海伦·凯勒自传《我的生活》第31期
日期:2012-06-01 13:09

(单词翻译:单击)

Mr. Anagnos was delighted with "The Frost King," and published it in one of the Perkins Institution reports. This was the pinnacle of my happiness, from which I was in a little while dashed to earth. I had been in Boston only a short time when it was discovered that a story similar to "The Frost King," called "The Frost Fairies" by Miss Margaret T. Canby, had appeared before I was born in a book called "Birdie and His Friends." The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby's story had been read to me, and that mine was—a plagiarism. It was difficult to make me understand this; but when I did understand I was astonished and grieved. No child ever drank deeper of the cup of bitterness than I did. I had disgraced myself; I had brought suspicion upon those I loved best. And yet how could it possibly have happened? I racked my brain until I was weary to recall anything about the frost that I had read before I wrote "The Frost King"; but I could remember nothing, except the common reference to Jack Frost, and a poem for children, "The Freaks of the Frost," and I knew I had not used that in my composition.
阿纳戈诺斯先生很欣赏我的《冰雪之王》,他还把故事登在了帕金斯学院的一份刊物上。可以说,这把我推到了快乐的顶点,但是片刻之间,我就从云端直坠地面。我刚回到波士顿不久,就有人发现了一篇同《冰雪之王》类似的故事,那个故事名叫《冰雪仙子》,作者是玛格利特·T.肯拜小姐。这篇故事出自一本叫做《布莱迪和他的伙伴们》的书,而这本书早在我出生之前就出版了。无论在思路还是语言上,这两篇故事是如此相似,令人不得不相信我曾看到过肯拜小姐的书,这就是说,我的故事是一篇剽窃之作。起初我感到难以理解,但是搞明白后,我感到既震惊又伤心。没有一个孩子像我这样饮下了这么多的苦水。我感到颜面尽失。我令我最爱的那些人疑虑重重。可是,这一切怎么可能发生呢?我搜索枯肠左思右想,直到厌倦了回忆我读到过的任何有关森林的故事。事实上,在写《冰雪之王》之前,我不记得看到过这类故事。也许杰克·弗罗斯特为孩子们写的一首叫做《寒冬奇想》的诗和冰雪有关,可是我绝对没有在我的故事中使用到诗里的内容。
At first Mr. Anagnos, though deeply troubled, seemed to believe me. He was unusually tender and kind to me, and for a brief space the shadow lifted. To please him I tried not to be unhappy, and to make myself as pretty as possible for the celebration of Washington's birthday, which took place very soon after I received the sad news.
虽然阿纳戈诺斯先生深受困扰,但是他似乎相信我的清白。很快,这段短暂的阴霾消散了,他变得对我更加和蔼可亲了。为了让他高兴,我尽量掩饰自己的不快,我以最优雅的举止参加了华盛顿诞辰的庆典活动,这件事就发生在我得到那个坏消息之后不久。
I was to be Ceres in a kind of masque given by the blind girls. How well I remember the graceful draperies that enfolded me, the bright autumn leaves that wreathed my head, and the fruit and grain at my feet and in my hands, and beneath all the gaiety of the masque the oppressive sense of coming ill that made my heart heavy.
在伙伴们组织的假面舞会中,我扮演了谷物女神色瑞斯。我的身上围裹着华丽的织物,头上缠绕着亮闪闪的秋叶,手脚周围布满了果实和谷物;而在欢乐的气氛之下,我的胸中则积蓄着深深的愁苦。
The night before the celebration, one of the teachers of the Institution had asked me a question connected with "The Frost King," and I was telling her that Miss Sullivan had talked to me about Jack Frost and his wonderful works. Something I said made her think she detected in my words a confession that I did remember Miss Canby's story of "The Frost Fairies," and she laid her conclusions before Mr. Anagnos, although I had told her most emphatically that she was mistaken.
庆典活动的前一天晚上,学院里的一位老师问了我一个同《冰雪之王》有关的问题。我告诉她,苏立文小姐曾跟我介绍过杰克·弗罗斯特及其出色的诗作。我想我讲的某些事情让她产生了不切实际的想法,因为她从中觉察到了我对肯拜小姐的《冰雪仙子》记忆犹新,甚至认为我坦白交代了自己的过错。虽然我一再重申她的错误推断,但她还是把自己的结论提交给了阿纳戈诺斯先生。
Mr. Anagnos, who loved me tenderly, thinking that he had been deceived, turned a deaf ear to the pleadings of love and innocence. He believed, or at least suspected, that Miss Sullivan and I had deliberately stolen the bright thoughts of another and imposed them on him to win his admiration. I was brought before a court of investigation composed of the teachers and officers of the Institution, and Miss Sullivan was asked to leave me. Then I was questioned and cross-questioned with what seemed to me a determination on the part of my judges to force me to acknowledge that I remembered having had "The Frost Fairies" read to me. I felt in every question the doubt and suspicion that was in their minds, and I felt, too, that a loved friend was looking at me reproachfully, although I could not have put all this into words. The blood pressed about my thumping heart, and I could scarcely speak, except in monosyllables. Even the consciousness that it was only a dreadful mistake did not lessen my suffering, and whenat last I was allowed to leave the room, I was dazed and did not notice my teacher's caresses, or the tender words of my friends, who said I was a brave little girl and they were proud of me.
于是,对我和蔼友善的阿纳戈诺斯先生认为受到了欺骗,继而对我们为捍卫清白而做的辩解充耳不闻。他相信,或者至少是怀疑,我和苏立文小姐故意偷取了别人的思想精华,并且将其用作赢得他人赞赏的工具。我还受到了由学院教师和官员组成的调查法庭的质询,而苏立文小姐则被告知要暂时回避。随后,我被翻来覆去地问讯,调查团似乎下定决心要将我判定为曾读过《冰雪仙子》。我认为每一个引起怀疑的问题都是他们主观臆断的结果;同时,我也感觉到了一个亲密的朋友正在用责备的眼神看着我,只是我无法把这些感受用言语表达出来。我想一吐胸中的块垒,但是除了几个简单的音节,我一句话也说不出来。甚至连我的意识也变成了可怕的帮凶,它无法解除我的痛苦。终于,我被获准离开了房间,我头晕脑涨,根本没有留意老师的拥抱和朋友们的好言安慰。朋友们都说我是一个勇敢的女孩,她们为我感到自豪。

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重点单词
  • referencen. 参考,出处,参照 n. 推荐人,推荐函 vt. 提
  • emphaticallyadv. 着重地;强调地;断然地
  • consciousnessn. 意识,知觉,自觉,觉悟
  • wearyadj. 疲倦的,厌烦的 v. 疲倦,厌烦,生厌
  • deliberatelyadv. 慎重地,故意地
  • plagiarismn. 剽窃,剽窃物
  • troubledadj. 动乱的,不安的;混乱的;困惑的
  • admirationn. 钦佩,赞赏
  • institutionn. 机构,制度,创立
  • determinationn. (正式)决定,规定,决心,测定,定位