THE next important step in my education was learning to read.

As soon as I could spell a few words my teacher gave me slips of cardboard on which were printed words in raised letters. I quickly learned that each printed word stood for an object, an act, or a quality. I had a frame in which I could arrange the words in little sentences; but before I ever put sentences in the frame I used to make them in objects. I found the slips of paper which represented, for example,“doll”,“is”,“on”,“bed”and placed each name on its object; then I put my doll on the bed with the words is, on, bed arranged beside the doll, thus making a sentence out of the words, and at the same time carrying out the idea of the sentence with the things themselves.

One day, Miss Sullivan tells me, I pinned the word girl on my pinafore and stood in the wardrobe. On the shelf I arranged the words, is, in, wardrobe. Nothing delighted me so much as this game. My teacher and I played it for hours at a time. Often everything in the room was arranged in object sentences.

From the printed slip it was but a step to the printed book. I took my“Reader for Beginners”and hunted for the words I knew; when I found them my joy was like that of a game of hide-and-seek. Thus I began to read. Of the time when I began to read connected stories I shall speak later.

For a long time I had no regular lessons. Even when I studied most earnestly it seemed more like play than work. Everything Miss Sullivan taught me she illustrated by a beautiful story or a poem. Whenever anything delighted or interested me she talked it over with me just as if she were a little girl herself. What many children think of with dread, as a painful plodding through grammar, hard sums and harder definitions, is to-day one of my most precious memories.

I cannot explain the peculiar sympathy Miss Sullivan had with my pleasures and desires. Perhaps it was the result of long association with the blind. Added to this she had a wonderful faculty for description. She went quickly over uninteresting details, and never nagged me with questions to see if I remembered the day-before-yesterday's lesson. She introduced dry technicalities of science little by little, making every subject so real that I could not help remembering what she taught.

We read and studied out of doors, preferring the sunlit woods to the house. All my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods-the fine, resinous odour of pine needles, blended with the perfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious shade of a wild tulip tree, I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion.“The loveliness of things taught me all their use.”Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education-noisy- throated frogs, katydids and crickets held in my hand until, forgetting their embarrassment, they trilled their reedy note, little downy chickens and wild-flowers, the dogwood blossoms, meadow-violets and budding fruit trees. I felt the bursting cotton-bolls and fingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds; I felt the low soughing of the wind through the cornstalks, the silky rustling of the long leaves, and the indignant snort of my pony, as we caught him in the pasture and put the bit in his mouth-ah me! how well I remember the spicy, clovery smell of his breath!

Sometimes I rose at dawn and stole into the garden while the heavy dew lay on the grass and flowers. Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror, as the little creature became aware of a pressure from without.

Another favourite haunt of mine was the orchard, where the fruit ripened early in July. The large, downy peaches would reach themselves into my hand, and as the joyous breezes flew about the trees the apples tumbled at my feet. Oh, the delight with which I gathered up the fruit in my pinafore, pressed my face against the smooth cheeks of the apples, still warm from the sun, and skipped back to the house!

Our favourite walk was to Keller's Landing, an old tumble-down lumber-wharf on the Tennessee River, used during the Civil War to land soldiers. There we spent many happy hours and played at learning geography. I built dams of pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds, all for fun, and never dreamed that I was learning a lesson.

I listened with increasing wonder to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the great round world with its burning mountains, buried cities, moving rivers of ice, and many other things as strange. She made raised maps in clay, so that I could feel the mountain ridges and valleys, and follow with my fingers the devious course of rivers. I liked this, too; but the division of the earth into zones and poles confused and teased my mind. The illustrative strings and the orange stick representing the poles seemed so real that even to this day the mere mention of temperate zone suggests a series of twine circles; and I believe that if any one should set about it he could convince me that white bears actually climb the North Pole.

Arithmetic seems to have been the only study I did not like. From the first I was not interested in the science of numbers. Miss Sullivan tried to teach me to count by stringing beads in groups, and by arranging kindergarten straws I learned to add and subtract. I never had patience to arrange more than five or six groups at a time. When I had accomplished this my conscience was at rest for the day, and I went out quickly to find my playmates.

In this same leisurely manner I studied zoology and botany. Once a gentleman, whose name I have forgotten, sent me a collection of fossils-tiny mollusk shells beautifully marked, and bits of sandstone with the print of birds’claws, and a lovely fern in bas-relief. These were the keys which unlocked the treasures of the antediluvian world for me. With trembling fingers I listened to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the terrible beasts, with uncouth, unpronounceable names, which once went tramping through the primeval forests, tearing down the branches of gigantic trees for food, and died in the dismal swamps of an unknown age. For a long time these strange creatures haunted my dreams, and this gloomy period formed a somber background to the joyous Now, filled with sunshine and roses and echoing with the gentle beat of my pony's hoof.

Another time a beautiful shell was given me, and with a child's surprise and delight I learned how a tiny mollusk had built the lustrous coil for his dwelling place, and how on still nights, when there is no breeze stirring the waves, the Nautilus sails on the blue waters of the Indian Ocean in his“ship of pearl.”After I had learned a great many interesting things about the life and habits of the children of the sea-how in the midst of dashing waves the little polyps build the beautiful coral isles of the Pacific, and the foraminifera have made the chalk-hills of many a land-my teacher read me“The Chambered Nautilus,”and showed me that the shell-building process of the mollusks is symbolical of the development of the mind. Just as the wonder-working mantle of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought.

Again, it was the growth of a plant that furnished the text for a lesson. We bought a lily and set it in a sunny window. Very soon the green, pointed buds showed signs of opening.The slender, fingerlike leaves on the outside opened slowly, reluctant, I thought, to reveal the loveliness they hid; once having made a start, however, the opening process went on rapidly, but in order and systematically. There was always one bud larger and more beautiful than the rest, which pushed her outer covering back with more pomp, as if the beauty in soft, silky robes knew that she was the lily-queen by right divine, while her more timid sisters doffed their green hoods shyly, until the whole plant was one nodding bough of loveliness and fragrance.

Once there were eleven tadpoles in a glass globe set in a window full of plants. I remember the eagerness with which I made discoveries about them. It was great fun to plunge my hand into the bowl and feel the tadpoles frisk about, and to let them slip and slide between my fingers. One day a more ambitious fellow leaped beyond the edge of the bowl and fell on the floor, where I found him to all appearance more dead than alive. The only sign of life was a slight wriggling of his tail. But no sooner had he returned to his element than he darted to the bottom, swimming round and round in joyous activity. He had made his leap, he had seen the great world, and was content to stay in his pretty glass house under the big fuchsia tree until he attained the dignity of froghood. Then he went to live in the leafy pool at the end of the garden, where he made the summer nights musical with his quaint love-song.

Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of meaning. She has never since let pass an opportunity to point out the beauty that is in everything, nor has she ceased trying in thought and action and example to make my life sweet and useful.

It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made it so pleasant and acceptable to me. She realized that a child's mind is like a shallow brook which ripples and dances merrily over the stony course of its education and reflects here a flower, there a bush, yonder a fleecy cloud; and she attempted to guide my mind on its way,knowing that like a brook it should be fed by mountain streams and hidden springs, until it broadened out into a deep river, capable of reflecting in its placid surface, billowy hills, the luminous shadows of trees and the blue heavens, as well as the sweet face of a little flower.

Any teacher can take a child to the classroom, but not every teacher can make him learn. He will not work joyously unless he feels that liberty is his, whether he is busy or at rest; he must feel the flush of victory and the heart-sinking of disappointment before he takes with a will the tasks distasteful to him and resolves to dance his way bravely through a dull routine of textbooks.

My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself apart from her. How much of my delight in all beautiful things is innate, and how much is due to her influence, I can never tell. I feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that the footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to her-there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened by her loving touch.

我接受教育的第二個階段是學(xué)習(xí)閱讀。

就在我剛能拼寫幾個字后，莎莉文老師就給我一些硬紙片，每張紙片上都有由凸起的字母組成的單詞。很快我就知道每一個突起的詞都代表一種物體、一種行為或一種特性。我有一個紙板框，可以用這些單詞在上面擺出短句子。但我在用這些硬紙片排列短句之前，仍然習(xí)慣于用實物來表達(dá)句子。例如，我會先找出上面寫有“娃娃”、“是”、“在……上”和“床”的硬紙片，把每個硬紙片放在有關(guān)的物體上，然后再把娃娃放在床上，在旁邊擺上寫有“是”、“在……上”和“床”的卡片，這樣既用詞造了一個句子，又用與之相關(guān)的物體表達(dá)了句子的內(nèi)容。

一天，莎莉文老師讓我把“girl”（女孩）這個詞別在圍裙上，然后站在衣柜里，把“is”（是）、“in”（在……里）、“wardrobe”（衣柜）這幾個詞放在框架上，后來這竟然成為我最喜歡的一種游戲。我和老師有時一玩就是幾個小時，屋子里所有的東西都被我們擺成了各種含義不同的句子。

拼卡游戲是我進入閱讀的初級階段。不久，我開始拿起“啟蒙讀本”，找尋那些我已經(jīng)認(rèn)識的字。一旦找到自己認(rèn)識的字，我就高興得像玩捉迷藏一樣興奮不已。就這樣，開啟了我的閱讀進程，當(dāng)時我只是閱讀一些我后面將會提到的故事。

相當(dāng)長的一段時間，我沒有上過正規(guī)的課程。即使是我非常認(rèn)真地學(xué)，依然像是在玩游戲，而不像在上課。莎莉文老師無論教我什么，都會用一些美麗的故事和動人的詩篇來解釋。一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)我感興趣，就不斷與我討論，好像她自己也變成了一個小女孩。一般孩子們最討厭的事，如學(xué)語法、做數(shù)學(xué)題、名詞解釋等，在她的耐心指導(dǎo)下，我做起來都興趣盎然。這些都成了我記憶深處最華美的樂章。

我至今都不能理解莎莉文老師對我的快樂和愿望所表現(xiàn)出來的特有的耐心，也許是和盲人長期接觸，加上她特有的描述事物的獨特技巧吧！那些枯燥無味的細(xì)節(jié)，她一帶而過，使我根本感覺不到乏味和單調(diào)；她也從來不會責(zé)備我是否忘了昨天還是前天教的功課。說來也怪，在她的解釋下，那些本來枯燥無味的專業(yè)術(shù)語變得生動逼真起來，我也就自然而然地記住了她講的內(nèi)容。

我們經(jīng)常坐在屋外面，在陽光照耀的樹林里看書和學(xué)習(xí)。在這里，我早期所學(xué)到的東西飽含著森林的氣息，帶著樹脂的松香味，混雜著野葡萄的芬芳。坐在濃郁的樹蔭下，世界萬物都會給我以教育和啟迪。實際上，那些嗡嗡作響、低聲鳴叫、婉轉(zhuǎn)歌唱或開花吐香的自然萬物，都是我學(xué)習(xí)的對象。我常常將青蛙、螞蚱和蟋蟀捂在手心里，當(dāng)它們忘記了被人捉住的命運后，又會像在草叢中那樣歡鳴起來。還有毛茸茸的小雞、綻開的野花、木棉、河邊的紫羅蘭和剛發(fā)芽的果樹。我能感覺到棉花那滑膩的纖維和毛茸茸的棉籽，感覺到微風(fēng)吹過玉米秸稈發(fā)出的響聲，玉米葉子互相摩擦發(fā)出來的沙沙聲，以及被我們在牧場捉住并套上嚼子的小馬發(fā)出來的憤怒的嘶鳴聲，這些都成為我記憶中最美麗的一道風(fēng)景！

有時候，在東方剛剛露出魚肚白的時候，我就會悄悄爬起來，溜進花園里，行走在露珠覆壓的花草叢中。誰能體會到把玫瑰花輕柔地握在手心里的無限樂趣？誰又能知道百合花在徐徐晨風(fēng)中搖曳的美麗身姿呢？采摘鮮花的時候，有時就會無意中抓到鉆在花里面的昆蟲，我能感覺到它們恐懼地想振翅飛走卻又無處可逃，只好徒勞地煽動幾下翅膀來反抗。

除了喜歡在花園中漫步之外，最愜意的事情莫過于流連于果園里。每年7月初便有果子成熟了。毛茸茸的大桃子幾乎會垂落到手中。伴隨陣陣微風(fēng)，熟透了的蘋果會掉在地上。這時候，我會撐開圍裙，把落到腳旁的蘋果撿起來，然后把臉貼在蘋果上，滑滑的，暖暖的，雀躍著跑回家！

我們最喜歡去凱勒碼頭，那是田納西河邊一個荒蕪破敗的碼頭，是在南北戰(zhàn)爭時期為了部隊登陸而修建的。我們經(jīng)常在那里一待就是好幾個小時，一邊玩一邊學(xué)習(xí)地理知識。我還經(jīng)常用鵝卵石造堤建島、筑湖開河，雖然這只是在做游戲，卻不知不覺地學(xué)到了許多知識。

莎莉文老師還向我描述了我們這個又大又圓的地球，地球上的火山、被掩埋在地下的城市、不斷移動的冰河以及其他許許多多的奇聞軼事，都引起了我強烈的好奇心。老師還用黏土給我做了一個立體的地圖，我可以用手摸到凸出來的山脊、凹下去的山谷和蜿蜒曲折的河流。我很喜歡這些，不過我的頭腦里總是分不清赤道和兩極。為了更形象地描述地球，莎莉文老師用一根根線代表經(jīng)緯線，用一根樹枝代表貫穿南北極的地軸，這一切是如此的形象逼真，以至于只要有人提起氣溫帶，我就會想象出許多一連串編織而成的圓圈。我想，假如有人騙我說白熊會爬上北極的柱子，我想我會相信的。

數(shù)學(xué)好像是我唯一不喜歡的功課，我從一開始就對數(shù)字不感興趣。莎莉文老師曾用線串上珠子來教我數(shù)數(shù)，或擺弄草棍學(xué)習(xí)加減法，但是每次總是不到五六個題，我就變得不耐煩了。每天做完幾道數(shù)學(xué)題之后，我就認(rèn)為自己完成任務(wù)了，然后就跑出去找伙伴們玩耍。

我也是用這種做游戲的方式學(xué)習(xí)動物和植物知識的。記得有一次，有一位我已經(jīng)忘記其姓名的先生寄給我一些化石。化石中有帶著美麗花紋的貝殼、有鳥爪印的砂巖以及像浮雕一樣的蕨類植物。這些化石打開了我的心扉，向我展現(xiàn)了遠(yuǎn)古時代的珍寶。我常常驚恐地聽莎莉文老師描述一些名字古怪而恐怖的野獸，它們曾在原始森林中游蕩，撕斷大樹的枝葉當(dāng)食物，最后又悄無聲息地死在沼澤地里。有很長一段時間，我老是夢見這些怪獸，那陰暗可怕的地質(zhì)時期同現(xiàn)在形成了鮮明的對照。現(xiàn)在的人們多么快樂啊！陽光照耀大地，百花爭芳斗艷，田野中回蕩著我那匹小馬悅耳的蹄聲。

還有一次，有人送給我一個美麗的貝殼。老師就給我講小小的軟體動物是如何為自己建造這么色彩斑斕的住所的，又是如何乘著它的“珍珠船”欣賞印度洋迷人夜色的。孩子般的好奇使我聽得津津有味。在我知道了許多有關(guān)海洋生物生活習(xí)慣的有趣知識，知道了小巧的珊瑚蟲如何在太平洋洶涌的波濤中建筑自己的家園，靈活的有孔小蟲如何在岸上堆起一座座小山之后，老師為我讀了《馱著房子的鸚鵡螺》，從中我知道了軟體動物的造殼過程和人的大腦發(fā)展過程一樣。鸚鵡螺可以用奇妙的套膜把從海水中吸收的物質(zhì)轉(zhuǎn)換成身體的一部分，而人類不也正是將從外界吸收到的各種知識轉(zhuǎn)化為智慧，使之成為一顆顆思想的珍珠嗎？

同樣，植物的生長也讓我學(xué)到了很多。我們買了一株百合花，放在陽光充足的窗臺上。眨眼間，一個個嫩綠、尖尖的花蕾伸展出來。花蕾外邊包著纖細(xì)的葉子，葉子慢慢地張開，好像極不情愿讓人窺見里面的花朵。可一旦綻了頭，花朵張開的速度就加快了，當(dāng)然是快而不亂。不可思議的是，這些綻放的花朵中一定會有一朵最大最美麗的，它要比其他蓓蕾更顯雍容華貴，似乎故意讓躲在柔軟、光滑的外衣里面的花朵知道自己是尊貴的花王。當(dāng)其他的姐妹們羞答答地褪下綠色的頭巾后，百合花的整個枝頭掛滿了怒放的花朵，芬芳襲人。

家里曾經(jīng)有一個球形玻璃魚缸，擺放在滿是花盆的窗臺上。魚缸中養(yǎng)了11只蝌蚪。我現(xiàn)在還能回想起發(fā)現(xiàn)這些蝌蚪時的快樂來，我興奮地把手伸進魚缸里，享受蝌蚪在手指間游動的快慰。一天，一個膽大的家伙竟然從魚缸中蹦出來，掉在地板上，等我發(fā)現(xiàn)時已經(jīng)半死不活了，只有那尾巴的微弱擺動還證明它一息尚存。可當(dāng)我一把它放回水里時，它馬上來了精神，飛快地潛入缸底，一圈一圈地游起來。它曾經(jīng)跳出魚缸，見過了世面，現(xiàn)在卻心甘情愿地待在這倒掛金鐘花下的玻璃房子里，直到變成神氣活現(xiàn)的青蛙。那時，它就會跳進花園那頭滿是綠樹的池塘中，在那里用它那優(yōu)雅的情歌將夏夜變成音樂的世界。

我就這樣從生命本身汲取知識。起初，我只是一塊有可能雕琢的頑石，正是我的老師發(fā)現(xiàn)并開發(fā)了我的智慧。她的到來，使我的生命充滿了愛和歡樂，我的一切都充滿了意義。她從不放過任何一個機會，向我指出隱藏在一切事物里面的美，她每時每刻都在動腦筋、想辦法，使我的生活變得甜蜜而更有意義。

正是我的老師的天才、敏銳的同情心和愛的機智，使得我第一年的學(xué)習(xí)變得如此美麗。由于她抓住了適當(dāng)?shù)臅r機向我傳授知識，所以學(xué)習(xí)成了一件愉快而易于接受的事情。她認(rèn)識到孩子的心靈就像彎曲的溪水，沿著河床千回百轉(zhuǎn)，一會兒在這里映出花朵，一會兒在那里映出灌木，一會兒又在另一個地方映出朵朵輕云，佳境美景連綿不絕。她用盡心思朝著這條路引導(dǎo)我，因為她明白，孩子的心靈和小溪一樣，還需要山澗泉水來補充，直到它匯集成長江大河，在那平如鏡面的河水上映出連綿起伏的山峰，映出燦爛耀眼的樹影和藍(lán)天，映出花朵的美麗面龐。

任何一個老師都可以把孩子領(lǐng)進教室，但并不是每個老師都能使孩子熱愛學(xué)習(xí)。無論孩子是忙著還是閑著，除非讓他感到知識是他自己的，否則他不會心甘情愿地學(xué)習(xí)。要讓孩子體會到成功的喜悅和失敗的沮喪，他才能勇敢地接受任務(wù)、迎接挑戰(zhàn)，用自己的智慧解決問題，而不是呆板地死讀書。

我的老師與我是如此的相親相愛，我很少想到將自己和她分開來。我永遠(yuǎn)也分不清，我對所有美好事物的喜愛，有多少是自己內(nèi)心固有的，有多少是來自她的影響。我感到她已經(jīng)成為我生活中不可分割的一部分，我沿著她的足跡向前。我生命中所有美好的東西都屬于她，我的才能、抱負(fù)和歡樂，全都是由她的愛點化而成。