奥里森·马登/OrisonMarden
"How'stheboygettingon, Davis?" AskedFarmerJohnField.
"Well, John, youandIareoldfriends," repliedDeaconDavis, ashetookanapplefromabarrelandhandedittoMarshall'sfatherasapeaceoffering." Weareoldfriends, andIdon'twanttohurtyourfeelings: butI'mabluntman, andI', steadyboy, allright, buthewouldn'', John, andteachhimhowtomilkcows!"
IfMarshallFieldhadremainedasclerkinDeaconDavis'sstoreinPittsfield, Massachusetts, wherehegothisfirstposition, hecouldneverhavebecomeoneoftheworld' smerchantprinces.
ButwhenhewenttoChicagoandsawthemarvelousexamplesaroundhimofpoorboyswhohadwonsuccess, itarousedhisambitionandfiredhimwiththedeterminationtobeagreatmerchanthimself."Ifotherscandosuchwonderfulthings," heaskedhimself, "whycannotI?"
, .
Manypeopleseemtothinkthatambitionisaqualitybornwithinus; thatitisnotsusceptibletoimprovement; , anditrequiresconstantcareandeducation, justasthefacultyformusicorartdoes, oritwillatrophy.
"WhatImostneed," asEmersonsays, "issomebodytomakemedowhatIcan." TodowhatIcan, thatismyproblem; notwhataNapoleonoraLincolncoulddo, —whetherIutilizeten, fifteen, twenty-five, orninetypercentofmyability.
, allunconsciously, goingtowastewithinthem.
“这孩子有没有进步啊，戴维斯？”牧场主约翰·菲尔德焦急地问道。
“哦，约翰，你和我都是老朋友了，”戴维斯回答道，为了缓和气氛，他从桶里拿出一个苹果递给马歇尔的父亲，“我们是老朋友了。我本不想伤害你的感情，可我是个心直口快的人，我会告诉你真实的情况。马歇尔是个非常稳重的好孩子，然而，即使他在我的公司待上一千年，他也不会成为一个真正的商人。他不是做商人的材料，你还是把他领回农场，教教他如何挤牛奶吧！”
如果马歇尔当初一直待在马萨诸塞州皮斯费德镇戴维斯的公司——他的第一个工作所在地，他将永远不会成为当今世界鼎鼎有名的商界精英。
