第一課：富人不爲錢工作
CHAPTER TWO Lesson One: The Rich Don't Work For Money
怎樣才能變得富有？
"Dad, Can You Tell Me How to Get Rich?"
My dad put down the evening paper. "Why do you want to get rich, son?"
“爸，你能告訴我怎樣才能變得富有嗎？”爸爸放下手中的晚報，問：“你爲什麼想變得富有呢，兒子？”
"Because today Jimmy's mom drove up in their new Cadillac, and they were going to their beach house for the weekend. He took three of his friends, but Mike and I weren't invited. They told us we weren't invited because we were `poor kids'."
“因爲這個週末基米的媽媽會開一輛新的卡迪拉克帶基米去海濱別墅度週末。基米還說要帶三個朋友去，但我和邁克沒有被邀請，他們說我們不被邀請是因爲我們是窮孩子。”
"They did?" my dad asked incredulously.
“他們真這麼說了嗎？”爸爸不相信地問。
"Yeah, they did." I replied in a hurt tone.
“是啊，他們說了！”我帶着一種受到傷害的聲調答道。
My dad silently shook his head, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and went back to reading the paper. I stood waiting for an answer.
爸爸沉默地搖了搖頭，把他的眼鏡往鼻樑上推了推，然後又去讀報紙了。我站在那兒期待着答案……
The year was 1956. I was 9 years old. By some twist of fate, I attended the same public school where the rich people sent their kids. We were primarily a sugar plantation town. The managers of the plantation and the other affluent people of the town, such as doctors, business owners, and bankers, sent their children to this school, grades 1 to 6. After grade 6, their children were generally sent off to private schools. Because my family lived on one side of the street, I went to this school. Had I lived on the other side of the street, I would have gone to a different school, with kids from families more like mine. After grade 6,these kids and I would go on to the public intermediate and high school. There was no private school for them or for me.
那年是1956年，我9歲。由於命運的安排，我進了一所公立學校，許多富人把他們的孩子也送到那所學校。我們鎮基本上是個糖料種植場，種植場的經理和其他富裕的人，比如醫生、商人、銀行家都把孩子送進了這所學校，一到六年級都有。六年級之後他們的孩子通常會被送進私立學校。因爲我家就在這個街區，所以我也進了這所學校。如果我家住在街的另一邊，或許我會去另外一所學校，和那些家庭背景與我差不多的孩子們在一起了。
並且六年級之後，我會和那些孩子一道去上公立的中學和高中，因爲沒有爲我們這類孩子設立的私立中學。
My dad finally put down the paper. I could tell he was thinking.
爸爸終於放下了報紙，我敢說他剛纔一定是在思考我的話。
"Well, son," he began slowly. "If you want to be rich, you have to learn to make money."
“哦，兒子，”他慢慢地開口了，“如果你想變得富有，你就必須學會掙錢。”
"How do I make money?" I asked.
"Well, use your head, son," he said, smiling. Which really meant, "That's all I'm going to tell you," or "I don't know the answer, so don't embarrass me."
“那麼怎麼掙錢呢？”我問“用你的頭腦，兒子。”他說着，並微笑了一下，這種微笑意味着“這就是我要告訴你的全部”，或者“我不知道答案，別爲難我了”。