第一课：富人不为钱工作
CHAPTER TWO Lesson One: The Rich Don't Work For Money
怎样才能变得富有？
"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，你能告诉我怎样才能变得富有吗？”爸爸放下手中的晚报，问：“你为什么想变得富有呢，儿子？”
"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'."
“因为这个周末基米的妈妈会开一辆新的卡迪拉克带基米去海滨别墅度周末。基米还说要带三个朋友去，但我和迈克没有被邀请，他们说我们不被邀请是因为我们是穷孩子。”
"They did?" my dad asked incredulously.
“他们真这么说了吗？”爸爸不相信地问。
"Yeah, they did." I replied in a hurt tone.
“是啊，他们说了！”我带着一种受到伤害的声调答道。
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.
爸爸沉默地摇了摇头，把他的眼镜往鼻梁上推了推，然后又去读报纸了。我站在那儿期待着答案……
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岁。由于命运的安排，我进了一所公立学校，许多富人把他们的孩子也送到那所学校。我们镇基本上是个糖料种植场，种植场的经理和其他富裕的人，比如医生、商人、银行家都把孩子送进了这所学校，一到六年级都有。六年级之后他们的孩子通常会被送进私立学校。因为我家就在这个街区，所以我也进了这所学校。如果我家住在街的另一边，或许我会去另外一所学校，和那些家庭背景与我差不多的孩子们在一起了。
并且六年级之后，我会和那些孩子一道去上公立的中学和高中，因为没有为我们这类孩子设立的私立中学。
My dad finally put down the paper. I could tell he was thinking.
爸爸终于放下了报纸，我敢说他刚才一定是在思考我的话。
"Well, son," he began slowly. "If you want to be rich, you have to learn to make money."
“哦，儿子，”他慢慢地开口了，“如果你想变得富有，你就必须学会挣钱。”
"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."
“那么怎么挣钱呢？”我问“用你的头脑，儿子。”他说着，并微笑了一下，这种微笑意味着“这就是我要告诉你的全部”，或者“我不知道答案，别为难我了”。