2024年1月12日发(作者：)

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Unit 4 American Dream美国梦

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The American Dream means different things to different people. But for many,

particularly immigrants, it means the opportunity to make a better life for

themselves. For them the dream is that talent and hard work can take you from log

cabin to White House. Tony Trivisonno did not rise quite so high, yet he managed

to make his own dream come true.

美国梦对不同的人有不同的意义。但对许多人,尤其是对移民而言,它意味着改善自己生活的机会。对于他们,美国梦的含义就是才能与勤劳能让你从小木屋走向白宫。托尼•特里韦索诺并没有爬到那么高,但他成功地使自己的梦想成真。

Tony Trivisonno 'S American Dream

托尼•特里韦索诺的美国梦

Frederick C. Crawford

弗雷德里克•C•克罗弗德

1He came from a rocky farm in Italy, somewhere south of Rome. How or when he

got to America, I don't know. But one evening I found him standing in the driveway,

behind my garage. He was about five-foot-seven or eight, and thin.

他来自意大利罗马以南某地———个满地石子的农庄。他什么时候怎么到美国的,我不清楚。不过,有天晚上,我看到他站在我家车库后面的车道上。他身高五英尺七、八左右,人很瘦。

2"I mow your lawn," he . was hard to comprehend his broken English.

"我割你的草坪,"他说。他那结结巴巴的英语很难听懂。

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3I asked him his name. "Tony Trivisonno," he replied. "I mow your lawn." I told Tony

that I couldn't afford a gardener.

我问他叫什么名字。"托尼•特里韦索诺,"他回答说。"我割你的草坪。"我对托尼讲,本人雇不起园丁。

4"I mow your lawn," he said again, then walked away. I went into my house

unhappy. Yes, these Depression days were difficult, but how could I turn away a

person who had come to me for help?

"我割你的草坪,"他又说道,随后便走开了。我走进屋子,心里有点不快。没错,眼下这大萧条的日子是不好过,可我怎么能把一个上门求助的人就这么打发走呢 ?

5When I got home from work the next evening, the lawn had been mowed, the

garden weeded, and the walks swept. I asked my wife what had happened.

等我第二天晚上下班回到家,草坪已修整过了,花园除了草,人行道也清扫过了。我便问太太是怎么回事。

6"A man got the lawn mower out of the garage and worked on the yard," she

answered. "I assumed you had hired him.".

"有个人把割草机从汽车库里推出来就在院子里忙活起来,"她回答说。"我还以为是你雇他来的。"

7I told her of my experience the night before. We thought it strange that he had

not asked for pay.

我就把前晚的事跟她说了。我俩都觉得奇怪,他怎么没提出要工钱。

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8The next two days were busy, and I forgot about Tony. We were trying to rebuild

our business and bring some of our workers back to the plants. But on Friday,

returning home a little early, I saw Tony again, behind the garage. I complimented

him on the work he had done.

接下来的两天挺忙,我把托尼的事给忘了。我们在尽力重整业务,要让一部分工人回厂里来。但在星期五,回家略微早了些,我又在汽车库后面看到了托尼。我对他干的活夸奖了几句。

9"I mow your lawn," he said.

"我割你的草坪,"他说。

10I managed to work out some kind of small weekly pay, and each day Tony

cleaned up the yard and took care of any little tasks. My wife said he was very

helpful whenever there were any heavy objects to lift or things to fix.

我设法凑了一小笔微薄的周薪,就这样托尼每天清扫院子,有什么零活,他都干了。我太太说,但凡有重物要搬或有什么要修理的,他挺派得上用场。

11Summer passed into fall, and winds blew cold. "Mr. Craw, snow pretty soon,"

Tony told me one evening. "When winter come, you give me job clearing snow at

the factory."

夏去秋来,凉风阵阵。"克罗先生,快下雪了,"有天晚上托尼跟我说。"等冬天到了,你让我在厂里干扫雪的活。"

12Well, what do you do with such determination and hope? Of course, Tony got his

job at the factory.

啊,对这种执着与期盼,你又能怎样呢 ? 自然,托尼得到了厂里的那份活儿。

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13The months passed. I asked the personnel department for a report. They said

Tony was a very good worker.

几个月过去了。我让人事部门送上一份报告。他们说托尼干得挺棒。

14One day I found Tony at our meeting place behind the garage. "I want to be

'prentice," he said.

一天我在汽车库后面我们以前见面的地方看到了托尼。"我想学徒,"他说。

15We had a pretty good apprentice school that trained laborers. But I doubted

whether Tony had the capacity to read blueprints and micrometers or do precision

work. Still, how could I turn him down?

我们有个挺不错的培训工人的徒工学校。可我怀疑托尼是否有能力学会看图纸、用千分尺,是否胜任做精密加工工作。尽管如此,可我怎么能拒绝他呢 ?

16Tony took a cut in pay to become an apprentice. Months later, I got a report that

he had graduated as a skilled grinder. He had learned to read the millionths of an

inch on the micrometer and to shape the grinding wheel with an instrument set

with a wife and I were delighted with what we felt was a satisfying end

of the story.

托尼减了薪水当了徒工。几个月之后,我收到报告,他已从徒工学校毕业,成了熟练磨工。他学会了在千分尺上辨识一百万分之一英寸,会用镶嵌着金刚石的工具制作砂轮。我和太太都挺高兴,觉得他的事总算有了个令人满意的结局。

17A year or two passed, and again I found Tony in his usual waiting place. We

talked about his work, and I asked him what he wanted.

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—两年过去了,我在托尼惯常等我的地方又看到了他。我们聊起了他的工作,接着我问他有什么要求。

18"Mr. Craw," he said, "I like a buy a house." On the edge of town, he had found a

house for sale, a complete wreck.

" 克罗先生,"他说,"我想买房。"在小镇边上,他看到有房出售,完全是幢破房。

19I called on a banker friend. "Do you ever loan money on character?" I asked.

"No," he said. "We can't afford to. No sale."

我去见一位当银行家的朋友。"人品贷款你干不干 ? "我问。"不干,"他说。"我们承担不起。没门。"

20"Now, wait a minute," I replied. "Here is a hard-working man, a man of character,

I can promise you that. He's got a good job. You 're not getting a damn thing from

your lot. It will stay there for years. At least he will pay your interest."

"哎,等等,"我应道。"有个人干活勤勉,人品端正,这—点我担保。他有个好工作。眼下,你从你那块地上—分钱也得不到。那块地空在那儿要好多年呢。至少他会付你利息嘛。"

21Reluctantly, the banker wrote a mortgage for $ 2,000 and gave Tony the house

with no down payment. Tony was delighted. From then on, it was interesting to see

that any discarded odds and ends around our place—a broken screen, a bit of

hardware, boards from packing—Tony would gather and take home.

那位银行家勉强开了两千美金抵押贷款,没要托尼首付就把房子给了他。托尼乐不可支。从那以后,只要我家附近有什么被人扔弃的零星杂物,坏了的屏风啦,五金器具啦,包装纸板啦,托尼都要收起来拿回家,看他这个样子真是有意思。

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22After about two years, I found Tony in our familiar meeting spot. He seemed to

stand a little straighter. He was heavier. He had a look of confidence.

约摸过了两年,我在我们见面的老地方又看到了托尼。他身子似乎挺直了些,人也见胖了,样子挺自信。

23"Mr. Craw, I sell my house!" he said with pride. "I got $ 8,000."

"克罗先生,我卖房子 ! "他得意地说。"我得了八千美金。"

24I was amazed. "But, Tony, where are you going to live without a house?"

我非常吃惊。"可是,托尼,没了房子你住哪儿呢 ? "

25"Mr. Craw, I buy a farm."

"克罗先生,我买农庄。"

26We sat down and talked. Tony told me that to own a farm was his dream. He

loved the tomatoes and peppers and all the other vegetables important to his

Italian diet. He had sent for his wife and son and daughter back in Italy. He had

hunted around the edge of town until he found a small, abandoned piece of

property with a house and shed. Now he was moving his family to his farm.

我们坐下聊了起来。托尼告诉我说,拥有一个农庄是他的梦想。他喜欢番茄,辣椒以及意大利菜肴中相当重要的其它各种蔬菜。他把在意大利的妻子和儿子女儿都接来了。他在小镇周边到处找,终于找到一处没人要的一小块地产,有一幢房,还有间小棚。他正在把家搬到农庄去。

27Sometime later, Tony arrived on a Sunday afternoon, neatly dressed. He had

another Italian man with him. He told me that he had persuaded his childhood

friend to move to America. Tony was sponsoring him. With an amused look in his

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eye, he told me that when they approached the little farm he now operated, his

friend stood in amazement and said, 'Tony, you are a millionaire!"

又过了一些时候,在一个星期日的下午托尼来了,他穿戴得整整齐齐。和他一起来的还有另一位意大利人。他告诉我,他说服了儿时的伙伴前来美国。托尼为他作经济担保。他眼里露出顽皮的神情,对我说,他俩来到他经营的小农庄时,他的朋友惊奇地站住说,"托尼,你是个百万富翁啦 ! "

28Then, during the war, a message came from my company. Tony had passed

away.

后来,在战争期间,公司里传出了—个消息。托尼去世了。

29I asked our people to check on his family and see that everything was properly

handled. They found the farm green with vegetables, the little house livable and

homey. There was a tractor and a good car in the yard. The children were educated

and working, and Tony didn't owe a cent.

我让公司的人去他家看看,确保各项事宜都得到妥善安置。他们看到农场上长着绿油油的蔬菜,小屋布置得舒适温馨,院子里有—辆拖拉机,还有一辆不错的汽车。孩子受过教育,都工作了,托尼身前没有分文欠债。

30After he passed away, I thought more and more about Tony 's career. He grew in

stature in my mind. In the end, I think he stood as tall, and as proud, as the greatest

American industrialists.

托尼去世后,我一直想着他的经历。他的形象在我心目中越来越高大。最后,我觉得他就和美国那些最大的实业家—样高大、自豪。

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31They had all reached their success by the same route and by the same values and

principles: vision, determination, self-control, optimism, self- respect and, above all,

integrity.

他们都通过同样的途径,本着同样的价值观和原则获得了成功：远见、执着、自制、乐观、自尊,以及最重要的,正直。

32 Tony did not begin on the bottom rung of the ladder. He began in the basement.

But, after all, the balance sheets were exactly the same. The only difference was

where you put the decimal point.

托尼不是从最低—级阶梯往上爬的,他是从地下室往上爬的。托尼的事业很小,那些最大的实业家的事业很大。但究其实,两者的资产负债表完全—样。惟—的不同是你把小数点点在什么地方。

33Tony Trivisonno came to America seeking the American Dream. But he didn't

find it—he created it for himself. All he had were 24 precious hours a day, and he

wasted none of them

托尼·特里韦索诺来到美国寻求美国梦。但他没有找到什么美国梦——他为自己创造了—个美国梦。他的全部拥有是一大宝贵的二十四小时,而他—刻也没有浪费。

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