Three Days to See
假如給我三天光明
1. 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 days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.
1、我們大家都讀過一些驚心動魄的故事，其主人公死期已定，生日無多。有的長達一年，有的短至24小時。但是我們總是有興趣搞清楚：這個壽數(shù)將盡的人究竟愿意怎樣度過他的最后的時日。當(dāng)然，我所指的是能進行選擇的自由的人，而不是活動范圍受到嚴格限制的囚犯。
2. Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
2、這些故事啟迪我們思考，誘發(fā)我們想象：我們處于這類情況，該做什么呢?作為注定要死的人，我們在最后的時刻會忙不迭地干些什么，體驗些什么，聯(lián)想些什么?在回首往事時，我們又能領(lǐng)略到何種快慰，何種悔恨呢?
3. 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 which are often lost when time 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," but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.
3、有時我想，如果我們度過每一天時都假定明天即將去世，這將是個極好的準(zhǔn)則。這樣的處世態(tài)度會明顯突出生命的價值。我們就會高雅地、朝氣蓬勃地、感受強烈地來度過每一天，而當(dāng)我們眼前時光悠悠，不絕流逝，歲月晝夜，綿綿無期，我們反而因此做不到上述種種。當(dāng)然，在前面提到的假定情況下，有些人會奉行享樂主義的“吃喝玩樂”的信條。然而大多數(shù)人則會因迫在眉睫的死亡必定來臨而感受到鞭策。
4. In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
4、在故事中，那個命定要死的主人公通常是在最后時刻交上好運氣被搭救了。但他的價值觀幾乎總是發(fā)生了變化。他變得更加欣賞生命的意義以及其永恒的神圣價值。人們已常常注意到，那些在死亡的陰影下生活著的人給他所做的每一件事都添上甜美的色彩。
5. Most of us, however, 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 task, hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.
5、然而，我們中間大多數(shù)，則把生命視作為理所當(dāng)然的。我們知道，總有一天我們會死去，但通常我們又把那一天想象為遙遠的未來。當(dāng)我們身強力壯歡快活潑時，死亡是件難以想象的事。我們幾乎想不到它。來日方長，無邊無涯。因此我們忙于種種瑣事，幾乎意識不到我們對待生活的漠然的態(tài)度。
6. 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 what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
6、我們在應(yīng)用我們的感覺功能時，恐怕也同樣持有這種冷漠態(tài)度。只有聾者才知道聽覺的重要，只有盲人才理解到視覺所包涵的千姿百態(tài)的賞心樂事。這一觀點特別適用于那些在成年后才喪失視覺和聽覺的人。而那些視覺和聽覺從未受到損害的人則很少充分利用這些有幸獲得的官能。他們的眼睛和耳朵模糊地、漫不經(jīng)心地、不加欣賞地容納入所有的景象和聲音。還是那句老話：失后方知難得，病時倍思健康。
7. I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
7、我常常想，如果每個人在剛成年時的某個時候能失明或失聰幾天，這或許是件大好事。黑暗將使他更深刻地感受景象，而寂靜將教會他領(lǐng)略聲音的歡樂。
8. 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 incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
8、我不時考問我的有視力的朋友，以了解他們所見的情況。最近有一個極好的朋友來看我，她是在林中溜達了好一會才回來的，我問她觀察到了些什么�！皼]有什么特別的東西。”她回答說。要不是我對類似的反應(yīng)已習(xí)以為常的話，我是會感到難以置信的。我之所以不覺為奇，是因為我早已得出結(jié)論：有視力者所見甚少。
9. 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. ! 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.
9、我問自己，在林中溜達了一個小時而竟沒有看到什么值得注意的東西，這怎么可能呢?我這個看不見東西的人，僅憑觸摸就發(fā)現(xiàn)千百種使我感興趣的東西。我感覺到葉片的精致的對稱。我用手愛撫著光滑的白樺樹皮，或是粗糙的松樹皮。春天里，我滿懷希望地觸摸樹枝，冀求找著一顆幼芽—大自然經(jīng)過冬日沉睡重又蘇醒的最早的征兆。我摸著花朵的可愛的天鵝絨般的質(zhì)地，并發(fā)現(xiàn)它的花瓣一圈圈疊合得那么巧妙，于是我領(lǐng)略到了某種大自然的神奇。偶爾，如果我十分幸運的話，我把手輕輕搭在一棵小樹上，能感到一只小鳥兒盡情歌唱的歡愉的顫動。我非常高興讓清涼的溪水流過我的張開的手指。對我來說，那厚密的松針層或茂盛松軟的綠茵地比豪華的波斯地毯更愜意。對我來說，四季的奇瑰變幻猶如一出動人心弦的永不落幕的話劇，它的情節(jié)似水般徐徐從我指尖流過。
10. 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 apparently see little. The panorama of color and action fill 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 and the gift of sight is used only as mere convenience rather that as a means of adding fullness to life.
10、我的心時時在呼號，渴望見到所有這一切。如果我單靠觸摸就能獲得如許樂趣，那么通過視覺又將能領(lǐng)略到多少美景呀�？墒�，那些雙目完好的人顯然所見甚少。大干世界中的五光十色的千姿百態(tài)被認為是理所當(dāng)然的。對已獲得的不以為意，而對未獲得的卻引頸企盼，這一點或許是人類的特性，可是，非常遺憾，在光明的世界里，天賦的視力只被當(dāng)成一種單純的方便，而不是一種使生活臻于完美的手段。
11. If I were the president of a university I should establish a compulsory course in "How to Use Your Eyes". The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant and sluggish faculties.
11、如果我是大學(xué)校長，我就要開設(shè)一門必修課：“如何使用你們的眼睛”。教授應(yīng)盡力向?qū)W生說明，如何做到真正看見那些從他們面前不知不覺溜掉的東西，從而為自己的生活增添快樂。他將盡力喚醒他們那些昏睡懶散的感官。
12. Suppose you set your mind to work on the problem of how you would use your own eyes if you had only three more days to see. If with the oncoming darkness of the third night you knew that the sun would never rise for you again, how would you spend those three precious intervening days? What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon?
12、假定你在開動腦筋研究這一問題：如果你只有三天的視力了，你將如何使用你的眼睛呢?如果你知道當(dāng)?shù)谌齻�夜晚的黑暗降臨，太陽就永遠不再為你升起，你將如何度過其間寶貴的三天呢?你最愿意讓你的目光落在何處?
13. I, naturally, should want most to see the things which have become dear to me through my years of darkness. You, to, would want to let your eyes rest long on the things that have become dear to you so that you could take the memory of them with you into the night that loomed before you.
13、我當(dāng)然最愿意看看那些在我整個失明的歲月里對我已變得親切的東西。你也會想讓你的目光長久地落在那些對你已變得親切的東西上，這樣你就可以把對它們的記憶帶進已隱約逼近你的漫漫長夜中去。
14. I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living. First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me. I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education. I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties, and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often.
14、我要看看那些待我仁慈、溫和、友好，從而使我的生活變得有價值的人們。首先，我要好好地端詳我的老師安·沙利文·梅絲夫人的臉，她在我年幼的時候就來替我打開了外部世界。我不僅想看她的臉形，以便能把它珍藏在我的記憶中，而且還想細細揣摩這面容，并從中找出她的柔腸與耐心的活生生的證據(jù)—她正是用這種柔腸和耐心完成了教育我的艱巨任務(wù)。我想在她的眼中看到那種使她堅定地面對各種困難的人格力量，以及那種她經(jīng)常在我面前流露出來的對全人類的同情心。
15. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that "window of the soul", the eye. I can only "see" through my finger tips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces. But I cannot really picture their personalities by touch. I know their personalities, of course, through other means, through the thoughts they express to me, through whatever of their actions are revealed to me. But I am denied that deeper understanding of them which I am sure would come through sight of them through watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and circumstances, through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance.
15、我不知道，透過“心靈之窗”，即眼睛，來探視一個朋友的心是怎么回事。我只能通過我的指尖來“看”一張臉的輪廓。我能探察到歡笑、憂傷和許多其他明顯的感情。我根據(jù)觸摸臉龐的感覺來辨認朋友，但是我不能靠觸摸來真正描繪出他們的全貌。當(dāng)然，我通過其他手段，通過他們向我表達的思想，通過他們向我表現(xiàn)出的任何行動來了解他們的個性。但是，我無法對他們有更深的理解，因為我確信，要達到這種更深的理解，必須要目視他們，觀察他們對各種所表達的思想及情況所作的反應(yīng)，留意他們眼睛里和臉上那種瞬間和稍縱即逝的反應(yīng)。
16. Friends who are near to me I know well, because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases; but of casual friends I have only an incomplete impression, an impression gained from a handclasp, from spoken words which I take from their lips with my finger tips, or which they tap into the palm of my hand.
16、我熟悉那些和我親近的朋友，因為長年累月以來他們向我顯露了自己的各個方面，然而對于偶而結(jié)識的朋友我只有一種不完全的印象，這是僅憑握手以及言語所獲得的印象。那些言語我又是靠用指尖觸摸他們的嘴唇，或是靠他們叩擊我的手掌而獲悉的。
17. How much easier, how much more satisfying it is for you who can see to grasp quickly the essential qualities of another person by watching the subtleties of expression, the quiver of a muscle, the flutter of a hand. But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friend or acquaintance? Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that?
17、比較起來，你們這些能看見的人，通過觀察表情的微妙變化、肌肉的顫動和手的措置來迅速地把握別人的本質(zhì)特點，就容易得多了，滿意得多了。但是，你們可曾想到要用自己的視力去看穿一個朋友或熟人的內(nèi)在性格?你們這些有視力的人中的大多數(shù)不就是隨便抓住一張臉的外部特征而就此為止了嗎?
18. For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends? Some of you can, but many cannot. As an experiment, I have questioned husbands of long standing about the color of their wives' eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. And, incidentally, it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements.
18、舉例來說，你能準(zhǔn)確地描繪出五個好朋友的臉形嗎?你們中有些人可以，但許多人不行。作為試驗，我曾向一些結(jié)婚多年的丈夫詢問過他們妻子眼睛的顏色，但他們常常表現(xiàn)出尷尬困惑的神色，承認不知道。這里順便提及，做妻子的老是埋怨她們的丈夫不注意她們的新服裝，新帽子以及房間布置中的變化。
19. The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surrounding, and they actually see only the startling and spectacular. But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy. Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eyewitnesses" see. A given event will be "seen" in several different ways by as many witnesses. Some see more than others, but few see everything that is within the range of their vision.
19、有視力者的眼睛很快就對他們周圍日常事物感到習(xí)慣，因此他實際上只見到一些驚人的、壯觀的景象。但是，哪怕是在看最壯觀的場面時，他們的眼睛也是懶洋洋的。法院的記錄每天都表明“目擊者”所見是多么的不準(zhǔn)確。一個特定事件可能被幾個目擊者從幾個不同方面“看到”。有一些人比別人看得多些，但幾乎沒有人看到他們視野之內(nèi)的一切。
20. Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days!
20、哦，如果我能有即使僅是三天的視力，我該見到多少東西啊!
