读点好英文:Three Days to See　假如给我三天光明

Three Days to See　假如给我三天光明

·Helen Keller·

All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last years or his last hours.I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly limited.

Such stories set up thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings?What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?

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 on which are often lost when times 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，”most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.

Most of us 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 towards life.

The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of 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 sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation.It is the same old story of not being grateful for our health until we are ill……

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend 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 increduIous had I not been accustomed to such responses, 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 shaggy 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 in a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.I am delighted to have cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers.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 apparentIy see little.The panorama of color and action filling 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 mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.

Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for three days！

海伦·凯勒

所有人都读过动人的故事，故事中的英雄将不久于人世，长则一年，短则只有二十四小时。但我们经常关注的是这个命中注定要死的人如何选择度过生命中的最后几天或是最后几小时。当然，我在这里所说的是有权做出选择的自由人，而并非那些活动范围受到严格限制的死囚。

这类故事会激发我们的思考：倘若身处类似的环境下，我们自己该做些什么？在那临终前的几小时里我们会产生哪些联想？会有多少欣慰和遗憾呢？

有时我想，把每天都当作生命的最后一天来度过也不失为一种好的生命法则。这种态度重视的是人生的价值。每一天我们都应该以和善的态度、充沛的精力和热情的欣赏来度过，但当时间展现在我们面前、来日方长的时侯，我们会忽视这些东西。当然，有些人奉行享乐主义的座右铭——吃、喝、玩、乐，但大多数人却依然畏惧死亡的到来。

我们大多数人都认为生命是理所当然的，明白自己终有一天会死去，但却常常把这一天看得非常遥远。当我们身体强健的时候，死亡变成了难以想象的事情。我们很少考虑死亡，日子也一天天过去，好像永无尽头，所以我们为琐事奔波，而并没有意识到我们对待生活的态度是冷漠的。

我想我们在运用五官时恐怕也同样是冷漠的。只有聋子才珍惜听力，只有盲人才能认识到能见光明的幸运。对于那些成年失明或失聪的人尤其如此。但那些听力或视力未见损失的人却很少充分利用这些幸运的能力，他们对所见所闻不关注，不欣赏。这与常说的不失去不知珍惜，不生病不知健康可贵的道理是一样的。

我时常考问我有视力的朋友，以了解他们看到了什么。最近有一个很好的朋友在长时间林中漫步之后来看我，我问她观察到了些什么。“没什么特别的。”她回答道。要不是我已习惯于类似的反应，我也许会感到难以置信。我之所以不觉得奇怪是因为我早就确信：有视力者所见甚少。

我想，这怎么可能！在林中走了一小时，却什么值得注意的东西都没有看到吗？而我一个盲人仅仅通过触觉便发现了数以百计的有趣的东西。我感到树叶的对称美，用手抚摸着白桦树光滑的树皮或是松树那厚厚的粗糙的外衣。春天里我满怀希望地触摸着树枝寻找新芽，那是大自然在冬眠后醒来的第一个征象。我感到了花朵的可爱以及它那天鹅绒般柔软的质地，发现它层层叠叠地绽放着。大自然的神奇就在我的面前。我把手轻轻地放在一棵小树上，如果幸运的话，偶尔会感到歌唱着的小鸟正欢快地颤动。我会让清凉的溪水从手指间流过。对我来说，满地厚厚的松针和松软的草坪比奢华的波斯地毯更惹人喜爱。四季变幻的景色也仿佛是一场动人心魄，永不会完结的戏剧，剧中人物的动作从我的指尖流过。我的心在不时地呐喊，带着对光明的渴望。如果仅是通过触摸就可以使我获得如此多的喜悦，那么光明定会向我展示更多美好的事物啊！可惜那些眼未失明的人却看到得很少，整个世界缤纷的色彩和万物的活动都被认为是理所当然的。也许不珍惜已经拥有的，想得到还没有得到的是人类的本性，但是在光明的世界里，视觉只是作为一种方便的工具，而不是丰富生活的工具存在，这是多么令人遗憾的事情啊！

哦，假如我拥有三天的光明，我将会看到多少美好的事物啊！

核心单词

chasten['tʃeisn]v.磨炼；抑制，节制

impairment[im'pεəmənt]n.损伤

observe[əb'zə：v]v.看到，注意到

increduIous[in'kredjuləs]adj.不轻信的；怀疑的

symmetry['simitri]n.对称（性）；匀称；整齐

apparentIy[ə'pærəntli]adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

实用句型

The same Iethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of our facuIties and senses.

我想我们在运用五官时恐怕也同样是冷漠的。

①I am afraid在这里是插入语。

②I am afraid恐怕，类似的插入语还有you see, that is to say等。

翻译练习

1.别把迟到视为理所当然。（take for granted）

2.朋友们偶尔聚会，畅谈学生时代的美好时光。（now and then）

3.我一直在寻找一个能理解我的人。（in search of）