Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
在我六岁的时候，我在一本名叫《自然真实故事》的书中，欣赏到了一幅令人惊奇的照片。这是一张在原始草原里，一条蟒蛇正在活生生吞下一头大象的照片。以下是我的拙作。
In the book it said, “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
书里解释说:“蟒蛇无需咀嚼猎物，一整个吞下大象，之后蟒蛇动弹不得，它需要整整六个月的时间休眠，来消化整头大象。”
我深感神奇，就到丛林里探险了几次，又经过些许努力，我用画笔完成了我的一号画作。我的一号画作，它是这个样子的:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
But they answered, “Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat?”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
我向大人们展示我的佳作，还问他们画作有没有吓到他们。
但他们回答说:“吓人吗？我为什么会害怕一顶帽子啊？。”
我画的不是一顶帽子，而是一只正活生生脱下一头大象的蟒蛇。但是因为大人们不能够懂得，我又画了另一幅画作:我将蟒蛇的肚子里的大象画了出来，这样他们可以很清楚的辨别出来。大人们总是要把事情解释清楚。我的画作二号是这样子的:
The grown -ups’ response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
这次，大人则是建议我把画作放一边，别再去管蟒蛇肚里独外了，好好全身心的去学习地理，历史，算术和语法。这也是为什么，我在六岁的时候放弃了本可能大有作为的画家梦想。一号画作和二号画作的失败让我遍体鳞伤。大人们永远不会明白任何事情除了他们自己，孩子们厌烦事事都都需要向大人们解释清楚。
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say, “That is a hat.” Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
自那之后，我选择了另一种职业，我学会了驾驶飞机，我已经飞遍地球的每一个角落。实话说，学习地理还是非常有用的。只需一眼，我就能从亚利桑那州中找到中国。如果有人迷路了，这种知识是非常有用的。
在漫漫人生旅途中，我邂逅了许多关心重大事件的人，我也同大部分成年人生活在一起了。我非常亲密的对待他们，然而也没有改变我对他们的认识。
只要我遇到那些我觉得思想开明的大人们，我就会试着向他们展示画作一号，这个我一直保存着，我想知道是不是有人能够真正理解它。但是，无论他是谁，男人，还是，女人，都只是说:“这只是一顶帽子。”接下来我将不会和他提起蟒蛇或原始森林。而且把自己降到他的等级，和他谈论关于桥，高尔夫，政治和领带，大人非常开心能遇见这样一个善解人意的朋友。
