I RECALL many incidents of the summer of 1887 that followed my soul's sudden awakening. I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.

When the time of daisies and buttercups came Miss Sullivan took me by the hand across the fields, where men were preparing the earth for the seed, to the banks of the Tennessee River, and there, sitting on the warm grass, I had my first lessons in the beneficence of nature. I learned how the sun and the rain make to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, how birds build their nests and live and thrive from land to land, how the squirrel, the deer, the lion and every other creature finds food and shelter. As my knowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in.

Long before I learned to do a sum in arithmetic or describe the shape of the earth, Miss Sullivan had taught me to find beauty in the fragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and in the curves and dimples of my baby sister's hand. She linked my earliest thoughts with nature, and made me feel that“birds and flowers and I were happy peers.”

But about this time I had an experience which taught me that nature is not always kind.

One day my teacher and I were returning from a long ramble. The morning had been fine, but it was growing warm and sultry when at last we turned our faces homeward. Two or three times we stopped to rest under a tree by the wayside. Our last halt was was under a wild cherry tree a short distance from the house. The shade was grateful, and the tree was so easy to climb that with my teacher's assistance I was able to scramble to a seat in the branches. It was so cool up in the tree that Miss Sullivan proposed that we have our luncheon there. I promised to keep still while she went to the house to fetch it.

Suddenly a change passed over the tree. All the sun's warmth left the air. I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strange odour came up from the earth. I knew it, it was the odour that always precedes a thunderstorm, and a nameless fear clutched at my heart. I felt absolutely alone, cut off from my friends and the firm earth. The immense, the unknown, enfolded me. I remained still and expectant; a chilling terror crept over me. I longed for my teacher's return; but above all things I wanted to get down from that tree.

There was a moment of sinister silence, then a multitudinous stirring of the leaves. A shiver ran through the tree, and the wind sent forth a blast that would have knocked me off had I not clung to the branch with might and main. The tree swayed and strained. The small twigs snapped and fell about me in showers. A wild impulse to jump seized me, but terror held me fast. I crouched down in the fork of the tree. The branches lashed about me. I felt the intermittent jarring that came now and then, as if something heavy had fallen and the shock had traveled up till it reached the limb I sat on. It worked my suspense up to the highest point, and just as I was thinking the tree and I should fall together, my teacher seized my hand and helped me down. I clung to her, trembling with joy to feel the earth under my feet once more. I had learned a new lesson-that nature“wages open war against her children, and under softest touch hides treacherous claws.”

After this experience it was a long time before I climbed another tree. The mere thought filled me with terror. It was the sweet allurement of the mimosa tree in full bloom that finally overcame my fears.

One beautiful spring morning when I was alone in the summer-house, reading, I became aware of a wonderful subtle fragrance in the air. I started up and instinctively stretched out my hands. It seemed as if the spirit of spring had passed through the summer-house.“What is it?”I asked, and the next minute I recognized the odour of the mimosa blossoms. I felt my way to the end of the garden, knowing that the mimosa tree was near the fence, at the turn of the path.

Yes, there it was, all quivering in the warm sunshine, its blossom-laden branches almost touching the long grass. Was there ever anything so exquisitely beautiful in the world before! Its delicate blossoms shrank from the slightest earthly touch;it seemed as if a tree of paradise had been transplanted to earth. I made my way through a shower of petals to the great trunk and for one minute stood irresolute;then, putting my foot in the broad space between the forked branches, I pulled myself up into the tree.

I had some difficulty in holding on, for the branches were very large and the bark hurt my hands. But I had a delicious sense that I was doing something unusual and wonderful, so I kept on climbing higher and higher, until I reached a little seat which somebody had built there so long ago that it had grown part of the tree itself. I sat there for a long, long time, feeling like a fairy on a rosy cloud. After that I spent many happy hours in my tree of paradise, thinking fair thoughts and dreaming bright dreams.

1887年夏天，我的靈魂漸漸蘇醒，許多往事至今記憶猶新。我整天用手去探摸我所接觸到的每一件東西，并記住它們的名稱。我摸到的東西越多，對(duì)它們的名字和用途了解得越細(xì)，我內(nèi)心的愉悅與滿足感及其對(duì)外部世界的渴望也越來越強(qiáng)烈。

當(dāng)繁花似錦的夏季來臨時(shí)，莎莉文老師牽著我的手，穿過田野（人們正在那里耕耘播種），來到田納西河的岸邊。我們坐在河邊溫軟的草地上，開始學(xué)習(xí)人生的新課程，我也明白了大自然對(duì)人類的恩惠。我懂得了陽光雨露如何使樹木茁壯成長，使糧食得到豐收；我懂得了鳥兒如何筑巢，如何生殖繁衍，又如何隨著季節(jié)的變化而遷徙；我還懂得了松鼠、鹿和獅子等各種動(dòng)物如何覓食，如何棲息。當(dāng)我了解的事情越多，我就越感到我所生活的世界的美好。

在我學(xué)會(huì)做算術(shù)和畫地球的形狀之前，莎莉文老師先教會(huì)我從那粗壯的樹木、那細(xì)嫩的草葉以及我妹妹的那雙小手中去領(lǐng)略美的存在。她把對(duì)我的啟蒙同大自然聯(lián)系起來，使我認(rèn)識(shí)到鳥兒、鮮花和人都是平等的伙伴。

但是，在這期間我所經(jīng)歷的一件事，卻讓我發(fā)現(xiàn)大自然并不總是那么慈愛可親。

一天，老師和我散步到了一個(gè)較遠(yuǎn)的地方之后正往回走，本來早上天氣很好的，但現(xiàn)在天氣變得悶熱起來，我們有好幾次不得不停在路邊的樹下休息。我們最后一次停在離家不遠(yuǎn)的一棵野櫻桃樹下歇息。這棵樹枝繁葉茂，而且很好攀登，莎莉文老師用手一托，我就上了樹，找個(gè)枝杈坐了下來。樹上是如此的涼快，于是莎莉文老師提議我們就在這兒吃午餐。我答應(yīng)她一定安靜地待在那里，等她回去把飯取過來。

忽然間，天氣陡變，太陽的溫暖完全消失了，我知道天空布滿了烏云，因?yàn)槟菍?duì)我來說意味著光明的熱氣從大氣中消失了。一種奇怪的味道從泥土中散發(fā)出來，我知道這是暴風(fēng)雨即將來臨的征兆。我感到一種莫名的恐懼。我感覺到了孤獨(dú)，感覺到自己被和朋友、堅(jiān)實(shí)的大地割裂開來。巨大的恐懼很快包圍了我。我一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地坐在那里等待，一陣恐懼襲來，心中盼望莎莉文老師快快回來。但我最希望的是從那棵樹上下來。

一陣沉寂之后，樹葉嘩啦啦齊聲作響，一陣狂風(fēng)掃過，樹身猛烈地?fù)u動(dòng)起來，差點(diǎn)兒將我從樹上刮下來，幸虧我抱住了樹枝。樹搖晃得越來越厲害，落葉和折斷的小樹枝就像雨點(diǎn)般打向我。雖然我急得想從樹上跳下來，但恐懼很快就控制了我，我嚇得絲毫不敢動(dòng)彈。我蜷縮在大樹的樹杈處。樹枝不斷地抽打著我，風(fēng)兒在耳邊呼嘯。我覺得大地在一陣一陣地震動(dòng)，像有什么沉重的東西掉到了地上，這震動(dòng)由下而上傳到了我坐著的樹枝上。我恐懼之極，就在我覺得仿佛要和大樹一同走向毀滅之際，這時(shí)莎莉文老師恰好趕來了。她抓住我的手，將我扶下樹。我緊緊抱著她，為自己又一次接觸到堅(jiān)實(shí)的大地而狂喜不已。我又學(xué)到了新的一課，那就是：“大自然有時(shí)也會(huì)向她的孩子們開戰(zhàn)，在她那最溫柔美麗的外表之下，還隱藏著利爪！”

經(jīng)過這次驚險(xiǎn)的經(jīng)歷之后，我很長一段時(shí)間不敢爬樹，甚至一想到爬樹我就害怕得渾身發(fā)抖。直到有一天，當(dāng)我面對(duì)那繁花滿枝、香味撲鼻的含羞樹的誘惑時(shí)，才戰(zhàn)勝了這種恐懼心理。

那是春天一個(gè)美麗的早晨，我獨(dú)自坐在涼亭里看書，感覺到空氣中有一股奇妙的香氣迎面撲來。我站起身來，決定去看看。這種香味就像是“春之神”穿過涼亭。“那是什么？”我問，馬上就明白那是含羞樹的花香。于是我摸索著走到花園的盡頭，含羞樹就長在籬邊小路的拐彎處。

含羞樹的花朵在溫暖的陽光下飛舞，開滿花朵的樹枝快要垂到青草上了。世上還有比這更美妙的事物嗎？那些美麗的花兒只要輕輕一碰，就會(huì)敏感地卷起來，這仿佛就是從天堂移栽下凡的靈樹。我穿過如雨般飄落的花瓣，走近大樹，在愣了片刻之后，我就把腳伸到枝丫的空處，兩手抓住枝干，開始往上爬。

由于樹干太粗了，我?guī)缀醣Р蛔∷乙呀?jīng)剝離的樹皮還把我的手擦破了。盡管如此，我還是有一種美妙的感覺：我正在做一件不同尋常的、奇妙的事。因此，我不斷地往上爬，直到爬上一個(gè)舒適的座位。這個(gè)座位是很早以前有人在樹上做的小椅子，日久天長，它就成了樹的一部分。我在上面呆了許久，感覺自己就像是在天空中凌云飛翔的仙女。從那以后，我在這棵“天堂樹”上度過了許多快樂的時(shí)光，盡情地思考，美妙地夢(mèng)想。