生活的一課

A lesson in life

“Everything happens for the best,” my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. “If you can carry on, one day something good will happen. And you’ll realize that it wouldn’t have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”

Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to a sports announcer. I hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station—and got turned down every time.

In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn’t risk hiring an inexperienced person— “Go out in the sticks and find a small station that’ll give you a chance,” she said.

I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois. There was no radio—announcing jobs in Dixon, so my father said that Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn’t hired.

My disappointment must have shown. “Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, my frustration boiled over. I asked a1oud, “How can a fellow get to be a sport announcer if he can’t get a job in a radio station?”

I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game.

On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if not for that previous disappointment.” I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I’d gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.

【助讀詞匯】

◇previous  adj. 在前的，早先的

◇hitchhike  vi.搭便車旅行

◇sticks n. 窮鄉僻壤，偏遠的鄉村

◇thumb v.（翹起拇指示意）要求搭乘便車

◇athlete  n. 運動員

◇frustration  n. 挫敗，挫折

【參考譯文】

生活的一課

每當我遇到挫折時，母親就會說：“一切都會好的。如果你堅持下去，總有一天會有好事發生。你會認識到，如果沒有以前的挫折就不會有現在的一切。”

我發現母親是對的是在1932年我從大學畢業的時候，我當時決定試著在電臺找份工作，然后爭取做體育節目的播音員。我坐便車到了芝加哥，挨個電臺地敲門推銷自己——但每次都被拒絕了。

在一個播音室里，一位好心的女士告訴我，大的廣播電臺是不會冒險雇用沒經驗的新手的。“去鄉下找一家能給你機會的小電臺吧，”她說。

我坐車來到我的家鄉伊利諾斯州的迪克森。在迪克森當時還沒有電臺播音員這樣的工作，所以父親說，蒙哥馬利·沃德新開了一家商店，想雇請一個本地的運動員管理店里的體育部。因為我中學時曾在迪克森打過橄欖球，所以我去申請了這份工作。工作聽起來挺適合我的，但是我沒被聘用。

我一定表現得很沮喪，“一切總會好的，”母親提醒我說。爸爸把他的汽車讓給我去找工作。我試著到愛荷華州達文波特的WOC電臺去求職。那里的電臺節目總監是一個很棒的蘇格蘭人，名叫彼得·麥克阿瑟，他告訴我他們已經雇到播音員了。

當我離開他辦公室時，我的挫敗感達到了極點。我大聲地說：“一個連在電臺都找不到工作的家伙又怎么能成為體育節目的播音員呢？”

等電梯時，我聽到麥克阿瑟喊道：“你說什么體育？你懂橄欖球嗎？”接著他讓我站到麥克風前面，請我解說一場想象中的比賽。

在回家的路上，我思考著曾經思考過很多次的母親的那句話：“如果你堅持下去，總要一天會有好事發生。如果沒有以前的挫折，就不會有現在的一切。”我常想，如果當年我得到蒙哥馬利·沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路又會怎樣走呢？

【人生啟迪】

我們每個人都希望成功，但是并不是所有人的成功道路都會一帆風順，有句古話叫做：“天將降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志、勞其筋骨、餓其體膚。”可見，想要獲得成功，挫折是無可避免的，不要因為小小的挫折就放棄，要知道，愛迪生在發明電燈之前失敗了1000次！所以只有經歷過挫折，我們才會更懂得珍惜每一次的機會，才會更好的邁向成功！