One day in 1965, when I was a librarian at View Ridge¹ School in Seattle ,a fourth-grade teacher approached me.She had a student who finished his work before all the othersand needed a challenge. "Could he help in the library?" she asked.I said, "Send him along."1965年，我在西雅图维尤里奇学校当图书馆员时，一天，一个四年级老师来找到我说，她有个学生总是最先完成功课，他需要干点别的对他有挑战性的工作。“他可以来图书馆帮帮忙吗？”她问。“带他来吧！”我说。

Soon a slight, sandy-haired boy in jeans and a T-shirt appeared.

不一会儿，一个穿牛仔裤和圆领衫，长着沙色头发的清瘦男孩进来了。

I told him about the Dewey Decimal System for shelving books.He picked up the idea immediately.Then I showed him a stack of cards for long-overdue booksthat I was beginning to think had actually been returnedbut were miss-shelved with the wrong cards in them.He said, "Is it kind of a detective job?"I answered "yes". And he became an unrelenting sleuth.

我向他讲了杜威十进制分类藏书法。他很快明白了。然后，我让他看了一堆卡片，上面的书目都是逾期很久未归还的。但现在我怀疑这些书其实已还，只是夹错了卡片和放错了地方，需要查找核实一下。“这是否有点像侦探工作？”他问。我说是的。

He had found three books with wrong cardsby the time his teacher opened the door and announced,"Time for recess²!" He argued for finishing the job;she made the case for fresh air. She won.

他便劲头十足，像个真正侦探似的干开了。到他的老师进来宣布“休息时间已到”时，他已发现了3本夹错卡片的书。他还想继续把活干完为止。但老师说他得出去呼吸一下新鲜空气。她最后说服了他。

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.

次日早晨，他很早便来了。“我想今天把夹错卡片的书全找出来。”他说。到下午下班前，他问我，他是否已够格当个真正的图书馆员，我说这毫无疑问。他实在勤奋得可以。

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 announcedthat 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.

几星期后的一天，我在办公桌上发现了张请柬，是请我去他家吃晚饭。在那愉快的晚宴结束前，他妈妈宣布，他们全家将搬到附近一个地区。她还说，她儿子最舍不得的就是维尤里奇图书馆。“今后谁来找遗失的书呢？”他问。

When the time came, I said a reluctant good-bye.Though initially³ he had seemed an ordinary kid, his zeal⁴ had set him apart.

到他搬家时，我很不情愿地同他分了手。这男孩乍一看似乎很寻常，但他做事的那种专注和热情却使他显得与众不同。

I missed him, but not for long.A few days later he popped in the door and joyfully⁵ 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."我很想念他，但几天后他突然又来到我家，快活地说：“那边的图书馆不让男孩干活，妈妈又把我转回了维尤里奇。”

I should have had an inkling such focused determination 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, tycoon⁶ of Microsoft and America's richest man.

我当时就该想到，做事这样专心致志的孩子，是可以抵达自己的任何目标的。但我万没料到的是，他会成为今天资讯时代的奇才。他就是微型软件大王：比尔·盖茨——今日美国最富的人。