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

Chapter 49 Anne Sullivan's Letters (6)
Recently she has suddenly become interested in color.She spotted the word "brown" in her textbook and asked me what it meant.I told her that her hair was brown.She asked me, "Is brown pretty?" Then we went through the house and I told her the color of everything.Later, she suggested to go and see the chicken coop and the stables, but I was tired, so I told her I had to wait until tomorrow.So, we just sit in the hammock and even then you don't get a moment's respite.Helen longed to learn about "more colors".I suspect that she may not have a clear concept of color, and seems to include early memories of light and sound.It seems to me that to a nineteen-month-old child with normal sight and hearing, the surrounding environment must make the first impressions, however feeble they are.Helen can tell many things that the sense of touch cannot perceive.She especially loved having me tell her about the pictures and asked me many questions about the sky, day and night, ocean and mountains.

I seem to have strayed off topic, let's go back to the color issue.As the hammock swayed back and forth, Helen asked me "What color are thoughts?" I told her that when we are happy, our thoughts are bright.When we are mischievous, the mind feels sad.Unexpectedly, her reaction was as quick as lightning, "My thoughts are white, and Winnie's thoughts are black."

Look at her wretch, it occurred to her to associate the color of her mind with the color of her skin.I couldn't help laughing, because it was at this moment that Vinnie cried out at the top of her voice, "I look forward to sitting on these cursed jasper walls and watching these cursed sinners stumble and fall!"

letter 25

Nov. 1887, 10

I finally finished that teaching report and sent it out.I have transcribed two copies, and I will send you one, but you must not show it to anyone else.Because before it was published, the ownership of this report belonged to Mr. Ananos.

Helen gave me a lot of ideas about what she would do when she got to Boston.She asked me one day, "Who's going to set things up in Boston?"

I think little blind girls will love Helen's letter.Because, as they say, she is writing with her head.

letter 26

Nov. 1887, 10

Helen has now learned to speak using personal pronouns.This morning, I just said something like this: "Helen is going upstairs." She smiled and said, "The teacher is wrong, you are going upstairs." This is another huge improvement .She wrote another letter to the blind little girls yesterday, and Captain Keller had sent the letter to Mr. Ananos.I believe that Helen's wording and expression in this letter have improved a lot compared to the previous letter.

Helen is making rapid progress every day, and yesterday's confusion has turned into an extremely simple matter today.Clearly, today's puzzles will become tomorrow's entertainment.The rapid development of Helen's mind is indeed worthy of attention.Whether any teacher will encounter such an interesting job, I doubt it.I think there must have been a lucky star in the sky when I was born.Today, I have to thank God for bringing Helen with me.

I had two letters from Mr. Ananos last week.In the letter, he praised my teaching report.This time, he said he wanted a photo of Helen and me "to add luster to the upcoming annual teaching report".

letter 27

April 1887

I think only those who are with her every day realize how quickly Helen has improved in language learning.Before this, you have probably read Helen's second letter, which is her letter to the blind little girls.It was between those two letters that the progress she had made was unbelievable.From her letters, she rarely misuses or omits any words in conversation, and you will find that she has been able to use many pronouns accurately.Passionate about putting her thoughts on paper, she is passionate about letter writing.

Also, she is now beginning to realize that she is different from other children.One day she asked me, "What are my eyes for?" I told her that I could see with my eyes and she could see with her fingers.She thought for a moment, then said, "My eyes are bad!" Then she changed the sentence to, "My eyes are sick!" She could tell a few stories now, and Imagination plays an important role in these stories.

letter 28

Nov. 1887, 11

We enjoyed a "wonderful time" - took Helen to the circus, the people in the circus were very enthusiastic about Helen, and they did everything they could to impress Helen, who was seeing the circus for the first time .Under the condition of ensuring safety, Helen touched almost all the animals.

She touched a few lion cubs, they were as gentle as kittens.But I told her that when they grow up, they will become very fierce."I'm going to bring the baby lions home and I'm going to teach them gentleness," she told the keeper. She fed the elephants and climbed on the back of the largest one.The elephant called "Oriental Princess" carried her around the field.The animal trainer also made a big black bear stand on its hind legs and ordered it to stretch out its huge bear paw to us.Helen shook hands with the black bear politely.A leopard licked Helen's palm.The keeper in charge of the giraffe held Helen aloft so she could touch the giraffe's ears and get a feel for the animal's size.

She had the most fun with the monkey, and she put her hand on the "star actor" when the monkey did tricks.When the monkey took off the hat from his head and gave it to the audience, she actually laughed out loud from the bottom of her heart.A cute little monkey stole Helen's headband, while another monkey tried to snatch the silk flower from Helen's hat.I couldn't tell whose "happy time" it was, the monkeys, Helen, or the audience?

She also touched a Greek chariot whose driver was willing to take her around the field, but she was terrified of "a lot of galloping horses".Whenever possible, circus riders, clowns, and tightrope walkers were willing to let Helen touch their costumes or show her their moves.To express her gratitude, Helen kissed all the circus performers.But one of the "Bornean savages" avoided her cute little face with trepidation.Some actors shed tears. After seeing the circus, Helen only talked about the circus and didn't care about other topics at all.I had to read a lot about animals to be able to answer her questions.

letter 29

Nov. 1887, 12

Do you remember the happy time we had the last time we spent Christmas?Helen finally learned to tell the time, and her father was going to give her a pocket watch at Christmas.Even though Helen talked about Christmas over and over again, it was hard for me to feel the festive spirit approaching.She always made me tell her the story of "The Little Red Knight Hood" over and over again, and I think I can tell it backwards now.Like any hearing child I've ever met, Helen was more than happy to have a story told to her.In addition, she likes to listen to the stories that moved her to tears. In fact, I am the same way. When you don't encounter something worthy of sadness, you will feel sad, which is very poignant and wonderful.Now I am teaching her little rhyming poems that call out to all the potentialities in a child, because they stimulate the child's imagination and leave an imprint on her memory.I don't think anyone can read or talk properly unless he knows the art of ignoring words and making sentences.So, I'm not going to explain all the implications to Helen, because if I did, I wouldn't have the chance to let my imagination run wild.Excessive explanation will only cause children to fail to grasp the essentials.

letter thirty
Nov. 1888, 1

Helen relies on me for almost everything, and besides being happy, I also feel the responsibility on my shoulders.If you are essential to someone, it means you have something to do in the world, and it's actually good to feel needed, it makes you feel important.The "Christmas week" here is also busy.Helen was invited to all the children's entertainment, and I took her to every party I could. I wanted her to spend more time with peers and make more friends.There was a little boy who was almost seven years old, under Helen's persuasion, he learned the (sign language) alphabet, and he even spelled his own name for Helen.Helen was very happy. She hugged and kissed the little boy, who was still very embarrassed.

In addition, there are several little girls who have learned to spell with their fingers, and they are very proud of their "achievements".On Sunday, I showed Helen around the Christmas trees of the primary school children.The children are very enthusiastic about Helen, which makes me and Helen feel warm and warm.It was the first time she had seen a Christmas tree, and naturally she was confused, and as a result she asked me a lot of questions. "Why do you do this? Who hung many things on the tree? Who made the tree grow in the house?" She wanted to take down these fruits. She thought it was wrong to hang all kinds of fruits on the tree. .Apparently, she thought the fruit was all for her.However, it was not difficult for her to understand that these fruits were a gift for every child, and she was especially pleased that she was given the "privilege" to distribute gifts to children.

A few gifts were her own, but she did a good job of waiting until every child had received a present before putting hers on a chair and looking at them one by one.Helen also insisted on distributing her gift to a child who received relatively few gifts.Helen's understanding makes me very happy.The celebration started at nine o'clock in the evening and we didn't leave until one o'clock midnight.My fingers and head hurt badly when I came out, but Helen was just as excited as she was when she came out of the house.

On Sunday morning, the ground was completely covered in snow.Helen, I and the cook's children had a snowball fight.At noon, the snow stopped completely.This is the first snow I've seen here, and it makes me a little homesick.After dinner, we played and talked about the snowy scenery outside the window.

For weeks, we did nothing but read, talk, and tell each other stories about Christmas.Christmas provided us with many learning opportunities, and many new words were added to Helen's vocabulary.Of course, I didn't explain all the new words to Helen, because she couldn't understand everything I said.However, by repeating these words and phrases continuously, she will gradually understand the meaning of these words.When teaching a language, I don't think "fake" dialogue is advisable.This kind of practice only makes people stupid, whether they are students or teachers.If there is no communication idea in the child's consciousness, then you should not ask him to write on the blackboard, or let him spell with his fingers, we should discard the words "that cat", "that bird", "that dog" "How, how, and so on are boring words and phrases.

Conversation should happen naturally, it should be an avenue for the free exchange of ideas between the people being spoken to.From the beginning, I tried to talk to Helen in a natural way. My principle was very simple, that is, just tell me what she is interested in, and just ask her the questions she wants to ask.When I find that she is eager to tell me something, but doesn't know the words to use, I teach her the correct words and phrases, that is, we don't have to tell everything
They are described in detail, and children's curiosity will lead her to cross many obstacles.It is in this way that we have achieved remarkable results.If we were to test our intelligence by our ability to use basic vocabulary, I would be intimidated, because if I did, I would feel like I was in a literacy class in a small school.

Helen is basking in the joy of "her first Christmas".She also hung her own stockings on the tree—not one but two, lest Santa Claus might miss hers.During the night, she got up two or three times to see if anything happened. I coaxed her to lie down and told her that Santa Claus would come only after she fell asleep. "So he'll think I'm asleep," said the eye.

As soon as she awoke next morning, she ran to the fire to look at her stockings.Sure enough, both of her socks were filled with gifts by "Santa Claus", which made her dance with joy.I put the ring you gave her in the stocking too, and I told her it was a gift you entrusted Santa Claus to bring to her.“I love Mrs. Hopkins very much,” she told me. When she found the Braille pad and the special paper in the stocking, she said, “I write a lot of letters, and I want to give a special thanks to Santa Claus.”

But after a while, she gradually became quieter.She came over and asked me if Santa thought there were two little girls living here, so he left two presents, and when he found out his mistake, would he take the presents away?

She has a box containing all kinds of clothes she specially prepared for Nancy. According to herself: "So that Nancy can go to the Christmas party."

For Captain Keller and Mrs. Keller, they feel sincere joy this Christmas, because unlike before, their daughter Little Helen is no longer ignorant of Christmas.When I came downstairs, Captain Keller held my hand and said nothing, but his silence was far more than a thousand words.Mrs. Keller, with tears in her eyes, said to me: "Miss Anne, I thank God for sending you to us, but I never realized it until this morning. What a blessing it has brought." My heart was filled with gratitude, too, and I thought it was a holy and sublime joy.

This morning she asked me what "carpenter" means, and it turned out that this question became the main topic of today's lecture.After explaining to her all kinds of things a carpenter makes, she asked me, "Will a carpenter make me too?" Before I could answer, she quickly spelled out, "No, no, a photographer will make me out of silver plates." I remember one time, when we were processing photos of silver plates by a large burning iron furnace, we carefully observed those silver plates gradually "melting" (developing).Helen felt the heat, so she asked, "Has the sun gone down?"

One day, Helen came across the word "grandfather" in a short story, so she asked her mother, "Where is my grandfather?" Mrs. Keller replied, "He's dead." Helen asked, "Dad shot him." Dead?" Because she knew her father would shoot grouse and wild deer and other game.So in Helen's consciousness, death is associated with certain foods.So Helen added, "I'll have my grandfather for dinner."

letter 31
Nov. 1888, 1

I saw the annual teaching report last night.Although I am very grateful to Mr. Ananos for his sympathy for me and Helen, I am a little displeased by his exaggerated expression. He said that I fully absorbed the noble spirit of Dr. Hao and enthusiastically treated an Alabama child. Salvation from the darkness of ignorance, in fact, how absurd is the idea!Everyone knows that my purpose of coming here is very simple, because here can provide me with an environment to make a living, and I seized this opportunity at the first time.I think he also knows very well that I don't come here with any purpose of benevolence.

letter 32

Nov. 1888, 1

I think you have received Helen's letter.I wanted her to write a letter to her Uncle Frank this morning, but the little rascal didn't want to use a pencil.She said: "Pencils are too tiring. I'm going to write to Uncle Frank in Braille."

I said to her, "Uncle Frank can't read Braille." "I'll teach him," she replied.

I had to explain to her that learning Braille was not easy and that Uncle Frank was getting old.

Unexpectedly, she immediately replied: "I think Uncle Frank is too old, and the pencil writing is too small, so he can't read it." Although I finally persuaded her to write the letter with a pencil, she broke the tip of the pen six times I just finished writing the letter.I said to her, "You're a naughty kid."

(End of this chapter)