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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.
我常常想，如果每个人在成人的早期生活中某一段时间，有几天失明失聪的话，那将是一种福气。
Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence
would teach him the joys of sound.
黑暗会使他更加珍惜视力；寂静会教给他声音的快乐。
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what
they see.
有时，我考考我那些看得见的朋友，来看看他们看到了些什么。
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.
最近，有一位好友来看我，她在树林里散步了许久刚回来，我问她看到了什么。
"Nothing in particular," she replied.
她回答说：「没有什么特别的」。
I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to
such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see
little.
若非我已经习惯了这样的回答，我可能不敢轻信，因为很久以前我就深信看得到的人看到的东西很少。
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour
through the woods and see nothing worthy of note?
我自问，在树林中走了一个小时而没见到什么值得注意的东西这怎么可能呢？
I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me
through mere touch.
我是看不见的，单凭触觉都发现了好几百种令我感到兴趣的事物。
I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf.
我感觉到树叶的精致对称。
I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver
birch, or the rough bark of a pine.
我伸手疼爱地摸摸白桦树光滑的表面或是松树粗糙的树皮。
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.
春天时，我抚摸树枝，希望能找到芽苞，那是大自然冬眠后苏醒的第一个信号。
Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently
on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.
偶尔，如果运气很好，我把手轻放在小树上，感受小鸟高歌的快乐震颤。
I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush
through my open fingers.
让凉凉的溪水从张开的手指间冲过，令我感觉愉悦。
To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more
welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.
对我而言，满地青翠的松林针叶或一片柔软的草皮要胜过最豪华的波斯地毯。
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these
things.
有时我的心由于渴望能见到这一切而呐喊。
If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more
beauty must be revealed by sight.
假如仅仅从触摸中我就能得到这么多的乐趣，那么由眼睛看到的一定是更加的美丽。
Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little.
但是，那些有眼睛的人显然看得很少。
The panorama of color and action which fills the world is
taken for granted.
充满世界的颜色和活动的全景被视为理所当然。
It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have
and to long for that which we have not,
或许人之常情就是对自己所拥有的一切不怎么珍惜，而却渴望我们所没有的。
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.
很遗憾的是在光明的世界里，天赋的视力仅被当作方便的东西，而不是当作充实人生的一种工具。
How I wish I could see the people whose kindness and
gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living.
我多么希望我能看见那些人，他们的仁慈、和善和友谊使得我的人生值得活下去。
（待续）
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