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Chapter VI
第六章
I had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it.
如今，我已經掌握了學習所有語言的關鍵，而且我渴望學以致用。
Children who hear acquire language without any particular effort;
對那些正常的孩子而言，他們學習語言并不需要特別的努力，
and the words that fall from others' lips they catch on the wing, as it were, delightedly,
就能夠領會從別人唇間吐出的詞匯，這是一個令人欣喜的過程。
while the little deaf child must trap them by a slow and often painful process.
而對于一個聾啞小孩而言，掌握語言必須要經過一番緩慢而痛苦的學習過程。
But whatever the process, the result is wonderful.
但無論是哪一種過程，其結果都會令人無比愉悅。
Gradually from naming an object we advance step by step
漸漸地，我們從說出一種物體的名字，一步步發展到在更廣闊的疆域里自由馳騁——
until we have traversed the vast distance between our first stammered syllable and the sweep of thought in a line of Shakespeare.
從第一次發出結結巴巴的音節，到在莎士比亞的詩行間沉思，我們穿越了遙遠的征途。
At first, when my teacher told me about a new thing I asked very few questions.
起初，當我的老師講解一件新事物時，我幾乎問不出什么問題。
My ideas were vague, and my vocabulary was inadequate;
我的意識是模糊的，我的詞匯也是貧乏的，
but as my knowledge of things grew, and I learned more and more words, my field of inquiry broadened,
但是隨著接觸事物的增加，我學會的詞匯也越來越多。我問詢的范圍變寬廣了，
and I would return again and again to the same subject, eager for further information.
我一次又一次地周旋于同一個主題，我渴望深入了解事物的方方面面。
Sometimes a new word revived an image that some earlier experience had engraved on my brain.
有時候，一個新詞會勾起我對早期經歷的一些記憶。
I remember the morning that I first asked the meaning of the word, "love."
我記得有一天早上，我第一次詢問“愛”這個詞的含義，
This was before I knew many words.
這是我早就知道的一個詞。
I had found a few early violets in the garden and brought them to my teacher.
當時，我在花園里發現了幾株剛剛開放的紫羅蘭，于是我把花朵帶給了我的老師。
She tried to kiss me: but at that time I did not like to have any one kiss me except my mother.
老師試圖吻我，但是在那個時候，除了母親，我不喜歡被任何人親吻。
