每天读一点英文 那些激励我前行的身影 26 致加西亚的信-艾尔伯特.哈伯德
Words that moved a nation 感动一个国家的文字
By Elbert Hubbard 艾尔伯特·哈伯德
In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion.
在所有与古巴有关的故事中,有一个人令我无法忘怀,他就像近日点的火星一样耀眼｡
When war broke out between Spain and the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba -- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.
美西战争爆发后,美国必须马上与起义军首领取得联系｡加西亚将军就在古巴的崇山峻岭之中,但没人知道他具体在哪儿｡邮件和电报都到不了加西亚将军那里｡美国总统必须尽快与他取得合作｡
What to do﹖
Someone said to the President, “There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.”
怎么办?
有人对总统说:“有一个叫罗恩的人,只有他能为您找到加西亚将军｡”
Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How “the fellow by the name of Rowan” took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.
他们找来了罗恩,让他给加西亚将军送一封信｡至于那个“叫罗恩的人”是怎样接了信､用油皮纸袋封好､贴身捆在胸前､用4天的时间乘小舟在夜色中到达古巴海岸､用3个礼拜的时间穿越丛林来到古巴岛的另一端､徒步穿越这个危机四伏的国家把信交到加西亚将军面前,我并没有兴趣去讲述这些细节｡
The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at﹖”
我想强调的是:麦金利总统把给加西亚将军的信交给罗恩,罗恩只是接过信,而并没有问:“他在哪里?”
There is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing -- “Carry a message to
Garcia!”
像罗恩这样的人,应该为他塑一座不朽的雕像,竖立在全国各所高校里｡年轻人需要的不仅是书本知识或者各种教导,更需要一种精神,让他们树立对信任的忠诚,立即采取行动,全心全意去完成任务——“把信交给加西亚”
General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias.
加西亚将军已经过世了,但还有很多别的加西亚｡
No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man -- the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office -- six clerks are within call.
所有苦心经营一家公司､需要很多人手帮忙的人,都曾一次又一次为普通员工的低能感到震惊——不是无能,就是不愿集中精力去做一件事情｡亲爱的读者,你可以设想一下:你现在坐在办公室里,有6名员工可供差遣｡
Summon any one and make this request: “Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio”.
随便找一个人给他一项任务:“你去百科全书里查一下,给我写一个关于柯勒乔生平的简短备忘录｡”
Will the clerk quietly say, “Yes, sir,” and go do the task﹖
那个员工会镇静地说“好的,先生”,然后去执行任务吗?
On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:
完全不可能｡他会目光呆滞地看着你,问你下面的某个或几个问题:
Who was he﹖
他是谁?
Which encyclopedia﹖
哪本百科全书?
Where is the encyclopedia﹖
百科全书在哪里?
Was I hired for that﹖
这是我的工作职责吗?
Don’t you mean Bismarck﹖
您不是说俾斯麦吧?
What’s the matter with Charlie doing it﹖
为什么不让查利去做呢?
Is he dead﹖
他还活着吗?
Is there any hurry﹖
着不着急?
Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself﹖
我可不可以把书拿过来您自己查?
What do you want to know for﹖
您要知道他做什么?
And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia -- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Averages, I will not.
我可以打包票,你回答完这些问题､告诉他怎么去查､你要这些资料有什么用之后,那个员工会出去找来另一个员工帮助他找加西亚——然后回来告诉你根本没这个人｡当然我可能赌输,但按照平均律我不会输｡
My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly take the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets “laid off,”nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals.
我欣赏那些老板不在的时候认真工作以及回到家里仍心系工作的人｡那些接受了给加西亚送信的任务､只是默默地把信收下､不去问一些白痴的问题､也没有暗地里打算回头就扔进附近下水道里､一心一意地去送信的人,永远不会被炒鱿鱼,也永远不用靠罢工去争取提薪｡整个漫长的人类文明史都在焦急地找寻这样的人｡这样的人所有的要求都能得到满足,他们的善良如此珍稀,任何老板离开他们都损失惨重｡
Anything such a man asks shall be granted, his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village -- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: the man who can carry a message to Garcia.
这样的人在每个城市､镇子､乡村,在每间办公室､每个商店和工厂都是被需要的｡整个世界都在呼唤,呼唤那个能给加西亚送信的人｡
【人物简介】
100多年前的一个傍晚，出版家艾尔伯特·哈伯德与家人喝茶时受儿子的启发，创作了一篇名为《致加西亚的信》的文章，刊登在《菲士利人》的杂志上，杂志很快就告罄。到1915年作者逝世为止，《致加西亚的信》的印数高达40，000，000册。创造了一个作家的有生之年一本图书销售量的历史记录。其后的80余年，该书被翻译成所有的文字，许多政府、军队和企业都将此书赠送给士兵和职员，作为培养士兵、职员敬业守则的必读书。
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