異類之不一樣的成功啟示錄 第93期:生活讓你努力嘗試各行各業(yè)

Lesson Number Three: The Garment Industry and Meaningful Work

第三課：服裝業(yè)和有意義的工作

In 1889, Louis and Regina Borgenicht boarded an ocean liner in Hamburg bound for America.

1889年，路易斯(Louis)和瑞吉娜·鮑各尼特(ReginaBorgenicht)在漢堡港登上了遠赴美國的客輪。

Louis was from Galacia, in what was then Poland. Regina was from a small town in Hungary.

路易斯來自格拉西亞(Galacia)，當時屬于波蘭管轄。瑞吉娜則來自匈牙利的一個小鎮(zhèn)。

They had been married only a few years and had one small child and a second on they way.

他們剛結婚幾年，有了一個小孩，他們的第二個寶寶還在媽媽的肚子里。

For the thirteen day journey, they slept on straw mattresses on a deck above the engine room, hanging tight to their bunk beds as the ship pitched and rolled.

在這13天的旅途中，他們睡在輪機艙甲板上用稻草鋪成的床上，當船顛簸的時候，他們不得不把床鋪緊緊綁起來。

They knew one person in New York: Borgenicht's sister, Sallie, who had immigrated ten years before.

他們認識紐約的一個人：10年前移民到美國的鮑各尼特的姐姐莎莉。

They had enough money to last a few weeks, at best.

還好，他們的錢足夠他們堅持幾星期。

Like so many immigrants to America in those years, theirs was a leap of faith.

就像在這些年里移民到美國的其他移民一樣，他們的一切都處于難以預料的境遇。

Louis and Regina found a tiny apartment on Eldridge Street, in Manhattan's Lower East Side, for $8 a month.

路易斯和瑞吉娜在紐約東部貧民區(qū)的埃爾德里奇街(EldridgeStreet)租了一個小公寓，他們一個月需要8美元支付房租。

Louis then took to the streets, looking for work.

路易斯四處尋找工作，

He saw peddlers and fruit sellers and sidewalks crammed with pushcarts.

他看到了街道上到處都是小商販和賣水果的人，

He saw noise and activity energy that dwarfed what he had come from in the Old World.

還有那些擁擠在街邊的推手推車吆喝的小販。這些嘈雜的人流讓那些過去的世界在他眼中變得模糊。

He was first overwhelmed, then invigorated.

他變得歡欣鼓舞。

He went to his sister's fish store on Ludlow Street and convinced her to give him a consignment of herring on credit.

他去了他姐姐在洛得洛街(LudlowStreet)的魚店，并說服姐姐借給他托運鯡魚的本錢。

He set up shop on the sidewalk with two barrels of fish, hopping back and forth between them, chanting in German:For frying. For baking. For cooking. Good also for eating. Herring will do for ever meal. And for every class!

他裝了滿滿的2桶魚，在人行道旁反反復復用德語叫賣著：煎的，烤的，炒的，燉的，吃著爽口，頓頓回味，人人都喜歡!

By the end of the week, he had cleared $8. By the second week, $13. Those were considerable sums.

那個周末，他賺了8美元。第二周，他賺了13美元。這個收入還不錯。

But Louis and Regina could not see how selling herring on the street would lead to a constructive business.

但夫妻倆覺得，做這個生意，看不到能有什么長遠發(fā)展。

Louis then decided to try being a pushcart peddler. He sold towels and tablecloths, without much luck.

路易斯決定推著手推車去做生意。他賣毛巾和桌布，但運氣不大好，

He switched to notebooks, then bananas, then socks and stockings. Was there really a future in pushcarts?

于是又轉做筆記本生意，之后是賣香蕉、短襪和長襪。干手推車小販真能有前途嗎?

Regina gave birth to a second child, a daughter, and Louis's urgency grew.

這時瑞吉娜又生了第二個孩子，是一個女兒，路易斯的生活壓力越來越大。

He now had four mouths to feed.

現在他得養(yǎng)活4口人了。