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Blueprint for Success--Donald Dale Jackson

He gave away his fortune for a hammer, a saw — and a dream.

As a boy, Millard Fuller was a whiz with money. He had a knack for turning a profit the way other kids had a knack for baseball. Starting with a pig his father gave him, Millard became a livestock trader during his teens, netting enough to pay his way through Auburn University.

Then he entered the University of Alabama law school in 1957. But he continued to make money. By age 29, Fuller was almost a millionaire, with a luxurious home, a vacation retreat, two speedboats, a Lincoln Continental and shares in three cattle ranches.

Several years earlier. Fuller had married Linda Caldwell, and for Millard Fuller, life was full.

Then one day Linda stunned Millard by announcing that she didn't think she loved him any longer. "I feel as if I don't have a husband," she told him. "You are always working," she said. "I'm going away for a while." The next day she left for New York to talk to a minister they knew.

How could I have miscalculated so badly? Millard wondered. Surely my family matters more than money.
For the next few days he tried to work, but couldn't concentrate. The business he had helped build was thriving — but what had it cost? His marriage? His health? Millard's neck bothered him lately, and he sometimes had trouble breathing, as if a weight were pressing on his chest.

When Linda called and agreed to his pleas to meet him in New York the following week, Millard asked his parents to stay with the children. The evening before he went to New York, he began idly watching a TV movie. A line in the film jolted him: "A planned life can only be endured."

（to be continued）

参考译文

他捐出了自己所有的财产，只留下一把锤子、一把锯子--去实现梦想。

当米勒德.富勒还是一个孩子的时候，他就是一个赚钱高手。正如其他孩子有打棒球的窍门一样，他有着赚钱的窍门。从他父亲送他的一头猪开始，十几岁的米勒德就成了家畜倒卖商人，用赚来的钱供自己读完了奥伯恩大学。
1957年，他考进了亚拉巴大学法学院，但他仍继续赚钱。到29岁时，富勒几乎是一个百万富翁了，他有一处豪宅，一处度假别墅，两艘快艇，一辆林肯大陆轿车，还有三家牧场的股票。

几年前，富勒和琳达.卡德维尔结了婚。对米勒德.富勒来说，生活很美满。

一天，琳达让富勒大吃一惊，她说，她认为自己不爱他了，“我感觉自己好像没有丈夫。”她告诉他，“你总是在工作，我要离开一阵子。”第二天她前往纽约去找一位他俩都认识的牧师，想和这位牧师聊聊。

我怎么这么糊涂呢？米勒德自问，家庭当然要比金钱重要。
接下来的几天里，他试图努力工作却无法集中注意力。他的生意蒸蒸日上，但代价是什么呢？婚姻？健康？米勒德最近感觉到脖子不舒服，有时感到呼吸困难，就好像有个重物压在他胸口上。
当琳达打开电话说，同意他下周在纽约见面的请求时，富勒请他的父母来照看孩子们。去纽约的前一天晚上，他无聊地看着电视上播放的一部电影。电影中的一句台词惊醒了他：“有计划的生活只能在忍受中度过。”

（待续）

词汇释义

1.whiz n. 精明的人, 专家

例句：

My friend is a whiz at math. He's also a computer whiz.
我的朋友在数学方面很优秀。他还是计算机专家。

2.livestock n.家畜

例句：

An enclosure for livestock.
用于饲养家畜的围栏地

3.miscalculate 错认, 算错, 估错, 判断错误

例句：

The salesman miscalculate the discount, so we hardly break even on the deal.
营销员算错了折扣，因此我们很难在这笔交易上做到不盈不亏。