決心

DETERMINATON

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However, bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, a coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the enjoyment of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months later a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

“We told them so.”

“Crazy men and their crazy dreams.”

“It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. One day, as he was lying on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their teamwork, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

【助讀詞匯】

◇inspire vt. 給……以靈感

◇spectacular adj. 壯觀的

◇feat n.功績

◇obstacle n. 障礙(物)

◇crew n. 全體工作人員

◇scrap vt. 廢棄

◇handicap  n. 殘廢，弱智，缺陷

◇daunt vt. 使膽怯，使氣餒

◇flimsy adj. 輕而薄的

◇indomitable adj. 堅忍不拔的

◇tangible adj. 可觸摸的，有形的

【參考譯文】

決心

1883年，一個名叫John Roebling的很有創意的工程師突發靈感想要建一座宏偉大橋，把紐約和長島連起來。但是，全世界的橋梁建造專家都認為這是不可能完成的，他們讓Roebling把這個想法拋之腦后。這是不可能做到的，一點都不實際，這是歷史上從來沒有做到過的。

但是Roebling卻無法無視他腦海中已經成形的大橋，他一直都在想著這件事并深知這是可以做到的。他得要有人來和他一起分享這個夢想。經過很多的討論和說服工作，他終于成功地讓兒子華盛頓，一個未來的工程師，相信那座大橋事實上是可以建成的。

父子倆是第一次合作，他們想好了如何把完成橋的建造，如何克服障礙。他們面臨的巨大挑戰讓他們感到無比的興奮和鼓舞，也十分的陶醉。他們組建了自己的工作組就開始修建他們的夢幻之橋了。

工程開始時十分順利，但是開工僅幾個月，一個悲劇性意外就奪走了John Roebling的生命，華盛頓也受了傷，大腦受到傷害，從此就不能走路，不能說話，甚至不能動彈。

“我們早告誡他們這樣的結果了。”

“瘋子和瘋狂的夢想。”

“追求瘋狂的夢想，這太愚蠢了。”

每個人都認為這個項目應該被廢棄掉，因為只有Roebling父子才知道如何建造這座大橋。而華盛頓盡管身殘，可他仍然有強烈的愿望想要完成大橋，他的思維也一如既往的敏銳。

他試著讓自己的熱情激勵并傳遞給自己的朋友，但他們被這巨大的任務給嚇倒了。一天，當他躺在醫院的病床上時，陽光穿過窗戶涌了進來，微風吹開柔軟的白色窗簾，他在那一瞬間看到了窗外的樹頂和藍天。

這似乎給他傳來了一個信息，叫他不要放棄。突然，他想到了一個辦法。他所能做的只是移動一個手指，于是他決定好好利用這根手指。通過移動手指，他慢慢地形成了一套與妻子溝通的密碼。

他若用那根手指碰觸妻子的手臂，就表示他想要她再一次打電話給工程師們。然后他用同樣的方法，輕叩妻子的手臂，告訴工程師們做什么。這看起來很笨，但是工程又一次動工了。

13年，華盛頓通過輕叩妻子的手臂發出各種指令，直到大橋終于完工。今天，偉大的布魯克林大橋驕傲地聳立著，它是對一個人堅忍不拔的精神的勝利和不被環境打敗的決心的禮贊。這也是對工程師們和他們的合作精神以及對一個被半個世界的人認為是瘋子的人信任的禮贊。它還是一座為13年來一直耐心為自己丈夫解碼信息并告訴工程師們怎么做的妻子的愛和奉獻而塑的一座有形的紀念碑。

【人生啟迪】

他可以頂著全世界人的冷嘲熱諷和不信任，一意孤行；他可以在遭受了那樣的悲劇之后仍然不放棄自己的夢想，并努力克服各種障礙實現自己的夢想，這需要多么大的堅韌和決心啊！讓我們反省一下自己，多少次我們面臨困難而退縮，還找盡各種借口為自己的懦弱開脫？從現在開始，讓我們相信，不管是多么遙遠的夢想，只要我們可以堅持到底，并積極努力，我們就可以實現自己的夢想！