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LESSON 36 Don't be too sure
第三十六課 不要過于肯定
"Father, don't you want me to be clever and great?" said Willie to his father one day.
“爸爸，難道你不想讓我變聰明和偉大嗎？”一天，威利對他的爸爸說道。
"I want you, my boy, to do your duty in the station, whatever it may be, to which it will please God to call you; and not to set your heart on any mere earthly success, or make too sure of anything.
“孩子，我想讓你盡到你在車站的職責，不管工作是什么，那都是上帝交給你的；不要讓你的心被世俗的成功束縛，也不要對任何事情過于肯定。”
"When I see folk, as the saying goes, counting their chickens before they are hatched, it brings into my mind what I read lately about the famous Napoleon Bonaparte."
“常言道，人們總會在小雞孵出來之前數雞的數量，這讓我想起了最近讀的書，那是關于著名的拿破侖·波拿巴的書。”
"Oh, let me hear about him, father. You can talk quite well at your work, and I like to hear what you get out of those learned books that you read."
“噢，爸爸，說給我聽聽。你總能很好的講解你看過的書，我也喜歡聽你講你從那些內容豐富的書里學到的東西。”
"This was taken out of a large book, written by an Earl—the Life of the great William Pitt," said the father; "and it is all true—I have not a doubt of it.
“這是我從一位伯爵的大作——《偉大的威廉皮特的一生》這本書中學到的，”他的爸爸說道；“書中所寫都很有道理——我對此深信不疑。
"When Bonaparte was ruling over France, he wished to rule over Old England too; and so, being sure of conquest, he fixed on the very time when he would come over and invade us.
拿破侖統治法國時，也想要將古英國納入統治范圍；所以，他挑好時機，跨國海峽來侵略我們，自信滿滿地以為一定能將古英國征服。
"He got a number of his soldiers together, and had ships ready to carry them across. He looked over the blue waves of the Channel,and, thought he, 'I'll soon land in England, march up to London, and take it.'
"他集結了大批軍隊，準備好船只打算度過海峽。放眼藍色的英吉利海峽，他想，不久我就要在英格蘭登陸，進軍倫敦，然后統治這個國家。“
"He made too sure," laughed Willie.
“他太自負了，”威利笑道，
"He made so sure," said the father, "that—would you believe it, my boy?—he had actually a medal made to celebrate his invasion of England!"
“他太自負了，”他父親說，“以致于——你相信嗎，孩子？——他已經鑄好了勛章來慶祝攻占英格蘭！”
"But he never invaded it!" interrupted Willie.
“但他沒有成功！”威利打斷了他的父親。
"And on the medal was stamped in French, 'Struck at London,'" continued the father.
“勛章上用法文刻著‘進攻倫敦’字樣，”他爸爸繼續說道。
"But he never entered London!" cried Willie.
“但他未能踏進倫敦半步！”威利喊道。
"He made so sure of success," said the father, "that he prepared a medal in honour of the conquest of a city, that he was never so much as to set his foot in!"
“他對成功太過自信，”他的爸爸說，“所以他鑄造了勛章來慶祝對一座城市的占領，這種自信也讓他未能踏入倫敦半步！”
