读者文摘:魔术改变了我的生活(5)

I stood on a boat in the middle of the river wearing nothing but biking shorts and a thick snarl¹ of chains, padlocks, and weights around my wrists and ankles.

我站在河中央的一条船上，只穿着自行车运动短裤，戴着一串厚厚的链子、挂锁，手腕和脚踝上都是重物。

The sky was dead and gray, and the water was dead and gray, and a frigid² breeze blew across its surface.

天空灰沉沉的，水是死水，也是灰蒙蒙的，一阵寒风从水面吹过。

I had delayed this stunt³ by two weeks because the river was frozen.

由于河水结冰，我把这次冒险推迟了两个星期。

Now the ice had cleared and spring had come, reluctantly, but the water was still only 52 degrees at the surface, and colder in the depths below.

现在冰已融化，春天已经来临，无奈水面仍然只有52度，水深处更冷。

Technically⁴, I succeeded. I jumped into the water, sank to the bottom,

严格意义上讲，我成功了。我跳进水里，沉到水底，

and escaped from the locks and the chains before swimming to the surface.

挣脱了链子、挂锁，然后游到水面。

But it didn't feel like a success.

但感觉上并不成功。

When Houdini did it, thousands of people turned up to watch.

当霍迪尼表演时，成千上万的人前来观看。

I had about a dozen who stopped on their way to class, and the police showed up because someone thought it was a suicide attempt.

我有十几个学生在去上课的路上停下来，警察出现了，因为有人认为这是在企图自杀。

I am living proof, though, that if you throw enough time and effort at something—maybe even anything—you can become good at it.

然而，我就是活生生的例子，如果你在某件事上投入足够的时间和精力——也许是任何事——你就能变得擅长。

I found inspiration in a quote attributed to Houdini:

我从霍迪尼的一句话中得到了灵感：

"The real secret to my success is simple: I work from seven in the morning to midnight and I like it."

“我成功的真正秘诀很简单：我从早上7点工作到午夜，我喜欢这样。”

This quote lived on a scrap⁵ of paper stuck to the wall by my bed for ten years.

我把这句话写在一张小纸片上在我床边放了十年。

I had hit Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of dedicated⁶ practice by the time I turned 22, and he's right—I got pretty good.

在我22岁的时候，我已经完成了马尔科姆·格拉德威尔的10000小时的专门实践，他是对的——我受益匪浅。

1 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。

2 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

3 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。