Page 328 - The Story of My Lif

I tried to describe to her the appearance of a camel; but, as we were not allowed

to touch the animal, I feared that she did not get a correct idea of its shape. A few
days afterward, however, hearing a commotion in the schoolroom, I went in and
found Helen on all fours with a pillow so strapped upon her back as to leave a
hollow in the middle, thus making a hump on either side.

Between these humps she had placed her doll, which she was giving a ride
around the room. I watched her for some time as she moved about, trying to take
long strides in order to carry out the idea I had given her of a camel’s gait. When
I asked her what she was doing, she replied, “I am a very funny camel.”

During the next two years neither Mr. Anagnos, who was in Europe for a year,
nor Miss Sullivan wrote anything about Helen Keller for publication. In 1892
appeared the Perkins Institution report for 1891, containing a full account of
Helen Keller, including many of her letters, exercises, and compositions. As
some of the letters and the story of the “Frost King” are published here, there is
no need of printing any more samples of Helen Keller’s writing during the third,
fourth and fifth years of her education. It was the first two years that counted.
From Miss Sullivan’s part of this report I give her most important comments and
such biographical matter as does not appear elsewhere in the present volume.

These extracts Mr. Anagnos took from Miss Sullivan’s notes and memoranda.

One day, while her pony and her donkey were standing side by side, Helen went
from one to the other, examining them closely.

At last she paused with her hand upon Neddy’s head, and addressed him thus:
“Yes, dear Neddy, it is true that you are not as beautiful as Black Beauty. Your
body is not so handsomely formed, and there is no proud look in your face, and
your neck does not arch, Besides, your long ears make you look a little funny. Of
course, you cannot help it, and I love you just as well as if you were the most
beautiful creature in the world.”