How I Tapped into My Success敲開成功之門

Shortly after I graduated from junior high school in 1968， my mother began repeating her mantra： “Learn to type， and doors will open for you， Pam.” It was nearly Pavlovian1. Anything remotely connected to typing—an image of a typewriter， hearing the word “type”—could elicit this statement from her， often accompanied with finger-wagging and a small yet audible “humpf！” I would respond with a sighed “Yes， Mom” or， when out of her view， a much-practiced eye roll.

1968年我初中畢業(yè)后不久，母親就開始反復(fù)嘮叨：“學(xué)會打字，門就會為你打開，帕姆?！边@幾乎成了條件反射。任何與打字沾一丁點邊的東西——看到打字機的圖片，聽到“打字”這個詞——都能誘導(dǎo)她說出那句話，而且她經(jīng)常邊說邊搖晃手指，發(fā)出一聲輕微但仍可聽到的“哼！”我則會嘆氣回應(yīng)一聲“好的，媽媽”，或者在她看不到我的時候，熟練地翻一個白眼。

When my mother and father came from Guyana to the United States， she brought her memories， photos， and a recipe on yellowing paper for rum fruitcake. She also brought her sewing and cosmetology skills. Sewing secured her a full-time job as a finisher in New York’s garment district， and cosmetology garnered extra money from occasional hairdressing work.

我父母從圭亞那來到美國時，母親帶來了自己的回憶、照片和寫在泛黃紙張上的朗姆酒水果蛋糕配方。她還帶來了縫紉和美容的技巧?？p紉手藝讓她在紐約服裝區(qū)獲得了一份全職的修補工作，而美容手法使她能從美發(fā)零活中賺取外快。

Typing was not on her résumé. To her， it was an essential “American skill.” That meant it was up to me， her American-born child， to learn to type. She raised the stakes considerably when， the summer after I graduated from junior high， she gave me a burnt sienna Olivetti portable typewriter for my birthday. “Thanks， Mom， but I can’t type，” I gently reminded her.

打字技能并不在母親的簡歷上。對她來說，這是一項基本的“美國技能”。也就是說，打字要由我這個她在美國生的孩子來學(xué)。我初中畢業(yè)后的那個夏天，她送給我一臺深褐色的便攜式“好利獲得”打字機作為我的生日禮物，這極大地提高了她的賭注。“謝謝媽媽，但我不會打字?！蔽艺Z氣柔和地提醒她。

“That’s going to change，” she answered， also gently. “Soon.” Mom was a woman of her word. “Soon” arrived just one week later， when we took the bus to ever-busy Steinway Street in the New York City neighborhood of Long Island City to the Crown Business Institute， which was tucked in among the shops. Besides typing， the institute offered classes in stenography， bookkeeping， and other office skills. My mother practically pushed me through the door.

“你會學(xué)會的，”她也語氣柔和地答道，“很快?！蹦赣H是個言出必行的人。僅在一周后，“很快”就來到了。當時我們乘公共汽車前往皇冠商學(xué)院，學(xué)院位于紐約市長島地區(qū)一向繁忙的斯坦威街上，就隱匿于商店之間。除了打字，學(xué)院還開設(shè)速記、簿記等辦公技能課程。我?guī)缀跏潜荒赣H推進學(xué)院大門的。

Inside， my eye fell on rows of students typing in front of bulky Smith-Corona or Royal typewriters. Each was curved purposefully over a spiral-bound typing practice book. Beginners picked their way around their keyboard while more accomplished typists performed dazzling digital feats， producing the machine’s distinctive clackity-clacking music.

走到里面，我的目光落在一排排學(xué)生身上，他們正在笨重的史密斯-科羅納打字機或皇家打字機前打字。每位學(xué)生都專注地弓身看一本線圈裝訂的打字練習冊。初學(xué)者小心翼翼地在他們的鍵盤上摸索，更為熟練的打字員則表演著令人眼花繚亂的手指技藝，讓打字機發(fā)出咔嗒咔嗒的獨特樂聲。

I was as impressed as I was skeptical that I would ever achieve such proficiency. But before I could utter a protest， my mother had enrolled me for six weeks of typing lessons. Now there was no turning back. Every weekday morning I reported to Crown for lessons that began at 10 o’clock; by noon we were finished， after which I went home， fingers aching from the stiff manual machines.

我在欽佩他們的同時也懷疑自己是否也能達到這樣的熟練程度。還沒等我提出抗議，母親就已為我報名為期六周的打字課。這下沒有回頭路了。每個工作日的早晨，我都到皇冠商學(xué)院參加十點開始的打字課。中午下課回家，我的手指因操作僵硬的打字機而疼痛。

As the lessons progressed， Mom began to show me a side of herself that I had never seen. The usually mild-mannered woman morphed into a drill sergeant who made me practice my typing strokes over and over until I was sure that even my Olivetti was begging for mercy.

隨著課程的進行，母親開始向我展示我從未見過的一面。這個平時溫文爾雅的女人搖身一變成為一名操練教官，讓我一遍又一遍地練習打字，直到我確信連我那臺“好利獲得”打字機都在求饒。

“Do this row of M’s again，” she’d order. “No TV until you improve your spacing，” she’d add， or “You’re supposed to type 10 rows of W’s， not just eight！” Who is this woman？ I wondered， and what had she done with my mom？ Someone who purportedly knew zilch about typing had become an expert， seemingly overnight. Mom wanted me to succeed， and to make that happen she studied my typing practice book， memorizing the keyboard， the techniques， and the various exercises. She did everything short of typing them herself.

“把M排再打一遍。”她命令道。她還會補充說：“在你調(diào)好間距之前不許看電視?！被蛘哒f：“你應(yīng)該打十行W排，不要只打八行！”我想知道，這個女人是誰？她對我母親做了什么？一個據(jù)說對打字一無所知的人成了專家，而且似乎就是一夜之間的事情。母親希望我能成功，而為了讓我成功，她研究了我的打字練習冊，記住了鍵盤布局、打字技巧和各種練習。除了自己打字外，她什么都做了。

As she had done when I was learning to play the piano （except this time there was no metronome）， my mother prodded me when I became lax in my practicing， encouraged and comforted me when I struggled or wanted to give up. When I became fatigued and frustrated， she hauled out her well-worn but still effective typing-can-open-doors dictum， and I would set my gaze like a flint on the practice book， making music on my Olivetti portable.

亦如她在我學(xué)彈鋼琴時做的那樣（除了這次沒有節(jié)拍器），我練習稍有松懈時她敦促我；我遇到困難或想放棄時她鼓勵、安慰我。當我感到疲勞和沮喪時，她就搬出她那句老生常談但仍然有效的格言——“打字可以為你打開大門”，接著我便會板起面孔專注地盯著練習本，用我的便攜式“好利獲得”打字機奏響樂曲。

Sharing space in an old file folder with my high school and college diplomas is the certificate I received from the Crown Business Institute attesting to my successful completion of the typing course， which had culminated in an aptitude test. When I first showed it to my mother， decades ago， it was only the second time I had ever seen her cry.

在一個舊文件夾里，與我高中文憑和大學(xué)文憑放在一起的是我從皇冠商學(xué)院獲得的結(jié)業(yè)證書，它證明我成功修完了打字課程并且順利通過了能力測試。幾十年前，當我第一次把結(jié)業(yè)證書展示給母親，她哭了，那是我第二次看到她哭。

Mom was right. Many doors did open for me once I’d become as confident and fleet-fingered as those students I’d marveled at that first day I reluctantly arrived at Crown. My life would have been markedly different had Mom not insisted on my learning to type at a relatively young age and while she was able to help me. I mastered the typewriter， but the key to my success was the woman who pushed me through one door so future doors could open. That old and faded certificate is just as much hers as it is mine.

母親說的沒錯。我還記得自己第一天不情愿地走進皇冠商學(xué)院，對學(xué)生們自信滿滿的樣子和極其熟練的指法深感驚奇。一旦我變得和他們一樣，許多扇門確實為我打開了。如果不是母親在我年紀尚小而她又有能力幫助我時堅持要我學(xué)打字，我的生活會與現(xiàn)在判然有別。我掌握了打字技能，但我成功的關(guān)鍵在于那個將我推進一扇門的女人，我因此能夠打開未來的很多扇門。那張已經(jīng)褪色的舊結(jié)業(yè)證書既是我的，也是她的。

（譯者單位：山東省泰安第二中學(xué)）

1 Pavlovian和巴甫洛夫的工作有關(guān)的。巴甫洛夫為俄國生理學(xué)家，在研究消化生理的過程中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了條件反射的生理機制。