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1、Unit 1 The world of our senses3All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his l
2、ast days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What associations should we crowd into those last hours as mo
3、rtal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a
4、keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the epicurean motto of Eat, drink, and be merry, but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impendin
5、g death.Most of us take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future, when we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty task, hardly aware
6、 of our listless attitude towards life.The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and h
7、earing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. 我们都读过这样一些动人的故事，故事里主人公将不久于人世。长则一年，短则24小时。但是我们总是很
8、想知道这个即将离开人世的人是决定怎样度过他最后的日子的。当然，我所指的是有权做出选择的自由人，不是那些活动范围受到严格限制的死囚。这一类故事会使我们思考在类似的处境下，我们自己该做些什么？在那些临终前的几个小时里我们会产生哪些联想？回顾过去，我们应该发现什么欣慰和遗憾呢？有时我想，把每天都当作生命的最后一天来度过也不失为一个很好的生命法则。这种人生态度会使人非常重视人生的价值。每一天我们都应该以和善的态度、充沛的精力和热情的欣赏来度过，而这些恰恰是在来日方长时往往被我们忽视的东西。当然，有那样一些人奉行享乐主义的座右铭吃喝玩乐，但是大多数人却不能摆脱死亡来临的必然性。我们大多数人认为生命理所当
9、然，我们明白总有一天我们会死去，但是我们常常把这一天看得非常遥远。当我们身强体壮时，死亡便成了难以想象的事情了。我们很少会考虑它，日子一天天过去，好像没有尽头。所以我们为琐事奔波，并没有意识到我们对待生活的态度是冷漠的。我想我们在运用我们所有五官时恐怕也同样是冷漠的。只有聋子才珍惜听力，只有盲人才能认识到能见光明的幸运。对于那些成年致盲或失聪的人来说尤其如此。但是那些视力或听力从未遭受损失的人却很少充分利用这些幸运的能力，他们对所见所闻不关注、不欣赏。这与常说的不是去不懂得珍贵，不生病不知道健康可贵的道理是一样的。我常想如果每一个人在他成年的早些时候，有几天成了瞎子或聋子也不失为一件幸事。黑暗
10、将使他更怜惜光明；沉寂将教他知道声音的乐趣。有时我会试探我的非盲的朋友们，想知道他们看见了什么。最近我的一位非常要好的朋友来看我，她刚刚在树林里走了很长时间，我问她看见了什么。“没什么特别的，”她回答说。如不是我早已习惯了这样的回答，我也许不会轻易相信，因为很久以前我就相信了有眼人看不见什么。我问自己在树林中走了一小时，怎么可能什么值得注意的东西都没有看到呢？而我一个盲人仅仅通过触摸就发现了数以百计的有趣的东西。我感受到It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we conscious of health until we
11、are ill.I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being was stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to d
12、iscover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. Nothing in particular, she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinc
13、ed that the seeing see little.How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin
14、of a silver birch, or the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winters sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the
15、miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently in a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is m
16、ore welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips. At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action fill the world is taken for granted. It
