The train drew slowly into the station. Outside, there was the shouting of porters and vendors and, near the carriage door, a high pitched female voice that must have belonged to the girl’s aunt.
“Goodbye.” said the girl.
She was standing very close to me, so close that the perfume from her hair was tantalizing. I wanted to raise my hand and touch her hair, but she moved away, and only the perfume still lingered where she had stood.
There was some confusion in the doorway. A man getting into the compartment, stammered an apology. Then the door banged shut, and the world was closed out again. I returned to my berth. The guard blew his whistle and we moved off.
The train gathered speed, the wheels took up their song, the carriage groaned and shook. I found the window and sat in front of it, staring into daylight that was darkness for me. Once again I had a game to play and a new fellow traveller.
“She was an interesting girl, ”I said, “can you tell me— did she keep her hair long or short?”
“I don’t remember,” he replied, sounding puzzled,“it was her eyes I noticed, not her hair. She had such beautiful eyes, but they were of no use to her—she was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?”
火车车厢里只有我一个人，直到到了达罗哈那，一个少女上来了。一对夫妇为她送行，那可能是她的父母，他们似乎很担心她舒适与否，那个妇人很详细地向她说明，她的东西放在什么位置，什么时候不能探身窗外，还有怎么避免和陌生人交谈。
那时，因为我双目失明，无法看见少女的面貌，但从她的鞋子拍打后跟的声音听出来她穿着拖鞋。我很喜欢她说话的声音。
“你要一直到台拉登吗？”火车出站的时候，我问她。
我的声音吓了她一跳，我想自己一定是坐在阴暗的角落里了。她轻轻地惊叫了一声，说道：“我不知道还有人在这儿。”
噢，视力正常的人通常发生这种事——对眼前的事物视而不见。我猜想，他们是要观察太多的东西，反过来，那些失明的人则对其他感官的感受特别敏感。
“刚开始我也没有看见你，”我说，“可是，我听到你进来的声音了。”我不想让她发现我看不见。不知道能不能做得到，我想，这应该不难，倘若我坐着不动的话。
“我在萨哈兰布尔下车，”少女说道，“我的姑姑会在那里接我。你去哪儿？”
“去台拉登，再去穆索里。”我回答道。
“啊，你真幸运，我真希望自己也能去穆索里，我爱那里的山，特别是在10月份的时候。”
“是的，那是最好的时节。”我说，回想起自己还能看见时的一些记忆，“漫山遍野都覆盖着野生的大丽花，阳光一片绚烂。而且，晚上，你可以坐在篝火前喝些白兰地。游客大部分都已经走了，山路上一片寂静，甚至有些荒凉。”
她默默无语，我很纳闷，不知道是不是我的语言触动了她，或者，她是否会认为我是个爱幻想的笨蛋。后来，我犯了一个错误，“外面是什么样子？”
她好像并没有发现这个问题有什么奇怪