We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysucklewith which it was covered. Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand underthe spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the wordwater, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of herfingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten-a thrill of returningthought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that"w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That livingword awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true,but barriers that could in time be swept away.

 

我们走在通往大房子的路上，金银花的芬芳令人心旷神怡。有人开始压水，我的老师则把我的手放在了水管边上。当一股清冽的水流喷涌到我的一只手上时，她就在我的另一只手上拼写“water”这个词，起初是慢慢地，后来变得飞快。蓦然间，我感觉到一种被遗忘了的朦胧意识—或者说，一种沉睡意识的回归和觉醒；神秘的语言世界展现在我面前。于是我知道了“water”的意思是奇妙而凉爽的东西从我的手上流过。这个具有生命力的词语唤醒了我的灵魂，它带给了我光明、希望、欢乐，将我置于一个无限自由的空间！虽然感官的藩篱依然存在，但是藩篱必将会被及时地清理干净。