A Blind Man's Journey

By Xie Tian

There was a blind man staying at my hotel when I was vacationing in London. One day as we sat there chatting, he told me he was a music instructor from Poland who was born blind, he was really fond of traveling to unfamiliar places,and that this trip to London was one he had actually embarked on alone. Right off the bat I found it pretty hard to believe. I mean,what was he doing in London anyway? Amazing sites like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Saint Paul's Cathedral and Greenwich would be totally lost on him.

“It's good fun out there at the entrance to Buckingham Palace；everyone is in such high spirits.It's so quiet in Westminster Abbey； you can hear a pin drop.The place is like a mausoleum. I like Primrose Hill； over there you can really get close to nature.”There was an air of earnestness to what he was saying.

“Sound really great. But in all honesty, I had no idea what a blind man's travels might be like before I met you.”

“Right you are. Most people have no clue what it would be like for a blind guy like me to travel somewhere so far away from home. It's true that I can't see any of the sights, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the feelings. You can hear different sounds, smell different scents and meet different people when you go to different places. It's all good. Oh, that reminds me,what they say that a person can survive alone in the world is probably just an urban myth.To me, I can probably never survive alone without the help of others. Some people out there are warm-hearted, some are mildly interested, others are pretty cold and still others have robbed me blind. But as long as I just try to take it all in, to enjoy it all with gladness in my heart, then it's only a matter of time before I touch people's lives.”

“So, you really enjoy traveling?”

“Yes, I thank God that He let me come into this world, and that He let me see it all.”

He brought a certain special emphasis to the word “see.” I feel like he was actually telling the truth.