Lesson 4

Seeing hands

Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can read and detect colours with their fingers, and even see through solid doors and walls.
最近在俄罗斯报道了几个案例，这些人可以用手指阅读和探测颜色，甚至能看穿坚固的门和墙壁。
One case concerns an eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova, who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls.
一个案例涉及一个十一岁的女学生维拉·彼得罗娃，她拥有正常的视力，但也能通过皮肤的不同部位以及穿过坚固的墙壁来感知事物。
This ability was first noticed by her father.
这种能力最初是由她的父亲注意到的。
One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe.
有一天她来到他的办公室，碰巧把手放在了一个锁着的保险柜门上。
Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in bundles.
突然她问她父亲为什么把那么多旧报纸锁在那里，甚至描述了它们被捆扎成捆的方式。
Vera’s curious talent was brought to the notice of a scientific research institute in the town of Ulyanovsk, near where she lives, and in April she was given a series of tests by a special commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federal Republic.
维拉的奇异的天赋引起了她居住地附近乌里扬诺夫斯克市一家科研机构的注意，四月份，俄罗斯联邦卫生部的一个特别委员会对她进行了一系列测试。
During these tests she was able to read a newspaper through an opaque screen and, stranger still, by moving her elbow over a child’s game of Lotto she was able to describe the figures and colours printed on it; and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her foot the outlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet.
在这些测试期间，她能够透过不透明的屏幕阅读报纸，更奇怪的是，通过将手肘移到乐透游戏上方，她能够描述上面印着的数字和颜色；在另一个例子中，她穿着长筒袜和拖鞋，用脚辨认出了隐藏在地毯下的一幅画的轮廓和颜色。
Other experiments showed that her knees and shoulders had a similar sensitivity.
其他实验显示，她的膝盖和肩膀也有相似的敏感度。
During all these tests Vera was blindfold; and, indeed, except when blindfold she lacked the ability to perceive things with her skin.
在所有这些测试中，维拉都是蒙着眼睛的；事实上，除了蒙着眼睛时，她缺乏用皮肤感知事物的能力。
It was also found that although she could perceive things with her fingers this ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.
人们还发现，尽管她能用手指感知事物，但这种能力在她的手湿了的那一刻就消失了。