A Pair of Socks一双袜子

一个晴朗的下午，我在第五大街上闲逛，忽然想起要买双袜子。我拐进印入眼帘的第一家袜店，一个不到17岁的伙计迎上来说：“先生,我能为您效劳吗？” “我想买双短袜。” 他的双眼充满了热情，说话的声音也饱含着激情：“您知道吗？您来到了世界上最好的袜店！”可我并没意识到这一点。 “随我来，”男孩欣喜若狂地说。我跟着他往里走。他开始从货架上拿下一个又一个盒子，向我展示里面的袜子，让我欣赏……

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 eye, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. "What can I do for you, sir?" "I wish to buy a pair of socks." His eyes glowed. 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. "Come with me," said the boy, ecstatically. I followed him to the rear of the shop, and he began to haul down from the shelves box after box, displaying their contents for my delectation.

"Hold on, lad, I am going to buy only one pair!" "I know that," said he, "but I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are. Aren't they wonderful?" There was on his face an expression of solemn and holy rapture, as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of his religion. I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in amazement. "My friend," said I, "if you can keep this up, if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty, from having a new job, if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States."

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. Either he is absorbed in profound thought in which he hates to be disturbed or he is skylarking with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy.

He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell. Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so apathetic began his career with hope and enthusiasm. The daily grind was too much for him; the novelty wore off; his only pleasures were found outside of working hours. He became a mechanical, not inspired, salesman. After being mechanical, he became incompetent; then he saw younger clerks who had more zest in their work, promoted over him. He became sour. That was the last stage. His usefulness was over.

I have observed this melancholy decline in the lives of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest road to failure is to do things mechanically. There are many teachers in schools and colleges who seem duller than the dullest of their pupils; they go through the motions of teaching, but they are as impersonal as a telephone.

相关单词：rapture

rapture解释：n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜

rapture例句：

His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。

In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地，被他父亲打断了。

相关单词：amazement

amazement解释：n.惊奇，惊讶

amazement例句：

All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。

He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

相关单词：zeal

zeal解释：n.热心，热情，热忱

zeal例句：

Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。

They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

相关单词：deign

deign解释：v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事)

deign例句：

He doesn't deign to talk to unimportant people like me. 他不肯屈尊和像我这样不重要的人说话。

I would not deign to comment on such behaviour. 这种行为不屑我置评。

相关单词：intimacy

intimacy解释：n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

intimacy例句：

His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。

I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

相关单词：apathetic

apathetic解释：adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

apathetic例句：

I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。

You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

相关单词：incompetent

incompetent解释：adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

incompetent例句：

He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。

He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

相关单词：zest

zest解释：n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

zest例句：

He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。

He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

相关单词：melancholy

melancholy解释：n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

melancholy例句：

All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。

He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

相关单词：impersonal

impersonal解释：adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

impersonal例句：

Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。

His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。