美文欣賞:今天,我開始新的生活(1)

 

Today I begin a new life.

今天，我天始新的生活。

Today I shed my old skin, which has too long suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediocrity.

今天，我爬出滿是失敗創(chuàng)傷的老繭。

Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.

今天，我重新來到這個世上，我出生在葡萄園中，國內(nèi)的葡萄任人享用。

Today I will pluck grapes of wisdom from the tallest and fullest vines in the vineyard, for these were planted by the wisest of my profession who have come before me, generation upon generation.

今天，我要從最高最密的藤上摘下智慧的果實，這葡萄藤是好幾代前的智者種下的。

Today I will savor the taste of grapes from these vines and verily I will swallow the seed of success buried in each and new life will sprout within me.

今天，我要品嘗葡萄的美味，還要吞下每一位成功的種子，讓新生命在我心里萌牙。

The career I have chosen is laden with opportunity yet it is fraught with heartbreak and despair and the bodies of those who have failed, were they piled one atop another, would cast a shadow down upon all the pyramids of the earth.

我選擇的道路充滿機遇，也有辛酸與絕望。失敗的同伴數(shù)不勝數(shù)，疊在一起，比金字塔還高。

Yet I will not fail, as the others, for in my hands I now hold the charts, which will guide through perilous waters to shores, which only yesterday seemed but a dream.

然而，我不會像他們一樣失敗，因為我手中持有航海圖，可以領我越過洶涌的大海，抵達夢中的彼岸。

Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle. Just as nature made no provision for my body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for my life to suffer failure. Failure, like pain, is alien to my life. In the past I accepted it as I accepted pain. Now I reject it and I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward.

失敗不再是我奮斗的代價。它和痛苦都將從我的生命中消失。失敗和我，就像水火一樣，互不相容。我不再像過去一樣接受它們。我要在智慧的指引下，走出失敗的陰影，步入富足、健康、快樂的樂園，這些都超出了我以往的夢想。

Time teaches all things to him who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity. Yet within my allotted time I must practice the art of patience for nature acts never in haste. To create the olive, king of all trees, a hundred years is required. An onion plant is old in nine weeks. I have lived as an onion plant. It has not pleased me. Now I wouldst become the greatest of olive trees and, in truth, the greatest of salesman.

我要是能長生不老，就可以學到一切，但我不能永生，所以，在有限的人生里，我必須學會忍耐的藝術(shù)，因為大自然的行為一向是從容不迫的。造物主創(chuàng)造樹中之王橄攤樹需要一百年的時間，而洋蔥經(jīng)過短短的九個星期就會枯老。我不留戀從前那種洋蔥式的生活，我要成為萬樹之王--橄欖樹，成為現(xiàn)實生活中最偉大的推銷員。

And how will this be accomplished? For I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve the greatness and already I have stumbled in ignorance and fallen into pools of self-pity. The answer is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered with either the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.

怎么可能？我既沒有淵博的知識，又沒有豐富的經(jīng)驗，況且，我曾一度跌入愚昧與自憐的深淵。答案很簡單。我不會讓所謂的知識或者經(jīng)驗妨礙我的行程。造物生已經(jīng)賜予我足夠的知識和本能，這份天賦是其它生物望塵莫及的。經(jīng)驗的價值往往被高估了，人老的時候開口講的多是糊涂話。

In truth, experience teaches thoroughly yet her course of instruction devours men's years so the value of her lessons diminishes with the time necessary to acquire her special wisdom. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and impractical tomorrow.

說實在的，經(jīng)驗確實能教給我們很多東西，只是這需要花費太長的時間。等到人們獲得智慧的時候，其價值已隨著時間的消逝而減少了。結(jié)果往往是這樣，經(jīng)驗豐富了，人也余生無多。經(jīng)驗和時尚有關，適合某一時代的行為，并不尋味著在今天仍然行得通。

Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. What they will teach me is more to prevent failure than to gain success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thouand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is man's inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.

只有原則是持久的，而我現(xiàn)在正擁有了這些原則。這些可以指引我走向成功的原則全寫在這幾張羊皮卷里。它教我如何避免失敗，而不只是獲得成功，因為成功更是一種精神狀態(tài)。人們對于成功的定義，見仁見智，而失敗卻往往只有一種解釋：失敗就是一個人沒能達到他的人生目標，不論這些目標是什么。

In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeed lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precede all the others is --I will form good habits and become their slave.

事實上，成功與失敗的最大分野，來自不同的習慣。好習慣是開啟成員的鑰匙，壞習慣則是一扇向失敗敞開的門。因此，我首先要做的便是養(yǎng)成良好的習慣，全心全意去實行。