Out of Place
奥里森·马登 / Orison Marden
“But I’m good for something.” pleaded a young man whom a merchant was about to discharge for his bluntness.
“You are good for nothing as a salesman,” said his employer.
“I am sure I can be useful,”said the youth.
“How? Tell me how.”
“I don’t know, sir, I don’t know.”
“Nor do I,” said the merchant, laughing at the earnestness of his clerk.
“Only don’t put me away, sir, don’t put me away. Try me at something besides selling. I cannot sell, I know I cannot sell.”
“I know that, too,” said the principal, “that is what is wrong.”
“But I can make myself useful somehow,” persisted the young man, “I know I can.”
He was placed in the counting-house, where his aptitude for figures soon showed itself, and in a few years he became not only chief cashier in the large store, but an eminent accountant...
A man out of place is like a fish out of water. Its fins mean nothing, they are only a hindrance. The fish can do nothing but flounder out of its element. But as soon as the fins feel the water, they mean something...
A man out of place is not half a man. He feels unmanned. He cannot respect himself, hence he cannot be respected.
John Adams’ father was a shoemaker, and, trying to teach his son the art, gave him some “uppers” to cut out by a pattern which had a three-cornered hole in it to hang it up by. The future statesman followed the pattern, hole and all.
A man out of place may manage to get a living, but he has lost the buoyancy, energy and enthusiasm which are as natural to a man in his place as his breath. He is industrious, but he works mechanically and without heart. It is to support himself and family, not because he cannot help it. Dinner time does not come two hours before he realizes it; a man out of place is constantly looking at his watch and thinking of his salary.
If a man is in his place he is happy, joyous, cheerful, energetic, fertile in resources. The days are all too short for him. All his faculties give their consent to his work; say“yes” to his occupation. He is a man; he respects himself and is happy because all his powers are at play in their natural sphere.
To be out of place is demoralizing to all the powers of manhood. We can’t cheat nature out of her aim; if she has set all the currents of your life toward medicine or law, you will only be a botch at anything else.
Will-power and application cannot make a farmer of a born painter any more than a lumbering draught horse can be changed into a race horse. When the powers are not used along the line of their strength they become demoralized, weakened, deteriorated. Self-respect, enthusiasm and courage ooze out; we become half-hearted and success is impossible.
Man only grows when he is developing along the lines of his own individuality, and not when he is trying to be somebody else. All attempts to imitate another man, when there is no one like you in all creation, as the pattern was broken when you were born, is not only to ruin your own pattern, but to make only an echo of the one imitated.
Anywhere else we are dwarfs, weaklings, echoes, and the echo even of a great man is a sorry contrast to even the smallest human being who is himself.
“可我在其他方面还是有用的。”一个年轻人正在向商店的老板苦苦哀求。原来老板嫌年轻人反应迟钝，正要打发他走。
“你做销售简直就是一无是处。”他的老板回应道。
“我确信自己是有价值的。”年轻人说。
“是吗？可你怎么让我相信呢？”
“我一时也没有头绪，先生，我现在还不知道。”
“我就更不知道了。”店主冷嘲热讽地打消店员的积极性。
“只要你不赶我走，先生，不要赶我走。除了销售，让我做什么都可以。我不擅长销售。我知道我根本不会销售。”
“我也知道你没卖出多少东西，”老板说，“那才是要开除你的原因。”
“可我会证明自己的价值，”年轻人争辩道，“我知道自己的能力。”
老板让年轻人到财务室去帮忙，不久他在数字方面的天赋便有了用武之地。短短几年之后，除了担任那家大商店的首席出纳员外，那个年轻人还成了一名杰出的会计师……
一个人离开了熟悉的环境，如同鱼失去了水一样，鱼的鳍便派不上任何用场，甚至成了累赘，鱼所能做的只是垂死挣扎；然而当鱼鳍一接触到水，它们就立刻大显神通……
如果一个人在自己的位置不能发挥才能，就不是一个纯粹的人。他会觉得自己没有男子气概，他根本不能尊敬自己，因此别人也不会尊敬他。
约翰·亚当斯的父亲以制鞋为生，因此，他曾尝试让儿子学到这门手艺。父亲拿出一些“鞋帮”，告诉儿子根据模子裁切，在模子上有个三角形的洞，是用来方便悬挂的。这位未来的政治家一丝不苟地照着模子裁切——甚至上面的洞也一样。
一个在其位置上不能发挥才能的人或许会温饱无忧，不过他已经丧失了生活的活力、精力和热情，而当一个人发挥才能时，这些东西如同呼吸一样水到渠成。他表面是在勤勤恳恳地工作，然而实际上不过机械地、麻木地应付。他工作的原因是为了养家糊口，而不是自愿；离晚餐还有两小时，他就开始惦记起来。一个在其位置上不能发挥才能的人会时不时地盯着表，满脑子都是自己的薪水。
如果一个人可以在其位置上发挥才能，我们将会看到一个心情愉悦、精力十足、灵感丰富的人。在他眼中，每一天的时光都太过短暂；在工作中，他一切的本领都会得到淋漓尽致地发挥；他会十分满意自己的职业。他是一个真正的人，他尊敬自己，并且感觉很幸福。因为在正常范围内，他所有的能力都得以发挥。
不能发挥才能的位置，会打击一个人的所有能力。我们不能违背天性的本质来欺骗它；如果天性注定你只在医学和法律上具有天赋，那么不管你从事任何行业，都将平平庸庸。
意志力和愿望不可能使一个农夫成为天生的画家，难度就相当于将一匹动作迟缓的、用来拉车的马变成一匹赛马。当才能违背了自身发展规律时，人就会士气受挫，软弱，堕落。如果失去了自尊、热情和勇气，我们就会变得无精打采，成功当然也就遥遥无期了。
唯有沿着符合自己个性的方向发展，而不是尝试模仿其他人，一个人才会成长。没有人天生会变得与另一个人完全相同，当你费尽周折模仿他人的时候，不仅毁掉了你自己的天性，而且不过是对他人简单的重复。
模仿别人的人，结果只能是侏儒、弱者和重复，就算是对一个伟大人物的模仿，比起最微不足道的、能够展现自我的人，也不过是一种遗憾。
记忆填空
1. He was in the counting-house, where his aptitude for figures showed itself, and in a few he became not only chief cashier in the large store, an eminent accountant...
2. A man of place may manage to get a living, but he has lost the buoyancy, energy and enthusiasm are as natural to a man in his place as his .
3. All attempts to imitate another man, there is no one like you in all creation, as the pattern was broken when you were , is not only to ruin your own pattern, but to only an echo of the one imitated.
佳句翻译
1. “我也知道你没卖出多少东西，”老板说，“那才是要开除你的原因。”
2. 因为在正常范围内，他所有的能力都得以发挥。
3. 不能发挥才能的位置，会打击一个人的所有能力。
短语应用
1. Only don’t put me away, sir.
put away：放好；抛弃；储存
2. A man out of place may manage to get a living.
manage to：设法；达成