當(dāng)你站在帝國(guó)大廈上時(shí)，你看到了什么？你在想些什么呢？你想知道《假如給我三天光明》的作者海倫·凱勒站在帝國(guó)大廈上時(shí)看到了什么嗎？讀一讀這封 truly beautiful letter，解密海倫的文字小游戲，相信你會(huì)對(duì)此多一份更深的理解。
▍背景介紹
海倫·凱勒（Helen Keller，1880－1968），美國(guó)著名女作家、教育家、慈善家，美國(guó)《時(shí)代周刊》評(píng)選的“二十世紀(jì)美國(guó)十大偶像”之一。海倫·凱勒在十九個(gè)月時(shí)因患病而失去聽(tīng)覺(jué)和視覺(jué)，幸而遇見(jiàn)人生導(dǎo)師莎莉文老師，從此努力學(xué)習(xí)生活。多年后致力于為殘疾人造福，建立了許多慈善機(jī)構(gòu)。著作有：《假如給我三天光明》《石墻故事》等。
The Empire State Building: 帝國(guó)大廈，有 102 層 ，443.5 米，是世界上第 25 高的摩天大樓，也是保持“世界最高建筑地位”最久的摩天大樓（1931-1972年）
▍書(shū)信節(jié)選
· I will concede that my guides saw a thousand things that escaped me from the top of the Empire Building, but I am not envious. For imagination creates distances and horizons that reach to the end of the world.
concede: vt. 承認(rèn)；退讓?zhuān)╮eluctantly admit: 不情愿地承認(rèn)）
the idea came to my mind
something slipped my mind
envious: adj. 羨慕的；嫉妒的（jealous）
· I was pleasantly surprised to find the Empire Building so poetical. From every one except my blind friend I had received an impression of sordid materialism – the piling up of one steel honeycomb upon another with no real purpose but to satisfy the American craving for the superlative in everything.
bitterly disappointed: 既失望，又痛苦
sordid: adj. very dirty and unpleasant.
materialism: n. 物質(zhì)主義
honeycomb: 蜂巢（經(jīng)常用來(lái)比喻人們的居所，工作環(huán)境）
craving: n. 渴望；熱望
superlative: adj. 最高的；最高級(jí)的
· Well, I see in the Empire Building something else – passionate skill, arduous and fearless idealism. The tallest building is a victory of imagination. Instead of crouching close to earth like a beast, the spirit of man soars to higher regions, and from this new point of vantage he looks upon the impossible with fortified courage and dreams yet more magnificent enterprises.
arduous: adj. 極難實(shí)現(xiàn)的（requiring great much effort）
crouch: vi. 蹲伏；蜷伏
soar: vi. 高飛在天；高聳入云
vantage point / point of vantage: 有利的視角
fortify: vt. 加強(qiáng)；增強(qiáng)
fortified courage and dreams: 加倍的勇氣和夢(mèng)想
· What did I "see and hear" from the Empire Tower? I saw a romantic structure wrought by human brains and hands that is to the burning eye of the sun a rival luminary. I heard the hammer of Thor ring when the shaft began to rise upward. I saw countless skilled workers welding together that mighty symmetry.
wrought：work 的過(guò)去分詞，文雅的用法
eye：n. 中心；眼睛
a shaft of light: 一道光
weld: vi. 焊接；團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)（weld into a whole）
Thor（雷神索爾），是北歐神話(huà)中負(fù)責(zé)掌管戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)與農(nóng)業(yè)的雷霆與力量之神。海倫凱勒在此用 the hammer of Thor 來(lái)指帝國(guó)大廈就像是雷神索爾的杰作
· Let cynics and supersensitive souls say what they will about American materialism and machine civilization. Beneath the surface are poetry, mysticism and inspiration that the Empire Building somehow symbolizes. In that giant shaft I see a groping toward beauty and spiritual vision. I am one of those who see and yet believe.
▍補(bǔ)充
a deaf-blind person
a bachelor of arts degree: 藝術(shù)學(xué)士學(xué)位
The Empire State Building: 帝國(guó)大廈
Keller is famously both deaf and blind from a very early age.
carousel: n. 旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬
【安琪老師的微博鏈接（也可以直接搜索：安琪_Anqi在友鄰）】
http://weibo.com/u/1408998941
