Three Days to See

By Helen Keller

All of us have read thrilling激动人心的 stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified限定的 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命中注定的man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free man who have a choice, not condemned被判刑的 criminals whose sphere范围 of activities is strictly delimited限制的.

Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances情况. What events, what experiences, what associations联想 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强调 sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor 活力and a keenness敏感 of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches延伸 before us in the constant 连续的 panorama 全景of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt 采用the epicurean乐观主义 motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry,” but most people would be chastened惩戒 by the certainty of impending迫近的 death.

In stories, the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke发作／撞击 of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent永久的 spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow醇的 sweetness to everything they do.

Most of us, however, take life for granted将生命认为是理所当然. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day far in the future. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista展望. So we go about our petty琐碎的 tasks, hardly aware of意识到 our listless消极的 attitude toward life.

The same lethargy懒散, I am afraid, characterize the use of all our faculties能力／官能and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing,only the blind realize the manifold多样的 blessings祝福 that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to适用于 those who have lost sight and hearing in adult成人 life. But those who have never suffered impairment损伤 of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily朦胧地, without concentration集中, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful感激的 for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of意识到 health until we are ill.

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.

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不相信 had I not been accustomed to习惯于such responses反应, for long ago I became convinced确信的 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优雅的 symmetry对称 of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch桦树, or the rough shaggy毛茸的 bark树皮 of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud芽, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter’s sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety天鹅绒 texture质地 of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions褶皱, and something of the miracle奇迹 of Nature is revealed显示 to me. Occasionally偶尔, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver震动 of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook小溪 rush through my open fingers. To me a lush carpet of pine needles柔软的松针毯 or spongy海绵状的 grass is more welcome than the most luxurious 豪华的Persian rug波斯毯. To me the pageant盛会 of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama戏剧, the action of which streams through my fingertips.

At times my heart cries out with longing渴望 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显然地 see little. The panorama of colour and action which fills 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 a mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.

If I were the president of a university I should establish建立 a compulsory必修的 course in “ How to Use Your Eye.” 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休眠的 and sluggish偷懒的 faculties.

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宝贵的 intervening介入的 days? What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon?

I, naturally, should want most to see the things which have become dear to me through my years of darkness. You, too, would want to let your eyes rest long on the things that have become dear to you so that your could take the memory of them with you into the night that doomed before you.

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轮廓 of her face, so that I could cherish珍惜 it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence证据 of the sympathetic有情心的 tenderness轻柔 and patience with which she accomplished完成 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同情 for all humanity人性 which she has revealed to me so often.

I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through the “window of the soul”, the eye. I can only “see” through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions情感 I know my friends from the feel of their faces. But I cannot really picture their personalities个性 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否认 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稍纵即逝的 reactions反应 of their eyes and countenance面容.

Friends who are near to me I know well, because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases阶段; but of casual普通的 friends I have only an incomplete impression印象, an impression gained from a handclap, from their lips with my fingertips, or which they tap into the palm手掌 of my hand.

How much easier, how much more satisfying it is for you who cam see to grasp抓住 quickly the essential基本／本质的 qualities of another person by watching the subtleties微妙 of expression, the quiver of a muscle, the flutter摆动 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熟人? Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features特征 of a face and let it go at that?

For instance例如, can you describe accurately精确地 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 colour of their wives’ eyes, and often they express embarrassed窘迫的 confusion混乱 and admit that they do not know. And, incidentally不时地, it is a chronic长期的 complaint 抱怨of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements家庭布置.

The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine惯例／常规 of their surroundings环境, and they actually see only the startling惊人的 and spectacular壮观的. But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy. Court records reveal every day how inaccurately “eyewitnesses证人” 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 the vision.

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