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If, by some miracle, I were granted three seeing days, to be followed by a relapse into darkness, I should divide the period into three parts.
如果由某種奇跡，我獲得了能看見東西的3天，隨后又沉陷于一片黑暗之中，我該將這段時間分為３個部分。
The First Day
第一天
On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living.
第一天，我想看到這些人，他們的善良、溫柔和友情使我的生命值得活下去。
First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy,
首先我想仔細(xì)長久地觀看我那親愛的老師安妮·薩利文·梅西夫人的面容。
who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me.
當(dāng)我還是一個孩子的時候，她來到我面前，并向我打開了外部世界。
I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory,
我不僅要看她臉部的輪廓，以便我能把它珍藏在我的記憶中，
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.
而且我還要研究這張臉龐，在那里找到富有同情心、溫柔和耐心的活證據(jù)，她就是以這種溫柔和耐心完成了教育我的艱難的任務(wù)。
I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties,
我要看她眼睛里包藏的那種性格力量，它使得她在困難面前那么堅定。
and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often.
我要看那對所有人的同情心，她如此經(jīng)常地對我顯露出來。
I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that Window of the soul, the eye.
我不知道通過心靈的窗口-眼睛，看透一個朋友的內(nèi)心是怎么一回事。
I can only see through my finger tips the outline of a face.
我只能通過我的指尖看到一張面孔的輪廓。
I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions.
我能察覺歡笑、悲傷和其它許多明顯的感情。
I know my friends from the feel of their faces.
我從他們面部的感觸知道我的朋友，
But I cannot really picture their personalities by touch.
但我不能正確地憑觸摸描繪出他們的品格。
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.
我當(dāng)然通過其它方式知道他們的品格，通過他們對我表達的思想，通過他們對我表露的任何行為，
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,
但我不曾對他們有更深刻的了解。那更深刻的了解我相信通過看到他們，通過觀察他們對各種表達出來的思想和情況的反應(yīng)、
through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance.
通過注意他們眼睛和相貌的直接和短暫的反應(yīng)可以達到。
Friends who are near to me I know well, because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases;
在我身邊的朋友，我熟知他們，因為長年累月他們在各方面都對我表露了他們自己。
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.
而對那些偶然的朋友我只有一個不完全的印象，一種我從下面方式中得到的印象：一次握手，我的指尖從他們的雙唇上感觸到的他們所說的話，或者是他們在我兩手掌上輕輕地拍撫。
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.
對你來說，一個能看見的人，通過觀察微妙的表情:一條肌肉的顫抖、一只手的擺動，很快地了解另一個人的本質(zhì)，是多么容易又多么令人滿足的事情。
But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friends or acquaintance?
但是你曾經(jīng)有過用你的視覺去看透一個朋友或相識的內(nèi)在本質(zhì)的時候嗎？
Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that?
你們能看見事物的大多數(shù)人不是偶然地抓住一張臉孔的外部特征并不再去想了嗎？
For instance can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends? some of you can, but many cannot.
例如，你能精確地描敘５個好朋友的面貌嗎？有些人能夠，但許多人不能。
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.
作為一個實驗，我曾問過那些多年相處的丈夫們，他們妻子的眼睛是什么顏色。
And, incidentally, it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements.
他們常常顯得窘迫含糊，承認(rèn)他們不知道。而且，順便說一句，妻子們經(jīng)常抱怨，他們的丈夫不注意新衣服、新帽子和家庭擺設(shè)的變化。
The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surroundings, and they actually see only the startling and spectacular.
能看見的人的眼睛很快就習(xí)慣了他們周圍的日常事務(wù)。他們實際上僅僅看到令人吃驚的事和引人注意的壯觀之事，
But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy.
而即使是那些最壯觀的景象，他們的眼睛也是懶洋洋的。
Court records reveal every day how inaccurately eyewitnesses see.
法庭記錄每天都顯露出見證人看得多不準(zhǔn)確。
A given event will be seen in several different ways by as many witnesses.
一個特定的事件，要被盡可能多的人從幾個不同的方面去看到，
Some see more than others, but few see everything that is within the range of their vision.
有些人看得比另一些人要多些，而沒有幾個人看到了在他們的視線范圍內(nèi)的所有事情。
Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days!
啊，如果我要有哪怕３天的視力，多少事我該看啊！
The first day would be a busy one.
第一天會是很忙碌的，
I should call to me all my dear friends and look long into their faces, imprinting upon my mind the outward evidences of the beauty that is within them.
我要把我所有的親愛的朋友們都叫到我這里來，長久地注視著他們的面容，把他們的內(nèi)在美的外部證據(jù)深深地印在我的腦海中。
I should let my eyes rest, too, on the face of a baby, so that I could catch a vision of the eager, innocent beauty which precedes the individual's consciousness of the conflicts which life develops.
我也該讓我的目光停留在一個嬰兒的臉上，以便我能獲得一個熱切渴望的純美的視覺，這是那個人在意識到生活帶來的沖突之前的美麗的視覺。
And I should like to look into the loyal, trusting eyes of my dogs-the grave, canny little Scottie, Darkie, and the stalwart, understanding Great Dane, Helga, whose warm, tender , and playful friendships are so comforting to me.
而且，我也要看看我的狗那忠誠、信任的眼睛－那嚴(yán)肅、機靈的小斯洛蒂·達基和那高大、健壯、善解人意的大達英·赫爾加，它們熱情溫柔和頑皮的友誼對我是個巨大的安慰。
On that busy first day I should also view the small simple things of my home.
在這繁忙的第一天，我也該看看我家的那些簡單的小事情。
I want to see the warm colors in the rugs under my feet, the pictures on the walls, the intimate trifles that transform a house into home.
我想看著我腳下地毯上、墻壁上圖畫的明朗愉快的色彩，那些使這間屋子成為一個家的親切的瑣碎物件。
My eyes would rest respectfully on the books in raised type which I have read,
我的目光也要敬重地停留在那些我讀過的陽文書籍上，
but they would be more eagerly interested in the printed books which seeing people can read, for during the long night of my life the books I have read and those which have been read to me have built themselves into a great shining lighthouse, revealing to me the deepest channels of human life and the human spirit.
但應(yīng)更熱切地對那些能看見的人所能讀的出版物感興趣，因為在我生命的漫漫長夜里，我讀過的書和別人對我讀過的書已筑成一座巨大的閃光的燈塔，對我顯示了人類生活和人類精神的最深的航道。
In the afternoon of that first seeing day.
那能看見的第一天的下午，
I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature trying desperately to absorb in a few hours the vast splendor which is constantly unfolding itself to those who can see.
我要在樹林里長久地散步，讓我的目光陶醉在大自然世界的美景之中。在幾個小時中，試圖拼命地吸收那無窮的壯麗，
On the way home from my woodland jaunt my path would lie near a farm so that I might see the patient horses ploughing in the field and the serene content of men living close to the soil.
這對那些能看見的人卻是一條小路，這樣我便能看到那馴良的馬匹在犁田看到貼近泥土生活的人們那安詳?shù)臐M足。
And I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset.
而且，我該為艷麗的落日光輝而祈禱。
When dusk had fallen, I should experience the double delight of being able to see by artificial light which the genius of man has created to extend the power of his sight when Nature decrees darkness.
黃昏降臨時，我該感受到雙倍的愉快，因為能看到人造的光芒，這是人類的天才創(chuàng)造出來的，當(dāng)大自然黑暗降臨之時，以延展他的視力。
In the night of that first day of sight, I should not be able to sleep, so full would be my mind of the memories of the day.
在那能看見的第一天晚間，我是不能入睡的，我腦海中充滿了白天的記憶。
The Second Day
第二天
The next day-the second day of sight-I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day.
次日-我能看的第二天-我會隨黎明一道起來，看那黑夜轉(zhuǎn)成白晝的激動人心的奇跡，
I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth.
我要懷著肅然敬畏的心情去看那太陽喚醒沉睡的大地的壯觀的景象。
This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world, past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man's progress, the kaleidoscope of the ages.
這一天，我要用來匆忙地掃視這個世界，它的過去和現(xiàn)在。我想看人類進程的展示，時代的萬花筒。
How can so much be compressed into one day?
這么多的東西怎么能壓縮在一天之內(nèi)看完呢？
Through the museums, of course.
當(dāng)然，通過博物館，
Often I have visited the New York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited,
我已多次去參觀過紐約自然歷史博物館，用我手去觸摸那里陳列的許多物件。
but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there-animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment;
但我渴望親眼看到地球和那里陳列的地球上居民的濃縮歷史:
gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth long before man appeared, with his tiny stature and powerful brain, to conquer the animal kingdom; realistic presentations of the processes of development in animals, in man, and in the implements which man has used to fashion for himself a secure home on this planet;
在他們自然環(huán)境里展示出的動物和人類種族；曾在人類出現(xiàn)之前，很早就在地球上漫游的巨大恐龍和柱牙象骨架，人類以他小巧的身材和強有力的大腦征服了動物王國；動物，人類和人類工具的發(fā)展過程的逼真展現(xiàn)，人類曾用這些工具在這個星球上來建造他們安全的家園，
and a thousand and one other aspects of natural history.
還有其它許許多多的自然歷史方面。
I wonder how many readers of this article have viewed this panorama of the face of living things as pictured in that inspiring museum.
我不知道這篇文章的多少讀者看過這個生動的博物館所展示的逼真事物的壯觀景貌。
Many, of course, have not had the opportunity, but I am sure that many who have had the opportunity have not made use of it.
當(dāng)然有許多人沒有機會，但是我相信，有許多人確有機會而沒有利用。
There, indeed, is a place to use your eyes.
那里，確是利用你的眼睛的地方，
You who see can spend many fruitful days there, but I with my imaginary three days of sight, could only take a hasty glimpse, and pass on.
你們能看見的人能在那里度過許多成果豐碩的日子，可是我只有想象的３天可見的時間，只能是倉促地一瞥，匆匆而過。
My next stop would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for just as the Museum of Natural History reveals the material aspects of the world, so does the Metropolitan show the myriad facets of the human spirit.
我的下一站將是大都會藝術(shù)博物館。像自然歷史博物館展示世界的物質(zhì)方面一樣，大都會藝術(shù)博物館展示大量的人類精神方面。
Throughout the history of humanity the urge to artistic expression has been almost as powerful as the urge for food, shelter, and procreation.
在貫穿人類歷史的全過程中，對藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)的強烈沖動就像人類對食物、住所和繁衍的迫切需要一樣強烈。
And here , in the vast chambers of the Metropolitan Museum, is unfolded before me the spirit of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as expressed in their art.
而這里，在大都會博物館那寬敞的大廳里，在我們面前展示了通過藝術(shù)形式表達出來的古埃及、古希臘和古羅馬的精神世界。
I know well through my hands the sculptured gods and goddesses of the ancient Nile-land.
我通過我的手很好地了解了雕刻的古代尼羅河土地上的眾神，
I have felt copies of Parthenon friezes, and I have sensed the rhythmic beauty of charging Athenian warriors.
我摸過巴臺農(nóng)神殿。中楣石柱的復(fù)制品，我意識到向前沖鋒的的雅典武士的勻稱和諧美。
Apollos and Venuses and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are friends of my finger tips. The gnarled, bearded features of Homer are dear to me, for he, too, knew blindness.
阿波羅、維納斯和有翅膀的薩摩絲雷斯勝利女神。是我的手指尖的朋友。我看到那荷馬的長滿胡須、節(jié)瘤眾多的面部雕像感到無比親切，因為他也是盲人。
My hands have lingered upon the living marble of roman sculpture as well as that of later generations.
我的手在栩栩如生的羅馬大理石雕像和后世的雕刻上逗留。
I have passed my hands over a plaster cast of Michelangelo's inspiring and heroic Moses; I have sensed the power of Rodin; I have been awed by the devoted spirit of Gothic wood carving.
我的手摸過米開朗基羅那鼓舞人心的英雄摩西雕塑石膏模；我感覺到羅丹的力量。我對哥特木刻的熱忱精神感到敬畏。
These arts which can be touched have meaning for me, but even they were meant to be seen rather than felt, and I can only guess at the beauty which remains hidden from me.
這些能被觸摸到的藝術(shù)作品對我有著實在的意義，但即使這些藝術(shù)品既是為了觀看又是為了摸的，我也只能是猜度我仍未發(fā)現(xiàn)的美妙。
I can admire the simple lines of a Greek vase, but its figured decorations are lost to me.
我能贊嘆一只古希臘花瓶簡單的線條，但我對它的圖案裝飾卻是迷惘的。
So on this, my second day of sight, I should try to probe into the soul of man through this art.
所以，在我能看的第二天，我要通過人類的藝術(shù)努力探究人生的靈魂。
The things I knew through touch I should now see.
通過觸摸我知道了的事情，
More splendid still, the whole magnificent world of painting would be opened to me, from the Italian Primitives, with their serene religious devotion, to the Moderns, with their feverish visions.
我現(xiàn)在要看見它對宗教泰然虔誠奉獻的意大利文藝復(fù)興前期作品到狂熱夢幻的現(xiàn)代派作品。
