读者文摘:改变历史的意外时刻(2)

Dr. Seuss and Stephen King are rescued from the ash can of history.

苏斯博士和斯蒂芬·金被从历史的灰烬中拯救出来。

Different though they may be, Stephen King and Dr. Seuss have two things in common.

尽管苏斯博士和斯蒂芬·金是不同的人，但是他们有两个相似的地方。

They are both among the most successful authors in American history, and they both narrowly escaped a life of obscurity.

他们都是美国历史上最成功的作家，他们都侥幸走出了默默无闻的生活。

Theodor Geisel—the good doctor’s given name—wrote his first children’s book, A Story No One Can Beat, in the mid-1930s.

西奥多·盖泽尔-这位好医生的名字-在20世纪30年代中期写了他的第一本儿童读物，《一个无人能敌的故事》。

Working as an advertising¹ illustrator at the time, Geisel sent his whimsical manuscript to 27 publishers. They all rejected it.

作为一名广告插画师，盖泽尔将他古怪的手稿寄给了27家出版商。他们都拒绝了。

After the last cold shoulder, Geisel stomped² down New York City’s Madison Avenue,

在最后一次吃了闭门羹后，盖泽尔迈着重重的脚步走在纽约的麦迪逊大道上，

determined³ to burn the manuscript and, perhaps, his writing career.

决定把手稿烧掉，也许还是他的写作生涯。

While he was out cooling off, he bumped into his old college roommate, Mike McClintock, who happened to edit children’s books at Vanguard Press.

就在他在外面冷静的时候，他碰到了大学时的室友迈克·麦克林托克。他碰巧是先锋出版社的儿童读物编辑。

Geisel shared his woes⁴ with McClintock, who asked to see the story.

盖泽尔和麦克林托克分享了他的悲伤，麦克林托克想看他写的故事。

McClintock suggested a few changes, and Vanguard published the book in 1937 with a new title:

麦克林托克建议做一些修改，然后先锋出版社于1937年以一个新标题出版了这本书：

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

《并以为我是在桑树街上看到的》。

According to Geisel: “If I had been walking down the other side of Madison Avenue, I’d be in the dry-cleaning business today.”

根据盖泽尔：“如果我当时走的是麦迪逊大道的另一边，我今天做的就是干洗生意。”

Stephen King’s first published book was about a bullied⁵ teenage girl who discovers that she has fantastic mental powers,

史蒂芬·金出版的第一本书是关于一个受欺负的少女的故事，她发现自己拥有神奇的精神力量，

which she uses to get revenge on her tormentors.

她利用这些力量来报复折磨她的人。

King’s worst critic wasn’t the publishers—it was himself.

金最糟糕的批评家不是出版商，而是他自己。

He disliked his story so much that he threw it away after writing only three pages, according to his memoir⁶ On Writing.

根据他关于写作的回忆录，他非常不喜欢这个故事，只写了三页就把它扔掉了。

A few hours later, his wife found the pages crumpled⁷ and covered with cigarette ash in the wastepaper basket.

几个小时后，他的妻子在废纸篓里发现了这些褶皱的、满是烟灰的纸张。

She took them out and started reading, and she was hooked. “She wanted me to go on,” King later wrote.

她把纸拿出来开始读这个故事，她被吸引住了。金后来写道，“她想继续写下去。”

“She wanted to know the rest of the story.” And so he went on. Carrie sold over a million paperback⁸ copies in its first year.

“她想知道剩余的故事是怎样的。”所以他就继续写完它。《魔女嘉莉》平装本第一年就卖出了100多万本。

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

5 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

7 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

8 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。