More than once in the course of my story I have referred to my love of the country and out-of-door sports. When I was quite a little girl, I learned to row and swim, and during the summer, when I am at Wrentham, Massachusetts, I almost live in my boat. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to take my friends out rowing when they visit me. Of course, I cannot guide the boat very well. Someone usually sits in the stern and manages the rudder while I row. Sometimes, however, I go rowing without the rudder. It is fun to try to steer by the scent of watergrasses and lilies, and of bushes that grow on the shore. I use oars with leather bands, which keep them in position in the oarlocks, and I know by the resistance of the water when the oars are evenly poised. In the same manner I can also tell when I am pulling against the current. I like to contend with wind and wave. What is more exhilarating than to make your staunch little boat, obedient to your will and muscle, go skimming lightly over glistening, tilting waves, and to feel the steady, imperious surge of the water!
我在我的故事中不止一次地提到我热爱乡村，热爱户外运动。我还是个小孩的时候，就学会了划船和游泳。夏天，在马萨诸塞州伦瑟姆时，我的时间几乎都花在了船上。朋友来访时一道出去划船，是我最愉快的事。当然，我驾船技术不太好。我划船时，通常要有人坐在船尾掌握方向舵。不过，有时我划船不用舵。通过辨别水草、睡莲及岸上生长的灌木的气味来掌握方向，其乐无穷。我使用有皮带的桨，这样就能让船桨固定在桨环上。我根据水的阻力来判断什么时候双桨用力平衡。同样，我可以知道我们是否在逆水而上。我喜欢同风浪搏斗。最令人振奋的是，你让那坚实的小船服从自己的意志和臂力，轻轻掠过波光粼粼的湖面，去感受水波不停地颠簸起伏。
I trust that my readers have not concluded from the preceding chapter on books that reading is my only pleasure; my pleasures and amusements are many and varied.
我相信，读者不会从前一章有关书的叙述中得出结论，以为读书是我唯一的乐趣。我的乐趣是多种多样的。
I also enjoy canoeing, and I suppose you will smile when I say that I especially like it on moonlight nights. I cannot, it is true, see the moon climb up the sky behind the pines and steal softly across the heavens, making a shining path for us to follow; but I know she is there, and as I lie back among the pillows and put my hand in the water, I fancy that I feel the shimmer of her garments as she passes. Sometimes a daring little fish slips between my fingers, and often a pond-lily presses shyly against my hand. Frequently, as we emerge from the shelter of a cove or inlet, I am suddenly conscious of the spaciousness of the air about me. A luminous warmth seems to enfold me. Whether it comes from the trees which have been heated by the sun, or from the water, I can never discover. I have had the same strange sensation even in the heart of the city. I have felt it on cold, stormy days and at night. It is like the kiss of warm lips on my face.
我也喜欢划独木舟。我想当你们听说我特别喜欢月夜泛舟时，一定会微微一笑。说真的，我看不见月亮从松树后升上天空，悄然在天际间穿行，为我们铺就发光的小径。但是，我知道月亮就在那里。我仰面躺在垫子上，把手放在水中。这时，我幻想感觉到她在天空经过时微光闪烁的外衣。有时候，一条大胆的小鱼儿从我指间滑过，睡莲则常常害羞地从我手上擦过。当我们从小河湾或河港里划出来，我经常会感到，自己周围的空间骤然开阔起来。一股明亮的暖气似乎将我围裹其中，它是来自被阳光晒热的林木，还是来自水面，我无从辨别。甚至在城市的中心，我也有这种奇怪的感觉。在寒冷的日子，在暴风雨的天气，在夜晚，我都感觉到它的气息。这好似温暖的双唇吻在脸上的感觉。
My favourite amusement is sailing. In the summer of 1901 I visited Nova Scotia, and had opportunities such as I had not enjoyed before to make the acquaintance of the ocean. After spending a few days in Evangeline’s country, about which Longfellow’s beautiful poem has woven a spell of enchantment, Miss Sullivan and I went to Halifax, where we remained the greater part of the summer. The harbour was our joy, our paradise. What glorious sails we had to Bedford Basin, to McNabb’s Island, to York Redoubt, and to the Northwest Arm! And at night what soothing, wondrous hours we spent in the shadow of the great, silent men-of-war. Oh, it was all so interesting, so beautiful! The memory of it is a joy forever.
我最喜欢乘船航行。1901年夏天，我游览新斯科舍时，得到许多我以前从未享受过的机会，对海洋有了认识。我和沙利文老师在伊凡杰琳[70]的故乡住了几天，朗费罗[71]曾用美好的诗歌赞美过这个地方，使其魅力倍增。然后我们去了哈利法克斯，在那里度过了大半个夏天。那里的海港使我们快乐无比，简直就是我们的乐园。我们乘船去贝德福德内港、麦克纳勃岛、约克棱堡以及西北海湾，感觉十分奇妙。夜晚，在庞大而安静的军舰影子里，我们度过了多么宁静美好的时光！哦，一切是如此有趣、如此美好！这些令人愉快的情景，我始终不能忘怀。【注：[70]朗费罗长篇叙事诗《伊凡杰琳》中的主人公。[71]1807—1882,19世纪美国最伟大的浪漫主义诗人之一。】
One day we had a thrilling experience. There was a regatta in the Northwest Arm, in which the boats from the different warships were engaged. We went in a sail-boat along with many others to watch the races. Hundreds of little sail-boats swung to and fro close by, and the sea was calm. When the races were over, and we turned our faces homeward, one of the party noticed a black cloud drifting in from the sea, which grew and spread and thickened until it covered the whole sky. The wind rose, and the waves chopped angrily at unseen barriers. Our little boat confronted the gale fearlessly; with sails spread and ropes taut, she seemed to sit upon the wind. Now she swirled in the billows, now she spring upward on a gigantic wave, only to be driven down with angry howl and hiss. Down came the mainsail. Tacking and jibbing, we wrestled with opposing winds that drove us from side to side with impetuous fury. Our hearts beat fast, and our hands trembled with excitement, not fear, for we had the hearts of vikings, and we knew that our skipper was master of the situation. He had steered through many a storm with firm hand and sea-wise eye. As they passed us, the large craft and the gunboats in the harbour saluted and the seamen shouted applause for the master of the only little sail-boat that ventured out into the storm. At last, cold, hungry and weary, we reached our pier.
一天，发生了一件令人惊心动魄的事。西北海湾有一场划船比赛，各军舰皆派小船参赛。我们乘一只帆船观看比赛，夹在许多帆船当中。数以百计的帆船在附近来回摆动，海面风平浪静。比赛结束后，我们掉头回家，有人注意到一块黑云从海面飘来。云越积越多，越积越厚，遮住了整个天空。风刮了起来，海浪狂暴地向看不见的障碍打去。我们的小船面对大风，无所畏惧。她张满帆，拉紧绳，仿佛坐到了风上。她一会儿在滚滚波涛中打转，一会儿又跃上巨大的浪头，接着又在怒号声、咝咝声中被抛下。主桅的帆落了下来。抢风调向，逡巡不前，我们怀着极大的愤怒与把我们刮得左右摇摆的顶头风搏斗着。我们心跳加速，双手颤抖，不是因为害怕，而是由于兴奋。我们有北欧海盗的坚毅，知道船长会化险为夷。他凭着结实的双手和谙熟大海的眼睛，闯过了无数风暴。港湾里的大船和几艘炮艇在我们船旁驶过时，鸣号向我们致敬，水手们欢呼，向这位冒险在暴风雨中出航的小帆船船长致意。最后驶抵码头时，我们又饿又冷，疲惫不堪。
Last summer I spent in one of the loveliest nooks of one of the most charming villages in New England. Wrentham, Massachusetts, is associated with nearly all of my joys and sorrows. For many years Red Farm, by King Philip’s Pond, the home of Mr. J. E. Chamberlin and his family, was my home. I remember with deepest gratitude the kindness of these dear friends and the happy days I spent with them. The sweet companionship of their children meant much to me. I joined in all their sports and rambles through the woods and frolics in the water. The prattle of the little ones and their pleasure in the stories I told them of elf and gnome, of hero and wily bear, are pleasant things to remember. Mr. Chamberlin initiated me into the mysteries of tree and wild-flower, until with the little ear of love I heard the flow of sap in the oak, and saw the sun glint from leaf to leaf. Thus it is that
去年夏天，我在新英格兰一个风景迷人、可爱幽静的乡村度过。马萨诸塞州的伦瑟姆几乎与我所有的欢乐和忧愁联系在一起。多年来，我就住在靠近菲利普王池塘的红色农庄J.E。钱伯林先生家里。每每想起这些亲爱的朋友的恩惠以及与他们共度的快乐时光，我心里就充满了感激。他们家的孩子与我亲密相伴，这对我来说十分重要。我们一起做游戏，一起在林中散步，在水中嬉戏。几个年幼孩子喋喋不休的声音，我给他们讲小妖精、侏儒、英雄和老谋深算的狗熊的故事时他们的兴奋，至今让我回味无穷。钱伯林先生还引导我去探究林木、野花的奥秘。后来，我凭着爱的直觉，仿佛听到橡树中树液的流动，看到阳光在树叶上闪耀。因此，
Even as the roots, shut in the darksome earth,
即便深埋于黑土中的树根，
Of sunshine and wide air and winged things,
阳光、广阔天空和飞鸟，
Share in the tree-top’s joyance, and conceive
也分享树顶的欢愉，想象
gave evidence of things unseen.
理解了看不见的东西。
It seems to me that there is in each of us a capacity to comprehend the impressions and emotions which have been experienced by mankind from the beginning. Each individual has a subconscious memory of the green earth and murmuring waters, and blindness and deafness cannot rob him of this gift from past generations. This inherited capacity is a sort of sixth sense — a soul-sense which sees, hears, feels, all in one.
在我看来，每个人都有一种智能，可理解初始人类经历的记忆和情感。每个人潜意识的记忆中都有绿色大地和潺潺流水，眼睛失明、耳朵失聪并不能剥夺他们这种从先代遗传下来的天赋。这种遗传智能是一种第六感——融合了视觉、听觉、触觉于一体的灵性。
By sympathy of nature, so do I
与自然有着共鸣，所以我
I have many tree friends in Wrentham. One of them, a splendid oak, is the special pride of my heart. I take all my other friends to see this king-tree. It stands on a bluff overlooking King Philip’s Pond, and those who are wise in tree lore say it must have stood there eight hundred or a thousand years. There is a tradition that under this tree King Philip, the heroic Indian chief, gazed his last on earth and sky.
我在伦瑟姆有很多树朋友，其中有一棵橡树蔚为壮观，是我心中的骄傲。我常常领朋友们参观这棵树王。它耸立在悬崖之上，俯瞰着菲利普王池塘。听那些熟谙树木学问的人说，这棵树至少已有八百或者一千年的历史了。据传，英勇的印第安酋长菲利普王就在这棵树下，将临终的凝望献给了大地和天空。
I had another tree friend, gentle and more approachable than the great oak — a linden that grew in the dooryard at Red Farm. One afternoon, during a terrible thunderstorm, I felt a tremendous crash against the side of the house and knew, even before they told me, that the linden had fallen. We went out to see the hero that had withstood so many tempests, and it wrung my heart to see him prostrate who had mightily striven and was now mightily fallen.
我还有一位树友，比起大橡树来要温和可亲，这是一株生长在红色农庄庭院里的菩提树。一天下午，雷暴雨骤起，十分恐怖，我觉得房子一侧受到剧烈碰撞，没等别人告诉我，我就知道菩提树倒了。我们跑出去看这位经历过无数次暴风雨考验的英雄，看到它奋勇抗争又轰然倒下后俯卧在地的景象，我不禁心如刀绞。
But I must not forget that I was going to write about last summer in particular. As soon as my examinations were over, Miss Sullivan and I hastened to this green nook, where we have a little cottage on one of the three lakes for which Wrentham is famous. Here the long, sunny days were mine, and all thoughts of work and college and the noisy city were thrust into the background. In Wrentham we caught echoes of what was happening in the world — war, alliance, social conflict. We heard of the cruel, unnecessary fighting in the far-away Pacific, and learned of the struggles going on between capital and labour. We knew that beyond the border of our Eden men were making history by the sweat of their brows when they might better make a holiday. But we little heeded these things. These things would pass away; here were lakes and woods and broad daisy-starred fields and sweet-breathed meadows, and they shall endure forever.
我还要描述的是去年那个特别的夏天。我考试刚一结束，就和沙利文小姐一道赶到这个“绿色幽境”。伦瑟姆有三个出名的湖泊，我们在其中一个湖上拥有一所小房子。在这里，阳光普照的漫长白昼属于我，所有有关学校、课业的想法以及喧嚣聒噪的城市生活，统统抛在脑后。在伦瑟姆，我们对世界时事也有所耳闻——战争、盟约、社会矛盾。我们听说了远在太平洋的无谓而残酷的交战，了解到劳资之间进行的对抗。我们获悉，在我们的伊甸园之外，人类正在辛勤劳作创造历史，没有考虑到要给自己放个假。但是，我们很少留心这些事。世事会消逝，而此处的湖泊、林木、布满雏菊的旷野和气味清新的草地，则将永恒存在。
People who think that all sensations reach us through the eye and the ear have expressed surprise that I should notice any difference, except possibly the absence of pavements, between walking in city streets and in country roads. They forget that my whole body is alive to the conditions about me. The rumble and roar of the city smite the nerves of my face, and I feel the ceaseless tramp of an unseen multitude, and the dissonant tumult frets my spirit. The grinding of heavy wagons on hard pavements and the monotonous clangour of machinery are all the more torturing to the nerves if one’s attention is not diverted by the panorama that is always present in the noisy streets to people who can see.
认为人类通过眼睛和耳朵获得所有感觉的人们，对我能够注意到走在城市街道上和乡间道路上的差别，感到惊奇万分，因为除了铺筑材料外，两者可能没有区别。但他们忘了，我的整个身体对周围的环境都很敏感。城市的嘈杂和隆隆声响撞击着我的面部神经，我感觉到看不见的人群那永无止息的沉重脚步，刺耳的喧嚣啮蚀我的心灵。沉重的货车在坚硬的路面上隆隆碾过，机器发出乏味的铿锵声。对于那些耳聪目明、常年生活在喧嚣城市中的人而言，假如没有街上百态转移注意力的话，他们一定会被逼疯的。
In the country one sees only Nature’s fair works, and one’s soul is not saddened by the cruel struggle for mere existence that goes on in the crowded city. Several times I have visited the narrow, dirty streets where the poor live, and I grow hot and indignant to think that good people should be content to live in fine houses and become strong and beautiful, while others are condemned to live in hideous, sunless tenements and grow ugly, withered and cringing. The children who crowd these grimy alleys, half-clad and underfed, shrink away from your outstretched hand as if from a blow. Dear little creatures, they crouch in my heart and haunt me with a constant sense of pain. There are men and women, too, all gnarled and bent out of shape. I have felt their hard, rough hands and realized what an endless struggle their existence must be — no more than a series of scrimmages, thwarted attempts to do something. Their life seems an immense disparity between effort and opportunity. The sun and the air are God’s free gifts to all we say, but are they so? In yonder city’s dingy alleys the sun shines not, and the air is foul. Oh, man, how dost thou forget and obstruct thy brother man, and say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” when he has none! Oh, would that men would leave the city, its splendour and its tumult and its gold, and return to wood and field and simple, honest living! Then would their children grow stately as noble trees, and their thoughts sweet and pure as wayside flowers. It is impossible not to think of all this when I return to the country after a year of work in town.
在乡间，人们只会看到大自然的杰作，不会哀叹于拥挤的大城市里那种为起码生存而展开的残酷竞争。我去过好几次穷人聚居的狭窄肮脏的街道，我在想，富人们心安理得地住在漂亮的房子里，他们身体健壮、容貌美丽；而有些人则挤在破败阴暗的廉价公寓里，他们身体羸弱、形容枯槁。想到这些，我就义愤填膺。污秽不堪的巷子里挤满了衣不蔽体、食不果腹的孩子。你向他们伸出双手时，他们会闪退到一旁，好像怕被你打似的。这些可爱的小生灵始终萦绕在我心头，使我不断地感到痛苦。那里的男人和女人也都饱经风霜，扭曲得变了形。我摸过他们僵硬、粗糙的手，明白了他们的生存就是无休止的挣扎，就是一连串徒劳无益的混战而已。他们的奋斗与机遇不成比例。我们常说，阳光和空气是神赐予所有人的免费礼物，然而，果真如此吗？在城市偏僻而阴暗的街巷中，阳光不见踪影，空气污浊不堪。哦，人啊！你们怎会忘了手足弟兄呢？当你们说“感谢主赐予我们今日的食物”时，你们的弟兄却没有食物！哦，但愿人们离开城市，舍弃它的浮华、喧嚣和财富，回归森林和田野，回归朴素而诚实的生活！那时，他们的子女一定会像高贵的林木一样茁壮成长，他们的思想会如路旁野花一样纯洁芳香。在城市工作一年后重返乡间时，我不可能不对这些有所感悟。
Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a “spin’ on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulses dance and my heart sing.
除了休闲散步，我喜欢在协力自行车上“疾驰”。风儿扑面和铁马的弹性运动使我感觉好极了。快速兜风给我带来力量和轻快，感觉很美妙，这项运动令我的脉搏起舞，心儿歌唱。
What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness!
令人欢愉的是，我再次踏上了温和松软的土地，循着绿草茵茵的小路来到蕨草繁茂的溪水边。在这里，我把手指浸在潺潺流水之中，或者爬过一堵石墙，进入那狂欢似的起伏不定的草地。
Whenever it is possible, my dog accompanies me on a walk or ride or sail. I have had many dog friends — huge mastiffs, soft-eyed spaniels, wood-wise setters and honest, homely bull terriers. At present the lord of my affections is one of these bull terriers. He has a long pedigree, a crooked tail and the drollest “phiz” in dogdom. My dog friends seem to understand my limitations, and always keep close beside me when I am alone. I love their affectionate ways and the eloquent wag of their tails.
只要有可能，我的狗都会陪我一起散步、骑车或航行。我有很多狗儿朋友——体形硕大的獒犬、眼神温顺的西班牙长耳犬、木头一般的塞特犬和忠诚朴实的牛头梗。目前我最钟爱的就是其中一只牛头梗。他血统纯正，尾巴弯曲，有一张狗世界中最滑稽的脸。我的狗儿朋友们好像都明白我行动不便，所以当我独自一人时，他们总是时刻不离我的左右。我喜欢他们友善的举动，喜欢他们那不停摆动的尾巴。
If I happen to be all alone and in an idle mood, I play a game of solitaire, of which I am very fond. I use playing cards marked in the upper right-hand corner with braille symbols which indicate the value of the card.
如果碰巧孤身一人且无所事事，我就会玩一局自己特别喜欢的单人纸牌游戏。我使用的纸牌右上角印有盲文标记，表明牌的大小。
When a rainy day keeps me indoors, I amuse myself after the manner of other girls. I like to knit and crochet; I read in the happy-go-lucky way I love, here and there a line; or perhaps I play a game or two of checkers or chess with a friend. I have a special board on which I play these games. The squares are cut out, so that the men stand in them firmly. The black checkers are flat and the white ones curved on top. Each checker has a hole in the middle in which a brass knob can be placed to distinguish the king from the commons. The chessmen are of two sizes, the white larger than the black, so that I have no trouble in following my opponent’s maneuvers by moving my hands lightly over the board after a play. The jar made by shifting the men from one hole to another tells me when it is my turn.
每当雨天把我困在家时，我就会学其他姑娘那样消遣。我喜欢编织；我会逍遥自在地读书，这里看一行，那里看一行；抑或同朋友下盘跳棋或者国际象棋。我有一个专用木棋盘，棋盘的方格经过雕琢，使得棋子能够稳稳立在里面。黑棋子是平的，白棋子顶上弯曲。每个棋子中间有个孔，可放一个黄铜钮，这样就可以区分国王与一般棋子。棋子有两种，白棋比黑棋要大一些，这样我就能在下完一盘棋后，用手轻轻地在棋盘上摸索，毫不费力地弄清对手的战术。把棋子从一个格移到另一个格产生的微弱震动，使我明白什么时候该我走棋。
Museums and art stores are also sources of pleasure and inspiration. Doubtless it will seem strange to many that the hand unaided by sight can feel action, sentiment, beauty in the cold marble; and yet it is true that I derive genuine pleasure from touching great works of art. As my finger tips trace line and curve, they discover the thought and emotion which the artist has portrayed. I can feel in the faces of gods and heroes hate, courage and love, just as I can detect them in living faces I am permitted to touch. I feel in Diana’s posture the grace and freedom of the forest and the spirit that tames the mountain lion and subdues the fiercest passions. My soul delights in the repose and gracious curves of the Venus; and in Barre’s bronzes the secrets of the jungle are revealed to me.
博物馆和艺术馆也是欢乐和灵感的源泉。毫无疑问，许多人都觉得很奇怪，我竟然不用眼睛就能感觉到冷冰冰的大理石所表现的动作、情感和美！然而，我确实能从抚摸这些艺术杰作中获得真正的快乐。我的指尖触摸到这些艺术品的轮廓和曲线时，就能感受到艺术家们所要表达的思想和情感。从诸神和英雄雕像的脸上，我能感觉到爱与恨、勇气与爱情，就像我能从真人脸上摸出情感和品格一样。从狄安娜[72]的姿势，我感觉到森林的优雅与自由，以及驯服山狮和抑制最强烈欲望的精神。维纳斯雕像的安详和优雅曲线，使我的心灵感到愉悦，而巴雷[73]的铜像则向我揭示了丛林的秘密。【注：[72]即希腊神话中的阿耳忒弥斯，是奥林匹斯山的月神和狩猎女神。[73]让奥古斯特·巴雷（1811—1896），法国雕刻家。】
If there are children around, nothing pleases me so much as to frolic with them. I find even the smallest child excellent company, and I am glad to say that children usually like me. They lead me about and show me the things they are interested in. Of course the little ones cannot spell on their fingers; but I manage to read their lips. If I do not succeed they resort to dumb show. Sometimes I make a mistake and do the wrong thing. A burst of childish laughter greets my blunder, and the pantomime begins all over again. I often tell them stories or teach them a game, and the winged hours depart and leave us good and happy.
有小孩子在身边时，我最喜欢同他们闹着玩。我发现，即便是一点点大的孩子，也能成为我的好伙伴。孩子们通常都喜欢我，这使我很高兴。他们会领着我四处走动，把他们感兴趣的东西指给我看。当然，小孩子不会用手指拼写，但是我可以设法读懂他们的唇语。如果我搞不懂，他们就会打手势。有时候，我会犯错，做出错误举动，孩子们就会哄堂大笑。于是，这场哑剧又得重新开始。我常会给他们讲故事或者教他们做游戏，时间就这样匆匆流逝，给我们留下的是满足和快乐。
A medallion of Homer hangs on the wall of my study, conveniently low, so that I can easily reach it and touch the beautiful, sad face with loving reverence. How well I know each line in that majestic brow — tracks of life and bitter evidences of struggle and sorrow; those sightless eyes seeking, even in the cold plaster, for the light and the blue skies of his beloved Hellas, but seeking in vain; that beautiful mouth, firm and true and tender. It is the face of a poet, and of a man acquainted with sorrow. Ah, how well I understand his deprivation — the perpetual night in which he dwelt —
我的书房墙上悬挂着一尊荷马的圆形浮雕。雕像挂得很低，方便让我触摸，我可以轻而易举地摸到。我常常怀着崇敬的心情触摸荷马那张优美而哀伤的脸。我对那高贵的脸上的每一根线条都了如指掌——生命的轨迹，挣扎和悲伤所留下的痕迹。即使凝固在冷冰冰的石膏中，那双失明的眼睛仍然在探寻他所至爱的明媚阳光、碧空如洗的希腊，即便这种寻找是徒劳的。荷马的嘴轮廓优美，显示出坚毅、忠诚和慈爱。这是一张诗人的脸，一张历经沧桑的脸。哦，我是多么理解他的失明之痛啊——他生活在永恒的黑夜——
O dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
哦，黑暗，黑暗，在这正午刺眼的阳光下，
Without all hope of day!
永无光明的希望！
I sometimes wonder if the hand is not more sensitive to the beauties of sculpture than the eye. I should think the wonderful rhythmical flow of lines and curves could be more subtly felt than seen. Be this as it may, I know that I can feel the heart-throbs of the ancient Greeks in their marble gods and goddesses.
有时候，我怀疑，手是否比眼睛更能体味雕塑的美。我以为，触觉比视觉更能感受到线条和曲线的流动节奏。不管是否如此，我自认为从大理石神像上能感觉到古希腊人的脉动。
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
不可逆转的黑暗，全然晦暗无光，
In imagination I can hear Homer singing, as with unsteady, hesitating steps he gropes his way from camp to camp — singing of life, of love, of war, of the splendid achievements of a noble race. It was a wonderful, glorious song, and it won the blind poet an immortal crown, the admiration of all ages.
在想象中，我听见荷马在歌唱。他迈着犹豫不决、摇摇摆摆的步伐，摸索着从一个营帐行吟到另一个营帐。他歌唱生活，歌唱爱情，歌唱战争，歌唱一个高贵民族的光辉业绩。他的歌奇妙而壮美，为盲诗人赢得了不朽的桂冠和万世的景仰。
Another pleasure, which comes more rarely than the others, is going to the theatre. I enjoy having a play described to me while it is being acted on the stage far more than reading it, because then it seems as if I were living in the midst of stirring events. It has been my privilege to meet a few great actors and actresses who have the power of so bewitching you that you forget time and place and live again in the romantic past. I have been permitted to touch the face and costume of Miss Ellen Terry as she impersonated our ideal of a queen; and there was about her that divinity that hedges sublimest woe. Beside her stood Sir Henry Irving, wearing the symbols of kingship; and there was majesty of intellect in his every gesture and attitude and the royalty that subdues and overcomes in every line of his sensitive face. In the king’s face, which he wore as a mask, there was a remoteness and inaccessibility of grief which I shall never forget.
进戏院是比较少有的一种娱乐。我喜欢有人在舞台上的表演正进行时给我讲述剧情，这比读剧本有趣得多，因为常常会使我仿佛身临其境。我有幸见过一些著名演员，他们演技高超，能使你忘却时间地点，随他们回到浪漫的古代。埃伦·特里小姐在扮演我们心目中理想的王后时，允许我抚摸她的脸庞和服饰，她身上透出的超凡完美掩饰了极度的悲伤。亨利·欧文勋爵佩戴着王权标志站在她的身旁，他的行为举止无不显露出超群出众的才智，他敏感的脸上的每一根线条都透露出一种压抑不住的威严。在他那张戴着面具的国王脸上，有一种冷漠、无法琢磨的悲愤神情，令我永远不能忘怀。
I also know Mr. Jefferson. I am proud to count him among my friends. I go to see him whenever I happen to be where he is acting. The first time I saw him act was while at school in New York. He played “Rip Van Winkle.” I had often read the story, but I had never felt the charm of Rip’s slow, quaint, kind ways as I did in the play. Mr. Jefferson’s, beautiful, pathetic representation quite carried me away with delight. I have a picture of old Rip in my fingers which they will never lose. After the play Miss Sullivan took me to see him behind the scenes, and I felt of his curious garb and his flowing hair and beard. Mr. Jefferson let me touch his face so that I could imagine how he looked on waking from that strange sleep of twenty years, and he showed me how poor old Rip staggered to his feet.
我还认识杰斐逊先生。我以有他这个朋友而自豪。无论何时，只要我碰巧到达他演出的地方，我都会去看他。我第一次看他演出是在纽约上学的时候。他演的是《瑞普·凡·温克尔》。我此前常常读这个故事，还从来没有体会过瑞普那种不愠不火、离奇有趣、宽厚温和的行事方式的魅力，直到我看了那部戏。杰斐逊的表演异常完美，让人感同身受，使我兴奋得着了迷。我手里紧紧握着一幅老瑞普的照片，一直不肯放手。戏演完后，沙利文老师带我去幕后见他，我用手抚摸他那新奇的服装、平滑的头发和胡须。杰斐逊先生让我摸他的脸，我可以想象出他在离奇地睡了二十年后醒来时的模样，他给我表演了可怜的老瑞普颤巍巍地站起来的样子。
I have also seen him in “The Rivals.” Once while I was calling on him in Boston he acted the most striking parts of “The Rivals” for me. The reception-room where we sat served for a stage. He and his son seated themselves at the big table, and Bob Acres wrote his challenge. I followed all his movements with my hands, and caught the drollery of his blunders and gestures in a way that would have been impossible had it all been spelled to me. Then they rose to fight the duel, and I followed the swift thrusts and parries of the swords and the waverings of poor Bob as his courage oozed out at his finger ends. Then the great actor gave his coat a hitch and his mouth a twitch, and in an instant I was in the village of Falling Water and felt Schneider’s shaggy head against my knee. Mr. Jefferson recited the best dialogues of “Rip Van Winkle,” in which the tear came close upon the smile. He asked me to indicate as far as I could the gestures and action that should go with the lines. Of course, I have no sense whatever of dramatic action, and could make only random guesses; but with masterful art he suited the action to the word. The sigh of Rip as he murmurs, “Is a man so soon forgotten when he is gone?” the dismay with which he searches for dog and gun after his long sleep, and his comical irresolution over signing the contract with Derrick — all these seem to be right out of life itself; that is, the ideal life, where things happen as we think they should.
我还看了他表演的《情敌》[74]。有一次，我在波士顿看望他时，他给我表演了《情敌》中最精彩的片段。我们待的会客厅成了舞台。他和他儿子坐在大桌子上，鲍勃·阿克尔斯写着挑战书。我用手模仿他的所有动作，领会了他犯下大错时的滑稽可笑，理解了他所有的手势，而光是别人将故事拼写在我手上是无法做到这一点的。接着，他们站起来决斗，我注意到宝剑之间的突刺与闪避，以及可怜的鲍勃勇气渐渐丧失时的犹豫摇摆。接着，这位大演员猛地拉一下外衣，嘴角骤然一抽。突然间，我来到了落水山庄，觉得施奈德蓬松的头抵住了我的膝盖。杰斐逊先生朗诵起《瑞普·凡·温克尔》里那段最著名的对话，一会儿喜笑颜开，一会儿又声泪俱下。他要我尽量指出配合台词应该做些什么手势和动作。当然，我一点儿也不懂舞台动作，只能根据猜测随意说几句。可是，他用精湛的艺术，为台词配上了动作。瑞普长叹一声，喃喃地说：“难道一个人在离去后这么快就被遗忘了吗？”他在经历过长眠之后寻找狗和枪的失望，他与德里克签订合约时表现出的滑稽可笑的优柔寡断，所有这些都好像来自生活本身，即理想中的生活，在那里，事情按照我们设想的方式发生。【注：[74]英国喜剧作家理查德·谢里丹（1751—1816）的作品。】
I remember well the first time I went to the theatre. It was twelve years ago. Elsie Leslie, the little actress, was in Boston, and Miss Sullivan took me to see her in “The Prince and the Pauper.” I shall never forget the ripple of alternating joy and woe that ran through that beautiful little play, or the wonderful child who acted it. After the play I was permitted to go behind the scenes and meet her in her royal costume. It would have been hard to find a lovelier or more lovable child than Elsie, as she stood with a cloud of golden hair floating over her shoulders, smiling brightly, showing no signs of shyness or fatigue, though she had been playing to an immense audience. I was only just learning to speak, and had previously repeated her name until I could say it perfectly. Imagine my delight when she understood the few words I spoke to her and without hesitation stretched her hand to greet me.
我清楚地记得我第一次去戏院时的情景，那是十二年前的事了。儿童演员埃尔西·莱斯利当时在波士顿，沙利文小姐带我去看她在《王子与贫儿》[75]中的表演。我永远忘不了这出美好的小剧悲喜交加的剧情和儿童演员的精彩表演。演出结束后，我被允许来到后台，与穿着华丽戏服的莱斯利会面。你很难找到一个比她更惹人喜爱的小孩了。她带着明媚的微笑，顶着一头如云般飘逸的垂肩金发伫立着，丝毫没有流露出胆怯或者疲惫的迹象，尽管她所面对的是一大群观众。那时，我才刚刚开始学习讲话。我预先把“莱斯利”这个名字重复了一遍又一遍，直到我能自如地说出口。想象一下，当她听懂了我对她说的几个词语，并且毫不迟疑地伸出手向我问候时，我有多么高兴啊。【注：[75]马克·吐温的代表作之一。】
Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful? Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
因此，难道不可以说，我的生命虽然带着局限，却全方位地感受到世间万物之美了吗？万物都有神奇之处，即使是黑暗和寂静也不例外。我领悟到，无论身处何境，我都应该感到满足。
Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life’s shut gate. Beyond there is light, and music, and sweet companionship; but I may not enter. Fate, silent, pitiless, bars the way. Fain would I question his imperious decree, for my heart is still undisciplined and passionate; but my tongue will not utter the bitter, futile words that rise to my lips, and they fall back into my heart like unshed tears. Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, “There is joy in self-forgetfulness.” So I try to make the light in others’ eyes my sun, the music in others’ ears my symphony, the smile on others’ lips my happiness.
确实，当我独自一人等在那关闭了的生活之门门前时，一种孤独感有时会像冰冷的雾霭将我裹挟其中。门里面有光明，有乐音，有美好的友情，可我却无法进入。沉寂而无情的命运挡住我的去路。我会对它那专横的天条发出质疑，因为我的心不受约束，充满激情。但是，我不会信口说出尖刻而无益的话语，我欲言又止，仿佛泪往心里流。无边的寂静压在我的心头。接着，希望会微笑着窃窃私语：“喜悦存在于忘我之中。”于是，我努力把别人眼中的光明当作自己心中的太阳，把别人耳中的音乐当作自己心中的交响乐，把别人嘴角的微笑当作自己的幸福。
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