37. The Firm Helen Keller
37. 堅強的海倫·凱勒
At the age of five Helen began to realize she was different from other people. She noticed that her family did not use signs like she did but talked with their mouths Sometimes she stood between two people and touched their lips. She could not understand what they said and she could not make any meaningful sounds herself. She wanted to talk but no matter how she tried she could not make herself understood. This makes her so angry that she used to hurl herself around the room, kicking and screaming in frustration.
海倫五歲時開始意識到她與別人不同。她發(fā)現(xiàn)家里的其他人不用像她那樣做手勢而是用嘴交談。有時她站在兩人中間觸摸他們的嘴唇。她不知道他們在說什么,而她自己不能發(fā)出帶有含義的聲音。她想、講話,可無論費多大的勁兒也無法使別人明白自己。這使她異常懊惱以至于常常在屋子里亂跑亂撞,灰心地又踢又喊。
As she got older her frustration grew and her rages became worse and worse. She became wild and unruly. If she didn't get what she wanted she would throw tantrums until her family gave in. Her favorite tricks included grabbing other people's food from their plates and hurling fragile objects to the floor. Once she even managed to lock her mother into the pantry. Eventually it became clear that something had to be done. So, just before her seventh birthday, the family hired a private tutor -Anne Sullivan.
隨著年齡的增長她的怒氣越來越大。她變得狂野不馴。倘若她得不到想要的東西就會大發(fā)脾氣直到家人順從。她慣用的手段包括抓別人盤里的食物以及將易碎的東西猛扔在地。有一次她甚至將母親鎖在廚房里。這樣一來就得想個辦法了。于是,在她,快到七歲生日時,家里使雇了一名家庭教師——安妮·薩利文。
Anne was careful to teach Helen especially those subjects in which she was interested. As a result Helen became gentler and she soon learnt to read and write in Braille. She also learnt to read people's lips by pressing her finger-tips against them and feeling the movement and vibrations. This method is called Tadoma and it is a skill that very, very few people manage to acquire. She also learnt to speak, a major achievement for someone who could not hear at all.
安妮悉心地教授海倫,特別是她感興趣的東西。這樣海倫變得溫和了而且很快學(xué)會了用布菜葉盲文朗讀和寫作??坑檬种附佑|說話人的嘴唇去感受運動和震動,她又學(xué)會了觸唇意識。這種方法被稱作泰德馬,是一種很少有人掌握的技能。她也學(xué)會了講話,這對失聰?shù)娜藖碚f是個巨大的成就。