One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue，when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye，and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. “What can I do for you，sir?”“I wish to buy a pair of socks.” His eyes glowed. There was a note of passion in his voice. “Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks.”I had not been aware of that，as my Entrance examination had been accidental. “Come with me，” said the boy，ecstatically. I followed him to the rear of the shop，and he began to haul down from the shelves box after box，displaying their contents for my delectation.
“Hold on，lad，I am going to buy only one pair!”“I know that，”said he，“but I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are. Aren’t they wonderful?” There was on his face an expression of solemn and holy rapture， as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of his religion. I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in amazement. “My friend，”said I，“if you can keep this up，if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty，from having a new job，if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day， in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.”
一天下午，我走在第五大街，忽然想起要買(mǎi)一雙襪子。第一家襪店吸引了我然后我走進(jìn)去，一名可能未超過(guò)17歲的男店員朝我走來(lái)， “我能為你做什么，先生?”“我想買(mǎi)一雙襪子。”他的眼睛閃閃發(fā)光，聲音里充滿(mǎn)了熱情。 “你知道嗎，你來(lái)到了世界上最好的買(mǎi)襪子的地方。”我沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這點(diǎn)，就像高考意外的到來(lái)一樣。 “跟我來(lái)，”男孩欣喜若狂地說(shuō)，我跟他來(lái)到店后面，他從架子上降下箱子，他開(kāi)始后箱從貨架中降下，愉快得向我展示著里面的東西。
“等等，小伙子，我只買(mǎi)一雙!”“我知道，”他說(shuō)，“但我想讓你看到它們是多么美麗奇妙，難道它們棒嗎?“他臉上滿(mǎn)是莊嚴(yán)而虔誠(chéng)的表情，好像在向我透露他宗教的奧秘，我對(duì)他感興趣遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了襪子。我吃驚地看著他。 “我的朋友，”我說(shuō)，“如果你能這樣保持下去，如果這不僅僅是對(duì)于新奇事物的熱情，從事一份新的工作，如果你能日復(fù)一日保持這種熱情和激情，十年內(nèi)美國(guó)的每一個(gè)襪子都是你的。“