If I were given three days of light (Helen Keller)
On the first day, I would see people whose kindness, kindness and friendship make my life worth living. First, I wish to gaze long and hard on the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outside world to me. I shall not only see the outline of her face, that I may cherish it in my memory, but study her features and discover the living signs of her compassionate tenderness and patience. , which is how she completed the arduous task of educating me. I wished to see in her eyes the strength of character which enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties, and to see in her eyes the sympathy for all mankind which she so often revealed to me.
I don’t know what it means to look through the "window of the soul", that is, to see the heart of a friend through the eyes. I can only "see" the outline of a face with my fingertips. I can detect laughter, sadness, and many other distinct emotions. I get to know my friends by feeling their faces. However, I can't really picture their personalities by touch. Of course, I have some idea of ??their personalities through other means, through the thoughts they express to me, through any actions they show me. But I cannot have a deeper understanding of them, and that understanding, I believe, can be achieved by seeing them, by watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and situations, and by paying attention to the reactions of their eyes and faces. obtained.
I know the friends around me very well, because over the years, they have revealed all aspects of themselves to me; however, I only have an incomplete impression of casual friends. This impression comes again from a handshake, from the words I interpret from their lips through the tips of my fingers, or from the gentle strokes they make on my palm.
For those of you who have vision, you can quickly understand the essence of what the other person means by observing the other person's subtle facial expressions, muscle tremors, and gesture swings. How easy and satisfying it is. ah! However, have you ever thought of using your vision to grasp the external features of a person's face to see into the heart of a friend or acquaintance?
I also want to ask you: Can you accurately describe the faces of five good friends? Some of you can, but many of you cannot. In one experiment, I asked husbands about the color of their wives' eyes. They often appeared embarrassed and confessed that they did not know. By the way, wives often complain that their husbands don't pay attention to the color of their new clothes and hats. and changes in home furnishings.
Sighted people, whose eyes soon become accustomed to the routine of things around them, actually notice only the surprising and spectacular. Yet even when they behold the most magnificent spectacles, their eyes are languid. Court records reveal every day how inaccurate the "eyewitnesses" were. An event can be "seen" in several different ways by several witnesses. Some people see more than others, but few see everything within their sight.
Ah, if you give me three days of light, how many things I will see!
The first day will be a busy day. I will call all my dear friends here, look long into their faces, and impress upon my heart the outward signs of their inner beauty. I will also rest my gaze on a baby's face in order to be able to capture the wistful, innocent beauty that exists before the personal consciousness caused by life's conflicts is established.
I will also look at the loyal and trusting eyes of my puppies - the solemn and quiet little Scotty and Darjeeling, the strong and sensible big Dern, and Helge, Their warm, childish and playful friendship brought me great comfort.
On this busy first day, I will also look at the simple little things in my room, I will look at the warm colors of the rug under my feet, the paintings on the walls, that transform the house into Those sweet little things that make a home. My eyes will fall with reverence on the Braille books I read, but I will be even more interested in the printed books read by people who can see. In the long dark night of my life, the books I have read and the books people have read to me have become a brilliant and huge beacon, pointing out to me the deepest channel of life and soul.
On the afternoon of my first day of sight, I will go on a hike into the forest, allowing my eyes to revel in the beauty of nature and, for a few hours, desperately absorbing the wonders that so often unfold with normal vision. The glorious vast wonder before man. On the way back from the forest outing, I want to walk on the path near the farm to see the horses working in the fields (perhaps I can only see a tractor) and the leisurely people living close to the land. Pray for the beautiful sunset.
When dusk falls, I will feel joy in seeing things with artificial light. When nature announces the arrival of darkness, man's genius creates light to extend his vision. On that first night of sight, I will lie awake, filled with memories of this day.
On this day I will take a quick glance at the world, the world past and present.
I want to see the wonders of human progress, the endless changes over the ages. How can so many years be compressed into one day? Through the museum, of course.
On the second day of my vision, I will get up at dawn and see the moving miracle of night turning into day. I will look up in awe at the majestic panorama of dawn as the sun awakens the sleeping earth.
On this day I will take a quick glance at the world, the world past and present. I want to see the wonders of human progress, the endless changes over the ages. How can so many years be compressed into one day? Through the museum, of course. I often visited the Museum of Natural History in New York and touched with my hands many of the exhibits on display there, but I had longed to see with my own eyes a brief history of the earth and its inhabitants—animals and humans depicted in their natural surroundings—displayed there. , fossils of huge dinosaurs and saber-toothed elephants, they roamed the earth long before humans appeared and conquered the animal kingdom with his short stature and powerful mind; the museum also realistically introduces animals, humans, and labor The development of the tools humans used to create a safe and secure home for themselves on this planet; the museum also explains countless other aspects of natural history.
I wonder how many readers of this article have seen the various forms of living animals depicted in that attractive museum. Of course, many people don't have this opportunity, however, I believe many people who do have the opportunity don't take advantage of it. That's a really good place to use your eyes. If you have sight, you can spend many profitable days there, but I, with the help of the three days I imagined I could see, could only glimpse it briefly.
My next stop will be the Capital Museum of Art, because just as the Museum of Natural History shows the physical appearance of the world, the Capital Museum of Art shows the countless small aspects of the human spirit. Throughout human history, our desire for artistic expression has been almost as compelling as our desire for food, shelter, and reproduction. Here, in the huge exhibition hall of the Capital Art Museum, the spirit of Egypt, Greece, and Rome is expressed in their art and displayed in front of me.
I know clearly through my hands the gods and goddesses of the ancient Nile kingdom. I touched the replica in the Parthenon and felt the rhythmic beauty of the Athenian charge warriors. Apollo, Venus, and Samoris, the winged goddess of victory, all fascinate me. Homer's gnarled, bearded face is dear to me because he also knew what it was to be blind. My hands linger on the realistic marble carvings of Rome and later periods. My hands have touched Michelangelo’s touching and heroic Moses stone statues. I feel Rodin’s power. I am in awe of the Goths’ love for wood carvings. of piety. These tactile works of art are of great significance to me. However, they are not so much for people to touch as they are for people to watch, and I can only guess at the beauty that I cannot see. I can admire the simple lines of a Greek vase, but I cannot see its decorative patterns.
So, on this day, give me light the next day, I will search for the human soul through art. I see things that I know by touch. Even better, the entire magnificent world of painting will be opened to me, from early Italian art with its tranquil religious overtones to modernist art with its rhapsodic style. I will carefully observe the oil paintings of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Rembrandt. I want to feast my eyes on the warm colors of Veronesa, study the mysteries of El Greco, and re-see nature through the paintings of Corot. Ah, you people with eyes can appreciate such rich meaning and beauty in the art of all ages! During my brief visit to this temple of art I could not at all comment on the great world of art that lay before me. I would only be able to obtain a superficial impression. Artists tell me that in order to achieve deep and true appreciation of art, one must train the eye. One must learn through experience to judge the quality of line, composition, form, and color. What a blessing it would be if I had the vision to engage in such fascinating research! But, I hear, for many of you who have eyes for it, the world of art is still a world yet to be explored.
I reluctantly left the Capital Art Museum, which holds the key to beauty. However, people who can see often do not need to go to the Capital Art Museum to find this key to beauty. The same keys still await in smaller museums or even on the shelves of small libraries. However, in the limited time that I imagine I have vision, I should choose a key that can open the place with the greatest treasure in the shortest time.
My second night of sight will be spent in a theater or movie theater. Even now I often attend various performances in the theater, but the plot must be spelled out in my hand by a companion. Yet how I longed to see with my own eyes the charming grace of Hamlet, or the lively Falstaff in his bright Elizabethan costume! How I long to watch every graceful movement of Hamlet and the swagger of energetic Falstaff! Since I could only see one play, this put me in a difficult position, since there were dozens of other plays I wanted to see.
You have vision and can see any scene you like.
When you watch a play, a movie, or any scene, I wonder how many of you are aware of and grateful for the miracle of vision that allows you to enjoy its color, grace, and movement? Since I live within the reach of my hands, I cannot enjoy the beauty of rhythmic movement. But I can only vaguely imagine the beauty of Bajlova, although I know a little about the pleasure of rhythm, because I can often feel the beat of the music when it shakes the floor. I can fully imagine that the rhythmic movements must be one of the most pleasing sights in the world. I can deduce something by tracing the lines of the marble statue with my fingers. If this kind of static beauty can be so cute, the dynamic beauty you see must be even more exciting. One of my most cherished memories is of Joseph Jefferson letting me touch his face and hands as he spoke and acted his beloved Reeb Van Winkle.
Today, I will spend my time in the current daily world, going to places where people who are busy with their lives often go. Where can I find as many activities and situations as in New York? Woolen cloth? So the city became my destination.
The next morning, I will welcome the dawn again, eager to find new joy, because I believe that for those who can really see, every dawn must be a new beauty that will be repeated forever. According to the expiration date of my fictional miracle, this would be my third and last day of vision. I will have no time to spend in regrets or longings because there is so much to see.
The first day I dedicated myself to my animate and inanimate friends. The next day, the history of man and nature was shown to me. Today, I will spend my time in the current daily world, going to places where people who are busy with their lives often go. Where can I find as many activities and situations as in New York? So the city became my destination.
I set out from my home, the small, quiet suburb of Forrest, Long Island. Here, surrounded by green grass, trees and flowers, there are neat little houses, full of the happy sounds and activities of women and children. It is very happy and a peaceful resting place for the working people in the city. I drove across the steel ribbon bridge spanning the East River and had a new impression of the power and ingenuity of the human brain. Busy boats rattled along the river - speeding boats, slow, snorting tugs. If I can still see in the future, I will spend a lot of time looking at the joyful scene in the river. I looked ahead, and before me towered the strange towers of New York—a city that seemed to have been lifted out of the pages of myth. What an awe-inspiring building! These splendid church spires, these vast riverbanks made of stone and steel—it really looks like the gods built it for themselves. This vivid picture is part of daily life for millions of people. I don't know how many people will glance back at it? I'm afraid only a few. They turned a blind eye to this magnificent scenery because it was all too familiar to them.
I hurried to the top of one of those huge buildings, the Empire State Building, because not long ago I had "looked down" on the city with my secretary's eyes there, and I longed to put my imagination into perspective. Compare it with reality. I believe that the entire scenery unfolding in front of me will not disappoint me, because it will be a scenery from another world to me. At this point, I started traveling around the city. First, I stood on a busy street corner and just looked at people, trying to understand their lives through my observations of them. Seeing their smiles makes me feel happy; seeing their serious decisions makes me feel proud; seeing their pain makes me full of sympathy.
I walked along Fifth Avenue. I looked around casually, not focusing on any particular target, but just looking at the kaleidoscope-like colorful scene. I was sure that the colors of the women's clothes moving about in the crowd would be a gorgeous sight that would never bore me. If I had sight, however, I might be like most other women—interested in the fashionable style of individual garments and not paying much attention to the abundance of brilliant colors. Moreover, I am sure that I will become a die-hard window shopper, for it must be a joy for the eyes to look at these countless beautiful displays.
Starting from Fifth Avenue, I will take a tour around the city - to Park Avenue, to the slums, to the factories, to the park where the children play, and I will also visit the foreign residential areas. District, take an overseas trip without going out. I always keep my eyes open to the full spectrum of happiness and misery, so that I can investigate deeper and learn more about how people work and live.
My heart is filled with images of people and things. My eyes never let go of a small thing easily. They strive to pay close attention to everything they see. Some scenes are pleasant and intoxicating; but others are extremely miserable and sad. I will never close my eyes to the latter, because they are also part of life. Closing your eyes in front of them is equivalent to closing your heart and mind.
My third day of vision is coming to an end. Maybe there are many important and serious things that I need to use the remaining few hours to see and do. However, I am afraid that on the last night, I will run to the theater again to watch a lively and interesting play so as to appreciate the homophony in the human soul.
At midnight, my brief escape from the plight of blindness will end, and the eternal night will approach me again. In those short three days, I naturally couldn't see everything I wanted to see. It was only when darkness came upon me again that I realized how much I had left behind. However, my heart is so full of sweet memories that I have little time to regret. From now on, every object I touch will have a vivid memory of what that object looked like.
My brief description of how I spent the three days I regained my sight may not be consistent with the arrangements you would have made for yourself assuming you knew you were going blind. However, I believe that if you really face that kind of misfortune, you will try your best to cast your eyes on things you have never seen before, and store them in your memory for the long night ahead. You'll use your eyes better than ever. Everything you see is so precious to you, and your eyes will feast on every item that appears within your sight. Then, you will truly see a beautiful world unfolding in front of you.
As a blind person, I can give a tip to those who can see - a piece of advice to those who can make full use of their gift of sight: use your eyes as if tomorrow you will be blinded. . The same approach can be applied to other senses. Listen to the sweet sounds of the music, the singing of the birds, the powerful and sonorous strains of the orchestra, as if tomorrow you were going to be deaf. Touch everything you want to touch as if tomorrow your sense of touch would fade. Smell the fragrance of all the flowers and taste every bite as if you could never smell or taste again tomorrow. Make full use of every sense, take pride in all the pleasant and beautiful details that the world reveals to you through the few means of contact that nature has given you! However, of all the senses, I believe that sight must be the most pleasing.
In the 20th century, a unique individual shocked the world with her bravery. She was Helen Keller - a woman who lived in darkness but brought light to mankind. A weak woman who spent 88 years of her life, but survived 87 years of lightless, silent and speechless loneliness.
However, it was such a person who was so claustrophobic in the world of blindness, deafness and muteness that he graduated from Harvard University's Gilliff College and used all the strength of his life to run around and create a series of charities to provide services to the disabled. Blessings to man. Not only did she prove with her actions
human beings' courage to overcome life, but she also recorded the pain and happiness she experienced to encourage future generations.
Helen Keller wrote 14 books in his lifetime. "My Life" is her debut novel. The author reproduces her life in the first 21 years of her life in a true and natural way, leaving the world with a song of life that will never be forgotten. The book was published in 1902. The famous American writer Dr. Hale commented: "The two most important literary contributions in 1902 were Kipling's "Jim" and Helen Keller's "My Life."
A full 100 years , when we re-read this work today, we can still find its shining light - the human spirit far transcends the limitations of time and space. The character, will, and endurance displayed by the characters in the book strongly shock us and cleanse our dusty souls.
People with sound limbs may find it difficult to experience the pain of disability; just as some people in peacetime actually hope for the excitement of war. As everyone knows, life is fragile. When all assumptions become reality, it is too late. Therefore, no matter what age we are in, love and courage are the basis of our survival. This is why we publish this article. The purpose of the book.
"My Life" has been published in many excellent editions in China, but most of them have not been reprinted, and it is difficult for readers to see this book in bookstores. In addition, many of Helen Keller's works have not been translated into Chinese and published, and people's understanding of her is limited to some simple introductions. On the basis of synthesizing these issues, we recompiled this book and combined the three books "My Life", "Out of the Dark" and "Teacher" as well as the famous essay "If You Give Me" published in the American "Atlantic Monthly" "Three Days of Light" is compiled to provide a complete and systematic introduction to Helen Keller's rich, vivid, true and great life. This is the first time that many of the texts are exposed to Chinese readers.
During the compilation process, we made extensive reference to many translations that have been published in China, especially "The Story of My Life" translated by the famous translator Mr. Zhu Yuan (China Braille Publishing House, 1998, No. 2 version) and benefited a lot from it.
The article "If You Give Me Three Days of Sight" also has many Chinese translations. We chose "If I Have Three Days of Sight" translated by Liu Dongni (reprinted from "Foreign Prose Classics") because the translation is beautiful. Smooth, insurmountable and inseparable.
The compiler's level is limited, and readers are requested to correct any errors or inappropriate translations. We are quoting the translation and cannot get in touch with the translator. We hope for your understanding. For related matters, please contact the translator. (echolh@sohu.com)
"Reading a good book is talking to a great soul." We hope that those works that are exciting and inspiring can be passed down forever.