【正文】 那個(gè)夏天天氣酷熱，地而濕度適宜，提早播種就可以在熱浪打蔫植尖之前完成授粉，同于干旱更沒有爆發(fā)洪水，產(chǎn)在田里的玉米得以保存。比一般情況糟糕的境遇不會(huì)延宕過久；而太平時(shí)光是我應(yīng)得的，我要盡情享受，它們?yōu)槲易⑷牖盍σ詰?yīng)對(duì)下一個(gè)險(xiǎn)情，并確保我可以興旺發(fā)達(dá)。我正經(jīng)歷著某首鄉(xiāng)村歌曲中描繪的情節(jié)，我討厭這種音樂，只有剛出道不久的堪薩斯皇家棒球隊(duì)能鼓舞我的精神。沒想到夏天更為殘酷我經(jīng)歷了最糟糕的熱浪和干旱。那塊地極易遭到水淹，所以鄰居們都嘲笑我。這就是讓我信服對(duì)半理論的原因。生活中也不乏高潮：墜入愛河締結(jié)良緣；身為人父養(yǎng)育幼子，諸如訓(xùn)練指導(dǎo)兒子的棒球隊(duì)，當(dāng)他和狗在小河中嬉戲時(shí)搖槳?jiǎng)澊?，感受他如此?qiáng)烈的同情心即使對(duì)蝸牛也善待有加，發(fā)現(xiàn)他如此豐富的想象力即使用零散的樂高玩具積木也能堆出太空飛船。有些突如其來，近在眼前，有些卻緩慢痛苦。讓我們確定一下好壞的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)：是的，我注定會(huì)死去。我覺得生活就像來回?cái)[的鐘擺。 the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tunemusic I loathed. Only a surging Kansas City Royals team buoyed my spirits.Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn’t last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. The reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that can thrive. The 50percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals’ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.For that on blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with cornfat, healthy threetoastalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tipwhile my neighbors’ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought. 譯文：生活理論半對(duì)半我信奉對(duì)半理論。 the marriage ended。 having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his passion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flipflop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50percent theory.One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so floodprone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutalthe worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The airconditioned died。第十篇：The 50Percent Theory of Life 生活理論半對(duì)半 The 50Percent Theory of LifeI believe in the 50percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal。就我而言，如果在孤島上度過一個(gè)月，我寧愿和一名獸醫(yī)相守，也不愿同一位首相做伴。老百姓才是作家的創(chuàng)作沃土，他們或變幻無常，或難覓其二，各式人物應(yīng)有盡有，這些都給作家提供了無限的創(chuàng)作素材。在我們看來，國(guó)王，獨(dú)裁者和商界大亨等都是不符合條件的。他們會(huì)表露他們古怪的一面，因?yàn)樗麄儚膩砭蜎]有覺得有何古怪。他們的社交圈子有限，自己的種種癖性也就越有可能得到滋長(zhǎng)。比之名流顯士，我更加關(guān)注無名小卒。但我對(duì)人感興趣一般不是因?yàn)樗麄冏陨淼木壒?，而是出于我工作需求。如果你還以為他們?cè)诠娒媲暗谋硌菥褪撬麄兊恼鎸?shí)自我，那就你傻了。他們給世人展現(xiàn)的是一副面具，常常是美好難忘的面具，但他們會(huì)小心翼翼地掩蓋自己的真相。在朋友面前吹噓自己認(rèn)識(shí)某某名人，同此而來的聲望只能證明自己的微不足道。 kings, dictators, mercial magnates are from our point of view very unsatisfactory. To write about them is a venture that has often tempted writers, but the failure that has attended their efforts shows that such beings are too exceptional to form a proper ground for a work of art. They cannot be made real. The ordinary is the writer’s richer field. Its unexpectedness, its singularity, its infinite variety afford unending material. The great man is too often all of a piece。第九篇：On Meeting the Celebrated 論見名人 On Meeting the CelebratedI have always wondered at the passion many people have to meet the celebrated. The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account. The celebrated develop a technique to deal with the persons they e across. They show the world a mask, often an impressive on, but take care to conceal their real selves. They play the part that is expected from them, and with practice learn to play it very well, but you are stupid if you think that this public performance of theirs corresponds with the man within.I have been attached, deeply attached, to a few people。 把我的話歸納一下：要志存高遠(yuǎn)；不要出入酒吧；要滴酒不沾，或要喝也只在用餐時(shí)喝少許；不要做投機(jī)買賣；不要寅吃卯糧；要把公司的利益當(dāng)作自己的利益；取消訂貨的目的永遠(yuǎn)是為了挽救貨主；要專注；要把所有的雞蛋放在一個(gè)籃子里，然后小心地看好它；要量入為出；最后，要有耐心，正如愛默生所言，“誰都無法阻止你最終成功，除非你自己承認(rèn)自己失敗。提三個(gè)籃子的人，必須把一個(gè)頂在頭上，而這個(gè)籃子很可能倒下來，把他自己絆倒?？垂芎蛿y帶一個(gè)籃子并不太難。我要對(duì)你說：“把所有的雞蛋都放在一個(gè)籃子里，然后小心地看好那個(gè)籃子。他們向這方面投資，又向那方面投資；在這里投資，在那里投資，到處都投資。一旦開始從事某種職業(yè)，就要下定決心在那一領(lǐng)域闖出一片天地來；做這一行的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人物，采納每一點(diǎn)改進(jìn)之心，采用最優(yōu)良的設(shè)備，對(duì)專業(yè)知識(shí)熟稔于心。不論職位有多高，你的內(nèi)心都不要滿足于做一個(gè)總管，領(lǐng)班或者總經(jīng)理。 假如你已經(jīng)被錄用，并且有了一個(gè)良好的開端，我對(duì)你的建議是：要志存高遠(yuǎn)。在必要時(shí)新來的員工掃掃地也無妨，不會(huì)因?yàn)槎惺裁磽p失。我注意到我們現(xiàn)在辦公室里都有工友，于是年輕人就不幸錯(cuò)過了商業(yè)教育中這個(gè)有益的環(huán)節(jié)。 lastly, be not impatient, for as Emerson says, “no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.”譯文：成功之道 年輕人創(chuàng)業(yè)之初，應(yīng)該從最底層干起，這是件好事。 put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket。 break orders always to save owners。 never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund。 do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals。第八篇：The Road to Success 成功之道 The Road to SuccessIt is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career. They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office. I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education. But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom. It does not hurt the newest er to sweep out the office if necessary. I was one of those sweepers myself.Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is “aim high”. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Sa