2 Chapter 1 Early Years

Chapter 1 The Early Years Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her father, Arthur Keller, had fought in the Civil War for the South. After the war, he went home to his farm. After his first wife died, he married a woman named Kate Adams. His two sons from his first marriage and his young wife called Arthur Keller "Captain." In addition to running his farm, Captain was also the editor of the local paper. He was a quiet, stern man.

1880年6月27日，海伦·凯勒出生在阿拉巴马州的图斯康比亚。 她的父亲亚瑟·凯勒曾在南北战争中为南方而战。 战争结束后，他回到了自己的农场。 他的第一任妻子去世后，他娶了一个名叫凯特·亚当斯的女人。 他第一次婚姻所生的两个儿子和年轻的妻子都称亚瑟·凯勒为“船长”。 除了经营农场，船长还是当地报纸的编辑。 他是一个安静、严厉的人。

The first girl in the family, baby Helen lit up a room. She laughed and cooed. Helen was the apple of her mother's eye. Her father adored her. Helen wrote about her early life. She said, "The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life … I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does."

家里的第一个女孩，小海伦点亮了整个房间。 她又笑又叫。海伦是她母亲的掌上明珠。 她的父亲很喜欢她。海伦写了她早年的生活。 她说:“我生命的开始很简单，就像其他的小生命一样……我来了，我看到了，我征服了，就像家里的第一个孩子一样。”

Helen was smart. She spoke early. Her first words were said to be "tea, tea, tea" and "wahwah" for water. If she did not know the words for things, Helen made up signals to show her mother what she wanted. She learned to walk at an early age. Soon Helen was racing around the house.

海伦很聪明。她很早就说了。 据说她说的第一句话是“茶，茶，茶”，“哇哇”代表水。 如果海伦不知道某样东西的意思，她就会用手势告诉妈妈她想要什么。 她很小就学会走路。 不久，海伦就在房子里跑来跑去。

Then before she was two years old, Helen became sick. Very sick. She ran a very high fever. At that time, there were few medicines to cure sickness. The doctor thought that Helen would die. Then, suddenly, the fever broke. Helen slept peacefully. Her family rejoiced. Their golden daughter was fine again.

不到两岁，海伦就生病了。 非常恶心。她发着高烧。 在那个时候，几乎没有治疗疾病的药物。 医生认为海伦会死。 然后，突然，高烧退了。 海伦睡得很安稳。她的家人都很高兴。 他们的黄金女儿又好了。

But Helen wasn't fine. While Helen's mother was bathing her, she moved her hand in front of Helen's face. Helen did not blink. Helen's eyes stared straight ahead. Kate tried again. She hoped that she was wrong. But she wasn't. Helen was blind. And that was not all. Every evening, a bell was rung to call the family to dinner. Everyone heard the loud, clanging noise. They stopped what they were doing and came to dinner. But Kate noticed that Helen no longer turned her head toward the sound. Kate called to the Captain and his sister Evelyn, who lived with them. They shouted at Helen. They

但是海伦并不好。当海伦的妈妈给她洗澡时，她把手放在海伦的脸上。 海伦没有眨眼。海伦的眼睛直直地盯着前方。 凯特又试了一次。她希望自己是错的。 但她不是。海伦是个盲人。 这还不是全部。每天晚上，门铃响起来叫一家人吃饭。 每个人都听到了响亮的叮当声。 他们停下手头的工作来吃晚饭。 但是凯特注意到海伦不再把头转向声音。 凯特叫来了和他们住在一起的船长和他的妹妹伊芙琳。 他们对海伦大喊大叫。他们

spoke softly. They clapped their hands next to her ears. Helen did not react. Mrs. Keller's fear was true. Her daughter was deaf as well as blind.

轻声说话。他们在她的耳朵旁拍着手。 海伦没有反应。凯勒太太的担心是真的。 她的女儿既瞎又聋。