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1965年的一天，我在西雅图观景岭学校当一名图书馆管理员时，一位教四年级的老师来找我。她有个学生比所有其他人的功课都做得快，因而需要份具有挑战性的工作。“他可以在图书馆帮忙吗？”她问。我说：“叫他来吧。”
很快，一个身子单薄、沙色头发的男孩出现了，他穿着牛仔裤和T恤衫。“您有活让我干吗？”他问。
我给他讲有关图书上架的杜威十进分类法的知识。他立刻就明白了。随后我给他看一叠超过了借阅期的图书卡片，那些书我正开始怀疑实际上已经归还，但由于夹错了卡片而上错架了。他说：“是不是有几分像侦探工作？”我回答说：“是的”。于是他就成了一名不屈不挠的“侦探”。
到他老师打开门，宣布“该歇手了”的时候，他已找出了三本夹错卡片的书。他坚持说要干完这活儿；她则说该呼吸一下新鲜空气。她赢了。
第二天上午，他早早就到了。“我想找完这些书。”他说。这一天下来，当他请求正式当一名图书馆馆员时，说声“行”便是理所当然的了。他孜孜不倦地干开了。
几个星期后我在办公桌上发现一张便条，是邀请我到这个男孩家去吃饭的。在一个愉快的夜晚末了，他母亲宣布全家将搬到毗邻的校区去住。她说她儿子最舍不得的是要离开观景岭图书馆了。“谁来找出那些上错了架的书呢？”他问道。
临分手时刻，我不情愿地道了别。虽然他初看似乎是个普通的孩子，但他的热忱却使他显得与众不同。
我想念他，可时间不长。几天之后，他突然出现在门口并兴冲冲地宣布：“那边的图书馆管理员不让孩子在图书馆工作。我母亲让我转回观景岭。我爸爸会在上班的路上把我放下。要是他不能，我就走路。”
我本该心里有数，有这种专注的决心，那个年轻人将会无往而不胜。然而，我没能猜到的是，他会成为信息时代的一名奇才———比尔·盖茨，微软公司巨头、美国最富有的人。
One day in 1965, when I was a librarian at View Ridge School in Seattle, a forth grade teacher approached me. She had a student who finished his work before all the others and needed a challenge. “Could he help in the li－brary?” she asked. I said, “Send him along.”
Soon a slight, sandy- haired boy in jeans and T-shirt appeared. “Do you have a job for me?” he asked.
I told him about the Dewey Decimal1 System for shelving books. He picked up the idea immediately. Then I showed him a stack of cards for long-overdue books that I was beginning to think had actually been returned but were misshelved with the wrong cards in them. He said, “Is it kind of a detective job?” I answered “yes”. And he be－came an unrelenting2 sleuth3.
He had found three books with wrong cards by the time his teacher opened the door and announced, “Time for recess4!” He argued for finishing the job; she made the case for fresh air. She won.
The next morning, he arrived early. “I wanted to finish finding those books.” He said. At the end of the day, when he asked to be a librarian on a regular basis, it was easy to say yes. He worked untiringly.
After a few weeks I found a note on my desk, inviting me to dinner at the boy’s home. At the end of a pleasant evening, his mother announced that the family would be moving to the adjoining school district. Her son’s first concern, she said, was leaving the View Ridge library. “Who will find the lost books?” he asked.
When the time came, I said a reluctant5 good-bye. Though initially6 he had seemed an ordinary kid, his zeal7 had set him apart.
I missed him, but not for long. A few days later he popped in the door and joyfully announced, “The librarian over there doesn’t let boys work in the library. My mother got me transferred back to View Ridge. My dad will drop me off on his way to work. And if he can’t, I’ll walk.”
I should have had an inkling8 such focused determi－nation would take that young man wherever he wanted to go. What I could not have guessed, however, was that he would become a wizard of the Information Age: Bill Gates, tycoon9 of Microsoft and America’s richest man.
很快，一个身子单薄、沙色头发的男孩出现了，他穿着牛仔裤和T恤衫。“您有活让我干吗？”他问。
我给他讲有关图书上架的杜威十进分类法的知识。他立刻就明白了。随后我给他看一叠超过了借阅期的图书卡片，那些书我正开始怀疑实际上已经归还，但由于夹错了卡片而上错架了。他说：“是不是有几分像侦探工作？”我回答说：“是的”。于是他就成了一名不屈不挠的“侦探”。
到他老师打开门，宣布“该歇手了”的时候，他已找出了三本夹错卡片的书。他坚持说要干完这活儿；她则说该呼吸一下新鲜空气。她赢了。
第二天上午，他早早就到了。“我想找完这些书。”他说。这一天下来，当他请求正式当一名图书馆馆员时，说声“行”便是理所当然的了。他孜孜不倦地干开了。
几个星期后我在办公桌上发现一张便条，是邀请我到这个男孩家去吃饭的。在一个愉快的夜晚末了，他母亲宣布全家将搬到毗邻的校区去住。她说她儿子最舍不得的是要离开观景岭图书馆了。“谁来找出那些上错了架的书呢？”他问道。
临分手时刻，我不情愿地道了别。虽然他初看似乎是个普通的孩子，但他的热忱却使他显得与众不同。
我想念他，可时间不长。几天之后，他突然出现在门口并兴冲冲地宣布：“那边的图书馆管理员不让孩子在图书馆工作。我母亲让我转回观景岭。我爸爸会在上班的路上把我放下。要是他不能，我就走路。”
我本该心里有数，有这种专注的决心，那个年轻人将会无往而不胜。然而，我没能猜到的是，他会成为信息时代的一名奇才———比尔·盖茨，微软公司巨头、美国最富有的人。
One day in 1965, when I was a librarian at View Ridge School in Seattle, a forth grade teacher approached me. She had a student who finished his work before all the others and needed a challenge. “Could he help in the li－brary?” she asked. I said, “Send him along.”
Soon a slight, sandy- haired boy in jeans and T-shirt appeared. “Do you have a job for me?” he asked.
I told him about the Dewey Decimal1 System for shelving books. He picked up the idea immediately. Then I showed him a stack of cards for long-overdue books that I was beginning to think had actually been returned but were misshelved with the wrong cards in them. He said, “Is it kind of a detective job?” I answered “yes”. And he be－came an unrelenting2 sleuth3.
He had found three books with wrong cards by the time his teacher opened the door and announced, “Time for recess4!” He argued for finishing the job; she made the case for fresh air. She won.
The next morning, he arrived early. “I wanted to finish finding those books.” He said. At the end of the day, when he asked to be a librarian on a regular basis, it was easy to say yes. He worked untiringly.
After a few weeks I found a note on my desk, inviting me to dinner at the boy’s home. At the end of a pleasant evening, his mother announced that the family would be moving to the adjoining school district. Her son’s first concern, she said, was leaving the View Ridge library. “Who will find the lost books?” he asked.
When the time came, I said a reluctant5 good-bye. Though initially6 he had seemed an ordinary kid, his zeal7 had set him apart.
I missed him, but not for long. A few days later he popped in the door and joyfully announced, “The librarian over there doesn’t let boys work in the library. My mother got me transferred back to View Ridge. My dad will drop me off on his way to work. And if he can’t, I’ll walk.”
I should have had an inkling8 such focused determi－nation would take that young man wherever he wanted to go. What I could not have guessed, however, was that he would become a wizard of the Information Age: Bill Gates, tycoon9 of Microsoft and America’s richest man.