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

Chapter 42 Helen Keller Letters (10)
But we will definitely not be separated, I hope, we will see each other every day.As you can imagine, when July comes, I will be the happiest girl in the world in the boat you gave me on the lake...

Helen Keller
letter 73

Linne Hagwood is mentioned in private documents involving both Miss Sullivan and Helen.She studied under Miss Dora Donald since she was a child. She is also a blind and deaf girl. She is one of the many disabled children helped by Mr. William Wade.Their sponsor is Mr. Heitz, the director of the Volt Research Institute.

To Mr. William Wade

Ransome, Massachusetts, June 1899, 6

... The letter you sent me a few weeks ago from Linne Hagwood revealed the author's candid and optimistic nature.I'm sorry she doesn't like history.However, I found the history she talked about extremely interesting.Sometimes I also feel that the ancestors, religions, and political systems in history are indeed dark, mysterious, and even terrifying.

I find deaf people's quick hand gestures difficult to understand.Also, symbols seem to be a huge obstacle in learning to use the language well, because sometimes you have a hard time understanding what they spell with their fingers.Well, I admit, I don't like sign language, because I don't think deaf-blind people have the talent to use sign language, and it won't work for deaf-blind people.In general, the sign language alphabet is the best and most convenient way to communicate if people don't teach the deaf to speak.

Two days ago I met a deaf Norwegian gentleman who knew Ragenhilde Kata and her teacher quite well, and we talked about them with great interest.He said that Kata is a diligent and optimistic person. Reading makes her life more fulfilling and joyful. She can not only spin yarn, but also do a lot of complicated work.But come to think of it, she doesn't even use the sign language alphabet!She has a good lip-reading skill, and if she comes across a phrase she doesn't understand, her friends spell it out on her hand.This way she can communicate with strangers.So you see, Lagenhild is already ahead of me.Because I can't decipher any words written in the palm of my hand, I hope to meet her someday...

Helen Keller
letter 74

To Mrs Lawrence Hughton
Ransome, September 1899, 7

...I got good grades in Advanced Latin and passed all my subjects...but I must admit that I had a hard time with the second day of the exam.The school didn't allow the teacher to read the test for me, so they prepared a Braille test for me.There is nothing wrong with braille in language subjects, but it is very inappropriate to use it to represent mathematical problems.However, you must not think that I am blaming others.Of course, they didn't realize how difficult I was in the exam.That's understandable—they're both seeing and hearing people, and I don't think they're seeing things from my perspective.As a result, although I finished the test questions, I did not perform well.I can do better if I have a teacher nearby to read my algebra and geometry papers...

My mum, sister and little brother have been here for five weeks and we have had so much fun.This has been by far the best summer I can remember.We are reunited with joy, a small home brings us great joy,

I wish you could stand on our porch and take in the lake and mountains.Canoes are scattered across the lake like autumn leaves swaying in the breeze.The islands in the lake look like emerald green hills under the golden sun.A breath that has been silent for hundreds of years, grows and withers among the flowers and woods. I breathe in the unique fragrance of the forest, as if listening to a whisper from the unknown.According to legend, the Norwegians visited our shores long ago, so I can't help but wonder if they, too, were treated to this aromatic treat.
Helen Keller
letter 75

To Mr. John Heitz

138 Brightow Street, Cambridge, November 1899, 11

...I thought that the root of all disapproval seemed to be ignorance.Like, for example, when you don't know anything about Braille, it seems like I taught you American Braille!So I can't help but chuckle when you say you've been writing to me in American Braille - all your letters are actually in British Braille!Now about the Braille issue, I can't express how sad I am, especially to learn that my statements about the test are being questioned.

The real facts about Braille testing are as follows:
I sat for entrance examinations at Radcliffe College, June 1899-6, 29.

The subjects on the first day are advanced Latin and elementary Greek, and the second day is advanced Greek and geometric algebra.

The school authorities did not allow Miss Sullivan to read my papers, so Mr. Eugene C. Vining, a teacher at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, was hired by the school to translate the papers into Braille.I didn't know Mr. Weining at all, and there was another proctor, who was also someone I didn't know, and he didn't communicate with me in any way.During the exam, except for writing the test questions in Braille, Mr. Wei Ning did not communicate with me.Also because neither of them are familiar with my pronunciation, it is impossible for them to understand me easily.

Although Braille is more than enough for language, it is not enough for geometry and algebra.I wasted a lot of precious time facing the test questions, just feeling extremely confused and frustrated.In fact, I am familiar with Braille as long as it is related to writing-whether it is British, American, or New York floating point.However, it is very difficult to represent the various symbols in geometry and algebra with all three forms of Braille.

Because in the previous learning process, I have also been using British Braille.So in the first two days of the exam, I only learned how to use British symbols.I still ran into this problem when taking algebra—I was completely hamstrung by my half-knowledge of symbols.Those algebraic symbols I had just learned the day before, and I knew there would be confusion when I used them.Sure enough, the exam process was painful and slow, and I had to read the test questions over and over again before forming a clear train of thought.fact

On, I'm still not sure I read all the symbols correctly, especially when I'm in a difficult situation and it's hard for me to keep my head clear.The main problem I encountered when taking geometry was that I was always used to reading the test questions line-spaced, or spelling the test questions in my hand.But for some reason, even though the test questions were right in front of me, the braille still confused me, and I couldn't make out what I was reading...

Now there is one more thing I would like to clarify here, and that is what Mr. Gilman mentioned to you in his letter.In fact, I never took tutoring at Gilman School.Ms. Hall was my physics teacher, and she did teach me American Braille, but she never gave me any kind of tutoring except a few practice quizzes—if those were a waste of my precious time, of course. If her exercises can be called "tutoring", then she can only call it that way.

Teacher Sullivan is always by my side, and she will tell me what the teachers are teaching.The honorable Mrs. Frau Groot knows the sign language alphabet, and she can teach me personally.But this is purely a private lesson, and the cost is paid by my friends.I would like you to send a copy of the above to the Master of Cambridge College, as I thought it might help to clarify the matter for him, who seems to have been kept in the dark so far...

Helen Keller
letter 76

To Mildred Helen
138 Brightow Street, Cambridge, November 1899, 11

…Finally, we still have winter, and Mr. Keith comes every afternoon at four o’clock, and he “kindly moves” me away from the rough path that every student must pass.Also, our studies are going well.I am studying British History, English Literature, French and Latin.In French class, the teacher was reading Colomba to me.This novel is very funny, full of biting irony and thrilling adventure.Don't blame me for saying "big words", don't forget that you do the same!I think, if you read this book, you will also like it.But soon I will also learn German and English writing, which really worries me because I hate grammar like you.However, if I want to learn to write, I must pass this level.It's like learning to swim, don't we have to dive hundreds of times in the lake before we can swim well!You are studying British history, aren't you?Oh, how interesting it is to study history!I am doing a careful study of the history of the Elizabethan period—the Reformation, the decrees of the supremacy of the emperor and the establishment of the state religion, and the discoveries of voyages, and all these important events—all like the invention of the "devil", specifically Used to torture ignorant kids like you...

Now we've got the whole winter outfit in stylish coats, hats, gowns, flannels and more.A French tailor has just made us four beautiful outfits, two of which belong to the teacher.There was a silk dress in which the skirt was black and the bodice was basically yellow, trimmed with delicate lavender tulle, with black velvet bows and lace.Her other dress was purple, decorated with purple velvet flowers, and the collar of the bodice was lined with a creamy white lace.

I also have two sets, one is pure wool and the color is a very beautiful green.The bodice is decorated with pink and green brocade and white lace.Also, I think it should be double-breasted, with velvet ruffles on the sides of the buttons, and a row of little buttons over the lace.Another set was a black silk skirt covered with a black net lace.The bodice is a white poplin bodice with turquoise velvet ribbon and beige satin lace.So, as you can imagine, we look like peacocks...

A week earlier, a football game between Harvard and Yale had caused a stir in the area.There were about 5000 people watching the game, and when we walked out of the house, the deafening chanting was still going on, and we were a little overwhelmed by the momentum.We thought to ourselves that this is not a football game, it is clearly the hustle and bustle of the battlefield.The shouts of the boys and the cheers of the audience resounded and could be heard from inside the house, as if standing on the sidelines.Colonel Roosevelt played for Harvard.Somehow, this time he wore a white jersey instead of the familiar crimson!Regrettably, no matter how hard they tried, neither side scored, so we all laughed and said, "Oh, that's fine, now they don't think the other can't do it!"

Helen Keller
letter 77

To Lawrence, Mrs Hughton

559 Madison Avenue, New York, January 1900, 1

...we've been here for a week now and everyone here has been so nice to us and we've never been less than content.We met many old friends and made some new ones.We intend to stay with Miss Rhodes until Saturday.We had dinner with the Rogers family last Friday.Oh, they are so warm to us!When I think of their thoughtful hospitality and deep love, my heart is filled with a warm current of happiness.On Sunday we went to St. Bartholomew's Church, and I have never felt such peace and serenity in a church since the death of the Reverend Bishop Brooks.Dr. Greer read (the scriptures) very slowly in order to allow the teacher time to speak every word to me.I imagine his listeners were amazed at his unusual sermons.After the service he had Mr. Warren, the organist, play for me.I stood in the middle of the church, where the huge vibrato of the pipe organ staggered and gathered here, and I felt the powerful sound waves hitting my body, like huge waves hitting a small boat in the ocean...

I also met Dr. Greer who is such a sweet and respectable man!I love him more than ever.In French we have finished with Colomba and are now reading Horace by Corneille, and La Fontaine's Fables, both in Braille.I just started watching, but I know I'm going to enjoy reading fables, those stories are so funny, they always tell you the most important truths in a simple and charming way.I'm still reading Horace's "Ode."Although you can hardly translate them, I still think they are the most beautiful Latin poems I have ever read.

I want to tell you something, the teacher is reading "The Faerie Queene" to me.In fact, I'm not much of a fan of symbolism, I often find it boring, but with this one, I have to say I have mixed opinions.I can't help but think that Spencer's world is full of knights, pagans, fairies, dragons and all kinds of strange animals, and there is something weird and interesting about his world.More importantly, this collection of poems is beautifully written, and its rhythm is beautiful, like a gurgling brook.

I can now proudly say that I am the owner of fifteen new books that we ordered from Louisville.These include "Anthology of English Literature", "Henry Esmond", "Essays of Bacon".Next week I may have more books, some on Greek and British history.And "The Tempest", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", etc., should I feel very happy?
But you know, a student's vision is more or less restricted, that is, things that are not in the textbooks are almost not recognized, so it can't help being narrow-minded. I think I have rendered these books too much-frankly , every night I fall asleep with hope!I've been thinking about them day and night these days, and I don't even have time to think about other things...

Helen Keller
letter 78

To the Chair of the Radcliffe Academy Board of Trustees
138 Brightow Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 1900, 5

Dear Mr:
Here, I would like to consult with you in advance in order to make a clear arrangement for my academic support plan for the coming year, and to make a reasonable judgment on the possibility of my regular courses at Radcliffe College in the future.

I received my admissions credentials to Radcliffe College last July and since then I have been studying French, German, Rhetoric, British History, English Literature and Criticism, and English Composition with a private tutor.

I hope that I can continue to learn these courses in the academy, if not all of them, if I can learn some of them.In addition, Miss Sullivan has been with me for 13 years as my teacher.I totally depend on her for my studies.She was the person who read the exam papers for me and also my oral interpreter.If I am in class, or listening to lectures in the classroom, it is very necessary to have her by my side.I would do all my homework on a typewriter, and if the professor didn't understand what I was saying, I would answer his questions in words and give them to the professor after class.

I knew, of course, that the difficulties I would encounter on the way to school would be daunting—difficulties that would appear insurmountable to others.But, my lord, a true warrior does not give up easily.I think that, as far as a university is concerned, it is possible to give some tolerance to these unprecedented conditions.Otherwise, why should I choose Radcliffe to complete my studies?
Helen Keller
letter 79

To Mrs Lawrence Hughton
138 Brightow Street, Cambridge, November 1900, 6

…I sincerely hope that the school board will respond in good faith, although I have not yet received a written response from them.My friends also found it very strange that they hesitated for so long without replying.In fact, I didn't ask them to simplify my coursework at all, I just asked for slight changes to fit the existing learning environment.Cornell has stated that they will provide all conveniences for my studies, as long as I choose to enter their school for further study.The University of Chicago has suggested the same.My concern though is that if I choose to go to another university, my test scores won't be as good as they are now...

Helen Keller
letter eighty
In autumn, Helen entered Radcliffe College.

To Mr. John Heitz

14 Coolidge Street, Cambridge, 1900 November 11

(End of this chapter)