乔布斯传 第629期:50岁的雄狮(1)

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A Lion at Fifty

50岁的雄狮

For his thirtieth and fortieth birthdays,

乔布斯的30岁和40岁生日，

Jobs had celebrated¹ with the stars of Silicon² Valley and other assorted⁴ celebrities⁵.

都是同硅谷名人及各界名流共同庆祝。

But when he turned fifty in 2005, after coming back from his cancer surgery,

但是，2005年，在他做完癌症手术后，

the surprise party that his wife arranged featured mainly his closest friends and professional colleagues.

妻子为他的50岁生日举办了一个惊喜派对，主要邀请了他最亲密的朋友和同事。

It was at the comfortable San Francisco home of some friends,

派对在朋友们位于旧金山的家中举行，

and the great chef Alice Waters prepared salmon⁶ from Scotland along with couscous and a variety of garden-raised vegetables.

著名大厨爱丽丝·沃特斯呈上了来自苏格兰的鲑鱼、北非名菜库斯库斯，还有各种田园时蔬。

"It was beautifully warm and intimate, with everyone and the kids all able to sit in one room," Waters recalled.

沃特斯回忆说：“场面温馨亲密极了，大人小孩都坐在一起。”

The entertainment was comedy improvisation⁷ done by the cast of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

娱乐活动是一出即兴表演，由《对台词》的演员表演。

Jobs's close friend Mike Slade was there, along with colleagues from Apple and Pixar,

乔布斯的好朋友迈克·斯莱德也去了，还有来自苹果公司和皮克斯的同事，

including Lasseter, Cook, Schiller, Clow, Rubinstein, and Tevanian.

包括拉塞特、库克、席勒、克劳、鲁宾斯坦和泰瓦尼安。

Cook had done a good job running the company during Jobs's absence.

在乔布斯病休期间，库克把公司打理得很好。

He kept Apple's temperamental actors performing well, and he avoided stepping into the limelight.

在他的带领下，苹果公司个性十足的员工们表现良好，同时，库克又避免让自己进入公众视线。

Jobs liked strong personalities⁸, up to a point, but he had never truly empowered a deputy or shared the stage.

在某种程度上，乔布斯喜欢强势的人，但是他从未真正让他人代理自己的工作或分享自己的舞台。

It was hard to be his understudy. You were damned if you shone, and damned if you didn't.

做他的替补很难，出风头了该死，不出众也该死。

Cook had managed to navigate⁹ those shoals.

库克成功避开了这些危险。

He was calm and decisive when in command, but he didn't seek any notice or acclaim¹⁰ for himself.

在发号施令时，他冷静果断，但同时，他并不追求别人的注意与喝彩。

"Some people resent the fact that Steve gets credit for everything, but I've never given a rat's ass³ about that," said Cook.

“有些人反感什么好处都算在史蒂夫头上，但是我对这些从来都不在乎，”库克表示。

"Frankly¹¹ speaking, I'd prefer my name never be in the paper."

“老实说，我希望自己的名字从不出现在报纸上。”

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

4 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

5 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

6 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

7 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

8 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

9 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

10 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

11 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。