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P.T. 巴纳姆:奋斗与胜利·补录 462

P.T. 巴纳姆《奋斗与胜利》· Struggles and Triumphs · 领导

Some time before I left America I received several letters from a young man residing in the Black Forest in regard to a wonderful orchestrion which he was building and which he wished to sell or send to me for exhibition. When he saw the accounts of my arrival with Tom Thumb at Baden-Baden, he announced his willingness to bring his orchestrion and set it up in that place so that I could see and hear it. His letter was forwarded to me at Frankfort and I replied that my engagements were made many days in advance, that my time was invaluable, but that if he would have his orchestrion set up and in perfect order at such a time on such a day I would be there promptly to see it. Arriving at the appointed time, I found that he had not completed his work. The beautiful case was up, but the interior was unfinished. I was much disappointed, but not nearly so much so as was the orchestrion builder.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50115
定位:Additional excerpt 462 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

巴纳姆离开美国前,收到黑森林一位年轻人的多封信,说他正在造一台奇妙的自动风琴,想卖给巴纳姆或托他展出。年轻人看到巴纳姆带拇指汤姆到巴登-巴登的新闻后,表示愿意把风琴运来组装,让巴纳姆看和听。巴纳姆回信说行程早已排满,时间宝贵,但如果年轻人能在某天某时把风琴装好、调试完美,他会准时到场。结果巴纳姆按时到了,年轻人却没完工:外壳漂亮,内部还没装好。巴纳姆很失望,但年轻人更失望。这件事说明:机会不会等人,承诺必须用交付来兑现;光有热情和半成品,换不来别人的时间。

上下文

巴纳姆在自传中回忆,他在欧洲巡演期间收到一位黑森林工匠的推销信,对方想向他展示一台未完成的自动风琴。

今日一问

你有没有因为“还没准备好”而错过一个本可以抓住的机会?

公版传记;原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg,仅摘录段落并附全书链接。

本文本为公版;底本与原文链接见上。 版权

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