In his final months, Mr. Jobs's home was surrounded by security guards. His driveway's gate was flanked by two black S.U.V.'s. On Thursday, as online eulogies multiplied and the walls of Apple stores in Taiwan, New York, Shanghai and Frankfurt were papered with hand-drawn cards, the S.U.V.'s were removed and the sidewalk at his home became a garland of bouquets, candles and a pile of apples, each with one bite carefully removed.
在他去世前幾個月里,喬布斯的房子周圍都安排了警衛,他的私人車道兩邊停有兩輛黑色SUV汽車。10月6日星期四,隨著網上悼詞的驟增以及臺灣、紐約、上海和法蘭克福的蘋果專賣店都貼滿了蘋果迷的手工祝福卡片,SUV汽車也跟著撤離,現在喬布斯家的小道上都放滿了人們送來的花、蠟燭和一個個被小心地咬了一口的蘋果。
“Everyone always wanted a piece of Steve,” said one acquaintance who, in Mr. Jobs’s final weeks, was rebuffed when he sought an opportunity to say goodbye. “He created all these layers to protect himself from the fan boys and other peoples’ expectations and the distractions that have destroyed so many other companies.
一位被婉拒與喬布斯告別的熟人說道:“每個人都想要分享喬布斯,他把自己層層保護起來,與他的粉絲、其他人隔絕,也避免了來自其他公司的干擾。”
“But once you’re gone, you belong to the world.”
“可是一旦你離開,你便屬于全世界。”
Mr. Jobs's biographer, Mr. Isaacson, whose book will be published in two weeks, asked him why so private a man had consented to the questions of someone writing a book. “I wanted my kids to know me,” Mr. Jobs replied, Mr. Isaacson wrote Thursday in an essay on Time.com. “I wasn't always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”
為喬布斯寫傳記的作家艾薩克森的著作將在兩周內發表。艾薩克森在周四的《時代》雜志文章中寫到,曾經問過他為什么如此注重隱私的一個人會接受一個作家的訪問。喬布斯的回答是:“我想要我的孩子了解我,我總是無法經常陪伴他們,所以我想要他們知道原因并試著理解我所做的一切。”
Because of that privacy, little is known yet of what Mr. Jobs's heirs will do with his wealth. Unlike many prominent business people, he has never disclosed plans to give large amounts to charity. His shares in Disney, which Mr. Jobs acquired when the entertainment company purchased his animated film company, Pixar, are worth about $4.4 billion. That is double the $2.1 billion value of his shares in Apple, perhaps surprising given that he is best known for the computer company he founded.
由于隱私保護,現在還不知道喬布斯的繼承人會如何使用這筆遺產。與其他著名企業家不同,喬布斯從來沒有公開提過有要將遺產獻給慈善事業的計劃。他將皮克斯電影公司賣給迪士尼后,擁有迪士尼44億美元的股份,兩倍于他在蘋果21億美元的股份,這一點似乎讓人訝異,因為他是因蘋果電腦公司而聞名于世的。
Mr. Jobs's emphasis on secrecy, say acquaintances, led him to shy away from large public donations. At one point, Mr. Jobs was asked by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates to give a majority of his wealth to philanthropy alongside a number of prominent executives like Mr. Gates and Warren E. Buffett. But Mr. Jobs declined, according to a person with direct knowledge of Mr. Jobs's decision.
喬布斯的友人稱,喬布斯強調隱私這點讓他避開了一些大型的公共捐贈活動。有一次,微軟創始人比爾·蓋茨建議喬布斯將他的大部分遺產捐贈給慈善事業,當時在他們旁邊還有另外幾位著名的企業家,如沃倫·巴菲特,但是喬布斯婉拒了。
Now that Mr. Jobs is gone, many people expect that attention will focus on his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, who has largely avoided the spotlight, but is expected to oversee Mr. Jobs's fortune. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Mrs. Powell Jobs worked in investment banking before founding a natural foods company. She then founded College Track, a program that pairs disadvantaged students with mentors who help them earn college degrees. That has led to some speculation in the philanthropic community that any large charitable contributions might go to education, though no one outside Mr. Jobs's inner circle is thought to know of the plans.
如今喬布斯已經離世,許多人便將期待的目光轉向了她的妻子勞倫。勞倫很少在鏡頭前拋頭露面,但她有望監管喬布斯的財產。她是賓夕法尼亞大學和斯坦福大學商學院畢業的高材生,在創辦天然食品公司之前曾供職投資銀行,她還曾創建“學院追蹤”項目,為學業落后的學生和導師牽線搭橋,幫助他們獲得大學學位。這在慈善團體中引發了某些猜測:喬布斯是否在教育領域投入了大量慈善捐助。但是,其實喬布斯的核心圈子以外的人士對計劃一無所知。
Mr. Jobs himself never got a college degree. Despite leaving Reed College after six months, he was asked to give the 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.
喬布斯本人從未獲得過大學學位。盡管入學六個月以后就離開了里德學院,他仍獲邀在斯坦福大學發表2005年度畢業演講。
In that address, delivered after Mr. Jobs was told he had cancer but before it was clear that it would ultimately claim his life, Mr. Jobs told his audience that “death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent.”
彼時,喬布斯已獲知自己罹患癌癥,但尚未明確是否會因此死去。在那篇演講中,喬布斯對聽眾們談到,“死亡很可能是生命唯一的也是最佳的發明。它是推動生命變革的發動機。”
The benefit of death, he said, is you know not to waste life living someone else's choices.“Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition。”
他說道:“死亡的好處在于,你明白了不應將生命浪費在為他人的選擇而活上,“不要讓他人喧嘩紛擾的見解淹沒了自己內心的聲音。最重要的是,要有勇氣追尋自己的心,跟隨自己的直覺。”
In his final months, Mr. Jobs became even more dedicated to such sentiments. “Steve's concerns these last few weeks were for people who depended on him: the people who worked for him at Apple and his four children and his wife,” said Mona Simpson, Mr. Jobs's sister. “His tone was tenderly apologetic at the end. He felt terrible that he would have to leave us.”
在他最后的日子里,喬布斯更加忠實于這一信念。喬布斯的妹妹莫娜·辛普森說,“最后的幾周里,喬布斯最牽掛的是那些依靠他的人:蘋果公司的員工、四個孩子和自己的妻子。臨終時,他語調溫柔,飽含歉意。他為即將離我們而去而難過。”