Celebration of Life
A Pair of Socks
一双袜子
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 forward. “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.
“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.”
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 deign to notice you， you are made to feel as if you were interrupting him. Either he is absorbed in profound thought in which he hates to be disturbed or he is skylarking with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy.
He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell. Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so apathetic began his career with hope and enthusiasm. The daily grind was too much for him； the novelty wore off； his only pleasures were found outside of working hours. He became a mechanical， not inspired， salesman. After being mechanical， he became incompetent； then he saw younger clerks who had more zest in their work， promoted over him. He became sour. That was the last stage. His usefulness was over.
I have observed this melancholy decline in the lives of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest road to failure is to do things mechanically. There are many teachers in schools and colleges who seem duller than the dullest of their pupils； they go through the motions of teaching， but they are as impersonal as a telephone.
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。
“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。”
我对他推销时的自豪与欣喜所感到的诧异，读者诸君当不难理解。在很多店铺，顾客不得不等待有人来招呼，当终于有个售货员肯屈尊理你，那样子又让你感觉像是打扰了他。他不是陷于讨厌被人搅扰的深思之中，就是和女售货员嬉戏调笑；而你不适时的插入打断了他们的亲昵，为此你感觉好像需要道歉似的。
他显示出对你和他拿着工资去卖的东西毫无兴趣，然而，就是这样一个如此冷漠的售货员，或许当初也是满怀希望和热情开始工作的，天天枯燥乏味的苦差事令他不堪忍受，新鲜感磨去了，惟一的乐趣只能在工作之外找到。他成了一个机械的，没有干劲的售货员，机械呆板之后便是笨拙无能，随后，看到比他年轻，工作热情比他高的售货员得到了提拔，在他之上，他于是变得烦躁刻薄，此时便到了他职业生涯的最后阶段，他不再有用了。
我观察到，很多职业中的太多人在人生道路上都有这种可悲的堕落。由此我得出结论：机械地应付差事是离失败最近的路，大中小学里的许多教师，似乎比他们最最迟钝的学生还要呆滞；他们似乎也搞搞教学，却毫无人的感情，就如同一部电话机。
Knocking the Door Open with One Yuan
一元钱敲开的门
A girl just graduated from college went to a certain company to apply for the position of an accountant. However， she was immediately turned down as that company wanted to hire a senior accountant with much working experience. But she was not disheartened and begged the examiner， “Please give me another chance and let me take the written exam.” See the girl in such an earnest the examiner agreed to let her take the written exam. It so happened that the girl passed the written exam. Finally the human resources manager of the company decided to conduct the final interview.
As the girl rated the top one in the written exam， the human resources manager had a favorable opinion of her. But the girl said frankly she had had no working experience， and the only experience about bookkeeping she had was running the finance of the students’ union in college. The human resources manager was somewhat disappointed and could only told her，“So much for today’s interview. We’ll phone you if you shall be given the job.”
The girl got up on her feet and produced from her pocket one yuan， which she handed to the manager with both hands. “Please phone me whether I shall be hired or not，” she said to the human resources manager. The latter was surprised but soon recovered to ask her， “How do you know we don’t phone those who shall not be hired？”
“Just now you said you will phone me if I shall be given the job. This implies you won’t phone those who are not given the job.” The manager seemed to be interested by the girl and asked further， “What would you like us to tell you if you are not given the job？“ “I would like to know in what respect I fail to meet the requirement of your company， so that I can make further improvement . As for the one yuan， I mean to pay for calling me as it is not the normal financial responsibility of the company to pay for phoning those who shall not be hired. Please be sure to phone me.”
Hearing this， the manager smiled and said， “Please take back the one yuan. I shall not phone you because I want to inform you formerly that you are hired. You can come to work tomorrow.”
Thus， with just one yuan the girl knocked open the door of opportunity.
一位刚毕业的女大学生来到一家公司应聘财务会计工作。当面试时，因公司想招聘有经验的资深会计，所以女大学生立即遭到拒绝。但她并没有因此而灰心离开。她诚恳地对主考官说：“请再给我一次机会，让我参加完笔试。”主考官拗不过她，就让她参加了笔试。结果她很顺利地通过了笔试。最后由人事经理亲自复试。
由于这位女大学生的笔试成绩最好，所以人事经理对她颇有好感。但女大学生坦言自己没有工作经验，唯一的会计经验是在学校管过学生会财务，这让人事经理有点失望。不得已，人事经理只好对她说：“今天就面试到这里，如果有消息，我们会打电话通知你。”
女大学生从座位上站起来，从口袋里掏出一元钱，双手递给人事经理：“不管我是否被录用，都请您给我打个电话。”人事经理一下子呆住了，不过他很快就回过神来问：“你怎么知道我们就不给没有录取的人打电话呢？”