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It was with the hope of restoring my self-confidence that she persuaded me to write for the Youth's Companion a brief account of my life. I was then twelve years old. As I look back on my struggle to write that little story, it seems to me that I must have had a prophetic vision of the good that would come of the undertaking, or I should surely have failed.
为了重新树立我的自信心，老师说服我为《青年之友》写一篇短小精悍的生活自传。那一年我十二岁，回顾起来，那篇小故事的写作过程也经历了一番内心挣扎；我当时一定是对这项工作的结果有了一个良好的预期，否则一定会失败。
I wrote timidly, fearfully, but resolutely, urged on by my teacher, who knew that if I persevered, I should find my mental foothold again and get a grip on my faculties. Up to the time of the "Frost King" episode, I had lived the unconscious life of a little child; now my thoughts were turned inward, and I beheld things invisible. Gradually I emerged from the penumbra of that experience with a mind made clearer by trial and with a truer knowledge of life.
虽然下笔时有些提心吊胆，战战兢兢，但是在老师的督促下，我写得很坚决。她知道，如果我能够坚持不懈，就一定会再次找到精神的立足点，也一定会重拾写作才能的。直到《冰雪之王》事件之前，我一直生活在一个小孩子的懵懂无知之中。如今，我变得更加内敛，我看待事物的角度更加深入。渐渐地，我从日蚀的阴影中显现出来，在生命的真谛面前，经过了严格考验的心智也变得更加澄澈清明了。
The chief events of the year 1893 were my trip to Washington during the inauguration of President Cleveland, and visits to Niagara and the World's Fair. Under such circumstances my studies were constantly interrupted and often put aside for many weeks, so that it is impossible for me to give a connected account of them.
1893年的主要大事，就是在克利夫兰总统就职典礼期间的华盛顿之行，参观尼亚加拉（瀑布）和世界博览会。旅行期间，我的学业有时会中断数星期之久，所以我不太可能把这些事联系在一起进行叙述。
We went to Niagara in March, 1893. It is difficult to describe my emotions when I stood on the point which overhangs the American Falls and felt the air vibrate and the earth tremble.
我们是在1893年3月去的尼亚加拉。当我站在美洲瀑布的悬崖边上，感受着空气的震动和大地的颤抖，我激动的心情是难以用语言描述的。
