Franklin’s life is full of charming stories which all young men should know —how he peddled ballads in Boston, and became the guest of kings in Europe; how he worked his passage as a stowaway to Philadelphia, and rode in the queen’s own litter in France; how he walked the streets of Philadelphia, homeless and unknown, with three-penny rolls for his breakfast, and dined at the tables of princess, and received his friends in a palace; how he raised a kite from a cow shed, and was showered with all the high degrees the colleges of the world could give; how he was duped by a false friend as a boy, and became the friend of all humanity as a man; how he was made Major General Franklin, only to resign because, as he said, he was no soldier, and yet helped to organize the army that stood before the trained troops of England and Germany.
富兰克林的一生充满了迷人的故事，每个年轻人都应该知道——他如何在波士顿兜售民谣，如何在欧洲成为国王的座上宾;他如何偷渡到费城，靠打工赚船票，然后在法国坐上女王的轿子;他如何在费城的大街上游荡，无家可归，无人问路，早餐只有三便士的面包卷，然后在公主饭店的餐桌上吃饭，在一座宫殿里接待他的朋友;他如何从牛棚里放起风筝，然后获得了世界各所大学所能授予的所有高等学位;他如何在孩提时代被一个虚伪的朋友所欺骗，长大后却成为全人类的朋友;他是如何被任命为富兰克林少将的。他辞职是因为，他说，他不是军人，但他帮助组建了一支与训练有素的英德联军抗衡的军队。
This poor Boston boy, with scarcely a day’s schooling, became master of six languages and never stopped studying; this neglected apprentice tamed the lightning, made his name famous, received degrees and diplomas from colleges in both hemispheres, and became forever remembered as “Doctor Franklin”, philosopher, patriot, scientist, philanthropist and statesman.
这个波士顿的穷孩子几乎没上过一天学，却掌握了六种语言，而且从未停止过学习。这位被人忽视的学徒驯服了闪电，扬名天下，获得了两半球各大学的学位和证书，成为人们永远记住的哲学家、爱国者、科学家、慈善家和政治家“富兰克林博士”。
Self-made, self-taught, self-reared, the candle maker’s son gave light to all the world; the street ballad seller set all men singing of liberty; the runaway apprentice became the most sought-after man of two continents, and brought his native land to praise and honor him.
这位蜡烛制造商的儿子白手起家，自学成才，自食其力，给全世界带来了光明;这位街头歌谣小贩让所有的人歌唱自由;这个逃跑的学徒成了两大洲受欢迎的人，他的祖国都对他赞誉有加和尊敬不已。
He built America—for what our Republic is today is largely due to the prudence, the forethought, the statesmanship, the enterprise, the wisdom, and the ability of Benjamin Franklin.
他缔造了美国——因为我们共和国今天的成就在很大程度上归功于本杰明·富兰克林的审时度势、深谋远虑、政家风度、进取精神、聪明才智和全力以赴。
He belongs to the world, but especially does he belong to America, as the nations honored him while living, so the Republic glorifies him when dead, and has enshrined him in the choicest of its niches the one he regarded as the loftiest—the hearts of the common people, from whom he had sprung and in their hearts Franklin will live forever.
他属于世界，但他特别属于美国，他活着时，国家以他为荣;所以他死时，共和国把他供奉在最珍贵的壁龛里——他认为的最崇高的人心。富兰克林发迹于大众，他也将永远活在他们心中。
材料2：Never Give up the Pursuit of Learning不要抛弃学问
—— Hu Shih胡适
Dear Students of the Graduating Class,
As you are leaving your alma mater, I have nothing to offer you as a gift except a word of advice.
诸位毕业同学：你们现在要离开母校了，我没有什么礼物送你们，只好送你们一句话罢。
My advice is, “Never give up the pursuit of learning.” You have perhaps finished your college courses mostly for obtaining the diploma, or, in other words, out of sheer necessity. However, from now on you are free to follow your own bent in the choice of studies. While you are in the prime of life, why not devote yourselves to a special field of study? Youth will soon be gone never to return. And it will be too late for you to go into scholarship when in your declining years. Knowledge will do you a good turn even as a means of subsistence. If you give up studies while holding a job, you will in a couple of years have had yourselves replaced by younger people. It will then be too late to remedy the situation by picking up studies again.
这一句话是：“不要抛弃学问。”以前的功课也许有一大部分是为了这张毕业文凭，不得已而做的，从今以后，你们可以依自己的心愿去自由研究了。趁现在年富力强的时候，努力做一种专门学问。少年是一去不复返的，等到精力衰时，要做学问也来不及了。即为吃饭计，学问决不会辜负人的。吃饭而不求学问，三年五年之后，你们都要被后来少年淘汰掉的。到那时再想做点学问来补救，恐怕已太晚了。
Some people say, “Once you have a job, you’ll come up against the urgent problem of making a living. How can you manage to find time to study? Even if you want to, will it be possible with no library or laboratory available?”
有人说：“出去做事之后，生活问题急需解决，哪有工夫去读书?即使要做学问，既没有图书馆，又没有实验室，哪能做学问?”
Now let me tell you this. Those who refuse to study for lack of a library will most probably continue to do so even though there is a library. And those who refuse to do research for lack of a laboratory will most probably continue to do so even though a laboratory is available. As long as you set your mind on studies, you will naturally cut down on food and clothing to buy books or do everything possible to acquire necessary instruments.
我要对你们说：凡是要等到有了图书馆方才读书的，有了图书馆也不肯读书。凡是要等到有了实验室方才做研究的，有了实验室也不肯做研究。你有了决心要研究一个问题，自然会撙衣节食节食去买书，自然会想出法子来设置仪器。
Time is no object. Charles Darwin could only work one hour a day due to ill health. Yet what a remarkable man he was! If you spend one hour a day reading 10 pages of a book, you can finish more than 3,600 pages a year, and 110,000 pages in 30 years.
至于时间，更不成问题。达尔文一生多病，不能多做工，每天只能做一点钟的工作。你们看他的成绩!每天花一点钟看10页有用的书，每年可看3,600多页书，30年可读11万页书。
Dear students, 110,000 pages will be quite enough to make a learned man of you. It will take you one hour to read three tabloids a day, and one and half hours to finish four rounds of mah-jong a day. Reading tabloids, playing mah-jong or striving to be a learned man, the choice lies with you.
诸位，11万页书可以使你成一个学者了。可是，每天看三种小报也得费你一点钟的工夫，四圈麻将也得费你一点半钟的光阴。看小报呢?还是打麻将呢?还是努力做一个学者呢?全靠你们自己的选择!
Henrik Ibsen says, “It is your supreme duty to cast yourself into a useful implement.”
Learning is the casting mould. Forsake learning, and you will ruin yourself.
Farewell! Your alma mater is watching eagerly to see what will become of you ten years from now.
易卜生说：“你的最大责任是把你这块材料铸造成器。”
学问便是铸器的工具。抛弃了学问便是毁了你们自己。
再会了!你们的母校眼睁睁地要看你们十年之后成什么器。
