Page 281 - The Story of My Lif

came there to drink. She has felt dead squirrels and rabbits and other wild

animals, and is anxious to see a “walk-squirrel,” which interpreted, means, I
think, a “live squirrel.” We go home about dinner-time usually, and Helen is
eager to tell her mother everything she has seen. THIS DESIRE TO REPEAT
WHAT HAS BEEN TOLD

HER SHOWS A MARKED ADVANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER
INTELLECT, AND IS AN INVALUABLE STIMULUS TO THE
ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE. I ASK ALL HER FRIENDS TO
ENCOURAGE HER TO TELL THEM OF HER DOINGS, AND TO
MANIFEST AS MUCH CURIOSITY AND PLEASURE IN HER LITTLE

ADVENTURES AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN. This gratifies the child’s love of
approbation and keeps up her interest in things. This is the basis of real
intercourse. She makes many mistakes, of course, twists words and phrases, puts
the cart before the horse, and gets herself into hopeless tangles of nouns and
verbs; but so does the hearing child. I am sure these difficulties will take care of
themselves. The impulse to tell is the important thing. I supply a word here and
there, sometimes a sentence, and suggest something which she has omitted or
forgotten. Thus her vocabulary grows apace, and the new words germinate and
bring forth new ideas; and they are the stuff out of which heaven and earth are
made.

May 22, 1887.

My work grows more absorbing and interesting every day. Helen is a wonderful
child, so spontaneous and eager to learn. She knows about 300 words now and A
GREAT MANY COMMON IDIOMS, and it is not three months yet since she
learned her first word. It is a rare privilege to watch the birth, growth, and first
feeble struggles of a living mind; this privilege is mine; and moreover, it is given
me to rouse and guide this bright intelligence.

If only I were better fitted for the great task! I feel every day more and more
inadequate. My mind is full of ideas; but I cannot get them into working shape.