蒙德[77]的《人类的进步》。我觉得，没有任何信条或体系能比布鲁克斯有关爱的信条更能给人带来慰藉。我认识亨利·德拉蒙德先生，至今我仍记得，他那热情而有力的握手仿佛给人带来祝福。他是一位最富同情心的伙伴，见多识广、待人友善，有他在场，气氛就不会沉闷。【注：[76]1688—1772，瑞典科学家、哲学家、神学家。[77]1851—1897，苏格兰福音传道者、作家。】
Bishop Brooks taught me no special creed or dogma; but he impressed upon my mind two great ideas — the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and made me feel that these truths underlie all creeds and forms of worship. God is love, God is our Father, we are His children; therefore the darkest clouds will break and though right be worsted, wrong shall not triumph.
布鲁克斯主教没有教过我什么特别的信条或教义，但是，他在我脑海里留下两种伟大思想——以上帝为父，人人皆兄弟。他让我感觉到，这些真理是一切信条和崇拜形式的基础。上帝是爱，上帝是父，我们是他的儿女。因此，乌云总是会被驱散，尽管正义可能遭遇失败，但是邪恶永远不会胜利。
On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
撞击你那冰冷的灰礁石！啊，大海！
“Yes,” he replied, “the Charles has many dear associations for me.”There was an odour of print and leather in the room which told me that it was full of books, and I stretched out my hand instinctively to find them. My fingers lighted upon a beautiful volume of Tennyson’s poems, and when Miss Sullivan told me what it was I began to recite:
“没错，”他回答，“查尔斯河给我许多美好的回忆。”他的房间里有印刷品和皮革的气味，这让我明白，房间里全是书。我本能地伸手去找书，手指落在一卷精美的丁尼生诗集上。沙利文小姐告诉我书名，我开始朗诵：
“And listening to the murmur of the River Charles,” I suggested.
“在倾听查尔斯河的低语。”我说。
But I stopped suddenly. I felt tears on my hand. I had made my beloved poet weep, and I was greatly distressed. He made me sit in his armchair, while he brought different interesting things for me to examine, and at his request I recited “The Chambered Nautilus,” which was then my favorite poem. After that I saw Dr. Holmes many times and learned to love the man as well as the poet.
但我突然停了下来，觉得有泪珠滴到我手上。我竟然使敬爱的诗人流泪了，感到十分紧张。他让我坐在扶手椅上，拿来各种有趣的东西让我看。应他的要求，我朗诵了自己最喜欢的一首诗《鹦鹉螺》。此后，我多次见过霍姆斯博士，意识到自己不仅喜欢他的诗歌，而且也喜欢他的为人。
Break, break, break
撞击，撞击，撞击吧！
I remember well the first time I saw Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. He had invited Miss Sullivan and me to call on him one Sunday afternoon. It was early in the spring, just after I had learned to speak. We were shown at once to his library where we found him seated in a big armchair by an open fire which glowed and crackled on the hearth, thinking, he said, of other days.
我还记得第一次见到奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯博士[78]时的情形。他约我和沙利文小姐在一个星期天下午去见他。那是早春时节，我刚学会说话不久。我们一进门就被带进书房，发现他坐在敞口壁炉旁一把大扶手椅上。炉膛里噼啪作响、红光映照，他说他在想过去的日子。【注：[78]1841—1935，美国法理学家，曾任美国最高法院的联席大法官。】
One beautiful summer day, not long after my meeting with Dr. Holmes, Miss Sullivan and I visited Whittier in his quiet home on the Merrimac. His gentle courtesy and quaint speech won my heart. He had a book of his poems in raised print from which I read “In School Days.”He was delighted that I could pronounce the words so well, and said that he had no difficulty in understanding me. Then I asked many questions about the poem, and read his answers by placing my fingers on his lips. He said he was the little boy in the poem, and that the girl’s name was Sally, and more which I have forgotten. I also recited “Laus Deo,” and as I spoke the concluding verses, he placed in my hands a statue of a slave from whose crouching figure the fetters were falling, even as they fell from Peter’s limbs when the angel led him forth out of prison. Afterward we went into his study, and he wrote his autograph for my teacher ( ” With great admiration of thy noble work in releasing from bondage the mind of thy dear pupil, I am truly thy friend. john J. Whittier.” ) and expressed his admiration of her work, saying to me, “She is thy spiritual liberator.” Then he led me to the gate and kissed me tenderly on my forehead. I promised to visit him again the following summer, but he died before the promise was fulfilled.
在见过霍姆斯博士后不久的一个晴好夏日里，我与沙利文小姐一起去看望了惠蒂尔。那是在梅里迈克河边他幽静的家里。他举止文雅，谈吐风趣，赢得了我的喜爱。他有一本自己写的凸版诗集，我曾从中读过《学生时代》。他对我能准确发音感到非常高兴，说他听起来一点儿也不困难。我问了他许多关于这首诗的问题，并且把手放在他的嘴唇上来读他的回答。他说，诗中的小男孩是他自己，女孩名叫萨利，其他的我已记不清楚。我还吟诵了《荣耀归于上帝》，当我吟诵到最后几行时，他把一尊奴隶雕像放到我手上。那雕像蜷缩的身体上锁链正在脱落，就像天使带彼得出监牢时，镣铐脱落的情形一样。后来，我们进了他的书房。他为沙利文老师亲笔题字（“您高贵的工作解放了您亲爱的学生的灵魂，对您怀有万分敬仰，您真诚的朋友，约翰·J。惠蒂尔。”），表达对她工作的钦佩，接着对我说：“她是你灵魂的解放者。”他送我到大门口，温柔地吻了我的前额。我答应次年夏天再来看他，可是，还没等我兑现许诺，他却驾鹤而去。
I have already written of my first meeting with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Since then I have spent many happy days with him at Washington and at his beautiful home in the heart of Cape Breton Island, near Baddeck, the village made famous by Charles Dudley Warner’s book. Here in Dr. Bell’s laboratory, or in the fields on the shore of the great Bras d’Or, I have spent many delightful hours listening to what he had to tell me about his experiments, and helping him fly kites by means of which he expects to discover the laws that shall govern the future air-ship. Dr. Bell is proficient in many fields of science, and has the art of making every subject he touches interesting, even the most abstruse theories. He makes you feel that if you only had a little more time, you, too, might be an inventor. He has a humorous and poetic side, too. His dominating passion is his love for children. He is never quite so happy as when he has a little deaf child in his arms. His labours in behalf of the deaf will live on and bless generations of children yet to come; and we love him alike for what he himself has achieved and for what he has evoked from others.
我在前面已经写过与亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔博士初次见面的情形。打那以后，我与他一起度过许多愉快的日子，有时在华盛顿，有时在布雷顿角岛中心他可爱的家中。他家靠巴德克村很近，那个村因查尔斯·达德利·华纳[79]的书而闻名。在贝尔博士的实验室里，或在大布拉多尔湖岸的田野里，我静静地听他讲述自己的实验，心中充满了喜悦。我帮他放风筝，他告诉我，他希望借此发明控制未来飞艇的方法。贝尔博士精通科学的许多领域，善于将研究的每个课题变得生动有趣，即便是最深奥的理论亦然。他能让你感到，只要你再多花一点点时间，也可以成为发明家。他也有幽默和诗意的一面，对儿童满怀爱心。当他怀抱一个失聪的孩子时，表现出真诚的快乐。他为聋人所作的努力会留存久远，并造福后世的孩子们。我们爱他，不仅因为他自己取得的成就，而且因为他激发别人取得的成就。【注：[79]1829—1900，美国散文家、小说家，与马克·吐温合著《镀金时代》。】
Dr. Edward Everett Hale is one of my very oldest friends. I have known him since I was eight, and my love for him has increased with my years. His wise, tender sympathy has been the support of Miss Sullivan and me in times of trial and sorrow, and his strong hand has helped us over many rough places; and what he has done for us he has done for thousands of those who have difficult tasks to accomplish. He has filled the old skins of dogma with the new wine of love, and shown men what it is to believe, live and be free. What he has taught we have seen beautifully expressed in his own life — love of country, kindness to the least of his brethren, and a sincere desire to live upward and onward. He has been a prophet and an inspirer of men, and a mighty doer of the Word, the friend of all his race — God bless him!
爱德华·埃弗里特·黑尔博士是我的老朋友之一。我八岁那年就认识了他，随着年岁的增长，我对他越发敬重。他明智而亲切的关怀，支撑着我和沙利文老师渡过磨难，克服忧伤。他那强有力的援手帮助我越过许多艰难险阻。他不仅帮助了我们，而且也帮助了千千万万处境困难的其他人。他用爱的甘醇来赋予旧的教条以新义，并向人们证明，应该信仰什么，如何生活，如何求得自由。我们看到，他对别人的教诲已在他自己的生活中完美地得以实现：热爱国家，善待最穷困的兄弟，真心实意追求不断向上、不断向前的生活。他是预言家，是人类心灵的启示者，是《圣经》的有力践行者，是全人类的朋友。愿上帝赐福于他！
Mrs. Hutton is a true and tried friend. Much that I hold sweetest, much that I hold most precious, I owe to her. She has oftenest advised and helped me in my progress through college. When I find my work particularly difficult and discouraging, she writes me letters that make me feel glad and brave; for she is one of those from whom we learn that one painful duty fulfilled makes the next plainer and easier.
赫顿夫人是一个真诚可靠的朋友。我许多最美好、最珍视的思想都要归功于她。大学学习中的进步得益于她频繁的忠告和帮助。当我感到学习特别困难而气馁时，她便给我写信，使我精神振奋、重拾勇气，因为她能让人明白，完成一项费力的工作后，下一项工作就会变得简单而容易。
During the two years I spent in New York I had many opportunities to talk with distinguished people whose names I had often heard, but whom I had never expected to meet. Most of them I met first in the house of my good friend, Mr. Laurence Hutton. It was a great privilege to visit him and dear Mrs. Hutton in their lovely home, and see their library and read the beautiful sentiments and bright thoughts gifted friends had written for them. It has been truly said that Mr. Hutton has the faculty of bringing out in every one the best thoughts and kindest sentiments. One does not need to read “A Boy I Knew” to understand him — the most generous, sweet-natured boy I ever knew, a good friend in all sorts of weather, who traces the footprints of love in the life of dogs as well as in that of his fellowmen.
居留在纽约的两年中，我有许多与知名人士交谈的机会。他们的大名我早有耳闻，但我却从未期待过能与他们见面。与他们大多数人第一次见面，是在好友劳伦斯·赫顿[80]先生的家里。我十分荣幸能够到他和敬爱的赫顿太太温馨的家里做客，参观他们的藏书室，浏览那些极富天赋的朋友为他俩书写的题词，题词表达了美好的感受和敏捷的思维。据说，赫顿先生能唤起每个人内心深处最美好的思想与最仁慈的情怀。人们无须读《我认识的一个男孩》就可以了解他。他是我所认识的最慷慨大方、最和蔼可亲的人，是风雨同舟的好朋友。他怀着一颗爱心善待同胞，同时还是位爱狗人士。【注：[80]1843—1904，美国散文家、批评家。】
Mr. Hutton introduced me to many of his literary friends, greatest of whom are Mr. William Dean Howells and Mark Twain. I also met Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman. I also knew Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, the most delightful of story-tellers and the most beloved friend, whose sympathy was so broad that it may be truly said of him, he loved all living things and his neighbour as himself. Once Mr. Warner brought to see me the dear poet of the woodlands — Mr. John Burroughs. They were all gentle and sympathetic and I felt the charm of their manner as much as I had felt the brilliancy of their essays and poems. I could not keep pace with all these literary folk as they glanced from subject to subject and entered into deep dispute, or made conversation sparkle with epigrams and happy witticisms. I was like little Ascanius, who followed with unequal steps the heroic strides of Aeneas on his march toward mighty destinies. But they spoke many gracious words to me. Mr. Gilder told me about his moonlight journeys across the vast desert to the Pyramids, and in a letter he wrote me he made his mark under his signature deep in the paper so that I could feel it. This reminds me that Dr. Hale used to give a personal touch to his letters to me by pricking his signature in braille. I read from Mark Twain’s lips one or two of his good stories. He has his own way of thinking, saying and doing everything. I feel the twinkle of his eye in his handshake. Even while he utters his cynical wisdom in an indescribably droll voice, he makes you feel that his heart is a tender Iliad of human sympathy.
赫顿先生给我介绍了许多文学界的朋友，其中最著名的有威廉·迪安·豪威尔斯先生和马克·吐温先生。我还见过理查德·沃森·吉尔德先生[81]和埃德蒙·克拉伦斯·斯特德曼[82]先生。我也认识查尔斯·达德利·华纳先生，他讲的故事最令人兴奋，是一位最受人喜爱的朋友。他待人极富同情心，据说他爱一切生灵，爱邻人如爱自己。有一次，华纳先生带着森林诗人约翰·巴勒斯先生[83]来看我。他们和蔼可亲，我既感受到了他们散文和诗歌创作的才华，又感受到他们待人接物的魅力。这些文学界名流随意转换话题，进入深度辩论，谈话中隽语不时闪现，机智幽默恰到好处，令人望尘莫及。我就像小阿斯卡尼俄斯[84]，以蹒跚的脚步跟着埃涅阿斯向伟大的命运进军。不过，他们非常和蔼地和我说了许多话。吉尔德先生同我谈起他穿越大沙漠去金字塔的月光之旅。他在一封写给我的信中，在签名处做出凹下去的印迹，这样我就能用手摸出来。这让我想起黑尔先生给我的信中，常常会把签名刺成盲文。我用唇读法听马克·吐温为我说过一两篇精彩的故事。他的思维方式、言行举止都与众不同。我在与他握手时，能感觉到他的眼睛在闪光。即使他在用那难以形容的幽默声调机智地讽刺别人时，也能让你觉得他的心灵就是一部表现人性的充满爱意的《伊利亚特》。【注：[81]1844—1909，美国诗人。[82]1833—1908，美国诗人、散文家、批评家。[83]1837—1921，美国博物学者、散文家。[84]希腊罗马神话中特洛伊王子埃涅阿斯之子。 】
To the other friend I am also deeply indebted. He is well known for the powerful hand with which he guides vast enterprises, and his wonderful abilities have gained for him the respect of all. Kind to everyone, he goes about doing good, silent and unseen. Again I touch upon the circle of honoured names I must not mention; but I would fain acknowledge his generosity and affectionate interest which make it possible for me to go to college.
我还要深深地感谢另一位朋友。他以有名的铁腕统领商业机构，他杰出的才能赢得了世人的尊敬。他善待每一个人，到处默默地不为人知地做善事。我再一次提到了我本不该说出其尊贵名字的人，但是，我一定要感谢他慷慨无私、充满爱意的资助，否则，我是不可能迈入大学校门的。
I shall mention only two other friends. One is Mrs. William Thaw, of Pittsburgh, whom I have often visited in her home, Lyndhurst. She is always doing something to make someone happy, and her generosity and wise counsel have never failed my teacher and me in all the years we have known her.
我还应该提一提我的另外两个朋友。一位是匹兹堡的威廉·陶夫人，我经常去她在林德赫斯特的家里做客。她总是做一些让人开心的事，在我们相识的这些年里，我和我的老师每每有事相求，她总是那么慷慨地给予明智的忠告。
There are a host of other interesting people I met in New York: Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, the beloved editor of St. Nicholas, and Mrs. Riggs (Kate Douglas Wiggin), the sweet author of “Patsy.” I received from them gifts that have the gentle concurrence of the heart, books containing their own thoughts, soul-illumined letters, and photographs that I love to have described again and again. But there is not space to mention all my friends, and indeed there are things about them hidden behind the wings of cherubim, things too sacred to set forth in cold print. It is with hesitancy that I have spoken even of Mrs. Laurence Hutton.
我在纽约也遇到了其他许多有趣的人物，比如《圣尼古拉斯》敬爱的编辑玛丽·梅普斯·道奇夫人、《懦夫》可爱的作者里格斯夫人（即凯特·道格拉斯·威金）。我收到了她们饱含爱心的礼物，其中有浸透她们思想的书籍、启迪心灵的书信以及那些让我不厌其烦一遍又一遍描述的照片。不过，由于篇幅关系，我不可能提及所有的朋友。但是，有关他们的一切全都珍藏在天使的翅膀之下，这些记忆庄严神圣，远非冷冰冰的印刷品所能表达清楚。因此，我是怀着犹豫不决的心情来介绍劳伦斯·赫顿夫人这些朋友的。
Thus it is that my friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation.
不妨这样说，正是我的朋友们成就了我的人生故事。他们想方设法把我的缺陷转变成一种美好的特权，使我在丧失光明的黑暗中能平静而愉快地行走。
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