Unit 7B - Three Days to See
Three Days to See
Helen Keller
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the epicurean motto of "Eat, drink, and be merry," but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight, silence would teach him the joys of sound.
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friends who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. "Nothing in particular," she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such reposes, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush thought my open finger. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere conveniences rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.
If I were the president of a university I should establish a compulsory course in "How to Use Your Eyes". The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant and sluggish faculties.
Suppose you set your mind to work on the problem of how you would use your own eyes if you had only three more days to see. If with the oncoming darkness of the third night you knew that the sun would never rise for you again, how would you spend those three precious intervening days? What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon?
I, naturally, should want most to see the things which have become dear to me through my years of darkness. You, too, would want to let your eyes rest on the things that have become dear to you so that you could take the memory of them with you into the night that loomed before you.
I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living. First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me. I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education. I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties, and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often.
I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that “window of the soul," the eye. I can only "see "through my finger tips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces. But I cannot really picture their personalities, by touch. I know their personalities, of course, through other means, through the thoughts they express to me, through whatever of their actions are revealed to me. But I am denied that deeper understanding of them which I am sure would come through sight of them, through watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and circumstances, through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance.
Friends who are near to me I know well, because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases; but of casual friends I have only an incomplete impression, an impression gained from a handclasp, from spoken words which I take from their lips with my finger tips, or which they tap into the palm of my hand.
How much easier, how much more satisfying it is for you who can see to grasp quickly the essential qualities of another person by watching the subtleties of expression, the quiver of a muscle, the flutter of a hand. But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friend or acquaintance? Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that?
For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends? Some of you can, but many cannot. As an experiment, I have questioned husbands of long standing about the color of their wives' eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. And, incidentally, it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements.
The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surroundings, and they actually see only the startling and spectacular. But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy. Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eye witnesses" see. A given event will be "seen" in several different ways by as many witnesses. Some see more than others, but few see everything that is within the range of their vision.
Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days!
参考译文——假如给我三天光明
假如给我三天光明
海伦·凯勒
有时候我想，如果把每一天都当作好像我们明天就要死去一般地度过，那一定是个极好的习惯。这样一种态度能强烈地唤起人们对人生价值的注意。我们每天都应该带着一种高雅、一种活力和一种敏锐的鉴赏力去生活，而当时间日复一日、月复一月、年复一年地以一再重复的景象在我们眼前展现时，这种高雅、活力和敏锐的鉴赏力常会失去。当然，有那么些人会信奉享乐者“吃喝玩乐”的格言,但大多数人在死亡迫在眉睫、不可避免时会检点自己的行为。常听到别人说，那些过去曾经或现在正生活在死亡阴影中的人做什么事都觉得甜美欢快，津津有味。
然而，我们大多数人都将生命视为理所当然。我们知道有一天我们肯定会死去，但通常我们都把那一天想象得遥遥无期。当我们欢乐健康时，死亡几乎难以想象。我们极少想到它。时光像一道无穷尽的远景延伸出去。于是我们终日忙于琐事，几乎意识不到自己对生活的这种倦怠的态度。
同样的没精打采恐怕也代表了我们使用所有官能与感官的特点。只有聋子才珍惜听觉，只有盲人才意识到视觉所蕴涵的多种幸福。这一说法尤其适用于那些成年之后才丧失视觉和听觉的人。但那些视觉或听觉从未遭受过伤害的人却很少最充分地利用这些天赐的官能。他们的眼睛和耳朵模模糊糊地接受所有的景象和声音，漫不经心，毫不在意。这正像老话所说的，直到失去了我们所有的东西我们才会感激上帝的恩赐，直到病魔缠身我们才意识到健康的重要。
我常想，如果每个人在其成年之初的某个时刻突然失明失聪几天，那倒是一件幸事。黑暗将使他更加珍惜视力，沉寂将教给他声音的欢乐。
我不时地测试我的看得见的朋友们，想发现他们看到些什么。最近，一个很要好的朋友来看我，她刚从树林里长时间漫步回来，我便问她看到些什么。“没什么特别的，”她回答说。要不是我对这种回答已经习以为常，我也许难以相信，事实上我早已确信，有视觉的人几乎看不到什么东西。
我问自己，怎么可能会在树林中走了一个小时，却没有看见值得注意的东西呢？我这个看不见的人仅仅通过触觉就能发现数以百计的让我感到有趣的东西。我能感觉到一片树叶的精巧对称。我爱怜地将手抚过白桦树平滑的树皮，或一棵松树粗糙的树皮。春天，我满怀希望地触摸树木的枝条，想找到新芽——大自然在冬眠后苏醒的第一个标志。我能感觉到一朵花的柔嫩光滑、令人喜悦的质地，觉察到它不同寻常的卷曲；于是便感受到大自然的某种奇迹。如果我非常幸运，在我把手轻轻放在一棵小树上时，偶尔还能感受到一只小鸟髙声欢唱时的欢快震颤。我欣喜地让清凉的溪水从我张开的手指间奔流而过。对我来说，满地厚密的松针或湿软的草地比最豪华的波斯地毯还要舒服。对我来说，绚丽多彩的季节更替是一出扣人心弦、永无止境的戏剧，剧情如流水般从我指尖流过。
有时，我内心呼唤着渴望能看见所有这一切。如果仅仅从触摸中我就能得到如此多的欢愉，视觉该会展示出多么多的美呀！然而，那些有眼睛的人却显然看不到多少东西。充满这个世界的色彩和运动的千变万化的景象被视为司空见惯的东西。也许不珍惜自己拥有的东西，而向往没有的东西正是人之常情，但在这个明亮的世界上，仅仅把天赐的视觉用作一种便利的工具而不是使生命更加充实的手段，那就太遗憾了。
如果我是一所大学的校长，我就会开设一门“如何使用你的双眼”的必修课。任课教授将试图向学生们展示如何通过真正看见从他们眼前经过而被忽视的东西而给生活增添乐趣。他将尽力唤醒他们沉睡、呆滞的官能。
假设你决心考虑一下这个问题：如果你只剩下三天时间去看，你会如何使用自己的双眼? 如果随着第三天夜晚的到来天黑了下来，你心里明白太阳从此不再为你升起，你打算如何度过这宝贵的三天?你最想让你的视线停留在何处？
我自然最想看见在我的黑暗岁月中对我已经变得珍贵的东西。你也想让你的眼睛久久停在你珍爱的事物上，那样你就能带着它们的记忆进入逼近的黑夜中。
我想看见那些用善良、温情和友谊使我的生活过得富有价值的人们。首先，我想久久凝视我亲爱的老师，安妮·沙利文·梅西夫人的面容。我还是个孩子时，她便来到我身边，为我开启了外面世界的门扉。我不仅想看看她面部的轮廓以珍藏在记忆中，还要研究这张脸，从中找到她借以完成教育我的艰巨任务的那种充满同情心的温存与耐心的活证据。我要在她眼中看出使她面对困难坚韧不拔的那份性格力量以及她经常向我展示的对全人类的仁爱之心。
我不知道通过“心灵之窗”——眼睛洞察一个朋友的内心是怎么回事。我只能通过指尖“看见”一张脸的轮廓。我能觉察到欢笑、悲哀和许多其他明显的感情。我通过触摸朋友们的面部认识他们，但我无法通过触摸真正想象他们的个性。当然我能通过其他方式了解他们的性格，通过他们对我表述的思想，通过他们展现给我的所有行为。但是，我无法更深刻地了解他们，我相信这种更深刻的了解须来源于看到他们，通过观察他们对于表达出来的种种思想和环境的反应，通过留心他们的眼神和面部表情转瞬即逝的反应。
与我亲近的朋友们我十分了解，因为通过长年累月的交往他们向我展示了自己的各个方面：但是对于偶然结识的朋友，我却只有一个不完整的印象，从一次握手得来的印象，从他们说话时我用指尖触摸他们的嘴唇得来的印象，或是从他们轻击我的手掌向我传达的意思中得来的印象。
对于你们能看得见的人来说，通过观察微妙的表情、肌肉的颤动和手的摆动来迅速理解另一个人的基本品质，是多么方便，多么令人满意啊！但你是否想过用你的视力了解一个朋友或熟人的内在性格？你们大多数看得见的人难道不是随意地抓住一张脸的外部特征，就不再去多想了吗？
例如，你能精确地描述五个好朋友的脸吗？你们中有些人能，但很多人不能。作为一次实验，我曾问过几个结婚很久的丈夫，他们妻子的眼睛是什么颜色。他们经常会表现出尴尬的困惑，承认他们不知道。顺便提一句，妻子们长期以来一直在抱怨丈夫不注意她们的新衣服、新帽子和家庭摆设的变化。
看得见的人们很快便对周围的惯例习以为常了，他们实际上只看到惊人和引人注目的东西。但即使在看最引人注目的景象时，他们的眼睛也是懒惰的。法庭记录每天都揭示出“证人”所见有多么不精确。某一特定事件会被好多证人以好多不同的方式“看见”。一些人比其他人看到得更多，但很少有人看见视野之内的一切。
哦，如果我仅有三天视力，我能看到多少东西啊！
Key Words:
emphasize ['emfəsaiz]
vt. 强调，着重
buoyant ['bɔiənt]
adj. 有浮力的，心情愉快的，趋于上涨的
stretch [stretʃ]
n. 伸展，张开
adj. 可伸缩的
motto ['mɔtəu]
n. 座右铭，箴言
listless ['listlis]
adj. 无精打采的
appreciation [ə.pri:ʃi'eiʃən]
n. 欣赏，感激，鉴识，评价，增值
vista ['vistə]
n. 街景，展望，回想
constant ['kɔnstənt]
adj. 经常的，不变的
n. 常数，恒量
shadow ['ʃædəu]
n. 阴影，影子，荫，阴暗，暗处
vt. 投阴
adopt [ə'dɔpt]
v. 采用，收养，接受
blessing ['blesiŋ]
n. 祝福，祷告
lethargy ['leθədʒi]
n. 昏睡，倦怠
conscious ['kɔnʃəs]
adj. 神志清醒的，意识到的，自觉的，有意的
observation [.ɔbzə'veiʃən]
n. 观察，观察力，评论
adj. 被设计用来
impairment
n. 损伤，损害
silence ['sailəns]
n. 沉默，寂静
vt. 使安静，使沉默
particular [pə'tikjulə]
adj. 特殊的，特别的，特定的，挑剔的
n.
convinced [kən'vinst]
adj. 信服的
grateful ['greitfəl]
adj. 感激的，感谢的
incredulous [in'kredjuləs]
adj. 怀疑的，不轻信的
pity ['piti]
n. 同情，怜悯，遗憾，可惜
v. 同情，怜悯
bud [bʌd]
n. 芽，花蕾
vi. 发芽，萌芽
lush [lʌʃ]
adj. 苍翠繁茂的，多青草的，丰富的 n. 酒，酒鬼
fortunate ['fɔ:tʃənit]
adj. 幸运的，侥幸的
rough [rʌf]
adj. 粗糙的，粗略的，粗暴的，艰难的，讨厌的，不适的
brook [bruk]
n. 小河，溪
vt. (常用于否定句或疑问句
luxurious [lʌg'ʒu:riəs]
adj. 奢侈的，豪华的
unending [ʌn'endiŋ]
adj. 不断的，不停的，永无止境的，不尽的
appreciate [ə'pri:ʃieit]
vt. 欣赏，感激，赏识
vt. 领会，充分意
remarkable [ri'mɑ:kəbl]
adj. 显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的
sluggish ['slʌgiʃ]
adj. 懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的
unnoticed
adj. 被忽视的；不引人注意的；未被注意的
dormant ['dɔ:mənt]
adj. 睡眠状态的，静止的 [计算机] 静止的
countenance ['kauntinəns]
n. 面容，面部表情，支持
patience ['peiʃəns]
n. 耐心，忍耐，毅力
n. 单人玩的牌
accomplished [ə'kɔmpliʃt]
adj. 娴熟的，有造诣的，完成的，有成就的，毫无疑问的
compassion [kəm'pæʃən]
n. 同情，怜悯
tenderness ['tendənis]
n. 温柔，娇嫩，柔软
merely ['miəli]
adv. 仅仅，只不过
sympathetic [.simpə'θetik]
adj. 同情的，共鸣的
n. 交感神经
kindness ['kaindnis]
n. 仁慈，好意
humanity [hju:'mæniti]
n. 人类，人性，人道，慈爱，(复)人文学科
cherish ['tʃeriʃ]
vt. 珍爱，抚育，珍藏
flutter ['flʌtə]
n. 摆动，鼓翼，烦扰
v. 摆动，鼓翼，烦扰
essential [i'senʃəl]
n. 要素，要点
adj. 必要的，重要的，本
incidentally [.insi'dentəli]
adv. 附带地，偶然地，顺便地
chronic ['krɔnik]
adj. 长期的，慢性的，惯常的
spectacular [spek'tækjulə]
adj. 壮观的，令人惊叹的
n. 惊人之举，
acquaintance [ə'kweintəns]
n. 熟人，相识，了解
describe [dis'kraib]
vt. 描述，画(尤指几何图形)，说成
impression [im'preʃən]
n. 印象，效果
reveal [ri'vi:l]
vt. 显示，透露
n. (外墙与门或窗之间的
embarrassed [im'bærəst]
adj. 尴尬的，局促不安的，拮据的
参考资料：
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