美文原文

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion.

When war broke out between Spain and the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain fastnesses of Cuba - no one knew where.No mail or telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly. Whatto do?

Some said to the President, “There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan who will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.”

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How the “fellow by the name of Rowan” took the letter, sealed it up in an oilskin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by nightoff the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot and delivered his letter to Garcia - are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail. The point that I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at?”

By the Eternal! There is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing - “Carry a message to Garcia.”

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias. No man who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man -the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it.

Slipshod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, and half hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook or threat he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, and sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant.

美文翻译

在所有与古巴有关的亊情中，有一个人常常令我无法忘怀。美西战争爆发以后，美国必须马上与反抗军首领加西亚将军取得联系。加西亚将军隐藏在古巴辽阔的崇山峻岭中——没有人知道确切的地点，因而无法送信或电报给他。但是，美国总统必须要尽快与他建立合作关系。怎么办呢？

有人对总统推荐说：“有一个名字叫罗文的人，假如有人能找到加西亚将军，那个人一定就是他。”

于是，他们将罗文找来，交给他一封信——写给加西亚的信。关于那个“名字叫罗文的人"如何拿了信，将它装进一个油 纸袋里并打封，吊在胸口藏好,如何用4天的时间乘坐一条敞口 船连夜抵达古巴海岸，而后消失在丛林之中，如何在3个星期之后出现在古巴岛的另一端，其间徒步穿越一个危机四伏的国家，将信交到加西亚手上——这些都不是我现在想要详细讲述的。我希望强调的重点是:美国总统麦金莱将一封写给加西亚的信交给了罗文，而罗文接过信后，并没有问“他在哪里？"

像罗文这样的人,我们应该为他塑造不朽的育铜雕像，将其放在美国每一所大学里。年轻人所需要的不仅仅是学习书本上的知识，也不仅仅是聆听他人的种种教诲，更需要的是对于一种责任的忠诚，能够立即采取行动，全心全意去完成任务——"把信送给加西亚"。

加西亚将军已不在人世，但是现在还有其他的“加西亚”。没有人能经营好这样的一家企业——虽然需要众多人手，但时常几乎让人惊骇的是，其中大部分人庸庸碌碌——他们要么能力不足，要么裉本不愿意全心全意去工作。

懒懒散散、漠不关心、马马虎虎和心不在焉的工作态度，对于许多人来说似乎已成常态。除非苦口婆心、威通利诱地强迫他们做亊，或者，请善意的上帝创造奇迹，并派一名光芒天使相助，否则，这些人将一亊无成。