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一句赞美改变一生。赞美是激励的驱动器，使人心情愉悦，思维活跃，在愉悦中探究的灵感会迸出火花。
It seems to me that all writers, including those who deserve to be classified as geniuses, need encouragement, particularly in their early years. I always knew I could write, but that just meant I wrote a little better than the other kids in my classes. That I might one day write well enough to derive income from my efforts, oddly enough, never occurred to me during my grade school and high school years.
There was a particular teacher at Hyde Park High School in Chicago, Illinois, who, simply by concentrating her attention on me, made me believe that I might be able to master the knack1 of writing well enough to consider the craft2 as a profession. Her name was Marguerite Byrne, and she taught English, which, of course, involved writing skills. Whatever instruction she shared with me was exactly the same as all her other students enjoyed, but the difference was she encouraged me to begin the process of submitting3 things I was writing, in that day, chiefly poems.
To my surprise the Chicago Tribune4 not only thought enough of several of my verses to publish them, but also paid me—inadvertently5—the highest compliment a fledging6author can receive. The editor wrote a confidential7 letter to Miss Byrne, asking her to see, if by chance, one of her students—a certain Stephen Allen—might be guilty of plagiarism8. The editor’s suspicions had been roused because he found it hard to believe that a seventeen-year-old could create material on such a professional level.
When Miss Byrne shared the letter with me, I was ecstatic9! It was wonderfully encouraging. Maybe I really was a writer, I thought.
Miss Byrne also encouraged me to enter a contest sponsored by the CIVITAN organization. I was literally astonished when I received a letter saying that I was the winner of the contest. The prize was a check for one-hundred dollars and an invitation to an all-the-trimmings banquet at a hotel in downtown Chicago.
This scenario10 demonstrates the tremendousimportance of giving young people caring attention and encouraging them to develop and practice such gifts as they might have. Years later, I was able to repay my debt to Marguerite Byrne by dedicating one of my books, a collection of poems, to her.
Because of Miss Byrne’s influence, I have enjoyed a lifetime writing books, songs, and TV scripts. And guess what? I haven’t plagiarized a single word of any of it.
在我看来，似乎所有的作家，包括那些文学天才，都需要鼓励，尤其是在他们早年时期。我一直知道自己有写作才能，但那只是意味着我比我的同学们写得稍微好一些。说起来也奇怪，在我小学和中学的时候，我从来没有想到过自己有一天可能会因写作而获得收入。
伊利诺伊州芝加哥市海德公园中学有一位特别的老师，她只是通过对我的关注，就能让我相信，我也许能熟练掌握足够的写作技巧，并能以此为业。她叫玛格丽特·伯恩，教我们英语，当然也包括写作技能。虽然，她对我的指导和对其他学生的指导没什么两样，但不同的是，她鼓励我把自己写的一些东西——那时候主要是诗——投到报社去。
令我惊讶的是，《芝加哥论坛报》不仅采用了我的几篇诗作，而且还付给了我稿酬——并非故意地——这是一位初出茅庐的作者能够得到的最高赞美。那位编辑写了一封密信给伯恩小姐，向她询问她的一个学生——一个名叫斯蒂芬·艾伦的学生——有没有可能剽窃他人的作品。那位编辑之所以会起疑心，是因为他觉得一个17岁的学生能够创作出这样具有专业水准的诗作简直令人难以置信。
当伯恩小姐把那封信拿给我看的时候，我简直欣喜若狂！这是多么好的一种鼓励啊。也许我真的可以成为作家，我想。
伯恩小姐还鼓励我去参加由西维坦俱乐部主办的一次作文竞赛。当收到一封通知获奖的贺信时，我惊讶极了。奖金是一张100美元的支票和一张邀请我去参加在芝加哥市区的一家旅馆里举办的盛大宴会的请柬。
这件事情证明，给予年轻人适当的关注并且鼓励他们去发展和实践那些他们可能具有潜力的天赋是非常重要的。数年以后，我终于能够报答玛格丽特·伯恩小姐了。我把自己创作的一本诗集献给了她。
正是由于受到布伦小姐的影响，我才能够终生享受这种写书、写歌、写电视剧本的生活。你猜怎么样？我从未剽窃过一个字。
古木 摘译自 The Evening Times
It seems to me that all writers, including those who deserve to be classified as geniuses, need encouragement, particularly in their early years. I always knew I could write, but that just meant I wrote a little better than the other kids in my classes. That I might one day write well enough to derive income from my efforts, oddly enough, never occurred to me during my grade school and high school years.
There was a particular teacher at Hyde Park High School in Chicago, Illinois, who, simply by concentrating her attention on me, made me believe that I might be able to master the knack1 of writing well enough to consider the craft2 as a profession. Her name was Marguerite Byrne, and she taught English, which, of course, involved writing skills. Whatever instruction she shared with me was exactly the same as all her other students enjoyed, but the difference was she encouraged me to begin the process of submitting3 things I was writing, in that day, chiefly poems.
To my surprise the Chicago Tribune4 not only thought enough of several of my verses to publish them, but also paid me—inadvertently5—the highest compliment a fledging6author can receive. The editor wrote a confidential7 letter to Miss Byrne, asking her to see, if by chance, one of her students—a certain Stephen Allen—might be guilty of plagiarism8. The editor’s suspicions had been roused because he found it hard to believe that a seventeen-year-old could create material on such a professional level.
When Miss Byrne shared the letter with me, I was ecstatic9! It was wonderfully encouraging. Maybe I really was a writer, I thought.
Miss Byrne also encouraged me to enter a contest sponsored by the CIVITAN organization. I was literally astonished when I received a letter saying that I was the winner of the contest. The prize was a check for one-hundred dollars and an invitation to an all-the-trimmings banquet at a hotel in downtown Chicago.
This scenario10 demonstrates the tremendousimportance of giving young people caring attention and encouraging them to develop and practice such gifts as they might have. Years later, I was able to repay my debt to Marguerite Byrne by dedicating one of my books, a collection of poems, to her.
Because of Miss Byrne’s influence, I have enjoyed a lifetime writing books, songs, and TV scripts. And guess what? I haven’t plagiarized a single word of any of it.
在我看来，似乎所有的作家，包括那些文学天才，都需要鼓励，尤其是在他们早年时期。我一直知道自己有写作才能，但那只是意味着我比我的同学们写得稍微好一些。说起来也奇怪，在我小学和中学的时候，我从来没有想到过自己有一天可能会因写作而获得收入。
伊利诺伊州芝加哥市海德公园中学有一位特别的老师，她只是通过对我的关注，就能让我相信，我也许能熟练掌握足够的写作技巧，并能以此为业。她叫玛格丽特·伯恩，教我们英语，当然也包括写作技能。虽然，她对我的指导和对其他学生的指导没什么两样，但不同的是，她鼓励我把自己写的一些东西——那时候主要是诗——投到报社去。
令我惊讶的是，《芝加哥论坛报》不仅采用了我的几篇诗作，而且还付给了我稿酬——并非故意地——这是一位初出茅庐的作者能够得到的最高赞美。那位编辑写了一封密信给伯恩小姐，向她询问她的一个学生——一个名叫斯蒂芬·艾伦的学生——有没有可能剽窃他人的作品。那位编辑之所以会起疑心，是因为他觉得一个17岁的学生能够创作出这样具有专业水准的诗作简直令人难以置信。
当伯恩小姐把那封信拿给我看的时候，我简直欣喜若狂！这是多么好的一种鼓励啊。也许我真的可以成为作家，我想。
伯恩小姐还鼓励我去参加由西维坦俱乐部主办的一次作文竞赛。当收到一封通知获奖的贺信时，我惊讶极了。奖金是一张100美元的支票和一张邀请我去参加在芝加哥市区的一家旅馆里举办的盛大宴会的请柬。
这件事情证明，给予年轻人适当的关注并且鼓励他们去发展和实践那些他们可能具有潜力的天赋是非常重要的。数年以后，我终于能够报答玛格丽特·伯恩小姐了。我把自己创作的一本诗集献给了她。
正是由于受到布伦小姐的影响，我才能够终生享受这种写书、写歌、写电视剧本的生活。你猜怎么样？我从未剽窃过一个字。
古木 摘译自 The Evening Times