一双袜子的故事
-
一双袜子的故事
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
f
orward.
“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.
一个晴
朗的下午
,
我沿第五大街而行
,
忽然想起需要买双袜子
｡
我拐进看到的第一<
/p>
家袜店
,
一个不到
17
岁的少年售货员迎上来:“先生
,
我能为您效劳吗?”
“我想
买双短袜
｡
” 他双眸满是热情
,
声音饱含激
情:“您知道您来到了世界上最好的
袜店吗?”我倒并未意识到这点
,
我不过是随便进来的
｡
“随我来,”男孩欣喜若
狂地说
｡
我跟着他往里走
｡
他开始从货架上拽下一个又一个
盒子
,
向我展示里面的
袜子
,
让我欣赏
｡
“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.”
“停一停
,
孩子
,
我只买一双!”“我知道,”他说,“但我想让您瞧瞧这些袜子是
< br>多么漂亮
､
令人赞叹
!
难道它们不棒吗!”他的脸色庄严而虔诚
,
就像
是在向我透
露他的信仰中的奥秘似的
｡
我对他远远超过了对袜子的兴趣
｡
我吃惊地打量着他
｡
“我的朋友,” 我说,“如果你能这样保持下去
,
如果这热情并不仅仅缘于新奇
,
缘
于找到份新工作
,
如果你能日复一日地保持这种热心和激情
,
不出十年
,
全美
的
每一双袜子都将是从你手中卖出去的
｡
”
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