A Lesson for Living 
生活的一課

"Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment."
每當我遇到挫折時，母親就會說：“一切都會好的。如果你堅持下去，總有一天會有好事發生。你會認識到，如果沒有以前的挫折就不會有現在的一切。”

Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer. I hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station - and got turned down every time.
母親是對的，發現這個時是在1932年，我剛從大學畢業。我已決定試著在電臺找個事兒做，然后爭取做體育節目的播音員。我搭便車到了芝加哥，挨家電臺地敲門推銷自己--但每次都被拒絕了。

In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an inexperienced person. "Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said.
在一個播音室里，一位好心的女士告訴我，大的廣播電臺是不會冒險雇傭沒經驗的新手的。“去鄉下找一家給你機會的小電臺吧，”她說。

I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois. While there was no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't hired.
我搭車來到我的家鄉，那是伊利諾斯州的迪克森。在迪克森當時還沒有電臺播音員這樣的工作，父親說，蒙哥馬利·沃德開了一家新商店，想雇請一個本地的運動員管理店里的體育部。我中學時曾在迪克森打過橄欖球，出于這個原因我去申請了這份工作。工作聽起來挺適合我的，但是我沒被聘用。

My disappointment must have shown. "Everything happens for the best," Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
我的沮喪心情一定表現出來了。“一切總會好的，”母親提醒我說。爸爸給我買了一輛汽車找工作用。我試到愛荷華州達文波特的WOC電臺去求職。那里的電臺節目負責人是一個很棒的蘇格蘭人，名叫彼得?麥克阿瑟，他告訴我他們已經雇到播音員了。

As I left his office, my frustration boiled over. I asked aloud, "How can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?"
離開他辦公室時，我憤怒極了。我大聲地說：“一個連在電臺都找不到工作的家伙又怎么能成為體育節目的播音員呢？”

I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, "What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game.
等電梯時，我聽見麥克阿瑟喊道：“你說什么體育？你了解橄欖球嗎？”接著他讓我站到麥克風前，請我解說一場想象中的比賽。

On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment."
在回家的路上--以后也有很多次地，我思考著母親的那句話：“如果你堅持下去，總有一天會有好事發生。如果沒有以前的挫折，就不會有現在的一切。”

I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I'd gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.
我常想，如果我當年得到了蒙哥馬利·沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路又會怎樣走呢？