海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第36期

　　The chief events of the year 1893 were my trip to Washington during the inauguration of President Cleveland, and visits to Niagara and the World’s Fair. Under such circumstances my studies were constantly interrupted and often put aside for many weeks, so that it isimpossible for me to give a connected account of them.

　　1893年的主要大事，就是在克利夫兰总统就职典礼期间的华盛顿之行，参观尼亚加拉(瀑布)和世界博览会。旅行期间，我的学业有时会中断数星期之久，所以我不太可能把这些事联系在一起进行叙述。

　　We went to Niagara in March, 1893. It is difficult to describe my emotions when I stood on the point which overhangs the American Falls and felt the air vibrate and the earth tremble.

　　我们是在1893年3月去的尼亚加拉。当我站在美洲瀑布的悬崖边上，感受着空气的震动和大地的颤抖，我激动的心情是难以用语言描述的。

　　It seems strange to many people that I should be impressed by the wonders and beauties of Niagara. They are always asking: "What does this beauty or that music mean to you? You cannot see the waves rolling up the beach or hear their roar. What do they mean to you?" In the most evident sense they mean everything. I cannot fathom or define their meaning any more than I can fathom or define love or religion or goodness.

　　在很多人眼中，这似乎有些奇怪，我是如何被尼亚加拉(瀑布)的雄浑美丽所感动的呢?他们总会问我：“它的美妙和音响对你而言意味着什么?你看不见惊涛拍岸，也听不到巨浪咆哮，可这些对你来说意味着什么?”我最明显的感觉是，它们代表了一切。的确，我无法透彻理解它们的含义并对其做出解释，但是我能透彻理解博爱、宗教以及仁慈的含义并对其做出解释。

　　During the summer of 1893, Miss Sullivan and I visited the World’s Fair with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. I recall with unmixed delight those days when a thousand childish fancies became beautiful realities. Every day in imagination I made a trip round the world, and I saw many wonders from the uttermost parts of the earth—marvels of invention, treasuries of industry and skill and all the activities of human life actually passed under my finger tips.

　　1893年夏天，我和苏立文小姐随同亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔博士参观了世界博览会。我对那段快乐时光记忆犹新，上千个天真的想象全都变成了美丽的现实。每天我都会在想象中周游世界，我见识了许多世界奇迹——伟大的发明，工业技术的结晶，以及多姿多彩的人类生活一一在我的指尖下滑过。

　　I liked to visit the Midway Plaisance. It seemed like the "Arabian Nights," it was crammed so full ofnovelty and interest. Here was the India of my books in the curious bazaar with its Shivas and elephant-gods; there was the land of the Pyramids concentrated in a model Cairo with its mosques and its long processions of camels; yonder were the lagoons of Venice, where we sailed every evening when the city and the fountains were illuminated. I also went on board a Viking ship which lay a short distance from the little craft. I had been on a man-of-war before, in Boston, and it interested me to see, on this Viking ship, how the seaman was once all in all—how he sailed and took storm and calm alike with undaunted heart, and gave chase to whosoever reechoed his cry, "We are of the sea!" and fought with brains and sinews, self-reliant, self-sufficient, instead of being thrust into the background by unintelligent machinery, as Jack is to-day. So it always is—"man only is interesting to man."

　　我最喜欢的地方是普赖桑斯游乐场，这里就像“天方夜谭”，里面充满了各色各样的奇思妙想。我能感受到书中描写的印度风情——奇特的集市满是“湿婆”和“象神”的雕像;这里还有金字塔和开罗城的景观模型，清真寺和长途跋涉的驼队贯穿其中;更远一点的地方是威尼斯水道，每晚，我们都乘船航行在灯光绚烂的城市和喷泉之间。我还登上了一艘放置在微缩城外的维京海盗船，在波士顿的时候我也曾登上过军舰，如今，我兴味盎然地看着维京船的海员们如何扬帆远航，如何气定神闲地面对风暴。人们的耳边回响着他们的呐喊：“我们属于大海!”他们同大海抗衡的武器是灵活的头脑和强健的体力;他们独来独往，自给自足，并没有像今天的水手们那样被湮没在愚蠢的机械文明之下。所以还是老话说得好——“男人只应做属于男人的事。”