One-Foot-Deep Passion

《一尺深的熱愛》

A friend of mine met with good fortunes in quick succession after he was signed as a writer withThe Readers, a highly popular magazine in China. He was admitted, first of all, into theprovincial Writers' Association. And then, a cashier as he had been, he was offered a positionto teach in an institute of literature. That year he was only 28 years old, but had alreadypublished literary works of about 600,000 Chinese characters.

一位朋友成為《讀者》雜志的簽約作家之后，好運接二連三，先是被省作家協會吸收為會員，然后，從一名小出納，搖身一變，成了文學院的教師。那一年，他28歲，已有近六十萬字見諸報刊。

Many students were filled with admiration for his achievement. Quite a few literature fanswent to him for advice. "Sir, would you share with us your secret for writing so successfully?" He relied candidly, "Yes. Just one word – passion." "Then, how much passion do we need if wewant to write as well as you do?" they pressed him. "One foot deep," answered my friend.

很多學生對他所取得的成績極為欣賞，贊嘆不已。不少文學愛好者向他求教：“老師，你的寫作那么出名，一定有什么秘訣吧?”他向學生坦言：“兩個字：熱愛。”學生進一步打探：“如果要達到你現在的水平，到底要熱愛到什么程度?”他回答說：“一尺深。”

One-foot-deep passion? A perplexed look appeared on their faces. My friend took them homeand fetched out a bundle of used writing paper from under his bed: all the sheets were filledwith small and closely-written characters. Those were his rejected manuscripts, a good foot inthickness.

一尺深的熱愛?同學們紛紛向他投去疑惑的目光。朋友帶他的學生來到家里，從床底下搬出一捆紙，紙上密密麻麻寫滿了字，那都是他從未發表過的廢稿;足足有一尺厚。

"If you want to achieve something in writing, you must maintain a passion that's one footdeep. In other words, you should keep on writing until your rejected manuscripts accumulateto one foot thick. During this period, you must not become impatient or sink into despair. Only with expectation and passion can you have confidence and hope for the future," he toldhis students.

他告訴學生：“如果想在寫作上有所建樹，就要保持一尺深的熱愛，也就是說，堅持寫完一尺厚廢稿。其間，不心急，不絕望，心中總有期待和熱愛，對前途充滿信心和希望。”

Enlightened by his words, the students came to realize that success in writing is not somethingeasy to come by. On the contrary, it requires painstaking efforts. They looked enthusiasticand eager to have a try right away.

學生們恍然大悟，這才知道，文滿芳華，不是唾手可得，而是非得下一番苦功夫不可。他們激情滿懷，個個躍躍欲試。

But my friend continued, "There is one thing you must bear in mind: The passion can only beone foot deep! If after practicing countless times and your writing still remains at the level of ahigh school student, you might as well try something else, lest you get into a blind alley. Anyfurther attempt will just mean a waste of your time and talent."

朋友接著說：“千萬記住，熱愛也只能是一尺深!如果寫了一尺厚的廢稿之后，還停留在中學生的作文水平，那注定此路不通，不如改事他行，省得文章誤我，蹉跎歲月。”

Indeed, whatever we do, we should do it with deep, persevering passion. However, if ourexertion has proved to be fruitless, we should quit as soon as possible and try somethingdifferent while we are young. Success may be at the corner just when we switch over to a newdirection.

其實，做任何事情都是這樣，保持一尺深的熱愛。愛要深沉執著，但是，如果愛得辛苦無著，請及早抽身而退，趁青春，另尋出口。成敗，就在轉身之間。