正文
One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue, when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eyes, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. “What can I do for you, sir?”
一個晴朗的下午，我走在第五大街上，這時，我想起來得買一雙襪子。我拐進看到的第一家襪子店，一個男店員走上前來，他最多十七歲的樣子。“您想買點兒什麼，先生？”
“I wish to buy a pair of socks.” His eyes glowed（發光）. There was a note of passion in his voice. “Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks?” I had not been aware of that, as my entrance had been accidental.
“我想買雙襪子。”他的眼睛閃出光芒，聲音透著熱情。“您知道嗎？要買襪子，我們店是世界上最好的。”這我倒是不知道，我只是偶然進來的。
“Come with me,” said the boy, ecstatically（狂喜的）. I followed him to the rear of the shop, and he began to haul（拉） down from the shelves box after box, displaying their contents for my delectation. “Hold on, lad, I am only going to buy only one pair!”
“您跟我來，”男孩欣喜地說。我跟著他往裡走，他從架子上一個盒子一個盒子地往下拽，向我展示盒子裡的東西。 “等等，小夥子，我只是要買一雙襪子而已！”
“I know that,” he said, “But I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are. Aren't they wonderful?” There was on his face an expression of solemn（莊嚴的） and holy rapture（高興）, as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of religion.
“我知道啊，”他說，“但我想讓您看看這些東西多棒多美。您看不是嗎？”他一臉歡喜的神情，嚴肅而神聖，就好像在向我揭示宗教有多神秘一樣。
I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in amazement.
我對他的興趣遠遠超過了襪子本身。我驚訝地看著他。
“My friend,” said I, “if you can keep this up, if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty（新鮮事物）, from having a new job, if you can keep up this zeal（熱情） and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.”
“朋友，”我說，“如果你能保持住這種狀態，如果你這這麼熱情不是因為剛入行所以感到新奇，如果你日復一日地把這種熱忱和興奮保持住的話，十年之後，全美國的每隻襪子都會是你的。”
My amazement at his pride and joy in salesmanship will be easily understood by all who read this article. In many shops the customer has to wait for someone to wait upon him. And when finally some clerk does deign to notice you, you are made to feel as if you were interrupting him.
我看到他賣個東西就能自豪和快樂成這樣，覺得很驚奇。本文的讀者們肯定能夠很容易就理解我的這種心情。在很多商店裡，顧客得等著有人來招呼你。就算有服務員肯屈尊注意到你的存在，他也會讓你覺得你是在無端打擾。
Either he is absorbed in profound（深刻的） thought in which he hates to be disturbed or he is skylarking（嬉笑） with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy（親密互動）.
要麼是人家正在沉思，謝絕打擾，要麼就是正在和女店員開玩笑，而你硬要把自己介入人家的親密互動中去，所以還不由得想道歉。
He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell. Yet possibly that clerk who is now so apathetic（冷漠的） began his career with hope and enthusiasm. The daily grind（苦工作） was too much for him, the novelty（新鮮感） wore off;
他不論是對你還是對只有賣出去才能領到工錢的東西都不感興趣。也可能當初還是新人的時候，他也曾經懷揣希望、熱情滿滿來著，只是後來才變成現在這般冷漠的吧。過去的日子裡，日常工作太過繁重，新鮮感都磨沒了。
his only pleasures were found outside of working hours. He became mechanical, he became incompetent; then he saw younger clerks who had more zest（熱情） in their work, promoted over him. He became sour. That was the last stage. His usefulness was over.
唯一的快樂只有在不工作的時候才能找到。於是，他變得機械、無能。後來，年紀輕點的店員因為工作起來更熱情些，成了他的上司。他就尖酸刻薄起來。這樣的話，他的職業生涯也就走到盡頭了，因為他已經百無一用了。
俄國作家高爾基(Maxim Gorky，1868—1936)說過：“When work is a pleasure, life is joy! When work is duty, life is slavery.”( 工作是一種樂趣時，生活是一種享受！工作是一種義務時，生活則是一種苦役。 )
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