Some of the greatest success stories of history have followed a word of encouragement or an act of confidence by a loved one or a trusting friend. Had it not been for a confident wife, Sophia, we might not have listed among the great names of literature the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne. When Nathaniel, a heartbroken man, went home to tell his wife that he was a failure and had been fired from his job in a customhouse, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy.
"Now," she said triumphantly, "you can write your book!"
"Yes," replied the man, with sagging confidence, "and what shall we live on while I am writing it?"
To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money.
"Where on earth did you get that?" he exclaimed.
"I have always know you were a man of genius," she told him. "I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week, out of the money you gave me for housekeeping, I saved a little bit. So here is enough to last us for one whole year."
From her trust and confidence came one of the greatest novels of American literature, The Scarlet Letter.
编者按：当一个人陷入困境时，来自所爱的人或是朋友的鼓励与信任有着另人难以想象的强大力量。作家纳撒尼尔-霍桑在妻子的鼓励下成功写出世界名著《红字》的故事就是一个有力的说明。
相关单词：exclamation
exclamation解释：n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词
exclamation例句：
He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。
相关单词：triumphantly
triumphantly解释：ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地
triumphantly例句：
The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
相关单词：sagging
sagging解释：下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度
sagging例句：
The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。
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：scarlet
scarlet解释：n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的
scarlet例句：
The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。
