23. Louis Braille Made It possible for the Blind to Read and Write

23. 路易斯·布莱叶使盲人读写成为可能

Louis Braille (1809-1852), a French blind teacher, studied different ways of making dots and dashes on paper At last he reached a system in which he used six holes in different positions. Within this space he cOllld make sixty three different combinations. Each combination stands for a letter or a short word. Soon Louis wrote a book using the Braille system.

路易斯·布莱叶， (1809——1852)，是一位法国盲文老师，研究了各种将圆点和符号写到纸上的方法。最后，他发明了一个系统，这个系统使用的方法是将六个洞摆放在不同的位直。根据这种组合方式，他能够组合出 63种不同的组合。每种组合代表一种字母或者一个简短的单词。很快路易斯使用布菜叶系统写了一本书。

At first people did not believe that the system of Louis Braille was possible or practical. One day a girl who had been blind since she was born played the piano beautifully at a concert. Everybody was pleased. Then the girl got up and said that the people should thank Louis Braille, who had made it possible for her to learn music and to play the plano.

一开始人们不相信路易斯·布菜叶的系统有可能实现或者有什么实际用处。有一天，一个生来就是盲人的女孩在一场音乐会中弹奏了一支很优美的曲子。每个人都很愉悦。随后，这个女孩站了起来，对人们说大家应该感谢路易斯·布莱叶，因为是他使这个女孩学习音乐并且弹奏钢琴成为了可能。

Some of Louis' friends went to his home to see him. He was sick in bed. They told him what had happened Louis began to cry. He said, "This is the third time in my life that I have cried. First, when I became blind. Second, when I heard 'night writing', and now because I know that my life has not been a failure."

路易斯的一些朋友去他家里探望他。当时，他正卧病在床。他们告诉他发生了什么事情。Louis开始哭泣起来，他说：“这是我人生中第三次哭泣。第一次是当我眼瞎的时候;第二次，是在我听说了‘夜书’时;现在这一次我终于知道我的人生不是一个失败。”

A few days later Louis died. He was only 43 years old.

几天后，路易斯去世了，当时他只有43岁。