华尔街的赚钱经 第60期:隔夜快递之父(2)

 　　Leadership

　　领导力

　　Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx. Thirty-five years later, he's still at the helm. He attributes the success of the company to leadership, pure and simple-something he picked up from his years in the military, and from his family.

　　弗里德·史密斯在创办联邦快递时只有27岁。如今，35 年过去了，他依旧坐在掌舵人的位置上。史密斯把公司的成功完全归功于他的领导方法——纯粹而简单——这是军队和家庭教给他的。

　　Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family on August 11, 1944 in Mississippi. After his father's death, when he was four years old, his mother, Sally Smith, often talked to the boy about her late husband. "I kept his father alive in his mind all those years," she recalled. "I told him how much big Fred loved him, and how much he wanted him to have the best education possible. And how much he was certain his son would surpass his achievements in business."

　　弗里德·华莱士·史密斯于 1944年8月11日出生在密西西比州的一个富有家庭。在他只有4岁时，父亲去世了。在那之后，母亲萨利·史密斯经常给儿子讲丈夫生前的故事。她回忆道，“那些年我一直都努力让他在心中记住他爸爸。我告诉他，爸爸是多么爱他，多么想让他接受最好的教育，又是多么确信他儿子将大大超过他在商业上的成就。”

　　As a child, Smith suffered from Legg-Calve-Pthes disease , which is characterized by the interruption in the blood supply to the thighbones and the consequent improper¹ development of one or both legs. Unable to walk normally, Smith was picked on by bullies², and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his crutch³. Reportedly cured of the disease by the age of 10, he became a star athlete, playing football, basketball, and baseball.

　　儿时，史密斯曾患股骨病，这种疾病会中断股骨供血，最终导致一条腿或双腿发育畸形。因此史密斯无法像健全人那样行走，为此经常被欺负，后来他学会了挥动拐杖来自卫。据说，10岁那年病愈后，史密斯成了体育明星，足球、篮球和棒球，样样精通。

　　Smith's grandfather had captained a Mississippi River steamboat; his father built the Greyhound Bus Linein the South, expanding his fortune along with the routes. Smith says he was just four when his father died, "so he probably served as a near mythical⁴ role model for me."

　　史密斯的祖父曾是密西西比号汽轮的船长；父亲在南部创建了灰狗巴士公司，赚了不少钱。由于父亲在他只有四岁时就去世了，“所以对我来说，他就是一个近乎虚构的榜样。”

1 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

2 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

3 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

4 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。