英语名篇诵读 阶梯攀爬人

The Man on His Way up the Ladder

阶梯攀爬人

Esther Vilar(埃丝特·维拉尔)

When a man works it is a matter of life and death, and, as a rule, the first years of his life are decisive. Any man of twenty-five who is not well on his way up the ladder can be considered, to all intents and purposes , a hopeless case. At this stage, all his faculties are being developed, and the fight with his competitors is a fight to the death. Behind a mask of business friendship, he is constantly on the watch for any sign of superiority in one of his associates , and he will note its appearance with anxiety. If this same associate shows signs of weakness or indecision, it must be taken advantage of at once. Yet man is only a tiny cog in a gigantic business machine, he himself being in effect exploited at every turn. When he drives others, he drives himself most of all. His orders are really orders from above, passed on by him. If the men at the top occasionally take time to praise him, it is not in order to make him happy; it is only to spur him on, to stimulate him to greater effort. For man, who was brought up to be proud and honorable, every working day is merely an endless series of humiliations . He shows enthusiasm for products he finds useless, he laughs at jokes he finds tasteless, he expresses opinions which are not his own. Not for a moment is he allowed to forget that the merest oversight may mean demotion , that one slip of the tongue may spell the end of his career.

人要工作，这是生存攸关的事，而且通常情况下，起初几年是决定性的。二十几岁的人若在人生的阶梯上攀爬不顺，实际上就难成气候了。在这个阶段，他所有的官能都已发育成熟，同竞争对手的斗争是一场殊死决战。在业务交往彬彬有礼的面具背后，他时刻提防着某个同行的任何优势迹象，而且忧心忡忡地注意着这种优势端倪初露。如果这个同行显露出任何软弱或犹豫不决，他便立即加以利用。然而，人只不过是巨大商业机器中的一颗小小螺丝，他自己事实上无时无刻不在被利用着。当他驱动别人时，他驱动最多的是他自己。他的指令其实是上级传递给他的。如果上级偶尔抽时间表扬他一下，那并不是为了使他高兴，而只是为了鞭策他，刺激他做出更大的努力。人生而体面有尊严，但每个工作日都遭受无休止的屈辱。他对自己觉得无用的产品表现得很感兴趣，对自己觉得毫无趣味的笑话大笑不止，他表达的并非是自己的看法、观点。他无时无刻都不能忘记，哪怕是最小的疏忽都可能意味着丢掉乌纱帽，哪怕是一次口误都可能招致前程被毁。