There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.
Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said. After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.” He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.” Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.
The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world! “I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.
With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again. Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man. “I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.” And she led the old man away by the arm.
The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.
【关键词】
1、 executive (n.) 行政主管
2、 creditor (n.) 债权人
3、 bankruptcy (n.) 倒闭
4、 woe (n.) 苦痛
5、 uncashed (adj.) 未兑付的
6、 renewed（adj.）复兴的
7、 optimism （n.）乐观
8、 rest home （phr.）养老院
9、 stunned （adj.）震惊的
10、 go after (phr.) 追求
【译文】自信
有一位商业主管负债累累，走投无路。债权人在四处找他。供应商在要求他支付货款。他坐在公园的长椅上，双手抱头，不知道怎样才能使其濒临倒闭的公司起死回生。
突然，一位老人出现在他面前。 “看得出来，你有烦心事，”他说。商业行政主管大倒苦水，这位老人听后说道，“我相信我可以帮助你。”他问过那个男人的名字，写了一张支票，然后把支票放到到他手里说：“这笔钱拿去吧。一年后的今天，我就在这里等你。到时候，你把钱还我。“然后他转身走了，来也匆匆，去也匆匆。
商业主管看到手里拿着的是一张50万美元的支票，由约翰·D·洛克菲勒签名，那可是当时世界首富之一！ “资金问题即可一扫而光！”他意识到。然而，这位主管决定还是将这个未兑现的支票放入保险箱里。他想，只要知道这张支票在，会让他有力量找到一种方法来挽救他的生意。
他重新抖擞精神，做成了几笔好买卖，并经过协商延长了付款期限。他关闭了几个大的销售网点。短短几个月内，他就偿清债务，并再次赚钱。整整一年后，他带着那张未兑付的支票返回公园。在约定的时间，老人出现了。但正当行政主管要交回支票并分享他的成功故事时，一名护士跑过来抓住这位老人。 “我很高兴抓住他了！”她喊道。 “希望他没有打扰你。他总是逃离养老院，并告诉别人他是约翰·D·洛克菲勒。“然后她搀着老人走了。
大吃一惊的高管站在那里，目瞪口呆。整整这一年里，他马不停蹄地奔忙着，谈生意，做买卖，对背后那50万美元深信不疑。突然间，他意识到，真实的也罢想像的也罢，使其生活发生根本改变的不是这笔钱。是重拾自信赋予他力量，进而实现他所追求的一切。
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