Tony
Trivisonno's Dream
by:
Ferderick C. Crawford
He came from a
rocky farm in Italy, somewhere south of Rome. How or when he got to America, I don't know. One evening I found him standing in the driveway behind my
garage. He was about five foot seven or eight, and thin.
"I mow your lawn," he said.
It was hard to comprehend his broken English.
I asked him his name. "Tony
Trivisionno," he replied. "I mow your lawn." I told him that I could not
afford a gardener.
"I mow your lawn," he said again, then walked
away. I went into my house unhappy. Yes, these Depression days were difficult, but how
could I turn away a person who had come to me for help?
When I got home from work the next evening, the lawn had
been mowed, the garden weeded and the walks raked. I asked my wife what had happened.
"A man got the lawn mower out of
the garage and worked on the yard," she said. "I assumed you had hired
him."
I told her of my experience the night
before. We thought it strange that he had not asked for pay.
The next two days were busy, and I
forgot about Tony. We were trying to rebuild our business and bring some of our workers
back to the plants. But on Friday, returning home a little early, I saw Tony again, behind
the garage. I complimented him on the work he had done.
"I mow your lawn," he said.
I managed to work out some kind of
small weekly pay, and each day Tony cleaned up the yard and took care of the little
chores. My wife said he was very helpful whenever there were any heavy objects to lift or
things to fix.
Summer passed into fall, and the
winds blew cold. "Mr. Craw, snow pretty soon," Tony said one evening. "When
winter come, you give me job shoveling snow at the factory."
Well, what do you do with such
persistence and hope? Of course, Tony got his job at the factory.
The months passed. I asked the
personnel department for a report. They said Tony was a very good worker.
One day I found Toy at our meeting
place behind the garage. "I want to be ’prentice,"
he said.
We had a pretty good apprentice
school that trained laborers. But I doubted whether Tony had the capacity to read
blueprints and micrometers or do precision work. Still, how could I turn him down?
Tony took a cut in pay to become an
apprentice. Months later I got a report that he had graduated as a skilled grinder. He had
learned to tread the millionths of an inch on the micrometer and to true the grinding
wheel with an instrument set with a diamond. My wife and I were delighted with what we
felt was a satisfying end of the story.
A year or two passed, and again I
found Tony in his usual waiting place. We talked about his work, and I asked him what he
wanted.
"Mr. Craw," he said,
"I like a buy a house." On the edge of town, he had found a house for sale,
complete wreck.
I called on a friend at the bank that
was selling the house. "Do you ever loan money on character?" I asked.
"No," he said. "We
can't afford to. No sale."
"Now, wait a minute," I
replied. "Here is a hardworking man, a man of character. I can vouch for that. He's
got a good job. You’re not getting a damn thing from
your lot. It will stay there for years. At least he will pay you interest."
Reluctantly the banker wrote a
mortgage for $2000 and gave Tony the house with no down payment. Tony was thrilled. From
then on it was interesting to see that any discarded odds and ends around our place --
broken screen，a bit of hardware, boards from packing
-- Tony would gather and take home.
After about two years, I found Tony
in our familiar meeting spot. He seemed to stand a little straighter. He was heavier. He
had a look of confidence.
"Mr. Craw, I sell my
house!" he said with pride. "I got $8000."
I was amazed. "But, Tony how are
you going to live without a house?"
"Mr. Craw, I buy a farm."
We sat down and talked. Tony told me
that to own a farm was his dream. He loved the tomatoes and peppers and all the other
vegetables important to his Italian diet. He had sent for his wife and son and daughter
back in Italy. He had hunted around the edge of town until he found a small, abandoned
piece of property with a house and shed. Now he was moving his family to his farm.
Some time later Tony arrived on a
Sunday afternoon, neatly dressed. He had another Italian man with him. He told me that he
had persuaded his childhood friend to immigrate. Tony was sponsoring him. With a twinkle
in his eye, he told me that when they approached the little farm he now operated, his
friend stood in amazement and said, "Tony, you are a millionaire!"
Then, during the war, a message came
from my company. Tony had passed away.
I asked our people to check on his
family and see that everything was properly handled. They found the farm green with
vegetables, the little house livable and homey. There was a tractor and a good car in the
yard. The children were educated and working, and Tony didn't owe one red cent.
After he died I thought more and more
about Tony's career. He grew in stature in my mind. In the end I think he stood as tall,
and as proud, as the greatest industrialists.
They had all reached their success by
the same route and by the same values and principle: vision, perseverance, determination,
self-control, optimism, self-respect and, above all, integrity.
Tony did not begin on the bottom rung
of the ladder. He began in the basement. Tony's affairs were tiny; the great
industrialists' affairs were giant. But, after all, the balance sheets were exactly the
same. The only difference was where you put the decimal point.
Tony Trivisonno crossed the ocean
seeking a dream. But he didn't find it -- he created
it for himself. All he had were 24 hours a day, and he wasted none of them. |
托尼的梦
作者: 弗得利克·克劳弗得
译者: 习
君
他来自意大利的罗马。那是罗马南面的一个农场。是怎么来的、什么时候来到美国的，我就不知道了。反正我第一次见到他时，是那天晚上，他站在我家车库门前。高高的个子，很清瘦。
“我修你草坪，”他对我说。他的英语很糟糕，都没办法听懂。
我问他叫什么。他告诉我他叫托尼。“我修你草坪。”他又说。我告诉他我雇不起工人修草坪。
“我修你草坪，”他又说。说完就走掉了。我有些闷闷不乐地走回家。是呀，在这大萧条的日子里，大家都难。可人家走上门来求你帮忙，你怎好推出不管呢？
第二天晚上我下班回来，发现草坪修过了，花园整理了，门前的小路也扫得干干净净。我问太太是怎么回事。
“今天白天来了一个人，自己跑到车库里搬出了割草机，就到院子里干起来了。”太太说。“他不是你雇来的吗？”
我就把头天晚上见到他的事向太太说了一遍。可是我们又觉得奇怪，他怎么不来讨工钱呢？
接下来的两天里我很忙，公司的生意要有大的调整，还要把原来辞退掉的工人再请回来。托尼的事就忘了。可是星期五晚上，我下班早了点，在车库后面，又看见了托尼。见到他，我赶紧表扬他打扫的园子。
“我修你草坪，”他又说。
我紧了紧各项开支，总算挤出点钱来，算是给托尼每周的薪水。这以后，他就每天到我家来，打扫打扫园子，干干杂事。我太太挺高兴，告诉我说，托尼很能做，象什么搬个东西啦、修理个什么啦，有了他真是很方便。
夏天过去了，秋天来了。初冬的冷风刮起来了“克劳先生，”有一天晚上托尼跟我说，“冬天来，您让我扫雪，在您工厂。”
你看！他这么有心眼。他这么恳切、这么指望着我，我能不管他吗？好了，工厂扫雪的差事是他的了。
冬天过得差不多了。我向人事部的人打问，看托尼干得怎么样。他们告诉我说他很不错。
有一天，又是在车库门前，我又碰见托尼。“我想到您的厂，当学徒。”他说。
我们厂里倒是有一个培训学校，专门培养徒工。但是，这托尼能学得会看图吗？能学得会看千分尺、干细活吗？可是，话还得说回来，我能拒绝他吗？
我只好告诉他，要当学徒的话，现有的工资就得减低。这他没意见。托尼当上学徒了。几个月后，有关部门报告我说，托尼从培训学校毕业了，在厂子里当上了技术磨工。
他已经能很不错地用千分尺，能用专门设备翻修砂轮机。我和太太非常高兴，事情能这样出个结局，不是很好了吗？
大概是一两年的时间过去了。有一天，我又在我们常碰面的车库门前见面了。我们聊起了他的工作。我问他有什么打算。
“克劳先生，”他说，“我想买个房子。”在市区边缘，他看好了一处房子。那房子正要出售，但是个不能再破的房子了。
出售这所破房子的银行里，我有一位朋友。我给这位朋友打了电话。“如果有人仅凭他的人品向你们贷款，你们肯贷吗？”我问他。
“啊呀，不行，”这朋友说。“不敢担这个风险呀。”
“我跟你说呀，这可是个勤劳的人，是个有人格的人。我可以担保我没看错。他有工作。你的房子卖不出去，一年一年地放在那里，你一个钱也挣不回来。要是卖给他，你总算还能拿回点利息呢。怎么样，老弟？”
银行的人不情不愿地以两千美元的贷款将房子卖给了托尼，并且没要他付一分钱的头期款。托尼自然又惊又喜。从那以后，我总看见他往家里搞破烂----什么破铁皮、破窗户、破包装木板，见到什么破烂就都弄回家去。看见他这样干我总偷着笑。
两年后，我们在我们的老地方又见面了。这时候，他看上去似乎身子板比过去直了，体重似乎也增加了，脸上透着一股自信。
“克劳先生，我把房子卖了。”他自豪地说。“赚了8000美元。”
我大吃一惊。“什么？那你住什么呀？”
“克劳先生，我买了一个农场。”
我们坐下来聊。托尼告诉我说，拥有一个农场是他的梦想。他想在他的农场里种他那意大利三餐不可少的土豆、辣椒等等那些东西。他已经请人到意大利老家接来了老婆、儿子、女儿。他在市郊找了又找，找到一块地皮，那里有所房子，有个棚子。这些日子，他正带着老婆孩子往那里搬。
一个星期六下午，托尼又来了，穿得很整齐，旁边跟了一个意大利人。他告诉我说，那是他童年时的好玩伴。他已经劝他移民来这里了。托尼当这位朋友的资助人。然后，他眼睛一闪，告诉我说，他和那朋友路过他那小农场时，那位朋友站住了，瞪着吃惊的大眼睛对他说：“托尼，你是百万富翁了！”
后来，我听说托尼当兵了，并且去了前线。再后来，公司有人告诉我说，他在战场上牺牲了。
我让我的人查看一下他的家境，看看有什么问题没有。他们告诉我说，他的农场里绿菜荫荫，房子虽然小了点，但温馨可爱，充满生气。院子里还有一台拖拉机、一辆很不错的汽车。孩子们都毕业了，并且都有了工作。托尼对外不欠一分钱的帐。
托尼死了。他的一生，我想了又想。这么想着，他的形象在我的脑海里越长越高大。最后，在我的眼里，他与那些最伟大的企业家是一样地高大，一样地令人钦佩。
他们都得到了最后的成功，走的都是一样的道路，遵循的都是一样的原则：眼光、坚韧、决心、自制、乐观、自尊，而最重要的：独立自主。
托尼不是从社会之梯的最下一级开始的。他是从地下室开始的。他的事业是渺小的；那些大企业家的事业是宏大的。但是，你若深究下去就会发现，他们的辛酸与快乐是一样的。如果用财务术语来说，他们的财务报表是一样的，只是小数点的位置不同而已。
托尼横渡大洋来找寻他的梦。他不是找到了他的梦，他是为自己建成了自己的梦。他什么都没有，有的只是每天24个小时。这24个小时他一分钟都没浪费。 |
