一開(kāi)始就與眾不同

Five-year-old Albert Einstein stared at his hand as if it held magic. Cupped in his palm was a small，round instrument with a glass cover and a jiggling needle. Albert's father called it a compass. Albert called it a mystery. No matter how he moved the compass, the needle always pointed to the north. Quietly Hermann Einstein watched his son. Albert was a chubby little boy with pale, round cheeks and thick, black hair that was usually messy. His bright brown eyes were wide with discovery.
五歲的阿爾伯特·愛(ài)因斯坦盯著他的手，仿佛手上掌控著魔法。他的掌心托著一個(gè)小小的、圓形的儀器，儀器帶有一個(gè)玻璃罩和一根會(huì)擺動(dòng)的針。阿爾伯特的父親稱它為指南針，阿爾伯特稱它是一個(gè)謎。不管他如何移動(dòng)羅盤(pán)，指針總是指向北方。赫爾曼·愛(ài)因斯坦靜靜地注視著他的兒子。阿爾伯特是一個(gè)胖乎乎的小男孩，白白的臉頰圓乎乎肉嘟嘟的，黑色的頭發(fā)常常亂成一團(tuán)?？吹竭@一發(fā)現(xiàn)，他明亮的棕色眼睛睜得大大的。

Something was in the room with him, Albert realized--something he couldn't see or feel, but that acted on the compass just the same. Spellbound, Albert listened to his father explain magnetism, the strange force that made the compass needle point north. But nothing his father said made the invisible power seem less mysterious or wonderful. To many children the compass would have been just another toy. To Albert the compass was a miracle he would never forget.
阿爾伯特意識(shí)到，房間里有什么東西在他的身邊--他無(wú)法看到或感覺(jué)到的某種東西，同時(shí)也對(duì)指南針產(chǎn)生著作用。阿爾伯特入迷地聽(tīng)父親解釋磁力，一股使羅盤(pán)的指針指向北方的奇特的力量。但是，不管父親說(shuō)什么，也絲毫沒(méi)有減少這股無(wú)形力量的神秘感和奇妙感。對(duì)許多孩子來(lái)說(shuō)，指南針本來(lái)只是一個(gè)玩具，對(duì)阿爾伯特來(lái)說(shuō)，指南針卻是一個(gè)他永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記的奇跡。

But then Albert had always been different from other children. Born March 14，1879，in Ulm, Germany, Albert hadn't been looked like other babies. As she cradled her new son in her arms, Pauline Einstein thought the back of his head looked strange. Other babies didn't have such large, pointed skulls. Was something wrong with Albert? Although the doctor told Pauline everything was fine, several weeks passed before the shape of Albert's head began to look right to her.
然而，阿爾伯特總是不同于其他孩子。1879年3月14日他出生在德國(guó)的烏爾姆，出生時(shí)，他看上去就不像其他嬰兒。當(dāng)母親波林·愛(ài)因斯坦撫慰著懷抱里的這個(gè)新生兒時(shí)，她覺(jué)得他的后腦勺看起來(lái)怪怪的，其他嬰兒沒(méi)有那么突出的大頭骨。阿爾伯特有什么問(wèn)題嗎？雖然醫(yī)生告訴波林一切安好，但幾個(gè)星期之后她才覺(jué)得阿爾伯特的頭形正常。

When Albert was one, his family moved to Munich，where his sister, Maja, was born a year later. Looking down at the tiny sleeping bundle, Albert was puzzled. Where were the baby's wheels? The disappointed two year old wanted to know. Albert had expected a baby sister to be something like a toy, and most of his toys had wheels.
阿爾伯特一歲時(shí)，全家搬到了慕尼黑，一年后妹妹瑪雅出生了。看著襁褓中熟睡的小嬰兒，阿爾伯特感到疑惑不解。嬰兒的輪子在哪里呢？這個(gè)失望的兩歲的孩子很想知道。阿爾伯特以為小妹妹應(yīng)該是像玩具一樣的東西，并且他的大部分玩具都是有輪子的。

Albert's parents were amused by his confusion. But any response at all would have delighted them. At an age when many children have lots to say, Albert seemed strangely backward. Hermann and Pauline wondered why he was so late in talking. Was their son developing normally? As Albert grew older, he continued to have trouble putting his thoughts into words Even when he was nine years old, he spoke slowly, if he decided to say anything at all. Pauline and Hermann didn't know what to think.
阿爾伯特的父母被他充滿疑惑的樣子逗笑了，但孩子的可反應(yīng)都令他們感到快樂(lè)。在這個(gè)年齡，許多孩子都能講不少話了，阿爾伯特在語(yǔ)言方面卻似乎異常落后。赫爾曼和波林不知道為什么他說(shuō)話這么晚。他們的兒子生長(zhǎng)發(fā)育正常嗎？阿爾伯特更大一些的時(shí)候，仍然難以用文字表述自己的思想。甚至在他九歲時(shí)，如果他決定說(shuō)些什么，速度還是很慢。波林和赫爾曼不知道該如何看待。

But Albert was a good listener and a good thinker. Sometimes when he went hiking with his parents and Maja, he thought about his father's compass and what it had revealed to him. The clear, open meadows were filled with more than the wind or the scent of flowers. They were also filled with magnetism. The very thought of it quickened Albert's pulse.
但是，阿爾伯特非常善于傾聽(tīng)和思考。有時(shí)當(dāng)他和父母還有妹妹瑪雅一起去遠(yuǎn)足時(shí)，他會(huì)想到父親的指南針，思考它向他揭示的秘密。清新開(kāi)闊的草地不僅充滿著風(fēng)聲或花的香味，也充滿著磁力，一想到這點(diǎn)阿爾伯特就脈搏加速了。