给自己选一件红衬衫

 　　“要想出人头地，除了努力工作之外，没有任何捷径，更没有任何替代品。

　　If you want to stand out among people, there is no shortcut¹ or alternatives for you but hard work.

　　曾经有一个衣衫褴褛，满身补丁的男孩，跑到摩天大楼的工地向一位衣着华丽，口叼烟斗的建筑承包商请教："我该怎么做，长大后会跟你一样有钱?"There was once a boy in ragged² clothes full of patches running to ask a building contractor³ who wore the finery with a tobacco pipe in his mouth in a construction site of a skyscraper⁴, "how could I become as rich as you when I grow up ?"这位高大强壮的建军筑承包商看了小家伙一眼，回答说：“我先给你讲一个三个掘沟人的故事.一个拄着铲子说，他将来一定要做老板.第二个抱怨工作时间长，报酬低.第三个只是低头挖沟.过了若干年，第一个仍在拄着铲子.第二个虚报工伤，找到借口退休.第三个呢?他成了那家公司的老板.你明白这个故事的寓意吗?小伙子，去买件红衬衫，然后埋头苦干,”

　　With a glance at the boy, the tall and strong-build contractor replied, "I would like to tell you a story first about three diggers. The first digger liked holding a spade without doing anything but saying that he wanted to be a boss in the future. The second digger always liked complaining about the long-time work and his low salary. The third digger liked quietly devoting himself to digging without making any claims. Several years later, the first digger was still holding his spade in the original place and the second took an excuse of work injury for early retirement⁵. Only the third digger became the boss of the building company. Do you understand the moral of this story? Just go to buy a red shirt and work hard."小男孩满脸困惑，百思不解其中的道理，只好再请他说明.承包商指着那批正在脚手架上工作的建筑工人，对男孩说："看到那些人了吗?他们全都是我的工人.我无法记得他们每一个的名字，甚至有些人，根本连脸孔都没印象.但是，你仔细瞧他们之中，只有那边那个晒得红红的家伙.穿一件红色衣服.我很快就注意到，他似乎比别人更卖力，做得更起劲.他每天总是比其他的人早一点上工.工作时也比较拼命.而下工的时候，他总是最后一个下班.就因为他那件红衬衫，使他在这群工人中间特别突出.我现在就要过去找他，派他当我的监工.从今天开始我相信他会更卖命，说不定很快就会成为我的副手.“The little boy was puzzled and could not figure out the implication of the story. So he asked the contractor to explain further. Pointing to the builders who were working on scaffold, the contractor talked to the little boy, "Look at those people! They are all my workers. I can not remember all of their names, and even I have no impression of some of them. But if you look carefully, you will notice a sunburned man in red among them. I notice him very early. He seems to be working harder with higher spirits than others. He is always the first one to work every day while the last one to leave. It is exactly his red shirt that makes him stand out among all the workers. Now I am about to ask him to be my taskmaster and I believe he will work even much harder from now on. Maybe he will soon be promoted to my assistant.

　　”小伙子，我也是这样爬上来的.我非常卖力工作，表现得比所有人更好.如果当初我跟大家一样穿上蓝色的工人服，那么就很可能没有人会注意我的表现了.所以，我天天穿条纹衬衫，同时加倍努力.不久，我就出头了.老板注意我，升我当工头.后来我存够了钱，终于自己当了老板.”

　　"You know, that is also how I got where I am now. I once worked harder and outperformed others. However, if I had worn a blue shirt as other workers did at that time, I would not have been noticed by my boss. So I wore striped shirt every day and worked arduously⁶. Soon my day came, and my boss noticed me and promoted me as taskmaster. After I earned enough money, I also became a boss eventually.

　　成功只能在行动中产生.付诸行动，这是成功者的共同经验，也是开发生命的必然要求，你越多地开发生命的宝藏你就会越明显地感到行动的重要性，开发生命必须落实到实践行动，瞄准你的生命目标，从现在起就开始行动吧.

　　Success can only be born in action. Working hard is all winners’ shared and indispensable experience for achieving their dreams in their lives. The more you achieve from your hard work, the greater significance of hard work you will perceive. Life needs action to fulfill⁷ and I hope you can set up your goal and start your journey right now.

1 shortcut   

n.近路，捷径

参考例句：

• He was always looking for a shortcut to fame and fortune.他总是在找成名发财的捷径。
• If you take the shortcut,it will be two li closer.走抄道去要近2里路。

2 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

3 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

6 arduously   

adv.费力地，严酷地

参考例句：

• He arduously and soon began to play in local bands. 他拼命学习弹奏，很快就加入了当地的一个乐队。 来自互联网
• It was borderline unorthodox and arduously time-consuming, but the Yankees could handle that given their reward. 这是很难以决定和艰钜的时刻，但是洋基队仍然能维持局面。 来自互联网

7 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。