A Pair of Socks
威廉姆·莱恩·菲尔浦斯 / William Lyon Phelps
One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue, when I re-membered 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，我走在第五大道上，突然想起来需要买双袜子了。我信步走进眼前的第一家袜店。一个年轻的售货员走上前来，他还不到17岁，“先生，需要点什么呢？”“我想买双袜子。”他的眼睛发出光芒，声音里饱含着热情。“您知道吗？您进了世界上最好的袜店。”我只是偶然进来的，并没有意识到这一点。“跟我来。”男孩兴高采烈地说。我跟着他走到商店后面，他开始从架子上取下一个又一个盒子，打开来给我欣赏里面的东西。
“行啦，小家伙，我只打算买一双！”“我知道，”他说，“我只是想让你看看，这些袜子有多么漂亮！不是吗？”他脸上庄重的表情，带着神圣的虔诚，像是在向我透露他的宗教信仰中的神秘。我对他越来越感兴趣，而不是对袜子。我惊奇地看着他，说道：“我的朋友，如果你能保持这份热情，而不是因为刚做这份工作的新鲜感。如果你能日复一日地保持这份热心和激情，十年内，全美国的每一双袜子都会是从你这里卖出去的。”
读者们不难理解，我为何惊诧于他作为推销员的自豪和欣喜。在许多商店，顾客要想有人来招呼不得不等待，当某个店员终于屈尊注意到你时，那样子让你觉得像是打扰了他似的。他不是陷入沉思，一副讨厌被人打搅的样子，就是在和女店员打情骂俏，你简直想为自己打断了他们之间的亲昵而道歉了。
他对你，或者对领取报酬去销售的货物不感兴趣。就是这样的一个售货员，也许刚开始工作时也是充满希望和热情，只是无法忍受每天枯燥工作的折磨，新鲜感逐渐消失，工作以外的时间成了他唯一的乐趣所在。他变成了机械的、毫无激情的售货员。机械地工作后，他又变得毫无能力可言，然后看到比自己年轻热情的同事爬到上面去了，他就开始愤愤不平。这是他最后的阶段，他变得毫无用处了。
我观察到，这种悲哀的堕落存在于很多不同职业的人的生命中。于是我得出结论：机械地做事必然会导致失败。中学和大学里有许多老师，比他们最呆板的学生还迟钝。他们是在做教书的动作，其实他们毫无感情，只是个传声筒罢了！
记忆填空
1.“My friend,”said I,“if you can this up, if this is not the enthusiasm that comes from novelty, from having a new , if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every in the United States.”
2. Either is absorbed in profound thought in which he hates to disturbed or he is skylarking with a girl clerk you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself such intimacy.
3. I have this melancholy decline in the of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest to failure is to do things mechanically.
佳句翻译
1. 我只是偶然进来的，并没有意识到这一点。
2. 读者们不难理解，我为何惊诧于他作为推销员的自豪和欣喜。
3. 他对你，或者对领取报酬去销售的货物不感兴趣。
短语应用
1. a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward.
come forward：涌现；自告奋勇；被提出来讨论
2. the novelty wore off.
wear off：磨损；逐渐消逝