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The stories had little or no meaning for me then; but the mere spelling of the strange words was sufficient to amuse a little child who could do almost nothing to amuse herself; and although I do not recall a single circumstance connected with the reading of the stories, yet I cannot help thinking that I made a great effort to remember the words, with the intention of having my teacher explain them when she returned. One thing is certain, the language was ineffaceably stamped upon my brain, though for a long time no one knew it, least of all myself.
當時，這些故事并沒有給我留下什么印象，不過，那些奇異的單詞拼寫足以讓一個沒有任何樂趣的小孩子開心一陣子了。雖然我連任何一個同故事有關的情節都記不起來了，但是我無法忘掉學習單詞的艱苦過程。在老師休假歸來后，我馬上讓老師給我解釋那些陌生的詞。因此，有一件事是肯定的——語言在我頭腦中留下的烙印是無法抹煞的，只是很久以來，我并沒有去特別留意這個問題。
When Miss Sullivan came back, I did not speak to her about "The Frost Fairies," probably because she began at once to read "Little Lord Fauntleroy," which filled my mind to the exclusion of everything else. But the fact remains that Miss Canby's story was read to me once, and that long after I had forgotten it, it came back to me so naturally that I never suspected that it was the child of another mind.
蘇立文小姐回來后，我并沒有對她講《冰雪仙子》的事，這可能是因為她一回來就給我讀《小爵爺方特勒羅伊》，我滿腦子里裝的都是這個故事，就暫時把別的事都拋到了一邊。但實際情況是，曾經有人把肯拜小姐的故事讀給我聽，這是一種殘存的記憶，雖然時間會令人遺忘，但是對我而言，記憶恢復時還是顯得那么自然。我從不懷疑那個故事就是某個孩童的另一個頭腦的產物。
In my trouble I received many messages of love and sympathy. All the friends I loved best, except one, have remained my own to the present time.
在那段艱難的日子里，我得到了很多人的同情和關愛，我的朋友們無一例外地伸出援手，把我從低谷中拉上來。
Miss Canby herself wrote kindly, "Some day you will write a great story out of your own head, that will be a comfort and help to many." But this kind prophecy has never been fulfilled. I have never played with words again for the mere pleasure of the game. Indeed, I have ever since been tortured by the fear that what I write is not my own.
肯拜小姐親自寫信安慰我：“有朝一日，你也會用自己的頭腦寫出一篇偉大的故事，它將會撫慰很多人，也會對他們助益匪淺。”但是這個預言從來沒有實現，我不再做僅僅為了娛樂而玩弄辭藻的游戲了。實際上，自那以后，我被恐懼折磨著，我害怕我寫的東西不是我自己的。
