Put the effort in every day As a young boy, I grew up with my eight siblings in a tin-roofed shack in Summerfield, Louisiana. I didn't see my circumstance as an obstacle, even though we didn't even have a real toilet in the house. I saw my life more as a card that had been dealt to me and I tried to make the most of it. 每一天都要努力 姓名：卡爾-馬龍 英文：Karl Malone 生日：1963年7月24日 身高：210釐米 體重：116公斤 位置：大前鋒 效力球隊：猶它爵士 童年時代的我住在位於路易斯安那州薩墨菲爾德的一間簡陋的以鐵皮爲屋頂的房子裏，有8個兄弟姐妹，連一個像樣的廁所都沒有。但是，我並沒有把這樣的家庭環境看成是一個障礙，而是把它當作發到自己手裏的一張牌，我所做的努力是要讓這張牌發揮出它最大的用處。 I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn't around, so I never knew him well. He committed suicide when I was three years old, leaving Mom with the job of raising and providing for nine kids. She worked at a sawmill running a forklift for fifty dollars a week and had another job at a poultry plant. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested. 我是家裏5兄弟中最小的男孩子，還有4個相依爲命的姐妹。父親已經不在人世，他在我3歲的時候就自殺了，我對他幾乎沒有什麼印象。父親死後，撫養9個孩子的重擔就落在了母親的肩上。母親是鋸木廠裏開叉車的工人，每星期有50美元的收入，此外，她在家禽加工廠還有一份差事。我母親是個非常吃苦耐勞的女人，爲了養家餬口，她拼命工作，從不休息。 My mom believed in doing all she could do to take care of her responsibilities, so no matter what, she never asked for a handout. You can imagine; we kids didn't get what we wanted, but we always got the things we needed. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want. 她堅信只要自己努力就一定能夠養活全家，所以她從不接受任何施捨。你可以想象我們姊妹兄弟的生活狀況：儘管從來買不起自己想要的東西，但是日常生活的必需品總是能夠得到滿足。從母親身上，我懂得了勤奮是獲得一切的最佳途徑。 While growing up, I was surrounded with temptations to do negative things like drugs, alcohol and all that. I chose not to go there, even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be Successful. Some people take that to be cocky or conceited, but I wasn't going to let anybody tell me that I couldn't do whatever I set out to do. 隨着年齡的增長，我逐漸遇到各種不良行爲的誘惑，比如吸毒、酗酒，凡此種種。我從不去那些地方，因爲我從小就相信自己長大以後一定能大有作爲。有些人將我的這種想法視爲驕傲或自負，但我不這麼認爲。只要我確定了自己想做的事情，就不允許別人說我做不到。 Of course, I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first, I wanted be a state trooper, then I wanted to be in the Special Forces. After a while, I decided that I wanted to drive eighteen-wheelers. There was even a period of time that I wanted to be in construction. I wanted to play football in high school; in fact, I still do. But regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me -- not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons. 當然，我也夢想過長大以後想做什麼。起初，我想當國民警衛隊員，還想過進特種兵部隊。後來，我想當一名售裝箱大卡車司機。還有一段時間，我甚至想當一名建築工人。上高中的時候，我喜愛美式足球，直到現在我還時常玩玩。但不管我選擇做什麼，我的最終目的是要讓母親和兄弟姐妹們爲我驕傲--不僅要爲我在事業上獲得成功而驕傲，更要爲我成爲了一個受人尊重的人而驕傲。 Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn't in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim off an old water barrel and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team． I loved to compete．There was a positive high I got by going out and playing against other people and working hard to win. For me, it paid off. I just let my success in basketball take its course but I always put the effort in every day. No matter what I've done, some people wait for my down fall, saying, “ Karl Malone can't do it.” Instead of letting people like that get to me, they are actually my motivation and I continue to prove them wrong every single day. I try to do the best job I can in a positive way on and off the court. I realize that no matter what I'm dealing with, there's somebody else out there who has it a littel bit worse off. I've been there. And I know that without continued hard work, I could be there again. 也許聽起來會有些令人詫異，籃球當時並沒有被列在我的人生計劃中。記得有一天，母親把一隻舊水桶沿邊剪下一個圈來，爲我舉着，讓我投橡皮球玩。到了初中，我開始在籃球隊裏打球。我喜愛打比賽，它給我一種快感，與人比拼，爲了獲勝，我吃苦耐勞，常代表學校出去比賽。對我來說，這叫做"天道酬勤"。我並不刻意去爭搶成功和榮譽，但是我的的確確每天都在爲此付出努力。不管我怎麼做，有些人卻並不希望看到我成功。他們說："卡爾·馬龍不行。"我一點兒也不計較那些不中聽的話，相反，它們倒成了我拼搏的動力。不論賽場內外，我總是努力做到最好，每一天以自己的實際行動證明他們的話是錯誤的。我也發現，不管我怎麼樣應對，身邊總有一些人是在退步。我也曾走過下坡路，所以我明白不進則退的道理。 I am grateful for the life I've enjoyed as a basketball star. But when I see these shirts that say “ Basketball is life,” I think Yeah, right! It is not life. It can be exciting. But the important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life． 作爲一個籃球明星，我很感謝生活賜予我的這一切。當我看見這些T恤衫上寫着"籃球就是生命"時，我要說"是啊，對啊"。但其實籃球並不等於生命，儘管它很刺激。籃球能夠讓我在這段所謂“生命”的旅程中爲別人做一些好事，我認爲這纔是最重要的。 Success is really about choosing right from wrong, making a positive contribution to the world around you and valuing the things that are really important -- like family and friends. 成功其實意味着棄惡揚善，爲你身邊的人們做點好事以及珍惜一切珍貴的東西，比如家人和朋友。 While everyone else was looking to popular atheles, actors and musicians as positive role models, my mom was my inspiration, and she continues to be all these years later. She taught me that hard work never killed anybody. My mom is my hero. She, my family and friends bring me more joy than anything else in life does. 當人們都去選擇某個著名的運動員、演員或者歌星作爲自己崇拜的偶像時，我卻選擇母親作爲我的偶像。她是我全部靈感的來源，這些年來一直如此。她教導我說，勤奮工作從來不會累死人，她是我心目中的英雄。母親、我的家庭以及朋友所給予我的快樂是生活中其他任何事物所不能及的。 At the end of my life, I don't want to be remembered as the kind of person who just sat on his rear end and said, “ I've made it.” I don't ever want to have to say that I didn't give it everything that I've got. Sure there are days that I don't feel like working hard． ． ． but I do it anyway， cause that's who I am. 在我離開人世的那一天，我不願意在人們記憶中是這樣一種人，這種人只是一屁股坐在那裏對人說：“我功成名就了”,也永遠不想說對我所取得的一切沒有盡到自己最大的努力。當然，我也有過放鬆懈怠的日子...但無論如何我還是努力去幹，因爲那畢竟是真實的我。
