Miss Sullivan and I were at that time in Hulton, Pennsylvania, visiting the family of Mr. William Wade. Mr. Irons, a neighbour of theirs, was a good Latin scholar; it was arranged that I should study under him. I remember him as a man of rare, sweet nature and of wide experience. He taught me Latin grammar principally; but he often helped me in arithmetic, which I found as troublesome as it was uninteresting. Mr. Irons also read with me Tennyson’s "In Memoriam." I had read many books before, but never from a critical point of view. I learned for the first time to know an author, to recognize his style as I recognize the clasp of a friend’s hand.

　　那时，我和苏立文小姐正在宾夕法尼亚州的霍尔顿，当时我们客居在威廉·韦德先生家。艾恩先生是韦德先生家的邻居，他是一个优秀的拉丁语学者，所以跟他学习拉丁语也就成了顺理成章的事。在我的记忆中，艾恩先生是一个生性乐观、博学多闻的杰出人士。他主要教我拉丁语语法，但是他经常帮我解决算术难题——对我而言，那些数字运算实在令人挠头。艾恩先生还陪我一起读丁尼生的《悼念》。我以前也读过很多书，但是从来都不曾看到过任何批判性的观点，这是我第一次遇到具有思辨思想的作家，我认同他的文风，正如我认同一个朋友的牵手一样。

　　At first I was rather unwilling to study Latin grammar. It seemed absurd to waste time analyzing, every word I came across—noun, genitive, singular, feminine—when its meaning was quite plain. I thought I might just as well describe my pet in order to know it—order,vertebrate; division, quadruped; class, mammalia; genus, felinus; species, cat; individual, Tabby. But as I got deeper into the subject, I became more interested, and the beauty of the language delighted me. I often amused myself by reading Latin passages, picking up words I understood and trying to make sense. I have never ceased to enjoy this pastime.

　　起初，我是抱着很不情愿的态度学习拉丁语的。对你所遇到的每一个单词进行分析——名词属性，所有格，单数，阴性——似乎是一种浪费时间的愚蠢举动，尤其是当这些词的意思十分清楚明了的时候。为了能用这些拉丁词描述我的宠物，我还是学到了一些知识——目，脊椎动物;门，四足动物;纲，哺乳动物;属，猫科;个体，虎斑猫。随着学习的深入，我变得越来越有兴趣，语言之美实在难以言说。我常常读拉丁文文章自娱自乐，我会把学过的词挑选出来并体味其中的含义。在其后的生活中，我从来没有中止过这种消遣。

　　There is nothing more beautiful, I think, than the evanescent fleeting images and sentiments presented by a language one is just becoming familiar with—ideas that flit across the mental sky, shaped and tinted by capricious fancy. Miss Sullivan sat beside me at my lessons, spelling into my hand whatever Mr. Irons said, and looking up new words for me. I was just beginning to read Caesar’s "Gallic War" when I went to my home in Alabama.

　　我想，没有任何事物比因一种语言而产生的倏忽即逝的影像和情感更具魅力。我只是刚开始熟悉这种语言，但是，我的思想已经穿越了精神的天空，它已经被瞬息万变的幻想重新塑造和着色。上课的时候，苏立文小姐就坐在我的身边，她会把艾恩先生说的话在我手上拼写出来，而且帮我查生词。在启程返回亚拉巴马老家时，我已经开始读恺撒写的《高卢战记》了。