The Story of My Life, Helen Keller [e novels to read online .txt] 📗

side; but bless you, he wore a white sweater, and no crimson that we know of! There were about twenty-five thousand people at the game, and, when we went out, the noise was so terrific, we nearly jumped out of our skins, thinking it was the din of war, and not of a football game that we heard. But, in spite of all their wild efforts, neither side was scored, and we all laughed and said, “Oh, well now the pot can’t call the kettle black!”⁠ ⁠…

To Mrs. Laurence Hutton

559 Madison Avenue, New York,
January 2, 1900.

… We have been here a week now, and are going to stay with Miss Rhoades until Saturday. We are enjoying every moment of our visit, everyone is so good to us. We have seen many of our old friends, and made some new ones. We dined with the Rogers last Friday, and oh, they were so kind to us! The thought of their gentle courtesy and genuine kindness brings a warm glow of joy and gratitude to my heart. I have seen Dr. Greer too. He has such a kind heart! I love him more than ever. We went to St. Bartholomew’s Sunday, and I have not felt so much at home in a church since dear Bishop Brooks died. Dr. Greer read so slowly, that my teacher could tell me every word. His people must have wondered at his unusual deliberation. After the service he asked Mr. Warren, the organist to play for me. I stood in the middle of the church, where the vibrations from the great organ were strongest, and I felt the mighty waves of sound beat against me, as the great billows beat against a little ship at sea.

To Mr. John Hitz

138 Brattle Street, Cambridge,
Feb. 3, 1900.

… My studies are more interesting than ever. In Latin, I am reading Horace’s odes. Although I find them difficult to translate, yet I think they are the loveliest pieces of Latin poetry I have read or shall ever read. In French we have finished Colomba, and I am reading Horace by Corneille and La Fontaine’s fables, both of which are in braille. I have not gone far in either; but I know I shall enjoy the fables, they are so delightfully written, and give such good lessons in a simple and yet attractive way. I do not think I have told you that my dear teacher is reading “The Faery Queen” to me. I am afraid I find fault with the poem as much as I enjoy it. I do not care much for the allegories, indeed I often find them tiresome, and I cannot help thinking that Spenser’s world of knights, paynims, fairies, dragons and all sorts of strange creatures is a somewhat grotesque and amusing world; but the poem itself is lovely and as musical as a running brook.

I am now the proud owner of about fifteen new books, which we ordered from Louisville. Among them are Henry Esmond, Bacon’s Essays and extracts from English Literature. Perhaps next week I shall have some more books, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and possibly some selections from Green’s history of England. Am I not very fortunate?

I am afraid this letter savors too much of books⁠—but really they make up my whole life these days, and I scarcely see or hear of anything else! I do believe I sleep on books every night! You know a student’s life is of necessity somewhat circumscribed and narrow and crowds out almost everything that is not in books.⁠ ⁠…

To the Chairman of the Academic Board of Radcliffe College

138 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA,
May 5, 1900.

Dear Sir:

As an aid to me in determining my plans for study the coming year, I apply to you for information as to the possibility of my taking the regular courses in Radcliffe College.

Since receiving my certificate of admission to Radcliffe last July, I have been studying with a private tutor, Horace, Aeschylus, French, German, Rhetoric, English History, English Literature and Criticism, and English composition.

In college I should wish to continue most, if not all of these subjects. The conditions under which I work require the presence of Miss Sullivan, who has been my teacher and companion for thirteen years, as an interpreter of oral speech and as a reader of examination papers. In college she, or possibly in some subjects someone else, would of necessity be with me in the lecture-room and at recitations. I should do all my written work on a typewriter, and if a Professor could not understand my speech, I could write out my answers to his questions and hand them to him after the recitation.

Is it possible for the College to accommodate itself to these unprecedented conditions, so as to enable me to pursue my studies at Radcliffe? I realize that the obstacles in the way of my receiving a college education are very great⁠—to others they may seem insurmountable; but, dear Sir, a true soldier does not acknowledge defeat before the battle.

To Mrs. Laurence Hutton

38 Brattle Street, Cambridge,
June 9, 1900.

… I have not yet heard from the Academic Board in reply to my letter; but I sincerely hope they will answer favorably. My friends think it very strange that they should hesitate so long, especially when I have not asked them to simplify my work in the least, but only to modify it so as to meet the existing circumstances. Cornell has offered to make arrangements suited to the conditions under which I work, if I should decide to go to that college, and the University of Chicago has made a similar offer, but I am afraid if I went to any other college, it would be thought that I did not pass my examinations for Radcliffe satisfactorily.⁠ ⁠…

In the fall Miss Keller entered Radcliffe College.

To Mr. John Hitz

14 Coolidge Ave., Cambridge,
Nov. 26, 1900.

… ⸻ has