浮华背后篇07：世界是个钱柜

When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and pestered 1 his relatives, but they had problems of their own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. More than twenty chief clerks told him in different ways that they were sorry but that there were no vacancies 2. Some commented on his lack of education; others told him to try again later, thinking that they had got rid of him.       鲍瑞斯从学校毕业后，没能找到工作。他努力寻职，同时也缠着他的亲戚帮他找，但是他们也被自己的问题所困扰。他不停地发求职信以应聘各种招工广告提供的职位，直到他再也买不起邮票为止。其中，有二十多家招聘单位的主管以不同的方式回复他，“抱歉，目前没有空缺职位。”还有一些单位认为他缺乏教育资历；另一些则告诉他以后再来试试看，但心里却暗想总算把他打发走了。



Boris grew annoyed, then depressed 3, then a little hardened 4. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.

鲍瑞斯先是感到恼火，后来变得沮丧，再后来就变得有些麻木了。但他依旧继续找工作，结果依旧屡遭失败。他开始认为自己根本就没有什么前途了。



"Why don't you start your own business?" one of his uncles told him. "The world is a money-locker. You'd better find a way of opening it."

“你干吗不自己做生意呢？”他的一个叔叔告诉他，“这个世界便是个钱柜，你最好去找一个办法，来开启这个钱柜。”



"But what can I do?"

“但我能干些什么呢？”



"Get out and have a look round," advised his uncle in a vague 5 sort of way. "See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it."

“出去，四处瞧瞧，”叔叔马马虎虎地建议他，“看看人们需要什么，你就提供什么，那样人们就会掏钱购买的。”



Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill 6 and profit. After a few months, he saved enough money to be able to buy various accessories 7 which he displayed at his site. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other snag. But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate 8 where there were plenty of customers but no competition.

鲍瑞斯开始骑车，在整个城镇转来转去，最后他发现了一块合适的荒地。随后他在这片荒地上创立了自己的修车摊生意。他工作勤勤恳恳，与顾客结交朋友，逐渐树立了自己的良好信誉，积累了资金。数月之后，他攒足了钱，购买了各种各样的配件，并把买来的配件整齐地摆在地摊上。又过了几个月，他发现他的生意很多，一个人已经应接不暇。因此，他开始四处寻找空铺面。他看过数家空铺面房，但都不理想，不是位置不合适，就是价格太贵，或有其他意想不到的不便。但最终，他在一块新开发的地段上找到了一家空铺面房，此处客源充足，而且竞争较少。



Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed.

鲍瑞斯和他的助手在工作中自学了如何维修小型摩托车和摩托车。利润逐渐、稳定地增长，生意也渐渐兴隆起来。



At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.

鲍瑞斯终于设法打开了世界这个钱柜，并且从中找到了钞票和金币。