I am told that while I was still in long dresses I showed many signs of an eager, self-asserting disposition. Everything that I saw other people do I insisted upon imitating. At six months I could pipe out "How d'ye," and one day I attracted every one's attention by saying "Tea, tea, tea" quite plainly. Even after my illness I remembered one of the words I had learned in these early months. It was the word "water," and I continued to make some sound for that word after all other speech was lost. I ceased making the sound "wah-wah" only when I learned to spell the word.
我从家人口中得知，当我尚在襁褓中的时候，我就显示出了急躁而固执的个性。我会执意模仿别人做的每一件事情。在六个月大时，我就能咿呀说出“你——好”之类的词句。有一天，我十分清晰地说出了“茶，茶，茶”，这引起了家里每一个人的注意。即便是在我生病之后，我仍然记得在我生命最初几个月里所学到的一个词，这个词就是“水”。此后，在我所有的语言功能丧失殆尽后，我就一直模糊地发出“水”这个词的声音，只有在学习拼读的时候，我才会停止说“水——水”。
They
tell
me
I
walked
the
day
I
was
a
year
old.
My
mother
had
just
taken
me
out
of
the
bath-
tub
and
was
holding
me
in
her
lap,
when
I
was
suddenly
attracted
by
the
flickering
shadows
of
leaves
that
danced
in
the
sunlight
on
the
smooth
floor.
I
slipped
from
my
mother's
lap
and
almost
ran
toward
them.
The
impulse
gone,
I
fell
down
and
cried
for
her
to
take
me
up
in
her
arms.
家人还对我讲了我一岁时学走路的情景。那天，母亲把我从澡盆里抱出来，把我放在她的膝盖上。当时，林木婆娑，光影摇曳，我被眼前的景象吸引住了，于是，我从母亲的腿上挣脱出来，试图追逐地上的阴影。这种冲动付出了代价，我跌倒在地，哭叫着扑进母亲的怀里。
These
happy
days
did
not
last
long.
One
brief
spring,
musical
with
the
song
of
robin
and
mocking-
bird,
one
summer
rich
in
fruit
and
roses,
one
autumn
of
gold
and
crimson
sped
by
and
left
their
gifts
at
the
feet
of
an
eager,
delighted
child.
Then,
in
the
dreary
month
of
February,
came
the
illness
which
closed
my
eyes
and
ears
and
plunged
me
into
the
unconsciousness
of
a
new-
born
baby.
快乐的日子并没有持续多久。一个短暂的春天，知更鸟和嘲鸫的啁啾余音缭绕；一个花果繁盛的夏天；一个金黄色的秋天——时光倏忽即逝，在一个如饥似渴、欣喜异常的幼儿脚下，季节留下了自己最后的礼物。随后，在一个阴沉萧索的二月，疾病封闭了我的眼睛和耳朵，重新将我抛进一个新生婴儿般的无意识状态。
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