常熟淼泉镇:有梦才有远方（英汉读物）

梦想是神奇的调色板，绘制出绚烂多姿的生活;梦想是人生路上的一抹绿，唤醒久违的希望;梦想是隐形的翅膀，带着有梦的人儿飞向远方……

I have a friend Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch1 in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant2 horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up. ”
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch someday. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. ”

“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to the teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class.’ ”

“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive an F?’”
“The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic3 dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud4 fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, ‘If you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’ ”

“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ ”

“Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.’”

Monty then turned to the assembled5 group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption6 not to give up on yours.’”

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.

有梦，才有远方

　　我有个朋友叫蒙提 • 罗伯茨，他在圣思多罗有座牧马场。我常借用他宽敞的住宅举办募拍活动，为青少年问题的项目筹备资金。

　　上次活动时，他在介绍我时这样说到：“我让杰克借用我的房子是有原因的。这故事跟一个小男孩有关，他的父亲是位驯马师，他从小就跟着父亲东奔西跑，由此导致男孩的高中学业也受到了影响。读毕业班时，有次老师让他写一篇关于长大之后理想的文章。”

　　“那晚他洋洋洒洒地写了七张纸，描述他的伟大志愿，并且仔细画了一张占地200英亩的农场设计图，上面标有所有建筑物、马厩、跑道等的位置，然后在这一大片农场中央，还要建造一栋占地4,000平方英尺的豪宅。”

　　“他花了好大心血把计划完成，第二天交给了老师。两天后他拿回了论文，上面打了一个又红又大的F，旁边还写了一行字：下课后来见我。”
“脑中充满幻想的他下课后去找老师:‘为什么给我不及格?’”

　　“老师回答道:‘你年纪轻轻，不要做白日梦。你没钱，没家庭背景，什么都没有。盖座农场可是个花钱的大工程；你要花钱买地、花钱买纯种马而且还要花钱照顾它们。你别太好高骛远了。’他接着又说:‘如果你肯重新设定一个不这么离谱的目标，我会重新给你打分。’”
“这男孩回家后反复思量了好久，然后征求父亲的意见。父亲只是告诉他：‘儿子，这是非常重要的决定，你必须自己拿定主意。’”

　　“再三考虑了一周，他决定原稿交回，一个字都不改。他告诉老师：‘即使不及格，我也不愿放弃梦想。’”

　　蒙提此时向众人表示：“我提起这个故事，是因为各位现在就坐在这个坐落在200英亩马场中央的占地4,000平方英尺的豪宅里。那篇文章我一直保留到现在，并把它镶在了壁炉上方。”他顿了一下又说：“有意思的是，两年前的夏天，那位老师带了30个学生来我的农场露营一星期。离开之前，他对我说：‘蒙提，说来有些惭愧。你读高中时，我曾泼过你冷水。这些年来，我剥夺了不少学生的梦想。幸亏你有这个毅力，能够坚持自己的梦想。’”
不论做什么事，相信你自己，别让别人的话将你的梦想击垮。

1. ranch n. 大农场
2. itinerant a.（因四处做散工）游荡的
3. unrealistic a. 不切实际的
4. stud n. 马群
5. assemble v. 集合，聚集
6. gumption n. 进取心，气概