3 Chapter 2 Dark Years

Chapter 2 Dark Years There were no days or nights in Helen's world. She could not see the sun rising each morning or the moon with its silver glow at night. She could not hear birds sing or crickets chirp. She lived in silent darkness. Imagine if you could not hear, see, or speak. How would you let people understand you? How would you "talk"?

在海伦的世界里没有白天和黑夜。 她看不见每天早晨升起的太阳，也看不见夜晚闪烁着银光的月亮。 她听不到鸟儿唱歌，也听不到蟋蟀啾啾。 她生活在寂静的黑暗中。 想象一下，如果你听不见、看不见、说不出话。 你如何让别人理解你? 你会怎么“说话”?

Helen was smart. She followed her mother around everywhere. She clung to her skirts. Helen noticed different smells. She felt vibrations as people and things moved around her. Over time, Helen found ways to communicate. She made up signals to tell people what she wanted. There were not many schools for deaf or blind children when Helen was little. There were none where she lived in Alabama. At schools for the deaf, children learned to make signs with their hands. The signs stood for words.

海伦很聪明。她到处跟着母亲。 她紧紧抓住裙子不放。海伦注意到不同的气味。 当周围的人和物移动时，她能感觉到振动。 随着时间的推移，海伦找到了沟通的方法。 她用手势告诉人们她想要什么。 海伦小的时候，没有多少聋哑或盲童学校。 在她住的阿拉巴马州没有。 在聋哑学校，孩子们学习用手做手势。 这些符号代表文字。

SIGN LANGUAGE LONG AGO, A GROUP OF DEAF PEOPLE IN PARIS, FRANCE, DEVELOPED THEIR OWN SIGN LANGUAGE. THEN, IN 1755, A TEACHER WHO COULD HEAR, ABBé CHARLES MICHEL DE L'EPéE, LEARNED THESE SIGNS AND ADDED NEW ONES TO FORM A STANDARD SIGN LANGUAGE OF FRENCH. NOW HEARING AND NON-HEARING PEOPLE COULD COMMUNICATE! MANY OF THE

很久以前，法国巴黎的一群聋哑人发明了他们自己的手语。 然后，在1755年，一位能听的老师，abbess Charles michel de l ' epacei，学习了这些手势，并添加了新的手势，形成了标准的法语手语。 现在听力正常的人和非听力正常的人可以交流了!许多

FRENCH SIGNS FROM LONG AGO ARE STILL USED TODAY. By the time she turned five, Helen had made up over fifty signs of her own. She pulled at her mother or her father. That meant "come with me." She shoved them away when she wanted them to go. For "bread," Helen acted out cutting a slice and buttering it. To say "small," Helen pinched a small bit of the skin of her hand. Helen spread her fingers wide and brought them together to mean "large." Helen also had signs for everyone in her family. For Captain, or Father, Helen mimed glasses and for her mother, she pulled her hair into a knot at the back of her head.

很久以前的法语标志至今仍在使用。 到海伦五岁的时候，她已经创造了50多个自己的手势。 她拉着她的母亲或父亲。 意思是“跟我来。” 她想让他们走的时候却把他们推开了。 对于“面包”，海伦表演了切一片并涂上黄油的动作。 为了说“小”，海伦捏了一小块手的皮肤。 海伦张开她的手指，把它们放在一起表示“大”。 海伦对家里的每个人都有征兆。 为了船长，或者说是父亲，海伦戴上了眼镜，为了母亲，她把头发在脑后打了个结。

The family tried to understand Helen, but it was not easy. She had a terrible temper. When Helen did not get her way, she threw a tantrum. Helen knew that people talked with their lips. She tried moving her lips, but no sounds came out. She did not understand why. It made Helen so mad. She kicked and screamed with frustration. Her tantrums stopped only after she became too tired to scream anymore.

一家人试图理解海伦，但这并不容易。 她的脾气很坏。 海伦没有如愿以偿时，就大发脾气。 海伦知道人们用嘴唇说话。 她试着动嘴唇，但什么声音也发不出来。 她不明白为什么。 这使海伦非常生气。她沮丧地又踢又叫。 直到她累得再也叫不起来了，她才停止了发脾气。

Helen's parents did not know how to handle her. Relatives told them that Helen should no longer live at home. She should be "put away." That meant putting Helen in a hospital or home for the blind and deaf. In the nineteenth century, people with handicaps were often sent away like this. Once they were sent away, their family often did not see them again. But Mrs. Keller did not want to do that to her daughter. She knew her daughter was smart. But how could anyone teach her?

海伦的父母不知道如何管教她。 亲戚们告诉他们海伦不应该再住在家里了。 她应该被“关起来”。这意味着把海伦送到医院或聋哑人之家。 在19世纪，残疾人经常被这样送走。 一旦他们被送走，他们的家人通常就再也见不到他们了。 但凯勒太太不想这样对待她的女儿。 她知道女儿很聪明。 但谁能教她呢?