The next day - the second day of sight - I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day. I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth.
This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world, past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man's progress, the kaleidoscope of the ages. How can so much be compressed into one day? Through the museums, of course. Often I have visited the New York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited, but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there - animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment; gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth long before man appeared, with his tiny stature and powerful brain, to conquer the animal kingdom; realistic presentations of the processes of development in animals, in man, and in the implements which man has used to fashion for himself a secure home on this planet; and a thousand and one other aspects of natural history.
I wonder how many readers of this article have viewed this panorama of the face of living things as pictured in that inspiring museum. Many, of course, have not had the opportunity, but I am sure that many who have had the opportunity have not made use of it. there, indeed, is a place to use your eyes. You who see can spend many fruitful days there, but I with my imaginary three days of sight, could only take a hasty glimpse, and pass on.
My next stop would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for just as the Museum of Natural History reveals the material aspects of the world, so does the Metropolitan show the myriad facets of the human spirit. Throughout the history of humanity the urge to artistic expression has been almost as powerful as the urge for food, shelter, and procreation. And here , in the vast chambers of the Metropolitan Museum, is unfolded before me the spirit of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as expressed in their art. I know well through my hands the sculptured gods and goddesses of the ancient Nile-land. I have felt copies of Parthenon friezes, and I have sensed the rhythmic beauty of charging Athenian warriors. Apollos and Venuses and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are friends of my finger tips. The gnarled, bearded features of Homer are dear to me, for he, too, knew blindness.
My hands have lingered upon the living marble of roman sculpture as well as that of later generations. I have passed my hands over a plaster cast of Michelangelo's inspiring and heroic Moses; I have sensed the power of Rodin; I have been awed by the devoted spirit of Gothic wood carving. These arts which can be touched have meaning for me, but even they were meant to be seen rather than felt, and I can only guess at the beauty which remains hidden from me. I can admire the simple lines of a Greek vase, but its figured decorations are lost to me.
So on this, my second day of sight, I should try to probe into the soul of man through this art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. More splendid still, the whole magnificent world of painting would be opened to me, from the Italian Primitives, with their serene religious devotion, to the Moderns, with their feverish visions. I should look deep into the canvases of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rembrandt. I should want to feast my eyes upon the warm colors of Veronese, study the mysteries of E1 Greco, catch a new vision of Nature from Corot. Oh, there is so much rich meaning and beauty in the art of the ages for you who have eyes to see!
Upon my short visit to this temple of art I should not be able to review a fraction of that great world of art which is open to you. I should be able to get only a superficial impression. Artists tell me that for deep and true appreciation of art one must educated the eye. One must learn through experience to weigh the merits of line, of composition, of form and color. If I had eyes, how happily would I embark upon so fascinating a study! Yet I am told that, to many of you who have eyes to see, the world of art is a dark night, unexplored and unilluminated.
It would be with extreme reluctance that I should leave the Metropolitan Museum, which contains the key to beauty -- a beauty so neglected. Seeing persons, however, do not need a metropolitan to find this key to beauty. The same key lies waiting in smaller museums, and in books on the shelves of even small libraries. But naturally, in my limited time of imaginary sight, I should choose the place where the key unlocks the greatest treasures in the shortest time.
The evening of my second day of sight I should spend at a theatre or at the movies. Even now I often attend theatrical performances of all sorts, but the action of the play must be spelled into my hand by a companion. But how I should like to see with my own eyes the fascinating figure of Hamlet, or the gusty Falstaff amid colorful Elizabethan trappings! How I should like to follow each movement of the graceful Hamlet, each strut of the hearty Falstaff! And since I could see only one play, I should be confronted by a many-horned dilemma, for there are scores of plays I should want to see. You who have eyes can see any you like. How many of you, I wonder, when you gaze at a play, a movie, or any spectacle, realize and give thanks for the miracle of sight which enables you to enjoy its color , grace, and movement?
I cannot enjoy the beauty of rhythmic movement except in a sphere restricted to the touch of my hands. I can vision only dimly the grace of a Pavlowa, although I know something of the delight of rhythm, for often I can sense the beat of music as it vibrates through the floor. I can well imagine that cadenced motion must be one of the most pleasing sights in the world. I have been able to gather something of this by tracing with my fingers the lines in sculptured marble; if this static grace can be so lovely, how much more acute must be the thrill of seeing grace in motion.
One of my dearest memories is of the time when Joseph Jefferson allowed me to touch his face and hands as he went through some of the gestures and speeches of his beloved Rip Van Winkle. I was able to catch thus a meager glimpse of the world of drama, and I shall never forget the delight of that moment. But, oh, how much I must miss, and how much pleasure you seeing ones can derive from watching and hearing the interplay of speech and movement in the unfolding of a dramatic performance! If I could see only one play, I should know how to picture in my mind the action of a hundred plays which I have read or had transferred to me through the medium of the manual alphabet.
So, through the evening of my second imaginary day of sight, the great fingers of dramatic literature would crowd sleep from my eyes.
第二天
次日－－－我能看的第二天－－－我會隨黎明一道起來，看那黑夜轉成白晝的激動人心的奇跡，我要懷著肅然敬畏的心情去看那太陽喚醒沉睡的大地的壯觀的景象。
這一天，我要用來匆忙地掃視這個世界，它的過去和現在。我想看人類進程的展示，時代的萬花筒。這麽多的東西怎麽能壓縮在一天之內看完呢？當然，通過博物館，我已多次去參觀過紐約自然曆史博物館，用我手去觸摸那裏陳列的許多物件。但我渴望親眼看到地球和那裏陳列的地球上居民的濃縮曆史－－－在他們自然環境裏展示出的動物和人類種族；曾在人類出現之前，很早就在地球上漫遊的巨大恐龍和柱牙象骨架，人類以他小巧的身材和強有力的大腦征服了動物王國；動物，人類和人類工具的發展過程的逼真展現，人類曾用這些工具在這個星球上來建造他們安全的家園，還有其它許許多多的自然曆史方麵。
我不知道這篇文章的多少讀者看過這個生動的博物館所展示的逼真事物的壯觀景貌。當然有許多人沒有機會，但是我相信，有許多人確有機會而沒有利用。那裏，確是利用你的眼睛的地方，你們能看見的人能在那裏度過許多成果豐碩的日子，可是我隻有想象的３天可見的時間，隻能是倉促地一瞥，匆匆而過。
我的下一站將是大都會藝術博物館。像自然曆史博物館展示世界的物質方麵一樣，大都會藝術博物館展示大量的人類精神方麵。在貫穿人類曆史的全過程中，對藝術表現的強烈衝動就像人類對食物、住所和繁衍的迫切需要一樣強烈。而這裏，在大都會博物館那寬敞的大廳裏，在我們麵前展示了通過藝術形式表達出來的古埃及、古希臘和古羅馬的精神世界。我通過我的手很好地了解了雕刻的古代尼羅河土地上的眾神，我摸過巴台農神殿（譯注：巴台農神殿是希臘雅典城內的帕拉斯·雅曲娜神殿，建於公元前４４７－４３２年間。神殿由大理石築成，極盡雕飾之巧，是希臘古典建築的傑出代表作品。）中楣石柱的複製品，我意識到向前衝鋒的的雅典武士的勻稱和諧美。阿波羅、維納斯和有翅膀的薩摩絲雷斯勝利女神（譯注：薩摩絲雷斯是位於希臘愛琴海東北部的一個島嶼，因公元３０５年在島上立起一勝利女神大理石雕像，以紀念馬斯頓國王的海戰大捷而著名。因女神雕像展開的雙臂塑成展翅飛翔的姿態，故稱薩摩絲雷斯展翅勝利女神像。該雕像現存於巴黎羅浮宮。）是我的手指尖的朋友。我看到那荷馬的長滿胡須、節瘤眾多的麵部雕像感到無比親切，因為他也是盲人。
我的手在栩栩如生的羅馬大理石雕像和後世的雕刻上逗留。我的手摸過米開朗基羅（譯注：１４７５－１５６４年，著名的佛羅倫薩畫家、雕刻家、建築師和詩人，意大利文藝複興盛期的傑出代表人物。）那鼓舞人心的英雄摩西雕塑石膏模；我感覺到羅丹（譯注：１８４０－１９１７年，著名的法國雕塑家）的力量。我對哥特木刻的熱忱精神感到敬畏。這些能被觸摸到的藝術作品對我有著實在的意義，但即使這些藝術品既是為了觀看又是為了摸的，我也隻能是猜度我仍未發現的美妙。我能讚歎一隻古希臘花瓶簡單的線條，但我對它的圖案裝飾卻是迷惘的。
所以，在我能看的第二天，我要通過人類的藝術努力探究人生的靈魂。通過觸摸我知道了的事情，我現在要看見它對宗教泰然虔誠奉獻的意大利文藝複興前期作品到狂熱夢幻的現代派作品。我要仔細端詳拉斐爾、達芬奇、提香（譯注：１４７７－１５７６年，著名的威尼斯畫家）和瑞姆布蘭特（譯：１６０６－１６６９年，著名的荷蘭巴羅克畫家，荷蘭油畫派領袖，歐洲藝術大師。）的油畫。我要讓我的眼睛飽享維勒內茲（譯注：１５２８－１５８８年，意大利威尼斯派畫家）那熾烈的色彩，研究埃爾·格列科（譯注：１５４８－１６２５年，西班牙畫家）的神秘，從科羅（譯注：１７９６－１８７５年，法國風景畫家）那裏領略大自然的新視覺。啊！對你們有眼能看的人來說，在那些時代的藝術中有多麽豐富的意義和美感。
在我對這座藝術殿堂的短暫訪問中，我不應隻能看到那對你開放的偉大藝術世界的一個部分，我隻能是獲得一個表麵的印象。藝術家告訴我，要能真正深刻地鑒賞，他得要訓練他的眼力。他必須通過經驗學會衡量線條構圖，形態和色彩的價值。如果我有眼睛，我會多麽幸福地從事如此迷人的研究！但是，有人告訴我，對你們有眼睛可看的許多人來說，藝術的世界是一片黑暗，未曾開發，未曾照亮。
多麽不情願，我要離開大都會博物館，那裏有開啟美的鑰匙，這種美又被忽視了。而能看見的人卻不需要到大都會博物館去找到這開啟美的鑰匙。這相同的鑰匙也在較小的博物館，甚至小圖書館的書架上的書中等待著。當然，在我想象的能看見的有限時間裏，我該選擇那在盡短的時間內打開最偉大寶庫的鑰匙所在的地方。
我能看見的第二天晚上我該在劇院或電影院度過。甚至現在，我還是經常去看各種戲劇表演，但劇情需要由一個同伴拚寫在我手上。我多麽想親眼看到哈姆雷特的迷人形象，或者是那在豔麗多彩的伊麗莎白時代服飾中刮大風的伏爾斯塔夫！（譯注：伏爾斯塔夫為莎士比亞劇中的一個滑稽喜劇人物，是莎劇《享利四世王》，《享利五世王》和《溫莎的風流娘兒們》內個劇中的一個胖騎士，愛吹牛自誇，又膽小，但是他足智多謀，心地善良。）我多想領會優雅的哈姆雷特的每個動作，熱忱的伏爾斯塔夫的每一個昂首闊步地樣子！既然我隻能看一個戲，我就會麵臨進退兩難的困境，因為有幾十部劇我都想看。你們有眼能看的人可以看你喜歡的任何一部劇。我不知道，當你們注視著這一部劇，一場電影，或任何奇觀時，你們中間有多少人意識到並感激使你們享受到它的色彩、優雅和動作的視力奇跡？
除非在我的手能觸摸到的範圍內，我不能享受那節奏感很強的動作的優美。盡管我懂得一些節奏的愉快，因為當音樂通過地板振動時，我經常能感覺到它的節拍，可是我也隻能模糊地想象到一個巴甫洛娃（譯注：原蘇聯的著名的女芭蕾舞演員）的優美。我能很好地想象到，有節拍的動作一定是世上最令人愉快的景象之一。我已能用我的手指來摸索出大理石雕刻中的線條輪廓從而獲得這樣的一些感受；如果這種靜態的雅致都是這麽可愛，那麽，看見那動態的雅致所感受到的激動該是多麽強烈。
我最寶貴的記憶之一是那次約瑟夫·傑佛遜（譯注：１８２９－１９０５年，著名的美國演員。他所扮演的最有名的角色是根據美國作家華盛頓·艾文所創作的人物瑞普·範·溫克爾）表演完他心愛的角色瑞普·範·溫克爾的動作和對白後讓我摸他的臉和手。這樣，我可以獲得對夢幻世界微弱的一瞥。我將永誌不忘那個時刻的愉快。但是，啊，我可能失去了多少，你們能看的人從戲劇表演中看動作，聽語言的相互作用中產生了多少喜悅！如果我能哪怕是隻能看一部劇，我都會知道怎樣在我腦海中描繪我曾經讀過的或通過手勢字母的媒介向我轉述的１００部劇的動作。
這樣，通過我設想的能看見的第二天的夜晚，我用手指讀過的大量戲劇文學會因我的眼睛看了後又在我的睡夢中都湧現出來。
