英語勵志故事及翻譯

　　什麼才是真正的禮物?

　　The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.- Eric Hoffer

　　世界上最難的算術題是如何清點我們的祝福。

　　According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher。

　　據傳說，一個年輕的男子在漫遊沙漠途中看到一泉如水晶般清澈而可口的水。水的味道非常甜美，於是他灌滿了他的皮水壺，這樣就可以帶一些回去，送給曾經是他老師的部落長老。

　　After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart。

　　經過四天的旅程，他把水呈獻給老人。老人深飲一口，和藹地笑了笑，並深切感激學生贈予他甜美的水。年輕人懷著愉快的心情回到了村莊。

　　Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container。

　　後來，老師讓他的另一個學生品嚐水。學生吐了出來，說水太難喝了。它顯然已經因為陳舊的皮革容器而變得不再新鮮。

　　The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

　　學生質疑他的老師：“師父，水是臭的，你為什麼要假裝喜歡它?”

　　The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."

　　老師回答說，“你只品嚐了水的味道，我卻是在品嚐禮物的味道。水僅僅是裝載善與愛之行為的容器，而沒有什麼東西比善與愛更甜美了。”

　　I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift。

　　我認為當我們從天真的孩子們那裡收到愛的禮物時，能夠最透徹地明白這個道理。無論它是一個陶瓷托盤或通心粉手鐲，我們自然而恰當的反應是欣賞，並表示感激，因為我們喜歡禮物所包含的心意。

　　Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart。

　　感恩並不總是自然而來的。不幸的是，大多數兒童和成人只看重被贈予的東西本身，而不是它體現的情誼。我們應該提醒自己，並教導我們的孩子，感情和對感激之情的表達是美麗而純潔的。畢竟，發自內心給與的禮物才是真正的禮物。

　　沃爾特▪迪士尼的成功故事

　　Walt Disney was a man of dreams. He dreamed big dreams. And he made his dreams come true.

　　沃爾特▪迪士尼是一個有著很多夢想的人。他的夢想不盡都很偉大，而且他也實現了自己的夢想。

　　Walt had talent, and developed a keen commercial sense of what would appeal to the public. Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and ultimately the other Disney theme parks around the world all came about because Walt Disney insisted that he could build an amusement park that was so much bigger and better than other amusement parks that it shouldn’t even be called an amusement park.

　　沃爾特很有才華，他發揮出自己對商業的敏銳洞察力，知道什麼會吸引公眾。迪士尼樂園、沃爾特▪迪士尼世界以及世界上其他迪士尼主題公園的出現都是因為迪士尼堅信他能夠建造一個比現有的娛樂公園更大更好的娛樂公園。在他看來，其他的娛樂公園甚至不應該被稱作娛樂公園。

　　In 1940 he revealed a plan to showcase Disney characters in their fantasy surroundings at a park across the street from the Disney studio in Burbank.

　　1940年，他提出一個計劃，他想將迪士尼的各種卡通人物在公園裡夢幻般的場景中展現出來，從位於柏班克的迪士尼工作室一直通到街道對面。

　　The vision of an amusement park grew in Walt’s mind as he traveled through the US and Europe and visited attractions of all kinds. Walt was convinced that an amusement park would be successful in the United States if it offered a “good show” that families could enjoy together, was clean, and had friendly employees.

　　沃爾特遊覽了整個美國和歐洲的旅遊景點後就萌生了建立娛樂公園的念頭。沃爾特深信只要提供讓家庭成員一起娛樂的愉悅平臺、乾淨的環境以及親切的工作人員，娛樂公園在美國一定會成功。

　　In 1948 he shared his concept with trusted friends, a modest amusement park with a central village including a town hall, a small park, railroad station movie theater, and small stores. Outlying areas would include a carnival area and a western village. Soon he added spaceship and submarine rides, a steamboat, and exhibit halls.

　　1948年，他和幾位自己信任的朋友分享了他的理念：一箇中等的娛樂公園，有一箇中心村，包括城鎮公所、小心公園、火車站、電影院和一些小商店;邊遠地區將包括狂歡區和西部鄉村。很快他又增加了太空飛船、潛水艇、汽船和展覽廳。

　　Four years later, in 1952, he decided on “Disneyland” for the name and formed a company to develop the park, Disneyland, Inc.

　　四年後，在1952年，他決定將“迪士尼公園”作為公園的名字，併成立了一家公司來發展公司，即迪士尼樂園公司。

　　In 1953 he enlisted Stanford Research Institute to examine the economic prospects of Disneyland and to find the ideal location.

　　1953年，他聘請斯坦福研究所對迪士尼公園進行經濟前景的測評。併為它找到最理想的所在地。

　　They broke ground in July, 1954, and one year later, on July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened. Within 7 weeks, a million visitors had visited Disneyland, making it one of the biggest tourist attractions in the US.

　　1954年7月，他們開始破土動工，一年後，也就是1955年7月17日，迪士尼樂園正式對外開放。七週內就有一百萬遊客參觀迪士尼樂園，並使它成為美國最大的旅遊勝地。

　　Walt combined his talent and his sense of what the public would want with lots of hard work. In 1960, after 37 years in Hollywood, with a mixture of huge successes and frustrating setbacks, Disney had created something that was successful beyond Walt’s own dreams.

　　沃爾特的才華加上他付出的艱辛努力，在1960年，也就是在好萊塢37年後，伴隨著無數卓越的成就和令人沮喪的挫折，他已經創造出比自己夢想更偉大的成就。

　　With Disneyland and its continuing stream of visitors, Walt had finally achieved financial stability.

　　迪士尼樂園如潮水般的遊客，使沃爾特最終實現了財政上的穩定。

　　林書豪成名的背後

　　He is a Harvard graduate playing in the National Basketball Association. He is an Asian-American in a league devoid of them, which makes him doubly anomalous. No team drafted Lin in 2010. Two teams cut him in December, before the Knicks picked him up.

　　他是NBA賽場上少有的名校哈佛畢業生，他是聯盟裡少見的亞裔美國人，這樣雙重特殊身份的林書豪，在2010年NBA新秀大會上落選，2011年12月先後被金州勇士隊和休斯敦火箭隊裁掉，之後紐約尼克斯隊宣佈簽下他。

　　His contract, potentially worth nearly $800,000, was not even guaranteed until Tuesday afternoon. So for the past six weeks, Lin, 23, has been sleeping in his brother Josh’s living room, waiting for clarity and career security.

　　尼克斯與他簽下的合同價值約為80萬美元，也許在這之前他持有的是非保障合同，但到週二下午6點***球隊裁員的截至日子***林書豪的的合同自動轉為了保障合同，他將安全的留在尼克斯隊。事實上在過去的6周裡，23歲的林書豪因為不確定自己是否能夠繼續留在紐約，一直寄居在哥哥家當沙發客，等待職業生涯中保障合同的出現。

　　On Saturday night, Lin came off the bench and powered the Knicks to a 99-92 victory over the Nets at Madison Square Garden, scoring a career-best 25 points with 7 assists. Two nights later, he made his first N.B.A. start and produced 28 points and 8 assists in a 99-88 win over the Utah Jazz.

　　上週六的晚上，紐約尼克斯在麥迪遜廣場花園主場迎戰新澤西網隊，板凳席上的林書豪臨危受命，拿下了職業生涯最高的25分7助攻，幫助尼克斯99比92戰勝網隊。兩天後，林書豪獲得NBA的第一次首發機會，在對陣猶他爵士隊的比賽中砍下28分8助攻。

　　Knicks fans now serenade Lin with chants of “Je-re-my!” and “M.V.P.!”. With every game, every precision pass and every clever drive to the basket, Lin is raising expectations, altering the Knicks’ fate and redefining the word “unlikely.” On Twitter, fans and basketball pundits are using another term to describe the phenomenon: “Linsanity.”

　　麥迪遜廣場花園的球迷們齊聲歡呼“Jeremy”和“MVP”。每一場比賽，每一個精準的過人，每一次聰明的突破，林書豪給球迷們帶來希望，改變了尼克斯隊的命運，也再次重新定義了“不可能”。在推特上，球迷和籃球權威人士用Linsanity “為林瘋狂” 這個標籤來描述這種林書豪熱現象***Linsanity：Lin+insanity***。

　　Two weeks ago, the 6-foot-3 Lin was not even part of the Knicks’ point-guard rotation, despite their lack of talent at the position. He played sparingly in a few games, showing just enough promise to keep getting another look— a few more minutes, another quarter. But there was never any hint of what was to come.

　　兩週前，這個身高1米91的華裔小個子甚至根本不在尼克斯隊的控球后衛輪轉名單中，儘管尼克斯目前在控衛的位置缺乏優秀的人才。在此之前他只打過幾場比賽，但他的表現足以讓教練注意到他。慢慢地，他的上場時間在增加：多了幾分鐘，再打一節。林書豪的傳奇成功不是無跡可尋的。

　　With 25 points Saturday, Lin set the N.B.A. scoring record for a player from Harvard. For an encore, he became the first player in more than 30 years to record at least 28 points and 8 assists in his first N.B.A. start. The last to do so was Isiah Thomas, the Detroit Pistons’ Hall of Fame point guard, in October 1981.

　　在週六砍下25分的一球成名戰後，林書豪也創下了NBA賽場上哈佛畢業生的得分記錄。第二場比賽中，他再次創下記錄，成為NBA賽場30多年裡首發首秀拿到28分8助攻的第一人。上次拿到這個得分的是在1981年10月，底特律活塞隊伊塞亞·托馬斯***NBA名人堂球員***。

　　“I don’t think anyone, including myself, saw this coming,” Lin said after the game Monday.

　　林書豪在週一比賽後表示，“我相信任何人包括我自己在內，都沒有預想到這樣的成績”。