If You Give Me Three Days of Light: The Best Collection of Helen Keller

Chapter 23 The Second Half of My Life (Continued) (8)
After listening to his words, I was reminded of Mr. Gandhi, because he was a person who not only talked about "love" with his lips, but also practiced it with his own actions.Artists seem to have a special love for me. Excellent actors such as Alentaly and Joseph Jefferson even performed their specialties for me. They asked me to touch them with my fingers so as to feel their words and deeds. Every frown and smile, I was extremely excited, lest I miss any details.Singers Caruso, Chaliapin and others even allowed me to put my hands on their lips to "listen" to their beautiful singing voices.I once touched the piano to appreciate Godesky's performance, and touched Heifetz's violin lightly to appreciate the wonderful sound.When Godesky played Chopin's serenade, I was deeply intoxicated, as if I was on a tropical island.Sometimes I put my hand on the soundboard of the radio and "listen" to a music program.Among the musical instruments, I think the sound of the harp, piano, and violin is very beautiful.However, I can’t compliment the jazz music that is currently becoming popular. The explosive sound makes me feel as if something is rushing towards me. There is an urge to turn around and run away. It seems that the fear of nature hidden in the human body in primitive times has been revived again.

For celebrities in the industry, I once visited Mr. Thomas Edison, the king of electric appliances.Mr. Edison kindly invited me to his home when I traveled to New Jersey to speak.His first impression is quite serious.According to what his wife told me, Mr. Edison often shut himself in the laboratory and worked all night long. He hated others to disturb him the most. He often devoted himself to eating.Mr. Edison asked me to put my hand on the record player, and then asked me eagerly if I understood, but unfortunately I couldn't understand.In order not to disappoint him, I tried to bring the straw hat that I was wearing on my head closer to the record player to make the sound more concentrated on the straw hat, but I still couldn't understand it.

When we had dinner together, Mr. Edison said to me: "It is also good for you not to hear the sound. At least it will be easier for you to concentrate and not be disturbed by the outside world. Isn't it great to live in your own world?" I replied: If I were a great inventor like you, I wish I could invent a machine that would help the deaf hear. He said a little surprised: "Oh, do you think so?"I don't do such boring things. Anyway, what people say is mostly irrelevant, and you can listen to it or not. "

I put my mouth to Mr. Edison's ear and tried to tell him directly what I meant, but he said that my voice was like a steam explosion, so he couldn't distinguish it. He said: "You still tell Mrs. Macy (Sarah Teacher Liwen), and then she will relay the words, her voice is like a violin.” Every word he said was full of orders.As for Mr. Ford, the car magnate, he is a celebrity in the industrial circle that I only met when I gave a speech in Nebraska.

Mr. Ford personally led us to visit his factory, and told us his successful experience in a modest manner: "At the beginning, I wanted to produce a car that even farmers could afford. After the experiment, I became more and more proficient in cars... In fact, there are many people who have good ideas, but most of them don't know how to put them into practice, so there are no more." After visiting Mr. Ford's car After the factory, I can't help but have a feeling: if the world is managed as if it were a Ford factory, would it be more efficient?At that time, wouldn't everyone be able to work shorter hours and get paid more?

Wouldn't it be great if people only needed to work for a few hours a day, and they could have four or five hours of free time without problems?But I also know that this kind of thinking is just an ideal state. Although Mr. Ford is an outstanding entrepreneur, his management method may not be suitable for the whole world, because the country is not the same as the factory after all!

10 years after that meeting with Mr. Ford, Mr. Ford gave a large sum of money at a convention of the blind. He said he employed 73 blind people in his factory. He hired them not out of pity, but because of them. Performed quite well at work.When I heard this news, I was really happy that I couldn't describe.When I feel that my nose is a little uncomfortable and my heart is constantly restless, I know that I should go to New York to relax.New York City has a variety of scents that can irritate my sensitive nose; I also often like to walk around the bustling subway line.A trip like this to New York comes back with renewed vigor because I feel as alive as everyone else.

Returning from the bustling city to the quiet countryside, I feel that my home is very cordial. Although some people think it is like a rat's nest, for me, it is the most comfortable place in the world.

I often get down the ladder at the front door by myself, walk along the path, and turn at the end, which is the road I often walk on.There are pleasant scenery around the cottage, especially in June every year, when the tulips and hyacinths are all in bloom, we feel like living on an island in the sea of ​​flowers.On both sides of the road where I walked to the small gazebo, iris flowers from Germany or Japan were planted. June is really a wonderful month, even the trees stretch their limbs, and the outstretched branches seem to want to pour out something to us.I sometimes feel that the trees are really saying to me: "When will you humans learn to stand still like this?" Sometimes they say: "Look at that restless Helen, who keeps shuttling among the flowers and plants, Like a butterfly in the wind." The sprawling twigs are like little fingers pointing at me.

I often think: "Why don't people stand fixedly on a certain point like trees? Although trees can't move, can't they still grow well? They even live happier and longer than humans!" "Recently, I often lose sleep because of the confrontation between labor and capital and the issue of war. I wonder why human beings don't spend the energy spent on war instead of investing in research on how to improve human life and move toward an ideal state?Can such a world be better?But I believe that day will come.

I hope that the world can achieve peace one day sooner, so that human beings can live a happier life. By then, people will no longer have to fantasize about going to heaven after death.

Memories of Lola
Recently, I often sit alone in my study and think: "If Dr. Hao hadn't devised this method of educating the blind and deaf, what would my life be like?"

It is said that when Dr. Hao wanted to educate and counsel Laura, the law at that time still stipulated that blind and deaf people were considered idiots.

Teacher Sullivan shared a dorm with Laura when she was at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, so she knew about her very well, and the first person to teach sign language to Teacher Sullivan was Laura.When Teacher Sullivan told Laura that she would go to Alabama to teach a girl who was blind, dumb and deaf, Laura was very happy, and at the same time told her: "Don't let this child develop a too arrogant personality. , we can’t just follow her in everything just because she has a disability, and make her too capricious.”

Before leaving, the female students of the Perkins Institute for the Blind asked Mrs. Sullivan to bring me a doll, and the clothes worn by the doll were made by Laura herself.It was from this doll that I learned the word "doll".

When I first arrived at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, the first person Miss Sullivan took me to was Laura.At that time, Lola was knitting in the room. Since she hadn't seen Mrs. Sullivan for a long time, she welcomed us very happily.Also kissed me.But when she saw that I wanted to reach out to touch the lace she wove, she quickly moved the lace away and said to me in sign language: "Your hands are too dirty!"

I tried to touch her face with my hands, but she backed away and hinted that my hands were too dirty.She asked Teacher Sullivan: "Didn't you teach this child to be polite?" Then she said to me very carefully: "When you visit a lady, you can't behave too casually."

I hit a few nails in a row, of course I was very unhappy, so I let my temper sit down on the floor, but Laura was unambiguous, and she immediately dragged me up unceremoniously.

"Never sit on the floor while wearing a beautiful dress, or it will get dirty. You child is really capricious and has no education at all!" When I said goodbye to the teacher and came out, I accidentally stepped on her foot when I kissed her goodbye, and as a result again

Was trained by her.Afterwards, Laura told Teacher Sullivan: "This child seems to be a little headstrong, but he has a very flexible mind." My first impression of Laura was that she was ruthless and unapproachable.Laura and I have a lot in common, so a lot of people compare us.

We were about the same age when we became blind and deaf, and were similarly rough and difficult to discipline to begin with; besides, we were both blond and blue-eyed, and started our education at the same age of seven.The similarities end there, because Laura is far more driven than I am.Laura is a smart and kind person. If she had been like me and had a teacher like Sullivan, her achievements would have been much greater than mine.

my life is full of light
Thinking of this, I have to feel lucky for myself.But when I think that I am already in my 40s and can live like ordinary people, but I have not made a little contribution to those who are still in the dark, and I can't help feeling deeply ashamed.There are too many things that need to be done. According to the survey, some data show that in the whole country, except for the very old or those who are bedridden, there are 379 blind and deaf people who are waiting for someone to guide them out of the darkness. Among them Fifteen are of school age, but there is no school to take them in.

People often ask me: "How should I educate such a child?" Since children have different intelligence levels and different environments, I can't tell him with certainty whether he should hire a tutor or Which school to send to.My suggestion is: "Before the children's eyes and earphones are completely lost, they should be sent to the nearby blind-mute school as soon as possible, otherwise such children will not be willing to study in the future." Curious, I would like to take this opportunity to explain one thing to you by the way, that is, even if a person lives in darkness or silence, he can still recall and imagine like ordinary people, and live his own life.
happy life.Of course, he should try his best to use his own way to get in touch with this world, and not be closed off from this world.For my part, I have many friends who are eager to transmit to me the experiences and feelings they have seen and heard.Therefore, I can also live a colorful life.I will never forget the help these friends gave me, they gave me so much courage and joy.

I will never forget the help my friends gave me, they gave me a lot of courage and happiness.It goes without saying that physical defects will eventually bring a lot of inconvenience, which I know very well.I can't say I've never complained or felt depressed, but I know better that such thoughts don't do any good, so I always try to control myself so that I don't get into such a dead end.One of the goals that I often encourage myself is: I will try my best to learn to be self-reliant in my lifetime, and try not to cause trouble to others within the scope of my ability.In religious terms, it means: take up your cross with a smile.It's not about surrendering to fate, it's about facing fate and trying to overcome it.

This kind of thing is very easy to say in words, but if you want to put it into practice, if you don't have deep faith, strong perseverance, warm friendship and God's guidance,

I'm afraid it will be difficult to do.Looking back on my past now, it is consolation that I could at least be a "parrot that only imitates an owl".What does the so-called "parrot that only imitates an owl" mean?After the writer Edward finished the book "The Story of the Little Hole", he wrote to a friend of his and said: "My grandfather raised many parrots, but the parrots can't do anything but imitate the appearance of owls with their wings outstretched. .Visiting guests will always talk about parrots with great interest, and often ask them what wonderful show they will have. At this time, grandfather will say solemnly: "Quickly don't say that, or our Billy will be upset.

Yeah?Billy, come on, you can imitate the owl and show them! 'I often think of this past event when I was a child.Now I wrote this book, like that parrot that only imitates an owl. "

I also wanted to be like Billy, so I took "The Owl" very seriously.My abilities are limited, and this is all I can do, like Billy the Parrot.I wrote the last line of my autobiography in the study at Forrester's house, and stopped for a while to rest because my hands were sore.

There's larch and dogwood in the yard here, but no acacia, and why I don't know.The path lined with acacias is often in my mind, because it is on that path that I have passed many hours and enjoyed the infinite warmth of my friends; it is almost the path of my life.Now, some of these friends are still walking on the path of the world, and some have wandered in the garden of heaven, but I miss them all the same.

In all fairness, many good books I have read are also my good teachers and helpful friends. They are the crystallization of wisdom of many wise men, and I am in awe and grateful to them.My autobiography is not a great work, and if it has any value, it is not due to my talents, but to the extraordinary things that happened to me.Perhaps God entrusts me with great responsibility as his child, and I hope that my blindness and deafness will have a little influence on others!

God made my eyes blind and ears deaf, so I was unable to speak. I wanted to give some enlightenment to disabled people like me in the world through my handicap.God has treated me well, because he sent me Teacher Sullivan, who led me out of the dark and silent world.

Teacher Sullivan's own eyesight was very poor since she was a child. When she was my tutor, she could only see a little light.An unhealthy and weak woman came to a small village in Alabama alone away from her friends. This kind of courage cannot but be said to be dominated by some kind of power in the dark.She worked tirelessly for me, read many books for me with her feeble eyesight, and became the first and main bridge between me and the world.I am not related to her, and everything she has done for me can only be explained by the phrase "like me".Up to now, Teacher Sullivan still reads with a pair of special glasses with very high prescription, and those glasses are carefully made by Dr. Bell.

I can't read my own typescript. For the revision work related to this book, teacher Sullivan recited it for me in sign language.When she helped me with these tasks, Dr. Bell was always by her side, checking her eyesight and making adjustments at any time.

Teacher Sullivan gave everything for me, why is she so kind to me?I always believe that as long as Teacher Sullivan has this heart, she can easily become a leader in the women's movement or a well-known female writer.but she would rather
I would like to spend my whole life on me.She inspired me to serve the community. Unfortunately, I have not performed well to repay the teacher's painstaking efforts.

In the end, I want to say that although my eyes are dark, but because Teacher Sullivan has brought me a lot of love and hope, my thoughts have entered a bright world.There may be thick walls around me, which cut off my communication with the outside world, but the world inside the walls is also full of beautiful flowers and trees, and I can still appreciate the magic and greatness of nature.The hut I live in has no windows and is not very big, but I can also watch the twinkling stars in the sky at night.Although my body is disabled, my heart can get rid of the disability and fly freely. It leads me to the lively crowd, immersed in happiness and joy, and pursues a wonderful life!

(End of this chapter)