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But sometimes you do find a friend who supports your dreams. "It's easy to write a book," my new friend told me. "You can do it."
但有時候你確實(shí)能找到一個支持你夢想的朋友。“寫本書很容易”，我新交的朋友告訴我，“你能寫書。”
I don't know if I'm smart enough, I said, suddenly feeling 15 again and hearing echoes of laughter.
“我不知道自己是不是夠聰明，”我說，突然之間又感到自己回到了15歲的時候，聽到了那些笑聲在回響。
Nonsense! she said. "Anyone can write a book if they want to."
“胡說！”她說，“任何人都能寫書，只要他們想寫。”
I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. We lived on a goat farm in Oklahoma, miles from anyone. All I had to do each day was take care of four kids, milk goats, and do the cooking, laundry and gardening.
當(dāng)時我已經(jīng)有四個孩子，最大的一個才四歲。我們住在俄克拉何馬的一個山羊飼養(yǎng)場里，離開任何人都很遠(yuǎn)。我每天要做的事就是照看四個孩子，擠羊奶，燒飯，洗衣和收拾果園。
While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.
孩子們睡覺時，我就在我那臺老式打字機(jī)上打字。我寫我的親身感受。一共花了九個月，就像懷孩子一樣。
I chose a publisher at random and put the manuscript in an empty diapers package, the only box I could find. The letter I enclosed read: "I wrote this book myself, and I hope you like it. I also drew the illustrations. Chapters 6 and 12 are my favorites. Thank you."
我隨便選了一個出版商，把手稿放進(jìn)一只放尿布的空盒子里——我唯一能找到的盒子。我附了一封信，上面寫道：“這本書是我自己寫的，希望你喜歡它。插圖也是我自己畫的。我最喜歡第 6章和第12章。謝謝。”
I tied a string around the diaper box and mailed it without a self-addressed stamp envelope, and without making a copy of the manuscript. A month later I received a contract, an advance on royalties and a request to start working on another book.
我用繩子扎好尿布盒就把它寄了出去，既沒有附上一個寫好回信地址貼好郵票的信封，也沒有把手稿復(fù)印一份。一個月后我收到了一份合同和一筆預(yù)支的版稅，他們還要求我開始動手寫另一本書。
Crying Wind became a bestseller, was translated in to 15 languages and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows during the day and changed diapers at night. I traveled from New York to California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became required reading in Native American schools in Canada.
《哭泣的風(fēng)》成了一本暢銷書，被譯成15種文字在全世界銷售。我白天出現(xiàn)在電視臺的訪談節(jié)目中，晚上則給孩子們換尿布。為推銷我的書我到處旅行，從紐約到加利福尼亞，還去過加拿大。我的第一本書還成了加拿大印第安人學(xué)校的必讀書。
It took six months to write my next book. My Searching Heart also became a bestseller. My next novel, When I Give My Heart, was finished in only three weeks.
我寫第二本書花了半年時間。《我不斷探索的心》也成了一本暢銷書。我的下一部小說《當(dāng)我交出我的心》只三個星期就完成了。
