海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第72期

　　Mrs. Hutton is a true and tried friend. Much that I hold sweetest, much that I hold most precious, I owe to her. She has oftenest advised and helped me in my progress through college. When I find my work particularly difficult and discouraging, she writes me letters that make me feel glad and brave; for she is one of those from whom we learn that one painful duty fulfilled makes the next plainer and easier.

　　休顿夫人也是那种患难见真情的朋友。我被浓浓的友情所包围，我拥有了最珍贵的礼物，这一切都要归功于她。她不遗余力地对我谆谆教诲，而且帮助我完成了大学的学业。每当我在学习中身处困境而心灰意冷时，她就会写信鼓励我，让我重新燃起斗志。从她身上，我们学到了这样一条真理——只有克服了眼前的困难，下一步的路途才会变得平坦易行。

　　Mr. Hutton introduced me to many of his literary friends, greatest of whom are Mr. William Dean Howells and Mark Twain. I also met Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman. I also knew Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, the most delightful of story-tellers and the most beloved friend, whose sympathy was so broad that it may be truly said of him, he loved all living things and his neighbour as himself. Once Mr. Warner brought to see me the dear poet of the woodlands—Mr. John Burroughs. They were all gentle and sympathetic and I felt the charm of their manner as much as I had felt the brilliancy of their essays and poems. I could not keep pace with all these literary folk as they glanced from subject to subject and entered into deep dispute, or madeconversation sparkle with epigrams and happy witticisms. I was like little Ascanius, who followed with unequal steps the heroic strides of Aeneas on his march toward mighty destinies. But theyspoke many gracious words to me. Mr. Gilder told me about his moonlight journeys across thevast desert to the Pyramids, and in a letter he wrote me he made his mark under his signature deep in the paper so that I could feel it. This reminds me that Dr. Hale used to give a personal touch to his letters to me by pricking his signature in braille. I read from Mark Twain’s lips one or two of his good stories. He has his own way of thinking, saying and doing everything. I feel the twinkle of his eye in his handshake. Even while he utters his cynical wisdom in an indescribablydroll voice, he makes you feel that his heart is a tender Iliad of human sympathy.

　　休顿先生还把他很多文学界的朋友介绍给我，包括大名鼎鼎的威廉·迪安·豪厄尔斯和马克·吐温。我见到了理查德·沃特森·吉尔德先生和埃德蒙德·克拉伦斯·斯泰德曼先生，还结识了查尔斯·达德利·沃纳先生。他是最讨人喜欢的“说书人”，也是我最钟爱的友人;他有着无比深切的同情心，爱人如己。记得有一次，沃纳先生带我拜会了可敬的“林地诗人”——约翰·巴勒斯先生。在我看来，他们都是些心地善良而富于同情心的人，他们的人格魅力正如他们笔下的散文和诗歌一样散发着璀璨的光芒。当然，我是无法同这些文学大家盘经论道的，尤其是当他们在不同话题之间纵横捭阖，或者辩论正酣、妙语连珠的时候。我就像小阿斯卡涅斯一样，他步履蹒跚地跟在英雄父亲埃涅阿斯身后，无怨无悔地迎接命运的安排。他们热情地同我谈天说地，吉尔德先生向我讲述了他月夜旅行的经历，他曾穿越浩瀚的大沙漠前往金字塔。在给我写的信中，他特意在落款后面留下一个深深的标记，这样我就可以在纸上摸到它了。而黑尔博士自有他私人的问候方式，他会把落款签名用盲文刺在纸上。我还通过触摸马克·吐温的嘴唇而“阅读”了他的一两篇小说。马克·吐温有着自己独特的思维方式，无论讲话做事都个性鲜明。在同他握手时，我能感觉到他那炯炯有神的目光。他经常会以一种难以描述的机智而诙谐的语言针砭时弊，即使在这种时候，他依然会令你感觉到他那如同伊利亚特一样的慈悲心肠。