A Pair of Socks
一双短袜
One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue, when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. “What can I do for you, sir?” “I wish to buy a pair of socks.” His eyes glowed. There was a note of passion in his voice. “Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks?” I had not been aware of that, as my entrance had been accidental. “Come with me,” said the boy, ecstatically. I followed him to the rear of the shop, and he began to haul down from the shelves box after box, displaying their contents for my delectation.
一个明朗的下午，我走在第五大街上，忽然想起得买双短袜。至于为什么我只想买一双，那是无关紧要的。我看到第一家袜店，便走了进去，一个年纪不到十七岁的少年店员问我迎来。“您要什么，先生？”“我想买双短袜。”他的眼睛闪出光芒，话语里含着激情。“您是否知道您来到的是世上最好的袜店？”这我倒没有意识到，因为我是偶然走进这家商店的。“请跟我来，那少年欣喜若狂地说。我随他来到店堂后部，少年从一个个货架上拖下一只只盒子，把里面的袜子展览在我的面前，让我赏鉴。
“Hold on, lad, I am going to buy only one pair!” “I know that,” said he, “but I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are. Aren’t they wonderful?” There was on his face an expression of solemn and holy rapture, as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of his religion. I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in amazement. “My friend,” said I, “if you can keep this up, if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty, from having a new job, if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.”
“等等，小伙子，我只要买一双！”“这我知道，”他说，“不过，我想让您看看这些袜子有多美，多漂亮，真是好看极了！”他脸上洋溢着庄严和神圣的狂喜，象是在向我启示他所信奉的宗教的玄理。我对他的兴趣远远超过了对袜子的兴趣。我诧异地望着他。“我的朋友，＂我说，“如果你能一直这样热情，如果这热情不只是因为你感到新奇，或因为得到了一个新的工作如果你能天天如此，把这种热心和激情保持下去，不消十年，你会成为全美国的短袜大王。”
My amazement at his pride and joy in salesmanship will be easily understood by all who read this article. In many shops the customer has to wait for someone to wait upon him. And when finally some clerk does deign to notice you, you are made to feel as if you were interrupting him. Either he is absorbed in profound thought in which he hates to be disturbed or he is skylarking with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy.
我对这少年做买卖的自豪感和喜悦的心情觉得惊异，读者对此当不难理解。因为在许多商店，顾客得静候店员的招呼。当一个店员终于屈尊注意到你，他那种模样会使你感到是在打扰他。他不是沉浸在沉思中，恼恨别人打断他的思路，就是在同一个女店员嬉笑聊天，叫你感到不该打断了如此亲昵的谈话，反要向他道歉似的。
He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell. Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so apathetic began his career with hope and enthusiasm. The daily grind was too much for him; the novelty wore off; his only pleasures were found outside of working hours. He became a mechanical, not inspired, salesman. After being mechanical, he became incompetent; then he saw younger clerks who had more zest in their work, promoted over him. He became sour. That was the last stage. His usefulness was over.
无论对你，或是对他领了工资专门来出售的货物，他都毫无兴趣。然而就是这么个冷漠无情的店员，可能当初也是怀着希望和热情开始他的职业的。年复一年枯燥乏味的苦差使叫他无法忍受；新奇感也被磨掉了；只在工作之余，他才能找到一点欢乐。他成了一个傀儡，变得无能；他看到那些工作热情比他高的年轻店员晋了级，超过了他，他感到愠怒。他已走到最后一站。他不再管用了。
I have observed this melancholy decline in the lives of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest road to failure is to do things mechanically. There are many teachers in schools and colleges who seem duller than the dullest of their pupils; they go through the motions of teaching, but they are as impersonal as a telephone.
各行各业都有许许多多人在生活的道路上走下坡路，意气消沉。我见得太多了，便得出了一个结论：机械地干工作必然导致失败。一些学院和学校里面许多教师，几乎比他们最迟纯的学生还要呆板；他们也进行教学活动，但就象一台电话机一般，丝毫没有一点人情味。
